Cruising Friends

June 5th

Our friends, Chris and Robin got married in St. Thomas back in March on the cruise we went on - they just held a celebration here in New Hampshire for their friends and family. (Chris is one of the friends we met on our honeymoon cruise in 2008). Two of our three friends from California (whom we also met on our honeymoon cruise) came up for the party - Nancy and Christine. We sure missed Joyce.

The party was a good time and the rain held off for the festivities, wine and food. We also got to see Chris' parents for the first time since our honeymoon too.

Cutting the cake Chris' mom Janet made - yum!

"Auntie Christine" and "Grandma Nancy"

Almost the original honeymoon gang - minus Joyce; plus Sam (Robin's Dad) ... well, plus Charlie too!

[and the Hanson's dog, Max, who passed away 2 days later :( ]

On Sunday evening, the crew came down to our place for a great dinner, drinks and a dip in the hot tub. We had a great time and plenty of laughs - Christine was overtired and hilarious!!

Group Shot

Cheers! ... until next time

Good friends, good times!

A New Week of Firsts

June 8, 2010

Over the past couple of weeks, we've enjoyed watching Charlotte discover and try new things - can't say it enough: "she's growing up way too fast!"

A couple of weeks ago, she rented Avatar on our DVR box using the remote! This consisted of pressing the OnDemand button, selecting the Movies category, into New Movies, and selecting Avatar and confirming the purchase for $4.99!!! She can unlock my cell phone as soon as it's in her hands, and also loves to turn on her baby monitor (I find it hours later with a dead battery). I guess kids are born knowing how to use technology these days.

She carries this little Dora the Explorer figurine around the house with her ALL OF THE TIME. She got 4 character figurines in an Easter egg and only carries this one. I hide it amongst her toys each night when I clean up and it's the first thing she looks for each morning. If it isn't in her hand and you ask her where Dora is, she goes around the house until she finds her again.

(Notice it in the waffle photo below as well).

We now brush her two teeth (and gums) at night - she laughs.

We switched from sippy cups to straw cups and she's doing well - she now drinks more juice and I hope that she will drink enough milk this way in a month and a half so we can begin weaning off of nursing.

Her favorite breakfast is blueberry waffles.

She already takes bribes! If she doesn't want to get in her high chair and arches her back, I can bribe her by telling her that she can watch Yo Gabba Gabba on my computer - she then lets me strap her in! On a good day, just telling her she can have her favorite snack works too.

She LOVES Ramen Noodles - it started with me sharing bites when I ate it and now I put lots on her tray and she loves to pick them up to eat them. I taught her to slurp them into her mouth when they're hanging out - it's SO cute.

We bought her some slow-melt baby popsicles. She wasn't sure what to think at first, but loved the taste so began eating them too fast and kept getting mad at the brain freeze. One day, I gave her a yellow one and thought the lemon might be too sour so I tried to switch with a green watermelon one. She wouldn't taste it and waited until I switched back and happily sucked the yellow one down. Too smart.

(brain freeze!)

This past weekend, she decided she wanted to see what was outside so she climbed onto the baseboard heaters to look out the windows - we can't keep the monkey down now.

She loves to walk around the house pushing her baby stroller, though she doesn't like the baby to be in it when she does. Even if we put the baby in the stroller while she's walking, she stops, removes the baby - and continues on her way. Safety first (for the doll), I guess!

The other day, I was picking up the master bedroom and wondered where Charlie went - she had been crawling around playing with her toys seconds before. Then, I heard a noise under the bed ... she had crawled in one side and was doing the army crawl to get out the other side.

She now smacks her lips to blow kisses. We've been blowing kisses to everyone for "goodbyes" since she was born. She now gets the kiss part, but hasn't yet mastered the hand motion part of it.

She loves to point at everything now - if you ask her where the fan is, she points to it. Same with lights. If you ask her where Charlie is, she points to pictures of herself on the walls. haha

We love seeing her change so quickly, but it also makes us a bit sad to see her grow up so fast.

Watch Out World ...

June 2, 2010

Look who is practicing her walking skills so she can take off on her own real soon. She loves walking around the house with the stroller she got for Christmas from Nanny & Papa!

Memorial Day Weekend

May 28th-31st

Bridal Shower -
Colleen's wedding is coming up fast - July 2nd! So, a bridal shower was planned for her on Memorial Day weekend. This worked out well since we would be up in Vermont for the holiday weekend anyway. It actually stayed a surprise and there was a good group of ladies there to celebrate Colleen and her upcoming day. It was a luau theme with a floral arrangement lesson, some hula hoop time, and yummy food!

Vermont City Mrathon -
Another year, another race. Again, there were two teams: Shawn's team (Shawn, Dad, Uncle Pete, Spuds, Shelley) and Aaron's team (Aaron, Selena, Christopher, Michael, Russell). Last year I had a (big belly) excuse not to take part ... this year, not so much. I didn't start training early enough and when I did, Charlie and I both got bad colds and I couldn't continue to run - so I found my replacement - my cousin Christopher.

