The Oregon Coast: A Story in Pictures

What a cool picture, huh? I love it!

Before I get started, let's just get one thing clear: when I say "A Story in Pictures," what I really mean is "A 900 Page Novel in Pictures." So prepared to get bombarded with pictures. And if you think I may have overdone it, then you clearly aren't aware of how hard it was for me to narrow my selection down to these pictures from the 326 PICTURES that Taren sent me from this trip. And those were just the ones that she deemed worthy of keeping. Let's just say the girl loves the camera! Anyway, now we will move on to the point of this post. About a month ago we got back from a marvelous vacation with the McKennas to the Oregon coast. I am finally getting around to blogging about it. Whoops. The McKennas have a tradition of renting a big house on the Oregon coast with their best friends, the Jacobs, and just having a laid back vacation full of games and family fun. They used to do this annually, but now that the kids are all grown and spreading across the nation they only get to do it every once in a while. The first time that I went with them I loved the games, the company, and the unlimited supply of ice cream (Yum!), but, frankly, I did not get the location choice. I am a hot beach gal, myself. I'm all about swimming in water that won't give me hypothermia and getting a sweet tan. I like to be warm. Call me crazy. That first Oregon trip the weather was gray, rainy, and generally quite dismal. Not my cup of tea as far as locations go. This time I got it. Totally got it. The weather was incredible!!! It was that perfect weather when you can wear a sweatshirt or a tanktop and be totally comfortable either way. The sun was out, the breeze was refreshing, and it was just amazingly beautiful. So, obviously, this time we got to spend tons of time outside, which I love. All day walking and playing on the beach and all night playing games and stuffing my face with ice cream. Now THAT is my kind of trip! There is too much to say, so I will just turn the narration over to the fabulous photos taken by Logan's little sister Taren, photog extraordinaire, and her fabulous new camera named "Dot." Seriously. Thank you for capturing our memories with so many beautiful and priceless pictures, Aunt Taren! We love you!

FUN AROUND THE HOUSE

Callum and Grandpa Reed were both quite pleased to be reunited.

At first Cal didn't know quite what to think of the obvious pleasure that Grandma Paulette got from plopping him into a sink full of water and soaping him up...

...but it didn't take long for him to get on board!

Callum made an excellent partner for Aunt Elise while playing the McKenna/Jacobs standby game, Rook. In fact, it looks like he's taking the cards much more seriously than she is!


Just the latest installment in Cal's collection of fabulous Grandma Paulette quilts! Gotta love The Hungry Caterpillar! This quilt is one of my very favorites so far! I wish I had one for my sisters and all of my friends!

Callum can't get enough of brightly colored pictures...especially when he gets to look at them under his new Hungry Caterpillar quilt while listening to Grandpa Reed read.

Unfortunately, since Aunt Taren was behind the camera the whole trip we don't have many pictures of her! In fact, this is the only one we have of her with Callum! Next time I'm stealing that camera for awhile so we can get some more!

TO THE BEACH...

Here's the view from immediately in front of the house we stayed in for the week. Wow.

BOCCE BALL

The McKennas love to play Bocce on the beach.

Callum and Aunt Elise have their game faces on! Bring it!

Logan makes a mighty throw. Good luck!

Let Callum be the judge. Cutest!

THE MONUMENT

Every year the "kids" gang up to build an impressive sand monument of some sort. This year they decided to go for a sort of pyramid. It took all day to build.

Here's most of the gang in front of the finished product. Pretty impressive, huh?

But, even after a full day's work, at the first sign of high tide the builders took great pleasure in playing "King of the Hill" on the monument to destroy it.

THE WATERFALL HIKE

One afternoon we all took a short hike to a gorgeous waterfall. Looks like Cal and his daddy are ready to go!

What a sight!

What an amazing picture! Beautiful!

FAMILY PHOTOS

For awhile now Paulette has been wanting a nice family photo of us all, and we finally took the time to get one. Taren and Reed searched out a picturesque spot for the photos, we got all dolled up....and Callum screamed bloody murder for every picture until he fell sound asleep. Oh well. Maybe we'll have better luck next time.

Logan thought it would be just hilarious if someone took a family picture that consisted of a limb from each member. Me posting this is my nod to his incredibly odd sense of humor.

The patriarch and matriarch of the family. We love them!

The siblings. L to R: Elise, Taren, Logan

Taren made Elise pose (which she did very reluctantly, I might add) for some killer wind-blowing-your-hair glamour shots. This one cracks me up! MEOW! She is going to kill me for posting this. Haha!

I love my sweet boy!

My men...aren't they the best?!?!

THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!

A great big THANK YOU to Reed and Paulette, who made this trip possible. We had a wonderful time, and we love you very much! Thank you for the generosity that you have always shown our little family! Callum is lucky to have you as his grandparents!

There is nothing quite like snuggling your grandma!

Except for snuggling your grandpa. What a sweet picture!

Four Months and Counting!

My little Cal Pal is already four months old! (And looks much older since he's ENORMOUS!) Logan and I were reminiscing about how it seems like he has been in our lives forever, not for just four months. He is growing too fast!! His four month doctor appointment went well, except that the nurse doing his vaccines wasn't as good at it as the normal one, so she had to poke him three times just to do the last (of five) shots. Poor baby. Although, I can't really say that it was entirely her fault, because he was thrashing quite ferociously and he's shockingly strong. He was not pleased, but he calmed down once I picked him up to snuggle and feed. He weighs a whopping 17 pounds 12 ounces and is 25 3/4 inches long. So he is still super fat (95th percentile this time), but at least he is also getting tall (75th percentile). And look what he can do! Roll over and hold that head up high and proud! What a snoog! Now if only it wasn't so utterly exhausting to lug around an 18 pound baby all day long...... I have no idea what I am going to do several months from now. My poor back!

Best Thing Since I Last Blogged: I think that I may actually get something of a tan this summer! I used to be ridiculously tan during the summers. One of our funny childhood stories is when my pale, blonde younger sister Rachel and I were little. My mom looked at my arm and said, "Sarah, you are as brown as a berry!" (I know, I know, I don't know of any brown berries either, but, nevertheless, it was one of her funny sayings.) Rachel didn't want to miss out on the compliments, so she stuck her arm up eagerly and said, "Look, Mom, I'm as green as a frog!" Anyway, since I am no longer in high school and no longer have either the time or the desire to lie baking in the sun all summer, and I have no reason to be in the sun all of the time anymore like I did working at camp for all of those summers, I am pretty much pasty all year long. But this summer I have been taking Callum swimming at our dear friends' house (Jane and Matt Thomas) at least once a week. It's never for long, because even under the shade on his floaty thing he gets tired easily, but it is slowly building up a bit of a nice glow. Hooray!

Worst Thing Since I Last Blogged: The bugs have made a comeback. Don't ask me how!!!! I have kept the kitchen sparklingly clean, but last night when I turned on the lights in the kitchen at 11:00 they were swarming about. I screamed in horror and rage...so loudly that I woke up Callum and then Logan yelled at me. :) I hate those freaking bugs!!!

A Truly Disgusting Curse...with an Incredibly Thin Silver Lining

When we recently arrived home from our fun month of travelling we found.....BUGS. So. Many. Bugs. EWWWW!!!! I have a burning hatred in my soul for bugs. I hate their grimy little guts! They apparently decided to colonize our kitchen while we were gone, and the landlord had to spray for them twice before they got under control. I wish I could say that they were gone completely, but a few tough ones still linger on. However, the day we got back I turned on the light in the kitchen at night and found eighteen bugs crawling around in view. SICK! Last night I turned on the kitchen light and found two. Much better, don't you think? However, as sick as these little beetle-type bugs may be, there is a very, very thin silver lining here. (It may even just be cheap steel masquerading as silver.) I now have to keep my kitchen compulsively clean. Not one of my former strengths, but it sure as heck is now! As much as the thought of doing the dishes before bed may make me moan and groan, it is nothing compared to the horrifying thought of giving the bugs a place to breed.

