Turns out March was a pretty good month, full of auntie visits (I think Cal is really getting the hang of selfies thanks to Auntie Ky), walks to see the wildlife (can you count the cows in the pasture as wildlife, too?), a trip to Utah (I'll put those ones in their own post when I can steal some more photos from the grandmas and aunties), and oodles of adorableness.
Since two of my sisters were in town visiting during the week of my birthday we decided to just party it up all week long. Hear, hear for Birthday Week!
Monday, March 10th: Lunch with my branch lady friends: Lara, Bobbi, Cherish, Heather, Gwen and Cindi. We always go to e-town in Edwards for birthdays (they told me it's because they have the biggest booths/tables, but the food is pretty tasty and decently priced for these parts, too). I got the Zastrow: blackened chicken breast, pepperjack, avocado spread, lettuce and tomato on a ciabatta roll - delish! They were kind enough to bring me flowers, cards and a plate of homemade chocolate chip cookies to share. And they were more than welcoming to the sisters and the Calster, too. It was a fun party. (Sorry, no pictures.)
Tuesday, March 11th:The day! We met Gregg for lunch at the Lark, where I got my free birthday burger. Oh, yeah. As always, the food here was amazing! And the company was great, too. :) We had Cookie Fudge Aggie Ice Cream, brought from Logan by Heatha, for dessert that evening while playing a mean game of Phase 10. And I opened up my present from Mom and Dad: some new yoga pants and cute long sleeve tees - so fun and comfy!
Behold the deliciousness!
Cal had butternut squash and pears brought
from home. But she did get to taste her very
first french fry and LOVED it. (Of course.)
Wednesday, March 12th: This was the day that Kylie, Callie and I went to the library and then walked over to Sports Authority to buy my new birthday shoes. They look like this and they are awesome. It was also the day of the Aggie Men's Basketball "Miracle at the Mack" during the Mountain West Championships. Holy Moly. Talk about March Madness.
Thursday, March 13th: Heather was back from her weeds conference in Colorado Springs. (Yes, it's kind of a funny joke if you think about it: Weeds. Colorado. Yeah.) With her help, I was able to concoct a beauty of a birthday cake, which was a little bit of a departure from my traditional strawberry shortcake. But, oh my was it ever a delicious departure.
Cal was there to help me with some extra
fingers to add up to 29.
Almost got a five-finger addition here.
But mostly it's "flappy bird"
So maybe not on the extra fingers, but
she sure makes up for it with that
million dollar smile, eh?
Friday, March 14th: We spent the day sewing: jersey knit maxi skirts (Kim and Heath), a shoulder bag / purse (Kim), and a baby blanket for a friend (Heath). We also celebrated Pi Day (3-14, get it?) with some homemade pizza pie (a Friday tradition in these parts). (Again, no pics.)
Saturday, March 15th: The sisters headed home, but not before a couple photos with the Calster. What a fun week we all had. Let's do it again soon!
The Burton US Open Snowboarding Championships were held in Vail again this year, and since we were in Utah last year during the competition, we decided we really needed to get up there this time to see some of the action. We were there for the Women's finals on Saturday morning, and man they can fly! Luckily Callie was obliging to her ambitious parents, putting up with being strapped in the front carrier and trekking up the steep, snowy slope. Actually, she loved it. And so did we. It was the perfect bluebird day (we even got a bit sunburned!) to be outside enjoying the sun, snow and super pipe.
So, Callie turned 9 months old and has recently mastered some new tricks, including, but not limited to:
- fake cheesy smiles (these are the smiles I get when she sees me pull out the camera - I can only imagine what school pictures will look like in a few years!):
Exhibit A. Cheesy Smile
Exhibit B. Fake Smile
Exhibit C. Fake Cheesy Smile
Exhibit D. Cheesy Fake Smile
- clapping / pat-a-caking on cue (she's also started to imitate other things we do, like waving - sort of - and patting the tray on her highchair and clicking her tongue):
Callie, can you do pat-a-cake?
Yeah, mom, I sure can!
- sidewinder snake "crawling" (since the filming of this video she's dropped the rolling to both sides step and instead pushes her legs around, lifts up her hips and somehow shifts her body sideways - hence the sidewinder snake analogy - to get to what she wants):
- eating all kinds of solids, including the occasional toys and toes (but she's great about chowing down on anything we feed her, and happily - sorry, TMI - her digestive system seems to be handling everything quite well lately as evidenced by her plentiful poopy diapers):
Mmmm . . .these look rather delicious.
Look, Ma, no hands!
What? I just need a little snack to get
me through this long photo shoot.
Fingers are tasty, too.
- just generally cracking us up with her antics (she's never been and is still not the best sleeper ever, but you can't really be mad at her when she flashes you a smile or lets out one of her adorable giggle-cackles):
