Some random photos

Taken at one of Piggle's doctor appointment. We need a big mirror like this to put down at Piggle's level so she can play with her "twin"!

The President and Vice-President of the Piggle Fan Club (aka Alicia and Faith Carol) snagged this lovely tutu for Piggle out of the bargain bin at Target. Doesn't she look elegant? It was a little hot that night, so she was cruising around in just her diaper.

Granny T made Piggle this full-body bib. Such a great idea!

Oatmeal cereal can get a little messy.

Especially when the eater of the cereal likes to stick her fingers in her mouth in between bites.

Piggle took Daddy and me to lunch for our 5th wedding anniversary on Saturday. She was a very good girl sitting in her highchair.

I love this shot I took while getting Piggle dressed one morning. She is turning into such a ham whenever we pull a camera (or camera phone!) out.

Shorter Charlotte video

And here's Charlie Jo bopping around in her highchair.

Looooooong Charlotte video

Corey's mom took a nice long video of Charlie sitting up (mostly) on her own. It features lots of sitting, falling, and getting put back upright. Enjoy!

NanaB and Charlie's Tennessee adventures - day 3

The third day of NanaB's visit found us bathing Miss Charlie Jo and lunching in downtown Franklin with Alicia and Steffen (the Marshall's new German exchange student!) at the Franklin Mercantile. None of the bath photos turned out to be suitable for posting and we somehow failed to snap a single shot at lunch, but here are some of the results of the fashion shoot we took that afternoon of Charlie in a pretty outfit (a gift from our neighbors, the Hoeksemas), previously worn at Uncle Jordan & Aunt Jessica's wedding.




We had such a fun time with NanaB and can't wait for her to bring Granddad back for Labor Day!

NanaB and Charlie's Tennessee adventures - day 2

On Monday morning, NanaB and Charlie went along with Niki to Stroller Strides. Even though it was one of the hottest days of the year, they all managed to make it back to the house without suffering heat exhaustion.

Can you believe Charlie already fits into this adorable 6-9 month sized outfit (a gift from Larry's cousin Dick and his wife Pam, who live in the "thumb" of Michigan)?!?! She's not quite five months old yet!

After a quick shopping trip, Charlie arrived home with a new toy. It fills with water and has "sea creatures" floating around inside. Charlie liked to lick it, of course.

Being the modern baby that she is, Charlie had a special high-tech dinner with her Granddad Larry. We Skyped him in on the computer while NanaB fed Charlie her oatmeal cereal.

Monday night is Trivia Night, so NanaB helped wrangle Charlie while team Big Love competed. Fourth place was not what we had hoped for, but it was better than we had done in a while. Charlie had a great time chewing on her new toy (won for her by our buddy David in one of those claw machine things) and then fell asleep in NanaB's arms.

NanaB and Charlie's Tennessee adventures - day 1

Charlie's NanaB escaped the dreadfully mild climate of Michigan and fled to the deliciously steamy Tennessee for a few days' respite with her granddaughter. She flew in Sunday just in time for breakfast.

After a leisurely morning, we headed out to Leiper's Fork and took lunch at Puckett's Grocery. Charlie did well in her highchair for a while. She's strapped into the shopping cart cover (previously pictured in the blog), which doubles as a highchair cover.

Charlie looked so sweet sitting at the table with us like a big girl.

After lunch, we headed over to (where else?) Arrington Vineyards to partake of the spirits and to scout out our competition in the Arrington Tablegating Competition. We will refrain from discussing the Arrington Tablegating Competition until such time as we have registered our appearance and vanquished all other comers.

Outside Arrintgon Vineyards, McGee the bear and Charlie had their picture made.

After the winery, we journeyed back to Franklin for some serious playtime. Charlie put on a little show and entertained NanaB for hours.

Please don't call the Department of Children's Services on us because we allow our daughter to nap on a dog bed.

Just like a big girl

With the shopping cart cover (a gift from Granny & Grandpa Taylor), Charlie got to ride in the grocery cart seat today just like a big girl!

Lunching with the Vandy Aunties

After we got Charlie cleaned up, we zoomed up to Nashvegas to see the aforementioned Vandy Aunties (my former co-workers Kathryn, Angela, and Lillian). After a yummy lunch at the local Thai restaurant, we headed back to the office for a quick diaper change before the journey back. Whenever we visit, we end up doing this deed on the floor of poor Kathryn's office. This time was no different.

Once Charlie was all changed, she entertained Kathryn with a little of her dancing.

Charlie loves her Vandy Auntie Kathryn!

Vandy Auntie Angela gave Charlie many kisses.

Primping

Before we could head to Vanderbilt for lunch with the Vandy Aunties, we needed to get Charlie Jo cleaned up. Let's just say there was a blowout during the night, and not the kind that happens when the guy at Qdoba wraps your burrito too tight and the tortilla splits open. Anyway, a bath was called for.

Chillin' in the bathrobe while we waited for the bathtub to fill up...

Do we have enough toys?

Still waiting for that darn bathtub to fill up. Wait - what do you mean I have to take the robe off now??

All clean now and warm in my fluffy towel.

Dressed in my romper (a gift from Vandy Auntie Kathryn) and ready to roll!

Charlie as Godzilla

Note to Charlie's grandmothers: it looks like Charlie may be developing into quite the little destructive baby. Knowing that her Grandpa Spike was banned from his Grandmother June's house for his destructive tendencies, I wouldn't be surprised if that's where little Charlie gets it from.

Charlotte's future Duke classmate is born

Just got word that Charlotte's future classmate at Duke University has been born. Our friends Alan & Liz welcomed baby Andrew yesterday evening, and I have already declared that Andrew and Charlotte will be good buds in the class of 2030 at Duke. Corey, of course, is positive that Charlotte will be rooming at Michigan State with our friends Dave & Ana's baby (due to arrive soon!), but I have a good feeling about Charlotte as a little Blue Devil. We'll see! Charlotte, just please promise me you won't go to the University of North Carolina or the University of Michigan. That's all we ask.

Each day just gets grosser and grosser around here

Several gross things happened yesterday:

- Charlotte kicked off the day by doing something in the bathtub that one should NEVER do. For the sake of propriety (hey, I can sometimes be proper), all I will say is that it necessitated me scooping a substance out of the bathtub, draining the bathtub, scrubbing the bathtub, rebathing the baby, and doing a load of laundry.

- Charlotte leaned over my shoulder while I was walking around and spit up right on Connie's head. Connie slunk away and kept her distance the rest of the day, but Duke immediately ran over and licked up the splatters that landed on the floor.

- Corey and I were playing with Charlotte on the floor. I handed Charlotte to Corey and she immediately spit up all over his shirt. Corey declared that I done him wrong by purposefully handing him a "loaded baby" and proceeded to wipe the spit-up on my cheek. Duke was then invited over to help clean me up, which he happily did of course.

- I woke up in the middle of the night because Charlotte was doing her usual "I'm sort of awake but not really but I'm going to grunt a little to make you wake up enough to have to figure out which one it is" noises. While I tried to decipher the sounds from the monitor, I heard a distinct sound. Again, for the sake of propriety I won't name it, but I will say that I then got up to change what I knew would be a VERY full diaper. The amazing part is that Charlotte never fully woke up during the diaper change and I was able to lay her right back down in her crib where she zonked right back out. The moral of the story is that sometimes those monitors let you hear a little TOO much, youknowwhatImeanIthinkyoudo?

Today, we're striving for a gross-free day and are failing. Duke has already seized a couple of opportunities to supplement his diet and I have twice had to comb dried dogspit out of Charlotte's hair. Maybe we need another bath tonight. Wish me luck.