Christmas & Birthday Time...

We woke up at Grandma Barb's on Christmas morning!!  Cailin was looking out her front windows for Santa/Reindeer tracks!  :)  Look at that crazy hair!

Mom, I think Santa came!

 We all stayed in our PJ's for most of the morning.....I think Cailin was the first dressed - at least she was dressed for breakfast!  

Here is our family Christmas picture!  It very much represents our Christmas.  Mom declared a 'no shower' day, Dad was just getting better from being sick (still a little pale) and Cailin is, of course, just great at being cute!  :) 

We headed back and got home around noon on Christmas day.  We had a lazy day.  We spent most of it unpacking and finding a home for all the gifts.  Leon got to hook up and test out his PS3.  I had strategically NOT gotten groceries, due to the fact that we were going to be gone for almost a week.  Meanwhile, I think we can all agree that a birthday just isn't complete without a CAKE!  SO, our Christmas/Birthday meal consisted of homemade pizza (with questionable cheese) and chocolate cake!  YUMMY!!  And....yup, I made myself a birthday cake!  hee hee!

We had a great day on Sunday.  Apparently, my husband loves me so much, he extended my birthday and went SHOPPING with me the DAY AFTER CHRISTMAS!  We hit up Target and Kohls in Sioux Falls!  I was excited to pick up some Christmas wrapping/stuff at 50% off.  We also got a storage cubicle unit for Cailin's toys!!

That wraps up the week of Christmas.....but wait, it's not over!  More to come.....

Merry Christmas!

It's Christmas Eve at 11 pm and I am writing on the blog!  Well, this Christmas didn't quite turn out the way we had planned.  First, I got sick with what I thought was food poisoning (but apparently was the flu) on Tuesday night/Wednesday morning.  I couldn't go to work on Wednesday and we were late getting to my Mom's house.  Then we were supposed to leave my mom's today and head over to see Leon's family.  However, this morning, Leon woke up with the flu!  Not a fun day for him.  At least we were at Mom's house and not stuck somewhere on the road or in an airport!  And at least we were both healthy enough to enjoy our delicious Christmas meal at her house!   :)  Tomorrow we are headed back home, hopefully to get some good healthy rest!!
All the troops are asleep, even our dog Murphy!  So I thought I would grab some computer time and get some pictures up!

We talked Santa into visiting Cailin early this year and we had our little Christmas at home on Tuesday night.

Cailin with her gifts from Santa

Mom and Cailin - in the middle of opening gifts!



Here is what is left!  She loves her gifts!  She really liked her new KITCHEN!



Dad likes his new PS3 - he FINALLY got from Mom!

At Grandma's house...actually sitting on her present!  She's ready to O-P-E-N!!

Of course, the best gift, an empty box!!

So I should have turned this picture!!!  It shows a pretty tired girl!

Hope everyone is enjoying their Christmas!!  Ours wasn't as planned, but as you can see in my earlier blog, I did wish we could spend more time with our families.  And, due to illness, we will be able to extend our holidays into next weekend!!

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Prep!

We are pretty excited for Christmas this year!  There is much to celebrate....we just wish we were able to spend more time with our families!
We (Leon, Heather and Cailin) went shopping last weekend.  And when I say weekend I mean BOTH Saturday AND Sunday!  We actually had a pretty good time.  There were a lot of people in Sioux Falls, but we accomplished what we needed to.
Yesterday, I was able to stay home with Cailin, as her daycare closed due to pink eye.  I loved every minute of staying home with her!  So much fun, especially since we got about 7 inches of snow!  I had thought, 'I'll stay home and get some work done while I am watching her'.  What was I thinking!  I was thinking I had stayed home with her for 9 months, I know what it's like.....well, TOTAL different ball game now!  :)  It is amazing how big of a disaster we made in the house.  First in the kitchen with breakfast, lunch and dinner - then in the rest of the house!  Cailin loves to carry random items around and then drop them for the next best thing.  I haven't yet locked up the kitchen cabinets, so far there is one thing in each cabinet she is allowed to play with, ie:  cutting board, pizza pans, cookie cutters, tupperware, plastic (pampered chef) pot.  She knows where they are and how to get them.  Problem being they end up everywhere - cutting board in the living room, cookie cutters in the bed rooms, pizza pans by the front door!  :)  It's kinda funny!  hee hee!
The highlight of my day was shoveling, well, not exactly the shoveling part, but the part where my neighbor brought over his SNOW BLOWER!!  YEA!!  I'm not sure what is an appropriate 'Thank You' gift for him, but we need to get him something!  My husband has been procrastinating his purchase of a snow blower....money well spent if you ask me.  Plus, I can't wait to see him use it! :)

