Dear Charlotte

Dear Charlotte,
Thank you one million times for sleeping from 8:45 Wednesday night until I woke you up at 5:15 Thursday morning.

Thank you for always being in a good mood in the mornings, even if especially when I am rushed and frazzled. 

Thank you for having such a cute little tushie.

Love,
mama

Mountain men!

Those who know me can likely imagine the excitement I felt when I saw an ad for a 19th century encampment of American Mountain Men about 45 minutes south of here. I somehow convinced Matt that this would be a worthwhile event to attend, so on Sunday, we packed Charlotte into the car and headed back in time.

Before I show you pictures, I'd like to just say that it was SO FLIPPING COOL to see these guys in their elements. Once upon a time, I was an anthropology major, and while I never took a class on basketweaving, I did take a class on flintknapping.

Dear god I was young. Also, I made that point!

So this past weekend, I really enjoyed talking shop with the knapping mountain man. We missed the tomahawk throwing demonstration, which was incredibly disappointing, but did get to visit in the teepee.

Ha, photobombed by a mountain man. Pretty sure that doesn't happen very often!

Caution: Work Area Ahead

Oh, hello there!

I brought Charlotte to work with me earlier this week. She was a hit, even though she discovered her voice and spent most of the day screeching like a baby pterodactyl.

 Here she is, screeching. I used a magnetic mirror to entertain her for a little while. She spent about 20 minutes squawking at her image.

And playing with Jacques the peacock. I didn't name him, the manufacturer did. He is a cousin of Mortimer the moose, who will be joining our motley crew in a few short days (thanks, Mimi!).

Monday pick-me-up

Last week, we filled up the doggie/kiddie pool and hung out with our friend.

Carly did this.

 Charlotte did this.

She didn't seem too impressed to be so far from the action. Charlotte did eventually end up in the pool, propped up between my feet. The only difference between the pool and the bath was that here, she somehow ended up dirtier than she went in.

Also, check out our stained deck! 

Let's see, what other cute things happened? Our babysitter snapped this pic:

Tucker is large and in charge. He still weighs more than Charlotte does.

Have a great week!

Inside the mind

Charlotte officially has a favorite toy now. Plastic chain links. This is what seems to be going through her head:

 Woah. Blue link is pretty awesome.

 But, I think I might prefer the purple one?

 I shall examine them closely so that I may better understand the differences between them all.

 I tire of them.

 Oh! Hi, mama.

 These here fingers are pretty nice. And so's the green link.

 Oh! Look, a cat!

Nom green link is awesome.

Too fast by half!

This little imp now holds her own bottles.

How did this happen?

monday pick-me-up

Happy post-Father's Day Monday! Here's your weekly round up of Charlotte pictures.

Charlotte's hair sticks straight up off her head. Sometimes we call her buzz saw.

Happy nakie baby!

More happy nakie baby! She is getting so strong!

Apparently I really like that red diaper. And apparently, Charlotte really likes chillin' in her dipe.

A little brag.

I (try to) go grocery shopping once a week, on Mondays. I usually spend anywhere between $40 and $75 a week on this one trip, and let's be honest here - I usually go on Saturday, too, so we have food for the weekend.

Now that I'm working again and paying for childcare, my budget is just a bit more snug than it used to be. So I decided that this week, I'd shoot for having a minimal grocery list. I was a little more careful than usual in creating my menu plan, taking into account what I have growing in the garden and hiding in the pantry.

• Monday: hot dogs and broccoli slaw. 
• Tuesday: homemade taco pizza and homemade pepperoni pizza, and salad. 
• Wednesday: shredded bbq chicken, cornbread, salad.
• Thursday: Swiss chard fritatta and skillet potatoes
• Friday: Reuben sandwiches on the grill, and extra kraut on the side for a veggie.

We have fruits (apples and bananas and strawberries) and veggies (carrots and fresh peas) for snacks during the week. Lunches each day are leftovers, except for Friday when Matt treats himself. Breakfast is oatmeal for Matt and Cheerios for me.

Would you believe that I spent under $16 for our meals for the workweek?!

This astonishing feat was possible because I used a lot of home-grown or home-canned foods. With the exception of Monday, every dinner had home-grown produce. I have canned corned venison and canned sauerkraut for Friday. I made the pizza dough, and finished some venison taco meat I'd frozen last May (!).

This meal plan was also a good way to use up all the little odds and ends of stuff that we seem to always have laying around. Half a pack of hot dog buns, a couple mostly-empty bags of shredded cheese. I also finished a bottle of Worcestershire sauce while making the bbq chicken.

I am so, so proud of my mad meal planning and shopping skills, and I hope you are, too!

Tuesday rain

It rained yesterday, the sort of soft, gentle rain that I don't typically associate with June. It didn't rain the whole live-long day, it just rained when I wanted to be outside. Fortunately, the rain was warm and there wasn't much wind. When it came time to get lettuce for our salads from the garden, I knew all Charlotte and I would need was a baseball cap.

We stayed snug as bugs in rugs! And actually, the little bug fell asleep during the 100 foot walk to the garden, and stayed asleep until I got the pizzas in the oven. Good job, baby.

Please note how excellently we are taking advantage of the rafters for storage in our newly cleaned out back porch. Snowshoes, drying racks, strollers all hanging from above.

Monday's pick-me-up

Despite having a busy weekend (back porch is cleaned up! deck is stained! strawberry lemonade concentrate made and canned! strawberry shortcake made and devoured! deck chairs purchased!), I managed to get a few cute pictures of Charlotte.

 After the porch got cleaned up, and the cat puked up a hairball on her funky farmyard playmat, Matt laid Charlotte down on Gus' outdoor sleeping-bag-turned-dog-bed. In his defense, he vacuumed it first. And she did seem quite content! This kid is going to have a healthy immune system.

 Someone did not enjoy this particular photo shoot, even if she looked really stinking cute in her outfit and zebra print socks.

 Oh my word, could she look any more like Matt, and any less like me?

It was hot on Sunday and little miss hung out in a diaper most of the afternoon.

Hope you have a good Monday!

Flashbacks

Charlotte was 11 days old here. Look how tiny! I want to eat her itty-bitty fingers. Matt's hand was bigger than her head.

This is why I really love having a smart phone - without it, my lazy butt would never have gotten off the couch to get the camera and document this moment in time.

June VA-VOOM

A_Leo said it best:

Yesterday as I was going through my Google Reader, I came across this post from Keight at Put Up Your Dukes.

Immediately I shared it with Joie. We didn't even discuss, but I knew she'd sign up, so right away I emailed Keight. Last night I got an email from Keight outlining the point system, what the winners win and the rules, and I was super excited.

This is just what I need! Hopefully it keeps me motivated this month, but I must admit, I have a feeling it's going to be a wee bit depressing when I see how much other people are doing and how little I am. Think positively! It's go time!

She was right, of course, I did sign up. And I contributed my $10, along with at least 40 other people. While I don't stand a chance of winning it all (hello, already the leader has a disgusting 72 points, while I have a mere 17), I figure MAYBE I might be able to place 8th, and at least get something?

Ultimately, though, this is crazy good motivation. I have a slightly competitive nature, and yesterday I actually went for a walk with the express goal of getting further ahead of A_Leo. Sorry kid.

Monday pick-me-up

Good morning! Charlotte is very much looking forward to crawling soon.

She met her new friend Emma yesterday. So funny to think that they are only 3.5 months apart - Charlotte looks like a beast next to her!

She has moved up into 3-6 month clothes. I nearly cried, but then I realized she has lots of cute clothes to wear. This particular romper is from Auntie Lottie.

She has also been introduced to the joys of the Exersaucer. Boy, does she like it. I had to put a book under her feet, and a blanket around her, but she was happy as a clam. And yes, she is sporting a pink camo outfit, complete with matching bib.