Trouble with a capital "T"!

The bigger this boy gets, the busier he gets. He is so much fun but, oh man, he keeps us busy! Thanks to Jared, the kitchen cabinets are safe.

He can now climb the stairs by himself, despite how it looks in the picture! He had decided to try and turn around this time. Don't worry though, Jared is right below him on the stairs (you can see his shadow and his foot if you look close)!

He helps unload the dishwasher (clean or dirty dishes!)

He destroys the bathroom every morning while I'm trying to get ready.

He's constantly climbing on the fireplace which I was sure was going to land us in the doctor's office getting stitches. I looked into buying a gate that would go around it and they run about $100. So I turned to my handyman hubby instead and here's what we came up with...

Yes, Charlie was climbing in it while we were installing it!

It's not beautiful, but it also wasn't $100 and it works! (More like $20) He's not even interested in it now that it's not dangerous.

This is the same shoe fiasco you may have seen on Facebook the other day.  Jared thought pulling every last shoe off my shelf was a great way for Charlie to entertain himself!

That's okay though, because Charlie got him back for me by putting Jared in a choke hold!  These boys usually wrestle every night!  It's super cute how much Daddy loves this little boy!

I usually try to vacuum while Charlie is napping (or get anything else done whatsoever), but lately Charlie's been revolting and not taking a nap, so here he is being such a great help.  He followed me around the whole time I vacuumed.

This one is just for fun.  You can't really tell, but he has his binky chain wrapped around his leg and he's trying to get the binky in his mouth.  He kept getting it in but then he'd sit up and it would get pulled out of his mouth.  He was getting so frustrated.  It was cute though, so I had to snap a picture before I helped him out.

Oh boy!

Happy Birthday Charlie!

This boy had his first birthday on December 27th. We were in AZ with my family, so it was fun to have everyone around to celebrate.

We were out to dinner with the whole family anyway, since we were traveling, so I thought it would be fun to get a cake even though I planned to make one when we got home.

He wasn't sure what to do with it, so he kept getting pieces of frosting on his fingers and flinging them on the floor.

We celebrated again when we got home so that Ralynn and Toby and Grandma Lois could come.  Charlie had a fever that day and wasn't very happy, but he enjoyed the cake a little more this time. 

He wasn't a fan of the Happy Birthday song!

He got this cute little horse from Jaime's family and he loves it!

This picture's not birthday related, just cute.  He pooped in the bathtub yesterday which was totally gross.  It didn't phase him one bit.  He played around naked in the bathroom while I had to drain, clean, and refill the tub.  This picture will be my payback in the future for having to clean it up! (Insert evil laugh here!)

Charlie's first Christmas

It was our first Christmas with little Charlie (he missed it by two days last year) and it was so fun.  Jared and I were way more excited about it than Charlie.  It's so fun to have a little one during the holidays!  He sat on Santa's lap at the ward party and was totally content.  He wanted to pull Santa's beard.

He wasn't that interested in presents.  The other grandkids enjoyed opening Charlie's presents for him.

He did enjoy the traditional grandma waffles for breakfast.  Oh, and I had a lot of fun making the pajama pants he's wearing.  I made a matching pair for his birth mom and brother.

Toby (Charlie's birth brother) came over for a visit a few days before Christmas. Charlie loves him and watches everything he does. I forgot to get a picture with Ralynn.

Jared had fun with his boy...

...and he always enjoys torturing the other kids.

We took a trip with my family to Arizona the day after Christmas.  It was a long drive, but it was so nice to be outside and not freeze to death!  

We even went to the zoo!

Charlie had fun, but wasn't super interested until we saw the giraffes at the very end.  They have a platform that you can go up on and buy food and feed the giraffes.  They come right up with their long tongues and eat the food right out of kids' hands (it's super gross)!  Charlie thought it was hilarious and laughed his head off everytime someone fed them. My phone was almost dead, so I didn't get a good video, but it was sooo cute and funny!

Charlie did pretty good on the long drive and got lots of work done on the laptop that Grandma and Grandpa Rowland gave him for Christmas!

We made some fun memories with our sweet little boy!

My Sweet Boy is Crawling and it's Oh, so cute!

So this little boy seems to take his sweet time with most things. He's been rolling and scooting to get where he's going for quite a while now, so I'm happy to say that he's finally crawling at 11 months.  He's awkward and stumbly and I love it!  He usually gives up halfway and reverts to the army crawl. However, we thought he was a tornado before?  Whoa, he's into EVERYTHING!

He's also pulling himself up onto everything and usually falling down too. He's got a nice assortment of bruises on his poor little head. I watch him closely, but he still gets away from me sometimes.  I guess he has to learn the hard way.  This is how I found him in the pack-and-play in Idaho at Thanksgiving when he was supposed to be napping!

I just thought this one was cute with him sleeping with his little bum in the air.

He stayed awake the whole 3 1/2 hour drive to Montpelier and 2 1/2 of the hours home.  This boy does not like to sleep in the car. But it's so precious when he does.  We are driving to Phoenix the day after Christmas... that's going to be fun!

Just another cute one!

I tend Charlie's cousin AJ a couple of days a week.  He loves her.  She's not a fan of him.  But Grandpa is sure cute with them.

This is totally unrelated, but I made some curtains for the family room and I am so excited about them.  I got a screamin deal at Joann's and I love them!(Now we just need new blinds!) I made them long so I can use them in my house when we move back.  Now I need a new project!

Charlie's First Haircut

So Charlie was starting to look a little like baby Einstein so I decided it was time for a haircut.  It was longer on one side and he always seemed to be pulling his hair with food hands... ya, he's turned into one of those grody little babies that are always crusty (but adorable at the same time!)!  Here's the before...

His hair actually looks cute in these before pictures, but trust me, it was scary!

My mom actually did all the work. Of course he didn't hold still for one second.

Jared helped subdue him a little.

And he looks sooooo cute with his new haircut!

A Quiet Halloween!

Seems like an oxymoron, right? A quiet Halloween?  Well it was!  Charlie and I slept in this morning and then stayed home most of the day. We went to Jared's work to trick-or-treat and then later tonight, Ralynn, Toby, and Ralynn's mom came to visit and that was it.  It was so different from my Halloweens for the last ten years, but I sure enjoyed it. I guess next year I'll probably have to take Charlie out for some real trick-or-treating, but I enjoyed it while it lasted! I had a lot of fun making this little froggy costume for my sweet little Charlie.

I came across some past Halloween pictures and thought I'd throw them in for fun!

Love this one!   Moo!

I heart Pinterest!

 So the other day my brother said that no one really has time to do any of the things that they see on Pinterest.  I beg to differ!

This isn't anything new and exciting, but I found the instructions for covering a wipes case.  I made matching burp cloths and a binky chain and put it together with some baby lotions in a basket from the dollar store which made a darling baby shower gift.

 I turned this...

 ...into this! Jared's words: "I really like that table.  I guess Pinterest can serve a purpose aside from hours of entertainment for my wife!" 

 The Very Hungry Caterpillar cake for my nephew Benjamin's b-day party.

 A watermelon "cake" for our "It's Summer" party with my teacher friends.

 I made a cute keychain for my mom, since she just got a new car (finally, her old one was quite literally on it's last leg!).

I also make new recipes that I find on Pinterest all the time.  Some are better than others, I have to admit.

Okay, this one's not from Pinterest, but since I'm not teaching anymore, I've found my creative outlet in sewing.  I made this for our ward auction and it was such a hit, another ward member asked me to make her one too.  It was a lot of fun.  I also made Charlie's frog costume and a dress for me (which I hate, but I'm hoping to tweak so I will like it).

 So, this is to Andy (not that he will probably even see this).  Pinterest is awesome! And, well, I feed Charlie 5 times a day.  I need something to do with my time!