open mouth, insert foot

I'd rather have a foot in my mouth than a bottle!

Andy, Charlotte's first boyfriend. She was enamored with his thick red hair.

Puttin the moves on Lincoln.

all smiles

First time on a swing!

Charlotte loved the swing at the park this week. What a great smile! One thing she's not loving: bottle training. I've never seen such a picky baby and it's driving me a little nuts. More on that later.

So Helaman has interviews so far at Dallas, Lexington, Atlanta and Birmingham.

weekend in pictures

can I please have an ice cream cone?

This week Charlotte and I went to the park. While she's not ready for the monkey bars, she does enjoy watching the squirrels and seeing different scenery (as do I).

Didn't Mom tell you to shave?

Charlotte loves to feel Helaman's stubbly face. Her skin is so sensitive that it gets really red when he kisses her!

Too much partying

On Saturday, I had two baby showers to go to celebrating Stacey's little boy and Emma's little girl. Charlotte sacked out during the first one, though she thoroughly enjoyed being there as one of the girls.

Cold (and windy) outside!

The temperature rapidly dropped this weekend. We thought it would be fun to eat our dinner on the roof on Friday and watch this great sunset, but it was too windy! Luckily Sunday was a little better and we were able to get together with a bunch of friends for a roof BBQ - where was my camera?

happenings

Greeting a trusty old friend

I love taking pictures of Charlotte, because one out of every hundred or so turns out really great! The summer is over, as evidenced by the empty neighborhood streets and playgrounds (yay!) It's our last fall in New York, and we're going to love every minute of it. Charlotte has rolled over a few times, but usually Houdini-style, meaning she's on her back and then I turn around for a minute and the next thing I know she's on her tummy. She's also mastered her rice cereal - starting each dish with a decided grimace, but gobbling it up nonetheless. Next stop - veggies!

Exciting stuff, I know. As for us - Helaman's applications for his oral surgery residency have been delivered, and so far two schools have invited him for interviews. Congrats H!

a reluctant eater

Never shy about making her feelings known... looks like we have a drama queen!

Mom, is this poison?

Looking for an escape route

All done!

Utah Vacation 2007

Last week we went to visit Helaman's parents in Sandy, Utah. I was really excited when we got there because it was really chilly out, but that was short-lived unfortunately. Charlotte was excited to meet her other grandparents and a whole group of relatives who adore her!

View from Park City ski lift.

Helaman was shocked that I lived in Utah for four years and never went on the Alpine Slide. So in the fast-becoming-a-tradition of hanging out at ski resorts in the summer, we headed up to Park City and rode the slide as well as the newer Alpine Coaster which we were able to ride together. It was faster which made us both feel a little queasy for the rest of the day. Are we getting old??? I used to be able to ride coasters all day and not be fazed.

Silver Lake. Somewhere in "The Canyon". Nice to be out in nature!

Dueling babies.

While in Utah we visited my old BYU roommate Christianne. Her baby Dylan is just two weeks older than Charlotte, and he certainly likes his tummy time a lot more than she does! Here she is trying to pick up some pointers.

The pool sure looked good in the blazing heat we braved to see the aerials show in Park City. Olympic athletes and hopefuls put on a show every Saturday in this summer training facility.

It was really cool to see all the aerialists jumping at the same time - sorry I didn't get a video of that but this one gives you the idea. Afterward we went on some ziplines that went down alongside the ski slope and the Alpine Quicksilver. T hey were all fun but I got majorly burned out in the sun my skin hadn't seen in years!

Charlotte with Grandpa and Grandma E

Early birds

We are taking advantage of the fact that Charlotte is at a very portable age. She is great when we take her out on the town and charms the residents and tourists of New York and patiently sits while we have dinner. The other week Restaurant.com was having a sale - $25 gift certificates for $3. Pretty good huh! Especially around here where inexpensive eating out is hard to find. The catch is that the restaurant selection isn't that great. You never know what you're getting into really. Tonight we went to Sortie, which is actually a Bar/Lounge complete with couches and low tables. We felt a little silly wheeling Charlotte in, but didn't really care since we were the first ones of the evening there at 6:30pm. Going early to restaurants is essential with a baby - no one minds, they are desperate for customers at that hour and you can sit anywhere. Not to mention you can get the tyke home for her 7-8pm bedtime. Luckily a table opened up out on the patio which was awesome since today it cooled down to 60 degrees!! So we sat out there and had a lovely dinner. Nothing beats sitting outside for dinner on a cool evening.

