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.

Charles turns one!

I'm a little behind on documenting our big events. I think this is due to using any and all spare time for unpacking, organizing, cleaning, and working on the house. Well, today is Sunday and we are resting from our busy house labors. Max is sleeping and Charlie is sitting on the floor behind me frantically waving a mini Armenian flag and squealing with delight...that being said, let's see if I can get this all written.

We celebrated Charlie's birthday two weeks ago. We decided to throw a little party at our house. In preparation for the party, I was hoping that the walls would be painted and we could remove the paper covering our hardwood floors. That didn't happen but it turned out to be a good party anyway.

We weren't sure who to invite either. We wanted to have lots of other kids here but also, seeing as our family is all close, we felt they all ( at least the grand parents and great grandparents) needed an invite as well. We ended up making it a family only party and all of Charlie's cousins and second cousins could come. We ended up having a very full house, and a fun party!

We played a little game where the guests had to put his pictures in order. There is one from each month of his life. (Thanks Megan, I totally stole this from you)

Before the food was set out. I forget to take one after it was all set out.
We had banana pumpkin bread, meat balls, juice, fruits and veggies, black bottom cupcakes and an area to decorate your own cupcake with neon frosting!

The Fish pinata Max and I slaved over, We were pretty proud of it. 

Instead of hitting the pinata with a bat, I swung  Charlie so he could kick it. He loved it. 

Grace got some good hits. 

August too!

Gwenevere's turn

Brayden showed us how it was done.

Uncle Dan and Uncle Justin finished it off for us!

Totally uninterested in his neon blue cupcake

He finally pinched a little frosting.

Then turned it upside down to eat it!

He got spoiled with tons of toys 

I just love this picture of Grace!

Another Party guest. Our contractor has a dog named Gwenevere so we thought it would by fun for my niece Gwenevere to meet the dog. She loves dogs and has tons of stuffed animals named Gwenevere.  She seemed a little
nervous by this huge dog but her little sister, Grace loved it!

I guess that's all the party pictures. We felt pleased with the party even though our house was unfurnished and unpainted. Charlie had a great time playing with everyone.

And now I have a one year old. So here are some one-year-old stats.

Charlie is 24 lbs 9 oz and 31.5 inches tall (90% for height and 75% for weight) 

He hasn't started walking yet but took a couple steps about 10 days ago. and will sometimes stand on his own.

Charlie has been dancing a ton. He likes to bounce and wave his arms. 

He has recently become a little bit cuddly. He has always been a little wiggle worm but now he gives long hugs while patting us on the back. He will also give us tons of kisses on the lips. I just love this so much.

He squeals with delight most of the time when he see other kids in the grocery store. He also gets incredibly giddy when he sees his cousins August and Andrew. 

His laugh has become more infectious and hearty. I love it. 

He has been sleeping through the night. (I won't elaborate, I don't want to jinx it again) 

He got two more teeth for his birthday bringing the total to 5 with a couple more close behind. 

He is eating pretty much everything we give him. He's not too picky at all. He loves pomegranates, blueberries, lucky charms, turkey, peas, chicken, meatloaf, and so much more. He's recently been able to eat whatever we're eating so that makes things a bit easier.

He got his first haircut but is going to need one again soon.

He gets really excited when he figures things out. For example...how to turn on and off a light switch. how to turn on his noisy toys, how to use his musical instruments properly so they make the most possible noise etc.  

That's all I can think of and I think Charlie is done being patient with me, so there you have it. I think we are going to go decorate our Christmas tree now.