Our Favorite Person

Charles and I would like to say happy birthday to the Hooch's Dad. We are so lucky to have him. We love you and hope you have a great birthday.

*These pictures are a little old but they are the only ones I found on my computer at work. They do help to highlight why he is our favorite. Plus he makes a great cat house out of Legos.

In the middle

Do you ever find yourself in the middle? I was there often growing up as the third of six kids (3rd of 5 sisters). Anyway, I am feeling that theme more than ever at my home. You would think I would be used to it but it is killing me. First is poor Chad. The bar exam has been studied for and taken but the results aren't in until November. So he waits as he is told he is over-qualified for Nordstroms but under-qualified for a "real" job (need to have that passing bar score). Charles is not a baby but I don't think he is a little boy yet. Sometimes I see him riding a scooter by himself or starting to drink from a cup and I think he is officially a little boy. But then I see him sleeping in his crib or running after his dad and he looks so little and I know he is still a baby boy. Now me. I'm 15 weeks along with baby two and I am definitely showing. Some regular clothes fit, although maybe not well but maternity stuff is big (even though at the end I grow out of most of them). Then Sunday I was sure I felt the baby move twice, but alas no weird fish feeling Monday or today yet. The funny thing is soon Chad will be working, Charles will officially be a little boy (or I will officially accept it) and I will be very large and wish this baby didn't move so much as I am trying to sleep and then I will miss being in the middle.

Baby Stats

Recently, Charles went to the doctor for his 2 year appointment. Besides crying throughout the whole appointment (happy as a clam until he enters the exam room and then happy when we walk out), he did pretty well. He received good comments on everything, especially how strong he is when we are trying to hold him down for the ear inspection (otoscopy). He is 35 1/2 inches tall (its an inch taller than average which I guess it a lot), although I'm sure his second cousin Nolan has him beat. He weighs 26 pounds, which I'm told is a good, lean weight. He asked about speech and I wished Charles would talk for him instead of cry because he talks a ton. All and all he is a healthy 2 year-old boy and we are so proud.


The other baby is growing nicely, we assume. We saw him or her about 3 weeks ago and the feet were moving. The heart beat seemed good too and we hope to hear that heart beat next week when I go in at 13 weeks. He or she is not really making much of an appearance in the stomach area unless you see me at the end of the day after dinner. We can't wait until October to see more of him or her or wait until March 7th for that matter to see all of him or her.

Two Great Years

Charles didn't stop growing up, even though I asked him to stop, and now today he turned two. We had a nice family party yesterday and today was more quiet but I think we still made it fun (it helped that we have a lot of new toys to play with).
Charles 2 years ago:

Charles 1 years ago:

Yesterday at his Mickey Mouse party:

Thanks to family and friends who showered him with presents. We have already tried everything out and Charles has given everything his stamp of approval.

Charles chose pudding over cake (no surprise) and so we had pudding cups. They may be messier (see Cale below) than cupcakes so we might have to switch back.

Charles this morning on his actual birthday:

Happy Birthday Charles!

Bonus-
Cale a year ago and yesterday:

Visiting Grammy and Grandpa

Last Friday we went to Marine World. We decided to leave a little early so we could stop by the cemetery in Vallejo where Grammy and Grandpa are buried. Hooch wasn't too sure about it at first but after a few minutes didn't really mind.

Here is me and Hooch.

Here is Hooch visiting with Grammy.

He held onto that little flower for most of the day.

Here he is visiting with Grandpa.

Exciting Happenings

The best thing that has happened to our family is Chad's recent completion of the California Bar Exam. It was one of the toughest weeks for the both us, although Chad wins by a mile if we were to compare. I learned that Charles and I would be an awful military family. I hated being a "single mom" and Charles cried out for Dad-E every time he went back to his hotel. I have much respect for single moms and those with husbands that have jobs that take them away. You are stronger than me. Thanks to everyone who supported Chad (and I) through the whole Bar Exam thing.

The next exciting thing was that Charles, Grandma and I got to visit Chad's sisters Breanna and Katie and their families. They showed us a great time (water park, zoo, BYU, treehouse musuem) and Charles loved to play with his cousins as long as they weren't playing with his Grandma. We also got to visit Jenna, a college roommate of mine, whose baby was due while we were there but baby Addison had other plans. From Jenna's blog she seems to have been worth the wait. Grandma, Katie and Breanna-Thanks for the visit.















The third thing was being able to go to San Francisco with my Mom and a chunk of my siblings and relatives to see Wicked. It was a birthday present from my mom and pretty good one. I really liked the story, espeically the ending. Please see Marianne or Andi's blog for any pictures.

The fourth and last exciting thing has been Charles himself. He talks a ton, usual just asking for pudding, a cookie or an otter-pop. He is getting good at singing songs and putting puzzles together. He is also just funny. He likes to steal our pillows, jump on the bed and pretend his animals are biting his fingers. We are blessed.

Random Hooch

Charles has been doing some pretty funny stuff lately. It seems as he gets closer to his 2nd birthday he is growing up so fast. He loves to climb on stuff and jump off the couch. He likes to play catch and basketball. He also likes trains, motorcycles, cars, airplanes, and any other type of motor vehicle.

Here is Hooch with his grandma.

He also loves animals. He likes to put things in a line.

We went to Old Sacramento to check out the Disney Christmas Carol train. Instead of waiting 2 hours to go through the train, we decided to check out the railroad museum.

We went to a Sacramento River Cats baseball game with grandma and grandpa Bacchus and Aunt Amy and cousin Sydnee.

Here he is standing in the bucket that houses his stuffed animals.