Following the Groningers: December 2011

The day after Thanksgiving (well maybe 2) a special visitor came to visit directly from the North Pole. The door bell rang and Charlee thought it might be Danielle, or Poppy... then she went to look and saw the box and said "Its Christmas" and that IT was. Daddy was hiding in the bushes (who rang the doorbell) recording her reaction. We brought the box in and started to read the story. Charlee loved pointing out things on pages, but the story part she could care less about so we emphasized the important parts:

She is from the North Pole, Santa sent her.
You need to give her a name.
You cant touch her, or her magic will go away. (She reminded us every time we saw her)
She likes to hide in new spots when she comes back every night.
Oh, and you need to be good so she can tell Santa to give you lots of toys. (She didn't really care about that last part)

So Charlee thought her name should be Dolly, or Toot... so we helped a little and came up with Tootsie. Daddy registered her and the next morning we looked for her and she called her LUCY, we corrected her for a few days... and then we just went with Lucy. So after a few days Lucy was no longer confused with all the names.

Here is Lucy:

I will be excited to see how she is with her next year because "using" Lucy for discipline tactics didn't work. I hoping next year she will care if Lucy rats her out for going to time-out three times in one day. I'm pretty sure Gavin and I liked hiding her just as much. We couldn't get really creative because we didn't want to tempt her to touch her, then I would feel like crap. So she stayed up high on trees and lights and ledges. I wanted to put her in the Little People nativity scene but Gavin said no. Next year we will start the shenanigans... I cant wait.

The Polar Express

This was Charlee's outfit that she wore to the Polar Express. She looked like a little angel and loved her twirly skirt. She kinda likes when I straighten her hair now, she will pose a little. Its so cute.

We have to go through a few shots before she will smile. I have to get a "sad face" picture, a "mad face" picture, and then if I'm lucky she will give me "happy face" smile:

This is a shy smile.

Seriously don't mind the house in shambles behind her... good lord.

She was in a smiley mood this day... it was the skirt.

Ha Ha and here is the kicker, I totally left the skirt on the floor in the living room when we left. Gavin reminded me when we were about half way there. Epic Fail as a mom.

Warning Grandpa Walt: She still has a paci... sorry, she loves it. I'm working on it.

We drove to Connersville 1 1/2 hrs away. Very boring drive.

Lala got her a special snowman for the trip to the North Pole.

I loved the steam...

This is the Hobo that was on the top of the train from the movie.

She is handing her ticket to the Conductor to punch it, (like the movie) he punched a 2 in Charlee's.

There was music playing on the train and she was in rare-form! She likes when she has all eyes on her.

All of our Christmas Jammies.

We piled all the kids on the back seat and tried to snap a decent picture. Our party had about 50 people in it. We took up half a train car.

Lala and Charlee

Santa finally came to see my girl. As soon as the big guy (well he was super skinny, and probably 19 years old - a little disappointing) got on the train she darted for me and didn't take her eyes off him. She was silent and just stared at him. There was a few seconds where I thought she was just going to lose it and start crying, but she held it together and managed to mumble "toys" in response to his "What do you want for Christmas?"

This look is priceless....

relief now that he has moved on to Gaeton.

Oh wait... he had something for mom:

"Sad face" again...

"Mean face"

This is her Special Bell Santa gave her.

The Polar Express was a success, Charlee like it, so I liked it.

Happy Halloween cont...

We made it to Poppy's house and Gavin was filming this doorbell ring too. She just marched right in to Poppy's after the Trick or Treat bit was over and decided she would do the picking of the treats and how many she wanted.

Hugs for Poppy

Ha.. we have a picture of Gavin holding Charlee with this huge black cat on her first Halloween when she was almost 2 months old. Charlee wouldn't pose with daddy again, the cat was too big for her liking... and it moved so she wasn't going near it. I got a picture anyways. Funny thing - I think Gavin has the same jacket and hat in both pics.

This shot was as close as it was going to get...

Obsessed with the street and walking in it! Don't worry we were supposed to be "crossing the street" but she stayed in the street as long as possible.

Great Grandpa Dons house. Charlee is a professional at this point in the night.

We met Nina and the gang at our house to go around our neighborhood. Gavin had made fun of me for dressing up and lo and behold... my family was dressed up too!! I love it!!! Ha... Gavin, your the party pooper.
Nina was the Wicked Witch from Wizard of Oz and Charlee couldn't stop staring at her. It was intense stares followed by a "Nina???, you a witch?????" (with a scowl)
Nina also taught her "I'll get you my pretty, and your little dog too...."
Then a few days later... We watched The Wizard of Oz on TV (Just happened to be on) and when the Wicked Witch came on... Charlee flung her head around and said "Nina??????" - Pretty funny stuff I tell ya! I sent Nina a picture on my cell phone of Charlee looking at me with the "Green Witch" in the background on the TV.