Memorial Day Weekend

My parents came to visit for Memorial Day weekend. Charlotte and I picked them up from the airport on Saturday morning and it was play time until I dropped them off at the airport tonight. It had been over 2 months since they had seen Charlotte - the longest stretch yet.



It was a action packed weekend complete with a trip to the pool and attending both the Decatur Arts Festival and the Jazz Festival. Mom and I even snuck over to Lenox Mall and did a little shopping for baby brother. (It was so strange shopping in the little boy sections!)

Grammie and Granddad bought Charlotte her first sandbox this morning. She had a great time "making cupcakes" with Grammie once it was all set up. Here's hoping that the sandbox will keep her busy for many hours (well at least minutes) this summer.



After a yummy dinner at a "restrank" tonight, Char did a little puddle splashing.



It was such a nice, relaxing visit. I was sad to see them go. But, today kicks off summer - and I am so looking forward to what this summer will bring!

Grateful

Your daddy and I saw you today.

We saw that you have all 4 chambers in your heart.

We saw that your brain looks to be developing the way it should.

We saw you move your hands and feet - you waved to us! The doctor counted your fingers and toes and told us you had 10 of each.

We saw your lips, nose, and eyes.

We saw your feet move from by your head to down by your little hiney.

We saw my blood flowing to you the way that it should be.

We saw that you are indeed our son.

We felt our hearts grow bigger.

We love you so much already.

Indoor Pool

After changing into bathing suits and slathering on sun screen we made it to the pool today just in time for thunder to boom. Pool closed. We hung out and played on the playground for a few minutes to see if the storm would just blow through. But, the clouds got really dark, the wind started to pick up, and everyone else was leaving. So, I coaxed Charlotte back into the car by promising she could eat her pool snacks on her "pool" at home. (a big blue quilt we put on the floor)



(please excuse the fuzziness of these pictures - I tried something new and let's just say it didn't work - and I'm too lazy to go back and fix it)

Turns out we had a pretty good time pretending to jump off of the side and swim around. And - bonus - I didn't have to get all wet and cold!

Summer Evenings

Judd gets home anywhere between 6:00 and 6:30. I plan to have dinner ready to go at 6:30 - sometimes it is more like 6:45. After dinner, we clean up and Charlotte announces that it is "POPSICLE TIME!" She grabs a popsicle and heads out the front door to the front steps to watch the cars go by and eats her popsicle.





The bath occurs immediately after popsicle time. But tonight was so nice out that Charlotte and I took a walk after popsicle time.



Either Judd or I give her a bath. Then we spend at least 15 minutes negotiating her into underwear and pajamas. (The child LOVES to run around naked.) A little Yo Gabba Gabba is watched.

We pour a cup of milk and she runs upstairs to pick out 2 books. Either Judd or I read her the books while she sits with us and drinks her milk. She then crawls into bed. We cover her up, sing her a couple of songs, then give her a hug, a kiss, and tickle. (She has added the tickle lately)

9 times out of 10 this is how we spend our evenings. It is a solid routine. There is so much comfort in a routine - especially one that involves popsicles, a warm bath, cuddly stories, and a hug, a kiss, and a tickle.

Hitched

Yesterday, Judd's cousin, Jen got married to Dennis. She asked me a few months ago if I would photograph the wedding. I nervously said "Of Course!"

Weddings are something that I don't want to do professionally - there is so much posing, once-in-a-lifetime shots for the couple, different lighting situations, etc. It is HARD. But, I knew it would challenge me and give me the opportunity to do something that I hadn't done before - with relatively little pressure. And, I ended up having a blast!




Everyone looked fabulous - especially Jen and Dennis. The weather held out and they were able to have the ceremony outside. The facility was beautiful.







And, no wedding would be complete without a few cute kiddos running around.

I could take pictures of Michael all day. The kid could be a Ralph Lauren model. Just look at how he naturally poses...he's gonna be a heart breaker. And if you could hear his little sweet voice and his southern accent - you would just want to squeeze him.



Then there are these 3 cousins.



Charlotte saw Lilly and Katie and just couldn't get enough of them. I was told she held Lilly's hand (or tried to) throughout the ceremony. When Char got wind that Lilly and Katie were going to go down to Grandmother & Grandaddy's house to spend the night, she ran to me and said, "I go to Grandmother's house too, OK Mommy?" I said, "No, you stay with me an Daddy." Well, while I was taking pictures, she worked into the heart strings of her daddy and grandparents and ended up going to spend 2 nights with her cousins, aunt, uncle, and grandparents - leaving Judd and I alone until Monday morning.

So, Judd and I had a relaxing night out last night. We are headed to brunch this morning, then maybe to lounge at the pool this afternoon. Then tonight - the finale of LOST!

The Music Class

On Tuesday we wrapped up our last week of a 10 week session at The Music Class. To say Charlotte loved it would be the understatement of the year. I have been listening to the "Pony Collection" CD non stop in the car for the past 10 weeks. She knows every.single.song. She sings the class "welcome" song to all of her baby dolls on a daily basis.

I told her on the way to class this past Tuesday that she would need to tell the teacher what her favorite song was. There was a lot of "Ummmmms" and "Hmmmmms" from he back seat, but she managed to tell me her favorite(s) a few times. One of the songs usually changed, but the one that remained constant was the "scarf song". (For the scarf song, the song that plays is usually different from week to week, but the fact that she gets to run around the room "dancing" and waving scarves remains the same.)

I hadn't taken the ol' camera to music class until Tuesday - it is just too hard to manage the camera and a jumping, singing, dancing 2 year old. But I just knew I had to capture her expressions in the class - the ones that I have had all to myself the past 10 weeks. While I didn't get to capture each different face she makes throughout the course of the 45 minute class, I managed a few. Don't you wish you could hire a photographer to come to all of these little events in life?









I highly recommend this program to anyone looking for an activity. The teachers were really professional and Charlotte learned so much.

Bath Time