Thanksgiving

We had a GREAT Thanksgiving!  We had the pleasure of having my family (all but my sister, Britt, and her hubby) join us for Thanksgiving this year.  My dad and sister drove 30 hours straight to bring them and the rest of my younger siblings out here for the week of Thanksgiving.  Sadly, one of my sisters was unable to join us and was greatly missed.  My mom and brother-in-law flew out the day of Thanksgiving to join us.  It was crazy!  We had 12 people spread out on the floors through out our little place and I think every floor space was covered with someone or something.  (Probably a complete fire hazard.)  We really enjoyed playing games together, watching movies, and making/eating Thanksgiving dinner.

I made my first Turkey ever and it turned out great!  My sister, Elena, and I made 16 pies (with a slight bit of help from the guys).  It was a blast to spend time in the kitchen together preparing the meal.

We also were able to do a girls & boys day out.  The gals of the fam went and saw "New Moon" which totally rocked!  We really enjoyed the movie.  The boys went and saw "2012" and said it was also very good.  They came home with tales of destruction and the end of the world.  :)

Ian really enjoyed spending time with Grandma and Grandpa especially now that he is old enough to really know what is going on.  Kenya loved all the added attention she got from every direction.  Always being held and cuddled is totally her thing.

My sister, Elena, brought her dog with them and the dogs had a blast together.  They wrestled for hours at a time and couldn't get enough of each other.  Now, both are missing their playmate.

I have a lot to be Thankful for this year!  It's been a great year and another happy year in my marriage and with my kids.  The Lord has blessed me beyond my dreams and I'm so very thankful for all I've been blessed with. 

Our Little Comet

Brian and I have been dreaming about getting a dog for a long time, maybe even since the beginning of our marriage, but up until now we hadn't thought it would happen so soon.  Well, the Saturday before Thanksgiving we took the kids to the Shelter like we often do to look at the puppies.  It's always just been a "for fun" thing for us to do as a family.  While looking at the puppies, I fell in love with the cutest little black puppy and somehow convinced Brian that we needed to take him home.  It was actually cheaper to take him home than we had thought, so it didn't take much persuading to get Brian to agree (he wanted the puppy just as much as me).  So here is our little puppy, Comet.  He has made a great addition to our little family!

My Baby's First Birthday

It amazes me how fast my little girl is growing...well both of my little ones to be exact.  Time flies by so fast these days.  So, without further ado, Kenya's Birthday details.

Kenya had a great b-day.  She woke up about 7 ish and I brought her up to my room to play for a little while so we wouldn't wake Ian.  She cuddled and played with me for an hour and a half till Ian got up and it was so much fun.

The day was good and the kids played and had fun.  Kenya surprised me by deciding to take her first steps.  She took 3 steps and then fell into my arms laughing.  What a cutie!

We had decided to keep her b-day just a family thing.  I made a Strawberry Jello Cake and we sang to her, blew out her candle, and ate cake!  She also got calls from her Aunts, uncles, and grandparents wishing her a happy first birthday.  She did a really great job of eating her cake and loved every bite. 

So, all-in-all it was a great 1st Birthday for my little angel.  I can't believe that she is already 1 and that she growing so fast.  Where did the time go?

Happy Birthday Angel! 

Kenya's Brithday

I know I haven't gotten the details up yet, but I'll let you know how Kenya's birthday went soon. Just haven't quite got that far yet.

I've Become a True Mom

I know, that statement is a little odd considering I have been a mother for over two years and have two children, but it's also true.

When I got married and we knew that Ian was on his way into our lives, I wondered many times how I would handle motherhood. I wondered if I'd be able to handle the snotty noses and dirty diapers and sick kids. Well, last night proves that I can handle it.

Okay, so Brian was out of town on a business trip. At approximately midnight, Ian woke up and retrieved his dinner all over his bed. Now, anyone who knows me knows that I don't do well at all around vomit, I swore that would be Brian's job to take care of when we got married. Well, seeing as how Brian wasn't around and this obviously needed to be taken care of I rose to the task. I got everything cleaned up and had moved Ian to the couch. A few minutes later, Ian's breakfast and lunch were all over the couch. You've got to be kidding me, right?! After about 45 minutes I was able to get everyone cleaned up and back in bed. What a night!!

So as I stated above, I've become a True Mom. For the first time I had to deal with a full blown vomit disaster all by myself and I did it. I made it through the night!

