Oh October!

As I said in my last post, I'm usually about a week behind. I would say that I will try to do better, but I'm pretty sure I won't, so here comes another extremely long post from the Charles clan.

October is probably my most favorite month in Kansas city. The weather is amazing, the leaves are a dream come true and of course the festivities start. We did a ton and we took advantage of all the things we could. Here they are...

1) Our neighborhood Halloween progressive dinner

Every year our street does this. The torch was passed on to me this year from Ruth, who moved to Hawaii... we miss you Ruth! The party was no Ruth Kau caliber, but it was a grade A Milli Charles attempt, and it turned out just fine!

Here is the food, lets be honest, this is the reason we even do this, right?

This is the appetizer table in the Johnson's backyard... yummy!

Here is the entree table, we had taco soup in the Hendrick's backyard

And of course, the dessert table. We ate in the Hasting's front yard

Here are some of the ghost's and goblins...

Here is costume #1, the kitty. I didn't even think that Travis would get so much crap for dressing up like a kitty, but he did. Way to be a real man Trav.

We had a lot of fun, and I was so relieved that it turned out, until one of the kids asked me where the pinata was. Oops, I guess Ruth did a pinata every year and I totally forgot. Sorry kids !

2) A Halloween get together

A bunch of us couples got together and celebrated the great Holiday. Can I just say, we may not have a lot of money, but we sure know how to party!

Exhibit A) The food

Exhibit B) The costumes

The Taylor's were old people

We were Skinny Kenny and Carol (its a Riverside town home inside joke, they are just some awesome characters we get to live by)

The Romney's were a bee and honey

The McCools were a witch and a broomstick

The Johnson's were the famous Red X (another Riverside wonder) and a bottle of beer (which the Red X has an abundance of)

The Church's were dice

And the Hastings were Juno and her boyfriend

Exhibit C) The Walk off

Since we were all decked out, we decided to vamp up the music and have an official walk off. Pretty sure the Taylor's won that one. Those old people had some moves!!!

Exhibit D) The bobbing for apple tournament

I suck at this event, and was out the first round

Travis was a little better

The McCools were amazing. They both made it to the championship round (I bet they practice in their house all the time)

Derek was the winner, but Trish put up a good fight!

And lastly Exhibit D) Karaoke

Don't think I even need to explain this one. We are pretty much awesome.

(that's my rapping hand)

Trent gives it his all.

(Oh I forgot to get pictures, but we also played Mafia)

That was a really fun night!

3) A local carnival

Scary houses, fun games and treats; we had to check it out

Costume #2- the duck

My parents were here during this one

They had this booth set up with the new PlayStation dance game, and so we of course had to try it. Who do you think won?

Travis kicked our fannies. That white boy can move.

4) The library

We have been going to story time at the library. This time, they got to dress up. I think Avery was checking out that monkey back there. She loves Jude.

Costume #3- A tiger

5) Pumpkin patch

It was a farm, we took a hayride, we bought some pumpkins. That's just what ya do.

5) Pumpkin carving

Travis and I take pumpkin carving pretty seriously. This year, we kind of procrastinated so had to figure something out at the last second. I think they turned out decent. We went over to the Romney's for some "witches brew" and pumpkin cookies.

We gutted the pumpkins together. Jen's and Jared's was rotten, and we all about vomited.

Jen is probably trying everything in her power to smile and not gag in this picture

Here is the outcome:

Jen and Jared's

Here is ours

Can you see it? Travis did Dr. Gregory House and I did the Mona Lisa. I think he won this year.

5) YMCA Trunk or treat

Costume #3- A tiger is back

There was a "Fire big truck" there and they asked if she wanted to go inside. She took one look at the truck and said, "its too big."

But then she went down this big slide

We LOVE our YMCA

And finally 6) Halloween night (or the Saturday before)

What costume did Avery go with... .... ...

Looks like costume #1, the kitty

Look at all of these little girls!

The kitty family is back, seriously, good sport Trav (I secretly think he likes it)

We ran into Indiana Jones and the "womb" raider (she's pregnant, get it)

Then we ran into Bam Bam. Apparantly the kitty has something for cavemen.

Avery was so good. She learned that you say, "trick or treat" and then "thank you." She didn't learn that you pass up the dum dum suckers and go for the chocolate. Maybe next year?

This is a clip of her showing off her trick or treating skills to our neighbor, Penny

Well, the month of October is over, and the the real Holidays are coming. Pretty soon we will be having turkey, and then Christmas and then baby will be here! I'm really excited, because she is all up in my ribs, maybe that is where the saying, "all up in my grill", came from because she really is.

THE END

Our Birthday Girl!

I bet you were thinking I was going to do a Halloween post, because that is what everyone is doing today, but nope, I'm doing a special Avery post because it was her birthday (uh hum last week)! I know, I am crappy lately. Seriously though, being pregnant is hard. All I want to do is sleep, so when I can, I sleep. Anyways, I'm not here to whine, I'm here to show everyone how awesome her birthday was and that she gets awesomer with age!

My Mom and Dad made a goal to visit every grand kid on their birthday, so they came to celebrate as well (what will they do when they have 12?).

Avery was so excited, because I kept telling her that she was going to have an Elmo party. I don't think she fully understood until the day of.

It was a pretty hopping party...



This was the venue...



No, we didn't rent out Caesar's palace, this is our place.

We decided to cancel the live DJ and fire the clown because what beats Sesame Street music in a room full of balloons and slides. Nothin!

I have to give Sid the credit for decorating, that was his job, and he took it seriously. It was pretty cool, thanks Dad!

Here are the people...

Its weird, the pictures of the Jonas Brothers didn't turn out. Oh well.

We also had an Elmo pinata...

And no, we didn't beat the crap out of cute little Elmo, they make "toddler pinatas" these days, all you have to do is pull the string, and if you pull the right one, all the candy will come out. Good invention, cause seriously, who wants a party with a bunch of two year olds running around with bats? Not me.

Here is the cake...

Travis did the whole thing by himself. He is a man with many talents!

And of course, here is the Birthday girl!

She was so ready to blow out her birthday candles, we had been practicing for awhile, it took three times and a little moisture on the cake, but she blew them out!

The next day was Avery's real birthday! Since we are having another girl, we decided to move Avery out of the nursery and into the next room over. My parents and I had been working on Avery's big girl room for the week, and it was time to show her.

These are the before pics...

And here are the after pics...

I'd like to thank Pottery Barn Kids for the great idea. I can't afford you, but I can copy you!

My parents bought Avery the easel and colorful pillows for her birthday. Our plan was to show her her room in the morning, go to church, open her cute present from her Charles grandparents and then give her our gift. We bought her a kitchen. But the more presents we gave her, the more guilty I was feeling. With all the presents from the day before, relative gifts and grandparent gifts, our girl was getting spoiled. Travis and I made the decision to hide the kitchen in our storage until Christmas. We can't have a spoiled girl. Plus, we spent enough on her room! I don't think she even noticed. We did give her the kitchen's box to play with (since we set it up already). She didn't suspect a thing!

Now I have to do the mushy mom thing:

Avery, you are the sweetest thing in the world.

You have a heart of gold!

It has been so fun watching you learn new things. You are so curious, you ask lots of questions and you pick up on things very fast.

You are a born leader.

You are bossy.

You tell us to be quiet and to not copy you.

You are constantly chatting.

You love to sing. You know the "ABC song (all except the letter "X", for some reason that one hasn't made it into your version). You sing "Twinkle, Twinkle little star" and "Rock-a-bye baby."

You don't use your little potty anymore, you prefer to climb on the big toilet, and you don't want any help. You are so independent.

We can't open the doors anymore because you say, "my do it." You also won't let us take your diapers off, you have to do it when we change you.

Amazingly, you remember your cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents names, even though you don't see them very often.

You put your babies in timeout, and when you go and get them you say, "listen baby" and then you give them a kiss (you have had lots of self experiences).

You love your milk baba's, and if they aren't the perfect temperature, you make us go and warm them.

I can't go grocery shopping with you, you only last 15 minutes and you can't stand still anymore.

You are a climber. You climb everywhere. From couch to couch, to the top of the spider monkey bars, to all the tables and chairs.

You call your blankies "didi's" and you have to sleep with "pink" and "green" every night, along with Baby Rita and Baby Blue.

You are starting to use your imagination a lot. You make me "oatmeal" and "milk" all of the time. You also like to steal my nose from me.

When you smile, your big almond eyes squint all the way shut. You have the biggest smile!

You have been sleeping in your big girl bed, and when you wake up, you stay in your bed and say, "Avery wake."

You have the highest pitched scream, and it takes everything in my to ignore it sometimes.

You are obsessed with shoes, and often switch with other kids.

You like to tease Dada, when he is home you say, "dada at work" and he says, "No, Dada home." And you say, "No, Dada at work." And you laugh SO hard!

We love you so so so much, Happy Birthday, ya little stink!

Another one under the belt

Another September 30Th has come and gone therefore making Travis another year older!

I always ask Travis what he wants me to make him for his birthday dinner, you know, something that I make that he loves. Last year I asked him this question, and I said that it could be anything, his answer was, "hamburger helper." I was a little offended. Out of everything I make, he preferred nasty, cheesy, chewy hamburger helper. He was a bachelor for way too long! So this year when I asked him what he wanted, I was bracing myself for Kraft mac n' cheese, but to my shock he wanted ribs! This was on the exact opposite end of the spectrum! I had never made ribs before? Where did this come from? Who does he think I am, Paula Dean? So I kind of laughed to him, and then I ran over to my neighbor's house, the Johnson's. Chris is known for his excellent meat cooking skills, so I asked him to hook a sister up. Hooking up he did. He and Jana (his lovely wife) did the grocery shopping, recipe searching and basically the cooking (I helped chop onions and poured BBQ sauce over the ribs). The dinner turned out great! Just look...

I think we had satisfied customers...

Thanks Jana and Chris, you rock, and so does dutch oven cooking!!!

The next night was Friday, so I decided to have a "birthday party" for Trav. We went and saw this movie

with the Orson's. I just wanted to congratulate M. Knight on a great movie, his last couple have struggled a bit, but we really liked this movie. It was scary, but not like a Freddy Kruger movie, more like his 6Th Sense. It even had a good message at the end!

My favorite part of the Trav's birthday experience was singing the Happy Birthday Song and having him blow out the candles. We have been talking to Avery about birthdays and blowing out the candles after the song, and she finally got to witness it, just in time for her to get it for her own. Her eyes were huge! Its coming soon!

Happy Birthday Trav! Your girls sure love you!!!

Letters to the important people in my life

Dear Avery,








Sorry you got pink eye on Sunday, and then the flu bug on Monday and all we did was stay inside and watch Elmo and Sleeping Beauty. And then, sorry that I got sick on Tuesday with that same annoying bug, and also sorry that I'm extra wussy when I'm pregnant and had a hard time finding ANY energy to do anything but turn on Elmo and Sleeping Beauty. Sorry that I haven't washed Baby Rita for 3 days after you barfed on her. I know you have been wanting to sleep with her, but she is lying right next to the washer.



Dear Travis,




Sorry that this week, when you have arrived home from your long 12+ hour days, the house has been a wreck! Sorry we are out of dishwashing detergent and there are a sink full of dishes. Sorry I'm too tired to go to the store and I have to ask you to mooch off the hospital and bring home milk for Avery. Sorry I haven't been as sympathetic to you for how tired you are all of the time and sorry for giving you a hard time for wanting to go to bed at 9 every night for the past 4 weeks. Sorry I have been a wuss about getting sick. Sometimes I don't want you to be a husband, and I want you to be a doctor and fix me! At least your rotation is over today, and you will be home more. YESSSSSSSSS!








Dear Mom,




I sure wished you lived near me at times like this. Being a mom is hard when you are sick. You can't call in sick! I surely would have dumped Avery off on you for a couple of days. Oh and I sure would have loved some of your weird witch doctor remedies to help me through my sickness. We miss you and can't wait till October.

Dear Baby Charo,

Sorry I have only fed you Coca-cola and gatorade for the past couple of days. I know you aren't too happy, because I can feel you kicking around more and more. I have had lots of Braxtin Hicks contractions, so I know that I'm a little dehydrated, but I promise, as soon as I can, I will eat the biggest chocolatiest brownie I can. That should make you happy!

Dear KC Chiefs,

Bravo so far on the season. We can't believe you are 2-0 so far. Its nice to finally have a team in Kansas City win (no offense Royals). I know time will come, and you will probably blow it, but until then, we are excited for your new team! We sure wished we could go to your Monday night football game two weeks ago, but the tickets were out of this world! Maybe you could pull some strings and hook us up sometime?

Dear Discovery Health Channel,

Thank you for supplying me with endless episodes of, "I didn't know I was pregnant," "Mystery Diagnosis," and "Birthday" episodes. I am a little addicted to you, and had the excuse of being sick to sit down and watch you. I feel like I could be a doctor now, who needs medical school anyways?

Dear Glee,

Thank you for starting the week I got sick. I really did watch you 3 times this week because, really, all I could do was lie on the couch. New Filipino girl, you are amazing. I got chills all 3 times I watched you perform.

Dear Sleeping Beauty Fairies,

I grew up watching and loving you, but I'm kind of getting annoyed by your tactics. Really, all you had to do was keep Aurora safe for one more night, and you were careless with your magic, and then you left her alone! You knew what was going to happen as clear as a bell! You are getting on my nerves!

Dear Sonic,

Thank you for your amazing slushies! I always am sad because KC doesn't have those snow shacks on every corner like Utah does, you know a place to sale shaved ice, so you are the second best thing I could ask for. Plus, they sure make up for your sucky food!

Dear Suzanne Collins,

Great job on the Hunger Games series. I just finished Mocking Jay. After I finished it, I just sat on my bed and stared at the ceiling for 15 minutes just thinking about what my feelings were towards the finish. After regrouping, I came to the conclusion that you are no Stephanie Meyer. Which, I think I am glad. Her endings are just too good to be true, yours are a little more realistic. I learned a lot from reading, and I'm very grateful for the amazing roller coasters you took me on. I"m sad to think that it is over!

And finally, Dear viewer(s),

I think I may be done for now. I've had a lot on my mind this week. Being sedentary does this to you. We are all doing better and can't wait for next week so we can start fresh!

Love, Milli

No ween!

We found out last Wednesday that we are having another little princess!!! We are excited for Avery to have a little sister so close. They are gonna laugh, gossip, fight over clothes, tell secrets, play house, get jealous of each other, share lots of stuff, and love each other so much!


I have an ongoing battle with my father-in-law because he truly believes that his family is extraordinarily high in testosterone because there are so many boys born, and he thinks my family his high in estrogen because I grew up will all girls. Well, chalk this one up to the "dominant estrogen" Papa John! Hopefully our estrogen doesn't win everytime, right Trav?

And sorry about not having a picture of our little girl's goods, I could'nt get the scanner to work! When it works, I will add it to this post.

Oh Yeah...

If any of you know me, you know that I complain of having middle child syndrome.

Middle Child Syndrome:
The middle or second born child or children often have the sense of not belonging. They fight to receive attention from parents and others because they feel many times they are being ignored or dubbed off as being the same as another sibling.

I was the middle of three girls growing up. I always told myself that no matter what, I would treat my second child as if it were my first. I would take just as many pictures, read just as many parenting books, etc. Well, so far... I have failed!

If you haven't heard yet, I am pregnant with our second baby. I haven't picked up one pregnancy book, I haven't posted anything on Facebook, I haven't put up one of those annoying baby tickers, I just barely took my first belly shot and I'm 20 weeks now!

Its not that I'm not super excited, because I am thrilled, I think I am just being lazy about it. And I think that is why middle child syndrome was invented, not because the kid isn't loved just as much as the other kid, but because the parents just got done doing all that stuff, and they are tired and lazy!

I'm going to try really hard to not be lazy, but its kind of hard!

So far pregnancy has been great. No sickness, getting past the tired stage and I can feel the little bugger kicking away. I am due January 22nd and we officially find out on Wednesday what we are having. All along, I have leaned towards girl, but I'm not as sure as I was when I was pregnant withAvery. Travis thinks boy all the way, but I think what he wants is getting in the way of his intuition (note to baby, if you are a girl, Daddy still loves you!)

So we thought it was fun having a nickname for the unborn baby like we did with Avery, she was Spud, so we have called this baby Baby Charro. See here for an explanation. It hasn't caught on like Spud did, but maybe that's because I've really only told my close friends and family about this baby.

Note to baby: Charro, we love you so much and can't wait for you to come. Avery kisses my tummy and says hi to you too, she is so excited to meet you (you are going to rock her world!) Take your time in the womb, I hear it is nice in there.

Love, Your Mama

19 1/2 weeks