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.