Santa Forgot

Really his sleigh was just a little to full to get to Portland so he left this present at our house. I had no idea what a hit it would be. I mean literally, the girls are clawing at each other to get a turn at sitting in it.

A brief moment of sitting side by side. The second Charlotte got out Elaine slithered right in.

Our White Christmas

We spent Christmas this year with my brother and two of my sisters in Portland. We had a lot of fun but had to scramble to find snow gear for the unusually snowy conditions that attacked Portland the weekend before Christmas. My sister Megan was supposed to fly in the Sunday before Christmas but when all the flights were canceled going into Portland for almost 2 days we were nervous about getting there. In the end we had a very nice white Christmas. Elaine thought the snow was amazing and had so much fun sledding, shoveling, building a snowman and making snow angels. It could be a very long time before she has another white Christmas so I hope her 3 year old mind can hold onto the memories for a little while.


We started the week off by celebrating Rob's 30th birthday on the 22nd. Charlotte loved her chocolate cupcake.
Elaine helped Rob shovel off the back porch. This picture does not do the snow justice. This is right when it started melting. Notice the scab on Elaine's left eyebrow. She hit her head into the corner of Mark and Mark's table on the first day. It is now a lovely shade of yellow.
Christmas Eve the girls and cousin Bridget opened up pajamas. Elaine is trying to get in on helping with Bridget's present.
The Christmas pajamas from Aunt Megan. They say best friends which is perfect because Elaine always tells Charlotte she is her best friend.

Christmas morning mayhem.

Charlotte is keeping watch over the Christmas toys. Both girls had a great Christmas. Santa brought a dinosaur for Charlotte and teddy bear for Elaine. About four days before Christmas Elaine told me Santa was going to bring her a teddy bear to sleep with. I was surprised to hear this news because every time anyone asked what Santa was going to bring she always said I don't know. Good thing Santa was listening so close to Christmas. The dinosaur, Elaine told us, Santa was bringing for Charlotte. She announced this on Christmas Eve and had never mentioned it before. Good thing Santa has so many helpers to deliver on such short notice!

In this picture Elaine is holding the most special present. Santa brought her The Wonder Pets in beanie baby form. They were sitting in the tree on Christmas morning and she has been carrying them around ever since.


What a cute family picture. To bad I am not in it! This is my sister Megan with Rob and the girls.

Charlotte and cousin Bridget. Bridget is 3 weeks younger than Charlotte. Unfortunately, Charlotte was not inspired to learn to walk while around Bridget but we are making strides. Hopefully Charlotte will decide walking if fun soon.

Thanks for letting us come and stay Mark!

Baby Boy

Nobody get too excited by this title. We watched my friends baby boy yesterday. We are a two kid family and have no intentions of adding a baby brother of our own. Sorry to disappoint. Anyway, both girls were in heaven, especially Elaine. Elaine loves Keegan and always refers to him as her baby brother.

Elaine made him a "nest".

This is the improved "nest" with space for the big sister.

Charlotte climbed into his baby carrier and was very vocal about needing a turn to hold him. It was really funny because when Charlotte climbed in Elaine buckled the chest part of the buckle so Charlotte was stuck and said "Melanie(Keegan's Mom) can take that baby(Charlotte) we'll keep this one(Keegan)." She was very serious about it. Poor Charlotte is old news after just one year.

This is pretty much how they looked the whole time. Keegan overwhelmed and both girls watching very closely to see what he might do next. He's 3 months old so he didn't do much but he sure is cute!

There's No Replacing Santa Claus

Well, the 8 foot Santa disappeared from our front lawn on Sunday night. Not the first thing to be stolen out of our front yard but hopefully we've learned our lesson and it will the last. Both Elaine and Charlotte were sad. They loved to see the Santa and hug him. Elaine keeps saying"I'm sorry the bad friends took our Santa" and "Why did the mean friends take our Santa?". To put some cheer back in our Christmas Elaine picked out this small Mickey Mouse that fits nicely in our backyard. I like it much better.

Baby Steps

In an effort to get Charlotte off her hands I knees I dug out an old toy to help her learn to walk.




She was not sure about it at first but once she figured it out she was having fun. 24 hours later she doesn't seem any closer to walking but I will keep hoping.

Fun for Them

The new favorite thing around our house is the couch in the TV room. Yesterday it was a pirate ship "for our pirate adventure" Elaine tells me. This morning it was an airplane in honor of Rob's mom flying in today. It's a good thing they play so well together and are cute while doing it so that putting the cushions back isn't too annoying.

I was noticing that all my pictures were not very clear. I had the thought that
Elaine loves nothing more than to "take a click" with my camera and I discovered the lens was covered in little finger prints. Problem solved.

Trouble

Charlotte was just about the best newborn baby ever. She rarely cried and was very mild mannered and calm. Not anymore. She now has the family title of most strong willed. Being that Rob and I are her parents and Elaine is her sister it was no small task to take this title. Her philosophy is "where there is a will there is a way or I'll inconsolably scream" and she stops at nothing to get what she wants.

I found her sitting in this laundry basket this morning. I had no idea she could climb in.

She found her blankie as it made its way to the dryer. She pulled it out and I put it in, she pulled I put until all the clothes were in. Life is never boring around here.

Note to Self

When rewarding children for good behavior at the store do not give them a Herhsey's Chocolate Bar.

One of Those Houses

We decided to take advantage of the extra hands around our house this weekend and decorate for Christmas. I was thinking, put up the tree and throw a few lights on the bushes because Elaine LOVES christmas lights. Rob and Matt were in charge of outdoor decorations. Two trips to the store and few hours later this is my house.

Festive aren't we.

Love Your Sister

My name is Charlotte and I like Cake

I totally stole that line from my sister Amy's family but it also applies to Charlotte.

Birthday cake tastes good everyday.

Weekend Visitors

Last weekend our international traveling relatives stopped by on their way home to England. We had a great time with my second cousin, Jim, and his wife, Karyn. Elaine loved them, especially Jim and Charlotte thought they were alright. This picture is the only time she let them hold her. We look forward to returning the visit someday. We celebrated Karyn's 30th birthday and Elaine introduced them to her puppy Barky who, in fact, is a little spool of yellow thread. Weird, I know. We had lots of fun and Elaine has asked about them several times since they left. We went to the bookstore today and she asked if we were getting books for Jim and Karyn. We hope to see them again soon!

So Big

We went to the pediatrician for 12 month and 3 year checkups for the girls. It went very smoothly in case how you were wondering how two small children and one mother managed. Elaine was really funny. The girl never stops talking and it made it hard for the nurse to get a word in. When the doctor was checking her eyes he told her to open them wide. She couldn't just open her eyes she had to also open her mouth as wide as it would go. He told her she could close her mouth and of course her eyes then promptly shut as well. When she was finished he told her it was Charlotte's turn. Her reply to this was "Okay, but be gentle. She is only a baby." It was very sweet and I couldn't help but laugh at how she said it. Charlotte had three shots and Elaine none so it was a good visit.

And now for the info everybody is waiting for: the weight. Charlotte was a little less than my guess but tipped the scale at 23 pounds 9 ounces putting her in the 85%. She was also 30 inches tall.

Elaine, after three years, has finally started to fill out. She weighed 32 pounds and was almost 38 inches. This is quite substantial because she only weighed 26 pounds 3 months ago. Yes, Charlotte is wearing Elaine's clothes from last spring.

Both girls are very healthy and the pediatrician always tells me I am doing a great job. Since Rob doesn't even know where the doctors office is I will keep the accolade for myself. He was very impressed when Elaine said thank you unprompted when he gave her a toy for being good.