Thanksgiving in Texas!

Charlotte and mommy feeding the ducks. Charlotte eating all of the ducks bread, despite the fact she had already eaten before we got to the park.

Aunt Dusty trying to turn Charlotte into an OU fan.

Grandma and C putting their fingers in the pool water. It was COLD!

Charlotte hanging in the business class lounge before our first flight to Texas. I think everyone was a little annoyed to see a child in their lounge.

Charlotte at the Houston Zoo with her new friend. He has a blankie just like Charlotte.

Greer's wedding weekend: Beautiful!

First date night since Charlotte was born. Love having babysitters, something very, very rare.

Charlotte and Papa at the beach.

Dickens on the Strand, Galveston, Texas.

We spent an amazing time in Texas for 3 weeks. It was such a nice break to be pampered, see family, eat great food, and have beautiful weather. We also went to a dear friend's wedding. Greer married Sergio and I was lucky enough to be a bridesmaid in the wedding. It was a gorgeous event and Greer looked like a princess! Also, Alex got to play some golf which was wonderful for him. Something that he used to do almost every day has now become a once a year occassion. All in all, it was excellent. Charlotte learned soo much while we were there. She started saying sentences (short ones) and fell in love with the holiday yard art in the neighborhood. Santa and Mickey Mouse now hold a very special place in C's heart! For the first time, 3 weeks just didn't seem long enough; the time went by too fast. While we were there Charlotte went to the beach twice and loved digging in the sand. And now restaurant is a huge part of her vocabulary. She thinks that everytime we get in the car we are going to the airport or a restaurant. Not sure when we will be making another trip back as we usually go in May and now we are expecting another little Gamez for that time. Only time will tell, but I am definitely looking forward to another trip back. Alex's company paid for business class so obviously traveling in business makes such a long flight feel like a breeze. Sign me up please!! :)

Still renovating

As everyone knows, we have been renovating our house since we moved in. What a job and what a headache!! I don't think we will ever do this again. We finally have 4 bedrooms, laundry room, and a bathroom complete. But there is soo much more to do. We just opened our kitchen and knocked down walls to make the living room bigger (and removed the chimney, for now). We are basically camping in our house for the next since we don't have a stove, oven or dishwasher. After we get back from Texas we are supposed to have our new kitchen put in. Here are pictures below of what we are getting. Not the best examples, but all I could find. Hopefully all goes as planned.

Also, by January, we should have our second bathroom finished. I am really looking forward to that. In other words, things are progressing, but it is taking alot longer than I had ever imagined. When we moved in, I naively thought that it would take only 6 months to finish everything and by Christmas we would be sitting pretty in a finished house. Wrong! I think the hardest thing is that Alex doesnt get to spend that much time with Charlotte. And we still don't have cable (big issue for A), it was supposed to be our motivator. We are very thankful to his parents that are educated in home renovations and have been able to help us in alot of our projects. Without their help, I am not sure where we would be in the process.
Updates will be posted when we have them. Until then...wish us luck!! :)

Halloween

Here is Charlotte in her Halloween costume. She was supposed to be a cat, but decided against the ears (what a surprise). We didn't do much for the big event but she did stay dressed up all day just so we could get some pictures of her in costume.

At night I was actually surprised by kids trick or treating at the house. It was a group of about 10 kids screaming something in french at me. Of course I didnt have much candy though because I wasn't expecting this in our small town. Lesson learned for next year!

Family!

Last week my mom and grandma came in town for a visit. We went by train to see Bern, Luzern, Interlaken, and back to Geneva. It was great as I have never seen any other parts of Switzerland besides Geneva. We also went to Gruyere to see the Cailler chocolate factory as well as a gruyere cheese factory. The week was so busy that time flew by. Thankfully we had a lot to do that week as we were having new windows put in our house as well as the heating changed. Lots of construction and noise, trust me I was glad to escape!

Here is Charlotte smelling the flowers in Interlaken.
We took my family to a barbeque restaurant not too far from our house. The sign says, Smile and say yee haw! It cracks me up to find this in the middle of the French Alps!

This is our four generations picture. We are sitting in the back yard the day they arrived enjoying the nice weather and some cocktails! As my grandma would say, it has to be 5 o'clock somewhere.

Here is Charlotte in Bern. The child refused to take a nap on the train and as soon as we arrived to our first city, crash, she falls asleep! Of course she woke up as soon as we arrived in a restaurant to eat, she couldn't miss out on lunch.

