New Jobs

Today at 8:00 pm we officially submitted our final rank list for residency programs. It was a difficult decision for us to make. We really love Duluth, our great friends and church that we love up there, but also appreciate Rochester for Kristi's parents living nearby and doing daycare for Charlotte (and us at times). So we ended up ranking Mayo #1 and Duluth #2 and 6 other programs in the Twin Cities area ranked lower. We also recently discovered a very real possibility that if we go to Rochester, we may rent the house directly across from Kristi's parents house.... For those of you who are familiar with the sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond, I'm sure if this pans out our lives will be full of hilarity as a result.

We will find out on March 19th where we will be spending the next 3 years. We will let all our blogger followers know when we find out.

Charlotte wants all her admirers to know that her new trick is to mimic a flamingo by standing on one leg. To unknowing spectators it just looks like she is lifting a leg to mark her territory. We'll get pics and a video up sometime soon, stay tuned.

Self-identity

Charlotte can say her own name now. She says "Sha-shoe." We're so proud.

This is why we do not own a TV

Guest photographer entry

From Grandpa Mark's files, here are some more wintertime pictures of Charlotte. They're kind of small, and I'm not sure why. But if you squint real hard you can tell that it's Charlotte.

Charlotte and her pal Scruffy going for a sled ride in a laundry basket, which works way better than a sled because she doesn't tip over when you go fast or take a corner too fast.

So sometimes Charlotte does like being outside, even though our snow fort building was not exactly "fun."

Daddy told Charlotte to get in the "tent," which was actually a folded piece of cardboard. Charlotte thought long and hard for a second, then attempted to climb in.

The Throw Ups

I jinxed myself by writing that I hoped Charlotte didn't get sick again for a long time. Guess who visited us today? The Barf Fairy.... Poor little Charlotte (and mama and daddy who had to clean it up!). She seems fine now though, so hopefully we don't have any more nasty surprises this evening or over night. And I guess we won't be feeding her Indian food for dinner like we had planned....

Some pictures

Some of these pictures are a little old, but hey, it's been a while since we've put any up. And, terrible parents that we are, we do not have a single picture of Christmas. Whoops.

Here Charlotte enjoys a delicious snack, right out of the jar.

She's gonna love this picture in about 12 years. She's trying to get her pajamas on by herself, but notice she's also wearing shoes...

Charlotte with her friend Melia!

A little disheveled.

Matching daddy-daughter flannel shirts.

Our little lumberjack (lumberjill?).

We took Charlotte out to make a snow fort. She hated every minute of it. Especially a split second after this photo was taken. If you look carefully, Matt has just gleefully thrown a snowball towards Charlotte that is visible just above her head and slightly to the right. See below for the aftermath.

Snowball right down the back of her jacket, snow down her neck, screaming like you wouldn't believe.

Are we having fun yet?

We are trying hard to convince Charlotte that playing in the snow is fun, but she remained staunch in her opinion that she hates fun.

Little Miss Lobster Claws.

You'll have to excuse the sideways-ness of this picture. I couldn't get it to load the right direction for some reason. But you get the point--one of Charlotte's finer moments.

Playing with her farm set.

Isn't she cute in her overalls and pigtails?

We made her a little reading nook out of some big pillows. She LOVES to sit in there and read to herself!

That's our girl!