Charlie's First Birthday

The day was full of a playdate with our friends CJ and Lillia followed by opening of presents and then cake. It is a busy time of year and we all made quite the effort to keep the birthday separate from Christmas activities. He was a bit scared of his cake I think and didn't actually eat any of it. I probably made it a bigger deal than it needed to be but it is kind of fun to see a 1 year old destroy a cake. Owen enjoyed a huge cupcake to go with the celebration and ofcourse helped open all of the gifts. It is interesting how much owen is playing with Charlie's new toys vs his own. Jealous much? Not sure but our house is a MESS. Hope everyone had a great holiday!

California trip

We ventured down to Orange county in early December to celebrate Don's Birthday early and to enjoy family and some sunshine. Owen, bob and Jill took a day down to Legoland with Aunt Jean and cousin Henry and had a great time. The weather was perfect and the boys had such a great time. Owen had to get his face painted in a big black spider which continued to become a giant mess as the day wore on . We had lots of visits from all family members from both sides of the family and it was such fun to see everyone. Owen even tried to be a drummer as that is what he wants to be when he grows up. Lucky me! happiness to everyone....talk soon

Just wanted to add some more pictures. Chalie has horrible diaper rash so he has been crawling around naked a lot lately. I love naked baby butt!!!!!

Halloween and stuff

So a lot has been going on ofcourse with halloween and getting into fall. Owen dressed as Skeleton bones for halloween, just as long as it had a mask.....and Charlie tried to be a giraffe but it was just too big so we settled for a great race car driver jumpsuit thing (pj's from costco!). we had a great night in a wonderful neighborhood which started with a halloween party at Sophies with activities, dinner and games, then trick or treating in the famous neighborhood whitley hills. People drive their kids in and they hire cops to police the area because there are so many people.....600 I think last year. Owen was very much into ringing doorbells and saying trick or treat and actually walked inside a few houses...we have some ironing out to do next year. he had so much fun. Charlie was great in his stroller, managed to stay awake for over 7 hours - very long stretch for him and he didn't get cranky. it was great.

Soccer ended in the middle of October and he had a great time. I think we might try t-ball in the spring...not sure yet. We love watching football on Sundays and going out and playing a little ball in the front yard.

Charlie has started crawling and we are busying pulling dog bowls out of the way and watching that he doesn't get too stuck. Gates are back up and we are very busy watching the two run wild.

soccer and stuff

Owen started playing soccer this fall and has had 4 practices/games. All done in one day so that is nice. He plays on a team of 4 yr olds - mix of boys and girls. He loves it at least I think he does. He gets very involved and so emotional at times that the tears can flow pretty easily. His good friend emily is on the team so that makes him very happy. They played in the wet cold rain this weekend but still had a good time.

We also visited some friends a few weekends back and Owen was eager to play football with the older boys Ryker and Jordan.

Charlie met up with his friend Lillia while big brothers Owen and CJ played at the water sprayer and at the climbing park. Lillia is about 6 weeks younger than Charlie but already crawling a bit and holding her own bottle. I think she is in a rush to catch up and pass her big brother CJ.

Owen, Charlie and Dad have been wrestling more and more as mom stands back and yells at everyone imagine that. It is pretty fun to watch Charlie grow bigger and start to play more with the big boys

Charlie's First haircut

Sept 8 2009 - Charlie's first haircut - 8 months old.

The before....

Summer Vacation, Denver August 2009

The Ghent family ventured to denver colorado for the annual Tomlinson side family get together of sorts. It was a very busy week with lots of activities, especially swimming. Owen started the week wearing his life jacket in the pool and pretty unwilling to put his face in the water, by the end of the week he was "swimming" around by himself with his floaties on. We visited with old friends, played in the front yard and took a trip to the zoo. Bob and Jill ventured to Winter Park for a couple of days while the kids stayed behind with grandma and grandpa. It was a nice getaway for a few days. The whole vacation was a great visit and a joy to see the whole family and for owen and Henry to play together.

