When Daddy takes care of the bath...

...look what emerges. Charlie's inner rockstar has been released! :)

Yard Work and a Little Fever

We spent the entire weekend working around the house and the yard, getting our house ready to go on the market. Although we don't know where we will be going yet, we are hoping to get a jumpstart on the selling process. It has been a lot of work to get the house and yard ready, especially after our big snowstorms. Clint worked like crazy all weekend on the yard and it finally looks really good again. Charlie and I weren't too much help (I know that's shocking to hear. I mean, how could taking pictures inside the new planters NOT be helpful??), but we did spend some quality time outside with "Dat." Charlie was fascinated with eating leaves and grass--I do not understand why this kid won't touch a piece of pear or carrot on his high chair tray, but eats as many pieces of leaves and grass as he can get away with.

On Sunday morning, poor little Charlie came down with a virus (making us even less helpful :). [We think his little make-out session with Baby Blythe over the weekend was the culprit, as they both got sick afterwards. Baby mono maybe?? :)] He ran a pretty high fever all day Sunday and seemed really sick--he was so pale and lethargic that I was kind of worried about him. He did not want to play or eat, but was such a sweet little cuddler--I definitely treasured the opportunity to get some time holding him and loving on him. Today he seemed to be feeling better, but is definitely not back to his old self yet. His fever was down and he was more active, but he was grumpy! Today was a little more trying because he did not want to cuddle, and really didn't seem to want to do anything. We spent a lot of time reading books and walking around the house and the yard inspecting things together. :) I am hoping he is all better tomorrow!

A Party for Sam & Audra and a Weekend in Seguin

We spent last weekend in Seguin, celebrating Sam & Audra's engagement and enjoying family. I love weekends like this when so many of our family members are in town--it makes small town life so fun! On Friday night, we went out to eat at the Gristmill (a favorite of ours as it was the site of our rehearsal dinner :) with my family and Audra and her parents. Charlie even got to join in on the outing and loved it. He was quite well behaved and enjoyed all the attention he got at dinner--especially from his doting Papa. :)

The happy couple.

Another happy couple... :)

Charlie got a little antsy toward the end of the meal. I think everyone took a turn walking him through the restaurant, which made the meal quite relaxing for me!

On Saturday, the boys went out to the ranch. Papa let Charlie help him drive his truck. Luckily, he's been practicing his driving in the car carts at Central Market.

The big party for Sam & Audra was on Saturday night. Charlie stayed behind, but we took a picture with him before we left. This is Charlie BEFORE his realized he wasn't going with us...

The party was out at our cabin, which was such a great venue. It has never looked prettier, thanks to all the work my Mom and Aunt Dede put into the decorating. I love the antique Valentine's cards they put on the mantle.

The cake table...

The party planner putting the finishing touches on everything...

And Sam and Audra arrive!

Future sisters. :)

Audra's sweet sister, Jennifer, flew in from Amarillo for the party.

The lovely Moore women.

On Sunday, we did our final visiting around Seguin. The Reeds came over for a visit and, as usual, Charlie was thrilled to see them and to have all the excitement that comes with them. He was very interested in Baby Katie, but she was not so sure she wanted his grubby little fingers all over her. :)

Smiling at Jack and Julia...

On Sunday evening, we took Charlie for a tour of Seguin. The little prince wouldn't stay in his stroller, so he got the royal treatment.

We walked by my parents' first house in Seguin. Isn't it the cutest thing??

Obligatory shots on the world's largest pecan...

This is what Charlie does when we tell him to make his "cute face." :)

We also made a stop at the fountain. We couldn't get Charlie to look away from it for a photo. :)

And, finally, we had to visit old Juan Seguin himself.

Clint came back to Dallas on Sunday and Charlie and I followed him on Monday (Valentine's Day). We were greeted by the most fabulous spread of gifts--Charlie and I got a bike trailer, Charlie got a helmet, I got a wonderful tray of sweets, and beautiful flowers. We still can't figure out how Clint got all of this done after arriving back in Dallas late on Sunday night, but we felt very special!

Someone isn't quite so sure about his helmet yet...we're hoping it grows on him. :)

What a wonderful weekend!

A Little Heartbreaker

Charlie has been working hard on his Valentine's cards. The highlights are below. :)

Eat your heart out.

Heartbreaker/crumpler.

Flirty eyes.

Overwhelmed by love.

Between photo shoots :), Charlie and I attended some fun Valentine's parties. We went to the Lakewood Valentine's party, where Charlie and George enjoyed crawling/running all over the Lakewood CC, and to my MOPs group Valentine's party, where Charlie was extremely thrilled with a large basket of fake food (if you look closely, you can see that he couldn't turn his attention away from the food long enough for our photo). What fun!

The Littlest Gymnast is Growing Up

Charlie and I have been going to the Little Gym for a while now (we started going weekly once I quit working). Although the classes can be just the teensiest bit cheesy :), Charlie thoroughly enjoys them and, as a result, I do as well. Charlie is pretty fearless, so he often is the demonstration baby for new moves. He loves his role as the teacher's pet. :) With the cold weather this winter, Little Gym has been a life saver!

Here's Charlie on the bars. We just tried this for the first time two weeks ago and he did really well--he hung from the bar on his own for quite a while!

Demonstrating leg exercises with Mr. Barry. :)

Doing something amazing on the parallel bars (although that baby doing some plank move in the background might be more amazing :).

This is Charlie's girlfriend, Sydney. She gave Charlie his first kiss (on the lips!) recently. At first he was stunned and not sure what to do. But he quickly recovered and started crawling after her. :)

Charlie loved doing flips over the bar this week. He has his "I'm very excited" face on. :)

Charlie spends most of his time chewing on the bars...

...or chasing Sydney. :)

Thanks to the Stoltzes, we had a wonderful Super Bowl Sunday. They hosted a great party with wonderful food and aside from spilling artichoke dip on their couch :(, we had a great time. :) Charlie really had fun. He loved being out and about past his bedtime and loved his big audience. He was smiling and batting his eyelashes and at the women and talking (loudly) to everyone. He loves Ann and Brad, and was so happy to spend some time at their house!

Brad is a big Steeler's fan, so he wasn't so happy with the result. But Charlie loved his Steeler's towel.

Charlie adores Ann. It is so funny--every time we are with her, he cannot stop staring at her. Case in point:

Another of Charlie's favorite girls, Blythe, came to play with him as well. Blythe dressed up for the occasion, and Charlie was particularly impressed with her pearls. :)

Thanks for a great party Ann & Brad!

Charlie's First REAL Snowstorm

Winter storm 2011 has been insane! Dallas has had almost a full week of ice, snow, and below-freezing temperatures. After having everything shut down due to ice and sleet on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, we got hit with 6 inches of beautiful snow early Friday morning (I don't think the people coming into town for the Super Bowl were as thrilled as we were :). Although it's still pretty cold, it is getting a bit warmer (the temps got up to 40 today), and Charlie and I have ventured out a bit in the snow. Charlie seemed so bewildered the first time we went outside and everything was covered in bright white snow. I don't think he had any idea what had happened to our yard. I so hope it does this again when he's a bit older--Clint and I were dying to take him sledding. :)

He was so excited to get down in the fluffy snow. The fact that it was freezing cold really did not seem to bother him a bit!

I don't know if you can tell, but Charlie is sitting on a trash bag since I didn't have a snowsuit to put on him (I've been cursing the sales lady at St. Bernard Sports who swore I wouldn't want one for him in Dallas). I think Charlie inherited his mother's gift for creative (ghetto) snow apparel. When I was four, it snowed 12 inches in Seguin. Since it almost never snows in South Texas, we didn't have snow boots, but that didn't stop us--apparently my cousins and I ran around all day with ziplock bags wrapped around our sneakers. :)

Charlie didn't stay on the trash bag for long--he was eager to dive in. :)

Our front yard on Friday morning.

We've spent a lot of time watching the snow inside where it's warm(er). I think Charlie has enjoyed having some time to explore the house, but we are looking forward to getting out and about again!