Halloween

Cali is usually pretty cooperative with photos, but not for Halloween in her costume. So below, is the best we could get. She was really cute though. She was so excited when the kids came to the door. Cali talked and waved, but when they left, she cried when I closed the door. She LOVES kids!

First Birthday

First off, thank you to all those that joined us in celebrating Cali's first birthday. It was CRAZY couple of weeks for Mommy and Daddy leading up to the party, but I think everything turned out great. Cali loved the frosting on her cake, more than the cake itself, but don't we all. I think she really liked having everyone around, especially the kids. Cali loves kids. I think her deep desire to walk is grounded in the fact that she just wants to play with the kids. She didn't walk on her birthday and she's still probably a week or two away. Her confidence level with the whole - letting go of mommy or daddy - isn't quite there yet.

Anyhow, her first birthday was a great success. Thank you to everyone who came and celebrated with us. :)

Photo Shoot

So, we had a little photo shoot for Cali's B-day invitations the other day. Below, are a few that didn't make the grade, but are still equally as cute.

Bridal Shower

Cali and I went to my cousin Monica's bridal shower a few weeks ago and we both had a great time. But if you are on this blog, you don't really care what kind of time, I had at all. So, let me show of you some pics of Cali having a great time. :)

She loves Bella (my cousin's daughter) - Cali gets so excited whenever she sees her.

Cute Photos

We went to Mark's aunts pool party at the beginning of the month. We got some cute pix of Cali. Thanks Ba-chan for the cute outfit with hat.

Jack was very curious about Cali

Funny Grocery Moments

I know its been a while, but they cut off blogging from work (I know I shouldn't be blogging from there anyway - it was so convenient). So, we've had a few funny things happen to us at Grocery stores.

Trader Joes
I went to Trader Joes and Cali was asleep by the time we got there. So, I pulled her out of her car seat, thinking she would wake up. Nope! I shopped with Cali in one arm and groceries in the other. It was really cute, but difficult because my arm was getting tired. She's dead weight when she sleeps.

Vons
I have to bring cheerios with me when we go shopping. I don't know if Cali just gets hungry looking at all the food, but she must have cheerios. It wouldn't be a problem, but she loves to tell the world how much she likes them. So, all around the store, you will her YUM YUM YUM YUMMMMMMM! But the cheerios certainly came in handy one day, when I was picking Nectarines. The poor girl was shaking with excitement thinking she was going to get one and was quite dissappointed when I put them in the cart. Cheerios came to the rescue!

Stater Bros.
This day we went on a family shopping trip. Stater Bros. was having a great sale (checked the circular).So, as a family we journeyed there. I was picking plums, Mark got distracted by flowers, and Cali ....well.... decided to eat an apricot. We still aren't sure how she got it. She was near the apricots, but she would have needed to really lean over to get one. I turned to put the plums in the basket and saw Cali attacking the little apricot.

She's so funny :)

Flower Girl

Last Saturday, was Cali's first time as a flower girl (mom's second). :) I escorted Cali down the aisle with a basket of flowers and her in a cute dress. We wanted to use a cute decorated wagon to cart her down the aisle, but the Priest was just not having it. I had convinced the "church ladies" to sign on. Unfortunately, the Priest was the last say, so I carried her down. It was bit nerve racking as I was trying to keep her from throwing the flower she had in her hand on the ground or at someone. She was not going to hold the basket. She wanted no part of the basket. And all I was thinking "Do NOT Trip!"

Like anticipated, Cali started to fuss during the vows, so unforunately mommy had to miss them. However, the wagon did come in handy at the end because it was at the back of the church and a great item to occupy her with as the mass concluded.

(Oh yeah! The flowers, bride, bridesmaids, groomsmen, the ceremony, everything was beautiful. But read the title of the blog - Cali's world. :) )

The reception was at an amazing mansion in Orange and once again that wagon came in handy. Especially when I needed to feed her, it was perfect for her to sit in. It was a little hard at first keeping the other children from wanting a ride. However, I think after asking several times and getting the same answer as "No," they stopped asking. It was hot, but luckily there were hand fans as favors and I like servant to her queen, fanned Cali. When the bridal party was announced I pulled Cali out on the wagon like a princess. Everyone said she was smiling. I again was thinking, "Do NOT Trip!"

Cali was a trooper for the entire event and was exhausted by the time we got back to Grandma and Grandpa's. She was asleep in her carseat and remained asleep until the next morning. Check out the photo slideshow for more pics of Cali in her Flower Girl Gear.

(props to our pink flamingo)

As Promised!

I have finally uploaded some photos of Cali. They are from her first Fourth of July at the lake. Enjoy!

P.S. Baptism thank you cards coming soon. Mommy's life is finally going back to normal.Really - almost 3 months of hard core schedule - just not right.

