The Kellys

2011 New Years Resolution: Blog More

2012-01-08T13:13:00.001-08:00

I can't believe 2012 is already here! This ought to be an incredible year, considering 12 has been my lucky number since I can remember . . . . so let the fun begin!

This past year was full of so many exciting adventures. I wanted to write a quick post to help remind me of all the wonderful moments that have happened since June, my last blog update (sad, I know).

We were so excited for "SUMMER OF 2011"!!!!! James graduated in May and quit Costco, and I always have summers off because I'm a teacher. This was going to be our summer of boating, swimming, beaches, camping, family, tanning, playing, hiking . . . . It was our first summer together that I wasn't pregnant, we didn't have a newborn, and neither of us were working. Here's a quick glimpse of some of what we did.

After I finished my Praxis Test for teaching, and James took the GMAT, we were ready to jump start our summer of fun with the Banks Family Reunion, up at the new cabin in Huntsville (June 26th - July 5th). It's crazy how big my family has gotten, and we're only increasing in numbers, with two newborns and two on the way.

We were so excited that my dad decided to buy a boat, and we loved tubing, wakeboarding, and watching others ski (not me). Caleb especially loved being out on the boat, playing in the sand, and going on the tube.

It was a blast spending the 4th of July in Huntsville. The town had a really cute parade, then we had a bbq, and at night we watched the 2 fireworks shows from the cabin, since it has such a beautiful view of the entire valley.

We took Caleb to Wheeler Farm with Auntie Ro Ro, Cody, and Makayla. We milked a cow, road on the tractors, and fed the ducks wheat . . . well, Caleb fed himself the wheat.

On the weekend of July 8th, we went up to the cabin with some of my friends. It is always so much fun spending time with my girlies and their families. We had incredible water all day, Alan wakeboarded and tubed for the first time, and the next day we were all super burned and sore, but it was well worth it!

Although camping isn't really my thing, the Kellys all LOVE camping (except for maybe Megan). They go camping somewhere in the Unitahs for their annual trip. Although I'm always a bit reluctant at the beginning, I always enjoy it a lot more than expected; especially this year. Caleb was at a fun age, where he loved exploring and was sleeping through the night. Although, it made mommy a little anxious, worrying that he was going to fall into the fire or wander off and get attacked by some wild creature. I loved the camp ground this year, even though it was quite a bit further. There was a beautiful waterfall (caused from lake water flowing over the dam) we could see and hear right from the campsite. It drowned out any other noise, to the point where we didn't even need to use Caleb's noise machine. We had a blast hiking, playing games, and just relaxing and chatting.

We had our 3rd year anniversary on the 18th, where we ate at Olive Garden, went to the new Harry Potter movie on the DBox seats (my favorite), came home and packed for Hawaii!!!!! We decided that this was the summer to go to Hawaii, especially since Caleb only flew for free for a couple more months, we both had our summer off, and I wasn't pregnant (well, at least I didn't know I was pregnant). We stayed for a couple of weeks with my sister Tiffany, and it was incredible!! Caleb had so much fun playing with his cousins. It was the best; as soon as Caleb was up in the morning, James and Josh would come grab him and play with him until we were ready to get up. Here are pictures of some of the fun things we did in Kauai.

We LOVED going to the beach and playing . . . especially Caleb. You'll notice at the beginning we had him all covered up, and with a life jacket on, which Tiffany totally made fun of me for. However, towards the end he was in just swimsuit bottoms.

Miniature golfing was great, although I probably chased Caleb more than I golfed.

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the Hanalei Farmers Market. This place has the best smoothies, food, pineapple, coconuts, apple bananas . . . pretty much everything!

We got to watch "Soul Surfer" at Hanalei Park, and met the real Bethany Hamilton! She is so inspirational! It was also fun spending time with the McGrath family, who I got to know when I lived with Tiff, during the summer like 5 years ago.

We all had so much fun surfing at grandpas beach with Mike. Even Caleb caught a wave with Mike. I'd like to think that I'd be a surfer chick if we lived out there :)

Mike also took us sailing through Hanalei Bay. It was a blast!!

We were so sad to be leaving beautiful Kauai. If I could live anywhere in the world (other than Daybreak, te he) it would hands down be Kauai!!

Some other fun things that we did were snorkeling, hiking to Queens Bath, eating at the St. Regis new tapas restaurant for free, going to Poipu where Chris got us rooms to stay in (so nice of them), going to the Colburn's luau, eating at Bubbas, eating an ahi tuna wrap from the Kilauea fish market, running with Tiff, James did a lot of paddle boarding with Tiff, getting the flu (all 3 of us . . . not so fun), and especially spending some quality time with my awesome sister and her incredible family! I love the Spencers!!!!

I found out I was pregnant on August 5th!! Turns out I got pregnant either right before Kauai, or in Kauai. I'd like to think though that I conceived on Kauai. We are so excited to be having baby boy #2, who is due on April 6th!! We still don't really know what we'll name him, although I really like Zachary and Elliott right now.

We watched Cody and Makayla for a couple of days while Ro and Ryan went to Aruba. We went to Kennecott and saw the "UP" house for a fun adventure.

Since Caleb is obsessed with "Taws" we decided to have a "Cars" theme for his 2nd birthday party!!! James took it upon himself to make the cake from scratch. I was completely skeptical, considering he'd never made a cake in his life, and watching a couple of episodes of "Cake Boss" didn't make him an expert . . . or so I thought. Turns out that James is LITERALLY a "Jack of all trades." He made this cake from scratch, and everyone was completely impressed! It really made the party!

Since our immediate family is huge, we decided this year to just have our immediate family, and Caleb's cousins come to his party. We had pizza, watched the BYU game, and Caleb was spoiled by all of his grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. He received some fun cars stuff, including cars geotrax, a cars motorcycle, and a cars tent. We also had a race car pinata at the party. It was a blast! Oh, and if you look closely, you'll notice that Caleb's shirt says "Big Brother" on it. That's how we announced that I was pregnant to our family. It was hilarious how it took some people so long to get the hint. The first one was Grandma Kelly, and I won't repeat what she said, but it was really funny!

