the party

Alright. I did it. And it's a long post. Real long.

We went with the ladybug theme and went a little overboard.

But it was fun.

Her little cake to the right was made by Ben =)

The boxes to the right with her handprints were chinese takeout boxes filled with crackle cookies and thank you cards.

I had two garlands on either side of this arch filled with b/w pics of her first year.

Spells out Lotte, her nickname.

We were blessed to have so many friends come. We had some tiny friends of hers, her babysitters from last year when I worked, family friends, and some coworkers.

here is miss Abigail who is very much into bees like Charlotte is with ladybugs

darling Maizy

'Vitale' and 'Kimmerly' from school

some more friends, Auntie Julie (left) used to babysit Charlotte when I went to work

the birthday girl in her birthday shirt I made her

Andy and Rydin digging into the cookie decorating

these pjs said "i'm not sheepy" - love!

Abigail and her daddy, Trent

of course she got ladybug-themed presents like her ball above and beanie below (made by Abigail's mommy, Iuliana)

and here we come to the cake eating... it was amazing

she did exactly what you'd imagine a one year old would do with a personal cake in front of her

we were quite proud

she picked at it for a moment

and then dug right in

two fisting it

"ohhhh... I'm so full..."

"that's okay... I'll just stick it down my diaper for later"

one happy kid

that is... until we took the remains of her cake away and grabbed her to take a bath

her skin was slightly pink for the rest of the day because of all of the red food dye

* I have a video of the cake eating in action, but I haven't put it onto my computer from her camera yet.

Happy Birthday again, Charlotte!

avoidance

I'm avoiding it.

I'm avoiding blogging about her birthday party because it will take me so long.

And I haven't even uploaded Christmas break pictures onto my computer yet.

I know. I'm lame.

(this feels strange blogging about something that happened two months ago)

For Thanksgiving, we spent the holidays with our upstair's neighbors who are like our family.

Ben made an amazing turkey that he was quite proud of.

It was also the last day I pumped.

That Medela pump and I were great friends.

I bought it thinking I'd only need it here and there and when I went back to work. Boy was I wrong. I still remember waking up two times a night to pump, every three hours. all.day.long.

Then I went to school and during my lunch break I would hide away in a closet of a room to do the deed. My coworkers would laugh as I put my little pumped milk in the faculty fridge.

I brought that "little" pump with me everywhere.

Then finally after a year of pumping. I retired it. I thought I'd be a little sad and miss its companionship. But I don't. Whole milk bought from a store? Awesome.

Charlotte loooved all of the holiday fixins.

I ventured out that evening to ToysRUs for a few toys that I just had to get.

I'll never do that again.

Charlotte's first encounter with Santa. Not too impressed.

She was much more interested in his reindeer (dark creature to the left).

Erika, Theron and the two of us at our little downtown's holiday festivities.

Below is a random video of Charlotte having her first ice cream. On her birthday. She was a fan.

and we're back...

Ben and I are finally back and settling in from Christmas vacation where we went to my parent's. I actually got two full weeks with my husband.

It was awesome.

I keep avoiding blogging because I'm two months behind. I'm just going to do a little at a time.

Here is Charlotte's first 'toot' or pony. Since then she's actually grown enough hair to put in two little pig tails in the back which made me tear up.

here's her pirate grin (she had only two teeth off to the side on top and then the bottom middle two) unfortunately she's since grown the other two on top which now balances out her grill

up next... her birthday party... hopefully soon =)

Morton Arboretum

We went and played for the afternoon at a local arboretum. It was one of the last mild weeks before the cold hit.

one year old

One very short year ago this little lady joined us. I can't find the right words to express what she means to us and how she's changed our lives. She's the biggest blessing we could have hoped for. We are grateful for our Heavenly Father for entrusting her to be in our family and for Ben and I to be her parents. always.

Charlotte, we love you to the moon. and back.

Today, Charlotte and I played and played. I didn't try to get any cleaning or crafting done. I played and cuddled with her every second that I could. We went on a walk and to the park to swing. We shared a scoop of ice cream. We went and got her pictures taken. We read her Happy Birthday to You by Dr. Seuss. I think I sang "Happy Birthday" to her two dozen times. She smiled and loved the attention.

Gosh, I love this kid.

This Saturday is her big party with friends and presents.

Ladybug themed.

Of course.

enjoying the end of fall

Charlotte, her buddy Theron, and I spent the afternoon in our yard playing in the leaves. It was the simplest thing, but for some reason I had so much fun. We collected leaves, ate them, crunched them in our fingers, made leaf rubbings, and enjoyed the mild weather while it lasted.

I could not keep these leaves from entering her tiny mouth. over. and over. and over again.

But she's pretty darling so I didn't mind too much.

This kid conducted music half the time we were out there.

crunching those leaves

my view

eating leaves... again