A New Year...a bit late.

I cant believe we are already into 2009!!! I have many high hopes for this year. I just know that it will be better than last year. Already things are starting out right.

Sam started at a new preschool last week. Its called Love Of Christ. He has 16 kids in his class and 2 teachers. I think we are going to like it a lot more. I liked his other school, but it was just too small. Some days, Sam would be the only one alone with the teacher for the entire afternoon. After only 3 days there, he really likes it and is making friends.

Charlie is talking so much. He is already very good at ordering me around. He is saying new words every day. Recently he has gotten into reading. He loves books and we read before bed and nap and also several times during the day. It makes me happy that both of my kids love books. I really want that to continue.

Here are a couple pictures from the park the other day.

Sisters Only Slumber Party

I am so thankful to have sisters. They have been my best friends throught my life. They are always there for me. They know me as only a sister can know me.

Last night, I had the pleasure of hosting our first and hopefully annual sisters slumber party. What a great time! Sam and Charlie spent the night at my Mom's and I got to entertain them here at my house. We went out for dinner at Fez in downtown Phoenix then headed over to a little neighborhood bar called Shady's.


After we got back to my house, we tried to figure out who was sleeping where and no one wanted to sleep alone. Finally we decided that the only way to have a slumber party would be to make Carl sleep in the guest room and all 4 of us gals would sleep in my bed! We sat up in bed, drinking wine and watched What About Bob. It was a fun time, but we all eventually got uncomfortable and one by one moved out of the big bed into other beds in the house. Turns out that Tiffany slept alone in my huge king size bed.

This morning after we all got up, we headed to Last Chance for some bargains then over to Scottsdale Fashion Square where we shopped until we dropped. Had a yummy lunch at Sauce.

What a fun time! It was so nice to spend this quality time with my sisters. Usually when they are in town, its a whirlwind of activity, and there isnt a lot of catching up. This time we got to talk and talk and talk....what sisters LOVE to do. The only regret about the whole night was that our brother Jason's wife, Kristal was not able to come.

Dude will be missed

I am sad to say that we lost a loved member of our family this week. Our crazy beloved dog, Dude. He was a character for sure. When I met Carl and started dating him, he had only had Dude for 3 months. He rescued him through Pointer Rescue. Dude was a 9 month old hunting dog that his original owner couldnt handle. He was high energy! Carl took him and gave him a loving home and good life. Dude was a bit crazy sometimes. To say that he was lively and rambunctious would be an understatement. He was extremely jealous when I came on the scene and would get up on the couch next to me and lean his whole body on me. If I called Carl on the phone and he talked to me, Dude would bark in the background. Sometimes when I was over, Dude would stand in front of me and just bark at me and Carl would have to put him outside, then he would throw himself against the windows and doors until we let him back in and he went into his kennel in the kitchen. Then he would try to dig his way out of the kennel, and the kennel would be bouncing across the room, until it was facing a wall and then he was really unhappy...barking and making a ton of noise...we had a difficult time watching a movie . I laugh when I remember that now. Dude was not going to accept me easily.

Poor Dude had Carl alone for 3 months, then Carl met me and got married and then 2 kids came along....he was never first place again. He didnt like to be left alone and was known to demolish an entire leather couch one vacation that Carl left him home. He also loved to steal food off the counters any chance he could.

With all of Dude's challenges to us, he was a really great dog. I dont think there was a mean streak in him at all. This dog took a lot of abuse from the kids and never once snapped at them and in time he also came to love and depend on me. Charlie is going to miss Dude a lot because one of his favorite things to do is to drape his blankie over him, then hang on him and suck his thumb. Im really feeling the void that his loss has left here. Every time I walk into my closet, I expect to see him there, laying on the floor like he always did. Its strange around here without him. He definitely had a place in our home and now he will be missed. RIP Dude. 2000-2008.

Colors of Christmas

Last weekend, Sam's school did a Christmas program called Colors of Christmas. It was sooooo cute! The kids all wore their matching school shirts, with little sashes with a Christmas sprig on it. They all sang and did hand motions the entire time. Sam sang all the songs and participated so well! I was really really proud watching him up there on stage with all the other kiddos in his school.

Sam

I cant believe Sam will already be 4 next month! The time is going by too fast. As much as I enjoy my kids growing and thriving and doing new things, I want them to stay little forever!

The other night when I was putting Sam to bed, I said, "I love you, your my little boy." And he replied with, "I love you too mom, your my little girl." I melted. I was trying to be serious and get him to go to sleep, but I had the biggest smile on my face. I love when he tells me he loves me.

Right now Sam is really into art projects. He begs to paint, glue, cut, glitter, make cards, make anything...all the time. He has a box of colored pencils and his favorite thing to do is sharpen them. He sat at the table for over an hour the other night sharpening his pencils! LOL. Then he accidentally threw the sharpener in the trash when he was trying to empty the shavings, and I wouldnt let him get it out cause there was lots of nasty stuff in there, so the next morning we got up and made a special trip to the store for another pencil sharpener.

Sam is my wonderful helper. He loves to help me with anything I could possibly get help with. Carrying groceries into the house from the car, emptying the trash, washing windows, sweeping, vacuuming, folding small towels and washcloths, washing the car. Its fun to have my little shadow helping me with everything around the house. Plus, he LOVES to get the door, and hold it for anyone that is passing through. What a little gentleman already.

