Fall Photo Shoot

Don't you all wish you had friends that asked to take gorgeous pictures of your kids just for fun?  I'm so lucky to have met a sweet friend that is just that awesome!  Look at these fantastic moments she captured of my little man...

It was such a beautiful, sunny fall day.  I'm still in awe of the gorgeous leaves - I've been missing out on "real" fall my whole life! A huge THANK YOU to Heather for helping me capture my favorite season and favorite 3-month old - I'll cherish these pictures forever! 

 

1/3 of a Year

Charlie turned 4 months old on Black Friday!  We were enjoying a wonderful trip back home, introducing him to many friends and family that have all been loving on him and passing him from lap to lap.  As long as he is being held, he is happy!  We are so thankful for our sweet baby boy.  I can’t believe how well-tempered and laid-back he is.  Certainly didn’t get it from me...

Charlie, you had a busy, busy month!  Here’s a recap:

• You were an Angry Bird for Halloween... but you were asleep by 6:30, so you didn’t see any trick-or-treaters.
• Every day you get bigger and bigger.  You were 18 pounds, 8 ounces at your 4 month checkup! WHOA!
• Your laughs are plentiful and often.  They light up my days like nothing else.
• You get especially giggly when we play "airplane" or I nom on your tummy and pretend to eat you!
• You love playing with toys, especially stuffed animals.
• Your favorite lovey is a stuffed teddy bear from Carter.  Big brother named him Ronaldo Picklehead.  Awesome.
• You took your first airplane trip.  Even though we flew way past your bedtime and had a stop on the way, you didn’t make a peep the entire trip.  Strangers were complimenting us on our well-behaved boys.
• Thanksgiving was spent with Grandma and Granddad.  You wanted pie SO badly.  I had to hold you away from it because you kept trying to get some.
• You are finally happy to take a bottle.  It's about time!  
• You are a drool-monster!  Slobber, slobber everywhere!
• It is adorable to watch you try SO hard to blow raspberries.  You put so much effort into it, and it is pretty much the cutest thing ever.
• You had your first photo shoot with our friend, Heather Skogen.  It was a beautiful fall day, and you were full of the sweetest smiles. 
• Your second photo shoot with Janelle Zeller was nearly smile-less.  You must have been worn out from all the visiting friends and family.
• You met two baby friends, Eli and Sienna.  It is great to have little friends to play with when we are in Phoenix!
• You are this close to rolling over.  You get halfway then get stuck.  Soon!

What a Love.

So, lately, this blog has been all things Charlie.  And while I'm sure you can understand my obsession with my darling baby, let's not forget baby #1 - Carter.  That boy is something else.  Too much like his momma when it comes to stubbornness and a tendency to talk back... which makes him crazy difficult for me to deal with, but so incredibly easy to love.

My boy has an incredible sweetness and is so incredibly affectionate.  He doesn't care who is watching.  He doesn't yet need to put on a show for his friends.  He just loves us - unabashedly and completely.  Yesterday, I drove him to school for the very first time this year (he usually rides the bus).  I gave him and hug and a kiss and watched him walk from the parking lot to the front of the school.  A few steps from the car, and he turned and yelled, "Another hug and kiss?" He proceeded to blow kisses to me the rest of the way to the door.  Can you believe the sweetness?  I know that the day of all this affection drawing to an end is probably nearing... he is growing up so fast and it is hard to believe that someday he won't want me to hold him and snuggle him and give him "one more" hug and kiss.  But, for now, I'll just enjoy it.  What a little love bug.

Project: Bottle

Charlie is a stubborn little guy.  He knows that if he holds out long enough, he doesn't really have to take a bottle.  If a babysitter or Chris are with him, he'll cry, refuse the bottle until he falls asleep... or until I come home.  No fun for anyone.  It usually isn't a big deal.  I don't have much going on outside the home that takes longer than an hour or so, so it has been almost a month since our last bottle attempt (a miserable FAIL).  But, with a trip back to Phoenix just around the corner, and a 56-hour getaway -without kids- in December, I know it is about time he starts taking the bottle on occasion.  Preferably without tears.

