I had been contracting for weeks.  But this day was different.  I drove around Madison, picking up some hand-me-down clothes and a bjorn Chad bought on Ebay.  Man.  Things were pretty easy with just one kid, then!  I called Chad and he came home in the afternoon.  Our neighbor listened for Cameron while he was napping so Chad and I could walk around the neighborhood to get things moving.  Our neighbors ended up going out to dinner and were trying to hurry back to be able to watch Cameron while we went to the hospital.  I still remember the look on Cameron's face as we drove away.  He was so sad!  But he did fine that night.

My blood pressure was really high when we got to the hospital, so I stayed in triage for a few hours.  I tried so hard to go naturally, but because of my blood pressure, they wouldn't let me get out of bed (I was hooked up to a monitor).  I hadn't planned on being in bed during labor and I knew my body was too tense to be able to handle the pain.  So I said I would get an epidural.  Holy Moly!  Why did I even want to try it naturally?!?!?!  That was the best epidural ever (you know, I've had two!).  I was so relaxed and warm.  From the time we got to the hospital until Charlotte was born, it had been about 6 hours-- about half the amount of time it took for Cameron to be born.  So let's hope our next kid will be even faster!  Charlotte was born at 11:47ish pm(I think!) and weighed 7 pounds, 15 oz.

Charlotte is such a different kid from Cameron.  It's amazing how different two kids can be.  Charlotte is much more intense and dramatic.  But she's also a ton of fun.  Katie said it perfectly when she described Charlotte as "spunky."  She's so vocal already and copies things that I do.  It seemed to take Cameron a while to do certain things that Charlotte already does.  So she surprises me every day.

I don't have her stats yet-- she has a doc apt. on Tuesday.  But I know she weighs 20 pounds!  She has 2 teeth, with another 3 or 4 either poking through or trying to poke through on the top.  Charlotte can crawl like a maniac (usually with one knee and one foot on the ground) and can pull up to standing without holding onto things.  She can walk along the couch and has even taken a few steps by herself.  We're working on walking.  She LOVES the water and isn't afraid of putting her face in the tub... and even the nasty lake!  So we're excited for the beach!  Charlotte is really curious about everything and wants to do exactly what her brother does.  It's so fun to watch her imitate him!

Like with Cameron, it's hard to remember what it was like before Charlotte came along.  We love her fun personality and craziness.  We also love how much she and Cameron love each other.

This was last month...

This was two years ago...

And laying on the floor?  Out of boredom?  Guess I take a while to get ready in the morning.  Chad, you're not allowed to comment on that.

  Cameron laughed for a while when he saw himself in the mirror.

hanging out, eating hot dogs, listening to the bands, playing in the kid area while dad worked behind the scenes.  Thanks, dad!

And having a really BIG BBQ

for Memorial Day with old friends and neighbors.

We're excited summer is here!

And Chad's greatest Mother's Day gift to me of all time?!

Awww yeah.  No more mustache May!!!