The Woodalls of Birmingham

Swim Nazi...part 2

2011-08-13T22:06:00.005-05:00

Here are a few more pictures of our Swim Nazi lessons...

They did a lot of jumping into the pool. In this particular shot they are learning to turn around and get back to the wall.

There was a lot of instruction and waiting for other children to take their turn. Before swimming lessons started we were experiencing somewhat of a drought. As soon as out lessons started, I think it rained everyday. So, that made for chilly water. We tried to keep them wrapped up while waiting for their turn.

More instructions. There were all the children in the class.

More instruction. I think they were learning how to swim back to the steps if they fell off.

Callahan, with her friends, Nora and Phoebe. The water was so chilly we scrambled to find some long sleeved rash guards so they might be a little warmer. I thought they looked so cute in their matching suits!

Phoebe giving Callahan a little encouragement!

All the kid's dads and some other special people were able to come for their final lesson. This is what Phoebe did when she saw her Daddy walk in. I love this picture.

A final group shot. As you can see some were D.O.N.E.

Evans and the Swim Nazi

2011-07-28T19:07:00.002-05:00

This summer we decided to sign both, Callahan and Evans, for swim lessons. A friend of mine recommended the "Swim Nazi". Seriously, that's what she calls herself. I'll just call her Lynn. Lynn's mom was actually the first Swim Nazi. So, she grew up watching her mom teach. Let me tell you, she's great. I really appreciated her and her methods. She's tough and she's successful. Although, success looked differently in every child. Lynn also pushed the kids outside of their comfort zones. She wasn't afraid to tell it like it was and let them struggle. Which made it a little hard to watch as a mommy sometimes. There were also times when I though a little sensitivity could have defused a melt-down. She did mentioned that she was sugar compared to her mom.

A majority of her focus is on basic survival skills. She had them role play falling off the steps and turning around and swimming back. One of the crucial ones was learning what to do if they fall or get pushed into the pool. They would jump in, turn around in the water, swim back to the pool edge, and hold on or pull themselves out. This particular exercise was not very fun for the littlest ones. It was also really hard for the Mommies to watch. However, I knew how important it was for them to at least be exposed to it. Rather than subject you to the video of Evans(lots of crying and gasping for air), I decided to show you in still photographs. Believe me, it's better this way!

Pre-jump where he was always crying and never able to get a deep breath.

Still being obedient, even when everything in him wanted to run.

Impact

Under

Turning around.

Struggling to reach the wall. It never occurred to me how important the water level in a pool is. The water level was pretty low, so Evans and Calvin had a hard time reaching the wall.

He got it!

She would make the little boys hold on for a minute or two.

and help them climb out.

Callahan is now an accomplished little swimmer and is so proud of herself. Evans' success looks a little different. I joke that Evans went from being a fearful non-swimmer to a fearless non-swimmer. That's not exactly true though. He started out going underwater and just sitting there waiting form someone to do it for him. He'll now swim a short distance now. He LOVES to go underwater and is a champ at holding his breath. Recently, he started "diving" for diving sticks. Basically, that means I push him down to the bottom, he grabs a stick and I pull him back up/he froggy kicks to the surface.

We would like them to take lessons from her again next summer!

Callahan is 4!

2011-05-17T14:36:00.003-05:00

So, our first born is 4! It almost makes me speechless. I'm not sure I have the words to explain how much she means to us. God certainly gave us a precious gift, when He place Callahan into our lives. I'm not sure at what point it's silly to post a child's growth stats, but here are Callahans:

39" tall: 45%tile

33lbs: 25%

This is the lowest she's ever been in the national percentiles. However, her Dr. didn't even bat an eye. So I guess it's all good!

This year, for her birthday, Callahan requested a castle cake. I admit I was a little nervous about how to make her request a reality. Don't get me wrong, we aren't in the habit of indulging her every desire. It seemed like a fun thing to do and looked forward to the challenge(mostly). Fortunately, my sister-in-law, Catherine discovered a castle cake kit while shopping at Michael's. We used the turrets and baked our own cakes. I covered the cones in fondant that I colored. I also ordered the princesses amazon. This cake would not have come together without my mom's and Catherine's help! We really had a great time putting it together!

Such and excited princess!

The birthday girl

Waiting for her surprise...

A bike!

We celebrated her birth in a few ways this year. Besides her birthday party, we did a couple of other things to celebrate. We took her down to Auburn for A-day. If you're not from around here, I guess you may not know what I'm talking about. A-day is Auburn's spring scrimmage between Auburn's offense and defense. It's open to the public and it falls around Callahan's birthday every year. Callahan has been asking to go down to Auburn for a while now. We know she isn't ready to sit for a whole game. So, A-day was the perfect solution. Andrew, Catherine, Jim, Callahan and I headed down to Auburn in the morning. Thankfully, Mimi and Papa took care of Evans and Nathan.

She was so excited! Her very own ticket!

Callahan with her daddy and Uncle Andrew. Two of biggest fans I know.

She was the biggest cheerleader around! She is a lover of her shaker!

You may have noticed her big fat lip. Sniff sniff. Callahan was enjoying the ramps at the stadium and unfortunately did a face plant. The bright spot...she was taken care of by a couple ambulance drivers and firefighters. To make up for it we took her to Toomers and got her some ice cream and their famous lemonade.

We also took Callahan to the races! She loves to watch Formula 1 on TV with us. Although, the Grand Prix of Alabama isn't Formula 1, it is racing. She really loved it. We didn't take her to the actual race, but she did get to go see the Indy cars practice.

She loved her ear phones that blocked out most of the noise.

There was a fan zone where they had some inflatables and this carousel. I thought she might get a little nervous when she realized how high it went. However, she thought it was fantastic! She was all set to go again.

Meds.

2011-03-17T16:03:00.003-05:00

This about sums it up. This is Evans' whole drug regimen for the next few days. The diagnosis: ear infection and a nasty cough/respiratory distress caused by nasty pollen. The poor boy feels terrible and doesn't want to eat anything. Thankfully, he seems to be drinking enough. I'm hoping he will suddenly feel better and we'll have our sweet boy back.

Breaker breaker 1-9 for radio check, over!

2011-03-15T16:59:00.004-05:00

Okay, so I know it's been forever and then some. Sorry. The thought of catching up on all that has been going on seems a little overwhelming. That's whats been keeping me away. However, I'm not ready to let the blog go yet. So instead of catching up, I thought I'd just start with something random.

Back in November I was reading a friend's blog and found another blog and found another blog, well you know the story. Blog stalking. Anyway, I found this finger-painting project. To be honest, I can't even remember the blog where I found it. I know I took pictures of the process with my Nikon, but I cannot find them anywhere. So, cellphone pictures are what I have to show.

Evans thought the finger-paint was really tasty!

Basically I taped out the C and E and Callahan and Evan finger-painted over it. The blog recommended painters tape for the letters, but I only had duct tape. After they dried I pulled the tape off. Painters tape would have been easier, but duct tape worked fairly well. This was the end result. I have them hanging in the kitchen. I really like how they turned out and we enjoy looking at them.

August.

2010-11-07T15:37:00.006-06:00

What can I say about August....HOT and DRY. Here are a few things that kept us busy.

1. A beach trip to PCB with Andrew, Catherine, and Nathan. One night we went to Seaside for dinner. There was a beautiful sunset, so we took some pictures of ourselves:)

Love that man next to me!

Catherine and Andrew

The kiddos in their matching airbrush t-shirts. It's almost impossible to get them all to look at the camera at the same time.

Beautiful girl! You can see the sunset in this one!

Building sandcastles.

Nathan swimming in the pool.

Evans playing on the beach.

2. Playing in the rain. I know I said August was dry. This is probably to only day it rained. So, I sent the kids out on the deck to enjoy it!

He totally loved playing the rain.

She ran and ran and ran. I may have forgotten to put some shorts on her...oops. Well, we were in the backyard.

3. A fun play date with Callahan's sweet friend Emma Faye. They had to dress up, of course.

4. Playing in the mud. This mud was created by the sprinkler.

Evans was not so sure about it.

Callahan enjoyed digging/raking the mud. She was very upset, however, when she discovered this mud on her leg. We had to drop everything and wash it off.

Together again.

2010-10-09T23:08:00.004-05:00

It's been a long time, but we were together again! Late in July, Phaedra and Alicia both came to visit, at the same time! Both Alicia and Phaedra were my freshman year roommates at Geneva. The only one missing was Nancy. We missed you, Nancy:) The last time the three of us were together was January 2006. Since then, between us, we've gained a husband and 6 almost 7 children. Crazy. Phaedra lives in Hawaii, but was state-side for her husband, Brant's job. So, we thought it was about time to plan a get-together.

Sweet Brianna playing in the backyard.

Brianna and Evans were happy to have each other to play with.

I think we forgot to wipe his face after lunch.

Callahan and Garin searching for treasure in the sandbox

Callahan and Garin on the hunt for bugs.

It was SO HOT! So, we went to the pool and had a great time!

Cool dude, sportin' the 'hawk!

The crew

We went swimming two days in a row. The second day forgot Evans' hat and had to put sunscreen on his scalp. Hence, the hair.

She gets her synchronized swimming moves from her Nina. Yes, Nina(my mom), was a synchronized swimmer in high school.

He LOVES his Mama!

The girls...it's been 15 years. I LOVE THEM!

More window art...

2010-10-09T22:24:00.003-05:00

I don't know if you remember, but my mom is a big encourager of window art. My mom recently found some window markers for Callahan. They are really fun. I guess they are sort of like the things people use to write on their car windows. One afternoon in July, I asked Callahan to draw a person. She mentioned that she didn't know how. So, I drew a little stick person on the window and asked her to try. Here is her first attempt...I was fairly impressed.

Rain Dancing

2010-10-09T22:00:00.003-05:00

On a rare day this summer, we had rain. Gasp! I think we may have had 2 days of rain all summer. Callahan, of course, had to put on ALL her rain gear. Boots, raincoat, and umbrella. She was so cute! Evans watched Callahan run around outside in the rain with Daddy. He managed to play in a little bit of water just outside the front door.

Our Pink Puddle Princess.

Investigating a little

CHEESE!

This was around the time he really started trying to crawl on his hands and knees. I think he was inspired by Nathan at the beach.

Ladies and Babies, Panama City Beach Trip

2010-10-09T21:35:00.003-05:00

I have been urged, in no uncertain terms, to get back to blogging. Thank you Catherine for reminding me to utilize my convalescence wisely.

Catherine and I figured every child vacationing in Panama City Beach needs and airbrush t-shirt.

In July the ladies(my mom, Mary, and me) and the babies(Callahan, Nathan, and Evans) took a trip down to Panama City Beach. It was nice to be able to get away and escape. We enjoyed the beach, the pool, outlet shopping, fancy dinners, and good conversations. Coming home was a little harder for me than I thought it would be. If you would like to see the rest of the pictures, click here.

First trip to the McWane Center

2010-09-12T21:30:00.003-05:00

Early in July, Mimi(Jim's mom), took us to the McWane Science Center. I know it's crazy that we haven't been there before. I've been meaning to take Callahan for so long. We went with, what I guess would be, Jim's mom's cousins and her cousins twice removed, Debbie, Ann, Tristan, and Tucker. I'll give you a moment to figure that out. Callahan and Evans saw their first IMAX movie. I was pretty nervous going into it. I wasn't sure how they would react. The movie was all about animals and geared towards preschool age children. For the most part Callahan enjoyed it until bolts of lightning and crashes of thunder started blasting all around. With it they had creepy crawly crabs scurrying around. I was a little scared. Evans, on the other hand, thought it was GRAND. He watched to whole thing and wasn't scared at all. I'm so glad we went. We had a really good time and the kids loved it.

Callahan loved smashing her face in this "whatcha-ma-doo-hickie". I have no idea what to call it.

and her hands.

Both Callahan and Evans loved the gigantic lite-brite.

They even had this little Steel Mill. Callahan had a blast moving the conveyor belts with the foam steel. My dad would definitely have loved it.

She played in the grocery store with all the other kids.

Tristan, Tucker and Callahan even when on a safari!

It's been hot...

2010-09-03T15:14:00.003-05:00

The hottest summer on record in Alabama. Needless to say, we've been enjoying the pool A LOT this summer. Our little plastic blue pool goes great with the sprinkler. I also get to water the plants while they're playing in the water. Win. Win.

Callahan LOVES to dump water on her head and her brother's head

Evans loves to SPLASH!

4th of July

2010-08-06T15:18:00.005-05:00

The 4th of July was the day after my dad's memorial service. Sad yes, but we were thankful to have family in town. We were even able to see my cousin Michael, and meet his wife. I haven't seen him since I was about 3 or 4 years old. Michael is the son of my dad's sister. His wife, their children, and he live in Southern California. I LOVED being surrounded by friends and family, but I couldn't help but think my dad should have been there. He would have loved seeing everyone.

We had a little photo shoot with the Bush cousins. Callahan and Olivia have a couple matching outfits.

It's hard to get a genuine smile from Callahan on film. She had a hard time coordinating smiling and looking at the camera. She's probably sick and tired of Mommy ALWAYS having the camera in her hands.

Evans, on the other hand, loves to ham it up for the camera.

Look at these two cuties. In the picture above, Callahan had just heard a firecracker. Olivia was just happy to smile for the camera.

Already a dancing girl. Love that heel stretch!

Sweet sweet Olivia!

Jim bought some little fireworks. Sparklers, smoke bombs, and snaps. This is the first year Callahan wasn't afraid of the sparklers. She loved them! Jim and she lit sparkler after sparkler.

Hanging out after dinner.

Jim also bought this little race car firework. It looks like a little open wheel racer and you stick a firework in the back end. We got all prepared. Ashley ran down the road about 200 feet so we wouldn't loose it. Jim lit it and it went 3 feet, but made a BUNCH of noise. Not very exciting, but it probably woke up anyone with in a 2 mile radius. FYI...I hope you admire Callahan's crazy hairdo. I'd be happy to pass on my expertise!

Olivia. 6 months.

2010-08-06T14:40:00.003-05:00

While everyone was in town for my Dad's memorial service, I thought I'd take a few pictures of Olivia. She is such a cutie!

Evans First Birthday Party

2010-08-05T15:22:00.008-05:00

For Evans' first birthday we had a family party at our house. He had a train theme. It was a great day. We had chicken and steak kabobs and lots of fixins'.

As always we had to have a little photo shoot with the kids. Of course, we had to get them coordinating outfits. Before they are able to complain about it.

My mom bought this train cake pan from Williams-Sonoma. It was perfect.

I made him a little smash cake with a fondant train on it.

He thought it was super yummy!

We had to cut him off. He probably would have eaten the whole thing.

We concluded the party by opening presents. Callahan and Nathan were both big helpers!

Evans turns ONE

2010-08-04T21:08:00.005-05:00

We spent the day of Evans' first birthday at the pool and at Mimi and Papa's house.

Enjoying the water. You have to watch him...he loves to dip his face in the water and blow bubbles. Which wouldn't be a problem if he knew NOT to inhale.

Same floaty but different cute boy, Nathan.

Jumping to Daddy.

Dueling floats. May the best boy win! If you look closely you can see my Mom and Dad in the background(Sigh).

After swimming, we took the kids back to Mimi and Papa's house for nap time. Once the kids were down, the cake building began. The cake consisted of 3, 9x13 cakes and 9 mini train cars(2 we didn't use). I went all over town looking for different types of candy to decorate it.

First we decorated all the mini cars and laid the track.

Then we carefully placed all the cars on the cake. Callahan was very interested. She already had her eye on the car she was going to eat.

The boys played and then we hate dinner and Evans had his first birthday ice cream cake.

We wanted it to be soft, but I guess we left it out too long. The cookies are supposed to be surrounding the top.

Evans was SO excited!

He ate that whole Oreo in like 2 seconds flat.

I think he likes cake.

Learning.

2010-08-04T16:56:00.003-05:00

And....we're back. I know I know you may have thought I had given up on the blog. I guess I have been avoiding it. It's been a rough month and a half. So here's what we've been up to...

Learning...

I bought these workbooks for Callahan. She really likes them and does pretty well. She's been working on maze, tracing, and scissor skills Honestly, we haven't been super consistent with them, but we try to do it as often as we can.

And he's off...

2010-07-11T23:19:00.002-05:00

Sorry for the absence. As most of you know, my dad died in a rafting accident on June 23. I think it's still a little too raw to be able to go in to all I'm feeling.
I did, however, want to share some other things going on. Evans is on the move! He has perfected a cute little army crawl. I posted two videos below.

Summer means....

2010-06-13T14:11:00.002-05:00

Mosquitoes. UGH. Callahan is just like her daddy. A mosquito magnet! We have to hose her down with bug spray if we want to step foot outside. The picture above, is because she went outside without spray for all of 2 minutes. When we went out and about I'm sure people thought one of two things. One: she's neglected or Two: she had some sort of infectious disease. Poor baby:(

Memorial Day

2010-06-12T20:45:00.003-05:00

We spent Memorial Day at my parent's house with Jim's parents. We had a yummy dinner and Callahan enjoyed playing in her sprinkler(from Uncle Charlie and Aunt Ashley).

Hanging out on the deck. My mom and Mary are working on Ancestry.com.

Yummy food!

Staying cool.

Daddy and his boy!

Nathan's First birthday Party!

2010-06-12T20:17:00.004-05:00

We had such a great time at Nathan's party. It was great to see Andrew's family again. Here are some pictures from Nathan's big day!

The smash cake!

THE cake.

YUM

The aftermath. He really loved it!

Big boy playing in the backyard after the party.

Going for a run.

Uncle Andrew took the kids for a ride in the wagon. The wagon was Andrew's when he was a little boy.

CHEESE!

Nathan's birthday cake

2010-06-12T20:02:00.002-05:00

I have some catching up to do before I can post about Evan's first birthday...

The night before Nathan's birthday, Catherine and I, stayed up until 1 am. Catherine was the brains...I just helped execute. We made a 2 tier cake with fondant stars. Neither one of us had ever attempted 2 tiers OR fondant. The fondant was fairly easy. It was a marshmallow fondant. The hardest part was working the coloring into it. The two tiers, on the other hand, were a little hard. It was really hard trying to get all the dowels level. I think the cake turned out really well and we were very proud of it!

Tremendous Treehouses.

2010-06-07T23:28:00.004-05:00

While up in Huntsville for Nathan's birthday extravaganza, we took Callahan to the botanical gardens. They have an exhibit called, Tremendous Treehouses. Local businesses and families sponsor the design of all sorts of tree houses. Callahan had a good time exploring all of them. I took a lot of pictures, but these were my favorites.

This was my favorite one. It had a suspended staircase. Very cool. It also had swings on the side. Therefore, making it Callahan's favorite, too!

This is inside the butterfly garden. She was more excited about the fish and turtles. Which really doesn't surprise me. She's does not appreciate any sort of fluttery/buggy insect. Well, really she doesn't appreciate ANY sort of bug.

When we got back to Catherine and Andrew's house we were greeted with quite the thunderstorm. Nathan enjoyed watching the hail outside. I guess it reminded him of his ice cream cake and decided to lick the door.

Nathan's(my nephew) 1st Birthday

2010-06-07T22:34:00.006-05:00

On May 27th we celebrated Nathan's first birthday! For his special day we went to the park, had a picnic, and played. We had a really good time. Callahan enjoyed running around and the boys enjoyed swinging.

We had to have a photo shoot with his birthday shirt.

At the park where we had another photo shoot. We couldn't get all three to look at the camera. I really love Callahan in this one. It's so hard to get a genuine smile from her these days.

Here Evans is thinking, "Dude. Are you really going to eat that?".

Swinging!

My sweet sweet girl!

A birthday isn't complete in this family without a Bruster's cake. In this shot, Nathan was taking a large handful of icing and ice cream. He approved.

Play dates.

2010-06-07T16:11:00.003-05:00

We've had a couple play dates with friends. The Thomas girls, Sarah, Phoebe, Nora and Ruthie came to play. Callahan's friend, Caroline, came and spent the morning with us while her mom took her little brother to the doctor.

Two lovers of, princesses, pink and each other!

Testing out Callahan's sandbox

Caroline and Callahan playing with the parachute.

First swim of the season.

2010-05-22T22:25:00.002-05:00

Today was hot. The answer....SWIMMING!

Having a "whale" of a time.

Waiting patiently to swim.

Hugs!

Playing on the steps.

My boy and me.

Trims and Lilies

2010-05-19T22:52:00.004-05:00

I found these two pictures on my cell phone of Callahan first trim. My mom was kind enough to do it. She has always cut my hair. We were able to keep her distracted and still with Cinderella on the computer. It turns out we have some lilies planted around our mailbox. They looked so pretty. Callahan and I had to pick some.

We're here.

2010-05-19T15:45:00.004-05:00

Life is rolling on. Gymnastics and BSF have wrapped up and we are moving into the summer. What I really can't believe is that in three and half short weeks, Evans will be ONE year old. Crazy. We haven't been up to much. We did take a trip up to Huntsville to visit, Catherine, Andrew and Nathan, the first weekend in May.

Notice Evans is crying. Every time Nathan and Evans see each other, the scenario is the same. Nathan yells/talks....Evans cries. Fortunately he got a little better the more they were around each other.

The boys and me.

Playtime. Notice Nathan is crawling.

Playing nicely!

Climbing on Daddy.

Nathan was investigating the camera.

In other news...Callahan got her hair trimmed. It's her first haircut. We took pictures, but they're on my Dad's camera. I'll be sure to post some as soon as I get them.

Ode to 3

2010-04-24T10:38:00.002-05:00

3 years old. Wow, all I can say is wow. How can she be 3? I can vividly remember the day she was born. All my thoughts, fears, questions, etc. I remember how HARD those first few months were. I remember staring at her and thinking I wasn't equipped for this sort of thing. I remember thinking, if I had to make one more decision I was going to have a breakdown(welcome to parenthood). I remember looking down and her and feeling so full of love, I thought my heart might explode. **On a side note, that was not the day she was born. It took me a little while to come around** What a joy and blessing she is to our lives. Every day she makes us laugh. Everyday I see Jesus working on her heart(and mine).

Callahan tid-bits...

Loves all things pink. Pink tutus, the pink hippos in her memory game, pink dishes in her tea set, pink clothes, pink cowboy boots, pink crocks, pink flowers. All things pink.
enjoys BSF. Or "church school" as we call it. We're going through the book of John. It's amazing to see all she's learning about God's word. Her teachers call her the greeter. Every tuesday she welcomes all her friends with a hug and a smile.
LOVES to help. If I'm in the kitchen she wants to be on her stool helping me. If I'm doing laundry she wants to help. If I'm going potty..she wants to help(seriously). If I'm being honest, I am not always happy to have her help. I have to remind myself that her desire to help and learn is much more important than my need to "just get things done".
swinging, sliding, and playing in her sandbox
riding her tricycle all over the place.
gymnastics. Learning to follow directions, pay attention, gaining independence, and taking turns.
books, books and more books
Most forms of transportation. Mostly trains and airplanes. In case you were not aware, all airplanes are going to "Californla" and Texas.
If you ask her what day it is, it's Tuesday. All things happen on Tuesday.
All things are going to happen in 20 minutes
Her favorite food is soup and noodles. Tomato soup and elbow noodles to be exact.
Loves to go anywhere.
Loves to dance. Particularly to classical music, Psalty, and Music Machine.
Her favorite time of day: When Daddy comes home.
Playing games: Memory, Candy Land and puzzles(particularly her States puzzle)

Working on...

Gaining independence. I hope to make an "independence chart". Every time she does things independently, with a happy heart(potty, getting dressed, up/down stairs, playing etc) she'll get to put a sticker on the chart. I still haven't figured out what the reward with be after she earns enough stickers. Not food and not prizes, but maybe a special outing or something.
Sharing. We're really trying to train/teach Callahan about being gracious and loving towards others. Such a hard thing at her age. Especially when her sinful nature wants to do just the opposite.
First time Obedience. Another hard thing at this age.

It's hard to sum up all that Callahan brings to our lives. She brightens every day and I cannot wait to see what she learns this year!

Lately.

2010-04-14T20:33:00.004-05:00

We've been up to a lot lately. So, I thought I'd share with pictures....

Planting and pulling weeds in the yard. Mimi and Papa(Jim's parents) have been a huge help!) Well, if I'm being completely honest, they're really doing all the work! I did pull some weeds and plant a few ferns. Callahan has been very distressed that Mimi is pulling all of her dandelions.

This past weekend, Jim, my dad, Jim's dad, and I, went to the Grand Prix of Alabama. It's what Jim wanted for his birthday. At the last minute, a friend of my dad's, offered us VIP passes. We were guests of the Dreyer&Reinbold Racing Team. We had access to their hospitality tent, met their drivers, and were able to be in the pits for the actual race. It was such a cool experience. We hope that we are able to do it again next year!
Looking down the hot pit.
Mike Conway's, Roll Coater car.
Patrick Dempsey was in town for the Porsche 250. He was very nice.
I took this picture of Justin Wilson's first pit during the race.
Jim and me with Justin Wilson and Mike Conway, during the meet and greet at the hospitality tent.

Here are some pictures from Easter.

Dyeing Easter eggs at Nina and PopPop's house. Notice the super cute Easter smock my mom bought for Callahan.

We had an egg hunt at Mimi and Papa and Nina and Pop Pops.

Evans was READY to eat!

We've also been buried under a thick and gross layer of pollen! ICK.

He has Risen!

2010-04-04T23:18:00.001-05:00

Happy Easter! We are so thankful for our risen Savior!

Afternoon at the park.

2010-03-24T21:38:00.004-05:00

We spent this afternoon at the park. It was absolutely beautiful outside! Evans' cheeks got a little sunburned. Oops. I've posted a couple pictures below. You can see the other pictures here.

Callahan. Our little gymnast.

2010-03-24T21:14:00.002-05:00

This week, Callahan started a 9 week gymnastics class. She LOVES it! When she finished her first class, she almost cried. She wanted to stay. Three of the girls in her class go to our church. She was nervous at first, but when she saw her church friends she was fine. Ruth is her coach.

About the begin.

Working on forward rolls.

handstands

balance beam

and the uneven bars.

The highlight of her class was jumping into a pit full of foam cubes. She thought it was fantastic. Unfortunately, she was too far away. I couldn't get any pictures.

Playtime with the Thomas girls.

2010-03-24T20:33:00.005-05:00

Born 4 weeks apart and they've been fast friends ever since.

Here they are planting some trees.

Callahan also spent some time playing with sweet Nora.

Evans made sure to work on his bucket skills

More planting trees.

Nora, on the go!

Phoebe and more trees.

St. Patty's Day

2010-03-19T15:50:00.005-05:00

Callahan discovered she liked Evans' mango baby good cubes.

She chased Chloe around the back yard.

Was a lean mean tricyclin' machine

and posed for pictures.

The picture above is Callahan. St. Patrick's Day 2008.

And here is Evans...2010. See any similarities?

I had to take a couple pictures of Chloe. Isn't she so cute?

Evans: 9 Months

2010-03-16T10:06:00.001-05:00

I mean seriously...where has the time gone? How is he already 9 months old? How is he 3 months shy of one whole year?!? We haven't been to the doctor for his 9 month check-up so I'm not sure of his stats. We went at 8 months and he was 20lbs 8oz. Which is in the 50th percentile. We'll be going at 10 months and find out then. So here's what he up to:

pretty much stationary. Which doesn't bother me at all! I can tell he really wants to move and explore, he just hasn't figured it all out yet. I also realize it could all change tomorrow.
4 new teeth. All four appeared in a span of 2 weeks.
becoming a lot less picky about food. He's eating, sweet potatoes, green beans, peas, carrots, squash, broccoli, avocados, apples, pears, peaches, plums, prunes, and adding more. Evans has been so much harder in this area than Callahan ever was.
just in the last week almost mastering feeding himself. He's struggled for a while but it all came together this week.
working on a sippy-cup. Once he learns to use both hands and tip it back, he'll be set.
clapping. Evans loves to clap. He goes to BSF(Bible Study Fellowship) with me. He's in the under 1 class. His teachers say he's the only one who claps to the music. So cute.
starting to wave and sign "more". I think the "more" is probably clapping, but we're taking it. We're really trying to work on replacing the whining for more food with "more". It's a slow process, but he's catching on.
still jumping all the time. It really is his favorite thing to do. He could stand and hold onto something if he would stop jumping.
talking a lot. Dada and many other syllables. I swear he's saying "all done", but I really think he's just babbling.
loves watching his sister do anything. When he sees her he starts smiling and jumping.
sleeping well at night and taking 2 great naps. Every once in a while he'll need a 3rd cat nap depending on his schedule. Our day usually starts between 7:30 and 8.
generally he's a happy little guy. A little clingy lately, but I'm not complaining. I'll take the snuggles as long as I can get them!

He's growing so fast and yet he's still such a baby. It seemed like Callahan was so much more "grown up" at this age. Which she may have been...first born and a girl. When I look at both our kids I am amazed at what a gift God has given us! It makes me a little sad when I see how quickly they are growing up. I'm excited to see who they will become, yet sad to see them leave the baby stage.

Packing...

2010-03-11T22:31:00.002-06:00

Before we get to the meat of this post, I wanted to share a picture of my three kids. Chloe, my parent's dog, will be staying with us for the next 10 days. Callahan is very excited to have her friend back and Evans enjoys petting her soft fur.
This morning I told Callahan, Evans and she were going to spend the night at Mimi and Papa's house. She ran upstairs and immediately began packing her suitcase. Below is what she packed.
The things that stick out to me are: ONE sock, 2 ponytail holders, 3 shirts and no pants, and her Auburn dress complete with bloomers:). Of course, she wouldn't forget her lovey and baby!

First week of March.

2010-03-05T23:33:00.005-06:00

We've spent a lot of time in our PJ's this week. Evans cut 2 teeth this week and 2 last week. I guess an explanation isn't needed. Here are a few pictures of my littles.

longing to be outside...but it was cold!

Who said cutting teeth was hard?

She was on my back with her arms wrapped around my neck. I held the camera up and tried to take a picture. She was not into having her picture taken. She rarely is these days.

Please. No pictures.

I decided to try making a smoothie with some of Callahan's favorite things. Vanilla yogurt, strawberries, bananas, and a splash of orange juice. Slam dunk, right? Nope. She did not enjoy it. Although, I don't know if it was the taste or the super loud noise the blender made. She was all about it until I turned the blender on. She usually runs for the hills when something loud turns on.

The smoothie. I thought it was excellent.

At Home.

2010-02-27T17:07:00.003-06:00

We've been enjoying a rare Saturday at home. It seems like recently we've had plans on Saturday, taking us away from home. We're staying close to home this weekend for two reasons. One: we can and we want to and Two: I'm "on call" for a friend who could go into labor at any time. On call simply means that I'll be running over to take care of their two other little girls while they go have their 3rd little girl, Ruthie.

In light of that...here's what we did this morning...

Swing!

Mommy took a lot of pictures...

Loved on some trees.

See what I mean....lots of pictures.

Cleaned up our back porch. It was cluttered with random boxes and trash from fixing up the house and moving in. Now it's a nice usable space!

Fashion a la Callahan.

2010-02-25T16:30:00.002-06:00

I let Callahan choose her outfit today. What you can't see is the pretty pink and flowery bloomers she has on under her sweatpants. We had to run a couple errands. She was quite the conversation piece!

Pit Stop at the park.

2010-02-24T00:27:00.003-06:00

Callahan's bug has jumped over to Jim. He spent the day in bed and miserable. While Evans was napping, Callahan and I ran to the store. We need to get a couple things for Jim. On the way home, we made a quick pit stop at the park. Callahan was thrilled. Here are some picture from our excursion...

Biter biscuit boy.

2010-02-22T22:44:00.002-06:00

Messy, but totally yummy...

Birthday baby food.

2010-02-22T11:17:00.002-06:00

I spent the afternoon of Jim's birthday, making some much needed baby food. We were completely out of fruit. I had made some veggies earlier in the week. There's something about baby food cubes that I think is pretty. Strange I know. Maybe it's the colors.

Baked peaches. I've never done peaches this way. They taste great.

Steamed pears.

Pureed and ready to freeze.

The veggies I made earlier in the week. Steamed carrots, peas, sweet potatoes, and baked butternut squash.

Jim's Birthday weekend

2010-02-22T10:28:00.004-06:00

Jim is 30. I must say it's nice to have him join me. Since I've been in my thirties for 2 1/2 years now. We started his birthday celebration on Friday night, with a date night. We went to a new burger restaurant, Flip. It was started by Richard Blais, the runner-up in Season 4 of Top Chef. He specializes in molecular gastronomy. Which means he uses things like liquid nitrogen to cook. So cool. Let me tell you...it was SO YUMMY! Jim ordered the...

steak tartare ∴

hanger steak, garlic, chili, capers, worcestershire, pickled onion, frisée salad, smoked mayo, sous- vide egg yolk

It was one of the best burgers I've ever had. Now, you do have to like raw beef to appreciate it! Jim had a side of fried pickles. Also YUM!

I went the safe route and ordered the...

bacon & cheese

onion, lettuce, tomato, house-made pickles, benton’s bacon, american cheese, ketchup, FLIP sauce

Which was very good, but I think I'll be a little more adventurous next time. Like the...

chorizo

spicy pork sausage, romesco ketchup, hash browns, fried egg, manchego cheese, smoked mayo

We finished off our meal with a Nutella + burnt marshmallow milkshake. Also yummy and made with Liquid nitrogen. Fun!

Saturday we enjoyed a relaxing morning, because the kiddos spent the night with my parents. We did fun things like cleaning, vacuuming, and laundry! Saturday night we went to Moe's Original BBQ. It was also yummy. I was especially fond of the cornbread. After dinner we went back to our house for cake and ice cream. Jim selected a strawberry cake from Ashely Mac's. I'm sure you remember from previous posts, this happens to be my favorite cake too! Everyone enjoyed it!

Callahan was ready to dig in!

Callahan helped me put in ALL 30 candles in.

He blew them out in one puff!

Signs of age!

Enjoying birthday cake. Evans kept trying to steal Papa's cake and ice cream.

Unfortunately the day didn't end as well as it began. Callahan woke up around 11pm throwing up in her bed. She also threw up all over her lovey:( So, she stayed up with us until it was washed and dried. We used to have 3 lovey back-ups, but they've all disappeared over the last few months. I was hoping it was a 24 hr stomach bug, but no. She had a high fever all day Sunday, and threw up another time. So, Jim spent his actual birthday taking care of and snuggling with his little girl. Watching Mary Poppins, Sound of Music and Bible Songs. Which, of course, he didn't mind. Callahan just wanted her Daddy! I did run out and get some donuts for his birthday breakfast. We also had Chinese delivered for dinner.

A special donut and a candle.

Watching Mary Poppins. She ended up falling asleep on the couch.

Happy Boy!

2010-02-21T12:02:00.003-06:00

A few pictures I took of Evans this week...

Surprise snow!

2010-02-21T11:42:00.002-06:00

Monday night, after putting the kids to bed, Jim took the trash out. This is what he found! Now you have to understand...this is Alabama. So, the fact that there wasn't hours of coverage and interrupted TV shows, for an upcoming "snow storm", we were shocked. And yes, this is a snow storm in AL. Some schools and offices were delayed on Tuesday morning. Although, the roads were icy in spots.

You can see where Jim almost slipped and fell, on his way out to the garbage can. Barefoot.

He knows me so well...

2010-02-15T23:18:00.005-06:00

My favorite!

Mini strawberry and chocolate cupcakes from Ashley Mac's. If you haven't tasted Ashley's strawberry cake, YOU MUST!

Happy Birthday/Valentine's, Catherine!

2010-02-15T23:10:00.002-06:00

Not only was it Valentine's Day, but it was also Catherine's birthday, on Sunday. We celebrated with home cooked steaks and a giant cookie cake. Love you, Catherine!

YUM.

Birthday centerpiece.

The birthday girl and her cake.

Trying to wait patiently for her piece of cookie cake.

Andrew's Birthday

2010-02-15T23:03:00.003-06:00

Saturday was Andrew's Birthday. We celebrated with lunch and Jim n Nicks(local BBQ), Bruster's peanut butter buckeye ice cream cake, and take-out from Salvatore's for dinner. Best of all, quality time with family! We love you, Andrew!

SO YUMMY! Chocolate cake, chocolate ice cream with chocolate covered peanut butter balls, and a fudge/peanut butter layer.

Anxiously awaiting birthday cake!

Snowy Pedicures

2010-02-15T22:48:00.004-06:00

We had quite a bit of snow here on Friday. The most I've seen since moving to Birmingham! I took the picture below after it had been snowing for about an hour. It continued to snow for another 4 hours. So fun!

Catherine and Andrew were in town this weekend to celebrate their Birthdays. So, Catherine and I braved the snow and enjoyed pedicures. Mimi and and Papa graciously took care of all three grandchildren.

Yummy lunch with heart shaped toasted cheese!

Pretty toes and much needed girl time!

Callahan and Papa built a snowman. Well, Papa built and Callahan supervised.

Both boys enjoyed time with Mimi and each other.

Nathan and Catherine

Nathan checking out the snow.

Today.

2010-02-10T23:31:00.003-06:00

What we did today:

Callahan entertaining herself with the neti-pot, a cup and water.

Danced in her flower princess. She jumping above and dancing below.

Evans finally started eating peas! We've been having major issues trying to get him to eat anything other than sweet potatoes and pears. Recently he's decided to broaden his horizons. So far he'll eat my(homemade) sweet potatoes, peas, pears, applesauce, and bananas. He'll also eat store bought, green beans and prunes. I hope to get him eating my green beans, squash, carrots, and whatever else!

As always Callahan loves her tomato soup and noodles.

PROGRESS...we have something on the wall! And a few other things. My mom and dad came over yesterday and today. My dad was able to get the sink in our master bath working!!! We are so excited. My mom and I rearranged and repacked all of Callahan old clothes, so they can be stored in the attic. She is also helping me hang stuff on the walls. It's beginning to feel like home! Next on the to do list: hang more pictures, organize and pack up Evans' old clothes, sift through more boxes, and gradually make our way through the "stuff" piled in our garage.

We're back.

2010-02-10T22:16:00.005-06:00

It has certainly been a long time. I do apologize. Since I last posted, my dad, the kids and I took a road trip to Beaver Creek, CO and met up with Jim, his family and the rest of my family, flew home, and finally moved into our own house. It's been busy!

We had a great time in Beaver Creek. I didn't get to ski quite as much I had hoped. However, spending time with the ones I love and finally meeting my sweet niece, Olivia, it doesn't get much better than that! Callahan loved the snow and couldn't wait to go out everyday. Everyday she asked to go skiing, so we decided to let her try ski school. It wasn't quite as successful as we had hoped, but I know she will love it next year. Evans, on the other hand, spent most of his time in Beaver Creek sick. I ended up taking a trip to Urgent Care of Avon, just to make sure it wasn't anything serious. It turns out, he had the beginnings of an ear infection and a respiratory virus. I'm glad we went and were able to get him some antibiotics for his ears. I don't really have happy thoughts when I think of urgent care and taking my little ones there. I will say, though, this one broke the mold. In a good way. We walked in and were with a doctor within 10 min. They were so kind and so thorough. Definitely a positive experience.

Honestly I've been putting off blogging, because the thought of trying to post all the pictures from Beaver Creek was overwhelming! So instead of doing that, I am going to post a link where you can view them. Just click HERE. I know that's cheating, but oh well!

I am posting some videos below of Callahan skiing. One of her at ski school and one of her skiing with Jim and me. I do want to say though, Jim is SUPER DADDY! He skied down most of the mountain with her, between his legs. He was BEAT, but she absolutely loved it and wanted to go faster. I have some more videos on our video camera, but haven't downloaded them yet. I'll be sure to do it soon. I'm anxious to see them myself.

The ballerina

2010-01-14T15:50:00.003-06:00

Callahan's request for play time this morning was her "princess" and the Music Machine CD. So, we put on her princess and danced and twirled to the inspiring songs of Music Machine. I can't think of a better way to spend our play time together.

In the words of Callahan.

2010-01-12T18:09:00.002-06:00

Today, like most days, Callahan was very chatty. I just thought today, her ramblings were particularly cute. I thought I would share them with my faithful readers.

1. "Mommy, we need to pray in the car. Dear Jesus, Thank you for today. Help us to glorify you. Aaaaamen."

2. "Children, do you have your listening ears on?" (We went to BSF this morning)

3. "Reading" her toy from Arbys: "Where is Holy, Holy, Holy? OH, Hered dit is"

4. Talking to herself, "Phoebe, I have a question for you...sing Holy, Holy, Holy or ABC's?, Ms. Sarah, I have a question for you., Mommy, I have a question for you."

5. "Jesus is true, true, true!"

6. Before nap we sing songs: C: Let's sing the Starbucks song. Me: I don't know the Starbucks song. C: I do. It goes, Lowes, Lowes, Lowes, Lowes, Lo-lo-lo-lo-lo-lo-lowes, Lowes, Lowes. (can you tell where we've been running a lot of errands?)

I know there are probably more that I'm forgetting. Enjoy:)

Olivia's One month old!

2010-01-11T14:54:00.002-06:00

Well, she was on the 9th of this month. I meant to post this on the 9th, but our computer had a mini meltdown. We're all good, but that's why it's late:) Happy 1 Monthday, Olivia! We love you! All 8lbs 5oz of you! Can't wait to hold you in Beaver Creek in 2 WEEKS!

In her honor we had little Thin Mint "cakes" with a candle on top. We iChatted with Charlie and Ashley and sang Happy Birthday. I know she'll remember it always.
Her birth announcement is in the back. Isn't it so cute?!? They're already better parents than we are. We never got around to sending them out for either of our kids. Oops!

Snow Day or not.

2010-01-07T23:08:00.003-06:00

I tried to capture all 42 flakes on film or memory card. Which ever you prefer. Even though we had very little snow, Callahan and I enjoyed it. We started out the morning in her footie pajamas. However, the more sensible side of me figured it would be better to put on some shoes. Enjoy our 42 flakes. All you Northerners, feel free to snicker a little bit.

LOVING the snow.
More pictures?!?

OK. That's enough, Momma.

A real snow flake.

Look at her get-up! Complete with a water gun.

Chloe, enjoying the snow with us.

More real snow flakes!

Dressed more sensibly. She still did NOT want to touch it.

The water fountain in my parents backyard was and is frozen solid. Notice Callahan touching the icy part, but not the snowy part.

Just a little graffiti.

Recent house pictures...

2010-01-04T15:47:00.004-06:00

Here are a few picture of the house as it's coming along. We picked out a new vanity for our master bathroom, and TOTALLY love it! A few finishing touches and packing up at my parent's house and we'll be able to move in!

New vanity, courtesy of Mazer. A local liquidation store.
This is the bed that my parents bought for me when I was in college. Since my room at their house is now a room for the grandkids, I happily took my bed to our new house. I really love how it looks in the space.
A closer look at the vanity. The sink will mount under the black granite counter-top.

The living room from the entry way.

Living room from the Kitchen

Our kitchen with our new painted cabinetry(thanks dad!)

A look from the Dining Room.

The Dining Room. Still need a couple pieces of furniture in here, and a couple chairs.

Entry way with a new runner. Thanks Mary!

In ALL seriousness....We had SOOOOO much help! My mom worked hard unpacking, organizing, arranging and scrubbing. Mary worked her fingers down to the nubs scrubbing, organizing, planting, and arranging. My dad perfectly painted the kitchen cabinets, installed the pesky toilet in the kids bathroom and offered many helpful tips. Charles painted the bathrooms, unpacked boxes, and many various other things. We really do have the best parents on Earth! WE LOVE YOU!!!!!!!

New Year's Eve/Day

2010-01-04T15:04:00.004-06:00

With A LOT of help, we were able to scramble and get the house in some sort of order for the New Year. We had a few friends over to help make our house a home. Jim and I really loved entertaining. Jim and I spent our first night in the house. Our friends, Molly and Jeff, from Columbus, GA., were brave enough to join us. We struggled to make it to midnight, but managed. We quickly went to bed after ringing in the New Year. We're so old:)

Watching the Tennessee game with Molly, Jeff, Jamie, Heather, Sarah, and Michael

Sarah and Michael

Molly and Jeff, helping us ring in the New Year with a bit of Champagne.

I'm sad that I didn't get a close-up of Jamie and Heather. We'll just have to have them over again soon!

Happy New Year!

Callahan joined us New Year's Day after spending the night with Mimi and Papa. We celebrated by watching Auburn with their bowl game!

Moving Day. December 27.

2010-01-03T23:10:00.004-06:00

The Monday after Christmas, we finally moved our possessions into our new house! It was a very exciting day, for a couple reasons. One, we are excited to finally be in our very own home again. We are so thankful that we have been able to stay with my parents through all of this, but I know we are all ready for our own space. Two, we didn't have to do it ourselves. Two Men and a Truck did it(they actually brought a 3rd guy who was in training). All we had to do was stand out in the cold and point. And let me tell you, it was COLD! It took us a FULL day to move out of our old house. It took them a little over 4 hours to move our stuff from Jim's parent's basement, into our new house. Now all we have to do is unpack. We hope to be moving ourselves in over the next week or so.

The truck at our house.
The front of our house.

Windy and COLD!

My parents brought lunch and the kids over after the movers had finished.

After I was able to unpack a few boxes in the kitchen. My dad was in the process of sanding and repainting the kitchen cabinets. They look GREAT!

Evans was able to sleep in his crib(Callahan's old crib) for the first time. This was actually the next day.

Callahan's new-old bedroom furniture. It was given to us by his cousin. We're SO thankful to have it!

Evan's room before we assembled his crib.

Kid's bathroom

Master Bathroom

Dining Room

Christmas Day.

2010-01-03T22:05:00.004-06:00

7:3AM came very quickly Christmas morning! I don't think Jim or I was ready to greet the day, but remembering who was born on this day, got us excited! We were excited to experience the celebrating of the birth of Christ through our children's eyes. So, to the sound of Gene Autry( a Bush family tradition), Christmas festivities began!

The presents were calling our name...
but first we had eat breakfast.

Posing in front of the tree in their matching Jammies.

Trying to wait patiently with Jim.

Waiting with Pop Pop.

And let it begin...

After opening presents at my parent's house, we headed over to Jim's parent's house.

Waiting with Mimi...

And she's off...Nathan has a pair of matching PJs, too.

Happy boys!

Jim's mom's Christmas table centerpiece.

Christmas Eve

2010-01-03T21:49:00.002-06:00

It was my parent's turn to host Christmas Eve dinner this year. They alternate with Jim's parents. I guess now that we have a house that can fit everyone, we'll be in the rotation, too! We had a yummy dinner. The power ended up going out right about the time we needed to start, yes, I said start, wrapping presents. My mom, Jim and I wrapped by candlelight until exactly midnight, when the power came back on! Jim called it the Christmas miracle! We were up until about 2:30am.

The table.
The stockings hung by the chimney with care. This year we grew by 2 stockings. Evans and Olivia. It doesn't look like many more will fit!

Enjoying some appetizers before dinner.

Big helper.

2010-01-03T21:40:00.002-06:00

The week before Christmas, Callahan and I decided to whip up a batch of sugar cookies. Callahan, as always, was eager to help. Notice, she's still in her jammies. It seems like we had quite a few of those days leading up to Christmas. A full day in PJs, cleaning and decorating.

Stiring the dry ingredients.
Precisely placing the dough balls onto the cookies sheets, after dipping them in sugar

Growing up!

2010-01-01T21:20:00.003-06:00

It seems like in the last week or so, Evans has started a lot of new things. He's rolled over. He's started sitting up, and he's started eating vegetables. He's rolled over twice, but doesn't seem to be in a hurry to do it anymore.
He's really getting the hang of sitting up. He likes to have the security of the boppy or a pillow, but is mostly supporting himself.

He would have started vegetables a couple weeks ago, but I had a hard time finding the time to whip up a batch. Once I did it, I remembered how easy it really was. Only took me about 30 minutes from start to finish. He wasn't really sure what to think. He gagged quite a bit. He seems to like them now, though. Gobbles them right up!

Hmmmm...do I like them?

Maybe....

Nope.

Santa: Revisited

2009-12-21T21:12:00.003-06:00

We decided to go see Santa one more time. This time we were able to get another good shot, but not as blurry. Callahan and Evans were such troopers. They both had missed their naps but we were able to get through it without tears!

Waiting in line

Very tired, but ready for Santa

Snuggles from Nina

The picture I took above. The picture they took below.

Just 'cause.

2009-12-20T22:03:00.004-06:00

Today was a typical Sunday. Church and lunch out with our parents. While at lunch, I decided to take a few pictures of the kids in their Christmas outfits. Enjoy!

Callahan with Papa
Evans, getting some snuggles from Mimi

Nina making Evans laugh

Have I mentioned recently how hard it is to take a good picture of Callahan? Sit still, look at the camera, and smile. Very hard to accomplish all three at the same time.

This is the closest we came.

This is the kind of silliness we see:) So cute, but so frustrating in the moment!

Catch up: Bathroom update

2009-12-17T18:18:00.004-06:00

The tubs are in and the tile is going up! Let's get ready to celebrate(a little shout out to one of our favorite books, Pajama Time). Here are some pictures of the progress.

Master bath shower.

Here is a picture of the tile that we're putting on the floor.

This is the tub that gave us SO much trouble. It was about a half an inch too big for the space. The plumbers were able to shoe horn it in. They had to cut a rather large hole out of the wall on the landing in order to do it though.

The pictures below were taken with my Dad's blackberry. He held down the fort today. He also sanded the kitchen cabinets. They're ready for paint!

Master bath with the tile on the floor!

Close-up of where the vanity will go.

I'm so excited! I cannot wait to see it, tomorrow!

Catch up: Visiting Santa

2009-12-17T17:12:00.003-06:00

Last weekend we went to Bass Pro Shop to visit Santa. Callahan was SUCH a big girl! She marched right up, sat on his lap, and announced, I want an "O". Santa wasn't sure what to do with that request. I have a sneaky feeling that Santa will be bring Callahan some "O's" this year. I didn't get a very good picture. I'm hoping to take them to the mall early next week to try again.
Not only did we see Santa, but the fish too! Callahan loves their huge fish tank. It's been a whole year since she saw them last.

Callahan showed the fish to Jim. It was his first time to the "the shop"!

Catch up: 6 monthday

2009-12-17T16:08:00.003-06:00

December 11th, was Evan's 6 monthday. We "celebrated" by going to the doctor for his well baby check up. Unfortunately, we didn't get to have a little party. Things were and are just a little crazy around here(Sorry, buddy). Here are his stats:

Length: 28 1/4" long 95%
Weight: 18lbs 5.5oz. 75%

He's so big. I couldn't find Callahan's 6 month stat among my chaos, but I did find her 9 month stats. At 9 months, she was 17lbs 12oz and 27 5/8". I think Evans has her beat. Did I mention he's big?!?

Here's what he's doing:

talking a lot! Just recently he started saying "ba ba ba ba".
laughing if you get your chin and/or nose in just the right place.
jumping up a storm. While he's in his jumper, while he's getting his diaper changed, while he's playing on the floor, in his exersaucer, and even while he's nursing(makes it quite interesting)
sucking his thumb. We haven't kicked the pacifier yet, hopefully soon.
Sleeping really well. He will take a 2-2.5hr nap in the morning and a 1.5-2hr nap in the afternoon. And usually a little catnap(30-45min) before dinner. At night he'll sleep from about 7:30/8pm until 7:30/8am
Eating 2 Tbsp of oatmeal 2 times a day. morning at evening.
About to start sweet potatoes as soon as I get around to cooking them:)
I think he's working on his first tooth. It looks like it's just below the gums. But, you know how teething goes. You think that tooth is just around the corner. Callahan had her first tooth right before she turned 7 months
He still hasn't rolled over. However I have two excuses for that: 1. I haven't been nearly as diligent with tummy time as I was with Callahan. 2. He has a whole lot of baby to roll over! He's getting close. Maybe it will be soon!
In the last week or so he's been working on sitting up. Still really tipsy, but we're working on it.
He's not rolling over, but that does not keep him from moving all around. He's ended up in some really funny places. For example, in the picture below, he started out laying next to the giraffe on the blanket. He ended up cooking lunch in the kitchen, and seemed quite happy about it.

I know there are many things I'm probably missing. Evans is SUCH a happy boy! A joy to be around. We are excited to see how he grows and changes over the next few months.

Catch up: Mimi's birthday

2009-12-17T15:55:00.003-06:00

On December 10, we celebrated Mimi's birthday! Callahan was super excited to sing Happy Birthday and blow out some candles.

This cake has become tradition on birthdays! It's the chocolate cake from Costco. SO yummy and SO huge.

Getting some Daddy snuggles.

Taking it all in.

Trimming the windows...

2009-12-11T22:28:00.004-06:00

It is now looking like we won't be in our house before Christmas. Without working tubs it would be pretty stinky around there. So, we've been decorating my parents house. This is the first year that Callahan has been really excited for Christmas! It's been a joy to watch her take it all in. Although, we really have been trying to make sure she knows the "true" meaning of Christmas. A hard balance sometimes, in this day and age. Yesterday we spent time decorating the kitchen windows. Callahan LOVED it! She was so proud after we were done. I tried to show a little restraint and let her be creative. Not make it look the way I wanted it to look:)

I put up the M, but she did a great job putting up the rest of "merry" by herself!
Christmas was a little more difficult, but we made it work.

A proud big girl! I did make sure she spread her creativity around.

Olivia. Sweet Olivia is here!

2009-12-10T15:43:00.004-06:00

We are all SO excited we can hardly contain it! Olivia is here and she is perfect! I'm SO sad that I wasn't able to go out to Sequim for her debut. I could sit and stare at these pictures all day.

Resting peacefully on her first day outside the womb. Ladies in the area knit and crochet hats and blanket for all the new babies. They get to keep them, too!

Here blood sugar was low after she was born, so they hooked her up to an IV. It instantly came back up. She spent a little time in the nursery until they were sure she was okay.

I think she looks a lot like Ashley. They change so much and so fast, I may see more of Charlie later on.

Ashley was just out of recovery. Her first good look at her precious daughter.

They actually put the newborns in little outfits. We just had little t-shirts for Callahan and Evans.

My mom said, Olivia opens her eyes a lot.

I think she recognizes her Daddy's voice! He spent a lot of time talking to her over the last few months.

Charlie's first time feeding her. She ate all that she was supposed to eat.

Ashley finally was able to hold Olivia! Isn't that blanket adorable? She looks so teeny all wrapped up.

Motherhood.

2009-12-07T14:45:00.002-06:00

This is how we've been spending a lot of our time lately. It's definitely a process. Motherhood seemed especially hard today. Callahan woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning(maybe I did too). We started with a trip to the airport to drop my parents off at the airport. Insert a lot of whining! Next, a quick trip to Target. We, of course, stopped at the potty before shopping. Silly me, in thinking she would be good to go for the 45 min we were there. Accident #1. As we were sitting down for lunch at home, Evans pulled a whole bowl of hot tomato soup onto me and him(he's fine, btw. I took the brunt of it). Accident #2. As we were heading back to Callahan's room for a nap, she suddenly looked down at her wet pants and told me she needed to go potty(She had been on the potty not that long ago). As she was pulling her pants down, I discovered she not only had wet pants but poopy, too! Accident #3. Phewww. They're both in bed and I'm beat.

A Letter to Santa.

2009-12-06T22:45:00.004-06:00

When I was 4 years old, I wrote a letter to Santa. Here's what it said:

2 December 1981

Dear Santa,

I want the baby that splashes and you wash her hair. I want the thing you pour water in the wheel and it splashes all around and you squeeze it's nose and it squirts you in the face and it squeaks. I want Lite Brite. And I want that coffee pot Bayann(friend) has in her closet. And I want a pretend Christmas card and an ice cream cone thing that Jenny has. I want a turkey that says, "gobble, gobble". And I want a pretend cake. Can I have Legos? Can I have a tablet"

Santa Claus, thank you for soap.

Love,

Carolynn

My parents have had it hanging on their tree for years. Every year we are sure to thank Santa Claus for soap!

Thankful.

2009-12-05T22:34:00.013-06:00

Instead of giving you a long drawn out play-by-play of our 5 days in Abbeville, I'll give you my Top 10. Thank you, Nancy for a great idea!

In no particular order.

1. Being able to celebrate Thanksgiving with the most WONDERFUL husband in the world and 2 FANTASTIC children.
2. Enjoying Thanksgiving with not only Jim's family but also having my parents there!(Sorry. Forgot to take a group shot)

3. Eating Thanksgiving lunch with family. Lots of family.

4. Knowing that every time you looked at Nathan(my nephew), you were going to get the cutest smile.

5. Getting to spend the whole afternoon riding all over the land that has been in Jim's family for generations.

6.Getting to ride and drive a 4-wheeler for the first time. No pictures of me..sorry.

7. Watching Callahan light up and truly enjoy being at the farm

8. All the photo opportunities I had.

9. Watching the boys experience things for the first time, together.

10. Heading down with luggage and such and coming back with a new kitchen table. It used to be Jim's great grandmother's table. Don't have a picture yet.

Playing in the leaves!

2009-11-19T21:20:00.003-06:00

My dad thought of the kids when blowing the leaves today. He blew the leaves into a HUGE pile so they could play in them. They LOVED them. It's funny. Last year Callahan was not a fan of the leaves. This year, she goes hunting for leaves daily and today was tunneling through them. Evans, loved them, too. We couldn't get him to look up. He was enthralled with the leaves. Here are some pictures I took.

Throwing leaves.
Coming in for a landing!

The tickle monster gets her in the leaves.

She loves her brother...most of the time.

Either watching either, Nina or Callahan.

Hi Mama!

Is he cute, or what?!?

They were both DONE by this point.

But, I got her to take one more picture.

D's and O's

2009-11-19T16:31:00.007-06:00

Just before brushing Callahan's teeth the other night:

Me: Okay Callahan, it's time to brush your teeth.

Callahan: Okay, I do it!

M: You know how we do it. I do it first and then it's your turn.

C: Okay. We have to get the D's and O's out.

M: *first pondering then laughing* Yes, we have to get out the D's and O's.

She often references what she had for dinner and her need to get it out of her teeth. Can you guess what she had for dinner? Tomato soup and alphabet noodles. Just wanted to share that cute story!

Snipets of life.

2009-11-15T22:09:00.005-06:00

We've been so busy with life and the house lately that blogging has fallen through the cracks. Here are some pictures of what we've been up to.

Playing with the web-cam after a bath.

Evans graduated to the big bathtub. Callahan was very excited to share with Evans.
Ready for a bath.

Our new kitchen floors! We LOVE them!

Playing outside while the weather is great!

Baking calzones with Nina.

Eating pepperoni

Reading to Evans. A book that we've been reading a lot, Let's Be Polite.

And of course, Callahan dressing up like a princess and stuffing herself in her shopping cart.

Below is a video of Callahan cheering on Auburn! Thought it was cut and I wanted to share.

Church tailgate.

2009-11-02T22:15:00.003-06:00

On Sunday we went to our annual Church tailgate. Lifegroups bring their own truck and food and we line the soccer field. The church provides rides and inflatables for the kids. It is a lot of fun every year! This year Callahan was Alice in Wonderland and Evans was a tiger. Callahan wore the tiger outfit two years ago. They were so cute! Our little Alice holding our little tiger!

Cute Alice! Roar!

Callahan on the mini merry-go-round.

My mom had the great idea of making a top hat for her candy! So creative!

The kids went to each tailgate spot and filled their buckets with candy.
Evans and his little friend, Ryder! Showing their school spirit!

Our tailgate spot.

House progress!

2009-11-02T21:48:00.006-06:00

The house is coming along! We have almost all of the painting done. Still left on the to-do list: install new tubs and tile and paint in the bathrooms, rip out the tile and put in hardwoods in the kitchen, replace the carpet. Those are the things we plan to do before we move in. After we move in, we hope to accomplish a couple more things. We are going to try and make our own countertops in the kitchen out of concrete and tile the back splash. We're excited about all the new things we are learning to do! We equally excited to move in! You can refer to this post for the before pictures.

The new color in the living room. Greenmount Silk.
Dining room, entry and landing. Spa.

Kitchen. Castleton Mist.

As you can tell Callahan was a great helper while painting! She also wanted to show everyone her tattoo(which she got for doing #2 on the potty).

Kitchen tile demo. Still in progress.

Kids bathroom.

Ripping out the backer board.

Master bath. All ready for a new tub, tile, and paint.

The world of cereal.

2009-11-02T21:19:00.004-06:00

Evans, in general, is a really good sleeper. So, after few nights of interrupted sleep, we thought it was time to start giving him cereal. After a little sleep training an cereal, he is back to 12 hours at night! Here are some picture of the occasion!Callahan was very excited. Evans didn't know what was going on.
He loves to watch his big sister!

Such a happy boy.

He wasn't sure that he really liked it.

YUM!

I was just commenting tonight on how happy he is. He's almost always smiling or talking. What a joy he is!

