Aunt Tara

Aunt Tara came to visit and she took to Charlotte right away. This came as no surprise to us as we know her love of Joe Paterno. Therefore we new she enjoyed things that were tiny, wrinkly, and have no control over the English language.

Carissa, Tara and Charlotte going for a walk on the Monticello Saunders Trail.

The typical Charlotte day consists of eat, poop, cry, lie down, repeat. This is the calm before the repeat.

Finally a little naked tummy time with mom.

Last week was a pretty busy week for Charlotte. She has been out of the house quite a bit. She had another doctors appointment which she now weighs 7lbs 14 oz and gained over a 1/2 pound in the last week. She had an audiology appointment and she passed her hearing test. She went to the downtown mall a couple of times, and out to Fridays after Five. Tara came to visit and brought Charlotte some Penn. State socks. I'd like to include a picture of her wearing the socks but everytime we tried to put them on she screamed and cried like they were burning her flesh.

-E

Crazy Love

I can hear her heart beat for a thousand miles
And the heavens open every time she smiles
And when I come to her that's where I belong
Yet I'm running to her like a river's song

She give me love, love, love, love, crazy love
She give me love, love, love, love, crazy love

-Van Morrison

First Bath Video

I just wanted to include a cute video of Charlotte's first bath. I'm transitioning into my dad role and I have realized a vital part of that job is embarrassing her unmercifully for the rest of her life. She looks very cute and the video shows the calm before the storm. We edited out the part where she went bananas for the last 5 minutes.

-E

Our 3rd Anniversary

We've got a thumbsucker

First Fridays after Five

Our first family trip to a restaurant in Lynchburg, VA

Carissa doing her best Charlotte "Crooked Head" Rose impersonation

Allison with Charlotte

Carissa and I celebrated our 3rd anniversary and we took a day trip down to Lynchburg, VA. Charlotte was really well behaved as we drove over to the Blue Ridge Parkway and traveled south for about 65 miles or so. She slept the vast majority of the way with only a few fussy times. We made a couple of stops on the way down. We then walked around Lynchburg and went for an early dinner in the city. Charlotte slept through the whole dinner and we had no problems in the restaurant. Otherwise this week has been pretty busy. Our friends Mike and Allison stopped by and brought dinner which was great. We also went with Alicia to Fridays After Five at the pavillion. The concert was super loud but Charlotte was great and didn't seem to mind.

As a note, we have learned that Charlotte's head is in the 75th percentile while her length and body is only in the 10% for her age. That is probably why the 2 above pictures show her head so darn crooked. We are eagerly awaiting when her body is going to catch up to that huge Iszkula noggin.

-E

Groff Weekend

Whole family at Dave Matthew's winery. Charlotte got kicked out after being caught shot-gunning the Viognier

Dirty girl.....clean her up

Mom and Charlotte after the tub

Look at how big she's getting

Grandpa feeding Charlotte

The Groffs came down to hang out with us this weekend which was great. Doug and I went out and did a little bit of golfing while the girls kept an eye on the lil' monster. Charlotte has been on her best behavior, which has been nice for everyone. We have went on numerous walks over the last few days and she really seems to like the stroller. Charlotte has recently lost her belly button, turned 2 weeks old and got her first bath. Charlotte seemed to enjoy her bath for about 2 seconds and then just freaked out for the next 6 minutes of being washed and toweled off. Charlotte is eating more and more each day and it is impossible to keep up with her appetite. She has another doctors appointment tomorrow and we'll see how much weight she is gaining.

Bad to the Bone

On the day I was born
The nurses all gathered round
And they gazed in wild wonder
At the joy they had found
The head nurse spoke up
Said "leave this one alone."
She could tell right away

I was bad to the bone

- George Thorogood written about Charlotte Rose

Charlotte's first photo shoot

Photographs are sooo boring

Winter hat and no shirt? What was mom thinking?

Charlotte had her first photo shoot on Tuesday. Nana and Papa were there and watched the photographer try to harvest and control the energy that is Charlotte. I heard she actually was pretty good for the pictures but somehow I don't believe them. I think working in the ER was probably calmer and quieter than trying to put a hat on her head and get her to look where you want. Carissa got a lot of nice pictures and we also got a disc with all the images. Unfortunately I'm too dumb or lazy (lets go with lazy) to figure out how to rotate the pictures therefore I'm counting on you guys rotating your heads instead, thanks. Well we hope you guys like the pictures.

