Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree

Last Sunday after church we went to get our Christmas tree. Yes, we are one of the few that still get a real tree. This has been one of mine and Jason's tradition since we got married - going to pick out our tree together. Of course, Brody went this year. We actually were pretty quick in picking one out. Here's a before and after picture of our tree.

Happy Birthday Brody!!

Yes, I know I am quite late with this post - oh well!! Last Sat. we had Brody's birthday party which is why the deadline for the playground!! The few kids - and adults - had to have something to play on. We knew this was going to be a busy day - parade, nap, party, and SEC game - how would we get it all in. The party started at 3:30 in order to give the kids time to play outside before it got dark - but of course this was only 30 minutes before the game. I decided it was a birthday/Gator party. Since Brody was born in 2006 when the Gators won their last SEC title I knew he was always going to be a Gator baby and his party would usually fall on the same day. Oh well - it could be worse. Here's the whole family all decked out in our Gator attire.

Brody and the couple of other kids had a blast on the playground. It was a huge success. No Major accidents which was great. The timing worked out great that presents were opened during halftime but he only had 15 minutes for presents and cake!! He is really getting into opening the presents - one small piece at a time. He got lots of great gifts that he is already enjoying playing with. The theme of his party was Thomas the Train - he is in love with Choo Choo trains which is pretty neat since both Pop Pop and Papa worked at CSX. Brody had been waiting a long time for his choo choo train cake. I was very excited about it as well. We ordered it from Sheila's Cake and Catering on the Westside. We use them for all our cakes at work and they are wonderful. Here's a picture of his cake. He loved it.

The kids enjoying the playground.

Kids of all ages enjoyed the playground.

Na and Brody enjoying his new train.

Bring on the Shriners

Saturday was the big Callahan Christmas parade. This was the first year for Brody. As well as Jason and I haven't been in A LONG time!! We definitely forgot how crowded it gets, but the last time I went to the parade I was in the band so I didn't have to worry about parking - yes I know that was a loooong time ago. We met up with Bryan and Tara (Na and TaTa) and walked a little ways to try and find a decent spot so Brody and Cale could see. They both did great. Brody just sat in Jason's lap for the first part to take it all in. There wasn't much expression on his face - good or bad. I think he was just in awe. Once the shriners past, here came the candy. Brody saw the other kids going after it and some as well. We weren't prepared for all the candy but thank goodness we had the stroller to house all the candy because my pockets were overflowing.

Here are a couple of pictures of Brody in awe of the parade.

TaTa and Baby Cale

First and maybe the Last!!

I've always wanted to make sugar cookies and decorate them, so for Brody's party I found a train cookie cutter and I thought I would be Ms. Domestic and make cute train cookies for his birthday. Well, I was smart enough to at least buy the rolled sugar cookie dough so I didn't have to make that from scratch. Of course, Brody wanted to help because he's been waiting to make choo choo train cookies since he saw the cookie cutter.

Needless to say, this was a difficult task. After rolling the dough out to try and get it as smooth as possible and then cutting out the train - sometimes the train didn't cooperate in being transferred to the cookie sheet. I was so excited to see what they looked like (even though my hopes weren't too high). When they came out of the oven - they didn't look like much of a train. However, Brody still knew they were choo choo train cookies.

Of course, I had to try and decorate them. The only chocolate icing I had had chocolate chips in it so of course this didn't come out of the make shift icing bag (ziploc bag with a small hole in the corner). After 5 bags busting, the wheels were finished. The blue train was a lot easier even though I'm not quite sure they look like trains. Oh well, you live and learn. Not sure if decorated sugar cookies will be on the menu for Christmas. Here's the final product.

Finally Finished

IT'S FINISHED!!! After about 4 weeks of working on Brody's swingset - a little blood, sweat and tears - Jason has finally finished it.

Brody was a little timid about the slide at first but after a little coaxing from daddy - he was ready to go. Climbing up the stairs and flying down the slide and around he goes again. There will be many long hours on this swingset.

I'm TWO!!!

I can't believe Brody is 2. He turned 2 on Tuesday but due to wanting to spend time with him the blog comes a couple days late. Everyday Jason and I see something new that Brody has started doing and it makes us smile and usually laugh. He is repeating a lot of what we do and say - we hear him tell Allye - "Allye, No mam". Now, we are working on his manners to adults but I guess he thought he would start with dogs instead. He has also started singing a lot as he walks around the house. He gets this from his daddy - who loves to sing. We're not sure what he's singing though. However, I was able to capture this little song in honor of his birthday.

Tonight was one of the funniest things we've seen him do. He received a Florida gator backpack "Albert" from my friend Clair. He absolutely loves Albert. After he ran around the house with it on, it was getting time for dinner. We turned around and he had put his big Albert and the new Albert backpack in their own chair at the table and went and got a spoon to put in their hand. It was absolutely the cutest thing ever. His imagination is starting to grow. Here's a few pictures.

God has blessed Jason and I with such a wonderful and healthy boy. We are so grateful and we try to cherish every moment with him. We can't wait to see what's in store this upcoming year. Happy Birthday Brody!!

Almost Finished

Here's the latest update on the swingset. It's sooo close to being done. We know once the slide gets on it Brody will be so excited and we won't be able to get him inside the house.. He is getting better at going up the back steps. The deadline is Saturday for it to be completed so hopefully I'll have more pictures then of the final product.