The Jackson Family Blog

Monkey Joe's!!!

2012-01-23T20:27:00.000-05:00

We took Cohen and Callia to Monkey Joe's on Sunday! It was Callia's first time to "bounce" a little bit, but she didn't care for being on the bouncy surfaces at all!

Playing around with the "Fish Bowl" effect on my little camera!

Playing Together!!!

2012-01-23T19:09:00.000-05:00

I overheard Cohen giving Callia some instructions today, and when I came into the living room to see what was going on...this is what I found. Cohen playing with Callia with his blanket over their heads! Cohen LOVES his little sis! How sweet! :-)

Sweet Sibs!!!

2012-01-21T23:10:00.000-05:00

Some pics of my sweeties!

Happy 2nd Birthday, Addi!!!

2012-01-21T22:31:00.000-05:00

We celebrated my neice Addi's 2nd birthday today with her beloved Thomas the Train theme!

The Thomas the Train cake I made for Addi!

The Incredible Pizza Co.!!!

2012-01-17T23:16:00.000-05:00

Wish it wasn't such a looong drive to Greenwood, because Cohen loves to play, eat and watch movies at the Incredible Pizza Co.!

Poor Baby!!!

2012-01-11T23:26:00.000-05:00

For being quite healthy her first 7 months, poor Callia has had quite a run of sickness the past couple of weeks! Her lungs were starting to sound gunky so the doc has her doing breathing treatments several times a day. She usually screams her head off and thrashes about during the treatment, but I was able to get a quick shot of her with her mask on while she was focused on Cohen's cartoon before she realized what was happening to her! :-)

Exercising with Daddy!!!

2012-01-11T23:21:00.000-05:00

Cohen absolutely LOVES to work out with his Daddy! Whenever Sam gets out his exercise mat, Cohen runs and gets his little "medicine ball" (a.k.a. a foam ball :-) and his little 1 lb. weights so he can be just like Daddy!

Shaving with Daddy!!!

2012-01-11T23:14:00.000-05:00

Cohen got a little Disney Cars shaving kit for Christmas! He was sooo excited to "shave" with Daddy!

Lathering up!

Getting off all that stubble! :-)

Time for some after shave!

The Children's Museum!!!

2012-01-04T11:15:00.000-05:00

Starting off the new year with the first of many trips to the Children's Museum! This time Mimi, Papaw and Addi joined us!

Mimi and Addi & Papaw and Cohen going down the Jolly Days slide!

Cohen's not quite sure how he feels about it as he's coming down!

Uh-oh...they almost wipe out!

But Cohen's all smiles at the end!

Addi looks like she might be a bit of a mischevious driver!

Playing in Playscape!

Doing his interpretive ice skating dance routine on the "ice" in Jolly Days!

Daddy riding the carousel with a sleeping Callia!

Digging up mulch in the Science Works!

Brushing his own teeth with the Dino's toothbrush before Mommy could stop him...Ewww!

Callia loved sitting on the bouncy alligator! She is getting to be such a big girl!

Callia Standing!!!

2011-12-31T15:12:00.002-05:00

On Thursday, December 29, 2011 Callia stood for the first time all by herself while holding on to Cohen's train table! She can't pull herself up, but she loves to stand while you're holding her hands (she's done that since about 4 months!) But on Thursday we were all playing in Cohen's bedroom and she was desparately craning her neck to see up on his train table where Big Brother was playing. So I stood her up there, thinking she would plop back down, but to our surprise she stood there holding on to the table (most of the time with only one hand, no less) playing with the trains for a good 4 or 5 minutes! We're so proud of our Big Girl!

Kidscommons Museum!

2011-12-30T22:22:00.000-05:00

With Sam off work for the week between Christmas and New Year's, we took a day trip on Wednesday down to Columbus, IN to visit the little children's museum, Kidscommons, that Cohen loves down there!

Playing checkers with Daddy!

Working on his balance!

Now for a little exercise!

Callia LOVED riding the see-saw with Cohen!

A family shot in the toilet! Ha ha! :-)

Cohen loved the giant bubble station!

Standing inside the life size cylinder bubble maker!

Callia enjoyed playing in the baby area!

But her FAVORITE thing was playing with herself in the mirror! She was cracking herself up trying to touch the "other baby!"

And she kept trying to giver herself kisses! It was super cute!

Cohen never misses an opportunity to play with anything with wheels!

Having a blast rolling wheels back and forth to Mommy!

Picnic with Daddy!

"Eating" sushi with Daddy and Cohen!

Another go around in the bubble room!

After leaving the museum, we walked just a few stores down to have some icecream at Zaharakos, an old fashioned fountain and ice cream parlor that opened in 1900!

After ice cream a quick stop at the super cool play area right across from the museum!

Playing on the multi-story climbing structure with Daddy!

After leaving the play area, we stopped by for a quick dinner. Poor Cohen was so tired he actually fell asleep standing up, at the table at the restaurant!

Patterson Family Christmas!!!

2011-12-26T22:36:00.001-05:00

We had our traditional Christmas Eve dinner at my parents' house and then stayed the night to open presents on Christmas morning with my parents and my sister's family!

Mimi & Papaw with all of their grandkiddies!

Mimi & Papaw with Cohen & Callia

Lindsay and the newest family member, Baby Elli!

Opening presents! Callia loves her new farm activity cube!

Cohen is enthralled with his new Sarge and Miles Axelrod! Unfortunately, about 20 minutes later Cohen lost Miles Axelrod and we spent about two hours searching the house upside down for him to no avail!

Callia and her stocking!

Chad sporting his new Notre Dame hat!

And Daddy sporting some new ultra cool shades!

One of Chad's gifts from us Rein-beer! (Thanks Pintrest! :-)

Cohen and Addi LOVED playing on the huge blow-up slide that Mimi and Papaw got them!

Cousins! Cohen, Addi, Callia & Elli

Callia and Elli...so sweet together!

Oops! Just a little love tap face smoosh!

Jackson Family Christmas!!!

2011-12-26T17:03:00.000-05:00

Sam's family came up to our house on Friday night for dinner (thanks to Sam for the tasty fajitas!) We opened up gifts with the family on Saturday morning!

Michele & Rowan

The whole family!

All of the cousins: Sandy, Gwynne, Cohen, Rowan, Callia & Stacy

Taking a break to celebrate Sam's 36th birthday!!!

Opening gifts - Rowan's excited about her new webkinz!

Cohen tearing into his gift!

Gwynne hoping that the box does NOT in fact contain Jhirmack's Silver Brightening Shampoo! Ha ha!

Gwynne and Rowan loved the afghans that Grandma Jackson made them!

Our Family Christmas!!!

2011-12-26T16:24:00.000-05:00

With Sam's family at our house on Christmas Eve and with us spending Christmas day at my parents' house, we decided to have our family's Christmas together on Friday morning!

Cohen was so excited to finally get to open his gifts!

Checking out his new play tool set!

Cohen LOVED his new "Cars" Mack truck hauler!

Callia and her stocking!

A new jar of puffs! Nom nom nom!

Smiley girl!

Now it's Callia's turn to open presents!

Cohen loved helping Callia open her presents, since it meant he got to open twice the presents!

As usual, everything goes right into the mouth!

Jingle Rails!!!

2011-12-26T15:19:00.000-05:00

Before enjoying the lights at Christmas at the Zoo, we visited the very impressive Jingle Rails train exhibit at the Eiteljorg with Sam's family! It has to be built by the same people who did the one we just saw a couple of weeks ago in Nashville, TN - it looked exactly the same! It was very cool and as always, Cohen LOVED to watch the trains go around!

A replica of the Circle downtown!

Stacy and Callia!

Cohen enjoyed playing with his cousins in the kiddie area at the Eiteljorg!

Christmas at the Zoo!

2011-12-26T00:39:00.000-05:00

The weather was great for a fun (but crowded) Christmas at the Zoo with Sam's family this year!

Sweet Kiddies!!!

2011-12-26T00:33:00.000-05:00

Jolly Days at The Children's Museum!!!

2011-12-26T00:26:00.000-05:00

Conner Prairie

2011-12-26T00:07:00.002-05:00

Family Pics - Session #2

2011-12-19T13:25:00.000-05:00

Callia wasn't too cooperative during the first photo shoot, and since in addition to the family pics these were supposed to be her 6 month pictures too, we had Nikole come out to the house to do one more session. I was glad we were able to get some family pics in front of our beautiful Christmas tree too!

Family Pics - Session #1

2011-12-19T13:09:00.000-05:00

Thanks SO MUCH to Kole Photography in Anderson for taking these great family pics of us!

Our Christmas Cuties!!!

2011-12-18T11:22:00.000-05:00

Pics I took of the kids in their Christmas outfits in the beautiful gardens at the Opryland Hotel!

Nashville, TN - Day 3

2011-12-17T23:51:00.000-05:00

On our last day in Nashville (Monday) before heading home on Tuesday, we spent the day at the beautifully Christmas decorated Opryland Hotel!

As a part of the hotel's Christmas activities, they had an Old Town Christmas area set up where you could get kettle corn, drink fountain Coke, and the kiddies could ride pedal cars and a train!

Cohen has his very first soda drink, a Sprite!

And now to do a bit of light reading! Ha ha!

Mailing a letter to Santa!

Mrs. Claus reading a story to Cohen and Callia!

Cohen was so excited to see the Holiday Shrektacular show at the hotel, that I waited an hour in line so he could have a front row seat! He loved seeing Shrek and Puss in Boots!

Enjoying the beautiful flowers around the hotel!

A meet & greet with Shrek!

That night I took a very tired Cohen to see the hotel's "Ice" show! Two million pounds of ice sculpted by professional Japanese ice sculptors into characters and scenes from the movie Madagascar! It was quite impressive, but Cohen wasn't too thrilled with the cold (even with his super cute parka on!)

Callia's First Swim!!!

2011-12-17T22:29:00.000-05:00

We made sure that we got a hotel with a pool for Cohen, and it was warm enough for Callia to take a dip for the very first time! Getting ready to take the plunge!

Hmmm...not too sure how she feels about it yet!

Callia enjoyed splashing around and kicking her legs under the water! And as always, she loved playing with her big brother!

Nashville, TN - Day 2

2011-12-17T22:06:00.001-05:00

We started off our second day in Nashville (Sunday) with breakfast at a little place in the middle of nowhere called Loveless Cafe! I'd been there once before with my Grammies and it was sooo crazy good, Sam wanted to try it out! When I went with my Grammies it was a 2 HOUR wait, but this time it was only a 45 minute wait! But it was SOOO worth it - the absolute best biscuits, gravy and pancakes you've ever had!

Look at BIG GIRL, sitting in a high chair at the table for the very first time!

After breakfast, we went to the beautiful Cheekwood Gardens (well, they're beautiful when the flowers are in bloom anyway!), but this time we went so Cohen could see the awesome train set they currently have set up there. It was pretty impressive, and Cohen just loved watching the trains go around.

Cohen's beloved Thomas & Percy!

Inside the old Cheekwood Mansion, which is now a museum, were beautiful Christmas trees!

Just goofin' around!

I call this his "Blue Steel" look - anybody remember Zoolander! Ha ha!

Still one of his favorite things to do - lining up rocks. Just like when he was a baby! Sweet Boy!

A quick trip into downtown Nashville to check out some sights! Like this HUGE train we came across in a park

Look at the size of those wheels!

Finally, on the way home to our hotel that night we stopped by to see the absolutely GORGEOUS Christmas lights at the Opryland Hotel!

This picture doesn't do it nearly enough justice, but every single branch of this huge tree is covered individually! It was the most amazing, magical thing I've ever seen! It was so beautful!

As we were driving through, I said, "Ohhh, Cohen look at those beautiful lights!!! Aren't these just so amazingly beautiful!?" His response: "Oh yes, Mommy! Those giant spoons are beautiful!" Ha ha! I LOVE that kid!

Nashville, TN - Day 1

2011-12-14T23:58:00.000-05:00

On Friday, Dec. 9 we packed up the van and the kiddies and headed down to Nashville, TN for a little mini Christmas vacay! We left late Friday evening and stopped for the night in Bowling Green, KY before heading down the rest of the way Saturday morning. Our first stop on Saturday was to Franklin, TN (just outside of Nashville) for a Dickens' Christmas Carol Festival, with wonderful, elaborately dressed characters from the Dickens' Christmas classic strolling around! It was sunny and beautiful!

The sunshine made this icy fountain especially pretty!

Cohen enjoyed feeding and petting the animals at the little petting zoo they had set up in town! He didn't quite grasp the concept at first though, and before Sam could stop him, he poured his entire little cup of pet food into the dish. Sam had to dig it back out so Cohen could feed the animals individually! Ha ha!

Not too sure about the alpaca!

But then he LOVED having the alpaca eat from his hand!

An old factory in town has been converted to a collection of shops - here Cohen and Callia try out the GIANT rocking chair!

Posing in front of the wreath in front of someone's front gate! Hope they didn't see us! :-)

Still not a huge fan of large, costumed characters, Cohen was a little unsure about getting his picture taken with this caroler and the dog, Mistletoe!

After leaving Franklin and heading to our hotel in Nashville, we stopped by a park to let Cohen run off some energy!

Callia swung in the baby swing for the very first time! What a BIG GIRL!

She LOVED it!!!

Ginger Bread House Making!!!

2011-12-09T15:09:00.000-05:00

I "glued" the ginger bread house together the night before so I wouldn't have an impatient toddler screeching around until the house dried enough to decorate (learned my lesson last year with that one!) I spread on the icing and Cohen put all of the decorations on all by himself!

The Christmas Walk at Metamora!!!

2011-12-05T11:22:00.001-05:00

On Saturday we went to Metamora for our family's annual Christmas Walk tradition! On the way down we stopped at the delicious Kopper Kettle Inn for dinner!

Cohen thought it was cool that he got an actual place setting with a tea cup! :-)

Callia's pediatrician just cleared her for table food, so she's gnawing on her very first bread stick!

Playing the little piano in an upstairs room of the restaurant!

Outside of the restaurant, which was fully decked out inside and out with the most beautiful Christmas decorations!

Finally! In Metamora...window shopping, looking at the Christmas lights, and trying to stay warm!

Cohen loved watching the train pull out of the station!

O' Christmas Tree!!!

2011-11-30T23:36:00.000-05:00

Decorating the Christmas Tree!

Callia playing with some ornaments!

Cohen wants in on the fun!

Sweet Baby!

Cohen putting his ornaments on the tree (all in a straight line!) Ha ha! ;-)

So proud!

Cohen was SOOO excited to get out his Lionel train that goes around the tree!

Cohen & Callia watching the train go round and round!

Trying to get a family pic in front of the tree, but Callia wouldn't stop looking at Cohen!

And poking him in the face! Ha ha! He's such a sweet big brother!

Jolly Days at The Children's Museum!!!

2011-11-30T23:08:00.000-05:00

Cohen wasn't very keen on sitting close to Santa this year (not sure why, since he wasn't afraid of Santa last year...hmmm?) This is as close as I could get him to go...and no way was he gonna crack a smile! Ha ha!

Callia & Santa

Santa & Addi

Goin' ice fishin'

Mmmm....shoes....nom nom nom! :-)

Circle of Lights!!!

2011-11-27T13:17:00.000-05:00

Friday night (after a day full of Black Friday shopping for me!) we continued our annual family tradition of going downtown Indy to see the lighting of the Christmas tree on Monument Circle! After the lighting we went to the South Bend Chocolate cafe on the Circle (along with EVERYONE else!) to get some icecream!

Waiting for the tree to light up, Cohen plays on a fire truck!

3...2...1...LIGHTS!!!

Playing with my camera!

Ready to head back to the car, Sam is loaded down with kiddies!

Patterson Family Thanksgiving!!!

2011-11-27T13:02:00.001-05:00

Our family got together on Thanksgiving, along with Lindsay's husband Chad's parents and his sister and her family!

The pretty table decor!

The pumpkin cake that I made!

Daddy carving the turkey!

Aunt Karol and Uncle Bruce meeting Lindsay's baby, Elli, for the first time!

Sweet Girl!

Gotta love open mouth baby kisses!

Desparately trying to get a lick of Cohen's sucker!

Jackson Family Thanksgiving!!!

2011-11-27T12:35:00.000-05:00

On Saturday we got together with Sam's family for our Thanksgiving Gathering! Thanks to our sis-in-law, Alicia, for making all of the super yummy food!

Cohen, Callia, and their cousins, Gwynne and Rowan!

Playing games!

Drumstick Dash!!!

