Circus Circus

Before I post any of the party pictures, I NEED to give a shout out to Ashdon and Ashley for coming over to our house to play before their trip to DC. They also brought Axel a gift! I know, so thoughtful :)

We debated on waiting for the party but decided to let him open up then while they were there.

HE LOVED the books. The Elmo one especially, he LOVES brushing his teeth, and always uses the brush to brush his teeth, then Elmo's then the Duck's then Mom's. So smart :)

They got him this cute shirt too.

When this shirt is clean, he wears it. We love it soo much. It makes him look so grown up. This is me attempting to get a picture for his invite (as you can see it didn't work out)
But all the same, cute shots. Also this balloon was the one we got for story after "the incident," but he let it go on our way in the house.

Then later after we dropped off her other gift, we saw it stuck in the tree, I didn't notice it but Axel did. So what did I do? Got a long stick, climbed on our car, and got it down. There were a lot of jumping and maneuvering skills used.

Now before you judge me for all my craziness. Know that the week before his birthday was a pretty bad one for me. So I probably over did it, but we had sooo much fun.

My amazing Friend Jessica Peterson came and photographed the event for us. She seriously saved my life, I wouldn't have taken any pictures had she not been there. And I would have had no documentation of all my hard work. And of course the pictures make everything look so much more fabulous. (including our sick yard... she is that amazing!)

I am just warning you this post is going to be picture heavy...
The party was chaos, but I loved it. What's a circus with out a little crazy?

I created these invites months in advance and I thought they turned out pretty spectacular... (I didn't create the elephant) We had Games Galore

"The RING OF FIRE"

I had to go through it first to show him what to do.

It took some coaxing but he came around :)

Followed by his balloon :)

"Knock em Down"
"Tight Rope Walking"We had oodles of decorations, but I didn't even do all I wanted to, isn't that how it always goes?
Great Food
Sugar, sugar and MORE sugar

I made these great popcorn and cotton candy boxes out of water bottle boxes :)

"The Circus is Coming to Town" stands, made by yours truly, as well as the pops riding them!And of course Cake!

I made this cake, and I thought it turned out cute, it was my first attempt with Fondant, and it was probably cuter than it tasted. But we made the mistake of feeding Axel a huge waffle breakfast and then a huge lunch so he wasn't too into the cake.
And last but not least the "carny folk!"
I love this pictureThis little girl was CAUGHT on camera!

mmm hot dogs
WE had such a great turn out, but I really couldn't have done it with out these two girls. They came over and helped me set up and clean up and just were my wing men! Thanks girls!
I have lots and lots of more photos too, but these are the ones Jessica took (except the last one) I will post those next...

1 year down

Today my baby boy turned 1.

I still can't believe it.

Today, when a lifeguard at the pool asked me how old he was, it kinda spun my world around,

I hesitated and sort of shouted it like holy crap! " He's one!". I think the kid thought I was a little over excited about it, but one day he'll have a kid and know what it is I am talking about.

I still can't believe that a year ago in the middle of the night my water broke a month earlier than anticipated. He has been keeping me on my toes ever since.

Just to sum up what he has been accomplishing lately (its been a while)

At about 10 months he started talking up a storm (remember ball?) Well now he can say

Ball, Balloon, Bath, mmm, ah oh, mama, dad, yeah, bumble bee & ouch (with the actions) bubbles, please (including hand motion) , gog (dog) arrr arr arr (dog), ahhhh ahhh (seagull or any other animal), and of course pablo.

I know there are more, but those are the ones I can think of right now.

He also has 5 teeth with a 6 almost there. (two top, 4 bottom)

He is also a pro at eating with a fork.
He has accomplished climbing stairs
He is an expert weeder
He can blow bubbles in the water on command.
He knows that when dad comes home we get to go outside and play catch with the dogs.

There are a lot of things I want to say, and I have a lot of emotion right now...

Being a mom has been the BIGGEST contradiction of my life...

It has been the hardest, yet the easiest thing I have ever done.

Not getting very much sleep was hard.

However, being able to wake up to nurse, cuddle and rock my baby back to sleep was EASY.

