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!

The Cutest Trick-or-Treaters

I have to admit, the holidays are getting to be much more fun as Claire and Sophie get older.  You get to live vicariously through their unmitigated excitement, and remember what it was like when you were a kid.  Good times!

Our Halloween started out slow, with Daddy being gone all morning at Stake Temple Day.  But as soon as he came home, the fun began!  We started out with pumpkin carving.  I don't think that Claire and Sophie have ever carved pumpkins before.  They liked the guts the best!

Once the pumpkin was carved, Daddy got some pizzas ready and I started getting things ready for the ward Halloween party and trunk-or-treat.  Claire and Sophie were getting antsy for the dressing-up part...

Finally!  Claire and Sophie have been waiting somewhat patiently for weeks to finally get to wear their costumes.  They picked them out more than a month ago, but we've kept them locked in Johnny's room so they'd be nice for Halloween.

When we asked Claire a couple of months ago what she wanted to be for Halloween, she didn't even hesitate.  "Belle", she said.  And she never wavered.  Personally, I think she made the right choice.  My girl made a gorgeous Belle!

And then there's Sophie.  Danny and I picked her costume for her this year, and I have to say, I think she took the award for cutest kid this Halloween!

Johnny wore the Tigger costume that both Claire and Sophie wore for their first Halloweens.  And he was adorable!  We waited to get him dressed until after we got to the party and I had the chance to feed him.  We didn't get a picture with Daddy and Johnny in his costume, but here they are right before we left:

And Mama with her cute lil' cub:

We had a blast at the ward party!  It pooped the girls out just thinking about it (this picture was taken BEFORE we got to the party! ) :)

Micah Jensen came running over to Claire just as soon as he got there.  You better believe we'll be watching these two when they turn 16!

I love the influence I've had on my Primary kids!  Noble Beazel dressed up as John Shepherd from Stargate: Atlantis, particularly from the Las Vegas episode (season 5).  Love it!

Serina Jensen and Brittany Padovich absolutely adore Sophie!  Every time they see her, they just scoop her up.  Sophie loves the attention.

And of course Johnny had to have his Beth time!

It was an awesome night.  We had one embarrassing moment when Sophie snagged a cupcake from the cake walk table.  Our apologies to whoever ended up with one cupcake short of a full plate! 

Danny compete in a pumpkin race, and though I didn't witness it, apparently he can run quite well with a pumpkin between his legs!  He ended up losing by just a hair, but in his defense, he was running with not only a pumpkin between his legs, but Sophie in his arms.  That's impressive, Daddy...

And speaking of pumpkins, our jack-o-lantern took first place in the pumpkin carving competition this year.  We're not sure why, but we won't argue!

Happy Halloween!