birthday party

We had Charlotte's birthday party last weekend. It was a bit of a hectic day because we were not very unpacked and it ended up pouring rain the entire day. Not exactly the way I had pictured the day going.....Dan and my dad had set up the swing set so that we could send all the kids outdoors to play and run around. Instead they played and ran around my house. We ended up having close friends and family here and a total of 12 children. We made broccoli and potato salad some yummy dips and the plan was to grill chicken.....about 10 minutes into grilling we ran out of propane in our little tank and we have yet to hook up our new grill to the main propane line......so we ended up having to bake it. Again not how I had pictured it, but at least Dan didn't have to stand outside in his rain gear anymore lol!!

The kids had a blast playing up in the girl's room and the adults seemed to enjoy eating and chatting. Charlotte got a few new toys....thankfully not very many.....we are trying to downsize on the toys. Maddie napped for nearly the whole party, she was so tired from her cousins visiting she was out for almost 3 hours.....we had to wake her up for the cake. Charlotte liked the cake, but was actually very dainty with it. I remember Maddie smearing her first birthday cake all over her face and head and then needing a bath when she was done. Charlotte ate a little, and turned the cake upside down, but she didn't really make much of a mess. We had enough potato salad left over to last for a year, and we still have cake in the fridge.

All in all it was a lovely day. Although I am learning that it is not nearly as relaxing and enjoyable to be the hostess at a party. I wished that I could have visited with people more and actually played with the kids, but I was too busy running around the house like a chicken with my head cut off. I look forward to having more "events" at my home, but I think from now on I'll either not serve a meal, or have it catered....yeah right! lol I'm sure that the more I host the better I will get at all the juggling involved. Enjoy the pictures of Charlotte eating cake.....I realize there are WAY too many, but they were too cute not to post!

first of many

My Charlotte girl was familiar to me from the first moment I looked at her. And it's more than the fact that she is me through and through, my eyes, my fingernails, my stubbornness.....she is someone that I have known for my entire life. We didn't have an easy start my youngest and I but you would never guess it looking at her now. Charlotte is easy, she is happy and brave and vocal and stubborn and ornery. She loves to splash in the bathtub.....the kind of splashing that soaks me down and makes her sister want to get out. She will crawl up to you and ram her head into your leg which should tell you she wants to be picked up and she likes to rub her face on your face and in the crook of your neck. Charlotte loves baby dolls. LOVES THEM. She hugs them and kisses them and lays on top of them. She will eat anything. Seriously, anything! She could easily eat an entire watermelon if we let her! Charlotte makes known what she wants by grunting and pointing her hand. She always wants to do whatever her sister does and its fun to watch her watch Maddie and then try and duplicate it. Charlotte can say Mama, Daddy, bath tub, cracker, awake, ball, pancake, all done, and bye. She loves putting things inside of other things, like a small ball into a cup. She tries to put everything into something else. Charlotte will give you a hug if you ask her for one. Charlotte can touch her belly and her head when you ask her where they are. She always wakes up happy and smiling with all of her pacis on the floor and she hates to have her diaper changed because she doesn't want to stop playing.

I could not imagine our family without Charlotte in it! She completes us. Happy birthday sweet girl! Cheers to many many more birthdays to come.

beautiful girl

Okay, so I might be biased, but I think that Charlotte is the most beautiful baby! Her smile lights up her whole face and just melts my heart!! With the start that we got who knew that she was going to turn out to be such a sweet and happy baby. I am blessed!

Backyard pool

I don't think there is anything more fun than a backyard pool. Well, maybe sprinklers, but since we don't have those out here in NC a blow up pool will have to do. We had a kiddie pool last summer as well, but it was much smaller (if you can believe that) and I don't think that it actually made the move to our new house. The weather was hot and a little muggy while my family was in town so I bought a pool and let the hubby blow it up.....with an electric pump of course! :) the water was cold which from personal experience is a non-issue with kids. I used to swim in extremely cold water as a youngin' and most of the time you couldn't get me out! The girls spent most of the time complaining about the splashing that each one was doing (come on....we're in a pool!!) but they seemed to enjoy themselves none the less. Dan and I deflated the pool yesterday but I am going to have him blow it back up again so we can use it while he is in Denmark next week. The weather is supposed to be warm. Hooray for back yard pools!

food obsessed

My dog Henry is food obsessed. Always has been, probably always will be. He is not food aggressive.....big difference, but he is crazy bout some food and if its something other than his dog food then its mo' betta. Every time we let him in from the yard he goes directly over to Charlotte's high chair because he knows where the mess usually is! Since we moved, I have been way more relaxed on making sure the dogs are not near the kitchen table at meal times (I hate begging even if they are being good and quiet and just waiting) although they generally know better than to get too close while we are having a meal. Charlotte doesn't seem to mind having a constant companion while she eats, and she has even learned how to lean over the side of her chair and drop tasty treats down for Henry. Needless to say, you will know exactly where to find my dog when my youngest is eating a meal! And it's less clean up for the Mama! Silly.

impossible decisions

I am currently working on a photo project. I have been combing through my photos in search of 20 of my most favorite shots of the girls. I currently have about 40 for each of them. I decided to just edit all 80 of them and then decide which ones I will use after they are lovely looking, but man is it hard! I wish that I could print and hang all of the pictures that I have of my children, but with 7,148 pictures of Charlotte and 11,772 pictures of Maddie on my zippy external hard drive, there is NO way that I could have all of them. I could probably fill a couple of museums with pictures of my children alone! A bit over the top?!? Nah. I like photography, and I like my kids.....they go hand in hand and I end up with nearly 20,000 pictures of them. What am I going to do when I fill up my hard drive? lol I'll probably have to get another one. Until then, here I sit trying to make the impossible decision of what 20 photos are the best. I think I may need some help! :)

new park

Right now Maddie is wearing a clown costume and playing in her kitchen. Charlotte is in a diaper and getting in and out of her little chair right at my feet and the "Madeline" theme song is playing over and over again because the DVD ended and I am too lazy to get up and turn it off......just thought I'd give you a glimpse of my life right this second.

We had a semi busy morning this morning, but since the girls got up from their naps we have done nothing.....and its glorious! I unpacked a couple boxes in their room, we played with dress up clothes, (thus the clown outfit) watched a Madeline movie which Maddie is currently obsessed with and now they are playing with pretend food and I am blogging. I figured we have been SO busy the last few days it would be nice to just stay home this afternoon and do nothing. I was right! Have I mentioned how much I love our new house? We are up in the bonus room (which I will be calling the family room for future reference) and I have the baby gate at the top of the stairs latched so the girls just go back and forth between the family room and their bedroom playing with toys and looking at books and there is just so much space to spread out. I WILL eventually stop talking about how much I adore my house, but since it's only been a little over two weeks, you will just have to deal with hearing about it for now! lol

There is a park in our neighborhood, and not like a mile away....it's two streets away and we can walk to it. It is such a lovely park! The equipment is a little outdated but kids dont care about that kind of thing. It is wooded and shady which seems to be an old school idea since most new parks are built on totally cleared land. The creek that runs through our whole neighborhood also runs through the park and it's just a nice place to hang out. There is a shelter and picnic tables and basketball courts and tennis courts and we have a pond with ducks to feed and turtles to see. I try and take the girls every other day but sometimes we go as much as twice a day because it is so close and a good change of scenery where we can get the wiggles out at. During the early part of the day there are very few kids there, but in the afternoon when school is out and people are getting home from work there are quite a few kids for Maddie to play with. I can picture many a summer afternoon at our little park. If only we had a community pool.....I can dream can't I? :)