2011-11-27T12:25:00.001-05:00

We bundled up the kids and headed to Broad Ripple on Thanksgiving morning to participate in the Drumstick Dash (a walk/run that benefits Wheeler Mission Ministry in downtown Indy)! Well, Sam participated in the 4.5 mile run, while the kids and I lent him our moral support! Ha ha!

All bundled up and ready to go!

While Daddy's running, Cohen takes a ride in a train around the parking lot!

Taking a snack break! Playing is hard work! :-)

Waiting for Daddy to finish - Callia's zonked out and Cohen is watching a video on my phone!

Still a bit scared around big costumed characters, Cohen gives the turkey a tenative high-five!

But he is NOT happy about getting his picture taken with the bird!

So this is where the kids and I waited for 1 FULL HOUR hoping to see Sam cross the finish line...

...and this is the finish line that Sam actually crossed when he finished the race! Apparently the short course and the long course have different finish lines that "SOMEONE" neglected to tell us, so we were waiting by the wrong one! Grrr! So all of these next pics are ones that I made Sam "redo" since I didn't get any of him actually crossing the finish line! Ha ha! He ran the race in about 37 minutes, so I find it extra amusing that this pic shows him "finishing" in an hour and 38 minutes! Serves him right for giving us the wrong information! :-)

Reynold's John Deere Christmas Lights!!!

2011-11-27T12:05:00.000-05:00

Cohen LOVES driving through the Reynold's light display every year! This year we went the day before Thanksgiving and there was hardly anyone there, so we were able to drive around the circle FOUR times for Cohen to see his beloved lighted train!

Big Girl Sitting!!!

2011-11-22T23:48:00.001-05:00

In just the past couple of days Callia has gotten pretty good at sitting up on her own! She's still pretty wobbly, but today she sat up unassisted for a good 10 minutes! What a BIG girl!

Cohen is really growing fond of his baby Sister! He loves to lay beside her and have her sit by him! How sweet!

Cohen wanted Callia to sit on his lap while he watched cartoons! So cute!

Uh oh...sad girl!!!

Gymnastics!!!

2011-11-19T22:50:00.000-05:00

Today Cohen started a little 4 week Gymnastics class that I got through Living Social! He's never been in any type of class setting before (and he's the youngest kid in his class), so we weren't quite sure how he'd do. He had a GREAT time though, and did really well following directions (most of the time! :-)

One of Cohen's teachers trying to teach him to do a somersault front roll! He never really got it, but maybe next time!

Next, Cohen got to try out the hanging rings! He did great on these!

Elli's First Photo Shoot!!!

2011-11-19T21:23:00.000-05:00

Eleanor Grace Jeanne - 8 days old!

Splish Splash We Are Takin' a Bath!!!

2011-11-17T23:01:00.000-05:00

Cohen and Callia taking a bath together (sort of) for the first time!

Washing Baby Sister!

Welcome Home Elliotts!!!

2011-11-16T10:40:00.001-05:00

We are SOOO happy to welcome our good friends, the Elliotts, back home after their year in Haiti as missionaries! They came home to visit about halfway through their yearlong stint, and surprisingly their visit happened to coincide with Callia's birth! But they hadn't seen her since she was only one day old!

Waiting for the Elliotts to get off the plane, Cohen and I are ready with our posters!

Their plane was bit late, so Cohen spent his time going up and down escalators and riding on the moving walkways!

Finally home! The Elliotts making their way out of the security area!

Everyone who came to meet the Elliotts at the airport (Us, the Buczkowskis, and the Sterleys)!

Cohen was so happy to see his friend, Sitota! The two of them were goofing around, playing and tackling each other while we were waiting for the luggage!

Back home again! Our small group welcomed the Elliotts home with dinner together (Jeff Gibbs' crazy good fajitas!)

Nothing says welcome home like American flag cupcakes! :-)

The whole group together again for the first time in ONE YEAR!!!

And of course, some things have NOT changed at all! :-) I love these peeps!

All the kiddies together again!!!

A Bit of Light Reading!!!

2011-11-16T09:57:00.000-05:00

Callia enjoys a bit of after-dinner light reading! :-) She actually loves this black and white book; it's her favorite!

Cohen wants to "read" a bit to her! I just love how intently she's watching him!

LOVE the look on her face! "Geesh, Mom, enough already! Just let me read in peace!" Ha ha!!!

