Just about our little family.

One Year and Off to the Races

2010-11-22T14:42:00.005-05:00

Can't believe it, but Penny is already ONE year old. How did that happen? I'm glad we're at this point for many reasons - 1) Penny is sleeping a lot at night now (usually up at 3am, but I think that might wane in the next few weeks); 2) Dylan and Penny are really starting to have fun together; 3) Penny's personality is really starting to blossom and it's so fun to be a part of it; and, 4) (this is the selfish one) I am starting to feel like I am getting a little time back to myself.

We had a fun, low-key party for Penny on her birthday. Dylan really enjoyed celebrating Penny. She also got a hello kitty plush that was intended for Penny, but Penny doesn't mind right now. Penny is all over the place these days. She went from taking a few steps here and there to just outright running almost. It's hilarious to see her walking around everywhere holding her arms up high in the air for balance. It's like she's a little puppet with strings.

We are getting ready for a fun trip to Albuquerque for Christmas. It will be nice to see some mountains and spend some time with family. We will be sad not to be able to spend time with family in TN - I guess that's just one of the unfortunate things about living all spread out. Here are some recent photos of yours truly - well, mostly the kiddos.

--Sarah

Fun Antonio

2010-10-30T11:00:00.003-04:00

We've had a busy last few months - getting settled in our new home/city; Uncle Josh's wedding, and a visit from Aunt Valerie. Penny is starting to walk on her own. She's been walking with our hands for awhile now and walking along the couch and kitchen cabinets, but she took her first own unassisted steps the other day. Dylan and Penny are starting to play with each other more and more which is so fun to see - and also gives me a break!

We went to San Antonio with Valerie - a very spontaneous decision, but everything went really well. We had a really fun time at the zoo there - in fact, after the zoo, Dylan promptly changed San Antonio's name to Fun Antonio - very appropriate in my opinion.

We miss all our family and friends so much, but it is starting to feel more and more like home here. There's not much fascinating to do here and we are, as the name Midland indicates, in the middle of nowhere, but we're still having fun. Here are some pics of our San Antonio adventure and some others sprinkled in. I wish I had some pics from our Tennessee/Josh wedding trip, but I always had a kid in my arms, so I didn't take many pictures.

Home

2010-08-23T15:42:00.004-04:00

So, I (Sarah) haven't written in awhile b/c it's been a bit busy with the move and I'm convinced that Charlie is just more funny - and funny and pictures is really what everyone wants, right? However, I do want you to know that I am using precious naptime to give a shout out to you.

I must say that Texas does not feel like home yet and I was wondering today how long it takes to get that feeling. I am enjoying our new house, the dry weather, new friends and of course my sweet family. However, I still feel a little out of place. The comfortable relationships we left in TN are definitely lacking. There is a longing for familiarity. So, when that feeling crept over me today as I sat in a rocking chair with a sleeping Penny - I of course thought of how this little earth is really not my home at all anyway; and, the way that I miss TN right now is really me longing to be in my true home - in Heaven with Jesus.

Dylan is the champ of the potty. We started about 3 weeks ago and she really hasn't missed a beat. I can't believe how big she is getting - when she swings on the big girl swing in our back yard I am so amazed and bewildered that she will be 3 at the end of this year. Penny is speed crawling, pulling up everywhere, walking with assistance and even standing on her own every once in awhile. I think she is working on some top teeth lately b/c sleep isn't exactly her forte at the moment.

Here are some pics to keep you coming back.

--Sarah

The Breaking of the Fellowship

2010-07-19T21:50:00.005-04:00

Its been very odd to move away from Tennessee after 14 years living there. It didn't feel very real at first because I was living in an apartment by my self and traveling every weekend to try to see my girls. It feels a lot like we've broken the fellowship and left friends and family to continue our adventures alone. But I must say that just like Frodo had Sam with him; I now have my companions with me to help me forge ahead, and it is a great comfort to me.

I feel like I did not get to say goodbye to everyone like I would have liked. I didn't say anything in Church because I didn't want to make a scene, and there was so much to do in order to get our house ready that I wasn't able to have that last dude-fest with the guys or hang with my family enough. Life just has a way of sweeping us onward I guess.

Everything is going well, we have the new house now and have left our lender problems (Don't use Bank of America) behind. Sarah is an amazing woman and has been nothing but positive and supportive. Penny of course is none the wiser, but Dylan talks about her green house and her blue room from time to time. Among her favorite subjects are Henry, Maggie, Anna and Norah. She'll tell me how Mary calls Maggie Ju-Ju and Henry "H". It breaks my heart to separate our girls from Mary's kids, it has really been a struggle for me. In all our travels in my life, I have never been the cause of the separation, just a participant.

Anywho, here are some pictures to chronicle our first few days on our new home.

Dylan's first tree climbing experience.

Our new swing set courtesy of the previous owners.

Penny is a bit ticklish.

Bouncing in a tree.

Insert fake cigarette here.

My stoner 8mo. old

Dude! My hands are huge!

Cousin's hand me downs

Quick tour of the house with my random comments.

Long distance dad

2010-06-17T12:38:00.004-04:00

I've been in Midland for a couple weeks now and I have to say that I'm really liking the new job. The job is everything I hoped it would be. Unfortunately i've also been living alone. Living alone really sucks. I have tons of time in the evening but nothing to do. I go run and make some food and I'm out of ideas at 7pm. I could go see a movie, but there isn't really anything worth watching. Oh well, I'm leaving this evening to go back to TN for the weekend so I'll get to be back with the girls for a bit.

Here is a sample of the pictures I get from time to time.

Dylan playing in the sprinkler.

Penny on the way to Tulsa

Penny in her great granfather's baby chair

Sweet Potatoes

2010-05-07T12:38:00.003-04:00

So, I told you we would keep you updated on Penny graduating to solids and we are there. We started a few days early with some rice cereal mixed in a bottle of milk. Penny has not had much practice with bottles, so the first part of the week was challenging trying to get her to drink it. But perseverance has paid off and now she is getting pretty good at the whole bottle thing. Last night we tried sweet potato. She was super tired since she didn't take her last nap, but she still went for it. You can thank Charlie for any pics of the process since I always forget to document the process.

And for those of you not in the loop yet - yes, we will be moving to Texas - West Texas. We will be moving to Midland in a month or two - so, if you happen to be in the area this summer - come visit us! I'm not sure how close Midland is to the beaten path, though. I am not going to fool myself into thinking that we will be inundated with company. But, I am very excited for Charlie and this new career. The company is going to take care of the whole relocation - selling our house, helping us buy the new house - all that terribly complicated stuff is now not such a burden. I am also excited about living in a new place. It will be a very fun adventure. On the down side - we are leaving all kinds of awesome people here in Tennessee - both sets of grandparents, great-grandparents, aunts and uncles and cousins - and not to mention sweet friends.

--Sarah

Flying Solo

2010-04-28T20:00:00.006-04:00

("Designs by Dylan" - call for your free consultation)

So, Charlie has been gone for the past three days now. Well, technically - he didn't leave town until Monday evening, but I didn't get any help from him at home on Monday night, so it counts as one whole day alone in my books. But, I must admit. I really haven't been alone. My dad is also flying solo since his jet setter wife is off on another three week adventure here, there and everywhere. So, Pops, Dylan, Penny and mommy had cheap pizza night at our house. Then, on Tuesday we got a visit from Mimi in the afternoon and then went to Pops for dinner. Today (Wed), we had another fun visit with Mimi and Pops came over for some food. While I miss Charlie very much and am flying solo in that respect, I haven't been hurting for help with the kiddos - which is an enormous blessing. So nice to have such sweet family surrounding us. It will be very sad to leave Tennessee if it comes to that.

I think Charlie has had a good time in Denver - busy, but fun. He should hear by next week about an offer. Exciting times. Can't wait to see what happens.

Penny is rolling all over the place these days. I can see my days of leaving the room with her lying on the floor by herself are quickly dwindling down. However, I am glad that the ability to roll both ways (front to back and back to front) has been close to mastered - especially the more difficult back to front as this was causing her to wake me 2 and 3 times per night. We start solid foods in about a week and I am very interested to see her reaction. Part of me thinks that since she has been so enthralled by the whole process that she will take her first bite and think - "really, what's all the fuss?" I think I might have the same thought if my first bite was rice cereal. We'll see what reaction sweet potatoes gets. We'll try to remember to document with pictures. Til that time - here are some to keep you coming back.

--Sarah

Stinker

2010-04-20T14:20:00.003-04:00

Penny has been a bit of a stinker about naps lately. I guess I should be honored - I must be so cool she just wants to hang out with me all the time. She makes a pretty good fuss about the whole thing. She has also been waking up more at night lately - which has me none too pleased to wake up at all hours of the night. Who knows what's going on with that baby - she sure is fun though - think we'll keep her in spite of it all. She does make up for it by giving you the biggest grin when you come to get her in her bed.

Dylan has been super-excited about feeding Penny the last few days. Even though we haven't started any foods yet - Dylan kept insisting that she feed Penny. So, we bought Penny some sippy cups last week and Dylan has been feeding Penny some water. Dylan loves it and Penny loves the sippy. I think she has been jealous of Dylan's for awhile now. The problem is - Dylan does NOT want Penny to try and wield the cup on her own and Penny REALLY wants to wield the cup on her own. Dylan usually wins that battle.

Dylan loves getting books from the library. We try to get new books at least every few weeks to keep it fresh. The other day we were reading one of the library books - "Little Rabbit Goes to School" and she said "this book is my best." It took me a minute to realize that she was communicating that this book was her favorite. I love it - I hope that she never learns the correct way to say it. I should walk around with a recorder so that I don't forget all these awesome moments.

--Sarah

Little Charlie

2010-04-07T15:35:00.003-04:00

Some people say that Dylan looks like me or looked like me when she was a baby. But, now - there really is not much resemblance between me and my first daughter. She looks exactly like Charlie - just a girl version. I have no problem with this as I think my husband is a nice looking individual. Penny I am told looks like me and even looks like my dad. Sometimes I think she looks a lot like my dad.

The girls and I have been spending a lot of time outside in the front yard lately - and on the back deck in our new hammock swing that Jenny, Fenton and the girls got me for Christmas. Yesterday morning, Dylan, Penny and I were in the front yard and Penny was hanging out in her bouncy seat. I was trimming a shrub and could see both girls in my peripheral vision - 5 ft away or so. I noticed that Dylan was crouching over Penny so I turned to get a full picture. I then noticed that Dylan had decided to stuff a large bunch of grass in Penny's mouth! I ran over and pulled the grass out and of course told Dylan that we can't put things in Penny's mouth - especially not grass. The weird thing is - Penny wasn't even crying or protesting about it. She has been so very interested in the food going into our mouths the last few weeks - grabbing at it, watching it from plate to mouth, slobbering and sucking at the food - that I think she was happy to get in on some of this "stuff in mouth" action. I promise to feed her more tasty things than grass. I wish I had a picture of the grass hanging out of her mouth - but I don't think I would be living up to my motherly duties if I went inside the house to get the camera while my 5 month old had grass hanging out of her mouth.

Enjoy the Spring blooms - we'll write and post more pics soon.

--Sarah

Spring is Here

2010-03-29T14:16:00.009-04:00

(bird nest that Aunt Mary knit for us filled with play-doh eggs! Thanks Aunt Mary!)

Yeah Spring! We are so excited that warmer weather is here and that the flowers are blooming and the grass is green. It's a bit gray and cold today, but Saturday was stellar and the rest of the week is supposed to be filled with warm, sunny weather. Dylan and I have been going on walks with the dogs lately - Dylan on my back in the carrier and dogs pulling us down the sidewalk. We stop and talk about flowers and trees. I would love to get a book about flowers and trees so that we can start calling them by their proper name. Right now there are these trees that are blooming white flowers. They are usually the first bloomers of the season (and it's not the bradford pear trees). I call them the "popcorn tree." So, that's what Dylan calls them now too. We will do some research to find out their real name - but I'm pretty sure it's not going to be as cool as "popcorn tree."

Dylan and I always read some books before naptime and bedtime. With familiar favorites she is now finishing the sentences for me. It's so much fun to see how much she is learning. I'm trying to speak French here and there since it seems that the language door is just wide open.

Penny is working on sitting up on her own. I'm pretty sure the bulky cloth diapers are holding her back a bit - but that's ok. She loves splashing in the bath - she starts laughing when she splashes herself. Loves "patty cake"and standing up (with some support of course). She's pretty easy so far - does that mean she is going to be a wild child? Who knows...We can't wait to start feeding her some solid foods. She is still milk only and I think she is about to go crazy watching us eat. Rice cereal, sweet potato, peas and pears are only a little bit more than a month away.

Charlie, my dad and I just finished our Knoxville half marathon yesterday. My dad blew the competition away - 5th in his age group. Sweet, huh? I felt good during the race - my dad definitely beat my time and I did not end up 5th in my age group. Charlie ended up turning his ankle over in the first two miles and finished the whole 13 miles after that. He was disappointed in his finish time, but I am amazed he had the tenacity to finish after sustaining an injury. He's amazing! Charlie's dad did the full marathon - and finished 1st in his age group! Incroyable et formidable!

Here's some pics -hope everyone we know across this wide world is doing well and has a smile on their face.

--Sarah

Four Months

2010-03-12T14:44:00.003-05:00

As of a few days ago, Penny hit the four month mark. She changes daily, although it is hard for me to tell since I am with her every day. I do know that she is becoming much more vocal though. She is starting to make all kinds of noises - squeals, grunts, etc. She has rolled over many times in the middle of the night and insists on waking me up to come see. She promptly goes back to sleep after getting a bite to eat. She gnaws on her hand like I've put peanut butter on it or something tasty - but I haven't. I don't know if she is working on getting a tooth already or not, but it is definitely her favorite activity.

Dylan is talking up a storm. She repeats everything I say - so I really need to watch out! It was nice out the other day and we planted a bamboo plant, raked and watered all the plants in the yard. Dylan loves to play with the water hose. Sea and Sky get here this weekend and I know Dylan is going to have a blast with them. Here are a few pics that were taken recently.

Naboo's Timeout

2010-02-25T18:53:00.003-05:00

This is a bit long, but really funny in the beginning. Apparently Naboo had to go to timeout for knocking Dylan down.

Doing Dishes

2010-02-24T15:05:00.008-05:00

Dylan loves doing dishes. She was actually inspired to do dishes after watching Snow White and seeing all the animals pitch in with the chores. Dylan wanted to do dishes almost every day soon after Christmas which has slowly dwindled to once a week or so. I actually love when she asks to do dishes b/c this means I can get something done while she plays. I am beginning to worry (not really) that doing the dishes is breeding some form of OCD though. I brought a new toy to her today as she played in the water - a small, green "hot wheels" type car. She proceeded to clean the car for about 20 minutes. She would say "car - dirty" "clean it". She would dunk the car in the soapy water, put it in a towel to dry it off and then unfold and repeat. Very cute. It is neat to see her focus on something so much and take such care doing it. Pics are completely irrelevant to the story - but this is me and Penny during "airplane" time and Dilly showing off her new Hawaii dress from Nonny and Pop.

