It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood...

We've had a busy week this week. The weather has been cooler, so we've been able to get outside and do some things. Sunday afternoon while Russell mowed we finally filled up our kiddie pool. Charles LOVED it. The dogs did too, it was their giant water bowl!

Lillie insisted on playing Frisbee. Charles thought that was hilarious.

Barely a year old and already he's got plumber's crack. Is it inevitable?

Monday morning we got a call from our friends Kirsten and Merril. Kirsten and her husband Jeremy were in a small group with us and have become good friends. They moved this summer and are now live really close, just on the other side of 13th street. Merril was sick last week so they were ready to get out of the house. We met them at the Zoo and then went to get the new home tour. Merril and Charles have fun playing together and, of course, played with things they shouldn't!

Tuesday afternoon we got a call. Would we be available all day Wednesday to have our new windows installed? I said yes! Russell took the day off (he still had to be in class from 2pm-8:30pm) so he could be here to ask questions and watch how they do installation. The workmen were wonderful and we love our new windows. We just replaced the main floor windows, the two in the stairway, and the front bedroom. We'll probably do the rest in the near future. Here are some before and after pictures.

Before:

The trim around this window and the two front windows was rotten and was one of the main reasons we decided to go ahead and get new windows. The two front windows were pretty bad, but this one was the worst.

See what I mean?

They were quick and we had Charles and the dogs to keep out of their way so this was the only picture I got during the installation.

After:

We decided to do these triple ones in the stairway. I think they looks nice, and we can open them for more circulation. We need to get new blinds. Thankfully the late 80s/early 90s mauve blinds don't fit the new windows! We've got to get some new ones soon because these get direct sunlight during the hottest time of the day, and the dogs can see out and they bark at everything and anything!

We did something different with the stairway picture windows and the single windows to make it a little different. I think I like them, but they will all take some getting used to.

No more rotten wood!

Most of the windows in the house look like this.

This was such a funny sight. We heard Russell get home from class and the three "kids" ran to greet him!

Thursday we met cousins Carissa and Elena at the Zoo. It was a nice cool day and an outside walk sounded better than walking at the Mall. Aunt Lola came to town to join us. She wanted to see Charles in his beginning walking stage and also see the penguins. There are some new donkeys in the barnyard so we made sure to stop and see them.

Riding a "horse" in the barn. I tried to teach Charles and Elena "giddy up" and "whoa!" They thought it was funny to combine words with actions.

These are the new donkeys. They're from France and extremely rare. Also kind of odd-looking.

After the Zoo we rushed to Grandpa and Grandma's house to meet the "bug man." They saw some strange bugs in the flowerbed so called to have the house inspected. Thankfully all they found were ants.

Charles took a LONG nap in his portable crib so we didn't get home until after 4:00. Russell needed the software for his class loaded so he could work on it when he got home. After being frustrated with Charles getting into the desk and throwing disks all over the office I decided to try turning on a video. We had one we got at a bookstore convention. Something along the lines of Baby Einstein and Praise Baby.

It had the creation story with hymns as background music. Charles hasn't taken much interest in TV (thankfully) until he saw this program. It kept him entertained for quite a while--he didn't even head to the dog's water bowl when I opened the door so Casey could get a drink. WOW!

The week's finally over, hopefully we'll get to do something fun this weekend. Today is our 5th wedding anniversary. It's gone so fast! It's a long weekend so Russ might have time to get all his homework done and still do some fun things.

Have a happy Labor Day Weekend!

First Haircut

Thursday night Charles got his first haircut. He was shaggy around the ears and Aunt Christy kept calling him "Frank Barone, Jr." from Everybody Loves Raymond. Daddy said Charles looks like a hippy with the long hair. In any case it was time for a cut before his 1 year pictures on Friday morning.

Grandma Goentzel got to do the honors, thanks to her haircutting skills. It's too bad Grandpa Wall isn't alive to be here for the big event. He didn't like having little wiggly kids in his barber shop, but he would've been awfully excited to give his great-grandson his first haircut.

We put Charles in his booster seat and bribed him with Cheerios and yogurt. It was a good idea, but it didn't stop him from moving. He wanted to know what in the world was going on. And he didn't like that he was supposed to sit still.

The first snip, really this was the only place it was long, just behind the ear on both sides!

Grandma doing the cutting and Charles not being very thrilled about it!

More cutting and wiggling.

Dad trying to get Charles to sit still by giving him his favorite--yogurt!

The end result. A clean-cut child. The comb was more fun to eat than the yogurt and the Cheerios!

Charles' Favorite Activities

Charles has been so funny lately. He's walking and still getting the hang of it. He has definitely progressed. He was always leading with one foot and then bringing the other behind. Now he's actually taking steps. In the evening as he gets tired he falls easily and will finally just lay with his head on the floor.

Charles LOVES being outside. The deck is a new and exciting place and playing with the dirt in the pots is a favorite activity. Much to his mommy's dismay. We definitely need to get the sandbox cleaned out and ready for him to play in.

So, what are his favorite activities? Swinging. He loves to rock, and will just sit and rock himself back and forth, so swinging is a natural fit. Yesterday I took him to the park. I didn't realize it would be so hot. It was only 87 degrees but the humidity was 50%. We were sweating after being there about 15 minutes. But, we did get a 1-mile walk in for the day's exercise!





Charles also loves to eat! No surprise if you know Stacey's family. Our Weight Watcher's membership is proof! Honestly, I'm glad he's a good eater. We have picky eater friends and their mommies are going nuts trying to get them to eat. Really the only things he doesn't like are cottage cheese (who can blame him?) and sloppy joe meat. Today we walked at the mall with Carissa and Elena and had gyros in the food court. He was not interested in Cheerios or Whales (generic goldfish) so I let him try my pita and the gyro meat. He LOVED it! I couldn't get them on the table fast enough for him to gobble down.

