thanksgiving wrap up

In the 8 years that Melissa and I have lived in Virginia, I think we've traveled back to Ohio 6 of those 8. It's always a short trip because Melissa has to be back at school by Monday, but it's always a trip well worth the 16 hours of driving round trip. And this year was extra special because Melissa's parents have finally moved into their new home, a log cabin. I'm sure we'll have more pictures down the road, but this will give you an idea of  how beautiful their new home is.

Even though their cabin is amazing, a toddler can still get cabin fever pretty often so we were sure to take walks every day. Here are a couple shots of Charlotte on our walks. She is such a happy little girl.

Trying on mommy's sunglasses.

The pigtails are a new thing for Charlotte and I think this shot just screams all girl.

Doing a little posing work.

As most of you know Melissa is pregnant and is due in early March. Before our 20 week ultrasound I asked Melissa if she was OK waiting few more weeks and having our families all find out at the same time at Thanksgiving whether Charlotte was going to have a brother or a sister. She agreed and I thought that having a cake made with blue or pink batter would be a great way to do that. Come to find out, its tough to find a bakery that will do that, so a big thanks goes out to Busken Bakery of Cincinnati who let me know that they could do a layer cake with blue or pink icing in between the layers. Works for me! So we invited both sides of the family over to Melissa's parents cabin and had the grand reveal. Also a big thanks to our friend Jamie in Virginia who we entrusted with a sealed envelope from the ultrasound so she could contact the bakery and let them know what color icing to use. Here's a shot of the cake. It turned out nice.

Here is a shot of the reaction when we cut into the cake...

And a quick confirmation with the actual ultrasound for extra assurance...

And as you can see below, the icing is blue so we are glad to announce that Charlotte will have a baby brother named Oliver James Hess next spring. It was a great way to share our news with the family. We took a vote before we cut into the cake and the majority said it would be a boy and they were right. So now we have to decide if we'll just dress him in all of Charlotte's pink clothes or if we'll spend some money and get some boy clothes :)

On Friday we headed over to my parents house for a a little bit of time with Grandpa, Tiki and cousin Honor. Dad went out on Thanksgiving morning to do some door-busting, which if you know him, is very strange, but he picked up a new toy for Charlotte and Honor. See below...

This is her "I'm in a biker gang" face.

Charlotte and Grandpa thoroughly enjoyed themselves. That little 4 wheeler could really haul.

And some playtime with cousin Honor thanks to a construction site nearby.

Meanwhile back at the cabin, Charlotte's other grandpa seemed to be quite smitten with Charlotte as well.

Melissa and her mom set up the Christmas tree on Saturday and the kids got to put a few ornaments on the tree. I caught Benjamin like a deer in the headlights on this one, but you get the idea.

Charlotte enjoyed the ornaments too.

I love the glow on her face in this one.

We hope you had a great Thanksgiving in 2012. Our family has had a great year and we have much to be thankful for as we head into 2013.

-jay

va state fair

We've always talked about going to the virginia state fair and so with what we know about Charlotte, we decided that she would probably like it. She loves animals, food and people and that's pretty much what the state fair is. We arrived about 30 minutes before the gates opened. After scoring a great parking spot, we bought our tickets and had some time to kill, so here's what we did first. I stood in line and Melissa and Charlotte cruised around the area. But first a shot of Charlotte waiting in line for her first state fair experience.

Like most little girls, she enjoys pushing the stroller around, so we did a little bit of that.

I was able to get this cute little shot of Melissa and Charlotte. I just think its cute how they are just sitting there together on the curb.

Charlotte just taking it all in and watching the lines get longer as we waited.

Our fellow early bird fair-goers.

For organizational purposes this post will now be split into three categories. 1-Farm 2-Fun 3-Food.

So let's start off with Farm. As soon as you get past the main gate there is a petting zoo area that attracts the little kids like none other. And Charlotte wasted no time getting her hands and face all up in those animals' business.

She was not shy whatsoever, be it people or animals, even pushing big kids out of the way to secure a better spot to look at these new creatures.

This is the face she makes when she chases our dog Jack around the house.

You can see it was a pretty busy place.

She really liked this longhorn. And so did we. The sign says that they stay this shaggy all year around. Pretty cow if you ask me.

Great shot of my girls!

A man was selling feed in small cups and these animals were well aware of that fact. "Please feed us...we're right over here"

Cute alpaca.

The face of wonder.

There was another petting zoo area that was advertised for toddlers, which we were really looking forward to. Turns out that a toddler zoo means that there are two layers of gates in between the toddler and the animals, which Charlotte did not appreciate, so we didn't spend too much time in that section.

