Charlotte Update

I have about 9 post topics in the queue just waiting to be typed up and posted. I am so far behind. I'll start with this easy short one!

Our sweet little Charlotte. So low maintenance and easy going.

Haylee loves to follow her as she walks all around the house. I'm surprised how fast she really walks, I thought turtles were suppose to be super slow! Haylee has to stay right behind her due to a little incident the other night. I was doing the dishes and I heard Haylee yell "give me back my turtle" as Natalee was running towards me laughing hysterical with the turtle in her hand getting shaken turtle syndrome. Poor Charlotte. I told Haylee she needs to wait till sister is asleep before she gets Charlotte out.

Charlotte is always so happy to get fresh grass but she climbs on top of it then walks around the cage leaving a trail after her. She is kinda a little troublemaker. She likes celery, lettuce and strawberries too but those are more of a treat.

And Charlotte doesn't know yet, but someone in my family is adopting her brother/sister in a few weeks so she will have a playmate!

On a side note, you can't tell whether these turtles are male or female till they are 5-6 years old, so in a few years Charlotte may become Charlie. Who knows!

Boutiques, Charlotte & Shoes...oh my!

Aside from our adventures with Natalee girl, we've been keeping busy doing other things too!

Boutique season is in full swing and Haylee, Mom and I have been hitting every one in town! Cornerstone, Sugarplums, Pecan Creek, La Di Da, Kandy Kane, and 2011 Holiday Boutique at Desert Mountain Elementary. We have one more on the 2nd and then I think boutique season is over. Man I love this time of year.

2 Saturdays ago we had a community yard sale. It was a busy day for us so we only set our stuff out for a couple hours. We made $40 or so so better than nothing. That same day we went to Josh's company picnic. We ate yummy carne asada burritos, hamburgers, hot dogs, chips and cookies. The girls played at the park briefly and then they had a huge giveaway. Josh got a hooded sweatshirt, long sleeve shirt, hat and tool bag. It was a perfect day out and we were all tired by the time we got home.

Josh woke up sick that day and is finally feeling better. Poor Haylee girl got a 2nd (or 3rd) round of something and is still under the weather. This is very unusually for Haylee and it's time we quit passing it around the family. Luckily, Natalee and I have remained healthy. I just ordered a bunch of vitamins for Haylee so I'm hoping she is back to her spunky self soon.

Last Thursday we went to Skyline to watch Danielle in her dance concert. Haylee loves watching her and I can't wait to start her in lessons. I'm definitely getting her lessons for her 5th birthday.

Friday night we went to the Fall Carnival for Barbara Bush Elementary. Haylee had a wonderful time playing games and jumping in the bounce house with Hannah. Natalee loved the petting zoo and cotton candy. They had an awesome silent auction and I actually won somesthing! I won a bike for Dustin to give Hannah for Christmas, super cute!

Saturday we did our family pictures. I'm trying to save money wherever possible and I figured, I spent a fortune on my camera and need to use it! I realized after the fact that the sun was not in the greatest location and the pictures were kinda washed out a bit. I edited them as best as I could. Between Natalee not wanting to hold still and Josh's eyes being sensitive and squinty I'd say we got a couple good ones. I can't wait to take some photography classes to learn a little more and continue to practice, practice, practice. I love taking pictures!

Yesterday was a lazy day. Josh watched football, Haylee took it easy, Natalee actually took a 2 hour nap, and I ran some errands and cleaned.

The girls continue to love little Charlotte. It's nice I can go in the backyard and pull some grass for her when it's time to eat. This little turtle is low maintenance. For a treat we give her celery and lettuce and she loves turtle time. She gets to walk all around on the blanket.

Natalee is obsessed with wearing shoes. As soon as she's done with breakfast (if not sooner) she runs to the laundry room saying "shoes" and picks out a pair for me to put on her. She'll wear them all day long. She's a nut.

I love when Natalee and Haylee play nicely together. They love to play figurines, ride the scooter and read books together. Well Haylee reads and Natalee listens and it's the cutest thing. I love my sweet little girls!

What a week!

In my last post I mentioned Natalee has gotten better as far as getting into things and being a troublemaker. I was wrong. That must have been the calm before the storm.

This past Thursday Natalee decided to climb out of her crib. She is 18 months. So not cool. She swings her little leg over the side where it slops down then brings the rest of her body over and drops down. She makes it look like a piece of cake. The first time she did it it scared the crap out of me. Haylee and I were laying down and all of the sudden I heard her door open. I jumped out of bed and ran over to her door because I knew the gate at the stairs was open. I asked her what the heck she was doing and all she did was hold out her pinched fingers like she was giving me something pretend and then said "thank you". I couldn't believe it!!! So anyways, since then, she climbed out the next day when she woke up in the morning and after nap. She stayed in her bed all night without any problems. But, yesterday we decided to turn her crib around so the higher sides were towards the front and then the high back of the crib is now the front. So far so good. She hasn't figured out how to escape. I keep telling her to stay in her bed like a good girl and she repeats "good girl" in the cutest little voice.

All last week she has taken a 1 hour nap as well. Not only that, but she wakes up super cranky and ornery. I can't tell if something is bothering her (like her mouth or ear) or if she's just whiny. I wish she could tell me.

Ever since she started escaping from her crib, we've put the gate up in her doorway just in case. She'll just stand there and yell for me. Well today when the gate was at the bottom of the stairs she climbed right over that! I tell you, this child is going to be the death of me!!! So now I'm worried if she does figure out how to get out of her crib again she'll just jump over the gate too. I guess all I can do is worry about it when the time comes, otherwise I will stress myself out.

I definitely think she is too young to put in a toddler bed. I can't imagine her ever staying in there at this age. Our only other option is buying a crib canopy that prevents her from climbing out which is about $80. Looks like that may be her Christmas gift :)

And lastly, her growing vocabulary now includes "cheese!" when I take a picture of her.

18 months

As of October 26th, Natalee is 18 months. We took her in for her 18 appointment last week. These were her stats-

33 1/2 inches- 95%
25 lbs. 2 oz.- 50-75%


Nice and healthy! No shots this time except the flu shot. Both her and Haylee got theirs and they both did good. Of course, a baby ice cream cone helped!

I was just telling my mom the other day that I think Natalee is getting better. Either that, or I'm getting use to her crazy behavior! That was before she took her diaper off and peed on the carpet today. Trouble maker!

She is doing so much better not running off when we are out and about. We have been using the bracelets which teaches her to stay close to us and it really works. She has been doing very good, we're proud of her.

I love how lately she will cuddle with me in bed. If she wakes up before Haylee I put her in bed with me and she will lay quietly for 30 minutes or so. LOVE it! She also watches football with her Daddy...so he says!

Sadly, she took her first (and hopefully last) tumble down the stairs Sunday. I had forgotten to close the gate when I came upstairs and I heard a couple noises and saw her 1/2 way down the stairs. She wasn't crying or anything. She was kinda like "what the heck just happened." Didn't phase her one bit!

She is still an awesome sleeper. Usually sleeps 11-12 hours at night and takes one 2-3 hour nap a day.

She eats great. Her favorites are grapes, bananas and strawberries. She likes macaroni and cheese, marshmallows, applesauce and Gogurt too.

She is talking so much. She is always trying to say new things, it's amazing how good she does.

Her last 4 teeth are still coming in and between that and her latest ear infection she has been a bit fussy. I can't wait till all of her irritations are gone and she can be a happy baby again.

I am so thankful for my sweet little girl. She keeps me busy but I wouldn't trade it for anything!

Monday Ramblings

It's one of those Monday's here at our house. Jackson ate the cookies (Haylee made with Grandma yesterday) off the counter during the night so now he's been throwing up. Natalee hit her chin on the tv stand and is very lucky it didn't spilt her chin open, and Haylee is still sick. But, things are looking up!

Poor little Haylee has had a cold for 3 weeks now. For the last week it's been an occasional cough and losing her voice off and on. I just wish it'd disappear once and for all before we start passing it around the family again!

I'm praying Natalee's ear is all better now. We had the doctor check it last Tuesday and she said it looked like it was getting better. I was suppose to stop antibiotics yesterday but there is some left so I'll finish it up to be safe.

During Natalee's nap I put a blanket down and Haylee plays with Charlotte. Most of the time Charlotte sleeps but when I went to check on them Haylee was looking around and said "where is the turtle?" I showed her it was right behind her. She had a sad look on her face and I said "what's wrong?" She said, "I'm trying to watch tv and I can't watch her by myself." I had to laugh. I offered to put her back in her "house" but she wanted her to stay on the blanket with her.

While Natalee and Haylee were playing earlier, Natalee was standing on a container (image that) and Haylee pushed her off and she hit her chin on the tv stand. I'm not sure how she lucked out and didn't split it open, but she has a nice little mark.