Best Thing Since I Last Blogged: Logan is no longer on nights! He is currently doing two weeks in an OBGYN office. (My OBGYN's office, actually.) Hooray for regular business hours!

A Diet Derailed

Today has been an incredibly dull Fourth of July. Logan is still working nights at the hospital, so not only is he gone tonight so we can't go out and watch fireworks together, but he also slept all day. In our old apartment we had a lovely Arch-view of the St. Louis skyline, so I at least could have looked at the fireworks from afar when left here alone with my baby, but this apartment faces the wrong way. I can actually hear them going on....I just can't see them. Sad. And we have no T.V. stations, so I can't even watch a fireworks display on T.V. But the saddest part is that we were supposed to go to a friend's BBQ this afternoon, but it got rained out. I thought it was going to be relocated, but, alas, it was actually reSCHEDULED for next weekend. Of course I found this out AFTER I had found the time and energy to bathe Cal, shower myself (miracle!), and make a huge pan of cheesecake brownies. Once I found out that the BBQ was canceled it made me realize that once again I was going to be stuck inside our little apartment all day alone with Callum while we tried to be quiet so Logan could sleep. It did not take long for me to find comfort in about a third of the pan of cheesecake brownies. (At least.) I guess that baby weight will just have to wait a few more days to start coming off! :)

A Roly Poly Fellow

No, this is not a post about Callum's fabulous thigh fat rolls, although it would be an excellent title for a post on such a topic. This is about a ROLLING MAN! That's right, folks, Callum now has the ability to roll over! The story of the first roll is an ironic, yet amusing, one. As I mentioned in my last post, Logan has been doing insanely long night shifts at the hospital. Because of that he feels like he is missing a lot of Callum growing up and laments regularly that he won't be there for Callum's milestones. This morning when Logan got home he stayed up for about an hour with us before going to bed for the day. During that hour we put Callum belly down on one of his colorful Grandma Paulette quilts for "tummy time." He was propping himself up on his arms and holding his head up better than he ever has before. We are very easily impressed by him. :) All of the sudden he spit up all over the quilt. Logan got up to get a burp cloth, but couldn't find one readily. I turned around to point out to him where a burp cloth was, and when we both turned back Callum was on his back! He rolled over while we were both there, while Logan was not only home but awake and in the room....and yet we missed it! Sad, but funny. Callum's Grandpa Reed says that maybe since we didn't actually see him roll over that maybe gnomes came in and rolled him while we weren't looking. Or llamas. Either way, we're choosing to believe in Callum's outstanding rolling abilities.

There and Back Again: A Sad Tale of Returning to a Hot, Humid City

Well, my friends, we are home. Sad day. Actually, we've been home for over a week. Sad week. Our stay in Colorado and our trip to Oregon with Logan's family were both everything I hoped for and more, so it was incredibly depressing to come home. I'm just telling you now, this post is a whole lot of whining. So if you are interested in allowing me to maintain the blog facade that most people keep up of a perfectly pleasant existence, stop reading now. However, if you'd like to read on and feel as sorry for me as I feel for myself then please continue. :) My life is not a hard one, I realize this, but sometimes a girl just needs to vent.

Alrighty, first of all, the weather. The summer weather in the West is generally a glorious thing. Denver does get really hot, but it's a dry hot, so at night it gets perfectly cool and you can sit on your porch and eat dinner and maybe take the baby for a pleasant evening stroll. Heaven. In Oregon it was miraculously warm and sunny, but it is still the Oregon coast, so that means it warmed up to being that perfect weather where you can choose whatever you'd like to wear---pants, shorts, a hoodie, a tank top, WHATEVER---and not be too hot or cold. Here....well, lets just say I'm melting. MEEELLLLTING!!!! It has been over 90 degrees every single day since we got back. Oh yeah, and the humidity is over 90% everyday as well, naturally. Today it is supposed to be 98 degrees. There is an official "excessive heat" warning out. Goo.