Dad and Selena at the starting line

Selena coming in to tag Christopher

Aaron waiting (and watching the time) with Michael for Christopher to come in

Shawn getting started on his leg

The spectator's views!

The teams both did great; they weren't as equal this year as they were last year - not sure you could get two teams to be only 11 seconds apart EVER again. The weather was perfect this year and a good day all around.

Taking Over the House -and- One Hot Baby!

Since we've still haven't completed my vision of our dream leather chair and ottoman by the fireplace in the living room, Charlotte's toys have been taking up that space. We got her a play mat that makes it all official - it's her space now. Maybe we should charge her rent?


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

May 26th 2010

Today was a whopping 97 degrees out ... and we don't have air conditioning yet. That makes for one hot mommy and her sweaty baby. But, luckily I am a smart one and had gotten a little pool for Charlotte a while back. I set up her froggy pool and gathered some waterproof toys and Charlotte was in cool-down mode.

NYC!

May 14th-15th

We had a wedding in NYC for a couple we met back at Syracuse University (the Groom also worked in NYC at Carrier with Aaron). To make the trip work, we recruited Nanny to come along to babysit at the hotel for Charlie while we were out. This was going to be a quick trip, but we were ready!

Nanny arrived on Thursday night here in NH and the plan was to hit the road to NY on Friday morning. Charlotte did great in the car. When we got into the city, it was the same-old story: too many cars, terrible drivers, we had to loop around one-way roads to find the hotel, and after almost taking out a bike messenger along the way, we made it! Nice Hilton hotel and room, valet parking and we settled in.

This was a 'black tie optional' wedding, so we dressed up and hit the streets for a 4-or-5 block walk to the wedding ... well, doesn't it start to pour as we're walking. No umbrellas. So we hailed a cab and ended up driving about 12 blocks before getting back around to the last 2 we had left to walk! Oh NYC ... how I don't miss you.

The hors d'oeuvres were amazing, the cocktails kept flowing and the wedding was beautiful and fun (think, $$$$). The rooftop had amazing views and the night was perfect after the rain stopped. I only worried about Charlie a little but knew she was fine with Nanny (along with a text or two of checking in). We saw all of our old friends, and Aaron was happy to hang out with his old co-workers again.

Joe, Rick, Mike, Aaron & Alex

Jason & Jessica

The Carrier boys

Rosann (and baby #2), Rita and me

The usual sight when the guys are together

We decided to hang around the city for most of the day on Saturday before heading home - to show Charlie around a bit. We plan to take her at least once a year as she grows up and show her the many fun things we enjoyed while we lived there. We started the morning with a walk downtown and then to meet up with Jay and Jessica for their brunch and enjoy more good food. After that, we hit up Chinatown for some "Coach" bags and then up to Times Square to give Charlotte the full crowd & lights experience. And who can bring a baby into NYC without going on the Toys R Us ferris wheel? She seemed to enjoy the ride and looking around all of the floors of the store along the way. A couple more stops in to the Hershey store and the M&M store and we were off to pick up the car and head back to NH.

Nanny & Charlie enjoying the views from the hotel room

Happy city girl

In the My Little Pony car on the ferris wheel (the cute little girls in the car with us took this)

Checking out all of the toys from above

A successful NYC trip ... (if we don't bring up the scratches down the whole driver side of the Pilot upon return by the valet) ... we can't wait to bring Charlotte back again so we can hit up FAO Schwartz and Central Park!

9 Months Old!

May 4, 2010

How can 9 months go by so quickly?! Every day, it hits us that our baby is no longer a little baby. She changes in looks so quickly and learns something new every day.

Crawling has been mastered - she now stands up holding onto everything.

She has gotten the taste of walking while we hold her hands - she's getting good at it quickly since she realizes how well she'll be able to get around once we're not holding her anymore!

She claps so it makes the proper "clap" noise now.

She has her favorite snacks and feeds them to herself and uses her sippy cup herself too.

She dances to everything, doesn't matter if she's laying down, sitting up or standing.

She points her finger and sings the "Dada" song often and waves when people are leaving (while singing the "Dada" song!).

She turns the pages as we read books.

She still licks the floors - embarrassingly, this happens at other people's houses too.

She's been "teething" for months, but is cutting her first tooth now. poor girl.

She still won't nap in her crib during the day no matter how deeply she's sleeping when I lay her in it ... though she'll go down at night even if she's awake a little when I put her down.

She still gets excited about her bath and now climbs up and stands naked by the side of the tub while we're filling it and lets out little excited screams. Sometimes, she pees on the floor out of pure excitement too!

There's so much more I could list, but anyone who has already raised their own kids knows how it goes. We just love her more than anything and love watching these changes every day. We couldn't ask for a sweeter little girl and couldn't be more proud!