Thanksgiving, Take II

We celebrated round 2 of Thanksgiving at my parents house. We left equally as stuffed.....





And Charlotte proved that she is the queen of card games. Seriously, she beat us with the dice every time!





Every time she's at my Mom's house, she begs for a Popsicle. She always gets what she wants.

art

We managed to do some arts and crafts over our break....



A card for Mrs. D.....





Turkeys made from the outline of Charlotte's hands AND feet....

Giving Thanks

Each year, thanksgiving means a little more to me. This year I have learned to be thankful for all the soldiers who put their whole lives on hold so that we can continue life as we know it in America. I come from a military family so it has always been something I am inherently grateful for, but having my younger cousin (still a baby in my mind!) fighting for our freedom in Afghanistan really forces the gratitude deep into my heart. We all joke about "what is this country coming to" but really, there is no place in the world I would rather be.

I am thankful for my family, for God's blessing, and for the safety and security provided from both.


Charlotte playing with cousin Kaig


Taking a walk with Grandma Monica


Charlotte loves Aunt Gretchen's house....lots of animals!


Takes after her Momma.....she loves dessert!


Happy Thanksgiving, 2010.

Fancy Nancy

If you are not familiar with Fancy Nancy, then you must go out right now and buy the books! (Especially if you have a little girl!). Charlotte has received the books as gifts, and she LOVES them. Nancy is a girl who likes everything to be posh (that's a fancy word for fancy) and her favorite color is fuchsia (that's a fancy word for purple) and is totally adorable because she loves to be chic without being a snob. In Nancy's first book, she puts on her dressing gown (a fancy word for robe) and we've been on the hunt for one ever since.

Here are the fruits of our labor:

What a Zoo!

After much weather watching and planning for one last semi-warm day at the zoo, we woke up to rain. We had already packed lunches and gotten ready so we decided to chance it and head down to Atlanta any way. We are so glad we did because it turned out to be a beautiful sunny day. Not too warm, just the right chill in the air. We went the opposite way from the entrance and got to see some of the animals we missed on Charlotte's birthday. We made it to the petting zoo, which Charlotte loved and got to ride the Choo Choo train. She wasn't crazy about the tunnels but she keeps talking about the ride. They also had some exhibits open that they don't usually have open during the week to accomodate for out of town holiday travelers. We got to see a very cool "birds of prey" show complete with talking birds. Charlotte keeps repeating all of the cute sayings they had trained the birds to say. My favorite is "this is the bomb" complete with sound effects. Her favorite place remains the parakeet aviary, but coming in a close second is the panda exhibit. Those pandas love showing off for her!

Alas, we'll have to rely on our memories for this one. We got all the way downtown before we realized we left the camera battery charging on the counter. I've only got some pics on my phone to remember our fun day by!

Success!

I'll leave the details out, but we've had major potty success! We were out at a restaurant and Charlotte told us she had to go....this is her enjoying her reward.

Rainy Day Games

Rainy days mean searching for something to do inside to keep us all entertained. After Play-doh fun, Bryce made play-doh balls and set up some "pins". Charlotte probably could have played this game all night. Daddy would set 'em up, and baby would knock 'em down!

Wordless Wednesday

So Fresh and So Clean

Sadly, our washing machine stopped working. Bryce pulled it apart and determined that it had reached the end of it's life, so after much research we packed up and headed to Home Depot for a new one. We ended up buying a new set....and waiting another week for it to be delivered. That made a grand total of 3 weeks with no laundry. Needless to say, it took 12 loads to catch us back up. Good thing it has a glass top and Charlotte loves to watch it spin!

I love cereal

We have moved on from dry cereal. Anything that Mommy and Daddy do is what baby must do as well, so she insisted on having milk in her cereal one day. Now this girl will beg for cereal as her snack.....morning, afternoon, or night. I don't feel so bad about it because I am actually giving her my healthy cereal and she gobbles it right up. And if the pictures don't convince you, she really does love cereal.

Charlotte-isms

Charlotte is so full of herself right now. I call her a jibber jabber because she loves to talk, but she is really quite articulate for her age. Some of my favorites are:

"yummy in my tummy"-I have no idea where she heard this, but it is adorable!

"Thank you very much"-because a regular thank you just won't do.

"Pretty pretty please"-and how could I resist?!

"Ummm, maybe this one". She loves to use the word "maybe" any time she can.

"Mommy, you look gorgeous". Thank you Fancy Nancy!

"I do it". Probably her most used phrase throughout the day.

"Just hold me". This said with arms outstretched when she wants to be carried.

"I walk now". Five seconds after just hold me.....

"Do it again". This followed by lots of giggles when she wants you to do a repeat.

Sometimes she astounds me with the phrases and paragraphs that come out of her mouth. I must say it is so much easier having a kid that can tell me what they want instead of just crying!