Circle of Life

Lots of happy and sad tears since my last blog. Chuck's Grandmother passed away on January 18th.  She was the sweetest grandmother in the whole world. I would describe her as the Ideal Grandmother. She was great at everything she did. Cooking, Gardening, Decorating.Everything. She was a very classy lady and I am very lucky to have known her. She is now in peace and we are all left with the wonderful memories she has left behind for us. I just wish I could have taken a few cooking lessons from Helen before she passed. I will probably spend the rest of my life trying to master her famous mostaccioli.

Obituary: http://www.pitmanfuneralhome.com/view.php?id=1555

On a happier note:

Chuck's Grandfather, Frank, is doing much better! He was released from the nursing home following Helen's funeral. I am sure he misses seeing Helen's smiling face, but we are all happy to see him in much better health and we hope to see him keep it up.  

And with a death, came a birth.... Our friends Sarah and Joe welcomed baby girl Harper into the world!! We are so excited to have a little girl within our circle of friends for Charlotte to grow up with. I can just picture these two going trick or treating together, and doing lots of other fun stuff. Its going to be sooo much fun. :)

Oh, just look at that full head of hair and that precious little face. After holding itty bitty Harper, it was hard for us not to go home and try for another. But then Charlie quickly reminded us that we have our hands full already. lol.

Lets see, what has Charlie been up to these past two weeks??

Last weekend we finally got a chance to go swimming. I prefer the Rec Plex for indoor swimming, but we decided that was too long of a journey for us Downtowners. So instead we decided to try out The Lodge in Des Peres. It wasn't bad. The Tot pool slacked a bit with just a shallow pool and a few fountains. But they did have a pretty awesome indoor wave pool and slide. And just as expected, Charlie LOVED it. She ran in and out of the water. Swam around on her belly. It was challenge to get her to leave. We are planning another swimming trip to the nearby YMCA.  All this swimming makes me VERY excited to go to the lake every weekend this summer!!

A first this week- Charlie actually feel asleep in her highchair with a hamburger still in her mouth. Unfortunately, she dropped her arm during my quick hustle to find my camera. But still makes for a great picture.

Charlie has also become momma's big helper. This week she helped me hang up clothes in the closet. And she is always eager to help with the sweeping and vacuuming:

And of course...we had to pause cleaning for a quick dance break!

I am loving this warm winter weather we have been having...but I am a little disappointed that we haven't been able to use the awesome snow suit with matching coat and boots we got Charlie. We also got a pretty awesome snow man kit and sled for Christmas that we have been dying to try out. I am crossing my fingers for just one good snow this year so that we can make a trip to Art Hill (just please mother nature DO NOT SNOW on Mardi Gras!!). And then it can go right back to 60 degree temperatures!

Sitting in her baby doll stroller.

Let's just say that she only ate the icing off this dounut which meant....no afternoon nap!

4 day weekend!!

Oh how I love 4 day weekends! Although this weekend has been more work than play. But I am happy to report we are really close to being able to put our house up for sale. I got alot done on my check list thanks to a home depot gift card I got for Christmas. -thanks Mom!
Friday, I started (and finished!) the baseboards in our upstairs bedroom ALL BY MYSELF. My Dad taught me well. I am a master carpenter! Take a look:

Friday night, Charlie went over to Aunt Jes' for a slumber party. While Chuck and I had our own adult slumber party at our house. Friends came over in their PJ's and we played Xbox 360 Kinect, and other games. Just Dance 3 literally kicked my ass. I woke up with sore butt checks!!

Saturday, it was back to work on the house. I started the baseboards and door trim in the bathroom, this time I did not finish up until Monday due to difficulties...nothing a little liquid nails couldn't fix. My bathroom is now completely finished! And then Charlie and I finished up the evening with a movie and some cuddle time.

