MAREN at 1 YEAR OLD

Maren Reese Callahan

Can I even say enough about this little Angel?

  (I'm almost ready for my close up ... this was a lighting test shot but really, who doesn't want to wake up and look this good in the morning?)

#1                                                                        

most people when they spend time with Maren say, "wow! she is such a happy baby!"

well you know what? she really is! she is most pleasant to be around.

#2                                          

A few things about our little sweetie pie at 1 yr old:

still a scooter, still motoring around on that cute little tushy

I don't have a lot of hope for her walking soon which is too bad because she is right there at the age of energy and curiousity, but I just can't justify letting her scoot around outside on the cement and ruin the seat of all her clothes not to mention the skin on her legs.

#3                                     

We haven't even lowered her crib! that sounds totally crazy! I suppose maybe she has been spoiled with not having to do much? She has never liked being on her stomach much  and since scooting is her form of crawl she has no reason to get onto her tummy to get onto her hands and knees and therefore just waits for someone else to sit her up. As long as someone sets her down sitting up she has nothing to worry about. BUT we're working on it :) if helped onto her hands and knees she can sit herself up so its progress ...

#4                                          

and on the note of progress, she is starting to pull up and stand,  apparently she knows which skills are important to her.

#5                                            

just for a little background: at 9 mo. old little miss M was still not putting weight on her legs much and the Dr. suggest we take her in for x-rays on the hips, they turned out ok :) and two days later she was putting weight on her legs, at her 1 yr exam he jokingly suggested that we schedule more x-rays and she might start walking sooner! ha ha She is doing this on her own time.

#6                                         

Maren has two teeth, the front bottom, and has 3 or 4 on the top trying to come in all at once with a different front runner each day.

#7                                          

She weighs 20 lbs. and is  31in. tall

in the begining we thought she had blue eyes, but she has a pretty hazel color. She looks a lot like her dad did as a baby. Also getting Hazel from a few grandparents too!

#8                                         

She is just starting to take off with learning new words. So far she can say mama, dada, uh-oh, go, that, up, rock (as in rocking back and forth) and snack. And the rest is chatter.

#9                                       

she is a big "pointer" she is always looking around pointing at everything! she wants to see, wants to touch, wants to hold. And she gets so excited for each new thing.

#10                                        

She rarely cries, but she's starting to get a little cranky if you take something away or won't let her have what she wants (typical 1 yr old stuff).

#11                                                          

She is to the point of wanting to play with what 'you' have rather than what she has.

#12                                                           

She's getting pretty into her books, she likes to be read to, we just have to keep her away from the ones we get from the library . . . rrrrriiiiippppp

#13                                                         

this basket is a Baby Carrier brought back from China to Maren from Grandpa Blaine when she was born. Its so cool, I knew once she was old enough we'd be taking pictures in this baby!

#14                                      

This girl loves her brother and sister. She doesn't want to sit and play with her toys if she can hear them in the other room.

#15                                        

I usually find her in their bedroom. They're playing on the top bunk and she is down on the grond having pulled herself up to stand at the bottom bunk and looking up at them. 

#16                                          

She loves Embrie but is still a little wary of that sister who may or may not be just a little jealous sometimes and may or may not tend to pat her on the back just a little too hard or try and steal her favorite blankets.

#17                                       

Loves Garrett, he can always make her laugh, and if for some off reason (he is still a brother after all) he is a little mean (not very often) then she is heart broken, she'll cry and look at him with complete sorrow in her eyes.

#18                                       

But both siblings are usually great helpers and love her  and hug her a lot. 

#19                                         

She is so quiet in the morning, I never know how long she has been awake because she is so content to just lay there maybe making tiny soft noises once in awhile, pretty good for on that's not sitting herself up in the crib.  Embrie usually is the first to wake me and she loves to go in and get Maren out of bed and if Garrett is still asleep setting Maren on his top bunk to wake him up is my best bet to assure he'll wake up happy. He loves to wake up to her patting him and smiling.

#20                                                          

She loves mom and dad too. She is a little angel for us. So sweet and innocent and good. She has a couple nicknames "scooter-rooter" is one but mostly we all call her "squish" for those squish-able cheeks!

#21                                                         

So glad that our sweet heart joined our family a year ago. She has definately been a blessing in all our lives.

A few nights away

Garrett and Embrie took a little trip this summer to have a sleep over at Grandpa and Grandma Callahan's house for a couple nights. This was the first time that Embrie had spent away from both Brad and I ever. It was weird for us to have only Maren for 2 days and left me wondering what I did with one baby 6 years ago. But it was good for her to have some time alone, although she'd probably tell you, if she could that she missed her brother and sister so much!

