Aunt Kathy's Visit - A Week of Fun :)

We love when Aunt Kathy comes to visit us. She isn't high maintenance, doesn't care about going and seeing all of the sights of Charleston, she just wants to hang out and spend time with us. It was so helpful to have this particular week because we had Open Houses two Sundays in a row. It was awesome having someone here to watch Charlotte while I cleaned, laundered, and did yard work. Mowing isn't very easy when you have a 13 month old trying to run into the road. Now I see why alot of people higher young boys to mow their lawn :)

But we had a full week! Charlotte and Aunt Kathy were buddies. They played together all day everyday. They played with dolls, took long walks everyday in the tricycle, they played outside, went to the park, read lots of books, and talked to Max...alot. Here are some random pictures of the week. Two of the ones I liked won't upload so I am going to try them in the next post.

Charlotte has started to really love her dolls. She carries them around, rocks them, feeds them, pats their backs, and shares them with other people.

She thought it was funny to press her face up to the patio door and make faces. Naturally, I thought it was hilarious and kept encouraging her to do it.

Aunt Kathy has MULTIPLE videos of her crawling in and out of the cat door on her Ipad. That Ipad with the camera came in so handy the week that she was here. She took tons of videos to take back to Illinois for family to see what a week with Charlotte is like. She even skyped with a few people on it. Charlotte LOVED that Ipad...now Aunt Kathy sees why our Ipad is hidden.

Before Christmas she didn't have a single doll, after Christmas she had 5. But this way we have them spread throughout the house. Speaking of babies, Aunt Kathy was able to go to the ultrasound with me and see the baby. Everything is right on target. He/she looks perfect. My friend Nicole babysat Charlotte. Charlotte loves going to Nicole's house :) It was a good day!

Her shirt is covered up here but it says "My Auntie Rocks" (courtesy of Aunt Bare)

On the Friday of the week Aunt Kathy was here, I went about my merry way. I went and had an eye appt and got some new glasses. I look very intellectual in them... they are wire rimmed. I got them done at Lenscrafters so they'd be done in an hour. I had to sign a second mortgage in order to do get them but I guess it was worth it. My eye sight had worsened since my last trip to the eye doctor. I also made a trip to Target and did a few other things. It was nice not having to fight with my kiddo while I did these things :)

After a day of being at the park, and going on walks and eating tons of fruit snacks, Aunt Kathy and Charlotte needed a nap.

After her nap, we went outside and played in the sprinkler. Charlotte LOVED the sprinkler....even if she didn't spend much time in it.

She found a golfball in our yard... it was the same golfball the IDIOT teenage neighbors hit at our house... the same one that struck outside of her bedroom window, the same one that requred me to call the cops and notify them. Well, she found it... and thought it was allllllher.

She's so busy and thoughtful.

"Here mom!"

A key part to Aunt Kathy and Charlotte's time together was walks. They walked everywhere!!!

...and they looked so cool doing it!!!

Max sometimes feels left out so I took a snapshot of him. Love this cat. He's so cool.

He even let Aunt Kathy KIND OF pet him.

AND they are OFF!!

The week went by way too fast. We had a great system all week long. Like I said before, Aunt Kathy was an amazing help. It helped me to realize how much I love my family and really wish we were closer... soon we will be there. Charlotte loved all of the one on one attention from her. Aunt Kathy and I were exhausted and in bed every night by 10 or 11 pm.

It was a perfect week!

Aunt Kathy's Visit - Day at the Beach

Aunt Kathy came to visit Charlotte, Max, and I for 8 days! We picked her up from the airport on Sunday March 11, 2012. She got in at noon and we had to rush home, finish getting the house ready for the Open House, then we headed to lunch at California Dreaming... YUMMM. The Open House went well... however, no one has bought it yet so I guess it didn't go perfect :) But that's alright...it was our first real exposure.

We had a such a great with Aunt Kathy! We went to Sullivan's Island one day. Goose was working on a tooth so she wasn't in as beachy of a mood as what we would have liked, but that's ok. We still had a great time :)

Digging in the sand with Great Aunt Kathy

 Our sweet little set up... needless to say we didn't really use the chairs at all. I mean, who actually gets to SIT down and just hang out when you have a 13 month old running around.

Love this picture.

Beach baby.

Where the ocean meets the sky...

Walking, walking, walking

Naturally there were "dog dogs" everywhere. She made friends with one... well, she thought they were friends. The dog just gave her his butt.

She loved that water. After this she took a nose dive in there.

Althought the pacifier kind of ruins this picture, still love this picture of my pretty baby on the beach.

Time for a nap...

We spent a good hour and a half on the beach talking about the birds, the water, the dogs, trying to avoid eating the sand, the shells, the sticks. She was exhausted by the time we got in the car...however, she did NOT sleep on the way back to the house. Shocking :)

We continued to have an amazing week... our week with Aunt Kathy is to be continued...

Charlotte finally got to see her daddy!!

