Giving this iPhone 4 a test on our blog!!!!

So Josh and I got new iPhone 4's. The reasoning behind this is that: 1. We knew in a few years we'd need new phones with a data plan. 2. Phone companies are going to move away from data plans and into a tiered data payment plan= LAME. If you already have the data plan you will grandfathered in, so we went with it! Now I have no excise for not updating our blog. Although it takes longer to type one letter at a time! We are currently driving to the Owatonna outdoor public pool to go swimming with our great friends (Denzers)! So this is our test blog post! Now let's see if my picture actually uploads.

Little Miss's Backyard Wonderland

So you may have heard about my run around with trying to purchase a climbing structure for Callie :) She really enjoys being outside and climbing on things, so I thought-heck, I'll buy her some used play structures that she can go crazy on!

Craigslist was my first stop!

Back in April, I found a GREAT deal on a climber that had one slide. This family was located in Rochester and were selling it for $25.00 - one heck of a deal (considering they sell them used on CL for $50-$75-I was getting one heck of a deal). Josh and I drove out to Roch, with Callie and the Cavalier to pick this up! How big could it really be!?

Well, it was A LOT bigger than we expected. We took the whole thing apart and SOMEHOW got pieces in the trunk, front seat and then tied to the roof! Callie and I were trapped in the back while Josh drove uncomfortably home :) Oh yeah, about 15 minutes into the ride, I had to go to the bathroom! Sorry about that Josh :)

After we got this home, I cleaned the whole thing down and we put it back together! Callie LOVES playing on it too :) She can't climb up the side yet by herself, but man does she love the slide!

More climbing things -that's what we need! Or so I thought :) So back to Craigslist I went! I had been looking for the Little Tykes 8 in 1 Climber FOREVER! Every time I found one online and emailed about it, I was too late. FINALLY, I had heard back from 2 different people that 2 were available!

So I received all the information from one family in Apple Valley and was going to purchase it/pick it up on a Saturday. She gave me her phone number and address and I was all set! Friday night I decided to email her to make sure everything was still a go; however, she decided to inform me that they - wait for it - SOLD IT! Bitch!

I did what any Shellum girl would do - I emailed her. I didn't swear, but I was very forceful in my email. So now I was back to square one. I told the other lady that I didn't need it - shoot.

So, I decided I would email the 2nd lady anyway. She lived in Champlin-which was much further away, but maybe worth it! HOLY CRAP, SHE STILL HAD IT! So I borrowed my friend's truck on a Saturday and picked up my sister Heather! We loaded it up and were on our way!

While on the highway, my sister commented that a piece of it was flying way up in the air and didn't look like it was tied down very tight. So we pulled over into a parking lot. Yes, we tied this sucker down very good, but we DID NOT tie it to the truck! Genius! So after a lot more tying and knotting, we were set! This sucker was not going ANYWHERE :)

I finally arrived home in Austin later that evening. I'll be honest, taking it out of the truck was much easier than I anticipated! but we were now ready to go!

Josh and I put this baby together and brought it to the backyard for Callie to enjoy :) And enjoy it she does! She likes to go inside the door and close it. She LOVES crawling through the tunnel, and I think she is going to figure out how to climb up to it on her own very quickly. She is getting very strong pulling herself through it as well. She LOVES the two choices of slides on the one tower! One of them is a little raised off the ground, so she FLIES down the slide and then lands right on the ground :) It's perfection!

A couple other things we have for Callie in the backyard:

A friend gave us an old sandbox, so we filled it with sand and toys and put a tarp over it (keeps all the water out of it from this crazy rain we've been having). She loves to play in the sand. She keeps her toys and the sand INSIDE the box, and she doesn't eat it (anymore!) YEAH!

At a friend's house, Callie played on a fun teeter-totter. She loved it so much that I found one on Craigslist for $15.00.

This is Callie's friend Natalie

The Easter Bunny brought Callie her Pink Princess swing as her Easter Basket this year, and she REALLY enjoys swinging!

The yellow disk was here when we moved in, but other, bigger, kids enjoy riding on that one :)

We also bought the red coupe car from a friend, which she thinks is the worlds greatest toy! She loves putting her chalk in the back and her sippy next to her :) She's a silly girl, but that's why we love her so much!

This is Callie's backyard wonderland :) Inviting, isn't it :)

I mean, with a face like this:

How could you NOT want to provide several playful opportunities for her :)

It's the Little Moments!

