Peanut Peanut Butter

Charles had his first ever peanut butter sandwich last night for supper.In all my mommy wisdom I thought just make him a half sandwich to see if he likes it. Who was I kidding. The kid loved it and refused to eat anything else except another half of peanut butter sandwich. The second half we added banana and he was one of the happiest kids ever. 

We also made it a special meal by making it be a picnic supper. Charles gave the meal a thumbs up reward.

Creative Lunch

As we all know Charles is really into trains, so today I decided to get creative with his lunch. We have a train cut out, but as you can see when you use it they look more like steam boats. So, today I tried to make them look like steam engines with banana wheels, and strawberries and raisins for steam. The best part is that this lunch is mostly healthy!
Meal: Grilled Cheese (whole wheat bread, slice of cheese) Unhealthy part the butter.
Fruit: Strawberries, raisins, and banana.
Drink: Milk
How long it took me: less than 10 minutes
Charles reaction: Very happy and excited! The plus is that he cleaned his plate!!!

One Month

Look who's 1 month already!

Nickname: Little Lady

Interests: Sleeping, Eating, and Being Held

Charles picked out her outfit today. He loves being included and will get his step stool out and watch her being changed. He says, " Did she poop? Stinky booty." He will hand me things to help out too. He loves his baby sister. This past Sunday he got sick and we didn't know if he was contagious or not and had to move him away from her several times. He cried every single time. Even explaining to him didn't help. He wanted to hug and kiss his sister. I am so glad that the doctor told us he had an ear infection and a fever rash, and that he wasn't contagious. I don't know how long I could take him feeling bad and his pitiful cry from not getting to love on his Eredith. (he can't say Meredith).

Picture time begins.

Really Mommy I am so not into this.

Big Brother is so funny.

Alright I will give a half smile so we can be finished already.

And we are done!

36 weeks

Stats: Baby Girl is scheduled for c-section on February 26th. We hope she behaves and stays put like she is supposed to do. The doctor's appointment this week went really well. I am now going every week until she comes. That means weighing in every week.

 I made this sweet little hat this weekend to go with her blanket.

 This little guy is finally feeling so much better. He is my sweet handsome boy.

Adventures in Potty Training

Yes, I just said those scary words. We are starting the long journey of teaching Charles to go to the potty. In many aspects he seems ready, but I do wonder how long this will take.
Steps we have taken in preparation:
Talk to Charles about how big boys use the potty and about all the cool underwear he will be able to wear once he is potty trained.
I have read books to him about going to the potty.
We have pull ups set and ready.
We also have a Mickey Mouse seat that goes in the regular potty. This is one cool seat it has a button that says hooray when you push it.
The actual first steps with Charles:
Last night at his urging to sit on the Mickey seat before bath time. We sat him down on the seat. He was so excited he didn't want to get off for a bath. This morning he easily sat down on the seat and was happy to wear a pull up. This is where I made a huge assumption that this was going to be easier than I thought. HAHAHA (insert evil laugh in the background)- boy did it ever go down hill from there. I know you are supposed to take them to the bathroom to try at a minimum of every hour. Charles refused to go. He said, "No, I can't want it mommy." No matter how fun I worded it he would not go. I remind myself we are just starting and he will eventually get this!
Any helpful advise, encouragement,and prayers are appreciated.

Yummy

Charles' description on his first experience with French toast was tonight. It was a hit. He said ummm yummy.

The recipe I used.

Melts My Heart

 Cuddle time while watching television.

I love that he will look at books, and that he loves to be read to. He will chill out with books just like he will with his toys. It does this Mommy's heart good to see him engrossed in books.

Happy Candy Day

May the force be with you...

Happy Halloween 2013

~Yoda

Look What Was At Our Door

We had a brown box on our doorstep. Look what we found inside.

Charles is having a blast playing with the truck and blocks! Thanks Pop and Mama C.
I also had a special surprise inside 2 maternity shirts! SCORE!!!!

Nesting

Apparently I am not the only one nesting.

Hanging out watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.

Trains, Planes, and Automobiles

1. Charles has an obsession with trains and he is addicted to watching this 9 minute train clip. Every time we go near the computer he says trains. Meaning I want to watch the train clip. When we go home for Christmas we are checking out the Misty Mountain Model Railroad Museum in Blairsville, GA.

2. Charles is also into trucks and cars. When we drive down the road he has to tell us if it is a truck or car. If it is an 18 wheeler he says big truck. Conversation in the car: " truck, bye bye truck, where did the truck go, I don't see it, I don't know." This is repeated like a broken record, but it is very cute when he gets all excited.
~I really don't have much to say on planes other than he can spot them at various times. He has 3 toy helicopters.
~Are these obsessions of boys from a young age or what?

Charles' 2 Year Photos

I decided to try my hand at taking Charles' 2 year photos. I believe they turned out pretty well. I know I am a novice in photography, but I would love to learn some professional photography tricks.  Here are some of my favorites of our sessions:

I decided to do photos on two different days on purpose. This little guy would have never made it through a wardrobe change. Having two days about a week apart gave him a nice break. He is such a ham in front of the camera.

Easter Fun @ Daycare

Charles goes to daycare when I work part time substitute teaching. He has a wonderful lady that keeps him in her home. She is the sweetest and we just love her so much. She does great things with them all the time but puts in extra time at holidays.  For Easter they had an egg hunt and treat bags. Aren't these little bags the cutest. 

Let Me In

This was too funny not to post. Charles is trying to get into the locked cabinet. Check out his tool of choice.

I have no idea where he has seen this done before. It didn't work, but I got a great laugh out of it.

Photo Drop

I had fun practicing with the settings on my big girl camera this morning. Poor Charles has to be my learning model. I also decided to dress him up today just for this purpose. Here are my top 4 favorites from this morning:

First Haircut

Today I took Charles to get his first haircut ever. I know he has needed a cut for a couple of months, but I had fears of him screaming, kicking, and swinging. I really wanted him to sit on the booster seat so I could take pictures/video but that didn't happen. He wanted me to hold him. He wasn't a fan of the cape bib they put around him to begin with but got used to it. He was a little wiggle monster but very calm and sweet during the hair cut. The hairdresser was really sweet and let him play with the water bottles and two combs while she cut his hair. Now he has a big boy haircut.

 1st pictures of him right after his 1st haircut.

Snow Storm Q

So snowstorm Q hit Thursday late afternoon. We got somewhere between 6-8 inches. I planned to take pictures Friday morning, but I didn't get around to it until late Friday afternoon after the streets had totally been cleaned & Patrick had cleaned our walkway/drive. Charles enjoyed looking at the snow. This was the first snow he has ever touched. He put his finger in and took it right back out and smiled. You can see how we enjoyed hanging out while at home. Charles loves blankets just like his mommy.
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