Happy Thanksgiving!

The ones you don't take

We had a great weekend last weekend. Judd's parents came into town on Friday afternoon and spent the weekend with us. Charlotte was in heaven with all of the attention. We went to the park, went shopping, played and played - oh, and she even was given Oreos for breakfast before Judd and I got up on Saturday morning!

Judd and I got a chance to sneak out for dinner and a movie on Saturday night. We were originally supposed to go to the UGA game, but I was exhausted Saturday and the game was going to be over late. So, we went to see The Blind Side instead - we still got some football in. (It is an awesome movie - go see it if you can)

Sunday, after Judd's parents left and after Charlotte's nap, we decided to go to Lenox mall to let her run around and burn off some energy since it was raining. When we pulled into the parking lot, we saw that the Pink Pig was up and running. Judd and I thought Charlotte might get a kick out of it, so we bought a couple of tickets and stood in line.

She LOVED it. She got so excited waiting in line - which included screaming at the top of her lungs. Then it was our turn, Charlotte and I rode together and Judd watched us from the side. She sat right next to me and smiled the entire time - we looked at the Christmas trees and all of the pigs - then we got to the mirrors and she waved and waved at herself. When it finished, she looked at me, held up her little finger and said, "One More?".

So, where's the picture? I didn't have my camera. But, I'm OK with that. Initially I was upset - knowing that I wouldn't have something to show for the experience. But it allowed me to just enjoy the time with Judd and Charlotte. Rather than worrying about f/stops, shutter speeds, and ISO, I was able to concentrate 100% on Charlotte and Pink Pigs. I have my mental pictures. I have one picture in my mind of her sitting next to me holding onto the side of the car with her little hand - her eyes wide looking all around - and her little mouth smiling. I have another picture in my mind of Judd, holding my purse, waving and smiling to us as we went by. Sometimes, the best pictures are the ones you don't take.

Little artist

I bought some washable markers for Charlotte last week and she has been drawing ever since.

At her parent/teacher conference yesterday at school they said 'art' was one of her favorite activities. This morning she said she drew a 'frog', then 'mommy', then 'daddy'. Frog, Judd, and I all looked like circles - hope she's not telling me something. :)

Just know

Go ahead and throw your temper tantrums. Go ahead and throw your empty cup at me enraged because I won't get you more cheerios. Go ahead and fight me while I strap you into your carseat - arch that back! You can go ahead and cry and scream in my face because I'm making you pick your markers up. Go ahead and do all of these things and more - I know you need to do it.

You have an idea of what independence is and you feel you need to exercise that muscle. I get it, I understand.

I'm here for you. I'm here to set your boundaries. I'm here to show you what you are in fact independent enough to do.

I know you have can have stressful days too - it is hard to constantly learn - and I know that you are constantly learning because those eyes are always watching us, observing everything we do. Go ahead and get all of that stress out.

But, just know that after you are all done with that tantrum, you can always come back and climb in my lap - that no matter what you do, Daddy and I will always love you.

It's been a while

Wow, I haven't blogged in over a week.

I've been pretty busy, but I also just haven't really felt like it. I think I just need a break every now and then.

Charlotte and I flew up to Baltimore last Friday. Charlotte went to spend the weekend with Grammie and Grandad, while I spent the weekend with my sisters for Rachel's bachelorette party. Sally planned the whole weekend - and did a fabulous job. We toured a couple of wineries in the area, then went out for a really nice dinner that evening. After dinner we kicked up our heels at Power Plant Live in downtown Baltimore. There was some great people watching on the dance floor.

Judd flew from Milan to Baltimore and spent the weekend with us too. It was Rachel's fiance's bachelor party on Saturday as well. So, Judd and Andrew headed downtown in the afternoon to meet up with the other fellows.

We flew back on Sunday and tried to get our lives in order before the start of the week. I can't believe little Rachel is going to be married in 2.5 weeks!

Yesterday I got a call from Judd around 12:30pm. He got a call from daycare saying that they needed someone to come get Charlotte immediately. They had a gas main break and had to evacuate the church. Of course, Judd had a busy day and so that meant that I needed to leave my job and go get her.

I pull up to the church and see fire trucks and other emergency vehicles outside with areas roped off. I pull around the back of the church and there are 5 buses filled with kids. It was kind of crazy. There were little infants out there - they had pulled some cribs outside - I felt so bad for the infant room teachers.

I got Charlotte - she seemed to be having a great time - wasn't scared at all. Then the assistant director comes up to me and says:
"We had a little bit of a scare with Charlotte."
me: "Oh, really?"
AD: "Yes, we all evacuated and came out here to the parking lot, then called roll. We discovered Charlotte wasn't out here"
me: "Oh, really?"
AD: "Yes, we ran back into the Toddler 2 room, and there she was asleep on her mat - she had fallen asleep after lunch"
me: "So, she was in there asleep all by herself??"
AD: "Yes, but only for about 2 min"


What, seriously?? This really freaked me out. I'm not sure what to do about it. I feel like I need to know the evacuation plan a little better - what if the building were on fire, and not just a gas main break?? What if she had woken up and realized that everyone was gone? She would have been so scared. Ugh, I swear - it's always something.

First Ponytail

The day has finally come when Charlotte has 10 hairs that are long enough to squish into a tiny rubberband. And let me tell ya folks, it is cute.

TV in Bed

A few weeks ago Charlotte woke up really early one weekday morning. I was in the shower, so Judd got Charlotte out of her crib and tucked her into our bed with him. He turned on the TV to a cartoon on PBS and she actually laid there with him the entire time I got ready.

This was a big deal. We had been trying to get her to lay in bed with us on weekends for a few minutes for months and months. We thought it would be a good way to get a couple more minutes of down time before the day began. But, she would have nothing to do with it - she wanted to get the party started.

However, you will notice in the picture above there is something in her mouth - the beloved Paci. This has been reserved for crib only since she was 15 months. But, Judd thought it would be ok to let her have it in our bed too. Well, Charlotte wasn't born yesterday and caught onto that little loophole pretty quickly. Now she wants TV in bed a lot. I guess I can't blame her. It sure is nice snuggling into bed with her on a Sunday afternoon.