As a parent, I have learned that there are so many moments in Callie's life that I am filled with an excessive amount of joy and excitement. The first time Callie lifted her head, rolled over, sat up, started crawling, walking, running, dancing, holding the bottle by herself, moving from the bottle to the sippy cup, eating solid foods, feeding herself, feeding herself while properly using the fork, wiping her mouth, going potty, brushing her own teeth, feeding our cat, helping mommy with laundry, reading books on her own, playing independently, sitting for a wagon ride, pushing a cart, pushing a stroller, taking care of her own baby doll, going down the slide by herself, pulling herself through a tunnel. This list is endless, and I know I could go on FOREVER!

Callie is 15 months old, and in that 15 months so much has happened. I look at my life and think - what all have I done in 15 months. Seriously think about it - take 1 year of your life (over age 20), and how much changing, growing and learning have I done in 1 year. I know there were times when it felt like I was on information over load, but really...not that much! I then stop and look at Callie and I can't even begin to wrap my brain around how much growing and learning and changing she has done in her short life!

This girl continues to amaze me EVERY SINGLE DAY!

There are going to be different moments in her life that she is able to experience more bonding time with either myself or her daddy.

Last night-it was the most proud moment, extreme bonding moment between Callie and I :)

I was getting ready to go to my friend's bachelorette party in the cities (yes, I drove 2 hours there and back in 1 night...but Ashley Connick is so worth it!). I was finishing up putting on my make up, curling my hair, finalizing my outfit, etc...when I realized that I needed to put a fresh coat of nail polish on my toes. By this time, Callie had realized that I was doing girly things in the bathroom, so she brought 2 books in and plopped down on the floor to 'hang with mom'.

I lifted my foot onto the counter top so I could paint my toenails. Callie looked at me, saw the bottle, and made a squealing noise. I asked Callie, "Callie, would you like to have your toe nails painted?" Something that we have done SEVERAL times (I always paint them when she's in her high chair so she won't smudge the paint all over)...

Callie sat down and stuck her foot out! Me, thinking - NO WAY! Got down on the floor and started painting, and Callie, well, she sat there and let me do it :) BOTH FEET! And then she sat there and let them dry!

Now to some men out there, you may be thinking - big deal, it's toe nail polish! But let me tell you - it is apart of being a women - having nice toes nails!

I was so proud and overfilled with joy :) My baby girl likes having pedicures!!!! Looks like mommy will have a new partner to go get pedicures with!!!!!

Callie Lynae, I LOVE YOU!

Father's Day "FOUR" Everyone :)

This Father's Day, Josh, Callie and I packed up our car on Saturday night to head to the cities! Callie had gone out and picked up some GREAT Father's Day gifts for her daddy, so we didn't want to haul everything up there for him to open!

Saturday morning, Josh woke up to Callie and I starting breakfast and a table FULL of Father's Day Gifts! French Toast and Hash browns for breakfast-a breakfast of champions :) Callie carefully carried each gift over to her daddy, but I had to help her with the really big ones. I think Callie is starting to get to that age where opening gifts is fun, because there are surprises in them ;) The reason I think this, is because Callie wanted to open all of Josh's gifts!

We gave daddy new softball socks, a "Daddy's Girl" picture frame, a new weed whacker and a hand made "Daddy's To Do List" - full of things Daddy needs to do with Callie-basically before she moves out of the house one day (sad thought).

We went to Grandpa Don's House (yes, our dad's have the same name-this Grandpa is Josh's Dad). Read side note for a clarification (below). We had a delicious dinner and enjoyed watching Callie splash around in the puddles outside. Not exactly the weather we were hoping for, but she had fun :) It was hilarious, because she slipped in a puddle and ended up on her bottom in the puddle! Yup, she was SOAKED! That's okay, because we went swimming in their indoor pool. If there is one thing this girl LOVES to do - is go swimming! And it was a heated pool, so mommy and daddy LOVED it as well!

It was cute watching her get out, take Sharon's hand and strut her stuff around the pool...then jump back in to us :) Afters swimming, Callie was able to play a little more before it was time to go to bed! the four of us (Don, Sharon, Josh & I) watched a movie Hallpass - it's hilarious in case you haven't seen it!

Side note: My parents (Kathy & Don) have been spelling Grandparents the same way (since Tyler was born almost 13 years ago)...Gramma & Grampa-so that has carried all the way through all their grandkids. When we say Gramma & Grampa - we mean my parents. When I type Grandpa, I mean Grandpa Don-Josh's Dad. When I type Grandma, I mean Grandma Lynn-Josh's Mom.

