FALL (catching up!)

so, i know I have been lost from the blogging world for awhile, I got hooked on the Twilight books (along with everyone else I know) and have been doing that instead of blogging during nap times and bedtime. Well, I am on the 4th and last book so hopefully I will be alive to the world again soon. However my brother mentioned to me he was sad that I had not updated my blog lately so I am taking a break from Twilight to update a little.

I have to say, I LOVE fall! I love the leaves changing and the weather and the smell in the air and all of the festivities that come with it! It is just one of my favorite times of the year. So far fall has been so fun for our little family. We have already done so many exciting things!

I've uploaded some pictures from a few of them, enjoy!

Fall Festival

Riding on the HayRide out to the "pumpkin patch"
Taking cute pictures with all the HuGE Pumpkins!

Playing in the tubes at the playground at Fall Fest

Attempting to ride the Pony... right after I snapped this picture Callen started crying and clawing her way back up Dan, she didn't want ANYThING to do with sitting on the horse, she wanted to pet it, but everytime we tried to sit her on it she started screaming.

Painting Pumpkins

(Before)

After.....

Halloween Parties

(Our little ladybug)

(next year callen will fit into a Pebbles costume.. i'm excited!)

ER Morning..

so this morning Dan was so sweet, he got up with Callen and let me sleep in. Well, shortly after he got up I hear a loud noise and then I hear Callen screaming in her room. I also hear dan with her. So I get up and go find out what's going on, Dan told me that Callen had fallen off of her changing table. He was ignoring her crying and trying to continue getting her dressed...ummm .. yeah, so of course I scoop her up to try and console her and then start asking questions like, how did she fall? how did she land? Did she hit her head? Why weren't you comforting her? To all fo these he said "I dont know.." I continued to try and console her which was not working. Then I start to see the bump on her head forming, so of course I freak out and made Dan call the on-call Dr., he said we should take her in to get checked out.

So we took her to the ER (luckily at 8:00 on a Saturday morning they're not busy) so we got right in and the Dr. said she seemed fine, he took an X-ray and said everything looked great and to take her home and just watch her for awhile.

ugggg, scary. I hate hospitals and more than that I HATE taking Callen to hospitals. That poor child has had more x-rays and IV's than Dan and I have combined and she's only 1. \

She has been fine all day, maybe a little fussy but she has a big bruise on her forhead and under her eye, I feel like a horrible parent. My poor baby :(

I'm so grateful she seems ok though, she's such a tough baby, always a little trooper. It's times like this when you realize how precious they are and even though there are days when I feel at my wits end I honestly don't know what I would do without her. I truly am blessed to have such a beautiful baby girl.

Action Packed Weekend!

We had a super exciting weekend! Dan's Brother Doug and his wife Pam came to visit with their 3 mo. old baby girl Hannah. It was so much fun to have them, we hadn't seen Hannah yet so it was incredible to see my only neice for the first time. She was such a little cutie! She was so god the whole weekend and she is adorable! It was neat to see Callen and Hannah together. I can tell they're going to be best buds soon.

The first day they were here we took them out to the lake. It was pretty choppy so we didn't get much skiing done, we did a little tubing but it was gorgeous and just enjoyable to be out on the lake. (and I got a little more comfortable with driving the boat). Callen loved the boat this time, she was so good for us.

Hannah slept most of the time, she was such a little angel. The life vest was just a little too big :)

Doug, Pam, and Hannah.

Hannah LOVED watching Callen move all over. Callen tried pushing Hannah in the swing and had fun playing "Whac a Mole" when Hannah's feet kept dissappearing back into the swing under the tray. It was hilarious!
Hannah and Callen loved their time at the park.

Doug and Dan with their girls, isn't this just adorable.

Today is actually Callen's first birthday, however we wanted to celebrate while Doug and Pam were here with us so we had Callen's party on Sunday. It was a blast. We had lots of friends come and they really made the party great. We had a cookout and then had lots of cake and ice cream. Callen didn't really dive into her cake but she did eventually start stabbing it with the ice cream cone, although I don't think she really ate any.

Callen's First Birthday Cake

A castle cake for a princess

She really didnt like the hat much :)


Callen was super spoiled by all of her friends, she got a LOT of toys. She LOVES all of them except there is a flashligt cow that moo's and for some reason she is terrified of it! She runs away when we bring it out and hides behind things to get away. It's pretty funny, i'm sure she'll get used to it soon!

Thank you to everyone for making the party great!

I can't believe she is already 1. Time has just flown by lately. She is so much fun, I really need to start enjoying every minute, she'll be all grown before I know it!

The things Children do.....

A picture is worth a thousand words right? Well i'll just let these speak for themselves... she definitely keeps me on my toes!!!

Home Improvement

I've been really excited lately because i've actually been motivated and have been able to finish up some projects that i've wanted to tackle for a LONG time! So slowly I am improving our home.

first off, we have had this guest room/office for quite awhile and it has been a big mess. There were bunk beds in there which worked great when my brothers visited but not so great for parents or married family. SO, i rearranged and was able to make it look somewhat decent. I took the two twin mattresses and put them on a bigger bedframe and put one of the desks in the closet which opened up a lot of space and now we have a king sized bed with plenty of room! (at least the cat likes it!)

Second, Dan's parents were really generous and gave us a whole bedroom set. It is in Callens room and is a really sturdy nice set, however the drawer runners were all busted so everytime I would open a drawer it would fall out on my toes..I figured this wouldn't be too safe now that Callen is getting more and more mobile, so I fixed them. They initially were on a rail system which we couldnt' find anywhere so we had to add wood and use different runners, now they work great and they look brand new!

Dresser before (above)

After (below)

Chest before (above)

After (below)

(we also fixed this door, it's hinges were broken)

Third, My dad had made this wooden box for us about 3 1/2 yrs ago, I FINALLY got around to putting some varnish finish on it. Now it looks great and is protected from the weather!

And Lastly, while my parents were here my mom asked me what I wanted for Christmas and if she could get it while she was here. I told her I wanted a sewing machine. She bought me one and here is my first project. I've been wanting red curtains in my kitchen for awhile but can't find any that fit the window, so I made some! (ok, my mom helped but I did some of it!!)

I was especiallye excited about the neat stiches the machine does, they turned out really neat!

I think i've been watching too much HGTV, I wish I was better at decorating and all the homes on there make me jelous! someday.....someday :)