Friday, August 30, 2013

Gifts from Tia Mari

Tia Mari came to visit Callie yesterday an with gifts! Boy does Callie love that. She already loves silly time with her Tia but then new toys on top of that is even more fun. She has a mop and broom for her kitchen and a new and noisy bird toy. Thanks Mari! You'll have to come play with them in her kitchen.

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Tube crawl

Callie is finally figuring out how to crawl through her tube into the pop up tent. She likes company so Juan sometimes joins her. Aren't they cute?

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Picking out paint colors

Callie helped Grandpa pick out house paint colors for the rental house. Callie mostly just wants to draw with the giant permanent marker and hang out with her Grandpa, but we can say she chose the colors right?

Monday, August 26, 2013

The end of mommy and Callie Mondays

Today was my last Monday home with Callie. Next Monday is Labor Day and then I will be working on Mondays now. While I am sad to give up Mondays I really can't be sad as there is so much more good coming out of this deal. I have been pretty quiet about this until I was sure it was going to happen..... But I am officially working part time starting September 6th! Eek Callie and I will have even more time together. I will be working 30 hours still but my days start at 6:30 so I will get more time with her before bed. My new work schedule is 2 long days but still getting out 1-2 hrs earlier than I do now and 2 half days with Fridays off. I am so excited to be able to have this opportunity. I owe a lot of people for this. First off my ever loving and supportive husband who said what ever would make me happy he would make work even though that means he has to get up early and drop Callie off 4 days a week. My very supportive boss who found a way to make this position part time and work for me and Callie. And a thank you to my friend who vacated this position (full time) to give me somewhere to move to on the same level.
I do have to drive farther and I also have to leave all my staff and families at work to sit in an office building and process paperwork all day. My fancy new title is therapy consultant but I basically do similar duties to what I have now except for a much larger population of kids that I don't know in person.
I am really excited and I think Callie will be thrilled as well. She cries everyday I have to leave for work and Mondays she holds my neck right all morning until she knows I am staying home for sure. I will treasure each extra minute I have with her.

Anyways on our last Monday home together we were crafty. I made a new larger bib with waterproof backing and plastic snaps. I am going nuts with small bibs that don't cover and then those with Velcro that ruin everything in the wash. So when you can't find something you like, make it yourself! And on top of that I made 2 cloth diapers with waterproof backing. I was hoping to clear up some of her eczema on her inner thighs that seems to be right at the edge of the diaper. I don't even know what is causing it but Ill try anything. I was really proud of myself and they look pretty good too. They fit ok but they don't pass the test. Both of them leaked out the leg seams. I don't know exactly what I need to make them better, I think more absorbent layers on the inside. For home they at least give her a break from the regular stuff and don't leak too terribly. Ill try again I guess. At least she looks cute!




Sunday, August 25, 2013

Happy 1st Birthday Kaitlyn

Today was our friends Jason and Tammy's little girls first birthday party. It seems pretty incredible to me that just a few years back these parties were so different, none of Juan's friends had kids and it was so laid back and all about the beer and food. Now there were about 10 kids and I would say 8 of them were under the age of 2! Needless today there wasn't to much sitting back and relaxing. Kaitlyn is walking and was really enjoying her party. She ate a ton of cake and made a big mess! It was a really hot day which was tough for Callie but she found the water to keep cool. We played in the water table and then we hosed down the jumper so it wasn't too hot. It made it like a slip n slide and jumper in one. Poor Kaitlyn is too nice to Callie even when she is rough. Callie thinks its fun to wrestle and sit on people like she does with mommy and daddy at home but this carried over to babies! Oops, we taught her a bad thing I think.... Poor Kaitlyn I had to go in and rescue her.
Callie had a fun day even though we were hot and sweaty at least we weren't covered in frosting like Kaitlyn.





Saturday, August 24, 2013

Jeana & Christian get married!!

Wow what an amazing day we had today. We found out the exciting news on Thursday night that Callie was going to be a cousin! Jeana and Christian are having a baby! And then today they got married! It was a perfect little ceremony in Orange County with just close family. Jeana was a beautiful bride and stunning in her dress. It is amazing to me that she pulled all this together in just 1 day! What an amazing planner she is, but she must be exhausted. The ceremony was outside and the weather was sunny but not too hot. The grounds were very pretty and we took some good photos. We had a nice lunch next door and then headed back to San Diego. Callie was an angel the whole day, sleeping in the car and behaving all day. I am thrilled to have another baby in the family and couldn't be happier to call Jeana my sister in law! (Although I already have been calling her that for over a year, he he, I knew it would happen eventually). So we have another Mrs. Chavez and another Chavez baby on the way, exciting I know!! Eeeek! So exciting,  Here are some great shots from the day. Jeana and Christian thanks for letting us share in your special day. We love you guys! Congrats!













Friday, August 23, 2013

Year one photos

I finally got around to completing Callie's first year photo frame. Nena bought this for me when i was still pregnant an i pit it away for over a year! At 12 months I made Callie's handprint for the center but I never printed the photos for the months. I had to resize them all which was challenging to get just right. In the end though its just perfect! I love it! What a nice memory keepsake. Thanks Nena.
Sorry about the reflection of my arm in the photo I couldn't figure out how to get out of the reflection. It's better in person.