Birthday Fun

7-25-09

It has been a very busy few weeks. Owen celebrated his birthday a bit early with a wonderful party at the local park with friends, family and an awesome bouncy house. The kids jumped for hours and we hope that we contributed to a good nights sleep that night. The party theme was Spiderman and Batman (ofcourse!) with a spiderman cake and a batman pinata. It was crazy to plan and to pull off but we were able to do it (thanks to some extra hands from Papa Don and Nama Rain).

After the birthday party, we continued to prolong the birthday and celebrate the day of and the day after Owen's real birthday. Mom and Dad got Owen a new bike which he couldn't wait to jump on and ride. We had a few crashes during the first ride but he was fine getting right back up and on his way. He is resistant to the brakes and drove himself right into a large hedge (similar to his mother driving into a parked car when she was learning how to ride a bike!) Super fun for the summer

Charlie continues to grow and learn things everyday. He is jumping now in his doorway jumper and his exersaucer to the point that he has a blister on his big toe. He is starting to babble a little more, saying dadadada and gagagaga more. He loves his food, number 2's as Owen likes to call them. The gross pureed stuff from gerber. Whatever makes him happy. He loves to laugh and thinks Owen is great. Still working on the night time sleeping but finally sleeping 2 solid naps during the day.

Unfortunately, we had to put Bailey to sleep on Owen's birthday but we are moving forward. Bob told Owen and I think he is taking it better than anyone. "We still have mac dad, it's ok". Gotta love kids.

Love to All

Jill Bob Owen and Charlie (mac too)

Summer Fun!

7-6-09 Summer fun

We have had a busy few weeks. The weather is finally getting nice here and we have had a few days of 80-90 degree weather which I am just loving. It has allowed us to drag out the pool and have some friends over to swim.

A couple weeks back Charlie and I took a quick trip down to Sacramento to visit family and celebrate the life of Sherie Usi. It was very hot but it was a great way for some of the family to meet Charlie for the first time. We visited with Henry, Matt, Jean, Sophia, Rose and Will. We saw a lot of family throughout the weekend which was great. We missed Owen and Bob but they had a good boys weekend too.

4th of July: we spent the 4th close to home to make sure the dogs were ok and since the boys still go to bed about 2 hours before the sun goes down, fireworks are out of the question. We had some friends over for swimming, bbq and little fireworks in the cul de sac. the interest from the 3 year olds faded fast. The grown ups had more fun than anyone, it turned out to be a great day. The next day we went to a birthday party with pony rides and horse games. Owen was so into it, the most fun I have seen him have at a birthday party yet. I didn't need to help with anything, he rode ponies three times, a pony cart ride and played on the swing set throughout the party. It was great to see him having so much fun.

Along with great summer get togethers, we have found some new parks - water sprayer parks. A great way to stay cool when it gets hot here. Again owen has really enjoyed these new parks as an addition to our park routine.

Never the less, we are having a great summer. Charlie has gotten 2 teeth, the bottom front two. He is eating great, loving his fruits and veggies. He usually eats one serving of fruits and one serving of veggies at breakfast and dinner. He is sleeping great (so to speak) and has been consistently sleeping from 8pm to 4am. not bad. It takes a bit to get him back to sleep but he usually cooperates. He continues to be so happy and just loves Owen.

Happy Summer!

Summer Fun June 09

6-15-09. We have had a busy couple of days enjoying the nice weather as we enter the third week without rain. Some people are beginning to act strange without the rain. I love it. It means more time at the park and outside in the backyard. Charlie has started using his johnny jump up and just loves it. Although he is not jumping, just swinging, he is very content.

Owen has been busy at the park, up the ladders, down the firepole and swinging, lots of swinging. He can pump the swing now and has just started jumping off, oh the things you learn at daycare/preschool. He loves to play with other kids at the park and tries to find a new friend each time. He is working on holding his breath in the bathtub with his goggles to get ready to swim in papa chip's pool. He is getting better.

Bob and Owen went for summer hair cuts and despite my protests, I am slowly learning that I no longer have a say in the length of my sons hair. Summer cut it is, shall we say buzz cut. I miss the curls but know that they will be back in a matter of weeks. It also makes him look 6 instead of 3. We are actively planning the 4th birthday party and will keep everyone up to date!