Valentines

On Valentine's morning, we woke up to these sitting on the kitchen table. 

Tanner: Whoa!! What are those for?

Me: Your daddy loves me so much so he got them for me!!!
Tanner: But doesn't he Love ME too??? [sad look overcomes his face]
Guess who's sharing??
Me: Oh, yeah.  You're right.  See, there's one flower for you, one for Brooke, and one for me.  And luckily 2 chocalates. Daddy loves ALL of us.  [Whew, that was a close one!!]

But before you go feeling sorry for Tanner, don't!! He finally finished all the stickers on his chart and finally earned his new Transformer Lego set.  [Did I mention how much I LOVE target clearance?  70% off baby]

But still not nearly as cool as the cowboy sheriff station we created earlier this week.  Most morning usually start with Tanner looking through the Lego encylopedia book, and inisting we build XYZ.  And depending on my mood, we try out best to re-create it. 

Brooke, on the other hand, had no problem sharing her true feelings. 

Me:  "Brooke, do you love your momma?"
Brooke:  Her only response "Da-da-da!" 
Go figure!!

My little angel baby!

But as much as I love these two kiddos, I love their dad way more.  He's my whole world...and I couldn't live a day without him.  Good thing he's mine for eternity!!

Table Scraps

The other day, all was quiet in the house.  Like really quiet.  Tanner was in the room next to me, happily reading a book, and Brooke was no where to be seen.  

Where did I find her?  Underneath her high chair, eating some of her own "leftovers" off the floor.  Gross!!

Followed by "Oh no, I've been caught, let's get out of here!" 

She is finally scooting around, crawling with one leg in crawling position, and the other in sitting position.  She has been able to scoot for while, but now she seems to have taken off.  My world -- flipped upside down.  I keep asking myself, am I ready for this? 

But unfortunately, the answer doesn't really have any bearing.  Like it or not -- she is on the go!

And that's not even the worst of it.  One day -- I saw Brooke reaching into the cracks of her high chair seat, finding some "goodies" leftover from yesterday's food, and proceeding to eat all the dried, out nastiness.

But it gets worst.  One day, I was cleaning out her high chair before I put her in there -- thoroughly making sure I got every nook and cranny so Brooke wouldn't mind any more "leftovers."  I set them in a bowl with some of her leftover oatmeal from lunch.  Finally got it nice and clean, put Brooke in there, and Anthony walks in the door.  "Do you want to feed Brooke so I can make dinner?"  Of course.  

I proceed to make dinner and I hear Anthony begin talking to Brook, "This looks yummy with all these different pieces?"  I pause immediately.  "OMG! Anthony, what are you feeding her!?!?"  Yep, you guessed it, the leftover bowl of oatmeal with all those gross, nasty dried out tidbits of food from her high chair.  Anthony thought I had just whipped it up for her and didn't think twice before giving her spoonful after spoonful.  And she was loving it!

Things like this only happen to the second child.  I already feel sorry for any future children that might have to endure such tragic experiences.  

Luckily, she has Tanner.  He is such a big help and just loves her to death. This morning, I awoke to Brooke beginning to fuss, but it just a few seconds, there was Tanner, "Sweetheart, it's okay!" Reassuring her, playing with her, and from there, nothing but sweet lil giggles.    

Happy New Years!

This year we had a “NOON Years Day" celebration with the whole family. 

The kids didn’t notice that it was already New Year’s Day – you just start counting down and the excitement starts all over again.

But rest assured, the party wasn’t just for “KIDS!”

What’s now to love about balloons filled with jokes, candy, and yes, even money?  My favorite part was stuffing them full of the jokes – these were hilarious!

Why doesn’t anyone like a nosy pepper?  Cuz they jalapeno buziness!!

What kind of cheese is not yours?  NACHO cheese.

Why did Tigger go to the toilet?  He wanted to see Pooh.

After the balloons were popped, we came and had a toast to the new year.  Could it really be 2013!!

Nana and Papa made the festivities.  Of course you’d expect a tear jerking performance from Papa with hopes for a new year filled with love, peace, and happiness.  I can’t come close to matching his eloquence (especially not a month later when I’m typing this out) so we’ll just stop there.

All the other adults wished for your typical things – peace, simplicity, weight loss, and educational/work pursuits.

When the kids weighed in on the subject, we never knew they had such large ambitions floating around up there.  These kiddos are so cute!!

Mason wished for a real “choo-choo” for everyone.

Avery wished for a puppy dog?  Seriously, who can say no to that?  But will it be enough to change her parents heart?

Quincy’s new year resolution was to be potty trained.  Or was that your mother speaking?

Brooke’s new year’s resolution is to sleep to her hearts content by taking long, restful morning and afternoon naps.  No more of this 15 mins here, 30 mins there business.  But that was definitely her mom speaking!!

And Brittany, her goal was to open her own real school, and of course she’d be the teacher.  I’d sign Tanner up anytime.  She’s such a loving, sweet lil thang!

And Tanner, he’s still thinking about his goal.  Maybe be the time next year rolls around, he’ll have a good one to share.

Thanks, Emily and OBB for the great ideas.  This is sure to be a new family tradition.

SNOW!

Just when we thought we had missed out on the best part of winter, we got another down pour of snow.

  

This time, we didn't waste any time finding a real sledding hill at the elementary school just a block away.  Well -- at least it was the perfect size for the wee little ones.    

It was New Years Eve and New Years Day -- so no where to be except for home.

And for two days straight, we sled to our little hearts content!

For Brooke, one time down was enough.  It was FREEZING cold and those snow flakes kept landing on her gorgeous, long lashes.  She was ready to go back where it was warm!

 On Christmas day, Tanner was a little leery of heading down the hill, I mean driveway.  But the second time around, NOTTIN could stop him.  Except for forgetting to bring the sled back UPHILL.  

But by the end, he was a pro!

Some us old folks, on the other hand, ran into a few technical difficulties.  Like trying to sit on the sled and it take off behind us before we could "blop" ourselves down.  

Or having the inner tube run out of air, but try it anyways, with another person on top.  Can we say -- OUCH!!  No padding the entire way down.

Here's some fun videos of us going down this hills with the cousins -- Tanner, Mason, and Brittany.

Kristan and Mason showing us how it's done.  Going over the "bump!"

My only regret was not taking more pics -- like Grandpop going down with a sled full of kids, Nana and Papa hanging out in the fridged weather (especially compared to St George!) or even pics of Avery and Tanner from the previous day.  But it was nearly impossible to snap a picture in the freezing cold weather.  So...we'll have to settle for these.

Now I can't wait until it snows again. And guess what, tomorrow might be our lucky day!!! Who-hoo!!

Christmas Day

December was filled with so much this year – I’m still recuperating.  Between the Christmas parties, hosting Anthony’s work party at our home, baking goodies, visiting Santa, going to Dallas, I was just exhausted.

But the magic of Christmas Day seems to make it all worth it.

We had a lovely Christmas Eve – which started in Dallas and ended in Kansas City.  My sister’s family had an awesome feast at their home and we arrived just in time for the reenactment of the Nativity.  All the kids participated except for Tanner and Brooke.  Tanner gets a little stage fright.  But hey, at least he joined in for the pic :)  And in case you’re wondering, that’s a real baby.  Thanks Scarlett for cooperating.

Before going to bed, we left Santa some yummy cookies and a picture of the First Christmas just for him.

On Christmas morning, the kids actually slept in and we had a blissful morning of filled with Christmas spirit.   Tanners first reaction, as he was hurrying me and my sister to the wonderful scene, “Santa left a THOUSAND presents!”   More like just a few, but who’s counting??


Tanner’s excitement just kept spiraling out of control.  He was the happiest little kid.  His very first present that he opened was an awesome pirate ship.  He was so ecstatic and he wouldn’t take his eyes off of it.  When I tried to get him to open another present, he responded, “No thanks.  I just want to play with my pirate ship!” 

He also was pretty stocked about his Lego monster truck and pirate figures.  What was his favorite present?  According to Tanner – ALL OF THEM!

Brooke had more fun unwrapping and playing with the paper—or shall I say eating it!

She got tons of little things – like her own necklaces!

Scarlett was a little harder to impress, but with Katelynn’s help, opened some pretty cool gear.

But the biggest “hit” of all – was this robot claw – as my brother Brendan is demonstrating. 
After a yummy breakfast of monkey bread and fruit,
We were so happy that there was still SNOW in KC.  We were worried we had missed out on all the fun being in Dallas.   While the snow was still scarce, our driveway proved to be the best sledding hill, thanks to our home for blocking all the sunlight, there was a thick layer of ice.  And dontcha all worry – we made the most of it!
Brendan and Katelynn took the first runs down the “hill”

Even Brooke braved the weather.  She wasn’t a fan of the snow flurries landing on those luscious lashes, but she did enjoy a good run down the driveway – I mean HILL!
Tanner was extremely leery of first.  He just wanted to “loot” around in all his pirate gear.  But – after much coercing – he gave it a shot.  And he’s been converted ever since!!



Yep, we all went down – not so gracefully!
In the afternoon, we headed to Keith & Kristan’s to celebrate with the rest of the extended families.  We had an awesome dinner, followed by gift exchange and games. 
After the kiddos exchanged presents, we didn’t hear from Tanner & Mason the rest of the evening.  They were too busy playing with their Lego Monster trucks.

Then we played some awesome minute-to-win it games with the entire family.   These were hilarious and so much fun!
First up was a Can-you-get-the-cookie-from-your-forehead-into-your-mouth-without-using-your-hands-in-a-minute game.  Jared was the proud winner.

 

We played can-you-get-the-red-pompom-on-a-string-up-on-your-vaseline-covered-nose-in-a-minute game.  It was super hard!

We everyone’s favorite -- see-how-many-marshmallows-you-can-get-through-the-wreath-and-into-the-bucket-in-a-minute game.  A lot harder than it looked. 

Such a fun filled day – and like Tanner has been asking – when will it be Christmas again?  I WISH everyday could be like Christmas.  With so much JOY, LOVE, and HAPPINESS, don’t we all!!!

Brooke Update - 9 Months

My little Rock Star is 9 months today!!!

I'm still waiting to get Brooke's 9 month pics done along with her doctor visit. But don't worry, nothing has changed. She's gotta still be in the 90th + percentile for height/weight. When I weighed her the other day, she was 24 pounds. She's such a little chunker and carries all her weight in her bottom. In the past month, she outgrew the 9 month clothes, then the 12 months, and we're now transitioning to 18 month. She's practically the same size as her cousin Q who's a full year older than her.

Our Little Foodie

Loves to feed herself, anything and everything.  She learned how to use her thumb/forefinger to pick up food at 6 months -- so she's definitely mastered the art of feeding.  Which also means -- she's mastered art of dispensing unwanted items on the floor. 

You know she's a Callison -- cause she loves her some spaghetti. 

Will go CRAZY for water in a sippy cup.  She continues to jump up and down, nearly launching herself out of my arms, if she sees one in sight and means a sip for her. 

Offended by formula -- even if it means going to bed without anything at all. She likes to hold out for the "real' stuff.

But with two little teeth that popped up in October, she's aggressive!!  She loves to bite into anything but gets frustrated she can't eat things as fast as when she's spoon fed -- so luckily -- she still lets us spoon feed her too.  And she quickly devours every bite. 

And when I'm not paying attention, she'll look for little bits of "leftovers" in the crack of her high chair and eat them too.  Yummy!!!

Social Butterfly
She prefers playing with people more than toys, anyday!  Whenever anyone enters the room, she's the first one to notice.  She gets the most excited about seeing Scarlett -- she has a serious crush on her, or maybe just her pacifier.  Either way, she just wants to get her hands on her and those beautiful locks of hair!  We're still waiting for Scarlett to recipricate the "crush" but maybe when Brooke learns to play nice and not be "Bam Bam" all the time, things will change.  These girls are destined to be best friends.

Tanner can make her laugh the most.  We get can her to do "courtesy" laughs all the time, but Tanner can get the pure, authentic, full out belly laughs anytime. 

People just make Brooke get so excited.  Not just a smile, but streams of JOY rock her whole body -- she'll be flapping her hands, leaping out of my lap, clapping her hands, she just gets so excited she can't contain herself.  Until you try to pry her from my arms.  Then fear takes over for a second (she prefer to "crush" on others from afar.  She is getting better by leaps and bounds.  She'll finally let other people love on her and hold her. 

Movin' Around
She loves walking around toys and furniture, but apparently, crawling in beneath her.

Just recently mastered rolling over.  Sure, she did it a few times when she was just a few months old, but then never did it again, and then only did it here and there periodically.  She can do it -- but it's not her favorite thing to do -- and takes some coaxing.

Her preferred method of commute -- sitting up, reaching for whatever she wants, and if that doesn't work, she'll go from sitting to crawling until she gets it.  Or she'll just cry and Tanner will come running over to her aid and hand her the beloved item.  She's a little spoiled. 

She is being to "crawl" but is still in the early stages -- more like moving backwards until she gets stuck and someone comes to her rescure.  And just the other day, full body plank position. 

  I think she was jealous of me going to pilates without her.

  

Look out, here I come!!   

Prefers to empty out anything in site. Changing her, she loves to grab onto her dresser drawers and empty out the clothes. Her box of toys -- she prefers emptying herself. Tanner's Legos -- that's a goldmine. Only happened once -- and we're doing our best to keep it that way.

Yes, Brooke, you've been caught!

Pulling the clothes out of her drawer like its no big deal.

She LOVES to stand up and play with toys or to hold onto your fingers, or grasp on to couch/drawers, anything.  She just starts to smile and laugh and thinks is the best thing in the whole world, second only to her LOVE of food.

She's kept her balance for close to 10-20 seconds when she lets go, can "walk" holding onto our hands.  I have to admit -- seeing her do this has aged her to me.  She looks so much older -- but I still don't want to picture her walking.  Once that starts, my whole world will be tipped upside down and there's going to be NO stopping her.


New Tricks

A few weeks ago, she learned how to clap her hands.  See how cute she is:

And now she does it when ever she gets excited or we start to laugh.  In the morning, there's nothing better than waking up to a sweet baby girl that's eager to please and pulls out all her tricks, just to make us smile.  Like I said -- such a social baby!! 

She is learning how to wave hello and good-bye too.  She does it about half the time, the other half, she just starts clapping.  Anything to get some attention -- and she knows it works!
She also started doing Tanner's notorious super intense smile.  The kind where she stretches every muscle in her face to smile and makes her whole body shake -- until you think she's going to have a hernia.  She did this seriously 100+ times a day.  Grandma Callison was the first one to get her to start around Christmas, and from there, it just didn't stop.  She would have the whole room laughing hysterically and sersiously do it 100+ times a day, until I got so worried about her pulling a muscle or something that I had to stop responding to it.  And sadly, in just the past week, she doesn't do it nearly as often -- so I"m still working on capturing it on camera.  And once I do, I promise it will not disappoint. 

She also says Da-da and Ma-ma.  On purpose too.  In the morning, she's super excited when she wakes up and Anthony is still here.  She just watches from our bed as he gets ready and ddoens't taker her eyes off of him, and just keeps blurting out, "Da-da, Da-da."  And when she's super tired or hungry, guess who she wants? And guess who she asks for?  That's right folks, her "Ma-ma!"  Oh yeah, this little girl loves her momma, maybe to the point of obsession.  But don't worry, it's mutual -- this momma loves her right back!!

What is there not to LOVE about this lil chunk of happiness!  I love the light and enery she brings to the world, one smile at a time.