Monday, October 31, 2011

Halloween

The holiday season is officially here, at least for me it is. I always consider Halloween the beginning of the holiday season.

I managed to get a slightly better picture of Lily in costume today before we left the house. She wouldn't stop dancing so I had to sort through all of my action shots to find this one.
This afternoon I took the girls to downtown Nampa. On Halloween the businesses in the old town area are open for trick-or-treating. Lily did great holding onto the stroller and she really caught on to how to trick-or-treat.
It was chilly so Charlotte just hung out in the stroller chewing on her toys while Lily trick-or-treated.
It was lovely.
Afterwards my girls and I went to my parents' home. In their neighborhood everyone gets together and lines up in camp chairs around the park and the kids go around the loop to trick-or-treat. It was great for Lily because it didn't take too long, and she didn't have to knock on any doors.
We had a lot of fun this evening, despite the cold. Lily loved to be in her costume and Charlotte was a trooper helping me hand out candy to all of the little trick-or-treaters.

Sunday, October 30, 2011

Boo at the Zoo

Yesterday was "Boo at the Zoo" and it was lovely! The weather was perfect, and this year it wasn't just Lily and I, we of course had Charlotte with us, but Tyson also managed to get the day off AND Grandma and Grandpa Hansen and Aunt Katie were also in town visiting for the weekend so we had quite the little group. Lily was so excited to be going to the zoo, in the car she kept saying "Zoo! Zoo!" She was a little nervous when we first got there, but soon warmed up to the animals and got very excited about them, and was eager to learn their names.
Here she is standing in front of the Condor's cage. She was scared of him the first time that we walked by, he was perched with his wings spread, but when we came back by she was no afraid of him at all.
Charlotte was not thrilled about being in the stroller so she ended up being held most of the time. I don't mind, I kinda like holding my baby.
These are the best pictures of them in costume that I managed to get while at the park. Lily got to pick one treat out of her beg and was gleefully running though the park.
Charlotte was so happy to be set down and free to roam around.
This is the best that I could do with getting my girls together in one picture. We'll try again tomorrow.

Thursday, October 27, 2011

....Eight Months....

Yesterday our Charlotte Elizabeth turned 8 months old!
(blogger was having issues so I couldn't upload pictures yesterday)

She continues to grow and develop so quickly. Charlotte is an expert crawler now and cruises along the furniture really well, even moving from one object to another. She has also found her little voice and is starting to babble all of the time. Her favorite thing however is to blow raspberries. Last Sunday during Relief Society Charlotte wandered around the room the entire time smiling at everyone and blowing raspberries for nearly the full hour. Charlotte is trying to learn how to go up stairs, and for the most part has figured it out, but still needs to work on getting back down them.

Charlotte is also working on two more teeth so she has been chewing on everything, and everyone. Poor thing already managed to chip one of her front teeth, and I'm not even sure how, I just noticed the chip.
Here's our sweet little Lottie, getting so big!
And with her piggy! This was a hard picture to get, this girl does not sit still for anything and she kept getting up and rocking the chair.
So happy!
We had our playgroup Halloween party yesterday so Charlotte got to wear her little costume for the first time.
Charlotte is a champion eater, but so independent. She prefers to feed herself and often takes the spoon from me. It won't be long at all until we totally transition to finger food for her.
Her eye color has not really set yet. They are still mostly blue, but some days there is a bit of brown in them. I suppose that we will just have to keep waiting.
We love our sweet girl!

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

A Nice Fall Day

This afternoon the weather was perfect! It has really started to cool down here so we have been spending much more time inside, but today was very comfortable so after our walk and a trip to the park the girls and I spent some time playing in the yard.

Charlotte is still not certain what she thinks of grass, sitting on it is one thing, laying on it apparently is not acceptable.
I did finally manage to get a picture of her smiling with me though.
She really is such a happy girl. I still think of her as cranky sometimes though. I think that I let the colic formed my ideas about her personality, because she is really so cheerful. She is a busy little thing, and hates to be held down for anything, but she has such a happy disposition.
She has hair, I promise. It is just short and a white blond, just like her mama's was.
Lily spent her time digging up one of my flower beds. So long as she doesn't dig up my bulbs I don't complain too much.
She would carry the dirt around the corner to her bucket.
She would then dump the shovel full of dirt into her bucket and then dump the bucket into the wheelbarrow.
She is a silly little thing, but we love her dearly!
And these girls sure love each other!
Yesterday we had another first. Lily is stingy with her speech, always has been. She has started to talk a lot more in the last few months, but she won't say a single word that she doesn't want to, such a willful little thing (no idea where she got that from). Yesterday we were playing, just rolling around on the floor and being silly. I gave Lily a hug and kiss and said "I love you," and she hugged me back and said "I love you" back to me. That was the first time she has ever said that to me, and it melted my heart. She said it again this evening after bedtime stories when I gave her a hug and a kiss and said goodnight. It is these little moments sure make all of the messes, tantrums, and lack of sleep feel totally worth while.

Friday, October 14, 2011

Pumpkin Patch

Yesterday we took the girls to a local pumpkin patch. The farm also had a small petting zoo so we started there since Lily has recently become obsessed with farm animals. We found out that she likes them just fine in books and looking at them from the car, but up close she was scared and kept her distance. Charlotte wasn't sure about them either.She was better when I held her, she enjoyed the baby camel scarfing down the feed.
They even had a baby kangaroo and a young zebra!
Lilt was much happier when we got into the fields. She wanted to pick up every pumpkin.
Too bad she couldn't quite lift them on her own.
Lily finally found the right ones for her and Charlotte!
Running back to the farm from the fields.
Getting 2 little girls to look at the camera and smile at the same time is impossible.
They love their pumpkins though!
But it was time to go home.

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Potty Training and Other Adventures

We have been working on potty training over the last week. We've given it a try a few times before, but with no luck. I finally decided that I was tired of buying diapers and Lily was tired of having diapers changed. Over the last few days Lily has decided that she likes to use the potty. In the last few days she has only had one little accident, so other than nap time and bedtime when she wears a pull-up our little Lily is wearing big girl panties from now on. She loves wearing panties instead, so much so that this evening she thought that Charlotte might also enjoy them and tried to put some on her. I'm so proud of her, such a wonderful girl!
Our little Lottie is getting big too, my little girl looks so different with her top teeth, she is growing up so quickly!
Here's a sneak peak of this years Halloween costume. Charlotte's is almost ready too, I'm so excited to dress up my girls.