Summer photo dump

More catching up to do. The following are a bunch of pictures taken over the summer in our new home. It was a great, great summer. We were sad to have our summer end but it's been a fantastic fall thus far! 

We have a swing set in our backyard and Charlotte is in heaven playing on it! We spent at least an hour most days outside playing on the swing set. 

Future Olympian anyone?

One very hot, humid morning Charlotte wanted to take a few toys on a walk but refused to wear any other shoe beside her pink, snow boots. Just looking at his picture makes me sweat. And yes, she is still in pajamas in this picture. It was only 9:00 a.m., at least it was lunch time right?

We still take "Normal Baby" most places we go. Charlotte also loves to pretend to be a doctor like her dad. I think it's sweet. I will say she definitely does have her dad's good memory. Maybe  she will be a doctor someday. ;)

We were sad to not have access to Grandma and Grandpa's pool this summer so we had to make due. One day it was so hot and both Charlotte and I were bored so I filled up her mini pool with water and bubbles. I have to say this one of my better ideas. She loved it and it entertained her for quite some time! We'll be doing this again next summer. 

Seeing the Red's Stadium downtown. 

My little bug is getting so big. 

One rainy day I took Charlotte to Recreation Outlet. Recreation Outlet is a store that sells playground sets, trampolines, sports equipment etc. Tues, Wed, Thursday mornings from about 9-11 they have free play where you can play on their equipment for free!!!! Charlotte was in HEAVEN! We will be doing this again and again especially during winter. 

We spent many a days joining our friends at their townhouse complex swimming pool. And of course we couldn't go swimming without our heart sunglasses that we got for free at the local library. Too bad they broke the first day we got them. Charlotte still talks about it. 

The Cincinnati Zoo is top notch. We love this place and it's so nice having a pass! We can go and spend as much time or as little time there and get our money's worth. The zoo has a fantastic petting zoo where kids can go brush the animals fur, feed them and pet the animals. Charlotte loves it. We went a number of times over the summer and it never got old. 

Charlotte helping her dad mow the lawn. 

Since someone was so distraught over her heart sunglasses breaking, I caved and bought her some real sunglasses at Gap kids. I'll be honest, she looks so darling in them. Charlotte loves wearing them in the car when we are out and about and luckily they are still in tact and haven't broken yet! Charlotte also loves listening to her "phone", aka my ipod. I'll be honest, I was getting so sick of listening to Lion King EVERY, EVERY time we got in the car, I finally decided to download it onto my ipod so Charlotte could listen to it in the car. Now everyone wins in the car! 

Another, hot humid morning, both Charlotte and I were bored and getting ansy. I was looking through my pinterest boards and saw the idea for Charlotte to "wash" one of her cars. Genuis. I grabbed the sidewalk chalk and let the girl go to town getting her car dirty. She used chalk, mud, leaves, you name it to dirty up her little firetruck. Then I gave Charlotte a spray bottle and let her "wash" her car. She loved it and actually did a pretty good job cleaning it up. Another pinterest win!  

We bought Charlotte a Strider bike over the summer. Not sure I'm sold on this bike yet. I think it will be next summer by the time Charlotte is really comfortable in it, but she was excited about it and is beginning to get the idea of balance. How cute does she look in that helmet? So darling. 

Another pinterest win, shooting marbles down a pool noodle. Charlotte and I sat on her bunk bed and put marbles in her pool noodle trying to get them to drop into different bowls. It was a little tricker than I thought it would be, but this was another great activity that Charlotte really enjoyed that we could do together. Perfect for those little fingers. 

Charlotte's grandma Carol made her day when she sent her a package of princess necessities. As soon as we opened the package Charlotte could not wait to put on the princess attire. She looks like true royalty in that get up if you ask me. 

More pictures playing on the swing set. 

One the side of the swing set in a mini climbing wall. I'm proud to say Charlotte can climb up the wall all by herself. She is one brave, strong cookie. 

Anderson Days Carnival. I love/hate carnivals. They are so fun, and entertaining but money suckers. Everything is such a rip off and so dang expensive. We were suckers and told Charlotte she could choose one ride to go on. Even though the ride probably lasted less than 30 seconds, Charlotte loved it and it was worth the money to have her and Mike go on it. 

So as you can see it was an excellent summer. Cincinnati has so many fun things to offer. It's a very family friendly city, which we have loved. I'm already excited for next summer, now knowing all of the fun things we can do!

Saying goodbye

Back tracking again....

It was so hard saying goodbye to friends and family before we left. We loved our four years in Utah and were so sad to leave everyone behind. We tried to make the most out of the crazy, busy month before we left. It was such a whirlwind trying to squeeze in so many last get togethers but I'm so glad we did! 

Saying goodbye to my sweet Grandma Rada. She is 90 and looking great! 

