Ok, it wasn't actually Tayluh's bachelor party, but it was some quality brother time before he leaves to Concepcion, Chile for 2 years. Almost a bachelor party.
I convinced Candace we needed to invest in family fun time by getting an offroad machine that can fit the whole family. My salesman skills worked and to celebrate we got together with my bro in law Tim, his kids, and my brother Chris and his daughter Kate to ride some desert trails to a lake one Saturday morning.
RooBear is always ready to go.
Kelly, Candace's mother's husband, came with. Here he is with Taylor and RooBear, sporting his Christmas present from my parents. Safety first!
The kids LOVED playing in the water. It was a good change from the hot, dusty ride.
The night before we headed out for some go-kart racing. You always know who Taylor is in the picture cuz he's the one that stands off to the side!
While Chris was in town, i took him to my new secret fishing spot. He was able to pull out a big one. Every time I go we pull out at least a couple that look like this. I'm loving it!
We have been in the midst of a whirlwind. I think my sister Jen did a good job describing on her blog all that has been happening: Taylor's farewell, Bubby's baby shower, Charlotte's blessing, flying to UT to drop off Taylor....and more.
Candace and I will tell you that we are in survival mode right now, adjusting to a 2yr old anxious for attention and a baby girl who despite her sweetness, needs to be held more often than not. Survival of the Fittest!
Laundry, dishes, cleaning, bills, and other items are neglected in favor of eating, sleeping, and an hour of quiet time in front of the TV. We can't seem to get much of anything done! One of these days we'll get around to cleaning up the kitchen:
Candace's mom, Denise, came and stayed with us for a week. My best description of her is a genie from a bottle, except she granted way more than just 3 wishes! She picked up the slack at home as Candace recovered and I returned to work. She shopped, baby sat, cooked, CLEANED OUR BATHROOM, played with Reed at 5am, prepared the house for visitors, and left us with 12 GOURMET - READY TO HEAT - MEALS in the freezer (and batches of cookies)!!!
Here are 2 pictures of my mother in law:
I've got some good blogging coming down the pipeline. Let's get to it. We felt very blessed to have so much of my family in town while Denise was here, so we blessed my lil Charbug in our home the Saturday before Taylor's farewell. The Spirit was there very strong and we appreciated everyone's love and support. Here is Cbug with Bub (pregnant), Jen, and Jenny (pregnant). We're excited for a future nephew and niece.
Grandma and Gpa Curtis:
Jen with Charbug. I have Jen to thank for most of these photos.
Cousin Chaos.
Making "Unkie" say "Uncle".
Brothers and Bro in law.
Sibs.
Cousins 2 weeks apart.
Happy family
Grandma H and Chrispy.
5 Generations of women!
Candace and her mom were blessed in the same outfit as Charlotte.
Here we are leaving the hospital. We made it safe and sound. As I'm man-blogging at this moment Candace is SNORRRRRING loudly next to me in bed. Go ahead Cbug, you deserve some rest!
People have been asking "Does Charlotte look like Reed?" The evidence is below, shots of each one from the day we left the hospital. What do you think?
Charlotte Marian Heyman arrived May 31st at 10pm after only an hour at the hospital! Candace delivered her all natural and both Mom and baby girl are doing terrific. I asked Candace "Since this baby was so easy compared to the last delivery, does it change your mind on how many kids you want?"
Her answer: "NO". Ha!
Charlotte is 7lbs 12 oz and 21.25". Reed was shy when he first met his sister, but later warmed up to the point that he was giving her kisses, hugs, and even some of his chapstick he loves to carry around.
Many thanks to Aunt Jen who has selflessly watched Reed, brought him for a visit, taken our pictures, and done 100 other things.
The hardest part so far has been talking with my Mom who is in Argentina and won't get to hold Charlotte for another 2 years. I don't think she slept a wink last night. We called her to let her know we arrived at the hospital and from that point on she was emailing asking for a play by play throughout the night. I figure from when we first called it was around 1:30am Argentina time and we didn't stop communicating til around 5am her time. She sure loves Charlotte and we miss her.
We feel everyone's love and support. Thank you sooo much. We feel extremely blessed. In the end, I think all that really matters is your faith, family, and friends.....(and maybe some fly fishing)!
I can't believe Reed is TWO! He has been the greatest thing to happen to our family. We couldn't love him more. I've been trying to spend some special time with him before baby girl comes. I think I will miss having so many one-on-one moments with him but I'm so excited for him to be a big brother. Right now Reed is really into motorcycles, building and crashing blocks, learning new words, riding the quad with daddy, coming out of his room when he should be napping, repeating me in gibberish while I pray, video-chatting with his grandparents, wrestling with daddy, swimming and riding his bike. He loves playing with other kids and is in total awe of bigger kids. He's still the cuddliest bear in town and we love that he snuggles with us every morning in our bed (although we wish he would sleep later than 5:45am).
The birthday festivities began at my grandma's house with a family dinner and ice cream cake. He got spoiled by his great grandparents and aunt & uncle and he loved playing outside with my cousins Ashley and Megan. He was so wiped out afterwards he zonked on the way home with a firm grip on his new garbage truck. Good thing I already had him in his pj's. Reed also helped me make cupcakes that morning and at first he wanted nothing to do with the cake batter. He's not really into trying new foods (I blame his dad for this, haha) but once I smeared some on his mouth and he got a lick, he was all over it. I'm wondering when he'll figure out that anything that comes out of the kitchenaid is delicious.
The next day we celebrated at a park with pizza, cupcakes, and water fun at the splash pad with cousins. He was looking so studly on the way there with his glasses propped up on his head but man I have the hardest time getting him to smile for a photo! He always looks so serious.
The Kemptons brought their cute kids for some fun and our grad school
friends, the Freebairns, who happened to be in town stopped by as well.
Our friend BH even showed up randomly to eat all our grapes. I love the pic of Ashley Kempton below. For being in a house full of boys she sure is girly and cute.
We sang, blew out a candle, and had some cupcakes
Reed wasn't loving the cream cheese frosting.
At least I knew two other boys who would down my baking with no problem. I have the cutest nephews ever.
Because we had done all this celebrating over a week before his birthday, by the time the actual day arrived he was pretty good at saying "birthday party." I think it's one of the clearest things he says.
We ended the celebrations with a trip to Chick-fil-A with Jen, Kyle & Nolan where Roo had his very first ice cream cone! No dairy for the first 18 months of life = a very deprived child. The boys were having such a good time in the playland we ended up staying there for a record-breaking two hours! I wish I had gotten better photos of them playing. Reed didn't last two minutes in the car before he passed out on the way home. It was a great day.
