Look Who's Two!

Charlotte Rose turned 2 on Friday, December 12th. What a whirlwind of a little life!! It goes by so fast. She's such a joy, we wish we could slow each stage down and enjoy it for a little longer...Her birthday started early by her Pawpaw bringing her birthday avloons (balloons). One had Dora, Boots and Diego on it, the Holy Trinity in her world! She and I played all day. She was in a GREAT mood, so funny! It was like she totally understood it was her special day. After a long nap we let her open her present from Grandmommy and Grandaddy. It was a puzzle and a bear she named Daisy and she went to dinner with us. We went to the Cheesecake Factory and she had pasta (her favorite) and ice cream with a candle in it. After dinner we took the girls to see the Christmas tree at Lenox (for non-Georgians, it's THE big tree downtown on top of the Macy's Dept store) and then surprised them and rode the Pink Pig (also for non-GAs, a pink pig Christmas train at Macy's that's been around since I was little). We all had fun, although Adam barely fit in the train.

On Saturday, we had her Monkey Party. It was so CUTE, if I do say so myself!!! I call her Monkey, therefore the theme... She had a precious monkey cake, there were stuffed monkeys, green flower leis, a sea of green & yellow balloons and bananas all over the house. She had a ball.

We had pizza, her other fav, and she stopped playing and ate her whole piece! After lunch we did presents and she didn't want to open the next until the first was out of the box and she had played with it. Sarah Grace stepped in and helped out. She got dress up clothes & shoes, books, outfits, Diego toys, pretend pizza with removable toppings, a highchair for her baby dolls, bath toys and shopping $! All the kids wanted to help her open her presents. Luckily she's still at the age where she doesn't care if people help her. She just kept saying "rip it, rip it".

(L-R - Moriah, SG, Charlotte, Ryan, Claire, Payton, Jael, & Benjamin)

When it came time for the cake she was very excited but patient. She waited for all the kids to get in place for pictures and for the candles to be lit, then we sang. She did take a quick taste while we were getting ready. While we sang she tried to blow out the candles. She blew during the whole song, fists clinched, drooling everywhere.... it was funny but no one wanted that piece of the cake! After cake, all the kids played for a bit and then the guests left and the birthday girl went to bed...

Tom Turkey

Gobble Gobble & Happy Thanksgiving!The Monday before, we went to Sarah Grace's school for a Thanksgiving "Feast" and pie tasting. Lunch was very good, better than the preschool lunch the years before... Mimi and Pawpaw came too, and after lunch we all went back to her classroom for a pie tasting. All the parents brought different pies and the kids had a taste of each and then voted for their favorite. The mint chocolate pie won, I brought apple.The next day was Payton's preschool lunch. Charlotte and I went and ate, and the girls ran around and played. The next night we attempted to take Charlotte to her first movie. We took SG at the same age and she did great... not Charlotte. We went to see Madagascar 2 and after the first 8-10 minutes she was OVER IT!!! DONE! READY TO GO! So Adam and I took her into the mall and walked around while my parents stayed with SG and watched the movie, they liked it a lot... I guess we'll catch it on DVD.No surprise what we did on Thanksgiving. It starts and ends the same every year. But we still look forward to it just as much as the year before!

We woke up and turned on the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. The girls watched and ate breakfast while Adam and I cooked and got ready. Sarah Grace couldn't wait to see Santa at the end of the parade. When it came time, she and Charlotte were right in front of the TV screaming "Santa! Santa!" and trying to touch him through the tube. We went to lunch at Nani and Pawpaw's, my dad's parents. When we got there my Pawpaw was carving the turkey and handing out samples. Nani had set out trays of goodies and the girls dug right in. When everyone arrived we prayed and filled our plates. We had turkey and ham, dressing, rice and gravy, 2 kinds of cranberries and every veggie known to man! After lunch the girls played and Adam went through the paper and made his Christmas list.

Later that afternoon we loaded up and went to my aunt's house and saw my mom's side of the family. We had a good visit and the kids had fun playing. After visiting for a while we packed back up and went back to Nani's for leftovers. We went home stuffed. But I needed the calories to sustain me through our marathon shopping day on Friday! :)

Rake 'em Up!

You know Winter is approaching when the yard is covered in leaves. We have 4 big oaks in our backyard and its a never ending battle of the leaves. It's a pain for Adam but a joy for the girls! He rakes them and we all jump in! This was Charlotte's first time and she wasn't so sure. Adam jumped in first with both girls and we managed to get a couple of pictures before Charlotte was over it. She didn't mind standing on the outside of the pile and throwing leaves, but she didn't want to get back in them.

Sarah Grace on the other hand was a pro. She couldn't wait to get in the pile and be buried up to her eyes. She ran and jumped, over and over. Adam would scoop them back us and she'd be right back in.While Sarah Grace played in the leaves, Charlotte and I played on the swing set. She was perfectly fine watching her sister from the comfort of her swing.