Christmas in April

 

Easter Eggs!

 

Trip to the zoo

Now onto the Christmas explanation:

 

I got so spoiled for Christmas. 

a month or two before Christmas we found an AMAZING deal on a piano and we went for it. My home was never complete until we had a piano. It has been YEARS since I've been able to play the piano at home and I use it almost daily.  I told Dave I couldn't be happier and I was going to count that as my Christmas present, so don't get me anything else. 

 

He didn't listen, that smart man. For my Christmas gift, he scheduled a few days off work so I could go to  Arizona in April with my family WITHOUT the girls. I loved being able to wake up and fix my own breakfast, and do whatever I wanted WHENever I wanted. I played tennis, got fro-yo, played games, relaxed, read, sat by the pool and shopped. That was definitely the gift that kept on giving. There may or may not be pictures to document this trip, but I looked like a balloon in most of them since my baby weight likes to cling to me for dear life, so you will just have to picture in your minds a slightly tanned, more chubby version of myself. Enjoy. 

My parents Christmas gift to Dave, myself and the rest of my sibs, were concert tickets to the Coldplay concert. I'm not exaggerating when I say this was life-changing. Or as the bird-watching community calls a bird they will likely never see again, a lifer. This concert was a lifer. I don't know if I can ever go to another concert again because it would pale in comparison to the energy, talent, production, performance, music and ambiance of that concert. I am now a giant fan of Chris Martin and I think he is a musical genius. Here we are on the way to the concert.

At the doors of the concert, everyone was given a bracelet. During the first song, and then a song in the middle all the bracelets simultaneously lit up to create one of the coolest light shows I've ever seen.

At the end of the concert, I turned to Dave and said that I I would be so happy to just sit through that concert all over again here and now. My only regret was not buying a T-Shirt. I would parade that thing feeling so smug that I could say I went to that concert. If I am ever in a place where Coldplay is touring again I would without hesitation pay ALMOST any amount of money to see them again.

Happy Birthday Dave!

Back in March Charlotte started asking about when the flowers were going to come. I told her that we live in Canada and flowers never come. Just kidding..sort of. It sparked a discussion about springtime, and the weather getting warmer. Like any 3 year old, Charlotte has a difficult concept of time so I told her to expect flowers around her Dad's birthday. She connected the two in her mind and determined that she was going to get her Daddy flowers for his birthday. She talked about it for months, but I kind of didn't take it seriously because, come on, flowers for a guy? 

The morning of Dave's birthday I told Charlotte it was her daddy's birthday. Her first question was "Is it spring? Are the flowers here?" She then ran into her room, and started getting changed so she could go pick some flowers for him. I was feeling a little worried that she was going to be very disappointed when she couldn't find any flowers for him, but lo and behold, we experienced a birthday miracle! We had just returned home from being in Orlando for the week and I hadn't had a chance to even look in our backyard, until that morning. When we did we noticed there were some red tulips that had bloomed. There was a part of me that wanted them to be left alone in the yard looking pretty, but the mom in me won. How could you tell your daughter who had been waiting months to pick flowers for her daddy that she couldn't pick those pretty red ones? I dare you to try.

Aren't these the cutest pictures? Charlotte picked her outfit down to the hat. The hat was a crucial part of the flower picking process. 

I wish I had a picture of Charlotte presenting them to Dave, it was so cute. 

For dinner we had a backyard BBQ which was delish. 

I love this picture of Dave. 

I snapped while he wasn't looking and I think he looks so ummmm hot in it! 

 I'm sure Emmeline is thinking "Happy birthday Daddy"

 The dinner spread with the trash bin in the background. The Low's know classy. 

After dinner we had some friends and family come over for cake and to watch the NBA playoffs. 

All in all it was a great day and I'm just grateful for Dave to pave the way to 28 one month before me. Somehow it seems like it will soften the blow.

Isn't that the cutest little baby dolly you've ever seen? At least I think so. Her Aunt Amanda (L) gave her that cute little ensemble when she was born. I remember when she first gave it to me thinking "it will take forever for her to fit into this" and then what do ya know, she's wearing it! This has got to be the fastest 9 months of my life. It felt like I was pregnant with her for 2 years and now that's out it has just flown by a little too fast!

 

I kept saying, "Charlotte just move to the side so we can see both of you" This was as good as it got. She is such a poser for cameras. Lately she's been doing the "Kim Kardashian-look-over-the-shoulder-stick-the-hip-out" pose. The scary thing about that is I don't think she saw it anywhere, I think it just comes as a reflex when the camera comes out. 