This was something I was completely shocked about. I never anticipated that I would be the one waking up, practically jumping out of bed, at every noise, whimper or cry that came from his direction. Before he was born we always joked about how Kory would be the one to get up with him, because he was up anyway and I was such a heavy sleeper.

But that all changed the day he was born. Kory FINALLY slept through the night and I gained insomnia. But I wouldn't trade places in a million years. Some of my favorite moments were when I would rock my baby in the moon light, singing him my favorite lullabies, and listening to his soft breathing.

With being a mom comes very little praise, but is so rewarding and fulfilling.

I remember when Kory went back to work and would come home and I would just go on and on about my day. I think it overwhelmed him how much attention and praise I demanded he give me. Babies can't thank you for changing their diapers, preparing their meals, or making sure they have clean clothes. That was hard.

However, the work of a mother is far more rewarding and fulfilling than any job I have ever done. (and I have had quite a few)

I wont ever forget the day I went and picked up Axel from his crib after a nap and he wrapped his chubby arms around my arms, rested his head on my shoulder and patted my back with his little hand. It melted my heart!

It is the "mommy" moments like that, that are reward enough. And I wouldn't have traded that for anything.

Being a mom brings lots of tears, but also lots of laughter.

I remember the first time someone said something critical about my son, and I went home and just cried and cried to Kory. This person probably didn't mean to hurt my feelings but it so did, and I can not even really describe the mama bear anger that surfaced. It was instinctual, something I couldn't control.

But not only have I cried over things like that, I also would cry more when he would do something cute or clever or quirky, and I would laugh so hard I would cry, and he would laugh so hard he would puke.

When you become a mom, alone time is pretty unheard of, but should one of those moments come into your day, you treasure it, but also find yourself missing your little one.

At night, when we put him to bed, I am so glad to finally have a minute to myself ie pick up his toys, do the dishes, fold the laundry, but at the same time, I find myself missing him, and can't wait until he wakes up so I can see him again.

I LOVE being Axel's mommy. I don't think I can say that enough. Have you ever read the book "You are my I love you?" the first time I read that book, I felt like it described my relationship with him to a T. My mom got it for him for his Birthday (somehow she just knew :) ) Anyway the other day we were reading it before nap time, and at the end it says "You are my goodnight kiss" and I made a kiss sound and Axel looked at me and then at the picture of the bear mom giving her cub a kiss and joined in on the kiss. :) it was too cute. That's my boy.

More to come...his fabulous Birthday!

Change

On August 14, 2010 30 days from my Grandmother's passing, her sweet and loving husband Charles Frank Call joined her in heaven.

Yesterday was his funeral, and like my Grandmothers was filled with people who love, honor and will dearly miss him.

My Grandpa was known in our family for his "Mischievous eyes" when ever we would visit he would always tell us WE had "mischief in our eyes" meaning we (mainly my older brother David and sister Hilary) had inherited his intense eyes of dark eyebrows, and long dark lashes. This continued on for many many years on to our own children. When he met Axel for the first time in April, the first thing he said was "That boy has Mischief in his eyes," followed by his ruff but cheerful chuckle.

Grandpa call was also known for falling asleep, he suffered from narcolepsy and he would pretty much fall asleep anywhere, anytime.

One Thanksgiving, when I was in high school, my boyfriend at the time came with my family up to Idaho for Thanksgiving. We asked grandpa if we could watch a movie, and so he excitedly said of course lets watch this one. And it was some very boring western. My boyfriend was less than thrilled about it, but I reassured him "don't worry he will be asleep in the first 5 minutes and we can watch something else."

But wouldn't you know, he stayed awake the ENTIRE time, laughing hysterically at everything! That was the only time I ever saw my grandpa stay awake that long.

Grandpa had a great sense of humor, when my Mother and her sister were little, they remember asking my grandfather where babies came from and he replied "God greases their butts and sends them down the rainbow." This catch phrase became a favorite in our home, and still is.

He wasn't afraid to tell you like it is. He unlike my grandmother would never sugar coat anything. If he felt something should be said, he said it. When we would visit, we would always run up to both our grandparents and give them a hello, but he would always tell us, "That is your hug for the visit, you only get one, and he meant it."

