My Birthday

Yesterday was my birthday. It was a fabulous birthday. Dave gave me 1 GB of memory for my ibook. Yay for a better working computer. I can totally tell a difference and it makes me really happy. Dave also gave me a day of time. We just spent the afternoon at home together playing some of our favorite computer games. It was just really nice and relaxing. Then at about 5pm we dropped the Charlie off at Grammie's house and headed up to Disneyland. For once we took the camera and actually used it. So for the first time in a while, pictures of Dave and I are making it onto the blog.

On the boardwalk at California Adventures

On Toy Story Mania

The following three video clips are from the new show at Small World. The three together catch pretty much all of the show (I had to start and stop to keep the files small enough to upload onto here, plus we were moving through the line)

Birthday Dinner at Grandma Arva's

On Sunday night we went over to my Grandmother’s house for a birthday dinner and birthday cake. We had a really nice time with them. Charlie loved their house with all of the room and all of the cool toys that we don’t have at our house. The first toy he bee lined to was the cozy coupe. He spent a large amount of his time pushing himself around in it.


His second favorite toy was this roller toy that had chimes in it. They don't make it anymore otherwise he would have one at home. He just did not want to leave it behind while he went and played with the cozy coupe. Those cozy coupes really need more cargo room.






Charlie also loves playing the piano. He was introduced to its wonderfulness at church, had more exposure when we went to visit Nana and just could not get enough of it at Grandma's.







Here is Charlie trying to play with both the piano and the rolling chime toy.



Another rolling musical instrument. Charlie enjoyed this one as well. I wish they still made these toys like this one. They are just so cool when you drag them and they make noise.


And a picture of me with my birthday cake since that is why we went in the first place.

Charlie, meet Birdie

Silly Picture

Just had to share this cute picture of Charlie.

Rockin' Out

We were given this awesome tricycle. It doubles as a rocker. Charlie loves rockin' out on his new rocker.




The sound is a little loud in the video. I was listening to Christmas music at the time.

Eating

Charlie wants to grow up so quickly. Here he is learning to use the fork. He is getting much better and is starting to get more in his mouth than down his shirt. Go Charlie!!

Christmas Wish

Charlie wants something for Christmas. He picked it out at Toys R' Us on Saturday. Show us what you want Charlie...

Here is what he is pointing at. He wants a cozy coupe. 16 months and already car crazy.

New Abilities

Charlie has a new ability. He is able to turn his light and fan on and off. The crib is nicely positioned right next to the light switch.




Time to rearrange his room.

Bath Time Jingles

We have the coolest Christmas elves. They have been sharing some of the most fantastic things. Saturday night we celebrated the sixth day of Christmas. On our doorstep was a bath time xylophone for Charlie. He LOVES it. Here is a cute video of him playing with it.

Hand them over mom...

Charlie frequently sees me switching from sunglasses to regular glasses and putting the extra pair in my case. My sunglasses spent yesterday on the kitchen counter so the case was empty all day long. Yesterday Charlie was rummaging through the diaper bag and found the case for my glasses. He opened it up, found that it was empty, looked up at me and pointed to my face. He wanted to put my glasses in the case since he knew that was where they belonged. I wish I had a little video of him demanding me to hand over the glasses. It was quite cute.

Ornament Thief

I feel like all I have been telling Charlie is "don't touch". He can't touch the bird or the shutters. Now we have added the Christmas tree full of fun, colorful ornaments. Usually I let him watch and then tell him not to touch once his little hand extends towards one of his favorites. Well, I got distracted. Which is pretty easy when you are cleaning. I looked up and saw the back of Charlie retreating into his room with a black pompom bear ornament in one hand. When I get to him he looks up to me and holds the bear up for me to take. He then takes me back to the tree and picks up the plastic hook so that I can put it back on the tree. Such a good boy.

(don't tell Dave that I was slacking at my sentry station overlooking the tree) :)

Finally...

We can now officially go public with our happy news. After multiple tries and finally just having to get them to notice Dave's parents now know about our coming addition. Yep. We are awaiting our second little wee one. We won't find out until after Christmas what we are having. It is super exciting for us. Charlie doesn't have a clue yet. He'll catch on once June comes around.

Charlie ate his first...

handful of dirt today. He must not have liked the way it tasted cause he turned to Dave with the "what the heck is this stuff in my mouth" look.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was delicious. The turkey was so good that even Charlie ate some. He usually won't eat anything unless it is fruit, green beans, or string cheese. We spent the whole day with Dave's parents and Erin, Andres, and Rob joined in the fun for dinner, dessert, and games. I am trying to create a new Thanksgiving tradition, Paula Deen's Pumpkin Cheesecake. So far it looks like I am winning people over. Regular pumpkin pie is no longer aloud. Not much else happened. Just a lot of eating and talking and a little more eating. It was a great day.

Today is the day we will be decorating for Christmas. If we don't do it today nothing will go up. Life will just get too busy and Christmas will be here and then it won't be worth it. We took Charlie around a few neighborhoods last night looking at what has been put up so far. He seemed to really enjoy looking at all of the lights. He will love having all of those twinkling lights around our home.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

New Past Time

Charlie has discovered a new pastime. If only it were playing with his toys. He has mountains of toys, usually strewn around the floor so that maybe he will bend down to play with one. But alas, most days he just walks or trips over them. He prefers to play with remote controls, things from the recycling bin, things off the desk, magnets from the fridge, or his all new favorite, clothes from his dresser.



Now to learn how to put them all back. :)

The Nutritional Value of Crayons

Charlie has been pretty uninterested in eating whatever I fix for dinner unless it is string cheese and green beans. We want him to still participate in our family dinners so yesterday we gave him two crayons and a page to color. The page ended up on the floor along with the yellow crayon. The blue crayon become dinner. I don't know if you can see the teeth marks on the end of the crayon or not, but he had shaved quite a bit off before I noticed. Good thing they are non-toxic.

New Pooper Pictures

Finally some pictures of our new pooper. He is warming up quite nicely. The first few days Charlie was completely enamored with him. Some of the novelty has worn off. Poor bird. We love having the chirping and the clang of bells on the side of the cage. Welcome to the family Number 2!!

Driving

Now that Charlie has finished his drivers ed he is ready for some behind the wheel training.

Haircuts

Here at the Ludden house we like to do things ourselves. That includes haircuts. Dave cuts his hair, my mom cuts mine (whenever I see her), and Dave and I cut Charlie's hair. It definitely takes two to cut Charlie's hair. Dave mans the clippers and I hold Charlie's arms and his body as still as possible. Charlie hates having his hair cut. He screamed the whole time we were cutting his hair like he does when he gets shots. He sure ends up super cute at the end.

Frustrated....

I am quite frustrated with being handed the responsibility to find service projects for the ward Christmas party. So far I have struck out on my attempts and I am feeling very unmotivated to continue on. I am open to any suggestions anyone may have.

DuPage Children's Museum

A week ago we spent some time in Naperville, IL with my family. My brother Ben and his wife Laura just welcomed Hallie into their family and we were getting together for her blessing at church. The Saturday before we all went to the DuPage Children's Museum. Here are a few pictures from the fun.

Charlie loved the ball room. He carried the balls for quite some time.

Charlie wanted to make sure that Hallie was having fun as well.

Amy, Ben and Laura starting the big air gun.

Ben and Nate taking over the completion of the air gun.

The first shot. And the ball got stuck.

Charlie in the wind tunnel with Dad. Isn't he cute in the goggles?

Charlie loved the water table.
He threw a fit when we finally tried to pull him away.

Charlie trying to scoop up some water.
(Someone should have told him not to use a strainer.)

Trying to get water from the table to another strainer.
Strainers are just not good for holding water.

No water, but fun any way.

Happy boy!!

Splashing in the water.

Charlie loved driving the car.

Charlie and Dad on the balance.
(Mom is on the other side.)

Kaleidoscope Charlie. I love this picture.

This was the percussion room. Charlie enjoyed hitting stuff with the sticks.

More things to hit.

The giant Lite Bright. All three of us liked playing with this.

Black lights are so cool.

We had lots of fun. We wish that this museum was closer to home. It was so cool. Guess we will just need to start exploring the museums in our area.

Well that was our trip to the museum in a clamshell (a large clamshell).

Holy Cow!

Time sure does fly quickly. I can't believe so much time has passed since I was last on this. Once again I will recommit myself to staying more on top of this blog. Life is getting busier and free time is hard to come by. Well, I won't really try to fill in any blank from July til now. All that really needs to be said is that we are all still in one piece and enjoying life as a little family.

I took a class on blogging tonight (which is why I am back on this thing in the first place). I learned a couple of new things. The best thing is probably the cool backgrounds. cause face it. those guys over at Google might be smart and creative when it comes to software, but they fail miserably at creating a good looking template that doesn't look like a resume.

I hope all of you had a wonderful Halloween and are starting to make room for Thanksgiving dinner.

We love you all.

(ok, just one quick Charlie story... He is now tall enough that he bonks his head when he goes underneath the table. This morning he hit his head hard enough to land flat on his back. It was pretty funny to see. )

That really is our life in a little clamshell.

Mommy's little Helper

Charlie decided to help me as I was cleaning up camping gear. While helping he found a new toy.

Charlie was checking to make sure the bowl was clean enough. He proceeded to carry the bowl around the house with him for the rest of the afternoon.

Love you all!!

Denise

Camping at Mt. Palomar

Hello dear friends! We just rolled in from a great weekend of camping. Thought I would share some of the pictures from our relaxing weekend under the trees with some good friends.

Too much fun playing!

What a way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

Denise, January, Loretta and Heather on our hike.


Charlie, Dave, Read, John and Ethan on our hike.


Close up of my boys (with Read helping out to fill in the picture).


A sample of the sights on our hike. Very pretty area.

Charlie and I. I was kind enough to give Dave a break.
I definitely got my workout for the weekend.


Charlie and Dave checking out the fire.

Oh so cute.

We are already planning our next camping excursion with this group of friends. We have learned alot about camping with a baby. Lesson #1 plan simpler meals. Lesson #2 bring gifts for neighboring campsite when baby screams for 30 minutes at 11pm. Lesson #3 Pack n' Play is a must.

That was our weekend in a clamshell!