Monkey Business

Uncle "Amum."

(From the Menlove's blog.) Ever since Christmas has been over and everyone has gone back to the daily routines of life, my kids have been especially sad to not have everyone around. Zachary gets on the play phone and makes calls to different family members. His favorite to call is uncle "Amum." So, one day last week uncle Adam was sweet enough to stop by on a break from work and play with Zachary. Zachy had a smile from ear to ear. They read books, played with cars, and Zachy got out the Mickey Mouse hats for them to wear. Thanks Uncle "Amum!"

R.I.P

All of you who know and love my dear husband have seen him in his camo shorts a time or two thousand!! Now, these camo's have been around longer than I have. Adam wears these shorts at least 2-3 times a week in the summer time and about once a week in the winter. I have had family members ask if he has any other shorts (yes, he does). Adam was at an activity last week with the young men in our ward and he decided to play a pick-up game of basketball in his shorts... and the rest is history... well, maybe not. Adam came home with the torn shorts and then quickly asked if I can sew the rip. We shall see if I am going to be the nice wife or if the shorts just need to rest in peace, they have had an extremely busy life!!

7 Months

Charlie is 7 months old (actually on December 26th). He is still our little bundle of joy! He had a great Christmas and he enjoyed all the attention from family members. He tested out each of his new toys by putting them in his mouth and chewing the heck out of them with his 3 bottom teeth (not 4). In this last month our big boy has mastered putting his pacifier in his mouth and finding it it his crib when it falls out, and he has started sitting up on his own. He wabbles from side-to-side and then tips over, it's pretty funny. Lastly, he still eats like a champ. He loves every bite of food he has tried, especially peaches and pears. Until next month...

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Hanging Christmas lights with Daddy... and lovin' every minute of it. Yummy, these lights taste good.

Charlie was about to get in the bathtub and instead we ended up having a little photo shoot. Hope everyone appreciates the modesty!!!

Check out that BUM!!!!!

All I Want for Christmas is...

... NO MORE TEETH!! Our little man is not so little anymore. Charlie has not one, not two, not three, but FOUR TEETH coming in. (Why we felt the need to torture him even more by holding him down and prying his mouth open to take a picture I am not sure.) Charlie has been a trooper though. He is putting anything and everything in his mouth and chewing the heck out of whatever it may be. It kind of reminds me of a dog playing tug-of-war, he'll have his blanket in his mouth and shake his head while growling.

"You remind me of your Dad!"

My dad passed away 4 years ago on November 30th. I am so grateful for the life he led and for the example he was. This is the poem I read at his funeral. Also, I love this picture, I think I was 4 or 5 and it is from a day we went fishing while we were visiting family in Texas. It made me proud when people would say I'm just like you,

I've got your round face, big cheeks, & manly legs; yes, it's true!

You and I would always eat the fastest as we sat down each night for dinner,

Everyone else took after mom, maybe that's why they are a bit thinner.

Sometime our stubborn ways meant you and I did not always get along

If I was right and you were right, who would admit they were wrong?

We enjoyed playing pranks, like waiting for Steven after a church dance,

We nailed him with the hose and water ran down his pants.

Even though we are alike, and that means the world to me,

I still have a lot to learn because you're all I aspire to be.

I am grateful for your character and all the fun we've had,

Having you here when times were tough made it all not seem so bad.

You had so many good friends whose lives you deeply touched

That special way about you, everyone loved so much.

As a father you counseled, guided, and lead with all your might,

Teaching us to seek for truth and strive to choose the right.

You were one with great courage, you had faith in Heavenly Father's plan,

And though it's hard to see you go, you've left the mark of a valiant man.

You see, I miss you so much, but I am doing my best not to be sad,

Instead I will strive to live up to the phrase: "You remind me of your Dad!"

6 Months

It is hard to believe that Charlie is half a year old already. He has been such a sweet baby and so much fun to have around. Adam confessed to me the other day that he thinks he's kissed Charlie more times than he has kissed me... sad, but true!! Charlie has such a happy disposition, he got the stomach flu over Thanksgiving and he smiled through it all. After not eating much for a few days, I knew the little Buster was feeling better when he woke up and started freaking out because he was STARVING and wanted to eat that very second. He has mastered the art of eating; he loves his rice cereal and just about anything else that comes near his mouth. He weighs 17.6 lbs. and is 27 in. (75 percentile). Our boy is growing up too fast! One of my favorite things is Charlie's "lipless" smile (like he is doing in this picture), it makes him look like such an old man.

Happy Thanksgiving

We had a great time in Vegas for Thanksgiving. The week consisted of eating tons of food, watching football and going shopping!!! I ate pie for breakfast every morning and we stuffed our faces with left-over Thanksgiving dinner all day long. Adam watched every football and basketball game on every sports channel; sometimes even multiple games at a time. While the boys sat in front of the t.v. the girls went shopping. I got to see Sherie Koch in action by going shopping with her and Rachel at 4 a.m. the day after Thanksgiving... we found some great deals! The week ended with about half of the gang getting the stomach flu, including Charlie. It was so sad to see our little man so sick, but he managed to smile through it all. Four generations of handsome KOCH men.

My two favorite boys!

Charlie helping Daddy and Dadoo Richard hang up Christmas lights.

Rice Cereal

It comes as no surprise that Charlie LOVES to eat. I was not sure how he would take rice cereal just because I have heard from so many people that it takes a while for most kids to enjoy it... not our little man. Charlie was so into it that he tried eating the bowl, we could not spoon it in fast enough!!