At his Wifes funeral my dad said he was standing next to my grandmother, and her cute little sister that has been suffereing from dementia for many years was exclaiming how that was her sister in there and kept saying "Charlie doesn't Laura look beautiful? and he turns to her and says "you should have gone first" and looks away. That's my grandfather.

But he sure did love my grandmother. That is what I remember the most, he respected her and loved her so so much, and it showed. They were a great example of what a marriage should be. Filled with love, sacrifice and friendship.

My Grandpa's funeral was very similar to my grandmothers, in fact I am sure when I get older I will forget what songs were sang at each one and just merge them together.

But I won't forget his burial, he had a military burial, he served in the US Navy in WWII and it was sooo amazing. You always see them on the T.V but I can not even begin to describe the intense emotion, profound respect and intense spirit that was there. It was amazing. Tears were shed, respect was given and healing began to take its course.

I love you grandpa and will miss you dearly, but know you are where you should be. Give grandma a hug and a kiss for me and tell her I miss her, I am sure she was glad to see you.

To see a video of his "21 gun salute" click here

Bear Lake 2010!

Finally, Here are our pictures of our short, but sweet trip to Bear Lake. Although we did it in half the time we usually do, we felt like it was JUST RIGHT, and we really had a fun time.

Shooting

Right when we got there, (literally), we met up with the family and went shooting (this was a first for both Axel and I). I know this is weird to many people, but my family just isn't into guns. I am still queasy around them but I am sure will get a little less afraid each time we go.

It was...Fun? I don't know, I am not really a fan of shooting, but Kory had fun, and Axel had fun wearing the ear muffs Grandpa gave him. So over all fun for all

Kory with a really scary looking (in my opinion) gun.
my handsome boy not quite sure what we were doing

Kory, Jerome Vic and Grandpa shooting
Vic and JeromeJust hanging out

Another scary gun
"uh dad, what are we looking at again?"Beach

The next day we spent the morning at the beach

Axel and Story
"Mom! Story wont share her shovels!"
We were all COVERED in sand, but not as much as this little girl...These two boys tuckered out within a few minutes

So I went to work and made good use of my time..We also made a hot tub that got taken over by other people while we were on the boat. They were litereally sitting on our blanket and using our sand toys. AND they stole Axel's soccer ball. (FYI these were adults, NOT children) On the boat
Later that day it was our turn on the boat

Of course we had to put them in life jackets!
I think story had a bit more breathing room, what do you guys think?
Papa's

Who's ready to go?
Chillin' with the papas

and then with mamas

This picture is great, her hair looks like the wind was still blowing, but its not. we were completely stopped. SO great.

Such a cute picture of these two! Don't you all agree!

So rad! We got to spend some time with Keri, Erik and Taryn too. Erik and Axel had the SAME glasses, because, they both have GREAT style. :)
The gross Fishies/carp: Seriously the sickest looking fish EVEr
Tubing
And of course there was tubing, not a whole lot of it, but that's ok, we had fun :)

Kory and Jerome

Our little Family

We didn't last very long, the minute the water started hitting his face, he was all panicked...Ok, and I wasn't too thrilled either.
Its a toss up who lasted longer, Axel or me on the tube? Jerome kept trying to tip us, and asking them to go faster, I am such a chicken and was scared out of my mind! What happened to me?

Dinner
What's bear lake without Raspberry shakes?
That night we went to dinner, and Axel and Story did a GREAT job with saving our table for every one :)

Campfire
We camped at the KOA, and this was Axel's first experience in a tent, and I am sooo mad we didn't take a single picture of us in the tent. But he thought it was pretty neat.

But see the tent behind Kory in that picture, that's where we stayed.
Toasting marshmellows

Axel wanted in on the toasting action!

We even let him try one :)
At first he wasn't sure...But then was pretty happy with it, and gobbled it down no problem. And was only a Little bit sticky :)

I think Taryn was lonely this year without Riley ...

I really like this picture of Kassie. This kid loves to eat paper, I am not quite sure what to do about it.
"Look mom!" (no help from dad here)