Bugs

I made this outfit for Charlie this morning while all the other kids were sleeping. She's so cute! When she put it on, she said, "Mommy! There are lady bugs crawling all over me!"

Speaking of bugs, I have to write about this past weekend's encounter with the caterpillar. We were picknicking at Old Town Alexandria's waterfront, and all of a sudden, Charlie screamed bloody murder. Paul rushed to her aid, expecting her left arm to be detached or something of the sort, only to find a cute, furry little caterpillar to be crawling on her leg. Once Paul had explained that it was just a "very hungry caterpillar," she was totally calm and even pet the little guy. Then Paul picked him up and set him on a nearby tree, so as to protect Charlie's new friend from being smashed by somebody's shoe.

We kept enjoying our picnic and each other's company, when suddenly Charlie pointed to the grass and cheerfully yelled, "Oh! There he is again!" Paul and I followed her finger, and sure enough, there was Charlie's little guy coming back! He'd crawled down the tree, through the grass, over Charlie's crocs, and back onto our blanket. Then he just sat there, as if he were joining our party. No kidding. Just sat there like the rest of us until it was time to go. When it was time to pack up, Paul placed him back on the tree, and we snapped a couple shots with the camera phone and said goodbye. So funny.

Macaroni and Charlie Cheese

Every week, as we pass through the cheese section at Whole Foods, Charlie points to this "smiley" cheese and says, "Look at that happy cheese with the smiley face!" And we laugh, and I say something like, "Yeah, isn't that funny?" Every week. Anyway, last week, Paul was lucky enough to join us on our weekly visit to my favorite place, and after we'd had dinner as a family, Judah and I started the shopping while Paul finished up with Charlie. While they headed out to find Judah and me, they happened to pass through the cheese section, and it was Paul's turn to acknowledge the happy cheese. Only this time, Paul actually picked up the smiley face and notice that it happens to be called "English Charlie Cheese." No joke. It's even spelled the same. So, in honor of my favorite happy faced little girl, we went ahead and decided to try it out in my homemade mac and cheese.


Here he is, seemingly oblivious to his imminent fate:

Easter 2009!

We had three days of Easter fun here at home. This is the first year we didn't travel to SC to be with family, so we had to make it special with our non-family family. :)
It started with Charlie's first experience coloring eggs over at Micki and Parker's house:





And then eating them:


And then bathtime after dinner and LOTS of playtime:



And then egg hunting:

Judah is getting pretty strong, isn't he? I can't believe my guy can sit up! I also can't believe how blond he is.


I woke up Saturday morning and made some bunny ears for Charlie, which she loved for at least a couple hours. :)

Then more egg hunting with more friends. They were kind enough to let the girls run around the house, since it was raining most of the day.

We spent a good part of Easter Sunday with our friend Melissa. I had to snap a photo of them sporting their matching coats. :)

Here is our family shot. Aren't those kids ridiculous?

Apparently, this is the crash from the sugar high. What a great weekend. :)

Cherry Blossoms

It's so hard to see the cherry blossoms for the people that live here. I don't mean to sound like I resent the tourists. But wheeling a stroller through incredible crowds really isn't how I like to spend my weekends, you know? But we live here--I mean, we HAVE to see this. So, one Tuesday afternoon, I packed up the kids and headed into the city to meet Paul, and then we metro'd and walked down to the famous Tidal Basin to check them out. It was pretty chilly, but we accomplished our goal and were able to snap some pretty shots without all the crowds. Beautiful, isn't it?

Ya ya and Pap pap visit!

The very next weekend, my parents came to stay for a couple days! Here is Pap pap making Judah laugh his head off:


Judah turned 6 months old on 3/30--the last day my parents were here. Here is a picture of his first tooth that came in that day! We were able to get some great smiles out of him, as we tried and tried to capture that tooth!

Ya ya bought her granddaughters sponge curlers just like we all used to have when we were little girls. Here is Charlie sporting them and her cute slumber cap on her way to bed:

And the end result:

Isn't she DARLING?

Mum mum and Pa pa visit!

The third weekend in March, Mum mum and Pa pa came to visit. Here's a great picture of Charlie walking with her grandparents in the city.

Although Gerry really didn't want to go to the zoo when we first asked him about it, he ended up having a great time. We all did. It was just a gorgeous day!