So Alex left to move to Columbus, GA on February 9, 2012. We met up with him in Greenville, SC on March 8, 2012. He had drill that weekend on Saturday and Sunday in Greenville so Charlotte and I drove up to meet him for a family day the day before his drill weekend. It's 3 hours closer for us to do this rather than drive to Columbus. So we got a hotel room at the Embassy Suites and we sat and waited for Alex to get there.

Finally a few minutes after 8, he pulled into the parking lot of the hotel. We met him downstairs so that he could help get a few of the heavy things out of the car. Charlotte didn't quite know what to think when she saw him. It's like she knew who he was but she didn't think he was real. She went right to him and just looked at his face and studied him. She had this closed mouth smile going on the entire time. After about 30 minutes, she started talking to him and started showing him her toys. She was showing off and walking all over the place for him.

The next morning Charlotte woke us up BRIGHT and EARLY at 6am. You could tell Alex doesn't normally have to get up that early...and he thought maybe she would go back to sleep... HAHA.

So we got up and went to breakfast at the "free" breakfast downstairs. Charlotte was in LOVE with the waterfalls and the fish. When she was crabby and all else failed, show her the water...or the "wah wah".

Completely enamored  by the water.

She really thought she was so cool when she tried to look over the side of the balcony.

She thought she was even cooler when she walked down the hallway all by herself.

I chose a hotel with an indoor pool so her and daddy could swim swim swim.

Even though the water LOOKED warm, it was a bit chilly. Alex minded, Charlotte didn't.

This little trick used to scare her... she loves it now.

Another trick...feeling the water on the back of her head when she leaned back. She looooved the pool. She was so cute in it!

After pool time, we got ready and went a ran a few errands. Alex got his mullet turned into the classic Marine Corps haircut. We then went and purchased Charlotte's big girl carseat. Yes, she is still in her infant carrier. We weighed her while we were at the store but she wasn't 20 lbs so I just told Alex we would leave her in the carrier until she reached that weight... It seems like it'll be forever before 20 lbs.

Then we went out to lunch :) Wow she does not like to sit still.

After lunch, a nap, and a few more errands, we went outside to play on the grassy knoll... or whatever it was. Charlotte LOVED it.

She showed off for Daddy a bit.

She climbed on the big white chairs.

Daddy threw her and threw her and threw her...

She laughed and laughed and laughed.

How cute is this picture of her????

Mommy even handed the camera over for a few minutes... yes, that's me. No, it's not a buffalo...they don't have thumbs.

Since we worked up a thirst playing, we went and enjoyed the "free" Happy Hour. Charlotte included... They are drive each other to drink.... Kidding...

More pool time after dinner!!!

They were tasting the water. I should have taken pictures of the other fine specimen swimming around in the water. No one else would have drank the water if they had seen who else was swimming in this pool. Gross.

Alex was teaching her a bit about swimming. That expression is her "thinking" face."

After swimming, it was shower and bedtime. Alex had to leave the hotel the next morning at 6 am. When his alarm went off at 5:30, Charlotte sat straight up in bed like she was ready to take on the world :) "Goodbye" was pretty sad. We are used to him being away once a month, but we are used to seeing him just ONE DAY in a month.

The only good part of her being up that early was that she slept from the time we left Greenville until we reached North Charleston. That part was perfection :) I got a fairly quiet ride, even though I was exhausted.

Thirteen Months Old

Date: March 8, 2012

Weight: We hope more than last month :)

Height: Maybe taller than last month???

Teeth:  Our little lovebug has FOUR whole teeth!! Her top two teeth have finally started coming in. The top right front tooth started appearing on February 17th-ish and she started cutting the left front tooth on February 24th. Four whole teeth!! Who knew??

Clothes: Our little petite lady is still wearing anything from 6 months to 12 months. Some of her 12 month clothes look a bit like bag lady clothes on her... they hang a bit :) But some of her 6 month clothes are going to be getting a bit too short for her torso. Her little feet aren't growing all that fast :) We keep buying size 3 and have even had her wear a few size four shoes. She's taking after her daddy with her small feet... not after her momma (my feet are ginormous. I could ski on them without using ski's.)

Naps: We are finally starting to get somewhere with our naps. She is still requiring a morning nap that usually lasts about 45 minutes. She usually takes it between 2 and 3 hours after she wakes up. To let me know she is ready for the nap, she climbs up into my lap and buries her head into my neck. So sweet... I still rock her for her naps. Crying it out when the sun is up is just not option...she will NOT sleep if that is the way we have to do it. For her afternoon nap, she usually lays down somewhere between 2 and 3 and sleeps for an hour or 2...depending on how busy her day has been. She is doing much better.

Sleeping: Charlotte is doing SO MUCH better at sleeping! I usually let her drink her bottle then rock her for 5 minutes (I actually look at my clock to make sure it's exactly five minutes) and then put her in her bed on her belly. I then rub her back for a song or 2, depending on how awake she is. I then walk out of the room and wait for her to scream... usually she just lets out one yell or none at all. She then almost always sleeps through the night!! I'm so proud of her :) FINALLY. We finally have a system... the sad part is the bottle is going to have to be eliminated VERY soon :( Then we have to start all over on an execution.

