Cal's 3rd Birthday

How can it be that my baby boy is already three?

We celebrated Cal's birthday this year out at the Great Wolf Lodge just the five of us and had an absolute blast. Here are the excited kiddos just after our arrival hanging out on the top bunk of the "wolf den"....which I'd like to add, is a genius creation in hotel room design.

Here is one of their favorite photo spots, the Bear Paw, where we enjoyed ice cream after the kids heard a bedtime story in their pjs:
the boys hanging out in the kiddie pool....such fun!
The next night (his actual birthday), we kept the Baker family tradition alive by having his birthday dinner at Pappasito's. Here is the big guy standing in his chair as "hey baby, que paso?!" begins.
We love you, Cal, and are so proud of you! This past year has been full of milestones as you have begun to talk so well! You have progressed from not being able to speak at all on your 2nd birthday to speaking in full sentences with much expression. You adore your big sister and brother and they adore you back. You are the "rough" one in the family and almost all of your hugs turn into tackles. You are full of joy, you love to be silly, you love to make people laugh and you love to laugh yourself. You are strong willed but are learning more about obedience every day! You learned to run, ride your big wheel and jump over the last year. Your Mom and Dad love your hugs, your sloppy kisses and your ear-to-ear smiles. You make us so proud! Happy Birthday, Big Cal!

Ella's Big Day

We've known that a tonsillectomy/adenoidectomy was in Ella's future for awhile now. We often heard about the grandiose size of her tonsils from our pediatrician and then over the last year she had strep throat at least a half dozen times. After determining she was a strep carrier (positive test with no symptoms), all agreed that the inevitable was here so sweet Ella had her tonsils and adenoids removed on 12/29/09.

We were prepared for the worst as far as recovery goes, so Grammie and Poppa graciously took the boys off our hands for 3 days. Turns out this girl is pretty tough and having Mom's and Dad's undivided attention for a few day was pretty great, so who would want to sleep or rest, anyway!

Here's the brave girl with her bear, Rainbow, right before surgery. They gave her goofy juice (aka Versed) before taking her back and boy, was she goofy! We were cracking up and wishing we had a video camera as she slurred her words and laughed at herself.

And here she is right after waking up. She held on tight to her oxygen mask at first but thankfully did not need it. She had a few slushies while in recovery, did amazingly well with very little pain, and we were out of there just a few hours later.
Her recovery was perfect and so far we have been a strep-free family after her surgery...woo hoo!. We've also noticed her snoring (or shall we say "heavy night breathing") is much better! We are so thankful for modern medicine and competent physicians!

Happy Birthday Jesus!

Let me start this post out by saying how pathetic that the only pictures we have from Christmas is on Michael's iPhone. He did manage to capture a few of our many memorable moments of spending the holiday with our families.

We spent our early Christmas in Austin this year. It was extra special for all of us since it was Caden's and Caroline's first Christmas (though they slept through most of it)!

Here are the kiddos chowing down on Uncle Jason's candy pretzel sticks:

Opening their stockings on "pretend Christmas Eve" after enjoying a delicious dinner at Pappasito's:
On "pretend Christmas morning", Cal won the prize for the largest present! It was bigger than him, for sure!
Here are the kiddos on Christmas morning checking out what Santa brought them:

We had a wonderful Christmas and loved celebrating the season of our Savior's birth with our families!

Ella's Reindeer Party

Around Mohawk Elementary, it's tradition for the kindergarten classes to have a "Reindeer Party". Ella loved the whole thing and I must say, it did not disappoint! The kids moved from station to station filled with different activities. Will already can't wait for his next year!

The snack station (always a favorite)!

Ornament making:Super cute reindeer bags that were filled with goodies by the end of the party!
listening to a story:
my girl:
Mrs. Mooney's sweet class:

just couldn't resist...

Who can resist a girl and her matching doll shopping at Sam's together? Not me!

Halloween

Our kids loved the chance to trick or treat in Austin this year! We went with the community helper theme (our first year with a theme...usually it's just a random assortment of characters).

Here's policeman Will:

Doctor Ella:
Fireman Cal:
Big Cal was very unsure about the whole costume thing until he realized people were putting candy into his bucket. Once he put those two things together, he was glad to keep his fireman outfit on and mumble out a very cute, but impossible to understand "trick or treat"!

Carnival Day!

We had so much fun at the Mohawk Carnival. The kids had a blast and we came home with tons of junk (including 2 goldfish who barely lived a week) which means our kids had the time of their lives!

The entry photo shot:

Cal's turn:
Will loved kicking the soccer ball:

The family favorite was the cake walk (of course) and we left with three new desserts...YUM!
winding down after dinner!

This super fun carnival was just one more reason why we love our neighborhood elementary school!