June 2014

Nora decided she looked like Cinderella with a cloth napkin tied around her hair, so why not scrub the floors? (Oohhhhhh sing sweeet nightingale...).

 Charlie and then Nora practicing yoga with me. Kids are so good at yoga - they're already there! Please note the vacuum in the background and the smattering of socks and shoes, dishes on the counter. This is how things actually look most of the time!

 Lots of fun play dates at our friend's pool! Nora is starting to be able to swim. Charlie prefers to cling to me right now.

 Charlie at the zoo. This is the expression he made when I asked him to smile.

May 2014

Lots of things - I will let the pictures tell the story. Plus I'm posting this in November, so it's not so fresh in my mind.

April 2014

Charlie drinking his cereal milk, Charlie with muddy hands in Baton Rouge, a blurry Nora thrilled to be with Uncle Jesse, Susan and Jesse's wedding (!), and the horrible, terrible, no good, very bad Easter picture that I force us to take each year. Everyone hates it. On a second look, maybe the picture isn't as bad as my memory of taking it.
And also, we are so glad that Susan is officially a part of our family! We love her.

March 2014

Spring came! It finally came! And I have all outdoor pictures for this month. Several from an impromptu day trip to Cades Cove, and several from our backyard. Please enjoy Nora's burgeoning sense of style, and the fact that on the first few really warm days at the end of the month, we put quilts and pillows out in the yard and stretched out like lizards warming ourselves.

February 2014 and Charlie is Two!

East Tennessee must be beautiful this time of year, all that snow. We had a few more snowy days in February, the last one being deep enough to play in, and make big snowmen.
We also got to celebrate Charlie's 2nd birthday. Here are 10 things we love about him:

1. He is OBSESSED with cars. Anything with wheels is fascinating, but also specifically the Disney Pixar movie. He loves "Whitening a-keen" and "tow-meeter." Points to you if you can decode those two names.
2. He continues to get sensory overload in uneven ground, not really enjoying the snow, and lately insisting upon wearing shoes at all times. He even has fits sometimes taking them off for bath. When we come inside and take them off I have to put them out of sight.
3. His language is increasing by leaps and bounds. He has favorite books - "Go, Dog, Go!" and "Moo!" I'm so glad he likes to read as much as Nora does.
4. He's starting to color a little bit, mostly scribbling back and forth.
5. He will play by himself with his cars or trains for long periods of time, totally engaged in moving them back and forth across the different terrains in our house.
6. He's staring to be able to answer questions like, "what's your name?" "what's (point to someone else)'s name?" and "how old are you?" If he's not sure what you're asking, he just answers, "good." (!)
7. He is starting to sing and pitch-match (approximately). 
8. He's learning his colors, and has pink, orange, and blue pretty much down. We argue about the others!
9. He loves his blue blanket, and has started taking it in the car with him.
10. He says, "I love you" back.

January 2014

We're back! I only got three months behind....
If' you're interested, I did back posts for November and December.
Our camera has been on the fritz, and I have been seriously pouting about it. Also, now that I've reviewed the ones from Nora's birthday, I realize that most of them are either in motion (read: fuzzy) or the back of her head! Oh, well. The memory is still there, and having a few friends over to decorate cookies was the best day ever! There's also a picture of Ben and Nora building her birthday present in the backyard, which we've named the monkey climber.
And a picture of the x-ray from my broken finger, because it looks crazy. For those of you who don't know, I broke it knocking the clock off the wall whilst doing a handstand. Stop laughing! No, it's okay; it's funny.
In other news, Ben is FINALLY going to finish his Masters Degree this May! Hooray! Also I've started a nine month training program to become a yoga instructor, which has been so wonderful.

December 2013

So apparently Ben and I did not take very many pictures on Christmas day. I tend to not enjoy the moment as much when I'm so focused on taking pictures of each new excitement. But then I'm sad to not have as many! I'll find balance one day. Also in this month, play time with friends and Nora's first trip to the dentist that wasn't just a "smile check."