Welcome, Baby Elizabeth!

Have you heard the good news? About my adorable, lovable, absolutely squishable niece who was just born halfway across the world from me?

Introducing Miss Elizabeth, who happens to have one darling dimple in her cheek. I love her. And I wish I could hold her! I feel lax in my duties as her auntie! I'm so proud of my little sis, Catherine and her hubby, Richard. They are incredible parents!!

Charlie- 15 months

Charlie's gaining new skills all the time, so quickly that I am in awe of the human brain. He's making so many connections and growing so much every day.

He's mastered more signs and can now sign more, food, down, all done, outside, water and help.

He's getting a new phrase or word almost every day! His latest are "What is it?" and "Where is it?" He's also said, "Where's Dad?" and "Peekaboo!" This morning he said "spoon" and "bowl" and of course, he loves to say "broom" as he pushes around one of his many brooms.



He's finally weaned from the swaddle! He still needs a bottle to go to bed, but he's still a baby, so it doesn't bother me at all. He's started to get attached to blankies and likes to stroke them against his head when he's falling asleep. He's sleeping through the night about 6 nights out of 7, which is dreamy. He goes down around 7 pm and usually wakes up between 6:30 and 7:30 am.

He learned how to give high fives, which we love so much!

We went on a training Pioneer trek this weekend and left Charlie with Grandma T. It was my first time away from him and we both did great! (Good practice for the real trek in a couple of weeks!)

Going on a walk with Charlie and James. It was good training for pulling a handcart because these two together are HEAVY!

Happy Father's Day...

to these special guys...

Uncle Steve

Grandpa (also known as "Papa") Mark

Uncle Mark

Grandpa T

Uncle Richard, who became an official dad this week!

But to us, the most important guy of all, the Daddy of our lives is Johnny. There's no one else that Charlie and I would rather see walk through the door at the end of every day. We love you!

How Twilight Should Have Ended

This is pretty funny! via Mormon Mommy Wars

Charlie- 14 months

Charlie has continued to be so much fun! I love that he's walking now- it makes playing outside so much easier. The weather has continued to be very unpredictable (even by Utah standards) so we haven't spend as much time outside as we've liked. Charlie loves playing in the backyard, especially picking up rocks, which he loves to put in his mouth. We are teaching him to throw them instead, which I'm sure we will regret eventually!

Here's some other tidbits about our Che!

-He's growing out of his size 4 diapers and weighs 28 lbs and 8 oz.

-He likes to point to my eyes, nose and mouth- he's still working on pointing to his own.

-Charlie is learning about sharing and taking turns- he especially loves to practice with food. He thinks it is the funniest thing to feed me bites of his food.

Want some of my apple, Mom?

-He's a little champ at walking now and prefers it over crawling.

Practicing his walking in the backyard

-He's cut four new teeth bringing his grand total up to 8.

-He tries to talk more and often will mimic us. The other week in church he kept saying "Amen" after us. So darling. He now says "down" regularly, while pointing down. He has said some more two word sentences, including "Hi, Ma" (hi, mom) and "Hi, Da" (hi, dad). He's also said "Grandma" and "Grandpa", both in person and while looking at pictures of his grandparents.

Charlie showing off his new sign and word, "down"

-He survived his first camping trip in Escalante and road trip (lots of driving!) and was a little trouper. He even fell asleep in the backpack during two different hikes!

Charlie's first hike, Bryce Canyon, 2010

-He's been trying out some new summer foods- he loves watermelon, corn on the cob, strawberries, and zucchini

reading a book with Dad

Charlie couldn't resist getting into the shower with all of his clothes on

Charlie and Aunt Barb or as Sam and Lily call her, "Grandma Barbara"

Charlie and Grandma Sue

Charlie, we adore you and every day we find ourselves saying how lucky we are to have you!

One more note about CBC

I was telling Chelsea, my sister-in-law, about the Casual Blogger Conference and I was able to distill what I gained from it into three points. (It was a rare moment of clarity in my chaotic mind).

-I gained confidence to own the title "blogger" and to mingle with my cohorts in a conference setting. I thought I would be more nervous, but I wasn't. I just had fun. (It helped that I had my security blanket, Casey, with me).

-I gained an understanding of where I am in life. I missed my family. I want and need to be home with them full time. I received such a strong affirmation that this is the season of my life to be a mother and to give my attention to that. I will still continue blogging as a hobby, but I'm not going to try to turn it into more than that right now. I have enough other things taking my time and attention away for now (hello, 11 hours of school).

-That being said, I gained the realization that I need to find my voice and my niche (what am I an authority on?) in the blogging world. I have some time to develop this (see previous point) but I still want to refine myself as a blogger.