What up doc? (Bugs Bunny style)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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