Almost there...

We have almost made it. Charlotte's birthday is just about a week away, and we are all excited. The preparations for her party are in full force (thanks to my amazing aunt and uncle), and Charlotte has seemed to have gotten the memo that her big day is coming.



In honor of her birthday, she has decided to get in a few more milestones before the big day. First, we are well on our way to hands and knees crawling; she now starts each motion with two or three slides before retreating to her belly crawling.



She is highly motivated by a few things; her siblings, the iPad, and food topping the list. Goldfish anyone?



"Yes! I got it!"



With a bit of help from my sister...



"Yum!"



Charlotte has also become very fond of the game "so big," and I am excited to report she is now an active participant. It took a few months of me looking like a fool, jumping and clapping and waving my arms around, but my girl got it. And it is so. dang. cute.







My little dare devil is also trying really hard to pull herself up on whatever she can find (these days it seems like boxes and bins are the objects of choice; who needs fancy toys?!?). I am afraid she is going to smack her head when I am not looking (especially when she tries on the fireplace), but she is quickly gaining strength and confidence, and I love that she is highly motivated to do it. She has had repeated success getting to her knees, and a few times I have found her perfect "plank" position. (Pictures to come....).

Also a new favorite game is for one of us to hold out our two index fingers, and she quickly scoots over, sits,  grabs on and with a bit of help pulls up. After a few seconds, she sits back down, and reaches out to repeat the fun game....over, and over, and over again. All with a huge "I'm so proud of myself" grin.

Finally, I love that for the past few weeks, whenever I walk into the room, her arms immediately reach for me. My older two always seem to prefer mom and dad equally; I have never had a momma's girl...I gotta tell you, I am kind of enjoying it.

I will leave you with a few final pictures. The first, to show how Charlotte grins from ear to ear every time she sees the camera, even if it isn't aimed at her... (notice the almost empty house? our move is in full force!)




And because I love these three more than anything in this world, here is a little glimpse of what makes me smile everyday.







Happy almost mid-week everyone!

I have been a bad blogger.

Mike said to me a few minutes ago, "you realize your last blog post was on the 16th?" I knew it was bad, but not that bad. I told him I just don't have it in me these days. So much is going on, and I haven't been in the best of spirits. I don't like writing consecutive negative posts, so I took a bit of a break.

We have been busy. Katherine and Will are now done with preschool; it ended with a few tears on my part, as we have become pretty close to all the families in Katherine's class. Next year she is off to Kindergarten, hard to believe. She is ready...now if we could just find a house, so we know where she is going to Kindergarten.











My almost 1-year old is doing fantastic. I have been trying to stay away from  "one year ago today..." thoughts as we get closer to her birthday. If someone would have told me a year ago about the detour my life was about to take, I wouldn't have believed them. More on that to come though, I need to get back to the never-ending task of packing our entire household in order to move it to a storage shed in a few weeks. Oh joy. But, I will leave you a few pictures of my crazy-haired, jammie-clad, baby girl. I love this girl.

Changes

This past weekend I came home to a sold sign out front our house. A wave of sadness followed by a wave of panic washed over me. Our closing is in one month, and we still haven't found a house. The thought of packing overwhelms me. I hate being in limbo.

Katherine is days away from finishing her last year of preschool. The reality of my baby going to Kindergarten has been hitting me hard as we plan for her last few days of school. Katherine is going to do great, me, I am not so sure.

In less than a month, this incredible year of some of the lowest and some of the highest times of my life is going to end. A year that, 11 months ago, I was wishing would end, now brings me a bit of sadness as I look in Charlotte's eyes and know she is going to be a baby for much longer.

Changes are happening in our lives, and in the end, I know they will all be for the best. Right now though, feeling a bit emotional and unsure about it all.

Luckily, these guys do a nice job of pulling me out of my funk. 

You are my sunshine...

my only sunshine...

Spring temperatures....finally?!?

I know I have been a bit lax on the blogging lately. I have a thousand excuses why I haven't been keeping up...but really, it just comes down to things have been busy. 3 kids, a couple part-time jobs, selling/finding a house, ....all things that keep me a bit busy. I had a great mother's day blog planned in my head, but have yet to pound it out. Maybe tonight?

My kids are enjoying the warmer temperatures. Lunch out on the deck, playing on the swingset, and of course nothing says summer like a good popsicle...Charlotte likes them too!

Almost Wordless Wednesday

Just wanted to say "thanks" for everyone who donated for the March of Dimes walk...Max thanks you :-)



And one more just because....