Our Silly Charlotte

It's been a bit since our last update but I did just post some great pictures from our recent visit to the cabin. Kevin and I have always enjoyed going up to our cabin in the winter because we really enjoy the serenity and calmness and being outside in the winter. And although temperatures are always well below zero and the plumbing is turned off we still make the best of it. The cabin of course still has heat and electricity and so really the plumbing thing is no big issue. We just bring huge gallons of water and some anti-freeze for the pipes and we are good to go. We even went with Charlotte last year after Christmas and would love to make it a tradition every year after Christmas. This year it didn't work out but next year we'll give it a go after Christmas. Now, it's amazing what a year will do to your impression of a winter visit to the cabin. First off, this is the first year I've been up to cabin heavily pregnant in the winter and the first year we have had a toddler up there too. While it was much more of a challenge and we decided to stay one day less than we anticipated we are still geared up to go again next year. Hopefully it will be a bit easier, considering I won't have an enormous belly with aches and pains along with many other not so fun side effects and at the end of the day I'll be able to enjoy a nice drink.....which was needed many times on this trip but I resorted to some tasty Sprite....mmmmm. When we were up at the cabin we did a lot of nothing, but also we went out on the ice and went sledding and tried to play in the snow but it was sooooo cold out and to be honest, Charlotte was not digging it too much. You can tell by one of the pictures. She looks as if she was being tortured and forced to play outside. It's a classic photo though. The only reason Charlotte looked forward to going outside was that she knew she was going to get hot cocoa when we went inside. We would be outside barely 3 minutes and she would say. "I want hot cocoa...I want to go home....carry me, carry me, carry me". So, inevitably we would only be able to go outside in 15 minute jags but frankly I didn't mind....it was cold!!!!!! We did stay inside a lot obviously. We watched lots of movies and had a couple of fires and played games with Charlotte. One of Charlotte's favorite things to do up there was paint. This was her first experience painting, as you'll see above, and she took it very seriously. After each masterpiece she would say "Ta Da!" and then my job was to take it from her and lay it on the table to dry. I cut up the paper into smaller pieces so they would fit on her tray better but because of that about every 3 minutes I would hear "Ta Da!" and an anxiously awaiting Charlotte looking for me to take the art work away. Lets just say it took about 30 minutes to make a 10 minute lunch. It kept her busy though so I was just fine with that.

We had lots of fun at the cabin and so did the dogs but wewere happy to be home again too. The car trip up and back was very nice though. We got to take our brand new car out for it's first road trip. It went successful. For those of you who don't know, we recently purchased a Black GMC Yukon XL. This is the first car I know that I have ever had where I'm so excited to drive it and just love it. It has everything you can imagine. My personal favorite parts are the heated leather seats, the built in DVD player with a really awesome sound system and a place to put the dogs in the back and still have plenty of room for storage and seating. I hope we have this car for a long, long time.

One more thing, as for the new baby Bellmont we have less than 7 weeks to go. I'm working a lot less now, about 10 hours a week at most and will probably suspend working in the beginning of March. I really do enjoy what I do though and plus it's really nice to get away from the house from time to time so I'm wondering how this maternity leave will go. I'm taking all of March and all of April off, which is way more than I took off with Charlotte. I remember going back to work only 2 weeks after having Charlotte and I wished I didn't have to do that so while I'm looking forward to spending some quality time with my kids (sounds weird to say by the way) and not feeling pressured to do work, I am hoping I won't go stir crazy. Thank goodness we have the pass to the MN zoo, right? and a big yard and lots of great neighbors to hang out with.

Well, as time comes closer we'll update you all on how things are going with the almost new arrival. We hope you all enjoy your weekend.....WOO HOO... A HEAT WAVE OF 30 degrees!!!!!!

Lots of Winter Fun

The Minnesota Zoo

Charlotte and I went to the MN Zoo last week for the first time this winter. While we should have gone closer to 9am, we didn't arrive until 10:30a.m., of course, right?... when all the school groups arrived. That's something I'll have to remember the next time. Nonetheless we did have a great time. Charlotte really enjoyed looking at all of the animals...indoors indoors that is. I think her favorite part was looking at the dolphins and the big fish tank with the shark. She surprisingly stayed in her stroller most of the time, which for her age is pretty darn good. I was also glad to be able to get out of the house and do something different. While we have gone to the zoo in the past, this is the first time Charlotte's been able to understand much more and really get into it. Since she is about at the age of really enjoying the zoo for what it has to offer I decided we might as well get a membership. With the new baby arriving and all it will be really nice to give Charlotte an opportunity to run around and have something fun to do, even if it is just for an hour. That way we don't have to feel guilty if we're only there for an hour and Daddy can bring Charlotte and have some fun time without Mama and the new baby. Although I will make a concerted effort to have some fun Charlotte and Mama time with this new adjustment, which I must say I am a bit nervous for. I know that everyone says you adjust fine to having a new little addition it's just so unfathomable to me that I can love another child as much as I love Charlotte. I know it will all work out fine but now that I'm getting closer to the baby being born I'm starting to think about things I didn't think much about before. Lucky for me Charlotte does have such a good Daddy so she can feel just as important and get lots of attention still while Mama is going to be spending lots of time with the new baby Bellmont.

Sledding: Part 2 and some hockey

After our "Adventure" with our first sledding experience this year with Charlotte we have since realized that although she may not be a big fan of going down the big hill, she doesn't mind going down the small hill in the front yard. Lately though, Charlotte's favorite thing to do outside, which is pretty much every day, is to go for walks on the sled. Charlotte gets all ready in her snow gear, and I must admit she looks pretty darn classic all dressed up, and then she gets right on her tummy on the sled and rests her arms underneath her chin or chest and just enjoys the ride. It looks so cute and reminds me so much of being a little kid. It's funny you know, my bottom can barely fit between the sides of the sled and Charlotte can lay down comfortably and there is still plenty of room behind her and on the sides. It's funny to think that we were all that size at one time. Well, we go for walks around the neighborhood and look at all the Christmas decorations and Charlotte loves to point out the Christmas lights too. Sometimes she really gets into the walk and pretends she's in water and while on her tummy she puts her arms out as if she's in the water and moves her arms like she is swimming. When it works out, we bring the dogs with and they pull Charlotte and I on the sled. Their strengt actually puts me in awe, because honestly, I am not a small girl right now!

Also, we went to play hockey last Sunday at the local outdoor rink. Charlotte LOVES hockey and often plays with her dad in the driveway but this is the first time this year we have been able to get to the rink. Well of course, we weren't thinking that the night before it snowed so the rink would have to be cleared in the morning. Kevin and Charlotte got to skate a little bit (Charlotte on her boots...we'll have to get her first pair of skates next year) but it was pretty tough. She did enjoy Kevin pulling her around the rink on her sled. There are some good pics. of Charlotte and Kevin tossing the puck around but hopefully next time we go, probably this weekend, they'll be able to play more. At the end of our hockey trip I asked Kevin to do a slap shot because I'm always amazed at how fast and hard the puck is shot on slap shots. Well, Kevin gave it a try and because of the packed down snow there was too much resistance and he broke his stick right in half. Normally I would feel bad but being that he has about 10 more sticks in the garage it wasn't such a big deal.

After watching Charlotte and Kevin having fun and me standing on the side lines I realized how anxious I am do get to the end of this pregnancy. I've tried to stay active and do fun stuff but I'm realizing in this last week that my fun will have to be limited until the baby comes. And if any of you are counting, I have have 10 weeks and 4 days left!!!