Dec 16-23

Well, it's been quite the week. We've been going off of little to no sleep and as a result Adam and I are both sick. We only hope Charlie won't follow suit. I have an ear infection that amoxocillin apparently couldn't take care of so now they've put me on some heavier stuff but man do I feel like crap. And Adam is coming down with a cold. Merry Christmas to us, eh?

While Charlie isn't sick (and oh how we're praying he won't be) he sure has been ornery. I think I only saw him smile like 3 times today which is definitely not normal. He has just been whiney at best and screaming at the top of his lungs at worst. Luckily at the moment he isn't doing either. He's just quietly sitting in his bouncer.

And in case you didn't notice the time, yes it is in fact 3:30 am. That's because I'm always awake at this time. Charlie has decided that he will not be going to bed until at least 3am and often after 4am. This sure makes life fun for mom and dad! After resisting his chosen bedtime and trying to force him to bed at 10pm or even 12am and then being frustrated when he wouldn't stay asleep for longer than 45 minutes we've finally given up. Now I just stay up with him until he falls asleep (typically somewhere around 3:30am) and then I swaddle him, feed him once more, and put him to bed. This buys us 2-4 hours of uninterrupted sleep on average. Adam tries to get to bed close to midnight. Then when Charlie wakes up around 8 or 9am Adam will get up with him and let me sleep in. So far it's worked fairly well but I don't know what we'll do when Adam goes back to school. All I can say is a good breast pump is worth every single penny it costs!

Okay - enough of my complaining (but it does feel good to get that off my chest) and on to the good stuff... pictures!

These pictures were all taken in a timeframe of about two minutes. Just to give you an idea of the range of emotions. And I think all the faces Charlie pulls are adorable. :)

We got to go out to dinner with my good friend Jillian and her husband Jacob. I met Jillian about six years ago when I moved to Washington, DC for what was going to be a year but I only ened up staying for a month. While I was here she moved to Utah. So then when I moved back to Utah we started hanging out even more. Now she lives in Idaho and was only home for Christmas. I'm so glad she made time to see me while she was here! I definitely know how hard it is to squeeze in everyone you want to see when you're visiting home. :)

Charlie was also glad that Jillian came to see us. While the guys were playing xbox the girls were talking and Jillian held Charlie. He was entranced by her! He just kept staring at her with complete adoration while Adam and I tried not to be jealous. He's never looked at anyone else like that. We did tell him that Jillian is taken but maybe someday she'll have a daughter that he can date...

Look at these sweet expressions. What a cute boy we have!

Grandma Carolyn sent this outfit that used to be Adam's when he was a baby. What a sweet polyester outfit! The shirt was a little short and the pants were too big around but Charlie sure looked cute in his daddy's old school outfit.

Sometimes the only way Charlie wants to nap is just like this on Adam's shoulder. I guess my shoulder just isn't as good but I'm sure glad Charlie loves his daddy so much!

Here's another one of Adam's tricks. Sometimes this is the only way to get Charlie to calm down and/or go to sleep. Adam is a pro at calming Charlie down - he just has the magic touch - and this has got to be Charlie's favorite position.

Doesn't Charlie look adorable in his bear suit!?

Five Whole Years!!!

This week we celebrated our 5 year wedding anniversary. Five whole years! I can't believe it's been that long. We've had some great times also some not so good times, but mostly great. I thought about posting pics over the last five years but then I thought "yeah right -like I have time and like anyone really cares but us!" So instead here are the pictures from our anniversary itself. We went to dinner at our favorite local Indian restaurant (Bombay Gaylord). Of course we took Charlie but he's sleeping in his car seat behind the table.

Adam gave me the Twilight trilogy by Stephenie Meyer. These are some of my most favorite books ever. And I can't wait for the 4th book due to come out next summer. But please don't ask to borrow them because I'm hoping to keep them super nice so I won't be lending these babies. I gave Adam a scrapbook tribute to the last 5 years, some restaurant gift cards, and the latest issues of his two favorite comic books. Wow, we are so lame. I wanted books about vampires and Adam wanted comic books. How old are we again?

We finished off our night hanging out with Charlie at home followed by some rigorous matches of Wario's Woods - our current favorite Super Nintendo game. Again, must I ask, how old are we? And how did we end up as parents?

Dec 9-16

Here is the smile that makes it all worth it. I love this picture of Charlie. I'm pretty sure it's my favorite. When he smiles at me it makes all my irritation that he kept me up the entire night before just melt away. How can you be angry at that face!?

More happy smiles

Here we are at the car seat check making sure our little guy will be safe while we drive. I love the "devil" hat Charlie's wearing. It's especially fitting because he just wouldn't stop crying so Adam had to get out and walk around with him even though it was freezing!

So when we first brought Charlie home from the hospital Mimi would run out of the room as soon as Charlie started crying. She has never been one for loud noises. She's slowly grown accustomed to the crying (not that any of us have had a choice) and today I was surprised to be able to catch this picture. Mimi was sleeping on the bed when Charlie started crying. I had to put him down so I could use the bathroom before strapping him into the Baby Bjorn and even though Charlie was completely screaming Mimi didn't even wake up from her nap. Guess she's used to him now, eh?

I love this expression.

More smiles while playing on the play mat...

If you look closely in the background you'll spot a pair of glowing eyes. Yes, Mimi is on the play mat too. She loves it almost as much as Charlie!

See I told you...

Because Charlie sleeps better when he's swaddled we've tried all sorts of ways to keep him that way. Unfortunately he's a tricky one and he always manages to squirm out. As you can see we even resorted to duct taping the blanket shut but to no avail. Look how ticked off he looks that he had to break free...

And finally peace... THANK YOU MIRACLE BLANKET!!!

Poor little Cha Cha has a blocked tear duct. Most mornings we wake up to his eye being all crusted over. It scares him when he tries to open his eye and can't do it (not that I can blame him). Hopefully he'll grow out of it soon. Depsite how nasty his eye looks I love this picture because he always makes this "O" face and I think it's adorable!

2 items I can't recommend enough for new parents...

The first I have alluded to in a previous post: "The Happiest Baby on the Block" by Harvey Karp. So worth it. And I recommend reading it during your 3rd trimester rather than waiting until your baby is here and screaming every single night. Seriously. The techniques that Dr. Karp teaches have made our lives so much easier. I said easier - not to be confused with easy. What can you do...

The second is the Miracle Blanket. See http://www.miracleblanket.com/ or buy yours on ebay like I did. Our little Houdini could get out of every other swaddling blanket we tried (even when we tried to tape them shut!). But last night was the first time this week that he slept for 3.5 hours at a time and I credit it to the Miracle Blanket. He settled down so fast and slept for longer. I know $30 is pricey for a blanket but my sanity is SO worth it.

Week of Dec 2nd - Dec 9th

The Evil Eye... this is a look that Charlie has been giving me since day one. The day he was born I was holding him in the hospital and he gave me the evil eye. In my drugged up and hormonal state I couldn't help but think "he hates me!" and I was so sad. Now that I'm feeling a little more sane (emphasis on "little";) I know he doesn't hate me and that he's not really trying to give me the evil eye, but it sure looks like it!

Introducing the bottle... and my doorway to freedom! Yes, Charlie successfully took a bottle - and the very first time. And he successfully went back to the breast afterwards so it looks like we're in business. This means I now have the option to pump and leave Charlie a meal so I can go somewhere without him once in a while. It also means that Adam gets to be a part of feeding our sweet little guy. What fun!

Another sleeping picture. Are you noticing a theme?

The comb over... one day I was holding Charlie and I noticed that he had a comb over. I thought Adam had given it to him as a joke so I commented on it. Adam was surprised because he thought I'd given it to him. So, as it turns out, Charlie had somehow given himself a comb over. Too funny!

The swing... One day I put Charlie in the swing and when it was on the fastest speed he loved it and fell asleep when I slowed it down he woke up and cried. Turns out there's a reason for this (which I didn't know at the time). I will make a post on a book that has changed our lives and you'll know why...

Oh, and please don't comment on the state of disarray in the nursery. It has become a catch-all for our junk lately since Charlie doesn't spend much time in there yet. I promise I'll clean it up before I put him in there!

Snow day... Charlie's first snow and we were headed out to the pediatrician so he actually got to be out in it. It doesn't snow so much where we live so we had to be sure to capture the memory before the snow all melted.

Charlie fell asleep on Adam and completely buried his head into Adam's shoulder. It was so cute I had to take a picture.

The mobile... Charlie found it interesting enough to look at it without crying for a whole hour (while I showered). Mimi also thought it was interesting as she sat and watched them both.

The smile... sort of. We tried to catch a picture of Charlie smiling but he wasn't cooperating. And he was asleep and making weird faces with his eyes. But you can see a hint of his dimple. We promise the full smile is adorable!

Charlie was so tired but he didn't want to sleep. He fell asleep on my hand and started to cry whenever I tried to move him. Too funny.