Sunday, December 18, 2011

She's 3!




This year, after John went to a 4-year old boy's birthday party with Cally & Hazen (while I recovered from a flu-like virus), we decided to keep Cally's birthday very simple.  We'd invite three friends (b/c "they" say you are supposed to invite a kid for each of the years old a child is turning) and do the party on a Sunday morning so that people could get on with their days.

As it turns out, the friends we invited for Cally are also our friends, so we figured we should serve a nice brunch..... and then, I decided we should probably have some sort of "activity" for the kids.  I thought about decorating gingerbread cookies, but then got a wild hair and let that escalate to gingerbread houses.  I grew up decorating a gingerbread house every year at a neighbors house.  Mrs. Kellogg would invite all the neighborhood girls over and we'd hang out, eat candy, and make some pretty memorable creations.  But I digress........ In order to make this "party idea" of mine happen, this meant that I spent two hours on Friday night making the double batch of gingerbread dough and then at least three hours on Saturday morning cutting out and baking the parts of the house and then at least an hour that afternoon involved assembling the houses (because that's beyond the capabilities of a three year old).  Oh, and because siblings were coming, I had to make seven of these structures.  John was cursing me about the whole thing, mostly because I made a big mess of our kitchen........... but also because it took up so much of my time.


Cupcakes were made, frosted and decorate,  the house was cleaned, egg strata was put together and we went out for the evening on Saturday.  John wondered why we had just spent eight hours preparing for a two hour party and I sort of did too.  We woke up late on Sunday (of all times), made a fruit salad, cooked the egg strata, and whipped up some gingerbread house frosting before our first guests arrived.  I botched a pot of coffee, but we otherwise managed to throw a pretty good party.  Bloody Mary's were available for adults, strata's were delicious, and the kids had a blast decorating the houses. All that effort was totally worth it because of the permanent smile on Cally's face!  And in the end, John "ate his words" about the gingerbread houses and admitted it was a great addition to the party.





But we couldn't have done it without the help of dear Addy and Claire.  These almost ten year old gals helped me serve the kids breakfast, cleared plates, set up gingerbread houses, cleared them off, and helped serve cupcakes.
And then, Auntie Cara and Tom made sure Hazen had a good time, helped us clean up the mess, and read stories to Cal:



We wrapped up a lovely party with a family hike up to the Sunset Ridge Trail on Mt. Mansfield.

 


The celebrations continued last night with a visit to the Swimming Hole and fun with cousin's Kesley & Jameson.  And today, Cal is off for a ski at Smuggs with her Dad (a tradition I hope we can continue for a long, long time).  We are off to celebrate with Grandma and Bumpa tonight and headed into New York City for the final celebration. 

Perhaps we are going a little over board for this kid....... but the world has been a better place since this little one came into our life.  She's given us so much joy and reminds us everyday about the wonders of discovery, the importance of being goofy, and the importance of having an imagination.  She has turned into a really articulate, empathetic, spunky little person.  She wakes up everyday ready to take the world on.  She knows what she wants and doesn't like to take "no" for an answer.  She loves people and has the memory of an elephant when it comes to remembering everyone she has met or even heard a story about.  When she pinches or bites her brother, she never tries to hide it.  She admits she did it and usually smiles (until we send her to the "brown couch" for a little time to think it over).  She can already spell and write her name and really likes to draw and hear stories (from books and from people).  She loves to help (in the kitchen, checking on her brother, etc.).  And she talks A LOT.  In fact, it is difficult to get her to stop talking........ She's got a lot going for her and she's not an "easy" kid, but we are so, so proud to be her parents.  I know we say this every year, but she really was the best Christmas present we could have asked for three years ago.

Addy said it best here:


And a birthday week wouldn't be complete without hugs and a swimming hole visit with the cousins!
















Oh, and a quick update from the pediatricians visit:

Cal is weighing in at 28 lbs (25th percentile)
and 37.5 inches (60th percentile)

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

It's Begining to Look a lot Like Christmas

 So fun to have two little Abbott's partaking in this year's holiday madness.  We were short on snow in early December, but still managed to use the sled to get our tree:


 Cal was into helping Dad cut the tree down:


And decorating the tree:


 Making Cookies:


Hazen is on a tear.  Crawling everywhere at the Holiday party thrown by Tammy, our daycare provider (magician and all).



And so, with the tree decorated and snow on the ground, the kids are pretty fired up for the holidays-- celebrating a certain birthday, visiting family, and seeing what this Santa guy is all about. 

Friday, November 25, 2011

Giving Thanks


 There is a lot to be thankful for this year........ First there is this little addition to our family:


Then there is this one, who recently got her health back.  You'd hardly know that she has pneumonia in this photo.  Yup, the poor girl had a nasty cough and fever that stuck around for eight days!  A doctors visit on day three led us all to believe that she had a virus, but on day eight, some crackling was heard in the upper left lobe of her lungs.  Through it all, Cal kept her sense of humor and spunk. 



And while we are on the subject, we are sooooo very thankful for our pediatrician, Dr. Parker.  Whether making time to see us at the end of a busy day or coming in to the office on a gorgeous Saturday afternoon because he is concerned about Cally, he's always patient and kind.  And Cally loves her visits with him!

I'm thankful to have this beautiful house that we can call our own.  If you look carefully at this photo, you can see John on the roof taking on the role of "Chimney Sweep". 


This guy, who celebrated his birthday the other day (he says he's now closer to 60 than 30), really is something to be thankful for.  If he's not playing handyman around our house, he's inspiring college students, being a devoted father, or challenging people to be better.

To celebrate his birthday this year, we took a quick trip up to Montreal.  The kids were incredible from being patient for sit down meals where service is a lot slower than it is south of the border to being flexible about sleeping.  I'm not going to lie, the four of us in one hotel room isn't all that fun at this stage, when it comes to sleeping, but "no pain, no gain". 

bundled in the Phil & Teds double stroller

checking out the view from the "high rise"
 

kicking it at the Biodome

Checking out the subarctic


loving the penguins
I'm thankful for Hunter's Breakfast (an annual fundraiser at one of the local churches)


I'm thankful for hikes with friends:


 And thankful that UVM won their first hockey game of the season while we were there to witness it:



I think their win might have had something to do with our little kitty who was fired up to get her face professionally painted in a pre-game alumni event.  Check out the transformation:








 I'm thankful for our first snow:






and Thankful for incredible friends with whom we've shared this special holiday for the past four years........Ten adults, eight children (two more in utero), five inches of snow to sled upon, and lots of incredible food made for an excellent gathering.  I felt like I was on vacation.  The older kids swept my kids up as soon as we arrived, other mothers were thrilled to hold and hug them, and we all had a very fun time.


H took a little of everything!


 I'm really thankful that I've had this week off with my family.  It's been such a treat to sleep until 7:00, hang out in bed as long as we want, eat a long lazy breakfast, get things done around the house, and celebrate all that we have in our lives.