Moving to a new blog...

So some of my loyal readers...who have probably stopped being loyal readers since I haven't posted anything since before Christmas of 2010...may be wondering what we've been up to.

I've decided to finish out the posting for 2010 on this blog, and start anew for 2011 (which i'm already quite behind on I guess).

Our new blog is http://livingthegouldlife.blogspot.com

I've made the site private for the time being, so if you are interested in following along with us on our adventures, send me a message and i'll add your email address to the authorized reader list! :)

Christmas Gatherings

As usual, we had several different Christmas gatherings this year.  We began on Christmas Eve at my brother Bill's house for a casual evening and cookout.  Then it was back to our house to set-up for Santa and his reindeer!

It was so fun to see Charlotte's reactions on Christmas morning!  She got LOTS of stuff and we had to take breaks for breakfast and just to chill in between opening sessions as she was getting a bit overwhelmed.  

Christmas afternoon and evening brought another gathering, and more presents, at Nana and Grandaddy's house!  We had a yummy Italian themed dinner.  We were all pretty exhausted by the end of such a fun day.  

Preschool Christmas Party

I love that Charlotte is in school and so we get to participate in all of these fun events!  The Christmas party at her school consisted of the kiddos singing a cute song, decorating (and of course eating) cookies, and giving the parents their special handprint ornaments.  As you can see, Charlotte had a great time.  

Christmas on the Farm

On a very cold day in December we ventured to Frying Pan Farm for a special event called Christmas on the Farm.  We were able to take a hayride around the farm, driven by Santa himself!  There were also activities for the kids to participate in - writing letters to Santa, decorating cookies, coloring cards and a puppet show.  Charlotte was able to relay her request for a big girl dollhouse to Santa, who asked, "one story or two."  She didn't quite get it :)  

Santa

Charlotte had an excellent experience with Santa this year!  She was excited to sit on his lap and tell him just what she wanted for Christmas - a pink big girl doll house.

We had a very short wait in line...

Then it was time to meet the big man!  She was all smiles... and of course her lovey Neigh Neigh was along for the adventure!

Decorating for Christmas

The weekend after Thanksgiving, we decided to get ourselves in gear and get the Christmas decorations out.  We have pre-lit artificial tree, so all we (aka Steve) have to do is bring it up from the basement, click it together and plug it in.  Brilliant!  

I dressed Charlotte up for the occasion and she was super excited to get started!

Posing with the tree pre-ornaments

And now, with ornaments!

We also have the Advent Calendar up, and it is already driving Charlotte a little crazy.  We have the Fisher Price plush Nativity version, so it is pretty cute and very tempting to want to put all of the characters on at once.  As the days have passed, she's come to understand the process more and more, so now she just gets excited to put one character on each morning before breakfast.  

It's so fun to see her excitement growing each day.  This year is going to be so much fun with her!!

School Pictures

Charlotte is only in a Mother's Day Out program, but she still gets school pictures taken!  How fun!!  I sent her to school in a cute dress and leggings.  After polling friends and family on Facebook, I also decided to do the pigtails.  The pictures turned out so cute!

I couldn't pass up any of the pictures, so I paid the full price to keep all of the sheets...no big surprise there considering my past experiences with photo studios :)  

Trip to Chapel Hill

Halloween weekend also meant a trip to Chapel Hill for a football game!  It was originally going to be a big family affair with my parents, brother and sister-in-law coming down for the game - which pitted my Tar Heels against Steve's Tribe of W&M.  By the time the weekend rolled around, it was just us three hitting the road for my Alma Mater and all time favorite town to visit!  

Charlotte was great in the car.  We arrived in the usual 4 hours, checked into the hotel, grabbed some lunch and were able to put her down for a nap.  After nap we headed over to campus for some exploring, shopping and eating.  

Charlotte posing with me on Franklin Street

Love this picture of Charlotte and her shadow strutting down Franklin Street in her new Tar Heels hat.

She went right up to the Old Well, leaned against the column and posed...a natural!

Mommy and Charlotte on the steps of South Building

And now with Daddy...

Charlotte Gould, UNC Class of 2030 (if she sticks to the 4 year plan)

Having fun with the bike racks

After some campus exploration, squirrel chasing, and a few purchases at The Student Stores, we headed back to Franklin Street for dinner.  It was hard to decide where to go since we only had a limited time in town and I missed all my old places.  We settled on Pepper's Pizza which had moved to a different and larger location.  Then, we just HAD to check out the new Krispy Kreme, which apparently has ice cream that Charlotte enjoyed.  Then to really pack in the excitement, we went to The Yogurt Pump so I could get my oreo yogurt.  After our eating adventures we headed back to the hotel.  

Charlotte got to experience her first shower before bed, as the hotel didn't have bathtubs!  She did awesome and really loved it.  We got her in bed, and were not too far behind ourselves after such a busy day.  

The next day brought more excitement - a hotel breakfast, exploring the local stores, getting dolled up for the football game and meeting my college friend Crystal, her husband David and their adorable son Joshua for Tar Heel town and the game.   We decided to skip nap since kickoff was at 3:30 and sometimes Charlotte ends up being in a better mood without a nap than if we wake her up early from a nap.  It ended up being a good decision.  

Charlotte enjoyed exploring the Pope Box where our seats were, she also really loved sitting outside in our seats and watching all of the festivities.  She sat nicely in my lap for nearly the whole game, and eventually fell asleep during the 4th quarter.  It was touch and go for a while, but the Tar Heels pulled out the win!  

After the game, we drove straight to Gumby's pizza so we could get Pokey Stix (can you tell this trip kinda revolved around food?!).  We called from the stadium and picked them up on our way back to the hotel.  Had to stop at Wendy's for Charlotte's nuggets too.  :)  After a late dinner, and another shower for Charlotte, she was sleeping peacefully in the pack n play...again, we weren't far behind!  

Halloween

We started our Halloween fun this year with a party at Charlotte's friend Grayson's house!  Jen had the place decorated so spookily (is that even a word?!), and the food was awesome!!  Everyone contributed something really fun to the event.

The food and decor -

The guests - 

The fun - decorating cupcakes, ghost bowling, pumpkin decorating, a costume parade and trick-or-treat practice! 

Then it was time for the real deal - Halloween night!  Well, a few days and a trip to Chapel Hill were thrown in between, but for the sake of saving blog space...

Charlotte was excited to get dressed up in her owl costume for trick-or-treating.  After dinner we got her, and ourselves as cowboy and black cat, all set and we headed out.  It was getting a little chilly and windy, so we didn't go too far and only hit up 3 houses plus the community center for some treats.  Nana and Grandaddy met us while we were trick-or-treating so they could see Charlotte in her super cute costume!  Charlotte got to enjoy one treat - M&M's - before heading off to bed!