Sick Baby

Since moving here, Calvin has been sick far too much.  In our first two weeks here in North Carolina, Calvin got sick from swallowing lake water, had food poisoning, dealt with roseola, and cut his first couple molars.  It was pretty pathetic and no fun for any of us.  We really, really missed seeing our smiley, happy boy.

June

Thankfully, he was well the rest of the summer but battled allergies and a couple colds this fall.  These also weren't fun for anyone but thankfully not as bad.  We actually had to make an effort to take pictures of him sad and/or crying during his first year because it happened so rarely.  So, I actually loved having a few to add to the collection.  Even sad, he's pretty darn cute.

September

Also September

November

As a side note, I love seeing how much Calvin has grown up in our few months here!  There is so little baby left in him...and SO much toddler!  But, that could be a whole post in and of itself.  We are very happy that he is healthy and happy so very much of the time but sure have gotten better at managing the times he isn't!

Arizona

After much anticipation, Calvin and I finally had a chance to fly to see my parents for the first time since January!  I feel bad complaining that I'm only seeing them twice in one year, but I really do wish it happened more often.

I was very nervous about the trip and read about a thousand suggestions on how to make it easier.  The best thing I found after all was said and done was Calvin's backpack.  Not only was it adorable, but it gave him ownership of his possessions, freed up a little space in my carry on, and kept his stuff altogether.  He loved picking snacks out of the front pocket.  It was mostly clipped to my rolling suitcase, but he did wear it a little bit.

On the way there, he actually ended up with his own seat on both flights despite being a lap child.  This was wonderful!  American Airlines actually blocked off a seat for him and said they'd fill it very last.  Of the four airlines I've used since having him, they have by far been the most accommodating.  Unfortunately, even with his own seat the planes were just too exciting and busy a place to take a nap.  He passed out in the van before we'd even left the airport parking lot.  Also, he learned to nap better in a seat other than the one he was right as the trip ended...go figure.

That evening, we kept it low key.  Right by my parents neighborhood is a park, so we headed over there with "Paw" (my dad) for some play time.

These two quickly bonded.  Calvin still asks about Paw pretty much every day.

On Saturday, my sister and I managed to pull of a surprise retirement party for my dad.  His official last day had been the day before I showed up, so I'm surprised he didn't expect it!

We spent several hours cooking and ended up with quite a feast: steak, shrimp, cauliflower macaroni, baked beans, cheese dip, veggies, bacon wrapped jalapeno poppers, cake, and ice cream.

We also made sure to get a picture of Dad with the grandkids who were there.  Of course, none of these boys wanted to sit still long enough for a picture, but we pulled off something half decent.

Calvin enjoyed the cousin time.  He and Logan were cute together despite the 18 month age difference.  It also helped that Logan had lots of fun toys to share.

On Monday, we started a stretch of sight seeing.  Monday we went to Colossal Cave Mountain Park.  We couldn't go into the cave, but the park was a lot of fun.

Paw and Calvin had a lot of fun with the horses.  We also spent time at the petting zoo.  Calvin loved pointing out all the animals and telling us the noises they make.

On Tuesday, we headed to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum.  Mom is a volunteer there, which made the trip more possible.  The Desert Museum is actually a living museum...kind of a museum/zoo hybrid.  Because of the rough terrain, they actually provide special strollers free of cost.  Calvin and Dad had a little too much fun with them.

My very favorite part was seeing the raptor show.  This owl was actually flying straight at me, and her wings brushed my head!  It was AMAZING!  Thankfully, my camera died, so I had to stop taking pictures and enjoy the show.

Calvin loved the fossil exhibit.  Here he is actually helping excavate "fossils" that are poured in concrete and put out for visitors to try.

On Wednesday, Dad and I headed off to hike in the Saguaro National Forest with Calvin.  I am always amazed at how foreign yet beautiful Arizona is when I'm there.

One of the trails we went on took us right past the oldest saguaro Dad has found so far.  It has roughly 20 arms--give or take a couple.  The picture doesn't do it justice.  It is massive and incredible!

Dad and I traded off with Calvin.  Calvin eventually fell asleep holding onto Dad's glasses strap.  He actually stayed asleep as he took the pack off and we switched him out to the car seat.  That was also amazing!

On the way back, Dad made sure we drove by a crested saguaro.  These are extremely rare, and this is actually a smaller one.  It's probably around 100 years old.  This National Forest has documented 25 of them.  Volunteers have worked to document the rest of the ones found in the surrounding areas outside the park.  This is the only area of the country where saguaros naturally grow.