Believe it or not Charlotte's hair is coming in nicely but is very light.

Hot doggy days

How can you say no to a face like this?

We are ready for another vacation! Charlotte and I are keeping cool indoors this August which has turned out to be a scorcher in the city. She likes to pretend she can stand up like big people. Last week we did get to the pool though. The water was a little cold at first which made her nervous, but after a few minutes in the hot sun she eased into the water with the other kids. She even got so relaxed that she fell asleep in my lap while we sat in the pool! I wish I could have gotten pictures but didn't want to bring my camera to the public pool.

To celebrate Helaman's birthday on Saturday, we met some friends for crepes, since we had watched a Bobby Flay crepes challenge on the Food Network and they looked good! We even tried our own at home tonight and Helaman perfected his spatula-free crepe flip, after only ruining a few.

I also entered this contest to win a new TV from Best Buy. Check it out, you never know!

baby at work, baby at play

I know most of the pictures on this blog are of Charlotte, but she is definitely the cutest of our family and has become such a little smiler, bringing happiness to our home and our neighborhood! She feels like a real grown up sitting in the bumbo chair.

Charlotte loves her baths.

Little swimsuit model

Family picture taken in Central Park. Believe it or not, this was the best of them!

My little swimsuit model. Lookin' good in a super cute suit Grandma sent! Next step, a trip to the actual pool.

For Charlotte's 4 month mark, we celebrated by using a gift card from the dental class to buy her a jumperoo. She loves it! Our living room has now officially been taken over by baby apparatuses. In other news, at Charlotte's 4 month check up she made the 73rd percentile for height at 25 inches. Thanks for the tall genes, Dad! She also took her shots like a champ though I heard some weird screaming from her while she slept that night.

So I've been "tagged" by a few people lately, so I thought I'd do that instead of doing Saturday chores like I should be during her morning nap.

Jobs I have had (not in order):

1. Executive host at 2002 Olympics
2. Software co. marketing assistant
3. T&E paralegal
4. Immigration paralegal
5. Gap salesperson
6. Chili's waitress
   

Movies I can watch over and over:

1. Little Women
2. It's a Wonderful Life

Places I have lived:

1. Bay Area, CA
2. Tallahassee, FL
3. Raleigh, NC
4. Provo, UT
5. Mesa and Tempe, AZ
6. NYC
   

TV Shows I watch:

1. Jeopardy
2. House
3. Lost
4. Scrubs
5. ER
   

Foods I like:

1. Waffles
2. Doughnuts
3. BBQ'd steaks
4. Salmon and sole
5. Ice Cream
   

I'd rather be:

1. In the park
2. shopping

Websites I visit daily:

1. babycheapskate.blogspot.com
2. my email
3. all of my friend's blogs
   

People I am tagging:

1. Ellen - why haven't you posted lately??
   
2. Andrea-- Get a blog girl! (that makes 2 tags for you)

Laughing it up

The Virgin Mother

On our way to the park yesterday, we stumbled on this HUGE "Bodyworld" style sculpture right on Park Avenue in Midtown. It's called The Virgin Mother and most be at least 30 feet.

We resumed our trek to the park on the bus, and noticed a zebra casually crossing the street at one of the lights. You don't see that every day. Upon further inspection we noted a film crew and movie set at that spot.

Charlotte loved kicking her legs on a blanket at the park and was full of huge smiles until the camera came out of course.

We've made this our favorite spot, at the southernmost tip of the Great Lawn. It was a fabulous summer evening. I can't believe it's taken us three years to start going to Central Park! We can thank Charlotte, she begs us to leave the apartment every day so she can see all the cool stuff around her.

Central Park Stroll

Who Me?

On Saturday we went to Central Park. It was hot during the day but in the evening it was perfect for a stroll. At Belvedere Castle we had a good view of the turtle pond that has a ton of moss on it, you can see it - the light green color. A string quartet was playing music near the Great Lawn, making for a very pleasant time. Next time we'll have to bring a dinner to eat there. Charlotte was a good sport for the trip, but got fussy as the night went on since she's started to go to bed earlier these days.

4th of July Fun

We call this the "having the time of her life" smile. It's the one she uses when she's trying to win me over. It works!

Charlotte is happy to have her dad back despite his weird expression.

Showing off her 4th of July outfit and hairbow. I was so excited when we got back to find that she fits into her 3-6 month clothes now.

Our 4th of July BBQ was rained out, so we brought it inside to the lounge where all the babies congregated on the pool table. Charlotte looked on enviously at the older kids who could sit up.