He is my sweet, soft spoken boy. I love his gentle nature and good spirit. I love when he comes into my room at night and climbs into bed with me. He doesnt do it as often as he used to. I was worried it would become a bad habit, now I find myself missing him when he isnt there. Im so glad I had him. What a great person to be my first born!

Charlie is wonderful

My baby Charlie is 19 months old. He is becoming more of a little boy than a baby these days. I love that little boy. I really did bond to him in a wonderful way with breastfeeding him for 14 months. It was the best experience ever. I wish I would have stuck it out with Sam, but you know, its the one thing I had with Charlie that was just with him. Our own little thing. He doesn't even take a bottle anymore, but he is still so much my little baby when I'm putting him to bed at night. I sing a couple songs, usually the alphabet song and the I See You song I learned at Gymboree when I used to take Sam. Charlie tries to sing both songs. He can sing up to J in the alphabet song. This kid has my heart.

Charlie is starting to say things. He loves putting on his shoes and always says Shoo whenever I mention that we are going anywhere or its time to get ready. I say, lets get ready and he runs to his room and opens up the sock drawer grabs a pair, then says shoo over and over and gets his shoes, then heads to the rocking chair where I always sit with him and dress him.

This kid LOVES to brush his teeth. We brush teeth anywhere from 1-4 times a day. He says, bra tee for brush teeth. He insists on it all the time. I put toothpaste on the brush and I brush his teeth first, then hand it to him to finish off the job. He is such a cutie.

Charlie loves to pretend. He loves the phone and if he doesn't have a real phone, he will use a baby monitor, or remote or any other small electronic item he can get his hands onto. Then he cradles it between his cheek and shoulders and walks around, pretending to talk on the phone, complete with whole sentences of baby talk babbling.

He is also a climber. Sam was not a climber at all, so I had no idea what tiny kids were capable of. Many times I will be cooking, or on the computer or just walking in from another room and find him standing on the kitchen table. Or up on my desk, playing with the phone. He pulls a chair around from the other side of the table to his high chair, then uses it to climb up into his highchair. He grabs the tray off the counter and slams it down on his high chair table, then bangs on it when he is hungry and wants a meal or snack. He has already mastered the ladders on the swing set. Ive also recently found him on top of the washer and dryer, playing with the buttons. I am also humiliated to admit that twice now, Ive found him on our view deck, up on the roof! We try to keep that staircase fenced off, outside, but sometimes Carl and I go up there and night to enjoy the view and its been left open and he always finds it. I thought I was going to have a mini heart attack when I found him up there, all bright eyed and smiley. WOW

This next pic is one of Charlie with his little blankie that he LOVES, draping it over Dude (one of our dogs), the good sport of a dog. Any time he sees it, he immediately sticks his thumb in his mouth and runs toward it. He loves to lay on his back and cross his legs, then whip the blankie back and forth over his head and back over his feet. He loves to drape the blankie over anything, including Dude then just hang there and suck his thumb. Poor Dude just takes it and stands there, never snapping or getting annoyed. Our other dog Scottie, would be a different story.

I love my little Charlie. I thought Sam was a handful, but Charlie REALLY keeps me on my toes. I love his happy personality and how feisty he is. He is loud and he lets you know exactly what he wants. My mom tells me lots of crazy stories of things I did when I was little and she says that Charlie is a lot like me. I'm getting my payback now, that's for sure ;)

After all the feistyness and spunk that keeps us on our toes constantly...he sleeps so good for me. He goes to bed at 7:30 every night without a fuss. He usually lays in there playing and talking before falling asleep. I don't have to go into his room to get him most mornings until 7am. If Sam wakes up, he just comes into our room and climbs into the bed with us. This momma gets to stay in bed all night most nights! That is so great after several years of having to get out of bed more than once in a night.

Charlie my little cuddle bunny. I love you so much.

The zoo

This turned into a really great weekend. My sister Leslie came into town from Seattle since she was homesick. Randy got back from Hawaii on Friday night after being gone several weeks. Saturday night, we planned to bbq here at our place with mom, Randy and Leslie. Then Jason called and said he was coming down from Prescott with his wife and kids and I invited them for dinner Sat. Well, that turned into them staying with us overnight, and it was so much fun. Sam and Charlie had a blast playing with Evan and baby Brielle is not far behind! They all stayed up late playing outside until 9pm. Up and down the swing set, constantly! It was good times! The kids were WORN OUT and you would hope they would sleep in, but that is never the case. We were all up and going at again at 6am.

Once we all at our breakfasts and got ready, we headed to the zoo and Dad and Fran met us there. We had a really nice time walking all over the zoo. The weather was perfect and all the animals were out. There are times I go to the zoo and almost NO animals are out. Too hot. But not today, it was great. We enjoyed all the shade from all the mature trees. The kids saw Giraffes, Zebra, Elephants, Bears, Piccary's, tunnels, bamboo forests, monkeys and how can we forget the wonderful petting zoo? Lots of happy kids and tons of adults holding their noses! Its a stinky place and its nasty to see your kids trapsing all over the goats pee. Yucky! I held Charlie the entire time and never let him out my arms. I remember all too well taking Sam there when he was a new walker at 13 months old and he was falling all over the place, covered in goat pp! EEEEw!

It was so fun having Jason and Kristal, Evan and Brielle here. It was great seeing Leslie. She looks so happy and seems like she loves her new job. Its the right mix of stress and fun. Its good to see her looking carefree. I love my baby sister. I cant wait till Thanksgiving when I get to see everyone again!