Checklist

So, I have been absent from the computer for a bit these days. Partly because I'm enjoying this time of year in full force...but mostly it is because Max is cramming to finish his blasted Math class that has 3 degrees resting on it and since April we have been sharing one computer.

So here is one of my typical checklists that is mainly to remind me of what I would blog about if I have time...and to throw some intrigue out there!

• Christmas cheer part x-Christmas tree farm, snowflakes, snow, snowman, progressive dinner, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Day after, Roller skating
• My new job
• Charlie's Walking attempts
• My husband is finally within reach of getting his diploma

That's all I can think of now! Intrigued?

The things we laugh at!

Speaking of being childish...there have been a handful of times within the last year when I have thought to myself "are we mature enough to raise a child?" I know we're doing just fine but then there are occasions like this, and I wonder...

I know I will probably regret putting the following pictures on our blog but this is an aspect of our life and it should be documented. This is also a hot date idea when you can't leave the house...

Max likes to imagine life with hair. Luckily he has me, who has more than enough to share...

And look at all the hairstyles we can make while siting in front of the bathroom mirror laughing our heads off. 

I think he looks beautiful just the way he is...however, this was hours of fun!
and I'm pretty sure no one will find this as amusing as us...that's all.

Christmas Cheer Part II

It's really fun to get into the season and we don't have to feel guilty or weird about doing childish activities because now we have a child (let's face it, we never felt guilty about being childish before) So yes, our house is now decorated with a countdown to Christmas paper chain, some homemade ornaments, and it will soon have paper snowflakes adorning the walls. Most of these activities have been while Charlie was strapped into his high chair or in bed...so Max and I are really the ones having all the fun. We have also been reading a scripture about Christmas every night with Charlie. 

In response to the comments of the previous post...here is a "grown man" under a tree.

My boys are just too precious

We found a "make your own stained glass ornament kit" and that turned out to be our Family Home Evening on Monday. Charlie couldn't stay up until they were done but he had fun watching from his high chair when we got started.

There was so much anticipation...we had to sit at the oven and watch the beads melt. 

Aren't they beautiful

Anyway, those are some of our Christmas activities. We love this time of year and the time we get together as a family!!

Christmas Cheer!

I love decorating for Christmas, we still don't have as many decorations as I would like but we are slowly accumulating them. We actually decorated 2 weeks ago so this is a bit late but it still as true today as it was two weeks ago. 

The day I wanted to decoraste, our living room was still full of tons of boxes. Instead of unpacking we just moved all our boxes to the extra room.

Anyway, we cranked up the Christmas music, heated some spiced cider on the stove and got down to business.

I love having a baby that gets excited about all the new things around him. 

Charlie was a bit startled by the lights at first.  

But then they grew on him :)

And yes, we still believe it is blasphemous to be full Oregonian with a fake tree. I love the experience of going  to cut down our own tree but this tree was half the price of a real tree and we've already used it for three years.

 Our home is becoming a lot more homey!! I love it!

And Charlie Boy...1 year difference

2011

2012

That's all for now!

House update: Part 2

As I mentioned a post ago, we came home to a freshly painted house and it was probably the best surprise ever as it saved as a lot of work and a lot of camping out time. We felt like we had been camping because we only brought the bare minimum when we moved in. We didn't want big bulky furniture to get in the way of all the painting. It took forever to get to the painting because of a lot of other much needed prep work such as insulation, patching the holes, electrical work etc. SO we had been camping out, what seemed to us, a long time. Here are a couple before/after pictures to show the beauty.

Living room BEFORE

Living room AFTER

Living room BEFORE

Living room AFTER

Dining room BEFORE

Dining room AFTER

Office/Spare room BEFORE

Office/Spare room AFTER

Master bedroom BEFORE

Master Bedroom AFTER

I didn't clean up any messes before taking pictures because shortly thereafter we brought in the rest of our junk and made an even bigger mess. Now, pretty much all of our stuff is here except for my piano.
We can now install our light fixtures, put up pictures, baby proof a bit more, and install blinds/curtains.
We still have a little bit of camping ahead of us because we don't have bars in our closets to hang anything and we are still not able to use our kitchen cabinets and drawers until we finish the prep and painting on those. However, we feel so blessed that we have come this far with this project and are getting all settled in for the Christmas season.

Utah

We took our third trip to Utah of the year. I guess it was only the third for Charlie and me and the second for Max. We just can't stay away from all our wonderful friends there. Oddly enough, all the wonderful people we love in Utah were friends we met outside of Utah (Oregon, California, Armenia...) but somehow they all congregated there. Weird. This time we went to see the precious 1-week-old Lacey Rose Patterson. Our best friends Richard and Marissa had a beautiful baby girl on November 11. ( 1 day before Charlie's birthday, also she was born at 9:32 am and Charlie was born at 9:31am) I think there's some irony in there somewhere.

Anyway, the trip kind of sneaked up on us even though we were planning on going to see this baby girl since March and participate in her baby blessing. Two days before we left we decided that it would be ideal if we got all our windows, floors, moldings, etc taped off and prepared for the man to come and texture our walls and ceilings. We worked hard to get as much of the prep work and taping of done as we could. It was tiring work but we got a lot done and our contractor and painter agreed to finish whatever taping off we didn't get done. We hoped they would be able to finish everything and we could just work on the painting and priming when we got back...this story will be continued at the end of the post...now back to our Utah trip.

We left around 8ish on a Wednesday morning. The drive went pretty smoothly after Charlie threw a fit and we turned his car seat to forward facing. He also is a much happier traveler when Max or I am sitting back with him. So it all worked out. We arrived in Utah around 10:30 and stayed with our great friends Anna and Buck and June.

Thursday: We hung out at Anna and Bucks house most of the day. Anna and I even got a little trip to the Mall while Max watched the two kids at once. Anna also did a one year old photo shoot for Charlie. She gave me a coupon for a free photo at my baby shower before I left Utah and I finally got to redeem it.
June and Charlie played so nice together.

Charlie also had a ton of fun on June's swing. 

And Charlie chased June while she slowly backed away.

That evening we went for a short visit with Richard and Marissa so we could spend a little time with that sweet baby girl before all their families came into town.

Friday Morning. Max took Anna, Buck, and June to the airport so they could go on their Thanksgiving vacation while leaving the house in our care. After Charlie's morning nap, we went to BYU campus to relive some memories. We took Charlie all through the library and the Bookstore and ended our little tour with a trip to the BYU creamery.

You can't tell from his face here, but he was really enjoying the ice cream. 

We then went to the Riverwood Mall to meet up with another really good friend from Oregon. Megan Jackson (Nelson) and also to meet her two little girls that we had never met before. Megan was one of our best friends in High school so it was fun to visit her a little bit. We also got to see them turn on the Christmas lights and we even got a glimpse of Santa.

Here are some pictures.

Kylee and Charlie

These two busy kids can't look at the camera at the same time. 

We love them

The visit with Megan was brief but great. she is an awesome friend.

We then went home to put Charlie to bed. Max and I enjoyed watching movies!

Saturday, Max woke up sick, as in we didn't really want to leave and risk being anywhere far from a bathroom kind of sick. Sorry Buck and Anna, it was probably better that you were gone. :)

We ended up just hanging out at there house. I took some trips to the store. We did try a little outing to the park across the street but it didn't take long before we had to get back home quick! Haha!

Charlie found a stick, and he was pretty proud of it. 

Sunday, Max was feeling much better which was great because that was the day of Lacey's baby blessing and the main reason we came to Utah. We went to a sacrament meeting at 11:00am with Richard and his and Marissa's family. After the meeting we went to a home of a Patterson relative for the baby blessing. Richard gave Lacey a beautiful blessing. We then mingled with their family members. They are wonderful friends especially because they both grew up in the same area as Max and me. We feel that we know their families and they know us pretty well. Even Richard's grandparents knew us from visiting Richards family in our high school years. They gave us a very warm welcome.

And here is the happy family.

Charlie and Lacey are going to be the best of friends! Especially if they move back to Oregon soon ;)

  

  We ate an amazing meal and played for awhile. Richard's little brothers (who were chubby little babies last time I saw them) loved playing with Charlie.
We finally had to part our ways and head back to the house to get our baby in bed. We love these people so much. After putting Charlie to bed we packed up everything to be ready to leave in the morning.

Monday morning we cleaned up and left. Charlie did great on the drive back. We arranged to stay at my grandma's house when we got back because we were going to be getting back pretty late and our house was all taped up and furniture stacked in piles and covered. I also didn't know how strong the paint fumes would be for Charlie so it was best to do this. The next morning, while eating breakfast at my grandma's house, Max got a call from our contractor and we found out that not only was the house textured, it was completely primed, and painted! They figured that while they had the paint gun rented they would just complete the whole project. The colors aren't necessarily what we had picked out but it really looks amazing. We got to come home and take all the paper down and enjoy our much more homey-feeling home. It was such a surprise and blessing that they finished that for us!
All in all it was a very successful trip and a wonderful return.