The only real “vision” I’ve had for Charlotte’s first birthday party has been tutus. I desperately want to see Charlie bouncing around with her tiny friends, all looking adorable in pink tutus.
So clearly, the only thing to do was to make tutus for all the girlies coming to the party (I think it amounts to 4).
I’ll make an official DIY how-to later, but for now, check out the sneak peek!
My baby turns one full year old in a week from tomorrow. How in the heck is that possible? A big part of me feels like she’s always been a part of me… it’s impossible to think of how it felt when she didn’t exist, when I didn’t love her in the biggest way imaginable. Yet still, when I examine the fact that it has been an entire year, that my baby is a toddler, my head spins in disbelief.
I feel this internal struggle… part of me is sad because this year has literally flown by, but in the same breath, I’m so happy because my tiny little munchkin has turned into such an incredible, funny, spunky, loving, chipper, badass little bunny. This age is hilarious and amazing.
But seriously… where did this past year go?
Charlotte’s birthday is next Thursday. It’s a work day, so her actual special little day won’t be anything too grand, but I’ve been trying to think of things to do to make it a little more fun for her. She loves balloons, so I was thinking maybe I’d decorate her high chair with balloons… make her pancakes with fruit for breakfast… I was debating taking her to story time that morning, but I’d have to wake her from her nap, so I’m not sure about that one yet.
Maybe we can have a picnic outside for lunch… what to make for dinner? I don’t know…
Help! What are some fun ideas to celebrate her special day? And yes, I know she won’t remember later in life, but that doesn’t mean she shouldn’t enjoy each moment of her day!
Mini smirk.
The magic sling.
i LOVE long weekends. Especially when we don’t have too much planned… Ugh! I literally took at least three hammock naps this weekend and I actually have a little color in my skin.
We had an absolute blast hanging with family, getting stuff done around the house, relaxing, and enjoying each other. All in all, a great Fourth of July weekend!
Lunch with little miss sunshine and her cute tush…
Had to sneak in Charlie’s 11 month pics before I totally missed it… Ugh. I really dropped the ball with these pics. Sorry, bunny! I tried… But you’re SUCH a pain during these photo shoots.
Fourth of July pool party!
Lounging 🙂
Charlotte crawled over to this random group of girls and ladies for a nice chat! So silly 🙂
I joined…
Listening to Grandma, Grandpa and the band sing to little Charlie!
Zonked!
Did I mention I finished the dang growth chart???
This past weekend was SO busy and wonderful! Not just busy in the “we’re new parents and don’t really go out” sense… but for real busy.
On Friday, we headed to Lake Country to visit my sweet little love of a friend, her hubby and their NEW baby girl, Bailey, in the hospital. It was such perfection to hold her warm and cozy little cutie. Charlie enjoyed the visit, too! She loves to point out the obvious… “hey momma, look… that’s a baby”… “hey momma, loook… the baby is crying”… “hey momma – waaaa – I sound like the baby.”
Yes, I “paraphrased” her grunts and pointing.
After our visit, we headed to this cute little Italian restaurant with our friends Erica and Jake. We were a little nervous because we didn’t sit down for dinner until around 6:30/6:45ish… which is Charlie’s bed time. BUT, she was very well behaved and allowed us to have real adult conversation and a really great time. She even FELL ASLEEP IN THE CAR!!!
First, we taught her to drive!
Up until about a month ago, this child has not dozed in the car since she was a tiny tot.
On Saturday, Marky went golfing with his friends while I lived out my nightmare with the animals. I will post separately about the shit storm that has been our pets these past few weeks, but to summarize, I went in to change Charlotte after her nap. Within seconds, Oliver the Cat waltzed in, strolled behind Charlotte’s glider and URINATED on her carpet with his evil ammonia pee. I proceeded to soak up pee for the next 15 minutes while Charlotte projectile sobbed in my face. It was fab.
I was desperate to get out, so after the urination game, Charlie and I met my parents, neice and nephew at Strawberry Fest for lunch (a cute little festival in a neighboring town). After the fest, Charlie and I went home for a nap.
Post-nap, Charlotte went to her Grandpa and Grandma’s (Mark’s dad and step mom’s house) for a sleepover party! Of course she was pumped. She loves them and Grampie lets her play with whatever she wants. They had an absolute blast and Charlie was very well-behaved.
While she enjoyed her slumber party, Mark and I went to a housewarming party at his friend’s house downtown. It was great! They had the cutest little setup on their driveway. Their house is great. It was a nice night amongst adults.
Then, Sunday we were up early to pick up the little one and head to Chicago to see my brosef. We were a little nervous about driving out there because unless Charlotte miraculously slept in the car, she’d be without a nap all day… which she’s never actually done before. We rigged a little cave for Charlotte in the back seat and actually managed to get her to sleep for about an hour of our 1.5 hour drive.
It was enough to keep her happy for a great day! We went to lunch and then walked through a cute little art fair! It was SO much fun to be out and hang with my brother. It was definitely the most time he’s spent with Charlotte and I have to say, it was perfect. She absolutely loved his goofy nature and he seemed to have a lot of fun playing with her. It really made me so happy.
After Uncle Matt time, we stopped by my friend Marci’s house to smooch her and her little baby who is already 6 weeks old! And of course, we had to introduce the future husband and wife!
Then, grabbed a quick dinner and headed home. At dinner, Charlie met her first ex-boyfriend! It was another little babe who was just 2 weeks older than her. The two were FLIRTING up a storm… staring at each other, chatting, showing off. It was way too cute. Notice her facing away from the table?? She was watching her new bf.
After din, we got on the road… two hours later, poor Charlie didn’t get in bed until 9 pm, but thankfully slept most of the way home. She literally fell asleep within 45 seconds of being strapped in her carseat.All in all, a busy and great weekend!
Today we got to go play at Great Grandpa’s after lunch! Considering we arrived during what should have been Charlie’s nap time, she was (pretty much) all smiles…
We took the pie to Olive Garden (yum!) for lunch today. Between coloring, cuddling and chowing down, baby girl had a great time… 
This Father’s Day marked my hubby’s FIRST as a pops to an outside baby. Last year we celebrated when I was a monster of a pregnant lady (as described in this blog post), but this year it’s different. My amazing husband has almost a full year of being the best damn dad I could have ever hoped for my little one under his belt. This Father’s Day, he deserved the best.
So, while hubby was away on business last week, I worked like a dog to make him Father’s Day gifts he would not only love and appreciate, but gifts that would show him just how much we love and appreciate him.
Here’s what we got him…
Jimmy Fallon’s new book, “Your baby’s first word will be DADA”
This book is absolutely adorable (and funny). A great gift considering Charlie is on the brink of speaking (real words).
“The Dada cow says, ‘dada.’ The baby cow says ‘moo.'”
The little cutie pie in daddy’s shirt.
The last gift was the most time-consuming. I spent about 20-30 hours (literally) going through every video I’ve taken over the past year and compiling an “ode” to my hubby and our baby’s first year of life. This was worth every minute. Hubby LOVED it and it is something we will always have to bring smiles and memories of Charlie’s first year.
Watch & enjoy…
I’ll share another post highlighting all the wonderful moments of our perfect Father’s Day!
Hope you all had a great celebration!
Last night we attended a local BBQ celebration for our friends who got married in Santa Fe. We brought our little nugget and despite staying up way past her bedtime (830 pm!!), she was such a doll.
She was playing with the kids, crawling up to random strangers and asking them to pick her up with her outstretched arms… It was great!
And even better, after a quick 530 am wake up, she went back to sleep until 915am!
The bunny has been really sick the past few days. Whatever she’d been fighting last week came to a head on Sunday when she was bashed with a terrible cough, horribly stuffy nose and a fever. Poor girl.
She was so uncomfortable and sick that every time she’d sleep, she’d wake herself up coughing this terrible cough and choking on nasty goober, which ended in howls and tears every time.
Yesterday, she could barely nap. She’d lay down, fall asleep, and then wake up 30 minutes later coughing and crying. It was really sad.
Which makes me SO grateful that she finally slept all the way through the night last night with no tears AND took a mega nap this morning from 8:30a – 12:15p! GO CHARLIE!
Not to mention the fact that she’s got her pep back. It’s not all the way back, but it’s definitely on its way!
Thank goodness… watching the babes struggle is horrible.
As a side note, do you notice how great her nose looks considering she had a horribly stuffy nose?? My mother-in-law taught us a trick… A touch of Vaseline on the nose and voila! No redness or cracked skin! I know, I know… Vaseline isn’t the best in general, but for how infrequently it’s used in our house, this trick is sticking for good. Happy nose = happy baby!
I have been so terrible about taking Charlie’s weekly photos (because taking them is just as fun as scratching my eyeballs out) and the corresponding updates. With that in mind, here are some of Charlie’s favorite things these days:
Playing House 