We're back!

Wow, I can't believe it's been 8 months since I've written a blog post.  That's almost enough time to grow a baby :)

So much has happened since we last spoke, but this is by far our biggest news:

We're due with baby number 3 on March 10, and we couldn't be more excited.  "Scramber" (as James has nicknamed the little one) is doing wonderfully.

What else have we been up to?

In July 2014, we moved into a rental house in Floyds Knobs, Indiana.  Matthew started his new job at Radiology Associates and we soon found out we were pregnant.  The house we were renting was too far from the main road to get high speed internet (hence the lack of blog posts), didn't have a dishwasher, and was kind of stinky, but it had a beautiful back yard and it was cheap!  We also had neighbors who had horses, llamas, chickens, goats, cats, and dogs which the boys loved seeing every day (especially when the horses got out of their pasture and decided to graze in our backyard!)

We also attended a Boone Family Reunion in July at my Aunt Patty's lake house in Henryville.  It was so wonderful seeing our family that is spread out over the country (and my sis from England) all in one place.

In August, we took a trip to Kiawah Island, South Carolina.  Just like last year, we made an overnight stop on the way there and back at my Aunt Donna's house in Waynesville, North Carolina.  She's the main reason we vacation in South Carolina :).  My cousin Tyler (also known as Taco) joined us at the beach for a few days.  We had gorgeous weather and really enjoyed our time there.  James even made a friend on the beach with whom he'd swap toys with every day.  He loved swimming, especially with Tyler.  Charlie was a bit spooked by the waves at first, but he warmed up to the water by the end of the trip.

I coached James in soccer this fall through the YMCA.  We would have a weekly Saturday 20 minute practice followed by a 20 minute game.  He would often do alright during practice, but once the game started, he pretty much refused to play.  If he did come on the field, he would often sit on my feet.  When he got a medal at the end of the season, he said "this is for watching the game."

We celebrated Matthew's 33rd birthday on September 22nd.

And on September 28, our beautiful, perfect nephew Caleb was born.  He looks a lot like his dad, makes adorable noises when he eats, and does a really good side-eye.  James and Charlie are crazy about him (for awhile, James called him "my baby"), as are we!

Jill & I pregnant at the same time

October brought some Nett family pictures for Patsy's birthday (taken by her brother-in-law Paul Schellenberger).

Our annual pumpkin pictures (this time with Caleb!)

And Halloween.  James was really into Halloween this year, and decided that he and Charlie would dress up as Curious George and the Man in the Yellow Hat.  He has become infatuated with all things Halloween related: skeletons, spiders, ghosts, bats, pumpkins, you name it.  He's already planning his Halloween costume for this year (skeleton) and is thinking of adding spiders to his Bob the Builder Birthday cake.

He really enjoyed trick or treating this year, too - although he liked to sort and arrange the candy rather than eat it, which was just fine by me!  I think we ended up throwing it out in early January after he left it lying on the floor one too many times.  Charlie was a trooper with his huge hat, and he definitely was not going to let his candy go to waste.  He ate as much of it as we'd let him (and tried to steal some of James's on occasion).

November brought us two more birthdays: Aunt Steph's and Aunt Jill's.

We celebrated Thanksgiving with my family at my brother Matthew & Stephanie's beautiful new home.  We took it easy this year and did a chili lunch, and then headed over to Matthew's cousin's house in Louisville to celebrate with his family.

We had a pretty good snowfall in November and were able to take the boys' pictures for our Christmas card this year.

(front)

(back)

James loved it.  Charlie did, too, for a little while, but soon wanted to go back inside.  He was pretty content to watch James play from the window.

On 12/13/14, Matthew's brother Jason got married.  They had a beautiful ceremony and reception in Indianapolis.  Unfortunately, I wasn't able to take too many pictures because I was busy chasing around these handsome rascals.

We had some wonderful family celebrations, but sadly Charlie came down with an ear infection on Christmas Eve, so we didn't get to attend the Boone family party.  The boys were both spoiled, as usual :)

James's annual "bow on the head" Christmas photo

In January, James started preschool at St. Mary of the Knobs.  He wasn't potty trained in time to start in the fall (he went his first full day without diapers the day school started!), but luckily they let him start in January.  He absolutely loves it.  He goes three afternoons a week for three hours at a time.  It's sometimes a little hard to get him to tell us what he did there (he always says he didn't learn anything!), but he comes home singing new songs, talking about his friend Jack (whose name is really Jake), and has mentioned more than once that he loves playing the Xylophone during music class.  He adores his teachers (and has asked if they can come over to our house).  They send home a weekly newsletter letting us know what he did in class that week.  I think he'll be sad when summer break rolls around!

We also finally closed on a new house in January (only took us 60+ days for the closing!) and we moved in during the last week of the month.  We counted once, and Matthew has moved 12 times, and I've moved 14.  This time, we did it while he was recovering from a nasty stomach virus, while I was 7.5 months pregnant, and while both caring for two young kiddos.  I don't recommend it!  Thankfully, Matthew's dad Jim was a huge help, both with moving and cleaning - we couldn't have done it without him!  And his mom (who was recovering from the same virus) helped watch the boys and even cleaned out our nasty fridge at the rental house.  We're planning on finishing an attic space above the garage right away, and have plans for some other updates down the road.

Now that we have internet again, I'm going to attempt to keep up with this.  Even if no one else reads it, I like looking back through the pictures :)  Just don't expect too many posts, especially after Scrambler makes his or her appearance!

xoxox,
Leah

Look Who's Talking...and Walking!

Charlie started talking just before he turned 1 year old.  His first word (that seemed to have some meaning behind it) was "Dada".  He loves it when Matthew gets home from work - he gets a huge smile, and wants Dada to hold him immediately.  He soon picked up "Ba" (ball) and "Buh" (book), which are two of his favorite things after Dada.

But I think "Bye" is my favorite thing he says.

He's been walking while holding on to people's hands for over a month now.  He's pretty funny about it, too - he likes to steer, and he gets pretty angry when you try to steer him in a direction he doesn't want to go! He can also turn on a dime!

But this past Thursday, June 5th, Charlie took his first (unassisted) steps!  The little stinker did it at Grandma and Grandpa's while I was out house hunting and Dada was at work.  He's been getting more confident over the past couple of days and I'm sure he'll be running in no time.  Watch out, James!

The Quotable James Hardin - Part 2

(While playing outside)

James: Can I play in my socks?

Mama: No, I don't want your socks to get dirty.

James: Can I play in my toes?

James: Do you want a soo-vie?

Aunt Steph: A what?

James: Soo-vie

Mama: Smoothie

Aunt Steph: I'm sorry I didn't understand you.

James: I'm sorry I said soo-vie that way.

(James sneezes)

Mama: God Bless you!

(James sneezes again)

Mama: God Bless you!

James: Oh!  I made two God Bless yous!

(About an hour later, James sneezes a third time)

James: Oh!  I made three God Bless yous!

(While helping me making buttermilk pancakes)

James: I don't like buttermilk.  I like white milk.  It is fun to drink.  And to look at.

(While getting his diaper changed)

James: Cookie Monster is angry.

Mama: Why is Cookie Monster Angry?

James: Because I made a stinky.

(I look down and notice that he's wearing Sesame Street diapers, and there's a big picture of Cookie Monster's face on the butt!)

James: Oh, no!  Curious George broke his armpit!

(Talking to Matthew after he returned from a run.  James likes to watch him out the window.)

James: I saw you running really fast, Deda.  Then I looked out and thought I saw you again, but I didn't.

Deda: Oh, did you see someone else running?

James: No, it was just a house.

James: Oh no!  Curious George broke his armpit!

Charlie's Big Day

Charlie's first birthday was filled with things he loves to do.  There was lots of eating

Clockwise from top left: 1)Birthday pancakes at First Watch 2) Picnic lunch at the zoo 3) Where big brother only wanted to eat pretzels 4) Pork, peas, and sweet potato dinner 5) A bedtime snack of some yummy toes

 Lots of playing

A little present opening

James playing with the toy he just gave Charlie while Charlie plays with the wrapping paper

 Some really bad selfies

Our customary birthday family photo 

(ok, maybe this wasn't a favorite of Charlie's, but hopefully some day he'll be happy we took it!)

Lots of smiles

And a nice bedtime story with Deda, James, and his toothbrush 

(the kid LOVES brushing his teeth!)

And then over the weekend, Grandma and Grandpa paid us a visit

And brought Charlie this awesome Little Blue Truck cake

We had such a nice time celebrating Charlie and his first year of life.  Many thanks to our family and friends who wished the little guy a Happy Birthday!  We'll be sure to have a party next year!

Happy Birthday, Charles Norman!

So when I put this together last week, I totally forgot to include Charlie's monthly pics!  So here's version 2 :)

Charlie's First Haircut & A Gift for James

This past Saturday, we decided it was time for Charlie to get rid of his mullet.  His haircut wasn't as emotional for me as James's was (read about that here), but I still teared up a little bit.  He did awesome.  He sat still (for the most part) and only tried to grab the scissors a couple of times!

Here's the before and after:

He has a neck!

 James also got a little trim while we were there.  He's been having his hair cut by the same barber since his very first cut (with the exception of "the incident" when I tried to give him a trim).  His barber (Gary) had a signed baseball in a plastic case that James loved, and Gary would often let James hold onto it while getting his haircut.  They liked to discuss baseball and Charlie Brown.

We told him when we were there on Saturday that we're going to be moving, and that we weren't sure if we'd be back in before leaving town.  After their haircuts, the boys were playing with some toys in the waiting area of the shop, and Gary came over and told James that he had something for him.  He gave him the baseball and handed me a signed baseball card to hang onto for when James is older.  They're both signed by Chuck Harmon, who was the first African American to play for the Cincinnati Reds (you can read more about him here).  Mr. Harmon still lives in Cincinnati and attends Reds games, which is where Gary met him and was given the signed ball and baseball card.

I was really touched by this - the fact that he barely knows James, but knowing that he loves baseball, he gave him a wonderful gift that put a huge smile on his face.  I hope that someday James & I can pay it forward to someone else!

Charlie - 11 months!

Pictures this month were a little difficult, because Charlie would not sit still!  Most of them ended up being a blur, but I did get a few keepers...

This little guy LOVES to climb!

And he's always on the move.  He has permanent bruises on his knees from crawling and he face-plants about once a day when his back end gets going faster than his front end, but that doesn't stop him!  He started standing on his own this month (without holding onto anything), so I fear think he may be walking soon!

PS - Click here to see Charlie's side-by-side monthly photos!