One Year Old

Charlotte Marie is one year old. What an amazingly fast and awesome year it has been. Charlotte came into the world with an easy delivery as a content and cuddly baby. Sweet sweet baby. She has loved her big sister from day one and her big sister has always adored her. They are peas in a pod and the bond they share is so precious. At daycare, the staff marvel at Charlotte's sweet disposition. She is the room greeter, waving hi and bye to all who come in and out of the room. Her personality is starting to develop and I think she might end up being really stubborn which is funny now, but will test me to no end in the long run. We are trying to wean her from the bottle and she yells "No! No!" at us, throwing her sippy cup on the floor! She is brave-climbing up slides and step stools and standing tall on chairs. She loves books, eating, swinging, and playing chase with her sister. We feel blessed to have this spunky punkin in our lives!

First Birthday Party

We celebrated Charlie's first birthday over the weekend.

Big sister wanted to get her picture taken too.

Grammy Sherry, Charlie, and Papa Dick.

Papa Jake, Charlie, and Grandma Joan

 

Such a spoiled little girl! Great gifts from everyone.

Cake made by mommy, most of the rest of the food made by Costco.

So fun to have Aunt Cathy, Uncle Dave, and cousins Hayden, Luke and Kate celebrate with us.

I see a little hand reaching for the cake!

Charlie thought it was more fun to feed her cake to Evy than to eat it herself. Evy thought it was pretty funny too!

Preschool

Everyone was posting first day of school photos on Facebook and I kind of forgot to document the milestone in our house. Evy started preschool this Fall. This is not a huge transition for her as it's just a room change within the same center she has been at for four years. Her teacher is Miss Kylee and they are learning letters and numbers. Evy has already been the calendar helper (whatever that means) and they get to ride the "big kid" busses for field trips so this is the highlight of preschool for Evy!

Here Comes Charlie!

Charlie has been walking for a few weeks now and is really starting to get around well.  She gets excited, puts her hands up, and smiles from ear to ear.  She also likes to climb up onto chairs, step stools, and a small slide on the playhouse downstairs.  We found her standing on a small chair today......it's only a matter of time before she takes a bad tumble.  We have to keep an eye on her constantly.

She has grown up so much and we can't believe she'll be a year old in five days!! 

Here Kitty, Kitty

Evy would really like a pet. She loves playing catch with the neighbor's dog, Lucy. She likes to take another neighbor dog, Bella, for walks around the block. She loves cats and plays "owner" with all of her stuffed animal kitties and dogs. We will not have a pet in our house until all of the humans are able to feed themselves and use the potty on their own. In the meantime, Evy uses her sister as a pet. Numerous times throughout the day Evy puts the leash on Charlie and instructs her to crawl around while Evy says things like "Good Kitty" "Want some milk, Kitty?" "Let's go for a walk, Kitty." Hopefully Charlie can keep filling this role for another 10 to 15 years.

Honey Creek

We just returned from a fun weekend at Honey Creek Resort on Lake Rathbun.

Our group rented cabins. 

There were 8 moms...

...and 8 Dads...

...and 17 kids!

We had birthday cake, went kayaking, enjoyed a campfire, played at the playground, swam at the beach and indoor water park, caught grasshoppers, went for a walk...

...and played games like the three legged race!

And now I need a long nap.

Grammy Day

Grammy invited us to go to a park near her house. The park was awesome--splash pad, huge sand pit, and very nice playground equipment. We had a picnic at the park and played for two hours!

It took Evy about 30 seconds to notice the ice cream truck.

Grammy was easily talked in to purchasing an ice cream cone.

Evy loved surfing. She would lay on her stomach and paddle her arms and then jump up onto the board.

Not sure where she's seen this before, but she looked like a pro!

It's so hard to get a good picture of Charlie! She was having fun with Grammy too!

Love

I mean seriously, look at this baby!

*Photo Credit to Kate A.

Kids Day at Kinnick 2012

I could see this becoming an annual event for our family--as long as the weather is nice. The weather was beautiful today so the event was very crowded. The face painting line had to be at least an hour long. Luckily Evy was not interested in any of the "Kids Zone" activities so we headed into the stadium and enjoyed a little preview of the 2012 Hawkeyes. I learned last year that the concession lines were 40 minutes long so I stashed a bunch of snacks in my purse this year, which was good because we had one more (very hungry) mouth to feed this year!

2011

2012

Charlie's first time at Kinnick!

Mommy Days

Evy refers to days at home with me as "Mommy Days." Mommy Days are the alternative to School Days and Evy much prefers her Mommy Days. Every night she asks me "What's Today?" (she means what are we doing tomorrow)--Mommy Days are received with excitement and School Days are received with a moan. I'm keeping this in mind as several very attractive jobs have come open recently. Jobs that would challenge me professionally, allow me to lead a team again, and bring in a full time salary. Sigh. I have to remind myself that I don't really want to be working full time again. If Mommy Days go away so do our Tuesday trips to City Park, cuddles during Super Why, Friday trips to the zoo, and the flexibility to take care of my "CEO of the household" responsibilities on weekdays.

The Eater

It doesn't matter if it's a half eaten ear of corn, a sample from Costco, chips, or black beans. If Charlotte sees it and believes that it's edible, she wants it. And she lets you know that she wants it by yelling at you until you give it to her or find a way to distract her.  

Tink Tink

My parents stayed with the girls and me this weekend while Scott was out of town. I was allowed to sleep in until 7:15 and then Tinkerbell jumped into my bed!