Christmas - at last!

Did it take me long enough to post the Christmas thing? I had some weirdness going on with the Blog for awhile (thanks Calvin for changing my fonts to arabic!), and then I was just too far behind. So, here is the beginning of the catch-up.

I didn't make Maddie sit with Santa, she was a little bit too young to care. Calvin was a big fan of the gentleman though! This picture came out so cute (thanks Melissa!) Notice the pants halfway up the calf - I think it is time to retire that particular pair = ).

Christmas day was a lot of fun. Calvin was actually excited to go to bed the night before, and that was fortunate because Santa had a big job ahead of him to prepare for Christmas morning at our house! Calvin was totally excited with all of the presents and he loved helping Maddie open her stuff too. She loved rolling around all of the paper, packages and toys. I was actually really impressed with her mobility on Christmas morning.

The pictures are all out of order. I kind of hate the way that blogger uploads sometimes. Oh well, bear with me, I don't think that I am going to change my wording for the screwy picture order. The greatest, most awesomely cool present of the morning was ... Super Mario Brothers! Wow!

Supposedly Calvin got that for Chris, but in the end it was really Calvin's present. He was instantly enthralled by that game. I think he would have been perfectly happy to have played that for the rest of the Christmas break (with a steady stream of treats brought by mom, of course!) Fortunately, there were a few other festivities planned.

We had a nice leisurely morning in our pajamas and later in the day we went to Grandma and Grandpa Lambert's house to spend some time with the greater Lambert family. Calvin, once again, had a ball with all of his cousins. Christmas was good times for this kid. The rest of us had a nice time as well, hanging with the fam and enjoying the holiday cheer.

So, this post is late in coming, but I still want to wish everyone a wonderful holiday and a happy new year! Merry Christmas!


(I love post dating - No one knows how late this really was!)

Creative Wordplay

Last Friday Kyra made us some tasty turkey and dumpling soup before we left on our way back to Utah. We asked Calvin if the soup was good and he immediately answered, "its 'licious!" Then he thought about it and said, "its nummy - its nummilicious!" Pretty expressive - I love it! And, just for the record - Kyra, it WAS nummilicious = )

Gommie and Maddie

This is a late post. The pictures are cute, but poor quality. This was the first time that Maddie and Gommie met. Two lovely ladies spending time together.

Happy 'Ween!

Happy Halloween!

And Calvin said ...

Calvin likes to say the Darndest Things and I thought I had better start sharing some of them. We'll start with today. I was singing along to the The Lion King and Calvin covered his ears and said, "hurts ears mommy!" Am I really that bad?! I'll try to remember to keep updating this = ).

Smiles

You have got to love the way that babies smile. There is no restraint, they just beam! I am loving my little goofy smiler and all of her grins. She makes me smile too.

A little lovin'

I really wish these hadn't come out so grainy. I guess my point and shoot can't handle the low light with it teeny lens. Remind me to somehow qualify for a free Digital SLR (maybe a Nikon?) Until that happens you will just have to take my word for it that this was a super cute moment that I was just glad to catch a bit of.

Can you tell that Maddie hero worships her older brother? She lights up when he plays with her. Better yet, Calvin loves to make Maddie happy. He shows her toys, pushes her in her swing (that's a little scary), tries to teach her what he thinks is important, and gives her kisses and hugs. Just the other day he put some of his dinner on a fork and took it to show her how to eat. It was quite the demonstration and so cute! I am so happy that they are doing so well together. I just hope that they can keep it up. I like the sibling lovin' better than the sibling rivalry!

First Day of Preschool

Would you believe that these are the best shots I got from Calvin's first day in Preschool? He thought it was pretty funny to hide from the camera - and it worked. We are doing a neighborhood co-op preschool and it has been great for Mr. Calvin. He LOVES going to hang out with his friends a couple of times a week, and every time I come to pick him up he comes flying out yelling, "Mommy!" waving his work at me and waiting for my praise. He gets it.

I am actually really impressed with how these last few weeks of Preschool have been helpful to the little guy. His language skills are improving, he suddenly wants to sing along with me or to CDs (I had been struggling with that one for awhile), and he runs around saying things like, "B, buh, buh, buh!" Kudos to his fine teachers - awesome job! I am so glad that we decided to be part of this.

The Dinosaur Museum

That was quite a hiatus to catch up on (or to begin catching up on!) In August we finally made it to the Dinosaur Museum at Thanksgiving Point. It was $2 Tuesday so we only paid $4 to get in! We were lucky enough to get to meet up with Jen, Rick and the lovely ladies for fun-times. Calvin loved it! Between dinosaurs and cousins this was a great day. And lets not forget the $0.50 cones afterward. Goodtimes!

Kookie Kid

When I went to check on Maddie, during a nap, I found her in this comfortable position blissfully sleeping. I had to snap a picture before I fixed her.

Cute kids = Cute Photos

Last week we took the kids to get their pictures taken. It was kind of scary to take such a little girl to the photographer, but she did a great job. Calvin had so much fun! We were able to get a CD of the whole shoot, so we have a lot of fun photos to keep. I need to figure out lay out better on these posts, but this will do for now!
















I love this kid's kooky smile = ).

Madelyn Elaine Lambert

Here is the lovely newest addition to our family - Miss Maddie. I know that she has been here for three weeks, but hey, cut a new mom a break! Two kids keep me pretty busy. So, here is the story.
This is a child that did not feel the need to come. I was frustrated in the weeks before her birth because I had no indications of labor. I mean like none at all! I wasn't dilating, I wasn't effacing and the contractions were few and far between. Because so little was happening my doctor was unwilling to do anything (i.e. induce me if I went over my due date.) Fortunately, one day after the due date I had a bunch of contractions and I finally dilated to a one. We scheduled an inducement for the 23rd of June and my mom came out on the 22nd to take care of Calvin. The hospital called in the morning and we arrived about 10-ish in the morning.
They put me on the pit drip and checked to find me at a three! Woop woop! I think that I was probably headed into labor soon with or without the pitocin. After awhile the doctor came in and broke my water. That's when things really picked up. I had decided to try natural birth, but my contractions were really painful at this point - I was ready to cry. I decided to wimp out and I called for the anesthesiologist. He came right in and started to get me ready for an epidural, but as he was doing that I started to push! In pain and very stupid I let him him put in the epidural as I tried to hold back the pushing. I was shaking uncontrollably, and as I look back I am really grateful that the anesthesiologist was good enough to get me without hurting me.
The moment it was in I rolled over, they took the bed apart for delivery and two pushes later there was a screaming head and then a baby was born. Boy did she yell! I knew that child was alright from the start - you could hear it = ). So, I got an epidural, but I am not sure how much it helped! Actually, the pushing hurt less than the contractions before - I should have waited. I felt an awful lot of childbirth and then I still had to work off the effects of the drugs. Next time maybe my brain won't poop out at the last second.
Maddie was born at 1:39 in the afternoon: 6 lbs. 9 oz. and 20 inches long. Not only was this a lighting speed delivery, but it was a pretty nice recovery. Maddie took to nursing right away (bless her heart) and she has been a great little eater ever since. The hospital was worried that she weighed as little as she did, but she has made up for it with a healthy appetite. In fact, I believe that she weighed more than Calvin did at the two week doctor's appointment. She has been a great baby. She sleeps pretty well, for a newborn, and she cries only occasionally.
Calvin was very excited to meet his new baby. I was glad to see how thrilled he was at the hospital. It has been really hard for him, but I know that he loves this little girl. I just wish that I could spend more one on one time with him right now, he misses it so much.
The nurses at the hospital styled Maddie's hair into this lovely mohawk with bow. I thought it was way cute. Someone told me later that it was done with Elmer's glue. That would explain why it was so rock-solid! We love our new little girl and we are so happy to have her home with us now.

Ugliest Car Seat Cover EVER!

