Mimi's Birthday

Tuesday was my mom's birthday, so Charlie was very excited to wake up and say, "Happy Birthday, Mimi!" We stopped at the flower shop on the way home, and Charlie walked into the house with Mimi's tulips and told her happy birthday again. He also yelled, "Surprise", which I did not coach him to say. We had a nice dinner from Stillwater, and then we had some yummy cupcakes to celebrate. Charlie definitely enjoyed eating his cupcake, as you will see in the picture below. We all went in on an ice cream maker for her present, so we are excited to try it out tonight. I am guessing Charlie will like the ice cream too!! Happy Birthday, Mom! We love you very much and are so glad we were here to help you celebrate your special day!!!

Singing Happy Birthday to Mimi.

Getting ready to help Mimi blow out her candle.

Blow!

Yummy cupcakes!

Matt & Gwen Time

On Saturday we went and spent the morning with Matt & Gwen. Charlie and Matt had a blast together! Charlie just wants to do everything Matt does, and he totally follows him around. They spent the entire morning jumping onto a couch, playing with the tools, and hanging out in the tent. Gwen just watched them the whole time looking like she just wanted to run with the boys! She's very close to walking, so it'll be interesting when she's moving around with them. We are headed back to their house on Saturday for Gwen's first birthday party, so I'll have more pictures then!!

Mary made this very cool tent to fit over their table in the basement. Lots of fun!

Isn't she the cutest!

Fun With Jameson & Liam

Jameson and Charlie are such good buddies! They always have so much fun together, and they miss each other the minute they leave. Kind of sounds like their mommies, huh? :-) Our first morning we spent time at Jameson's house, then they came over later that afternoon to play some more. I think these boys are going to be quite the posse when they get a little older! It's just too much fun having a partner in crime, and I think Liam will catch up quickly once he's big enough to walk! I am sure there will be more pics with Jameson and Liam this week, but here are some to get us started!

Great faces, huh?

Charlie just loved playing with Liam. He was very gentle and very cute.

My mom bought this Handy Manny tools toy for Charlie. He and Jameson both LOVE it! They tools bounce up and down and dance like they do on the cartoon!

A "big squeeze" from Jameson. Lots of love was exchanged between these two.

Mr. Liam. Such a cutie pie and so big since the last time we saw him!

First Car Trip to Brighton

Well, we finally did out first car trip downstate. It's an 8 hour drive from Marquette to Brighton, so it's definitely a long one. We left the house about 9:00 am, and we ended up making it to Ann Arbor around 5 pm. We had a quick stop for lunch at the bridge, and few gas/potty stops, and then we stopped in Ann Arbor for dinner. Charlie did awesome in the car!! I was so proud of him. He didn't have any potty accidents (oh . . . I might not have mentioned he's potty trained now), and he did awesome going potty every time we stopped. He had a bit of a meltdown when we stopped at Chili's for dinner, but that is to be expected after being cooped up in the car for 8 hours. Overall, it was a good trip, but we were definitely glad to be out of the car!

Charlie watching Bob on the drive down.

The big corn on a stick he got at Chili's. Why wouldn't you give a kid a huge wooden stick to play with at dinner time? Right? I mean that's a great toy to have on the kid's menu!

First Pics from the New House . . .

Sorry for the absence of the blog, but as you know we've been moving the last couple weeks. Charlie and I are now in Detroit visiting family and friends for the week, so I will try and catch up on the pictures and updates a bit! Sorry if the pictures aren't great... I took most of them with my phone.

We are officially in the new house! Woohoo! We moved everything in by Monday of last week. This was our first move where we didn't have Pete's parents helping us, so it took a little longer than it normally does. We did get help from Pete's friend, Matt, who helped Pete with the heavy lifting. Other than that, it was all Pete, Charlie and I. We got everything in Monday night, and then we left Tuesday morning. Pete had a conference in Ann Arbor all week, so Charlie and I tagged along to hang out in Brighton and visit. On Friday, Pete headed back to Marquette with his co-workers, but Charlie and I are staying an extra week so we are here for my niece, Gwen's, first birthday next weekend.

So that's the update. Now here's all the pics so far!

Charlie got to ride in the front seat between houses because the back of the Subaru was filled with stuff! (We only moved 5 miles down the road)

He figured out how to climb into the back of the truck from the porch.

First meal in the new house! This was right after we closed and before we started the cleaning!

First night in the new house. We were all snuggled in bed together!

Winter Fun!

I was looking through pictures just now, and I found these and realized that I never posted them! One day when we got a lot of snow, Pete went out in the morning to snow blow the driveway. Charlie really likes watching him out the window, and this particular time Pete decided to play a game with him. The pictures really tell the story, so I'll label them and let them do the talking!

Daddy sees Charlie in the window (you can see his head poking up over the back corner of the second car).

After hiding behind the car, he pops out and gets a laugh from Charlie.

Now for the fun part . . .

Snowball fight at the window!

"Ta-dah! Here's Daddy!"

More snow . . .

... and an extreme close-up!

Giggling hysterically, "MORE DADDY, MORE!"

Charlie's New House!

Well.... we closed on our house yesterday!!! So, here's Charlie's new house!!! We spent the day over there yesterday, and he loves running around inside. I can't wait for the snow to start melting because he and Payton are going to love the backyard! I didn't have the camera with me yesterday, so I'll take it over this week to get some shots of Charlie in the house. We should be in and settled.... or close to settled... by the end of the month. We are really looking forward to having our own house and celebrating our little family and our new life in Marquette! Starting April 1st, visitors are welcome!! Come on up and see beautiful Marquette in the summer time!

Charlie's 2nd Birthday!

This past weekend was Charlie's 2nd birthday! We had the luxury on his actual birthday falling on the weekend, so we were able to have his party on his real birthday! We decided to have to party at my parent's cottage in Elk Lake so it would be a little easier for family to travel and help us celebrate. We headed down on Thursday, so we could make an entire weekend of it!

Friday morning we got up early and headed to Avalanche Bay, the water park at Boyne Mountain. Dan, Mary, Matt and Gwen went with us, and we were able to meet up with my cousins and their kiddos. We had a great day at the water park. All the boys loved the water slides, lazy river, and the toddler pool activities. We even worked it out so that the moms and dads were all able to ride the big water slides too! As the kiddos started to wind down around nap time, we headed home. Friday afternoon was a lazy one just setting up for the party and visiting the horses down the street.

On Saturday, we had the family over for the party. Not only were mine and Pete's immediate families there, but my Aunt Judy, Uncle Jack, David, Andrea, Dennis, Melissa, and all their kiddos were able to join us! It was crazy having all those kiddos in one room together, but we had a blast! As most of you know, Charlie loves Bob the Builder, so we went with a Bob theme. We played for awhile, opened presents, had dinner, enjoyed some cupcakes, and then wound down before bedtime.

Overall, it was a great weekend! Charlie was fighting a cold, so he was a bit cranky some of the times, but he rallied when we needed him to. We finished off Sunday with donuts at Mark & Kelly's house, then we headed home. A special thank you to my parents for letting us use your house and for helping us throw one amazing Bob party! You guys are the best, and we love you very much! It's definitely a party we, and Charlie, will always remember! Thank you also to my family for driving to four hours to be there to help us celebrate our little man. It was a very bitter sweet day. We miss our friends and family in California terribly, but it's nice to be close to rest of the family again. Thank you everyone for making Charlie's birthday so special!! These past two years have been amazing, and we can't wait to see what the future will bring!!

Charlie and Matt starting off the morning with some breakfast.

A little game of chase... one rode while the other chased.

David & Grant and Pete & Charlie enjoying a ride on the lazy river.

Charlie and me on the water slide.

Charlie and Matt playing catch with Papa. I love their faces in this picture!

First picture of the birthday boy! He was ready to tackle his pancakes with his machine tools!

Special Bob, Scrambler, and Zoomer cupcakes for Charlie, surrounded by tools and construction cones.

Daddy and Charlie posing in front of his cupcakes.

Papa trying to keep the grand kids from digging into the cupcakes!

Charlie's special shirt and hat for the party.

Mimi got some cool signs, hats, and construction vests for the kids to have.

Gwen is all smiles and excited to be in the picture!

The table all set up.

The biggest Bob balloon I've ever seen!

His favorite part... presents!

Opening his cool Bob the Builder tool belt Grandma found for him!

Our macaroni and cheese construction site.

Our little family.

He wasn't too sure of everyone singing Happy Birthday to him.

Blowing out his candles.

Mmmmmm.... cupcake.

Cupcake smile for the camera.

Mooradian cousins shot:(from left to right, with parents in parenthesis) Grant, Avery (David & Andrea), Gwen, Matt (Dan & Mary), Charlie, Tatum, Alex, and Reece (Dennis & Melissa).

Same group, but with Drew (Mark & Kelly's son) added in the middle!