Yellowstone

Oh hey I almost forgot I have a blog! Apparently last time I posted Charlie was just starting to pull up.....well we now have a walking, talking toddler who keeps me quite busy. He is currently very into balls, dogs, throwing things down and saying uh oh, climbing, running, not napping, and teething. Life is exciting!

I'm making my re-debut into the blogging world to show you pictures from our trip last weekend to Yellowstone. This was our first "vacation" as a family of three (that didn't involve going to visit family) and we had a blast. 

Our car trip started with funny faces and then quickly changed to napping... (praise the Lord!!!!!)

We drove from Pinedale to Jackson, up over the Teton Pass into Idaho, and then into Montana...all in 3.5 hours. The drive was quite beautiful and I always love driving around here on roads we haven't driven before!

Save the Spud

Potato farming

DESTINATION ADVENTURE

We stayed at the Moose Creek Inn in West Yellowstone in the Moose Suite (how fancy!) Don't know why I didnt think to take any pictures of the place but I didn't, sorry! It was really nice though! 

Throughout the next three days we explored and hiked through the park. Our little guy was such a champion seeing as how he was either buckled into his car seat or in the hiking backpack for most of the trip. We were definitely thankful for his compliance. Well, semi-compliance...by the last day it took both Mickey and I to get him strapped into his car seat. That boy is strong!!!!

Anyways, on to the pictures!

Sitting in a huge line for cars for about 20 minutes. I told Mickey when we got to the front we better see a pack of wolves eating a bear eating a moose....

 But sadly it was just a buffalo in the road. 

The bison were plentiful (see the baby on the right side? So cute)

One of the natural hot springs.

My cool action shot. The water on the left is boiling water coming out of the ground!

Another shot of some of the geyser pools. 

A hooded Charlie in the camping pack. 

Forest fire? Nah just smoke off the geothermal stuff. 

One of the many beautiful waterfalls.

Huge waterfall in the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. 

Yellowstone Moose!

See the little marmot? We saw him on one of our hikes.

Marmot playing with his buddy. 

Back in this thing again?

Waving for the camera. 

Coyote. 

Fresh bear track we saw on a hike. 

Family pic with the buffalo.

We had a great trip and were so thankful to get to see Yellowstone while we live up here. The whole park was gorgeous and it felt like each area looked so different. 

Hopefully I will be back before another 10 months passes!

What I'm Looking at These Days

A lot of this

and this

and this!

We just got back from a week in Michigan and before we left Charlie was able to pull up but mostly just in his crib and on his lower toys (like that little piano in the background of the last picture). I guess he got stronger over the week because he is on all our big furniture now! He can even hold onto the couch and shimmy on down that thing. I think I am going to have an early walker on my hands! I absolutely LOVE having a crawler/stander. I love that he can go wherever he wants! Well, maybe not love it so much when he repeatedly goes where he is not supposed to :)

Here's a few more pictures just cause I am obsessed with taking pictures of this kid!

And He's Off!

Remember just a few days ago when Charlie was learning to crawl? Well, I'd say he pretty much knows how to now! He's not totally great at it yet, but he can definitely go when he wants to.  This little boy is growing up!

Learning to Crawl

Charlie is trying SO HARD to crawl. He hasn't mastered it yet but I am wishing he would soon because every time I put him on the floor he gets into the crawling position and then gets upset that he can't do it. Thought I would share this very cute video of Mickey showing Charlie how it's done. 

Charlie at 6 Months!

Half a year old already! Time really does fly by. I look at my sweet little boy growing up and changing every day and I just want time to slow down. It wasn't that long ago that he was just this little blob of newness.

Look at that cute newborn picture! Is it wrong that I have baby fever when I have a 6 month old?! I must have already forgotten what those sleepless nights were like :) 

Charlie is so much fun and brings so much joy into our lives! He loves smiling and laughing and is really enjoying his new trick, sitting up!

In the spirit of the olympics he has also been working out.

And rolling himself into a baby burrito.

He absolutely LOVES to eat and has yet to try a food he doesn't like. He is now eating solid food 3 times a day.

Have you noticed that the mohawk is gone?! I think his hair finally got long enough to sit flat. 

Love this kid!!

Charlie Update!

Charlie is about 5 and a half months now and boy is he fun!! He is getting more and more of a little personality every day and I love getting to watch him soak up everything around him. Also, he is really cute. 

Likes:

Rolling around (all over the house)

Putting everything in his mouth

EATING, especially real food

Being outside

Funny noises

Laughing at Daddy

Taking naps (PTL)

Trying to sit up

Dislikes:

Mosquitos 

Not having your undivided attention

Being tired

We are having so much fun with this little guy. He especially loves it when we are both playing with him at the same time. He just looks back and forth between us over and over. 

Our little mountain baby at Sacred Rim. He LOVES being on Mickey's back while we hike.

Working on sitting up

Hanging out with Daddy

Charlie is the best! 

For anyone who wants to see more pictures of Charlie they are at http://charliebohn.shutterfly.com

(warning--there are over 400 pictures. You are probably only interested if you are a grandparent or are really bored:)

On The Move

We have a roller! Charlie has started rolling in the last few weeks. At first we called him a phantom roller because I would put him on his stomach to sleep and when he would wake up from his nap he would be in his back. I never saw it so I didn't really count it as a real roll :) He has gotten pretty good at it now! As you see in the video, he can do it in no time at all!

