World Cup Crazy!

If you walk into our house anytime between the hours of about 6 and midnight, you are likely to hear what sounds like a swarm of bees. What you would actually be hearing are the vuvuzela's that are played non stop during every.damn.game.

Apparently every 4 years, Brian's favorite sport becomes soccer. And he has to watch every.damn.game. Do you see a theme here? Literally, he records (on Hi Def so it eats up all our room on the DVR) every game. Some games he will actually watch the whole thing. Sometimes he listens to just the national anthems and then fast forwards until he sees a goal. Hits stop, rewinds, and then watches the goal. It is so weird.

So in honor of the World Cup invading my house, I've created a short list of all the things I love and hate about the World Cup.


Things I hate about the World Cup (and soccer in general)
1. Vuvezela's - the most annoying sound ever and every single game they are blaring
2. The "magic" cold spray. Everytime someone is injured, the trainers run out and spray what appears to be hair spray on the injured body part and magically, these players go from writhing and rolling on the ground (do they have no dignity?) to running around on the field again.
3. There are no time outs. Why don't they just follow every other sport and give each team a certain number of time outs? Because they don't have them, towards the end of the game when the teams are tired, players will just fall down and pretend they are injured (more rolling around on the field) until everyone has a little rest and then they pop right up.
4. "Extra" time at the end. I don't know what this is called but if they waste time during their time outs that are not really time outs they add a +3 or a +4 to the end of the game. It's very confusing because you don't know until the 90 mins are up if you are going to have any + minutes.
5. Not letting players sub out. Once a player leaves the game, they can't come back in. Which again leads to more rolling around on the field to get the rest because of no time outs. It's a vicious cycle.
6. Yellow and red cards. They have fouls that don't mean anything but if you foul too aggressively (causing the other player to roll around on the field seems to be the threshold) then they give you a "yellow card". There are all kinds of crazy rules around these like if you get 2 then you can't play in the next game and stuff and if you get a red card you're out but they don't seem to have any consistency on when they are held up.


Things I like about the World Cup (and soccer in general)
1. The eye candy
2. See #1

Speaking of some eye candy. Last Saturday our friends Sara and Brendon went to a wedding so they asked us if Colin could come over for a playdate with Charlie.

Colin really liked our big screen TV and was craning his neck around to watch. Guess what was on? Soccer of course.

A little tummy time for the boys. At one point it looked like Colin was going to roll over but he didn't! Apparently Charlie rolled over twice at daycare last week but so far he has resisted doing it at home. I will ask him to roll over but he just smiles at me and instead Sasha rolls over. :)

They had a great time with eachother!



I couldn't resist adding this one. We've been lucky to be able to put Charlie down at night in his crib wide awake and then he'll fall asleep pretty quickly but one night last week he needed a little extra snuggle time with daddy.

After bathtime and looking very sleepy!

Last week we also started Charlie on some cereal. So far he doesn't really seem to love it but he doesn't hate it either. Some nights I feel like he's catching on and some night he just spits it back out at me and grins. But we try it at least once everyday!

We also celebrated Brian's first father's day. Unfortunatley I realized after Charlie went to bed that I didn't take any pictures of them together (big Mom fail.) For the weekend we went to my parents house and Charlie got to take his first boat ride. He slept the whole way through it so I'm hoping to get some good awake pictures when we go back this weekend for the 4th of July!

Charlie loves to stick his bottom lip out when he's either mad or sleeping. I will work on getting one where he's mad but here he is one night after we got home from daycare.

4 month birthday!

Brian and I can't believe that Charlie is 4 months old already! Where did the time go?!?! Part of me feels like he just got here and the other part can't remember life without him. He had his 4 month appt (and shots) today. They confirmed what we knew - the kid is growing like a weed! He handled his shots great and fell asleep before we were out of the office again!

Weight: 16lbs 2 oz (75th percentile - up from 5oth percentile at 2 month appt)
Height: 26 1/2 inches (90th percentile - up from 75th percentile at 2 months)

The kid is going to be long and lean (unlike both of his parents!)

Charlie is now sleeping mostly through the night. He goes down around 8:30ish and then gets up around 6:30ish. Lately he's been waking up around 1 but we can put his pacifier back in and he passes right out..usually. We did get the thumbs up at the doctor today to start some cereal which I'm excited about and should make for some entertaining pictures!

