Babies, Games, and Walks

I love days of getting out and doing stuff. I really do (I kind of go crazy without them). But I also really enjoy days of not doing anything. My sister's last day in town was a fantastic day of relaxing up at my brother's house playing games, eating food, cuddling babies, and going outside. Last week we had some good weather for going for walks but it would turn cold quick. This was one of those days. Earlier in the day it was super warm and in the fifties, but when we decided to go for a walk it got super foggy and extremely chilly. Needless to say, the walk did not last long. Plus, Charlie had a bit of a meltdown and had to be carried for the second half. But it was very nice to get outside. I'm hoping for some more good weather this weekend!

Good ol' Settlers

Also Wii games, and lots of them

These kids...

Apparently there was a biker that was going to run over our photographer, and that is why half the people are not looking at the camera, but it was the only group picture we got. 

"I'm two!"

We had a very laid back party for Mr. Charles with family. We got some pizza and then ate some delicious snickerdoodle cake. He got some more balls and firetrucks to play with and showed off his kicking skills. He is also learning how to hold up two fingers and has not quite mastered it yet (as you can see in the above photo). I sure do love this little kid and it is very hard to imagine Pip being this adorable. I know that she will be and I'm excited to see him grow into his role as big brother more and more.

Also, I can't believe this was a year ago.

babies babies babies

He loves his Uncle Benny and Aunt Becca. And they love him too :)

Just like his father...

They've got skills

This cake is amazing

cousins cousins cousins

Charlie turned two!

Charlie turned two last week and as a tradition in my family you get to have "birthday cereal" in the morning. Charlie had the choice between Lucky Charms and Trix and the Trix won out. He was pretty excited about eating them, but he was WAY more excited that Kathryn stayed in his room and then ate cereal with us. He was showing off big time. I sadly didn't get her in any of the photos, but she had just traveled the whole day before and had just woken up jet lagged, so I think she appreciated not being in the photos.
Also the below hair was pretty awesome. He went to bed with wet, un-brushed hair and this is how he woke up. It then stayed exactly like that for the following 3 days. Epic.

4/52

Pip, 4 weeks: Still sleeping
Charlie, 2 years: "Fixing" his rocking moose
Both: Charlie saying "cheese" and taking photos while Pip squirms

Let's back up for a sec...

Well we had a crazy awesome last week. My twin sister surprised us from South Carolina for the weekend! My dad had just gotten back from New York and promised us a "treat" that he had brought back. Well, we were thinking it was some sort of food treat and were completely surprised when he showed up with my sister in tow. It was a fantastic surprise and I'm so glad that she was able to come and meet Pip.
These pictures have absolutely nothing to do with anything but I wanted to get them posted now or it would never happen, and look how adorable he is. His hair is now longer and we have no idea what happened to that toy. Hopefully I'll be able to get through all the photos we took over the weekend and get them posted this week. Hopefully. 

3/52

I decided kind of late that I wanted to start this "weekly portrait of my children" thing, so here is the beginning of our series and we are starting out on week three. I really love the idea of having pictures of your children each week so you can see how much they change in a year. I'm hoping that I can stick with this all year, we'll see. 

Charlie, 2 years: drinking some hot cocoa 

Pip, 3 weeks: sleeping

Both: Charlie showing Pip that he's playing a game (which happens quite frequently). 

Snow Day

Believe it or not, this was the first time Charlie actually played in the snow. Not because he didn't want to, but because we never had a snow outfit and also we just didn't feel like it. Last year he was kind of too small anyways so this was the first year that he actually wanted to. ANYways, he played in the snow and loved it. He also loves Maggie and Line so it was like heaven that day. Plus they got snacks when they came back in, and if you know Charlie at all, then you know he loves all of those things. 

They could do this for hours

Christmas Eve

Happy New Years! Here are photos of our Christmas Eve. Because our Christmas didn't go quite as planned, it was nice that we were able to celebrate on Christmas Eve with family (most of them anyways). Early in the day I went to see the new Hobbit movie and then we ended up hanging out at Andy's mom's place the rest of the day, which was very nice and yummy. We snacked on appetizers all night, played some cards, and opened all of our presents. What a way to celebrate out last night as a family of three! We ended up going straight home afterwards, rather than playing games up at my brother's (which is what we'd been doing all week since my parents have been in town). I'm very glad we did because we ended up going to bed early and I got some rest before little miss Pip arrived.

Making the wonderful Korv 

 Charlie loves to "cowar" with his "Nannie"