Callie Update and Happy Thanksgiving

Just a quick update on Callie. She smiles at us more consistently now but still can be rather reserved with the smiles, especially when I'm trying to get a picture. She is a champ at holding her head up. Her favorite place to be is up on our shoulder holding her head up to look around at everything. Many people have wondered who she looks like and surprisingly I believe the answer is Carl, we have a picture of him(somewhere) around 3 or 4 months and minus the dark hair Callie most definately looks like her Daddy, of course there are always varying opinions but when I find that picture I will have to post a comparison:) Her disposition is more like Gabe then Ty at the same age(rather high maintenance, likes to be held and sometimes isn't even happy that way:) fortunately she makes up for it with her sweet smiles and coos and she is a pretty good sleeper, especially at night usually only waking once between 3 and 4 and then sleeping until sometime after 7. Gabe started sleeping through the night around 7 weeks so I am hoping since she is more Gabe like in disposition she will follow in his footsteps and start sleeping through the night soon:) The boys continue to adjust well to their sister. Gabe is more the protector and tries to get her to smile and stop crying when she is upset. Ty is just amused by her and would wrestle with her if we'd let him. Carl and the boys are headed up to the tree farm tomorrow afternoon while Callie and I stay here. With her still getting up nightly and being rather high maintenance we decided it would be best not to throw her into the mix of 5 kids 4 and under at the tree farm for the majority of the time. We will be staying here to celebrate Thanksgiving with the Mawdsleys on Thursday and then heading up to the tree farm on Saturday morning for the weekend. We wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving! Remember if you need a Christmas tree or wreath and you're in the Algona area come on out and see us:)

A Christmas Program Preview(with a little trouble)

First a little throat trouble.


then a little brother trouble.

Those of you With Little Girls...

Check out these cute headbands and hats! They are having a 100$ giveaway as well!
www.bannerboutique.blogspot.com

A Picture Speaks a Thousand Words

We'll Take It!

So far we've had better weather this November then we did in October, but we'll take it! Since it was so nice last Friday and I desperately needed to get out of the house and do something we called up Andrea, Clark and Grant and we all ventured to Center Grove Orchard for the morning. The last time we went with Gabe's preschool it was cold and raining like crazy and since it was a field trip Ty didn't get to go. This day was a total opposite weather wise, it was gorgeous and almost too warm for jackets! The boys started off playing on the hay stacks. I think they could have spent quite a bit of time there and not cared if they actually went into the farmyard but we did manage to get them off the hay and into the farmyard. The corn pool was fun as always. Ty and Clark were not too sure about walking around in the corn at first but the temptation of the slide at the other end of the pool was too much for them and eventually they made their way down to the slides. After much play we convinced them to go try out the pedal tractors which are very hard to pedal! Even Gabe had a hard time pedaling and steering the tractors so that didn't last too long. Fortunately right behind the pedal tractors are some goats, ducks and chickens. The boys all had fun looking at the animals and then made their way over to the 3 little pig houses. They loved exploring each one. We then made our way to the one room school house, somehow I'm thinking these guys wouldn't have been the best behaved students:) We decided to go down and see if they happened to have the jumping pillow open but they didn't but we did discover the new giant slide. Gabe loved it and wanted to go on right away. Ty loved it too unfortunately he doesn't weigh enough to make the sled or bag go to the end of the slide so he kind of stopped right in the middle of the track and didn't know how to get off. He held up traffic for awhile! The babies at this point were both HUNGRY so after a quick game of checkers we headed home. It was so much fun to get out of the house and enjoy the sunshine! As for a Callie update she is still doing well. She is getting chubby cheeks and has quite the double chin going on! She continues to be stingy with the smiles but when she does flash you one they sure are cute! I still have yet to capture it on camera but I'm still working on it. She still loves to be held and is our cuddly little baby as you can see from these pictures of her snuggling with Daddy. When I was taking pictures of Callie laying on Daddy, Gabe and I decided to snap a few self portraits, I think they turned out pretty well:)

Where Did October Go?

It is so hard to believe it is November already. Soon it will be Thanksgiving and that means busy, busy, busy around here(for those of you who don't know Carl's family owns a Christmas Tree Farm in Algona and we also make wreaths for the shop and some for wholesale, so that will be starting very soon) We ended October with some Halloween fun. The boys loved trick or treating this year and the weather actually turned out to be pretty nice. Gabe had a hard time choosing his costume, he wanted to be so many different things but he finally settled on Scooby Doo. Ty didn't have much of an opinion on the matter so he wore a costume I had bought when Gabe was little on clearance. Gabe never ended up never wearing it but it fit Ty perfectly. He was a duck. Callie even got in on the fun and was a monkey but she didn't wear her costume for too long and she stayed with Grandma and Grandpa while we went trick or treating. Clark(the dinosaur) joined us trick or treating again this year and they all had fun walking/running from house to house. On Monday Callie turned one month old already! We did her chair picture for the baby book. She also smiled at me for the first time on Monday, it was a genuine smile too! I was so excited and have been able to get a few more out of her since but I haven't captured it on camera yet. I have continued to enjoy having a girl this time around. Dressing her in cute little outfits with matching bows for her hair is just so much fun! It has been somewhat challenging going from 2 to 3 but for the most part we have been doing pretty well. The most challenging part is that Callie is a snuggler, which is great but when I am by myself during the day it can get difficult and somewhat frustrating, luckily she has been a pretty good sleeper so that makes up for the crabiness when not being held somewhat:) I need to appreciate the snuggles now because I have the feeling that she is going to grow up in the blink of an eye.