The Fantastic Tale of Halloween

Once upon a time there was a young prince who had saw a beautiful sleeping princess...

So he counseled with the king about pumpkins, 

(because the princess liked pumpkins). 

Then he went on a long journey. He was chased by a ferocious dragon,

but he defeated the dragon and transformed her into a tame dragon. 

Together they attained the legendary carrot, said to be a source of vitamin A to those with enough molars to chew it. 

When he returned, the princess allowed him to kiss her hand...

...and they lived happily ever after!

Videos

Let me know if these links work. Little videos of Charles playing with Annabeth.

http://youtu.be/YJ1GrX-ZrwU

http://youtu.be/SZqHXOMMzKM

Also, we are going to make this blog private soon, so send me your email addresses and I will put you on the list. 

Growing

We are deep into autumn already, and Annabeth is almost a month old! Incredible. Here are some birds by Win-Co:

Here is Annabeth in a hat:

Here is our family together:

Here are Charles and I changing our babies' diapers:

And here is a very large mushroom, a humongous fungus if you prefer, just outside our apartment building:

This morning when Charlie was eating Cheerios he held one up and declared it an O. Then he broke one side and called it a C. That's my Charles!

We have been talking about getting a house for a while. If you are curious about that, it hasn't been working yet. Maybe someday. 

Well, Charles is awake! I had better go. Have a happy day!

Our Annabeth

She is here, she is tiny, and we love her oh so much. 

Anna Elizabeth Drollette was born at 5:47 am on Thursday, September 26. She weighed 7 lb 6.5 oz and was 19.5 inches long. 

It is impossible to describe how amazing a new baby is! I loved seeing and hearing her for the first time and it is heavenly to hold her and be her Mommy. 

The delivery was exciting; I wanted to wait at home until I was sure I was in labor because before Charles was born I had lots of contractions that came and went, and it would be annoying to get Charles to our friends the Burtenshaws and drive to the hospital only to go home again. So, when we finally did get there I was leaning on Aaron to stay on my feet, and the nurses at the desk rushed me to a little bed to check on me. They could see the top of Annabeth's head ready to come out! We just made it to a room and she was born.  It was intense, and I would not have liked to have been 20 minutes later and had her in the car, but otherwise it was nice having it be so quick, and not being hooked up to any tubes. 

More pictures:

Charles has been doing well as a big brother. He likes to touch Annabeth's toes or her head, bring her blankets or diapers, and look at her sleeping in her bassinet. I don't think he is jealous of me giving her attention, but he does wish I would pick him up and get him in and out of his crib. It has been very helpful having Grandma Fletcher here! 

Here he is as a rock star: (aka cream of wheat)

And having good times:

Aunt Esther with sleepyAnnabeth:

More pictures soon, I expect! 

Love. 

Midsummer Terms

(Written 8/13/13) It has been a few months since I have posted, and we have happily experienced the following: 

A trip to Idaho:

A Cub Scout camp out:

A trip to Oregon:

Fun around home:

Getting very big (this week I come to full term, 37 weeks):

And being very cute:

Spring and Summer Scenes

I am almost to my third trimester! I am starting to feel big, and tiny girl is very active. Congratulations to Kristen and family for their new baby. Jessica's and Nicole's coming soon!

Here is a list of things Charles does:

1. Babbles and makes noises. He makes several animal noises like roars, chirps, and squeaks. My favorites are his Zebra yelps and his monkey "ooh ooh"s with hand motions. He also imitates appliances and vehicles.

2. Gives hugs. He loves to pull people together into group hugs, even other nursery kids or new acquaintances.

3. Throws and rolls balls. He likes hand-size balls, and also the big red exercise ball that someone threw up into a tree in our apartment complex and Aaron climbed up and dislodged with a broom (after a couple weeks of being up there unclaimed).

4. Asks for what he wants. He knows plenty of words, knows where things are and will lead us around. For example, yesterday he came to me on the couch, held my hand and pulled me to the fridge, said "milk", then went to the cupboard, got a sippy cup and while I was filling it, went to the cupboard again for a sippy cup lid. He often pulls me to the closet and says "vvv", wanting me to get out the vacuum.

Little things, but I think they're exciting :)
Here are some recent pictures: