A "C" party

A special someone was born on...

Which meant we had to celebrate her turning...

So what did we do?

We invited all of her cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents over for a "C" party. We ate Chili with cheese and sour Cream, chips, carrots, cucumbers, celery and some Cake for dessert. Charlotte loved all the attention. She was completely spoiled by everyone. This girl is one lucky girl to be living close to so many who love her.

Guests had to take a quiz on Charlotte's first year of life to see how well they knew her. Charlotte's aunt Katherine came in on top with 8 out of 10 correct, the grandparents came in a close second with 7 out of 10. Want to know one of the questions that really stumped people? What is Charlotte's middle name? (I was shocked people couldn't remember!) Winners were award Candy of course.

With her birthday just 4 days after Christmas (I will always feel bad that her birthday is so close to Christmas! Sorry C) she had had plenty of practice ripping the paper apart on Christmas presents a few days earlier she was pretty good at opening gifts the night of her birthday.

Look at the focus and concentration on her face in the picture above.

She is a girl who knows what she wants.

Loving the attention, loving the paper, loving the books that were wrapped up.

We had a C shaped cake for the babus. One chocolate, one yellow. Being the good eater Charlotte is we knew she would dive into her C piece of cake. And she did.

Thank you to all the family who came to celebrate our Charlotte with us!

And THANK YOU for helping us celebrate by leaving your sweet comments in the post below. She is one loved baby.

I said it once, and I'll say it again and again, I can't believe she is ONE already.

What's your most memorable birthday party?

Have you ever used freezer paper as a stencil? * It's what I used to paint on the 1 and Charlotte's birthday on her onesie.

Love throwing a party or dread it?

Do you know Charlotte's middle name?

Please share!

Christmas 2010

We had a lovely Christmas this year. Mike was on a fairly easy rotation and was able to spend most of the Christmas weekend with us. We loved experiencing Christmas with Charlotte. There is definietly something special about sharing Christmas with kids, no matter how young.

Christmas Eve was spent at the Mike's parents home. We had a delicious feast, short talent show and white elephant gift exchange between adults. I love my in laws so much. It was great to spend Christmas Eve together, although it didn't quite feel complete without Mike's sister Jamie and her family who were in Las Vegas for Christmas.

Here are some pics from the evening.

Not the most clear picture. But one of the few picture we got of Charlotte actually looking at the camera with me. She's such a busy body these days, getting her to sit still and smile isn't quite realistic.

Charlotte and her cousin Ellee. They are a year apart and already starting to be little buddies. They look like they are going to be trouble for sure.

Charlotte and her Grandma Carol.

How darling is this picture? I love it. Captures two of my favorite girls perfectly.

Mike and I got so hooked up this Christmas with White Elephants. Check out this treasure:

Mike modeling one of the amazing gifts we got.

Maybe if you're lucky it will pop back up at one of next years' Christmas parties.

Thank you Aunt Peg for the beautiful leopard hat/scarf.

It's ok if you're jealous.

Christmas Day was wonderful as well. We took our time in the morning opening presents and enjoyed watching Charlotte try to tear the paper apart.

Christmas morning in our pajama glory.

Charlotte did get excited about a few of her toys.

She loves her ball that lights up.

Look at that sweet smile and her long lashes.

After Charlotte's nap we headed over to my parents house to have brunch and open presents. The food was fabulous, I love Christmas quiche, probably too much.

The presents were thoughtful and generous.

And the company was so fun.

And even though the Lythgoes (my oldest sister Mandy and her family who live in CT) haven't come out to Utah for Christmas in years, we STILL missed them and enjoyed being able to SKYPE with them.

My two babies. Aren't they darling? Lookin good in their red.

Charlotte and her uncle Lance. She loves him.

Charlotte is really beginning to love being with her cousins (on both sides of the family).

Three little trouble makers.

Trying to get a picture of the grandkids. This was one of the best shots we got.

We headed home for Charlotte's second nap and Mike and I enjoyed a little Mario Kart and naps ourselves. We headed over to visit Mike's parents after Charlotte's nap and loved having Steve and Carol to ourselves for a bit. The night ended with my parents and Emily coming over for games. We couldn't have asked for a better Christmas.

Can you believe Christmas has already come and gone?

