Saturday, July 20, 2013

'chuck'

I think Jordan is the only one who calls Charlie 'Chuck'.  But it's a nickname nonetheless.  Charlie is both all boy and all momma's boy.  And I'm hoping that never changes!  He is hilarious.  Whether it's a crazy dance move, a word, or a look, he knows what is going to make us laugh!  He loves to help Jordan with anything and he'll say in a deep 'manly' voice that he's 'going to work'.  Recently, I asked Charlie in the morning where daddy was and he told me 'he's at work, and it's not very fun'.  I'm always finding money in his jeans and the occasional truck or treasure (if he picks out his outfit for the day, it's always jeans).  When he knows we're going to church, he gets a button-up shirt on and asks, 'where's my bowtie' in that manly voice again.  He's all about guns, fireworks, garbage trucks, airplanes, and his butt!  He thinks butt cracks and farts are hilarious (and he's always got his buns creeping out of his 2T pants!) and he loves to push his sisters' buttons to make them mad!!  Charlie always has dirty feet and a dirty face!  I cannot keep him clean!  But then he's also a sweet momma's boy!  He'll bring me flowers or tell me I look beautiful.  He loves Emma and is always saying, 'Awww, cute!'.  If he finds a bottle of nail polish, he will paint each finger and every toe!  He loves me to rub his ears and scratch his head or cut his hair.  He sits as close as he can to me and we love to read books together.  Whenever he asks me to dance with him, I gladly drop everything I am doing to hold him as close as I can.  I feel like my girls will always be close to me, but I know that someday I won't be the #1 woman in Charlie's life. So for now, I must hold him as often I can.  He is almost 3 and for more than a month, he has been asking very frequently if it's his birthday yet, and he knows it's soon after Jordan's so he'll also ask if it's daddy's birthday yet.  Charlie ('Chuck'), you fill me with crazy emotions!  We love you so much!!


 











'emma'

warning: picture overload... I can't help myself! 

Our little Em is 8 months old now.  She is just scootin' everywhere these days, mostly on her tummy even though she knows how to crawl.  I think it's just easier on her little knees to scoot than crawl on the wood floors.  She has started to pull herself up in the crib and on furniture, and she can stand alone for a few seconds without falling.  Luckily since summer has arrived, her allergies seem to have disappeared.  For a while there, as soon as we'd step outside, her eyes would swell up and her nose would run.  So happy she's not miserable anymore.  She has 6 teeth and a good appetite; endless smiles and a lot of play in her.  At night she catches her second wind around 10:00 and attacks me.  She jumps, claps, naps, dances, laughs, sings, whispers, and shouts.  Somewhere around month 7 she said her first word: 'dada', and lately she says it when Jordan is near!  So sweet!  We can't get enough of her high pitched squeals, smiles, and giggles.  I think she knows her name because sometimes she wills herself not to look at me when I'm calling her and instead starts shuffling away from me as fast as she can, unable to contain her toothy grin!  Whether she knows what her real name is is unknown, we have taken to calling her 'Emma' just as much as Emmy, or the occasional 'Em'.  She still snuggles occasionally but I can tell that that's coming to an end :(  Time is flying by!  My little baby will be a toddler all too soon.  These baby days go by way too quickly and I daily remind myself of this.  Emma brings each of us joy all day long!  We just love her to pieces!!
6 months old
see emmy sniffle

charlie shared his cake with emmy on her half birthday
curly-Q

7 months old

8 months old









Tuesday, July 9, 2013

summer

ah summer... sometimes the thought alone makes me smile.  It has been a delightful summer so far.  Very comfortable temperatures, the occasional rain.  The garden is starting to yeild some produce, the kids enjoyed picking the strawberries from our own patch, we are all eating healthier and feeling great because of it.  The days are long, it's light out at 6ish a.m. We all rise early and go to bed way too late.  There's too much fun in a day for all of us to sleep the summer away.  We've been catching fireflies, basking in the kiddie pool, playing sports (soccer and badmitten mostly), just being together.  LOVE IT!  I just feel like summer is when so many memories are made.  When I think back on my childhood, I remember the summertimes more than anything.

To quote some lyrics from the lullabye, 'Five More Minutes' by Meaghan Smith (a favorite singer):

'fireflies glow for us
the cricket's orchestra
the night is awake
please don't make me
go to sleep
I'm not tired in the least
Five more minutes please.' 
shame on us!



Jordan is currently reading 'Harry Potter' at bedtime (voices and all!).