Curly Hair!

Miss Charlotte's hair has been wavy for a long time, but recently it has really started grow and look curly! OK, maybe not that curly, but I really love her little locks!






I love this little girl!

From the Mouth of My Babe

I thought I'd throw a little "contest" out there to see who speaks Charlotte talk the best. Prize? Dinner with free Charlotte entertainment at our house - either this one soon or the new one after we get settled! Contest ends TUESDAY at 8 PM.

A Charlotte/English dictionary:

1. shot-it -

2. Maddie, co ere! -

3. ticken - (has two possible meanings)

4. sheegur- (also has two possible meanings)

5. eemo -

6. sek -

7. eetsa pider - (hint in photo above)

8. maider -

9. cumberr -

10. gee-

Counting

Recently, Charlotte and I have been working on counting. Usually, if we start counting something, she sounds something like "One, two, five, six!" Not bad, for being 19 months old (holy cow, did I just realize that is TODAY or what?!)

Most of these counting conversations start with, "Charlotte, how many cows are there?"

The other day I scolded Charlotte for pulling the ink cartridges out of Beta's printer, " Charlotte, STOP playing with the printer. It is not a toy. How many times am I going to have to tell you?"

To which she replied, "One, two..."

Corn on the Cob

Charlotte practicing for all the summer fun to come our way soon!

Lost Video

This video is from January. We found it pretty fun, and thought you might enjoy it!

A Year in Cloth = Crunchy Mama?

So, believe it or not, Miss Charlotte has been in cloth for a year now. I can't believe it's been that long. Certainly, there have been times we've used disposable diapers for convenience, but I always go back to the cloth.

Oh, we've also had our battles; when Charlotte stopped nursing and started taking more fluids, she became a heavy wetter. It took me a while to connect that to needing to change her more often and to being extra careful to keep the detergent and ammonia from building up on her diapers. To do this, once a month I wash them with a couple of drops (in my HE washer) of Dawn and not even a quarter cup of bleach. Cotton Babies advises against the use of vinegar because it affects the Velcro, but every few washes I run an additional hot cycle (following the initial rinse to get the poopy off) with JUST the inserts and vinegar in the fabric softener dispenser.

I must say, vinegar does a GREAT job neutralizing the ammonia and works as a nice fabric softener in my regular laundry! I'm going to start buying it by the jug and using it in more household cleaning applications. Cheap and chemical free!



And, to me, that is the real kicker. Having a child sure has made me crunchy! NFP, breastfeeding beyond a year (16 mos), babywearing, organic foods when I can afford them (but still not entirely in the budget!), cloth diapers, plans to remove chemicals from my cleaning supplies and even a crazy interest in mama cloth. Each just seems to lend itself to the next.

I know I get crazy looks from my friends and family sometimes, but it's amazing how your ideals change when you have a child.

Charlotte Dancing at the Rodeo

Busy Weekend

Friday 5:30 - RODEO! We went with Aunt Helen (who is supposed to send me some cute pictures and videos of Charlotte jamming to Clint Black) and had a great time. Charlotte was VERY good, despite being up WAAAYY past her bedtime!

Saturday 10:00 am - Taught NFP class at St. Francis de Sales.
Saturday 2:00 pm - Met with real estate agent to determine revised offer in light of the major repairs the house needed.
Saturday 4:30 pm - (running behind) Meet friends for a "Saturday Playgroup" dinner. Forgot my camera, so no cute picture of 5 babies lined up on the couch.
Saturday 8:00pm - Fred works on his MBA application essays, I research information for one of our NFP Students and begin pulling together a NFP presentation for Sunday (that we found out about on Thursday).

Sunday 9:00 am - Church
Sunday 10:00 am - Receive seller's counter offer. We decide it's not enough money and that there is no way they will come up to what we need, we've rushed into this whole thing, and to pull our offer.
Sunday 12:00 noon - Give NFP presentation at Co-cathedral.
Sunday 2:30 pm - Sellers come back wanting what they need to do to make the sale.
Sunday 4:00 pm - We give them our final offer. Fred works on finishing his MBA application.
Sunday 9:00 pm - Confirmation, the sellers agree to our terms. Whoop!
Sunday 10:30 pm - Fred submits his MBA application.

What a weekend! We're looking forward to closing on and moving into the house! YAY!!

Sneak a Peek

If you've wondered what we've been up to lately, see above. We made an offer and are now in the option period, but the inspection did not come out so great. We'll head back to the sellers this week with a laundry list of repairs. If they won't make the repairs, it's back to the drawing board for us.

But really, how could any mother in her right mind not love this bathroom?


Or daydream about curling up next to a fire in this fireplace?


But, my daydreams may all be for naught. If this house isn't it (and the odds are not good), I'm sure the home of our dreams is out there, waiting for the pitter-patter of little feet.

Sidewalk Chalk

A Lost Photo:

The neighbors had sidewalk chalk out and Charlotte went to town. Maybe Mommy should buy some for our house!

Lost Posts

I was looking through my blogger account and realized that I have a few unpublished posts. I went ahead and added the lacking information and published them. I let them post at their original dates, (you know, for that blurb book I want to make someday).

If you'd like to hear about early February happenings, including our trip to Baton Rouge, you can click here.

I also recounted a story that brought tears to my eyes here.

Toddler Mom or Lawyer and Cheerleader?

So, the good news is that our sweet toddler does still show up in between tantrums. Whew! Really, it feels like a whole new ball game with her these days.

Sometimes I feel a little like a trial lawyer rather than a toddler parent - all of my statements or questions must be phrased just so to get the response I want. Meaning, of course, that I need the tot to respond other than with a high pitched,"Noooo!" and crashing her body to the floor.

For bath time I used to ask (with just a tad of enthusiasm), "Charlotte, are you ready for your bath?" at which she would eagerly run towards the sound of running water. No such luck with a question like that now. Instead, I say, with as much enthusiasm as I can muster, "Charlotte, let's go take a bath! Come on, you can pick out which color wash cloth you want to use! Okay?" She's really begining to master her colors these days, so involving colors in everything we do seems to help.

Notice the enthusiasm part I mentioned? The right amount of enthusiasm and attention keeps the toddler tantrums better at bay. The energy needed to maintain that amount of enthusiasm and positive energy every day, however, makes me feel something like a high school cheerleader instead of a Mom. No wonder I fall dead into my bed every night!

The final thing that seems to help, is talking Charlotte through the day. Telling her what we're doing, where we're going, what we're going to eat, etc. helps transition her from one activity to the next.

The hardest part of all of these things is consistantly keeping up with them all, all day long. But so far, the days that I do keep up with them turn out to be the better days, and we see more of this: