Birthday

34 years ago today, the world was blessed with the arrival of a sweet, wonderful boy.

And everyday, I am blessed with a sweet, wonderful boy.

Happy Birthday, Mike.  I love you so much!

Storm's a Brewin'

First there was Andrew, the tiny tornado.  I thought I had my hands full with this one.  (And I DID.)  Crawling at 5 months, pulling up on things at 6 months, cruising at 7 months, walking at 10 months, and getting into any and everything he could get his hands on.  And his energy level?  It was off the Richter scale.

 Then came Emily, the huggable hurricane.  Virtually a slug for 8 months, she decided to make up for lost time from then on to make messes where messes have not gone before, leaving destruction and adorability in her path.  The main trouble with the huggable hurricane is not the destruction, but the violent tantrums that follow this terrible storm.  (But I WANT to eat my Bisquick/saliva paste off my hands...And I will.)

 But nothing...NOTHING could have prepared me for what came next.  Charlie.  The Silent Tsunami.  His may be the most dangerous storm, because you never see it coming.  And worse, sometimes you don't know it's happening for quite some time.  No trash can is safe.  No room will be left undiscovered.  No toilet will be free from splashing.  No human form will be left alone.  They are no longer human beings, but standing platforms and scratching posts for his deadly fingernails.  And to top it off, when the tsunami is caught...he will flash one of his million dollar smiles and show you the egg shells he has been smashing all over the kitchen floor.

Nothing could have prepared me for these three natural disasters, but nothing could have prepared me for the fun I have with them.  What cuties.

Nine Months

Charlie turned nine months old yesterday!  He celebrated by getting the croup on Sunday afternoon.  He is feeling better now, and it'll just take a few days for him to be back to himself.

I've apparently been bad about taking pictures of Charlie lately.  He's changing so much every day.  He has long past his newborn stage, and now he is past the little baby stage and well into "baby."  I will miss that little tiny one, but it's been fun to see his personality grow and to see more what he will look like as he gets older.

Charlie is the 3rd child, so I don't have any idea what his measurements are, and he hasn't had his 9 mo. appointment yet.  I do know he is 21 pounds, and he is definitely a handful! 

His personality shines wherever he is.  We all adore him.  I love hearing Andrew calling him (Come here, Charlie. Come on, little baby.  Come play in my room!) and Emily feeding him his bottle.  Both of the kids like to play with him and take care of him.  He is such a perfect addition to our family.

We love our Charlie!!!

Things Kids Say

These kids are killing me.

Andrew:

1.
A: Mom, thanks for fixing this soup.
Me: Oh, thanks pal.  Does it smell good?
A: *looks in the pot with a disgusted look on his face* No.  Not usually Mom.
.............Silence
A: *holds nose* Mom, what is that horrible smell?
Me:  You're lucky you've survived this long, kid.
A:  Huh?
Me: I love you.
A: Me too.

2.
Me: Our bodies are great.  I like my legs because I can jump and run, and my arms blah blah blah.
A: *Starts explaining the digestion process - a current obsession* ...my soccer-fish (esophagus) and my yarge intest-yin and my small intest-yin, and....my brain.
Me:  What about you, Emmie?
A:  She likes her heart.  Because it's so sweet.

3.
I like Charlie.  He is our babysitter, right, Mom?

Emily:

1.
Me: Em, come on over and get your diaper changed?
E: No, can't!  I can't weach it!
Me: You can't reach it?
E: No diaper change.  I just can't weach it.  I just can't.

2.
*Charlie was reaching for a toy she was holding*
No, Charlie!!  It's Emmie Me My's!

3.
Anytime we give her something, she has started saying, "Sank you da much." (Thank you very much.)

Twelve Hours

Bed head.  Oh. My.

Garfield's Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving decorations

Work

Andrew lured Charlie in his room during his rest.

I don't know if you can tell, but he was excited to see me.

"Good mo'nin', Mommy."

School

Waking up is hard to do.

Andrew, Emily, and a graham cracker help.

Dinner

Tracking calories.  Joy.

Tickles.

Bedtime.

I survived.  On to tomorrow.

Disclaimer

Due to some concern for our poor sad little baby in the last post, I wanted to clear the air.  :)  He was really fine.  He was smiling and laughing at us between screams to be let out.  That distressed face he was making is the same face he makes when it takes too long for me to get the next bite into his mouth (anything longer than a nano-second). 
  So anyway, he was okay.  He's just a little drama king.  :)

Well, we tried.

After seeing all these great photos of kids before church from my friends, I decided to take advantage of the fact that we actually had a little extra time on Sunday morning and take some nice photos of the kids.  Well, at least we tried. :) 

Charlie really didn't like being left inside while we were trying to take pictures.  Oh, and don't look too closely at the glass.  Don't judge the smudge.

Without the tie, he kind of looks like a mob boss.  :)  But a cute little guy.

She wanted to ride the bike, so at least she was happy.

Busy bee wouldn't stop crawling.

Me, with only one foot.

 Our favorite guy.

Halloween

We went to Mike's work and they were so sweet and had little treat bags for them.  They were so excited.  We then went trick or treating at the courthouse and got to see more people he works with.  The kids were hamming it up and getting handfuls of treats.  And don't worry - I separated out the candies that would be too dangerous for them (Jolly Ranchers, etc) and the ones that would be too delicious for them (Twix, 3 Musketeers, etc.)  Because I earned it.  :)

 

 The kids LOVE decorations.  Andrew, me, and Emily made some all month, and we had a great time.

 These were fun and we got lots of preschool math done with them.  Mostly they put them in piles and said "ghostie beans" over and over.  They named them, and it was adorable.  (Word to the wise, don't use mini lima beans or you will spend half of your life drawing ghost faces on them.)