Chris tried this morning.  No luck.  I tried a while later.  YES!  He took it!  My excitement was short-lived when I realized that if I am the only one who he will accept a bottle from, it hardly solves the problem.  Sigh.  Looks like we'll need to try again in the morning.

Trick-or-Treat!

Halloween has never been a big deal to Carter.  He doesn't care much about dressing up in costumes.  Candy doesn't really impress him (I know!! So strange!).  Walking around the block usually makes his lazy side appear.  As you can see, Halloween just really hasn't been his thing.  I figured this year would be just like years past - he would visit a half-dozen homes, complain of being tired and come on home... but, no!  Our little man surprised us all by getting into the Halloween spirit.  He was so excited to go trick-or-treating, mostly to figure out which homes his school friends live in, I think.  Chris took him on a tour of the neighborhood and he returned with quite a nice stash - he even shared his only Butterfinger with me.  Sweet boy.

The absolutely cutest thing?  After he got home, he parked himself on our freezing cold porch with the bucket of candy to pass out to the Trick-or-Treaters.  Instead of waiting for them to come up to our house, he called out to anyone he could see, "Hey!!!!! Kids! Come up here and get some candy!"  He even reported that one girl gave him a hug (let that be a lesson - chocolate makes girls like you!).  We finally had to pull him inside to go to bed, with much protest.  He was just sure that there were more kids that needed his candy.  I love this kid.

 Luigi Carter, eating his Halloween dinner

Before Trick-or-Treating

No cute stories about Charlie's first Halloween night - he was fast asleep by 6:30pm.  I'm lucky I even got one picture with his Angry Bird hat on!  I hope your Halloween was as fun as ours was!

Happy Halloween!

I like to torment my family by making them be in lots and lots of pictures.  Chris and Carter are used to it, and just give me a little eye-roll and sigh.  Charlie, on the other hand, is the main participant in 99% of my photos these days.  For the most part, he just sits/lies there.  Doesn't move much, doesn't complain.  Until now.  Obviously, this was my own fault, but I just had to take one of those baby-in-a-pumpkin photos that all the cool kids are doing now.  First mistake?  Cut the hole too small.  Then, we made it bigger and tried again.  Still too small.  Repeat. Again.  Seriously?!  My child is ginormous!  He needs a super-sized pumpkin for this kind of activity.  Thankfully, my pumpkin-carving professional mom was on hand to help, being supervised by my dad.  Good times for everyone.  Well, except Charlie.  Poor kid... he was doing great the first 3 or 4 tries, but finally gave up and started screaming just when we finally made it the right size to fit his chubby body.  Did I stop and wait until later?  Of course not.  What fun would that have been?  He may end up needing therapy, but I think I captured the best Halloween moment EVER.

The Pumpkin Patch

Grandma Joy and Granddad came for a visit this past weekend.  It was WONDERFUL to see them!  It has been quite an adjustment for me to be living so far from my parents.  When I was a new mom to Carter, my mom was around regularly.  She is one of the most helpful people you'll ever meet - she does dishes, vacuuming, cooking, and on and on - and was so great in helping me adjust to motherhood.  This time around, I don't have her just a short drive away.  A few hours on a plane just isn't the same, you know?  Lucky for me, my mom and dad are able to visit fairly often, but it still felt like forever since their visit 2 months ago.  Charlie has grown and changed dramatically since he was just barely 3 weeks old.  I think they hardly recognized my big boy!

Our favorite part of the weekend was a trip to a nearby pumpkin patch.  We have gone to the desert-style pumpkin patches in AZ, but they were nothing in comparison to this!  Bizi Farms had a cider press, corn/feed grinder for the kids to use, hay bale maze, corn maze, pumpkin "launch"/slingshots, hayrides, pony rides, petting farm, pony rides... it was seriously amazing.  We took the hayride out to the pumpkin patch and picked out 5 fabulous pumpkins (Chris has quite an eye for this!).  It was nice and chilly, but not rainy at all.  A perfect way to spend time with our super-loved Grandma and Granddad.  I think Charlie had the best time of all - Grandma carried him around in the wrap all morning.  Soooo comfy!