Boo!

Happy Halloween 2012!

We had a great time gearing up for Halloween this year!!  It started with picking our pumpkins at a pumpkin patch, (then getting some more pumpkins from the grocery store because a squirrel chewed holes through the ones we picked) and ended with Boo-Palooza where Charlie and Luella celebrated Halloween with all their friends.  Charlie was Bam-Bam this year (very fitting considering all he does is walk around and bang things as loud as he can) and Luella was our 'little pumpkin' 

Charlie in the pumpkin patch

Charlie and I on a camel named Nacho
(who knew they would have camels at the pumpkin patch!)

Our Little Pumpkin
(inside her pumpkin) 

Bam-Bam

Charlie and his buddies at Boo-Palooza

Mr. Crabby Pants and Luella at Boo-Palooza

There is that smile!  

Baby Luella

1 Day New

Luella Marie Hamilton 

Arrived August 20, 2012 at 9:19am ~ 8 lbs 3 oz ~ 20 1/4 in

Welcome Baby Luella!  Obviously I am a little late in updating our blog considering Luella is already 8 weeks old - where does the time go?  The last few weeks have been filled with a lot of new adventures and special moments as we have welcomed our precious baby girl into our family.  She is loved in so many ways by her big brother and mommy and daddy.  

Luella has been a wonderful baby so far, despite a "witching period" where she would cry for almost 3 hours straight in the early evening.  That is over now and was short-lived and we consider ourselves lucky!  She has been sleeping through the night for over a week (we are talking from about 9:30pm - 6:30am) and that has been amazing for all of us ;)  Luella has such a sweet disposition and we are enjoying watching her grow and change each day.   

She loves to hanging out with her family, especially Charlie. Watching him run around is great entertainment for her.  He makes her smile and do her "baby giggle" as I call it.  And now that Luella is making noises, Charlie pays more attention to her.  Sometimes I catch him giving her little tickles on her toes and tummy, which is adorable.  And sometimes I catch him slapping her head or trying to roll her over, which is not adorable. For the most part, he is very good with her and loves to help with Luella in anyway that he can - putting the pacifier in her mouth (and then yanking it out) throwing her dirty diapers away, sharing all his toys with her, and always saying 'ewww' when it is time to change her diaper.  The best is when Charlie wakes up and he wants to see Luella first thing.   He points towards our room until we bring him to her and then he says 'baby' when he sees her (he can't say her name yet, but we are trying)  This morning she gave him a big smile to help start his day!  

We can't believe it has been 8 weeks since Luella has been with us - we have adjusted to 2 kids pretty quickly and we are loving every moment.  Yes, it is super busy and chaotic but we would not have it any other way!  

12 days ( 0 sticker means less than 1 month old?? I think that is how it works :) )

Where's Luella?  Charlie shared a lot of toys with her!

Going to the park with Mommy & Charlie

Leaving the hospital

Big kiss! (not sure what to think?!)

Oh Charlie!

Yesterday afternoon Charlie decided Mommy needed a little adventure, so he decided to lock her out of the house... (Yes, you are reading that correctly, my 16 month old son locked me out of the house!) Never would I have imagined being locked out of the house by Charlie at this age - maybe when he is 2 or 3 years old??

I went out the back door to set the garbage on the deck (the distance from the door to where I set the garbage is about 3 feet; the time I was outside was about 10 seconds).    I turned around to come back in and turned the handle on the door and the door would not open.  I wiggled the handle and pushed on the door and it is not opening, it is locked.  Awesome!   I look through the door and see Charlie looking at me and smiling.  I smile back but I am swearing under my breath and wondering what to do.  My phone is inside, Steve is at work, Crissy and Brett are at work (they have our extra key), and I can't leave Charlie's sight.  I am trying to remain calm as Charlie is running from his toys to the door waving  and smiling.   I think he is wondering why I am not coming in the house but thinking it is the best game ever, he continues to run back and forth from his toys to the door.  I need to get inside and my only option is to break a small window next to our back door.  Never having broken a window, I have no clue what to use so I am thinking my fist but in the movies people wrap their fists with a towel or something.  I don't have a towel outside so then I thought, a chair.   I grab a chair and look at the window to figure out the best spot to smash the glass and then I realize the window is too small for my 9 month pregnant body to fit thru...  As I am trying to come up with Plan B and making sure Charlie is ok, Kenadee is staring at me from inside most likely wondering why I am still outside and just wants me to get inside and give her dinner.

I start calling Charlie's name, knocking on the door and motioning for him to come by the door.  Plan B is to get him to unlock the door because since he was smart enough to know how to lock it, I thought I could show him how to unlock it by going through the motions while he watched through the window.   No such luck.  At this point I am old news to Charlie and he is running laps around the living room  laughing away while Bosee is chasing him.  I continue to try and get Charlie's attention and while he is not listening to me, Kenadee (the dog who never listens) is paying attention.   She comes towards the back door, swats the lock with her paw and by some miracle, the door is unlocked!!!!  Am I dreaming???  Do I have the smartest dog ever???  I was not dreaming because I was now inside the house and everyone was safe and sound and I was hugging Charlie.  As far as Kenadee being the smartest dog ever, she sure is!

