Things She likes

Charlotte is very into anything purse like right now.  She garbs what she can, puts over her shoulder, and is on her way.

She has also become very fascinated by her belly button.  She wll lift her shirt and show you right whre it is.

Charlotte also now enjoys sleeping with her booty popped right into the air.  Funny.

And by golly we can not forget the shoes!  She is OBSESSED with shoes.  Having them on, keeping them on, getting you yours, making you put them on.  Shoes...shoes...shoes.  She gets that form her Aunt Chelsea and Aunt Barb.  Definitely.

Cubbies Again

Tonight I was shooting a wedding reception so Charlotte enjoyed a night with Jim.  Barb had some tickets to the Iowa Cubs so they went to the game.  Sounds like she had a good time.  Jim forgot the camera so no pictures of that...boo!  I was super sad that she got to watch fireworks for the first time without me there.  I hate missing stuff.

They ended up getting home after I did so she was crashed out.  Eventually she heard me and woke up which made for a very late night.  I did snap this picture of her in her bed head glory.

Father's Day

Happy Father's Day!

Charlotte is so super lucky to have such an awesome Daddy!  They love eachother to bits and he would do anything for her....I think she knows that!  This Father's Day Jim was ogled over by all of his little ones, including Odie and Petey. 

Yesterday I took the girl and the 2 boys to get their picture taken for Jim as a surprise.  It was a little nightmarish but we ended up with a couple cute ones.  Unfortunately Charlotte was in full on Mommy mode.  She absolutely would not sit without me, and after having the garage sale all day, although I had showered, I was by no means picture ready.  They were still cute though.

The dogs also picked up a pooper scooper for Jim.  Wasn't that nice of them?  Charlotte got him some books all about Daddy's and their kids to read together.  I got Jim a GPS system, but I let him pick it out and now I just need to get it.

It was a pretty good day in all.  Happy Father's Day Jim! 

Garage Sale

Yesterday we had a garage sale.  I am not sure it is ever truly worth the work.  We took off Friday hoping to have it both Friday and Saturday (fyi...I hate that the most popular garage sale day around here is Friday.  I mean seriously!). 

Well, Friday was a no-go for 2 reasons:  1-We were NOT ready!  2-It crazy stormed off and on ALL day.  At one point the sirens were even going off but it was for high winds, not a tornado.  Winds were reaching over 70 mph on a constant basis.  Um...can you imagine if we had set up the garage sale?  We definitely would have gotten rid of our stuff, we wouldn't have been sure where it flew off to, but it would have been gone!

Saturday was HOT but we managed to get it all out there.  We sure had a few crazies stop by and ended the day with way too much stuff left (and we were CHEAP!).  But over all we made about $500.  Not too bad.  Hopefully we can get the rest of the house gone through for them to begin our home repairs early August.

On a brighter note....Friday we planned a vacation!!  One of my favorite photographers (www.heidihope.com/blog) who I have been following for a couple of years is offering a workshop.  Immediately Jim and I knew I should go.  It could be a serious turning point.  What she is teaching is what to do AFTER you take the picture and I don't know WHAT she does to skin and eyes but it's GORGEOUS and I can hardly wait to learn.

Well, this workshop happens to be in Warwick, Rhode Island!!  It is in November so we are planning on taking about 7 days off of work, plus the weekends.  We are going to drive out, stopping at Niagra Falls for a day.  We will visit Cape Cod, Providence, Warwick and some other coastal towns.  The last thing we will do is attend my workshop and then head back home.  I can not wait!  So, the garage sale money began our vacation fund.  Woo hoo!!

Snack Time

Snack time at our house has definitely gotten...more costly let's say.  It generally goes like this:

First Bite: Charlotte

Second Bite: Quickest Dog/Closest Mouth

Third Bite: Subsequent Dog

All in all Charlotte is VERY fair.  She definitely distributes evenly among the canines.  Nothing like learning to share early.

Iowa Cubs!

This past weekend I took some baby photos for one of Jim's friends.  Their little guy is adorable!  He came a couple of weeks early which left them with a few extra tickets to the Iowa Cubs game for tonight.  We invited some friends of ours and had a great time.

After dinner we headed to the game.  Charlotte was a big fan of the music...and the dippin' dots!  Here she is just hanging out waiting for it to get started.

Charlotte and Kinsley had fun together as well.  Check out her cool shades.  They are only a few months a part which seems like a lot now but soon enough the will be running around together.

Backyard Swimming

After a little bit of searching this year Jim and I found the perfect kids pool for our backyard.  It was from Costco and we thought it was great, but decided to wait and make sure it was the one we wanted.  Dumb move.  We went back and it was gone.  We searched some more and eventually decided on an easy set pool that we got on a GREAT deal.

When we were setting the pool up Charlotte had a clast playing in it.  Of course we didn't exactly have her swim ready so her diaper blew up!  Seriously HUGE.  So huge the the h is silent...UGE!!!  It was hilarious to watch her try to walk around in it but she managed.  When she sat, she weeble wobbled.  HILarious.

The pool was too cold the first day so the next day (06/14) we gave it a whirl.  She loved it of course...and to be honest so did I.  I love to swim!

Testing...

This afternoon Charlotte and I went shopping and picked up a few new photography props while we were at it.  We decided to take one of them out and give it a whirl.  Not too shabby if I do say so myself!

Getting Big!

Petey is getting bigger all the time!  It is so fun to watch him grow.  He has been the best addition to our family.  Him and Charlotte are best buds.  The play and rough house and cuddle a lot. 

The drool has definitely begun...just look at that mouth and tongue...how could he NOT drool?!

On Thursday (06/10) we took him to the farmers market for the first time.  He still likes to sit on Charlotte's lap in the car.  That will end soon we hope!

The farmer's market was a good time.  Everyone loved him.  He did very well and we are glad we are able to socialize him with other people and dogs. 

My Birthday

I don't know what it is any more, but I can never remember how old I am.  Jim reminded me that I am indeed now 27.  They day wasn't too different than any other day.  I was pretty darn pumped by my gift from Jim (although I had spoiled it earlier this week).  He got me my new DSLR camera I had been wanting.  I was mere seconds away from ordering it the other night when finally he gave and told me not to because it was already supposed to arrive the next day!!! 

We headed out to dinner that evening at Rock Bottom with Jim, Charlotte, Barb and I.  Beforehand we stopped outside and tested out the new equipment.  It was fun to play with!  Here are some shots, beginning with my and Char on my big day!

Uh oh...tumble!

Mom and Daughter

Love this one!  How cute is she with her thumbs in the pockets!

The face may LOOK innocent...

God I love her!!

I can hardly wait to test out the camera and accessories Jim got me some more.  He is truly the best and the birthday wasn't too shabby either!

Labor Day Weekend

Long weekend!! YAY!!  This weekend was very much needed.  Work has been crazy for both Jim and I (and we actually both spent a good chunk of Monday working), but the rest of the weekend was great.

Saturday began with a trip down to our favorite place to be on Saturday mornings...the Downtown Des Moines Farmers Market!  The place is epic...we love it!  Here we are ready to leave the house.

It was mighty hot but we enjoyed ourselves as usual.  Charlotte chilled in the shade of her stroller and chowed down on some of Jim's freshly made doughnuts.  I, on the other hand, had my usual papusa...they are SO good, I will try to get a picture next time.

I love this picture of Jim and Charlotte.  Welcome to our Saturday morn.

We headed home and finished packing the car to head to Omaha.  We had a party to attend on Sunday for my Great Aunt Virginia's 90th birthday!  That's right...90!!  We decided to head out on Saturday and back on Sunday.

This was only Petey's 2nd long trip in the car, the first was when we brought him home.  He did pretty well, but definitely had a favorite spot...Charlotte's lap!  Pretty soon, that will not work out so hot.

After we got into town we headed over to my Aunt Linda's for a Memorial Weekend BBQ.  I managed to take only 2 pictures and this was the best one...pretty pathetic huh?  We had to change Charlotte's shirt because she threw up sour milk on the first one.  I am not sure anything stinks worse than that!  In fact, we gave her a quick bath when we first got to my Dad's and before heading out because it is just so stinky.

We changed her into her jamjams at Linda's before we left.  We got into the car at 9:14...Jim bet she would be out by 9:16, I said 9:17...Jim was right.  She did not even stir when we put her down.  After visiting outside with some of the family I came in and she was sleeping with her bum scooched up in the air.  Cracked me up!

Sunday we headed out to lunch with my Mom and Frank.  We hit up PepperJax...So yummy!!  We had a wonderful time chatting before heading to the party. Charlotte has become attached to her giraffe we got at the zoo.  She wouldn't part with it during her lunch.  I will have to add another picture that shows the giraffe better.

We all had a good time at the party.  It was supposed to be a surprise party.  My Dad and Deb did all the planning and it was fantastic.  My Dad had an announcement put in her church newsletter and asked them not to send her one so that it would be a surprise.  When my Dad was visiting her earlier in the week he said perhaps he would stop by on Sunday with Grandma and Grandpa.  She brought out the bulletin and pointed to the announcement and said "maybe you want to come about 2:00".  So much for the surprise!!

Charlotte had a great time playing with everyone... especially Sofia!  She will be one at the end of June and it is so exciting that so many cousins will all be so close in age with one another.

When we got back from the celebration she was dead tired...that's what no nap will get ya!  A ton of family came over to my Dad and Deb's to see Petey and hang out.  Very suddenly we all decided to order pizza and make an evening of it.  What a great time!

After pizza we changed Charlotte into jams and headed over to Chelsea's house.  Jim had offered to help her get Jayke's dvd player working and he had that done lickity split.  We spent the rest of the night watching the kiddos play (I think Jim may be a kiddo!)

We postponed heading home until first thing Monday morning because some nasty thunderstorms were moving through our drive area.  We finished up some work on Monday and relaxed.  Super great weekend!