Make that "and baby makes FOUR..."

Baby Baker due September 9th!

Wow... that was a lot a snow!

Hello 2010!! In with a bang! I love snow - but wow! I know, I know... this is nothing for you Northerners who see this as "a few flurries." Well - it was a large amount of snow for me - and this is my blog - so I will call it "a lot of snow", aka 11 inches.

We had a mini snowstorm last week that brought the city to a screeching halt. Not just because of snow - but there was a lot of ice involved as well. So, schools were out, work was closed, and we were home bound. Charlotte likes the snow and thinks it looks neat, but (no thanks to us) she still doesn't have "real" snow clothes.

Snow clothes or not, she was bundled up and out the door to help daddy make a snowman. The snow was not "good packing snow" so the task of a snowman proved difficult. So - instead we get a snowman head.

We tried to teach her how to make snow angels

But - all she wanted to do was play with her daddy in the snow. Boy, does she love her daddy.

See how I found them after putting on some dry clothes? Worn out! One asleep and the other in a daze. Half eaten cupcake (our snow day treat) in hand and 101 Dalmatians on TV. The snow days weren't so bad, come to think of it.

The 'Ol Stomping Grounds...

We took a quick trip to Charleston a couple weeks ago. We were attending a surprise party for our dear friend Jake, but also had a cookout in the old neighborhood and got to stay with Charlotte's godparents as well. It was a great visit - things are a bit different these days with all the kids running around! But, Charlotte had a blast, Wes got to play golf with some buddies, and we all loved seeing our 'ol stomping grounds!

cookout friday night... thanks James and Suzie!

charlotte and her older man, conley. see you at the beach conley!
sweet eliza.

charlotte and eliza eating a big girl lunch at rue de jean.

charlotte with her godmother, liz and eliza.
charlotte and our godson jack playing at the party after their date night at chic-fil-a.
birthday boy jake and robyn
ending the night with a story.

Tap Tap & Twirl

"Dance Class!!" A common phrase now heard in our house... "Dance Class!" Yep - Charlotte has been enrolled in dance class! She has had two classes already and can't stop talking about it! The classes are one hour long and split up in 15 minute intervals (as to keep the attention). Ballet, Tap, Jazz and Tumbling! Ballet and tumbling have definitely been her favorites, but each class has been different. She is adjusting pretty well - sometimes she wants mommy in there to watch and sometimes she doesn't. She likes to twirl across the room during ballet and she likes the back bends in tumbling. But - the hit has been when they dance to The Little Mermaid song during Jazz. She loves that part!

Here she is on day one!

Who Cares How Cold It Is?!

Wes and MM were very excited to hear that Ashley (Wes's sister) gave us tickets to the Winter Classic hockey game in Boston on New Years Day as a Christmas present! We packed up our bags (not too many - so we didn't have to pay to check one!) and dropped Charlotte off at Magi and Poppos and we were off to Boston! Ashley and Perry (her NEW fiance!) joined us up there on New Years Eve and we rang in 2010 Boston style!

New Years Day was the game... and this just wasn't any ol' game. This was the Flyers and the Bruins on FENWAY! Yeah... they put an ice rink on Fenway Park! It was incredible! Drop Kick Murphys performed, James Taylor sang the National anthem, a stealth bomber did a fly-by, and the Bruins won in overtime!!! Crazy day of fun!





After the excitement of the game day festivities - we took in Boston for the next couple days as true tourists! Wes and MM's anniversary is January 3th, so we were lucky enough to stay through then and celebrate. We went to Cambridge - tooled around Harvard, went to the Sam Adams brewery, and did the whole Freedom trail on foot... just to mention a few things! We came home on the 4th and while we loved Boston we missed our little girl! I think she was happy to see us -- I think she grew while we were gone!

Wow, Slacker Mom.

Sorry about that... I seem to have forgotten how to post things on this blog! Good thing it wasn't my new years resolution to post more often. Fail! Back on board now though... just had to get through the holidays and get back to the real world.

Our holidays were great, but quite the whirlwind! We started off by an early Christmas celebration with Aunt Ashley in Alabama! Charlotte had a wonderful time - and loved knowing that Ashley would color with her any time she asked! Then the holidays were in full swing here in NC with Christmas Eve in Lenoir with the whole Sticklen clan! Then off to the Baker side for the final visit of the night. We had to get home and get ready for Santa! Charlotte really "got" the whole Santa thing this year... wanted to see him, left him cookies, tracked him on the computer, and even had an email from him! Good thing she was a good girl this year! Sure enough, Santa did show up and he was good to the whole family!! Christmas day was full of family as we hosted Christmas lunch at our house for Wes's family. A house full of out of town guests with a fried turkey in the driveway... can that get any better?!

The day after Christmas, the Jackson Family began their festivities! 26th at Magi and Poppo's house for Christmas brunch 9and more fried turkey!), 27th at Alan and Suzannes house, and the 28th at our house! There was an extra special treat this year since Brian and Laura were in NC from Oregon for the holidays! So fun to have them celebrate with us! I am especially glad they were here to witness my mad skills in the "item slashing" Wii competition! Undefeated!!!

Enjoy just a few of the favorite holiday pics...

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.