Last family dinner at Grandma Wynn's house. 

Charlotte just getting dirty playing in the mud and sand with the boys. Love that my bug is willing to get a little dirty! 

Hanging out on the lawn with cousins. I love my cousins so much. We had a great time sitting around, laughing and talking. 

Lunch with Grandma Wynn and more cousins.

I love my Grandma Wynn so much. If there is anyone I could be like on this earth it would be my Grandma Wynn. You will not find a nicer, more charitable, quick witted woman on this earth. She took a bunch of us girl cousins out to lunch before my cousin Camille left for her mission and before I left for Cincinnati. Love all these women! 

 One of my friends from HS husband's (did that make any sense?) opened a restaurant in Provo and I thought it would be fun to go try his food with all my girls before I left. The food was amazing and I love spending time with my girls. There haven't been too many girls I have met since that I have felt so comfortable and so at home with as these girls. I miss seeing them often and getting together for dinner. 

PS You must go try Cubby's!! It's so good and worth the drive to Provo! 

We had a BBQ at our house with my family before we left. So great to hang out, laugh and eat good food. I miss being so close to family. 

 My parents. True gems.

Mom and sisters. We of course miss Mandy so much. No family get together is ever the same without her. 

No party or family gathering is complete with a homemade sign made by one of us. It's the small details of a party that matter. ;)

Hanging out with the Walkers. Charlotte loves her Walker cousins so much. Swimming with them was the best. Her cousins are always so good to play with her and include her in all they do. She still talks about swimming with her cousins. 

 Little hot tubbing with the boys. What could be better?

 Riding the law mower with Papa Steve. 

Love that Papa Steve. 

Emily was so kind to take Charlotte for a day so my mom and I could pack my house! It was so helpful of Emily to spend time with Charlotte. I know they both loved their day of fun together, however I was not too thrilled with how they spent their time. ....

Sure looks like it was a good read though. I guess I can't complain, she is "reading" and I was able to get a ton done that day! 

Saying goodbye to our sweet, little home. So many great memories there. We were so lucky to sell that house. Makes me sad to know we will never be going back and living there again but I'm glad the home went to a nice family. 

And then there was this goodbye the morning we left. I'm not even going to go there with this post. Sad, sad, sad goodbye. 

Saying goodbye to all of our loved ones was tough, but we've loved our adventures here in Cincinnati so far. We've felt so at home and so loved by all we've met. Although we truly are enjoying our time here in Cincinnati, I'm excited to visit Utah next summer. ;)

The worst fall and kite flying

Back tracking....

May 2012

Charlotte had one of her worst falls to date. It was horrible. Mike, Charlotte and I were on walk in our neighborhood, enjoying a peaceful night. Charlotte was wearing a little pair of yellow capris we had recently bought. We were walking along, Charlotte put her little hands in her pockets and both Mike and I had the thought to tell Charlotte to take her hands out of her pockets when all of the sudden we hear the worst sound ever. Charlotte smacking her face on the sidewalk. With her hands being in her pockets she couldn't stop herself from falling and she totally face planted into the sidewalk. Pretty sure all three of us started crying. Blood was everywhere.  Mike picked her up and we walked/ran home as quickly as we could. After cleaning her up and calling a few people, we decided she didn't need stitches. Phew. Poor girl. She had those scrapes for a loooonnnng time. Lesson learned: listen to those little voices in your head! 

The end of May had a cold, rainy, windy night. We decided to make the most out of the gloomy Saturday night and fly a kite. I'm not sure who loved it more, Mike or Charlotte. Actually I'm pretty sure Mike enjoyed it more, he would not stop talking about different techniques and new kites he wanted to try next time. :)

Perfect way to spend what could have been a cold, dreary night! 

32 weeks

 

         32 weeks pregnant with Baby Walker #2    32 weeks pregnant with Charlotte

Hooray! 32 weeks along. Again about the same size. Went to the doctor this week and my belly is measuring right on track. Phew. Always a relief. 

A little less than 8 weeks to go since if all goes well, we are planning on being induced Nov. 29th, that way my husband can be sure to be there for the actual delivery. Gotta love being on call and the work schedule of a first year fellow. 
I feel ok. I'm so much more uncomfortable this pregnancy than I remember feeling with Charlotte. I can't be in one position, whether standing, sitting, even laying down before I get this stabbing pain underneath my rib. I had it with Charlotte too, I just don't remember it being so painful and having it so often. 
Still having horrible heartburn even with taking Pepcid AC, so I'll be trying a stronger heartburn med this week. Cross your fingers it works, I can't take any more Tums at 3:30 a.m.! 
Still running about three times a week, riding my spin bike and pushing Charlotte in the BOB for walks. It feels so good to exercise. I'm determined to make it another 4/5 weeks before I stop running. We'll see, I may have unrealistic expectations on that one. 
Still no name for the babus. We have three names that we like but I don't think we'll be able to decide until our lovey is actually here, we've held her and seen her. 
Baby room is not set up. I'm working on some projects to pull it all together but we still have a ways to go! I'm starting to panic a little bit, I need to get in gear and put it all together! 
Every day we get more and more excited for this baby to arrive! Can't wait to meet her, hold her and see what she looks like! 

