I hope you won't think less of me.

And I hope you pork-lovers will even come to forgive me someday. But I bought Turkey-bacon. Yes, I know. I can hear you now: "But that's not even bacon. It's turkey disguised as bacon. Come on!" I know. But when real bacon disagrees with a loved one's tummy, something has to be done. I mean, I can't give up the idea of bacon all together. That would be absurd! Let's all just calm down and look at the facts. This isn't a permanent switch. I'm not going to swear off succulent, fattening pork products for the rest of my life and have my son grow up never knowing the taste of real food. I'm not going to pretend it isn't some fowl meat ground up and shaped to look like an important ingredient. And I'm not even going to substitute turkey-bacon for the real thing in recipes. (At least not right away.) But when breakfast rolls around, and you can easily microwave (yes, yes, I know) a few slices and do without that heavy smell of fat in the air and forego the tummy ache later the day, I think this purchase is excusable once in a while. There. Thanks for letting me get that off my chest.

Life around here...

Well, I can see that its been a while and of course, I know all Charlie fans are wondering-- how IS that awesome kid? Well, I'll tell ya! He's awesome. More details? Ok, he walks everywhere now. And Keith and I just sit around and watch him in amazement. He can also now say "Mama" with much certainty and clarity. We know he knows what he means. He loves to look out the window (he's doing that right now). Even more, he loves to play outside, so much so, he can say it: "Ow sigh?" That means, "can we puh-lease play outside now?" Unfortunately, its been raining a lot, so not much ow sigh time. He can't say "Papa" yet, but looks hopefully at the front door everytime I say "Papa." Oh yeah, and we walks right to Papa when Papa gets home from work. That makes someone very happy.

Charlie's sippy cups have built in straws, so he'll bite down on the straw and wrap his little arm around the cup so he can walk and drink at the same time. Sometimes, if he needs both hands, he can just use his teeth to hang on to his cup. He loves his sippy.

The other day, Charlie saw me washing windows. He picked up an extra rag and started wiping the window he was closest to. Then the next day, at a babysitter's house, he used up all her kleenexes wiping down whatever surfaces he could reach. If he spills milk, I hand him a napkin and he wipes it up. He also helps me load the dryer (he gets to put in the dryer sheet and press "start"). I haven't taught him to iron and vaccuum yet, but we're definitely on the right track. Oh, and he takes to resetting Keith's alarm clock almost everyday. Wants to keep us on our toes, I guess.

He's still blond, still has a sweet, generally cheerful disposition. We like him.

Um...

...huh?

Lillies

Look what my smart husband brought home today!

And besides, I felt like it.

This week was my Mother-in-Law's Birthday, Keith's Birthday, my sister came to visit, AND Charlie's blood test was so good that we don't have to get another one for a whole month. All very good reasons to make (and devour) an apple pie.

What we've been doing lately.

Mama got a hair cut! Charlie has this "thing" about getting into stuff. As I'm sure most babies his age do.

He as another "thing" about cuddling up on our bed.

He doesn't stay in one place for very long,

but will move around and snuggle for a good fifteen minutes.

And don't worry, he's very good at getting off

the bed without hurting himself.

And I'm never very far away.

Now there's a handsome fella!

Unfortunately, I don't have any good recent pictures of Keith,

probably because he's so busy!

School, work, homework, play with Charlie, kiss the wife, back to homework.

What a trooper!

Party Pics!