We went to the state fair with grandma and grandpa Banks on Caleb's birthday where he rode a "Choo Choo" and a "Horsey" for the first time!

Nicole invited me to go to the Real Game and One Republic concert on September 17th, and even though I had fought hard to get my dad's tickets to the BYU vs U of U game that same night, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to see Real and One Republic. I'm so glad I chose the Real game, because not only was it a ton of fun hanging out with Nicole and Real won; but the BYU game was a total bust.

One of my very favorite fall activities, that we've been doing since Caleb was only a month old, is going on the witch scavenger hunt at Gardner Village. We went with Auntie Kamber and Dalloway, and had so much fun. Caleb LOVES Dalloway, and they're really cute when they play together.

One of my other favorite fall activities is Corn Bellys. It's literally a magical fall land, full of rides, play grounds, corn mazes, jumping pillows, tractor rides, food, and fun!

Caleb was a dragon for Halloween this year, and I'm really sad that I don't have a picture with James and I in our costumes. James was a knight, and I was a princess. I love doing family themed costumes, which we can only do while Caleb is young and isn't embarrassed by it. We had the fun Kelly family halloween party, my friend party at Lisa's house, James' work had a party for families, and on Halloween we went trick or treating just in our neighborhood with Maya and the Morton girls.

Caleb had his very first dentist appointment with Dr. Barney on November 10th, and I was so worried he was just going to do terrible. Luckily, he proved me wrong and did awesome. I think it partly had to do with the fact that "Cars 2" was playing on the tv. His teeth looked great though, and I'm just still hoping that he has daddy's teeth and not mine.

I took Caleb on his 2nd ever zoo excursion with Aunty Kamber and Dalloway. He loved the monkeys, elephants, tiger, giraffes, and his favorite was the train ride.

Caleb also had fun on his very first merry go round ride, at the zoo!

A great Christmas activity that we did was going to the Grand America to see their Christmas Windows. It was the cutest thing. There were around 20 windows. We had to follow each window, which told a story of a penguin. Each window also had a hidden star which we had to find and write down. At the end, we took the paper to a toy shop to get stickers, then to their bakery to get one of the best cookies I have ever tried! Grandma and Grandpa Banks also came with us.

This year we went on the Polar Express with Ro's family, Troys' family, and Ryan's sister's family. Since Rochelle lives in Heber, she got the tickets for half off, and Caleb was free this year!! We all got together for dinner first, and then went to the train ride. Caleb is obsessed with "choo choos" right now, so he loved it from the get go. They also fed us hot chocolate, cookies, we sang Christmas songs, told jokes, and then when we got to the "North Pole", Santa got on the train and met with all of the boys and girls! It was a great experience!

This was sadly the only Santa/Caleb picture I took this year. Caleb was cool with Santa, until I tried to get him to hold Caleb. . . baby steps I guess!

It wouldn't be Christmas without the Banks family Christmas pajamas, and of course Caleb loves his "Tars" pajamas and only wants to wear them to bed.

I'm really bummed that I didn't get any good pictures of Caleb on Christmas this year :( He was sooo excited when he woke up in the morning. He was jumping up and down in his crib yelling "choo choo". I didn't think he'd remember that I told him he'd get a train for christmas. He ran downstairs, and immediately started playing with his choo choo train on the train table from grandma and grandpa. We didn't spoil him too bad this year, but we gave him "Kung Fu Panda 2", a bible quiet book, a dinosaur book, and a bubble machine. That night we went to the Moses' house for Christmas with the Kelly family. We had the annual silly string fight, had yummy turkey and Vicki's awesome cinnamon rolls, opened presents, and played games. From Megan we got a really cute frame, with a K and circles behind it. Caleb got some books, puzzles, stacking blocks, little people nativity set, felt #s that Michelle Kelly made, etc. It was such a fun Christmas (other than the fact I was sick), and I'm so excited to have 2 little ones next year!

To end 2011, we spent New Years eve in Huntsville with Troy's family, Ro's family, Trevor and Kamber, and a couple of Troy's friends. We ate, did fireworks, played games and hung out. On New Years Day we went to the Moses' where we ate and played games. The next day, James didn't have work so we went to the dino museum at Thanksgiving Point, and Caleb thought it was so cool!

Some other big things to happen in the past 6 months is in October, James got a job in the accounting department of Enterprise Car Rentals. Trevor gave him the heads up about the position, and we're so happy he got this job. There's a lot of room to grow, and it's a great, steady 8 to 5 job. Unfortunately, that meant we'd need to get a replacement babysitter, since daddy was now working full time. It's worked out perfectly where I put him down for a nap at 12, then leave the monitor with Auntie Nicole. Caleb wakes up between 2 and 3, and then plays with "Cole", picks up Maya from school with her, and then I get home around 4:15. I'm so lucky that Nicole is able to watch Caleb, and Caleb absolutely loves her and Maya. Nicole also had a new baby on Christmas Eve, named Ethan Makai, and he's super cute!

Here is my Caleb update:

*Caleb's 2 great loves right now are "choo choos" and dinosaurs, which he calls "roars". He loves any clothes, shows, books, pictures, anything dealing with those 2 things. He also still loves Cars, and especially enjoys watching "Cars 2" on mommy's iphone.

*Caleb is now loving nursery (after 6 months, lol). His nursery leaders even say how he's really good in nursery, plays well with others, helps clean up, and listens . . . they must be doing something there that I'm not :)

*Caleb is talking a lot more now, and the words he says are hilarious. My favorite word he says is instead of saying "grandma", he smacks his lips together, because that's what Grandma Banks always did when she saw him. No matter what she tries, she can't change it. It cracks me up. He's very good at associating sounds for words, so he know all of the animal sounds, but not all of the animal names, he does a sound for rocket "Peew", witch "he he he he he", santa "ho ho", car "vroom", sleep "honk shoo", etc. My other favorite words that he says are "copcor" for popcorn, "boo-ka ka" for booger, and "wa-tee" for water.

