Party #1

 We celebrated our little buddy turning one on Saturday with a family (& Godparents) birthday party!  We an excellent time celebrating our Charlie!  The weather was perfect, the kids had a blast, and the food & cake was delicious if I do say so myself! :)

 Love these pics of the boys . . . I couldn't decide which one to post, so you get to see them all! :)

 We had a ball-themed party for Charlie.  One of his four words is "ball" and playing with balls is his favorite thing to do!  You should see this kid throw a ball . . . impressive! :)

 The bouncy house was, of course, a hit with the kids!

 Charlie has been not feeling so well this past week with a yucky cold and most likely some teeth coming in.  This silly mom forgot to dose him up with ibuprofin after his nap so the dinner hour was a little touchy.  But as soon as the meds kicked in, he was back to enjoying his party!

 Big kid table!

 C-man wasn't doing to hot when the birthday cake came out- we didn't get much of a reaction from him. 

 Big brother to the rescue . . . Henry helped Charlie blow out his candle.

 Proud mommy & daddy with their little boy!

 After poking his fingers in the frosting for a bit, I was able to sneak a bite in his mouth and then it was game on!  I think Charlie thoroughly enjoyed his first taste of sweets!

 Charlie hammed it up for the camera before he opened his gifts!

 Charlie got lots of fun new toys, books & clothes (Henry was equally as happy with all of Charlie's fun new toys!).

 Henry was Charlie's helper and opened most of his gifts.

Our family

Thanks, everyone, for making Charlie's day so special!

Early Birthday Present!

 Charlie-man got to open his birthday present early (so we'd have it for his party!)!

Henry and Charlie (and their mom!) had a blast at about 7:30 in the morning bouncing in the new bouncy house.  I can see this being a great go-to toy when the boys need to burn some energy! :)

Who needs toys?

Henry and Charlie were perfectly content playing with my drying rack, a shoe box and a roll of wrapping paper for over 20 minutes!  My kids don't play with anything for more than 5 (or play together . . . contently!)!  They'd put the shoe box on top of the rack and bat it down with the wrapping paper tube . . . over and over again!

One more week!

One more week until Charlie officially turns one!  *Sigh* I love having babies around these parts and it's hard to believe our little buddy is growing up so fast.  I remember being a little sad when Henry turned one but also remember being really excited for him.  For Charlie, I'm just in disbelief!  The year has gone by so very fast.  I guess when there's two little ones in the house, there isn't as much time to stop and cherish the moments.  

We are having his birthday party on Saturday!  I love planning parties so I'm looking forward to celebrating our Charlie!  Speaking of celebrating Charlie- we've been dropping little hints at Henry that it will be Charlie's special day and when it's his birthday, he'll have a special day too.  So far, Henry's been good about enjoying other people's moments, which I love about him.  I want him (and Charlie) to grow up being happy for others and understanding that he's not always going to be the winner, it's not always going to be about him, etc.  I guess this will be step one on a road to being a gracious human being! :)

Look Closely . . .

 Notice anything odd?  Yep, my quirky duck has nylons on his feet.  I braved the mall (for the first time EVER with both boys- it's not a place I really enjoy going let along with two small children!) to go shoe shopping for Henry.  I clearly forgot to bring socks so he tried on shoes with nylons.  According to Henry, they are his "berry spesh-ol socks" and "next time we go to the mall, I want another pair of those socks."  I'll see if I can spring for another pair, buddy.   I had to talk him into taking them off before nap this afternoon.  He cracks me up! :)

Red Wing Pool

 Jen and I took our kids to Red Wing to go swimming as we have two aunts and several cousins who live there.  Like all things Swank, it was quite the gathering! :)  It was so fun to be at a pool with other little kids that we know so Henry would actually SWIM (we've been to our local pool several times and every time it has lasted no more than 25 minutes- with the last 10 in major meltdown mode).  He does like having other little ones to "show" him what to do in a pool - adults don't cut it, I've tried!  Anyway, it was a super fun day until someone pooped in the pool.  We then high-tailed it out of there!

 Charlie had a slight fever due (I think!) to a cold but he was a trooper!  Aunt Tonja kept him happy splashing in the buckets!

Cousin Claire (aka the child whisperer) and Henry

Roommate Reunion!

 Every summer, my college roomies and I get together with all our kids- 12 of them between the four of us! 

Here's the four of us- 12 years after graduation!!!!  Man, that sounds OLD!