And just a few of Charlie...

We didn't have any pics of Charlie on Halloween, so here's some we took recently...

Charlie on blessing day.

OK, we had to include this one. That's mom's boot thingy on his head.

All Hallows' Eve

Well, everybody is going to be posting their Halloween stuff, so we thought we'd get a jump on it. Friday we went to the Omniture party and had a blast. Charlie fell asleep and Josh went from area to area loving every minute of it (except for the pirates in the Peter Pan scene and any witch we happened to run into). We went straight from there to Lizzy's extended family party. Liz's costume was a huge hit. When we walked in people started gathering around, laughing in amazement/disgust. There was good food and lots of games for the kids.

Today we took turns taking Josh around the neighborhood. At first he was very excited and was saying "Happy Halloween, Kid!" to everybody we ran into. He liked looking around at all the other costumes he recognized. After a while, though, he kind of pooped out, and we ended up sitting on the porch with him the rest of the night handing out candy. All in all it was a fun weekend. Here's some pics:

Junice from the SNL Lawrence Welk show spoof.

Stuart from Mad TV.

Lizzy's major award.

Sinead O'Connor


Liz made this entire costume, minus the inflatable wings.

Josh will be eating candy for a long time coming (as if he needs any more energy).

Latest on the boys

Well, Charlie is now 2 months along and is doing better. We thought he was lactose intolerant so Liz removed all dairy from her diet for 3 weeks. It turns out that it really wasn't doing much - he was just naturally growing out of his tummy troubles. Then we spent a solid week of being sick. At one time all 4 of us were miserable. But I guess it's better that we got it all out of the way at the same time! Anyway, we've still been able to get out and enjoy the fall. Here are some of the latest pictures, some from our pumpkin patch outing yesterday. Some of the pictures of Charlie are a few weeks old:

This was a few weeks ago. He's started smiling a lot after he eats.

A friend brought us a giant zucchini and Josh turned it into his "Kini Baby". It's sad to say it but we even allowed him to sleep with it at night. We couldn't bring ourselves to tell him where he went when we had to eat it.

It's this grin that reminds me of Hill.

Our sand castle project. It took many sand pile days to make it.

This is his usual contemplative look.

We've started to get occasional laughs from him.

Clinging to his momma.

Josh likes the pumpkins and the wagons.

"You talkin' to me?"

Macaulay Culkin sighting!

Me and Josh went into a Panda Express to pick up dinner tonight. When we walked up to order, the two workers there looked at us, looked at each other kind of funny like, then asked "Has anyone ever told you your son looks like that kid on Home Alone?" I said "In fact, yes." ( Naughty Cass used to say "Kevin, you're such a disease!" ) One of the workers kept trying to get Josh to do the famous aftershave scream, but Josh was acting shy. She even bribed him with a handful of fortune cookies but he still wouldn't do it. Once I got him strapped in to go home then he did it, but it was too late for the fortune cookie jackpot!

Joshie Time

With my paternity leave I've also been able to spend a lot of time with Josh, who's been adjusting to a new brother very well. He's very concerned about him when he cries, and always wants to say hi in the morning when he wakes up. Anyway, here's a sample of what we've been up to:

Getting ready for a day of fun.

Josh plays in his sand pile at least once a day.

Coloring with his mom.

Tummy time.

As Joshie would say "Wee hoo ride em' cowboy!"

3 Weeks Old

Well, Charlie is 3 weeks old tomorrow. He still is trying to get his days and nights figured out, but other than that he's been a good little boy. He eats a lot. In fact, at his two week checkup the doctor had expected him to gain enough weight to get back to birth weight. Well, he passed that by a pound and 3 ounces, so now he tips the scales at 8 pounds 4 ounces. That's about it for now, so on to the pics:

Notice the big bloated belly.

He's starting to get a round little head like Josh had.

You can't see it good, but he's workin' on his second chin. If I'm not mistaken, I had quite a double chin as a baby.

Sometimes we call him 'The Hotdog'. I don't know, he just looks like a little tube steak.

Charlie's Here!

Well, looks like we'll have to come up with a new name for the blog. Charlie Merrick Keel was born at 3:23 pm on August 7th, 2009. He weighed 7 pounds 1 ounce, and was 18.5 inches long. Everything was as good as you could hope in a birth, and him and his mom are both doing very well.

So before I get to the pictures I guess I'll mention some interesting things about him. First off, his nickname is officially "Squeaker", since when he whimpers and cries it just sounds like squeaking. The pediatrician that checked him out said that when he does the normal checkups, sometimes something in particular stands out. He said that he was very surprised by how strong Charlie was! He likes to turn his head and look at whoever is doing the talking. He actually like to move his head around a lot, and he's strong enough to hold it up for a few seconds. He eats really good when we can keep him from falling asleep. And that's all I can think about for now, so on to the pictures:

Right after he was born. He was pretty angry.

Opening his eyes for the first time.

Waiting for his checkup and bath.

He passes the time by sucking on his fingers.

Josh meets his baby brother for the first time.

He pointed out his eyes, nose, and mouth then proceeded to say "It's a baby dinosaur!"

Who do you think he looks like?

Birthday pics coming soon...

Joshie had his 2nd birthday party last Sunday. We took a few pictures that I can put up, but for now you'll have to settle for this:

Dramatic Chipmunk

The Keels visit

Grammy Jo, Bampa, and Doozie all came and stayed with us over the 3 day weekend. They got to see the new house for the first time and also got to see Joshie in his element. We had lots of fun going out on the town during the day then coming home and watching movies at night. Every morning Josh would wake up before everyone else. When we'd go in to get him he'd ask "Where Bapa? Where Yetzi?" Here are a few pictures.

We went to the mall and had lots of fun. Bampa kind of spoiled Joshie. Sorry the picture's blurry.

Josh loved the escalators. I think we all took a turn going up and down with him.

Later we went to the park since Bampa wasn't allowed to go sledding. So we pulled Joshie around.

...and Grammy Jo

The Utahns. This is a view of the back of our house from the park.

Are you ready for some football!!!

Catch-Up Pictures

Here are some pictures we've taken over the past couple months. Unfortunately, our camera is looking like it's going to stop working any day now. It's becoming more and more fussy, and the pictures more and more crappy. If we have to replace it we might not be able to afford to for a few months.

Joshie's favorite spot for watching his "shows"

He's a happy boy

We fell asleep right before his bed time

Feeding his new dinosaur Christmas morning

Lizzie and Josh at the park during our Christmas visit.