Photographic Memory

I've decided that this blog will have to serve as my photographic memory.  I used to pride myself on my memory.  Just ask my sister, Jami.  I used to be able to recite conversations verbatim, regurgitate text book facts with all the many-syllable words, and remember the dates that important things happened.  And then I had kids!

What's hard about that, aside from not being able to hold my own in a conversation anymore, is that more now that ever is when I need my memory!  I think it is patently unfair that having children has such an adverse affect on your brain.  I want to remember every smile, every pose, and every funny thing my kids do.  

That being said, I just had to take some pictures of Johnny over the last week or so.  He's growing up so fast.  He's not my newborn anymore!  And like I said, this blog is going to have to be my photographic memory...

One of my favorite things about Johnny is our mornings together.  After sleeping an average of 10 hours during the night, he wakes up around 6:00 am, and he's hungry!  I scoop him up and bring him into bed with me, and I nurse him while we both doze.  When he's all done eating, he cuddles up next to me and falls asleep for a couple more hours.  I don't sleep much longer, since the girls are usually up by then.  But this picture is how he looks when I leave him in bed to sleep.  He's so big already!  And he looks so precious to me when he's asleep...

Johnny's a strong little boy!  He's been able to stand and support his weight pretty much since we brought him home.  But lately he seems to be anxious to work those legs out.  So we brought out the bouncer!  It seems to me both of the girls were closer to 6 months old before they were ready for this fun toy, but Johnny seemed to dig it.  He especially loved the toys within easy reach, but was a bit frustrated when he couldn't get any of them in his mouth!

And Danny and I have decided it's official.  Johnny is a thumb-sucker!  He's our first one, too.  But it's so stinkin' cute!  He usually goes right to the thumb after he's done eating.  Have I mentioned how much I love breastfeeding this little guy?  It really has been a completely different experience this time around, and I really feel like Johnny and I bond during his feedings.  

My day to day life is full of monotony and frustrations.  Having children, especially such large ones, has taken a toll on my body.  But I wouldn't trade any of it.  I absolutely love being a Mom!  I just wish time would slow down a bit... 

Can a girl get luckier?

It's been hard enough, over the last four years, to figure out how I managed to snag such a handsome man for a husband.  Then we were blessed with two gorgeous daughters.  I never would have thought I would have such beautiful girls.  And then we met our son.  I can't believe I get to share my life with these two handsome men!

Yes, those are matching ties.  Seriously, I think I might like dressing up my little boy to look like a little man more than I liked all the accessories I was able to don on the girls when they were babies!

  Anyway, Danny and Johnny have been becoming more the pair lately.  Don't get me wrong, Johnny's still my Mama's Boy.  But you can tell how much he loves his Daddy...

I've said it before, and I'll say it again.  I couldn't have picked a better man to be the father of my children.  Not all men rejoice in their children like Danny does.  I know that not all husbands are more excited to greet their kids at the end of the day than they are to have a hot meal or a clean house.  My Johnny has the best example of how to be a righteous son of our Heavenly Father.  Ever.

It's a bird, it's a plane...

No...it's Super Sophie!

Evil-doers don't stand a chance against that face!

Raptoberfest

Back in November, Danny's CTF (Combined Test Force) threw a party for the families.  This is kind of a big deal, since in the year that Danny has been at Edwards, we've never been able to meet anyone he works with.  Or really even go to where he actually works!  It was so cool to get to take the kids and show them what Daddy does all day.

There was plenty of food, good company, and even a bouncy castle for the kids.  But, admittedly, the coolest part had to be the F-22 Raptor!  Yes, that's my totally cute family in front of the coolest fighter jet in the sky.  That's right, F-35.  I said it.  :)

O Christmas Tree

Thanksgiving day came and went.  All too fast...not that my waistline is complaining.  And with the passing of Thanksgiving came the ushering in of Christmas!  As is the tradition with most families, the Christmas decorations came out on Friday.  Last year Danny had to work, but this year he was able to stay home.  I was grateful for his presence, if only for the added height! ;)

It wasn't only Danny's help I appreciated this year.  Claire and Sophie were such good helpers!  Claire helped me organize all the branches to our artificial tree in color-coded piles, and then she and Sophie brought them to Danny and I.  It was so cool to be able to decorate for Christmas as a family.  I even had the Jazz Holiday station on Pandora playing in the background.  And I'm not much for Christmas music.  Don't get me wrong, I enjoy it!  I just don't listen to it in June, and I'm wonderfully grateful when the radio stations finally quit playing it. :)

And here's a glance at what the Call house looks like all dressed up for Christmas 2010:

Note: There are no ornaments on the tree this year.  We decided it was more important to not spend the entire month yelling at Sophie. :)

I'm so excited to have a mantel and stocking holders for our stockings this year!  Only problem is we're short one stocking.  Hmmm...guess Mom and Dad are sharing one this year. :)

It was a lot of fun decorating the house this year.  I'm definitely getting more into the holiday spirit as the years go by!  It'll be fun to see what our home will look like a few Christmases from now...

One Year Closer

Yesterday was the one year anniversary of Rachel's death.  I'm behind in some other posts I've wanted to get done, but I want to take the opportunity to post about my sister, and the wonderful day we had yesterday.

My family has been bracing for this one year anniversary.  We all anticipated that it would be a hard day.  A day full of remembering how awful December 1st was last year.  We talked about trying to coordinate a memorial of sorts, but in the end decided to let everyone find comfort in whatever way they saw fit.  Turned out, that was really the best thing.

I woke up in the morning, not knowing what to expect.  Or what to do to honor my sister.  But my day began not with tears, but with a sense of peace.  Even joy at the life my sister lived.  I got on Facebook, and read all the wonderful things her friends had posted.  While reading those sweet messages brought tears to my eyes and pain to my chest, I realized something profound.  If the way people remember you after you leave this life is any indication of how you lived it, than my sister did as good a job as anyone could.  So many people remembered the day, not because they were concerned for our loss, but because they experienced a loss as well.  Rachel touched so many lives, and had such an influence on everyone she interacted with.  I decided I have a lot to learn from my youngest sister.  And that's how I'm going to honor her.  I chose a couple of areas in my life that I can follow Rachel's example in, and for the next year I'm going to work to make those areas stronger.  Thank you, Rachel!  You're an amazing example to me.

Of course, we all worried about my Mom.  But, not necessarily surprisingly, she had a wonderful day!  A day full of that same peace that I felt.  A peace that can only come from the Spirit.  I know there were countless prayers uttered in my mother's and our family's behalf, and I know the prayers in the temple were for us as well.  And I KNOW we felt their effect.  

Death is something that has always frightened me.  Well, not death itself, but the separation that comes with it.  I have to say, even with all I've learned from Rachel's death, I'm still anxious for when I'll lose someone else.  Because it will happen.  It's a necessary part of this mortal experience.  But while I may still fear the separation, I have learned that peace will follow, if you allow for it.  I know that life can still be joyful.  I know that we have a loving Heavenly Father and Savior, Jesus Christ.  They will not leave us comfortless.

I love my sister, and I miss her very much.  But I'm so excited to find out what great work she is doing in the spirit world.  Because if I know my sister, it's a great and groovy work.  Love you, Rachel!  You're the tannest and prettiest sister! :)

3 Months

Here's my little man at three months!  Only, let's be honest, he's not so little!

Johnny is still doing great!  He continues to eat, sleep, and poop well.  That's all he's really responsible for at this point!  I guess his other job over the last month has been to strengthen his neck muscles.  With the help of his physical therapist, Dr. Kristine Meis (Dr. Kris), he's made some excellent progress!  We've gone every week, and every week I'm worried that I haven't done enough work with him and Dr. Kris is going to notice.  But, apparently what we're getting done is doing some good things, as she notices a marked improvement every week.  He still has a bit of a tilt to the left, as you can see in the picture, but it is also considerably better than it was a month ago, which is evident when you compare this month to last month's picture.  The tilt is the last thing to go, so we're hoping to be discharged in the next few weeks.

Here's some more about our John at 3 months:

*Sleeps between 8-10 hours a night, uninterrupted

*Has outgrown a fair number of his 6 month outfits, and is now wearing 6-9 month clothes

*His eyes seem to have settled into an awesome hazel color

*Has had his second hair cut

*Enjoys tummy time more now that he can get his head up 45-90 degrees and scan the world around him

*Has discovered his hands, and absolutely loves them (he's also discovered he can suck his thumb, which is way more convenient than waiting for someone to give him back his binkie)

*He can reach for things in front of him, and has started grabbing at toys and hair :)

*He loves to smile and talk to Mommy when he wakes up next to her after nursing

*He still LOVES when his sisters play with him, but he's becoming aware enough to get a scared look in his eye when he sees Sophie coming

*He likes to sit up when he's sitting on your lap so he can see better

*Still loves to talk

*Is getting even more ticklish, and can even manage to laugh really hard now

I wish you could be my baby forever, Johnny!  Time is going too quickly...

Pilgrims and {Part} Indians

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year.  And even though we didn't travel to Utah, we still got to spend the day with family.  We were grateful to be able to spend Thanksgiving with Robbie and Kris, and even more grateful that they were willing to host Thanksgiving in their lovely home!

We started the day as soon as the girls got up, which is earlier than we would like.  But it was a good thing on that morning, since we had plenty of cooking to do!  I got up at 5:00 am to get the rolls rising, and then we started the rest of the cooking around 8:00.  We were responsible for the rolls, the sweet potatoes, the green beans, and the desserts.  Danny and I were SO excited to try out some more recipes for our favorite food blog, Our Best Bites.  And once again, they didn't disappoint!  The rolls were of the frozen variety this year, but we made Candied Coconut Sweet Potatoes, Caramelized Green Beans, and Pumpkin Crumble (and we got a frozen chocolate silk pie as well).  And they were all A-MA-ZING!  The sweet potatoes were really good, but I think the recipes of the day were the Caramelized Green Beans and the Pumpkin Crumble! 

Once our food was done and the kids were cute, we loaded up the car and headed to San Pedro.  When we arrived, we discovered we weren't the only ones busting out some culinary prowess!

  

Robbie and Kris were responsible for the turkey, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, and roasted asparagus.  Kris used Alton Brown's Fool-Proof Bird recipe for the turkey, and I can't put into words how amazing it was!  I can't wait to try one myself.  And the cranberry dipping sauce?  Also an Alton Brown recipe, and also amazing!  We ate ridiculously good.  I have to admit, it might be the best Thanksgiving dinner I've ever eaten!  And not too shabby for a bunch of first timers!  :)

The girls enjoyed their food.  Sophie was particularly fond of Kris' Cranberry Punch.  She nursed a couple of glasses full...

And Claire made it abundantly (and disgustingly) evident how much she was enjoying her meal!

And our sweet Johnny just enjoyed the chaos of his first Thanksgiving.

After we stuffed ourselves to an uncomfortable point, we just enjoyed the rest of the day together.

Danny and Robbie were awesome husbands, and let us girls relax and watch a movie while they did the dishes.  Danny wanted to be sure I took a picture, so that Mom could see the good boys she raised.  Thanks, Mom!

Danny and I have so much to be grateful for.  We are so fortunate to have such a wonderful marriage, and one that can last for eternity.  We know we've been blessed beyond what we are worthy of as we've had each of our extraordinary children.  We're grateful for the restored gospel of Jesus Christ, and for the Plan of Salvation.  We are infinitely and eternally grateful for our Savior's atoning sacrifice, which makes this life not only possible, but joyful.  We love our life and are grateful for every moment of it!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Milestones: Conquering Tummy Time

Johnny is almost three months old already!  And he's starting to get enough strength to control that little body of his.  Most of the time, he hates tummy time.  But he's finally gotten strong enough to lift his head and scan the room.  Way to go, Son!

From The Mouth of Babes

I love that Claire can talk, and that she's so articulate.  And it's been so fun to have her communicate what is going on in that overactive mind of hers!  Take the other day, for example.  I was changing Johnny's diaper, and Claire happened to be watching me.  Apparently, Danny had the anatomy talk with Claire soon after we brought Johnny home, which I hadn't known.  She's rarely around when I'm changing or bathing Johnny, so it hadn't really come up.  Here's how the conversation went:

Claire:  "Oh, look Mom!  Johnny has one of those things that Daddys have."

Mom:  "You're right.  Boys and Daddys have penises.  Girls don't."

Claire:  **thoughtfully**  "Yeah, girls don't have penises.  Only boys have penises.  Boys and really big dinosaurs."

And was I about to argue with her?  Maybe I would have, if I could have stopped laughing!

Spa-Peggy and Meatballs

Even looking at this picture incites an alarming amount of salivation...

Our life in the Call house has been changed by a food blog.  That's right, a food blog.  Our Best Bites is our culinary best friend!  There are so many delicious recipes to try...

On Saturday, we decided to give Spaghetti and Meatballs a whirl.  I've never made my own spaghetti sauce before.  We've been Prego people as long as we've been married.  But no more!  This was spaghetti at a whole new level.  And the coolest part, is it makes two meals!  I have a salivation-fest just sitting in the freezer, awaiting it's time in the crockpot.

I also tried my hand at breadsticks.  I've never made bread of any sort, and I'm not that great at anything that is baked.  And honestly, yeast kind of scares me.  But these breadsticks turned out great!  Needless to say, we ate pretty good on Saturday night...  

It was so fun to spend an afternoon in the kitchen with Danny and the girls.  Claire did an amazing job shaping all the meatballs!  Cooking is definitely something we love, almost as much as eating!  And at our house, it's a family affair.

The Perpetuation of Social Norms

I've had a realization lately.  I'm not a perfect mother.  Far from it, actually!  :)  I feel like I do a lot of things right, and even pretty well, when it comes to taking care of the kids.  But my babies are turning into children, and all of a sudden this parenting thing is becoming more involved.  And it is putting into stark relief those areas that I'm weak in.  Love that!

Danny said it best when he suggested that we (mostly me) take a more active approach to parenting, as opposed to a reactive approach.  I have gotten too comfortable just reacting to the events of the day instead of actively involving the girls in learning opportunities.  Really, I always knew I'd be bad at this part!  It's quicker and easier for me to do things myself, as opposed to taking the time to teach the girls.  Having Claire and Sophie help me clean and cook usually results in more mess!  But, I also know these are the memories I'll treasure, and I definitely know I want my girls to know how to take care of their homes.  Basically, I've got to teach them their appropriate gender role! :)  Possibly controversial, I know, but we all know it's gotta happen...

What's funny is that I've only been able to take pictures of Danny teaching the girls, since when I'm cooking or cleaning with them it's only me and I can't get in the picture!  But rest assured, I've been putting my efficiency aside and making messes along the way!

And introducing, the next Iron Chef!

Claire helped make Crunchy Chicken Legs for dinner on Sunday, and she did an excellent job!

And while Sophie may be too young to handle raw chicken, she's still learning how to be a lady!

I'm sure she'll throw a smashing tea party some day. :)

And we can't forget Johnny!  He learning quickly how to be the man of the house.  Sitting around looking good, waiting for dinner to be done.

I'm kidding, of course!  Except for the looking good part... :)

I hope that as I keep trying to be a more active mother in my kid's learning, that someday it will be more of a second nature to me.  It is fun to have them help me, even if it takes an extra few minutes of clean up.  Someday, I'm sure I'll miss all that cleaning!

Johnny's First Haircut

That's right.  At two months old, we took a buzzer to our little boy!  Gave him quite the handsome haircut, if I do say so myself.  I've been cutting Danny's hair since we were engaged, so I only know how to cut a boy's hair one way.  Johnny got a longer version of his Dad's haircut!

Here's the before picture:

I love that little fuzzy head!

And here's how much hair we cut off:

The after picture:

Admit it, you could just smother him in kisses...

Family Pictures 2010

While we were in Utah in September, we had to take advantage of having our family photographer, Megan Hall, so close.  I originally just wanted her to do Johnny's newborn pictures (which ended up being 1 month pictures). But then I figured Claire needed her 3 year pictures, and Sophie needed her 2 year pictures!  If we were going to have them all dressed up and cute, it couldn't hurt to snag a few photos of the whole family, even if I was just four weeks postpartum.  As always, I am completely overjoyed with how they turned out!  Enjoy!