The Pumpkin Patch!

2009-10-26T17:09:00.003-05:00

This past Thursday, Callahan and I, went to the pumpkin patch with some friends from church. We were able to spend some quality time together while my mom kept Evans. It was a nice break from all the work we've been doing at the house.

Almost all of the girls in the buckboard wagon.

Hugging pumpkins!

Riding on the hayride to the patch.

Showing the pumpkin she found.

Wandering through the pumpkin patch.

She was telling me to look at something. I can't remember what, though.

My girl and me!

Impromptu photo shoot!

2009-10-21T23:33:00.004-05:00

In the midst of all the painting, I snapped a few pictures of Evans yesterday. Enjoy!

Inside the house. Before.

2009-10-19T23:21:00.007-05:00

Here are some pictures of the our new house! These are the before pictures.

The entry way.
The dining room. A lovely corndog yellow.

Kitchen. The tile is an awful green color made too look like marble. We are going to replace it with the hardwoods that are on the rest of the first floor.

Another angle of the kitchen.

Looking out the back door into the screened-in porch and back yard.

Screened-in porch

Back yard with swings and a tree house.

Living room. Another lovely corndog yellow room.

Room in the basement. Will be the playroom.

Upstairs. Evans' room

Callahan's bedroom.

Kid's bathroom. They tried a "lovely" faux finish. I think they smeared drywall mud all over and slapped some flat purpley-blue paint on it. I don't mind faux finish, but I think they let their kids do it. I'm not sure just how we'll remedy it. It's starting to flake off the wall. We've thought about sanding it, but know it will make a HUGE mess! So, we'll see.

Upstairs laundry room! I'm very excited about this!

Our bedroom Chocolate brown. I actually like the color, but the room is naturally dark. So, we'll be painting it a much lighter color.

Very nice walk-in closet.

Our bathroom with another faux finish. This one was sponge painted. So, we'll just be able to paint over it.

Homecoming

2009-10-14T22:42:00.002-05:00

We had a great time in Pittsburgh! Our main reason for going was Geneva's Homecoming. It was the ten year reunion for the class I should have graduated with. I was on the 5 year plan in college. We loved seeing old friends and meeting their kids. Callahan wore herself out playing with all her new friends. We enjoyed listening to live music, walking around the newly renovated campus, and lunch at Alex's(dining hall).

Everyone wanted to climb this tree.
Callahan and her friends Ella and Lucy.

Hanging out at the street fair. Evans spent most of the time in his little stroller cave. It was so cold and Evans doesn't have many cold weather clothes. I figured he would be warmest in his carseat.

Running down Memorial lawn with friends.

Callahan was thrilled to see Geneva's marching band!

Old Main.

There used to be a major road that ran right through campus. They've now re-routed the road, so students no longer have to risk their lives heading to class ever day. The picture above is of the new entrance to campus. Beautiful!

A Giggling Boy!

2009-10-14T22:27:00.002-05:00

We went up to Pittsburgh this past weekend for my college Homecoming. We met up with one of my best friends from high school, Theresa. It was so GREAT to catch up! One of things she was able to do was get Evans to laugh! He hasn't laughed since. We keep joking that we need to call her to get him to laugh again.

Bluff Park Art Show

2009-10-14T21:43:00.003-05:00

One of our favorite things to do every year, is to go to the Bluff Park Art Show. This year, Callahan got to ride a school bus and ride in a brand new wagon!

I cannot tell you how excited she was to ride on the school bus!
Hi cars, hi children, hi people, hi church!

We saw this wagon in Vail this summer. My mom quickly ordered it. It came 3 months later. It was well worth the wait. Our fair skinned children loved the shade!

One of Callahan's new hobbies. Collecting leaves.

Three and a half months!

2009-09-29T22:37:00.004-05:00

Normally I would post Evans' stats on his actual 4 monthday. However, my brain got a little confused. I ended up taking him to the doctor 2 weeks early. Oops.

September 27th

Weight: 15lbs 9oz.

Length: 25.5 inches

Both are in the 90th percentile

Disneyland!

2009-09-24T23:25:00.004-05:00

Honestly, Disneyland wasn't even on my radar when planning this trip! When we got there and realized we had a free afternoon, my mom suggested Disneyland. I thought for a second, and thought, why not! The only thing missing from the fun filled day was Jim. I was so sad that he was missing it. I tried not to have any expectations for our visit. If we got there and it totally bombed and the kids were done, I was going to be okay with that. We ended up having a really great time. We didn't make it out of Fantastyland and only rode 4 rides, but it was totally worth it!

Riding the tram to the park.

Main street Disneyland.

The family, minus one:(

The castle. Not nearly as big as Disney World, but still cute.

I forgot just how wild, Mr Toad's Wild Ride was. Callahan got a little scared. At first she thought the little car was totally cool, but then the wildness started.

Riding the Dumbo ride.

They have their Mickey ears and ready to go on It's a Small World.

Her very first set of ears!

She was really excited about the boat ride until we went inside. I think she thought it was going to be "wild". She was a little nervous.

Needing her lovey and a hung from me to feel safe.

Showering Baby Bush(Olivia or Noah)!

2009-09-24T22:05:00.006-05:00

Olivia or Noah(we find out tomorrow!9/25) will be joining us in December and we CANNOT wait! We showered him or her with gifts on Sunday morning. We had brunch on the veranda of a quaint tea room in San Juan Capistrano.

Studying the menu.

Taking it all in.

The loot!

The veranda

We enjoyed pomegranate mimosas.

Callahan had her very own teapot full of lemonade. She thought she was so big with her teacup!

SCRUMPTIOUS currant scone!

She loved her scone!

27 weeks pregnant and so much energy!

Evans spent the morning camped out in the Phil and Ted.

Callahan was so excited to see the train tracks running through San Juan Capistrano. When we heard the train whistle, Ashley scooped Callahan up and actually ran to the train.

I love to watch her run!

Representing the south with her smocked dress!

Helping Ashley unwrap her gifts.

I brought some toys for her to play with. I guess she got a little bored:)

First couple days in LA

2009-09-24T21:54:00.002-05:00

Last week my parents, the kids and I headed out to LA for a baby shower for baby Bush. Here are some pictures from our first couple days in LA. On our first day we went out to Hollywood to visit my Aunt Judy and Uncle Dick. I hadn't seen them since Charlie and Ashley got married 8 years ago. It was good to catch up. Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures. Oops! Saturday, we met up with Ashley and her family for dinner. It was great to see everyone again!

The sign!
Just hanging out watching me.

Breakfast of champions...Cheerios and a banana. In the hotel room.

Cooking dinner.

Callahan was giving Aunt Ashley and baby Bush a ride!

Callahan goes to BSF

2009-09-16T00:20:00.004-05:00

My mom has been going to BSF for as long as I can remember. They have a wonderful children's program and Callahan is now old enough to go. She was SO excited to go to "church school" this morning. She wanted to ride a yellow bus, but sadly we don't have one:) I'm really excited to see her knowledge and love for the Lord grow!

Getting ready!

Brushing teeth.

All ready with her back pack.

Her tiger back pack.

Climbing into the van.

Her teachers!

Vacation after my vacation!

2009-09-15T23:26:00.002-05:00

A trip to Auburn for the game was a great vacation after my vacation! My mom kept both kids so Jim, my Dad and I could all go to the game! Such a blessing and a much needed break. We had FANTASTIC seats, courtesy of a family friend. Right on the Auburn sideline at the 35 yard line. To top it all off, they won!

Before every game the eagle flies around the stadium. Its amazing every time I see it!

Getting the crowd pumped up!

Here they come!

Here are a couple different offensive plays I captured.

Our last full day...

2009-09-10T21:18:00.002-05:00

Sorry for the absence of a post yesterday. I somehow managed to go the whole day with out taking any pictures. Well, that's not totally true. We bought an underwater camera and took pictures with it. I'll upload some whenever I get it developed. Callahan kept wanting to see the pictures I took with it. She doesn't know anything but digital:)
Yesterday, we drove to the outlets in Destin and did a little shopping. We spent the afternoon at the pool with Callahan. We found some floaties here in the condo and decided to let Callahan test them out. She did great. As soon as she put them on and realized the freedom she had, she was ALL OVER the place. She didn't want me to touch her. She also learned she could push herself under the water. She would do it over and over until she choked on some water. I think floaties are her new best friend.
Today we headed to the beach for one last hurrah! We built sandcastles with Papa and went hunting up and down the beach for shells. She now has a really pretty collection of seashells.
We head home tomorrow. We've had a great time, but it will be nice to be home again. We close on our house on Wednesday! We're very excited. We have a few changes we'd like to make before we move in. I'll post pictures as soon as I can.

Building sandcastles.
I love her hat and sunglasses.

The boys in the play gym. Nathan surprised us by rolling from his belly to his back tonight! He did it twice! We thought if Evans got in there with him, he could show him how.

They decided to hold hands instead.