New Toys

I am in LOVE with Charlie's new (to us, at least) desk. My mom gave it to us and Charlie loves it! (Thanks Nanna!) I love how old and rustic she is, with her splinters in the wood. It is the perfect spot for Charlie's paints and colors. Speaking of paints and colors, here are a couple of shots of Charlie in action: And here is what happens if you don't watch him too closely:

Shreveport

Our family and the Leclercq family all headed to Shreveport this past weekend for one of our good friends weddings. Congrats to Lauren and Bob!! We are SO happy for the two of you. The rehearsal dinner was a crawfish boil, so you know I liked that. The reception was at Wine Country and was hands down the best food I have ever eaten at a reception. Some of my favorites were the fried oyster on top of seared tuna, the shrimp and grits, the pulled pork (straight out of a full on rasted pig), the bacon wrapped scallops and the fried green tomatoes. Seriously, the food was amazing! Anywho, the kids all had a grand time together. On Friday we went on a stroll through Norton's Art Gallery. The flowers were amazing and the kids had fun navigating the nature trails. Here are a couple of attempts to get a picture of all four: Manny and the boys Charlie and momma The Leclercq's Thanks to my Aunt Jennifer (once again) for watching the kids so that my parents could come to the wedding. We REALLY appreciate your help!! And the couple that brought us to Shreveport! Congrats to Mr. and Mrs. Bob Ewing!!

Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Allen!

I am happy to announce that Patrick and I have a new sister-in-law. Michael (Patrick's brother) got married 2 weekends ago to Tandra. Congrats to the newest Allen's! The rehearsal dinner was perfect, the wedding was beautiful, the reception was awesome and the whole weekend was just so fun. Charlie was the ring bearer in the wedding and he did GREAT! Seriously, great. I walked with him down the aisle as he carried the ring pillow perfectly. We then stood behing the bridesmaids until after the opening prayer. He did great during the whole thing. (I seriously thought he would either run down the aisle to Patrick or he wouldn't walk at all and I would have to carry him.) Here are a few pics: And thank you to my mom and Aunt Jennifer who came to get Charlie both nights at around 8:30pm so that Patrick and I could enjoy ourselves! I think it was the first time since Charlie has been around that we "went out" in Dallas both nights!

5 Years

Patrick and I have officially been married for 5 years! It has flown by super fast, but in these 5 years we've done a lot. We bought our first house, got our first dog and, most importantly, had our first baby. To celebrate we went to eat at Tei-An. This is one the best Japanese restaurants I have ever been to. Typically, I only order sushi and rolls at Japanese places and while Tei-An has sushi, they are really known for their noodles that they make in-house. Our menu was: Appetizers: White Seaweed Salad (recommended by most of the reviews I read... and it did not disappoint)and the 7 Fish Sushi Sampler (could have done without, but the Eel was expecially good, and I typically do not love Eel!). Entrees: I had the Curry Soba Noodles (it has to be in my 5 all-time best entrees... the curry broth made me want to take a bath in it). Patrick had Green Soba Noodles with a meat-sauce on top. It was kind of an Italian inspired Japanese dish. Very flavorable and a little spicy. For a side we had Mushroom Tempura... also could have done without, but the tempura batter was very light. Dessert: Japanese ice cream with black honey on top. It was just that... ice cream and honey. Tei-An also has a roof-top deck. You can get a drink at the bar downstairs and head up the elevators to enjoy the Dallas skyline. Patrick and I had the whole deck to ourselves... very romantic! This was the perfect place to spend the anniversary!

Sports Saturday

After the St.Patrick's Day parade Charlie had his first soccer practice! Yep, that's right... we signed him up for his first organized sport! He is on a team of 2-3 year olds at the YMCA and Charlie's friends Rhodes and Dean are also on the team. Coach Ray (who looks amazingly like Uncle Meeks) said that Charlie has great coordination for a 2 year old! Yay Charlie!







Back at home: baseball time!

Bits and Baubles from Charlie

Charlie and I went to his 2 year appointment a couple of weeks ago. He is now almost 31 lbs. (75th %ile) and almost 37 in. tall (95th %ile)! He continues to be a tall man... pretty sure he gets this from the Allen side. Charlie is dominating in all developmental areas and is above-average in everything... especially communication, which is the most difficult for boys. I am one proud mamma! At this appointment, they had to draw blood from Charlie's arm. I was prepared for a melt down, but he surprised us all by sitting perfectly still and just watching the whole process. The technician said that it was unbelievable for a 2 year old to do that well. This is also the way Charlie acts for haircuts these days... it's a welcome change from the screaming crying we got a few months ago.

