Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Happy New Year


Charlie is ready for a night on the town with his top hat :-)

$5  of new year's spirit right here! We'll be comfy snuggling on the couch. Charlie is sleeping.
Our little guy earlier today
Thank you for all your sweet holiday cards and well wishes ~ you mean the world to us

Some borrowed thoughts for the new year:

Peace is not something you must hope for in the future. Rather, it is a deepening of the present, and unless you look for it in the present you will never find it.
~Thomas Merton


Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Photos From Last Night & This AM

Gotta love hooters - he picked it up out of the water by himself today :-)
Poor baby, he wants to eat everything...cutting a tooth sucks!
Happily sitting in his swing watching his new baby bach dvd.  We LOVE baby bach!

Taking a snooze last night without a swaddle! It didn't last long, he's quite a mover and shaker in his sleep.

Sunday, December 28, 2008

SLEEP - No Swaddle?


These pictures are from last night somewhere between the mid-line of soooo late and soooo early. Charlie was fussing and fussing and I thought he might need to work out a fart or two so I undid his swaddle, laid his fussy self on my bed and got up to go pee. (Heaven forbid I need something in the middle of the night!) I hurried back, expecting him to start wailing any minute only to find this...

I could not help myself I grabbed my camera. He NEVER falls asleep like this...always needs his swaddle.  So many people have been telling me lately that he won't want to be swaddled much longer and I was thinking to myself - this is it, no more swaddle! But tonight we're back to our fav. blankie :-)

Bath time

Charlie continues to love his bath time. He can be super fussy in the witching hour (7:00 on until bedtime) but put him in his bath and he quiets right down...kicking the water like he's Michael Phelps. (He gets that from his momma, the only sport I can beat Jose in!)  In trying to create sleep cues (that's what all the researchers call it) I'd like to give him a bath every night in addition to pj talk time and reading but especially at this time of year I don't want to dry out his skin to badly. Here's a bath from last week...don't mind the hooters rubber ducky...Nona is responsible for that one AND the vegas night light we use daily!



Charlie with Friends

In an effort to get my posts caught up in chronological order I missed the wine share photos. (I'm still converting xmas photos from my mom's side from shutterfly to the blog...it's a pain on the mac...I need Tia Ryn to just send them in email form)

We hosted a little wine share this year with a few close bay area friends. We haven't been able to get out to any holiday parties (or any adult-only functions for that matter) and it can be a real drag. Going out with Charlie gets easier and easier but it's always more comfortable to have people over so he can eat/sleep whenever.  I didn't think about my camera until later in the evening thus only capturing MMM (Michael Murphy Moul...no Mildreds here) with Charlie. Charlie LOVES MMM already and it made my heart so happy.  You realize even more once you have a baby just how incredible some people are in your life...and then you want your child to know them now and in their future. Included in these incredible people were (are): MMM (LAHS Teacher), Kandas Pandas (LAHS Teacher, Wife & Baby Benz), Arantxa Arriada aka Spanish Soul Sister (LAHS Teacher),  Cecilia Hinkston (PARCA & NDNU Alum), Erin Niemeyer (BFF).

Thank you all for everything that you give to my life, to Jose and Charlie. Having you over was a breath of fresh air. Can't wait to see you all in the new year.


Christmas Dinner

Our Mimi & Charlie
Hanging out with Dad



No one was eating the drumstick. Jose and I were the last to get a plate because I was putting Charlie to sleep and Jose was waiting for me as we rarely get to et at the same time.  Here he is before the drumstick challenge - he wouldn't let me take photos of during or after!  We were having such a good time!
Tia Ryn & the favorite nephew
Mia schooling everyone at the gaming table...
I believe we're plying scrabble here but I'm getting confused with 5 card poker, complete with fake chips!

Saturday, December 27, 2008

Christmas Morning at the Skaggs House...

7:00 am opening with GP and Sugar, Tia Ryn & Carter, Tia Mia & Uncle Cole, Mom & Dad.

That's our boy...don't mind the bloody mary in the background! :-)
Tia Mia

Charlie helping Ryn with the opening!
Jose snagged a spot by the tree...pictured here with GP's ultra leaded coffee
Candid Christmas morning...my dad always behind the camera...

Christmas at the Cuevas House

Celebrating Christmas Eve at the Cuevas House...all of these photos are Jose's work...he did such a great job!

Tata and all the grandkids: Charlie, Marisa, Felix, & Natalia
Santa dropped in to visit all those on the nice list this year...
too cute!

Charlie had been sleeping and I was trying to sleep when he was sleeping....he missed Santa this year!

This game was so cool, the doll is a joystick!


Spike in his elf outfit with Rosa

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Glad to be home...

Charlie and I are enjoying a quiet evening at home while Dad goes to his work holiday party. (one of their many budget cuts was cutting out the spouse in the party!) Charlie wants to put everything in his mouth now. On the plane home I realized that he's cutting tooth on the bottom.  The bath tub is no exception for his obsession!

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Our First Time Traveling With Dad

On his first plane ride...Charlie did so well and fell asleep for the majority of the flight.

Sitting in his big boy stroller...waiting for our checked luggage including the car seat!
We were lucky to meet up with our friends Jeff & Heather (formerly of Belmont) in their new home in Valencia. Pictured here is their cat Jackson who was a little perturbed that Charlie was visiting.
Taking a nap at the Hammond's house...love that swaddle blanket!

Too cute! Yes, Charlie did have pants on but I took off his trendy jeans so he could be comfy and go to sleep. It was really warm next to the fireplace!
Our view from our room at the Hyatt in LA.


We love the baby bjorn travel crib - we take it everywhere! It's super light weight and sets up in about 10 seconds. We left it at the airport after our first flight with all the commotion of trying to be organized in our first family trip. Jose went back to the airport and we were so relieved to find it waiting for us!

Being away from home means that we don't have our regular stations...changing table, sleep zone etc. We create our own stations once we're checked into the hotel...it saves us so much time!  I find myself doing funny things when traveling because I'm out of my own environment. I put down a couple of clean towels in the bathroom today so I could bring the bjorn into our oversized area. I could talk to Charlie while I took a shower and that way he felt better and didn't cry all through my shower (how relaxing would that be?) At home our master suite is all carpeted so Charlie usually plays outside the shower area where I can see him. On top of these normal issues there are other slight complications. Going through security our diaper rash ointment had to be tested for explosives (delay, delay). Speaking of delays, I could kill people when my baby is crying and I need to get moving....ARRRRRGTGGGGGGG. (clenched teeth) Babies also need to feed during take off and landing when traveling by plane because they can't clear their ears on their own and that lead to one unhappy baby. My friend Maria and I are of the same opinion - nursing bras suck. Stick to a nursing cami for easy plane access and use a nursing cover (thanks for the hooter hider Pill, I use it all the time!) for privacy. I took a window seat and luckily on both flights Jose and I had the row to ourselves. The biggest obstacle? Last night we checked into the hotel after dinner to find that the city was running a mandatory fire drill from midnight to 5am.  No lights or outlets would work during this time and they had...get this...2 glow sticks for us. I was thinking YOU HAVE GOT TO BE F'ING KIDDING ME! I followed Jose's confident lead and trusted that it would be okay. We requested a flashlight (something I keep on my nightstand at home to refrain from waking Jose and stimulating Charlie in the middle of the night). Charlie did great and only woke up 2 times in that 5 hour span.  For once I was really thankful that Charlie was solely breastfeeding.
Waiting in the horrendous SWA line at LAX after Vegas airport closed due to the weather and SWA cancelled several related flights.

My favorite boys in the world...we're only missing GP. 

Once we got back to  San Jose I was starved and we recently figured out through posted allergy info that Burger King buns don't have milk in them. So I scarfed a whopper and my tummy has not been so happy in a long time. Here's a photo of our prince: