Bittersweet

Very spur of the moment...we took a trip this weekend with our close friends The Castana's and boy are we glad that we did. Thank you to Kristen & Lee for sharing this fabulous weekend with us. I was a little nervous to take a care trip with Leah and for her to miss her routine, but I am so happy that we did. Both Seth and Leah were amazing in the truck on the drive to Rochester. They were awesome as the museum and in the hotel overnight. Now, Roland and I can't wait to plan our next mini get-a-way with the kids! Here are a bunch of the best pictures from the weekend! Thank you also to Aunt Sheryl and Jess for meeting up with us for a bit. I can't believe that I didn't get you girls in any of the pictures!

Look at that bow, it is just adorable as is Lindsey!
This was the best we could get with 4 kids. Of course Miss Leah had to be the uncooperative one!

Rock climbing with a little help!

Let me try!

The whole day was so interactive. Seth was in heaven!

It felt like we were back at Sesame Place as the boys sat on the steps of Sesame Street.

Miss Kristen wanted to see what it was like for Roland and I in high school and college working at a grocery store.

Seth may possibly follow in Mommy, Daddy and Uncle Justin's footsteps.

Even the big kids had fun!

Leah was in awe as she watched herself in the monitor with Elmo.

Who wants to see the show??

" I want to drive, no I want to drive!!"

Roland swears he could not fit on this train so I had to go. That's alright, I loved every minute of it!

Lego Land

Mid afternoon cat nap after all of the excitement.

We watched some gymnasts and a ballet dancer so the boys were dancing around during the show.

Pretty Girls!

After a long day at the pool the boys were very excited to head to the hotel and go swimming.

It is amazing what great swimmers they both are.

Leah checked out the pool too!

I'm tired Mommy!

Heading home after a fabulous weekend with the best friends we could ask for!

Since we stayed in West Rochester we took Route 104 home and stopped in one of our favorite places...Oswego! We showed Kristen and Lee Ontario Orchards, SUNY Oswego campus and a few of our favorite Oswego places.

This weekend was extremely bittersweet. We had the most amazing time with our children and friends, but we also know that Lee will be leaving this Thursday for a year to Afghanistan and we really don't want to see him go. We made so many wonderful memories with him this past year and a half that we don't want them to stop. We also know that when he returns we will lose all four of them from our daily lives. So any way you look at it, it is extremely bittersweet.

For a Good Laugh

Leah is definitely in her independent stage and she wants to do everything on her own. She really dislikes when I have to feed her something like yogurt or applesauce. Last night at dinner I went outside of my comfort zone and just handed her a spoon and her small bowl of applesauce and let her have at it. This is what happened! HYSTERICAL!

She was covered, but had an utter BLAST!

Spring Has Sprung!

The weather has been absolutely fabulous this week. The sun has been so bright and it is actually warm out. All of the snow has cleared in our yard AND at the playground so we made our first official trip with Uncle J to the playground yesterday! It was also the first time that Leah has gone and been able to play. Last year she was a blob and sat in the stroller. She was having herself a grand old time this year!

Seth can officially do everything on the playground without any help!
All of the after school SAC kids were at the playground so Leah was doing some serious people watching.

The swing was huge for her, but she still enjoyed it and smiled away!

Thank goodness for Uncle J's extra eyes to help with Seth so he didn't fall and break a bone!

Thanks for spending time with us Uncle J, we had a blast with you as always!

St. Patty's Day Continued

Patty Leprechaun was so sneaky that he snuck back into the house while we were gone on Wednesday and turned our milk green. Seth's eyes just about bugged out of his head! Maybe the Easter Bunny will turn the milk pink next!

1 Year Check Up

Check me out, I weigh 21lbs. 13oz. and I am 29 3/4 inches tall!

I had to get three shots today and everything checked out great! Mommy and I had a special day together after my appointment. I was pretty grouchy from the shots, but I'm feeling better now! To answer your question, yes I am wearing nothing but a diaper and sneakers, but I wanted to walk around and it was a dirty floor.

Blast From the Past

Hey Justin...do you remember this picture?

If anyone needs a laugh just take a look!

Love you little brother!

Patty Leprechaun

Happy St. Patrick's Day to all of our favorite people! It has been a very exciting morning in The Charlton household as we had a visit from Patty Leprechaun. He stopped by to leave Seth some special St. Patty's Day gold. Seth & Daddy set a trap for him by the back door, but he was too clever and he ended up leaving some stickers, glitter and candies, but he didn't get caught. I guess Seth will have to make a better trap next year!

Leah wants to wish everyone a Happy St. Patty's Day too! If you look closely you will see the tape trap that Seth and Daddy placed by the back door to catch Patty. Patty was too smart and only left goodies, but not himself.
Patty left all sorts of clues as to where he had been in the house. He tried to climb up Seth's ladder to the top bunk and he climbed on his bed and into his hands too!

Isn't being a kid just GREAT??

