Arizona Thanksgiving

This boy was so excited to go to Arizona for Thanksgiving! He was all smiles while I was doing laundry and packing.

Finally in Arizona! We checked out the local park and Chris and Charlie had fun together.

Like father like son :)

We checked out the Children's Museum in Phoenix! They had a live children's band playing music the whole time and so we danced and Charlie loved it. They had lots of difference areas like grocery shopping, baking, race cars, reading, etc. It was awesome!

On Thanksgiving we went to Chris' aunt and uncle's house which used to be Chris' grandparents house. There were so many people there because Charlie's Dad is one of 9. Huge right? yea. And so lots of people and cousins, but Charlie is the youngest. Chris' cousin is just a few months older than Charlie, so they could play :)

We went to Out of Africa one day and it is awesome! It's like you're on a safari the whole time. Watching all of these animals in their habitat, somewhat. We got to feed a giraffe and watch a lion and bear attack things. Awesome.

Charlie kisses.

Selfie with a Tiger.

Abby and Ally got to hold a giant snake.

ZEBRAS!

We got to check out a couple temples during our trip in Arizona and they were beautiful!

We had such a fun week in Arizona! It was so warm and sunny there and now we are back in Kansas and it's really cold :(

Halloween month

 

To kick off Halloween month, we went to Deanna Rose Farmstead, where Charlie got to feed the goats a bottle go milk. He was obsessed! As you can tell from this video.

Then later in the evening, we came back to the farmstead dressed up for their Halloween night with hayrides and trick-or-treating, and free food. It was a lot of fun!

And Charlie really enjoyed this dance party, haha.

We also went to the pumpkin patch a few times with friends. We love it because it's free!

Painting/carving pumpkins with the Bloomfields. We will miss you! Have fun in Utah!

Charlie quite enjoyed himself.

Tubby time!

Ward Halloween Carnival and trunk-or-treat!

Mickey, lion, and Minnie

my lion

We went to the Prairie Nature Center!

Chris' parents, Kirk and Linda, came to visit Halloween weekend and Charlie was spoiled with lots of yummy foods! Here he is licking steak, chocolate pudding, and apple sauce.

We went to the Payless Halloween party and Charlie had lots of playtime with grandpa.

Trick-or-treating! It was frrrreeeezing! But Charlie would not stand still to let me put on his jacket. He was running the entire time from house to house and double fisting candies! It was so adorable!

The Whole crew!

That weekend we also visited Liberty Jail and Adam-Ondi-Ahman. So beautiful!

Charlie exploded out of his diaper, so we went pantless.

Charlie on the swings with the Bloomfields. I took some family photos of them, so I just had to get some with Charlie in it, haha.

And here are some more videos of my son, who is so smart and is learning new "tricks" everyday!

Please ignore his gross nose-picking at the end...

Eighteen-month-old Munchkin

My Munchkin is 18 months (since a few weeks ago)

I love this boy more than words can describe! He has my whole heart! He is so smart, funny, loving, silly, curious, scared (haha), sweet, and innocent (most of the time). I love his little personality. I just can't wait to have conversations with him. Learn to talk already! Haha. 

Here are some words this kid says:

"Hi" (while waving - squeezing hand open and closed) - means Hi and Bye

"Wuhuh?" (with his hands open up and out, like a question) - Where is it?, huh?, what?

"Wohhh" - Woah, Wow

"Uh!" - Oh no! (he usually has a really scared look on his face, like when the lawnmowers come by our window)
"Dah!" (while pointing to something) - What is that?, Look!

Some of his tricks:

Where's your nose? He points to his nose

Where are your ears?  He points to his ears

Can you roll it? He shakes his arms out

Can you mark it with a "B"? He points to his palm

Can you say prayer? He folds his arms

Where's Charlie? He points to his stomach

Where's your belly button? He pulls up his shirt all the way and points to it, and then tries to do the same to me, haha.
Shake your head! And then he starts thrashing his head side-to-side super fast
High Five! And then he must give every person's hand in the room a high five

He loves:

reading books

rolling his cars everywhere around the house, even on me

building towers with blocks

throwing all of his toys in his crib and then going in his crib to throw them all back out

playing ball (fetch, haha)

running into me with a giant hug (my favorite)

giving his Mom and Dad kisses before bed (he laughs like crazy while doing it too)

bottles in the morning and night

slides

swings

climbing stairs or ladders

opening and shutting doors

anything with wheels on it (cars, other people's strollers, wagons, pushing strollers, etc.)

standing on the couch and then falling straight backwards into the pillows. He especially loves it when his head hits the wall behind the pillows. What's wrong with him? haha.

running away from me as I chase him

chasing me

playing any sort of game

playing mini golf with daddy outside in our "backyard"

wacking me in the face with his plastic baseball bat or with any other toy (it's because Chris laughs every time, not funny.)
teddy & doggy
all animals, especially dogs!
squeezing the air out of my cheeks
watching tv/movies/"Charlie shows"
being swung around in circles by his arms
holding our hands and doing "1, 2, 3, swing!"

I could go on and on about what this boy loves, but I won't so this list is a good start. Can't wait for the coming many years with this boy!

We love you Charlie!

pics my iPhone took over the last few months

 This is Charlie at one of the usual parks we go to by the library. He has always loved swings!

 Tubby Time!

 There is a carousel at one of the malls in Kansas City. Charlie just couldn't pass it up!

 Clinton Lake! It's much grosser than it looks haha.

 Charlie loves to play video games on the computer at the library.

 On our anniversary, we went walking down Massachusetts Ave and came across tons of street performers. That's Chris on the left!

 Laugh Out Loud! A play place in Lawrence.

 In the jungle gym.

 Story time! At the end, all the kids play ring-around-the-rosie and Charlie absolutely loves it.

 The last several weeks we were on a softball team with Chris' co-workers and Charlie was our Team Mascot! (That's Chris in the background. He was pitcher)

 Cheering on Daddy!

 Blocks Tower!

 We went to an irish festival in Kansas City and the fountains were all green!

 We went to the zoo and fed the birds!

 We went on a boat ride at the zoo!

 Playing at a friends house and Charlie couldn't resist playing in the water.

 At the Deanna Rose Farmstead, we got to feed a bunch of baby goats! They were loving Charlie!

 Friends at the farm

 More friends

 FHE at coldstone

 Playing at the lake at the Prairie Nature Center

 For Chris' 25th Birthday, we went go-carting and mini-golfing.

 GNO at the stake center to watch the general women's conference!

 Super rich neighbor has a pet zebra!

 Went to a hay maze/pumpkin patch place!

 In the maze

 My baby and I on the hay ride.

My munchkin! He looks so big in the picture... stop growing!

 At the pumpkin patch

 We went to the Topeka zoo with friends. Charlie was freaking out about the loud waterfall.

 Saw this great movie! Such amazing stories and people!

 Schaake's pumpkin patch!

 We half-timed Kansas University's football game against Oklahoma State University. (We got in for free at half-time). So fun! Plus, Charlie's first football game. He was kinda scared soaking it all in.

 Barely brave enough to touch the Jayhawks hand, haha.

 Family selfie.

My new hair cut.

Kansas has been a ton of fun recently! I've finally met a lot of people and made some friends and Autumn here in Lawrence is really cool! There is a ton to do! Can't wait for Halloween!