Was That Winter?

I have finally resigned myself to packing away my snowman cookie jar, mitten shaped spoon-rest, and snowman salt and pepper shakers.  I am not sure what season we just came out of but it was definitely NOT winter.  This snow baby barely saw a flake and most days were not even cold enough to wear my new brown coat.  Oh well!  Spring is so wonderful and we have so much going on that I don't really care.  But the winter flew by so fast that I barely blogged.  So here is a quick overview of our winter events.  Looking back, it was a wonderful winter with very few illnesses and lots of time to relax.


The first big event of year 2012 for us was Callie's cast removal.  I would have to sum up Callie's attitude about her injury, and her cooperation with her doctors throughout all the treatments, as AMAZING.  She rarely complained about her cast, adjusted quickly and was very still and smiley through the cast removal.  So when she didn't immediately walk normal the day after having it removed, I was a little worried.  The doctors assured us that it would take about a month for her to fully recover and not drag her leg like a zombie.  Just when we thought the doctors might be wrong, she suddenly walked normal.  It was so sudden, I didn't even notice until my friend Mary pointed it out!  And it was at the one month mark, so I guess the doctors do know a thing or two!

 Her leg was very scaly and stinky.  She was begging for a bath!

 Brand new tennis shoes from Mimi and Yoo-Hoo for the occasion.

 She was very scared to put weight on that leg.  It wasn't until the next day that she would even try to walk on it at all.

 She was very excited to look at the x-ray of her completely healed leg.  We were too!

Potty Training.  Those words haunt me right now.  Callie is well behind all her friends in this area and just before getting her cast off, we thought she was almost there.  But after getting her cast off, she seemed to forget the whole point of it.  I took her out to buy the undies and the princess pull-ups and she was very proud of them.  But after a week of accidents and frustration, I decided to wait until after her birthday to continue.  I am hoping that three will be the magic number and it will all click.  Many moms have assured me that was the case for their kids.  So, to be continued on this one...

 Excited about her princes and fairy panties.  Not excited enough to prevent her from peeing through all 14 pairs!

This picture taken with my phone captures it all.  And now you understand why I quit!

On to happier memories...We celebrated Yoo-Hoo's birthday at the end of January.  Callie helped decorate a Little Mermaid cake for him.  His present from us was a date night with Mimi and Callie out to see Clifford Live.  They ate Mexican and then went to the show and had a great time!

Ready to go see Clifford!

We welcomed another cat into our family this winter, but fortunately, this one doesn't need a litter box.  Callie has become obsessed with the new Disney show "The Octonauts" and her favorite character is Kwazii.  The toys haven't hit the US yet and she was carrying around a paper picture of him everywhere.  I decided it was a time to get out my new sewing machine my parents got me for Christmas and make her a "real" Kwazii.  She loves it and sleeps with him every night.

 She celebrated every piece as I put it together.  Here he is pre-stuffing.

 And she was thrilled to have a "fat" Kwazii to hug!

He makes a great flying buddy!

 The only memorable sickness for us this winter was a painful sinus infection for me.  I also had a cavity filled an another filling replaced and ended up with terrible jaw pain for over a month after the procedure.

 Callie got a new room complete with a big girl bed AND a visit from the paci-fairies who took away all her pacifiers and left her a princess in their places.  (Pictures of her new room will be posted later). Both of these events were pretty traumatic in their impact on all our sleep.  The first week or two of no pacifiers were horrible.  Lots of screaming and crying, and not just from Callie!  Eventually she got used to sleeping in her bed and without pacifiers BUT one of us still has to lay there with her until she falls asleep.  And at some point every night, she comes into our room.  For a while this was a real problem because we just didn't have enough room for three fat cats and a toddler who likes to sleep across the bed.  But she has recently created what she calls her "Tiger Bed" which is a line of pillows on the floor by my side.  Now she comes in during the night and sleeps on those pillows.  I only have to wake up long enough to cover her up.

 To ensure that she goes to sleep before midnight (no exaggeration) we also had to take away her nap.  As a result, we sometimes we find her asleep at odd times during the day.

 If Callie isn't pretending to be a tiger or a cat, she is a puppy, spreading dog slobber cheer and building dog houses with our cushions and blankets.  She recently licked a nursery worker twice during church.  And when I went into Dominoes to pick-up a pizza the other night, she sat on a chair like a cat and meowed the entire time.  (She also had drawn whiskers on herself before we left the house).  She's getting a reputation for being very 'into' her characters!

 She's been a busy little artist on her new easel from Nana and Papa.

And she has enjoyed lots of snuggles with her kitties.

 She and Daddy have a new hobby - pancake art!

 and she might be adding new sports to her repertoire?  Her new favorite outing is to Dick's Sporting Goods!

 She was a very cute little Valentine!

My friend Mary made matching skirts for Callie and Sara.  This is what happens when you try to get two toddlers to cooperate for pictures.  Not so lady-like!

 She helped me blow out the candles on my birthday and enjoyed a visit from Nana and Papa.

 Pa bought Callie a new set of play-dough tools for Valentines Day.  She has been working hard on her sculpture portfolio with her new camera from cousin Hunter.

And finally, Callie and I were able to accompany Matt on a work trip to DC this winter.  It was one of the many unseasonably warm weeks so it was the perfect time for Callie and me to visit the Natural History Museum while Daddy worked.

 Here she is with her favorite Dino!

Sorry Aunt Missy, Matt made us to take this picture for you!  (Michelle is terrified of the large whale hanging from the ceiling)

After his meetings, Daddy took us out to dinner and for a walk to see the monument.

And that pretty much sums up our winter!  Just in time for a big birthday party!

Snippet: My Hairdresser

I am starting a new segment of my blog called "Snippets".  I realized that, since I am regularly behind on blogging because it takes so long to get pictures together and write about a picture worthy event, I am missing the little everyday things that I won't have pictures to help me remember.  One of my main reasons for blogging is to record my memories of Callie's childhood.  So my "snippets" will likely be short, image-free and possibly out of chronological order.  Basically, they are posted on a whim and are meant to help me remember something Callie did.  So, after a much too wordy introduction, here is my first snippet.  I call it "My Hairdresser".

Today, my hairdresser smelled like Captain Crunch and didn't bother to get out of her Minnie Mouse pajamas before she came to work.  She spilled out all her hair bows on the floor and then decided to use my clips instead.  She brushed my hair in a style she kept referring to as, "Up, up and away!" and once she had it all brushed forward, over my face, she commented on how much I looked like a puppy.  One might assume that it was quite relaxing having someone brush and "style" my hair.  But my stylist's methods include excruciating twisting, a strange scrunching technique and what she calls "making a bow" but is really her trying to tie strands of hair in a knot.  I also have to regularly answer the same question, "All pretty yet, mommy?" and if I say, "I don't know, am I?" the answer is always, "No...still brushing".  I am not sure if I am not yet pretty because the brushing is not complete or if the continued brushing is a result of the fact that I am not yet pretty.  I don't recommend this hairdresser if you are really in need of an ego boost!

B.B.A. (Bad Bloggers Anonymous...well, not so anonymous!)

My name is Amanda and I am a bad blogger.  It all started back when my baby became mobile then transitioned rapidly from crawling to walking and then climbing.  My more recent bout of bad blogging was triggered by seome new Callie Mae challenges, hence a blog about Christmas in late February.  Since my last post, many events have transpired.  The happiest event was that Callie got her cast off.  I will blog more about that at a later date and post pictures (I like to keep them all in order).  But Callie’s cast is off and she is now walking normally.  Her leg is regaining muscle and any evidences of injury are quickly fading.  Thank you, Lord!  For a few weeks there she had a terrible limp and would drag her right foot like Frankenstein.  But she gradually improved and was all better within the time frame that the doctors gave us. 

Other big changes for us have involved sleeping and, well, not sleeping.  Callie now has a big girl bed (more on that later too) and does not use her pacifiers anymore to sleep.  That was a fun (not really) transition.  One day, the mean ol’ paci fairy just took all those paci’s away and left a princess toy in their place.  The princess toy was fun until bedtime and we spent a week exhaustedly trying to convince Callie that it was okay to fall asleep without something in her mouth.  In the process, I decided that we just had to stop letting her nap because she was sleeping better during the day than at night and wouldn’t go to sleep until after midnight some nights.  We were all grumpy and worn out.  So, now we have a child who goes to sleep fairly easily at a normal kid bedtime.  We still have to lay down with her to get her to sleep and she ends up in our bed at some point every night, but we are at least getting her to bed at a decent time and are getting our time back at night.  But, no nap means that I no longer get any Callie free moments during the day (especially since the taking away of paci’s has made her even more mommy-dependent).  That is a big reason why I have not been able to blog much!  Right now, Callie is at her Little Gym class with Nana and Papa and so I figured now would be a great time to post the rest of Christmas photos.  Especially since the ones I haven’t posted yet are of Nana and Papa!  So, hopefully the recent snowy weather that everyone (except VB residents, BOO-HOO!) enjoyed is putting you in the mood for Christmas memories!  

This is how Santa left the tree for Callie on Christmas morning.

 Santa hid "Chomper" the T-Rex in the tree.

Chomper was a hit, grrrr!

 When Callie opened her Princess castle (like the one we gave her friend Sara for her birthday) she said, "My princess castle!  Matti, Noah and Sara gave it to me!"

 The kitties had a stocking full of treats and Callie enjoyed giving them their presents.

 Callie gave Daddy a moon for his office.

 Barbie has to wait in line to ride her horse.

 Puzzle time with Daddy!  Each toy had to be thoroughly played with before moving on to the next present.

Callie LOVES umbrellas!

 She had to go put on her princess costume to play with her castle!

 And to play dinosaurs with Daddy in her new princess tent.

 Daddy got a new shirt!

Ollie got Christmas hugs!

 Ollie almost looks like his kitten photos here!

 And Chester always looks like a cute fuzzy mush!

 The jump rope Santa left in Callie's stocking was used to capture a giant ogre!

 Victory!

When Mimi and Yoo-Hoo arrived, Callie got to show off her presents and her muscles.  "Crong Baby!"  She got weights so she could lift just like Daddy!

 And Yoo-Hoo and Daddy put up her train table in its permanent spot as our living room coffee table.

 Mimi and Yoo-Hoo came bearing more gifts and stocking!  Notice how Matt's lap is NEVER empty.  This cat lives to cuddle with him and is just lost when he is at work.

Mimi and Yoo-Hoo and Autnt Missy had gotten Callie this zoo last year but we all decided it had too many little parts to give it to her then.  She was old enough for it this year and all those little parts took me HOURS to put together.  But the result is a very cool zoo!

 We left for Nana and Papa's house on Wednesday after Christmas.  Callie was anxious to tear into presents as soon as she got there.  This is her "cheese" face!  Now I really regret teaching her to say that for pictures because she makes this face as soon as she sees the camera come out.

 Nana liked the birdhouse that Callie painted for her.

 Every kid needs a hula hoop!

 And every little artist needs an easel!

 Every man needs a good weed wacker!

 And princesses need lots of outfit options!

 Nana and Papa got busy putting together the marble maze they got me, I mean, Callie, while Matt and I set up their big surprise in the living room!

 Every Nana and Papa who live at the lake need "his and hers" kayaks!

 I think they liked them!

 Nana needed a check-up from Dr. Callie Spiers

 This doctor looks like she just got off the night shift!

 We left the lake on Saturday and drove up to the mountain to celebrate Christmas (New Years, really) with the Epperley side of the family.  Callie enjoyed helping pass out presents until her pile became too tempting and then she dove in.

 She liked her snowglobe from Aunt Janny.

 Cousin Andrew

 Cousin Meredith has candy canes!

 The newlyweds!

 The cows got more visits from Callie and Callie got introduced to cow piles.

We also got to visit Aunt Janny at her cute house and see her many trees and village.

 A very festive Hunter!

A very tired Mommy.  Why am I always tired???

Oh...that's why!

 Callie loves Mommy!

 And Callie loves puppies!  We got to visit with a few of Princess Penny's puppies before they went to new homes.

 After a small housing mis-hap, the little brown one got to come back home to Laura where it belonged.  Hopefully, one day, Princess Penny will get to come home to our house where Callie and I feel she belongs!

 This little puppy looked just like Charlie (the puppy uncle).  Charlie was probably glad to see most of the competition leave!

I think this is the last picture of a sleeping Callie pre-Paci Princess visit.