I don't think I know much else! We are excited for a break from work and can't wait to see our families! Here are  some Cailin pictures!



 

Cailin at her stocking.  Luckily she isn't much taller or she could see that Santa came a little early!

 

She loves bells!  Grandma Donna started the fixation, we continued it at our house.




This ornament say Cailin on it!  She's checking it out!



This was my chair when I was little, Mom had it re-upolstered.  Cailin will grab a book and sit there!  It's TOO cute!

No presents under the tree, they are downstairs in a bed room.  Not because Cailin bothers them, but instead because our dog likes to 'open/destroy' them.  Learned that the hard way.! He's such a good dog, just curious!



If you look closely, you will see Grandma Barb in the ornament!  We ask her where Grandma is and seems to know!  :)
She can also find the Mickey Mouse ornament and and ornament with her Mom and Dad in it!  She points to Dad, when I ask where Mom is she just looks at me like I am crazy.



OUCH!! It's been almost a MONTH!

Hi y'all....
Well, working my 100th Christmas concert tonight!  Okay, maybe not 100th but it feels like it!  Tonight, Lorie Line is at the PAC, playing the ivories.  FUN!!  I did see a pretty cool drum set though!

Anyway, I was moving some things around my office today and decided to drop a huge networked computer on my foot AND took a gouge out of the wall!  hee hee!  Brillant!!

Christmas things that make me laugh:
1.  Wreaths on front of garbage trucks
2.  Inflatables that won't inflate cause they are burried under snow
3.  Yellow snow
4.  Cailin getting excited about BELLS
5.  Cailin insisting that we turn on the 'ice cube man' night light (Thanks Aunt Meghan!)
6.  Seeing my husband stress out about getting me a Christmas AND birthday gift!  hee hee
7.  Christmas earrings

I am sure there will be more after Leon and I finish our shopping this weekend!  :)

Other than work and chasing Cailin around, we haven't been up to much!!  We went to the Carrie Underwood concert in Sioux Falls on Dec. 5.  That was pretty fun....probably TOO much fun for a Sunday!

Cailin had her 1 year check up coming in at:  18 lbs. 12 oz, 29 3/4"!  She's just a little thing, but don't tell her that!  I think most people get on this blog to see pictures of Cailin....here are a few:

We have a couple cute videos.....I will try to get on the ball and put them on soon!!!

HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY to our baby!!

IT'S CAILIN'S BIRTHDAY!!

Kind of an uneventful evening.  We were going to go out to eat, but Cailin and I both have colds, so instead we stayed home and had leftovers....good news is that Cailin likes leftover meatloaf!  Let's just not tell her that was her 1st Birthday meal!  :)  hee hee!

She is getting used to 'real' milk and loves her sippy cup.  Also, she is working on getting her second bottom tooth!  What a BIG girl!

She got a new pair of shoes!.....

a new toy.....

(link to YouTube - video was too long)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13N2_-YZcBc

then it was time to play!

More birthday activities to come...

:)

More videos & pictures (for Grandma)!!

Two days to Cailin's birthday!!  Yipppeeee!!

Here are some videos, so you can see what she has been up to!

Birthday present from Grandma Donna....

Just another day....Cailin loves playing/climbing under the chairs.

Bath Time!

Cailin has figured out what the remote control is for!  :)

What a good little helper - helping Mom with laundry.

Well, I am sure more blogging this week!!!  Have a good one.

Mover and a Shaker!!

Well, it seems as if we can't stop it.  Cailin is almost 1 year old and each day she makes sure we know how independent she is!!  Recently......walking, walking everywhere -practically running- she barely crawls anymore.  It is strange to see her upright all the time.   Tonight, I told her we needed to change her diaper, and she headed to her room.  Then there's the "I can feed myself" which totally tests my patience as my child gets food everywhere!

I didn't have to work today, Veteran's Day....so Cailin and I drove to my Mom's for a couple hours.  We also went to my Grandma's where Cailin found the rocking chair!

Sometimes it's hard to go to my Grandma's, as she often just wants to hold Cailin....Cailin wants none of it.  It is pretty impossible to 'cuddle' with her these days!

Back home I snapped some pictures while Cailin was playing and running around!   

I tried to get a picture of Cailin and Murphy - this is about a close as I could get them! 

 This isn't the greatest picture - but you can see her tooth!!  :D

Cailin walking....might want to turn your volume down...!

On a side note....I was talking to a student the other day and asked if she remembered the Gummi Bears Cartoon!?  Of course, she is probably 12 years younger then me, so she had no idea.  When I got home I checked on youtube....for those old enough to remember:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftNsDa1BHUA

Found in SDSU yearbooks!

Karen is on the bottom, in the middle, with a white shirt.

Karen is in the white jacket.

Joyce is in the second row, on the right.

I found my Aunt Karen in the first two pictures. She's my Dad's sister, who has since passed away.
Also, my Aunt Joyce!! Who was married to my Dad's brother. She is now in Colorado!!
My Uncle Ken went to school here too, but it seems that he didn't show up on picture days!! :). Umm!
Sent from my U.S. Cellular BlackBerry® smartphone

Halloween and stuff...

What a fun week we have had, which is to say that Leon and Heather's work life was slow and we had fun with Cailin.  We made spagetti - Cailin seemed to LOVE it!  She is working on getting her first tooth, which means we are working on getting her to try more 'big kid' food!  This is a whole new boat for us!! 

 

We didn't have daycare on Friday, so my mom came up to watch Cailin.  For something to do this weekend, we went to the SDSU Marching Band 'Indoor' Concert.  Cailin LOVED the music!  Kids were supposed to be dressed in their costumes, since Cailin had the history of not enjoying her elephant costume, she went as a SDSU cheerleader!

We might have a future music director on our hands! ;)

Tonight was Halloween!!  She must have known this was the day to wear her costume, she actually was all smiles!  Her costume is supposed to be an elephant, but she was called a bunny and a glow worm.  Darn Wal-Mart!!  I better write a letter!  :)

We have a busy week coming up!  But we are SO looking forward to Cailin's upcoming first birthday and Thanksgiving!!

IMG00380.jpg

Cailin in her Iowa cheer outfit from the Trzaskos family!

Sent from my U.S. Cellular BlackBerry® smartphone

Time to CATCH UP!!

OH MY Goodness!!  I have been so busy, I have let the one thing I love to do (Blogging) go down the tubes! I am going to quickly put some pictures!  I am trying to get some videos of Cailin walking - I just can't get the videos loaded now!?  I promise to do a better job!  :) 

 Mom came to visit!  We had Hobo Day on 10-23-2010.  We had a great time at the parade, it rained a little, but we were prepared!  We even managed to grab some SDSU ice cream after the parade!  Murphy on the other hand had a tough time with the drums and the sirens!  He is such an indoor dog!

 While Mom watched Cailin - I did a little tailgating and went to the SDSU football game.

 Cailin will be an elephant for Halloween!  She's not super excited for it, but I think it's just adorable!!  :)

 Our baby is 11 months old!!!!!  WOW!

 Okay, so here she is, not so happy about having her costume on!!

 Oops, even less happy now!!

 Daddy couldn't take it anymore, he saved her!!  Such a softy!  :)  Poor Cailin!  I am so mean!!!

 Two seconds later---she's happy and eating!!