Charles is 8 months

Charles is 8 months old and getting close to turning a year old! I can't believe it!

This past month he mastered sitting a little more. On October 30 he was able to sit for about 5 mins on his own. He still knocks himself over when he gets excited or reaches for something out of reach.

He also became master of the army crawl. Chases James and the cats around which neither like. James had to learn to pick up anything he doesn't want Charles to play with when he's done playing.

Charles loves to eat and eats just about anything and I mean ANYTHING! I've had to pull so many non food and food items from his mouth that he shouldn't be eating. However he's not a fan of peas.

He still sleeps pretty good. Goes to bed around 10. Sleeps till about 6, has a bottle than goes back to sleep till about 8.

Such a fun little guy.

Thankful Post #4

22. I'm Thankful for my church calling, even though it is very tough for me and not something I would normally get excited to do. I find that no matter what my lesson works out and I couldn't manage that with out help from the spirit.

23. I'm Thankful for kind and understanding mom at the park when my kid has a play foul and ruins the fun for their kid.

24. I'm Thankful for James. I love that he is sweet, caring and eager to learn. He is always aware of others feelings and tries to make you feel better when your sad. He also takes his role as big brother seriously.

25. I'm Thankful for Charles. He smiles at everyone and brightens their day. He's always on the go, so there's never a dull moment.

26. I'm Thankful for Tracy. He works hard for us and makes so many sacrifices for us. I'm glad he chose me to spend this crazy life with.

27. I'm Thankful for our simple Thanksgiving dinner. We may not have a lot but our needs are met.

28. I'm Thankful for one on one time with my boys. It's nice to have the time to spend with just Charles or just James. Time with just James isn't easy to come by any more. Charles get one on one time with me everyday while James is at school. It even better when they each get time with Tracy.

29. I'm Thankful for chances to serve others.

30. I'm Thankful for hot chocolate and heaters.

Halloween

This year for Halloween it was just the boys and I. Tracy left early that day for a conference in Baltimore.

We made a couple of Haunted Houses.

We carved the pumpkin James got from school.

His reaction to seeing the insides.
He made sure I knew it was called pulp.

His face when I asked if he wanted to touch the pulp.

The finished pumpkin.

We put our creations in the window.

We had our dinner and eagerly awaited Trick or Treating time. James was a little unsure about going, but as the day went on he got more excited.

Earlier in the day when he was still debating on going trick or treating
and he didn't want to wear any costume.
I was totally ok with whatever he decided to do.

Charles dressed up in the same dog costume James wore as a baby.

All excited and ready to go trick or treating.
James decided on being the letter M. It was a hit.

James' first real trick or treating went really well. We had only done trunk or treats a couple times before and anytime before that we just felt he was too young. We went to houses just in our neighborhood. I let him pick where to go and what houses he went to. It was a lot of fun and he loved it. Charles fell asleep shortly into it and slept the whole time. 

After trick or treating we made popcorn and watch "It's a Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown."

Thankful Post #3

15. I'm Thankful for Netflix to occupy James when he is sick.

16. I'm Thankful that we had a good day even with James home from school for being sick.

17. I'm Thankful for the laughter of two boys playing together.

18. I'm Thankful for a good nights sleep. You sure miss it when you don't get one.

19. I'm Thankful that James has a great Kindergarten teacher.

20. I'm Thankful for nice sunny days that aren't too hot or too cold.

21. I'm Thankful that I got to grocery shop alone.

Thankful Post #2

8. I'm Thankful that we get missionaries in our ward. I love seeing them every week and the example they give to my boys.

9.  I'm Thankful for a clean house which doesn't happen very often and especially not today.

10. I'm Thankful that we live close enough to walk James to and from school every day. Love the exercise and the recap of his day on the way home.

11. I'm Thankful for Veterans, especially to have some in the family and know what it's like to serve in the military.

12. I'm Thankful for my little town full of friendly people.

13. I'm Thankful for parks.

14. I'm Thankful for dollar stores for cheap moral booster items.

Thankful Post 1

It's that time of year again to list one thing you're Thankful for each day. Here's the first part of my list.

1. I'm Thankful for those little quiet moments when everyone is happy.

2. I'm Thankful for rain! You never realize how great it is till you live in a drought stricken area.

3. I'm Thankful for the ability to get very little sleep and still function during the day.

4. I'm Thankful for new friends.

5. I'm Thankful for the strength to do it all when Tracy's out of town.

6. I'm Thankful for James' love of school.

7. I'm Thankful for a place to live. It's kind of small and expensive but somehow we make it work.

7 Months!

Charles is now 7 months!

He now wears 6-9 month clothes and size 2 diapers.

He has started solids and loves everything he has tried, though I think his favorite is bananas and sweet potatoes and he really loves ice cream. ;)

He can sit up for a couple of seconds but then fall over. I got lucky for the picture that he stayed sitting a bit longer.

Charles is a major trouble maker and gets into everything. He loves cords and seems to have a knack of finding them, like the speaker wire that is just barely exposed between the tv stand and the dvd shelve. He rolls everywhere and has started scooting/ half army crawling. Got to keep an eye on him he moves fast.

He still sleeps pretty well at night and takes about 2-3 naps. It takes him forever to fall asleep because he fights it, a lot.

He loves watching James and can't wait till he can join in on what big brother is doing.

Charles is a total mama's boy. Probably more than James was at his age. No one is allowed to hold him, except maybe daddy. A big emphases on maybe.

He has quite the personality and is such a fun little guy. Everyone can't help but smile when they see him and chances are he's already smiling at them.

Beach Trips

I feel like I'm behind in posting on here, so I'm playing catch up here.

We went to the beach a couple of times this past month. The first time was when we decided to run away on a Wednesday afternoon after James was done with school. The second time we went a little over a week ago when Tracy's dad was in town.

From our first trip:

Family photos with our new car at the beach. ;)

James was pointing to a seagull.

Beautiful ocean.

I can't remember what James was pointing at,
maybe the same seagull as the previous picture.

We hadn't been to this particular beach spot before. It was awesome.

Beach trip with Tracy's dad. We also brought Tracy's step grandma along.

Charles was really into the sand. Looks like we have a beach baby. Sorry, but not sorry for the numerous pictures of him. 

Photo Dump from this Past Month

Not really in any particular order. Just a few pictures of our fun from the past month.

 Sweet baby cuddles

Cereal for dinner!
He loves cereal and was way excited when I let him have some for dinner.

Sleeping with his car

More baby cuddles

Eowyn almost always sleeps in funny positions.

Walking to school. He has started walking more than riding. Yay!

Stopped to make Charles laugh.

Visiting the train museum.

James' alphabet wall.
His class went through the whole alphabet and each day he made me hang the picture up.

Helping me go through the ads. Just about everything is better than toys.

James goes on lots of bike rides. Getting pretty good at it too.
And the red car is just like the car Tracy owned we I met him.

Playing in the kitchen with flour

Not from this past month, but from the summer. Tracy in his element: