Christmas, Con't.

The day after Christmas, we went to visit with the Felton side of the family. We actually got a picture of Parker, Jack, Alexis, and Charlotte sitting still and smiling. Compare against the picture from last year--how much they've grown up, especially Parker.

Charlotte sitting pretty with Grandma Nold in the cute Christmas outfit she got for her.

Charlotte and Alexis, looking like a model as usual.

Jack and Parker chowing down. Jack's turning into a great conversationalist. When he sat down at the table, Jack studied Parker for several seconds, and then announced "Monkeys eat bananas." Once that icebreaker was out of the way, he picked up his fork and got down to the business of eating.


Playing with new toys


Marty and Charlotte. Marty was very brave putting Charlotte in this position, since she projectile vomited on him at Thanksgiving!

Aunt Carol and Charlotte

Uncle Bob got some big smiles out of Charlotte!

Christmas

Check out Jack and Charlotte in their cute Christmas pj's from Grandmomma and Granddaddy Fields! We had a wonderful Christmas, and the kids were absolutely spoiled rotten with all the gifts from our family and friends. Thank you everyone!

Grandma and Grandpa Nold, Aunt Lisa, and Macie came over to our house on Christmas Day. We also got to see Grammy and Grampy Jarvis, Grandmomma and Granddaddy Fields, aunts, uncles, and cousins via Skype!

Here's Jack showing off some of his presents. He's got the usual thrilled look kids have on their faces when getting clothes for presents (but he does really like this new monkey shirt and requested to wear it the next day).

Jack was a big fan of the monkey Pillow Pal Grandma Nold got him. It's now in his bed, along with his 500 other monkey stuffed animals.

Why is it they always love the cheapest toys the most at this age?

Charlotte actually took a long nap for once in the afternoon, so the rest of us had fun playing new video games. Andy showed Jack how to be a Hunter Hero with Big Buck Hunter.

Grandma Nold showing off her skills on their new Wii.

Aunt Lisa with Macie and Louie, worn out after a long day of chasing each other and gorging on Christmas doggy treats.

Christmas Eve

Here's the first of what will probably take 3 blog entries to get all our pictures posted. And since I return to work tomorrow, we'll see how long that ends up taking me!

On Christmas Eve, we went to the Murantes' house. Sammy and Shannon fixed a wonderful dinner for us and friends Tiff and Dean. Jack got to hang out with Luke (4) and Sammy (2). Here was the kids' setup for dinner (which they barely ate, since they filled up on chocolate-covered pretzels beforehand!)

The kids kept swapping Iphones to play each others' games

After dinner, we got online to track Santa's location. Ah, the wonders of modern technology!


After a while, Charlotte just couldn't keep her eyes open any longer.



We hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!

Trains and reminiscing

Jack, Charlotte, and I went to visit Grandma and Grandpa Nold yesterday. We checked out some of the attractions in Western Springs--the library, which had an awesome children's section and this cool train; and then lunch afterward at a restaurant called Snacker's.

After posting Charlotte's 3-month entry, I took a trip down memory lane and looked at pictures of Jack at Charlotte's age. I had to laugh at remembering what a beast he was. I think his thighs had their own zip code.



Here's one of Charlotte for comparison.

It's hard to believe how much Jack has changed as he's grown from a chubbalicious baby into a sweet, almost 3-year old boy. I'm sure in a couple years Charlotte won't look anything like her baby pictures either.

Merry Christmas Eve!

3 Months Old

Hey there, it's me Charlotte. I'm actually not 3 months old until Friday, but mom says we're going to be busy on the 24th and 25th with this Christmas thing everyone keeps talking about. So I figured I'd better write my 3-month post now.

Whoa, mom! That flash is bright!

I've been very busy this past month learning all sorts of new tricks. I discovered that people's faces are my favorite things to look at, and I like to give big smiles when they smile at me. I've also been testing out my voice lately with some coos and gurgles.

My head and neck muscles are getting really strong. I can lift my head up and look around when I'm lying on my stomach. I've also been able to roll from my back to my side for a couple weeks now. Mom says I enjoy tummy time much more than my big brother did, and she thinks because of that I'm ahead of where he was at this age, ha ha!

Let's see, what else can I tell you about me? I still puke a lot; no change there. I've also become very unpredictable with my daytime napping over this past month. Some days I'll take a good nap or two, and other days I decide I barely want to nap at all. I think Mom's a bit irritated with me about this issue, but at least I've been trying to make up for it at night. I'll occasionally want to get up in the night to eat, but for the most part I sleep for a good 7-8 hour stretch at night these days. Maybe if Mom's lucky I'll decide to keep that up.

Here's me lifting my head up.

And taking a breather. Moving around is tiring work!

Here's me and my big brother Jack. I think he's pretty cool.

Children's museum

I was looking back at recent blog entries and realized I forgot to congratulate our friends Matt and Katie on the birth of their first child! Welcome to Whitney Alexis Cavanaugh, who was born just before Thanksgiving.

Earlier this week, Ashley and I escaped the monotony of being inside and took the kids to the Children's Museum at Navy Pier. We were joined by our friends Courtney and Jill, and their kids Will (8 mos) and Sam (4 mos). This huge Mad Hatter-esque couch made for a great photo backdrop.

Charlotte was fussy and not content in her stroller, so I wore her for the majority of our time at the museum.

Sam, Jack, me, Charlotte, and Ashley

We actually got Sam and Jack to look straight at the camera for one picture!

Here were 2 of Jack's favorite attractions: the huge ceiling fan in the atrium, and the streamers at the entrance of the exhibits.


Over 3 feet tall!!

How fitting that Jack was able to play with a stoplight, since he's recently become fixated on them. During car rides, he says "red means stop" and "green means go" at stoplights. EVERY stoplight.

Mr. Bus driver


Picking up a turkey at the store

Mailing some letters

Jack loved this track for balls along the wall of the big treehouse

Jack and Ashley playing with cars


We had a great visit and enjoyed getting all the kids together. I'll miss being able to do these day trips when I go back to work in just over a week!