Hello Again!!

Lately I have been trying to put up a post at the beginning of each month but I am a little late this time.  We have a lot going on in the next few weeks and I already have a lot to post so I decided I'd better get a post done before I have too much more to add to it.  In just a few weeks Charlize will be a year old (I know it went by fast) so check back soon and I should have some pictures of her enjoying her first cake!!

Since there is so much to share, I decided to just go from the beginning of April right on through with a little picture slide show.  Enjoy!

Colt and Adaline's wedding on April 14th
Columbia River Temple:

Everyone enjoying family being in town:

Hayden, Jocelyn and Charlize enjoying the balloons
 at the open house:

Charlize got her first pair of shoes:
Charlize got little pink jelly shoes to match her cousin.
It took her a few days to get used to them but now she loves wearing them.
In fact, the other day she was at Brenda's house and I said, "Ok, it's time to go."  Charlize grabbed her shoes and handed them to Brenda so she could put them on!

Our little family just enjoying time together:

Charlize enjoys going for walks, 
but it has taken her some time to like the grass:

We have been working on getting Charlize to go up and down the two steps in our house:

Charlize still spends lots of time eating:
She still loves bread, avocados and bananas and has found a new favorite--meatballs.

She also got her hands on some corn tortillas.
She might have enjoyed tearing them apart more than eating them:

On April 26th Nick and I celebrated our fourth anniversary.
 It was a quiet, simple weekend but it was great just to be together.  Nick also surprised me with an ipad!


In May we celebrated Nick's 26th birthday:

We had dinner at the Wrights and later with the Warrens.  I was also sneaky enough to throw a surprise birthday dinner for Nick at our house on his birthday but unfortunately I didn't take any pictures.
But, I did get some pictures of Charlize enjoying the left-over balloons:

Funny Story:
Brenda wanted to help me keep the party a secret so she asked Nick if he wanted to go to his favorite restaurant, Greek Island, on his birthday.  When Nick pulled up to the house that evening and saw all our friends in the backyard, his first thought was, "Don't they know we're going to Greek Island tonight?"
I guess I really surprised him!
Thank you everyone for helping me put this together!!


Also in May, Nick got our garden started & it is looking great:

Yep, she sure is cute!

We found these ducks in our front yard that night and Charlize had fun watching them.


Nick started playing city league softball:

I had never seen him play before but he is pretty good and really enjoys doing it.  Charlize and I have fun going to watch him play each week.


Charlize is getting around:
In the middle of April Charlize learned to maneuver herself to get from laying down to sitting.  She also started trying to crawl on all fours. She has recently figured it out and is now crawling 100% of the time . . . except when she is "jogging":

Just a few weeks ago Charlize started to pull 
herself up to a standing position. 
 At first it made me nervous but she is strong enough to do it and she can keep her balance.
Her favorite places are the entertainment center, chairs, the stairs, the bathtub, and the dishwasher:

Last week we had fun moving Colt and Adaline
 into their first apartment:

Their place is really cute and we are so excited for them!

There have actually been a lot of changes:
Colt has started his new job with Genie. Luke and Jamie have made the move to the east coast so Luke can do summer sales.  Samantha is back home for a little while until she moves back east to start her new job and Quentin will be home from his mission in just a couple of weeks!

We were able to spend a little time with Luke and Jamie before they took off.  Here is Jamie and Charlize helping me in Primary:

We also celebrated my first official Mother's Day!
 Last year was just a tease because I was only pregnant so it was fun to have a real Mother's Day.  We were able to have the Wright's over for dinner and then my parents joined us for dessert.  It was perfect.

Nick also surprised me, AGAIN, and got me a new camera/video recorder.
He has really outdone himself lately!

Since we are talking about mothers, I thought I would post a video that I saw on TV.  I guess it is like a commercial but it really has a good message in it and I get goosebumps every time I watch it.



Thank you Leigh Anne and Brenda for being such great moms!


Now, as always, I have to end with my usual bragging.
As a said before, Charlize is almost a year old and even though I am a little sad that she is growing up, it is so neat to see her change and grow.

Her first tooth FINALLY broke through the gums on May 9th.  It is on the bottom left side.  I know there are a lot more following close behind but she is doing pretty good. The cutest part is that her tongue is always sticking out because she likes feeling her tooth!

She is getting into a lot more things now that she is crawling but her favorite thing is shoes.  We can't leave any shoes out or she'll find them and chew on them like a little puppy.  I think she crawls around the house just looking for them.

Charlize's new sounds:
Charlize has finally figured out that it is fun to make the ohh sound when we tap on her mouth.  She has also recently starting making the little snorting sound that I used to make when I was little.  So cute!!!

Best of all, she is letting her little personality show.

She loves to walk, talk, sing, and dance--sounds like a girl!  Charlize is just a little jibber jabber; she always has something to say and it is so cute to watch her work through different sounds with her mouth.  When she is not talking, she is singing; she especially loves to sing in the car.

But the best thing is watching her dance, and she'll dance to anything-- the radio, music playing on her toys, music in commercials and my singing.  Just the other day she started to dance to the swooshing rhythm of the washing machine and the water draining out of the tub!  She is so cute!!

We are headed to Utah in a few days and then when we return we celebrate Quentin coming home and Charlize's first birthday, so check back soon!  Until then, we love you all and hope things are well with you and your family!

Happy Spring!

There is so much to celebrate here in our little home as the weather is warming up and we are beginning to enjoy more sunshine and the smell of beautiful flowers. 

First on our list is the marriage of Colt and Adaline.  They were married on Saturday, April 14th and we are so excited for them.  It was also great to have all the family here-- Great Grandma and Grandma Warren, Uncle Pat and Cami, Uncle Richard and Aunt Carrie, Natasha and Nathan, the Qiugley's and the Graessers.  Congrats Colt and Addi!

Here are a couple of pictures from Adaline's Bridal Shower:

The Goodie Table

Opening presents

Some of the guests

And more presents

I'll post some pictures from the wedding next time, as well as some pictures of Charlize and her cousins.

With the nice weather, Nick has also been able to do some more work on the house.  He has recently finished the last big project in the house, the laundry room, and has now moved to the outside.

In the laundry room, Nick painted, updated the cabinets and the countertop, put down new tile flooring and redid the bathroom.

Before:

 And After:

Thank you Colt and Dad for helping with this!

As for the work outside, Nick and I have spent a lot of time weeding and cleaning up.  But we couldn't have finished up with out Mom, Dad, Colt and Adaline.  They came over and in one Saturday we got flowers planted, the garden ready, the front porch cleaned up and best of all, cute black shutters on the front of the house.

Before:

Lots of weeds!

And no shutters:

And After:

 We just love the shutters:

Thank you everyone for coming to help!!

Another exciting event was celebrating Easter.  We thought that Charlize wasn't old enough to do an Easter Egg Hunt so we have that to look forward to next year, but she did get an Easter Basket.  I was so excited to give it to her in the morning that I took her right from the crib to the living room without feeding her.  Sadly, she was more interested in getting me to feed her than she was her basket.

Charlize's Easter Basket and Clothes

Investigating the goods

"I think I would rather eat first, mom."

Charlize got some summer clothes, an Easter dress and Lady and the Tramp DVD from Grandma and Grandpa Warren Easter Bunny.  She also got some books, star puffs, and a summer outfit from Mom and Dad Easter Bunny.  Mom and Dad got some clothes and candy.

Then we went to visit Grandma and Grandpa Wright.  Charlize was greeted with more goodies-- an Easter Dress, a lamb and blanket, and a board book.  She really got spoiled.

No one was really excited to show Charlize what the Easter Bunny brought:

Such a cute little girl--growing up so fast!

At Grandma and Grandpa Warren's house, we celebrated Easter and Adaline's birthday.

It was very exciting to celebrate Charlize's first Easter but most importantly, it was wonderful to reflect on that first Easter Morning when Christ was resurrected.  We are so grateful for the knowledge of and blessings we have because of the Atonement. 

Now, as always, I must include a little update on the sweet little baby.  She is now 10 months old and I can't believe so much time has passed since we brought our bundle of joy home from the hospital.  She has grown so much, even in just the last month. 

1.  She is finally getting some hair . . .  well at least on the back half of her head.  She has nothing on her cousin, Jocelyn, but it is coming in.

2. Charlize gave her first kisses to mom and dad.  We have learned that she knows what kisses are and how to give them but she still makes us work for it.  At least we know she just won't be handing them out to boys later on.

3. She loves the vacuum.  Charlize went through a short phase where she did not like the vacuum at all but more recently she gets very excited whenever I get the vacuum out.  She loves to just sit on the floor and follow me from room to room, just watching the vacuum and playing with the cord. 

One day, I was hurrying to get the vacuuming done before I had to put Charlize down for a nap.  I knew she was getting tired but she was so patient while she waited for me to finish, just folling me around.  Occasionally, she would stop and put her down on the floor, then move on with me.  When I finished, I hurried to grap the camera and get a quick video of our tired little girl, waiting to go to bed.

4.  Charlize still loves to eat!! Between sleeping and eating, Charlize stays busy all day.  Her favorites are still sweet potatoes and avacados but she has also found a love for bananas and bread.  She has also tried her first popcicle (pediapop).  I don't think she liked it very much but we will try again.

5.  Charlize is still army crawling, but she is very fast now and has recently been spending lots of play time trying to figure out how to get that tummy off the floor. 
She has also started to try and pull herself up onto drawers and stairs.  Grandma Wright came to babysit and they spent lots of time on the stairs. 

The next day, we decided to keep practicing.  Charlize did so good the first three times she climbed up the stairs with Nick and I and then, of course, I decide to grab the camera and by then she is a little warn out, but it is still cute:

6.  And now, the best for last.  Charlize has always loved the bath but at times that has made it difficult-- especially when she decides to try out acrobatic moves. 

Once Charlize became very stable sitting up on her own and I just couldn't keep her in the infant tub, I decided it was time to move to the big tub.  I was a little nervous, but it only took swallowing water twice until she figured things out.  Now, she thinks this is the best thing and just loves the bath. 

I must include this short video of Charlize in the bath tub.  I let her play with the little bath comb that we got in the hospital.  The look on her face says that she is not too sure about it!

Our little girl is so cute and always so happy.  She brings us such joy and we are so grateful to have her!!  I love her little toothless grin, her giggle, and her love and curiosity for life.  Everyday I am so happy to get up and greet her in the morning and spend the day learning from her.  I know she is truly a beloved daughter of God and I feel so blessed that I have been given this time on earth to be her mother.

Lastly, I would like to share a little video message with you.  There is a little three year old girl, Clara, in our stake who was diagnosed with cancer this last year.  We have been keeping her and her family in our prayers but things are up and down with her.  As I reflect on this and the blessing our little girl is I wonder if I would be strong enough to deal with such a trial in this life.  I found some strength in a video her mother posted on You Tube.  It is just a short clip of Clara's older brother talking about the situation.  Nick found the video and was inspired to make a sort of "Mormon Message" out of it.  I watched him make it and I have seen it several times but I still cry every time. It is so sweet and comforting.  Enjoy:

May you and your families be blessed. We love you!