Books aren't just good for reading! Nom nom!

New Fall Pics!!!

2011-11-14T21:25:00.001-05:00

Took these super cute pics of the kiddies today in the back yard!

Welcome to the World Baby Elli!!!

2011-11-13T23:16:00.000-05:00

My newest neice, Eleanor Grace Jeanne was born on 11/11/11 at 8:15 a.m. weighing in at 7 lbs. 12 oz. and 20 1/2 in. long!

Still in the warming bed, just a few hours old in these first pics!

Celebrating Chad's 33rd birthday in the hospital!

A family of four...Addi's a bit upset she has to wait for cake! :-)

Eating Daddy's birthday cake!

Callia & Elli...it's so weird to think that Callia was almost exactly Elli's size when she was born just 5 months ago! Wow!

All our girls!!! Addi, Callia & Elli

Mommy & Baby Elli

Weekend of Service!!!

2011-11-06T20:31:00.000-05:00

Just one of the many reasons why I love our church, Grace Community Church: we cancelled weekend services this weekend and everyone (4,000+ people!) went out and did all kinds of different service projects in the community! On Sunday morning, Sam, the kids, and I volunteered to collect bags of food from a nearby neighborhood!

Cohen wanted to check out the goods in each bag he collected! Ha ha!

Loading bags into our wagon, which we then transfered to the van.

So stong!

Cohen "working for Jesus!" That's what we told him we were doing today! :-)

After picking up food bags from the neighborhoods, everyone drove back to the church to unload the food, where it was sorted, packed in boxes, and loaded onto 11 full size semi trailers! We are hoping to collect over 560,000 pounds of food this weekend, which will be delivered to 27 different food pantries in Hamilton County!

Go Colts!!!

2011-11-06T19:54:00.000-05:00

Papaw took Cohen to his very first Colts game today! Cohen had a great time, and he even managed to stay seated for almost an entire quarter (about what we expected!) But he loved looking around Lucas Oil Stadium and especially loved the little football and toy helmet Papaw got him! :-)

Lindsay's Baby Shower Brunch!!!

2011-11-05T18:04:00.000-04:00

We had a lovely little baby shower brunch for my sister Lindsay and Baby Elli at Panera Bread this morning! We can't wait to meet Baby Elli in only 6 days!!!

I bought these delicious french vanilla cupcakes from the Cakehole Bakery near downtown Indy (thanks Groupn!) and prettied them up with take-home boxes and ribbons!

Sherry, Jenn, Grandma Jina, Lindsay, Mom, Aunt Karol & Me

Opening gifts!

Baby booties!

Me, Linds & Mom

Linds & Jenn

So Pretty in Pink!!!

2011-11-05T00:24:00.000-04:00

Master Chef & His Lil' Lobster!!!

2011-11-05T00:14:00.000-04:00

Trying to "catch" her hand with a pair of tongs :-)

I think there's some sort of little gleam in his eye here...we had to make him stop pushing her down into the pot! Ha ha! Poor baby! :-)

Trick or Treat!!!

2011-11-02T17:53:00.001-04:00

With Callia feeling bad from a stomach bug, we just took Cohen around our neighborhood for a little while to trick or treat. He had a great time though and LOVED the candy of course! When Callia (and I) are feeling better, I'm going to get some pics of them in their Halloween costumes together.

8th Annual Harvest Party!

2011-11-02T11:45:00.001-04:00

Our 8th Annual Harvest Party was mostly a family affair this year, but we still had a great time painting pumpkins, making s'mores and sitting around the bonfire!

Not sure how Cohen got THAT much paint on his face!

Papaw & Addi

Lindsay giving Emma a push on the trike!

Staying warm by the fire!

Wrestling with Mimi!

Ummm, Sam's non-conventional way of warming Cohen's hands! Weird!

The Children's Musuem!

2011-11-01T23:32:00.000-04:00

Giving Callia a sip of tea! How sweet!

Conner Prairie with Mimi & Addi!

2011-10-26T22:27:00.000-04:00

Sweetest Lil' Pumpkin in the Patch!!!

2011-10-23T18:32:00.001-04:00

A behind the scenes look! So, getting cute pictures of a baby in a pumpkin is not as easy as one might think! First, Sam carved out the pumpkin, but when we tried to get her chubby little legs in the holes, they got stuck and she started screaming bloody murder! Poor baby! So we wrestled her out of the pumpkin and I wrapped her in a blanket and picked pumpkin pulp bits off of her while Sam made the leg holes bigger. Next, we finagled her back into the pumpkin, but she immediately started screaming again...and shivering. Poor, poor baby! That's when I realized that a newly carved pumpkin is COLD inside! So we wrestled her out again. Now, a less determined photographer might have given up at this point...but not I! No, I pulled out the hair dryer and warmed up the pumpkin, and since the air was a bit chilly, my "Assistant Photographer" kept her nice and toasty by blowing her with the hair dryer throughout the photo shoot! Ha ha! Only my beloved hubby would help me keep perservering in yet another crazy photography scheme! Gotta love him!

Zoo Boo!!!

2011-10-22T23:41:00.001-04:00

We enjoyed absolutely beautiful weather for this year's Zoo Boo! And having Mimi and Papaw tag along made it even better!

We just love our handsome Master Chef and our super sweet lil' lobster!

What a sweet pair!

Sampling some of his loot!

Mmmm...more candy!

Sharing a Twizzler with Mommy!

Getting ready to race the Cheetah! I was a little worried that Cohen wouldn't know what to do when the buzzer went off for him to start, but he took off running right away! He did stop about halfway down the track though and started looking around and trying to talk to us! So cute!

Riding the train!

Zoo Boo 2011!

Conner Prairie!!!

2011-10-21T22:32:00.000-04:00

Cohen Vs. Cupcakes

2011-10-20T22:31:00.000-04:00

Earlier this evening I made cupcakes to bring to Bible study for a friend's birthday. Chocolate cupcakes, half with white icing and half with chocolate icing. I spent a good bit of time lovingly icing them with my decorating icing bags and various decorative tips, topping them off with sprinkles. I arranged them in a color coordinating pattern in my Tupperward cupcake carrying case and was a little miffed when, as I was putting on the lid, I clipped the side of one of the cupcakes and smeared the icing a bit. Oh well, I thought. With the cupcakes safely stored away and minutes from walking out the door to go to group, I turned around to strap Callia in her car seat, when I hear, "I'll carry these out to the car, Mom! And, in the blink of an eye, as I yell, "COHEN!!! Nooooooo!" Swoosh! There go the cupcakes crashing to the floor. [Sigh]

I wish I had a BEFORE picture, because this is the END result after Cohen got a hold of them!

Messy Girl!!!

2011-10-20T22:09:00.000-04:00

Callia LOVES her cereal! She's not a very neat eater though! :-)

Founders Park

2011-10-17T23:30:00.003-04:00

On Sunday we checked out a newly opened park on Hazel Dell called Founders Park! Cohen had a great time there playing in the sand and going down the slides! We'll definitely be going back again soon!

Callia's first time in a swing! She loved it!

Headless Horseman at Conner Prairie!!!

2011-10-17T22:55:00.000-04:00

Stonycreek Pumpkin Festival!!!

2011-10-16T22:58:00.002-04:00

Connor Prairie!!!

2011-10-15T23:53:00.004-04:00

Callia's Baby Dedication!!!

2011-10-15T23:35:00.005-04:00

We were so blessed to have both of our families present as we dedicated Callia to the Lord on Sunday, October 9th!

Afterwards, everyone came back to our house for lunch and cake!

The Zoo!!!

2011-10-07T22:09:00.011-04:00

Cohen helping Addi across the suspension bridge! Oh so sweet!

A little grumpy, but love the face!

Great Pumpkins!

2011-10-07T21:49:00.005-04:00

We visited my Aunt Karol on Wednesday, and I was able to snap a few pics of the kids on the giants pumpkins at her house!

Cohen posing sweetly with Callia...

...until a walnut catches his eye that he just has to have! Poor Baby Girl!

Callia's First Bites!!!

2011-10-03T23:06:00.004-04:00

Callia turned 4 months old on Friday, September 30 and her doctor told us to go ahead and start with some rice cereal! Here are some pics of her first bites of cereal! She's not too sure about it yet, but she doesn't seem overly adverse to it. I have some video that I'll post later, after I edit out the part where she starts choking on it and I totally freak out and go spastic! :-)