*Caleb loves the ipad, my iphone, and now mario kart on the wii. I'm amazed at how this little boy knows how to work electronics.

*Caleb is a great eater, and will eat just about anything. Breakfast is his favortie meal, and he can eat 3 eggs, a piece of toast, a smoothie, and fruit, and still have room for more. He loves "sou" cereal, juice, oranges, grapes, strawberries (pretty much any fruit), pb and banana with honey sandwiches, chicken sandwiches with cucumber, avocado, and lettuce, salad (especially Zupas), spaghetti, mac and cheese, quesedillas, tacos, chicken nuggets, etc.

*I'm loving Caleb's sleep schedule, which is about 9:00-9:00 at night, and then a nap from 12-3. I'm getting spoiled right now, because since I teach in the afternoons, I get to sleep in with him.

*Caleb loves babies, and will pat my tummy saying, "Bebe"

*Caleb loves his cousins, especially Maya, Wesley,Cody,James, and Josh. He also loves it when Kamber and Dalloway come over. He seriously freaks out.

*Caleb is seriously the happiest little guy, and gets excited about everything. He jumps up and down in place and flaps his arms when he's excited, and it's the cutest thing. I can't say no to it . . . he usually does it when he wants chocolate, or as Caleb calls it, "Chaco".

*I tried potty training Caleb over Thanksgiving break, and the first 2 days he did great, and pooped in the potty. Unfortunately, it went down hill from there, where he pooped on the carpet/blanket multiple times, and I even stepped in poop. He's just not quite ready.

*Caleb is beginning to throw temper tantrums about what to wear. He loves his monkey boots, and hates coats. He also has specific pajamas that he has to wear (dinosaur and car pajamas) and freaks out if I don't put them on. Man, I thought that boys weren't supposed to care what they wear. . . . especially at age 2!

*Caleb LOVES going to the movies. I took him to "Alvin and the Chipmunks, Chipwrecked" and he was cracking me up the entire time. He'd scream, cheer, dance, say "Oh no" and "cool" the entire time.

"Caleb's favorite word is probably "cool". He says it about everything.

*Caleb knows the #'s 2, 1, and 8; the color blue; and the letter C.

I apologize for having the absolute longest post ever, but I guess that's just what happens when my posts are few and far between.

By the time I post next, I will probably have baby #2 . . . . yikes!! Wish me luck :)

My Biannual Blog Update :)

2011-06-05T15:49:00.001-07:00

On May 31st, we went to Hogle Zoo for our annual, Kindergarten fieldtrip! It was a perfect trip! The weather was perfect, I only had 22 kids to worry about (not 55 like 2 years ago), I wasn't prego, and no kids were lost . . . . phew!

Happy Birthday to Mrs. Kelly!! I walked into my room the day before my birthday, when much to my surprise, it was all decked out for my birthday! The lunch lady, Michelle, drew my name as her birthday buddy, and went ALL out! There were cute signs, and streamers all over the classroom, and each seat had a different plastic instrument for the students to play while they sang happy birthday. She also gave me a huge gift bag full of scrapbooking stuff, and put bags full of 5 different kinds of cookies in the faculty room for all of the staff to eat! Michelle was so incredibly nice and thoughtful to do that for me! It really made my birthday special!
As well, for my birthday, my mom made me crepes and yummy fruit for my breakfast in bed, and then my parents took me and James out to CPK and to Thor for my birthday! What a fun day!

Our Kindergarten round up was on May 6th this year and it was a success!! Everything went smoother than we could have hoped for! I was so proud of all of my cute students for singing their little hearts out!

Hooray!!!! James graduated with his Bachelor's in accounting from the U of U on May 6, 2011! I was so excited, maybe even more excited than my own graduation, probably because this means we can go on with our lives . . . . well, he'll be going onto more schooling, but it's a big milestone :) My dad ordered some BEAUTIFUL leis from Hawaii, and all of the Polynesian kids were jealous, he he! Both of our parents, Scotty, Michelle, Kamber, Ro and her family were all at the ceremony, and of course my dad brought the fog horns! I think those have been to over 10 graduations! They were incredibly loud, and Vicky held hers for the longest time! It was hilarious! After we had a BBQ at my parent's place and Trent and his girls, Emily, David and Michelle, Grandma and Grandpa Brown, and Trevor all joined us for that!

Caleb's first Easter basket! I saw this cute, felt, monkey basket at Target and couldn't resist. In his basket was candy, pez, bubbles, sidewalk chalk, a light up easter egg, and some other fun stuff.

This Easter was so much fun, since Caleb could actually pick up eggs himself! It was funny though, he'd pick up the egg and then just throw like a ball, lol! Maybe next year he'll really catch on.

James was looking outside and saw lightening strike this huge tree! There were wood splinters ALL over the yard, and the wood shot out so hard that it broke some of my parents window's in their room and the exercise room!

Over my Spring Break, we took Caleb to the Children's Museum. I took him when he was about 7 months old, and I felt it was a bit pointless, but now he loves it!! He had a blast with the balls and the water area!

We had a blast going up to Huntsville with my sister Rochelle's family! Caleb loves his cousins!

My Caleb Update:

*Caleb LOVES movies. His favorites include: Cars, Alvin and the Chipmunks, Barnyard, Finding Nemo, and Happy Feet. He's really good at taking out movies, putting them in the DVD player, watching them for a few minutes, then taking them out, putting them back in their correct case, and then putting in a new movie. It's a tad annoying, but impressive!

*Caleb would live outside if I let him. We have to lock all of the doors in the house, including the garage, because he'll find an open door and bolt. He loves to play in his car, jump on the trampoline, go in the playhouse and laugh at us from the window, and play in the sand box. Whenever I bring him back inside, he throws a tantrum.

*Caleb is not transitioning well into nursery. He'll cling to James or I whenever we go on, to the point where if I even stand up, he freaks out. He has major separation anxiety, and it's a bit frustrating.

*Caleb is on an amazing sleep schedule right now! He'll go to bed at about 8:30 and wake up at around 9:30-10:00. It's perfect, because both James and I are night owls, so we don't get to bed until about 2 most nights!

*When Caleb is happy, he'll do this hilarious dance where he runs in place and squeals. I love it!

*He's been saying a few more words, but not many. I'm a little worried that his speech isn't quite where it should be, but since he's only 20 months old, we're just hoping it clicks one day and he'll be spouting off full sentences :)

*Caleb enjoys going into grandpa's office, demanding that grandpa puts him on his lap. He will then just chill there, watching bizarre action movies while grandpa pops chocolate into his mouth.

*Caleb likes most food! He especially loves grandma's green drink!

*Caleb loves being hit by pillows and tackled!

I can't believe he's almost 2! He's the absolute delight our lives and we feel so lucky to be his parents!

Winter fun has just begun 2010!

2011-01-23T20:51:00.000-08:00

A family pic at the reception at the old meeting house. Such a fun, beautiful night!!

Caleb LOVES his cousin Josh! Josh can make him laugh like no one else. I so wish that Tiffany's family lived closer. I can't blame them though, I would totally live in Kauai if we could afford it.

Cute nieces/nephews pic, but where's Caleb? Oh yeah, that's right throwing a fit, ha ha! Smart kid, it was frigid outside, and gave James an excuse to stay in, lol!

Such a happy, beautiful couple!!! My entire family is so ecstatic to have Kamber officially be a part of the family!! Now all 8 Banks kids are married :)

We love to go up to my parent's new cabin in Huntsville. I was a little skeptical at first, but it's turned into a really fun getaway. It's only an hour away, and it's got a gorgeous view!

Caleb looked so stinkin cute in all of his snow clothes. I can't get over his cheezy smile, either! He's such a poser for pictures, ha ha, I wonder who he got that from ;)

It's a blast to have 2 Christmases now. Caleb was definitely spoiled by his awesome granparents, aunts and uncles.

He was loving trying to ride on his giraffe!

Caleb was SO much fun this Christmas! He ran to the tree, automatically sat in his chair, mauled the giraffe, and started trying to open presents!! He was so happy, and made me super excited for Christmases to come!

Aw, gotta love the Christmas Eve pjs!!! I wear mine ALL of the time!

Caleb's very first hair cut on Christmas eve! I thought it was time to get rid of the mullet. His Aunty Kamber did a great job. We gave him a sucker, put on baby einstein and he did surprisingly really well!

Another tradition that every other Utah family has . . . . the lights on temple square! It was a perfect night, except for the crazy crowds. As well, it was fun seeing all of James' family and the Brown side. Grandma Kelly even brought yummy hot chocolate and donuts!

Man, I wish Caleb loved Santa! Both years now, he's been throwing a fit in the pictures. I can't blame the kid though, but still. This Santa was a little weird. He wouldn't take Caleb if he was crying, made James sit on his lap with Caleb, and gave us a 5 minute lecture about safety zones and kids. I was thinking in my head, "It's a 20 second picture, give me a break. He's 1 and will be over it in a second."

Kicking off the Christmas season right . . . . Festival of Trees! And yes, you better believe that's a Twilight tree! It was a little sad this year though, because I couldn't get over all of the trees dedicated to little kids that passed away, and the one made for my friend's dad, really got to me as well. They were all so beautiful, though!

So I began blogging once I had Caleb, so that I can have memories of him, and it's been like a family journal. I've decided to make an "All About Caleb" list at the end of each blog, so that I can remember the fun little milestones and quirks that he has. Since this is my first one, it's gonna be LONG :)

ALL ABOUT CALEB
*Caleb loves to give kisses! He'll make a sound with his mouth that sounds like a kiss and keeps his mouth wide open as he's doing it. He even just started to kiss all of the baby pictures in his books! It cracks me up!
*Caleb loves to climb on everything! This kid has no fear, which makes mommy on edge all of the time. He'll climb up on the bar stools, couches, on things in the pantry (to get to treats, te he), on his car, our 4 foot high bed, and will even move boxes and all sorts of things to give him a little extra lift!
*Caleb is very adventurous and fast. It's been a little hard living at my parent's house, because it's not very baby proof, and there are a lot of places to hide and things to get into (and he will get into them).
*Caleb loves babies and kids. He'll give hugs to kids and just adores his cousin Maya, and always goes up to the apartment looking for her. He even says her name like, "Aya!"
*Caleb makes the silliest sounds. He has this fake laugh that he must've gotten from Grandpa Banks, and it cracks me up. He's such a boy in all of his grunts and growls, and watch out for that scream of his. It seriously causes permanent ear damage!
*Caleb has become a total "Daddy's Boy"! Although I love it, it makes me a little sad, because it started when I had to go back to work. He freaks out any time James even picks up a coat or shoe, because he thinks that he's leaving. However, when mommy leaves, he blows me a kiss and waves bye. Even though I'm happy about it, I just wish he loved me as much. I'm the one that was pregnant with him for 9 months, went through labor, nursing, and woke up with him all night for the first year of his life. Oh well, our girl will just love me more :)
*Caleb loves to sleep every night and cuddle with Mr. Owl and his elephant blankie.
*Caleb is a great eater! He will even eat broccoli and seaweed strips!
*Caleb was completely weaned on December 23rd. It was a real bitter sweet for me, because even though I was relieved not to have to nurse, I miss the bonding time with him, and it made me realize just how fast he's growing up.
*Caleb loves to do somersaults, spin, and dance!
*Caleb LOVES bath time!! He plays with his bath boats, and loves to stick things in the fishy spout. After bath time, he loves his "Run around nakie time!"
*Caleb really likes to read books. His favorite book is probably "Baby Boo!"
*Caleb can turn on the blue ray player, tv, work the controller, play with our phones . . . . pretty much anything electronic. He really is his father's son.
*Caleb likes to play with balls, and to have me throw his beach ball on his head to bounce it off.
*Caleb's words are: mama, dada, bath, eat, grandma (maema), Maya (aya), ball, baby (bebe), Jesus (he thinks any picture is Jesus), no, and a few other random ones.
*Caleb HATES having his diaper changed. All I have to say is the word "Diaper" and he runs and hides and throws a fit the entire time.
*Caleb has consistently been off the charts for height and sometimes weight. When he came out, he had huge hands and feet, so we thought he might be big, but we had no idea how big. At his 15 month appointment he weighed 30 pounds (97th percentile), and was in like the 105th-110th percentile for height. He's been wearing 2T clothes since he turned 1. We have no idea where he got it from, because we both have small families, but at least he's proportionate :)
*For a week straight, Caleb has been sleeping from about 8:30-9:30. AMAZING!!!
*Caleb is a fun, happy, sweet, and cute little boy! He's growing up so fast, and I just feel so lucky to have him in my life!

October (better late than never)

2010-11-08T19:28:00.000-08:00

Caleb had a hoot with the witches at Gardner Village. So cute!! You have to go on the witch hunt there. You do a with scavenger hunt, and then turn it in to get a 25 cent cookie. Yummy!

Caleb chillin with the witches!

We love watching Caleb run around in his sleeper. He looks like Yoda, ha ha!

Marcus' baby blessing!! The three Kelly grandsons, they're all such cuties!

If you haven't been to Cornbelly's, you must go!!! It's literally the coolest, fall place ever! I can't wait to take Caleb next year, when he'll actually enjoy it, ha ha!

We love the Kelly family, Halloween party! Can't go wrong with pumpkin carving, family, costumes, and good food!

Me and my cute Kindergarten class!! I love holidays as a teacher. It's like I get to be a kid again!!

James came to my school's Halloween parade and came with my Kindergarten class. It was hilarious, and all the kids just loved Gingy!

Caleb's greatest boo boo yet! He fell on his mini piano, and his mouth just filled with blood, and got everywhere!! Luckily mom was wearing a red shirt. I was freaking out a bit, but right after he stopped bleeding, he was all smiles again!

James, ridin the bull at our ward party! What a hoot! Every time I looked at his costume, I couldn't help but crack up!

Caleb's 1st Year!

2010-09-15T21:50:00.000-07:00

Hallelujah, we are all still alive and thriving! If you had asked me a year ago what this year had in store for me, I probably would've said, "I have no clue!!!" I really began motherhood with very little knowledge about babies and how to raise one of my own. Now, I feel like a veteran, ha ha, hardly, but at least I have an idea of what the first year of a new baby brings . . . . .

A baby's first year brings: lots of tears of joy, tears of sadness, tears of frustration, tears of lack of sleep, just lots and lots of tears, bumps, baths, burp rags, late nights, early mornings, poopy diapers, leaky diapers, diapers, diapers, diapers, nursing, creams, giggles, slobber, crawling, chasing, walking, car rides, strollers, cuddling, smiles, teething, spit up, eating, baby books, pictures, videos, baby einstein, toys, lost hair, frizzy hair, messy hair, soft baby hair, onesies, laundry, cooking, cleaning, cleaning, cleaning, baby proofing, sore back, sore all over, penny pinching, moving, doctors check ups, tylenol, wanting to exercise but don't have time or energy, but most of all, a whole lot of L O V E :)

I got made fun of for probably over planning my baby's first birthday party, but I couldn't help myself. Not only was it my first baby's first birthday, but I love to plan parties, so I had a blast with it. Here are a few pics to give you a glimpse of what it was like.

You can't have a party with out an invitation!!

Since I love polka dots, and Caleb's room is brown, baby blue, and white polka dots, I figured this would be a fun theme.

Here is the back drop of Caleb's party. I'm so glad the weather turned out nice so we could have it outside.

Here are just some of the family that showed up earlier. We had more friends show up later. Sadly Grandma Kelly, Megan, and Cooper couldn't come because Cooper got a concussion. As well, Allison and Josh couldn't because Josh had to go to the ER. Bad luck, I guess!

I had all of the food be circles or polka dots. Not all of it was at the table when I took this picture, but we had meatballs, bagle bites, cheese ball, melon balls, guacamole with circle chips, olives, cucumbers, cherry tomotoes, etc.

This was the desert table, with cupcakes, polka dot sugar cookies, almond joy m & m's, and of course, a polka dot birthday cake! In the front, I made a banner that had a picture from each month of Caleb's life.

This was the activity table where I had people write down how many cheerios they thought were in the jar, guess the months of some of Caleb's firsts, and write on the picture frame reasons why they loved Caleb. I made pinwheels and stuck them on the pencils. Oh, and of course the winners got Dots candies!

Here's a close up of Caleb's birthday cake. I almost did fondant, but I'm so glad that I didn't, because it wouldn't have been near as messy!

Here's a close up of the cupcakes.

Another pic of the desert table

That stinker only wore his polka dot birthday hat for a few seconds!

He LOVED all of the chocolate frosting. I eventually had to take it away from him, lol!

He looked like a hobo with the frosting, ha ha. His face is classic!

We love our baby so much, and seriously can't believe he's already 1. Time certainly flies!!

Summer 2010 update

2010-07-30T16:13:00.001-07:00

My perfect way to kick off the summer. Real game and David Cook concert!! My cute sister in law was kind enough to take me, and it was so fun. I love their studium.

David Cook was really sexy in person. Even though I voted for David Archuletta, I still think David Cook is pretty awesome!

I had some fun making vinyl prints for Caleb's room with my Cricut. What an awesome machine!!

Caleb's first swim, ever! He loves the water, and is one heck of a splasher!

Caleb had lots of fun with his cousins at the aquarium. His favorite are the penguins!

James loves pop, so I thought this would be a cheap, cute gift.

I thought I'd go a little old school with part of James' fathers day gifts. I remember loving these candy posters back in the day, so I made James one.

"Backstreets back alright!!!!" Best concert ever with the cutest girls ever. It was so great reliving my teeny bopper years, and my young crush on Brian. What a blast!!!!

Such a ghetto stage, but they still know how to put on a great show!

There are now 16 grandkids in the Banks family!! We're huge, and there are still lots more to come. I love it that when we all get together, the grandkids have so much fun. I just wish that everyone lived closer. My favorite thing is how Caleb and Wes are still in their carriers, lol!

Our first hike in Zions, and it was gorgeous!

Hiking up the narrows was so fun and refreshing on a hot day. Caleb was such a trooper, and James was clear ahead of everyone, even with a super heavy baby on his back. My little nephews were also troopers and hiked through the water with no shoes! Even though they're tough hawaiian boys, I wouldn't have made it a foot without my tevas!

I'm excited for when these two are older and can be the best of buddies!! It's too funny to see how different they are already. Even though Wesley is a month and a half older than Caleb, Caleb is double the size, and a lot louder. He's going through a screaming phase where even though it's because he's excited, it's so loud!! I thought Caleb was a mama's boy, but Wes takes the cake. He won't go to anyone, but Barbara.
Speaking of Barbara, my prayers are with her and her family. A couple of weeks ago, she had a seizure in the middle of the night, and Troy woke up to her convulsing and blood coming out of her mouth. She was rushed to the hospital in an ambulance, and she didn't remember any of it. She now can't drive a car or hold a baby until they figure out what happened. I feel awful, and I wish we lived closer to help, but our thoughts and prayers are with them.

Beautiful Bryce Canyon. I think it's breath taking. It's was really hot though, and I was bummed that we had to drive 4 hours to go there instead of spending more time with the fam. It was great though. Any one with a Utah license plate got into the park for free that weekend!

All the Banks grandkids hot tubbing!

My family went to the Olympic Park up in Park City and did the Alpine Slide and the Zipline. What a blast!!

Caleb loves wearing sunglasses!

I love Caleb in hats, especially cowboy hats. I'm going to have to get one for him. He loved being outside, up in the Uintahs for the Kelly family camping trip.

We put Caleb in his playpen, for the first time, to just play in, and not sleep in. He had a blast in it! It scared me a little though, because he would hold onto the side, and then just fall backwards onto his back, and totally laugh. Even when he hurt himself, he got right back up and did it again. What a silly guy!
Camping this year was great, because we got hang out with everyone up there, and then came home to sleep! Now that's my kind of camping. Since I've been in this family, my camping circumstances have been less than ideal. The first year we left our honeymoon early and I had a parasite, and the stinky outhouse was like a 5 minute walk! The second year, I was about 8 months prego, and it was sweltering hot! Let's just say, I again became aquainted with the outhouse, and didn't sleep at all. This year, I have a 10 month old baby who loves to crawl and doesn't sleep well at night, especially somewhere new. I'm glad that James agreed to sleep in our own bed, and come home and take a nice shower! Don't get me wrong, I love the outdoors. I just don't love going to the bathroom and sleeping outdoors with the mosquitoes and bears.

While at Liberty Park for the 24th, we walked past the Rotary Club Park, and I saw my entire family's name on this plaque. I didn't even know it existed, so I took this cheezy pic of Caleb in front of it. I love it when he does his silly smile!
For the 24th we walked around Liberty Park, went to the Wentworths for a BBQ (It was the entire fam and just us, and Dan wasn't even there. Let's just say, I felt a little awkward at first), took Caleb home to sleep, and then rushed back down for the fireworks. It was crazy though, some of the fireworks fell over and miss fired into the crowd, burning 10 people. The show ended early, and there were all these fire trucks and ambulances trying to rush through the crowds. I'm just glad we weren't right by where it was happening.

My dad got some tables for a Youthlink charity even at La Caille, so some of my family was able to eat a nice meal there. Nummy!!! I felt bad though, because they were raising money there, and our $5 donation was pretty chinzy. Oh well, hopefully in the future we'll have extra money for donations :)

Me and my new peacock friend :)

Spring Fever/ Birthday Fun!

2010-05-30T21:16:00.001-07:00

Jackie looked so beautiful on her wedding. Oh how I love this couple!

The tulips were absolutely beautiful at Jackie's wedding this April. I felt a little cheesey taking pictures in front of the temple, but I'm glad my husband was such a great sport about it.

This picture cracks me up. It looks like he's getting drunk, lol!

Caleb is growing up so fast!! He just started to army crawl, and if I look away for even just a second, he's across the room, dumping over the trash can, with newspaper in his mouth. Every age I've said is my favorite, but right now really is. He says "mama" all of the time, and James always tries to get him to say "dada" lol! He loves to eat anything and everything, especially if I'm eating it. He's noticed all sorts of fun things to do with his mouth and lungs. Unfortunately, his scream is incredibly ear piercing, and no matter what I do, he laughs and thinks that he's so funny every time he screams (I can't help, but think it's cute, except for when he screams in the middle of sacrament meeting). He loves to smile and flirt with girls. He learned how to make farting noises on his arm today (already imitating daddy). It's a good thing he's so cute when he's awake, though, because right now he's waking up around 4 times a night, and won't go back to sleep unless I nurse him. It's frustrating because every time he starts sleeping through the night, he dashes my hopes, and goes through a rough phase. I think now it's because we decided to switch rooms with him, since he was sleeping in the closet because his room was too bright and our t.v. was in it as well. He's like his daddy, and doesn't like change, but hopefully he gets over this quick. It's exhausting.

Caleb had the cutest creases on his face from his sheets.

So as a stay at home mom, one of my new favorite shows is "Good Things Utah". I tivo it every day, and I just adore the girls on it. I decided that I had to go, so I went online, got tickets, and my friend Konni came along. It was such a blast. There were only like 5 of us in the audience, and the girls were even cuter and friendlier in person. I gave Konni the scoop on all of the "contributors", and we got to eat strawberry bread, tomatoes with goat cheese and basil, protein chocolates, 4 different kinds of Arizona drinks, and we both won perfume!! I seriously want to go all of the time now!

We just had to take these pictures, and pretend we were news casters! What a hoot!

I can't believe I'm 26! It was such a fun birthday! I got a ton of free meals, so if you haven't already, sign up online for all of these birthday clubs: noodles and company, red robin, ruby tuesdays, coldstone, tucanos, baskin robins, and sweet tomatoes. At almost all of these places, you don't even need to buy anything. It's like a $9 meal for FREE. So great!!

