Christmas Parties

Caleb and I got to attend many Christmas parties this year. I am so thankful to be involved in so many groups that allow us to make friends, get out of the house, and socialize. That was one of my concerns of being a stay at home mom, that I would be stuck inside constantly. Now that he is happier and not crying so much and his feeding times have stretched out a little, I am more confident in taking him more places. Like yesterday, we went to Barnes & Noble complete with a vanilla latte, browsed the store, drove to Walmart for some gifts and headed home and out to a party in the afternoon! It was the perfect day! He was so good, cooing in the car, falling asleep in the store. Watching me shop. This is what I hoped it would be. Busy, but good. My mom did share some advice with me that I need to remember, "Live for the moments." The good moments were few and far between the first four months of his life and I had to be happy with a moment of joy when he would smile or meet a milestone. Now there are more "moments" and I am sure there will be another challenging time with fewer moments.
Wow, I got side tracked. Back to the Christmas parties. Let's start with the Premier Army Lactation group. That party was the first one. This group was created by the lactation consultant I saw at the beginning of Caleb's life, Lori, as a support for breast feeding women. I love this group. They are so honest, friendly, and understand what you are going through. They all have children (most their first) under 1 year! We had 13 Moms at the party. Stephanie, the lead Mom, and Lori made the party such a success with handprint ornaments the babies made, a cookie exchange, a gift exchange for the babies, and baby handprints on a framed picture for Lori! It was a blast!
The next party we went to was put on by the Moms Club I am a part of. This is an international group ( I am part of the Northwest Colorado Springs section) of stay at home Moms who do many things (hiking, cooking, playgroups, fieldtrips, fundraisers,etc...). They did a wonderful job with a potluck of food, ornaments for toddlers to make, and even a visit from Santa.
The last party was yesterday. The lactation group (mentioned above) wanted to start a playgroup. So we go to the Air Force Academy and meet in a big room to do fun things with the babies. So far we have done baby sign language, baby massage, and sown "taggie" blankets (well, I didn't sew. A mom and one of the leaders sewed!). Yesterday we did an ornament exchange and let the babies play.
Christmas shopping is done. House needs to be cleaned, presents packed or wrapped, and Christmas cards mailed. Whew! I am excited to share Caleb's first Christmas here in Colorado. We have snow outside and are all cozy next to our fireplace! Here are some pictures from the parties!

Christmas Parties

Sneaky Sneaky

My friend Sarah wrote on her blog of how her daughter would roll over while her Mom turned her back for just a second. I thought this was hilarious to read and sure enough my little guy did the same thing. We have been working on rolling over from back to tummy for a while now and I have been waiting anxiously for the moment. Ted and I both have been so encouraging and anticipating the first time he does it without assistance. Apparently he needed his space to do it on his own! That is definitely MY kid... "I can do it myself" I can hear him saying! Whew, it's going to be a long (but adventurous and exciting) road this parenting thing.

I set him down on his activity mat on his back and went to eat my cereal and check my email. He did his usual grunting/working hard noises. I looked over and he was on his tummy! It's the weirdest thing. So I praised him and rolled him back over, walked to the kitchen to get my cereal and keep an eye on him to hopefully catch it this time, looked over and .... he was on his tummy!! Okay, I was going to beat him at his game. I went to get my camera/video camera and set it on the couch, turned him over to his back, pressed play and walked away. This time not taking my eye off of him. After a long almost 2 minutes.....He did it!!!!!! I praised him, turned him over and then got it on camera in 15 seconds. :0

The first video is long (the one where I walked away). The second video is only 15 seconds. If he could talk, I am sure he would say, "That was easy! Now how do I crawl once I am here?"

Gobble! Gobble! Gobble!

Wow, I can't believe it is already December!! Caleb has already been to his first Christmas party and I still have to post about Thanksgiving! Okay, here it goes.

So for Thanksgiving Ted's Mom, Stepdad, Dad, and my Mom came to visit. They all came last year along with Ted's Great Uncle and Ted's Brother and Sister in Law and her Mom. This year Rick and Lisa are celebrating Thanksgiving in their hometown of Phoenix with their new little bundle of joy, Riley! We missed them and missed meeting my first niece, but will see them around Christmas time. So we assembled all the troops and went shopping for food, which included 2 grocery stores, Costco, and a liquor store! Gotta love it! When we throw a feast, we throw a FEAST!!! Then we picked everyone up from shuttles and airports and settled in for a few days of family, food, and fun! Caleb was overjoyed to see all of his Grandparents.

Grandma Ann made a WONDERFUL turkey, stuffing, gravy, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pies, mashed potatoes. My Mom helped and also added green bean casserole and sweet potato casserole. YUM!! The men watched football and played with Caleb. :) The next day we took a drive up to Pikes Peak. It was gorgeous day, but at the top the wind was so bad, they closed the doors to the summit house on one side! It was sooooo cold. Caleb and I didn't even get out of the car. People were running to their cars it was so bitter cold. That night was the best! Ted and I went on our first date since Caleb was born!!! He took me to the Melting Pot and we left Caleb with all the Grandparents! We had such a great time! It was nice to still be so in love after a baby. :)

On Saturday we drove Mom and Ted's Dad to the airport and then hit the outlets at Castle Rock for a speedy shopping trip. And tai food for dinner.

What a great holiday! It is so nice to have family fill your home! And they spoil us rotten by paying for the food, cooking it, and buying Caleb tons of clothes!! Thank you Grandparents!

I will put a bunch of pics on picasa for you to look at. Just click on the picture below to see more.

Thanksgiving 2010