Santa House 2012

Only in Midland, MI does Santa have a home away from home!!  We visit Santa's house every year, and this year was especially exciting for Caden.  He made sure to ask Santa that he got his letter - because it is gone from the Santa Mailbox in our house.  ;-)  Santa assured him that he studied it closely.

Yearly family picture!  

Mommy-Daughter Picture  :-)

Flying Maddie!!

Jackson and Caden had a blast exploring the Santa house while we were waiting in line!

Sid WHO?

That's right - Caden is ready for the Ice!  Sid's out?  Then He is IN! 

He got his new helmet and gloves tonight - we like to spread out the presents.  :-)  He had such a fun time playing "hockey game" with Daddy.  Video is below!

Who needs Pantene Pro-V??

Just wanted to share some pictures of Maddie...specifically, her hair...here is her 9 month Pooh picture.

Since she just started standing in her crib, Caden wanted in on the fun.

Protective big brother...  :-)

When Maddie is in the bath, her wet hair goes halfway down her back!  I'll try to snap a picture next time...

Watch out world - here I come!

Guess who is standing!  That's right, Miss Maddie pulled herself up today for the first time.  We came into her room after  her morning nap and she was standing in the crib.  Time to lower that mattress to the next setting! 

Not only is she standing, but she has a few other tricks up her sleeve!  Here's some videos of our little princess in action:

She is still army crawling, but getting a lot faster - even going down our kitchen step!  We think she might skip actual crawling on her knees, and go right to walking.

She just learned to wave "Hi!"....and she loves mirrors...the two in combination can provide at least 10 minutes of entertainment...

She also said her first word...Mama....and meant it.  She caught a glimpse of me  trying to sneak downstairs to do laundry...and started yelling "Mama!  Mama!" 

It's only fair - since Caden said Dada first...  :-)

It's Beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

We are getting ready for Christmas at the Callender House.  We put up the tree after Thanksgiving, and Caden has been obsessed with moving the ornaments around since.  All the breakable ornaments are 4 ft and higher...every other ornament on the lower half of the tree has been moved about 14 times each.  My perfect symmetry and balance has been Caden-ized. 

He also calls the Nittany Lion Ornament the "BEAR - GO PENN STATE". At least he recognized the lion head.

Grandma Callender came to visit for Thankgiving, and we got some photos the day before she left.  Please take note of the matching "Santa, I believe" PJ's that the kids are wearing.  Score one for Mommy for waiting in a half hour line to snag those at 3am on Black Friday.  :-)

Thanksgiving in Erie - Roadtrippin' with Mama

Robert and Becca had Thanksgiving at their new house this year!  Daddy was gone hunting for the weekend, so Mommy and the kids made the trip to Erie.  I think my words to Matt were..."It's only 6 hours - how bad could it be?"

Well, 6 hours turned into 8, but we made it there on Saturday evening in one piece.  Caden and Maddie saw Grandma and Grandpa Frank, Aunt Jen and Uncle DJ, and Uncle Robert and Aunt Becca.  They had a great time, and handled the 8 hour road trips on Saturday and Sunday well.  We made it home by late Sunday night and we were all very happy to see Daddy.  How did he get out of this adventure?  :-)

On Sunday morning, Robert (our professional photographer uncle) took Caden and Maddie to Presque Isle in Erie to get some great shots.  Here are a few that I took (not quite as professional as Robert's)

At Thanksgiving Dinner on Sunday, Maddie tried mashed potatoes for the first time.  Not a fan.

Maddie and Uncle Robert!

Maddie and Aunt Jen!

Grandpa and Grandma Frank with Maddie. 

Why wasn't Caden in any of the above pictures with the fam?

He was busy being a monster....

Thank you Robert and Becca for a wonderful Thanksgiving with the family!  We had a great time!!

Halloween Pictures

Caden was Buzz Lightyear (after much coaxing and bribing with candy)....and Maddie was a ladybug - she didn't put up much of a protest.  

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 Pumpkin carving was a hit...

Caden and Jackson showing off the pumpkins they carved for Halloween

 

After Pumpkin carving, we made rice crispy treats...with frosting...

 

Caden-isms

I have to write this stuff down before I forget and he doesn't say it anymore!!

"Hi Mommy!  I'm Awake!"  - What he says when he wakes up in the morning and comes into our room, or when he comes back downstairs after he goes to bed, or when he wakes up from nap.

"WAIT! WAIT! (With his arms spread wide)  LISTEN TO ME" - He says this at the dinner table when Matt and I aren't paying enough attention to him.

"Mommy!  I want JUUUUUICE!  Please!"

"Run, Java, Run!!" - He yells this as he is chasing poor Java around our house with his bike.

"Noooo - I want to sleep in Mommy-Daddy Bed" - This is what he proclaims at 5am some mornings when I tell him it is too early to get up.

Mom:  I love you Caden!
Caden: No, you not!
Mom: Yes, I do!
Caden: No, You love Daddy, I love Di Di (his blanket)
Mom: Who does Maddie love?
Caden: Maddie is sleeping!

"Mommy!  Maddie CRYIN!" - When Maddie is crying...usually I'm holding her, so I call him Captain Obvious.

Maddie's U of M Trip

Maddie took her second trip to U of M yesterday for her 6 month checkup.  She'll go every six months for the next ~5 years or so until we know her VUR is fixed.  Dr. Ivancic had an Ultrasound done on Maddie, and it looks like the VUR might be getting slightly better.  It will be a long process though, but we are hopeful she will grow out of it in 5-7 years. When we go back in 6 months, we'll have more extensive testing done to see how far she has come in a year.  For now, she is doing great, and we'll just keep an eye on it!

After every trip, Mom and Dad get a treat and go to Chipotle for lunch and then to Bigby Coffee for the trip home.  The first time we went down we took a picture of Maddie and I at Bigby, so we repeated that this time.  It's amazing to see how much she has changed in 6 months!

Here's Maddie and I when she was 2 months old....

 

 

and our picture now that she is almost 8 months old....

Halloween Playdate!

 We had our October playdate at Kora's house this month!  We had so much fun - and Maddie looked adorable in her ladybug costume!  Caden wasn't so into the costume thing however, so his Buzz Lightyear costume did not make an appearance.  Hopefully he wears it on the 31st!  I think we will be able to bribe him with candy.

 

Maddie in her ladybug costume!

 The kids decorating their pumpkins. 

We got some great group shots this month - the kids behaved, smiled at the camera, and there were no mid-picture meltdowns!  Success!!

Happy Halloween!!

All Around the Callender House

SUPER CADEN!

In daddy's shoes...this happens quite frequently.  Usually it's daddy's shoes, but sometimes it is mommy's shoes - which is even more hilarious.  Especially when he tries to walk in a shoe with a heel.

Maddie has started holding her own bottle...which is a huge win for mom and dad...

Baby Maddie and Baby Eli, hanging out in their carseats watching their crazy older brothers run around the house...

The daddies and their babies....

Jackson and Caden watching a movie so the parents can play cards....oh, the wonderful world of Disney.  :-)

This is a picture from this weekend when daddy was away, both kids woke up early and mommy was trying to get 5 more minutes of sleep.  You can guess this didn't last long, so I gave up and figured I would take a picture.

And finally, Maddie's SEVEN month Pooh picture - I can hardly believe it.

Let's Go State!

Just another Saturday...cheering on the Blue and White!  Here's some pictures from when we went over to Mike and Alysia's to watch the game...

 Maddie isn't a big fan of hair bows, so it was lucky I got this one in.

Picture of Caden and Talia playing nicely together....this didn't necessarily happen all day.  :-)

Alysia reading them both a book before Talia took her nap - super cute!

Maddie's New Tricks!

Maddie has some new tricks!  The first one is her CRAWLING!  She's at 6.5 months and can't quite sit up by herself yet, but she is crawling!  The trouble begins. 

 

The second one is of her latest trick - blowing raspberries.  It's her new favorite thing to do while getting her diaper changed.  Maybe she is trying to tell us something.

Onto the next adventure!!

Kiddo Video

A couple of videos...in the first one Maddie is showing off her bouncing skills.

In this second video, we were out by the fire with Caden.  He was talking on the "Phone" (Maddie's baby monitor) to his friend Jackson.  It was so hilarious, we took a video of the fire so we could capture it. 

September Fun

Maddie's hair is growing fast....and so is she!  here's her 6 month tigger picture - as she was getting ready for the Steeler's game. 

She is SUPER close to crawling now...at 6.5 months.  She can pivot and roll to get to where she wants to go, and she can reach and pull herself to things...

She also just started blowing raspberries - it's hilarious, and I'm hoping to get a video soon.  I have to catch her at the right moment. 

 Caden and Maddie frequently dine together - and Caden insists that Maddie is as close as possible to him.  He always says,  "I want to SEE her!".  Buddy, trust me, you'll be able to see her.

 They also play together now, which is super fun.  Maddie has started to grab at his toys, and as Matt and I suspected, the novelty of having a little sister wore off when that happened.  We now have daily lessons in sharing.  He does really well with her, always insisting on giving her a hug and kiss before she goes upstairs for a nap.

The reason Caden isn't wearing pants?  Potty Training.  That was potty training lockdown weekend where every 15 minutes it was either Matt or I making Caden head to the potty.  Just a few major accidents, he did pretty well.  He's a work in progress and we are just hoping he doesn't go to college still in diapers.  :-)

The Balloon festival was that weekend as well.  We escaped the potty and pullups for a little while to show the kids the balloons.  They didn't last too long, so we only snapped a few pics...

 Believe it or not, there were multiple balloons in the sky....we just aren't that good at remembering we have the camera apparently.

This was a picture from this weekend when Joel and Matt decided it was a great idea to put Matt's hockey gloves on Jackson.  That was a bad idea.  Sorry Heather.  Hopefully Jman's hands will smell normal again in a few days.  :-)  

 And finally, a sleeping Caden, still holding onto Woody and Bullseye, ready to play when he wakes up.  I can't help but think of Toy Story.  :-)