this is the life

i'm in houston at a fancy hotel all by myself.  i brought a book, but like the surfing of photography blogs while having a cable movie on in the background.  i'm about to head out and check out a flea market.  i told michael last night on our date in downtown houston that I am dying to buy some vintage pieces of random furniture for photography shoots.  now that we have that texas basement to store things. 

yesterday, my mom treated my kids and I (plus my brother and his wife and baby) to the 3d toy story 3.  we rarely go to movies.  i thought i had enough treats to keep cali at bay, but she was anxious about about 30 minutes.  the theater was empty enough (noon showing on a friday) but as i walked up and down the theater stairs, i worried about bugging people.  then alyssa joined me on the steps b/c she was scared.  then i walked up and down and she followed me. then once at the top again, matthew joined us..a little scared.  i went back to my seat because i remembered another treat i could try with cali and left matthew and alyssa at the top of the steps.  with 2 empty seats between us, tyler then moved closer to me saying he was a bit scared. i had to leave again with cali and she was grumpy.  i refused to leave the theater so just walked up and down the aisle by the door and she was quiet enough.

note to self--don't bother with movies at the theater with the kids anytime soon.

Cali walks!!!

Oh my, how we love this baby. At 14 months--about the same as my other kids--Cali decides she wants to take steps. These were taken on Sunday, June 13th and in the week since then, she is pushing herself every day. She will crouch from the ground and get up to standing. We clap and cheer each time she does it,she delights in our accolades.

Her walking is just a blaring sign to me that my baby is growing up.  I haven't pushed it, but I knew it would happen eventually.  It is fun to see her toddle around a few steps at a time, and just today (a week and a half later) she can slowly walk across a room.  She is such a sweet baby.

She is also saying lots of words:

dada

mama

ba (ball)

ba-be (baby)

yea-yea

And a whole lotta gibberish and is so stinkin' adorble.

When we say "throw" she will excitedly throw a ball to play catch.  I am teaching her "please" sign because she seems to like to scream at the top of her lungs when she wants something.  She will often say, "pa" for please.

She has 12 teeth, including 4 molars and she loves to eat just about anything.  When she is done, she starts to methodically drop each piece left on her tray to the floor until it is all on the floor or we stop her.

She's got her brothers wrapped around her  pinky fingers. They willingly share their otter popps, go-gurts, box drinks, or whatever with her.  They also participate in any random game to get her to laugh.  As I type this, she is standing up against the closed fridge and the boys run past her and grab her saying, "I'm gonna get you" and she squeels with delight.

When something comes out of the microwave or looks like it should be hot, she starts to blow with her lips. 

Pretty much any question we ask, she says, "yeah."

When I want to take her picture, I call her name, and she usually ignores me. Typical.

I like to call her Kooky-lau-men mooky-lau. 

Or

Cali coco loco smoko jujubee's

Alyssa Joy turns 5 with a FaNcY party!

I was so very excited to find the paper lanters at hobby lobby for half off!  I got lots of them!  They are also re-usable, so I don't feel I need balloons (though I love balloons).  I now need to get them in boy colors.

The outfit hanging below is one I had made, and Alyssa didn't want to wear it.  So sad for me:(  But I was very proud of myself that I let it go...