I wanted to have a car seat cover for the new baby, but I didn't want to buy fabric. We've spent enough money recently, and I am trying to be conservative with our budget right now. So, I thought I would put one together with scrap fabric that I already had. Sounds good, right? I needed about two yards of fabric. Amazingly enough I had a yard of two coordinating pieces of fabric; although, they were not my favorite fabric scraps. You do what you can.
Still, I thought they would be alright, and I liked the yellow and pink thing. At least until I put the whole thing together! Wow! Pretty much ugly! Oh well, it is functional and I think this is what she gets. I doubt the baby will be too worried = ).

Teaching good values and healthy living

Our fire alarms have been going off recently, and the sound terrifies Calvin. I mean REALLY terrifies Calvin. On this day the poor kid was a ball of nerves and I wanted to help soothe him.

His chocolate Easter bunny? Sure! The entire thing? Sure! Apparently I want my kids to learn to be comforted by fatty, sugary food! (It makes me feel better = )).

Let's be honest, look how contented he looks. I would probably do it again. I think I am going to fail the parenting exam!

Oh hail!

This was an amazing hail storm. It looked like snow because so much came down at once. My poor plants were made holey, but somehow things survived.

I made a bed!

Calvin made himself a bed out of the shelf board that I was about to install. Ummm ... comfy!

Buddies

Here are Calvin and Karver again being buddies. Calvin was "reading" a shark book that Karver brought over.

2nd Place!

Alright, I'll admit it, I think that Calvin is pretty cute. I knew I was biased, so, it was nice to receive the package from Utah Valley Magazine saying that he was 2nd place for "Cutest Cutie Born in 2007" ! Someone else thinks so too! So, he got a mini super soft blanket doohickey, a gift certificate and a discount card to baby places. Plus, he will be in the magazine. Yeah, I know, Utah Valley Magazine - we still think it is fun = ). Thanks to everyone who gave us input on which pictures to send in, I'm sure that your good taste was helpful. I think this one was the favorite. They say that you can look at it electronically at uvmag.com , but I imagine that you will have to wait until May (it is in the May/June issue.)

Now I want to be a baby!

Ever since I made the crib baby ready again it is Calvin's favorite spot! In this case he made himself a comfortable bed inside. I am not sure that we are going to have a happy boy when a new little girl is sleeping in "his" bed.

The Artiste in the boy

Calvin loves to draw and color. Must be inherited from his father - the elder artiste in the family. I just pretend that they didn't kick me out of art school!

How to rip up a bed successfully!

Too bad I didn't video this one! Last week Calvin and his friend Karver climbed into our bed, which was made, and commenced destruction! I think Calvin can definitely take the blame for this one. He showed Karver exactly how cool it is to jump around and mangle a big bed. Karver caught on quickly and soon there were boys rolling and crashing all around the bed. It looked like fun to me!

Calvin and Hobbes - napping

Shaving

Someone wants to be like Dad! By the way, Chris had his shirt off and was shaving in the background, but I didn't think he wanted to be seen = ).

Must be in the genes ...

Can you believe it? Two posts in one week! Yeah, I am pretty shocked myself. I will have to keep the camera out more often. Look at the good stuff that I can capture when it is easy to get to!
To begin with, we need to discuss the child shooting his mini crossbow at the lined up action figures. So gleeful! As far as I know he came up with this scenario all on his own. I watched him happily pull out all components and set this up and I think this was the first time (I'll have to check with Chris later on). Is it the Y-chromosome? Maybe because his Y-chromosome definitely comes from the gun-enthusiastic Lambert side? Who knows? At least he is having fun!
Now, I had to put the sleeping one up because I thought it was cute. Calvin and Chris taking a nap together on separate beds. I am thinking that Chris outgrew that blanket size some time ago, but he still looks pretty comfortable.

Finally, the train pics. Calvin was showing off his train and he helped me to take the lovely bottom picture of the train in motion. I'm glad that Calvin still loves this thing. It is pretty fun.