Another Christmas and New Years has come and gone but the one constant that remains is the wonderful people we have in our lives. We are so grateful for friends and family and we hope that everyone had a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Charlie's first dose of the Holidays were very merry and bright. Some Holiday highlights for your viewing pleasure (actually, ALOT of hightlights). Here's to a happy, healthy, lovely 2011!!
We hate goodbyes...
In my last post, I mentioned that my youngest sister left us to go to Korea. Well, a few days before Christmas, my other sister left for her new job in L.A. (I know, before Christmas!) What a sad and lonely Christmas for me and Charlie... NOT! =) (love you, sisters.) Actually, Zeke, Charlie and the rest of the family more than made up for my sisterless Christmas. We had fun but we do miss the Emo's. Good luck in L.A. and with your new job! love you!!
but we love new friends!
Also in my last post, I mentioned that my friend was 8+ months pregnant. Well, she's pregnant no more! Baby M. came as an early Christmas gift and I was lucky enough to visit him while he was F.O.W (fresh out the womb). His parents are lucky to be adding such a beautiful baby boy to their family! Congrats!!
Charlie's First Christmas!
There was so much excitement and anticipation for our first Christmas with Charlie. We knew that she wouldn't really get the concept of opening gifts but yet, we still got her gifts and wrapped them. She made out with some really cool gear, all thanks to Santa and his elves! ;)
But I must say, she really did love all the ribbon and wrapping paper. At least that was a hit...
And to make Christmas even better, Charlie got to spend it with her cousin Nixon, aunties and uncles! She was a happy girl!!
Christmas Eve
It's a tradition for the Edwards' kids to open a gift on Christmas Eve. It's always jammies and we lived in our new jammies for pretty much all of Christmas break!
The best part about Christmas vacation was Charlie and Nixon! They were great pals and when Nixon didn't have Charlie in a choke hold, they would love on each other the entire visit. hehe... He was really sweet with her and just wanted to love her. So cute!
Christmas Morning
Zeke decided it was very necessary to wake everyone up using an airhorn and megaphone. Since we had been up and going pretty early with Charlie, it was very important to have everyone else in the house be up and ready for Charlie's first Christmas! (not really, but it was funny to see people's reactions to Zeke's wake up calls). It was also a special day because we got to Skype with Austin who is serving a mission in Texas. We sure do miss him and it was a great treat to be able to chat with him.
Most of Christmas Day was spent relaxing, catching up with family and eating some good food. Here are a few more pictures from the day.
Hello, 2011!!
For our first family New Years countdown, Zeke was away at work and Charlie went to bed as usual. Luckily I had Grandma Micci to ring in the new year with me. We stayed cozy and warm watching the fireworks on TV and witnessed a few crazies on the evening news. All in all, it was a great evening to cap off another great year. 2010 was a memorable year for our family so we were a bit sad to bid adieu to 2010 but I can tell that 2011 is going to be a great year!!
some pics from New Years Day morning.
check out Charlie's crazy bedhead.
In the Korean tradition, it is very important to pay respect to your elders. On a special day like New Years Day, you wish loved ones luck and prosperity in the new year and they return the well-wishes to you. To keep with tradition, Charlie and I went to each of my grandparents homes to wish them a Happy New Year and we even called Halmuni and Halajbujee in Korea. Since my parents are so far away, we Skype with them on a regular basis. And now that Charlie is a bit older, she can interact when we make calls. She has become very vocal and loves to chat it up with her grandparents and auntie. We miss them so much! Happy 2011!! We love you!
Milestones in 2011!
We are less than 10 days into the new year and Charlie has already reached a few milestones. She loves to play peek-a-boo by hiding behind something and poking her head out to find you. It's so funny and we get a kick out of watching her learn and figure out new things everyday. At this stage, she is so active and so much fun! She crawls at lightning speed and walks along just about anything. We think she will be walking soon but I would love for her to slow down on the growing up and just be baby for just a bit longer. I love this stage!
Charlie still loves Kali
For months, Charlie has chased Kali around the house. Finally, Kali decided she would run away no more... Charlie saw dog. Charlie chased dog. Charlie conquered dog. Charlie happy baby.
First tooth!
Finally, at nearly the 10 month mark, Charlie cut her first tooth (bottom right). Then numbers 2, 3, and 4 decided that they wanted to show up as well a few days later. Charlie now has 4 teeth coming in all at the same time. It's a funny sight to see when she is smiling really big, it looks like grains of rice are on her gums. =) The other night, Auntie LaLa had Charlie laughing in the tub and we were able to get a few good pics of those toothy gums. She is really drooling alot but so far has been handling teething pretty well. I just hope she's not a biter...
Baby in a Box
There is a bit of restructuring at my work and my department is just moving to a different area. Since it was moving day, Charlie came into work with me for a bit to help me pack. This is just more proof that babies do not need toys... all they need is wrapping paper and boxes to make them happy. Do you think next Christmas I can get away with wrapping an empty box??
