Two Little Blackbirds

We started a new music class session this week, which means new songs...new CDs...yes!

Callie always picks her favorites from each session (so when listening in the car, we have to skip through all songs except the 2 she has picked as favorites) and this one she got hooked on a couple of songs really quickly.   

So, without further ado, here is our toddler singing one of her new favs, "Two Little Blackbirds."

Spring Break Part 1

Well, somehow it is already Wednesday night and spring break is half over.  That went way too fast!

So here are some pics from spring break so far:

Hanging out w/ Casey, Ciri and Gianni

Cheesy smile!

3 cuties

Hanging out with Auntie Cat

45 degrees + no coat = Cat's Cal sweatshirt (not a stellar Mommy moment)

Big Chips!

Playing in the backyard

New hat

T-ball with Daddy

The girls with Baby Jaguar

Dinner with Bops

So, really, the only goal I made for spring break that I haven't met yet is #4- Scrapbook.  I blame my child for this one, as her naps for me have not been much more than an hour.  I am barely up from MY nap by the time she thinks she is done with hers.  So hopefully I'll get a 3-hour one some day soon...

Weekend Wrap-Up: The Sand Aversion Edition

We park hopped this weekend.  Unfortunately, the number of parks we went to didn't lessen (at ALL) the dislike our little toddler has toward sand.  Read on to see what we're dealing with here.

Friday
My first official day on spring break!  We went downtown and hung out with Boom in the morning, heading to park #1.

Hanging

Balancing with Boom

I HATE SAND #1

Then later in the afternoon, we went to our park and ran into our neighbors.  Notice how Ben and Hannah are joyfully playing in the sand, and Callie won't even enter the sandy area.

I HATE SAND #2

 Saturday
Chris had a training all day, so Callie and I just relaxed, did some errands, and hung out outside.

We Love Spring Break!

She also became interested in tools and fixing things.  No idea where that came from, but we went with it.


That evening we went out to eat with Jenna and Charlie (I know, you may be thinking "AGAIN!  THOSE LADIES ARE CRAZY!") but dinner was actually relatively calm.  Then we headed to another park, where the hatred for sand culminated in some freak-out sessions.

I HATE SAND #3

With a bonus I HATE SAND video, in which she refuses to walk in sand!


She also had the tendency to cling to me like a little monkey and not let me put her down on the sand.

But, despite the sand issues, she did manage to have some fun with Charlie.

Letting Charlie do the sand digging

Swings!

Little airplanes running around the field

Sunday
This morning I ran an awesome 5.7 miles, despite it being WAY chillier than I thought it was going to be.  And then we dropped Callie of with G-pa so Chris and I could have a movie date to see The Hunger Games.  This weekend has been a good weekend for crossing off some things from my Spring Break List (specifically #2, #3, #6, #7). 

Other people's shoes are way more fun

Then we headed to the condo to see Boom and Bops.  Callie showed what a big girl she continues to be (the no passies thing is still going strong!) by eating at the counter instead of the high chair.

Taking Big Girl bites

After supper she had fun being buried by Beanie Babies.

I'm thinking this whole sand issue is just a general dislike for being dirty/messy (which is totally ironic considering who her parents are).  Let's hope it is just another one of her crazy phases!

Mission: Ditch the Passy

So...M: DtP has commenced.

Step 1: Create a good story for why the passies have to go away.
My story?  That the Passy Fairy needs Big Girls to put their passies into her Passy Fairy Bag.  And then the Passy Fairy takes the Passy Fairy Bag and gives it to babies who still use passies when they sleep.

Step 2: Talk about the story ALL. MORNING. LONG.

Step 3: Follow through.  Right before sleepies, find the Passy Fairy Bag and put passies into it.

Bye bye passies!

Step 4: Put Passy Fairy Bag outside of bedroom, congratulate Big Girl on being such a big girl, and give Big Girl new Ducky book.

Where my passies at?

Step 4: Realize the Passy Fairy Bag is too distracting if it can still be seen by Big Girl, so take it down to the laundry shoot, where (obviously) the Passy Fairy will pick it up.

Bye bye passies- Take 2

 Step 5: Read new Ducky book and learn that this ducky can go to sleepies without a passy, JUST LIKE BIG GIRLS CAN!

Cooo-oool!

Step 6: Stop delaying the inevitable battle, do the nap time routine, and wait.

Step 7: Patiently calm and soothe as necessary, maybe rock Big Girl a little bit, listen to some "BYE BYE PASSY SEEYAYATER!"s and some "SEEYAYATER DUCKY!"s and some "BYE BYE MOMMY SEEYAYATER! LOVE YOU MOMMY!"s in between the crying, and then...40 minutes later...sneak downstairs after 5+ minutes of silence.

Step 8: Text Daddy the progress and appreciate his last text the most: "Cool. Guess we'll see how I do tonight."

27-Months-Old!!!

This girl is 27-months-old today.

And the best part of this 27-month-old-birthday?  This girl's mommy is officially on spring break for 10 days!

I have a couple goals for the week.  Some for me, some for Callie:

1) Relax (well...as much as someone chasing a 27-month-old around can)
2) Ditch the nap time/nighttime passy (we ditched the daytime passy back in December...now it is time to bite the bullet and just ditch it for good)
3) See Hunger Games (CAN'T WAIT!!!!!)
4) Scrapbook (yes...still working on the baby book)
5) Play with lots of friends (zoo dates? park dates? anyone?)
6) Enjoy the weather (I'm anticipating a lot of running up and down our sidewalk)
7) Run (a lot...I have new shoes to break in)

I just really can't wait to be home for awhile!!!

Happy Baptism Anniversary CJ!

God Bless Callie Joy!  It was 2 years ago that Callie was baptized.

It was a wonderful day...and I can't believe that it was 2 years ago! I want to once again thank our friends, and especially our family, for being amazingly supportive of us these past couple of years.  Our little punkin is so deeply loved and cherished by so many people, and we are so so so so thankful.

Happy Birthday Daddy, Uncle Dan and Auntie Yoda!

March 19th is a crazy special day!  And this one is EXTRA crazy special because two out of the three birthday people are turning...30!!!!

WHAT?!?!?!?  How is that possible, you ask?  I can't believe it either, but it is true.  

Happy Birthday to the most amazing husband and baby-daddy a girl could ask for.  We've now known each other for more than half our lives!

Happy birthday to Uncle Dan/Godfather!  I had to dig way too deep in my photo archives to get a decent picture of the two of them together, so we'll need to remedy that situation when Uncle Dan comes home to visit next time.

And finally, Happy Birthday to Auntie Yoda/Godmother!

We love you all!  Have a wonderful day!

Weekend Wrap-Up

First off, today is my grandma's birthday!  Happy Birthday Great-Grandma!!!!!  More on how we celebrated with her later. 

FridayI wanted to clean up the DISASTER that our house has been the past couple weeks, so Chris took Callie to see Sydney, Dave and Cherilyn.  Callie got a play date and I got a quiet house to clean.  It was a win-win.

Saturday
St. Patty's Day!  Chris had a training all day so Callie and I headed to the condo.  We had a fun day that started out with a 7K race around downtown.

After the race, Callie and I showed off our rockin' St. Patty's day ensembles.

 Then, my dad drove my grandma to town so we could see her and celebrate the upcoming birthdays!  She brought Callie an adorable talking Teddy, that Callie now adores.

After a delicious lunch (first grill-out of the season!) we ate amazing chocolate cake that my mom made.

Saturday evening we were back at home and decided to make pizzas!  With a 2-year-old, everything becomes a project she can "help" with.  It makes things take MUCH more time, but can (sometimes) be MUCH more fun.

Unfortunately, this bite of pizza is about all she ate of it.

Food battle, going strong.

Then we took a jammy walk before bedtime.

Sunday
Chris, being the amazing husband/father that he is, took the (once again stuffed up and runny nosed) toddler to the zoo so I could finish some stuff up around the house and have some time to myself and NOT clean.  I also went to my friend Adrea's house and we finalized and BOOKED a 4-night trip to an all-inclusive resort in Mexico in June...to celebrate our upcoming 30th birthdays.  Once we got the email confirmation that it was booked, our faces looked like this:

So Excited!!!

The rest of the day was spent meandering outside in the beautiful weather, playing, and taking a crack at making another meal in hopes that she would eat it.  On the menu: taco salads!  She put a couple spoonfuls of rice, a spoonful of corn, a spoonful of beans, some shredded cheese, a spoonful of sour cream and a dollop of guacamole in a bowl, mixed it around and...ACTUALLY ATE IT!!!!!

SUCCESS!!!

I have one more week until spring break...and I can't wait.  This spring has been busy so far, and I decided to make it busier for myself by signing up for another half marathon on June 3rd.  I convinced Laura to do it too, so I'll have a training buddy.  Did I ever mention that she is moving back here?  We are all VERY excited.  Auntie Yoda rocks. :)

Happy St. Patrick's Day...

...from our little good luck charmer!

And a special shout-out to Nana on this very Irish holiday! :)

Beautiful!

When traipsing around outside during the beautiful early evening:

Callie: (holding out her empty hand) Got for you Mommy!
Me: What do you have for me?
Callie: Sunshine!!!!
Me: You have sunshine for me?
Callie: Up there!  Beautiful!

Spring!

This weather is unbelievable!  I LOVE IT.

This morning Callie went with Chris and Anna to the zoo!  Anna took some great pictures.

After work, Callie and I went to meet Kylie and Calvin at Centennial to walk and have dinner.

When we got home, the weather was still awesome.  Since it was getting close to bed time, I decided to try out a calming strategy I read about somewhere- the jammy walk.  The idea is that you get your little one all ready for bed, and then take a slow walk around the block to calm the body down.  Well, my little one doesn't do slow.  So it was more like a run around the block. 

I hoped it would work to tire her out more before bedtime, but no luck.  I've been listening to her babble over the monitor for close to half an hour now.

But somehow, this lovely day makes it sound cute and not annoying like it usually does! :)

Yay spring!