I don't want to

2010-02-18T15:29:00.006-05:00

So, Dylan is now able to express quite a few opinions in words now - and does so quite frequently. It is nice to hear that she has formed opinions of her own, but when there's not an option for opinion - such as dinner or taking a nap - it makes life a little more difficult. The last few days she has started looking at the books on the bookshelf in our my and Charlie's bedroom. She pulled off a few Harry Potter books from the shelf and quickly pointed to a picture of Dumbledore (on book 6). She said "da" (meaning "that?") and I said "Dumbledore." She quickly replied "like him" and shook her head, which of course means I don't like him. I tried to explain that he is actually a good guy, but much to Charlie's dismay I am sure, she insisted that she in fact does not like him. But, on the bright side, she did point to Darth Vader on a Star Wars book and declared that she also did not like him. She then proceeded to read many of these stories - Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and some Star Wars book - to Annie (my parent's dog) and to Ballerina Mouse. Ah, storytime. We have storytime at least once a day with Naboo and Fozzy. This basically entails Dylan declaring that it is storytime as she herds all of us - Boo, Fozzy, Penny and me - into a small room and proceeds to flip through numerous books.

Penny has started blowing bubbles and sucking in her top lip - both rather amusing activities to watch. She takes blowing bubbles pretty serious - like it's an olympic sport or something.

Well, Penny is wrapped up on me as a write this. Apparently, napping alone is overrated. Here are some recent pics.

Snow Day

2010-02-06T13:42:00.003-05:00

So, last weekend we got a good amount of snow and Dylan had a blast in it. Aunt Emily and Aunt Valerie were in town and we got to play in the snow in the morning. A big snowman was built and a tiny snowman buddy was built as well. Dylan kept saying "best snowman ever!" The snowmen stayed up most of the week, but a few days ago they started melting a bit (especially the tiny one). The big snowman fell over yesterday and Dylan kept insisting that we "fix it." I've included a few pics of Dylan playing in the snow.

Also new this week - boursin cheese. We got some from my parents and we tried it a few days ago. Dylan had never tried it before - but since it was described as cheese, she was all about it. When she tried the first bite she said "Mommy, I love this cheese" with great enthusiasm. Lately, she will say a word or describe an item and then add "love it." For example, recently she has really liked watching the Pixar movie "Ratatouille" (pronounced "toopy" in our household). So, Dylan will say "toopy" (pause) "love it". Sentences have been getting longer as well. I think the longest one so far has been "cookie monster dancing Manny's song". She has a plush toy cookie monster and he was in fact dancing to Manny's (of the Disney cartoon Handy Manny) song. I might add that cookie monster had black patent leather Mary Janes on as well. Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of that.

Rainy Days

2010-01-25T13:48:00.003-05:00

Here's some pics of Dylan running through some puddles created by our recent monsoon. And a few of Penny sprinkled in here and there - not running through puddles yet.

High Heels

2010-01-21T14:12:00.002-05:00

This will just be a very brief post as I have to fold some laundry - but I had to show some pics of Dylan in her fancy shoes. We got these pink patent leather high heals (with shiny butterflies on the straps) from Lee and Christy's girls. Dylan tried them on for the first time last night and was so excited about them. We danced around for about an hour!

Two Months

2010-01-15T14:06:00.003-05:00

So, it's been two months since Penny has joined our family. It has been difficult at times, but for the most part, the last two months have been fun and very special. As I've mentioned before, Dylan has been very sweet to her and even tries to feed or give things to Penelope to play with. Sure there's been lost sleep here and there, but life is pretty sweet with two young girls to hang out with. In fact, the weather is so nice today - we will probably head to the park to go swing. Here are some pics - Dylan loves being pushed in the double stroller - especially in the house. And Penny - well she just likes to be smiled at for now.

Fun while puking

2010-01-08T21:17:00.004-05:00

On Dylan's birthday I came home from work to find her laying on Sarah and looking miserable. She had developed a fever and whenever that happens she just wants to be held. We knew something was wrong when she didn't even want cheese puffs. We put Dylan down at around 7:30, but at 10pm I heard her wake up and watched as she threw up onto her pillow. I got her up and cleaned her off while Sarah cleaned up the bed a bit. Dylan went back to sleep and I got her back in bed only to have her throw up again at 11:30. I figured it was going to be one of those nights, so I cleaned her up again (she didn't have much to throw up anyway at this point), and we went into the third bedroom for the night. She slept on me much of the time and then threw up on me a bit, but we mostly hit the towel and it wasn't a huge mess. Things went like this until about 1:30am when I was woken by Dylan saying emphatically "Man" to which I responded "Snow man?" knowing what she meant. "Yes" she said. "Socks!" ... "There's a snow man on your socks?" (with mock incredulity) ... "yes" ... "that's awesome!". At this point she got on her knees and started to bounce to a song that was in her head. The song is from a Pixar short that involves a snow man attempting to escape from his snow globe. He obviously wants to go play with the other shelf occupants that seem to be having a great time. The tune is quite bouncy. So I started humming the tune that I knew she already heard in her head and we laughed. "Window" she said next. The bed has a window right over the pillows. "What's out there?" I asked. "Fozzy" she answered. Fozzy is one of our dogs. "Boo Boo" (Naboo) she added. Naboo is our Labrador named for a Star Wars planet (I don't know why Sarah chose that name). "Do you see the trees?" ... "Tees" ... "Yeah, aren't they big?" ... "ya". And on and on it went, we were laughing about trees and the moon and snow men on socks and covers. We were up for 2 hours like that until we finally both dozed. At 6am she woke up and promptly threw up again. She felt fairly bad for the rest of that day, but she was feeling better by the evening. That 2 hour window was such a sweet time for me. We just had so much fun on a night that was otherwise miserable.
I thought i would share this moment with our friends and family, hope you all had a great Christmas and new year's day. I'm uploading some movies and pics. The movies are a bit long, but they are fun and show a bit of what life is like with a spunky 2 year old.

Big Sister

2009-12-29T14:42:00.003-05:00

Dylan has really been super sweet to Penny ever since she arrived. Any confusion or unhappiness she has felt due to Penny's arrival and introduction into our family has been in the form of crying or throwing a small fit when she can't be held when I am holding Penny. She will hit Penny one day, I know, but for now it is very nice that she hasn't been aggressive. In fact, she's been very loving and sweet. She will come up to Penny in the car seat or bouncy seat and say "hello penny" or "hello baby" and then show her a toy or offer her something to eat or drink. she doesn't ask to hold her anymore, but she does interact with her every now and then.

we had a super fun christmas. we spent early christmas morning with nonny, pop, GGP (great grandpa), Josh and Annie. then we headed over to the Job household and had fun opening presents with uncles, aunts, cousins and mimi and papa. then, we spent that evening at Nan's with the whole Job crew. it was a busy day, but such fun to be with lots of family. Dylan had a great time all day long - penny was mostly out of it, but next year will be a different story. what a blessing it is to have such wonderful family all around us. we missed having our cousins sea and sky here for the holiday, but we are looking forward to seeing them sometime in the spring hopefully.

well, here are some recent pics of Dylan trying out some new christmas presents.

