Trick or Treat!

This was our first Halloween with a reason to go out and trick or treat. I hate that the weather was so yuck, but it was probably for the best....
Chris and Andrea brought Nathan over and we all went out to dinner at Mimi's. We needed some warm comfort food to get us ready for the wet and cold outside! We came back to our house and got the kids dressed. The cutest little ballerina and Yoda I've ever seen! Andrea brought over a wagon so we loaded the kids up with blankets around their legs and took off. It was really dark and I thought the kids would be scared, but they did fine. It started raining about halfway down our block so we turned back but it was a fun experience. There was even a house in our neighborhood that was giving away goldfish crackers for the little kids! Charlotte and Nathan came back and ate their new snack while we answered the door for the brave kids out in the rain. I am so glad we didn't spend a lot of money on her costume though, it will be interesting each year to see what we can come up with!












Costume complete with leg warmers and ballet slippers!

Halloween Surprise

We are starting Halloween weekend off right! We came home to a Halloween surprise on our doorstep, a tin full of goodies from Grandma Monica. Charlotte thoroughly inspected each of the contents before settling on a pumpkin shaped sugar cookie. She was bouncing up and down she was so excited!

Gold Rush

The weather was so yuck yesterday that we didn't even venture out to Gold Rush. Bryce and I have only missed one year (because Charlotte wasn't even six weeks old then) and we love going back to our old college town and seeing how much it (and everyone else) has changed. Fortunately the weather was nice today and almost a bit on the chilly side in the shade. We bundled up Charlotte in a coat that I almost didn't buy because it was full price and I was sure that it would be marked down before the cold weather hit. This is the first Gold Rush we've needed a jacket...sometimes I've even worn shorts! The lines weren't too bad and we got to see Uncle Charlie and some old friends so it was worth the wait! Gold Rush days means the countdown is on....Thanksgiving and Christmas are just around the corner!


My best find at Gold Rush was this CUTE hat (that we really needed because the wind was so cold there!). I cannot wait to get her pictures taken in it!

Life after one....

Thirteen months old. It seems Charlotte has progressed in light years in just the past month. The passing of her first birthday truly was a milestone because her mind and her body have been growing non-stop since then. We are completely off of formula. I mixed an ounce of whole milk in at a time until we were down to two ounces of formula. I did the same thing when we went from breastmilk to formula so it just made sense to me to do it again. We are taking our three "bottles" out of a sippy cup now. She can drink with a straw, a lid, or just a cup. I also decided to go with Organic milk, at least for the first year. At this point in time I figure it is better safe than sorry. I didn't nurse her for nine months to mess up on her food source now! We are also completely on table food. She doesn't even get baby cereal anymore, I make her real oatmeal with rolled oats and I mix in yo-baby yogurt. She is going through a no-meat stage right now though, she just picks at it when it is on her plate. I try to make sure to make up for it with plenty of dairy and a vitamin. Her "words" (the ones that I can tell what they are even if no one else can!) are Mama, Dada, Baxter (sounds like Bagder), Lola (or sometimes Nola), Milk, More, Duck, Yellow, ball, NO (of course!) and fish. She is SO close to walking. She is a maniac with a push toy, and she will walk beside me holding one hand but she just won't let go. As soon as I let go she sits down. She will also take steps walking back and forth between Bryce and I and she stood up on her own today. She also HATES wearing her shoes in the car! As soon as we get in, it is shoes and socks off. Bryce doesn't understand why I insist on putting them on anyway but it is proper to leave the house with shoes on so she is going to do it too! Charlotte loves to be my helper. She will help me pick things up off the floor, put laundry in the machine, clean up after bath time. She actually gets really upset if I don't let her help sometimes. She really really loves giving the dogs their treats and putting them away in their crate!

It is amazing how much more she understands about her world now!

Charlotte loves chocolate pudding

She was literally licking the bowl clean!

Pumpkins

We took Charlotte to Burt's Pumpkin Farm yesterday to pick out our pumpkin for Halloween. Being out in the beautiful weather, smelling spices in the air, and seeing all the changing colors on the leaves really got me excited for fall! Admittedly, I really do not get into Halloween but I am going to try to make more of an effort for Charlotte's sake.
Charlotte was a little bit scared of all the pumpkins at first....of course, some of them where four times bigger than she is! It was amazing to me watching all the little kids run around to find the "perfect" pumpkin. Eventually Charlotte warmed up to all the activities going on around us and wanted to pat on all the pumpkins. We brought our pumpkins home and much to her delight she can go up and pat on it at any time. No matter how many times I say it is a pumpkin she continues to call it a ball though. We will definitely make this trip a tradition.








We found baby Nathan while we were there!



As soon as we got home I changed Charlotte into some old clothes and we headed outside to carve our pumpkin. It has been years since I actually did this and somehow I remembered it being a whole lot messier than it actually was (even with a baby getting into it). Charlotte helped me scoop all the stuff out and I let her put her hands and feet in it. She thought that was great fun but was so dainty picking it up with her two fingers. Bryce carved it out for us while Charlotte and I washed our hands and feet. Not too bad!

What have we been up to?

Giving everything a "hug".


Petting Baxter and Lola as much as they will let me.


Chillin'


Catching up on my favorite show (Word World)


Cruisin'


Stayin' Beautiful.....