Haylee spent some time at my Mom's this weekend playing with Hannah. They were counting when Hannah said "I can count backwards.....3, 2, 1" so Haylee said "so can I" and she turns around (so she's backwards) and counts "1,2,3,4" my Mom told me that and I had to laugh. That's Haylee for ya!

I am scared to put up the Christmas tree and all the Christmas decorations this year. Surprisingly, only one Halloween decoration died at the hands of Natalee but I have a feeling it will be a lot worse when we decorate for Christmas. We'll see.

All 4 of us have now received our flu shots. I never got a flu shot until I was pregnant with Natalee, but I have every year since. I've never really had the flu either, but with having kids and Haylee being in school I don't want to chance it. I've always gotten the girls one and they have never gotten the flu either, thank God!

I think it's safe to say the 100 degree weather is gone for the year. It's been cold the past 2 days so it's time to pack away the summer clothes and bring out all of the warm snuggly clothes.

And last but not least, my favorite holiday is only 18 days away!!!!! This year my hubby is braving the crowds with me and then after we get home at a decent hour my mom and I will go since it's our annual tradition. Since Kohl's is starting their sale at midnight on Thursday, I have a feeling I might be pulling an all nighter. There is something special I am going after for Haylee this year so I hope someplace has it on sale.

Done rambling. Josh just got home and it's not even 3pm!!!!!!! Yippee :)

Meet Charlotte

This is the newest member of our family...

her name is Charlotte (thanks to Haylee).

She is a 9 week old African Spur Thigh Tortoise.

The guy we got her from breeds tortoise's. The mom is 30 years old and hatched about 50 eggs (she hatches eggs once a year). After that, she buried the eggs under the dirt and in August they started popping up. We are not sure if our tortoise is a boy or a girl, but Haylee says it's a girl. She's very low maintenance. She eats grass or weeds from our backyard and lettuce or strawberries as a treat. We change her "home" about once a month and that's about it. Haylee is already in love. After Natalee goes to bed, Haylee brings Charlotte downstairs and they have playtime. Haylee is very gently and takes good care of her.

So, that's the newest member of the Coplan Family :)



San Diego- Part 3

Friday we went back to SW.

We fed the sea lions again and then picked up where we left off.

We went in the new Turtle Reef which was awesome. It was like snorkeling in Maui without getting wet. There were tons of fish and tons of turtle. I could have sat in there all day!

Next we went to see the penguins, the polar bear and the rest of the "Arctic" animals, oh and the sharks and stingrays too.

We ate lunch and then decided to watch the dolphin show again. After that we went to the Pets Rule show we didn't get to see the first day. It was totally different from last time we were there and just the cutest thing. Dogs were doing tricks, cats were running around, there was a pig, kangaroo, all kinds of animals. Haylee's favorite part was when the pig set off a sprinkler and she got a "pig splash."

Next we decided to go see the Shamu show again so Natalee could see it this time. We decided to be brave and sit in the soak zone. Sadly, we never got wet. Shamu forgot to splash our section. We were disappointed....seriously.

(love this picture!)

Haylee wanted to ride the rides again in Elmo land so we did that, got our pictures with Elmo & Grover and then we called it a day.

A wonderful day :)

Saturday we woke up, finished packing and loading the car and headed to the beach. We went to Mission Beach and Haylee loved finding sea shells.

Natalee was afraid of the water getting her feet wet, but I don't blame her, it was cold. This was the first time Natalee has been to the beach so she was more interested in the sand on her feet.

At one point I was taking a picture of Josh & Haylee only to look down and see that Natalee fell on all 4's and a huge wave soaked her. She was ok though.

We didn't stay long. After getting all the sand off of us (thanks to baby powder) we loaded up in the car and headed home.

We enjoyed another uneventful ride home and got home around 6pm that night.

We thoroughly enjoyed our week long trip in San Diego with our girlies. I wish they both felt better but I know they still had a wonderful time. I feel so blessed to have such a wonderful husband anmd beautiful little girls.

Next vacation..........Orlando. Tentatively scheduled for early April 2012.

San Diego- Part 2

Tuesday we got up and headed to the San Diego Zoo.

We decided to take the bus tour first thing which was a mistake. I'm not sure what her deal was, but Natalee started crying towards the end and wouldn't stop. I'm not sure if she wasn't feeling good at this point or if she just wanted to walk around. The tour lady was super annoying though and kept stopping to blab about nothing important and we barely saw any animals. Maybe that was the problem. Either way, it was a relief to get off.

We walked all around the zoo that day. Saw most of the animals and didn't lose either girl despite the hundreds of school group kids there.