She did however like the chickens.

Melissa being all crafty with the camera.

"Hello Mrs. Chicken. I love your work. The egg, the chicken strip. I'd like to have you over for dinner some time."

A couple of cows getting their grub on.

Time for some Fun. Here's a great shot of the two of us. An older man in the chicken house gave us a little bible, which Charlotte carried around for the rest of the day (see Charlotte's left hand). We're pretty sure that he mentioned something about Barack Obama being the anti-christ...funny stuff.

One of my favorites of the day.

Charlotte was a little too small for ferris wheel, so we opted for the ferris wheel car that doubled as a rest area.

Just taking it all in.

Had to take advantage of this photo op.

We found a flying banana ride that Charlotte was big enough to ride with an adult. Melissa isn't big on rides like this so I became a pretzel and squeezed myself right in. We had a lot of fun

Smokey the Bear came across our path and Charlotte got a little shy at first, but then gave him a hug and got a sticker.

Now time for some Food. Melissa was enticing Charlotte with some chili cheese fries. She loved the fair food, as you will see.

One of the cutest pictures of the day. Just eating my corn dog...no big deal.

And how could you visit the fair and not get a funnel cake. She wasn't sure at first, but after we gave her her own piece, she went to work. I'm amazed she didn't vomit due the quantity and quality of food she ate throughout the day.

We had an amazing time as a family. It was a great experience with the animals being Charlotte's favorite. Not sure that it will be an every year kind of a thing, but we did have fun.

breaking in the new backyard

The house we're renting for the next ten months is a little smaller than the house we owned, but what we traded in space we gained in an awesome backyard. Our old house had a big backyard, but it was always the last place to get money and attention. Over the course of seven years we gutted our kitchen and replaced with all new cabinets, flooring and the whole nine yards. We also renovated a bathroom to update the overall look complete with a new toilet, vanity, beadboarded  walls and tile floor. We replaced windows and light fixtures and all of the fun things you can do inside, but like I said, we always have wanted a nice backyard, but I could never bring myself to throw money at it. We made some good memories in that old backyard and had some really fun parties and get-togethers, but our new backyard is great and we broke it in just two days after we moved in with our good friends the Smiths complete with hot dogs, s'mores and more. I was sure to transfer all of the firewood we had stored up at the old house so that we could use our fire pit through the fall and winter months. If you don't like hot dogs I apologize for this picture, but man those look good.

A shot of the kids, my mom and some of the delicious grub that we put together. As you can see, it was finger licking good.

I think Charlotte was a little intrigued by Josh in this shot. It was a nice clear night and we just spent the night, talking, eating and playing with the kids.

Melissa decided to put a marshmallow on a stick, kind of like a carrot in front of a horse and Charlotte followed it around for a bit until Kathryn came to her aid and pulled it off so that she could have it. That's what friends are for.

Nothing cuter than a kid eating a s'more. Ah, the sticky little faces and fingers.

Kathryn's baby "chocolate baby" even tried to get in on the marshmallow action.

Charlotte was not shy around the whoopie pies that my mom whipped up.

Best friends getting a wagon ride around the backyard.

The hostess with the mostess. I still can't believe I get to spend the rest of my life with her.

Me trying to be artistic.

Here's to many more nights spent in our borrowed backyard. Cheers!

-jay

here comes peter cottontail...

Most children are frightened of an oversized rodent sitting in a rocking chair wanting tons of children to sit on its lap.  Charlotte is not most children.

We went to Williamsburg yesterday, did some shopping and stopped off to see the easter bunny.  I really had my hopes set on a photo shoot with a real live bunny.  But I am really glad that we decided just to stop and say hi to the big guy.

She thought he was amazing.

And cried when it was time to go.

She was sad until we gave her these silly foam ears.

And then some delicious goodness from Sno-To-Go.  Soft serve ice cream mixed with a snow cone...amazing!

He thought so too!

Coming home, she was exhausted after a long day!

In honor of our cute little bunny meeting the easter bunny, here is my super simple directions for bunny cupcakes!  You need candy for nose and eyes, I used jelly beans this year.  Small marshmallows for the cheeks, and big marshmallows cut in half and dipped in sprinkles for the ears.

And tada, you have one bunny cupcake that kids of any age can make!  I have been making these for years with my school kids and they always love them!

Hope everyone has a great Easter.  We have plans for the zoo today with some besties and then a delicious dinner planned for Sunday.

-melissa