Stuff to be Thankful for.

Turkey Lurkey!

Look who stopped by on Thanksgiving day at our house!

All I want for Christmas...

Just being a girl.

Well, there's not too much going on right now. We are staying busy -- work, play, family time -- but its about to be non-stop!! Its the Holiday season and the Bakers are always on the go! We'll be in Hickory/Newton/Lenoir for Thanksgiving then we go to Alabama for an early Christmas celebration and back to Hky/Newton/Lenoir for Christmas week festivities.

Since we don't have too much new stuff to show off, I thought I'd give up an update of Charlotte's favorite things... we haven't done that in a while!

- Princesses. Ariel (The Little Mermaid) to be specific. She can name all the Disney princesses, but the red-headed "Nernaid" is her favorite!
- Dresses. The girl wants to wear a "pretty dress" (as she calls it) all the time!
- stickers and band-aids. She like band-aids with pictures and sticker books where she moves the stickers from one page to the next!
- Daddy.
- dancing/singing/music
- Daddy.
- Daddy.

Happy To You!

Its been quite the busy week... Pumpkins, Halloween, Time Change and Mommy's Birthday!

We picked out some pumpkins at the patch... well, we played in the pumpkin patch, then took some home. Charlotte was a little upset hen we had to leave. I mean, who wouldn't be? I field of pumpkins? She ran the whole time saying, "punkins! punkins! punkins! punkins!"



As you can see - Charlotte was "Lil' Miss Baker" for Halloween... and was a hit! I kinda have a feeling this may be the last year we as parents actually get to pick her costume, so I took advantage of the opportunity. She has a little sweet tooth - so Halloween is right up her alley! Friday, we came to trick or treat at The Jackson Group and then hit up the Candy Crawl in downtown Hickory. Such a great option for kids... plus it rained cats & dogs Saturday, so going out would not have been a good option!





Sunday was MM's birthday -- and instead of greeting me with "Happy Birthday" she said it in true Charlotte style... "Happy To You Mommy!"

We are lucky there have been no sleep adjustments with the time change... knock on wood. Charlotte doesn't really like being woken up these days, as she will let you know by putting her face in the pillow and saying, "No Mommy! No!". She'd much rather get up by her own free will! That's my girl!

Enjoy!

Soldier Down!

We survived our first "toddler catastrophe" this past week! We have been very lucky to not have to experience ER's, stitches, casts, major illness or anything like that...*knock on wood*, however, this past Friday, Charlotte shut her finger in a door at school. I (MM) missed a call from Charlotte's school while I was at work. The call said she was standing in line and somehow stuck her finger in the hinge side of the door where someone was entering. They said it looks pretty bad and the door shut completely, and Charlotte is pretty upset -- you need to call us back asap. I called back not 2 minutes later and the lady answered and said, "Um, yeah - I thought Charlotte was pretty upset, but we gave her a band aid and a sucker and she seems fine". Faker.

They suggested we bring over some Motrin anyway in case the pain came on stronger. So, we did and she survived the day. When I picked her up that afternoon, I walked in the room and she said, "Mommy mommy look!" as she held her heavily bandaged finger in the air. I said, "I heard about that... what happened?" Charlotte said, "C'mon Mommy... look" as she pulled me in the hallway to show me the scene of the incident. She pointed out the exact door where it happened and held her finger up to the hinge. I said, "We don't put our fingers in the door do we? That hurts!" She replied... "Charlotte funny!!". "No - no, Charlotte not funny" I had to say as I giggled on the inside.

So, things are fine now. The finger is healing nicely. It did look pretty gnarly there for a while. A little black and blue + pinched at the nail, but daily care has paid off! She has been great with it and loves helping with the "boo boo medicine". Here are a couple shots of the "bandaged wound". As you can see - she doesn't look too upset. Sorry for the poor quality - these are on my camera phone.

Stay tuned for new Fall/Halloween pictures!!!!

LRU Homecoming 2009

Its that time of year again... Homecoming! Its not just getting together with friends from college -- its a family reunion! Check out Sara's blog for the LR Family Tree. The newest branch on the LR tree is Elizabeth, Wes's cousin. Her dad and grandparents went to LR as well - so we had family coming at us from both sides this year! It was great to see everyone and to have all the out-of-towners in Hickory! I didn't take that many pics this year - but here are a few from the fabulous weekend!

Wes, Charlotte and Wes's mom Nancy, aka - Nana.

Charlotte checking out the parade

Hanging out with the campus bear

climbing trees with all her cousins

Charlotte and her babysitter Kyra, who was crowned Homecoming Queen! Way to go Kyra!

The Girl is Good.

In case you can't tell what this is - its a daily progress report I get from Charlotte's school every afternoon I pick her up. It lists things like amount of nap time, what they had to eat, activities, needs, mood for the day, etc. As you can see - it also lists the amount and type of diaper changes. There are these little codes they use for the "type" of diaper or potty it is. D=Dry, W=Wet, BM=(you all know), T=Tried, P=Potty.

Take note of Charlottes...
P/D = went on the potty and had a dry pull-up!
P/D = again!
WTP = Wet pull-up, tried to potty
P/W = Went on the potty and had a wet diaper

She is getting there! She favors the "big potty" over her little plastic one. Hey, whatever works, right? She is doing so well!