Sunday, I woke up to flowers!! Chuck and I decided to celebrate our 4 year Anniversary a day early since Chuck had to work on our actual Anniversary. So we dropped Charlotte off with Uncle Scotty, and went out for dinner. We have been together for over 7 years and have never been to Chuck's favorite restaurant- Red Lobster. I have never really been a fan of seafood, but I actually REALLY liked it. Except the part where we ate so much it hurt ;) I tried lobster and crab legs for the first time.yum. But I think my favorite part of the meal had to be the biscuits. oh man are they good. Plus, with my diet I have not had one single carb is over 2 weeks. It tasted like heaven!

After dinner we made an impulse stop at Best Buy and picked up a new laptop. Our last computer finally gave up on us. Luckily, it was after I moved all my pictures and videos over to an external hard drive. It is nice to finally have a laptop that is actually portable. The screen on our last one broke after the first 30 days and we never got around to replacing the screen since it wasn't covered under the dang warranty. So we had to plug our laptop into my old/huge desktop monitor. We learned our lesson this time and purchased the additional warranty that covers ANYTHING & EVERYTHING, with a brand new replacement computer. So in two years, we plan to crack our screen on purpose, so we can get a brand new laptop. Smart thinking.

Monday, more work on the house. Finished the last of the baseboards, painted, caulked- For the very last time in this house, whoo hoo.  We even had time to walk to the park on this 60 degree day in January. Charlotte has really been enjoying going down the slides by herself.

This blog is missing my main ingerdient- pictures of Charlie! Here are some bath time pictures from this past week. Lately, Charlie has been swimming on her belly in the bathtub. I think next weekend we might try an indoor pool for some real swimming. I hope her swimsuit still fits!

Oh! And Charlie has been in her big girl toddler bed for a week now. She's such a big girl.

Overall a pretty good weekend....EXCEPT- I drove into the tree in front of our house and knocked my mirror completely off. waaa!

Back to work tomorrow....BOOO! What I wouldn't give to be a stay at home mommy.

Happy New Year!

Here's to great things to come in 2012! Here are some of my resolutions for this year:

1. Obviously- continue to work on losing this dog-gone baby weight. 32 lbs down, only 7 more lbs to go (I took the "eating for two" a little far during my pregnancy, plus I was prescribed lots and lots of prednisone post pregnancy).  Only a few days into the new year and I am already down a few lbs. whoo hoo! Its been seven horrible days of no- pasta, bread, potatoes, or my daily snickers bar :( I dont know how much longer I can avoid my favorite food groups!

2. I would like to make an effort to save more. I had originally set this resolution as becoming an "extreme couponist". But after researching coupons online this past week, I have decided maybe I should take baby steps. Couponing is alot harder than I thought!

3. Finish up the odds and ends left on our house, and get it SOLD!

4. Continue to keep up with this blog. So far so good. I did miss an entry last week. But that was due to computer problems and a house full of germs. And by computer problems, I mean Charlotte pressing buttons and locking me out.

5. Most importantly- Laugh more, smile more, and appreciate my wonderful life and family.

2012 started off with a bang. Charlotte enjoyed a slumber party with her buddy William, while Mommy and Daddy enjoyed a few too many drinks with friends. The rest of the weekend was spent laying around trying to recover from all the fun we had. ;)

This weekend we decided to take a spontaneous trip to the City Museum, follwed by dinner at Hodaks (YUM!). I have been dying to take my parents to this place. And just like I thought, they loved it! Unfortunately, Charlotte did not get a nap so we were not able to stay long enough to see everything. Plus, this place is so spectacular that I think it calls for a 2-day adventure.

I really do love this place. Makes me feel like a kid. Until I get home and my body is so sore and my knees are all bruised up!! But well worth it. We will have to go back soon, after Charlotte has a nice long nap!

Looks like tomorrow is going to be a fun filled day of football and taking down our outside Christmas decorations. I cannot wait..... ya right- booooo!

This video is for Kelly, and everyone else that says Charlotte is the worst birth control! It does have a pretty cute ending to go with her meltdown though. At least you can get a glimpse of the not so sweet baby Charlie. Not so cute when she's screaming her head off is she?? But I still love her even when she throws her fits. <3