Charlotte's First Easter

This was Charlotte's first Easter because last year she was born 4 days after Easter. It was fun to watch her because she was old enough to interact with people and objects, but definitely didn't understand what was going on! We spent Easter with the Chamblee family. I think this was our 3rd Easter to spend with them. Alli always cooks a wonderfully delicious meal and is so sweet to invite us to join.

Here is Charlotte discovering what the Easter Bunny left her.

"Look what I got Daddy!"

"No one ever told me Easter was so much fun!"

Here are Jake and Char playing together. Although, it looks more like Jake is thinking to Charlotte is a little bit crazy!

"Ah, Mom. Why are you always taking my picture?"

Daddy was trying to point out eggs to Charlotte but she wasn't understand the concept of an egg hunt.

These kids knew what to do!

This is how Charlotte spent her Easter Egg hunt.

Here is Beau (and Justin). He was just happy to watch all the happenings.

Bathtime Fun

When Skylyn was here for Charlotte's birthday we thought it would be fun to let the girls take a bath together. I know that when I was really little, I thought bathing with my cousin, Cassie, was a blast! Skylyn and Char are only 18 months apart, so we hope to see them enjoying many things together as they get older! Charlotte just didn't know what to make of it! This is one of the the only times she has every bathing sitting the the big tub. Normally she is in her little ducky in the tub. Plus, there was someone else splashing around with her. But, the girls had fun and got clean, so I call it a success!

I couldn't resist this picture!

Playing with toys

All wet and somewhat looking at the camera :)

So this is why

Well, I know why Char's one year stats are so healthy! This girl loves to eat. Or at least it has been a favorite hobby for the last week! It seems like all we do is give her food. On Monday we went in for her 1 year check up and here are her stats:

Weight - 21 lbs. 6 oz. (50%)
Height - 29 3/4 in. (75%)

Party Time!

We had a wonderful 1st Birthday party for Charlotte! I think I have procrastinated on blogging about it because we have so many wonderful pictures that I knew it would be really hard to choose. This post is still full of a ton of pictures and this isn't even half of them! Charlotte is so blessed to have so many people who love her. At the party we had Grammy and Poppy, Mimi and Papaw, Uncle Jeremy, Aunt Jessica, cousin Skylyn, Alli and Justin and their 3 - Jake, Mallory, and Beau, and then Cari and Logan and their daughter Emmie. Thank you all for coming and making this day so special!

My friend, Haylee, made the cakes and they are fabulous. You can visit her website at Haylee Cakes.

Our attempt at a family photo

The weather was beautiful on this day so we got to spend some time outside.

Charlotte didn't really know what to make of her cake, but she sure loved it when everyone sang "Happy Birthday" to her!

She didn't really eat her cake, but she loved sharing Mommy's plate!

These kiddos all thought the cake was pretty great!

Charlotte received some wonderful presents that she has loved playing with.

Special Gifts

Charlotte received some very thoughtful and wonderful gifts for her birthday. I wanted to highlight three special ones. The first is the toy box that her Daddy built for her. Since we don't have a separate play room, Charlotte's toys were taking over our living. We needed some place we could store them all, so Mark came up with idea of building her a toy box. He made it black so it would match the entertainment center he built for living room three years ago. It is absolutely wonderful!The next special gift was the "Charlotte-sized" chair from my parents, Mimi and Papaw. We knew that she would like it, but I never could have guessed how completely attached to it she would become. She has hardly left it since she got it. She wants to eat snack, drink bottles, read books, and play with toys all in her chair!

Here she is enjoying cousin time with her cousin Skylyn. How adorable!

The third wonderful gift she received was her play kitchen from Mark's parents, Grammy and Poppy. She loves to play with all of the different pots and pans. On her tippy toes, she can just reach the microwave and loves to close and open the door. She has started playing pretend with the cup and utensils, acting like it is yogurt and stirring it and feeding herself.

The kitchen is fun for everyone!

Here is Char seeing her new toy box for the first time.

1-year-old

Charlotte Ruth is 1-year-old! It is really hard to believe that an entire year has gone by. It seems like just yesterday I was holding a newborn in my arms. Now I have a sweet little girl who walks, talks, and laughs. I know I've said it before, and I will say it again - Charlotte brings such joy into our lives. We all laugh together on a daily basis. I have such pride and awe when watching her. I love to just sit back and watch her play! She is funniest when she doesn't even know we are watching.Here are some things I want to remember about Charlotte at 1:

- can walk around all over the place. She took her first steps 3 weeks ago and now she is a walking queen

- can say a few words: Dada, Mama, hi, bye-bye, ball (baba), and yes (ya). She rarely does them on cue, but she can say them. :)

- she loves to give high-fives

- can give kisses, the big open-mouthed kind

- loves to give hugs to the people that she knows and loves

- will walk over, turn around, and plop in your lap if that is where she wants to be

- can't stand it when Mark and I are on the couch and she isn't

- loves to play with her ball spinning toy, shapes box, and look at her books

- loves to crawl to the bathtub and knows exactly where to go when I take her diaper off in her room and sit her on the ground

- has started hugging and showing love to her dolls and stuffed animals

- she isn't really attached to any one item or blanket

- doesn't really like the car even though she is in it multiple times a day. She really likes it best when we turn on her car dvd player with PraiseBaby or listen to Kindermusik cd's

- is taking a bottle that is 1/2 whole milk and 1/2 formula

- eats table foods but she is a VERY picky eater

- has 2 bottom and 3 top teeth for a total of 5 teeth, with one more on the top about to cut through

- she gave up her morning nap 1 week ago, so we are down to one afternoon nap a day

We just love our little girl and are so thankful for each day with her. I can't wait to see what her next year of life has in store for us!

Here is a video of her walking at her birthday party.