And last, here is my mom and grandma in Luzern. Great travel companions. We were so glad to have them stay for a week. We are already thinking of where the next trip together can be.

fireworks in Geneva

Every year Geneva puts out this great amazing fireworks show. It is like 4th of July times 20 and costs millions of dollars. It is something not to be missed. Here we are watching the show, while Charlotte is sleeping. Don't ask me how she could fall asleep through all of it. Impressive!

extra pics

Here are some pictures from a friend's wedding near Geneva. We had a great time and it was so nice to go out. (something that we rarely, if ever, do).

before and after round 1

here is a picture of charlotte's room when we moved into the house.

and here is a picture of her room after we painted everything and laid new carpet. much more fitting for a little princess. and alot more light than before with the dark wall paper.

Sweden

red houses are very popular. this was a farm where you could buy fruit, etc..

typical church.

charlotte and mommy on a walk with the ocean in the back.

charlotte and her friend ella grace holding hands while playing.

charlotte and mommy at the port of bastad.

While the house is under renovations, Charlotte and I went to Sweden for a little relaxation and to visit a friend. I was hoping the trip would make me see that I didnt need to do the Baltic Sea Cruise, but instead it made me want to do it even more. It is really pretty there and the ocean is gorgeous. Charlotte was able to play with a little friend while we were there and I think they had a great time. (Thankfully) Thanks Hanna for a great few days!

Words, words, and more words!

Charlotte is trying to talk all the time now and I wanted to write down all the words that she is saying. I need to document her milestones more but of course I put it off and forget, bad mommy!
So here we go. Words with an * Charlotte can say in french and english.
hot*
car*
moto* (haha, same word)
truck
tractor
bike
wheel
cow
moo
bird *
caw (bird sound)
ribbit
bunny
hop
meow
kitty*
ss (snake sound)
puppy *
woof
sheep
baa (sheep sound)
turtle *
apple *
bread*
milk*
banana*
plate*
spoon *
fork
napkin
agua (water in spanish) *
blue*
purple
yellow
orange
green
red
white
puzzle
block
bear
book
bottle
chair
table
hat*
shoe *
sock*
diaper (but only in french)
ball*
pillow
bed
curtain
outside
slide
swing
grass
umbrella
step
bus
please
thank you *
numbers 1 and 2
bucket
mail
keys*
baby *
tunnel
heavy
yogurt
cheese
hand
leg
eye
ear
hair
arm
foot* feet *
knee
nose *
mouth
toe
teeth*
belly (and she loves showing)
potty
paper
chicken
meat
melon *
zuchini
avocado
juice*
cup
tomato
carrot
bean
open
on
off
empty
pee pee
poo poo
toot
sit
seat
walk*
cookie
couch
basket
bucket
blankie
dodo* (to sleep in french)
pj's
love you
hugsies
door
snack
pen
berry
light
fly
airplane * (almost can say it in french so it is asterik worthy)
sky
mommy* (she calls me mommy in french, even though i say mommy all the time and she can say it)
papa
old
cereal
bowl
whale
bless you (she tries, it's almost there. but she thinks even if you cough you should say it, very polite)
no
yea *
plum
tree
leaf
panties
towel
washcloth
santa
maraca
music
CD
Ilma and Charlie (two characters in her books)
squeak
phone
monkey
girl
boy
and then
boom
wow
if you ask her what a certain animal says she can say it as well.ex lion=roar, etc..

This is the list that we can think of, I am sure there are some that we are missing, but at least we can look back on this and have some ideas.
She is understanding more and more everyday. You can ask Charlotte a question and she can honestly tell you yes or no (and she knows what she means). We've been trying to count (but she only gets to 2 right now). And yesterday she learned to say that she is 1 when asked "how old are you?" I also taught her that when someone asks "how old is daddy?" that her response is "old". haha! she got a little confused today though and said that she was old when I asked how old she was. oops! :) We're going to have to keep practicing!
Other than that, she still has very little hair, but what she does have is turning out to be a little curly on the ends. She only has 5 teeth, with 3 of those being added just 2 weeks ago. We're making progress!
Sorry to bore everyone with the blog this time. Most of the posts are becoming more for Alex and I than the public, but I really dont want to forget some of these things. She is changing so fast!

summer pics

Charlotte changing her baby's diaper

Car ride to pick daddy up from work

So cool at the hardware store!

Playing in the yard with our new favorite toy from grandma Helen. Charlotte loves her baby!!

Eating canteloupe after swimming in our pool!

Happy 4th of July!