--sarah

Merry Christmas

2009-12-24T13:53:00.005-05:00

Merry Christmas everyone! We are staying busy here trying to keep up with an energetic toddler and a growing infant. Penny changes everyday (as does Dylan). I have been trying to journal as much as I can so that I can remember these precious days. Penny has been a little smiler from the beginning. She is pretty even-tempered for the most part until the evening. She gets a little fussy but eventually gives up and falls asleep some time between 9pm and 10pm. This gives Charlie and me about 30 minutes to hang out (depending on how sleepy I am).

Dylan had her birthday on Tuesday - can't believe she is two already. We actually had her party on Friday with the grandparents (and uncle Josh). We tried to keep it low key since she is still so young - but I think she, as most toddlers do, got a little tired and overstimulated by the end. We had a fun time though. On her actual birthday (Tuesday) she got a fever in the evening and had a pretty rough night and next day. She is feeling better today though. Hopefully Penny doesn't pick it up.

Here are some recent pics of the girls. Hope everyone has a great Christmas!

--Sarah

Welcome Penny!

2009-11-10T17:38:00.004-05:00

Penelope Quinn Job was born this morning at 4am. Sarah's water broke at 1am and we arrived at Lisa Ross Birthing Center at 2:15. After only an hour and three quarters the baby was born healthy and strong. Penny was born at 8lbs 3oz and 20.5in tall. Sarah was a power house! She stayed calm throughout the contractions and then gave it her all when it came time to push. It was awesome to watch her. We are home now and everyone is doing well. Dylan was very sweet to Penny when we got home. Hope to see everyone soon.

-Charlie

2009-10-04T14:43:00.002-04:00

Things are going pretty well lately. I'm getting closer to my due date. I'm pretty comfortable throughout the day - but at about 5pm I tend to lose some steam and the belly feels pretty stretched. Charlie has been working pretty regular hours and has not had to travel since August - so that has been nice. He's still trying to find a more interesting job though.

Dylan is growing and changing by the hour. She continues to learn new words and she's a maniac at the playground. We generally head to one of the nearby parks at least twice a week. She loves slides and, as always, the swing. Just lately, when asked what is in mommy's belly, she says "baby." I know she doesn't understand the full consequences of that truth, but it's fun to hear her say it.

Well, that's about it. Our lives are about to get a little bit crazier and sleep will be in short supply for the next few months, but we're excited about meeting the new little one. Here are some recent pics of Dylan.

--Sarah

Long Time No See

2009-09-07T20:52:00.007-04:00

Sorry for the long hiatus in posts. It's been one busy summer. A lot has happened since our last post. I (Sarah) quit my job in mid June, we went on our first family vacation to Charleston a few days after my last day at work, Charlie went to Portland to visit his sister Valerie, Charlie started his job in July and Dylan and I went to Tulsa, OK to visit my sister Jenny and grandparents in early August. Oh, and one more thing -- I am getting pretty big with baby #2 still in the belly. Wow, huh? Now perhaps you see why there haven't been any posts.

Unfortunately, Charlie has had to work some long days here and there and some weekends. He has also had to travel a bit which leaves a lot of us lonely. Dylan has started talking up a storm. A lot of the words can only be understood by mommy and daddy, but it is still some pretty impressive and cute stuff. She loves Miss Piggy from the Muppet Movie and the mean cat from Cinderella. So, apparently we are moving down the road of liking the most annoying movie characters. She still loves swings and is taking quite a liking to slides - especially the twisty ones. We have been playing with playdoh a lot lately. We started off making snakes (just long, skinny rolled pieces) and doughnuts. However, we have moved on to making stars and hearts and love decorating a rocking plastic dragon that we inherited. Oh, and we are pretty good with identifying colors now. I think purple and yellow are my favorite words that she says. It's pretty darn adorable.

Baby #2 (gender still unknown) is kicking up a storm but not keeping me up too much at night. We will have a doula this time at the birth - which is very exciting for both of us. It will be nice to have another person there who knows a lot about comfort techniques. Also, Charlie will be able to take a few breaks here and there to keep people informed about our progress.

Well, that's the update. Here are some pics. We'll try to post in a more timely manner next time.

--Sarah

Dance Party

2009-05-24T14:53:00.005-04:00

Hello all you avid bloggsters, I know you've all been awaiting this update with bated breath. Where to start..... Well, I finally graduated with my Phd, errr my Masters, errr I mean my Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering. Yes I am indeed 29 and just graduating college, but I took a long break in the middle there. I've accepted a job in Clinton Tennessee out in the middle of nowhere, but the job shows promise and the money is good. I am grateful to finally be able to support my ladies. Sarah has resigned from her job and will be done on June 12 and then it's off to vacation for a week before I start work on July 6th. That's basically what we've been up to.

Dylan has been exploring the benefits of screaming for hours at a time at various times of the night. I think she's decided that 1-3am is the best time to wake up and scream, but she also likes to start the night off with a good hour of it sometimes. We've been trying to show her that it is possible to go to sleep and stay that way all throughout the night, but she isn't convinced. Besides the sleeping issues, Dylan has been a lot of fun. I'm throwing a bunch of pictures of her pestering the dogs and just being silly at the end here, and then an awesome dance video. Dylan LOVES the Beyonce song 'single ladies' and if you start to sing it she points at the computer and sais 'Moe' which means more.

Now you're up to date, I hope your lives don't seem insignificant compared to ours, but we can't all live the glamorous life of stay at home dads that are transitioning to working dads and working pregnant moms that are transitioning to stay at home moms. It's not all limosines and coctail parties... in fact none of it is limosines and coctail parties, it's more like baby seats and little turtle pools.

Word,
~Charlie

The beauty of language

2009-04-09T23:53:00.007-04:00

Dylan is getting bigger and smarter by the second. Every day I'm amazed at the new concepts she grasps and how much she understands of what I say. In the grocery store the other day she was walking with me and she stopped to pull down some of those cylindrical salt containers. She pulled two of the containers down and I asked her to put them back. She tried to pick one of them up with one hand and I suggested that she might need to use two hands. She immediately picked each container up with both hands and replaced them on the shelf. What I'm really waiting for though, is for her to learn how to talk to me. She's been teething, sick and who knows what else over the last few weeks and it's incredibly frustrating for her not to be able to tell us what's wrong. She was waking up in the middle of the night and screaming for 2 hours unless we would go get her. When we would go get her she would immediately either want to get up and play, or just rest her head on our shoulder and basically fall back asleep (until we put her back down). I tried getting her, feeding her, changing her diaper and then putting her back down while rubbing her back and singing to her; however, she still screams at us for another 30 minutes after I leave the room. I must admit that part of the reason I want to be able to communicate with her better is so that I can say: "if you keep wining at me for no reason I'm gonna spank that little booty of yours", but mostly it's so that I can know what it is that is bothering her. Is she hurting or just mad that she's in her room; one makes me sad and the other a bit annoyed, but not knowing what the crying is for is worse than both.
I'm down to the last couple weeks of classes and I'm both panicking and excited. The nice thing is that it will be over no matter what in a few weeks, the bad is that I have an ass-ton (pardon my french) of work to do before then. On top of all the school work, I'm desperately trying to find a job in a market that just does not seem interested. Just to make the pressure a bit more real, Sarah is pregnant again which makes her more anxious about my lack of employment. For all of you Engineering employers reading this, give me a buzz.
Well, that's about it, I'm posting a couple movies that you should find entertaining. The first is Dylan performing all her best tricks, the other is of her doing self induced manual labor.

~Charlie

On the Go

2009-03-01T09:50:00.005-05:00

Well - Dylan isn't actually walking everywhere on her own yet, but we're almost there. She can take about 10-12 steps all on her own, but she seems to prefer walking while holding one of my fingers. It's so fun to see her pound out a few steps with those tiny little feet. Dylan is getting another top tooth right now and isn't too pleased about the whole thing. She's been a little testy the last few days. She is waking up at 5:30am lately - which doesn't have me too pleased either. I'm hoping that we will soon revert back to our old schedule of 6:30am or 7am. I think everyone will be much more amiable at that hour.

well - we best be off. looks like nap time is coming to a close. Here's what you came for anyway. We love you all. Come visit in Tennessee if you get a chance! --sarah

Week of new discoveries

2009-01-07T18:40:00.007-05:00

This week Dylan has just been doing more and more new things. From the last post you can see how much she liked the tutu on her head. Well take a look at the pictures below, she LOVES having stuff on her head. She'll try to put shirts over her head (and succeed), then she'll hand me pants to put on her head.
The other day, Dylan was holding on to the couch when Sarah clapped her hands; Dylan likes to clap her hands, so she did. She stood up all on her own for at least 20 seconds.
And then tonight at dinner Sarah introduced me to the fact that Dylan plays peek-a-boo. I'm posting tons of pics and a couple vids as proof.
Oh yeah, I just started my FINAL semester. Please keep me in your prayers as I look for a job this spring. If anyone knows about a well paying mechanical Engineering job, please let me know :)
-charlie

Tutu Tresses

2008-12-31T09:57:00.005-05:00

Well, it's been a while since I've written anything here. As Mary pointed out to me, I can't use the school excuse anymore since I've been out of school for a couple weeks already. We've had a whirl wind of family gatherings over the last week or two. It was a lot of fun, and we were sad to see everyone go, but sometimes it is nice to get back to normal life.
We had a fun Christmas with my folks, it is fun to have a new generation of kids running around for a change. It's funny how much less I've cared about what I get for Christmas since Dylan was born. There is a huge switch that gets turned, and it's all about the kids.
At the Bouchers (Sarah's family) we had an incredibly sweet time. A bunch of the daughters, grandkids and great-grandkids wrote notes to Jim about memories of him that they cherished. Jim read all the notes out loud and we all listened. It was a very Christmasy morning, full of joy and tears and all that.
Amongst the many things that Dylan received this year was a tutu from my mom. Last night Sarah put it on her head to entertain Dylan. Dylan thought it was hyllarious and then wanted it on her head. For the next 15 minutes or so Dylan wore the tutu on her head and laughed and played. Every time it fell off, Dylan would hand it to Sarah so she could put it
back on. Here are a bunch of pictures for your parusing pleasure.

-charlie

Happy Birthday!

2008-12-22T07:52:00.005-05:00

Today is Dylan's 1st birthday. I cannot believe that a year has already passed. Everyone always said it would go fast - and to tell you the truth, I thought it was just a silly cliche myth. But, I have definitely been proven wrong. She is so much fun and so sweet. I know that parenting will have its challenges, but I love spending time with her and seeing her discover new things. She is teaching me so much about faith, love and patience. It is such a blessing to have her in our lives. Here are a few pics - Merry Christmas to everyone! We love you all.

Thanksgiving with Attitude

2008-11-30T11:27:00.004-05:00

So, I knew it would start to happen more often as Dylan grew older, but I didn't realize how soon. Now that the world has opened up to Dylan from a mobility standpoint (she sprint crawls and pulls up on most everything), she seems to think that she can do whatever she wants now. A few times this holiday weekend she had decided she does not want help with certain things. And when she is doing something she enjoys and I go to pick her up, she throws herself backwards and straightens her body in defiance. Yes - the attitude is coming out. A firm "no" and sometimes a smack to the thigh have been necessary to let her know that it's not going to go down like that!

Don't get me wrong, Dylan is a very sweet, fun little girl. But, I guess I just wasn't looking forward to the not so fun, but oh so necessary, part of parenting - discipline.

Charlie is almost done with this semester. Only one more to go. Work is going well for me - not very much overtime at all, which is really a blessing. I'm looking forward to taking the entire week of Christmas off. I will get to hang with Dylan 24/7 and see lots of family. I have to be gone from her for about 4 days at the end of January for work. I'm not looking forward to that - but we have been very blessed that I have not had to travel overnight at all since I went back to work.

Well - here are some fairly recent pics. Her eczema was much better this last week - which was such a relief. Not sure what changed - maybe the rain has helped. Here's hoping that she is just outgrowing it!

Cruisin'

2008-11-09T10:12:00.005-05:00

So, lately Dylan is starting to give up the army crawl. Every once in awhile she reverts back to it, but lately she is a pro at using her knees. I just can't believe how old she is now. Almost a year old. This Christmas should be tons of fun. Dylan will celebrate her first birthday and it sounds like we will have quite a crew for the holidays...20 people maybe.

Charlie's school is going well. I know that he is ready to be done, but by the way he talks, I think that he is enjoying what he is learning. He is in a course today - but it is not engineering. For those of you that don't know yet, Charlie has a motorcycle. Yes, I know what you are thinking - did Charlie finally master Jedi mind tricks and has employed them on his wife. No - I know that he has always wanted one (as most men do) and we are planning on only having one car once he is done with school. So, he is taking a safety training course this weekend. I know he is really glad he is taking it.

Autumn is in full swing. Well, actually I think it is on the verge of winding down here. But, it is still very beautiful today. One of those great November days where the sky is dark grey, but the trees are amazing hues of red, orange and yellow. The colors have been quite incredible this year. Dylan loves picking leaves off of trees and bushes. She studies them for a moment, attempts to eat them, having been thwarted by mommy from ingesting the leaf, she then proceeds to tear it to pieces and toss it to the ground. It's so fun to see her learn to do new things. She truly is a joy.

Well, here are some fairly recent pics. We are still dealing with eczema and it is now getting worse as the weather gets progressively colder and dryer. But, hey, there are worse things to have.

Getting Chompers

2008-10-10T21:27:00.005-04:00

ok, so I'm not as funny or eloquent as Charlie. So, this will probably be more of a brief update and then lots of pictures (which I'm sure no one will complain about). I decided that I would learn to post some stuff on the blog since Charlie is so busy with school. He's halfway done with this semester. So, just 1 1/2 semesters left til he graduates. This semester has proved pretty difficult so far, but he is doing really well. Hopefully by the end of May Charlie will have a job and I can say au revoir to my full-time job. I'm really looking forward to being a stay at home mom. I'm not saying that it is easier than a job outside the home (b/c I know that it is not), but it is much more rewarding. I do enjoy my job, but I much prefer to spend time with my sweet girl. She is so much fun and has such a sweet personality. Speaking of Dylan - she got her top teeth over the past few weeks. It was not the most fun process - she had lots of drainage, weary eyes and sore gums. She seemed to keep a good attitude throughout the process though. She didn't eat very much solid food for those two weeks - but we are back to eating most everything.

Dylan isn't crawling yet. She still rolls a lot. She goes from sitting to her tummy really easily now. She has decided that dragging her body across the floor is a good means of transportation. She is still addicted to bouncing - all the time and anywhere! She has started saying "mama" and "dada" quite a bit. It's so cute b/c she even gets it in context (i.e. I generally hear a "mama" when she is upset about something).