Feel'n Hot Hot Hot

Cali still has a fever. She's had one since last Sunday. We called the 24 hour nursing hotline on Tuesday night because she kept throwing up her food. As the instructed, she saw the doctor on Wednesday. He was boggled, said she looked normal, but to bring her back on Friday if the fever had not gone away. So, she went back today. She still had a fever (102). And she threw up when I fed her this morning. It's so sad. No smiles. No giggles. Just sad. Pray for Cali. Pray that she gets better. If she's not better by Sunday, she'll be off to the doctor's again on Monday.

Teething is No FUN!

Poor baby girl is teething and has had some rough nights. Therefore, mommy and daddy have had some ROUGH nights. I think total Mommy got six hours of sleep this entire weekend. Daddy stayed up with Cali last night. Last night was the worst because Cali had a fever. Grandma Barbi got Cali some infant tylonal and that seemed to help a little.

It's so sad. Especially since Saturday night, Cali insisted on showing her displeasure by SCREAMING. Not crying! SCREAMING! It was so sad with tears coming down her face. Hopefully that was the worst of it, but I'm afraid its probably only the beginning. :| (mommy's exhausted - 60 hr weeks and no sleep - aren't a good combination)

More Pics

I know I keep promising new photos, but keep not following through. Please know I would love to add more photos. It just I've been working 50 to 60 hour weeks and I'm exhausted. I have baptism thank you cards, all ready to send out, but I just haven't gotten to it yet. So, I promise I will get back on everything in a couple of weeks when the MADNESS at work is over...at least I hope so.

To keep you happy until then, please check out the other photos from Cali's photo shoot. She's so cute! SUCH A HAM! She loves the camera. I don't know what she thinks it is, but she gets excited whenever she sees one. :)

Click this link: Smile Store - Picture People Photos

Memorial Day Weekend

Cali’s first weekend at Lake Nacimiento was in March. Her daddy had to participate in a “work party,” which isn’t really a party at all. Anyhow, during that time we went for a lot of walks, listened to music, and played. It was fun, but she didn’t even really see the water.

For Cali’s First Memorial Day weekend, we went to the lake again, but this time she got the whole experience. We slept in a tent (with a heater) as a whole family, even the two dogs. She did great. Most of the time she slept in her own bed, but she also slept with me too. :)

Mark walked her down the hill to the dock in a hiking back pack. She seemed to do alright and although mommy was worried – it all worked out okay. She wore a life jacket bathing suit with Swimmer diapers. She played in her little baby pool. The water was too cold to try out the car floatie.

She went into the boat for the first time. Mommy freaked out again, a little about it all. Everything turned out okay and after the first boat ride, mommy relaxed. She tried out her Elmo walker for the first time and at this point she only goes backwards.

On the way home from the lake, we stopped by Ba-chan’s house. Ba-chan gave Cali her first Elmo doll! She loves it. It’s the perfect size. It’s funny though because it talks if his mouth is opened and well…Cali likes to open his mouth. Also, one of his phrases is Yippee Ki Yay! And Mark and I can help ourselves in thinking Mother F…well, if you’ve seen Die Hard… you know. :)

Almost 7 Months

So, Cali will be 7 months old next Tuesday and she has changed so much in a month. She has officially cut her first tooth, it’s on the bottom. She never lets us see it though because she constantly plays with it with her tongue.

She talks more than ever and is able to entertain herself with toys and whatever else might amuse her at the time. She loves ELMO!!! I have an ELMO baby! How did that happen? I think it’s the voice. But I’m sure the red fur and GIANT eyes don’t hurt. She got a little bunny stuffed animal from her Ba-chan that she LOVES! She squeals with joy. She squeals a lot now and she starting to do the joyful baby scream, but we are trying to keep her from doing that.

She has the binky under control, no problems getting it in and out her mouth now. She’s decided that throwing her toys down and watching mommy and daddy pick them up is a fun game. What she doesn’t know is that mommy and daddy are too smart. So every toy she has now is somehow tethered either to her directly or something near her. :)

She is rolling over now and then holding her head up. Cali’s been trying to crawl, but has not figured out that her butt has to actually be lifted from the floor. I think she enjoys the control though because she is constantly rolling over to be on her stomach in order to look around.

She eats a lot now, cereal, vegetable, and fruit – three times a day. She’s nearly on completely formula now. With mommy’s work schedule, the well is drying up. If mommy was a cow, she’d be hamburger. :( Cali came with mommy to work for the first time on Saturday. Mommy had to work extra hours and daddy needed some time to do work at the house, so Cali went with mommy. She did really well. Thank GOD for YouTube! And Sesamestreet.org – ELMO!!! The ELMO Song!!! Helped mommy out greatly! A little bouncing, a little Elmo and she was cool. Mommy had to work with one hand, but it was all cool.