*Just trying to look on the positive, trust me, I'm not that excited about it. Mostly just exhausted. :)

Happy Birthday Kenya!

I can't believe that it's been a year since my little baby girl was born.  It amazes me how time flies!  But here we are, and Kenya is now 1 year old.  When did my little angel go from being a little cuddly newborn to a semi-independent little girl?  Where did time go too?

My little Kay-Mae was born on Sunday, November 9th at 10:09 pm.  It was a rough ride and we almost lost her, but thanks to the doctors training and the blessings of the Lord, Kenya was born to us healthy and happy, a perfect little angel.

She's always been patient with Ian and his wild manners and shows us her love in every form possible.  Our family wouldn't be complete without her.

To our little Kenya on her 1st Birthday.

Love,

Mommy, Daddy, & Big Brother Ian

I'll be Home for Christmas!

Yeah!  We've finally got it organized and we will be coming/going home for Christmas!  Hallelujah! I'm so excited to be spending the Christmas holiday's with family! 

Conversations with a 2 Year old

While cleaning Ian up after dinner we had this very short, but great conversation.

Mom/Kayla:  Ian, I love you!

Ian:  I luv you too!

Mom/Kayla:  I love you more!

Ian:  Yup!

I'm just glad he realizes it now, cause I'm sure somewhere down the road the conversation will be much different.

Pumpkin, pumpkin and more pumpkin

So I spent this morning, literally all of it, carving, cleaning, gutting, steaming, pureeing, bagging and everything else pumpkin.  We didn't actually carve any pumpkins this year (not sure how we missed that one), but I still had two pumpkins and I wasn't going to let them go to waste.  I called my mom up and found out how she purees leftover pumpkin so you can freeze it for Pumpkin Pie for a later date.  I have now spent 5 hours doing it, I have 12 cups of pumpkin in bags freezing, and I still have half of a large pumpkin to go.  I also roasted the seeds.  All I gotta say is, the pumpkin pie made with real pumpkin better taste darn good so that all this craziness was worth it. 

Our Halloween

For some reason, this Halloween went by so fast that we didn't end up actually cutting a Jack-O-Lantern.  We did at least get Ian to color his pumpkin.  Kenya just looked at it with mild curiosity.

 

Both kids were pretty unhappy about getting dressed up for Halloween, so this is the best we could do.  As you can tell, neither of them look terribly happy about the whole ordeal.

We were invited by our good friends to go to the Georgia Aquarium on Friday the 30th to go Trick-or-Treating and see the fish.  We've gone a few times with them and it's always a fun adventure.  The kids really enjoyed the decorations and of course the candy.  It's always fun to see giant fish. 

Halloween evening we actually didn't go Trick-or-Treating.  We'd been several times already: Ward Trunk-or-Treat, Georgia Aquarium, Marietta Square.  We were ready to relax and I was definitely in no real condition to walk around for another hour or so (due to the Silver Comet Half-Marathon I ran that morning - it'll be the next post I work on).  We joined some neighbors for a dinner get together, left before the drinking started (not sure why that is a normal get together activity), and headed to our friends for movies and goodies.  While passing out candy at RaKel and Jim's, Jim would grab Ian by the heals and hold him over the banister and would swing him out in front of the trick or treaters when we opened the door.  It was rather hilarious to see the reactions from the kids as a little boy popped out in front of them.  All in all it was quite a fun night.

A Run to the Death...

... that's what it felt like.

I'm really not sure why I decided that it would be fun to run the Silver Comet Halloween Half-Marathon, but I apparently thought it was a good idea.  May jogging partners and friends, Hayley and Marcy, signed up for this run a while ago, but both ended up not being able to run.  So I guess that is when I decided to run in Marcy's place.  I think the logical portion of my brain was on vacation at the time I decided that.  So Halloween morning I woke up at 5:30 am and headed to Karen's to meet with the other ladies for the run.  There were 5 of us in all and I was really astonished that one of them was running being 6 months pregnant (she's an amazing woman).  We got dressed up in similar costumes and headed to our run.  The first 2 miles we all stayed together pretty well, but Bonnie, Emily, and Ariel are quite a bit faster than me.  Thank goodness Karen stayed with me to run, she was my pusher for the run.  She was AWESOME!   I totally wouldn't have made it to the end with out her, and it I had, it would have been a long time after what I really came in at.

