18 (well, 18 and 3/4) months!

Charlotte had her 18 month check-up this morning. She is technically almost 19 months old now but this was the first appointment we could get! She is getting smarter about what usually goes on at the doctor's office and was hesitant about walking in the door of the exam room. She kept saying "door" and "bye bye." The nurse took care of taking all of her latest measurements. She even got to stand on the big girl scale this time instead of the little baby seat scale. Our baby is growing up! Oh, and the best part for all of us...no shots today! And we don't have another well check until she is 2 years old.

Here are Charlotte's latest stats:

Height: 33 1/4 inches (87%)
Weight: 27 pounds (85%)
Head Circumference: 48 1/2 cm (90%)

Didn't take any pictures at the doctor's office today because we were in and out so quickly (shocker!). So, i'll include some of Charlotte's Christmas pictures from Portrait Innovations that we had done last week. Enjoy!

First Snow of the Season

Along with the excitement of the Christmas tree, we also had our first snow of the season, and it was a pretty significant one. I'm thinking we ended up with about 5 inches of snow! We had a fun morning venturing out in the elements to Costco to pick up a few things, then after Charlotte's nap we got her all bundled up to go outside and play in the snow.

She seemed to really enjoy it and was sad when we had to come back inside. It was just too cold to stay out much longer!





Me: Let's do a snow angel! Charlotte: Um, no thanks!

Cute little footprints in the snow!

Christmas Tree Time

Friday night Steve and I decided to put up the Christmas tree. We have a pre-lit fake tree, so we just have to snap it together and plug it in, and voila! We didn't put any ornaments on it so Charlotte could help us the next day. When she came downstairs on Saturday morning she looked at the tree and just said "wow!" It was the perfect day to decorate the tree because we were cozy inside during our first snowstorm of the season!

Charlotte deciding the perfect spot for her ornament

Maybe down here?

No...let's try it up here! (For some reason we have 3 sock monkey ornaments, so we probably have one in each of these places)

Admiring the snowman ornament (and still holding the sock monkey ornament...one of them at least)


Every day Charlotte comes downstairs in the morning and says "wow!" or "tree!" And throughout the day she has to go to the back room and admire it. So far she has not tried to rip off any ornaments. She just points to each one and identifies what it is. There is an ornament that my parents got us after our wedding with a bride and groom and without any prompting, she points and says "mama, daddy." It is so fun to experience all of these firsts with her (even though she saw the tree last year, i'm calling this her first "real" Christmas experience).

Frying Pan Farm Park

We were lucky that Steve didn't have to work this weekend and we were able to plan a family outing. We were also extremely lucky that the weather was so nice this late in November! There are so many fun places to explore around our area, and today we decided to go to Frying Pan Farm Park. Some of Charlotte's little friends had been here before and we'd heard good things about it.

These pigs were so funny. We were standing at their outside pen looking at the mama pig when one little one walked out of the "piggy door," then another one quickly ran out, then 2 more, 4 more, 6 or 7 more after that. I guess once one went out they all thought it was a good idea! They just kept coming! We thought they might have been waiting to get fed, but when we went inside the barn and saw them again, they had plenty of food!


One of the 2 new calves born in mid October. Their names were Snickers and Reese's...so cute!

Charlotte hanging on the fence watching the horses.

Running down the road to see the rest of the animals.








After seeing all the animals, we spotted a cool playground. Charlotte wasn't too interested but it filled a few more minutes of our morning. Then, we headed down the road to Reston Town Center to stroll around and grab lunch. Charlotte enjoyed watching the ice skaters and looking at the Christmas tree. We wanted to make it home before she fell asleep, so we headed home soon after lunch. We had to do some loud music playing and foot shaking to keep her awake but it worked! Overall it was a fun day!

Black Friday

For us, the day after Thanksgiving was not for shopping, it was for visiting with friends who were in from out of town! Our friends Alison, Chris and their son Ethan were visiting Chris' family for the holiday and were able to come out to our house to play and grab lunch.

At first Charlotte and Ethan stayed on their respective sides of the room just staring at each other and clutching the leg of a nearby parent. After a while they became more comfortable and began playing...separately together. :) Ethan is a big fan of trucks, but being that our house is all about the pink and the girly right now, there wasn't a whole lot that was catching his eye. I was able to pull together a few vehicles and a puzzle with construction equipment - jackpot! I was so impressed by his ability to name all of the machines. So cute hearing a toddler say "bulldozer" and "backhoe"!


Congregating around the few wheeled objects we could find


So cute in their Gymboree sweater and cordorouy pant ensembles


Trying for a posed shot on the couch...didn't go over too well! Love Charlotte's look though.


After playtime we headed to everyone's favorite kid friendly restaurant - Red Robin! The kids were awesome during lunch and everyone enjoyed the meal. After lunch Chris, Alison and Ethan headed back to his parent's house. They had an early start the next day for their drive back to Missouri. It was great to see them and we're hoping to be able to visit them soon.

Thanksgiving 2009

Several weeks ago we thought it would be a nice idea to offer to host Thanksgiving at our house this year. Then I decided it would be a good idea to sign up for the VA Run Turkey Trot 5K the morning of Thanksgiving. Did I mention I had done ZERO training for this 5K? Anyways, I did some preparations for the Thanksgiving meal a few days ahead and recruited some family members to make things as well, so I wouldn't be too overwhelmed. Turns out, as always, we had WAY too much food! Obviously I survived the 5K, thanks in major part to my running (walking/shuffling) partner, Kathleen!

We had a relatively small group at Thanksgiving - me, Steve, Charlotte, my parents, my Aunt Jacki, Steve's Mom, Chris, Sarah, Madeline and Gabriel. We planned to eat around 4 after all the kiddos were up from naps and in good moods. Luckily Charlotte took about a 3 hour nap that day and was in good spirits when she woke up. Although she was a bit shocked because there was no one here when she went to sleep and then a whole bunch of people (including her little cousins who were playing with all of her toys) when she woke up!

Everyone enjoyed a yummy meal and my very first attempt at turkey was a success! Although I don't think i'll be attempting that too many more times - the preparation was totally grossing me out!



After dinner Madeline wanted to color, and soon both Charlotte and Gabriel wanted to join in the fun.


Steve copying Charlotte's famous smile!

A great one of Mom and Madeline

Charlotte and her latest obsession - the color yellow!

All dressed up...

and somewhere fun to go!

Charlotte's friend Landon turned 1 this month and she (and I) were invited to his birthday party. I decided to dress her up in a super cute dress I picked up down in North Carolina during the summer. We were operating on no nap, but she was a really good girl at the party and she had fun meeting lots of new friends.