BDay/Thanksgiving

Well, this has been a fun-filled week! We had Joel's birthday and Thanksgiving with 2 families. We have really enjoyed ourselves. We started off on Tuesday night with bowling. We had a coupon for cheap games of bowling, so we thought we would take Charlie and see how he liked it. He had a blast!!! He did the first game using this ramp, but by the time we started our second game he was trying to throw his 6lb ball down the lane. It took a while for the ball to reach the end, but we really enjoyed our time together.

On Wednesday we had planned to go see "Tangled" after nap time for the cheapest show of the day, but we had to stay busy during the day. We made Joel his banana cream pie for his birthday, and an apple pie to take to his families house for Thanksgiving on Thursday, but then Charlie and I decided to build a "fork". It was so fun. All three of us, plus Suzie Jo, could fit in. It didn't last very long, though, since Charlie would jump off the couch and collapse the fort. We had a lot of fun building, destroying, rebuilding, and redestroying it. And, yes, we loved the movie. It's the first time Charlie went to a theatre (besides as a newborn or in my belly) and he did pretty good. He had a hard time getting the popcorn out of the bag, and kept dropping stuff on the floor and didnt understand why he couldnt pick up his candy off the floor and eat it, but he enjoyed the movie too.
Finally, on Thursday, we headed north. The weather was teasing us, but it was clear enough for us to make it to my grandma's to see family. We had a great time talking, playing games, and eating yummy food. Charlie crashed on the way back to get ready for the second round. We quickly switched food items at our house and were off to Joel's parents with all of his family for another dinner (luckily we ate at 1 at my grandmas and not until almost 6 at Joel's family, so we didnt suffer too much). We had a great time seeing everyone and enjoyed another great meal. We were home by 8 to play some more and read stories before bed, but Joel and I weren't far behind Charlie with such full bellies.

We got up on Friday morning (but thank you to Charlie for sleeping until 8) and enjoyed pulling out Christmas decorations. We had some from last year, and our sweet neighbor gave us a big box of stuff she found cleaning out all of her decorations. We had a lot of fun, and it was a chance to clean up the living room a bit. Charlie had fun helping with the tree so a lot of the ornaments are in one area, but I think it turned out great.

We have our fake tree from last year up again. We wanted a real tree, but since we are leaving for Christmas we decided to wait another year. Charlie keeps telling us how 'bootipul' the tree is. He loves the lights and cant wait to help Joel hang the lights outside tomorrow. We have a few weeks before our California trip fro Christmas and we are looking forward to it!!!

Well, that about catches us up. If you want to see more pictures of these adventures, or other things we are up to, check out my albums on facebook.

Suzie Jo

We got a cute new puppy. Definately Charlie's dog! We started naming off names, since he wanted Mattie or "new puppy" and Suzie stuck. 2 days later, he added the Jo. It's so cute to hear Charlie running around saying "come here Suzie Jo". He goes outside with her, helps clean up after her, helps feed her, and they play so well together. He even walks her, though that may not last too long since she will grow faster than him. She is about 8 weeks old and a pure yellow lab.I have gone back to work for a few weeks while Joel is waiting for his next job to start up. I was having some serious anxiety about it, along with us both wondering how Charlie would do. He has done great! He helps me get ready and they make me lunch every morning. Then they wave goodbye and close the garage.
While they were out running errands and going to walk around Bass Pro, Charlie found Joel's hat. It was a great picture to get at work and I thought I would share.

Charlie loves taking pictures. He usually gets his eyes or a red picture since he wont turn the camera around. I started holding the camera and letting him take it, then we would look at them together. This was a picture we took out on the deck.

Make believe has come full force! He has imaginary animals all over the house, mostly alligators and crocodiles, and his toys all have a personality and story. He also loves going on train rides. Here is his train. He will sit sometimes and make the noises, and other times he will put animals and toys on the chairs and push from behind and say "chugga choo choo". It is so fun to watch.

This past Saturday we went up to see some family. Charlie had a blast showing everyone his new puppy and seeing Uncle Clay and Aunt Julie (his favorites!). We played cards with Grandpa Jerry, had breakfast with him, Clay, and Grandma Nancy, saw Grandma's new garden and got some yummy veggies (I made pickles!), and rode on Uncle Erik's new motor cycle (well, I did), and got to go for a walk and play with Aunt Julie. It was a long but fun day!

His sweet hug with Uncle Clay.

Busy few weeks! Lots of fun and family. We are enjoying the new fall weather and getting our yard set for winter. Finishing and moving the fence, soon to get the garden plotted out and some manure in it so it will be ready in spring, and getting the dog kennel put up.

We have our first anniversary coming up in less than 2 weeks, my birthdy in 3, and a great wedding to get all dolled up for and enjoy dancing together. So we will have plenty to post soon!

Mississippi and Fair Time

Our fun week started off at the water park in West Des Moines. It was our first time there and we loved it. We all got to go on waterslides, lazy river, and the pool. Charlie had so much fun and was so brave. We was jumping in, blowing bubbles in the water, and going under. It was a great afternoon for all of us.

The next day we headed to Mississippi to see my mom, step dad, and my sister and her family. It was great. The drive (13 hours) wasnt too fun, but we made it.

Charlie, my little athlete, loves baseball. He got to play outside a lot, but we started playing with a balloon inside so we didnt have to deal with so many bugs and lost balls. Austin and Cali (my sisters kids) had fun with it too.

Charlie loved his cousin time. They all seemed to get along well, and were all clean every night thanks to fun bubble baths given by grandma. With how hot and sweaty they were getting, it was definately needed.

We had fun with Grandma and Grandpa, too. Lots of playing, readying, and watching cartoons. He even started getting used to Milo (dog). Unfortunately they had to put Maggie (Milo's mom) down our first day there. Charlie didnt really understand why she couldn't come back from the doctor. She was an amazing dog and will truly be missed!

Charlie did pretty good in the car. Lots of movies helped. He doesnt usually get to watch much tv, plus he got to color a lot, snack when he wanted, and lots of (watered down) juice.

We came back and Joel headed back to work. It was the last week of the fair and we wanted to go, so we went Wednesday night at 5 so it was half price to get in, and we knew we would have enough time to see what we wanted, eat what we wanted, and be home for bedtime. It was really fun.

Here is the really tall spinning ride with a basket on each end. Charlie was so mad he couldnt ride it. I told him he was too little and he said "my not little". We just had to distract him and walk away. He is too brave with stuff like that.

We made the mistake of showing him the water, too. He loves water and wouldn't leave the fountain. He was soaked, but dried by the time we got to the car. He would run to the middle, stomp in the puddle, and run out laughing.

Charlie's favorite part was the animals! Here is the 1100+ lb pig. He wouldnt touch it, but he was talking to him and giving him rocks.

The little pigs were more his size. He just ran through the isles and pointed out each one. He wanted to pet everything, too, but we kept him away unless we were told we could let him.

Here is the baby cow that he could pet, and he happily did, about 10 times. He loved the little cow and kept going back.

That is the past 2 weeks of our lives. A lot of fun! Can't wait for more. Between work and life we don't get to do this much in a short time often, but when stuff comes up we enjoy it. We have a fun wedding to go to over our anniversary weekend. It's a fancy one with dancing and everything. Joel and I have never danced so I informed him we are going and enjoying. We look forward to lots of experiences this fall and winter with our wonderful family!

Playing Catch Up

This post may be kind of long since its been almost 3 months and lots has happened, but I will try to keep it short so people can read it all in one sitting.
June 16-19 I went to girls camp with my ward. It was a last minute calling and it was a blast. Here are some of the girls (this in the back half of the photo) that were with us. We are in the tornado shelter during a big storm. We had no fights, only one day of bad weather, and tons of fun. Definately a good break for me!

Here is Charlie at my in-laws house trying to put on his cousins goggles. He didnt really want them on, but it was so cute to see him try to do it himself. He is such a fun and active kid, and so independent (as long as Joel or I are in the area!).

Charlie has recently become obsessed with baseball. He is really good, too. He hits right handed, but throws left (he is a lefty). He can hit the ball almost everytime and has a really good arm. The only problem is he will be out playing for hours if he has someone to throw the ball, but its been so hot we dont want to, so he throws a fit everytime its time to come in. I need to get him a tball stand so I can sit in the shade and watch. :)

Charlie loves church, too. He does well in nursery, once he is there. He loves having "Jesus' bread and water", which is the best explaination we have managed so far. He tries to sing, he stays still, and is relatively quiet. It really helps that he sees grandma and grandpa. He loves watching grandpa when its his week to conduct. This is a picture on the way home from church. He loves wearing his hat and glasses like daddy and asked for a picture. But, like daddy, he had already taken his tie off.

On June 23 the adoption was finalized. We got to the court house on time and still had to wait over an hour for our hearing since it was an open bracket time slot. Here is us sitting in the hallway between Charlie's many bathroom breaks. He does well going potty out of the house cause its an adventure, and usually he can use either little toilets or a urinal.

The second picture is Joel on the stand. We both had to get up and answer questions about our life, Charlie's relationship with Joel, punishment techniques in the home, and talk about the judges concern over how we had only been married for 9 months. After we both went up, Joel's dad stood up and told the judge he felt we were extremely stable and happy and that Charlie was one of the family. By the end the judge was crying and declared it. It was a neat experience.

Charlie got a frog from the judge. We are waiting for the new birth certificate from Mississippi so we can change his name on his social security info, but his legal name is now Charles Hanson. So fun.

Along with all the other adventures of life with a two year old comes building. Charlie stacks everything, builds forts and ramps, and loves stacking blocks. He also loves these cool blocks I found that are like pre-legos. He makes towers and planes, and when daddy is home he has him make cool stuff like the dragon in the picture. He knows that these blocks and his train sets dont come out until dad is home (since I dont want to sit for hours and play with them), and he cleans up his other toys from the main area so he can really play. It is so fun. He sings the clean up song, along with many others he knows or makes up, and gets the job done.As of July 12 Charlie and I have been in Iowa for 2 years, and July 11 was a year from when Joel proposed. It has gone so fast and been such a blessing in our lives. I couldnt imagine my life any other way.

We (well, mostly Joel) have been redoing a deck for some friends in the ward. It has been so hot and wet it has taken a while doing it little by little, but it is done now besides the stain. The side job has been a blessing right now with a break between jobs for work, trying to travel to see family and friends, and just life. We have worked together, worked apart, and learned a lot from each other in the process.

Charlie loves to build, as I said, and climb. He puts his table and work table together to support him and stands or sits on top and sings or hits with his hammer. Well, last week he kicked the table and crashed through the seem and sprained his ankle. We knew it wasnt broken and it didnt seem to bother him too much, but now it bothers him more so the doctor said to keep it wrapped when possible to support it, and go see a specialist if it lasts more than another week. He limps on it -- but limping while running is the cutest part. He has a kind of wobble really and people think he has a birth defect or something now. But here is a picture of his cute little wrapped up foot.

So that is our life. Joel is working regular hours for now, but come September the overtime will pick up. His job will be on and off since its a water treatment plant, so I will be subbing when he is home to watch Charlie to make up the difference. It will be nice to get out and in a classroom again, but I will miss my little guy when I am gone.

We are off to see family next week. I get to see my sister and her family at my mom's, too, which will be a fun treat. Joel is excited for the time off, and I am excited just to get out of the house for a few days. This will be our last big trip until our Christmas trip to California to see family. My baby brother just got off his mission to Ghana and I am so excited to see him in December.

Next month is our first anniversary, but one of Joel's friends is getting married the day before so our idea for a weekend away was botched, but we get to go dance and eat at a big reception, and probably have the night off from Charlie. Maybe the following weekend which is also my birthday we can do something special.

Well, until next time... ;)

Motto

(Charlie showing his hurt feeling, but this really expresses a lot for me... lol!)

"Someone's opinion of you does not have to become your reality!" ~Les Brown

This is my new motto. I have spent most of my life trying to be what others wanted me to be. Sometimes it worked out for the best, but usually I just get lost in it and become miserable because I don't know how to express myself.

Lucky for me, my husband reminds me regularly that he loves ME. He only expects me to be ME and to do MY best. He doesn't care what others think of me, so neither do I. It is a whole new experience. I have had to many people, family and friends, who expect me to be something I am not, or not loving the real me. From now on I will not bend. If they love ME, they are welcome to. If they don't love ME, then I will be sad, but I will move on.

So with this new frame of mind, I have written down reminders to myself, goals to keep in mind, and things I am truly thankful for in my life. I shared them with Joel, and we are taking it one day at a time until I truly love all of ME. Not just loving me because someone else says I am great, or because my friends accept the me they wanted, but to love the real me and share that with others!

(Joel teaching Charlie to golf on our day at the hitting range)

In other parts of life, its HOT! Hot and humid, but Charlie and my neighbors granddaughter, Riley, have gotten to play in the house and with squirt guns a lot, and that is so fun. I dont want to see our water bill for this month, though!

We are heading to Missouri this weekend to hang out with our friends, the England's, who are having their third kid tomorrow. I am so excited to see little Jaimee, and my friends, and I know Charlie is excited for his friends -- and Joel to go fishing with Jason!

My mom and step dad come up next week to see us, and to load up all her stuff on a truck to move back down to Mississippi. We will miss having her close, but know she is happy to be back with him!

Joel is working a lot, which is great. We are just hoping and praying that another job comes up for this company soon since this job will be done in the next month or two. We cant afford for him to be off work too long, especially during the summer when I cant sub. We have faith we will be ok, though.

Charlie continues to grow and surprise me. He has been counting in spanish, speaking quite clearly in english, making decisions, learning to dress himself, and just all around learning and becoming such a big kid. He is so fun! He loves to cuddle, and will even turn around while sitting on my lap to randomly give me sweet kisses. He also started saying prayers (with some help) and singing along to the hymns I sing at bedtime. It is all so sweet!

I have made friends with a great neighbor. She is a little older than my parents, but can't really weed eat her own yard, and watches her 2 granddaughters during the week. So Joel fixed her old weed eater and will do both yards, and I get to use her new riding mower since I can't start ours, but do both lawns. Her 5 year old granddaughter spends a lot of time here with us playing, too. And as a thank you she is going to teach me how to quilt and let me use her machines and supplies. I am SO excited. I always wanted to know how and she used to teach. She said I could come over a couple evenings a week and spend an hour or so working. It will make for a great project, and teach me a fun skill I can use a lot. If I enjoy it as much as I think I will, I will invest in a sewing machine and start making them!

May 11, 2010

So I can never think of titles. Dates are good, but I think it already posts a date. All well, I am a dork! The pictures above are one of Charlie's goofy face, Charlie "flying" on the couch, and the boys shooting guns at Bass Pro.

Mother's Day was wonderful. I got to pretend to sleep in a little. I enjoyed laying in bed while Joel got up with Charlie, then came back to cuddle. I cant sleep past about 630 anymore, especially with the construction on the houses in our neighborhood (yes, even on Sunday mornings). Charlie got me a cute card and some flowers he picked out himself, and Joel made me french toast. It was wonderful. Joel also did the dishes while I took a shower, which ended up in a broken sink so he had to fix it. It was pretty funny. I changed a nasty diaper, and then made lasagna while he did that (yes, I washed my hands). Church was wonderful as always, and then we went to Joel's parents with his siblings for dinner and hanging out.

I also got a surprise call from my little brother on a mission in Ghana Africa. The first time he called I sent it to voice mail. It didnt even register that he might call and the number was so weird I figured it was another call from Mexico. When I heard the message I started crying and Joel figured it out right away. I texted my step mom and he was on the phone with my brother there, so he called back a few minutes later. It was great to hear his voice! I am so proud of him and the growth he has had. I cant wait to see him at Christmas. He gets home in August, but we are all gathering at Christmas so we have a better visit and longer time together, and he will be a little more normal... well, as normal as any of my siblings could get!

What else has been going on?!?! I cant remember my last post... Ok, so I had my nephew, Benicio here for 9 days while my sister worked. They were up from Argentina. It was wonderful to see them, but I was so nervous about his stay since he doesnt (or didnt) speak much english. He picked it up very quickly and we made due. After my sister left he said a clear sentence. I had to laugh. Necessity sure kicks in fast. Charlie picked up a few spanish words, but mostly Benicio picked up Charlie's words and spoke in 2 year old sentences. That was fine with me!

I now have THREE callings in our ward. Brother Huse, the 2nd councilor, actually ran it by Joel first since he was nervous asking me to accept a third. I already do the ward bulletin and am the VT coordinator. Now I am the assistant girls camp director. It will be so fun, and my mother-in-law isn't working this summer so she will watch Charlie so I can go to camp, at least for a couple days. I am excited!!!

Charlie is busy moving his toys around and climbing, then jumping off everything. He is so busy. He has been using the potty some, but when we tried big boy undies he wet through 3 pair in about 10 min. I was so annoyed, so we are taking it slower.

My friend, Olivia, is close to having her baby. I am excited cause I am 'on call' to go help out. She is 36 weeks but already dialating so she is trying to induce herself. At the latest the doctor will induce on the 27th of this month, so sometime soon I will meet Jaimee (sp?) and get to hang out with her. We are going to help with the kids until her mom can get there, and then hang out for a day or so just for fun.

We have been wanting to go camping, but the cold and rain is stopping us. We got Charlie a cute fishing backpack that has a tackle box, a pole that shrinks, and sunglasses. It's so cute. He is pretty good at casting in the livingroom! I cant wait to take him out. So since we cant do that, I have been focusing on keeping the house clean, food storage, and my callings.

So I almost forgot... Charlie is losing yet another nail. He lost a thumb nail a year ago after smashing it in Kristi's gate, then a toe nail after getting it caught under a door... and now he smashed his middle finger in Kristi's screen door. It was nasty and purple and swollen for a week, now its white and lifting, but it probably wont fall off for a while since the ENTIRE nail is falling off, not just what is showing. It only hurts if he accidentally hits it.

I have also decided I needed an attitude adjustment. LOL. I have been putting myself down a lot, which in turn reduces my patience with myself and my boys. So I decided that I am how I am. Smaller goals to get what I want, and more patience with Charlie and Joel. I need to slow down, be slow to anger, and pray before I speak. It's been going well so far. I told Joel about it and he decided to help out by reminding me how wonderful he thinks I am, and trying to be more patient with Charlie too. Needless to say our house is already a more loving and peaceful place. Life is great!

So that is all I can think of for now! I have a wonderful family, great friends, and an amazing relationship with my Heavenly Father. What else could a gir ask for?!?!

Charlie...

Wow! Look at me!! Twice in one month. I wanted to write a bit about what Charlie has been up to. He is such a big kid now. It's hard to remember sometimes that he is just 2 and 3 months, some days I have to verbally remind myself so I have a little more patience. But I wanted to share with family and friends some of the fun things Charlie is saying and learning.

He has learned his ABC's and what they say. He will say "Mommy, the H says *pants like a dog*". He has something for each letter. He has a board with letter magnets, plus some on the fridge. He also points out letters everywhere we go. It's so fun.

Joel and I are having a war over certain types of words. I got him saying 'soda' instead of 'pop', so Joel wants him to say 'samich' instead of 'sandwich' (so 'he has a little white trash in him'... haha!). Random little things that keep life interesting.

Some of my favorites right now are 'thanks' not 'thank you' anymore, the way please sounds like 'peas', and if you ask him 'why?' he will say 'cuz' accenting the c with a southern type drawl. It is so cute! Last night when we were leaving Joel's parents house he said "no way Jose" to Joel's dad and it was so funny!

He has been speaking in understandable sentences, too. For a while he would just babble between 2 words and expect everyone to understand, but now they are pretty clear. We went for a walk on Thursday and he said such things as "airplane flying in the sky" and "they flying a kite". May not be 'perfect', but for a 2 year old it is great.

In other information, he loves riding his bike, now outside. He still reads his books, but has his letters too. He loves sliding, running, and any type of ball he can throw, hit, or kick. He is very active, but very sweet and helpful, too. He likes to clean up his spot at the table, including putting dishes in the sink and wiping the table and floor. He will remind others to do the same. He loves to throw stuff away, help take out trash, really help with anything I do. He will help move and fold laundry (really that last part isn't very helpful!). I have to clean bathrooms and such when he is asleep because he doesn't understand why he cant help spray cleaner. He is good and cleaning his toys and always has his room pretty clean. He is so fun!!!

Well, that is my update. Now I need to print this and put it in his baby book to save myself some time. I hope you enjoy. I will try to update more often like this. It allows me to tell more details instead of summarizing months at a time.

Not too much exciting news going on here, but I am trying to keep posting, and we had family pictures, so bear with me. :) I hope you all enjoy the pictures I chose. Amy is an amazing photographer, and you must know that all these were taken in her livingroom while her twin 20(ish) month girls were playing, and poor Charlie wanted to join in. If you want to see more, check on facebook, or let me know and I will send them your way. I will be printing some for our photo album, our wall of family pics, and then for family members. If you want one, let me know which one and what size. If not, and you are family, I will choose.

In other news, it is finally starting to warm up here in the freezing midwest. It is 37 degrees at the moment, supposed to be in the 40s all weekend, and maybe even 50 on Monday. I know it doesn't sound to warm to my Cali friends, but after this horrible winter and constant white, I am looking forward to getting outside with Charlie.

Charlie is doing great! Growing too fast! He can count to 13, knows all his colors, knows all his animals and sounds (including some odd animals that I didn't try to teach), and has about half of the letters in the alphabet down. Though he calls "P" "popcorn" because his letters video he loves has that as the reminder. It's really cute.

Joel is working a lot this week, but after not working a single solid week yet this year, it is good. Between the cold, the snow, and running out of materials, it has not been a good few months for any construction. He should stay busy through the summer with this job, though.

I am just busy being a mom and wife. I love staying home with Charlie, but I also got a job doing housekeeping every other week. It's not a lot of money, but even a little helps, and it gives me something to do where I can take Charlie. I have also been reading a lot, working on scrapbooking our wedding, and trying to clean out the spare room.

In a final note, the adoption is going along as planned. As of now, Charlie legally belongs to me and his guardian ad litem (sp?) from West Des Moines. That part was completed in December. It's about a 6 month waiting period in Iowa for the adoption to be complete, so around the end of April we will start the final paperwork and sign up for a court date to be right at the allotted timeline. Joel has to have a lot of interviews and we both have to sign a lot of papers, but really there is not much to a step-parent adoption. It is just a lot of waiting, and a lot of money. Totally worth it all, and more, though. As for us as a family, we are wonderful! Joel is an incredible father, and Charlie is an easy going and fun child (most of the time). He sees Joel as his daddy and knows no different. It has been an easy and wonderful transition. Thank you to all those who have helped and supported us, and continue to support us. :D

California

We went to California for a quick visit last week. It was such a great trip, and a great break from the cold weather! We flew in late Monday night and got a ride from LA from my dad. It was a good visit, but we were all tired.

Tuesday was a relaxing day of picking up my car, starting the loan paperwork, visiting my grandma, and dinner at Woolgrowers with my family! It was so great to see everyone! Marc and the kids are doing great and the kids are growing so fast. Kristin is doing great with her senior year and volleyball, and the parents are doing well (besides their various injuries... old age!).

Wednesday we went to Morro Bay. Joel decided at this point there were some redeeming qualities to California. It was his first trip and Bakersfield wasn't his idea of a great place to live. We got to spend time with Crystal and her growing family, eat fish and chips at the Flying Dutchman, feed the seals, and play in the water. It was so beautiful and such a relaxing and enjoyable day! (The picture where Charlie is all wet was right after he 'caught' a wave. No pain, just rolled a little. )

Thurday came more paperwork, packing, and ice cream at Dewar's with the family. I got to meet Marc's girlfriend and Kristin's boyfriend (weird) and enjoy my favorite treat before leaving town. Then came the drive! To Vegas that night, St. George the next morning, Denver by midnight, then home on Saturday. We got to see the Oler's in Colorado and have a wonderful visit, so that was worth it!

Charlie was great in the car!!! But we were still so happy to be home and in our own beds. Even Charlie! He didnt want to change. He crawled into bed when we got here and when I walked toward him with pj's and a diaper he pulled on the blanket and said "no mommy, bed." It broke my heart, but I still changed him before I said good night.

We are all back to our routines and the never ending snow. Off to a Valentine's dinner tonight while Charlie plays with a friend. Thanks to all the family and friends we visited, or who helped along the way. It was a great trip and worth the stress of such a quick trip.