My little one's lately

BROOKS

I can hardly believe my little man is 9 months old! He's the cutest little guy, and makes me so happy that he's mine every day. Some recent happenings in his life are as follows: He can army crawl which is pretty funny to watch, Food Food Food the kid probably eats 3 times as much as Charli!! He's a super happy kid as long as I'm in sight, He LOVES our little dogs, The TV, Grass, Charli, and crinkling her papers. He's a kid that always has a plan, whether its to get something, eat something, get somewhere, or grab my earrings, he will stop at nothing to get what he wants. He growls and makes the craziest noises, which keeps us, and everyone around him entertained. He LOVES bath time, he gives kisses, he has 3 teeth, and he loves to cuddle! I seriously could eat this little guy up!!


CHARLI


I've decided my little Charli is at the best age ever! She has recently come completely out of her shell, and I can no longer call her shy. She is happy and willing to talk to ANYONE who will listen to what she was to say... which usually is A LOT! She will go on an on and on until you sometimes just have to cut her off. She loves to read books that she's memorized, color, and ride her bike! She loves to play with friends and LOVES her swim lessons! Her favorite show is Dragon Tails, and her favorite movie is a tie between UP and Princess and the Frog. She is obsessed with dress up, dancing around the house singing, and looking the the mirror..... She seriously is the funniest weirdest kid ever, and I just love her to death! She likes to wish on stars, put all her babies and animals to bed, and read them stories. She loves to point out any animal she sees, including bugs. She likes to tell different people and animals that they are her best friend in the whole world. Occasionally I get to be her best friend in the whole world, and that seriously makes my day. But most of the time, a worm in our yard, or our dog Callie gets the honor. She's newly obsessed with gum, and I often find her rummaging threw my purse to get some. She likes to put her babies in time out, and our dogs in time out.


Another random thing about Charli is her obsession with smells. All the time she is commenting on how things smell, good and bad (usually bad) and this can get really embarrassing. She even will yell from the bathroom when she's going #2, "Mommy I need to get out of here! It stinks!" So just this morning I was in my yard picking weeds with her.... my neighbor came over to say hi, and got down on Charli's level to talk to her. After telling my neighbor everything she had done so far that day, and re-introducing her little brother Brooks for the tenth time, my neighbor finally got a word in and said "wow you've had a very busy day!" Charli then responded by saying "you need to go back in your house, because your mouth smells like poop." Of course my neighbor laughed, but I was so humiliated! I mean seriously what can you say to make that right! I got mad at Charli, then I tried to explain to my neighbor that she says this all the time, and we don't know why, she just has a thing about smells, and she's always stating that everything stinks, and insisting that she can't go in places because they smell! I took Charli inside, and tried to explain that telling people their mouth smells like poop hurts their feelings, and that even if it does, you don't tell them that. Not sure anything I said sank in, but we'll keep working at it.


My sister-in-law recently said to me that Charli must be a grandmother trapped in a child's body. I think this puts it perfectly, because if you've ever talked to Charli you've heard her say lots of the following things:

You're just gonna love it!

That's AMAZING

I can't believe it!

Anyways......

I have an idea

let me tell you a story about Charli

Oh dear

Goodness sakes

Oh my goodness,

My names Charlotte Emery Pugmire.... but they call me Charli

That's Fantastic.

I have drip drops on my jammies

Mommy you're a wicked witch

Something stinks in here

I have the shivers

Oh and the last thing I can think of about her right now, is that she talks in the 3rd person.... all the time!

For those of you who have seen my Facebook page, You've already seen this video, but it was so funny I had to post it here too!

Good-bye Pluggies!!

After almost 2 1/2 years it was finally time to say good-bye to Charli's beloved "pluggie". I've been considering taking it away for so long, but she loved it so much, I couldn't bring myself to break her little heart by taking it away. But seeing what a big girl she is becoming, and realizing I'm gonna have to do it eventually, I finally decided the time had come. So I asked everyone I knew who had taken away a pacifier for all the advice they had. They gave me all sorts of Ideas! Everything from tying them to balloons and letting them float away, to having Charli trade her pluggie for a new toy, to everything im-between! She only has it at night and during nap time, and I've actually tried taking it away at nap time before, and it was seriously the saddest thing ever! She was crying in her room looking for it, took all the blankets and sheets off her bed, then finally realized it was no where to be found so just laid by the door of her room and begged for it back, mid sobs. I did the worst thing ever, gave in, and gave it back to her. I think it was worse for me then her. So I spent all this time decided exactly what I was going to do, this time and when Chris got home from Alaska I told him all about my elaborate plan. Welp to make a long story short, he put her to bed, and minutes later, comes down with her pluggie in his hand. I heard no crying, or searching. I waited, still no crying. When I asked him what in the heck he said to her, he told me that he said pluggies are for babies. He then asked her if she was a baby and she said no.... she then willingly handed it over, and that was that. I couldn't believe it! She actually slept through the night no problem and has seriously only brought it up like maybe two times since! I don't know what I would do with out my amazing husband. Only he could make things so simple.

Oh, and by the way that is a google image. My daughter does not have a diamond encrusted platinum pacifier

Whidbey Island!

For as long as I've known Chris, I've known that one of his most favorite things to do, is to go to Whidbey Island. It didn't take long, for me to love it too! They have the most beautiful property, complete with a like, and 75 acers of amazing scenery! Although for me to love it, it HAS to be nice weather. There's nothing worse then being freezing all day. Anyways when Chris got home from his last trip, we had a few really nice days, and decided to take the kids over. even the drive is fun, because you get to take a ferry there and back! We went to the property first, to roast hot dogs and have smore's for lunch, and say hi to Bill, then after riding around on their 4 wheeler thing.... (not sure what they call it, cuz it's not exactly a 4 wheeler...) we decided to go down to the beach. This is Charli's favorite, because she LOVES to look at all the tiny little crabs, and collect shells. Seriously you turn over a rock, and there is crabs everywhere. It would probably gross most people out, but Charli will pick them right up, and let them crawl across her hand!

Oh Charli!

Ok. So I know a lot of kids do this, but I seriously think it's so funny. Charli is now super into lining things up! She does it all the time, with everything, so yesterday I finally decided to take a few pictures just to remember this phase!

Oregon!

Not too long ago, when Chris was in Alaska, I very spontaneously decided to drive down to Oregon to visit my Dad and my brothers. It had been way to long since they had seen Charli, and as sad as this is, it was actually the first time they were going to meet Brooks. I'm so happy I went! I actually drove there and back in the same day, but it was completely worth it! Charli is still talking about Grandpa Tom, and Nick and Ben. She actually still throws them and their cats, (listing them by name) into her prayers! It was so much fun seeing how much Charli loved playing with my Dad and brothers. She was the complete center of attention, and could easily get used to that I'm sure! They loved baby Brooks, and it was so nice having everyone want to hold him, and him being the only little baby around for the day! Haha, this is sort of a joke, because there are so many babies all the time around here with all my brother and sister-in-law's living so close! This little trip made me wish so bad that my family lived even closer!

So I had to take a picture of this.... we ate lunch at this McDonalds that was right next to this park we were playing at, and I couldn't believe my eyes! It was the most gigantic play area of any fast food place I've ever seen in my life! I honestly couldn't even fit the entire thing in my camera! It went even further to the right and left! Charli loved it!

Harlem Globe Trotters

So a little while back, Chris's Dad got us all tickets to see the Harlem Globe Trotters. I'll be the first to admit that although I knew I had heard the name before, I had no idea what they were, or what they did. Chris was in Alaska, so when I asked him what to expect he said it was like "the circus of basketball"... so... I was really excited to take Charli, because hearing the word "circus" put all kinds of crazy ideas into my head. Like elephants, animals, and clowns doing crazy tricks with basketballs or something. I felt like the biggest idiot ever.

It was still really fun, he got a huge suite at the Comcast Arena with all sorts of food and deserts, and the kids loved seeing each other and running around the place. I had fun watching the show/game, and thought it was pretty cool. I only took a couple pictures, but you get the idea.

Swiming Lessons!

Charli is such a busy little girl, and for a while now I've really wanted to get her signed up for something!!! I love playing with my little sweetheart, but she loves playing with other kids her age so much, I wanted to get her involved in something that she would love! I started looking at dance classes, gymnastics, really anything to get her energy out, but I was disappointed to find that nearly everything required you to be the golden age of 3!!! Finally I ran across swimming lessons..... they have classes for kids under 3..... but YOU have to get in the water with them! Well with my baby Brooks this wasn't an option, so I called the phone number, and talked to the lady, and she said I could enroll her, but to make sure she was ready, because they didn't want people cancelling and then having open spots in their class. Welp I signed her up, and yesterday was her first day!! At first I was a little worried, because she was by far the smallest one... by a lot... but I couldn't have been more proud of my little one for jumping right in, and loving every second of it! They played a little game, and she sang the song the whole way home! I will also add, that the two 4 year olds in her class cried almost the whole time, so Charli basically got a private lesson, because she was the only one who would participate!

Their is actually 2 classes in this picture, the kids with their backs to us are in the next class up (goldfish) The crying girl in the green, and the little boy the teacher is holding were the other kids in Charli's class, the guppy's!

She really likes Josh... her teacher!

The classes combined to play the game!

She loves it!

This is the best picture I got of my camera shy daughter

Love Them.

So yesterday my little ones had their pictures taken by the amazing HOLLY APRECIO. Lots of you know that my little Charli can be SUPER shy, but it seriously took Holly no time at all to get Charli to warm up. In fact Charli loved her, and is still asking "where'd Holly go?" Anyways not only does she take beautiful pictures, but she is exceptionally reasonable! There's lots of people who seriously charge so much, and although I feel like she deserves it.... I'm super thankful that even poor people like me can get awesome pictures of our kids! Here is just a few (that she already had ready) of my cute little munchkins!! To see more, look at her blog http://hollyapreciophotography.blogspot.com Thank you Holly!

I could eat him!

Adorable! If I do say so myself!

Happy Valentines Day Daddy!!

This is the best smile I could get out of your daughter

6 Months Today!

My little baby Brooks is 6 MONTHS TODAY!!! Crazy how big he is, and how he is too quickly turning from a baby into a little boy. He is the sweetest cutest little guy I've ever met, and I couldn't possibly love him more! The last 6 months have been amazing with him as the newest member of our family, and I can't wait for all the time to come!

At 6 months Brooks:

Is loving his food! Seriously this kid is hungry all the time! He gets lots of little bites of whatever I'm eating (if its something a baby could eat of course) and loves rice cereal mixed with peas, applesauce, bananas, peaches, pears, sweet potatoes, carrots, and green beans! Its funny, he won't eat rice cereal alone... it literally makes him gag.

He can sit up for small periods of time, but when he looks around, he usually tips over:)

Gets around by rolling.

He has one little tooth poking through on the bottom, and another almost there! Seriously I can't believe this. Charli didn't get teeth until she was almost 1!

He laughs all the time, but usually it sounds more like this uncontrollable scream/squeal

He's turned into the BEST baby! I seriously can take him anywhere! Trust me, it wasn't always like this.

He still hates his car seat. The first 5-10 minutes of any drive are torture.

He's still a great nurser

He loves to grab his feet!

He seriously always has his arm up, and turned outward with his pinkey at his mouth... we call it his Dr. Evil, because seriously that's exactly what he does.

He loves to suck on his lower lip.

We're still not sure what color his eyes are going to be. Right now, they are a grey, with what looks to be a little blue and green...

He's a drooling machine!! We change bibs and shirts like crazy!

He loves our dogs. They make him laugh all the time!

He does not like to be left alone, where no one is in his eyesight.

He loves to watch TV. Even when I'm feeding him, I have to cover him with a blanket, or he'll just keep trying to turn his head to watch it.

He loves to face outward and see everything that's going on.

He loves to be held, cuddled, and given lots of attention!! WE LOVE HIM!!

Seriously??

This is what happens when I leave my children alone with their Dad.

When I asked why he did such a thing, Chris's response was "He fell asleep"

I can't go anywhere.

Spot Light on Charli!!!

My little two year old is growing like crazy, and I look at pictures of her from just this past summer, and can't believe how grown up she is becoming already! Mostly for my own records, but also for everyone to know, I thought I'd share a bit about whats going on in the life of Charli right now!

Her likes:

Playing outside with her umbrella and rain boots (we find ourselves ankle deep in puddles at least once a day when its raining)

Playing hide and seek

All things Disney but the princesses especially

being a mermaid in the bath

putting all her babies to sleep; she makes a bed for all of them

playing with all her cousins and friends

her pink pants

Singing by herself. If you try and sing with her, she'll tell you to be quiet

TV, but right now she LOVES Twice upon a Christmas.... I know Christmas is over.

Fern Gully

Marshmallows!

Blowing out candles every time I light one

Helping make dinner

Nursery

Going in the dogs cage

Her cash register

Sledding and all things snow

Doing her dance in front of everyone

Movie night

Coloring on MY picture

Disneyland ...She still talks about it

Mr. sun

Seeing birds and other animals outside

Reading stories, but especially brown bear

Her baby Brooks

Her dislikes:

Almost all food, with the exception of breakfast, and marshmallows

Having anything done with her hair

Staying in her bed at night

The dogs jumping on her

Sweaters, and scarfs

Being woke up

Having her picture taken

Leaving a place when she's having fun

She Can:

She can use a big girl bathroom!

She can sleep in her own bed

She can count to ten

She knows all the colors

She can sing lots of songs

She can be a great helper

She can buckle her own car seat

She can get herself dressed

Be the sweetest little girl I know!

Good To Be Back!!

Welp, I'm finally calling my blog vacation to a close. I seriously can't believe its January, and my last post was .... Halloween!!! Wow that's embarrassing. Anyways like all of you I'm sure the Holiday's were crazy and time just flew by! We had a wonderful Christmas spent at home, and the whole season was just great. It was especially fun on Christmas morning because Charli was finally old enough to understand what was going on, and loved opening every present she got. In fact it was hard to get her to keep opening them, because she wanted to play with each toy she got, right then and there. She still talks about how Santa ate all the cookies, and we are still watching "Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas." I'm sure Brooks enjoyed himself too, he mostly ate the wrapping paper after Charli opened his gifts.

Chris has been home since before Thanksgiving, and I partly blame him for my blogging absence. When he's here, we just try and take advantage of everyday, and do lots of fun things. Just a little catch up, here is some of the things we did over the break. Went sledding at Snoqualmie Pass, took Charli roller skating for the first time, made gingerbread houses, looked at Christmas lights, watched tons of Christmas movies, baked, decorated, undecorated, threw my sister-in-law a baby shower, spoke in church, shaved Brooks head, went to Christmas parties, saw Santa a few times, shopped, hung out with all the family from out of town LOTS!! And the list goes on.

So a HAPPY NEW YEAR to everyone!! As far as resolutions go, some of my less personal ones are, of course I want to be better at keeping up with my blog, I want to have a clean car, stick to our family budget, and get the rest of our house decorated! We'll see how it goes, so far so good. Anyhow I have lots of pictures to come, but I just wanted to post SOMETHING right now! My little Brooks is 5 MONTHS!!! I can't believe it. He is a happy little guy, who rolls all over the place, pushes himself up, laughs, giggles, smiles, loves to sit in his bumbo seat, loves the dogs, loves him mom dad and sister, and .....still wakes up in the night. Ugh. Its my fault because for some reason I go through some weird separation anxiety, and wait forever to put my babies in their own room... I'm weird I know, but I feel like I'm abandoning them, and banishing them to the nursery. Anyone else ever feel like that?? Anyways I guess the time has come to finally put him in there and let him cry it out. If anyone has any advise let me know. I never had to deal with this, with Charli.

This is the most scattered post ever, but anyways mostly wanted everyone to know I'm back in the blogging business, and there is more to come later!