Outta Bed You Bunny Head.

As I got ready for work the other morning, I never heard a sound from Charlotte - assuming she was still asleep. As I grabbed my phone off the charger and put it in my pocket, I walked in to her room. Much to my surprise - this is what I found! Thank goodness I had my phone (with camera) close by!

These are bunny ears she was given last Easter. They typically stay on her big stuffed bear - and he sits on the bookshelf next to her bed. So, I walk in the room, see her sitting pretty with the ears on, and almost fell over from laughing so hard. She began to laugh as well and said one of her famous catch phrases... "Charlotte funny!"

Noodle Bling.

We spent a rainy day Saturday making some jewelry. We dyed the noodles with food coloring then dried them and added other gems from the bead jar. Charlotte picked out the order of the "jewels" and has been wearing her necklace and matching (sort of) bracelet every where!

"Stay Fern. I read to."

The above was stated by Charlotte this weekend.

A week or so in pictures.

leaving work to the sound of a sax.

our nephew Alex, asleep after game night.

car occupants after school drop off.

Charlotte picked out an outfit for herself.

MM volunteering at the golf tourney. In the rain.

sleeping beauty.

Movin' On Up...

May I have your attention please?! We now have a Big Girl in the house... sleeping in a big girl bed to prove it! Check out the new bed! Well, new to Charlotte... the bed was actually Mary-Margaret's, and MM's grandmothers before that (Mary Virginia), and her grandmothers bed before that (Mary Lattimore). Yep - that makes the bed over 150 years old! As far as I can see, I (MM) am the only one who scratched their initials on the foot board. Whoops. Well, adds character, right? Anywho -

Charlotte had outgrown the crib and is such a good sleeper, we felt it was time to make the switch. We don't have bedding yet (just sheets) and we will be changing the room decor a bit once the new bedding is here - but we just couldn't stand it any longer... she needed some room to sleep! So, up it went - and she kept saying, "Dig gurl bed!" (= big girl bed) as Daddy put it together. The bed is a 3/4 bed, meaning it is in between a twin and a full. So, there is plenty of room for Charlotte and her babies.

It has been a total success! She moved into the bed Sunday night - and every morning since, we have had to wake her up for school!! I guess she is just so comfy! She hasn't tried to get out or get up in the middle of the night... just sleeping! *knock on wood* I'll post new pics once the room decor and bedding is updated!

It's a beautiful day in Hickory, NC

She's in to everything...

This little girl of ours -- redbird to the grandparents, goose to mommy, pumpkin to daddy, Charlotte to you -- is quite the little lady. She is something. A fan of reading time before bed, stickers on her hands, band-aids on her legs, crayons, baby dolls, choo choo trains, games, dancing, singing, and all around play time. She is in to everything! As you can see below, she has to have glasses now when riding in the car. Since her girl glasses were broken on the way to the beach over summer, she just has to have Mommy's glasses. I think a new pair may be in order for her this weekend... Mommy's gonna go blind. She also also manages to find Daddy's hat wherever he leaves it. She never puts it on the correct way... always bill backwards. She must just be that cool.

So, here are some pictures of her "in to everything"!!

"in to daddy's hats"

"in to the water table"... literally.

"in to mommy's glasses"

"in to playgrounds"

"in to games"

Go Charlotte! Go Bears!

We helped the LRU Bears kick off their season by attending an alumni tailgate before the game last weekend. Charlotte loved throwing and catching the football with her Daddy, Uncle Al, and cousins! She may be a natural! See how Daddy taught her to stand "ready to catch"? Too cute!

Goin' to the Lodge... Great Wolf Lodge...

Several Jackson Family members recently took a trip to the Great Wolf Lodge in Concord, NC for the night! What fun! It felt like a real lodge and the indoor water park was a kid's (and kid at heart) dream!! Buckets of water falling on you, Howling Tornado water slide, wave pool, toddler zone, good food, evening storytime shows, nice rooms, arcade, and woodland creatures everywhere - how could you not have fun!? Charlotte loved loved loved the whole place! She went down slides, rode the waves, and conquered splashing!

We made a quick visit to Mama J on the way...


Then off to the Lodge!

This is how we roll...

It seems we can't go anywhere just the three of us these days! We are almost always joined my one or several members of Charlotte's "crew". There is Winnie-Pooh, Dora, Darby, Baby (1), Baby (2), and Baby (3), Eeyore, Doggie, or Elmo. It's exhausting deciding which one will come with her, which goes in the doll crib, who sits in Charlotte's bed, which baby is hungry, who wants to be rocked, and how in the world she is going to carry them all in one arm full! Charlotte will make a great mommy one day!



As you can see -- Dora, Baby (#2), and Winnie-Pooh made the cut this day for the car ride to school. When we get to school Charlotte kisses them all and tells them night-night while placing them in the floorboard. Since that is obviously what they do all day while she is at school and we are at work - sleep in the floorboard.

In this picture, MM says, "Charlotte - say cheeeese". Charlotte says, "Baby, Dora, Pooh... say cheese". Aren't they all so photogenic?