Charlie is 2-1/2!

Somehow our Charlie Jack is already 2-1/2. 
Seems like just yesterday Trey and I found out we were pregnant with him, and now he is speeding through his toddler years and is a big brother!  Good thing we've already started saving for college. 

Since he turned 2, Charlie has changed A LOT.  He has grown taller, leaner (much to my dismay) and his hair is outta control adorably curly.  His eyes have changed from blue to green, and he has 2 dimples instead of 1.  I'm certain he's the cutest 2-1/2 year old boy in this world.

In the past few months his vocabulary has grown tremendously- he's pretty much able to say whatever he needs to.. but of course not without Charlie-isms.  Some of our favorites:

"My be right back!"

"I yuv you!"

"You hear dat?"

"I dancin'!"

"I gonna get chu!"

"Supa why!"

"My like it!" or "My don't like it."

"Ima show you sumpthin." 

"I comin'!"

"You're okay Baby Henny"
 

"Mama, I want dat popsicle!" 

"Charlie, you need to ask nice."

"Niiiiiiiiiiice!" 

His interests are also changing- while he still loves anything to do with being outside, and cars, he's also developed a slight obsession with "the ABC's".  (Yay!)  His favorite shows are Word World and Super Why on PBS.  He's constantly playing with his alphabet magnets and asking me to draw certain letters on his magna doodle.  He can recognize all the letters and can tell you that C is for Charlie, D is for Dada, G is for Grammy, M is for Mama, B is for Baby, etc. 

Other things Charlie loves at 2-1/2:

Blocks, Chocolate milk, Helping me cook/bake, Crafts, I Spy books, Anything to do with animals, Applesauce & Yogurt, his Pillowpets & Blankets, iPad games, Fruit Snacks, Trains.



This little boy brings so much happiness into our lives and keeps us on our toes.  It's hard to remember our life without him.  Terrible Twos?  No way. 

Just look at him!

Sweet Boy with letter stickers all over his shirt.  I melt!

Mama & Dada love you Charlie!

Short But Sweet Trip to Midland

After our vacay in Hereford, the boys and I drove down for a quick visit to Midland.
Charlie was so excited to go Grandpa & Bebe's house and this was the 1st time Grandpa met Henry! 

I'd say they hit it off pretty well!

Grandpa has a whole garage full of stuff that made great imaginative toys for Charlie.  He had a ball learning to hammer with a 'real' hammer.  They also and made big airplanes, air craft carriers and tin can bombs!  Henry was perfectly content watching them. 

Then Grandpa brought out clothespins and popsicle sticks and they made little airplanes.  This was a HUGE hit... so huge we brought them home with us and the fun continues even today! 

CA Peeps: Flashback on Trey's clothespin? 

Then of course after putting together their airplanes they had to play with them! 

Grandpa's airplane chasing Charlie's bomber airplane.

While they were playing Airplanes, Henry got some Bebe love. 

The boys are so lucky to have such great Grandparents! 

Another highlight of the trip was getting to see GG (Trey's Grandma), Aunt Martha, and cousins Robert, Jessica and Zoe!  They all came over for dinner and to visit.  I know Trey was sad he missed seeing everyone!  

Four Generations!  (Minus Trey)
Very special!

We'll be returning to Thanksgiving and I know all of us are looking forward to it!  

Our Little Vacation

The small Panhandle town of Hereford, TX was the destination of our little 10 day vacation.  There's not a lot going on there compared to Houston, but it was just what we needed.  My dad lives on the edge of town on a little bit of land with a huge backyard, 4 dogs and 2 horses.  Charlie was in heaven!  The weather was gorgeous, too!  We just relaxed and spent time together outside and taking it easy. 

Charlie and their dog Beau became inseparable.  Beau is obsessed with balls & fetching and Charlie loves a dog's attention.  They were the perfect pair! 

He was never bored- so much to do outside!

Charlie helped his Papa feed the horses every day.  He'd say, "Those are MY Horses."  When it was time to ride, he loved it!

Charlie wasn't the only one who enjoyed the quiet, country life!  Henry did a whole lot of relaxing and chillin' too!

He got a lot of attention from his Papa, Mamy & Uncle Nathan!

Aunt Emma came to visit, too!

Even bath time was fun.

It was a great visit and we are looking forward to doing it again next Spring! 

Road Trip!

Hello friends.  Are you still there? 

Sorry about the lack of posts this month but we have a great excuse!  September is proving to spoil our boys- the entire month they will have been visiting with their AWESOME Grandparents- all of them! 

My Dad's family lives up in Hereford (by Amarillo), Trey's family is in Midland, and my mom's family is here in Katy.  Pretty spread out over the great state of Texas.  We figure while our boys are not in school and I am not working we need to take advantage and travel to them every now and then for a nice, long visit.

We left on Labor Day weekend for an overdue visit to the lovely Panhandle.  That's a 650 mile drive, folks!  Trey and I have made it several times but never with a 2-1/2 year old and a 5 month old.  I was expecting to have to stay overnight about halfway but my boys were PERFECT in the car.  Amazing.  Charlie has always loved the car- he can entertain himself pretty easily and was thrilled to get to watch movies in the car - WITH headphones!  Henry on the other hand... doesn't like his car seat.  At all.  We found as long as he could see one of us he was happy.  We drove straight through and made it in about 11 hours- stopped only 3 times.

1st time using headphones!

Cute Henry playing with his toys

Road trips aren't complete without treats!  C's 1st tootsie pop.

Henry stretching his legs during a gas break.

Trey had to fly back on Monday to go back to work (so sad!), but the boys & I stayed at my Dad's for 10 glorious days!  It was so nice to relax in the quiet, small town and let the boys spend time with their Papa & Mamy. 

Since Trey wasn't going to be driving back to Houston with us, I wanted to break up the long drive home.  What better way than to stop in Midland to visit with Bebe & Grandpa?  So off we went...

This was an easy 3-1/2 hour drive- thankfully because this was the only stretch I had without a copilot/baby tamer.

Our break on the way to Midland.  Henry was not as amused this time.

"Out of my way, Peeps!"

West Texas in a nutshell. 

We stayed in Midland for 2 fun days and then Bebe was kind enough to join us for the 500 mile trek back to Houston!  It went okay.. not terrible but after about 5 hours in the car Henry was not happy.  We were all ecstatic to pull into our driveway.  Charlie ran through the house squealing: "My house!  My room!  My book!  My Kyla! (dog) My Dada! My CARS!" 

It was no doubt a fun and successful 1400 mile road trip- one we'll repeat again but not for a few more months.  :)