Go Clones and 5 Month Update

BJ, Charlie and Papa Steve have season tickets this year for the ISU basketball games and I'm not sure who is more excited - BJ for the opportunity to create a basketball/Cyclones fan or Charlie who usually gets popcorn AND ice cream during the basketball game. 

Charlie seems to be entering a pretty fun stage with some (not all) of the toddler tantrums behind me.  Some of his recent exclamations include "I don't believe it" (while slapping his hand on his leg) and "this is ridiculous" (oops - that one probably comes from me).  He continues to look forward to seeing Lucy every morning and will frequently ask what his "baby Ludy" is doing.  Luckily, the affection seems mutual. 

Lucy turned 5 months old yesterday and she continues to be a source of pure joy for our family.  The smiles are plenty and the cries are almost non-existent so it's easy to be smitten.  She continues to be a little peanut - she weighed 12.9 pounds at her four month check-up, which is roughly 16th percentile (Charlie was always in the 90th percentile during his first year), and she hasn't shown any interest in rice cereal yet.  Lucy loves her bath but her favorite pasttime continues to be "talking" and being talked to - the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.  She continues to be ridiculously happy and, for as many smiles as she gives each day, I can guarantee that she is the cause for as many smiles between BJ, Charlie and myself.

We had a fun weekend last weekend with my sister Molly and her family.  As always, Charlie and Lucy enjoyed the added attention and all of the love from their cousins.

Christmas 2012

It's hard to believe that Christmas has been here and gone.  We were snowed in on the Thursday before Christmas and Charlie was very excited to go outside and help BJ shovel snow.  It took at least 10 minutes to help him put all of the necessary clothing on and he was outside for all of 2 minutes.  I think that his love for the outdoors stops when the temperatures fall below freezing.

 We celebrated Christmas with my side of the family on Sunday the 23rd and Charlie was so excited to see all of his cousins.  A quick photo of the crew with Grandma and Grandpa Gehl.

 The picture below is indicative of the difference between Charlie and Lucy - Charlie was already sweating so he took off his sweater and Lucy was wrapped in an extra blanket because she always seems chilly.

 We celebrated with BJ's side of the family on the morning of the 24th and we were able to get a quick picture of the Supple grandkids with Nana Jan, Papa Steve and Great Grandma Kate.

 Charlie's excitement over playing with Max started to turn into more tackles than hugs - which was a surefire sign that he was headed for exhaustion....

 Lucy was just happy to lay on the floor and quick during the present-opening extravaganza.

 Moments later, Charlie was sprawled out in the middle of wrapping paper, muttering.  Someone needed to get that kid a nap.

 Thankfully, he was able to get a nap in on the ride back to Norwalk.

 Back home and fully rested, we made a fresh batch of sugar cookies to leave out for Santa Claus.

 And this is the point of the story when I have all of these wonderful pictures of Christmas Day and the Charlie and Lucy seeing their presents from Santa.  I did take photos, but I haven't been able to upload those photos to the blog and my head might explode if I spend any more time trying.  Despite any photo evidence, we had a great Christmas Day at home and ended the night by taking a drive through the Jolly Holiday light display in downtown Des Moines.  The only bummer of the day was when Charlie realized that Buddy the Elf left our house to go back to the North Pole with Santa.  Charlie was pretty sad, but we assured him that Buddy will be back next year (or earlier if we need to play the Santa is watching you card).

This past Sunday, Nana Jan, Papa Steve and Max came to spend the night in Des Moines.  Charlie got to spend the day with them swimming at their hotel and we snapped a quick picture before taking Charlie home for the night. 

Although our visits to Cascade seem very short and jam-packed, it's always nice to see family, a few friends and have our kids get to know their cousins.

Best wishes for 2013.