 "Sniffy baby" 

 When Emmeline is being silly she scrunches her nose, smiles, and sniffs in and out really rapidly. Hence the nickname, sniffy baby. We think it's adorable and it's funny because I always scrunch my nose when I laugh hard. Maybe she is mine :)

Charlotte has been a piece of cake lately. Yes she's your regular 3 year old with lots of energy and is always wanting to be doing something. But she is so reasonable, polite, happy, fun, silly and is still napping! Seriously, thank you Charlotte, you rock! 

This June has been a little too rainy for my liking so on days that the sun comes out we drop everything and head outside. 

One day we went to lake with my parents. It was a great day! 

 Dave's parents live right on the same lake that my parents go to and this year they've added paddleboards to their water toys. Charlotte loves to go out for rides, and I have a blast with them too! 

We still make it outside on rainy days

At the beginning of June, Dave's sister, Amanda, invited the girls in the family down to her cabin in Montana for a little girls weekend. We did puzzles, shopped, ate out, painted nails and even made T-shirts. 

I love this series of pictures below. This is while we're waiting for our food at Cafe Jax. It was taking a while so Wendie started telling Charlotte some nursery rhymes and we all got such a kick out of Charlotte's uber concentrated face. I don't think I've ever concentrated that hard in my life. She definitely gets that from Dave. Although I might have to say that Wendie takes the cake in these photos for being most entertaining. 

 The homemade t-shirt. Let's just say that Charlotte fit right in in the little po-dunk town of Eureka

Orlando!

Dave had a medical conference at the beginning of May in Orlando which paid a good chunk of the trip, and since Dave's sister lives in Orlando, we couldn't pass up the opportunity  tag along.



Our trip got off to a rough start. Our 3 hour layover in Chicago turned into an 8 hour layover meaning we were boarding the plane at midnight. The girls and myself were on the verge of getting a cold (Dave had just got over his) and I just knew this redeye flight would do us all in. With the time difference and landing in Orlando at around 3:30 am we were pretty wasted. I got really sick as did Emmeline. Probably the sickest I've been in a long time. Luckily Charlotte never got it.



Minus our not so ideal start, we had a great time.

Mark and Jessica (our brother and sister-in-law) know just how to entertain a Canadian girl. First thing on the agenda was frog hunting at night with headlamps and lacross sticks. Seriously, how cool are they?

One of two pairs of matching pajamas

It's all about sun protection with my fair skinned girls

Yes, it costs an arm and a leg, but we couldn't pass up Disney World. 

Belle had a little too much cleavage going on for my liking

It was just easier to pretend that Suzie was our daughter when people asked. 

Here is one of Charlotte's poses she comes up with out of the blue. Suzie's pose is looking pretty sweet too with the thumbs up.

Waiting for Lion King to start. It was the second time I've seen it, and I don't know how many times I've seen the Disney movie, but (spoiler alert) I still cried when Mufassa died. 

If Lion King comes to your city, you MUST pay any amount of money to go - Period.

While in Orlando we also ate a ridiculous amount of fudgcicles and frozen yogurt. We played games, went to the pool, played at the playground and just had an all around relaxing time. We LOVE to visit and thanks to the Martinez's for being such wonderful hosts again!

Dear Charlotte

Oh miss Charlotte. I'm a little bit obsessed with you. At home you are my big girl, my helper, and my friend. You are hilarious and silly but you still snuggle. You are a permanent fixture on my lap when I'm playing the piano. I love your song you "composed" on the piano about the polka dot dress. I know you're still working on the lyrics, but it's coming along great.

I love how you can recount memories from months and months ago. From what was in your lunch box when you picked up Emmeline at the hospital (strawberry milk, cheese string and a sandwich that grandma Smith made for you is what you accurately recalled) to the color of the dress your cousin Suzie wore at Disney World last January (Blue and you plan on borrowing it in May apparently).

I found it unbearably cute how you sat and watched Conference with us while you worked away at your Conference bingo sheet. You were on top of every word the speaker spoke, even if some weren't part of the sheet. "I heard 'to do' I heard them say 'mercy' they said 'church'! "

 

I love how you are the most beautiful 3 year old I've ever seen. 

 I love admiring your golden curls, even though you only let me curl your hair twice a year.

Thanks for coming to my haircut appointment so I could tell the hairdresser that I wanted my haircut just like yours. 

 I'm surprised by how you ponder things. I still don't know where you came up with the explanation that Angel Moroni is on the temple to play his trumpet when Jesus comes.

Please don't grow up too fast!