Well - that is the family update. By the way, keep my grandpa (Farnsworth) in your prayers. He had knee surgery today and will be recovering over the next few months.

-Sarah

What up doc? (Bugs Bunny style)

2008-09-05T19:47:00.014-04:00

It's been a bit sad going back to school. On Tuesdays and Thursdays I leave around 7:15 and don't get home till after 7 pm, which means that sometimes I don't get to see Dylan at all on those days. It is good to be making progress towards graduating though. If anyone thinks about it, pray for me on the 16th cause I'll be at a job fair for most of the day trying to line up some work. It's very important that I get a good job lined up so that Sarah can quit working when I'm done with school and we can start production on more of those grand babies you all seem so excited about. I have never fooled my self into thinking that you come here for my ramblings, so here are the latest pics for ya, most are just Dylan, but Sarah's sister Jenny and her daughter Sky came by last month so there are a couple of them with her as well. Oh yeah, today Dylan was sitting on the floor playing with some stack-able cups that she loves to bang together, but this time she closed her eyes and "sang" while she was banging (I'm including a video of it).
We love you all,
Charlie and fam.

Heat Wave

2008-08-07T13:13:00.014-04:00

It would seem that it's been over a month since I last posted and for that I must apologize to you grand and great-grandparents. I do however have several cute pictures that I think will make up for my neglectfulness. It's really been a wild summer for me this year. Dylan is both a lot of fun and a huge responsibility. She's sitting up fairly well and she's eating fruit and veggie puree. She laughs at my funny faces now which is awesome; plus she's been making funny faces back at me which is even better. I'm looking forward to school starting a bit because I really want to be done with it sooner, but it'll be weird to hand Dylan off to someone else for a good part of the day. There's something really cool about being the one that knows how she spends her day and all the funny stuff she does. I really want to provide for my girls and I know that Sarah wants to be home with Dylan, but I really think I'll miss being Mr Mom when I get a job.
The last couple weeks have been a bit tough for me at home cause Sarah has been really busy at work and it's been so hot that I haven't been able to take Dylan out for walks. During the school year I like to taker her out so I can get some exercise and she can see a bit of the world outside, but lately it's only cool enough in the mornings which is not my time of the day. I basically stumble through till 9am when she (we) takes her first nap. After nap number one I'm ready to go but it's 90 degrees outside and miserably humid. Soon enough it'll cool off and the leaves will change and walks will be back on the menu.
Well, enough blah blah here's the swag you've all been waiting for. There are some pics of Maggie (my niece) mixed in as well (check out her push-ups). Hope everyone is doing well
charlie

Home alone

2008-06-26T09:55:00.012-04:00

So this week I've been working on the house since we (I) started several projects years ago and haven't finished any. I'm including a couple pictures of our hallway before and after. There use to be an old heating duct system which made the hall ceiling a foot lower.
Sarah's had the week off from work and has been taking Dylan over to her parents house so I can be loud and messy as I work. It's been really nice to be able to accomplish something, but I've really felt like I was missing out with both Sarah and Dylan. I've gotten so use to having so much of Dylan that I'm ready to pass her off to Sarah at the end of the day, that it's been odd not having her around all the time. On Friday however, Sarah is going to Atlanta for a much deserved shopping trip with her mom. So I get to have plenty of quality time with Dylan all day this weekend.
Here are a bunch of pictures from the last few days, I've been trying to get better about taking the camera when I go out. Hope you enjoy.
-Charlie

mmmmm...... carrots

2008-06-16T14:31:00.009-04:00

So Dylan's been dabbling with the ole solid foods. Well, slightly solid anyway. She did really well with this kind of rice flake stuff that you mix with milk, so Sarah thought we'd try carrots cause they're suppose to be good to start off with. Sarah steamed the carrots and then blended em to a pulp. I'm not a huge carrot fan, but I'm all for Dylan not being as picky as I am, so we gave it a shot. I cannot explain it, the pictures speak for themselves. We did try the rice/milk mixture with a dab of carrots and that was a hit.
Things are going well around here, Sarah is working hard and wishing she could be home more. I'm really enjoying this time with Dylan. It is quite tedious at times and a real challenge, but as I think about going back to school I know I'll miss it. I'll still get to hang with her in the mornings and afternoons, but I'm sure it won't be quite the same. Dylan has had some eczema issues on her monster cheeks which has been harder on me than her I think, but with some careful washing and lotioning it seems to be getting much better. I hope everyone is doing well, she's up after an extensive 30min nap, so here I go.
Charlie

Chillin' with Dylan

2008-05-24T20:44:00.007-04:00

Well, it's been almost a month since my last update, and coincidentally it's been a month since I started watching Dylan full time. I'm sure the two facts are completely unrelated.
I do apologize to all you grand and great-grandparents out there that have been missing out on Dylan pics, but I'll make sure to include several for ya. It's been a real adjustment to be home all day everyday. Those of you who have done this know already I guess, but it really quite tough to be 'alone' all day. I say 'alone' because I'm always with Dylan, but she doesn't exactly like to have intellectual (or nerdy) conversations yet; so it can feel a bit isolating at times. Please don't misunderstand, I love this chance I have to hang with Dylan. It's very possible that I will never get to be with her this much for a very long time. On those occasions when I feel exasperated that she's waking up after a long 15 minute nap, all it takes is to go in and see her little teary face and all those frustrations melt away anyway. Sarah's doing well, she wishes she was at home but unfortunately is too successful for us to be able to afford that seeing as she's making twice what I was before I went back to school. I really admire Sarah; I am home all day with Dylan just trying to make it to 5:30 sometimes and she has her on saturday while I work and has all the laundry done, floors mopped, bathroom cleaned, and important documents filed away. She's just able to accomplish so much that it baffles me. Meanwhile my porch needs redoing, my floors need laying, my wall sheetrocking, and my bathroom finishing...... Oh well, I hope to have all that done this summer. The semester went well, I took 'heat transfer' which is interesting enough, but my professor what difficult. I was expecting a 'C', and really worried about a 'D'. I have no problem with 'C's, but I haven't gotten one since returning to school and would have liked to keep it that way, but after a terrible first test I was just wanting to not have to retake the course. My subsequent tests were in the 80s, but I was digging my way out of a hole. Long story short, I would up with a 'B' which was just incredible. One more year and I'll finally have a degree!
Well, guess that's it right now, I'll try to update once a week with pictures if I can.
We love you all,
Charlie and fam.

