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!?