Santa Claus Is Coming To Town

Last night we took Sydney and Logan to meet Santa Claus. Sydney was really excited. We made the mistake of telling her that we were going to see Santa before we got in the car. She refused to finish dinner and kept asking to go "bye-bye." We thought that she might be scared, but she sat in his lap and let us take a few pictures. Logan woke up for the pictures.

The kids also had check-ups today at the doctors. Logan weighed in at 9lbs 6oz, which is in the fiftieth percentage for babies his age. Sydney weighed in at 23 lbs, which is only the tenth percentage. This pic of Logan was after we got home. How do you think he likes his car seat?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SYDNEY!!!!

Sydney is officially 2 years old today! I can't believe how big she is. We decided to celebrate today just the four of us since we had a little party for her on Saturday at Grammy's. I was making her a chocolate cake (her request was for chocolate) and she really wanted to help "cook" her cake too. If you ask her how old she is she will hold her hand out and say "two," or "eight," or whatever number comes to her mind. It is really cute!

Here she is licking the beaters to her cake. When I was putting stuff away she dipped them in to the cake pans that hadn't quite made it to the oven yet. She knows what is good!

Weekend At Grammy's

After Heath finished all of his finals we took off and headed up to Grammy and Pa's house for the weekend. Since it was just a few days before Sydney's 2nd birthday and both of my sister's have December birthdays we decided to throw a joint birthday party. Sydney liked all of her gifts but she especially liked the Magnadoodle. I hope she continues to enjoy the cheapest gift ($5) best when she becomes a teenager. She also really liked the cake. She keeps randomly asking me for cake. She never did this until she had that really great birthday cake.

Amanda took some really cute pictures while we were there and here are a few of the highlights.

Katie and Matt also blessed their new baby girl on Sunday. Here is a pic of all of us at Amelia's blessing.

"O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree"

I love Christmas time and Christmas decorations. However, I have must admit that I have been a little preoccupied this year with Logan and Sydney. We finally got our tree up this morning. Sydney really enjoyed helping decorate. Getting the ornaments to stay on the tree was a little challenging for her, but she managed. Sydney has been really into Santa this year. She constantly talks about him and she points him out whenever she sees him.

Notice the concentration of ornaments at the bottom right. When Sydney found a spot she liked, she stuck with it!

All that decorating wore Logan out. He was really good, he drifted off to sleep all on his own. If the picture was taken a little closer you would be able to see all the glitter on him. Sydney "shared" a christmas ball covered in glitter with him during the festivities. We had to put the tree up in our bedroom because we have a really small living room and honestly there was not place for it. I am not really sad about it because this way it will be easier to keep little hands from pulling at it or breaking ornaments. I am sure that we will have to make several trips to my bedroom each day to see our "Kissmas" tree.

I Wanna "Elp" Too!

Lately Sydney has really been into helping her mommy and daddy, or as she likes to say it "elping" us. Whenever we cook, do the dishes or laundry, or even change Logan's diaper Sydney tells us, "I wanna elp too!" She repeats this phrase over and over until we let her. This usually means bringing a kitchen chair over to the counter and letting her put something in a bowl. She also has us bring a chair over to the washing machine so she can assist in putting things into the washer. Since she is so into helping us I thought she would enjoy decorating some sugar cookies...

She really, really did! When Heath came home from school she had to take him in the kitchen and show him her cookies! Some days I can't believe how big she is!

Pics From Paint Central

Sydney is always up for a picture. This is just before the big spill!

It's All Fun and Games Until the Paint Ends Up on the Floor

A few days ago Sydney went for a playdate with some friends. She painted for the very first time and she was in love. This is one of her favorite activities these days. So, I decided to let her do a little painting at home. She was having a ball painting on her table that I covered in waxed paper. After showing mom and dad her wonderful artwork it was time to clean up. She wasn't too excited about the idea of cleaning up but since she loves to wash her hands she was tolerating "clean up time." As I was washing off her brushes, Sydney got a hold of the paint! YIKES!!!!!! Yep, you guessed it. Blue paint all over the floor, her feet, and the apron she had been wearing. One bath, and lots of extra cleaning later, everything was restored to normal except maybe my nerves. Next time we paint there will be lots more diligent supervision and perhaps a higher storage area for the paint bottles.

Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!

When in Rome

Well, I guess it's time to start a blog...especially since everyone else seems to have one. Also, with the recent addition to our family it felt like a good time to start.

We are so happy to welcome Logan Heath Charter into the family. He has blonde hair and blue eyes and is very awake and alert. Logan was born on 11/15/07 at 8:19am. We went in to the hospital at about 12:30am on the morning of the 15th to be induced and before we knew it, Logan was coming. Logan's cord was wrapped around his neck twice and he really scared us for the first minute or two after his birth. The doctors said that babies born with the cord wrapped around their necks are often stunned at birth...and Logan was no exception. He didn't cry or even move for about a minute or so and we were really scared. But soon started to cry and move and all was well.

Sydney has done great welcoming Logan into the family. Brother and sister are getting along fine so far. Sydney gives Logan hugs and kisses and asks for him first thing when se wakes up in the morning.

Anyway, the Charter family is doing very well and we are so happy to be together here at home. We are preparing for Thanksgiving now and I (Heath) will be cooking the turkey and most of the meal. Wish me luck.

We wanted to thank everyone for all their love and kindness. We are reminded of the importance of family at this time and we a so grateful for ours. Love you all.