The Daddy Mack

2008-04-30T18:59:00.003-04:00

Mary sent me this video yesterday and I just couldn't get enough of it so I wanted to share it. That's Mary's boy Henry before his haircut, he loves to listen to my mom's cell phone ringer.
enjoy,
charlie

Summer Vacation

2008-04-27T14:25:00.008-04:00

It's kinda funny being almost 28 and looking forward to summer vacation. it's been so many years since I've had the whole summer off, and this'll probably be my last for decades to come. Sarah and I decided it would be best for Dylan if I don't try to get an internship this summer. I wish Sarah didn't have to work, but the reality is that this is the only way we can get by for now. Lord willing she'll be able to quit next may since I'll be starting some sort of engineering work. This'll be a wild summer, and I want to warn those of you that live near that I'll be calling you up to visit so I can get out of the house with Dylan. I am a bit scared of the coming months. I'm afraid that I'll run out of funny noises and smiles. Sometimes at the end of the day my head hurts and I realize that I've had this huge smile on all day cause I've been making faces at Dylan. I let my face relax and realize that sometimes it's awesome just to be able to stop smiling for a bit. Since it's been a while, I'll just put a bunch of pictures up. Check out the video too, Dylan has been squeaking like crazy.
charlie

My Girls

2008-04-14T08:00:00.003-04:00

Man, the weather has been great the last couple days! Today it's rainy and 45 degrees F, but this weekend was great. I got to hang with my girls this weekend which just doesn't happen as much as it should. I mean, look how cute they are. I'm really looking forward to this summer cause Dylan and I are going to go on all kinds of outings and adventures. It's just so much fun living with a kid as an adult. I can think of so many cool adventures that I would have loved as a kid, and I can go do those things and share them with my daughter.
Speaking of my daughter, sounds like she's starting to think that lying in her crib is not as much fun as it was a couple minutes ago.
I better run,
charlie

A picture is worth 1000 words

2008-04-09T21:45:00.004-04:00

School's been kicking my booty lately, so I haven't had much time. Here are some funny pictures to look at, I'll give an update soon.
charlie

Travels with sTrollers

2008-04-01T20:11:00.011-04:00

So today was fun for Dylan. First she got to hang with her mother all morning which was awesome, then she took super cute pictures with her rocking lady-bug hat. But the real fun started when I got home. First we decided to go on some roller-coasters. I think Dylan's a dare devil cause she didn't even seem to get excited about the rides even when the monks behind her were screaming.(see picture below) After that I took her to Tokyo, but she got away from me when I was changing her diaper and went on a rampage down town.
Ok, so I may have gotten a bit carried away with photo editing, but it is april fool's day. We did get to go hang out with Lee up at the church which was pretty sweet. I love getting to share Dylan with him cause I love getting to be a part of his girls lives. Hope everyone's having a great first week of April.
charlie

Back to School, Back to School.....

2008-03-26T17:36:00.004-04:00

Man, real life set in hard this week. I had a ton of homework that I was suppose to do over the break, but hey it's a break right. So I had to stay up till 2am doing homework monday night. On tuesday I was very tired and still had an unreasonable amount of work to do, so I was a bit grumpy to say the least. I e-mailed a class mate to make sure I hadn't missed anything on monday when I left class on time (my professor loves to go over and I have to walk across campus to get to my next class.) He said that instead of the 14 or so 'suggested' problems that we were suppose to do over the break, he was just having us turn in the 3 'required' problems. So my work load went from outrageous to laughable. It's funny how we get all worked up over nothing isn't it? Well, my attitude got much better and wound up spending a pleasant evening with my fantastic wife. The one thing that I miss about not having kids is being able to spend time with Sarah. I did like to do whatever I wanted to on my few days off, but that's not that big of a deal. The problem is that even when Sarah and I are home at the same time, there is another person pulling for our attention. Luckily that person is also a reminder of how much we love each other, so I'll let it slide I guess. All jokes aside, I have been blessed so very much by having Sarah in my life. For those of you who don't know her well; she is very bright, beautiful, extremely responsible, always does whatever it takes to get things done, and best of all she loves me. Even when I've ticked her off a bit, I still know that she loves me. I'm not sure why she does, but it's awesome. On a practical note, I'm not always very good at being extremely responsible, but Sarah has helped me become much better in that respect. And I like to think that I've helped her loosen up a bit and not take things too seriously.
Well, baby's up and I better run.
charlie

Mr. Mom

2008-03-23T18:27:00.005-04:00

I just spent a very interesting spring break getting a taste of what Sarah did for the first 3 months of Dylan's little life. It's awesome to get to spend time with Dylan, but there are many challenges to being a stay-at-home parent that I had not yet experienced. I was prepared for it not to be all fun and games (games being a bit advanced for Dylan at this stage), but there's nothing like experiencing things first hand. What gets you is basically a combination of loneliness and not enough time to your self (if that makes any sense). There is a definite longing for adult conversation. Don't get me wrong, I truly enjoyed our time together; but around Thursday I must admit that I was looking for a serious break from diapers and feeding and making funny faces that she usually didn't find very humorous.
That being said, it really was a good week. We got to play with Mary, Henry and Maggie which was a blast. We also got to introduce Dylan to new cousins which we always love. I'm attaching a picture of Dylan with Seanna and Sky; Sarah's sister Jenny's girls. Jenny and her husband Fenton came in to town for the week with the girls and we really had a good time. Dylan also made out like a fat-cat since now she has two cousin's worth of hand-me-down clothes. If you guys are reading this, I hope we get to see you again soon. As Jim Farnsworth has always told me, family is really what life is all about. I think family is a great avenue for God to teach us many many things. The problem with family is that you can't pick your family, but I think that is awesome. It stretches us sometimes, but it teaches us to love others even when we don't necessarily see eye-to-eye. You may not agree with your crazy uncle Ned's views, but it's still nice to see him from time to time cause he's your Dad's brother and part of your family's history. Your sister may drive you crazy, but you'd travel around the world to help her if she were in trouble. I think it's a great example of unconditional love that most people don't experience anywhere else. I feel very fortunate to have such awesome family.
Here's a video of Dylan making cool baby noises (Lee Y. I know you love these)
charlie

As life flies by

2008-03-16T00:21:00.004-04:00

I've been doing a lot of thinking lately about how I'm creeping up on 30 and I'm not sure when it happened. I'm getting e-mails about 10 year reunions, I have a niece, a nephew, and a daughter; But I don't really feel much different from when I was 16. I still like starwars, I wish I could play video games every day, my sense of humor hasn't changed all that much (farts are still funny). I guess I just feel a bit like the kid in Big; I'm twelve but I look older and no one is buying me food anymore (well, technically my wife is giving me money to buy food now that I'm in school, but you know what I mean). But then I think about how much I have changed. I've been married now for almost 7 years! I don't go home right after school or work and hang out with Lee or Mac, I come home and take care of my daughter and hang with my beautiful wife. I try to pick up after my self, and though I may not always succeed, I am way better than when I was in college (ask Lee). I do the dishes before they smell like rancid food, I cook dinner often since Sarah get off work after I get off school. I'm really nothing like I was when I was 16 except that I'm me. I always thought that I would feel different when I got older.
I saw some really cool pictures the other day of my wife's family. Some of them were very old. My wife's grandfather is an incredibly sweet man and has a great love of family. He made us some CD's with pictures of his wife, her family, and then of him and her together with the kids. It's really incredible to see a picture of a 25 year old man or woman that you have only know since they were 65. It makes you realize just how little separates us from our older selves. Sarah's mom was so cute as a kid (and is very beautiful today in her 30s), but it was fun to see a look in her eyes at 13 that I have seen many times since I have known her. It makes me feel like it's ok to be a man that feels like a boy.
Anywho, I'm going to post a really long but cute video of Dylan. There is also a lot of silly talking and noise making by Sarah and my self. Some of you may want to skip to the end cause she does her best tricks then, but I figured the grandparents and great-grandparents would want to see the whole thing. Hope you enjoy!
Charlie

Awesome news!

2008-03-04T21:12:00.007-05:00

Lee and Christy are having another baby! Man, I can't wait. The more babies the better I say. Of course I grew up with Christy, and Lee and I have been really close ever since we spent every hour of every day together our freshman year of college. Ever since they started popping out beautiful little girls I've been hooked. I remember doing matrix moves with Anna when she was old enough to hold her head up, and then changing Lee's brakes while Norah picked up the filthy nuts and bolts. I just love having them in my life. If you wanna see pictures of their girls (trust me you do!) then check out Lee or Christy's blogs which are linked on the right. It's fun thinking about another little one running around the Younger house. Congratulations to both of you, and here's hopin' the sickness only lasts 2 weeks this time!

Sorry to all of you who wait for my updates on pins and needles, I know it's been rough, but my computer was down for a while. While we've been on hiatus lots of cool stuff has been going on in Dylan land. She smiles much more now, and she holds her head up all by her self. She found her hands the other day and has been chewing on them since. She "talks" a lot as well. She's taken to filling her diaper while standing up for some reason as well. It's a lot of fun, and anyone who wants to come by just give me a call, I love to show her off. Pray for Sarah this week if you think about it, it's her first week back at work and I know she's missin' Dylan. OK, I'll stop blabbing and get to some cool pics and vids of the last couple weeks.

Cousins

2008-02-22T23:22:00.005-05:00

Mary had her second baby! I'm excited for Mary and Ben, but I'm also excited cause Margaret (I better have spelled that correctly) and Dylan will be almost exactly the same age. I've really enjoyed my relationships with my cousins. I remember sleep overs at Nan's house, like 1 million cousins all asleep on the ground after a hard night of popcorn eating and coke drinking. Mac and I have been particularly close over the years and it's always been nothing but fun. Now that we're older it's hard to get together, but when we do it's always a good time. Not that they're guaranteed to be best friends or anything, but who knows. Anyway, welcome to the world little Maggie, all I can guarantee is that you'll be loved by us all.
I don't have any pictures of Margaret yet, so I'll just put Dylan's latest. Hope you enjoy.

My first mullet

2008-02-17T19:54:00.003-05:00

Dylan is now 8 weeks old! She's started to nap on her stomach which seems to work well. Apparently it's best for them to sleep on they're backs, but we watch her closely. Oh yeah, and I would like to thank the scientific community for discovering SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome). Nothing like a syndrome for which there is no known cause but will suddenly kill you're baby. I really needed that one to help me sleep at night.
She's super cute even with her baby mullet. she had quite a bit of hair when she was born, but most of it fell out..... except the back. Now she has fuzz on top of her head and almost 2 inches of hair on the back of her melon. She also has a new favorite person. Is it her mother?..... nope. Yours truly?...... nope. Must be a grandparent then....not even close. It's a blue whale with an elephant on it's back. You might think that this elephant/whale abomination must have fed her or played with her to earn this love.... wrong again, they just sit over her changing table, they don't even swing on their own, I have to make them swing. And then she looks at them and smiles real big. I'm not saying that I never get smiles, but when you're changing a not so fresh diaper at 1am it would be nice to not be upstaged by an unrealistic stuffed water mammal. Anyway, here she is looking at her favorite dynamic animal duo.

Baby nails by Sarah.

2008-02-13T14:33:00.003-05:00

So nobody told us that baby's have large talons for finger nails. they're thin and sharp and have to be cut just like anybodys. Sarah's found that the only way to do it is while she's sleeping. So that's her using one of those terrible file-like devices on Dylan. I'm not sure how she's sleeping through it, those things are like scraping your fingers over a chalk board. I'm also including a picture of Dylan all ready to go out on a chilly day.

Henry and Doda.

2008-02-06T20:11:00.000-05:00

Mary sent me an e-mail with this outrageously cute picture of Henry holding the Yoda (Doda) plush I gave him. I mean come one, look at those dimples! I wish I got to hang out with Henry all the time. It's been hard to get together with a new baby and the usual winter illness going around. He's at such a fun age, talking funny and laughing about nothing. Just wanted to share the picture with all of you. Oh, Henry is my sister Mary and her husband Ben's son if you don't know them.

Too cute for words

2008-02-03T20:18:00.000-05:00

I'm getting use to this whole dad thing. At first it was all sleep deprivation, screaming, and anxiety. I was often overcome with emotion and uneasiness at the same time. It's a lot of responsibility all of the sudden. But lately it's been much more fun. There is still plenty of screaming, but now there is the very rarest of smiles as well. They come when she wants them to, and they cannot be duplicated at will. I've tried funny faces, funny noises, tickling, games, and jokes but nothing works. And then this morning I wake up and wander over to the couch where Dylan is eating with Sarah. I sat down so I could see her little eyes and said "hey buddy".... she looked at me and then....smiled! So I said "hey buddy" and she smiled again, and then a third time. It was such a small thing, and will soon be common place throughout the day, but it was just such a joy to be recognized by someone that I love so very much.
I really love the strong parallels between our relationship with Christ and my new relationship with Dylan. Except in the former I'm the one crapping on myself and screaming for no good reason. I just know that the same way that I love my little girl, even though she just barely acknowledges my presence, that He also loves me. He loves me in ways I don't understand just like I love her in ways she will not understand until she has kids of her own. And just like I long for her to love me back, He longs for us to love Him. Not that He needs us, He just loves us.
Enjoy the pics!

6 Weeks old!

2008-02-02T11:26:00.001-05:00

Dylan is 6 weeks old today. Amazing how much things have already changed. A couple nights ago she slept 6 hours straight! It was 1 am and I was unfortunately still doing homework, but Sarah was sleeping on the couch and when she woke up she said: "what time is it? Is she ok?" The books tell us that things should get a bit easier around this time, and I hope they're right. We're trying bottle feeding for the first time today. Seems to be working ok. Sarah has around 4 weeks left before she goes back to work, so we have to try and get Dylan use to the bottle. Other than that things have been going fairly well. School is challenging for me with a new baby and all. There just doesn't seem to be enough time in the day to do homework and study. Sarah's an awesome mom, she seems to have endless patience, though I'm sure it's tested plenty of times. We're looking forward to being able to get out more. Dylan does alright most of the time, but if she gets upset you have to walk her around for a while which makes outings a little complicated. So for now you'll all have to come visit us!
-charlie

My best friend is a Ninja

2008-01-28T14:59:00.000-05:00

Only 5 weeks old and already Dylan is doing things I have never done. I've always wanted a ninja friend! For some reason she loves Mr. Ninja. Some say it's because she can see him really well due to his high contrast features, but I like to believe that she simply knows how cool ninjas are. I'm also including a picture of her little sink bath on sunday just cause it's so cute.

Great Grandparents come to visit

2008-01-25T22:13:00.000-05:00

Today we had the honor of having two of Dylan's Great-Grandparents over for a visit. I love that they are here to share in the beginning of our little family. Nan was telling me an awesome story about Henry coming over to see her recently. He and Mary go over to Nan's once a week, and on this visit he decided he wanted some crackers: "you know where they are, go get some" was Nan's reply. Then with a proud tear in her eye she told me: "then he ran right back to me and said 'thank you', and Mary hadn't told him to or anything". I love to hear Jim (Sarah's Grandfather) talk about Dylan. He e-mails me after he gets to see her, telling me just how awesome she is (which is true), but it's the way that he keeps reminding me what a special gift she is that I love the most. The awesome thing is that without either of them, we wouldn't be here, so she's just as much their legacy as she is Sarah and mine. We love you guys, come see us again soon.

So I'm starting a blog.....

2008-01-25T22:07:00.001-05:00

With so much family around the country and the world, I figured a blog would be the easyest way to keep everyone up to date on what we're up to...... Who am I kidding you're just here for the baby pics. Oh well, I'll type anyway from time to time.