Fish 'n' chips

Since yesterday was the first Friday of Lent, Paul had asked his ever-willing wife :) to make some kind of fish for dinner. I thought we'd do it up Irish! On our weekly visit to Whole Foods (lately my second home), Charlie, Judah, and I picked out the freshest, most tempting cod fillet and turned it into flaky, buttery, delicious fish and chips. Okay, I bought a bag of organic fries instead of making my own, but the fish was battered from scratch and deep-fried in a stock pot, and I dare say, it was scrumptious! Our family dinner was complete with a couple Guinness and a veggie tray. Charlie actually had thirds!

Some new pics

Hilarious Charlie

Charlie is saying some of the funniest things lately! Occasionally we'll teach her a Spanish word or something--at Christmastime, I tried to get her to say "Feliz Navidad," but she wouldn't. Somehow she knew that it was another language and she wasn't supposed to be able to say it. Anyway, the last couple days, she'll make up some word or words and then tell us that it's Spanish for something. The first time she did it, she said, "Hottie. That's Spanish for hot." Yesterday she told me, "Ooooowwwweeeeee!!!! That's Spanish for 'I hurt myself.'"
Later on, she saw me working on the computer and she asked me, "Mommy? Do you have some work to do?" I answered, "Yes." She said, "Okay. Do you want to say, 'Charlie, you go watch TV while I have work to do'?" What a clever little creature, no?

Charlie's four-legged other half

If you've met Charlie, there's a great possibility that you've also met Henry. Henry is Charlie's best friend and ragged dog. He's been at her side since she was only weeks old, and no documentary on the life of Charlie would ever be complete without a rather lengthy mention of him. I shudder to think how our lives would change if he ever was left at a restaurant or dropped out of the stroller. We once thought about this gloomy posibility and decided to have a replacement Henry on-hand just in case the unthinkable ever happened. We bought an exact replica on eBay, but when Henry #2 arrived in the mail, out of the box popped a miniature Henry, whom we have named Junior. And now we have two dogs that will eventually need to be replaced.

Anyway, last week at the fabric store (I've already told you that I have become obsessed with sewing and now make weekly visits), Charlie became so enamored with the pre-packaged fat quarters that come in so many beautiful colors, that she began carrying them around in bundles. In order to avoid a complete meltdown, I offered to let her pick out one that we could turn into a bed for Henry. She chose a very cute white with multi-colored stars, hearts, and other shapes.

When we got home, we got to work and created a mattress, bedspread, and pillow to tuck into a clementine box (these are so handy for so many things!) just for Henry.

Here is a picture of Paul and Charlie painting the box together on our relaxing President's Day, and another of the finished product, with a cozy Henry dozing at the foot of Charlie's bed.

Giggle monsters

As promised, here is a short video of a laughing Judah. Only his big sister can make him laugh like this!

Happy Valentine's Day!

After Charlie went to bed last night, I put her gift into one of my handmade gift bags (you can buy them here: http://www.joyfulgifts.etsy.com/) and put the bag onto the coffee table for her to find first thing this morning. When she came out for her morning coffee (chocolate milk), she found these handmade wool felt cookies that you can buy here: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=20984408. Here she is "baking" them in her kitchen that Paul and I made her for Christmas:


And here she is modeling the Valentine's Day outfit that I made her. But I told her it's not just for Valentine's Day--hearts are an anytime thing, right?

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone! :)

"What's new at the Callahan house?" you ask? Charlie's dresses. :) Once I got started sewing, I couldn't stop, and I thought, "I can do this. I can sew. How about making Charlie's summer clothes?" So, that's what we're doing. I'm sewing, and Charlie is wearing. She keeps count for me, "That's one more dress, Mommy! That makes 4!" Here are Charlie's new dresses (notice the matching scrunchy in the brown dress photo).

I didn't make this one. I found it at www.sassymissboutique.etsy.com. So cute, isn't it?

And what's new with Judah? Here he is chilling out during Charlie's photo shoot.

And here is the promised photo of the ever-edible chubby legs.

Last night Judah got tickled watching Charlie being silly, and he was in stitches of hysterical laughter for nearly 5 full minutes! The next time that happens, I promise to get it on video to share with all of you.

Judah's spotlight

18 pounds! Holy cow! Judah had a checkup yesterday, and we found out that he weighs 18 pounds and is in the 95th percentile! Paul said, "Well, Judah, we might have to start talking linebacker instead of place kicker." Haha. I'm just so happy that my "little guy" is doing so well on mother's milk. And this explains why I'm hungrier now than I ever was while pregnant. :)

Here's Judah in a new hand-knit hat that Joy bought him from http://www.decembermaeve.etsy.com/. Yes, it looks a lot like the picture of Judah on our snow day a while back. :)

New projects

I had a pretty hectic day yesterday and really needed to wind down after the kids that I watch went home. Sewing really helps me to relax, and Charlie needed a fun way to carry her color pencils to church and other places. So once we had eaten dinner (spinach lasagna-yum!) and things had quieted a little, Charlie and I went to work on a pencil pouch.

Judah supervised. This is his first time in the Jumperoo:

They are both growing up so fast! I can't believe that Judah is already 4 months old and able to jump in this thing! And Charlie has recently learned to say the letter "R" and is working on the letter "L" now. Sometimes I ask her to say words like "ceLery" or "yeLLow" just to watch her tongue slip halfway out of her mouth with her over-pronounced "L" right in the middle of a word. Maybe I'll be able to get it on video and post it here sometime. It's hilarious and sad at the same time. My little babies are growing up.

Bedtime Prayers

Charlie has a little book of children's prayers. She loves this book! Has it memorized. I was able to capture her "reading" it with Paul last night: