Thanksgiving 2009

November 26, 2009

Another Thanksgiving has come and gone and Aaron and I have so much to be thankful for this past year. We have finally settled into New Hampshire in our new home, with our new baby. The house is still a work in progress, but we're getting there. And we have been so lucky with Charlotte - she is a very sweet, beautiful and healthy baby and we couldn't have asked for more.

We headed up to Vermont bright and early on Wednesday - we left after Charlie's morning feeding. She was up at 4:45am, I fed her while Aaron packed the car, and we were on the road at 5:45!! Doing it this way was great - Charlotte slept the entire way up there and didn't wake up until we pulled into Nanny & Papa's driveway!

Wednesday night, we hit up Shawn & Kristy's Annual Thanksgiving Eve party. It was great as always and we all had some good laughs. This year, Kristy did not try to kill me with her cocktails!! :) I had a hard time being "away" from Charlie all evening as Nanny and Papa stayed home with her. But she was a good girl and sang herself to sleep for them and stayed asleep the whole time we were gone.

For Charlotte's first Thanksgiving, she was thankful for some 'firsts' but not for others. She did not enjoy her first bath in Nanny's kitchen sink - she definitely prefers her pretty pink tub at home!
After her bath, we got her gussied up in a cute little dress from Selena that she hadn't worn yet. Nanny decided it was perfect for a mini photo-session - very cute pictures:

She DID enjoy her own Thanksgiving feast - her first try at rice cereal!!! She was wondering what the heck we were doing lifting a spoon to her mouth, and it took her a little time to realize what she was supposed to do, but she got it and enjoyed eating like a big girl. She got so excited at one point, that she kicked the bowl right out of Nanny's hands!!

Charlotte has become very excited to see Daddy every morning and evening (I think she gets sick of Mommy all day). They've bonded well with their Saturday morning errand-runs together. She is quickly becoming a "Daddy's Girl" and is very thankful for him!!

And what is Thanksgiving without the Black Friday that follows?! My mom, Shawn, Kristy and Shawn are always the first ones up to stand in the cold for the stores to open. But first, they need to come up with the game plan and scope out the best deals. Free after rebate ... after rebate ... (*apply the dance here*).

The whole family was here - all 19 of us!! - and it was as hectic as always, but we all enjoy the time together. (The group shot will be revealed on Mom & Dad's Christmas cards).

Christmas, here we come ...

Charlie's Big Weekend

November 7, 2009

This past weekend was a busy one, but a good one - shopping season has arrived! It started on Friday when Selena and Shelley stopped in on their way into NH and MA for their shopping weekend. We spent some time with them here at the house and a good amount of time at Target. After we left them, Nanny and Aunt Jane arrived for their tax-free shopping weekend.

Saturday morning, the day started like any normal Saturday - Charlie went on her coffee run with Daddy ... it's after this that her day became something she did not expect! We headed into nashua with Nanny and Jane with a goal to do some shopping and be home by 6pm - (this is when Charlotte lets us know she wants to be home and getting ready for bed). When we got to the mall, we saw that Santa was already visiting from the North Pole - so we decided to beat the lines and have Charlie give him a little visit. I told her NOT to ask for a baby brother or sister! :) She did great and Santa enjoyed holding her. He even gave her some hugs and said "I can hold her for a few more minutes" when Nanny went to take her back - and there was a line! We did get some pictures - since the next few years may be the screaming photos with him.



After Santa, we all split to do some shopping on our own. As I strolled Charlie by the Piercing Pagoda, a thought popped into my head - maybe I should get her ears pierced and surprise Aaron. I went back and forth over this through lunch and I got nervous every time I thought about it. Aunt Jane was good at lightly pushing me to do it, and Mom was excited but didn't want to be anywhere near there when we had it done. We watched another baby cry through her piercings and I figured I should just get it over with. Charlotte did a great job and did cause a little scene in the middle of the mall with her wail after the first ear. But the girl was good and got her other ear done during the crying. And just like that, it was done. Charlotte cried for a couple of minutes before she turned them into her fake feel-bad-for-me cries. She looks so cute and Aaron was surprised and loves them too.

Here's a good shot of how proud Charlie is of her new bling:

And she sure knows she's cute!!

Halloween!

October 31, 2009

This year, we were going to stay in NH to hand out candy and meet more neighbors. We got our pumpkins for the walkway, the big pumpkin to carve, bought all kinds of candy ... and then decided to head to Vermont to see family since it had been a while and Charlie is growing so fast.

She had a long day getting in and out of her costume for the carseat and visiting relatives, but I think she enjoyed seeing people other than Mommy and Daddy for a change!

So here it is, the Charlie costume debut:

Charlotte as Charlotte! (with Wilbur)

She was Charlotte, I was Charlotte's web

Walking around the corner to trick-or-treat at Uncle Spuds and Ashleys ...

she had no idea what was going on and why we were walking the rain!