The night before my birthday, I had a friends dinner at the new Corner Cafe and Bakery, and it was great seeing all of my girlies!! On my birthday my awesome mom made me her delicious strawberry crepes, yummo! I did a fun step class at the gym. I went to Kneaders for lunch with James (my fav sandwich is their turkey, avocado on foccacia), then James got me a CRICUT!!!! YAY, I've wanted one so bad for years, and I can't believe I got one. I've been having so much fun playing with it. It's a dangerous time waster though, ha ha! James thinks that it's the equivalent of an X Box for him, but I'm not totally sold on that. That night my dad took me out and we got Macaroni Grill to go (they had to special order my favorite salmon dish because they don't have it on the menu anymore, so sad) We then went and saw the new Robin Hood and ate our Macaroni Grill in the theater, with our popcorn and drinks. Such a fun Gene experience. I'm just surprised that he didn't bring grocery bags in to dump the popcorn so we can get our free refill on the spot. No shame! My wonderful mother in law watched Caleb, and after we had Coldstone ice cream cake. I've decided I'm just not a cake person. I'd take a chocolate chip cookie over cake any day!!

We went to the Bees game with a bunch of couples from our ward. It was so much fun, and only $3 a person! The rootbeer I bought was more than the ticket to get in! I have to admit though, I didn't really watch the game. I had fun talking to Allison and being in that ambiance!!

Just a few more things. I signed the papers last week to return to Twin Peaks as a half day Kindergarten Teacher. I love my school, and I'm excited to return to teaching, although staying at home and teaching piano lessons has been bliss. I'm loving motherhood, and it's going to be hard to leave Caleb; even for half a day. We're really lucky though, because James is going to be able to take morning classes, and then come home to watch Caleb while I teach in the afternoons. We just need to figure out what we're going to do this January to May while James is hoping to intern. I REALLY don't want to do day care, but that might be our only option. If anyone knows a stay at home mom that could use a little extra money, let me know!!

It was great. My friend, Allison, who has an AMAZING voice sang "I Stand All Amazed" in our sacrament meeting today and asked me to accompany her. It sounded so nice, and when we finished, I swear that half of the congregation had tears in their eyes. That girl sings with the spirit. I felt lucky to be a part of it.

Well, here are some random pictures of a couple of my craft undertakings. I'm new to this, so they're not great, but I love doing it, so hopefully I'll get better!

My cricut, yay!!!

I took an ugly, cheap, white frame, and spray painted it black, and glued scrapbook paper to the plain mat that came with it.

My first project with my cricut! I was just messing around with it, and decided that I wanted a summer decoration to put in front of our tv.

Super lame, I know, to put some of my crafts up, but I just got excited about them, and wanted to post pictures on my blog. Besides, I think a total of like 4 people might read this.

Spring has Sprung!

2010-04-15T21:46:00.000-07:00

One of these days I'll get more on top of my blogging, but until then, I'll shoot for once a month. Here are just a few fun things that have happened this past month.

For some reason, I think Caleb looks so cute in hats. I think that maybe it's because it makes him look like a little boy.

So this picture is totally embarassing (due to the massive size of my ugly nursing bra), but I just had to put it up because I thought it was so funny! I had just left the room for a second to grab something, and I came back to see that Caleb had somehow gotten my bra from a pile of clothes, and was "trying it on". He then started laughing like he knew he was being so funny! He cracks me up!!

We had the Banks family egg hunt on Saturday this year, and since there was snow outside, blah, we resorted to doing it inside. It was a mad house with all of the cousins! I was so happy to go first this year, yippee!! The tradition is that the youngest gets to go first, and it hasn't been me since Kirsten was born 14 years ago. James looks like he's 5 again, lol!
Total winnings=$22.50 :)

Kelly family egg hunt!
It was a great workout, carrying Caleb and bending down to get easter eggs!

K, so if you haven't been to the aquarium to see the penguins, you have to go! They are so stinkin cute, and Caleb loved them too! Also, a season pass is only $20 and kids 2 and under are free! Great deal!

Family Pics Spring 2010!

2010-04-02T13:09:00.000-07:00

So I've been dying to take family pics ever since Caleb has been born, but the weather hasn't been that great. It so happened that this spring break, my brother in law, Scotty Moses, made a new blog and said that he was wanting to do photography now, which was perfect timing!! He did an AMAZING job! If you're interested, check him out at www.scottymosesphotography.com

Never wake a sleeping baby

2010-03-05T20:54:00.001-08:00

Just a few days ago, we put Caleb in his jumper, and he was having an absolute blast. Out of nowhere, he suddenly stopped, and started looking down at his mat that plays music when you jump on it.

After a couple of minutes of "staring at his mat", I thought it was strange that he didn't move at all.

That's when I took a closer look, and realized he was totally asleep. James and I couldn't stop laughing, and pulled out the camera. He's never fallen asleep like that before.

Poor little guy just jumped so much, that he completely tuckered out. Oh how I love him!

Caleb's first solids!

2010-03-05T20:38:00.001-08:00

So we gave Caleb his first solid food a couple of weeks ago. You can give a baby solids when they double their birth weight, or are over 17 lbs, which means I could've started Caleb on solids at only 2 months!! I thought it was too early, and I was obviously producing PLENTY of milk, so I held off until his 5 month birthday. It was so funny watching him taste the rice cereal, and not knowing what to think about it! I've now switched to the oatmeal, which he loves, and it's not so constipating. I plan on starting him on veggies next week :)
p.s. Ignore the super ugly highchair. My mom bought it like 14 years ago, and won't let me get a new one because there is no room in their entire house for another highchair. Oh well, we'll just get one when we move, to match our kitchen :)

This picture is my absolute favorite! It says it all!

James is showing Caleb how to open his mouth open wide!

His reaction was hillarious! He didn't know whether to swallow or spit it out.

I can't believe Caleb turns 6 months old in just 10 days! He's growing so fast!