The next whiny topic that we will be covering is breastfeeding. One of my closest friends in Colorado asked me if I liked breastfeeding and I had a very difficult time coming up with an answer. I finally just said, "I have a very love-hate relationship with breastfeeding." That's the truth. And, sadly, for me it seems that it usually falls closer to the hate side than the love side. I just have so many stinking complications!! I have an majorly overabundant milk supply, and, while it is a blessing to be able to provide my little one with everything that he needs, it is because of my hyperlactation that I have so many problems with plugged ducts. I have lost count of how many painful plugged ducts I have had. He just never drains me because there is simply too much to be had. People keep telling me to just buy an expensive pump and empty my breasts after every feeding, but here's the problem people: Breastfeeding is set up to be a supply and demand thing. This is why every mother gets engorged initially when her milk comes in. It arrives in bulk, but then your body figures out how much your baby really needs and adjusts to that point. The more that is emptied from your breasts, the more that they will make. This is why mothers with low milk production have to pump after each feeding...to stimulate additional production. That is NOT something that I want to stimulate. I have researched it and talked to my OBGYN and a lactation consultant about it, and I am right. Pumping would make my problem worse because then my body would just think it needed to make even more. PLEASE don't, body! PLEASE! I am an absolute slave to his feedings, and not because he won't take a bottle. I purposely introduced a bottle really early, and he is totally fine with them. I just can't give him them regularly because of my stupid breasts. It has finally gotten to the point where I can give him one if I'm out and I will be back home to pump within an hour or so of the feeding. However, too much pumping causes me problems as well, so after two days of pumping and feeding with bottles in the car and on the plane I had massive complications. One of my breasts had so many plugged ducts that three fourths of it was rock solid. Neither Callum or a pump could get a single drop from it for three days. Um, OUCH! Naturally, it turned into mastitis, which is why I am still taking antibiotics. And, to add insult to injury, the day that breast cleared up is the day that the other one got rock solid. At least it didn't take three days to clear up. Now you may be thinking, "Wow. I am not feeling any of the love in this love-hate relationship." Well, it is there. A little. People talk about how bonding breastfeeding is, and I will affirm that it's true. Callum adores me more than anyone else and he is the most comforted by me. Of course, I am the only person that is with him 24 hours a day, but I do think that the feeding contributes his love as well as the time factor. When I am not having problems, I do love to see him looking up at me peacefully with his sweet blue eyes. It's something that only we can share, and Logan has mentioned to me more than once how jealous he is that I get that special bonding time with Callum. It was also nice during our trips because I got very litttle time alone with him when his doting grandparents were around, but this was one thing that no one but me could do for him. They may want to dress him, bathe him, play with him, rock him to sleep, and all of the rest, but only I could feed him. It was a few calm moments during each busy day that I got to just sit and snuggle my little one. Overall, I just have to say that it's a good thing that Callum is so stinking fat and cute! At least my hard work is paying off!

Speaking of doting grandparents, I anticipated that Callum would go through a bit of a detox period when we came home, but nothing could have fully prepared me for what he was like the first few days back. I had noticed that when Callum's earliest visitors left he would go through a very demanding and needy time for a day or two afterward, so I was definitely dreading our return from a solid month of extra spoiling from grandparents, great-grandparents, aunts, and friends. (Not to mention the time zone changes.) I think Logan thought I was being ridiculous when I would stew about it, but I was dead on. The first night back Callum stayed up crying and screaming until 1:30. Then he got up and made me feed him at 3:00 and 5:00 before finally getting up for good at 8:00. Shoot me now. Keep in mind that this is when I was dealing with mastitis, plugged ducts, and my own feelings of despair at having left my dad and friends behind in Colorado to return to this hot, lonely city. He screamed so much in the first two days that it was almost impossible to find time to go to the restroom! I have a whole new level of respect and flat out AWE for my friends with colicky babies now. YOU ARE AMAZING!!! I got a tiny glimpse into what your lives are like, and, I must tell you, I did not like what I saw. So much respect!!!! Wow! Thankfully he is toning it down significantly now, but he is still refusing to take naps, and he is whining for attention all of the time. I never get anything done anymore. I am fervently praying that we can return to a nice schedule where I at least get some nap times to get things done. (He's taking one right now...MIRACLE!!! HALLELUJAH!!! HIP HIP HOORAY!!!) I think that the end of his detox period may be coming gradually into view, but there is still some work to be done and some crying to put up with.