Good Morning Noelle

I'm trying not to be a pest because I know that Jen and Rod are busy with their new baby. Thankfully, my friend could sense that I needed to hear something anything from them so she sent me this picture of Noelle this morning around 9am. She is just beautiful and her new friend Leah is going to be very excited to meet her later this week when they come home! From this picture it appears as if she might have more hair than Leah already!

Noelle Amelia Voss

Welcome to the world... Noelle Amelia Voss born on Sunday evening at 7:31pm. We can't wait to meet you tonight!

Bittersweet

Saturday night we all gathered to have one last dinner with Lee before he deploys for Afghanistan next week. We have all had such a wonderful year getting to know Lee better and hanging out on countless occasions. He, Kristen and the kids have truly become part of our family. Our kids share birthdays and we are Lindsey's godparents along with the fact that they are just truly wonderful friends who we are grateful to have met. We don't want to see him go and we don't want them to move when he returns so the whole scenario really stinks and that is putting it nicely.
Lee chose Ruby Tuesday for his farewell dinner and we all had a great time laughing and talking.

Jen and Rod were also preparing for a very special occasion as Jen got induced on Sunday morning and they welcomed Noelle Amelia Voss into their family. You would have never known that Jen was almost 2 weeks overdue as she sad there as if nothing MAJOR was going to happen in her life in a few short hours.

My two favorite army wives!

The farewell gang!

Kristen was ready to party the night away and she was so fun! Unfortunately, I was still fighting off a cold and didn't party to my full potential.

We did get in a few games of shuffle board at Joe's though and that was fun!

We really didn't plan to color coordinate again, but we do look good together!

The Dancing Continues...

This is how we roll on a Thursday night!

There was actually a video of Seth and myself dancing, but unfortunately Justin recorded it sideways so unless you would like to stare at your computer screen sideways I won't be posting it. :(

Leah's New Favorite Toys

Last year whenever we would go to Jacob's house for a play date he and Seth would love playing with the little plastic Easter eggs. We would hide them all over the house and they would find them. They thought it was the best thing ever. I pulled ours out this year as I decorated the house and Leah was in LOVE! She carries the basket all around and takes the eggs apart. She has a blast!

They make her happy and keep her busy while I try to cook dinner so that's great!

Isn't this smile contagious?

Nothing much new this week. We got outside yesterday and Seth got to wear his new bike helmet (thanks Grandma and Papa Charlton) as we took a walk after school. Tonight Uncle J is coming for dinner and this weekend is very laid back finally! We are trying to enjoy every minute of this weather while we can!

In the last month we had a few behavior issues with Seth so we started a behavior chart. When he filled the whole chart (20 days) he got to have a special day with Daddy. So he finally filled up his chart and he was pumped to have his special day. He and Daddy ended up going to the mall and painting at the pottery store. Then, they went to Borders and read dinosaur books. Well, Ro didn't think that those two events were enough so he told Seth that he could sleep in bed with us Friday night. In the 4 years of Seth's life he has never slept with us, never! Now, I know why. The boy moves constantly in his sleep AND he woke up at 4:30am and pretty much didn't go back to sleep. So basically we were all up from 4:30am on...on the day of Leah's big party. I was beyond exhausted, but Seth thought the whole experience was great and can't wait to do it again. Sorry buddy not happening!

I Forgot My Camera

Last night Kristen invited us to Carnival Night at The Commons so I jumped on it. It's a no brainer...I didn't have to cook and the kids got to play! I think it was the one and only time that I forgot to bring in my camera and there were so many good photo opportunities! Leah was content to sit in her booster seat and eat, while people watching for a good part of the night and then I let her loose in the baby jumpy. She was in utter heaven. She would check all of the parts out and then look back to make sure I was there and give me a HUGE smile. Kristen took a few pictures of her so I can't wait to see them.

The boys ate as fast as they possibly could and then they were off to play in the big kids area. They stopped back at the table a few times for a drink and to tell us there were bad kids in there, but other than that they played their hearts out for over an hour.

Both of my kiddies came home, took a bath and slept like logs. It was the perfect night! Now on to swim class tonight!

More Videos From the Party!

Now you have a full picture our Leah's 1st birthday party from start to finish! It was a truly memorable evening!

Thank Heavens...

...it's just a common cold!

Seth has had this yucky cough for over a week and we had contained it with cough medicine, but it wasn't giving up so I finally took him to the docs last night for them to then tell me it is just a common cold. That is good news, but I would still like it to go away for good! This is how he passed the time while we waited!

Thank you to Kristen for watching Leah for me so I didn't have to take her to that germ infested place!

The After Party!

Check out the action when the party girl went to bed!

I actually think that the kids might possibly be better dancers than the adults, they definitely stole the show!

Leah's 1st Cake

Thank you Lorraine for making yet another beautiful cake for our family! They were both hits!

I am LUCKY

Check out this fantastic, wonderful and amazing family that I am lucky enough to have!

Seth is such a special little guy.
Our guest of honor.

We are BLESSED!