What else does Charles like to do? Climb. The stairs, on the hearth of the fireplace, and I know more climbing is coming. Last weekend we had the coffee table pushed to the side of the living room so he had room to walk. He climbed up on the hearth, crawled across it and then on to the top of the coffee table. Then he smashed his face into the glass. The pictures will give you a chuckle!

Well, he's awake from his nap and I hear the fish toy playing "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" or is it the "ABC Song?" Maybe it's "Baa Baa Black Sheep." I don't know they all use the same tune. Something only a mother would know. Now I've got you all singing them, don't I?!?!

Painting

I think I mentioned we painted our living room, stairway, and front entry. Here are some photos for those of you who are curious!

Samples. We decided on #2 but the color was a little different when we did a color match at Wal-Mart and chose flat over semi-gloss. #3 is what's on the walls.

Before

These are my jailbirds. The were locked in the kitchen so we didn't have any help or tail marks in the fresh paint!The living room after we're done
The hall way after we're done

Happy Birthday!

Yesterday was the big day. It started as any normal day, except with a rendition of "Happy Birthday to You" before I got Charles out of bed. We had breakfast and got dressed, even had a little bite of cake with breakfast!

As I changed his diaper and put on his clothes I looked at my watch--8:25 am. The very time he was born! Wow, what a year this has been. It's gone so fast. Some Moms are sad to be past the infant stage, but I'm glad it's over. Charles is getting more fun every day.



We met our cousins at the mall. Cousin PJ had quarters burning a hole in his pocket and wanted to ride the carousel. Carissa told him we could ride after we made one lap (one mile) around the mall. He rode on the tea cup with Elena while Charles and I rode a horse. Charles wasn't too sure about the ride, but loved watching the people go by.



After the mall we came back to our house for leftovers from Saturday's big party. We had sloppy joes, lasagna, and hot dogs. And, best of all, leftover birthday cake.



Before we left I turned the car seat to the forward facing position. What an amazing difference--it's easier to install and a cinch to get him all buckled in.

Breakfast

On the carousel

The only way I could get a picture of the full view was to take a photo of the mirror

PJ and Elena on another ride. It was a little too loud for Elena

On the horse. Elena wasn't too sure about this one either. PJ liked it the best!

Time for cake!

Cake is YUMMY!

12 Month Check-Up

We went to the doctor today. Thankfully there is no sign of anything wrong with Charles, even after the croup incident Saturday night and all the sneezing he's been doing. Here are his stats:

Height: 31 1/2 inches
Weight 26 pounds

He's in the 90th percentile for both height and weight and is a BIG boy. Dr. Scott said he's about as big as a 2 year-old. And, that's true! The 3 girls here on Saturday night are about his size. I think he may out weigh them! Maybe he'll run some of that weight off when he starts walking.

We're excited to start with whole milk (I went straight to Braum's after the appointment to get hormone-free milk!) and turn the car seat to face forward.

Birthday Party

Saturday night we celebrated Charles's first birthday. There were 29 people in our house, with six being children 4 and under. There were three little girls all almost 2 years old--Elena in September, Hannah in October, and Merrill in November.

It was a good time with family and friends. We were lucky to have Russell's two sisters, niece, nephew, parents, and Grandpa travel from Texas to celebrate and, of course the extended family here and in Oklahoma were here too.

We had dinner--sloppy joes and hot dogs, and

enjoyed a HUGE cake. Mom has a large pan and it took 3 cake mixes to fill it. It was white cake with butter cream frosting, so of course we didn't have much left over. I know that's my family's favorite Russ's mom's too.


Charles got lots of presents, all of them were a hit. Some of them will ALL the kids. Russell and I got him the Fisher Price Drop and Roll Arounds Dinosaur. I found it at the consignment shop in brand new condition for 1/2 of what it cost brand new! The great part was that I let him play with it before I bought it so I knew it would be a hit. What I didn't know is that all the kids at the party would love playing with it too. Charles got a bubble blowing machine and all the kids went on the deck to play with it. The 2 year-old trio had to take turns blowing bubbles. That was difficult at first, but they each had several turns and had fun making bubbles. Charles wasn't too interested in the bubbles and decided playing in the flower pot and eating dirt was more entertaining. I guess that's the difference between boys and girls.

Charles was in good spirits at the party and even dug into his cake. Aunt Christy got some great pictures. He woke up at 11pm crying and when I went into his room noticed he was having trouble breathing. It was croup, so we turned our bathroom into a steam room. I called Mom & Dad because I knew my brother had croup when we were on a trip to Tulsa. They snuck in the garage door to check on us. Luckily they were out late playing bridge and not in bed, in fact they weren't even home yet.

Russell was in the bathroom with Charles while I read about croup in the What to Expect the First Year book and called Mom & Dad. Our bathroom is so small that it made a great steam room. After 30-45 minutes in the room both those two were drenched. Charles was breathing normally again and we put him in the portable crib in our room. He woke up again at 2am so he got in bed with us. We didn't think he needed to be in the nursery Sunday morning so we had a lazy day at home. He was still not feeling normal but did start walking across the living room. He will be running in a few days.

Now for some pictures:

Aunt Kim and cousin Ashley eating dinner

Everyone singing "Happy Birthday!"

Opening presents

Our friends helped us with presents. This is Merrill Hickey.

Cousin Hannah playing with the Dinosaur

Russell & his cousin Brady (Hannah's dad) watching the kids.

These are pictures of the kids with the bubble machine.