-E

Nana and Papa

Don't worry they didn't completely hog the baby, they also hung out with the cats and drank up all our booze.

Mom and her favorite son at the Crozet craft festival

Papa and Charlotte

The whole family at the downtown mall after the Saturday market

Nana giving Charlotte a bottle

So we had a great extended weekend with Nana and Papa. They drove down from Pennyslvania just to see little Charlotte for the first time. They were also life savers who helped us get through the long nights with a monster disguised as a baby. We did a lot of fun things including going to the downtown mall and the Saturday market. We also went and checked out the Crozet craft festival where hippies sell their garage art for "way too much money." Charlotte had another doctors appointment and she is now up to 7lbs 3oz (please no fat jokes, she is very self concious about her weight). My parents are going back to Erie tomorrow and then Carissa and I are on our own with Charlotte until Thursday when Doug and Jackie are coming down to log their "crying baby" time. I will throw up some more photos of Charlotte's first official photos as soon as I can.
-E

Cinco de Mayo and Aunt Alicia

Charlotte just got to experience her first holiday and she did it with a bang. She was an angry beast all night and then decided to pretend to be a good girl all day long. She woke up with Mom and got ready for her second doctors appointment. That went well and she has finally gained back some weight. She now nearly weighs as much as our tiny cat Gizmo (she still has like 10 pounds to go to catch up to Izzy). After her appointment, she went to the hospital and showed off what a good eater she is for the lactation counselor. Then she came home to hang out with Aunt Alicia. Alicia was wonderful and let me go for a run and Carissa get some much needed sleep. Charlotte was very happy to see that Dad came home from work with the cheapest tequila you can buy legally in America and some margarita mix. That put her right to bed as you can see from the pictures. We want to send a big thank you out to Nanny "Big Red" Jackie who was an absolute life saver the first 4 days of Charlotte's existence. We also can't wait until my parents come down this weekend. We also want to let anyone who is reading this know that if you like babies and getting up in the middle of the night we have an extra bedroom with your name on it.

-E

First night at home

Just wanted to let everyone see some more pictures. Charlotte was a grizzly bear last night and made sure to let all of us know how unhappy she was. I took the first shift and then was able to grab some sleep before my shift. Mommy and Grandma accompanied Charlotte to her first doctor's appointment. She had lost a little bit of weight and the doctor thought she might be a little bit dehydrated. She suggested that we give her a little bit of formula after breast feeding. Carissa did a great job and both mom and baby were sleeping when I got home. She slept for nearly 3 hours which is by far a Charlotte record. Hopefully the milk comes in soon so we can put this cute little monster into a milk coma. Here are some more pictures and a video, hope you guys like.

-E

Charlotte Comes Home

So far everything has been going great. Charlotte and mommy had a lot of bonding time while in the hospital while I've been only one floor away. On Sunday they said that it was safe for us to take this little nugget home. I came off my shift just in time to hold the baby and watch them wheel Carissa to hospital check out. We brought her home to see where she'd be spending the next 2 months of her life. I must admit she has been a little pissy as she still hasn't gotten a great meal yet. We have scheduled our first doctors appointment for tomorrow and now we're just anxiously awaiting her to fall asleep.

Charlotte Video

Here is a video of Charlotte shortly after birth. This was when they were cleaning her up and doing her Apgars.

Welcome Charlotte Rose

Hey guys...great news...finally Charlotte Rose has decided to come out and meet Mom and Dad.

Carissa was schedule to be induced at 41 weeks pregnant on 4/30. She went into the hospital at noon and had her IV and medicine started around 1pm. Carissa went a few hours not feeling her
contractions but then they came on hard and fast. Carissa finally decided that she wanted the epidural and it only took the anesthesiologist 1 and 1/2 hours to enter our room. In that time, Carissa rolled around the bed, moaned, and temporarily (only temporarily) hated her loving husband...me. Thankfully, once they arrived they did a great job. Carissa had her water broken shortly after and went a few hours without any pain. Right when it came time to start pushing Carissa was able to feel her contractions again. Carissa was a trooper and pushed great and was able to deliver Charlotte shortly before midnight. Officially Charlotte Rose Iszkula was born at 11:53 pm, at 18.25 inches, 6 lbs 15 oz.