The first 10 miles weren't bad at all;  I felt good, didn't hurt, and kept a steady pace.  At mile 11 I started feeling all the muscles in my lower body and it was really beginning to burn.  At mile 12 I was done.  I would have stopped and walked the rest if it weren't for Karen literally pushing me at times to keep going.  Mile 13 was the very hardest and when I finally crossed the finish line and slowed down all my muscles tightened and stiffened.  It didn't help that it rained the entire time that we ran and when I stopped I was shivering from the freezing cold.  But I had finished, and in pretty good time too.  I made it through a Half-Marathon, 13.1 miles, in 2 hours & 17 minutes!  Whew!  I am still feeling that run 2 days later, sore muscles all over.  But it was fun, and I think that in 6-9 months I might do another one and actually train for it.  It's a challenge, that's for sure. 

Latest Hobbies

Lately I've been trying to get into more interest.  I've seen some pretty awesome things on people's blogs and wanted to try them out.

These are two dresses that I made out of woman's sweaters.  They aren't perfect, but I think that they are cute on Kenya.

My friend, Marissa, taught me how to make these bows.  I'm still learning, but they are very fun to make and I think they are adorable in Kenya's hair. 

'Tis the Quarter...

... of the year...for...

-runny noses

-too many goodies

-lots of fun

-colder temperatures

-busy schedules

-lots of purchases

I can't believe we are already at the end of the year!  Time is just flying by!  I was just thinking of how crazy the last three months of the year are and what all comes with them....fun and not so fun.  Talk about a busy season!

Halloween Festivities

Halloween officially started last Saturday.  We attended the annual Ward Halloween Carnival and all had a blast!  Ian had refused to put on his costume, so sadly he was not dressed up cute, but maybe I can get some pictures of him in it this Saturday.

Kenya looked absolutely adorable in her Tigger costume and loved every moment spent crawling around the gym playing with kids.

The Missionaries in our ward are great guys and we've fed them a number of times, thus getting to know them pretty well.  The challenged Brian and I to a doughnut eating race and Brian hastily took that challenge.  As we started to race, Brian was winning (because of his big mouth that is) and so I was trying to push him around a little to slow him down.  (I know, I know... it's cheap, but what's a girl to do.)  At that point in time, Brian shoved my doughnut into my face, consequently my eyes, lashes, and brows (leaving a very nice, thick layer of glaze) and so fought back.  I did get him square in the face with a doughnut too, so we were even and neither won the doughnut eating race.

It was a fun night.  I'm not sure why, but when it came to the Trunk-or-Treat Ian was very timid.  He all-of-a-sudden became very shy and quiet.  He didn't want to say Trick-or-Treat, even though he was very good at it, and he didn't want to say thank you or look at the people.  It was rather odd.  But despite that, he received a very large amount of candy from the wonderful people in our ward.   

More Frogtown Race Pictures

Here are some of the pictures that they took of us while we raced.  I know I look pathetic and ridiculous, but oh well.  :)

At the beginning - #31 (Black shirt with Pink, Light blue Shorts)

Sprinting to the end

Some of the elements in the race

My friend, Ariel, climbing the rope

My finishing time of 48:54!

Hair Cut

I cut my hair!  I know, you're probably thinking, "Didn't she want to grow it out long?" & "Didn't she hate it last time it was short?"  Well, yeah I probably did/said both of those things, but we're trying it again.  I love it so far and am really excited to get my nice flat iron so that it will look even better!  Anywho, so here are so updated pictures of me for those who don't see me very often.

P.S.  I hate pictures of myself, and while I was taking these (and many, many more horrid ones) it affirmed to me why. I just don't photograph well.  But after about 100 or so pictures on my camera, I at least found a few I can deal with. 

This picture of Kenya and I basically shows my hair at it's best.  

FrogTown Trail Challenge

I made it through my trail challenge race and what a race it was!  It was probably one of the toughest things I've ever done, but boy was it fun!  So the details are this:

4.3 miles of running through: streams, mud, up hillsides, down hillsides, crossing a log over running water, climbing up (with the help of a rope) a steep mud slide, jumping over logs on the trail and much more.

My finishing time was 48 minutes and 54 seconds (not bad for a newbe) and I actually placed 3rd in my age group!  I was totally stoked!  Brian calculated it after-wards and told me that I ran about 11 minute miles!  That is amazing to me!  It was so intense, I figured I wouldn't make it till well after an hours time!  It was a blast though and  I would totally do it again.  There was also a 10 mile run, but I'm not sure I'll be doing that anytime soon. :) 

My friends who ran too:  (Right to left)  Me, Hayley, & Ariel

My awards plaque!

The logo on the awesome shirt we got for competing in the race!

I think that this is only the beginning of a long relationship with me and running.  Who knows, maybe one day I'll even do a Half Marathon, but we'll just have to wait and see.

P.S.  More photos to come of me actually running the race! 

An art persons dream....

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THE WORKBOX

 This amazing give away is something I personally just love!  This workbox is a art/craft persons dream come true.  Awesome little cubbies and places for all your runaway crafts and projects.  Can you believe that you could win a way to clean up that craft mess in your house!  CRAZY!   And take a look at some of these other items:

Now THIS is a desk  I could totally go for!  It's perfect!! 

And they are even giving $100 off shipping!  Check it out! 

 

Enter this code when you place your order to get $100 off your shipping: 100Writes

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You bet this will be on my Christmas list (not that I'll actually get it).  :) 

!!!Record!!!

I don't know if I believe it yet myself, but I ran 6 miles last night!!  I actually don't know how I did it, but I felt great, still feel great, and actually hope to do it again soon.  My friend Hayley called and asked if I wanted to go running and the first thing through my mind was, "Not really", but I knew I needed the exercise.  So we went.  She was only planning on 3 miles and when we got done with the third I was feeling great!  So we went for a forth, then a fifth.  At that point she was done, but I just couldn't stop.  So I pushed through a sixth and would have kept going except I'm sure Brian would begin to worry if I was gone too long.  I couldn't believe and I felt great while doing it!  What an amazing thing!  That is the farthest I have run in my entire life and I did it in just under an hour!!  Holy Cow!!  I'm totally stoked!  (Can't ya tell :))

Bad Mom Award

I'm either a horrible mother or a terrible wife.  I feel awful!  Kenya has lately decided that she only wants mommy.  Not that I'm totally not flattered, but I need to have a few minutes to get something done during the day.  So today when Brian got home, I asked him to take her.  Through out the last few days we've had this battle:  Kenya screams with daddy and only wants mommy.  I feel horrible about it all.  I hate listening to Kenya scream and cry and I also hate the look on Brian's face as he see's her want me more than him.  I'm not trying to make Kenya only want me and not her dad, but it's happening.  What to do??!!??

Frog Town Race

I've decided to try a new challenge brought on by my good friend.  There is this 4 mile race, the Frogtown Race that is going on next Saturday.  Now this is no ordinary race.  During this race you will run through trees up and down trails, through streams and into mud.  It sounds pretty messy and intense.  So in prep for this crazy race that I've signed myself up for, I tried jogging up the Kennesaw Mountain trail.  This was so difficult and intense, but I made it to the top.  Now, don't get ahead of yourself, I didn't run the whole way up.  I'm not that good.  But I did run most of it.  I only stopped to walk a few times and then I came back down.  I was beat afterwards, but I felt so exhilarated for making it all the way up and then down again.  Now we'll just have to see how I do at this 4 mile run next week.  What an adventure!

 

An art persons dream....

THE WORKBOX

 This amazing give away is something I personally just love!  This workbox is a art/craft persons dream come true.  Awesome little cubbies and places for all your runaway crafts and projects.  Can you believe that you could win a way to clean up that craft mess in your house!  CRAZY!   And take a look at some of these other items:

Now THIS is a desk  I could totally go for!  It's perfect!! 

And they are even giving $100 off shipping!  Check it out! 

 

Enter this code when you place your order to get $100 off your shipping: 100Writes

http://theoriginalscrapbox.com

You bet this will be on my Christmas list (not that I'll actually get it).  :) 

Furious Flooding

For all of you that might have gotten on the news that Atlanta and it's surrounding areas are under water, well it's a yes and a no.  There are some places in Atlanta and close to use that were submerged, bridges that were out, roads that were closed and buildings covered, but we are just fine where we are at.  In fact, I was unaware of the flooding till Brian called me from work and told me to look on the CNN website.  Wow!!  But we've had three very beautiful and dry days, and for the most part Atlanta is recovering.

 

Six Flags under water

This is the city just to the west of us, Austell, about 5-10 miles from us.

So yes, it has been a mess here, but no, we (the Caldwell family) are just fine.