Christmas 2011

For Christmas this year, we were able to spend a lot of time with both sides of our family! It was awesome!

To start off the festivities, we had a Christmas dinner with friends (at Heidi & Dave's house) on the 23rd. It was so nice to be able to have everyone together in one place!

Our first family photo since Charlie's newborn photoshoot:

Everyone and their kids... I can't believe we have 7 kids among just 5 couples already! And I'm sure it will continue to multiply!! ;)

Then, on Christmas Eve, we went to T's parents' house to spend time and exchange gifts with all of his siblings and their families (minus Mical who lives in Las Vegas). I didn't get any pictures of the occasion other than this one of Meghan's family:
Then, early on Christmas day (like... 6:30am) we flew out of Salt Lake and landed in Raleigh, NC around 4:30pm. It was definitely an experience flying with a 2 month old (Charlie turned 2 months on Christmas day!), but it actually turned out to be a lot better and easier than I thought it would be. We have a really sweet baby, and for that I am soo grateful! The only hiccup was a major diaper blowout on the second leg of the flight back to Utah... who knew that those tiny airplane bathrooms had changing tables!??!).

After landing in NC and eating a delicious dinner with my parents and brother, we got to open lots of presents! One of the best gifts we received was the start of a ceramic nativity set--the same exact set that my mom and all of her siblings have. Theirs were hand painted by my Grandmother (Mom's mom), but she has since passed away, so my wonderful mother spent the time to paint all of the pieces by hand (with all of the amazing intricate details) as close to how Grandmother did it originally. I was so excited! In the picture below, you can see T holding Joseph, and I have the cow. We also got Mary, baby Jesus, the manger, and a donkey... I believe that's all for now, but eventually I will also have shepherds with sheep and the wise men with camels too! Such a BEAUTIFUL nativity... I can't wait to display it next year :)
Then, all of the extended family from my Mom's side began to arrive (her three siblings and their kids). Here are the two youngest of my cousins, Lauren and Meredith, getting to play with Charlie:

And now... the moment you've all been waiting for... let the Charlie pictures begin!! Haha! My Mom (Kimma) and Dad (Bebop) are probably two of the proudest new grandparents you'll ever meet. And they took tons and tons of pictures of our cute little man. There's way too many to put on this blog, so I picked just a few of the best to display!

Bath time

Cute reindeer bum!

Charlie & Kimma

Charlie & Bebop

So many faces...

Santa Charlie... such a cutie!

One of his favorite places to nap... I can't get enough of those cute little sock feet hanging down!!

A few days later, after everyone from my Mom's side had gone, we traveled a couple hours west to Albemarle (where both of my parents grew up) to see my Dad's side of the family - his parents and his two brothers and their families. We ate delicious food and enjoyed the company.

All the cousins on my Dad's side (plus Charlie & T)

Everybody together!!

Everyone during the trip was SO generous with the sweet gifts they gave to Charlie. He is seriously SPOILED ROTTEN... being the first grandchild/great-grandchild/nephew/great-nephew... etc etc on BOTH sides of my family.

We arrived back in Raleigh on New Year's Eve with just enough time to hit up a couple of New Year's parties. We partied so hard that Charlie was a little wound up and had a rough night that night... I guess he just didn't know how to make the party stop.

The rest of the trip was nice and relaxing. I got a massage, and we just hung out as a family and enjoyed each other's company. When it was time to go home, I was ready, but not ready... all at the same time. I definitely was not excited to get back to "real life". And I knew everyone would miss us (well, mostly just Charlie, haha) when we were gone.

I hope everyone else had a Merry Christmas (and I'm so sorry it took me over a month to blog about it!!).

A Macro Kind of Day...

So, as usual, I've been slacking a little with the blogging. BUT! I have taken pictures and have a list of things to blog about. So, the following pictures will serve as a teaser of things to come...

My list of things to blog about:

1. Charlie turns 3 months old

2. The finished nursery!

3. Tutorial on wall letters and how to hang a quilt

4. My Instagram photos, all in one place

Our Growing Charlie

Time for some updates on my sweet little Charlie! (It's been quite a while!)

Today he had his 2 month doctor appointment (even though, officially, he's 2 months and 12 days old today). Poor thing had to get 3 injected immunizations as well as 1 oral. He's been really sleepy and sad today... and I don't blame him!

His stats as of today are:

• Weight: 11lbs 15oz - 40th percentile
• Length: 23.4 inches - 52nd percentile
• Head Circumference: 15 inches - 7th percentile

Here is a picture of his one month and two month comparisons with his Brown Bear that his uncle Mike bought for him:
Charlie turned 2 months exactly on Christmas day, and that's why there's a little Christmas present in the picture there with him.

Facts about Charlie:

• He loves books - his favorite is definitely the "Gallop" book because he likes all of the colors and black and white shapes.
• Favorite toy is Mr. Buzz Bee - a fuzzy bee rattle
• He gives us HUGE smiles every day. He is such a happy baby! He especially loves his daddy and will just light up every time he sees him :) The picture below illustrates how happy he is when Dad comes to play with him.
• Gets very cranky when he is hungry or tired, OR if he doesn't get a chance to play. He really hates to miss play time.
• Eats about 4 oz every three or so hours
• Sleeps well at night! Goes to bed around 11pm or so, wakes up around 4am to eat, and then sleeps to about 8am! It makes for one very happy Mom :) He also gives some of his biggest smiles when he first wakes up in the morning! So cute with his sleepy puffy eyes :)
• Wears size 2 diapers since just before turning 2 months old. Also enjoys getting changed into fresh diapers :)
• Loves bath time and getting his hair scrubbed in his whale tub.
• Has recently started liking to be held upright over the shoulder - he didn't used to like it, but now that his neck is getting stronger he enjoys it much more and doesn't squirm as much.
• Can kind of roll onto his side (usually when he's trying to go #2).
• Loves to nap in his swing.
• Loves when mom helps him dance to music :)
• Generally he's a wiggle worm and rarely ever fully relaxes, even when eating.
• Has recently discovered his fists and will stare at them for long periods of time. Working on opening and closing his fist and reaching for his mouth or toys hanging overhead.
• Coos a lot - and it's SO CUTE!

Charlie in his party shirt on New Year's Eve:

Charlie's hand and foot print at Christmastime:

We can't wait to see how he continues to change and grow over the coming months. We seriously couldn't possibly love him more than we do now, and yet we love him more every day :)