Up uP and AwAy~~~~~~~~~~

Charlotte relaxing at the cottage in Hayward

Here we are again and it has been a month since I last updated this blog. I really need to find some consistency in my life. Although I guess I am pretty consistent on writing only once a month. Does that count? Anyway this last month has been filled with all kind of good things so we better get started!!.....

The view from the front window at Dave & Monya's cottage

The month started off with us going up to Dave & Monya's cottage (Nana Moni & Papa Dave as Charlotte would say) It is always such a nice and relaxing time when we go up there. This was Charlotte's first time up there and I think she really enjoyed it. The last time Jim and I were up there was when I was still pregnant. So technically Charlotte had been there before, but she didn't have a very good view back then. Jim had his 31st birthday while we were there. We spent our days relaxing by lake, and walking the shore. Jim spent his days fishing with Dave. The cottage is situated right on the lake, which is as big as lake Mendota. So in other words it is big! We enjoyed afternoon naps and BBQ food. We all slept in a king sized bed together. It was such a nice time. We are planning on going back up in August for a short weekend. It is about a three and a half hour drive north (Hayward) so it is a bit of a drive, but it is so worth it. The funny thing is that their cottage is on the same lake that my family use to go to when I was little. When we go out in the boat I was always look and try to find the old cottage we use to go but I have still been unsuccessful in finding it. Charlotte took her first boat ride. At first she wasn't to sure but she warmed up to it fast. We also went on a wilderness walk, which is basically a zoo, but it is in the woods. I am not sure if Monya or Charlotte enjoyed it more. All and all we had a really nice time, and Jim turned a year older.

Charlotte playing on the beach at the cottage Charlotte's first boat trip Wilderness Walk in Hayward

This picture speaks for itself

Charlotte and Monya trying out the boat

Charlotte has been doing some pre-potty training. Jim bought her a potty seat, but I really didn't want to start training her to use a potty seat because then you have to just turn around and train her to use the "big Potty" so I got a seat that fits on our toilet. She has been really doing a great job. I think in the next week or so we are going to hit the potty training full force. I know it is early but she is very interested and seems to understand the concept of using the potty, so why not start now? I am sick of changing diapers. I have been using the cloth training pants and baby legs. We have been spending time in the kitchen and breezeway because we have wood floors in there so if she has an accident it is easy to clean up. It seems to help her understand that she needs to use the potty when she can actual feel that she is wet. So I am hoping this keeps going well and she starts using the toilet on a more consistent basis. I am not going to push her to be trained. I will let her go at her own pace.

Charlotte working on potty training. I am so horrible for posting this!

Now onto the big news. Charlotte and I are going to London. This came about kind of unexpectedly but we are really happy to be going. Cherie's oldest daughter is getting married and she asked me if Charlotte, Jim and I would be able to come. I told her that I probably wouldn't be able to come because we didn't have the money. I told her that the only way we would be able to come is if my dad would pay for our plane tickets. I got up the courage and asked him, and surprisingly he said he would. I have to pay him back but it is worth it. I have been wanting to go and visit Cherie and the kids for a long time, but we just couldn't afford to go. I was suppose to go this last Christmas, and then we had some issues and I wasn't able to go. It broke my heart and I know Cherie was really disappointed. It killed me to have to call and tell her we weren't coming. Bobbie and Kerie have never met Charlotte so it is going to be so exciting for her to see them. I am still a little worried about how Charlotte is going to act while we are there. When we went to my sisters Faith's for a week, Charlotte was a total nightmare the whole time we were there. If you remember the post I wrote about our trip to Indiana then you know what I mean. I am hoping this trip goes a lot better. We have a 8 and a half hour flight, that I am not looking forward to. I reserved us seats at the front of the plane near the exit so Charlotte will have a little room to get down and play if she wants to. We leave Chicago at 8pm so I am hoping she will sleep on the way over. If she doesn't sleep I know I am in for a lot of trouble because we arrive in London at 11:30 the next morning and if she doesn't sleep on the plane she is going to want to sleep during the day when we get to Cherie's and then her sleep schedule will be all out of whack. So does anyone have any tips for flying with a baby? I sure could use it? I am also not sure how the logistics of flying with a baby work. Does she has to sit in her car seat while on the plane? If she does, do I have to haul the car seat through the airport with me, or do the take it at the baggage check and put it on the plane for me? If she doesn't use a car seat do they allow you to check the car seat at the baggage check? What about the stroller? What happens to that? Can I take a stroller on the plane? If not how am I going to get around the airport with her? I guess I need to call British Airways and ask some questions. I just hope everything goes smoothly and that we have a nice trip. We will be gone for about 2 1/2 weeks. We leave Chicago July 30 ans arrive in London on the 31st. We stay until August 15th and we return to Chicago on the night of August 15th. I am so excited to see everyone and I will finally get a proper roast dinner thanks to the amazing cooking of Kerie. I would seriously go for just that. I craved it so bad when I was prego, and now I am finally going to get it. I guess I need everyone to wish me luck and hope for the best! All ready to head for London!

I have been taking a few online photograph courses. My niece Erin (Faith's daughter) was nice enough to give me copies of Adobe photoshop Cs2 and Adobe photoshop Lightroom 2 the only problem was I only knew how to use it in the VERY basic sense, and I wanted to be able to enhance my photos in a more professional sense, so I decided to take a few courses that will help me do just that. I will start them in about a week and then I will be able to do a little work while I am in London and then finish the course when I get home. I would really like to take my photographs to the next level and possibly start doing some things for a little extra money. I have been reading a lot of books and doing a lot of research online. It will take sometime but I know with practice my photos will get better. I have always enjoyed doing this but have not gone beyond the intermediate learning, it is time to get serious about this and start to take pictures of other things and people besides Charlotte. I will keep you updated on my progress. If any of you would like to be my guinea pigs please let me know.

We ended the month of June with a trip to the zoo in Madison. It was Charlotte's first trip to see the real live animals up close. It is so much fun to go and do these things and see everything for the first time through her eyes. Now speaking of photographs, you would think I would have taken a ton of pictures, but two things happened. First it was really hot that day so none of us were really in the mood, and second I was having so much fun show Charlotte the animals and just playing with her that I pretty much forgot until we were ready to leave. So I got one picture of her with a fake lion. And by this time she wasn't in the mood to sit still for mom to take a picture. She loved the giraffe's and the lions, but the seal scared the living crap out of her. It would come out of the water and make this awful sound that sounded like it was dying, and she looked at it and just started screaming. Everyone around us was laughing but she was truly scared to death. So we didn't stick around there for long. Her favorite animals were the monkeys. She sat in front of the big window for about 20 minutes watching them. The one monkey was swinging by his feet upside down and that is all she talked about all day. She would say "monkey" and then she would say "Swinging" all day that is what we heard. "Monkey"I would say" Yes Charlotte, did you see the monkey?"and she would say "Swinging" All day long. So before we left Jim bought her one of those monkeys that have the Velcro on the hands and feet. She has carried that thing around with her all week. When she was ready to go to bed She said "Bis.....Monkey" I think she was worried that "Bis" (Her stuffed dog "Roofus" that she sleeps with) wasn't going to like the monkey. But Bis was a total gentlemen and invited Monkey to sleep with him and Charlotte. The zoo was a lot of fun. I am sure we will be back very soon. I think we are going to go to the zoo while we are in London. That zoo is huge. I am hoping maybe the aquarium too.

Well there you have another month safely stored into the memory bank. I hope everything goes good for our trip. This next month we have our family reunion. I am really looking forward to it. I have all the DVDs back except one and I am not sure that one will be back in time, but we should have a nice selection to watch. I still have not found a digital projector. So if any of you have one or know someone who has one please let me know, otherwise I will go to A to Z rental and rent one so I can set up the screen and play the movie in the background at the picnic. I am going to bring copies of the movies and the pictures to the reunion. Which reminds me that I better get going on making copies of those so I have them done. It is going to be a lot of fun. I really hope everyone shows up. It would really be nice to get a picture with everyone in it. I will post pictures after the reunion. OK I gotta get off here. I am hoping to keep this updated more often but I said that last time too. I have not updated my twitter or facebook on a regular basis either. My days are just to full these days. We spend as much time as possible outside and we are always running here or there and everyday I seem to have a list of things to do that is a mile long. So if I don't update until next month please forgive me, I am not dead just busy........