We hope everyone had a great 4th of July weekend! We were super busy.....peeling wallpaper! This is what we do every night since the previous owners of our house thought every room and ceiling needed a different pattern of paper, exciting!! Thankfully someone created a machine to help the removal, otherwise I would probably give up and learn to live with our 70's paper with bright orange and yellow flowers, yuck!
Other than that, we started Charlotte at a daycare where she will hopefully go one afternoon a week to socialize etc.. without mommy. It isn't much but I feel she is getting to an age where I am really boring all day every day and she needs some stimulation and entertainment away from the home. Also, she will get more french than just staying with me and picking up my poor french accent.
So, to continue with my memories of Charlotte. In my last post I stated how charlotte had started to say love you. I thought it was so sweet and was so happy that these words had entered her vocabulary, etc, etc.. That is until today when she picked up an empty card board box, hugged it and said "Love you". Wow, I somehow dont feel quite so special anymore :)
I would love to update more photos, but at the moment I can't charge my camera battery since I cant find my plug converter (camera is american). So as soon as we find that from the move, like finding a needle in a haystack, we will upload more photos.
We hope everyone had a great 4th of July! We are definitely looking forward to the day we are done renovating our house so we can start celebrating again! :)

For Charlotte...

I have had some great memories the past few days and I don't want to forget them.

1st. yesterday we played in the backyard and she would grab my hand so we could run in the grass together to chase the ball. Once we got there she would fall laughing and then I would do the same. Right after she would get up and we would do the whole thing over again. Run for the ball , throw it farther and then fall in the grass laughing. It was such a simple and special moment that I hope I don't forget.
2. I'm driving to the grocery store today with Charlotte in the carseat in the back. She LOVES her new baby that my grandma gave her in Tennessee and as I am driving I hear a "conversation" she is having. During the talk I hear her tell her baby "Love you!" It was so cute and those words are the best thing to hear your child say, even if it is to just her baby doll.

Other than that, I realize that Charlotte is almost 15 months, today is my fourth wedding anniversary and the time has gone by soo fast! Hopefully that is a sign that we are enjoying this life. I know Alex and I have lost alot of our time together, but Charlotte has given us so many special and funny memories to share. May the memories keep piling up...

Amsterdam May 7-10, 2010

How the Time Flies...

Charlotte at the tulip gardens trying on some clogs. Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Gamez Family after we just signed for our new house. We are sooo happy to have a yard. yay! Good bye city life, hello country!

We have just arrived back from our great two weeks in Texas and Tennessee visiting family. It went by SO fast that it was over before we even knew it. We are already looking forward to the next trip in November/December for Thankgsiving and our dear friend Greer's wedding.

Before we went to Texas we visited Amsterdam, The Netherlands. I have always wanted to see this city as I have heard so much about it. Unfortunately we didn't have the best weather. We still made the best of it though.

Charlotte is growing like crazy. Everyday she is trying to say a new word or does some new trick. It is fascinating (and a little scary). Everyone keeps telling you about the terrible twos, but I have a feeling we are going to hit that mark sooner than two. She is already busy trying to tell you what she is wanting or what she wants to do. Most of the time we can communicate pretty well, but look out if she isn't getting what she wants, yikes.

We just bought our first house together here in France which is really exciting, but alot of work. We were so excited to find a house that we could fix and make the way we wanted, but we had no idea what was involved in that. Alex has been busy stripping wall paper and plucking tiles off the walls. If anyone wants to visit us and help we would be glad to have you! :)

Have a great summer!

Recent Pics- 13 Months

Wow, I am getting really bad about updating the blog. I will have to try and do a better job of it for my loyal readers ;) Happy Belated St. Patty's Day! (a month ago)

Charlotte reading her books before bed. She loves her books! She will stop whatever it is she is doing just to read her books before bedtime. I really hope it stays that way!

Charlotte helping mommy do laundry. Such a great helper!

Happy Belated Easter! Charlotte received 2 plastic sandbuckets for her birthday and loves them more than any other thing. She sees them first thing in the morning and carries them all around the apartment.

We are in the process of packing for our move to our new house. Thankfully we had to pack as Alex found a banana in his winter coat that he hasn't worn in over a month. Can we say gross?? Boys!!

Here is Charlotte enjoying her bath.

And here is Charlotte 1 second later getting really upset with me. Haha! Isn't she just a little angel, ha!

Charlotte eating her spinache for dinner. She loves practicing her fine dining skills.

Here is Charlotte on a car trip. Did I mention that she loves her books?!