Valentines 2010

2010-02-26T16:14:00.000-08:00

So, I've realized Valentines Day is very different when you have a baby. Saturday morning we went to Original Pancake House with baby in tow. By the way, their breakfast crepe is AMAZING! Then I made dinner with my brother, Trevor, and ate my Valentines dinner with Caleb on my lap, grabbing at all of the food. I think last year, I would've been bugged that James and I didn't get to go out alone, but I wouldn't have had it any other way. Caleb was just as much my Valentine as James is, and I just love my little guy so so much!

Caleb is at such a fun age! He loves to squeal with delight, laugh, jabber, and he's just such a happy guy. He even usually wakes up with a big smile for mommy. I feel so lucky to be his mom, and to have such a wonderful husband that is an incredible father!

This was our Valentines gift to Caleb. He is such a hoot in it. He's a jumper all right! Even when I take him out, he continues to kick his legs.

Go USA!

2010-02-15T12:13:00.000-08:00

I LOVE tivo, especially so I can record all of the Olympic events, and fast forward through the boring ones. I watched the pairs figure skating, and I'm amazed by their talent! I even watched "Cutting Edge" on Saturday night to get me pumped up for the Olympics. Did anyone else watch Apolo Ohno and JR barely get the silver and bronze medal. Good thing that Korean got greedy :) Oh and the Americans who won gold and bronze in the womens moguls, the amazing Shaun White, Evan Lysacek, Lindsey Vonn, Bode Miller, Seth Wescott, etc. etc. etc. I'm so proud to be a citizen of this country, especially when we kick booty!

Wow, I'm not very good at this blogging thing!

2010-02-04T22:06:00.000-08:00

So I read everyone else's blogs, and it makes me want to become a great blogger, but every time I begin a new post, I don't know how to do anything. That being said, if there are any veteran bloggers out ther who want to give me a tutorial, I'd love it :)

As for my life, we just moved back into my parent's home last weekend (seems to be the story of my life). Just can't get enough of this place. It's actually been a smooth tranisition, except for Caleb's awesome sleep habits have gone down the drain. I'm blaming it on those darn teeth of his that decided to come way too early, and on the environment change!

Goodbye apartment #15! You will surely be missed!

I went inside our empty apartment and started to tear up. I never thought I'd get so attached to our small 70's apartment, but in the short year and a half I had some monumental moments! It was mine and James' first place together, and where we brought home our first baby. I made us take this picture on our way back from church on Sunday, so that I'd never forget this place. What made it even harder was the fact that it was so fun living so close to Allison and Josh. We miss you guys, but we'll still make time for prison break!

Here are some other things that have been going on in our lives as of late!

Caleb was blessed the sunday after Thanksgiving, and daddy gave him a beautiful blessing. He even said Scott Auali'i right (after his two granpas). We so appreciated the love and support of everyone who shared this special moment with us!

Our 10th annual friends Christmas party! Love my girlies!

Caleb's first Christmas was a blast, and he already knows that Santa is a fake. It's nice to know that I can take the credit for his Christmas gifts :)

Chilling with Grandpa Banks on Christmas Eve. We had fun opening our pajamas from grandma and my pink pistol from grandpa (no joke). Each family then shared a Christmas story or talent. It was a ton of fun!

We first opened presents in our apartment, which of course, Caleb loved!

We then went over to the Kellys' and opened our stockings and gifts, and boy did Caleb get spoiled! We also loved our awesome homemade gifts from David and Emily!
My in laws are all so crafty! Too bad I'm not.

I just love to watch daddy bond with his son!

Girls dinner with some of my old college roommies! It was great seeing them all!

Well, that's a quick glance of the Kellys' lives as of late. We're doing great, and Caleb is getting cuter and cuter every day!

We're Finally Blogging!

2009-10-18T10:26:00.000-07:00

After much debate, the Kelly fam has finally decided to start blogging. I promised myself that I would never give into this temptation, but I guess I'm just a sucker for peer pressure, although I'm pretty proud of myself for lasting this long! I figured that now we that we have a baby, blogging is the "cool" thing to do, and I can't pass up an opportunity to be cool. Plus, I'm hoping that I can turn this into a journal, which is a goal of mine.

Where do I begin? As a virgin blogger, I'm assuming that most people talk about their baby, or their dog, or both. Well, we just celebrated Caleb's 1 month birthday!! It reminds me of my first year of marriage, where you celebrate the number of weeks and months that you've been married. Now I'm doing it with my baby.

Caleb is already chunking up, which is a great thing, cuz chubby babies are the cutest! He's off the charts for length and in the 90th percentile for weight, lol! Of course I made a big baby! He really is a sweetheart, and only cries when he's hungry or if daddy hits his head on the dryer door or with a bottle (I think James felt worse about these than Caleb). He's a pretty good sleeper, although I'm afraid that we've created a baby that only sleeps well when he's next to us in bed or driving in the car, which I swore I'd never do, but you'll do anything when you're desperate for sleep. Last night he leaked through his diaper onto our sheets, and the night before, while he was sleeping in his car seat, his diaper scooted all the way down like a coppertone baby, and he got poo ALL over his blanket. Later that day he peed all over me and got poop on his changing table pad mid diaper change. I feel like the washer is constantly going with all of these messes!

So this morning Konni and her sister Kaile came over and took some super cute pics of Caleb. It was hillarious when they got him to do his model pose with his hand propping up his head. Of course though, as soon as I was taking pictures with him, all he would do was cry and root because he wanted my milk. The pics probably looked like he was hating life with his mom. Sometimes I feel like I'm just a milk machine. I can kinda empathize with a cow now . . . and I feel really bad for them. I might just have to go off dairy . . . . who am I kidding, but I'm sure their udders must be super sore!

Last weekend was way fun. We went to Vegas for my nephew's baby blessing. I'm so excited that Caleb has a boy cousin just a month older than him. We took some cute pics of Caleb and Wesley on a blanket, side by side, and even though they didn't even know eachother existed, it looked like Caleb was trying to hit Wesley, lol! They're already acting like cousins! It was also a lot of fun cuz I got to go to my favorite store (Fashion Q), eat at my favorite restaurant (B J's), eat my favorite hamburger (In 'n Out), and see one of my favorite gals (Nat Joy)!

Well that's it for our very first blog ever. Lots of love!