Trip to CA for David and Laura's Wedding

Our family headed down to California before Christmas for David and Laura's wedding and some beautiful 60 degree weather.  The evening we flew in our flight was delayed and we ended up getting to my Grandma's house at midnight.  We then got up early for my brother's wedding at the LA Temple.  The wedding, luncheon, and reception, were all so lovely!  Charlie and Henry were as good as expected for such a long day and a terrible night before.

Charlie had fun kissing all of his cousins.  Charlie sure is quite an affectionate boy.  Tara and Gideon got the brunt of the kisses since he was closest to his level.

Sleeping at Grandma's house was a bit hard on Charlie since he didn't have a designated bed sleeping on the floor.  We always knew that he moved around a lot at night, but since he was in our room we got to see first hand how much he moved around.  He sleeps on his stomach and slowly inches around while sleeping.  One morning he ended up with half of his body under the bed (the photo below is just before he went further under the bed).  Every time I was up in the night with Henry, Charlie was always in a different area of the room.

It was such a fun trip to have all of my siblings all together.  We sure enjoyed California's "cold" weather.

Christmas Eve

Charles' extended family on Jan's side all gets together for Christmas Eve to eat food and have a little program of talents and Christmas-ness.

For the Nativity Charles, Charlie, and I were the wisemen.

 Henry got to be baby Jesus.

 He was so cute for Christmas Eve...

...even when he was being burped.

 Charlie paid attention fairly well to the Christmas Eve program.

When it was time to go he knows he needed his shoes.

 Grandpa and Charlie did some good rough housing after the party.

We had a lovely Christmas morning with Tom, Jan, and Angela all opening Christmas presents.

Thanks Angela for always taking photos!

My Two Little Men Together

Charlie and Henry had a fun little bath together last night.  They both sure love bathing.  

Henry recently upgraded to cloth diapers since he is big enough for them now.

Here are the boys all ready to go to bed.  They are both growing up so quickly!

Pre-Henry

Here is a pregnancy photos of me 10 days before Henry was born.

And Charlie looking super cute in the snow.

Family Photos

Here are a few family photos for your enjoyment.

Holding Christmas ornaments to keep him happy.

Good thing they are the nonbreakable kind.

Charlie decided he was done taking photos.

The handsome men in my life.

Thank you Angela for taking the photos!

Lots of Firsts

Here is a list of some recent FIRSTS:

I made homemade cream cheese because I was going to make a cheesecake for our Ward Christmas party and forgot to buy the cream cheese.  The cheese turned out a bit more like ricotta, but it still worked.  After reading some comments online about the recipe I learned what I did wrong.  I need to do the math to see if it is cheaper than buying it pre-made, if so I will probably always make it myself.

Charlie fell asleep in the car on the two minute drive home from church.  He slept on the couch for about two hours until we woke him up.

Charlie had his first hair cut!  I can't believe I finally did it.  I had been thinking about it for a while now, but then I would always decide against it.  His hair was getting too long, it was time.

Here is how long his hair was before.

 I fluffed it all up after a bath so it was easier to see how much hair he really had.

 Cutting his hair was SOOOO HARD!  Charles did as much work as I did by trying to entertain him while keeping him still.  We tried using the cape to keep his clothes clean, but the cape made matters worse.

 I miss his hair oh-so much now.  I was in the habit of running my fingers through it whenever he sat next to me.  Now his hair is short and not baby-esq at all.  I can't wait until Henry's hair is long enough to play with...  Here are some photos of his haircut.

 It doesn't look fabulous, but for how much he was squirming, I think it looks pretty darn good.

First time I found Charlie reading my book in our bed.  It was pretty cute. 

Henry's first true bath was a success.  He really enjoyed floating around, with our help of course.  Getting out of the warm bath water was the only hard part for him.  Sorry, no picture.

First time I found Charlie's food in our house plant's bucket.  Charlie can reach on top of the table so if he doesn't finish his food he will go back and eat it later.  I haven't been keeping a great eye on him and he has started walking around the house and eating (we are trying to end this habit), hence the food in the potted plant.

First time that I ever washed the same item twice in one day.  Henry had thrown up on our white comforter, so I washed it.  Right after I put the comforter on our bed Charlie smeared poop on it.  He had had the BIGGEST poopy diaper ever that a chunk came out the diaper, down his pant leg, and onto the comforter.  Makes me wonder if there is any poop on our brown carpet.  No picture for obvious reasons.

On a happy note, Charlie said "I love you" for the first time!  The joys of being a mommy.

Who Do Our Kids Look Like?

Here is a little comparison for you.  What do you think?

Charles as a young little tike.

Charlie at about the same age.

Me (Annette) as a cute little girl. 

Henry a bit younger, but not much.

A Few Hospital Photos

At Home with the Boys

I absolutely love these little pajamas.  I think he kind of looks like a merman in them :)

 Henry isn't much of a wiggler while he sleeps, like Charlie is.  He will stay perfectly bundled all through the night.  You can see in this picture Charlie's hand poking through the crib to touch Henry.  It took him a little bit of time, but he learned that if he pulls the bumper down, he can see Henry sleeping.

 Charlie also thinks going under the crib is a great place.

 Henry enjoys going on his tummy and looks like such a little bug.

 Henry can sure stretch out his legs.  Henry loves to be stretched out.  It is now his preferred way to sleep.  Charlie on the other hand still likes to scrunch his knees up to his chest when settling down for sleep.

Hanging With Grandma and Grandpa

Grandma Sandra and Grandpa Larry came to our home to babysit Charlie while I was in the hospital with Henry.  They had so much fun being together.

They sure had a lot of fun together. 

Kill Them With Kindness

The phrase, "kill them with kindness" has a whole new meaning as a mother of two kids.  Charlie tries to show so much love and kindness to Henry that it can become dangerous.  He means well, but poor Henry often gets a little too squashed at times.

Cute Little Updates

Here is one of those classic photos that everyone has to have (sorry the coloring is funny), Daddy asleep with the baby. 

Charlie is now more independent with his new booster seat that he can get off and on by himself.  We made it out of some extra foam we had.  I covered the foam with a thick plastic bag and then a pillow case.  It is strapped to the chair by a belt so that it can't move.

Henry had a little photo shoot yesterday. 

 

 I love his cute little smile and dimple.

 Big smile!