Auld Lang Syne

Happy New Year!

This year, we felt that the perfect way to cap off our holiday season was to bring in the New Year with lots of low-key fun!  Saturday afternoon, Charlotte got to spend time with Nana and Big Pop while Michael and I went to get mani-pedis.  On our way home, we stopped by our favorite seafood market, Rex's, to pick up a few things for our dinner. 

Instead of going out, we thought it would be fun to spend the evening at home with a fire, wine and yummy dinner!  I am a bit of a homebody, so I couldn't have asked for anything more!  Capital Grille makes Michael's favorite calamari, and we have always wanted to try to make it ourselves.  We gave it a shot, and it turned out pretty well!  We still have a few kinks to work out, but for our first try, it was delicious!  Michael grilled steaks and made mashed potatoes while I set the table with our china that only makes it onto the table about once a year... it's just so pretty to look at!

Here was our dinner menu:

Hot Cider with Mulling Spices
Capital Grille's Calamari
Lobster Bisque
Steak with red wine reduction
Garlic mashed potatoes
Reece's Balls
Red wine

Champagne

After dinner, we listened to music and sat in front of the fire with our dessert.  Very relaxing!  Next, we watched a movie while we waited for the ball to drop.  Of course, we fell asleep before midnight, but woke up just in time for the big moment!

What a difference a year makes!  I cannot believe how quickly the past year has flown by, and how much our lives have changed.  2011 will be a year we will never forget... we became parents to our precious baby girl, I stopped working, Michael turned 30... I could go on and on!

I hope everyone had a safe and Happy New Year!

Sleepover!!!

Each year, Michael and several of his buddies at work go away for a little goal planning getaway (i.e. sleepover).  He is very fortunate to have such close friends at the office, and all of the wives have grown to be very close.  We usually get together when our hubbies are gone.  This time, Charlotte and I were fortunate enough to go stay the night with Ashley and Felicity for the night.  They just moved into a beautiful new home, and we were excited to pay them a visit!

Felicity is one of the most precious little girls I have ever seen!  She is so joyous, and just loves babies.  Charlotte had a wonderful time playing with her buddy!  We had a dance party, ate pizza, and chattered the night away!

Saturday, the four of us headed out for lunch and window shopping.  The restaurant we stopped at was yummy... and there was a sweet Santa ready to meet all of the children.  It was such a treat!  She did much better than when we saw Santa at NorthPark!

Meanwhile, the boys were busy playing golf in Canton!

Thank you so much to Ashley and Felicity for taking us in for the night!  We had so much fun!

Charlotte, meet Mr. Claus

Today, Charlotte and I got all dressed up and headed to NorthPark to meet Santa!  The wait can be pretty crazy, so we were at the mall as soon as it opened at 9:00am, and got our ticket for pictures at noon.  I'm so glad our time slot was around lunch... Michael really wanted to be there, but we weren't sure how long it would take.  We left the mall to run a few errands, and when we came back for our slot, we practically walked right up to see him.  It was perfect!

Waiting for Santa

Charlotte is pretty calm, so we thought she would do just fine.  Unfortunately, she wasn't feeling very well, and hadn't had a nap all day.  As soon as I sat her on his lap, she looked out at us for a few seconds, turned around and noticed the jolly stranger with the fun beard, and immediately started crying.  It was a little sad!

The photo from the elves didn't look great, but it will have to do!  Here is a quick pic Michael was able to get:

Maybe we will do better next year!

Sleepy Saturdays

Every Saturday afternoon, Michael and Charlotte have Daddy-Daughter nap time!  I, of course, spend my time taking pictures of them.  I'm not sure why... they pretty much all look the same!  They just look so sweet all snuggled up.  Charlotte, I hope you know that your Daddy looks forward to each and every Saturday just so he can have this precious time with you! 

I love you both so much!

Mystery Reader

Michael and Rowan

Several months ago, Michael's sister-in-law, Camie, asked if he would lilke to be a "mystery reader" in our nephew Rowan's first grade class.  It sounded super cute!  Michael would go to his classroom, and his teacher would give 5 clues to all of the kiddos, and they would try to guess who the reader is.  After they guess who it is, Michael would get to read a story to the class. Isn't that precious? 

Given the time of year, Michael decided to read "The Polar Express", one of my absolute favorite books!  We were trying to come up with a list of clues, but it is difficult to know what type of clues to give a 7 year old.  Our list started off fairly vague, but was incredibly specific for the last clue.  We just hoped Rowan would guess it was Michael.

Charlotte and I decided to go along to take pictures... and just because I couldn't stand to miss this!  We checked in and waited for his teacher to come get us.  When she finally did, we waited in the hall, and Rowan came running out!  He seemed very surprised!  When we walked into the class, his teacher told us that she read all of the clues, but no one seemed to know who it was.  Keep in mind, the last clue was that his wife's name is Katie and he has a daughter named Charlotte!  She looked at Rowan and asked if he knows anyone like that, and he said he might.  After that, it all started to click!

Rowan was absolutely precious!  He introduced us to his classmates.  I just love hearing the way children explain things.  He told everyone our names, and asked if they would all like to come look at Charlotte.  He said he hoped they all liked Charlotte's dress, and hoped they thought my earrings were pretty.  His teacher asked how we were related to him, and after a minute, he said we were his uncle and aunt, and that Charlotte was his cousin. 

