Little Stinker!!!

Charlee has turned into a little stinker!! She decided that she is going to do something and NO ONE is going to stop her from it. The other day Charlee wanted to put her hand on the garbage can and wouldn't move her hand from the handle for nothing!! We talked about it for over a minute with me telling her no and her removing her hand for a minute to then put it back the whole time staring at me... I just love her spunk but wow is its this at 14 months what will be at 14???

Pray for us:)

Christmas!!!

The weather was so nice this christmas season we took advantage of it and spent some time outside on Christmas Eve Day, going for a walk and playing outside. It was very nice!!

We went to church on Christmas eve and of course Charlee in her little dress was the hit of the service!! She had a great time playing with her friends and running around!!

We came home, had dinner, opened a couple of present and then Papa John read "The Night Before Christmas". Charlee was very tired and she headed to bed pretty quickly!!

Christmas morning came and Charlee was up nice and early, she just couldn't contain her excitement. We snuggled until 7 and then Charlee went in to wake up her sister and got the party started.. and a party it was.. Charlee had a great time opening christmas presents and she didn't care what the name on the package said, she was the a present opening machine and started tearing into present left and right... it was so fun to watch her and no one minded when she was opening other people's presents.

Charlee was such a present opening machine that she was ready for another long winters nap... and nap she did she ended up sleeping almost 4 hours during the day on Christmas Day... which is just what Chrismas day is made for.. playing with new toys and taking naps.. this girls got it down!!

Christmas night we headed to a friends house where Charlee was a little late she was busy napping again:) We had a great time playing with friend and celebrating the season.

This christmas was so much different then last christmas with Charlee, she was really into the holiday spirit looking at the tree, eyeing the presents, eating the sweets and spending time with family.. I LOVE the little person charlee is turning into and can't wait for the next big celebration with her.

Love ya!

My little monkey

Tonight we went up to the Whites for awhile and the older girls were busy putting on show and playing while Charlee was busy climbing on the couches so she could climb up on to the tables and have the best seat in the house.. such a little money!

Dan and Ali Visit

This weekend we celebrated the first of many christmas's this year and it was WONDERFUL. Friday night me and the girls made cookies and covered pretzels, charlee is a great help with the covered pretzels since she throws them all in the bowl, Zoey is the decorator at the end and also does an amazing job.

Saturday we were up early and headed to Vinton for one very important reason... Dan and Ali were here!!

We started out the day by opening present and there were so many present to open... Charlee was very excited about the first present she got which was a puppy dog buddy from Dan and Ali she was so excited to play with it and stand and marches in place while smiling and squealing just waiting for it to be ready to play with!! She also did a much better job of opening a couple of present, she had a great time.

All of the playing in the morning with the new toys and getting to know Dan and Ali again wore Charlee out and she was ready for a nice long nap!!

Later on Saturday night we headed to the bowling alley, Charlee had a great time watching everyone bowling, cheering for everyone, giving high fives and clapping.. she had a great time!

We headed back out to Mimi and Grandpa's for a fondue super... this is kind of a tradition in the LaGrange house, Charlee wasn't old enough this time to partake in  much and she was much to hungry for dinner to wait for the fondue she had her normal dinner and then of course snacked on the pound cake for dipping in the chocolate. She had a great time watching TV with her sister, running around Mimi and Grandpa's house and playing with Dan and Ali. She was still going strong when we left at 9:30 but she was asleep in the car pretty quickly.

Sunday we headed back to Vinton after church for Sutton Christmas, it was great to get together with everyone and of course fun to watch the kids open present and fun to watch the adults swap presents. 

It was a wonderful weekend that went way, way way to fast!!

Talking on the phone

Last night Charlee decided to chat on the phone for awhile.. it was the cutest.. she would push all of the buttons and then put the phone to her ear say "hi" (in her cute little charlee voice) and then mutter a little bit and throw her head back in laughter it was to stinking cute!!

Also last night we made almond bark coated pretzels and Charlee was a great help.. it was her job to thrown the pretzels into the almond bark I was the stirrer and then Zoe fished the pretzels out.. it was very fun!

This morning her and Zoe were busy building all sort of tower out of blocks and they had a great time building the towers and then knocking them down.

all dressed up

We had a great weekend!!

