New Teeth

Charlotte now has five teeth! Her original two on the bottom, and now three more on top....plus one more almost ready to poke through. She looks like a little toddler when she smiles (sniff, sniff....where did our little baby go??).

Waving Bye-Bye

The best Christmas gift I got this year was seeing Charlotte do her first waving bye-byes. We've been working on this talent for a few weeks, but hadn't seen any waves yet...until Christmas Day. She was sitting in her highchair waving her arms, I thought just randomly, but then I waved at her and she waved right back. She's been waving ever since. All you have to say is "bye-bye Charlotte" and she starts waving. Today at the grocery store she waved at the cashier as we walked away. It's really very adorable!

Happy Nine Month Birthday, Charlotte!

Meeting Santa with the Cousins!

With all the cousins together we thought it was the perfect time to take some Christmas pictures and visit Santa. All the girls put on their Christmas dresses and we took some pictures in front of Lisa's beautiful tree and then we headed to the mall to meet Santa. This was Charlotte's first experience with Santa. She was not quite sure why we were handing her over to this bearded man. She really checked him out and stared at him. It was very sweet. Of course, Anna and Mary Jane are old pros at sitting on Santa's lap. They had big smiles and gave Santa a few ideas on what they would like for Christmas.

It was great fun and a new tradition we plan on doing each year!

MJ & Charlotte

Anna & Charlotte

Madison, WI

Charlotte and I took a trip to Madison, WI to visit my sister and her awesome family. We had been talking about the trip for months and couldn't wait to get the cousins together. First of all, Charlotte is a great little traveller. She loves the excitement at the airport and on the plane she plays a little and then falls asleep.

In Madison we just did a lot of hanging out and playing with Anna, Mary Jane and Charlotte. Anna and MJ were so sweet with Charlotte. You can tell they really love her. They love to help her, bring her toys, kiss and hung her. Anna would run to say hi to Charlotte everyday when she got home from school. Charlotte had a big smile on her face every time MJ or Anna entered the room!

MJ & Charlotte watching Lisa vacuum.

Anna reading to Charlotte by the tree.

Charlotte "reading" her new Christmas book from Anna.

Charlotte....just one of the girls playing in the family room!

Anna & MJ entertaining Charlotte with pots & pans.
Sweet Charlotte by the Christmas tree :)

Grandpa & Grandma Linda visit for Thanksgiving

It's been a busy few weeks at the Malcomson household. Between work, remodeling our kitchen (more pictures on that project later!), and the holidays, I haven't had a chance to post new pictures lately. So here's a few from Grandpa and Grandma Linda's latest visit over Thanksgiving. Dad actually came out for 10 days to put in our new kitchen. He worked 10+ hours every day (so did Chuck). He worked so hard to make our kitchen perfect. I will post pictures of all the work soon!

Gramps always took time to play with Charlotte in the morning and on lunch/dinner breaks. Charlotte warmed up to Grandpa quickly, giving him kisses every night before bed.

With no kitchen, we had Thanksgiving dinner catered by Whole Foods....Charlotte liked playing in the box.

Dad took time out one day for a walk with Linda, Charlotte, Amelia and I. (Our beautiful house in the background.)

Grandma Linda picked out this super cute little winter suit for Charlotte. She looks like a little pea in a pod!

Stitch by Stitch

A special package arrived last week from Grandma Babs. It was wrapped in pink tissue paper (as Grandma's packages always are!). This extra special package included a poem, penned by Grandma, and a handmade sweater. Just when you think Grandma can love her little Charlotte no more, a poem and sweater prove you wrong! Grandma Babs and Charlotte are incredible lucky to have one another. They have a special bond which grows stronger and stronger all the time. As Grandma Babs has said.....she loves Charlotte enough for two Grandmas (herself, of course, and Grandma Sue, who is always here in spirit).

Thank you, Grandma Babs. We love you!

Happy Eight Month Birthday, Charlotte!

Here She Comes!

Charlotte is on the move....watch out world!

The Many Faces of Charlotte

Charlotte is not very good at hiding her emotions. You usually know exactly what she is thinking by the expression on her face! Below are a few faces we've managed to catch on camera. (And thank you Grandma Babs for the idea for this post!)

This one we've come to call her "scrunch face". We are not quite sure what it means, but she tends to do it when a lot of people are around....IE, when we are walking around the mall!

This is her "I'm doing something I am not supposed to be doing" face. (Here, going through mommy's diaper bag.)

This is Charlotte's much loved "under bite face". She may have gotten this face from our dog, Amelia, who also has an under bite or her great-grandma Beecheler who used to make this face. Either way, we love it!

This is just the cute bath-time face!

These next two are examples of her "I'm-so-happy-I-can't-contain-myself face". Thankfully we see this face ALL the time!

First Halloween

We kept it simple for Charlotte's first Halloween....she was a classic pumpkin! It was a beautiful night to Trick-or-Treat. Grandma Babs & Aunt Kelley are visiting so they joined us as we went around to a few neighbors. It was a great chance to meet some of our neighbors that we haven't meet. Everyone was so nice, we couldn't be happier in our new neighborhood! Charlotte liked being out after dark (which was new for her!) and seeing all the other kids running around the streets. When we came home she went through her "loot". She had fun crumbling up all the candy bars and trying to eat them.

And THANK YOU to Ivy & Nancy who passed out candy at the Malcomson household while we were out Trick-or-Treating :)

Our sweet pumpkin.

Out Trick-or-Treating with Mom...and Grandma!
YUM!

Charlotte having fun with all her goodies!

Why We Love Chuck (reason #186)

We moved in to our new house knowing that the backyard was pretty much a dirt bowl (mostly due to the previous owners lack of maintenance and the fact that they had 3 large dogs). Thankfully Chuck could see past all the dirt and envision greener days ahead. Not without lots of back breaking work! After much research Chuck headed to the garden store to find just the right combination of top soil, fertilizer, and seed to ensure a beautiful green backyard.

The following Sunday Chuck headed out (all on his own!) to spread 100 bags of top soil, followed by fertilizer and grass seed. Then we waited (and watered and PRAYED!). Low and behold we began to a haze of green start to appear! And now four weeks later.....we have our a beautiful bowling green!

Thanks, Chuck! Charlotte and I will sure enjoy our backyard come spring :)

Here's the process.......first layout 100 bags of dirt.....

Next, open bags of dirt.....
Spread dirt......
Spread seed and fertilizer....

Wait & water......viola, grass!!

Jug Bay Wetlands Sanctuary

Everyone enjoyed our hike at Calvert Cliffs so much that we thought we'd make it a Sunday tradition this fall. So this past Sunday we went to Jug Bay Wetlands Sanctuary, only about 20 minutes from our house. It was really neat, with all kinds of boardwalks over the marsh. Plus, a pretty hike through the woods to the other end of the marsh. Once again Charlotte had a ball! I even took a turn carrying her. I had a tear in my eye walking through the beautiful fall woods with the sounds of Charlotte babbling away on my back. It was one of the sweetest moments, I'll never forget it.

Mom's turn!
My ponytail was used as a handle.

We saw this beaver dam, but not its resident!

Outtakes

It's always hard to pick just one picture for her b-day month....so here's a few more funny ones from our baby photo shoot. I am sure Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Kelley and Aunt Lisa will appreciate all the extra photos of Char :)