Steve and I decided Charlie did not lock the lock as far as it could go (making it easier for Kenadee to unlock), but just enough for it to catch causing me not to be able to open the door from the outside. Either way, I was locked out and no amount of force or wiggling of the handle was letting me back in.  Since Charlie is watching and imitating EVERYTHING we do these days and he sees us lock the back lock, we think Charlie thought he was doing a really good thing by locking the door because Mommy was not in the house to to lock it herself :)

Charlie and Kenadee the Wonder Dog

Besides getting locked out of the house, I have been busy getting ready for Baby Girl.  She is due to arrive in 3 days but like her big brother, I am sure she will be late.  Everything is all set to go: clothes are washed, the swings and newborn items have been pulled out of storage and put back together (I feel like I just took them all apart and packed them away!) and tiny diapers have once again made an appearance in our house.   Steve put together the new crib and the double stroller and Charlie has been the product tester for everything.  We are so excited to meet our little girl and very excited to watch Charlie grow into his new role as a big brother.  Stay tuned for her arrival!

Where is my single stroller?  I don't want to share...

Did I really used to fit in this?

Putting the Mama-Roo together with Mommy

I did good!  All the screws are tight in the Mama-Roo  (I found my winter hat in the process and thought it would be fun to wear - I didn't care it was 100 degrees outside)

The crib is all set -  Good job Daddy :) 

Come on Baby Sister!  I am waiting to meet you...

The Tray

Recently, I have noticed Charlie is very adamant about fitting himself into the smallest spaces possible.  Is he remembering his days in the womb?  Does he feel more secure in a tiny space?  I am not sure...

The other morning he and I were at a coffee shop and while I was paying for my coffee, I noticed he crawled into a crawl space under the coffee bar.  One minute he is standing next to me, the next minute he is a foot away from me sitting in the smallest space only he could find.  (of course I could not get my phone out in time to snap a picture because he was already onto his next adventure)

But the best small space he sits in is a tray we have on our ottoman in the living room.  (Let me just tell you that this tray is 12"x12") He loves to take it to random spots in the house and just hang out in the tray.  I die laughing every time he does it.  It is the little things, right?!  (no pun intended)

The Tray

Getting in position

What?  I just want to be in my tray in the kitchen

I know I can fit the ball in the tray with me...

Mother's Day and a Goat

I can't believe I celebrated my second Mother's Day this past Sunday - where does the time go?!  We had a great day just hanging out and relaxing as a family.  Because the weather was so nice, we decided to head to the Lincoln Park Zoo and walk around.  We went to the petting zoo area so Charlie could see the animals up close and personal.  Little did I know, I would be the one getting up close and personal with the animals!

We were in the goat area and I was trying to take a picture of Steve and Charlie by the goats when all of the sudden, a goat grabbed onto my shirt.  After a few seconds, I realized he was not going to let go and he was actually eating my shirt and getting closer and closer to my stomach.  (of course I start thinking this goat is going to get baby girl Hamilton) I was trying to remain calm and catch Steve's eye to come help me when all I really wanted to do was scream.  But remembering that I was among a lot of children, screaming was not the answer.  Finally Steve looked over and realized what was happening - did he help me?  Nope, he just laughed and between laughs, said "Goats eat everything - don't let it get the camera strap" Oh really Captain Obvious?  I did not notice they eat everything!!!!  I was then laughing at this point but I really wanted this goat to get off my shirt.   Thankfully after about 2 minutes, the goat person (not sure what they call themselves) came and got the goat away from me and sent it inside the barn.  Unfortunately, she forgot to shut the barn door (she should be fired) and out came the goat again to find me.  This goat loved me but I had enough of him and ran away from it and told Steve and Charlie we were leaving the goat area.  Thankfully, Charlie did not think the goats were that cool so he did not mind that we left.

Thanks to the goat (and of course Steve and Charlie), Mother's Day 2012 will be one I will never forget :)

This is not the goat that attacked me

Looking at the flowers (Baby Girl is 27 Weeks old in this picture)

Spring Break 2012

We recently just got back from a family trip to Florida which was amazing!  Charlie and I were able to stay for 15 days and relax and have some fun in the sun.    After being gone, it was hard to come back to reality - I think Charlie and I could have used another 15 days in the Florida sun!

Charlie loved playing in and around the pool with all his pool toys and this is how he spent his days on our trip -loving every minute of it.   We decided water and warm weather is where Charlie is happiest.    He is definitely an outside kid and he enjoyed all the stuff we could do outside in Florida like swimming, boat rides, going to the beach, playing on the practice greens at the golf course and rides in the golf cart.

Needless to say, we can't wait to go back again next year!   In the meantime, we will wait for the warm weather to hit Chicago so we can go to the pool and beach and Charlie can be back in his "happy place"

Playing the "gliding game" into the pool

A swim with Great-Grandpa

Floating in our inner-tubes

We love the pool!

mommy, i can't seem to breath in my life jacket and isn' that the point?

Sound asleep on a boat ride

Another boat ride - sitting in the fishing chair

1 month old at the beach and I don't like the cold water

1 year old at the beach and I still don't like the cold water

I like sand

Family of 4 :)  (baby sister was 22 weeks old)

A hole in one!  (Please notice my golf shorts that mommy put on me just for this photo opportunity)

Golf cart ride with Great Grandpa

Think G.G. will let me drive it when I am 16?

Happy Easter!

My Florida doggie

One of my nights out with Great Grandma and Great Grandpa

Charlie is going to have a ...

I tried for 20 mins to get him to hold the sign and smile - I had to settle for the sign laying on his feet

This is how Charlie really feels about it being a girl - he threw the sign!

Baby H # 2 is a girl!!  Steve and I had bets going into the ultra sound yesterday - I thought the baby was a boy and he thought the baby was a girl.  Obviously, he was right :)  This little girl is LITTLE!   Currently she weighs 11oz and is in the 40th percentile.  (During my pregnancy with Charlie at this stage, he was 1 lb 3oz and in the 64th percentile.)  She is predicted to be 6 lbs when she arrives in August - a petite little thing!

Here are some things our little girl has in common with her big brother:

• She was sleeping with one arm above her head - Charlie was sleeping like this during his ultra sound as well (they both get this from their mommy)
• She has big feet (the ultra sound technician said her feet are 'hard to miss')
• She wiggles and kicks then falls asleep (just like Charlie did)

For the most part, Charlie does not notice anything is happening since he is so little.  Once in a while he will hit my belly but I think it is because he is wondering why it is getting bigger and bigger.  I try to have him feel his little sister kicking but his attention span is shorter than our dog, Bosee.  Charlie has been such a trooper going with me to all the doctor appointments.   It helps a lot that the doctors love him and most of the doctors at the practice know him because of the 32 hours of labor I experienced with him last March :) We went through 5 of the 8 doctors during our marathon labor and delivery and so now when I wheel him into the office, they all know and remember Baby Charlie!

I can't believe I am half way through this pregnancy!   I have been telling myself to breathe a lot these days since I am getting slightly freaked out at the thought of giving enough love and attention to two little nuggets and to Steve.   According to the doctor, freaking out is very natural with the second baby (especially when they will be so close in age) Thank you doctor!

We are so excited to be having a healthy baby girl - it is going to be so fun for Charlie to have a little sister and for our little girl to have a big brother that will look out for her and take care of her.

Let the baby girl shopping begin!

Week 20 (Charlie's BDay Bash Day)

Happy 1st Birthday Charles Kevin!

"Days turn to minutes and minutes turn to memories..."

This is a line from a song that my Dad used to keep tucked away in his wallet.  I think he kept it as a reminder to enjoy every moment and be present in every moment; because moments turn to memories in a blink of an eye.  This line has been echoing in my head for many weeks now as I have been thinking back on the first year of Charlie's life.  I can hardly believe all of his precious moments and our wonderful moments as a family have already become memories - some of the best memories life has brought to the three of us.   It is amazing how a tiny human can turn your world upside down in the best way possible!

I knew Charlie was going to be pretty special after he was 9 days late and then had me hooked up to tubes and medicine for 32 hours (making me look like the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man) until he decided to come out.  I thought, 'this little guy has a mind of his own and is going to take his time at life.'  And was I ever wrong!

Since the day he arrived in the world with his eyes wide open, he has had zest for life that no one can take away from him (and if anyone ever tries, they will have to get by me first!)  His energy, curiosity, smiles and innocence are truly an inspiration to me.  While Charlie taught himself to roll over, crawl, stand, and now walk, he was teaching me how to take a step back from life, slow down and enjoy each and every moment.  

I look back on the first year of Charlie's life with such fondness and love, I could burst.  I am so proud of every little thing he has accomplished, all his smiles, all his laughter and all the love he gives.  He is my little man and I hope through the years, I will be able to teach him just as much as he taught me in his first year of life.

Happy 1st Birthday Charles Kevin! 

March 26, 2012 

Never forget, you are 'the one and only ever you'

2011 - 1 Year Ago

2012 - 1 Year Later

Now, the fun stuff!  We threw Charlie a 1st Birthday Bash over the weekend at a local restaurant not only to celebrate his first year of life, but also our first year of surviving parenthood! Our family and friends were able to celebrate with Charlie and us.  The Birthday Boy had an amazing time proving once again, he is the life of the party.  He enjoyed his smash cake but it took him a few minutes to get used to the idea of smashing.  But in the end, he did a pretty good job covering himself in frosting.  I bet if he could talk, he would say his party was "amazeballs" :)

The Very Happy Birthday Boy

Happy Birthday to you!

Here we go!

I love frosting but not in my eye lashes!

So yummy!!

The smash cake (before it was smashed)



We hope all of your 1st birthday wishes come true!
Love Always,
Mommy & Daddy