Thursday, February 28, 2013

February's Everyday Moments

February is when the winter crazies always hit!  
This year was even a little crazier since we don't get to see Daddy in the evenings.   We are getting used to it, though, and surviving.  We have come up with some fun indoor activities that have saved us! 

Here's our every day life in Feb.

Baths-they are an easy way to take up a whole lotta time! This little guy can finally sit on his own and loooves bathtime with the bros!

His face cracks me up:


Mornings are pretty low key, which I love. The boys play in my room while I get ready. Someone is always, always cuddling on Callen.  Good thing he's such a great sport about it!



My bedspread always ends up on the ground and the boys love wrestling in it. It's super fluffy and soft!


Callen saw the ironing board one day when I had it out and he freaked. He is obsessed with it (and other strange appliances, like the microwave and vacuum).  So I laid it down on the ground for him and he was SO thrilled. haha.  The other boys joined in on the fun and it entertained them all morning!  
Here it is being used as a drum:

It also became a surfboard:

and a skateboard:


and then a boogie board:

And Ryder just wanted to dance on it!



Oh these boys make me laugh!!

Jeff's grandparents sent us a bulb for Christmas. We really love this tradition they've started and have so much fun watching it grow and bloom.  (I need to find what I did with last years bulb so I can plant it again too!)  
So gorgeous:


Ryder, Callen, & I pulled out the tunnel one day while the big boys were at school. It was a HIT!
Ryder was so cute and kept saying "Come on, Callen" (he says it Cayyen) as he led him through.  It was so fun to see these two playing together!



Sundays are our FAVORITE day of the week because we get Jeff all to ourselves. It's awesome and we all live for that day!  He baked some yummy treats with the boys before church!

Coloring is a frequent activity. We looove us some crayons!  :)  
Ryder's first time coloring with two colors, in the lines!  I was super impressed:


Tave takes his art very seriously:

Cute West:


Dress ups are also a daily event.  
Tave (aka Santa, whose hat is full of toys to give away) is usually the dress up- instigator. 
He sure is a fun one, that Tave!

Some Callen-goodness:
This kiddo gives me a run for my money every single day!  
He has started pulling himself up on everything and oh man, does he wear me out!  
We are loving *almost* every second, though!

And he's also crawling, craziness, I tell you!

He usually sits like this...looks uncomfortable, but it's his thing. :)

Aaaand, he started standing in his crib. Which is such a cool trick that he decided to do it a lLOT during naptime- instead of sleep. Luckily we got back on track fairly quickly!


And just because I love these cute faces:




Sunday, February 17, 2013

Callen: 9 months!



Callen's Stats:
Height:  29 inches
Weight: 18 lbs 6 oz
Takes 2- 1.5-2 hour naps 
Sleeps 12 hours at night

Callen at 9 months:
This has been a big month for our adorable little man! 
He is sitting on his own now and he LOVES it.  

He also started crawling!!!  YAY!  He still prefers to get in the plank position, then he tries to 'walk' forward like that, then he'll drop to all fours and take a few steps. He's still faster at the army crawl, though, so he does that a lot. Or he does a funny combination of the two that includes these adorable little scoots to get where he wants. He is really getting around, though, so whatever works!



He's kind of over baby toys and just loves to get into anything and everything.
His favorite thing to find is paper. That is the coolest stuff, for some reason.
He has a couple weird obsessions:  the vacuum, the microwave, and the ironing board. 
If he sees the vacuum or the microwave he FREAKS out and wiggles his body and makes a lot of noise until you take him over to them. Then he kind of just looks at them and hits them. Weird, yes. And pretty darn funny!


He is our first kid to have an allergy to something...  I kind of noticed his mouth was a little red around it one day after eating, but I just thought it was from dry skin. Then he ate yogurt bites a few days later and his poor face broke out in a horrible rash.  SO...we are holding off on anything with dairy in it for awhile.  Poor guy was still so smiley even though this couldn't have been comfortable:

He loves to be in the same room with us and to babble, babble away.  He is very vocal and lets us know when he wants something!
He LOOOVES baths still.  
He adores his brothers and is so good to let them hold him, cuddle him, and pretty much drive him bonkers!
He chews on everything and is so close to getting a bunch of teeth!
We've still kept him on mostly baby foods, which he loves. He's such a great little eater!
He is a wiggle wiggle wiggle worm.  Constantly moving EVERYWHERE!
Still loves books (reading and chewing on them), balls, and toys that make noise!









Dear sweet Callen,
You are growing, growing, growing into this amazing little person that we just can't get enough of!  Your smile lights up the room and you love to flash it to anyone who looks your way.  Your happy, sweet personality is so contagious and you help to make our home a brighter place. You are such a little ball of energy and are happiest when you are exploring every inch of our house.  We love you to pieces our little Cal. You make our days better because you are here.
Love lots,
Mom, Dad, & the bros


Thursday, February 14, 2013

Will you be my Valentine?

I have to laugh...in writing this post I realized Jeff and I didn't take a single picture together on Valentine's Day. Oh how things change when you have children!
We've decided, though, to do something small for each other on V-day but really OUR day is our anniversary. And Valentine's Day is our chance to celebrate with the other loves of our lives:  the kiddos!

The boys definitely had made up their minds as to the kind of boxes they wanted for school.  I had to get my creative juices flowing to figure out how to make a stegasaurus & pteranadon.  (The latter of which has never been made in blogdom, so I was on my own!!!) The boys helped and it turned out to be super fun, and pretty darn awesome, if I do say so myself!



Cute little Ryder after opening his little Valentine treat from mom & dad in the morning.


Callen's first Valentine's Day!!  


Oh these little heartbreakers.  I am so glad they are mine:


Our delicious dessert:

In keeping with tradition, we celebrate Valentine's Day as the Day of the Book & the Rose.
The kiddos get a book (and small treat) from us. This has become a favorite tradition that we all look forward to.  For the sake of saving $, Jeff & I committed to reading a book we already own that has yet to be read.   


We are a bunch of book-lovers over here!

And Callen really just likes to eat them:


I had to get a shot with  my little love, how this kiddo melts my heart:


Story time with daddy:

Jeff surprised me with a stunning bouquet of roses & this delicious cupcake. 
I enjoyed every last crumb!

Happy Valentine's Day from this little family of mine!