Michael, Rowan and I sat on a sofa, and all of the kids sat in front of us on the floor.  They had a few minutes to ask us questions.  I'm not sure what I expected them to ask, but it was very sweet.  They wanted to know our favorite food, if we went to the same school when we were little, what our first grade class was like, who our teachers were, what types of places we have been on vacation.  One little boy told me the last baby he saw pulled his hair, so he didn't want to get to close to Charlotte. They were adorable! 

After the Q&A, Michael read them the story.  They were so attentive, and loved the book!  We had so much fun!  Rowan, if you ever read this, please know that we love you so much, and are very proud of you!

Tennessee Turkey Day

I have been looking forward to Charlotte's first Thanksgiving for the longest time!  I love the food, the weather, the college football... But most of all, I love spending holidays with our family.  My mother's side of the family live in Nashville, and we have been counting down the days until Charlotte's first trip to meet everyone. 

Originally, we planned on driving up Tuesday morning and staying through Sunday.  About a week before we were set to leave, Michael had a few meetings pop up, and he wasn't going to be able to leave until Tuesday night.  Charlotte and I couldn't wait any longer to see everyone, so we decided to drive up on Monday to surprise Marmee (my Mom)! Michael would then fly in Tuesday night, and stay through Sunday to drive with us back to Dallas.

 My Mom and I talk on the phone every day, and usually email back and forth a few times, so it was VERY difficult to keep this a secret.  We all woke up bright and early Monday morning, and Michael made breakfast... very sweet!  We finished loading up the car, packed Charlotte in with toys hanging from everything that would sit still, and headed up to Tennessee!  I was a little nervous about the drive up, as it takes about 10 hours without accounting for stops to feed Charlotte.  She does very well in the car, but our longest trip up until this point was a 2 hour drive to Waco for Baylor's Homecoming.  This trip was a little longer!  She did so well!  It was rainy and overcast all day, which only seemed to help her sleep.  Other than a bit of traffic outside of Little Rock, everything went smoothly.  She slept, played, and babbled the whole way!  We pulled up to Marmee's house around 6:45pm after 12 hours in the car,  and we couldn't wait to see her face!  I put Charlotte in her car seat on Marmee's front porch, rang the doorbell, and hid.  She was so surprised!  I think it took a few minutes for her to realize what was going on!

Tuesday, we took Charlotte to meet her great grandparents, Memama and Big Daddy.  She is their 24th great grandchild... we have a big family!  She did so well!  We played and played, and then went to dinner.  I loved seeing them hold her.  They are two of the most precious people in my life, and I am so sad that I don't get to see them more often.  They have been married for almost 75 years, and are such a great example for our family.  After dinner, we picked Michael up from the airport.

Charlotte with Memama



Snuggling with Big Daddy

Wednesday, Michael, Charlotte and I had breakfast with college friends of ours that live in Franklin.  That night, my mom and her husband, Bob, invited lots of our family over for a casual dinner.  The entire family gets together every other Christmas, but we don't all get together for Thanksgiving each year, so we wanted to make sure we saw everyone we could while we were in town.  My cousin Chris has a new little girl, so Charlotte got to meet her newest cousin Stella!  She is beautiful!

We woke up Thursday ready to watch the Thanksgiving Day Parade and cook!  My grandparents came over around 1, and we had loads to do!  Everything came together beautifully, and we had a great time. 

Watching the parade with Daddy

Having fun with Big Daddy

Friday, we had a second Thanksgiving at my Aunt Patsy and Uncle Randy's house with their children and grand kids.  There were so many kiddos, and Charlotte couldn't get enough of her little cousins.  They were so sweet with her!  She was so worn out that night from all of the commotion!



4 Generations of Rudolph girls



Sleepy girl in her Christmas PJ's

Saturday, we shopped around town, and squeezed in one more visit with Memama and Big Daddy.  Their last name is Rudolph, so I dressed Charlotte in her reindeer outfit!  She was precious!!!  Sadly, we had to pack up and head back to Dallas Sunday morning.  We had such a great time in Nashville, and can't wait to see everyone again very soon!

Charlotte dressed as Rudolph!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Baylor Homecoming

Charlotte had her first road trip this weekend!  Over the past several months, we had gone back and forth about going down to Waco for Baylor's Homecoming.  We had a wedding in Dallas Saturday afternoon, so if we went, we knew it would be a very quick trip.  Friday afternoon, I got a text from my friend Jen asking if we were coming down.  She lives in Waco with her husband, Kurt, and 2 precious kids.  I told her we thought about it, but decided it would be too quick to drive down for the parade and basically turn around to come back to Dallas for the wedding.  She asked us to come stay the night with them, and go to the parade the next day.  Baylor has a great Homecoming parade, and Kurt and Michael's fraternity always builds an amazing float!  I have loads of pics from college of Michael with a full beard wearing overalls when he was a float chair.  They take it pretty seriously, and always do a great job!

Flashback from '03: Michael is on the far right!

We are not always very spontaneous, but we decided to pack up really fast and drive down!  I'm so glad we did!  Their daughter Audrey is just a few weeks younger than Charlotte, and we hadn't seen her yet.  We couldn't wait for Charlotte to meet her new buddy!  We didn't get to their house until about 8 that night, but we stayed up to chat for a while.

Audrey & Charlotte

Saturday, we grabbed breakfast, and headed downtown to campus.  It was pretty chilly that morning, but nothing a little hot cocoa couldn't take care of!  We had so much fun catching up with old friends, and seeing all of the festivities.  It was strange being on campus with a stroller!  We had a great time!

KOT's Float won!

Funny... there was guy in there acting like Mario!

Thank you Kurt & Jen for inviting us to stay with you!