We love Nick and Caitlin

Uncle Nick is really good with kids...as it turns out.  Also, he and Calder pretty much have the same hair.  Which, I love.  Please, wear your hair all messy in the future son.  I think the non-hair style is the best hair style.  Sometimes, if I'm extra good Shane lets me put some sticky gel in his hair to try to achieve this look.  Also, Calder is absolutely terrified of the camera...so, I have only captured one smiling picture of him even though he smiles all the time.

Isn't Caitlin beautiful?  Yeah, she's cute, all of the time...it's hard not to be jealous. :)  Calder looks like he's trying to escape but that is just because of the terrifying camera that is pointed at him.

No pictures of T and Nick and Caitlin but that is because they were so busy doing things they did not slow down for pictures.  Thanks for the visit guys!

Survival Mode

Sometimes we go for walks when the weather isn't so great.  When we do that Calder goes into what we like to call, "survival mode."  This is yet another example of our exceptional parenting skills.  The last  time this happened was when we decided to go clamming in the middle of what ended up being a huge wind and rain storm (50 mph winds-sideways rain).  Calder just stares at us like, "What the heck, guys?  You're kidding right...?"  Then he sort of hunkers into me in his baby carrier.  And before long he is asleep.  Now, this only happens during 'survival mode'.  He does not normally fall asleep in the sling.  It is like his little body is saying, "must conserve energy, must sleep, must live."  Maybe, we should be worried but, really, we are pretty responsible and we are all constantly saying things like, "Is he warm?  Does he need some gloves?  Are his legs completely covered?  Should he have a blanket?  Is he breathing (that one is left over from the NICU)?"  So, I think he is plenty well cared for.

This was not the 50mph wind day.  This was a few days before and it was beautiful out so we had to go for a walk!  Unfortunately, it was also freezing.  I think I have three layers on top and two layers on the bottom.  You can see the sleeping in the bottom picture.  I'm wearing a reflective running hat so excuse the bright glare. 

 

Poor Little Fella 

Uglies

Well, well, well the Ugly Doll post….I’m sure we’ve all been waiting for.

I love Ugly Dolls.  I think they are fantastically cute.  I am a little sad because I think they are becoming quite popular and I would prefer they remain on the “fringe” of being cool.  When we started thinking about decorating Calder’s room I did not want it to be too baby-ish because as a general rule I despise anything too cute, baby-ish or themed.  But, I did want him to have some cute stuff that would easily be transferable to a toddler and even kid room.  So, I decided I wanted to make an Ugly Doll mobile!  

Unfortunately, Calder decided to kick his way out before I had time to figure out how to do this. 

  After much looking, a friend found the perfect mobile base on Etsy.  Side note:  I LOVE etsy.  

Then my thoughtful husband started making the dream come true as he would bring me Ugly Dolls as I sat in the hospital before and after the Chubster was born.  Calder had Ugly Dolls all over his Isolet!  The nurses thought we were crazy because I was like, “Nothing Cute!  Nothing Baby!  No baby blue!”  Hee Hee.  Calder needed to be TOUGH.

So, we had the perfect Ugly Mobile and THEN….Cheryl and Brian gave Calder what I like to call the Ugly Pillow.  A stuffed Ugly that looks perfect on the rocking chair in his bedroom.  

Calder loves his Ugly Pillow.  It is so funny to watch him stare at it.  He thinks that Ugly Doll is pretty sneaky and doesn’t want to look away for fear that Ugly will attack!  This is not a great picture because that darn giraffe is in the way but, trust me, the ultimate staring contest was on. 

 And then one day Calder beat that Ugly down!  He pinned that Ugly and then promptly fell asleep.  It was shocking! 

So, I guess we kinda ended up with a little bit of a theme...what with the Uglies and all.  But, I love it!

Delightful

I love everything about this video.  

It makes me smile every time I watch it. 

And, I've already watched it at least 7 times.  

We went on an outing!

First stay in a hotel room for Calder and Chocolate.  They were both very good.

We went to Long Beach (off-season rates) for the long weekend.  It was rainy.  Very rainy.  Plus, I've got the cold to end all colds.  I took one for the team and toughed it out.  I refuse to acknowledge colds.  My theory is that they don't stick around as long if you pretend they don't exist.  That does not seem to be working out so well for me this time.  And why does the coughing get worse in the evening/night?

Cold 1 - Alisha 0.

I taught Shane and T how to Tim Tam Slam.  Shane had his doubts.  But then he tried it and agreed it was pretty delicious.  I have no idea why he ever doubts me.

Calder was SO close to rolling over from back to front this weekend.  So close....I think we actually ruined it for him because we were all screaming and cheering so loud when he almost flipped himself I think we scared the stuffing out of him.  He just sort of stared at us like, "What the...?"  He has really taken a shining to his monkey toy.  He loves it almost as much as his giant Ugly Doll pillow that Cheryl and Brian gave him for Christmas.  Don't worry, there is an entire post coming up dedicated to his love of the Ugly Pillow.  Here is Calder making moon eyes at his friend Monk the Monkey.

 Hi Monk.  What's goin' on?

 Serious conversation face.

 Dude!  I can totally relate...it's tough being a monkey!

I've been looking at Tayler's baby pictures a lot lately and she definitely has the same features now that she did as a baby.  So, here's my question?  Do you think Calder is going to grow some eyebrows?

A liitle behind....

But it's never too late to record memories, right?  Come on guys, right?  Guys...?
Right!


Going on a tree hunt.  We've always gone to the mountains to cut down our tree. And we always go the weekend after Thanksgiving.  This year there was a major major sow storm that weekend and we didn't want to risk getting stuck with the Chubmaster(a.k.a. Calder).  So we went out to the back 40 and found a good one....well, we loved it. 

 T cutting down the tree.

We visited Santa...It was pretty funny.  T's a little old for this ritual and it didn't help that Mrs. Clause wouldn't let go of her when she was trying to get up.  Santa kept exclaiming how little Calder was and seemed a little (actually, a lot) afraid to hold him.  And, no one would look at the camera.  Ha!  I was trying so hard not to laugh at the whole situation. 

Uncle Nick and Caitlin came to visit before Christmas...Ahh...look at those two cuties.  Calder had a little hair gel in...ha...I love his fo-hawk.  I didn't get any pictures of Caitlin because I'm lazy and haven't been taking any pictures lately.  As is evident from my lack of Christmas photos.

 Sigh... I love this picture.

 This picture pretty much sums up our typical look at this house...crying and cringing. :)

 

Santa (and a bunch of gift certificates) brought Calder a jogging stroller.  Hooray!

And that concludes our Christmas season photo display.  See, I told you I didn't take any.

Stay at Home Mom...

I just typed out this huge multi-paragraph rant on how boring it is to stay at home all day.  Even though I totally appreciate being able to be here and wouldn't have it any other way.  And when I think about going back to work I want to hurl.  Anyway, the whole bloomin' thing deleted! And, I'm not retyping.  So, here is a bulleted list of some of the topics:
- I'm pretty sure I'm getting dumber.
- Cleaning house is not fun
- I would have failed as a 60's housewife.
- I think stay at home mom's are A to the Mazing.
- I have a theory that if I had two more kids at home it would be less boring and more crazy. 
- I think I could handle the crazy.
- I  couldn't handle the crazy.
- shane probably would get the brunt of the crazy which would be lots of crying from exhaustion.
- I'm mainly just procrastinating until I have to pick up T so that I don't have to vacuum or do the dishes. 
- I love the PNW but I think it is one of the ugliest places during winter...ever. 
- Mud everywhere. 
- Mud and soggy decomposing leaves.  And rain.

Okay, that should do it on today's rant. 
I will leave you with a dose of cute pictures of the kids.  That is my new favorite thing to say to Shane..."what are the kids doing" "I got the kids a present today".  Ha. Ha.  Plural "KIDS".  Never mind that getting the kids a present is absurd because one is a teenager and one is a newborn and it's not like they are ever playing together...I just say it because it is fun!