Meeting Great-Nana and Great-Papa

Charlotte was able to meet her Great-Nana and Great-Papa last week. It was great that they were able to visit from Chicago and spend a lot of time with Charlotte.

Great-Papa felt at ease and clearly enjoyed holding Charlotte, as well as singing to her and walking with her.

Here's a nice picture of Charlotte hanging out with her Nonna, Aunt Cassie, Great-Nana and Uncle Matt at our house after dinner.

Charlotte with Great-Nana and Great-Papa in some candid shots.

Charlotte, Great-Nana and Uncle Matt.

Family Picture. Charlotte's Aunt Lauren(Happy 30th birthday tomorrow) and Uncle Vito were able to visit with us last weekend while Great-Nana and Great-Papa were here. It was a great opportunity to get a nice Blanchfield-Ciminello-Westgate family picture.

Meeting Lucia, Nolan, Uncle Josh and Aunt Natalia

Charlotte was able to meet the rest of her Blanchfield family the weekend of January 15-18. We had a great time, the kids were great, and we are looking forward to the next visit.

Below is one attempt at getting a picture of the cousins/grandchildren together.

Charlotte being held by her Aunt Natalia.

Getting some face time with Aunt Natalia and Uncle Josh.

Cousin Lucia having breakfast.

This picture has some bad lighting, but it is me kissing Lucia goodnight.

Some of these pictures are little out of order, but I figured if I put enough of them up, it wouldn't matter.

Nolan at breakfast.

Nolan and I playing in the game room. Nolan is seen here sporting a small cardboard box as a boot. Nice.

Aunt Natalia spending some more quality time with Charlotte.

Here is a nice picture of Lucia eating some lunch, and using that lunch as make-up. She's very cute and a lot of fun.

Nolan and Lucia really seemed to enjoy playing outside in the backyard. It was a little cool outside for Texas, but warm and nice compared to Connecticut, so they were happy to run around.

Memere and Pepere

Charlotte met her Memere and Pepere for the first time when they came down to visit her from December 26 through January 1. I have just been really slow making new blog posts. I also wish I had some more and better pictures.

Here Memere is hanging out with Charlotte while I try to burp her. She usually tries to hold her head up and makes funny faces when I burp her this way.

Spending some quality time with Memere. Next time I will be sure to take better pictures. She often makes faces when sleeping. This one is typical where she puckers her face like tasting something sour. But normally, this face is followed by stretching, then waking up and crying.

Not this time. Just a yawn and back to sleep for her, while with Memere.

Pepere went for the slick bib under the chin look while relaxing with Charlotte. She seems content with the whole thing.

Charlotte finally got to use the nice swing that Sarah's siblings bought for her once Pepere put it together for her. She has been enjoying it almost everyday since then.

This is why I like sitting her up to burp. She holds her head high and makes some of the cutest faces. I made sure to show her Memere and Pepere as soon as possible how good she is at holding her head up and looking around while they were here.

We all had a very nice time and appreciated that they were able to stay a couple days longer than they usual do. But we are still looking forward to their next visit. Charlotte will have grown and changed in many ways by then, even if it is only a little more than a month from now. In the meantime, she will be meeting her Uncle Josh, Aunt Natalia, and her cousins Nolan and Lucia. Also, she will be meeting two of her great-grandparents: Great-Nana and Great-Papa Westgate(Sarah's mother's parents).

Christmas Day

This was Charlotte's first Christmas, so we decided to dress her up in one of her nice dresses for the occasion. Here she is in her special red Christmas dress that was a gift from her Nonna.

And here are her little stockings made to look like she is wearing little black shoes. Cute.

Nice pictures with Mommy.

Nice pictures with Daddy.

Awww. That's nice.

Uncle Matt on his favorite day of the year (tied with his birthday). Excited as usual about giving and receiving gifts.

Charlotte was finally able to meet her Uncle Vito and Aunt Lauren.

Maybe Charlotte would like some cousins on her Ciminello side too. . . hint, wink, nudge. Uncle Vito seems to feel right at home holding Charlotte.