Friday, January 18, 2013

Christmas Eve

I was SO looking forward to being at home for this family gathering, although I was originally thinking that EVERYONE would be there.  Sadly, Craig and Paulette and Grandpa and Shirley couldn't make it.  It was still really nice, but not quite complete without them.  
 We really enjoyed watching Caleb with his second cousin, Selah (not sure what she is technically- my cousin's daughter).  They followed each other around all night and had a great time!
 We also enjoy every time we get to be with Amy and Adam!  I've loved Amy for years and now enjoy getting to know her as an adult, and now that she's married, it's fun to get to know her husband as well.  They were great with the kids, and Amy even let Caleb try on her boots!
 We also got to meet the newest addition to Jason and Connie's family!  It's crazy that I actually wondered if Caleb was ever really that small.
 Showing off the ring! :)
 Uncle Doug enjoying being a grandpa!
 Love my boy!
 Just a captured memory of sitting around together.
 Love my mom and dad.  Mom made an amazing dinner, and I just wish I could have helped her more.  I had been really looking forward to it but ended up sleeping half the time. Thanks mom!
SO MANY cute moments with these two, but with my cheap camera and how quickly they move they'll just have to be memories in my mind. :)
And I always love getting to catch up with my cousin Jason.  It was kind of surreal when we were both cleaning up baby toys together when the evening was over....most likely toys that we used to play with at one time or another.  
 "Bye-Bye."  It was sad to see them go since we won't see them for a long time.  Too bad we don't live closer.  At least we have some good memories now and then!

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Grandma and Grandpa's House

Mommy said that I get to write this post since it's all about what I did at Grandma and Grandpa's house. 
She said that if I wanted to write it that I first had to post this picture to show that I was teething.....REALLY badly.  She said that she really enjoyed her time but that this part of the trip will be cemented in her mind quite strongly since it had quite an effect on everything.  Not enough sleep at night meant trying to sleep during the day when others could watch me, which meant less time with people and missing out on things she had wanted to do.  She was sad about that, but still glad that she got to be there.  She understands more than ever what people mean when they say that vacations aren't very restful once you have kids.  I'm sure glad she loves me and never blames me for the hard stuff.  I try cheering her about about it all by biting on funny things like this chair.  Yum! (And by-the-way, my molars have all cut through, so I got two nights of good sleep.  Now my missing front tooth is cutting through, but I think it's already finished, if not close to it. Mommy is SO happy about that and praying for a break before more come.)
Now, it's my turn!  The first thing I got excited about at Grandma and pa's house was the kitty!  I can even say "Kiee" and I'm really nice to them.  
 Chloe doesn't like strangers, though, so even when I said hi to her and tried to play, she always just ran away.  Oh well.
 I got to hang out with Grandma.  She helped me learn to say "Mommy" since I only said "Da-ee" at the time.  Once I realized that Mommy wasn't Daddy too, I just couldn't figure out how to say her name.  I finally know how now!  I say "Mo-yi" and it really makes her happy! :)  I even called her from my crib at nap time the other day.  Mo-yi says "thank you" to Grandma. :)
 I found lots of cool things around the house.  My favorite were two little blocks of wood that Grandpa had under the back of his lounge chair.  Yes, they had lots of toys, which I played with, but those were much better.  And look at this basket that I found!  It fit perfectly on my head.  I even walked around with it since I could see through the cracks a little.  I still bumped into things now and then. :)
 Grandpa, who I call "pa,"  also played with me.  We had a great time with legos one day.
 I was so excited that Grandma had a kitchen too! Although she had a lot more things that I couldn't touch.  At least she had a cool shelf next to her where I could drum with my hands!
 AND a drawer full of measuring cups and another with pan lids, which I liked to take out and line up around the floor.  It was so much fun!
 I was also really happy when Aunt Cindy and (almost) Uncle Brian came.  They just got engaged and so she did a lot of work on her computer while we were there.  They both still played with me, though, and Mommy will put some pictures on another post of that.
 Have you ever seen a PIANO!!???!!  It was the greatest thing!  I wanted to play it all day and every day once I knew what it was!
 I don't know why they wouldn't let me!  It sounded so amazing!
Mommy and Daddy think I'm going to be a musician someday...but maybe everyone's mommy's and daddy's think that about their kids.  I just love dancing and playing music so much!
 I learned how how to say "snow" on this trip, but I say it more like "no," with a soft, cute voice, different than when I'm actually saying "no."  I still look out the window now that we're home and ask where the snow is.  I don't understand why we don't have any here.
 This is fuzzy, but it's me playing with a toy that Grandma said that Uncle Craig used to play with all the time. She even said that he would also take all the little guys off of the top and just pull it around everywhere.  I don't have something like this at home, but I've tried it a few times with our rice cooker.  It just isn't the same.
I also played with toys that Mommy and Aunt Cindy played with when they were kids....AND I got to play in the house that Grandpa made for me!  He must really love me! 
 Here I am watching one of my videos I think.  Grandpa even let me hold the remote...although I have a sneaking suspicion that something was missing out of the back of it.  It felt lighter than the one at home.  OH, and look at the other thing that I found!  A step stool!  It was perfect for sitting on. Now I have one at home too and I love getting up on it!
 This is another fuzzy one but Mommy likes it!  Can you guess why I'm so happy and who I'm waving at?
 It's Uncle Craig and Aunt Paulette on Skype!  We got to talk with them since they didn't get to come this year.  I really missed them and hope I can play with them someday.
 I did so much more (some you'll see on the Christmas posts), but we couldn't get pictures of everything.  I just had such a great time that I even had to take a break and relax now and then! :)  Life was good!
The last night we were there I got to sit with Grandpa and Grandma and watch a show about birds.  I was so tired, and my teeth hurt, but it made me happy just to be with them.  I wish we lived closer so we could be together more often.  I think they with the same thing.  At least we have a better computer now so that we can skype with them.  I hope we can do it soon!  I miss them so much!  I see people a lot and ask Mommy if it's "pa."  So far it never has been.

Okay, I have to go to bed now.  "Nigh-Nigh."

Christmas Road Trip- Day 2

We have a credit card that earns points toward hotels, so Matt works hard to find the best hotel with the points we've earned, and he does a great job at it!  There's not much choice for a nice place to stay in Klamath Falls, but Matt found something pretty good.  The sad part was that we didn't get to enjoy it as much as we'd hoped since we got in so late and had to leave right away in the morning. 
 We still got to enjoy the fireplace...
 ...and the view of the snow falling outside.  A true winter wonderland.  These are both taken early in the morning.  Since we were in a different place, once Caleb woke up, the night was over.  Little did I know that this was just the beginning of a week of very little sleep for Mommy.  Molars coming in, different beds and lots of action during the day.....for Caleb equals LOTS of waking up and crying at night.
But in the midst of being tired, we made lots of good memories still!  The place we stayed was a lodge with wonderful decorations and relaxing places so sit and enjoy life.  We just passed through, but Caleb still found the stuffed dog under the giant glass coffee table.  
Don't zoom in on this one, since it's horribly fuzzy.  She even tried several times, but moving babies are hard to catch.  Can you tell it was a beautiful place!?
 Outside was pretty too!
 The first leg of the trip was pretty clear, with bright blue skies above.  It didn't last much more than an hour, though, and then we headed into the storm.  I wish we had pictures of the clouds that we saw, and the whiteout in the middle of them.  I'd be thankful to NEVER drive in those conditions again.
Matt was the hero of the trip!  He braved the cold several times to tackle the chains, and every time shortened the time it took him to get them on.

We made it to Mom and Dad's in a descent amount of time and were excited to start the days of fun with family!

Monday, January 14, 2013

Christmas Vacation Road Trip- Day 1

The best pictures of Caleb always seem to be in his carseat...I guess since it's the only time he'll sit still and smile. :)
 seems he likes the camera more than he used to
 he seems so much older
Caleb's first look at snow!
 We stopped for lunch at Arbys and he took some time to contemplate what that white stuff was.
 Then he met his first snowman, who happened to be an Arbys employee it seemed.
He tried to hold it but quickly pulled away and didn't want to touch it again.
 We quickly got back on the road to try to keep ahead of the storm, but sadly, get stuck right in the middle of it.  Matt got out to put chains on so Caleb took the chance to get out of his seat.  He seemed very concerned about what Daddy was doing.
 Reassurance always helps!
Poor Matt got covered in snow and frozen to the core.  By the end of the trip I think he put the chains on 4 times, and become quite a pro at it too.
 We were stuck for hours, so found things to play with in the car.
We finally moved for a short distance and at some point Caleb took a nap.  This actually might have been before lunch.  Oh well. 
 Crazy "nap-hair" and rosy nap cheeks. 
"Is that you Daddy?"
 Hmm....I for some reason hi diaper leaked and soaked his jeans, socks and shoes.  That never happens.  Oh well, time to change!
New shirt and everything!  Now for some "I Love Lucy!"  We were thankful for our new computer that actually works!  :)  It gave us something to do while we sat and waited.
 Matt got stir crazy, so got out and took a few pictures.  You can't really tell, but we were completely surrounded by semi trucks.  We were pretty sure that they were half the reason we were stuck for so long.  They were required to have chains, but some didn't, so when they were stopped at the check-point, they all just stopped in the road to put them on.  There was also an accident at one point as well.

 12 hours after leaving home, we finally made it to our first destination in Klamath Falls.  WOW!  Good thing we hadn't planned on driving the entire way that day!  We were so thankful that Caleb did such a great job!  We were also ready to relax and sleep!