Also of note, the hiking trip was the first time Calvin was front facing in his car seat to fit in the truck.  Dad folded down the middle of the front seat, so he was pretty excited to look out the windshield.  After a while, though, he got tired of his legs dangling and kept trying to prop them up.  So, that just gave us one more reason to keep him rear facing at home.

Our last day, we went to Kartchner Caverns State Park.  Again, we couldn't go in the cave, but there was still plenty to do.  Calvin had a lot of fun playing in the simulation tunnels.

I got in on the fun with him.  Seriously, we crawled through these four little tunnels for the better part of an hour.  I wish I could have brought them home with me!

While we were there, Calvin fell in love with Uncle Matt.  My brother is seriously amazing with little kids.  Calvin loved playing with him, and Matt even spoiled him with a couple new toys.  I tried to convince him that he needs to give up his job in a bagel shop to be a manny.  I'm not sure I sold him on it, though!

On our way to the airport, we realized that we didn't get a single picture of Calvin with both grandparents.  So, we took one right outside the entrance.  Of course, I have none of me with my mom, mom and Calvin together, Tanner and Calvin together, or Nicki with Calvin.  I know I have a lot of pictures in this post, but I should have had more!

Also, there are no pictures of our travels back home.  The trip was just shy of awful.  Both flights were packed, so Calvin was on my lap.  We had to reschedule our second leg because of problems with the airplane.  Calvin went an obscene number of hours without a nap.  In the end, we were walking out of the airport with Calvin sitting on my shoulders screaming.  We. Were. Done.  Thankfully, it was all better once we met Devin outside, and the trip was very much worth it.  But, I think I'm done flying for a while!

A Halloween Dragon

Because our little dragon was just so cute, we used every opportunity available to celebrate Halloween and make use of his costume.  Who doesn't love a puffy little dragon?

We started the celebration by going to Boo at the Zoo for the Roos at Tiger World.  Calvin loved running around and could have cared less about collecting candy.  We actually didn't even take a bucket for him and just stuck a few pieces in our pockets for ourselves when the volunteers insisted we take some.

We took the opportunity to take another picture at the Calvin plaque and actually got both Calvins in it this time!  Of course, we can't see either of their faces, but it's still cute.  Speaking of which, our Calvin won a prize for one of the cutest costumes.  That definitely made my night!

The day before Halloween, we attended Trunk or Treat at church.  Unfortunately, Devin was held up a couple hours at work, so he didn't make it.  But, Calvin and I had fun once he figured out what was going on.

He loved "helping" hand out candy.  This meant he mostly moved it from the bowel into his own bucket and didn't put it in anyone else's.  Calvin is certainly a clever kid!  After the biggest crowds died down, we went to a few cars for Calvin to get the experience.  He was shy at first but figured out that saying "peas" meant more candy in his bucket, and that broke his quiet spell!

Towards the end, he became mesmerized by a lollipop.  I eventually opened it and let him try it out.  If he could, he'd probably rank that in the top five experiences of his young life.

As per Devin and my agreement, Calvin got to wear his Halloween costume the whole day of Halloween.  So, I put off a couple errands to make the most of it.  We enjoyed returning books at the library for a while and playing with one of Calvin's friends (also in costume!) for a little while.  We also went to Target that morning.  We got lots of good comments there!

Later, Calvin "helped" me prep the pumpkin and then "helped" Devin carve it.  It was one of my favorite pumpkins so far!

This was all in the same manner he "helped" pass out candy.  Some help is much more helpful than others.  We also learned that we live in one of THE trick or treat neighborhoods in Kannapolis!  We went through about 20 pounds of candy before having to turn off our lights...SUCH a change from Augusta!  And, it really has us looking forward to next year!!

Escape to Georgia

At the start of residency, Devin requested to be off for the weekend of the Fall Festival in Watkinsville, GA and was given the whole week off!  It was amazing to have a little escape from our busy lives and Devin's very busy work schedule.

We considered caching a couple days back in, but decided to make a week out of it when we realized we could see Devin's Grandmother if we did.  We enjoyed the first couple days with her, and she enjoyed time with Calvin, Blue, and Moose.

We tried out a really neat, new playground with Grandmother and Devin's mom.  I was pretty excited to have someone there to take photos of the three of us together!

Seriously, it can be sooo challenging to get a candid family picture!

We planned a trip to the Georgia Aquarium during our visit.  Calvin loves to point out "glub glubs" in books and such, so we thought he'd enjoy this a lot.  And, while he did think the fish were pretty exciting, the best part was by far walking up and down steps...over and over and over again.

Devin has a history with a giant grouper at the Georgia Aquarium.  He wanted to make sure Calvin was acquainted with them as well.

One of our very favorite places to eat in Athens is Cali-N-Titos.  They have lots of old school playground equipment around their outdoor seating.  This was our first trip there where Calvin was old enough to play on it!

When the weekend arrived, we were pretty excited about the fall festival.  This was of course the reason we scheduled a trip for this week.  Our very favorite part was the "Agriculture Education Center."  There were a lot of animals, a live milking demonstration, a corn pit, and information booths.  Calvin gladly played in the corn while we enjoyed funnel cake and pulled pork sandwiches.  He probably would have stayed in the pit all day if we'd let him.

Calvin has mastered the art of authentic sounding oinks.  He was pretty excited to see the pigs as a result.  He also neighed at the horses, baaa-ed at the sheep, and moo-ed at the cows.

At the end of the visit, we rode a hayride back to our cars.  Our driver was kind enough to let Calvin try out the tractor.  This little boy was so excited to have his hands on such a big steering wheel!

Other highlights of the week included a couple dates, Devin and I running together after dark, and lots of other favorite foods.  We can't wait for the next trip back!

Tiger World

Tiger World is by far one of the best little gems we've found since moving to North Carolina!  We decided to check it out when my sister Jess and her boyfriend Tom came to visit for the weekend.  It's an amazing exotic animal rescue center that makes a perfect little zoo for Calvin.  They started out saving tigers, branched out to other wild cats, and now have bears, wolves, wild dogs, kangaroos, primates, parrots, and various reptiles.  We didn't even make it to the ticket counter before seeing the first tigers and Calvin practicing his roar.

The tigers were absolutely beautiful.  We were there in the morning shortly before their scheduled feeding time, so they were all very active and vocal.  It was SO much fun to see!

White tigers are apparently very rare but Tiger World has seven (or more?) of them!  They also have a liger with with the giant gene (so he is HUGE) as well as a large ti-liger.  This white tiger was paired with the two of them.  They had had a large enclosure but had to be separated to eat, unlike the other pairs, because of safety concerns for all of them.

Once they started feeding the animals, we followed the truck to see it all.  The caretakers explained their diets, fasting schedules, and eating habits along with giving us lots of background information on all the animals.  I loved watching the tigers eat.  The whole chickens were exciting to see, but the tiger growling at us while defending a deer leg was absolutely stunning!

We were pretty excited to find a tiger named Calvin while we were there.  My Calvin was wearing his favorite shirt with a tiger and carrying his Hobbes, so it made taking a picture with the sign even better!

Of course, one of the best parts of the whole experience was that I got to spend time with Jess!  I don't get nearly enough sister time these days, so the weekend felt far too short but wonderful.  And, Calvin absolutely loved having her here...there's nothing quite like getting spoiled by an aunt!

101 in 1001

A couple years ago, I started seeing blogs popping up with people completing the Day Zero challenge.  It seemed like a neat idea, but wasn't something for me at the time.  In the back of my mind, I thought it would be great to line it up to complete by my 30th birthday.  After coming across it again about a month ago, I realized that the timing was perfect.  I turn 30 exactly 1001 days from today.  I plan to post updates on my progress over the time.  I am very excited about all of these things, so here is to an amazing 1001 days full of lots of things to enjoy!

The Challenge: Complete 101 preset tasks in a period of 1001 days. 

The Criteria: Tasks must be specific (ie. no ambiguity in the wording) with a result that is either measurable or clearly defined. Tasks must also be realistic and stretching (ie. represent some amount of work on your part).

Items in blue are completed; green items are a work in progress.

1.  Learn to play 20 useful songs (hymns, carols, children's songs) on the piano.

2.  Go apple picking.

3.  Make play dough with Calvin.

4.  Cook an entire holiday meal.

5.  Organize the garage.

6.  Grow a salad.

7.  Sew a quilt.

8.  Replace all gold light fixtures in our home.

9.  Make a wreath and hang it up.

10.  Chop our own Christmas tree.

11.  Read every Ensign cover to cover by the end of the month for a year.

12.  Cook spaghetti squash.

13.  Make a menu plan and stick to it for a month.

14.  Read a book in Braille.

15.  Go star gazing.

16.  Make (and print!) a family photo book.

17.  Attend a football game.

18.  Go to a concert.

19.  Paint the guest bedroom.

20.  Learn to make crock pot desserts.

21.  Go camping with Calvin.

22.  Make a pumpkin pie completely from scratch.

23.  Make homemade caramels.

24.  Make a busy book.

25.  Sew Christmas puppets.

26.  Fill my empty frames and hang them.

27.  Find a better way to organize all our important paperwork.

28.  Make something to decorate my walls.

29.  Go on a picnic

30.  Make a toy with Calvin.

31.  Find/make a nativity set.

32.  Decorate Calvin's light switch plate.

33.  Run a race 10k or longer.

34.  Read the whole Book of Mormon with Calvin.

35.  Make and send 20 homemade cards.

36.  Have a family photo taken and hang it up.

37.  Find/make a good bookshelf for Calvin's books.

38.  Plant, grow, and use at least 3 herbs.

39.  Put together 72 hour emergency kits for our family.

40.  Figure out how to make use of our back patio,

41.  Have all clean clothes put away before bed for a month straight.

42.  Sew a cover for the foof chair.

43.  Learn to index for FamilySearch.

44.  Teach Calvin to bake and share the goodies.

45.  Hang a ceiling fan in Calvin's room.

46.  Sew curtains for the whole house.

47.  Make Christmas stockings.

48.  Find a new dentist for Devin and me.

49.  Read 5 classic novels.

50.  Find good nachos near us.

51.  Read the entire Bible cover to cover.

52.  Blog at least twice a month for a year.

53.  Prepare a whole chicken.

54.  Get a new computer desk.

55.  Brush both dogs at least once a week for the whole summer.

56.  Do temple work for at least 5 ancestors.

57.  Take a real family vacation.

58.  Do something special to celebrate Devin.

59.  Decorate a big boy room for Calvin.

60.  Back up our computers.

61.  Update/replace Devin's and my dressers.

62.  Make apple butter.

63.  Find an exercise video I like and use it.

64.  Visit Helen, GA.

65.  Hold a 10 minute conversation in German.

66.  Give up a guilty pleasure.

67.  Take Calvin to the Georgia Aquarium.

68.  Paint sugar cookies with Calvin.

69.  Write 5 letters to give/open in the future.

70.  Decorate a fun cake.

71.  Go a full weekend without being bossy even once.

72.  Frame a Calvin and Hobbes comic strip.

73.  Go to a baseball game.

74.  Leave a 100% tip.

75.  Update the background on my blog.

76.  Compile a photo album.

77.  Visit Kings Mountain National Military Park.

78.  Decorate for a holiday other than Christmas.

79.  Take Calvin to the zoo.

80.  Can a food.

81.  Get a new camera.

82.  Journal every day for a month.

83.  Throw a party.

84.  Try 5 new fruits/vegetables.

85.  Leave a surprise on at least 3 doorsteps.

86.  Visit Andersonville, GA.

87.  Decorate the bonus room.

88.  Learn to make pastries.

89.  Create and share a Mormon.org profile.

90.  Give 5 home sewn gifts.

91.  Consolidate our bank accounts.

92.  Figure out a good calendar system for our family.

93.  Shop at a consignment store.

94.  Make homemade applesauce.

95.  Buy a pair of jeans I love.

96.  Play in the rain.

97.  Deep clean our carpets.

98.  Replace Devin's car.

99.  Sing in a choir.

100.  Plan a big end of residency celebration.

101.  Have a collection of 200 children's books.

Calvin at 14 months...

...available for a limited time only!  Every time I hear those Disney commercials, I am just so thankful that I get to soak up each day with this amazing, happy boy!

We have an amazing park.  In addition to playgrounds, wandering trails, and a train, there is a fantastic splash pad where we love to play!  It's so much fun for both of us!

We also have a budding little musician.  We play music most of the day, and he gladly dances along.  He LOVES to play the keyboard and finds other ways of making noise frequently, too.

Calvin is also in love with his stuffed animals.

I'm super excited he's learned to give real hugs and kisses.

He's also a master of funny faces.  It can be super tricky to discipline him with this skill, though!

And, who doesn't love some awesome little boy bed head?

Life with Calvin is just too much fun.  He's still loves so many books.  Some of his favorite toys are his dinosaurs.  I'm so excited that he is now trying to talk all the time, and he has a few recognizable words!  Life just doesn't get much better than this!