Last, but certainly not least, Logan's schedule. Girls in my ward talk about being a "third year widow" and I always laughed and thought, sure, third year med students were busy, but "widow" may be a bit melodramatic. Um, I was wrong. Logan has started his third year of medical school. He is really excited about actually being in the hospitals doing, seeing, and learning things, instead of just listening to people talk about them in lecture, and he's really enjoying his experiences so far. However, his schedule is making both of us miserable. He is on nights in labor and delivery. He enjoys assisting in the deliveries and he loves the brand new babies. He even got to deliver a placenta the other day. Sick. However, the nights thing is brutal. Since he is home sleeping during the day I feel like we never get to interact anymore. He is so close---just in the bedroom!---and yet so far away. And he hates that he never gets to see Callum anymore. It's a bummer. Also, the OBGYN course master holds lectures for the students currently doing OBGYN rotations....DURING THE DAY! All of the people assigned to days get to leave their shift for lectures and not put in any extra hours. Meanwhile, Logan is up all night doing his shift and then has to go to lectures in addition to his shift. Yesterday he got home at 10 am and had to be back for lectures at 1 pm. Um, when is he supposed to sleep?!? More than one day this week he has been at the hospital for 17+ hours. I now feel like I've seen a glimpse into my future life as the wife of a resident, and, once again, I don't like what I see. This is going to be a long road. A very long road.

Well, the baby is squawking, so I suppose you're off the hook. No more listening to me whine. Thanks for letting me vent!

Best Thing Since I Last Blogged: I went swimming at Jane and Matt Thomas' house yesterday with my friend Ann and our babies. It was Callum's first time and he loved it! As an added bonus, it wore him out and he actually took a long nap in the evening! Score!

Funniest Thing Since I Last Blogged: Callum has a new happy sound. Unfortunately, it sounds like the shriek of the ring wraiths in the Lord of the Rings movies. Maybe if you're lucky you'll get to hear him pierce your eardrums with it someday. :)

Worst Thing Since I Last Blogged: Wait...I think I've already covered this somewhere. :)

Blessings Galore!

Our Happy Little Family

I am finally getting around to blogging about Callum's baby blessing. In our church we believe that men are punished only for their own sins, not for Adam's transgression, so babies are born pure and sinless with no "Original Sin." Because of this, we do not baptize babies, but we do give them a blessing. Traditionally this blessing is given by the baby's father, and other special men in the child's life who are also worthy Priesthood holders are able to participate by standing in a circle holding the baby during the blessing. Callum received his baby blessing on May 24, 2009 (my dad's birthday, coincidentally) in Colorado. Since it was Memorial Day Weekend, Logan's family was able to drive out for the long weekend. So Callum's father, both grandfathers, Great-Grandpa Westover, Uncle Sam, and Great-Uncle Paul were all able to bless Callum together. A neat little sentimental tidbit is that the outfit Callum wore is the same one that Logan wore at his blessing. (Although Logan was significantly younger and less corpulent at his blessing, so it was more than a little snug on our little fatty!) Additionally, the booties Callum is wearing were knit for him by his Aunt Taren. It was a very special experience to hear my sweet husband give a special blessing to my even sweeter son. It was a moving and eloquent blessing that was full of wonderful promises from our Heavenly Father to our dear little boy. I can't believe the quality of the men in my life. I am surrounded by the absolute best men that I can even imagine, including my husband, father, grandfather, father-in-law, brother-in-laws, and now my son. I feel privileged and, in all honesty, a little scared at the thought that I am being trusted by the Lord to bring another such man into this world.