Santa Fe

A catch up post! 

From September 8, 2011-September 1, 2012 all of my High School friends turned 30. (Yes, I am now thirty, it happened a month ago and it's a whole other post of it's own! Someday!)  Since so many of us are spread across the country, we thought it would be fun to meet up somewhere and have a girl's trip. We had talked about it for a long time, and to be honest I wasn't sure it would ever actually happen, but it DID and it was a blast. 

We met up in Santa Fe, April 2012. Out of our 15 friends, nine of us were able to make it.  Pretty impressive if you ask me. We had such a good time together. There's nothing like being with my HS friends. They know me so well, and we've been through so much together. Even though we don't all see each other often it was easy to pick up right where we left off as if time hadn't passed. 

Most of our trip was surrounded by food of course. It's what us girls do best.

Our first night together. So fun to be reunited. We overstayed our welcome at the restaurant, were probably too loud, and annoyed everyone else eating there, but we wouldn't have it any other way. Once we all get together the talking and laughing is nonstop. 

Santa Fe was quite an adventure. Most of us had never been there before so there was lots to explore. Half of our friends went to a spa and got pampered and the rest of us headed out to the "mountains" for some hiking/running adventure.  

 Another day we hit up downtown Santa Fe. The shops in downtown range from tacky souvenir stores to high end clothing store. Such a strange mix but something for everyone I guess.

All my pretty friends. I love them. 

 My darling friend Liz, lives in Washington D.C. and is part of a house swap group. She generously offered her house to a stranger and we stayed at that strangers house in Santa Fe. It was quite an experience. The house was full of over the top, random art pieces. I've never seen anything like it. One late night we went a little crazy and decided to mimic some of the art pieces in the house. I hadn't laughed that hard in a long time. We may or may not have even had a contest to see who could recreate an art piece best. Yes, it was slightly immature and to our husbands not really funny but it was refreshing to be young and silly again without any responsibilities.

Other highlights of the trip included,

more good food,

staying up waayyyy too late talking and laughing,

my one and only time throwing up this pregnancy happened the last morning of the trip, my poor friends took such good care of me that morning, it was a rough one

shopping,

reminiscing over memories, and

talking about husbands and kids.

Even though our lives are so different, we are spread across the country, some working, some stay at home moms, we had no problem falling back into the rolls we played in HS. It was one of the best weekends to date and a trip that I will never forget. I love these girls so much and treasure my friendship with each of them. And of course I have to thank Mike and my mother in law for helping with Charlotte so I could escape for a few days. I'm the luckiest girl out!

Thanks friends for an amazing trip! How about when we turn 35? Where to next? I'm up for anything!

Dance! Dance! Dance!

Taken after Charlotte's first dance class. She looks so little. One of my favorite pictures by far.

Back in the beginning of January 2012 Charlotte began a dance class. She was one of the youngest in the class, kids usually don't start taking this class until they are three, but since the teacher is my darling sister in law's mom, she allowed Charlotte to take the class. Miss Margene's dance class is amazing. I love the philosophy of their studio. It's all about teaching children about movement, coordination and body awareness. It's not some studio that has my little girl, dress inappropriately, teach her risky moves to perform in 

front of an audience. They teach children HOW to dance not JUST A DANCE. Make sense? 

Anyway, I love Miss Margene. She is heaven sent and made my Charlotte feel special and loved each time she walked into the classroom. I could not have asked for a better, first experience of dance. I'm just so heartbroken we've moved away and Charlotte can't continue taking dance there. Maybe in three years we will move back to Utah and baby girl number two will have the chance to take the class. I hope! I hope! 

Now to be honest, Charlotte did not take to the class right away. Being so young and being such a momma's girl, I was in class with her every week doing all the moves. But once again because Miss Margene is absolutely wonderful, so in tune with children's needs and wants her class to be a positive experience, she allowed me to come to every class and participate so Charlotte had a good experience. 

Charlotte was so timid and shy at first and literally would not get off my lap to begin with. But week by week she warmed up and started to really enjoy class. 

Ellee on the left, Charlotte on the right

One of the best perks of the class was Charlotte's cousin Ellee was in the class too. Having Ellee there helped Charlotte feel more comfortable and cute Ellee was always so nice to Charlotte.