Are you suffering from the January blues?

Have you picked your word this year? I have, can't wait to share it! Another post, another day.

What was your best memory from Christmas this year?

Please share!

She's ONE

Call it cliche, but I can't believe my baby was born one year ago.

It's been a challenging, exhausting, joyful, emotional, exciting, wonderful year.

We've loved watching her spirited personality shine through.

It's been a joy watching her grow and learn new things.

We knew a year ago our lives would never be the same we just didn't know how much better and more fulfilled our lives would be.

We love you Charlotte and count ourselves lucky each day to be your parents.

Evolution of the perfect picture with Santa

Saturday morning we had a Christmas party with our church and a special visitor arrived. I've been so excited to get a picture of Charlotte with Santa, this being her first Christmas and all! Neither Mike or I could wait to see Charlotte's reaction. You see, she has this weird phobia of people with white hair. I'm not kidding. She cries and cries every time she sees my sweet Grandma Wynn who has brilliant, beautiful white hair. So we wondered if Santa Claus in all his white beard, long haired glory would bring out Charlotte's phobia or not.

Here's how things played out...

Mike takes Charlotte to Santa. Things are going smoothly. She's our happy little bug so far.

Charlotte usually goes easily to other people, so getting her on his lap was no big deal.

Charlotte fine and content to be held. Things seem as though they are going to be ok.

Uh oh. Checking out who's holding her. Wait for it.......

Realizing the person who is holding her has white hair, a beard and creepy tinted glasses!

All hell breaks loose.

Enough is enough! She is done being on this man's lap!

Call me mean if you want to but I laugh every time I see this picture. It's just so funny.

I secretly want to frame this picture in our house.

Is that bad?

Not to worry we didn't keep her on his lap for long.

She was back to her happy self once she was back in Mike's arms.

Classic.

**Thank you to the lovely Jen Garriott who so perfectly captured this experience for us with her fancy camera.

Do you get pictures with Santa every year?

Love or hate the pictures of crying kids with Santa?

Are you working on your list of things to do each day to bring the Christmas spirit? (I am!)

Are you sending out holiday cards this year? Are you done with them?

Please share!

Oh how I love my babies.

Simple things

I can remember a time when I thought "happiness" or "heaven" meant traveling to some exotic city, laying on a beach with a book, and stuffing myself full of food.

And while I do enjoy and look forward to traveling to some exotic place, in the months since Charlotte has joined our life, I have found a new, much more FULFILLING HAPPINESS.

I've had a couple of these moments of happiness lately that as my sister Mandy would say,

I want to LOCK IT IN.

The first one was about a month ago when Mike and I took Charlotte to a local elementary school to play on the playground. I had no idea Charlotte would love it so much.

My bug loved it all. The slide, the swings, being with her dad, and a friendly, small dog who was also enjoying the playground .

I've never seen the girl so ecstatic.

I'm sitting here smiling thinking back to that afternoon we spent at the playground.

It was blissful.

Why did we wait so long to take her to a playground?

Another noteworthy moment of happiness was over the weekend. On a whim Mike and I took Charlotte to PETCO. We just walked around showing C all of the animals for sale. May not sound like a lot of fun but it was "heaven" listening to Charlotte squeal in delight as she looked at all of the animals. She was giddy my friends. Giddy. I wish we would have had our camera with us to capture her eyes light up as she looked at the animals.

So simple but so much fun.

Other moments of happiness:

Watching the movie "Babies" while talking to my sister in CT about our babies who are only a couple of months apart.

Watching Charlotte clap. I love when babies learn how to clap.

Going for a run on a brisk fall day with Charlotte in the BOB.

Laughing with my mom and sister Katherine while helping Katherine put things together for Pretty Little Me open house.

Watching a movie on Mikes' laptop in bed together.

Laughing, laughing and laughing some more with my little sister Emily.

Sanding my dining room table with Carol, my mother in law.

SIMPLE? Yes.

But really isn't the simple way better?

Yes I still want to travel, lay on the beach and stuff myself full of food,

but for now I'll take these moments of happiness over anything.

What's making you happy these days?

Are you a dog or cat person?

Have you taken time to play on a playground lately? (If not I highly recommend it)

Do you think simple is better?

Please share!