Cali will be going to Lake Nacimiento for the second time this weekend. It will be a little bit different this time, since we will actually be going to the water this time. Admittedly, mommy is NERVOUS! Very Nervous! Baby – large body of water – and maybe too inebriated adults – makes mommy nervous. We still need to get a life jacket for her and make sure we have flotation devices for her. Everything will be fine, but mommy will not be able to relax until we get back home from the lake safely. :)

I have a ton of photos to still post, I just haven’t gotten to it yet. The will get posted I promise.

Photo Shoot

So, it turns out we have a little ham on our hands. Sunday, Cali went to take professional photographs in her baptismal gown. Although the photographer was not that great, Cali really played to the camera. She laughed and smiled. She was adorable. The pictures unfortunately did not come out nice because of the not so great photographer.

Luckily, we were able to go again today and take pictures when it was less crowded and with a better photographer. MUCH BETTER! WE got some great photos of Cali so cute. She smiled in almost all of them. The photographer was awesome and really knew how to set up the pillows and stuff for her and got her to interact. He was a great director of both baby and parents.

Picture People
Main Place Mall in Santa Ana
Highly Recommend: George

Bananas

She doesn't like bananas. She doesn't mind Apple Sauce.

Cali's Baptism

The week before Cali’s baptism was crazy. There was a major miscommunication between the instructor of the baptismal class and the “front desk” of the church. I tried to turn in the paperwork the instructor indicated, just to find out I did not have everything and needed to get items that were not even mentioned in the class. Needless to say, it was frustrating and between a ton of phone calls and coordination. Everything got in on time!

On the day of the baptism, Mark and I were afraid to put Cali in her beautiful baptismal gown because it was POOP day! Poop day? You ask… Cali poops every other day. This is common in babies because of the amount of nutrition their body needs and what not. So, she poops every other day. Well, she does a BIG poop every other day. We did not put her in the gown until a few minutes before the ceremony.

Deacon Jay was great. He really made the ceremony special. It was adorable, Cali was sitting on my lap and as Deacon Jay spoke, she intently watched him. It was ssoooo cute. (If anyone has a photo of this please forward it to me.) She didn’t cry when the water was washed over her head. She did kind a look at me like “What’s going on?” It was really wonderful ceremony and I had to hold back tears. It was really touching the entire experience.

The reception that followed was a lot of fun, but exhausting. When I got home that night, Cali and I crashed out on the couch. It took us both no time to fall asleep. I think I’m still recovering from the weekend and Cali still smells like the oil. But it eases my mind to know that she’s finally marked for “Eternal Salvation.” : 0)

I will try to get more photos up tonight. I just haven’t had the time.

Eating, Playing, and Sleeping

In the world of Cali, so much changes in a week.

Cali holds her bottle all by herself, "two hands," is what we tell her when we give her the bottle. She is really able to chew and swallow now, so eating cereal goes much faster. She gets so excited that she grabs the spoon and tries to feed herself. It's a tug of war making sure she does not shove the spoon down her throat. On Sunday, she will be trying banana!!! Yummm!!!!

Cali now plays on her own in the morning when she is in bed. Mark and I woke up Sunday to Cali talking and cooing to her little monkey doll and elephant toy. She loves to play with all of her toys and not toys. We had fun with a bunch of clothing yesterday. She loved all the textiles. She loves to be lifted up in the air, up and down...up and down...left and right...left and right.... She's also a big fan of me blowing on her face! How easy it is to entertain her, now :)

Sleeping all through the night. I think its real. She slept the whole night through this past weekend and last night. I got a full 8 hours. Is it possible? I think so. I'm so grateful for the rest, but I wake up like any paranoid mommy and listen to the monitor for breathing.

Every Hour on the Hour

Okay, so sleeping through the night did not last. Last night Cali woke up at 12, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. Yes on the HOUR! It was weird. She would wake up - cry - then I'd come in to feed her, but the moment I put her in my arms, she would fall asleep. Didn't want to eat...she wanted to be held.

One neat thing is that on Tuesday, she held her bottle all by herself. And has continued to do so ever sense. Last night as I was feeding her, she actually pushed my hand out of the way so she could hold the bottle. Miss Independent. :) That's my girl ;)

SHE SLEPT THROUGH THE NIGHT!!!

Oh Yes! Cali slept through the night. I don't think this is going to be an every night thing, yet. But last night, she went to bed at 9:00pm and woke up to eat at 6:00am. What???

I woke up this morning to the sounds of her playing with the Rainforest toy. And I thought, what time is it? She started to fuss a little bit. So, I figured it must be 3:00am - that's her usual feeding. There are so many times that I wake up in the morning to feed her and pray that its 3:00am because I honestly need a few more hours. But I looked over to the window and there was a little light coming through. Is it 4:00? 4:30?

