Some good friends of ours gave Jack their daughters' drum set. He loves it! Mark says its the gift that keeps on giving :). Thanks Emma and Samantha!

Aren't they handsome?!

Charlie's two teeth smile!


Family Christmas photo

I realize its been a month and half since my last post. Sorry! And I can't figure out how to get rid of the underline, so bear with me. We have been busy with everything from potty training to construction on our house to a 2 year old's strong will to a trip to Texas. The first three pics are from Thanksgiving in Mt.Pleasant.

This is Jack and one of his cousins.

Boys of all ages enjoy playing in the dirt! Mark and Jack digging away in good Texas soil.

I decided to have an at home photo shoot of the boys. The two year old has a hard time sitting still for more than a second, so a photo in focus was hard to aquire. I've posted my best efforts. And in the end, I bribed him to endure more flash photography with popcorn. The 8 month old was more compliant.

Our sweet Christmas present! He has a very adorable two teeth smile!

Yummy!

Somefin's cookin'

Thats how Jack says something and cooking, although he doesn't say it together. He doesn't yet pronounce the "g" in "ing" and "th" sounds like an "f". And "v" sounds like an "m". This is Jack counting, "two, fee, fime, six, semmen" He skips saying one but when counting objects he counts the object but doesn't start saying the numbers until the second object. He also skips four and stops at seven or just jumps to ten. Jack is a good helper in the kitchen. His job is pouring things in the bowl and stirring. He really does a good job! Here he is making "healthified" Chocolate Cupcakes from the Sneaky Chef cookbook.

Charlie is starting to sit up on his own and he started solid foods recently. He is such a happy baby! He has a little rash that I had to call the doctor about today, so while I was waiting for the nurse to call me back, she suggested I let it air out. I had just changed a wet diaper so I thought I was safe. Oh no. We were sitting on Jack's bed b/c he had just woken up from a nap when Charlie unloaded on me and the bed. It was everywhere! Thankfully, Jack helped by going to get some wipes so I could get up w/out getting poop everywhere. So, we're trying a fungal cream on the rash. I hope it works b/c it seems to itch.

Jack has reached a few milestones recently. He is now sleeping in a twin size bed and he no longer uses a pacifier, which was only used at bedtime and naptime anyway. Its been a long time coming but we weren't really sure how to take it away. Well, yesterday after he woke up in the morning, we couldn't find it. We looked everywhere to no avail. So, when he asks about it, we simply say we looked and couldn't find it. He seems satisfied w/ that.

Remodeling

We have done a lot of work and I have a few before and after photos. This is Jack's room before.

And after.


Charlie's room. Sorry, no before picture, but it was dark paneling.
Living room before. And after. Notice the new windows Mark and his dad installed. You can see through the doorway of this first pic the bathroom that is still under construction.


So, we moved in a week ago, but we still have a lot of work to do. Our goal is to be finished before Christmas. Of course the sooner the better, but we have to be done by Jan to refinance.

The Boys

Well, its been three months since my last post. And there is good reason, I promise. We moved from Hope Landing and bought a house that needed some remodeling. So, we've been living w/ Mark's parents for the last 2 1/2 months and they have dial-up. Not the best way to upload photos. So, I'll start w/ a few of the boys together. You'll notice the date on the photos

Getting ready for bed!

Charlie's hair grew straight up! We thought it might be curly, but as it is growing longer, it is starting to lay down and stay straight. I'll post another picture later to show you.

Jack loves to hold his brother or sit next to him.

In August, we visited family for a weekend and had a great time! Here is Jack and his cousin hanging on to their cars.

I coaxed them into this hug for a picture! Precious!

Another adorable nephew!

Charlie in the exersaucer. This is his smile - he is such a happy baby, even when he wakes up hungry in the middle of the night.

Mark rocked himself and Charlie to sleep.

Such a handsome boy!

Another picture of his great smile!

Fun times!

Well, Charlie finally turned over at 5 1/2 months. He has his own time schedule! I'm not sure how he did this, as I walked out of the room for a moment, but somehow when he rolled over, he ended up half way under this chair. He also has started babbling "dadadadada" a week or two ago and Jack walks around imitating him. Its funny when either one of them do it!

Chunk and Cake

How long does it take for a baby's umbilical cord to fall off? The nurses at the hospital told us around 14 days. HA! Try 8 weeks! Thats right! Charlie didn't get his first soaking bath until he was 8 wks old. This is him at 11 wks. We went to the doctor recently and he weighed 14 lbs. 6 oz. The doctor asked if we were going to call him "Chuck", we said "no" of course. Then he looked at Charlie and said, "Maybe we should call you 'Chunk'". :) It makes a mama proud to have such a healthy looking baby.
Jack was helping me water my cherry tomato plant. Maybe we'll have some tomatos if he will stop picking them green. He has really been talking up a storm. He got a book in the mail from my great aunt Barbara about Farmer Brown and his birthday. Farmer Brown got a cake, and Jack's birthday is coming up on Monday, so yesterday we talked to him about his birthday cake. This morning when he woke up, we heard him through the monitor talking about cake. We're actually having his party with family on Sat. Stay tooned for pictures!

Beating the Summer Heat

Hmmm...I guess we should get a pool they can both fit in. Actually, that water is ice cold and Jack wouldn't get in. Mark was cooling off after mowing the grass.

Jack is sporting some cool sunglasses that he got from his aunt and uncle.
Can't catch me!

Its been awhile.

I know it has been too long since my last post, but we've been very busy. "With what?" you ask. Well, you're about to see. We'll start with the trip to visit my parents.

Here is my dad and Charlie.

My mom and Charlie.

Say "cheese", Jack!

While in my hometown, we were able to visit one of my best friends from high school, Jennifer and her hubby Tyler, who had a baby girl only 11 days after Charlie was born. Here I am holding dainty(sp?) little Emma. I'm not sure what happened to my hair.

An close-up of Emma Grace. Isn't she gorgeous?!

5 wk Update

Can you believe this boy is only 5 wks old? He is a chunk! When weighed at 3wks old, he was 10 lbs 6 oz. Thats a gain of 2 lb. 9 oz. in just 3 wks! He doesn't miss a meal. And it looks like what we thought might turn out to be blue eyes, could turn brown. Which I read in a baby book that it actually takes 3 mo or longer before they turn the color they're going to be. Charlie is laying on the changing table that we moved into the bathroom, because we have to wash his bottom w/ soap and water after a stinky diaper. Just like Jack, wipes give him an awful rash. So we tried using wet paper towels and that didn't help either. We've moved the changing station closer to the sink since our bathroom is so big. We don't have to wash Jack's bottom anymore, although wipes still give him a rash, we just wipe him with a wet washcloth after using wipes. Ah, the joys of diapering! Oh, Charlie is sporting his blue Fuzzi Bunz here! His hair fell out on top, although the hair at the crown is still there.
We had to show you the fat rolls on his legs. Cruel parents, I know, but its so cute we had to share!