it's the magic tree...

things have been crazy since Christmas... sorry for the delay in posts. Tonight we spent the evening on the run. We took off for Columbia to go to the Harley Davidson store to exchange some christmas gifts and got all the way there to find out they are closed till January 4th. WHAT! oh well, we made the best of the situation and went to eat dinner at White Castle... not my idea of making the best of the situation, but Andrew was loving it. White Castle is definitely a treat for him. After White Castle we went by to see the Magic Tree... HOW COOL! Charly had a blast running around and admiring the tree. it was georgous. then we stopped at Andy's for a sundae to share and back home we went. PHEW! BUSY NIGHT. This weekend is packed. Hope we get some good pictures!

mimic

now that she will mimic everything i say and do...i got her to smile and show her teeth. now i just have to learn to get her to look at the camera.

christmas 2010

charly woke up and had coffee/chocolate milk with grandpa johnson and then we headed to the koppens for christmas... where charly loved the snow globes... and even got one in her stocking! how fun!

the rest of christmas eve...

was spent at grandma and grandpa johnsons house.
we had a blast!

Christmas eve started like this...

the best part about Christmas is....

the stockings!

i have always loved stockings and always will. growing up, christmas was magical for me. christmas morning we would go to the livingroom to find piles of toys and stuff from santa. santa never wrapped our gifts growing up... they were set up around the tree and almost glowed when you saw them. it was amazing. the best part was looking for your pile of stuff... and seeing what everyone else got! i loved it. then after you saw what you got, you went for the stocking!!! THE BEST! i can not wait till i can have a magical christmas for charly.

i am lucky... she is only 1 1/2 and doesn't know what day christmas is yet! we have opened presents a few times and tonight we opened the stockings. it is like christmas every day around here! it was fun... not as fun as it will be christmas morning with her pile of stuff from santa under the tree and a big stocking full of treasures... but it was fun! jewelry, dora videos, snowman cookie, her favorite cheese puffs....


Charly has been the best christmas present and stocking stuffer i have had for the last 2 years.... she is magical!

book it

thanks to our good friends the gartners, we now have a billion books spread around the house. charly is in to books right now and i feel like i am back in grade school on a mission to read as many with her as i can...

this is why people should listen to me...

i try to tell people all the time not to touch bear...they don't listen. instead, they hug him, squeeze him, kiss on him...blah blah blah...and i look at them like yuck, yuck, yuck! bear is special to us, don't get me wrong...but...BUT, he is nasty! bear has been the victim of poop, pee, slobber, food, and the very very worst...VOMIT! yes, this is a picture of bear and the horrible, terrible, no good night he must have had. it looks like a murder scene for him, and he probably wished it was his time to go, but... he lives on!

this is what i woke charly up and found...well, this plus a nasty vomit covered child who was just sitting there hugging on her bear! yuck!!! i can still smell it now as i am writing this!

so let this be a lesson (and a reminder). do not pick up a child's favorite stuffed animal...EVER! as tempting as it may be to try to get a child's attention...keep these favorite friends at a distance! they are nothing but pure nastiness!!!

p.s. bear, we love you!

taking some time to laugh...

well, it is the week before Christmas! things are hectic. i never imagined it would be this hard to get things ready for Christmas and try to keep my house semi-clean. it isn't even close to semi-clean, and i am not even almost ready for Christmas, and i have to say, it was adding to the stress i am feeling lately... so today after baking a gazillion cookies and running gifts and baked goods to friends, we came home and spent some time playing together on the floor and laughing. superman is often the highlight of our playing on the floor, and then tonight superman got a special little twist when she got catapulted into the couch! lots of laughs!!!

too much fun for everyone

we had a fun night out. went to dr. hardman's house for a get together and really enjoyed ourselves. jade came to watch charly and they must have had so much fun playing and hanging out it wore her out! this is how she was found after jade left and when we went to her room to check on her (expecting to see her in her crib asleep!). Dora was playing, and she was snoozing away cuddled with her bear on the boppy pillow! so funny!

what made me smile today?

... dancing before bed!

it's beginning to look alot like Christmas!!!

enjoying my german pyramid with my baby!!! love it!