I always love to see the koalas, pandas and polar bear since we don't have those at our zoo.

I was also looking forward to seeing the new "Elephant Odyssey" which was pretty neat too.

Neither girls behaved too well that day and so there were no souvenirs. lol. Haylee told me she didn't behave because she didn't like that zoo very much. Ha!!! She cracks me up.

That night we went to Chuck-E-Cheese where the girls enjoyed riding the rides, playing games and dancing with Chuck-E himself. Natalee was cracking us up because she would go stand right in front of him and swivel her hips and dance. She is hilarious.


Wednesday was suppose to be our beach day. Instead we spent the first part of the day at the Kia dealership. We started hearing this squealing noise in the engine and thought it was a belt issue similar to what my mom had last time we were there. We decided to get it checked out to be safe. We dropped the car off and headed to the nearby mall. We were suppose to get a phone call within an hour, but after 3 hours (and they wouldn't answer our calls) we headed back to the dealership to see what was going on. They said they couldn't find anything wrong. Whatever. We went back to the hotel, went in the jacuzzi and we all took a nap.

That night we met Nancy & Ted at the Corvette Diner. Perfect place to take the girls. It was 50's themed and they played music, had awesome waiters, a balloon guy and the biggest root beer floats!

I'm so glad we were able to coordinate schedules and meet up. Nancy worked at Broadway Palm with me and ever since she moved to San Diego I try to visit her when we are there. Good times with longtime friends!

Thursday we went to the Safari Park.

This was the 1st time we'd been there and we were pretty disappointed. For the first hour and a half we only saw some elephants.

We walked all around and it seemed like the animals "cages" were just too big and the animals were hiding somewhere. We went on a safari tour which I thought was suppose to be different than it was. I was under the impression we drive through the open plains where animals run wild and come right up to you. Errr, we were on a road and a wall stood between us and the animals and none of them were very close. At least Natalee didn't flip out like the she did at the SD Zoo.

The highlight of the day was when we went to the petting zoo and the girls fed the goats.

Natalee didn't get it that you hold your hand out flat with the food to feed them. She hid it in her fist till they licked it out.

They had the best time in there though.

After that we went to the Lorikeet feeding which was awesome. Josh and Haylee held a cup of nectar and as we went in the exhibit we were swarmed by birds. Haylee was scared and dropped her cup but then watched Daddy feed them as he was covered with birds.

He had one little friend that just sat on his shoulder the entire time and didn't care about eating.

We did get Haylee another cup and this time she didn't drop it. She loved that the little birds stood on her arm and drank from the cup.

One even jumped on her head.

Natalee wasn't a fan. She waved her arms and fretted because she didn't like them.

What she did like though, was feeding the ducks.

Of course, she couldn't throw the pellets far enough to get them in the water but that obviously wasn't a problem. All of the ducks cam out of the water! That was funny.

We covered the entire zoo, saw all the animals and rode the carousel several times. Gotta love free rides!

They had a little play area too the girls had fun playing in.

I told Josh, no more zoo's. Just not as fun compared to Sea World & Disneyland. The girls love animals, but the zoo's just weren't very exciting.

While we were at the zoo Natalee started having goop in her eye. We went to Walmart after we left to ask the pharmacist if there was anything to put in them or give her and she said just to make sure she didn't get a fever. Well, she did. So off to Urgent Care we went. The first one we went to wouldn't even look at her, they told us to go to the Children's Hospital. I said to her, "you can't look in her ear to see if she has an ear infection? That's usually why my kids get a fever." She said, "no sorry." Ok, well our ER copay is double the cost of our UC one so we used the GPS to find a Children's UC close by and they were great. We were in and out of there in maybe 30 minutes. Diagnosis- double ear infection (one super bad that was swollen and pussing inside), pink eye and upper respiratory infection. I almost lost it. I felt so bad for her. We got her some prescriptions and she was out before we got back to the room. Sadly, she woke up around in the middle of the night and was burning up. I'm talking so hot it was burning me skin to lay her next to me. I gave her Tylenol and put a wet rag on her head to get her fever down. She slept with me for a little bit and then I put her in the pack-n-play where she could have more room and be comfortable. From then on she has seemed a lot better. She has continued to take her medicine and seems a lot better. I am so glad. I hate seeing my little girls sick. It has been pretty much impossible to get the eye drops in her eyes but her eyes have been fine ever since and so I don't think she ever had pink eye, just maybe beginning stages of it. So that was our down fall of the vacation.