Ch ch ch changes!

I think Charlie is starting to get a little leery when we approach him these days! All within a month, he has had new glasses, no nuk, and a big boy bed! I think he's waiting for what is next. 

First, the glasses. When we were in KC in November, my friend Erin noticed that Charlie was sometimes crossing his eyes. When she mentioned it, of course then I noticed it constantly so we couldn't figure out if it was always there or if it had just started that weekend. It got progressively worse that week so we took him to the doctor who referred him to an eye doctor. We saw the eye doctor right after Thanksgiving and she said not only does his eye cross but he has an astigmatism! Poor kid. He definitely picked up his Mommy's bad eyesight. We ordered glasses and picked them up mid December. The first few days were ROUGH. They went like this...wake up, we put C's glasses on, he takes them off, we put them on, he takes them off. Times 10,000. But after a few days he started to get used to them and now he doesn't even notice that they are on. For Halloween next year he will either be Harry Potter or the old man from Up (picture bow tie and cardigan, a walker, and a ton of balloons). I can't wait. 

For Christmas we got Charlie his own chair which we knew he would like but had no idea that he would LOVE it. He hasn't sat on the couch since we got it. He drags it around the living room depending on where he'd like to sit and God help you if you would like to sit in it as well. I may do it just to irritate him - I must be that kind of Mom. Also Stella learned her lesson quick when he yelled at her "STELLA OUT" and then pointed at her bed and said "STELLA GO." Yes, he talks very loudly (wonder where he gets that) and he bosses the dogs around constantly. I will get a video soon. 

1 minute after seeing the chair that Santa brought.

Santa forgot the footstool. No worries, good thing we took this step stool from Great Granny Franny's. 

Ahhh...much better.

He really does love that footstool. 

We think Charlie could sense that we wanted to get rid of his nuk soon. He went from only needing it at bedtime to needing it ALL the time. It's sort of our dirty little secret. Like closet smokers who never let you take a picture with them and a cigarette. Charlie was a closer nuk lover. But we would always take the nuk out for most pictures. When we couldn't even get him in the car without it, we decided we needed to take drastic measures. A few weeks ago, I put him down without it and while he whined just a little, he went right to sleep. Could it be this easy?? It actually was. He asked for it a few times over the next few days but we never gave it to him and we're going on 2 1/2 weeks nuk free! I still haven't thrown them away but I will soon. Big boy step #1!

Onto big boy step #2...a big boy bed. We bought Charlie furniture a few weeks ago and decided to put it up in his new room just so we could start talking about it and he could see it but had no plans to move him until March. Last weekend I was out of town helping my parents and Brian said C went in his room and wanted to nap in his new bed. So he did. And he's been in there ever since. It's crazy - these big things that we keep dreading, he's knocking it out of the ballpark! 

Onto big boy step #3...potty training. If I could put in tires squealing sound here I would. We bought a potty just to see how things would go. They're not going. He hates the potty and only likes it to use a step stool to brush his teeth (one of his favorite hobbies.) I sit him on it every night before his bath. He sits there for about 5 minutes starting at me. We get up, get in the tub and he immediately pees. Like he's holding it in just for the tub. Oh well, we'll table this one until he's ready!!

Last but not least (Brian might call this burying the lead)....Charlie is really going to be a big boy...as in BIG BROTHER!  We are thrilled to announce that Baby Kippley #2 is on his/her way as of 7/7/2012 (but we all know that I'm shooting for around 6/22. We aren't finding out the sex this time...which will kill me but we're excited for the big surprise at the end!! 

Another marathon catch up post

I'm going to pretend that this is the week before Christmas and try to catch everything up until Christmas and then do a Christmas post. :) Thank goodness I have a job where I can "work" from home and catch up on some blogging!

Charlie went on his first plane ride in November when we flew to Kansas City to visit our friends Erin and Dusty Rasmus. Charlie became fast friends with Declan when they flew to MSP in May but who knew Charlie would love on Miss Addi so much!

Thanks to Sara Krieg for recommending the etch a sketch for the plane ride!

Monkey see...monkey do.

Charlie was mesmerized when I put up the Christmas decorations this year. He especially loved all the big plastic bins. The lights were just an added bonus.

Charlie playing cards with my Mom. I also took Charlie to Disney on Ice. My Mom and I have been going to Disney on Ice (yes without kids) for about 15 years. I wasn't going to take Charlie but at the last minute we thought we'd give it a shot. For the first half, Charlie just sat on my lap taking it all in and the 2nd half he stood in the aisle and danced and waved at all the characters. He did so much better than I ever expected and I can't wait to take him again next year. Of course my Mom was thrilled that he shares her love of ice skating!

We had one "big" snow this year and it all melted by Christmas but Charlie LOVED being outside with Brian and helping him shovel. Last year he would just stand at the front window and watch but he thinks it's very fun to be shoveling like a big boy this year!

We also had a get together with our buddies in November and trying to get a photo of these 4 made us laugh until we cried. There was about a series of 20 and just picking out the few to put on the blog made me laugh all over again.

Eloise, Colin, Charlie, and Gwen

This one cracks me up. I can't remember why they started pulling their shirts up but of course Charlie loves to "beep" the belly button. (That sounds worse than what I mean it to.)

Then Charlie gets in the fun. Notice Colin takes the high road and keeps his belly covered!

Will post Christmas pics soon (and pics of Charlie in his glasses!)

Happy Halloween!

As we expected, Charlie tackled Halloween like it was his job!! Although he looks all Brian, this kid definitely has my sweet tooth and he had such a good time with carving pumpkins and trick-or-treating that he didn't want to take his costume off that night. I think he equates his turtle with "FUN." This was the first holiday where I feel like he really got into it. It makes me even more excited for Christmas!!

On Sunday Brian and Charlie cleaned out the pumpkins and for every scoop and handful he would look at me and give me his "oh face" and a little scream. It was so funny. Thankfully we bought 3 pumpkins so the fun lasted for quite awhile. Then when he would run out, he would put the gunk BACK in the pumpkins and he would start over.

Whoa...

Umm, this feels weird. But I like it.

Brian attempting to keep it on the table. Are pumpkin seeds bad for dogs?? Hope not.

Such concentration. This is a Brian face.

Iowa really ruined me by having "Beggar's Night" and also we all had to memorize countless jokes to tell to the parents before they would give us candy. I thought that was normal until Brian told me I didn't need to teach Charlie "Why did the chicken cross the road?" :)

By the last house, Charlie would yell "TREAT" as his version of "trick or treat."
Here he is practicing before we left.

Serious work of carving the pumpkins.

We just went to the 6 houses on our cul-de-sac but Charlie thought it was the greatest thing to hold out his bucket, say "treat", and get candy. I'm worried he will start doing that at random places. Like the gas station, or Target. The turtle costume is really the best from the back.

No joke - as soon as we got him home (before he took off his hat) he walks right up to his highchair and starts unloading the goods. Every.Last.Candybar. Like we'd really let him eat it all right then! He probably knew to strike while the iron is hot since Mommy and Daddy (ok just Mommy) raided most of the good stuff after he went to bed!

Here we are trying to "relax" before bed. Doesn't he look sleepy?! Finally I just put him down and he rolled around in his crib for 45 minutes before finally falling asleep. Excuse the devil red of my eyes...it wasn't my costume.

A Very Busy October!

I don't feel like we've sat down all of October!! We've been on lots of playdates, drove to Sioux Falls for my cousin's wedding reception, a 25th anniversary celebration for Brian's Aunt and Uncle, a very fun baby shower for the upcoming arrival of Baby Tucker, took family pictures, and played outside...A LOT.

Looking so innocent..


His new thing is he likes to pile up all the pillows around him and then giggle like we can't see him.


On a stay at home day with Daddy...making mini pizzas for lunch. He is meticulous about his pepperoni, wonder where he gets that from??


He loves grapes! Turns out, they aren't so nice on the digestive system when he has them 5 days in a row. Oops. Lesson learned for Mommy and Daddy!


A little story time with Sasha...she puts up with so much.

A few weeks ago, we went with some friends to Severs Corn Maze. I had always heard about it but I know it's always a little crazy so we didn't venture there lot but Charlie loved it. His favorite part was definitely the animals. Except when I paid $5 for a horsey ride. He was not going to sit on that horse for anything. Maybe next year.

The corn maze at this place is HUGE. At first he wasn't so sure about it but he ended up liking it a lot! And we were finding corn all over the house for days!!

That's all for now!

October fun..in the sun

I LOVE fall. I love it love it love it. I DO NOT love turning the air conditioning on in October because it is 90 in our house!! It makes me crabby. There is something wrong about going to a pumpkin patch/apple orchard and sweating. I also feel like if we aren't getting "fall" now, then we won't. It will go from 90 to snow. You know it will happen!

Oh well. We're trying to enjoy as much outside time as possible. I'm not sure what we are going to do with Charlie all winter. The second we come home he wants to go "side side" which is outside in Charlie speak. He stand at the screen and leans on it like the outside is just calling to him. It is always the most dramatic part of the night when we have to come inside for dinner. I'm sorry to anyone who tries to call me on the phone during those 10 mins. We are all a hot mess.

I'm just going to post a bunch of pics tonight because I'm cramming for book club on Thursday and I gotta get back to reading! Happy October!

Cheeeeese!


Picking some apples with his eyes closed. (we are not good photographers)


An old beehive...that was thankfully not in use!


3 peas in a pod. I'm not sure why Charlie looks so serious in these. I promise he was having fun.


Charlie LOVED the llamas. He could have stood there most of the day.


Charlie thought it was hi-larious to stand on the hay stack.

I'm not sure what he's doing but Daddy told him to lay on the roof.


Charlie decided to go stand by the barn...


And everyone else joined in!



I couldn't resist throwing one in from last year. Charlie especially has changed so much!


Charlie last year on the haystack..we call this his "sloth" picture. From Goonies..

Before we went to the apple orchard, we had breakfast with my college girlfriend Maureen and her family. Between Al, Maureen, and I, we had 6 kids!! It was a little nuts.

(From left to right) Maureen, Beau, Alyse, Clare, Finn, Trey, me, Charlie, and Allison

Random person's leaves after C got a haircut.

Family orchard picture.