Monday, January 11, 2010

Callie is 9 months!!!

I can hardly believe that my sweet girl is 9 months old already! It seems like yesterday that I found out that I was FINALLY pregnant! She has been a complete blessing in our lives and I can't imagine life without her. Now that she's here, we realize that the 7 years we waited to have her were totally worth it! Cameron couldn't be more happy about finally having a sibling. He is so good to her and helps out so much! He loves feeding her and playing with her. He can ALWAYS make her giggle :)

So, Callie has been a pretty busy girl. We don't have her stats yet, because her appointment isn't until the end of the month. We see the most popular doctor in our practice and when I made her 9 month appointment 6 months ago, it was the earliest available time. At 7 months she weighed in at 13 lbs. 4 oz. and was 24 3/4 inches long. I can tell she's grown, but don't know how much. It's nice not having to go in every week for a weight check anymore. She's wearing size 3/6 month clothing. I've tried a couple of 6/9 month things, but they are way to big still. She's still in size 1 diapers and size 1 shoes.

Callie is on the verge of crawling...but has been for quite a while. She can crawl a few seconds and then falls on her belly. She rolls, scoots, and maneuvers herself quite nicely anywhere she desires. She's very active and spends most of her time playing with her new toys. She's a huge momma's girl (which is fine by me) and can get pretty clingy at times. But she's also pretty social as long as she's not hungry or tired, so it balances out.

We're still waiting for Callie's first tooth. So far she isn't showing any signs of one popping through any time soon. She's eating VERY well. I have yet to find a food she won't eat. She's still exclusively nursing and eating baby food. She LOVES to feed herself finger food and since she doesn't have any teeth, we go through a LOT of puffs around here :) She has also had some peas, carrots, and crackers and a few bites here and there of biscuits, bagels, and things like that. She does an excellent job of chewing with her gums, so we're going to start introducing more finger foods in the next couple of weeks.

Callie is also very verbal and likes to be heard. She's known to let out a pretty loud squeal every once in a while! She is saying "mama", "dada", "bub-bub"(Cam) "bye-bye" which sounds more like "ba-ba" but she says it while waving, and "puhp" (poop) while I'm changing her diaper...gross, I know! She's clapping her hands, waving (either her tiny hand wave where she just opens and closes her fingers, or the whole arm flap!), pulling herself up on things, and dancing to music (which is just her bopping up and down). When we ask her "How big is Callie?" She'll put her hands up when we say "Sooo Big!"

She is still sleeping very well at night. She will occasionally (maybe once a week or so) wake up in the middle of the night to nurse, but goes right back to sleep. It's been very difficult to get her on a day time schedule even though we're home most days. She just does NOT like to take naps. When she does nap during the day, once I lay her down it's usually over. She's been doing much better and I have also been just letting her cry it out. She won't go back to sleep, but she does calm down and play happily in her bed so I can at least get something done!

I can't believe how fast she's growing up. I will post her stats after her appointment! Hopefully we'll stay away from the weight checks again!

She likes to empty out her toy basket :)

Showing us that she's "Sooo Big!"
Dancing to her music amongst her sea of toys!
Munchin' on some puffs :)
Cheesin' for the camera...



Saturday, January 9, 2010

Happy New Year 2010!

Every year for New Year's Eve our whole extended family gets together at my cousin's house. They heat their garage and set up tables and we just hang out, eat a lot of junk, and play games until all hours of the night. The kids even go strong until way past midnight. My son would stay up all night if I didn't make him go to bed. Here are a few pictures from our night...


The fam waiting to count down to the New Year




This year, Brandon and I decided to eat out way less. Having busy schedules opens up way too many opportunities for us to eat out instead of getting creative. To start of the year, we vowed to not eat out AT ALL for the entire month of January. So, on December 31, we had our last meal out for a while at Skyline. Here's a cute picture I snapped of our girl :)



Christmas Day 2009

Christmas was so special this year as it always is. It's by far my favorite time of the year. I enjoyed every second of it. I took tons of pictures, but I'll just share some of my favorites!


I always like to take pictures of Cameron sleeping on Christmas Eve
And now I get to do the same with Callie


I got up around 5 and showered. Everyone else was up around 5:30. We like to make the most of the day, so we always get up really early! It's one of the only times we don't hit the "snooze" button! I always make Cameron sit on the stairs while I turn the lights on the tree and get my video camera set up to capture the look of surprise. I always tease him with comments like "Looks like Santa forgot to stop by" or "Wow...I can't believe he brought you THAT!"

Santa must have liked the cookies and milk. He's always nice enough to bring the key back inside so no one else can use it.
Everyone in our family has stockings made by my grandmother. You can tell that mine has been around a lot longer than the others. She is working on Callie's but it's very hard for her to do now. I couldn't resist the adorable 1st Christmas stocking for my girl!


Cameron was very excited as always. He's 8 this year, so I know that his excitement about Santa will not last much longer. He was already starting to ask questions this year. It's so sad :( He'll get to continue in a way, though to help make Christmas magical for his sister. I'm hoping for at least one more year!!! :) Cameron didn't ask for anything big this year. His one request of Santa was an NHL game for his new Xbox 360 that he got for his birthday. He is, like most boys, obsessed with Legos and Target had the giant Indiana Jones set for half price on Black Friday, so I waited for 2 hours in the cold to get one! It was worth it to see his face! He also got some much needed storage boxes for his growing collection of Lego sets. Then a few days before Christmas he mentioned another Indiana Jones Xbox game that he wanted, so I couldn't help but get it and stick with the theme :)

Santa was a bit less generous with Callie...but she's a baby and won't understand. She was very happy with her Fisher Price Laugh and Learn home. She loves pushing all of the buttons and opening the door. Once she starts crawling (any day now) she'll have even more fun with it!

We had a lot of fun opening our gifts from each other and from Grandma and Grandpa. Callie knew just what to do after about the second gift. She wasted no time ripping the paper off. She kept trying to have a taste :)

Callie's gift from Cameron (from Santa shop) Santa and Reindeer rubber duckies and a bib that says "I love my big brother"

Cam had been asking for this game for a while!
Brandon loves his Avalanche!
Callie really liked her princess doll from Aunt Michelle...

and she LOVES her dreamland soother...
and of course like most kids...she thinks the boxes are way more fun!

After opening gifts and playing for a while we got ready and headed to my Mom and Dad's house for breakfast and more presents. Then we spent the rest of the day together relaxing a little and getting ready for Christmas dinner. In the evening my cousin and her family, my grandma, and my uncle come over for a few more gifts and the yummy dinner!


Nana always fills stockings for the kids...Daddy helping Callie with hers...

Cam showing me his new Magic card deck from his stocking
Cory and Callie playing together in their matching PJs...with a little doggie interference!

Hangin' out with Pappy. I thought this was cute the way she was crossing her legs...
Cameron opening gifts at Nana and Pappy's house
Callie with yet another new dolly :)
Opening a gift from my cousin Amy
Trying out her adorable new boots from Amy
Talking to the snowmen...
She had a blast playing with the wrapping paper!

All in all it was a wonderful day and like every Christmas I will cherish the memories that we make every year. I'm so glad that I started this blog to preserve them for years to come!

Friday, January 8, 2010

Christmas Traditions

One of my favorite things about the holidays is the traditions that we have started over the years. Some members of our family (I won't mention any names, honey) think that traditions are silly, but I think it's part of what makes Christmas so special. These are the things that make the special memories that our children will always remember. Here are a few of the special things that we do each year...

I love to visit my mom's house during the holidays. She decorates EVERYTHING! She literally takes down all of her pictures and knick knacks in the whole house (including the kitchen and bathroom) and puts up Christmas in it's place. The kids LOVE all of the special things that Nana has at her house - especially the Christmas train! Here are some pictures of Callie getting her first glimpse of Nana's at Christmas...


Meeting Mr. Snowman

Some of Nana's animated villages...
The carolers are almost as big as Callie...
Mamma and Nana showing Callie the Christmas Music Box....
And Rudolph...
The doggie is a new addition this year!!!
My sweet Santa Baby in front of Nana's tree...
Driving the train for her first time :)

Something we like to do every year is go to Holiday in Lights and Santa Land at Sharon Woods. My favorite part is the Dicken's Carolers. I love hearing them sing every year! The kids like the train display and of course visiting Santa! Here are a few pictures from our night...

Callie loved watching the carolers sing...
The Dicken's Carolers :)
The Mayor of Santaland
Cameron and my nephew Cody enjoying their cocoa and cookies.

Something we did this year for the first time was a gingerbread house. The boys want to do one every year, so this year Nana bought a kit for Cam and Cody to build. They had a lot of fun!



On Christmas Eve we get all of the kids on my mom's side of the family together to make cookies for Santa and for everyone to enjoy on Christmas day. Although, most of the cookies that the kids make are so covered with icing and sprinkles that no one really wants to eat them :)

Callie wearing the same outfit that Cameron wore on his first Christmas at 2 1/2 weeks old!!!
Cam...anticipating his next move...
Kiah
Ayden
Brenden
Cody



On Christmas Eve night, we always go to the family service at church and my parents join us. Afterward we go out to eat at Fox and Hound. This tradition started mostly because it's one of the only restaurants open past 6 on Christmas Eve! :)

Cody, Cameron, Dad, Mom, Shelby & her boyfriend Nick
Shaun, Kira & Cory


After dinner we come home and open one gift from Brandon's parents. It's always matching pajamas for the whole family. I didn't get a decent picture this year, but here's the best one...

Then we leave out some cookies and milk for Santa, put the Magic Key outside (we don't have a chimney) and head to bed....