Pictures From Charlotte...Again

This is one of my favorite places to sleep!I got a lot of cool books for my baptism so Mom was reading me one...and I helped!Boomer is my bestest furry friend.See...he loves me!When Mom got back from Vegas we were both SUPER happy!We just couldn't stop smiling!The docotr said when I was 5 months I could start having solid food so the day after I turned 5 months old Mom and Dad gave me cereal for the first time.Here I am taking my first bite!Mmmmmm...it is so yummy and I am such a good helper.I'll have this spoon thing mastered in no time. Check out my red rash all over. Mom and Dad took me to the doctor and he said it was my body getting rid of something it didn't like but no one knew what...not even me!Mom put my hair up for the first time.But Dad liked this hat better.I was a toughie with it on! On 09-29 I FINALLY rolled over from my back to my tummy. I have been teasing Mom and Dad for MONTHS!!!Hahahaha!!!! I knew I could do it the whole time!This is the way I like to get around...I lift my bum and scooch myself right across the floor.Here I am with Dad...he is so cool!

I love my Daddy!We got all bundled up to go for a walk when the weather got cool.

When we got back we were both tuckered out...phew.Check out how long my hairs are getting.

I like to play with this block from my Grandma Joy.

Here is one of my Halloween shirts. My skeleton glows in the dark...oooo...scary!

I practically did a back bend out of my chair to grab this section of the paper.

I love playing in my exersaucer/walker.

Look at me...I grabbed my feet. They make great chew toys!No matter how many time Mom sat me up I just kept sliding over and hanging out.

All decked out for Halloween!Yep, I'm a little pumpkin!And I am almost always all smiles!

Check out my hair...I am getting to be such a big girl!

And I love looking at Odie Dog!Mom and Dad decided I could move on from rice so now I get oatmeal cereal too. I think I like the oatmeal better! So tasty!

Our 23 Week Old Family

Jim's friend Dude was over to watch football (09/27) so we had him snap this of us. My jeans are filthy from being in the sand at my photo shoot but not a bad picture. As you can see, the living room looks a bit different. We (FINALLY-according to Jim) got an LCD television to go up in our living room. With having Charlotte now we just didn't have enough room but I still wasn't really wanting one because we only had one wall for it to go on. Then Jim decided we could get it to go above the fireplace so at that point I was game. We talked about this the Sunday of Labor Day weekend and that Tuesday he bought the TV. Men certainly jump on it when it involves a TV!

My condition was that we needed a new softer rug for Char Char to play on so we got one picked out and it looks fantastic! It is a magnet for pet hair but worth it for as good as it makes the room look. We were able to move the couch out from in front of the window, moved out the armoire (which we now need to sell if you know anyone in the market) and the room looks FAR larger! Now I have a whole wall to decorate but I am still deciding what to do. I'll keep you posted!

Wicked Weekend

Jim got us tickets for our anniversary for Wicked!!! So we headed there on Friday night (Sep. 25th) and my Mom came in town to babysit for us. The show was so so so amazing! I wasn't sure how it would be because I had read the book and let's just say it was weird at best, however the show was AWESOME!!! I am so glad we had a date night and that Charlotte was so well taken care of. Here are some pictures my Mom took while watching Char Char.

My Mom thought it was too funny that she had all the toys, threw them all down, and played with the strap on her chair. (Ariana your blanket is a staple in our house, it has been since the day you gave it to me. Jim and I argue over who gets to use it and now Charlotte is getting to use it too! Thanks for an amazing gift, I have always loved it!)

My Mom stayed for the weekend and we all got to hang out. Saturday I had a photo shoot for a little girl's 1st brithday and it went great. You can see the pics on my website (http://www.mandymariephotography.com/).

Before I headed out we had some breakfast and Charlotte was very interested in Jim's chocolate milk. She didn't have any of course, but she certainly tried.

When I got home from my shoot I made home made pizza for all of us. I get the crusts from the deli section at a local grocery store so they are perfect. The same real crusts they sell their pizzas on. I made bbq chicken, all meat (for Jim), and pepperoni. I love the bbq chicken one and it is SO easy! That night we went to church and then went shopping a bit and got home late. Sunday we pretty much hung around most of the morning. My Mom and I went and had a nice lunch together and ran an errand before we headed back so she could get ready to go and I had another photo shoot to do. I took pictures of a friend of mine who is expecting and her husband down at Raccoon River Beach. I am slowly but surely getting those gone through and they should be on the website soon. All in all it was a great weekend.

22 Week Family

Taken on Sunday, September 20th. Charlotte turned 5 months old the day before! Hard to believe. We are sporting our Vegas shirts and bibs. Dorky? You betcha!

Viva Las Vegas!

Finally I am getting around to posting this. I started it quite awhile ago but life is busy as we all know. Two weeks ago I had the opportunity to head to Vegas with a few friends I studied in China with. We rarely all get to get together at the same time so we were pretty pumped to all see each other again.

Lenore had some airline vouchers she needed to use so our round trip tickets were dirt cheap ($59 for Lenore and I, $5 for Melissa!!). Lenore and I headed out on Wednesday afternoon...I had to get one last picture with my girl before leaving her for a few days!We stayed at the Trump Hotel. It is pretty new and we pricelined a room for $130 a night. We were there for 3 nights, there were 3 of us so that meant we had one dirt cheap vacation! The trump was very nice, it doesn't have a casino or anything so if you are going and looking for something to have a good time but also a little peace and quiet this is the place.Thursday was just Lenore and I. Melissa didn't get in until that night. We both were away from our little ones for the first time so we spent the morning relaxing. That afternoon we went shopping-where we pretty much only bought stuff for our little ones. And that evening we headed out to downtown Las Vegas to enjoy Fremont Street. Fremont Street was an absolute blast. By far my favorite part of Vegas. We gambled a bit and I just couldn't resist this Wizard of Oz slot machine! We spent the entire evening having a ball down there. This is maybe my favorite picture of the trip...I mean seriously...we even match!Thursday night Melissa got in pretty late so we all stayed up talking and catching up. We planned to go to the pool the next morning because the pool deck was awesome and I LOVE to swim! We had a fantastic time enjoying the hot sun and the cool pool.After breakfast down by the pool we got ready for our day. We planned on heading to the strip and making our way down. Here we are just getting started on our journey. We are by Treasure Island.Inside Caesar's Palace posing with some costumed folk. I definitely got the hot one...haha! You could completely get lost inside the places...they are so huge! It was a hotel, mall, casino, convention complex, gardens, grounds and more. We felt like we had walked MILES and came out 1/2 a block down the street! Here Melissa and I are outside Caesar's Palace and across from Paris. Probably my favorite thing of the day was heading down to the famous Las Vegas sign. We bought a bus pass and hopped on because we definitely needed a break from walking. We knew if we rode it to the end we would find the sign and sure enough we did! What a blast! I forgot to put the picture of all 3 of us by the sign but it will have to wait until another day because I have got to get this posted already!We took the bus back and encountered a fight between the bus driver and a lady who wanted her and her son to ride with out paying. The driver told her she had to get off if she wasn't going to pay or wait in line like everyone else...she responds by saying "you don't tell me what to do." in a spanish accent. She told him "If I find money, then I pay you, if not...oh well!". It just kept escalating and we all had a good laugh. Her poor son must have been so embarrassed. When we got off we spent some time visiting the M&M shop.The shop had a background for picture so here we all are.Before we knew it it was dark and the city has a whole different look at night. It was very fun.We went up in the Eiffel Tower. The view was pretty nice and we got to watch the Bellagio fountains from in the air.When we left Paris we decided to head across the street to see the fountains up close. Melissa was so jealous of our pics with Elvis from the night before she had to get our picture taken with this Elvis. He was creepy and made her pay him (which I get...it's his job, but he is one crappy Elvis!). We did get to watch the fountains and they were awesome. If I think of it later I will post a video.We BARELY made it back to the hotel our feet hurt so stinking bad but all in all it was a great trip. I hated to leave my friends but I was MORE THAN READY to get back to my girl and my husband too!!! Saying good-bye to Vegas....

I have to say, my husband was totally awesome while I was gone. He texted me all kinds of pictures of Charlotte and kept me all up to date on what she was doing. He made sure to call and let me know all about her days and even in the middle of the night he would text me to let me know she was breathing (a small obsession of mine). He was amazing. He then also greeted me at the airport with Charlotte, a welcome home balloon, and flowers. Yep...he's pretty cool.