I don't have pictures of them while there of course but they did some really fun things. They went swimming and played with cousins. They went to the elementary for summer school lunch. They did some painting, which is what I have the pictures of. They did bird houses that they immediately put in the tree, a bug and butterfly that they immediately put in our garden, and a train and a bear that they immediately put on the bunkbed shelves. They had a great time and didn't miss mom and dad one bit. They felt so cool to go by themselves!

They sure love grandma and grandpa!

Cake Smashing Success!

Little Maren at her 1st birthday party!

The chair of honor!

what can I say, its a spectator's sport

she didn't end up really liking the cake much, I mean aside from liking to make a mess out of it, but she ended up liking the icecream she bummed off of dad.

happy birthday baby! mommy and daddy love you!

cake in the curls

While we were setting up the party Garrett had the great idea that he wanted to make signs for it. So he and Embrie went to work creating some 'signs'  that we then hung up, it was very cute of them.

Maren's 1st Birthday (BIG August part2)

Our funny sweet Maren turned 1 year old on August 8th!

How would you spend your birthday?

*Relax?

*play, no work?

*someone else cooks every meal and cleans up?

*others do the driving when you go out?

*have someone get a nice warm bath ready for you?

heck everyday is a birthday!

We started her day out with Maren opening some gifts from her brother and sister. First gift opening experience.

Oh yes! it was just what she wanted! the toy she played with in the store the other day that we had to put back on the shelf when we left! She thought she'd never see it again, but sneaky Garrett and Embrie, thanks big brother and sister!

Then we had to wait for hours to celebrate further, when daddy got off work we met at Maren's favorite place Sunny Sno!

(I decided making a cake for her party the coming saturday would be enough plus she knows the sno shack and loves shaved ice it was the perfect birthday treat!)

Did my baby just turn 1? I guess so. She's ready for the birthday bash coming up!

Our BIG month of August part 1

What a month August is this year! everyone of my kids is hitting a big milestone this month. We'll start with miss Embers

This girl is really coming out of her shell. She has been pretty shy up until now, she is our little ham at home but quiet everywhere else. Well it started with her I guess being tired of being called shy. She surely hears me say it all the time to people she won't talk to. For awhile she wouldn't talk to my friend and next door neighbor Jena, and finally one day when Jena asked her if she wanted her nails painted and she nodded, she randomly said, "I can talk, you know." ha ha! And she has told me that she is not shy anymore.

This week Embrie started her first dance class with a dance company, we're in the big time now! She was super excited! She told me that she would be brave and not shy and that she would speak up and talk to her teacher, and she did.

Then the very next day she started Preschool! She is going to the same school Garrett went to with Miss Bre`. She has been talking about going to school since the beggining of the year. We met the teacher at back to school night last week. Miss Bre` gave Garrett a big hug and talked to him about starting 1st grade. It made him feel good because he loved her during preschool.

This was her today right before school, big smiles the whole time. And Garrett has been giving her tips all week on how things work at Tiny Minds Preschool, so she'd be ready. And he got a taste of what it feels like to be the one left home for once. He missed her while she was at school. He doesn't start for 2 more weeks.

She has a couple friends from the neighborhood in her class.

Running down the lawn, coming out of school with her new school bag that she picked out and Ms Bre` put her name on. I think she was the only girl in her class that didn't pick a pink bag :)

Embrie with her buddies, Katy and Bailey

3 1/2... I can't believe she is growing up so fast! But I love that she loves it!

Being productive

This was my plane jane door before

                                                    This is it after!

                 I find that in these pictures and certain light you may not be able to
                   tell but it is purple. Not the Joker's suit purple but eggplant-ish?

      And here is the monster, or I should say one of the monsters.

            These 2 Cherry tomato plants are being held up by  8 tomato cages.

          We also have another tomato plant that is producing a lot of normal

            size tomatoes, but it is not this big. The other day I picked 67 cherry tomotoes and 14 regular! Wow what a year for tomatoes. The other veggies are doing great too! Our othe rmonster is the Yellow squash spilling out onto the lawn.

So far in the last week I have made salsa almost entirely from fresh garden produce. I've made apricot jam, and apricot syrup, 3 loaves of zucchini bread and one banana. And I have put up frozen fresh green beans, and shredded zucchini. Spending that much time in the kitchen means that the rest of the housemay need my attention now, gotta run!

Come on Baby you can do it!

Help me cheer her on! I can't believe Maren is almost a year old and isn't doing this stuff yet! But I will say she sure is cute! We have a lot of practicing to get to. These shots were taken while I helped her get to each step. I'm thinking it will be awhile before she walks. . . We haven't even lowered her crib because she doesn't sit herself up.