 

Side note--I am glad he is rolling over and getting bigger (13 pounds, 11 ounces at his last check up) BUT it's not that great that he only likes to sleep on his stomach yet rolls to his back sometimes in bed. Then he wakes up and protests loudly that he can't fall back asleep. He sure is keeping me on my toes! Hopefully he learns to roll himself from his back to tummy soon! 

And another video just because its cute: 

Charlie 2.0

There's a new kid in town...and his name is Charlie 2.0. 

Charlie previously looked like this: 

But now he looks like this:

What's the difference you may be asking (besides the fact that he has obviously shaved)? NO MORE PACIFIER!!!!

We took the pacifier away on Thursday and Charlie has been a completely different kid since then. It has been amazing! 

Let me back up a bit... We started giving C a pacifier when he was pretty young and it worked great...it was able to calm him down and soothe him to sleep no problem! Well, as he has gotten bigger he has started to rely on it more and more and more. It got to the point where he was waking up 4-5 times a night wanting it back in his mouth. For a few weeks I could just walk like a zombie into his room, pop it in and he would fall right back asleep. But for the last few weeks he was getting so worked up about not having it that even having it wouldn't help. 

In fact, every night this week he was waking up during the night and crying for an HOUR or more and completely could not be consoled. Did I also mention he was having problems eating? This kid was just having issues all over the place. 

Thursday morning I basically had a complete meltdown because he had been awake in the night screaming from 2:30-3:30 and then from 4:30 on. I could not get him to calm down, to eat, to sleep, ANYTHING. He was crying, I was crying, it was just not a happy time. I knew something had to give.

I've been doing a Bible study on "Becoming a Woman of Faith". I've been learning about what faith really is and what it means to have faith in the Lord, in all things. Does God really care that I have a screaming baby? The answer is YES! Thursday morning through my tears I finally looked up and said Lord I just can not do this on my own anymore (I have a tendency to think I never need anyone's help...) I asked for wisdom beyond my own understanding and sure enough I got it! 

After consulting with some other momma's and Godly women, I decided I should try taking the pacifier away. If he was going to cry all night, he might as well cry with a purpose! My sister prepared me that when she took the pacifier away from her youngest it took about 3 nights for him to adjust. I warned Mickey and prepared for the worst! (Not only were we taking his pacifier away, we were also going to unswaddle his arms and have him sleep on his stomach, so a lot of changes!) But did God give me the worst?? NO, he let my child adjust to his new sleeping arrangement in ONE NAP! 

I can not even tell you how amazing life is now. If Charlie wakes up during the night, he can now soothe himself back to sleep. He is more well rested and happier during the day. He eats better and he doesn't even mind riding in the car now! We are calling our new child Charlie 2.0! 

Oh, did I mention he slept through the night for the first time on Friday night?!

Praise the Lord for his faithfulness and for caring about all things, even the ones we think are small.

Trip to Houston

6 hours in the car and 4 plane trips later we are back from Texas! Charlie survived all the travel and did about as well as could be expected for a 3 month old! We had a whirlwind of a trip and it seemed like every minute was jam packed with activities. I need a vacation from our vacation!

We arrived late on Saturday night and went straight to bed. Sunday was Mother's Day (my first!) and we got to go to CEPC and see Elise getting baptized! Charlie even wore a tie for the occasion.

Sunday was also his first time to meet his Aunt Ashley, Uncle James and cousin Elise. He also got to meet his Aunt Allison, Uncle Robert, and cousins Audrey, James, Caroline and Henry (but I don't have a picture of that from Sunday)

Sunday night I got a nice surprise when I found out Charlie was going to stay home with Mimi and Papa while Mickey and I got to go to dinner! We went to Mark's which is the restaurant we went to the night we got engaged. Then afterwards we went and had some dessert at The Chocolate Bar. Man I sure do miss Houston food!!! (however my waist does not)

Mimi even gave Charlie a bath! (actually she gave him 3 baths because they babysat for us 3 nights.) It was soooooooooooo nice!

Monday we hung out at the Finches and went to Horn in the afternoon to see all our teacher friends. Then Monday night we had a dinner with the whole family. Here's Henry, Elise and Charlie in their "Fruit of the Womb" shirts Ashley gave us! 

The best one:

The outtakes: 

Tuesday we hung out at Ashley's all day and got to know cousin Elise a little better:

Wednesday Charlie got to stay with Mimi and Papa again while I went to dinner with my girlfriends and Mickey had dinner with a friend! Charlie also got to hang with the ladies before dinner.

On Thursday Audrey came over to play and Laura and Bennett came too! (Laura, I need a photo!)

Thursday afternoon Becca and Allie came by to meet Charlie and then Thursday night the Stablers and Kables came over for dinner. Charlie did his best to convince those couples to make friends for him..I hope it worked! 

On Friday Michelle came over all day to hang out with us! It was super fun. The only picture I have from this is from my mom and Michelle isn't wearing any makeup so I know she would NOT approve of that picture going on this blog. We also stopped by the Finches one last time to see everyone before we left. (James was boycotting all pictures during our trip!)

Friday night Mickey and I got to go out AGAIN! (Thanks Mom and Dad!) Our trip would not have been complete without a little Lupe Tortilla!

On Saturday we had to head out for the airport really early and Charlie was dressed in his Michigan best.

And of course we were in line for security right in front of some Ohio State fans. They said Charlie was the cutest little Wolverine they had ever seen (I agree!)

I learned my lesson from the way up here that C did NOT like being held the whole time so I gave him some alone time at the airport. He chilled on the floor while we ate lunch! 

We had a great time in Texas but are happy to be home!