On Saturday we hung out at home in the morning then headed to Marlee and Maddies to decorate cookies.. Charlee did more eating and less decorating but she had a great time.

Today we went to church and then we headed to Zoey's christmas program. It was a fun reason to get all dressed up and take pictures so of course that is just what we did!!

Fun Wednesday night

Last night Zoey and Jake headed to church and it was just mom and Charlee. For a quick second Charlee was very sad to see sister leave but then she looked at me and I think it all clicked that it was the Charlee show and we could do what ever she wanted, and that is just what we did.

We snuggled and read the same book over ten times, played with toys, of course played with her ball and had a great time playing just the two of us.

Also, a couple of times now Charlee has stood on the ground at the edge of the bed and makes a noise that both Jake and I swear she is saying "I want up"... of course we both know thats probably not it but she is really getting the hang of using her voice to get exactly what she wants.

Great Weekend!!

We had a wonderful weekend.

Saturday morning we went for pancakes but of course Charlee couldn't wait so she had to eat breakfast at home... not that it stopped her from eating plenty of pancake at the pancake breakfast as well!! Saturday afternoon Charlee helped me make some cookies while Zoe took a long nap. It was very fun to have just Charlee help and she was a great helper and of course she ate plenty of chocolate chips as well!

Sunday we headed to church and then hung out for most of the after noon. Mimi and Amy came to visit  and Charlee loved showing Amy all over and playing ball and reading books with her.

Christmas is coming!!

We spend friday decorating for Christmas and then we went and picked out the christmas tree.. Charlee had a lot of input.. she walked around picking out trees and talking about a lot of trees:)

We brought the tree home and by that time Charlee was tired so she took a nap while we put the tree up.

Then after the tree was up we headed downtown. We were lucky and the weather was perfect so Charlee was able to go and see Santa. She hung out in the bjorne and had a great time watching everything. Her feet many times were going a mile a minute and this was the first time she was able to wear real shoes.. she looks so grown up in real shoes.

Charlee also this weekend started to refer to balls as Bballl I think this is the first time that charlee has been able to identify an word with an object and then use the word.. its very exciting for her and us:)

Thanksgiving!!

Charlee had a great Thanksgiving... she was able to enjoy some of the yummy food.. she had some sweet potatoes, stuffing and other holiday yummys!! We did learn that Charlee doesn't like the highchair that is at Mimi's house.. it is to much like a baby seat.. so once we were able to move her to my lap she was more then happy.

She loved watching the parade and looking at the floats. She had a great time looking at the ads and hanging out!!

A little under the weather

Charlee wasn't feeling the best this weekend so she hung pretty low for most of it.

Friday afternoon I picked her up early from day care since she didn't feel well. Saturday she spent the morning with her dad since Z and I were at teddy bear tea. Saturday afternoon we hung out at home and Charlee got some good rest.

Sunday she seemed to feel better so we headed to Vinton for Sutton Thanksgiving, then spent some time with Mimi and Grandpa working on some holiday crafts.

We then headed home.. the entire ride home.. while Z was passed out in the back seat Charlee say happliy in her seat just chatting away.. it was so cute to listen to.

Charlee seems to feel much better today.. I think she is on the mend and will be all ready for Thanksgiving.

Hope you had a wonderful weekend!

Having fun!!

This weekend we spent plenty of time just having fun!!! We made some cookies and while Charlee is still a little bit to small to sit on the counter and help, she did sit in her high chair, right next to me. This time she had some pudding that she ate some of and then most of the rest of it she spread it all over her self, her tray and anything else she could get her hands on.

She also had become so good at saying "hi" when she runs into anyone she might know. Her personality shows more and more everyday and I love it!! She is such a sweet little gal that just makes you smile.

Her and Zoe are really starting to interact more and more lately as well! They will read books, play with elmo's, tickle and of course Charlee is always about three step behind Zoe where ever they are going.

This one is for me....

I will be the first to admit that many times these posts focus on events that have happened.. but in between those events we do a lot of living. I write this blog so others can know what is going on in each of the girls lives but I also and more importantly write the posts so some day the girls can go back and read the posts and have a small glimpse into the wonderful childhood that has been the foundation of who they are. So today I decided that I need to keep up the posts about the events but its becoming more important to me that I also document the in between stuff... the times where nothing is really happening but so much is going on.. so that is what this post is.. and hopefully if I can stick with it we will have many many more of these...

Last night we were down in the play room playing in the play room when Charlee found a tunnel and this was the first time she had encountered a tunnel.. it was so fun to watch Zoe try and lure her through the tunnel.. she just sat at the end and smiled while me and Zoe sat at the end and made silly silly faces at her! She never ended up coming through the tunnel... another day I am sure but it was fun to watch her explore and it was so fun to watch Zoe want to show her the world that Zoe knows.. you know the one where you run and play and explore.. little does Zoe know how close those days are.

Charlee has also started to follow Zoe around everywhere she goes.. which I of course think is so cute and makes me smile.. how ever Zoe did tell me last night that she finds it hard to go to the bathroom when Charlee is in the bathroom with her.. I just laughed. Of course I wanted to say.. tell me about it, I have felt that way for the last four years:)

So that is what these will be, just the day to day stuff. I know they might not be the most interesting to read from the outside but these are written for the girls, so that they know what happened in the in between parts..

Speech Pattern

I am not the type of mom that would claim Charlee can read because she sits down looks at a book and makes noises.. most of the time her noises and even sometimes her actions I will chalk up to just good luck:) But she has me convinced with this one. Charlee loves to carry things around and then hand them to people.. and when she hands them to me I tell her "thank you" well now when she hands you something she makes a little noise that sounds a lot like "thank you" and I just love it. It makes me smile so much! Along with her waving when ever she hears the words good bye I would say she has spent the last year observing and take it all in and now she is demonstrating just how much she has absorbed and  I just love it!

We had a great weekend, the girls had a sleep over at Mimi and Grandpa's on Friday and they had a great time and came home very tired! Which always lets you know that they did a lot of playing! Very fun!

Some one on one time

On Wednesday night Zoey and Jake went to church for the evening but it was cold, windy and rainy and Charlee and I decided to just stay home... and it was wonderful and just what we both needed!

We spent most of the time playing in Charlee's room and reading books. It is so fun.. Charlee will go over to her book shelf pick out a book.. after careful selection of course! She then brings it over to you , hands you the book and then spins around and backs right up to sit on your lap. Of course the reading of the book doesn't last more then a second or two if its a very colorful book and then she i up and looking for another book and so the story goes.. it was a perfect way to spend some time with her, just watching her be her!

Halloween

This year for Halloween Charlee was a little duck and she did a great job of wearing her custom and watching all of the kids gather candy for her. She had a great time checking out all of the other kids and of course she loved all the comments about how cute she looked as well. For the most part she rode in the wagon where her sister would bring her candy.

It was a great Halloween!

Carving pumpkins

Since Charlee was only a couple of days old last year when we carved pumpkins and she was taking nap.. this year she decided to dig right it and she did a great job of helping... Zoey drew the faces:)

First Birthday party!!

Last Sunday we did a little bit of partying and celebrated charlee's first birthday with friends and family.

It was a good party and she had a great time starting with a great dinner and of course finished with CAKE!! She loved it.

Char had to take a quick break from the party to take a bath.. she was a little messy and then we opened presents!! She had a lot of help with Zoey, Marlee and Maddie all helping. They all head a great time seeing the news toys.

It was a wonderful party. Enjoy the pictures!

One Year Old!!!

Charlee had a great first Birthday!!! She woke up to snuggles from the whole family!! She spent some time at Chris's because she had to take snacks.. her and her friend Sam shared a cupcake!! I went and got her early and we did a little shopping just me and her!! It was wonderful!! Then we went and picked up Zoey. We played at home had spaghetti for dinner (one of Charlee's favorites right now)and of course we ended the meal with a cupcake singing Happy Birthday and watching Charlee smash it everywhere, she had a great time! After a bath  we opened presents. Of course like most one year olds charlee wasn't that interested in opening the presents luckily she has a sister that could help with that. We played with the new toys. At first she didn't know what to think about Rock and Roll Elmo... she giggles with delight when he's in the box but the first time he came out and started moving around she wasn't real sure what to think. We played with the new toys a little bit and then decided to go and get some frozen yogurt as a special birthday treat! It was a wonderful day and such a blessing that a year ago we were blessed with our little Charlee. One year ago today was our first day at home as a family.. its amazing how much has changed in the last year and just how blessed we are.

