Happy Thanksgiving

I hope you all have a fantastic day!
Here's a quick list of the things I'm thankful for:

• An amazing husband who works so hard for our family.
• The opportunity to be a mommy to the coolest kid ever.
• Our awesome families.
• Friends, new and old and all over the country.
• Modern conveniences such as electricity, plumbing and airline travel.
• Good food, good naps and good weather.

Calder at 1

About a month ago, when Calder and I were in Oregon, we met up with our friends Max & Danielle from Chicago. We had a great time together and had a marvelous dinner. Danielle was gracious enough to take Calder's 1 year old pictures. I have talked about Danielle's amazing abilities before. You can check out her last photo shoot for us here.

Danielle has this amazing ability to capture someone's personality in her photos. I love the facial expressions she caught that I see every day but don't happen that often with Calder. I love having the whole CD of pictures and could not possibly choose a favorite. This does make choosing one to blow up and frame quite difficult. I may have to do a large photo collage or something.

I'm so thankful for Danielle and her willingness to share her talents. And I'm grateful for Max and his encouragement of Danielle's talents. We greatly value their friendship and miss them tons.

You can check out Danielle's website for more information about her and to see additional photo shoots she's done. You'll love each and every one.

13 Months

Calder,

You've learned a lot over the past month and I'm so proud of you. I can't believe the number of milestones you've mastered. You can walk, gently pet Deebo, give kisses and hugs, blow kisses and have interactive play with your friends.

I feel so blessed to be your mom and get to watch all these things happen. I know we've been having a rough go at nap time lately. I think you're ready to drop down to 1 nap and I'm not. I see the advantages of one nap but I feel like big kids have 1 nap and I'm not ready for you to be a big kid. Although, based on the last few days I don't think I have a choice.

You make me so happy. I love being with you and taking care of you. I know Daddy is a little jealous that I get to see all these new things happen throughout the day. But I also know he loves that you know when he gets home from work and want to get out of bed to give him loves. You're the best!

Love,
Mommy

Vintage Rocking Chair

Check it out! I went to Goodwill the other day and scored this awesome rocking chair. Sorry I don't have a great picture of the top. It has a rocking horse on it. I payed $6.99 for it. This chair was made by Storkline which was a Chicago company. From what I understand they stopped making such chairs in the mid 1950s.

Before doing a bit of research I was considering painting it but now it seems like a bad idea. since it is in such good original condition. Would you paint it? If so, what color?

The best part of the chair for Calder is that it has an old music box in the back so when you rock it plays music. And it still works! I'm not a big antiques person but I feel like I stumbled on something cool. I certainly wouldn't have bought it if Calder wasn't totally in love with it.

Happy Halloween

I'm sure you can all guess from the pictures that Calder chose to be James Madison for Halloween this year! Actually Jason and I knew this was probably the only year we could have total control over the costume so we went all out.

I had a blast making the costume. It wasn't hard at all. It did take a lot of time though. I especially love the wig. Calder didn't mind it at all. He kept it on the whole time.

We went trick or treating at Jason's office. It was so fun to see Calder's enthusiasm. Instead of candy he received matchbox cars. He got to knock on everyone's doors (there's only 6 employees) and they each handed him a car.

He loves his trick or treat bag. He wears it around the house and collects his toys in it.

Calder's 12 Month Stats

Calder folding his arms.

Height: 30.5 inches (75th percentile)
Weight: 21.1 pounds (25th percentile)
Head (90th percentile)

He seems to be growing right on track. Unfortunately he is teething (at least two teeth popping through) and has an ear infection. We've had some sleepless nights to say the least. I'm so glad he made it a whole year before he got sick. It's interesting to see him sick because he is totally happy unless he's tired and then he melts down. You can tell he is trying to be happy but feels overwhelmed and clingy. Poor kid. Last night was the best we've had for a few days so hopefully he's on the mend.

Fall in Columbus

Calder and I love taking Deebo for his afternoon walk. We point out all sorts of things. Trees and garbage cans are Calder's favorites. I am loving how vivid the colors are in our neighborhood and thought I'd share them.

This is the street we live on.

Don't you love the cobblestone streets?

New Shirt

A few weeks ago my friend Katherine posted a giveaway on her blog. I just happen to be the lucky winner! I am totally digging this shirt. I received it this week and have already worn it twice.

I love that it is a plain T-shirt (so it's super comfortable) but it has a little extra something so it looks fancy. I am planning on jazzing up some of my plain Jane T-shirts using the same technique Katherine talks about here.

Thanks Katherine!

Calder's First Birthday

We had a great time celebrating Calder's first birthday this last Saturday. I can't believe how fast this year has gone but I'll save all the sappy stuff for another post. (Yeah, you're all looking forward to it, I'm sure).

The theme was UNO and I had a lot of fun using primary colors for just about everything. I made this banner using the same fabric that Calder's bed skirt is made out of. I've been intending to make it for a long time to hang in Calder's room but just got around to it and it went perfectly with the rest of the decor. I'm planning to do a quick tutorial on the Candied Apples blog, so check back there in a few days. It's super easy.

The table decorations were so easy! I used bright napkins I already had and UNO cards. We used red plates, yellow napkins and green utensils. The menu was:

• carrot cake cupcakes with cream cheese frosting
• chips, guacamole and salsa
• pesto croissant appetizers
• pumpkin white chocolate cookies
• pink lemonade

Calder had a great time opening presents. He seemed to understand it a little better this time.

Calder's first cake experience. Or should I say frosting experience.

You can see Calder is all done (eating 1/2 of the frosting and no cake) and needs a drink.

Then he needs a napkin. Of course.

Thanks to everyone who came and made it a really fun time!
Happy Birthday Calder!

Oregon

Calder and I had a marvelous time in Oregon. This post is going to be picture heavy and word light. Lets just say there was a lot of playing, present opening and bathing. There was NOT a lot of napping but we all survived.

The flights went well. (Thanks for all your advice) Calder refused to sleep on the planes on the way there. We didn't get there until 1:00 AM our time and he was happy the whole time. Thank goodness. He did actually sleep for about 45 minutes in his stroller during our layover in Denver. Thankfully I took the stroller. He we slept on both flights back which was AWESOME!

Calder and I with Jason's mom and Grandma Joyce

Calder and I with Jason's dad

Opening presents

My mom made this awesome Mader from Cars look alike cake for Calder. Unfortunately he was a little sick and I wouldn't let him eat it.

Bath time with cousin Anessa.

Playing with fridge magnets (Calder's favorite Oregon activity) with Paxton.

And some more magnet play with Anessa. She is wearing Calder's hat and I love how it completes her outfit.

Anessa with my friend Arlee's little girls RaeLynn and Ainzlee.

Calder's First Haircut

The top of Calder's hair was getting quite long. I've known I needed to cut it for quite some time. I struggled with this because I've only cut Jason's hair once (like 3 years ago) and it took 2 hours and we both swore we would never do it again. It looked fine when we were finished but paying $14 dollars every month is worth 2 hours of our time.

So, the other night I decided to just bite the bullet and give it a try. Since I only had to do the top it was a lot easier than I expected. Calder did a good job just sitting there. He did want to use the scissors but all in all it was a success. I should probably buy some clippers at some point but for now I'll stick with the scissors.