Sweet sleepers.

This is how we found the girls after a night with the babysitter. Hey, I don't blame her... don't wake a sleeping baby, right?

Charlottes favorite thing to do... On the weekends Wes and Charlotte curl up on the couch before bed and usually watch a Scooby Doo movie - this is what happens on BUSY weekends!

Sully and Sleepovers

Thought I should do a little update on Sullivan in the format like I used to do for Charlotte... "What's Sullivan Up To"?

Sullivan loves:

- Charlotte

- Fern

- her tupperware container full of uncooked pasta

- pulling up on things

- splashing in the bath

- food.

- being in the middle of everything

She is a super fast crawler and while she is not walking yet, she is close. She pulls up on anything and everything and will walk along that object. She has a sweet giggle that usually comes out most for Charlotte. She will follow her sister anywhere and is a pretty good listener when told "no". She points at things a lot and is extremely curious. She has 4 teeth and is eating a lot of table food. She likes things that are tomato-based the best (spaghetti, lasagna, etc). She is almost 11 months old and I think she will be so happy to be a year old! Front facing, whole milk, and no bottles! We call her Cricket - 'cause if you are remotely close to her she likes to rub on you constantly. Like a little crickets legs. Oh, sweet Sully... you make us smile!

Also - just 'cause its super cute... here are some fun pics from when Magi and Poppo invited Charlotte over for a sleep over with the boy cousins (Alex and Nicholas were staying there while their parents had plans). So, instead of just a sleep over, why not go to Monkey Joe's too! Yay! Thanks Magi and Poppo! Charlotte had so much fun being part of the "big kids"!

Whew... Birthday Part 4

Annnnd, then there was her ACTUAL birthday. Yep... Her birthday was a Sunday and the festivities took place Friday and Saturday. Thank goodness the Birthday Fairy (sort of like Santa, and has the same standards) remembered where she lived... cause she got a new bean bag chair and a bike! 6:45 am and Charlotte is in her (new) pajamas riding her new bike on the road! What an amazing birthday! She has already been asking when she turn 5.... yikes!

And Part 2 & 3... party day!

After what was already an awesome birthday at the Zoo, came the parties! We had a princess tea party at Madison Tate's in downtown Hickory, the perfect girly-party spot! There is dress up, craft time, make up, hair glitter, nail painting, snacks/cake, balloons and glitter galore! Words don't even describe how cool it was. We had an "all-girls" party, so all the female family members (in town) could come and some of her school and dance class friends as well! We didn't tell Charlotte until a few hours before the party - with good reason -- she didn't stop asking if it was time to go for those hours! Check out these princesses and their kingdom for the day!

As if that wasn't enough... if you have an all-girls party, you have to have a boys party too! So, we took a quick break at home after the princess tea and geared up for round 2. Dinner with the whole family at Charlottes favorite... Village Inn Pizza Parlor! Always nice to top off the day with a pizza buffet!

Happy Birthday Redbird! Part 1...

Charlotte is 4?!? Can you believe it?! I started this blog when I was pregnant with her - it seems like yesterday. Such a little lady, so smart, funny, and a joy to be around. We are so lucky! This year her birthday turned into kind of a big deal. Aunt Ashley and Uncle Perry came to visit for the occasion - which is a big deal in itself! But -- even bigger... they wanted to take her to the zoo! So, Ash, Perry, Charlotte, and Wes played hookie from work/school that Friday and off they went! MM had to work - so I enjoyed text messages and photos throughout the day. They had a blast! It was hot -- but they stayed hydrated and shaded as best they could. All the animals Charlotte had been asking about were there (plus more!). I have a feeling that gift may be hard to top!

Whoops.

Here I am... apologizing again for no posts. Sorry 'bout that. But, holy smokes the days are just flying by! Can you believe its August!? Heres a few posts to catch you up on us!

We went to the beach for the 4th of July with our good friends The Steeds. Their two kids Conley and Chandler are close enough to each of our girls ages for everyone to get along great and really have fun! Its a whole new ballgame on beach trips when the kids can actually "play" and enjoy themselves! I can only imagine how fun its going to be when Sullivan is even more in the mix! There was putt putt, ice cream, pool time, sand castles, and late night dominoes on the porch for the adults! Here are some fun pics of the whole gang having fun!

Tap tap tappin'!

It was that time of year again... dance recital! Charlotte absolutely loves dance. She likes the music, the twirling, the costumes... pretty much everything about it. This being her second year in dance she wasn't the youngest in her class or the "least experienced". So - recital time was very exciting to talk about, because she knew what was in store. The costumes were super cute and despite all the "mommy stress" that goes in to recital time, Charlotte knew nothing of it and enjoyed every single second. I could really tell how she had grown up since last year with how she handled herself back stage. She was showing ME where to go! She has also made some really good friends through dance. A few girls that have been together these past two years. Even though none of them will go to the same school come kindergarden, they don't seem to care!

Recital night was a hit! The girls did great and Charlotte was a star. Wearing make-up was probably the highlight... but what a great time she has on stage!

Tap costume (dancing to "Hey Baby")

Jazz costume (dancing to "Alvin Rocks")

Ballet number (dancing to "Sweet Dreams")


killing time before the next number - ring around the rosie, of course.

She's a Star!

30 Seconds of Silly

All this took was about 30 seconds -- I just kept snapping as the girls looked at the camera on my phone. This is common silly-ness around our house!

Refreshing!

What a refreshing trip we had to the beach. Just the four of us - Memorial Day weekend - perfect weather... ahhh. We decided at the last minute to hit the road the night before we had originally planned. Because, hey, why not? So, we made our way to North Myrtle starting about 8pm. Made for a long night - but we basically had another whole day at the beach! So worth it. The girls slept most the way and were raring to go in the morning! We played in the sand, dabbled in the ocean, and swam in the pool day in and day out! A full 3 days was amazing.

Charlotte is quite the little water-bug. "I wanna go to the poooool..." was heard at least 67 times a day. This year was no swimmies - only the inflated princess ring. She was all over that pool! Sullivan liked the beach for the sand - to play and eat - and liked the pool for strolling along. She got a little swim boat that she sits in and wades around. Perfect! I see lots of water in our future.

Charlotte made lots of friends at the condo too. One day Charlotte and Sullivan and I were coming up from the pool and in the elevator a family of three sees us and said, "Oh, hi Charlotte!". Well, I had never met them - but Charlotte apparently had. Never figured that one out. Each day at the pool was the "regular crowd" so everyone looked after each others... it was super nice. We had to take turns being in the water - cause as soon as Sully got out of the pool she would promptly fall asleep on your chest. The sun just zapped her. Too cute.

We took plenty of pics to document Sullivan's first trip to the beach. And of course we had to snap lots of pics of that ear to ear smile Charlotte had permanently glued to her face. Here's just a few...

The not so little Giants!

T-Ball season is in "full swing" and Charlotte is having a "ball"! Daddy is coaching and cousin Nick is on the team too! Wes has done an amazing job with the kids and they all seem to be having a good time and learning a lot! Not to mention the parents - who, of course, love Coach Wes too. There is no score keeping in this age division - and every one gets to hit and run - but if there was scoring, I like to think we would run away with it! Especially with some of these powerhouse hitters we have on the team! Sure makes for some nice Saturday mornings with the family!