Funny story from yesterday... Charlie and I were at the park and there was another boy at the playground. When Charlie wants to know what (or who) something is he will look at me and ask This? This? This? while pointing at the object or person. He asks "This" on repeat until he is satisfied with my answer. So, yesterday he was asking who the little boy was. Instead of saying my typical response of "It's a little boy", I said "I don't know his name, Charlie. If you want to know his name you can ask "What's your name?". So, he asked "Name?, Name?, Name?" to no response from the little boy. So, Charlie decided to say "Hey, come here Name." on repeat to the little boy. This boy still had no interest in Charlie. So, he took it one step further and decided that this little boys name should be "Jack". That's right... he just made up a name. "Come here Jack.; Hey Jack!; Bye Jack". Even after we figured out his name was actually Ryan, Charlie still insisted on calling him "Jack". Pretty funny that kid!

St. Patrick's Day Parade

This past weekend we took Charlie to the Greenville St. Patrick's Day Parade. I'm embarrased to say that this is the first year that either Patrick or I have actually made it to the parade... as if 11am was just way too early for us back in our younger days. The St. Patrick's Day parade is Dallas' version of Mardi Gras in New Orleans. There are floats, beads, etc. They even block off part of Greenville and have a fun day of bar hopping and open containers. And a lot of people who live in the M Streets have house parties. This use to be my most favorite day in Dallas and this Saturday did not disappoint... although we left the parade early so that we could make nap time for Charlie.

Random Pictures

Anna Carol turns 2! Great picture of the boys and their offspring.

Trying on mamma's boots... so proud he put them on all by himself.
Salmon Rillettes and champagne-Superbowl apps! (Yes, we are high class in the Allen household.)

Charlie playing outside and looking oh, so cute.

Charlie's 2nd Birthday Party

Most of the pictures can be seen by clicking on the slideshow below. But, here is a cute shot of the birthday boy all dressed up in his birthday pajamas!
And, some birthday videos:



Happy 2nd Birthday Charlie!!

Birthday Festivities

The week started off with a celebration of Pops' Birthday. Both my mom and Patrick's dad have the same birthday of Feb. 23. Just two days before Charlie's. So, Babo and Pops came over, brought dinner and cake, and Charlie's birthday gift. Here Charlie is opening the gift:

Eating cake:

And the video!


On Thursday, the triplets and Julie came in to help set up for the birthday party. We had planned a nice meal out with the babies for my mom's birthday on Friday night. Somehow, though, my parents missed out on the dinner... we still decided to take full advantage of our reservations though. Thanks to Aunt Jennifer for coming with us! We went to Cibus because we knew that if the kids got restless we could just take them into the mall or out in the courtyard. I would say the dinner went as well as could be expected with 4 toddlers in tow. Here are a few cute pics from the evening:
Patrick and Charlie

Julie and Cooper

Manny and the girls

Charlie playing in the courtyard

Trying to capture all 4

Turning 2: The Set-Up

We copied the triplets theme for Charlie's birthday party and went with a PJ's and Pancakes theme. It was really easy to set up for.

I went through DimplePrints for:

(1) the invitations,

(2) a table runner,

(3) different "Charlie" tags that I hung from the chandelier,

and (4) a banner that will be used for years to come!

For the placemats, which were our party favors, we went through SignsByScott. I absolutely LOVE the way they turned out! I went on Etsy and asked for sellers to bid on placemats that they could make me. I put in a price limit that I was willing to spend and within 24 hours had about 20 different sellers "bid" on what I was looking for. It was super easy! All of the kids (and parents) love the placemat idea!

Other decor involved:

Donuts (rather than cake) and Breakfast Tacos,

a milk and juice bar,

a pancake bar (complete with different toppings of blueberries, bananas, rasberries, strawberries, sprinkles, and whip cream),

and the tissue paper pom poms... great for any party!

All in all, it was an easy party to set up for! And the time of 9:30 am-11:30am worked great for age 2 kids!

Best Website Ever

I am sitting at work crying with laughter.

http://damnyouautocorrect.com/