Here's a few flashback pictures. It's already hard to remember him being that tiny. Look at those skinny little chicken legs back then!





And now all smiles!


Stella is really lovin this if you can't tell... I think she wonders when we can give him back to wherever he came from. She thinks the same thing everytime we take Sasha anywhere.




Looks like he's dancing the Irish jig

We took Charlie to the Twins game on Sunday. I wanted to introduce him to my boyfriend Chipper Jones but Chipper didn't play. Anyone who knew me in high school and college will know what a HUGE Braves fan that I used to be. But now I'm completely committed to jumping on the Twins bandwagon.

Charlie really enjoyed the game...

Charlie finally got to meet his Grandpa Frank this weekend. He lives in Ohio so it was a lot of fun that he came to visit us for the weekend!

Brian's cousin gave us this adorable rhino for Charlie's baptism. Why a rhino? We're not sure but it is huge and soft and cute. Obviously Charlie is too little for it but we knew he would love it eventually. We decided to just put it in the corner of Charlie's room until he could enjoy it. Apparently Stella thinks we installed a doggie bed for her in Charlie's room. EVERYTIME we are in there, she curls up on it.

When I found out that Charlie was going to be a boy I was just a little bummed because I loved walking through the stores and seeing all the girl clothes. There are some seriously cute stuff for a pink and sequin lovin' gal like me if I had a little girl to dress up. But as I was organizing Charlie's clothes the other day, I realized that this kid has some style (unless Dad dresses him in the morning)! I feel like I'm in a rush to get him into all these cute outfits before he grows out of them! He's so long that he's busting through everything with feet or that are long pants. Thankfully a lot of his 3-6 mos clothes are shorts and tops so we're good although the onesies get a little tight in the length.

We also took Charlie to the game last Wed (Charlie has way more Twins clothes than we do.) But he also wore his first pair of tennis shoes. He doesn't need them but they complete the outfit which is the most important thing :)

Brian bought his very first outfit for Charlie the other day. It's in honor of the World Cup starting and is his very first little soccer outfit. I saw this line on facebook the other day and it was so fitting for me. Yes, I get all my best poetry from facebook. :) Charlie LOVES singing and all kinds of music.

"The worst feature of a new baby is its mother's singing"~~Kin Hubbard

El Baptismo para Carlitos Kippley

This weekend we celebrated Charlie’s baptism – or El Baptismo as it will always in the future be known. Charlie’s godparents are Brian’s Aunt Anne and her hubby Michael. We have grown really close to them over the years and couldn’t think of anyone who would be a better fit. Anne has taken the role of godmother to heart and spoils Charlie and every time they are together she does a “photo shoot”. It’s so cute. Charlie is a lucky boy. A few weeks ago she told me about a baptism present she ordered that “didn’t turn out quite right” so already I had some anticipation about this whole thing. Then last Thursday (3 days before el baptismo) I called her to talk about the blessed event and she said she had something to tell me. Apparently she was up late ordering Charlie’s baptism present part 2 and made a teeny tiny mistake. The package she ordered came and the bib was beautiful, the socks were precious, and the little shoes were adorable….and in SPANISH. Yes, everything says Mi Bautizo. When she told me I couldn’t stop laughing. She was all upset and telling me that she was going to take it back and I made her promise me that she would do no such thing. I mean, how fitting that it should be in Spanish when Brian and I got married in MX! But then it became the joke of the whole weekend and his El Baptismo. Our gift to them was a salsa and dip tray J This theme isn’t going to die anytime soon! We love you Madrina Anne and Padrino Michael!





With Grandma Pat and Great Granny Frannie



With Madrina Anne and Padrino Michael :)


Charlie with my Mom and Dad

I love these next two photos. My mom brought up my baptismal gown that both my brother and I wore at our baptisms. She actually made the gown, booties, hat, etc but apparently my brother and I were smaller than Charlie and only the gown fit (barely). I think Grandma might be squeezing a little too tight but she sure loves him!

If you look closely, you can see the shoes say Mi Bautizo! Ha!

I knew the gown would be really tight and not knowing if the weather would be super warm, I ordered Charlie this onesie that had a cross with his name on it. Brian says I enjoy spending money on things Charlie will only wear once. Umm yep :)

This was Anne's first gift for Charlie. Apparently she found a website where you can order cool personalized gifts. Again, late at night Anne placed an order. She just picked the choice where they translate the baby's name but you don't get to know what that is until the gift shows up. Apparently Charlie stands for manly farmer which is pretty hilarious. My little Carlitos is one manly farmer! Ha! But the colors match his room perfectly.

And this last picture just because I think it's cute. He's definitely over me taking pictures of him sometime but our new thing is for Charlie to sit in his bumbo on the kitchen counter while I do dishes or wash out bottles at night. He just watches, drools, and usually has his entire hand in his mouth while he watches.

So glamorous!

No one told me just how glamorous motherhood was going to be. Oh wait. It's not? You're right. It's probably the most unglamorous adventure a person could go on. Worth it? Absolutely ten times over again. But glamorous it is not.

Pregnancy for me was pretty great but I should have known that it was just the tip of the iceberg. I thought that being pregnant gave me the license to wear granny panties and I loved pants with elastic bands. A second helping of ice cream was encouraged and people always tell you that you look cute even when you don't.

If you read back to "my biggest fears" post, you'll see that my fears were all kinds of horrific things happening to my body during the labor. Most of which happened to me. Stretch marks. Check. Hemorroids. Check. Poop during labor. I'm 90% sure I didn't but still horrifying to think about.

Then comes bringing my sweet baby Charlie home from the hospital. A few weeks into my maternity leave I realized that if I laugh too hard, I might regret it if you know what I mean. It became common place for Brian to come home to me pumping on the couch with Charlie sleeping next to me. Our relationship went way past it only being somewhat comfortable to pee with the door open! There were no secrets anymore!

I reached the new low of how unglamorous motherhood really is last weekend. I was at my friend Erin's parents' house because we were getting our boys together in Des Moines. I was sitting on the floor upstairs in her room pumping before we left and in walks HER HUSBAND. The next few minutes are kind of hazy because I think I blacked out a little bit. It's one thing to walk in on someone changing but it's quite different to walk in when someone is pumping - that is something no one should see!! I was mortified. But we all laughed about it later even though it definitely is in my top 3 of embarassing moments!

Anywho - we've had a fun and busy last few weeks. We had some friends over for Memorial Day to help break in our new grill (Happy early Father's Day Brian.) After the party, Charlie was exhuasted and had to take a nap with Daddy on the couch. (Sasha was tired too.)





Here is a picture of Charlie taking a nap. At night we still swaddle him because I think he sleeps better but during the day we just lay him down and he loves to spread out!




Charlie also got to attend his first Twins game. It was very fun even though the Twins lost. Not every kid can say they saw the Yankees play during their very first major league baseball game. Charlie was great during the game - just watched everything and chatted away.


I thought that after going through labor and delivery, any amount of dignity and modesty would have been ripped from me. But I was wrong. I do have a shred of modesty left in me. It was bad enough for my best friend’s husband to see me pumping but the Twins game brought to a whole new level. I had heard that this brand new multi million dollar facility had a “mother’s room.” So at our first game, Charlie and I decided to give it a whirl. I walked down to guest services and was shown to a very small, stuffy room that had no circulation and the only furniture was a few old desks and chairs that I’m positive came over from the Metrodome. There were no partitions so you literally sit elbow to elbow with the other moms while sitting in the stifiling hot room. Thankfully there was a TV so we had somewhere to focus our eyes! The worst part is that there is a 75 year old man who sits at guest services and shows all the moms back to the room. But when he does, he opens the door as wide as he can without knocking and then covers his eyes while cackling “I’m not looking, hehe. I’m not looking, hehe.” It’s pretty special. By the end, I was hot and Charlie was dripping sweat and we both agreed to bring bottles to the rest of the games!

A few weeks ago I was honored to stand up in my BFF Meggie's wedding. Megan is a very detailed person. I remember going over to her house in high school and she would have an erase board with all of the outfits she was going to wear for the week including matching socks and accessories. So it was no surprise that her wedding was absolutely meticulously planned and every detail was beautiful.

As you can probably tell, I went spray tanning a few days before the wedding. I loved how it turned out but maybe I should have told Brian and Charlie to do it too! After I got home from spray tanning, I realized that it kind of stays wet and sticky for a few hours. Brian got out an old sheet and put it on the floor and wouldn't let me sit on any of the furniture all night. He even made me lay on that sheet when we went to bed. I also wasn't allowed to hold or feed Charlie - he was worried about it rubbing off and we'd have an orange oompa loompa looking baby.







My parents also came to the wedding so they were able to take Charlie back to the hotel once the reception really got started. At one point Megan's Aunt Sally came over to hold Charlie and I thought my mom was going to rip him out of her arms. Apparently she doesn't like to share "my Charlie" as she calls him.


Before the rehearsal we got the babies together. The little lady on the left is Erin's sister's baby Layna who was born in December. Declan is just 2 weeks older than Charlie.




Here are the 4 of us with the babies. This was right after "the incident" so I think my face is red more from blushing than the spray tanning.

These pictures are a few weeks late and Charlie's 4 month appt is right around the corner! I can't wait to get a check up on his measurements. Some new developments this month have been:

- grabbing for toys and trying to bring them to his mouth

- grabbing onto his feet for just a few seconds

- he's talking and laughing up a storm - sometimes he squeals which makes us laugh and Sasha gets concerned

- follows everything with his eyes and when Brian or I walk away, he cranes his neck to follow where we are going

I bought these "not socks" leg warmer things when I was pregnant thinking Charlie could wear them all the time. Now that they fit, it seems weird to put him in them and there is no way Brian would take him anywhere with them on but I had to at least have him wear them once! (I do have 5 other pairs though..)

In my pictures, I try to suck in my belly but Charlie looks like he's pushing his out!

Too hot to post!

After reading that title I see how you could get the wrong idea about what this post is about! What I mean is - it is literally too hot to post. My car read 89 on the way home! Yuck! Charlie seems a little worn out by the heat too. I haven't posted in awhile because it's hard to find time to sit down and type when I get home from work and just want to hang out with Charlie but I promise to do better! This week is easy because we have another post from our guest writer that I have approved... :)


I would love to post some pictures here like Charlie's 3 month pictures or some from this weekend but I can't find where Brian put the camera battery and I'm trying not to freak out that he might have left it at the hotel in Des Moines. Hope he answers my nasty text messages soon.


Charlie is concerned for his daddy's welfare right now...




Onto Brian's post. This really could be his last if he lost that camera battery!

Editor's note for Brian's post - Grandma Paxil is my mom.

_______________________

“Surly, you can’t be Serious”

And now it’s time for another installment of ‘Surly, you can’t be serious’ where I dole out nuggets of sage fatherly advice to my now 13 week-old son about how I just made it up as I went along. This week’s column is subtitled:

“Oh, no….OK GO??!”

Charlie –

My how time flies. It’s been 13 weeks since you arrived and you are already in daycare (or school as your mom likes to call it for some reason). These past couple of days, as your old man struggles to spend time indoors studying instead of outdoors enjoying the 4 months of nice weather we get a year, I notice that you get a little cranky when I am not paying 100% attention to you when you are getting tired. Sometimes, you just want to be held and I get that. Sometimes I just need to finish one more paragraph but, as you have figured out, crying trumps school. Every time.
However, yesterday when we were waiting for your mom to feed you (side note: get used to waiting for women, we will have another LONG talk on that one later) I discovered that you enjoy music! I am not talking about “Wheels on the Bus” or anything like that, I am talking about the music I listen to. When I brought you downstairs into the office to turn off the computer, your head snapped around and eyes found the screen as you began watching your first ever music video! You were sucked into a vortex of fun where indeed anything IS possible, as you watched the 4 man band who call themselves OK GO! dance back and forth on treadmills to your utter amazement!
Today, while babysit…..er… parenting, while your mom was out running errands, you started to get fussy and tired and wanted to be held. As I just had to finish one more paragraph I thought to myself ”Oh, no.. WAIT! OK GO!” Thanks to the fine folks at YouTube, their latest video to the song This Too Shall Pass is now one of my favorites. The links to both versions of the video are below but you clearly like the Notre Dame Marching Band one better (especially the large white hat), and I don’t know if I should be happy that you like music and are interested in being in a band like your uncles, or a little nervous that you want to be in marching band and wear the big white hat (like one of your aunts (AMY)….. I won’t name which one (AMY)… because that would be mean (AMY) to call her out on your blog. (IT WAS AMY, I HAVE PICTURES!!!)

The ‘Mouse Trap’ version of the song also entertains you but not like the marching band version where you start to sway back and forth and move your hands as you eyes get big and wide. Grandma Paxil is going to be so excited.


Here are the links:

Marching Band Version:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EltW4w2W_Ys

Mouse Trap Version:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qybUFnY7Y8w&feature=related

Thanks for every smile, especially when I need them!

Love, Dad

P.S. – This is proof that way before you get hooked on whatever new sound is going to be next, you and I liked the same music.

Back to the real world...

Sadly...last week marked my last week on maternity leave. Everyone told me how fast 12 weeks go by but I never quite understood until I was sitting back at my desk last Thursday. I had such an amazing time with Charlie and all of our friends, it was VERY SAD to go back. Luckily, my Mom came up and watched Charlie on Thursday and then Friday was "daddy daycare" and Brian stayed home with Charlie. Even though he was with family, I cried all the way to work and for pretty much the first 1/2 hour at my desk. Brian was very sweet and sent flowers from him and Charlie - which of course made me cry even harder. I definitely had the Oprah "ugly cry" going!! Today was his first official day at daycare so of course I had to take a picture.

Here he is with his "lunchbag" full of bags of milk!


Charlie looks a little sleepy. Usually we head back to bed after our breakfast feeding but now we both have to stay up!


Of course he needed a bath when he got home from daycare. I cried a little to Brian that I thought he didn't smell like us anymore - he smelled like daycare. Not bad..just different.


It made it just a little harder on my first day back to work that we also had Twins tickets that night. Since we already had a babysitter with my Mom in town, we decided to go. Brian realized that I am literally a fair weather fan. It was cold and rainy so when we got there, I grabbed the first vendor with a hot dog and told him to send the gang to section 126. We were going to eat and get out of there. By the time I finished my cheese curds and nachos at the end of the 3rd...I was ready to go!! Poor Brian, I think he would have stayed longer but I was full, cold and ready to get home to my baby!

And I can never resist coming home to this guy!



I also got to celebrate my first Mother's Day as a Mom. Last Mother's Day I wasn't even pregnant so a lot can change in a year! We spent it with Brian's entire family and Charlie did great - just one meltdown when he got a little overtired but otherwise he was great. Charlie and Brian spoiled me and I came downstairs on Sunday morning to see a Wii with all the Wii fit accessories. Some people might be offended by the not so hidden message but Brian convinced me that Charlie wanted to get the Wii fit while the Top Chef cookbook was from him :) Regardless, I love it and I can't wait to start working my chubby little Wii character out.

Here we are on Mother's Day next to the flowers Brian sent me at work.




Another smile - he just gives them away these days!

Brian's dream also came true a few weeks ago. His son attended his first softball game. Brian was pretty excited we braved the wind to watch his double header. "Some people" would think that Brian would cut down on softball now that we have a newborn. "Some people" would be dead wrong. I actually didn't mind tonight because I realized that now I'm back to work, I really don't want to share holding him at night!

Sadly, we had our very last playdate last week as well. I'm sad to be the first of us to go back to work and it's really going to stink knowing that the girls are still getting together without me! We took one last photo shoot of the kiddos and they just happen to be in coordinating outfits.

That Eloise sure has a thing for Charlie!

Yes, that is Ellie's hand Charlie is sucking on!

As Rachel Zoe would say..."I die."

The night after our last playdate, our friend Corissa was in town for work so we got together at Mindy's for dinner. Charlie got to play with "the guys!" He just watched them with wide eyes as they played with toys and Henry showed Charlie all of the tools in a Farm and Fleet catalogue! Who needs toys and books when there is Farm and Fleet??!!

I had the camera in the bathroom tonight because Charlie was being so smiley before I put him in the bath. I took a quick video with a strategically placed "mankini" washcloth and couldn't resist posting. Brian didn't want me to until he saw the special guest. Enjoy!