At the risk of sounding saptastic, I would like to say a few things about Logan. He is so amazing and so dear. I can't believe that I was lucky enough to get to marry such an incredible man. He is smart, handsome, hard working, loyal, affectionate, extremely kind and unselfish, and, most importantly, a truly righteous man. Sometimes I can't believe that I could be considered worthy enough to be led to such a man to be my eternal companion. Where I am moody and unpredictable, he is kind and as steady as a rock. No matter how busy he is with school, he has never said that he was too busy to help me when I really needed it. In the middle of test weeks and studying for his Boards he would come running---without complaint---to hold the crying baby or help me with the dishes when I was just too exhausted and emotionally drained to go on. He is there for Callum and me above all other commitments and goals. He is a great blessing in my life, and he will be a great blessing in the lives of our children. Immediately after Callum's birth Logan was just staring at him in awe, with tears in his eyes, saying over and over, "We are so lucky! I can't believe how lucky we are!" and I realized what a fantastic father he was going to be. I love watching him play with Callum. They both light up around one another, and Logan tells me over and over how happy it makes him to be Callum's father. I am so blessed.

Back to the boring, non-sappy stuff. After the blessing we came back to my dad's house and had a yummy brunch with all of our relatives that live in town. It was super fun to be able to

catch up with people and to introduce Callum to all of them. The new people he met this trip Colorado trip are as follows: Uncle Sam, Great-Granny and Grampy Westover, Great-Uncle Lewis, Great-Aunt Jackie and Great-Uncle Paul, my cousins Jason, Tim, and Scott, and my dear friends Chrissy (Ridge) Carlson, Lauren Shealy, Kim Hanson, Christa Cooper, and Sandy Hannan. Here are just a few of the many, many excellent pictures that Logan's sister Taren took on the blessing weekend. She is the o

fficial family photographer at such events. And if you wonder why there are no pics of my dad or Laura with Callum, it's because they were trying to be unselfish and share with the McKennas who were only there for a weekend. Enjoy!

Callum and My Cute Grampy

Callum and His Pretty Aunt Elise

Callum and His Aunt Taren are Having a Ball!

Callum Loves Grandpa Reed!

Callum Shares a Sweet Moment with Grandma Paulette

Best Thing Since I Last Blogged: We are in Oregon having a fun and relaxing vacation with the McKennas and their best friends, the Jacobs. Cal is loving the attention from his McKenna relatives! Pictures and blog entry soon to come.

Worst Thing Since I Last Blogged: We had to leave my daddy. :(

A Joyous Sound

Yesterday I heard a joyous sound...Callum's first laugh! It was so adorable! My dad was playing with him and blowing raspberries on Cal's belly and Callum LAUGHED! Logan was very sad that he missed it, but today Callum gave an even longer laughing repeat-performance when a family friend (Brenda Campbell) was making him "dance." So far Logan and I have not been able to make him laugh at us. Maybe it only works for middle-aged people. His other grandparents will be thrilled! :)

Best Thing Since I Last Blogged: I finally got to meet my dear friend Lauren's serious boyfriend, Josh. I am so thrilled that she has found such a wonderful man! She is happier than I have ever seen her before. Ever.

Buddy Man is Here!

"Buddy Man" and Gramps...Best Buddies All the Way!

When we arrived in Colorado two weeks ago we found several signs hung around the house, one of which reads "Buddy Man is Here!" in colorful, if sloppy, block letters. It was made by my dad. He is OBSESSED!!! (Aren't we all?!) He bought a Pack n Play before we came, and then he had Laura get on Craigslist and get a stroller, car seat with bases, and a swing all in preparation for our arrival. Think he's a proud grandpa? Wow. Logan and his sister Elise are here studying for their first medical licensing exam, and Cal and I are hanging out. We have been busy seeing old friends, playing with Aunt Laura, making dinner each night, and a whole host of other fun activities. (Along with the more mundane, and surprisingly more time-consuming, activities that come along with having a baby...such as feeding and changing diapers. So many diapers.) I am LOVING being here! The weather is amazing (and so not humid!), I have a big kitchen, decent oven, and a dishwasher to make mealtime prep much more enjoyable, and I adore having all of this space! No more crammed little apartment that looks cluttered and dirty the instant Callum and I begin our day. The best part is that my youngest sister Laura and her husband Sam were here for our first week and a half, and Callum and I were in heaven! Laura spent every day with us, often doing dull things such as errands and cooking dinner, but EVERYTHING is more fun when you have a sister with you! I am so lucky to have the sisters that I have. They are by far my best friends in the world, and they are SO MUCH FUN!!! Laura and Sam left two days ago and I have been in a funk ever since. At night "Mister C" gets lots of quality time with Grandpa, which they both love. In addition, he has now met his Great Grandma and Grandpa Westover several times. Last weekend was a fun madhouse when the whole McKenna clan joined us for the weekend of Callum's blessing in church. That will get its own entry once I have a copy of the pictures from that weekend that Callum's Aunt Taren took. Below are a few picture highlights from the trip so far. I am going to take Callum on a nice stroll around the neighborhood without having to try to single-handedly get a stroller out of the apartment building which has no handicapped entrance, only stairs and a revolving door. Oh, and did I mention it will be in the perfectly warm, NOT HUMID air?! It will be.