The dance class lasted from January to the studio's big spring performance in June. This performance is a big deal! I wasn't sure I even wanted Charlotte to be in the performance. I was still going to class with her every week, and although she was doing the dancing on her own, she still wanted me in class by her side! I thought there was no way I was going to get on stage with her, and I didn't think she would go on stage and dance without me. I felt torn to be honest. Luckily after talking to my sister in law Tracee who also teaches at the studio, she said she would go on stage with Charlotte if she needed to, so Charlotte could participate. That put me right at ease knowing Charlotte would be taken care of. 

The first night of the big performance came. (It's a two night show. I told you it was a big deal!) Charlotte was all dressed and ready to go. I'm not sure who was more nervous. Charlotte or me? Probably me. 

Charlotte and her cousin Ellee. 

Charlotte putting the moves on her other cousin Derek. She loves him. 

Mike took Charlotte back stage when it was her classes' turn to perform. They found Charlotte's aunt Tracee and waited to go on. I sat so nervously. The music started and all these darling three and four year olds came bouncing onto the stage. I waited and waiting and all of the sudden my sweet Charlotte came onto the stage, the last of the class, with even a smile on her face! She was glowing as she did her thing. She may or may not have actually performance the routine they had practiced, but she was up on the stage dancing and smiling! I was shocked and amazed. Honestly, it was a humbling moment for me as a parent. I knew Charlotte was capable of performing but I did have my doubts just because she is so shy and timid. Shame on me!! Charlotte was awesome and exceeded my expectations!

Luckily the second night of the performance my talented, beautiful, older sister came and was able to take some amazing pictures of my bug. 

Waiting for her turn on the stage. After such a successful performance the night before, Charlotte could not wait to get on stage again. 

Waiting with her aunt Tracee for her turn to go on stage. Tracee is such a gem. 

On the stage doing her thing. Look at that face? So happy.

 I had no idea my shy, timid girl could be such a performer!

I can't get enough of these pictures. 

Now she had learned a routine, of skipping, jumping, sliding and turning that they had practiced and practiced and practiced. But all my darling daughter did was the skipping part. Once she started skipping around her circle on the ground, the skipping didn't stop. It was hilarious and endearing. I couldn't have cared one bit that she didn't do the whole routine like the other little girls. I was just so pleased she had been brave, gone on stage by herself, and was having the time of her life. It was one of the most rewarding moments as a parent thus far. 

It was a good lesson for me as a parent. When she first started taking dance, and was not enjoying it, I thought about just quitting. I wasn't sure it was worth the fight and struggle. She cried each week and I did not want to force her into something she just didn't want to do. I'm finding as a parent it's such a fine line between pushing and encouraging your kids to be their best and forcing them to be something they are not! In end, after seeing her so happy on stage, and actually having her ask for another turn, made me realize it was worth taking the class. Taking dance totally pushed both Charlotte and me out of our comfort zones. There were days that were hard, emotional and frustrating but I learned that's part of the process of accomplishing something greater! I'm so pleased with how this experience turned out for Charlotte. Who knows maybe we'll have a little dancer in our family. 

Third trimester here we come!

Well we are officially in the third trimester of pregnancy and I can't believe it! 

This pregnancy is flying! I'm pretty sure when I was this far along with Charlotte, her room was all set up and ready to go. Yeah, we are not anywhere near being ready for baby girl #2. I'm actually starting to panic thinking that this babus will be here in less than three months. Don't get me wrong, I'm so excited for her to come, every time she moves I get butterflies thinking of having another girl join our family, but I so don't feel ready! Everyone says the second baby is much easier than the first, but I don't remember a thing about newborns except they eat all the time and are super fussy at night. Oh yes, and they poop all the time. I'm hoping and crossing my fingers maternal instincts will kick in again and I'll remember how to swaddle and bathe a newborn and that is truly is an easier adjustment than the first baby. 

Currently 28 weeks along               28 weeks pregnant with Charlotte

About the same size. Once again, carrying low and looking pointy. 

I feel huge all around. Why is it that my can, and thighs have to get so big during pregnancy too?

As far as pregnancy goes, this has been so similar to my pregnancy with Charlotte. I feel great, just tired and have horrible, horrible heartburn. This babus better be born with lots of hair! ;)  I'm still running and riding my spin bike. Not as often as I should (dang it! my motivation is lacking!), but I'm I feel great when I do and feel lucky my body has allowed me to exercise as long as I have. I'm not sleeping great, but I'm ok with that. It's good prep for when the baby comes right? I have the same achy, uncomfortable spot right under my right rib that I had with Charlotte. I can't sit for too long, or the ache will creep in and I get so uncomfortable. It's only on my right side and so funny it's in the exact same spot I had when I was pregnant with Charlotte. Overall things are so good with this pregnancy. Can't complain one bit!  

Now we just need to put this girl's room together!