The Daily Soup

Well, that break was a lot longer than expected. I'm still a little suspicious of the blog and anticipate that it may turn on me at any time.

One of my goals for 2014 was to return to blogging because it has been the best way for me to record memories of the kids. The thought of paper and scissors associated with scrapbooking raises my blood pressure, but I can handle uploading photos (regardless of how bad they may be) and typing a few words.

So, for recordkeeping purposes, I need to finish our 2013. We last left off with Lucy's first birthday, which coincided with the weekend that we moved. We were able to celebrate Lucy's birthday with my side of the family during a fun overnight at Adventureland (fun until Charlie threw up in the pool - oops) and with BJ's family the following weekend in Cascade. We moved from our home in Norwalk to a temporary apartment in West Des Moines. While it was self-induced (we wanted to be closer to work and where we spent most of our time), it was about as joyful as you can imagine. We were in our apartment until our home was ready at the end of January, but more on that later.

Perhaps the biggest/saddest news for the end of 2013 was that we put Copper to sleep. I never thought that his allergies could worsen, but they were terrible throughout the summer and into fall. The medicine that he had been on for the last year or two (which we knew would cause liver/kidney failure at some point) stopped working and we exhausted all treatment options. Unfortunately, his last few days were miserable - he hid under our bed, biting his paw pads to the point of breaking them open - but they confirmed what decision we had to make.

Even now, months later, I'm at a loss to describe what it felt like to make the decision and take him to his appointment. Although there was no doubt in my mind that it was the right decision and that it was the best decision for him, he was such an integral part of our lives that we feel the loss on a daily basis. Don't get me wrong - Copper was never going to win any behavior awards and the list of people who loved him was far shorter than the list of people who disliked him. Even still - he was our dog and, in many ways, was truly our first child. He taught us a certain level of responsibility, selflessness, patience, and unconditional love. For that, we are forever grateful.

Over the course of 11 years together, Copper provided us with a lifetime of memories and it will be challenging to find another dog with half as much personality. We loved him and he loved us. A pretty simple arrangement.

Trust me, the rest of 2013 was much more light-hearted. Lucy caught some naps in her high chair in our apartment.

The kids enjoyed attending a pumpkin patch, but do you know what is more enjoyable than picking out pumpkins? Eating popcorn...

riding a zip line over hay bales (BJ waited in line with Charlie but Charlie conquered the zip line by himself)...

and playing in a bounce house.

We enjoyed trick-or-treating with Grandma Gehl as a strawberry and

as Spider-Man (the mask was a little suffocating).

Lucy enjoyed story time with Nana and cousin Milo after a Thanksgiving celebration.

We enjoyed Thanksgiving Day at Grandma and Grandpa's house with the Gehl cousins - BJ's leg served as a temporary baby gate so that Lucy (blinded by love and attention from cousins) didn't stumble down the steps...

while Charlie enjoyed playing dress-up with his cousins. In this shot he is sporting the dress from my senior year of high school. The V-neck was not nearly as prominent in 1998 as the picture makes it seem.

And Lucy was tuckered out after Thanksgiving celebrations.

The winter months brought many Cyclone basketball games for BJ and Charlie. If you ask Charlie about the games, he emphasizes the pizza, popcorn and ice cream. BJ has some work to do.

Lucy discovered a love of chocolate - that's my girl!

And Charlie was able to get his picture taken with Cy, on the eve of his 4th birthday.

Speaking of birthdays, this baby morphed into a 4 year old in the blink of an eye. As the picture below depicts, celebrating Christmas in a two bedroom apartment made for a "simpler" holiday :).

Opening his Super Hero action figure pack.

While the smile is fake, the joy was legitimate.

A few days later, we were lucky enough for friends and family to join us in Des Moines for a party. Opening his Jake and the Never Land pirate gear from Grandma and Grandpa the night before his...

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle party! TMNT (for those in the know) have become a little more aggressive in recent years. The bakery did a nice job of picking the kinder/gentler version of the turtles.

Genuine excitement at blowing out his candles at his party.

An action shot from the Little Gym. It was a great day and he still talks about his party and what he wants his party to be like for next year (virtually the same except with a Batman theme).

Charlie participated in his first ever holiday show at daycare. We were so proud, he was in front of the class because the teachers knew that he would sing and he did not disappoint. Complete with multiple waves and shout outs to us. I dread the day when he'll be embarrassed to participate in these type of events.

And we had our picture taken with Santa at the mall. I had no intention of getting our picture taken that day, but the line was short and Charlie was determined. So, we turned our nose to those families that were color-coordinated for their Santa visit and went for it. I wasn't going to have Lucy sit on Santa's lap but she was miffed when Charlie climb on his lap so I let her out of her stroller and she ran over...I think that her regret with the decision to sit on his lap became apparent really quickly. One of my favorite pictures of them to date.

Lucy decided that she loved black beans - making it one of two "healthy" foods that she will eat. In case you are wondering, kharma works because I have the pickiest of picky eaters.

Charlie helped make treats for Santa and Santa appreciated the pretzel/chocolate/caramel goodies!

We took BJ out for dinner to Gateway Market - hard to find a restaurant open for dinner on Christmas Eve - before driving through the holiday light display sponsored by the City of Des Moines. I keep telling BJ that we need to celebrate his birthday on the 23rd because it gets lost in the Christmas shuffle!

Enjoying presents from mom and dad. Starting this year, we decided that the kids would open their gifts from us (new pajamas, a book and a toy). Charlie loved his jammies and his Jake and the Never Land pirate Lego set (mommy didn't realize that Legos come with instructions and that the expectation may be for the end result to match the picture on the box).

We woke up to find that Santa found us at our apartment! Given the close quarters of the apartment, Santa was strategic with bringing relatively-compact gifts. Charlie suspiciously checking out Lucy's dollhouse.