We are celebrating Charlee's birthday again tomorrow with a small family party. I will post pictures from that as well.

We love you Charlee, you are a happy little girl that makes me smile every day!! I love your funny faces, I love the funny noises you make, I love your adventurous attitude... Just this evening you got stuck under a bar stool in the kitchen and you weren't scared at all. I think you think you are much older then you are and I love you so much more then you will ever know.

Mommy, Daddy and Charlee date

Friday night Zoe got to hang out with some friends and me, Jake and Charlee went out to dinner and it was SO fun!! It was great being able to give Charlee all of our attention and of course she just ate it up... you could tell that she missed her sister but was okay with the one on one time for awhile.. of course the minute Z walked in the door, Charlee was tackling her to welcome her home.

Sunday we headed to Shellsburg for Charlee's one year pictures. She did a great job and I can't wait to see them. We did some family pictures, some Charlee pictures, some sister pictures and then did of course the cake smash...Charlee at first wasn't interested at all which seems so odd considering she LOVES to eat!! but as the time went on, she started to get the hang of it and in the end we had to remove the cake because we were worried about her eating to much!!

Charlee has started on whole milk this week and so far so good. Can't believe in two days she will be one year old.. where has the time gone?

some new teeth...

Just in time for halloween Charlee has gotten more teeth, but its not the teeth you would think.. its her eye teeth on the top.. so to put it in terms everyone will understand... it looks like she has fangs;( She must know it looks kind of silly because she isn't quick to show them off.

Charlee has converted to walking... and I might even say that she is faster at walking then she is crawling now. She is such a happy little girl. Hard to believe in one week, she will be a week old and we won't be able to call her a baby... in my heart she will always be my baby girl!

Trip to the pumpkin Farm

Char made her first trip to the pumpkin farm this weekend and had a pretty good time. She looked at all the animals and checked out some of the pumpkins. We also did some work in Grandpa's Garden before we went and she had a good time riding in the wheelbarrow and the wagon..... She picked out some good pumpkins!

First steps!!

Charlee has taken a couple of small steps her and there but I haven't ever witnessed her string a bunch of step together and actually get some where.. that is until tonight and then she decided to show it off. It like she has been able to do it for some time and was just saving it up until she was ready.. which doesn't surprise me if that was the case:)

11 months old

Charlee is eleven months old today... the last month of me being able to say out loud this is my baby girl charlee.. of course I am sure I will look at her when she is thirty and still see the beautiful little girl I see today. She has developed a VERY strong personality and she knows just what she wants and she isn't going to let ANYONE stand in her way of getting what she wants. I have always said she will be my strong willed child and that is so true so far.
But even as strong willed as she is many times she is fighting for every ounce of attention she can get by pushing Zoe off my lap, throwing a fit until everyone stops talking and looks at her, or making enough noise so that someone comes and see just what she is up to.
Her little grin and laugh are something that can melt anyones heart and she seems to already know just the right time to flash both of them.. the still toothless grin is pretty stinking cute!
She loves her big sister and always attentively watches every move she makes so she can learn how to be just like her, but I have a feeling her goal is also to be just a little bit better:)
She can eat everyone but Jake under the table.. the girl ate two pancakes at breakfast on Saturday.. she can EAT!
She does like a good afternoon nap still.. but really who doesn't.
She has been the perfect addition to our family and I feel like she has been her forever but at the same time to think in one month we will be celebrating one year of Charlee just blows my mind.. I better get planning the party!

Love you Char Bar!

First art project

Tonight Z wanted to do a little art project check out her blog for her in action.. of course we can't leave charlee out so she got a little art project as well.. her's was pudding instead of paint and she didn't have a finished product other then a big big smile, but she had a great time doing it and sitting at the table with her sister thinking she was big big stuff!!

In other Charlee news she really has developed her own little language and I say her own because no one else knows what she says but she has lots to say it moves at a conversational pace and she pauses and looks at you.. that is when you know its your turn to talk but you can only talk until she starts talking again... of course there are rules.  She can now stand up where ever she wants and doesn't need anything to pull up to.