Random

We had some fun visitors this past weekend.  Grandma Jan, Grandpa Steve and Great Grandma Kate came for lunch on Saturday for a couple of hours and Aunt Molly, Uncle Mike and the "girls" (Emma, Claire and Hannah) came later Saturday afternoon and spent the night with us.  Claire also gave us our first official May Day basket and a drawing of her interpretation of a lawyer (which I proudly displayed in my office) and both were awesome.  Thanks again Claire! 

There were many opportunities for some good pictures but I started the Jillian Michaels 30 day shred workout video last week so I was unable to make any sudden movements and grab the camera.  I thought that lugging around a 30 lb. toddler would result in some muscle mass but shockingly, it did not.

I snapped a couple of pictures after dinner tonight of Charlie playing in his race car "ball pit" and I think that the below picture is final evidence that he's no longer a baby...he's a little boy.

Seriously - doesn't he look older than 1?

Picking up the ball pit has become somewhat of a treasure hunt because you never know what you will find - a sippy cup, raisins, Charlie's socks, magnets.  If Copper is ever lost I know the first place to check.

If I hadn't been so honest about my camera struggles, I could claim that the below picture was the result of some photography technique but the truth is that at the last second I pressed a weird button and all but a portion of Charlie's face disappeared.

In other random news, a bird flew into my window at work yesterday morning.  After an hour or so of recuperating (complete with checks every 15 minutes by myself or some of my co-workers), and a debate about whether I should offer him/her (our checks were not THAT thorough) some broken Wheat Thin crackers, it seems that Chipper McDee was back to a non-flying but walking kind of normal.  Then this morning, another bird was on my window ledge and "pecked" at my window a couple of times.  Clearly the windows in my office are too clean and I now have all of the justification I need to avoid washing our windows at our house - all in the name of saving the birds.   

Easter 2011

We came, we saw and we conquered Easter 2011.  Not a very big task when you consider that Charlie was pretty much within a grandparent's reach the entire weekend.  Friday night began with dinner with Grandmas Jan and Kathy and Grandpas Bill and Steve.  Charlie wasn't short of attention the entire night.  Here's a picture of him with my mom following dinner doing what he loves - sitting on a lap and looking at a book.

On Saturday we went to my sister's house to celebrate Easter with my family.  Charlie was pretty excited to be outside for the Easter egg hunt and even ran to this particular egg, but didn't quite get the concept about

 picking up the eggs.

 Emma was kind enough to start handing Charlie eggs, which he thought was pretty fun.

The crew of Gehl cousins - there was lots of fun to be had and we're pretty sure that by Christmas, Charlie will be a really good contender against Dylan and Tyler in their wrestling matches.

 The "Gehl" grandkids and grandparents following the Easter egg hunt.  Note how Charlie is reaching into Dylan's basket while everyone else is looking at a camera.  I guess he figured out the point of then hunt at the last possible minute.

On Sunday, we started with church with BJ's side of the family and TRIED to snap a few decent pictures after church.  Charlie was obsessed with jumping so I decided to post two pictures of Grandma Jan, Grandpa Steve, Cousin Max and Charlie because I don't know that I ever snapped one that was good of all 4 of them.

Then we tried the unthinkable - a family photo.  Or at least a partial photo - Copper was gated in the laundry room because he hasn't been allowed in the same room as Max since Copper got a taste of him back in 2007.  Charlie was in full escape mode and as you will see in the 2nd photo, his need to escape turned into rage when I wouldn't let him get down and run away.   

It's a good thing that the Easter Bunny had already delivered Charlie's basket otherwise the hair pulling incident may have been a deal-breaker.

Speaking of the Easter Bunny - she delivered two new books, Play-Doh filled eggs, bubbles and a lawn mower that blows bubbles.  Thankfully, the Easter bunny realized that the lawn mower slowly leaks the bubble solution before leaving the lawn mower on Steve and Jan's wood floors all night.

 Charlie also got to see Grandma Kathy and Grandpa Bill on Sunday before we headed home so it will go down in his memory as a great weekend!

Siestas

Charlie took a four-hour nap today and was deliriously happy when he awoke.  Smiling and bouncing and giggling.  Further proof that the world might be a happier place if we all took afternoon naps.

I snapped this picture after Charlie went to bed the other night.  I tend to dislike stereotypes, but I'm starting to think that nurture has nothing on nature...