I got up and thought...hmmm...I'm not that tired. Weird. Finally, looked at the clock...6:00 AM!!!!! What? She slept through the night? AWESOME!! Like I said before, I don't know if this is going to be her new sleeping pattern. It would sure be nice if it was. I'm just going to relish this morning. It feels great to be functioning with a full nights rest. What a difference consecutive sleep makes. I haven't slept a full uninterrupted 8 hours, since before she was born. August? September?

Cali's First Easter

Cali's first Easter was exhausting for mommy, daddy, and Cali. Our Easter started with a "standing room" only mass. Where Yes! You guessed it, Mommy and Daddy stood with Cali. We did get there early, but there were no end seats left. And as you parents out there know, you must must must have an exit strategy at Mass. But we hung in there and we stayed through the entire thing. :)

Then we came home to get ready for Easter celebration with the grandparents and aunties, and uncles. It was fun! Exhausting! But fun! Cali had a blast - she got to see ALL of her grandparents today - ALL at the same time. That's never happened. It was an exciting day for her. And as I put her to sleep tonight, she didn't complain. Not at all. I put her in her jammies and put on the Rainforest toy and she played with it for a little while and then I didn't hear a peep.

She was out! What an exciting first Easter!

A Not So Fun Morning

This morning was the same it has always been - feed Cali, play a little, put to bed, binky in mouth, turn on rainforest and head on out. Except for this morning, as I was saying good bye to Mark - my loving dog, Zeus, decides he's going to alert the home of some invisible intrusion.

So, Zeus (who has decided to make his post at the bottom of the stairs) barks loudly for everyone to here. Not a normal little bark, but a loud "frightening" bark. And then the crying began.

I calmed down Cali put her back to sleep - binky - rainforest. And she was good. I went to finish up in the kitchen. As I'm about to leave the house - CRYING!!!

Not just the "pick me up" cry, but a terrified cry with tears. DAMN IT ZEUS!!! So, it took another 10 minutes after that to calm her down. When she was all calm, she went to bed with Mark.

As I said good-bye to both, again! Tears welled up in her eyes. So sad – unfortunately I had to leave. But it was good to know she was with her daddy. 

As of 10:00am this morning, she was still sleeping – I guess all the crying took a lot out of her. Mark had to force her to wake up.

5 Months and Counting

At 5 months, Cali has a little personality. She has a “fake” cry when she wants to be held. She also has a “fake” laugh. I’m not completely sure of its purpose, I think it’s to see if we will laugh or smile. She’s very curious now and is constantly trying to figure out what things are. If I’m holding a cup, she wants to hold the cup. If I’m holding the remote, she wants to hold the remote. She twists around a lot when we are changing her, so she can look around and see what else there is to see.

She can almost sit up on her own, but she still falls over eventually. She likes to sit on her own though, I think she enjoys the independence. If she could walk, she would. She is constantly trying to get out of our arms, so she can do her own exploration.

Things she likes:

Sparkabilities Video
Bright Start Jumper Toy
When mommy sings any song
When daddy makes snoring noises
Kisses
Tickling
Feet
Hands
Rice Cereal
Baths – more playing with bath toys then actually bathing
Baby in the mirror
Mommy in the mirror
Daddy in the mirror
Fox and Zeus Playing
Zeus kisses (I try to stop him, but he still sneaks them in)
Rainforest Crib Toy
Tiger toy on the high chair
The remote control
Beer and Soda Cans
TALKING!

She doesn’t like:

Poopy diapers
Wet diapers
Loud noises
Dogs barking
Toilet flushing
Being strapped into the high chair

Best Part of My Day

One of the best parts of my day is feeding Cali in the morning.

When she’s done eating in the morning, she will stop and just stare at me. I love watching her observant eyes studying my face. Then as if she recognizes me for the first time, she will gleefully smile. It’s her precious toothless smile that melts my heart and a memory I hope to cherish forever.

Cali's New Blog

Cali has a new blog. Thanks for the idea Shannon and Sonje. Cali also has a myspace, but it’s incredibly difficult to update on my computer and the “Grandmas” don’t have access to myspace. A blog, will be much easier now. I can create an album in Picasa. The Grandmas can download and print photos until their little hearts content. The Grandmas can get updated about Cali just through the website and constantly be connected to their new grand baby. Yay!

I love you both Ba-Chan and Grandma Barbie. I’m just trying to make this easier for the both of you.

My plan is by the end of the week to have a few albums ready for the blog and start blogging on a regular basis. This is hopefully a bit easier for everyone. I will try to keep the myspace updated when I can, but like I said, its no easy task on my computer.