Santa Claus is coming to town...

I hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving! We stayed at home this year and had a great four day weekend. On Saturday morning, we got pictures taken for our Christmas card. Charlotte was very cooperative and we got some good shots. I won't post them on the blog until they're all in the mail so you'll just have to wait! We decided to hop on over to the mall to see Santa since Charlotte was already dressed. Last year was a bust and there was no way Charlotte was going anywhere near Santa. This year she seemed excited to meet him. We waited in line for 20 minutes, eager with anticipation. I thought for sure it would be a go, but last minute she changed her mind. Oh well...there's always next year.

Memme and Poppy came for a quick visit this weekend. Memme made Charlotte this beautiful Christmas quilt. It's made of all flannel fabric - so soft and cozy. She also brought us some new Christmas reading material. Thanks, Memme!

We pulled out the decorations and trimmed the tree. It's become a tradition to put up the tree on Thanksgiving weekend so we can enjoy it the whole month. I know it's not in sync with Advent season, but Charlotte's too young to understand Advent anyway. Charlotte enjoyed pulling out all the ornaments and examining them. So far, she's been pretty good with the tree so no gate this year. It's hard to believe it's December already and I'm 31 weeks pregnant. We're in the home stretch now. I'm still feeling good and the baby is doing well. Charlotte tells random strangers that she's going to have a baby brother!

Miami

We had a great "get-away" weekend in Miami. On Friday night we went out for a fancy steak dinner in South Beach. Saturday morning we slept in (duh!) and visited the Univ. of Miami campus where Dave went to school. We had lunch with one of his swimming buddies. It poured for a few minutes that morning, but then the sun was out for the rest of the day. It was very hot and muggy! It definitely didn't feel like the middle of November.

Saturday afternoon was the wedding on the beach. Dave works with the groom and they've become good friends over the years. This picture is with all his other lawyer friends from the firm. It was perfect weather for an afternoon wedding on the beach. Just gorgeous! Incidentally, the guy sitting next to Dave is the one who hosted the poker game at his apartment the night I went into labor with Charlotte. He said we're going to have another poker game the Friday night before my due date with Nugget #2! If you don't know the story, I was having contractions most of the evening from 9pm-midnight while we were playing poker. Dave was winning so I wanted to stay - he ended up winning $250 bucks! When we were leaving at midnight, my water broke in the parking garage. Charlotte was born at 7:40am that morning.

Relaxing with a beverage in the little "cabanas" near the reception. It doesn't get any better! No drinks for me, sadly. Sorry I didn't include any pictures of both of us. None of them came out well enough to put on the blog. I'll try to post a belly shot soon.

My sweet little girl! I was so happy to see her when we got back on Sunday afternoon. A big thanks to Memme, Poppy and Brian for taking such good care of my baby!

This is why I haven't been blogging...

Twilight Movie Trailer

I picked up this book ("Twilight") on our way to Miami last weekend and I finished it last night. For me, that's a really quick read. I haven't gotten much done in the past week because of this book. I thought I would see what all the hype is about and now I'm hooked. I made Dave pick up the second book at Barnes & Noble tonight on our way to a party. I'm hoping to see the movie soon, but I'll wait for the crowds to die a bit.

For those of you who don't know, Dave and I went to Miami last weekend for a wedding WITHOUT Charlotte. It was my first time leaving her overnight. My parents came up to stay with her. She did FANTASTIC! She asked for me a couple times but was perfectly content to be with her favorite buddy, Memme. She wasn't even that excited to see me when I got home. I missed her terribly, of course. I'll post pictures tomorrow. The "New Moon" is calling my name.

1st haircut and music class

At just over 2 years old, Charlotte finally got her first official haircut. We talked about it for days and she was really excited about it. I took her to the same stylist that Dave and I use at Hair Cuttery. When we got there, she scoped out the place and seemed fine. Then, she quickly bolted for the door and said "I don't want a haircut. Let's go outside." I quickly redirected her with food and a promise that she could sit on my lap. She was a perfect angel for the rest of the time. She sat very still for Niama and ate her clementines. She was very serious the whole time. Niama just trimmed it a bit on the sides and back. All in all, it went very well.

After her haircut, we had music class at the local rec center. She was excited to show her haircut off to her buddies, Harry and Hunter. In this picture, she's doing the "freeze dance".

We made maracas in class that day. This is the only evidence I have of Charlotte with her maraca because she disassembled it on the way home! I had to be careful not to include any other children in our pictures at music class because of county policy.

Halloween

I'm finally getting around to posting Halloween pictures. On Friday morning, we went to a little party at the park. It was a gorgeous day and the kids had so much fun. Here is Jack, Charlotte and Ian in their costumes. Ian was a giraffe but Charlotte insisted he was a monkey ;)

Jack's mom getting Jack in his fireman gear. It was a really cute (and realistic) firefighter outfit. You can see part of Garrett in the baby carrier. He was Jack's dalmation.

Charlotte (shoving a bagel in her mouth) with the two firemen, Ben and Jack.

Being a lazy lion and relaxing on the playground.

I didn't take many trick or treating pictures because it was dark. Charlotte had a blast knocking on the doors and collecting candy. When we got home, she spilled the candy all over the floor and went to town. She tried a tiny bite or lick of almost everything, but ate hardly anything. Perfect!

River Farm

We met for playgroup at the children's garden at River Farm. It was an overcast day but perfect weather for playing outside. The fall foliage at River Farm and along the GW Parkway is beautiful.

Amelia and Charlotte playing in their boots.

I'm definitely glad Amelia's mom warned me to bring boots. They were pretty muddy by the end of our playdate. Charlotte is still learning how to walk in them. They look too darn cute!

Charlotte eating lunch with the boys - Garrett and Ian.

Baby sling

Charlotte using my sling to carry her baby doll. I have a feeling I'll need to get her a kid sling to use when the new baby arrives because she'll want to carry her baby just like mommy.