Health: Charlotte continues to be healthy as a horse. When we were back in Illinois, she did have quite a runny nose but it turns out it was because of her teething. Once her tooth popped through on February 25th, her runny nose stopped. We have proudly had her eczema mostly under control... a few little patches here and there.

Food: Our little eater... this child eats ALL DAY LONG. She gets up and right away she is ready for her juice and some dry cereal while she watches Chuggington, Barney, or Mickey. She then has toast, a waffle, bagel and some sort of fruit for breakfast. After her nap she usually has some whole milk/formula in a bottle and crackers or more cereal. For lunch she has anything from mac-n-cheese to chicken fingers to deli meat. She usually has an afternoon bottle sometime before or after her nap. But after her nap she must always have a snack... crackers, applesauce, yogurt, cookies, just something while she walks around and talks to Max and tells me stories. For dinner she has either whatever I am having or the same types of things that she had for lunch. Night time always includes a bottle. The bottle will be stopped as soon as this last can of formula is done. She doesn't mind whole milk but she will NOT drink it or formula out of a sippy cup. We shall continue to work on this. She prefers to do a lot of eating while she's walking around playing. Somedays I just let her do whatever... as long as she eats. She's such a peanut, I just want her to pack on the pounds. When we do occasionally go out to eat, Charlotte prefers places that we don't have to wait on a waitor or waitress... like East Bay Deli, Jason's Deli, Mccallisters, Chik-Fil-A. You know :)

On the Move: It's so crazy to think our little princess is a walker. She had been taking steps for a few months... a few random steps unassisted here and there. BUT on February 21st, while packing for Illinois, I look up and she was just walking toward me from the doorway of my room! I picked her up and screamed and jumped up and down and danced!! She kept doing that off and on. I was kind of worried she wouldn't keep it up because we were going to be traveling all the next day to Illinois. BUT she did keep doing it...and loved showing off her new walking skills for everyone in Illinois. Her daddy finally got to see her walk two and a half weeks later and at that point she wasn't crawling very much at all! She's on the move and into everything!! 

Playtime:  Charlotte still loves all of her books. LOVES them! She can say "buu" (book) and she brings them to you to read... although she doesn't really want you to take the time to read them bc she likes to just turn the pages. She is obsessed with Max and yelling "MAAA" while shaking his treats and offering him canned food. She is loving the cabinets and taking everything out of them. Her curiosity is ever increasing as she is able to move more and more. She still loves the outside and we've been trying to go on walks more that the weather is getting so much warmer and now that I am hoping to be out of the sick part of the pregnancy. She takes her stethoscope and brings it to you for you to listen to her heart. She places the end of the stethoscope on her chest for you to hear her heart go "bum bum". She now recognizes Grandpa Weber and calls him "Papa" in pictures, in person, and on Skype. She's started saying words like "hot", "woof woof", "shoes", "juice", "bah bah" (bottle), "waa waa" (water), "ish" (fish) and so many more. I could go on and on with this crazy kid...

Friends and Events: Charlotte got to meet so many more new important people in her life... She met baby Eliza Elliot, baby Adam Wayne Weber, and she met baby Parker Midgett. All of these sweet little ones will be in her life for a very long time and she will be great friends with all of them :) She loves babies so she was so excited to see all of them. She got to have a few playdates with Gavin. She was able to play with her cousins Mitchell and Carter when we went to Illinois and she was able to play with Mia and Dane for a few minutes in their massive play room. She was able to go on her 12th, 13th, and 14th plane rides. She saw her first snow...and ate some of the non yellow ones. We had a great month with fabulous lunch dates, play dates, and dinners with our friends that are more like family than friends...

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Each day with her is amazing. I am so blessed to be a stay at home mom with her and work with her everyday. She will continue to amaze me everyday. Happy 13 months, Charlotte :) It's going by way too fast.

Let March Begin!

As most of you know, Charlotte is a busy body. If there is something to find, she will find it. If there is something small enough to fit in a one year old's mouth, she will put it in her mouth. If there is a dog within 2 miles of our house, she will hear it and yell "dog-dog".

As March started off for us, the weather was decent... a few chilly days, then a few warmer days. We spent our first few days of March heading to the park and playing around the house alot. Our trips to Illinois always exhaust us so we knew we needed to stay around the house for a few days.

We have a great park about a mile, maybe less, away. It is perfect for her bc they have a toddler area and a bigger kid area. One rule for us is that we aren't allowed to go there after 2 pm. I don't really like older kids and I hate the way they bug the little kids. We stay away from them.

She is beginning to like the swing. It has taken some work and some time but we are getting there.

This beginning of March is also when she started grinding her teeth. See previous picture. I mean, who grind THREE TEETH????

I'm a big girl!!

Why ride when you can push it????

She loves to mess with dirt and stuff. This is the hole she digs on the side of the front porch. She loves loves loves to make a mess here. It looks like a dog has been digging in our flower bed!

Since we'd been outside for a few minutes, she needed to check her phone to make sure she didn't have missed calls.

And how amazing is this toy????? There are BUTTONS on it AND they make noise when you push them.

Ever so curious.. she probably tried to take a bit out of the tree after this.