Octoberfest

I know it's been a while since I've blogged, but in my defense, October was one crazy busy month. So, here we go.

Hello Goodbye
We packed our bags and said goodbye to Seattle. Spokane here we come! Trying to pack up a house and move across the state with two little kids is very hectic. But we did it. I was really sad to leave Seattle for a myriad of reasons, but I won't go into that right now. We decided to move in with Chris's parents to save some money until we could buy a house. I was worried about what it would be like living with them, but so far it has been great. It's nice to have someone to talk to when Chris isn't home. Sam loves his Papa and runs to him every time I try to do something horrible like change his diaper or make him take a nap. Sam and Charlie also have a set of cousins who live here and I'm glad they'll have the opportunity to get to know them. Sam adores his 5-year old cousin Eli or Ili as he would say. Eli has also been very good about taking care of Sam, so it's been fun to watch them bond. I think Sam has done amazingly well with the transition too. He's only hit Charlie a few times and pushed him off the couch twice, so he's making progress. When we moved, we put him into a big-boy bed and took away his pacifier. Those are some pretty huge adjustments for the little guy. Right now, we have to lay in his bed with him until he falls asleep, but we're hoping he'll figure it out soon. And now that he's in a big bed, he will wake up in the middle of the night and crawl into bed with us. It's pretty cute. We also put Charlie into the crib in his room so he's no longer in the Pack N Play in our room. He doesn't really care where he sleeps or where he is. As long as he's fed and has a clean diaper, he's happy. Chris spent the first few days here at home with me helping me get acquainted with the area. We went to Manito Park on the South Hill. It was a beautiful park and Sam loved chasing the ducks.

Sam's Birthday

Sam turned 2 years old on October 13. I just can't believe I have a 2 year old. Where did the time go. He has a cousin exactly one year older, so the weekend we moved our stuff, we had a family birthday party. My sis-in-law made some excavator cakes for the boys which were adorable. The next day, we celebrated his birthday back in Seattle with his Uncle Mike and Aunt Jennie. We went to a pizza place called Snoose Junction in Ballard. It was so much fun and I would highly recommend going if you have a chance. Sam loves hanging out with Mike and Jennie and we are going to miss them a lot.

Halloween Festivities
We decided to take Sam and Charlie to one of the local farms to pick out a pumpkin. I was really excited for Sam to go on the hay ride and pet the baby goats, but all he wanted to do was play on the slide. I realized that I can't expect him to be excited about the things I want him to be excited about. We all still had a lot of fun and that's what counts.

For Halloween, Sam was a skeleton and Charlie was a cowboy. First, we went Trick or Treating at Chris's work. Sam caught on a little too quickly with what was going on. He didn't really want to say trick or treat. He was all about business: get in, get the candy and move on. He did say thank you to most everyone, which was really sweet. However, Sam didn't get a nap that day and had a meltdown towards the end of the trick or treating. Later that night we went to our ward Trunk or Treat. Sam was more interested in looking at all the "scary" costumes than he was in getting candy at that point. We didn't complain. We all had a great time but were very exhausted by the end of the day.

Charlie

Charlie is getting so big. He'll be 3 months old on Saturday and I can't believe how quickly time goes by. He weighs about 16 pounds now and is the cutest little chunk. He's so much fun to have around and I don't think I could have asked for a better baby.

While Daddy's Away

Chris has been in Las Vegas all week, so we've been keeping ourselves busy while he's been away. Here's what we've been up to.

Monday: We made Halloween treats -- pumpkin-shaped sugar cookies and monster cupcakes. We also had dinner with our friends, the Schmidts. They served delicious homemade chili and cornbread. Thanks for a great evening of yummy food and good company!
Tuesday: We went for a walk on the Interurban Trail and picked what was left of the blackberries and ate them all.

Later that evening...

Wednesday: We went with our good friends, the Andersons and the Schmidts (and a group of several other parents,) to the Locks. In the six years I've lived in Seattle, I'd never been there so I was very excited to go. Sam had a good time with all of the other kids running around.

I let Sam play with bubbles in his bath instead of the sink.

Thursday: We went to Bitterlake Park. It was pretty cold outside, so we had the whole park to ourselves. I think Sam's favorite part was going into the bathroom and yelling just so he could hear his voice echo.

Some of this, some of that

I know it's been a while. It's seems like the only time I have to blog is when the kids are sleeping. And when they're asleep, I'm asleep or doing other stuff around the house. But mostly, I sleep. I just thought I'd give some updates on everyone. I don't have any pictures to post unfortunately, since our camera broke and we only just got one this weekend. I promise I will post some soon though.


Charlie:

He is growing crazy fast. I can't believe he's almost 8 weeks old. Where did the time go? He smiles and coos all the time and is generally a very happy baby. Also, he has the cutest little dimple on his left cheek when he smiles. C is a great sleeper. He usually takes a long nap when Sam does, goes to bed only an hour or so after Sam, and wakes up around the same time as Sam. It seems they are pretty much on the same schedule. He's not sleeping through the night yet, but only wakes up once or twice, which I think is pretty great. He started rolling over at 6 weeks. I hope it's not a sign that he's going to be crawling and walking early. He weighs about 14 pounds and is the cutest little chuck I've ever seen. Chris jokes that Charlie is just like his dad because his belly fat hangs over the top of his pants. I still love both of 'em regardless.


Sam:

Sam has three favorite things right now: Wall-E, blackberries and bugs. Chris showed him a clip of Wall-E on the Internet one day and he has been hooked ever since. When he wakes up in the morning, he will point to the computer and say "Wall-E." He wants to watch it all the time. Chris took him to his very first movie a couple of weeks ago...it was Wall-E. Sam was a little freaked out at first, but he eventually loosened up and enjoyed the show. I found a Wall-E toothbrush at the store today, and Sam insisted on taking it to bed with him. I hope this will encourage him to want to brush his teeth more as it is a painful process to do with him.

He has also discovered the joy of blackberries. When we go for walks on the Interurban trail, he will spend a good portion of his time picking and eating them. It is one of his new favorite words to say too, although it sounds more like "blackbees." There are some blackberry bushes in the neighbor's yard that Sam can see out of his bedroom window. He spends a lot of time looking out his window, pointing and saying blackberries. One day he was doing this and Chris said "How cute, Sam thinks there are blackberries outside his window." I told him that Sam wasn't just a weird kid, but that there were in fact blackberries outside his window.

As of late, we have been doing a lot of bug hunting. It's mostly bees, worms and spiders. He loves to look at them but is not at all interested in touching them, especially worms. I think he's a little grossed out by the worms because he gets a disgusted look on his face when I try to get him to hold one. One day we were in the back yard digging up dirt looking for the slimy creatures. I finally found this puny little thing and tried to show Sam. He wasn't really interested and just kept pointing to his shoes which he had taken off. When I went to put his shoes back on him, there was a huge worm inside of one. I have no idea how it got there, but that's what Sam was trying to show me. We went walking one day and I told him to look for the bees. When he couldn't find any, he just kept saying "Bees, where are you?"

He is doing incredibly well with Charlie. He loves to give C hugs and kisses, but he can be a little rough with him sometimes because he doesn't really know any better. He's also talking up a storm these days. Most of it we can't understand, but it's very cute to listen to.


Chris and Amanda:

Chris started his new job at the end of August. He's liking it so far and says he's working with a good group of people. He's actually on a job here in Seattle auditing work papers by employees of KPMG, his old stomping grounds. Weird, huh? He's been having fun working downtown again and enjoying lunch at The Met on occasion.

I'm just trying to survive having two kids. I'm still trying to figure out how to be a mom to two, but it's getting better. Some days are better than others. Getting the kids out every day does wonders for my sanity. Thank goodness for the Baby Bjorn too. I don't know if I could live without this miracle invention. There are days when Charlie has spent the majority of his time in it.

We are also getting ready for our big move to Spokane. I've been putting off packing for as long as I can for a few reasons. 1. I'm a procrastinator. 2. I hate packing. 3. It makes me sad and reminds me that we are leaving. Although I have loved living in Seattle for the past 6 years, and I'm sad to say goodbye, I know moving is the right thing. It's a time for fresh starts and new beginnings.

So, I guess that's what's been going with us for the past few weeks.

Charlie's Birth

Charlie's due date was Thursday, July 31st. I knew that there was no way he'd be born that day or even close to that day. I was 11 days late with Sam and my mother was about two weeks late with all of her children. I was prepared for this even though it didn't make me feel any better.

However, my doctor promised me that she wouldn't let me go more than a week past my due date. She said she'd schedule me for an induction the Thursday after I was due. I was grateful for this because I was so miserable and having an end date in sight made it more manageable. My due date came and went with no sign of labor at all. That next Tuesday I went to my doctor's appointment only to be told that she couldn't get me scheduled for an induction on Thursday or Friday. I almost started crying right then but I somehow managed to hold back the tears until I got in the car. Doc told me though, that one of the other doctors in the office might be able to induce me on Sunday. But it was a big if. The one positive that I took away from my appointment was that I was 3cm dilated and over 60% effaced. My doctor told me that she's put me at the "top of her list." She said she'd do everything in her power to get me scheduled.

Fast forward to next Thursday. My doctor calls me in the morning to tell me she managed to get me scheduled for induction on Saturday. I was beside myself happy. I only had to be pregnant for 2 more days. Hallelujah! Later in the afternoon I got a call from the hospital. The nurse said she could get me in at 3pm if I still wanted to be induced that day. Of course I did! So, I ended up being induced on Thursday anyway. I found out later that they were short on nursing staff so that's why they originally couldn't get me in. The only reason they were able to get me in on Thursday was because the head nurse ended up calling another nurse into work just to get me induced.

Chris and I arrived at the hospital at 3pm. I had to go through all the routine stuff first: filling out paper work, getting an IV, strapping on the fetal heart monitor, peeing in a cup, the usual. Finally, at 4:30pm, the doctor put in prostaglandin to get contractions started. I started having contractions before she was even done. At about 6pm, the doctor checked me and I was dilated between a 4-5. She decided to start me on the Pitocin. At this point, the contractions were still very manageable and not too painful. Chris and I walked around for a while, but it was getting to the point where I couldn't walk through the contractions anymore. They were still manageable though. At 8:30pm, the contractions started getting pretty painful, so I opted to get an epidural. The doctor again checked me at this point and I was dilated to 7cm and 80% effaced. This was great news to hear. I was only dilated to 3cm after 24 hours of labor with Sam. I finally got the epidural at 9:30pm and decided to rest for a while. Just before 11pm, the doctor decided she wanted to put an internal fetal heart monitor on the baby because they weren't getting a good reading with the one on my stomach. However, when the doctor went to put it on, she said we didn't need it because I was fully dilated. It was time to push! She wanted to do a "practice" push with me to see how "well" I pushed. She told me to push while she counted to 10. At 5 she frantically told me to "stop, stop stop! The baby's head is starting to crown!" After getting everything ready to go, the real pushing began. I pushed twice while my doctor counted to 10. The third time she was only going to count to 5 but stopped at 3 because the baby was out! I think I pushed for less than 5 minutes. I only pushed 20 minutes with Sam and I thought that was a fast delivery, but Charlie had him beat.

When he came out, the nurses and doctor kept commenting on how "big" Charlie was. Chris and I were shocked when they told us he weighed 10 pounds. I knew he'd big, but I didn't know he'd be that big. He was so chubby looking though that I started calling him my chunky monkey. At first Chris and I both thought that he looked nothing like Sam. But that soon changed. Here are some pictures of Sam and Charlie at just a day old. Can you tell who is who?

It's been two weeks now since he was born, and I don't think I could have asked for a better baby. He's a good nurser and great sleeper. I usually only have to get up once a night to feed him. He's started having some fussy times at night, but it usually starts between 8 or 9pm and only lasts for an hour. The latest he's gone to bed is around midnight so I'm not staying up all hours of the night. He likes sleeping in his Pack N Play which was not the case with Sam. Sam wanted to be right next to me or Chris when he was asleep.

Sam adores Charlie too. He is constantly giving him hugs and kisses, patting his head or stomach and making sure he has his pacifier. He hasn't learned how to be gentle yet though so sometimes he hurts Charlie if he "loves" him too hard. It's very cute to watch though.

The New Dude to the Brood

I don't have much time to write, as I have been sent by my wife on an errand to gather various things from home and return to the hospital. One of my assignments was to post to the blog that Amanda had the baby last night at 11:05pm - just 55 minutes shy of being born on 8-8-08. His name is Charles Dean Skidmore. He weighed in at 10 pounds even and 21 inches long. Both child and mom are happy and healthy and enjoying some R&R, while dad runs errands. We went in at 3pm expecting a full day event, only to see things progress quite rapidly. Below is a picture or two for your enjoyment. I will not say too much so that Amanda can post all the gorey details later.

The Father's Perspective

Apparently we are going to have a second child at some point in the very near future. Amanda has been telling me this for over 9 months now. There is plenty of evidence indicating that this is the case; however, I am beginning to doubt the accuracy of my good wife's claims. Some of the evidential matter is as follows:

• There is a brand new top-of-the-line Graco child swing blocking my access to the living room closet.
• There have been several purchases on the debit card at stores called "Motherhood Maternity" and "Babies-R-Us".
• A number of people have delivered non-commercial frozen dinners to us, which now occupy the space once dedicated to my microwavable corn dogs.
• My parents are asleep in our guest bedroom.
• Amanda has been cleaning the house constantly and reorganizing things that appeared to me to already be organized.
• Lately, Amanda has been wearing my clothes as pajamas.

But here I sit, at 2am on August 5th with only the aforementioned evidence and no baby. Five days have passed since the promised date. This all seems vaguely familiar. If it is true, with my luck it will happen tonight - the night I stay up past 2.

The real truth is that I am beside-myself excited to add another little boy to our family. I feel like it's the Friday before the opening weekend of College Football. Along with the excitement, I'm also feeling intimidated, anxious, and a little scared. This kid better be a tough little guy, because his older brother has yet to grasp the concept of gentleness. Also, since we are planning on naming him Charles, I'm going to call him Chuck - and you must be both physically and mentally tough to grow up with the name Chuck.

The evidence continues to mount, so we hope to have good news for you soon. Wish us luck.