Birthdays, Fires, and Gator Games

Charlotte seemed to really enjoy all of her birthday festivities. On her actual birthday, she ate her first cookie! I didn't get all of the crumbs cleaned out of her high chair, so the next day she had a great time finding all the little pieces left behind.



Last week there were record lows for this time of year, and we had the first fire in our fireplace to cozy things up a bit. Charlotte loved it and wanted to offer lots of help.



(Yes, that is paint on her butt. These were the jeans she was wearing when she was "helping" me paint the trim on the house. The paint is finally out from underneath her fingernails!)


On Saturday we went to the Gator game to watch them put a beating on The Citadel. We knew it wasn't going to be a nail biter, but it was the only game we could get affordable tickets for. It was fun to watch them score touchdown after touchdown after touchdown. We were four rows from the top so when they did the flyover we reached up and gave the pilots a high five :)

Chad, Abby, Megan, Gavin, me, Jared, and Dad



And then on Sunday afternoon, the real party festivities began! The first few birthday parties are more for the parents and grandparents rather than the kids themselves, so we didn't want it to be a big to-do, but just inviting the local family and close friends made it a party of 15 adults and 2 babies. Quite the crowd! Charlotte had a great time and ate up all the attention... and the cake! She racked up on sweet gifts as well - a few very cute outfits and several new toys that she's been having a ball playing with. Of course, after a while of going from one toy to another, I noticed that she was entertaining herself with a spoon. Go figure.

The beautiful cake that Amber made! It was delicious!!!


The cake that I made for her... I'm no Melissa, but I think it turned out pretty good for someone with no cake decorating experience.


She seemed to thoroughly enjoy her first cake!







And a cute shot of Charlotte playing with her Pop's hat