ABC's

So I guess Charlotte has heard the ABC song enough times from us and on Elmo's World that she thinks she has it down...at least the first few letters anyway. Please excuse my annoying voice on the video...bleh, I hate my voice on recordings!!

Reston Town Center

Since it was supposed to be a nice day we planned to head out to Reston Town Center for lunch and frozen yogurt. After church we went back home, changed, re-packed the diaper bag and headed out with our friend Kathleen. We went to Rio Grande for lunch and actually sat outside. I don't think I have ever wanted to eat outside in the month of July before because it is usually ridiculously hot and humid, but today was a totally different story. It was beautiful...not too hot and a nice breeze! We had a yummy lunch, Charlotte got to people (and bird) watch, then we took a stroll around the center. Kathleen had fun pushing Charlotte around in her stroller and we were joking that she was our Au Pair :) We checked out the menus of a few restaurants and made plans to come back soon!!

After a lap around some of the newer parts of the center, we walked back up to take a look at the fountain in the "old school" part. Then, it was time for our treat! We went to a place called Yogen Fruz - the latest craze in frozen confections...tart yogurt with interesting toppings. I first discovered this type of yogurt at Pinkberry in CA. I had yogurt with fruity pebbles on top! I wasn't a huge fan of Pinkberry but this was not as tart and very yummy. They also have regular vanilla and chocolate yogurt that you can get blended with different kinds of fruit. We sat outside to eat our treat while Charlotte looked on. She didn't seem too interested but we gave her a bite just to see what she would think. Here is the result -



She also had a similar reaction to trying Kat's blueberry/vanilla yogurt and had the stain on her shirt to prove it. Steve and I are wondering if this memory will stick and every time we are eating ice cream/frozen yogurt she won't want any. Wishful thinking I guess :)

Overall it was a great day and we're glad we got to spend time with Kathleen (aka Helga, our Au Pair) :)

Mommy Group

We had mommy group at our house this week! We were excited to welcome Becky and Kylee this time around...it had been a long while since we had spent time with them. I was able to get a few cute pictures during the day and decided to test out the collage feature in Picasa instead of posting separate pictures. We'll see how this works...

Why wear clothes...

when playing in just a diaper is so much fun! After our 4th of July photo session we were going to change Charlotte out of her dress for a nap. She was pretty squirmy, so we just let her hang out in her diaper for a while...




And here are just some other cute pics from the past few weeks...



Taking a bite of a yummy Nilla wafer

Wonder if the whole thing will fit?

A real mouth full

Now that Mommy and Daddy have iPhones, I get to have this super cool pink iPod right?

Keeping a close eye on Peyton the Cat

Silly smile

Alright, back to eating!

You again?

4th of July

This was Charlotte's 2nd Fourth of July, but the first one that we really celebrated. I think it was raining last year, plus she was still a little one then so we didn't venture out too much. A week or so before the holiday I realized that I didn't have a red, white and blue ensemble for her to wear...gasp!! So, I headed out to the old standby for inexpensive holiday wear - Old Navy. I was able to find a dress-up outfit as well as a casual outfit for the special day.

We had plans to attend a BBQ at our friend Will's house later in the day, but while we were still at home we decided to take Charlotte outside on the deck to take a few pictures.

A few pictures with our pretty dress on


Outside...so we must have our matching hat on!


Maybe I don't want this hat...

Visiting with our neighbor who showed Charlotte her pretty necklace

All smiles...




Before we went over to the BBQ we made a quick stop at Chris and Sarah's house for a visit. My parents were over for an impromptu get together so we were able to visit with them too.

Madeline, Mom and Charlotte

Classic Madeline

Steve taking a picture of Madeline taking a picture

Charlotte with Nana and Granddaddy

Chillin

Gabriel playing

It finally happened (take 2)

So the last time I named a post "It finally happened" it was about Charlotte crawling. This time it is about a totally different "first" - a cat bite!! Now that Charlotte is mobile and can pull herself up on chairs (among other things), she can more easily sneak up on Peyton the Cat. He was resting on "his chair" in Charlotte's play room and she was interested in taking a closer look. I was standing by and Steve was taking pictures of their interactions. She really wants to pet him, and for the most part she is very gentle with him. She put her hand in his face and this particular time he just didn't want it to be there. He did a quick snake-like strike and bit her chubby little arm. It didn't break the skin, just little tooth indentations. She fussed for just a moment and was over it...and still likes to get up in his face. I wonder what the future of their relationship will hold?

Here I come, Mr. Kitty!

He is pretty silly looking

Hmmm... he is staring at my hand

CHOMP (we momentarily felt like bad parents for actually having photographic evidence of this, but rest assured that I was right behind Charlotte and grabbed her immediately when I say the cat lunge at her)

I'm so traumatized...for about a minute

Pool time!

For Mommy group this week we decided to head to the pool. After we got all the kids, and ourselves, fed we began the exhausting process of getting them ready for this adventure. I wish I had taken video of this part of the day. It was pretty funny trying to get all the kids in their swim diapers and sunscreen, especially since everyone is crawling now and could easily escape. Eventually we were all ready and headed over to the pool. We went in and found a nice table with an umbrella. And as we were getting ready to get into the pool the lifeguards blew the whistle indicating it was time for all kids to get out of the pool for adult swim. Sheesh!! All that work to get over here and we can't even get in yet?!?! So, we began our adventure in the baby pool. All of the kids seemed to really enjoy the water and we all had a great time.

Dressed and ready for an adventure

Underwater ruffles!

Charlotte chillin in the baby pool


Time for a snack...or a rest as the case was for the boys!





Charlotte in her cover-up ready to head home after a fun time with her friends at the pool!