Callum loved meeting his Great Grandparents!

Bonding with Great Grandma Elaine

This is how Callum has to sleep in Grandpa's freezing cold basement. Cutest!

On one of Aunt Laura's last days with Callum she couldn't bear to put him down...even while she vacuumed!

Callum and Uncle Sam were both enthralled by the Nuggets game. Looks like I'm in trouble! Yikes!

Aunt Laura and her little Cal Pal loved playing together. We miss her!


Best Thing Since I Last Blogged: Callum's blessing. It was beautiful and the weekend was so much fun with so many relatives around. More on that during a later post.

Worst Thing Since I Last Blogged: Callum's nap schedule and general temperament is being majorly thrown off by all of the visitors and excitement. He is already going through withdrawals now that the McKennas and Laura and Sam are gone. Going home to Saint Louis is going to be fairly miserable. For both of us.

Mobile Madness

Callum has a new favorite toy. It is his flashy new mobile! There is a little windup mobile on his Pack 'n Play, and he loves it. However, I do not love winding it every minute or so, so I thought I'd look into getting him a real mobile for his crib. I researched on the internet and found the one that I wanted. Then I saw that it was sold out all over, so I found it on Craigslist. I drove a long way to pick it up, and I was thrilled with how adorable, bright, and colorful it was. So was Callum. It ran on batteries for 20 minutes straight, and I was able to take a long shower and get ready for the day all in one uninterrupted period of time while he gaped at it intently. Score! However, the afternoon after I bought it....it stopped turning. I have no idea why, and I couldn't figure out how to fix it. I was so despondent about it that Logan finally just stuck me in the car and we drove all the way to Babies R Us to buy a brand new mobile (of a different model). I was a little taken aback by how expensive those mobiles are, but it was WORTH EVERY PENNY!!! He is completely enthralled by his new mobile. It is colorful, it has music, and it runs for about 15 minutes without me even having to push a button to keep it going. He loves to lie in his crib and grin up at it, kicking his legs furiously and cooing at it the whole time. Hooray for anything that buys me a little free time each day! Hooray, Hooray, Hooray!!!

Best Thing Since I Last Blogged: We are in Colorado visiting my dad while Logan studies for his Step One Boards exam. Laura and Sam are also here for a couple of weeks, and it has been so fun to spend time with family and friends that we never get to see!!! More blog entries on that to come later.

Whoa . . . That is One Fat Baby!!!

Well, folks, I have a FIFTEEN POUND TWO MONTH OLD!!! Yes, you read that correctly. He is in the 60th percentile for height, but the 97th percentile for weight! Holy cow. His father was a rather corpulent baby, and it appears that Callum is following right along in his footsteps. The doctor was in awe at his rapid growth. He has already doubled his birth weight, and he hasn't even had any formula. I must say, his cute little fat rolls make me feel much more gratified about the pain and suffering that I have gone through to breastfeed him. The picture you see below that shows off his excellent fat rolls....it was taken three weeks ago. Yeah.

Best Thing Since I Last Blogged: I had my very first Mother's Day. It was actually a little dull and uneventful because I was feeling sick and Logan was busy preparing for tests, but it was a milestone nonetheless. I love my sweet little boy!!!

Worst Thing Since I Last Blogged: Logan has been studying NON-STOP! First it was his final test week of the year and then he went straight into studying 10 hours a day (Seriously!) for his Boards Step I test (his first licensing exam). I miss him! And so does his little Cal-Pal!

Three Cheers for Callum...

HIP, HIP, HOORAY!!!!

This week is a momentous one. Callum has slept through the night three times in a row. AND, most importantly, I have not gotten any plugged ducts or infections as a result. MIRACLE! You see, we have been actually waking him up for middle-of-the-night feedings because of all of the plugged ducts and breastfeeding complications that I have been having. Seems ridiculous, I know. I was getting really frustrated with it, because, not only can I not skip a feeding and give him a bottle if we're out during the day (even though he is great about taking a bottle), but I couldn't even allow myself a halfway decent night's sleep without getting a plugged duct. Or worse. But three nights ago Logan set the alarm wrong and we accidentally slept until he woke us up crying at 6:30 a.m. (The feeding before that was at 11:30 p.m.) I was overjoyed, especially when I didn't feel any pain coming on later in the day. This has now repeated itself three times, so I am one happy mama! About six hours straight three nights in a row (Plus he goes back down for a little bit after the 6/6:30 feeding!) has made me a much happier camper. Still a tired one, but much better. I'm hoping that his bedtime will eventually get earlier than 11 or so (working on it!), but for now I am just counting my many blessings. We are heading in the right direction!

Best Thing Since I Last Blogged: The weather has been really lovely here. I need to make more of an effort to get out and about in it with Callum!

Worst Thing Since I Last Blogged: Callum has an eye infection. Poor little sweet pea!

If This Doesn't Melt Your Heart...

...then you must be made of STONE!!!

Our Own Little Animal Kingdom

Animals, animals everywhere! This week was animal filled. First of all, on Saturday we took Callum on his first trip to the zoo. It was the first day all week that wasn't rainy and muggy. Naturally, Callum was completely unaware of where he was and didn't care a bit about the animals, but he loves his stroller and enjoyed the fresh air while Logan and I enjoyed being out and about and chatting while we saw some pretty cool animals. The Saint Louis Zoo is right by our apartment and it is totally FREE for everyone, so I see many outings to the zoo in Callum's future! We both look exhausted in the picture of he and I (um, probably because we ARE), but if you look closely in the background you can see a baby giraffe with its parents. Cutest! Another animal themed bit of excitement happened when the animal kingdom came even closer to our home to roost. For weeks we've seen two pigeons coming and going on our air conditioning units. I try to show these cute little "Pigeon Friends" to Callum every morning as they coo outside our bedroom window, but he couldn't care any less. Some day he will be fascinated by them, I'm sure, but for now he doesn't give a rip. Well, last week the pigeon friends chose our air conditioner with some nasty old insulation on the top of it to build a nest! Funnest! We now have pigeon friends nesting just outside. We see Mr. and Mrs. Pigeon taking turns sitting on the nest all day, and there is usually one brief moment each day when neither is there, which is how I got a picture of the two cute eggs. They are so perfect they look fake! Maybe Callum will be old enough to notice the pigeons by the time the pigeon babies arrive!

Best Thing Since I Last Blogged: When Rachel was here visiting we went to Companion Bakery for lunch and had a cheesecake brownie. Oh. My. Gosh. I am not a big cheesecake person, but I like a little cheesecakey taste with a mainly chocolate base, so this was ideal. I have been craving one ever since and I used part of a recipe that I found to figure out how to quickly and easily make cheesecake brownies using a brownie mix. Yum!

Worst Thing Since I Last Blogged: Callum got sick! Poor little fella! Logan has a mild cold, and Cal seems to have caught it. He was a little stuffy, but it mostly manifested itself in poor sleeping and eating habits and a small fever that lingered for a few days. Poor baby! He seems to be feeling better now. At least he loves the taste of infant Tylenol! Last week we gave him a little taste of Ted Drewes frozen custard, and that he was totally unimpressed with. But Tylenol...oh baby! There is no accounting for taste. :)