Playdate with Dean

We went over to play with Claudia and Dean on Tuesday. She suggested taking the kids outside to play with the water toys. Since Charlie isn't much of a fan of the water toys at our house, I didn't bother putting him in his swimsuit. Big mistake! Claudia put the water toy on very low so that the water just barely lifted the arms and guess what? Charlie LOVED it! Couldn't get enough. He sipped from it like it was a water fountain, he carried it with him wherever he went, and he enjoyed just standing there while getting soaked! (We went in just a diaper in case you are wondering!)

Playdates with Olivia

On Saturday we met up with Jessica and Olivia at the Taste of Addison (really yummy food). The kids had a great time running around and meeting other friends.


On Sunday, Charlie and I went to have a picnic with Jess and Olivia at the Arboretum. Again, lots of running around, sweaty babies, and tired mammas.

Playdate with Ben

This is Ben (aren't his red curls the cutest?):

Charlie and Ben played it up last Friday. They had a great time together, but it was hard on the mommas to get good pics with two rambunctious boys running around.



Thanks Carloine and Ben for having us over... it wore Charlie out!!

Picture of the week

I think this picture is so funny. We had just gotten through swimming and I had taken Charlie's water gear off except for his shoes and swim diaper. He had just finished slam dunking a ball.

Afternoon Swim?

We joined the Lake Highlands YMCA recently. They have an indoor pool, which is perfect for Charlie. We took advantage last Saturday. Unfortunately, we didn't get a whole lot of pics because we had our hands full with Mr. C. He wasn't too sure about the pool at first, but by the end he was splashing his little
hands and kicking his legs. We start swim classes in a couple of weeks, so that should make him a little more used to the water.
When we got home, I turned on the water toy in the backyard. Here are some cute pics:

Kindermusik Picnic

We had a fun-filled Saturday last weekend. We went to our Kindermusik Family Picnic in the morning. It was complete with playgrounds and slides:

Even a train! Charlie was unsure at first, but then he started to enjoy it.

We ended the morning with a popcycle on mommy's lap.

Bizz Beat's

If you don't know who Bizz is, then you obviously do not watch as much Yo Gabba Gabba as we do. Bizz is a rather large black man who makes beats with his mouth. He also has a rather noticable lisp that makes me want to jump through the television and teach him how to make a proper /s/, but that's niether here or there. Here are Charlie and I "practicing" Bizz's Beats.

Slam Jam

A couple of cute pics

This is how I found Charlie watching T.V. the other morning. Funny.

His new thing is everytime he gets out of his crib he wants all of his luvies and blanket to come with him. The other day we were in the den and he bolted out of the room and went back to his room. I could hear him saying "Mama, mama, mama, mama" in a cry-type of voice. When I didn't get off the couch I heard him come down the hall the whoe way saying "Mama, mama, mama, mama". He looked around the corner and said "Mama!", as if to say "Hello, I've been calling you, come on!". I followed him as he kept checking behind him to make sure I was. When we got to his room he just pointed to his blanket and luvies and said "Mama!". He's a funny one.

Congratulations!

Patrick's brother, Michael, got engaged this past weekend. We celebrated with he and Tandra Thursday night. Congrats to the both of them. We can't wait for all of the festivities to begin!

Healthy Eating

Remember my 2010 New Year's Resolution this year of eating healthy? Well, I'm still on it. Admittedly, I might fallen off the wagon just a little bit while the kitchen was being remodeled. But, now that everything is in working order I am fully back into it. One of my favorites is one that I stole from our friends, The Greer's. The Squash Spaghetti is super easy, yummy, and makes for good leftovers.

Here is another recipe that is one of my favorites that I stole from The Greer's as well. Thanks friends!

I have been trying different raw veggies with Charlie. Season with a little salt, pepper, and lemon juice. Here he is digging the asparagus. (We've also tried raw squash, which he wasn't much of a fan of.)

Desert? I am still hooked on Jessica's Seinfeld's book "Deceptively Delicious: Simple Secrets to Get Your Kids Eating Good Food". She incorporates pureed veggies into everything she makes. A couple of weeks ago I made brownies with pureed carrots and spinach in them. (Both Patrick and his dad loved them, which is saying a lot!) Last night I made these cookies with pureed sweet potato, squash and garbonzo beans in them... pretty yummy!

Uh-Oh

Charlie has discovered the doggy door. I mean, he's always noticed Hank going through it, but this week he has discovered that he can got through it, too. Uh-Oh. These pictures are from the first day he learned this new trick. He would start out:

Then get upset that he couldn't get back in:
So, I taught him that if you go out the doggy door you can also get in the doggy door. (Except, for some reason he gets stuck everytime he comes in so he cries until someone rescues him.)


A couple of stories: Last night I was getting his bath ready and he bolted out of the bathroom. (This is a nightly game... he runs, I chase.) When I went searching for him I found him outside grinning from ear to ear on the other side of the glass door. This morning he went out the doggy door and Patrick let him back in. He bee-lined it to his basketball, went back through the doggy door and began shooting hoops outside. I see this is beginning to be a problem.

Wedding Weekend

As I said in the last post, Patrick and I where in Austin for a wedding. Congratulations to Damian and Claire! The wedding and reception where at the same hotel that we stayed in, so it was super convenient for everyone. Thanks to the Allen's for keeping Charlie for the night. It was nice to have a mini-vacation. Here are some pics from the wedding:

Spicewood and Swimming

Patrick and I had a wedding in Austin this past weekend, so Charlie and I decided to head out early and spend a couple of nights in Spicewood. We got there Thursday afternoon and Patrick flew down and met us on Friday night. I took Charlie swimming for the first time since last summer (since he was 5 months old)... he wasn't too sure about it. He was pretty clingy through most of it and wouldn't even let me hold him at arms length until the very end. Hangin' at the pool is not as relaxing with a 14 month old vs. with a 5 mth old. He enjoyed walking along the side of the pool, (with me in the pool) he would fall into the pool so that I could catch him and dip him into the water and then right back out. This was great entertainment. We tried out the kiddie pool also, but he's still a little too short to really stand or walk on his own. Other than the "swimming", Charlie's favorite activities in Spicewood were to go up and down the stairs 100 times per day, try to make a mad dash for the pond in the backyard, and to get into and throw everything in the Allen's house that isn't a toy. Fun times!

Another Toy

Charlie has a new slide. He has figured out how to climb up and slide down by himself, which I was quite impressed by. You can actually hook up a hose to it to make it slippery. Pretty fun!

Water Toys

Since we don't have a pool and aren't a member of anywhere that has a pool, we will be in dire need of outdoor water toys this summer. It's already starting to get super hot... (I know, just wait.) So, I picked up our first sprayer thingy the other day with anticipation that Charlie would LOVE it...
Here he is checkin' it out:

First spray wasn't so bad:

And then, he hated it! (He actually stood in this same spot and cried long enough for me to go inside, change into a swimsuit, grab a towel and make it back outdoors to rescue him):

Then, all he wanted was momma:

So, I did what any mother would do... I put him in the wagon and took him on a few spins around the sprayer. He didn't think that was so bad:

Here's a close-up of Charlie's first day to get wet during the 2010 summer: