Fast week...

It's been a week...I'm not sure what the right adjective is to describe it...started normally with kids and preschool and park dates, and ended with a very quick trip to Logan to bury my Grandma Smith...my Grandpa Smith died a few weeks before Charlie was born, and I wasn't able to go to Logan to be a part of the funeral in my pregnant state, but I really wanted to be there for my Grandma. My Grandma had a stroke that started the day they buried my Grandpa in Logan...she came back to San Diego, went into the hospital and had basically been there or the nursing home ever since...obviously she didn't want to live alone! Here are some pictures from the weekend...

I went with my parents, brother and Charlie...Laura was already in Logan...we stayed in Sandy for the weekend, and went to Provo on Friday night to walk around BYU campus. I hadn't walked around campus in a long time, and it was such a sweet, nostalgic experience...the feel of a Fall, Friday afternoon came right back...I was finally able to see the new alumni building, which was beautiful. While a student, I was heavily involved in the Student Alumni Association and spent many hours in the old alumni house...what a treat to see the new building...



It was rivalry weekend, so the Brigham Young statue was "saran-wrapped" to protect it from any onery Utes...

A trip to the Wilk...new BYU sweatshirts for the girls and a BYU onesie for the boy...what a trip down memory lane...I could have walked around campus for a few more hours ...I didn't take a stroller (stupid Shannon) so we carried Charlie all over Utah...I thought my arms would break...we found this little cart in the BYU bookstore and gave our arms a rest for a few minutes...
My dad presided over the graveside service and dedicated the grave...it was a very sweet experience to be a part of...I was able to help my mom dress my Grandma's body at the mortuary here in Arcadia, and that was also a very memorable, tender experience...I'm so glad I got that chance...
The grave marker for my Dad's grandparents...(the lighting made it hard to take photos...we were right on the edge of the sun/shadow...)



My mom sharing a few thoughts about my Grandma...

The temporary grave marker for my Grandpa Smith...buried just last month...the grass was still growing in...we consider it a blessing that my Grandma went so quickly after he did...
Laura had to work that morning...
Some other random pictures from the week...sleeping Charlie...

He's had his bout of baby acne the past week and a half...just in time to meet a bunch of family at the funeral...it has started to finally clear up...isn't that a fun stage?I'm so mad at you Kate that I must take your picture...I threw this mascara away because it was running low...apparently she thought there was plenty left still...I washed off as much as a could, but all day she's looked quite pretty for a 2-year-old!


Still having going-to-sleep woes...this is what we found...Kate is actually asleep, even though her eye is open...she is the LIGHTEST sleeper, and will wake up when you open the door...she goes right back to sleep...this crib has lived a good life, and will soon go the way of the Athens trash truck--I came home from Logan to find that the wooden side rail had totally busted in half...thanks to Lauren...Andy duct taped it together and hopefully it'll go a little while longer until I get up the nerve to put Kate in the twin bed...

Our week in pictures...

We are doing really well...I had nightmares about what having 3 kids would mean, but so far, they haven't come true. Thus far, the transition from 1 to 2 was far worse than the transition from 2 to 3 has been...the difference has been that the 2 girls have each other. They play together when I have to take care of Charlie, and that makes all the difference. Lauren used to climb all over me when I had to care for Kate, but now they have each other. I'm not saying that I'm not busy and that it's not a lot of work--it is, but it hasn't been as bad as I'd been told. I'm quite enjoying myself. Here are some pictures from our week...

A timeout for Kate (for hitting her brother) turned into a broken doorknob and door...the girls' door had a lock on the inside (thanks to the previous homeowners--I always meant to change it...too late now)...Kate got put in her room, and locked herself in. She was screaming, and our attempts to "pick" the lock didn't work...Andy took off the doorknob, but still couldn't get the lock to release, so he busted it off with a hammer...now we have to shove a towel under the door to keep it closed. I commented to Andy that we keep creating projects for ourselves...broken doorknobs, flood in the hallway, broken closet door...the joys of homeownership...


Lauren has the funniest knack for "making" pictures with her food...she does it all the time, although it's not on purpose. She'll be eating, and then pause and say, "mom look...it's a _______." The craziest thing is that she's always right...it actually looks like what she said...in this picture it's a boat. This morning she pointed out that my toast looked like our Christmas tree...and it totally did...
Trying to get a cute picture of the kids...didn't really happen...
I thought Lauren's expression was funny in this one...
Our little Charlie boy...such a dream baby...keep him dry and fed, and he's so good...he has a perfect "quiet alert" state, as the pediatrician said this week...some other tidbits about our boy...
--he weighed 9'4'' on Wed at his 2 week appt--10 oz more than his birth weight--big growing boy
--he looks more and more like Lauren did at his age--same blue eyes, same nose--it'll be nice to have 2 kids that look related
--he likes to throw up these days...not just a little spit up, but full projectile vomiting...all over everything...this morning it was all over me in my Church clothes---I had to change EVERY article of clothing I had on, plus bathe him, and all this 15 minutes before Church started--we were late
--he easily switches between a bottle and nursing---my first child to do this without complaint! I foresee that I may have a life over these next 12 months!
--not too keen on the pacifier yet...he'll take it, but I think it's just to make us happy...he makes a gagging "this sucks" face, but will start to suck on it for a little bit...but doesn't need it (nor want it).


Honestly, what a nut Kate is...I wish everyone could know her fun little personality...so sweet and nutty...
I like Charlie's "what's up man?" hand gesture...

Painting in the backyard...

Stripping down and playing in the mud in our 90 degree mid-November weather...

Don't be fooled...
Our 3rd annual sugar cookie decorating event with Sarah and Chloe...it used to include Shelley and Anthon, but they ditched us for Japan...we missed you Shelley, but the tradition continued!


Doing "homework" on Friday morning---Lauren gets some optional "exercises" every week for preschool...coloring, writing, counting, etc...we've been a little lazy about doing them the past few weeks...but we pulled through this week....
Both girls got trims on Saturday night...Kate's remains in a little bob...I'm trying to get it to all grow out evenly, and Lauren got a slight trim...the brilliant thing about both of my girls' hair is that it's got a lot of wave and body in it--no one will ever know that their mother doesn't actually know how to cut hair!

"Hiding" from dad during "Hide and Seek"...for as much as these 2 can fight, they sure enjoy each other...

Reading with Dad while Mom makes Sunday dinner...Kate still sucks her lower lip all the time...she actually developed 2 blisters this week from doing it so much...

Our first week as five...

Andy, Charlie and I got home from the hospital just barely in time to see the girls off trick or treating on Halloween...they had a blast...admittedly, Andy and I ate the majority of the "good stuff" out of the buckets, and the rest got thrown in the trash this morning...I couldn't believe that Lauren walked around in those unbearably uncomfortable shoes, but she did, and Kate was so hot and sweaty by the time she came home, she was just a mop of red curls under her pumpkin hat. Being our first Halloween in this neighborhood, we didn't know quite what to expect, but the neighborhood didn't disappoint...I couldn't believe the masses of kids and people that knocked on the door...there were so many groups out on the sidewalks while Lauren and Kate were out, and we finally had to turn off our porch light because we ran out of candy...where do all these kids live?



We celebrated my birthday on Sunday afternoon at my parents' house---Andy's parents were here, plus my brother's girlfriend, plus Allison and Ted (what's a party without them?)...I guess the girls got bored with all the adults...Lauren pulled Kate around on this rug for a long time...

Charlie has found his thumb a few times, although he won't do it for me (nor will he take a pacifier from me, I'm learning)...what a dream of a baby...he's been so easy from the day he was born. And I know it may/will all change as he grows, but he's so easy and predictable so far...he figured out his days and nights after about a week, and has fallen into a good pattern of sleeping for a few hours and then being awake for a few hours...and he's so content when he's awake. Now that he's awake more in the day, he's sleeping well at night...it takes about an hour to get him changed and nursed at night, but then he'll go right back to sleep...last night he went 6 hours between feedings...he did wake with a messy diaper, but I didn't feed him and all of a sudden it was 3 AM and he was finally waking to eat again...good boy.
First family picture...Lauren has the baby in case you can't see him...
Not quite sure what Lauren's doing with Charlie's head...so far the kids are adjusting well...they had undivided attention from Andy's mom all last week, so that definitely helped the transition...we'll see how this week goes when my time is split....

Kate loves all the "baby gear"...Lauren was the same way when Kate came along, and I know it's just a phase, thus I'm not worried about it...although it is slightly embarrassing to be with Kate in the store and she's chewing on a baby bottle full of water...I've become that mom with a 2 year old and a bottle...although I think she's already lost interest in "her" bottle...now if she would leave the pacifier and bouncer alone...we haven't even brought out the little swing yet...

Andy with Charlie and the original Charles "Chuck" Hyer--his dad...our Charlie is named after Andy's dad Charles, and my dad Stephen

This is one of the those moments that I was so livid, all I could do was grab the camera...it's about 10 at night in this picture...the girls had been "in bed" for 3 hours, but they have a really hard time settling down and going to sleep...we're trying to get them to sleep in the same room, but they enjoy each other so much that all they do is play (why can't they play that well during the day???)...They had changed out of their pajamas and into play clothes, and Kate was carrying her diaper when they wandered out into the kitchen...I think that both kids are extremely sleep deprived these days, as they don't go to sleep until after 9, and are up at 6:00 every morning because of Day Light Savings...even Lauren is napping right now, which never happens...she must be tired...I hung the picture frames in the background right above their little table, and they LOVE to look at the pictures and "blow" out the candles from their bday last year...

Andy's mom was a great help this week with the girls and baby...the kids miss all her attention now that it's just me...don't you love Lauren's devil-eye expression?...she's such a pill these days when I try to take pictures...

I never get tired of taking pictures of the babies sleeping with their dad...I have tons of all three kids sleeping on Andy just like this...he falls asleep so easily...wish I could do that...I've decided that Charlie looks like Lauren...the 2 girls look nothing alike, and I was curious what the boy would look like...he has the same eye shape as Lauren...at least they will look related (unlike Lauren and Kate). Unless something totally changes, his eyes look like they will be blue like Lauren's too.
Making cookies with Grandma...

With 2 games left in a very long season, Andy has finally declared that the season WAS NOT a total waste, like we thought it would be...Lauren actually stays on the field for most of the game, and even follows the ball around for the first half...I've decided that the games are just a few minutes too long...if each half was about 3 minutes shorter, I think the kids would do better...they just sort of poop out/lose interest after so many minutes...but she sure is cute out there in her little uniform...she's such an athletic kid that we're still holding out hope that she just might enjoy sports and be pretty good at them...right now success is marked by how long she stays on the field before walking off in tears...


I forgot to include how long Charlie was when he was born, and someone commented that they wanted to know...his official birth stats...

8 lbs 9.9 oz.
22.5 inches
12:15 AM

Big, long boy...