Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Smiling is my favorite!

If everyone knows one thing about me, its that I love CHRISTMAS!  I literally count down the days all year and as it approaches it takes everything in me not to begin decorating or listening to Christmas music until after Halloween (for those of you who prefer to wait till after Thanksgiving...you're nuts!).  In my opinion there are only three Christmas movies worth watching "A Christmas Story", "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation" and "ELF".  It doesn't matter how many times I have seen Elf, it makes me laugh every time.  One of my favorite scenes is the one below:


....Come on tell me you didn't laugh out loud?!

Anyhow, aside from loving Christmas, I am LOVING all the new things that Charlotte is doing these days.  She is not only growing bigger each and every day, she is learning and developing too! Its truly amazing.  On June 9th, 2012 Charlotte had her first documented SMILE!  It was so darn cute and we were able to capture it on camera.  Cuppie and I were playing with her in the morning and suddenly she just smiled a HUGE smile! We were so surprised and excited we may have scared her a bit!  It was just so precious.






 
 And then we were able to get her to smile AGAIN ;)



 Cuppie attempting to show Charlotte how pretty her smile is in the mirror

When you smile Miss Charlotte...its definitely my "favorite" :)

HOME is where the HEART is...

Coincidentally, Todd's annual Ryder Cup golf outing was scheduled just 4 weeks after Charlotte was born.  If you have not heard of the infamous "Ryder Cup" I by no means am qualified to explain what this event entails.  I would direct you to the website that Todd and his friends have created, but you need a password to enter the site- its that exclusive!  My advice: ask Todd about it the next time you see him and be prepared to have a beer and sit down for about an hour so you can get the detailed explnation of how the event was born, the bios of its past and present teammembers and of course the debauchery that ensues when these "boyz" get together  :)

Anyhow, for me this meant Charlotte and I could tag along for the ride back to Michigan and spend time with our families- hurray! The nine hour road trip from C'ville to GP was SO worth it!  Charlotte was able to see her grandparents again, meet her GG (Great Grandma Winfield) as well as all her aunts, uncles and cousins.  The weather was great and the company was even better. Todd, Charlotte and I are so lucky to have such amazing families with such big hearts who love us so much.  Though we haven't lived in Grosse Pointe in over ten years, its always so nice to go "home" :)

 Road trip game face
  
 Grammie and Charlotte
 Three generations (Charlotte we'll need to start highlighting that hair asap)!
 Poppie and Charlie
 GG & Charlotte meet!
 Uncle Jojo feeding Miss Charlotte
Milk from "milky"
GG is 92 and looking FABULOUS!
 Family walk :)
 Just nappin'
 Aunt Kristin and cousin Ella
 Cuddle time with Uncle Jon and cousin Kate
 Birthday boy Peter!
 Birthday boy Jon!
 Grandma Sue & Papa with their girls :)
 Lorenger ladies


Monday, June 25, 2012

Friends that feel more like family....

I am incredibly blessed with THE VERY BEST friends in the whole wide world!  I cherish the friendships that I have formed over the years, beginning in pre-school (yes- pre-school!) through high school & college and of course the friendships that I am continuing to make here in Virginia.  As Carrie said in Sex & The City "maybe our girlfriends are our soul mates and guys are just people to have fun with".  Well, I certainly have found soul mates in my very best girlfriends, the ones who you can count on for anything and are there for you no matter what...the ones that feel like the sister you never had. Charlotte has been lucky enough to meet three of these "sisters" of mine all before her 1 month birthday!  Here is a glimpse of our visit with a few of Charlotte's favorite "aunties"....

Lolo (aka kiki's prettier twin) booked her flight down to C'ville when I was about 5 months pregnant :) Her visit was super fun albeit not quite as crazy of a weekend that we are typically used to when we get together.  Charlotte fell in love with Auntie Lolo and I think its safe to say Auntie Lolo fell for Miss Charlotte too....just a tiny bit ;)  Lolo and I met freshman year at Hope College.  She is such an amazingly caring, generous and selfless friend.  She knows me better than I know myself and I simply don't know what I would do without her in my life.  Since moving to Virginia our friendship has not skipped a beat.  Though the distance has not strained our friendship, we get by knowing that one day we will be reunited in Chicago!

Besties reunited in C'ville!
 Lovin' on Miss Charlotte
 Strolling downtown C'ville
 First bottle from Auntie Lolo
 Mommy & Charlotte at MAS Tapas
 Cuddle time with Auntie Lolo at dinner
 Walking through UVA's campus

Megan is my bestie  from high school.  She and I met in gym class freshman year, though I can't say that was the first time I had heard of Megan.  She was a petite but AMAZING athlete, and everyone knew it!  Judging Megs on her stature would not have been a wise thing to do, who would have guessed that a 5 and half foot 90lb girl could kick your butt on the basketball court and soccer field- I wouldn't have believed it myself...until I saw it for my own eyes.  Needless to say we hit it off right away and since then have formed a sisterly bond as well.  As fate would have it, early last fall we both found out we were pregnant and due just ONE week apart! Its no coincidence that Megs had a beautiful baby boy- Grayson and we had a girl, they are obviously going to get married and live happily ever after, DUH! Megan is a devoted and loving friend who has always been there for me.  I can talk to her about anything and now that we have babies just five days apart its been incredibly convenient to call/ text each other questions at all hours of the day & night regarding all things baby.   I don't think I would be able to jump into this role of "mommy" without Megs just a phone call away!
 Mommies & Babies
 Charlotte trying to spoon Grayson

Last but not least on our visit with Charlotte's Aunties is Stephanie, probably my very first friend. We met in PRE-SCHOOL and what is so incredible about our friendship is that we have remained close through all these years despite the fact that we have not attended school together since we were 4 years old.  Stephanie has literally been there through it all with me.  She not only was there to share in the many experiences of my childhood but she has the most amazing memory of anyone that I know so she can literally help you re-live it (and we often do when we get together...reminiscing on the "good old days")!  Stephanie is intelligent, charismatic and driven (not to mention the best multitasking mom out there)! Her kiddos Anna & Charlie are pretty darn luck to have a mommy like her!
Stephanie, Anna & Charlie :)
Group shot!
Just the girls, Charlotte was a bit shy :)


Thursday, June 21, 2012

The FIRST time is the charm!

Well, they say there is a first time for everything!  We have been experiencing a lot of "firsts" in the Lorenger home in the past month and I thought we would share the ones that we documented in the moment.....
~first time meeting brother Brutus~
 ~first time riding in her swing~
 ~first family walk~
~first smirk documented (first smile to be published in another post)~
 ~first bath at home~
 ~first shampoo~
 ~charlotte just LOVED it...can't you tell~
 ~finally settled now that she is cozy in her cute towel- thanks auntie mo!~
~first time todd demonstarted to brutus how to use a breast pump~
OOPS! Sorry Todd didn't mean for this photo to be added...now somehow I can't get it to delete ;)
 
~first bottle ("thanks for pumping that milk dad")~
~first time cooking with dad in the bjorn~

 There will be many, many for "firsts" and we cannot wait to share them with sweet Charlotte Rae :)