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.