Thursday, August 22, 2013

Dance Move: the twirl

Callie continues to expand her awesome dance moves! This new twirl with the hands out is just hysterical for me. She twirls until she gets dizzy and falls down. She also tries this move where she goes up on her tippy toes. Pretty impressive if you ask a PT! He he.
Anyways I think the video speaks for itself, enjoy!

And for your pleasure if you aren't into e videos, here she is trying to write a grocery list just after Juan finished. She likes "coloring" or "writing" but only with pens and markers. She is not interested in crayons, pencils, or colored pencils. Go figure she wants to see the mark, dark and right away.


Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Lady bug peek a boo

GaGa found this cool ladybug toy bin to go with Callie's kitchen which is themed red yellow last bugs. Callie thinks its a crawl tube and not a toy bin, but that may be my fault for not putting toys in it and then putting her inside it to play peek a boo. It was fun until she tipped the whole thing over. Since it wasn't very safe I brought the actual house with crawl tubes back out. We put this away after her fall because she was too rough and kept bumping her head. Now she is healed up and bigger and still bumps her head!




Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Oven door step stool

I have lots of great kitchen photos but its been a busy day and I'm tired. So ill just leave you with this one. Callie can't reach the hooks for utensils from the floor but she got smart enough to open the oven door and then stand on top like its a step stool. Pretty clever that kid... Good thing Pa convinced me to buy the heavy duty plexiglass for the door! So far 26 lbs on plexiglass just glued and sealed on the edges, not a single nail or screw and its holding strong.

Monday, August 19, 2013

Callie's new blankie


 Today we got a package in the mail.

I didn't open it right away, I just set it aside on the counter as it was from GaGa and Callie was sleeping. I waited until the afternoon and then she spotted it and immediately wanted to open it, saying open open. So we took down the box and opened it. What ever did GaGa send us?
She started to pull it out....
And it's a blankie!
But not just any blankie. It came with a note. This blankie was originally hand quilted by GaGa's fathers great aunt. It was originally made for GiGi when she was a baby but she only quilted the front and never finished it. GaGa finished it before I was born but then my mom never used it. So for the last 50 years no one has used this beautiful hand quilted blankie. Little did I know Callie was going to be very excited about this blankie. The only bad news is it smelled very musty like a basement, likely because that's where it has been for 50 years.
It's made from pieces of old aprons. Some of the fabric is very different. My favorite one is a small dog print.
I took it away after this as it was nap time and I planned to wash it. Callie started crying and was so upset! I had to convince her with her new favorite book to forget about the blankie for now. The new favorite book is if you give a mouse a cookie. She keeps saying cookie cookie and we even read it 4 times before bed tonight!

So I decided to wash the blanket since she wanted to play with it so much. Unfortunately it didn't hold up that well in the wash and got a few minor holes. I will fix them up this week. It does smell much better so I have to say it was worth it even if it resulted in a few small holes. Thanks GaGa for passing down a piece of family history. Callie likes it even if she doesn't understand the family significance.

Sunday, August 18, 2013

Dog Beach!!

Ocean Beach Dog beach has got to be one of Callie's favorite places ever. We drive all the way there (nearly 30 minutes, I know you east coast people think that's close) to get drinking water for our house. I swear it's the best water around and totally worth the visit even if its a drive. Callie knows as soon as we are in the parking lot where we are and starts screaming and pointing dog!! There are dogs everywhere, especially on the weekends. Today was really crowded we actually had to wait for a parking spot to open up. Callie was so excited the entire time we were there. She was actually getting several doggy parents to just watch her as she was quite entertaining today besides her usual running in the water trying to swim and being very friendly with other people's dogs, today she was screaming in happiness and running in circle while the dogs ran around playing around her. People couldn't help but laugh at her. I wish I took a video but I was soaked and just trying to keep her corralled from running out into the water. At one point she actually dove face first into the ocean and I had to save her. I thought she was going to be upset and scared but as soon as I wiped off he face and she caught her breath he was ready to go back in. This kid has no fear! She had a great time as always and we all went home exhausted, me soaked, Callie in a tshirt dried off and Juan toting around all our stuff. The only photo we got was right before we left. Can you tell she had fun?

Saturday, August 17, 2013

New snacks

I tried making homemade versions of Callie's favorite fruit and veggie drop snacks. They essentially have all the same ingredients but mine are dehydrated and the ones commercially available are freeze dried. These are sweet potato, carrot, orange, coconut mixture. Mine are chewier and I think I need to tone back the coconut butter and dry them longer so they will be crunchier, but she still eats them so I think it's still a success. Here she is eating right out of the jar.
Such focus, she wouldn't even look at me!

Thursday, August 15, 2013

Spaghetti and a sprinkler?

What can I say? She doesn't want to leave her kitchen items in the kitchen and she prefers no clothes when she plays in the sprinkler. Spaghetti makes a good cover item, he he. The funniest thing is that when the sprinkler is off she thinks it is a birthday cake and she pretends to blow out the worms lol. I guess it does sort of look that way.