FATHER'S DAY! We woke up bright and early to meet my dad at the golf course :) The two of us and our dad's all went golfing at Dwan Golf Course in Bloomington! It was SO MUCH FUN! I haven't golfed in almost 2 years (since I was pregnant), so I was VERY rusty! I'm so glad they all brought their patience along, because I SUCKED! That's okay though, because we still had fun, and I did much better on the green! My best was chipping it out of the sand trap and being within a foot of the hole! I can't remember who hit it, maybe Josh, but everyone had to yell "FOUR" - that was my first time...so that was pretty sweet :)

After 9 holes, Mike took my place and golfed the back 9 so I could head out (honestly, I don't have it in my to golf 18!). My mom picked me up and we headed back to Don & Sharon's!

When the guys came back, we headed downstairs to grill out the most delicious steaks I've had in a VERY long time! Callie again was walking all over the courtyard and stomping in puddles :) Us girls all headed up stairs before the guys, because I wanted to lay Callie down for a nap before they headed back up. She was SO tired!

We all sat down and enjoyed a delicious meal! With our tummies full and hearts happy, we vegged out until Callie woke up to keep us entertained :) After my parents left, we headed downstairs again to go swimming-this time OUTSIDE! The weather was nice enough to take her in the pool! She seriously LOVES to go swimming :)

Thank you Dad's for a great Father's Day! We love you so much and really enjoyed our time together with you :)

My Dad and I :)

I kept wanting to get a picture of OD (other dad) and Josh; however, we didn't :( So we'll get one next time we're together!

Josh, you are the most amazing father Callie could have! You love her more than words can describe, and she knows it! She wouldn't be as happy as she is without you! Thank you for being a constant in my life and for always taking care of us. We are two lucky ladies to have you!! Happy Father's Day!

Daddy and his Princess :)

A Day in the Life of Callie (June Edition)

This morning, Callie started making noises around 7:00 AM - I had an 8:20 Dentist appointment (I love the dentist), so it was a morning for Josh to wake up with Callie. I was still WAY too tired to get out of bed at 7:00, so we let Callie talk a little bit -turns out that helped...she went back to bed!

I got HOME from my dentist appointment at 9:00 AM...Josh had just woken up, and Callie was STILL sleeping! So I started to make breakfast! This is her monitor - when the green light goes up - that's when she's making noises...notice it's at a 1 and the clock says 9:30...

It was a little into my making of breakfast that our princess woke up! 9:40 AM to be exact (that's right, she was in bed by 7:15 PM the night before)...I brought her into the bathroom right away to have her go potty...SHE DID! She went potty in the potty!!!! This is now the 2nd time she has done this! I wasn't 100% sure if she realized what she did the first time she did this, but turns out-she's ready!

Okay, back to breakfast:

Blueberry Pancakes for Callie, regular pancakes with cheesy hash browns for mommy and daddy! Lucky for us, we have blueberries, strawberries, blackberries and raspberries in our house right now - as well as all the fixings to make a smoothie- so I also made those :) Turns out Callie LOVES smoothies! She also indulged in a nice bowl of fruit (she love fresh fruit).

After a very messy breakfast, we got Callie all changed in to her comfy clothes for a cool Friday afternoon! I had some of the windows open, but it was too cold, so we had to close them! Callie had a blast playing with her dolly and pushing her around the house. She hasn't quite figured out how to put her in the correct way, but she'll figure it out in due time!

We brought Callie back into the bathroom again to "try" and go potty! SHE DID IT! So Callie and I headed downstairs to tell Daddy - who was working out! Callie danced a little with daddy while he worked out, then she insisted on bringing him his Power aide - he must have looked exhausted to her!

Callie also Skyped with Gramma & Auntie Colleen (surprise to see Auntie Colleen on skpye -she's so funny!!!). She was able to share her exciting "I peed" news...she didn't say it, but you could tell!

She spent a lot of time playing downstairs! Playing in her Princess Castle, with her kitchen, with her legos, with her little people, and of course-bothering daddy during his workout!

By this time (because she woke up so blasted late) it was time for lunch! What's better on a cold summer day (technically still spring until the 21st) than Tomato Soup with Grilled Cheese! YUMMY! Callie has been doing an awesome job of using her fork all by herself! She was even able to eat her soup BY HERSELF! She would make a mad noise at us when we would feed her, so I let her at it :) Yes she was a little more sloppy, but she did it! She would dip her spoon and lick it clean! She hasn't figured out the correct way to use a spoon-but that's okay! She is stabbing food with her fork :) If it happens to stay on, it goes right into her mouth! She's so proud of herself too!

Lunch was really messy, so Callie AND daddy had to change outfits! I taught Callie how to give "Eskimo Kisses", so she was showing daddy how to do them! SO CUTE :) She picks things up so quickly!

We wanted to go looking at new cars, so we laid Callie down for her afternoon nap-after going potty AGAIN! She was not ready to nap. She did lay in there and "rest" for about 30 minutes. So we played some more! FINALLY, she was ready! Callie napped for about 1.5 hours before we headed out to look at cars!

She did a pretty good job at the dealership! She just sat in her stroller, eating snacks :) I'm sure she was filling her diaper thinking, "Seriously mom, you want me to go in the potty, then you haul me out here and leave me hanging to dry!?" On our way home, Josh decided to take a "different" road...who knows! But there were two garage sales -so we decided to stop and look. Good thing we did - we found a swing for $5.00...we have one already, you're probably thinking! Well, Jessica (day care provider) no longer has hers, so we bought this one to have at her house! That way Callie can swing when she's at Jessica's :) YEAH! Win Win!

Of COURSE we had to deliver the swing! Remind you, it has been an entire week since we have seen the Crew's Family, so we've been missing them like crazy :) Turns out - they've missed us too - well, I can speak for Alexis 100%. She saw that it was us getting out of our car-she dead sprinted over to us - by-passed me and went straight for Callie! Callie was all smiles and SO EXCITED to see Alexis! After the whole family was out, she was so happy to see everyone again :) She just picked up right where she left off...chasing the kids around, taking out the toys, winning over Jessica :) (We love you Jessica!!!)

After we left, it was potty again when we got home! YEAH! Go Callie :) And of course supper! Dinner for Josh and I was grilled chicken wrapped with bacon and baked potato with green beans. Callie just picks at grilled chicken, so we cooked up a hot dog for her instead! Not just any hot dog though! You see, the first summer I ever went up north to the lakes, Lynn brought the most delicious hot dogs I've ever eaten (Josh agrees) "Schweigert Old Fashioned Wieners"...they are located in the Walmart grocery (but recently sold in HyVee - YEAH!!!!). They're a little bit more spendy for hot dogs, but SO WORTH IT! They have that extreme juicy effect when you eat them. They taste best on the grill or in the bonfire :)

Lynn, I have to thank you for introducing us to these...they are unbelievable! Anyway, back to my point! Callie ate this for supper instead! I feel like I should receive some money for product placement in our blog :) She enjoyed some veggies, fruit and cottage cheese to go with it :)

After supper, it was bath time! Well, after trying to go potty. She did not go this time, but I can guarantee she went as soon as she got into the nice warm bathtub! She loves splashing around in there! But she let me know when she was ready to get out - leg up and attempted to get out of the tub!

Next was time to brush her teeth and her hair! As you've read in previous posts, you know how much Callie enjoys brushing her teeth! YEAH - She still enjoys this :) We tried to go potty again, but she didn't have to go. Good trying though!

Time to get our PJ's on, powder to smell good (on her tummy-she always laughs when we rub it in!), and all ready for bed! Because it was a little early yet, we let Callie stay up to play! She was having a blast reading her books. She was sitting in her chair reading, then she'd switch to the floor, then switch books, then come to me or her daddy!

We have this set of ABC books (one book per letter with great illustrations inside), and she was totally into it! We'd show her an animal, say its name, and make the sound that animal makes. Callie was repeating the sounds-it was awesome! Last night, her favorite was the owl: "WhooWhoo"...her high pitched little sound...I loved it! She even repeated names of animals like duck "guck" and zebra "z-ba". If you notice her shorts in the following pictures, daddy wanted Callie to have some "Baller" shorts, so he picked out these basketball shorts for Callie :) We were just trying them on here - yup, they fit! She can even sag them a little bit!

Finally it was time for bed. After giving kisses to daddy & mommy...finally it was time to say goodnight to Kix :) I didn't take any pictures of Callie in bed, because I didn't want to wake her with the flash. She's been sleeping really lightly and I didn't want to wake her!

Here is some pictures of Callie's Potty Chart! We have it hanging right above her potty. She even knows exactly what to do with the stickers once she goes potty! It's amazing how quickly her little brain can learn these things...just amazing!

Hope you enjoyed A Day in the Life of Miss Callie :) Enjoy your summer :)