Fifty-Six Years Young

Our first born, Copper, turned fifty-six (8) years young yesterday.  He has made a name for himself (usually in a bad way) every place that we've lived and would give the Dog Whisperer (the real one, not the one we paid gobs of money to in KC) a run for his money.  I spoke with him on Sunday about how he was entering the golden years of his life and that he should really start to reevaluate his behavior towards other people and dogs.  I think that instead of changing his ways, he is going to transition into an old, crabby dog.  Like the old crabby man who kids are afraid to see at Halloween, but if they strike up enough courage to ring his doorbell, they are given a tube of bad toothpaste or a half-rotten orange.  In previous years, we've always celebrated with a birthday cake from a dog bakery, but now that we know the extent of his allergies (he is allergic to human dander now...yes, I know), each of those birthday cakes probably shaved 2 years off of his life.  So this year it was just extra TLC for our Squirrel Pup. 

We had some great weather this weekend so we took Charlie and Copper to the park by our house.  Charlie loved the swing, but refused to look up towards the camera.

A picture of Copper enjoying the view from a park bench...barking at children, one of his favorite activities.  Copper had to stay off of the playground because he is (of course) allergic to mulch.

Sunday was even warmer than Satruday and when Charlie woke up from his nap, his hair was curly so I had to snap a few pictures.  The front wasn't too crazy...

...but the sides and back were something to behold.  Never mind that his cheeks were stuffed with grapes.

I tried to get Charlie to smile at the camera and that is when the shenanigans began...

 ...more tomfoolery.

A picture of the birthday boy.  He looks thrilled with life, doesn't he?  I'm pretty sure that if he was surveyed, he would report that he is neglected and not given the respect that he deserves.  He is basically the dog-version of Rodney Dangerfield.

Copper quickly tired of my antics and started yawning.  Despite his terrible breath, I think that my teeth brushing efforts are paying off - look at those pearly whites!

 Following Charlie's nap, we decided to let him run around in his diaper because it was really warm.  We also decided to try on his new sandals.  To my surprise, he loved his new sandals, clapped and refused to take them off.  Which led to the next string of pictures that will be resurrected for his high school graduation.

 Finally, following Charlie's bath last night, we decided to try on his duckie robe that he hasn't worn in months.  Trust me, you could tell that it had been awhile.  I think it is time for the robe to go into storage.

We hope that you had as fashionable of a weekend as we did!

Fun Weekend

We started our weekend with a quiet night at home on Friday, but we went to our friend Birdie and Zinn's house for some great homemade pizza on Saturday night.  Charlie was obsessed with playing with the big boys (Zach is 5 and Drew is 3) and both boys did a great job of including Charlie in all of the fun.

You can tell that Zach is a big brother because he was a big help in handing Charlie crackers.

Drew is a funny little kid - I think he was the last one to finish his dinner and showed us his "messy man" face before joining Zach and Charlie in their wrestling match.

Last, but certainly not least, cutie pie Jake.  Jake is a little over three months old and gives the best smiles!  Thanks for inviting us over Birdie and Zinn!  It is always fun to watch the boys interact.

I had to be in Cedar Rapids for work on Monday so Charlie and I headed back to Cascade on Sunday to stay overnight and to let Charlie have some Grandpa Bill and Grandma Kathy time on Monday.  Our visit overlapped with the Horsfield girls for a couple of hours and Charlie was excited to see some of his cousins. 

Here is a not-so-great picture of Charlie trying to rock with Claire and Hannah.  The Horsfield girls were really good sports - Charlie basically had over 2 hours of playing tackle/hair pull and all 3 girls were happy to oblige. 

Charlie and I also went to meet my cousin Josey's little boy, Jax, and while I did not take any pictures (Charlie did not nap and was in delirious/potentially destructive mood), trust me when I say that he is adorable.  Then we stopped by Gavin's house for a quick visit and THEN we were able to see Grandpa Steve and Grandma Jan for a little bit.  Let's just say that by bath time, Charlie was very disgruntled that his audience had disappeared.  There was about 30 minutes of ugliness and then he crashed until 6:30 the next morning.

I'm kicking myself for not taking a picture of my parents with Charlie.  I know that he had fun with them and enjoyed the one-on-one time on Monday.  My parents were nice enough to meet me in Cedar Rapids after my meetings and Uncle Marty even met us for an early dinner at McDonald's.  There was a statue of Ronald McDonald sitting on a bench and I thought that Charlie might be a little bit afraid, but he was obsessed with sitting next to him.  Maybe all of those McDonald's french fries that I ate during my pregnancy instilled a true love for the golden arches.  Marty snapped the below picture with his cell phone.

Thanks to mom and dad for watching Charlie on Monday and to Marty for meeting us for a little while after work.  We'll see you soon!

Lost and Found

I haven't posted in a few weeks because I was convinced that I lost our camera.  Somewhere between our trip back to Cascade and coming back to Norwalk, it was gone.  I was sad for a few minutes because I knew that there were a couple of pictures from our weekend in Cascade that I wanted, but I quickly convinced myself that those photo casualties would be worth it if I "had to" buy a different camera.  One that even I couldn't screw up.  I went as far as putting an Amber Alert out about the camera.  The very next day, I casually glanced on the floor of our car and found the camera...clearly I didn't strain myself when I was originally looking for it.  So the good news is that the pictures were not lost but the bad news is that I may have to read the camera's informational packet for the 12th time to try to improve my picture-taking abilities.

We went back to celebrate Lauren and Julia's 5th birthday.  BJ and I were at Randy and Carrie's house with Anna when they brought Lauren and Julia home from the hospital so it is hard to believe that is has been five years.

Grandma and Grandpa Gehl with the birthday girls.

The birthday girls!  We hope that you had a fun time at your party and a great birthday on the 15th!!

The Gehl cousins in attendance at the party...once again we lined up about 6 adults and tried to get the kids' attention all at once.  Shout out to Emma for looking at our camera!

And finally, a belated Happy St. Patrick's Day.  It's hard to believe that a year ago, Charlie looked like this:

...and this year we chased him around the house trying to get a picture of him in his "Kiss Me I'm Irish" shirt.

Charlie's latest obsession (in addition to pulling my hair, body slamming anyone who is sitting on the ground, snacking while sitting on the kitchen rug, and chasing Copper) is to rest his chin on our window sill and stare outside.  I give it a couple more days before he realizes that he could be outside playing instead of being content to hang out inside.

Bad Habits

I'm not sure if it is because we are anxiously awaiting Spring, 15 months old is the new "terrible two's" or Charlie is picking up bad habits with his new "toddler" classmates, but we have been having some battles lately.  Like any responsible parent, I've been grabbing my camera to snap pictures of all said wrong doing.

Charlie is starting to get upset when it is time to get out of the tub and put on his jammies.  I would find it very hard to be grumpy while being cuddled in an elephant towel from Aunt Molly, but Charlie somehow found a way.

Lately, Charlie has done the sign for "all done", only to try to relocate his breakfast or snack to a rug in our kitchen.  I'm sick of stepping on raisins and Copper certainly doesn't need the extra fiber so we've got to break this little habit.

The other trick up his sleeve is to sign for "all done" and then beg for BJ or I to hold him so he can eat whatever we are having.  The results are in, our Cheerios taste much better than his Cheerios. 

Climbing into/on top of his toys.  I may have given Charlie the idea to sit among his stuffed animals (I planned to take a photo of his face surrounded by stuffed animals to honor E.T., but Charlie wouldn't sit still long enough), but he now thinks that every basket is meant for his bottom.

In this particular picture, Charlie managed to relocate his water and bowl of crackers to the rug in the kitchen.  He would eat a cracker, take a drink and then go play for a few minutes before returning to the buffett.  Meanwhile, we had to keep Copper behind the baby gate because his allergies (food, grass, pollen, dust, trees, cats, smoking, wheat, most items found in normal/inexpensive dog food...all items that he is allergic to) have risen to absurd levels so we are trying to minimize his exposure to any snacks that Charlie decides to "share."  Reason 872 why Copper's life worsened the day that Charlie came home.

We no longer get dressed in the morning.  Instead, we drestle (dress+wrestle) and Charlie's a fierce contender at every match.  He usually manages to escape, partially-dresseed, at least once a day.  It seems that the bigger time crunch we are on, the faster he runs away.

Anyway, we are figuring out the discipline thing with a little boy who clearly understands "no" (he finds it absolutely hilarious that we would tell him "no") but who isn't quite ready for time out.  Well, maybe he is ready for time out...so long as it is on the kitchen rug with a snack, sippy cup and if he can be partially-dressed.