kroening family: callan

Monday, January 23, 2012

january fun

normally, january in minnesota means sledding, shoveling, snowman building, bundling up, and all other things winter. minus one good snowstorm early in the the month...

we've have a serious lack of snow. we've had to improvise on ways to beat the cabin fever that is inevitable once the post-holiday season sets in. luckily, we had no trouble finding fun in our community.

starting with pip squeaks - an adorable (and CHEAP) indoor play place for little ones. what can be better than a gymnasium full of toys followed by a kid friendly lunch at mcdonalds?

there has been plenty of living room fun around here:

puny pirates v. captain hook (the cap'n didn't stand a chance):

reading books to our stuffed friends:

dress up:

making breakfast:

celebrating a special little one year old:

SIDE NOTE: back in december, henry managed to ram into the upholstered arm of our living room chair. we noticed immediately that his front tooth had pushed back slightly. I was terrified that it was going to fall right out and my sweet (not yet) 2 year old would be left with a gaping hole in his smile for the next 4-5 years. lucky for us, it stayed intact...but did begin to discolor a few weeks later. here you can see that it's now a lovely shade of gray.

the dentist said there's a chance it will lighten up a bit, but we aren't holding our breath. we just figure it's a battle scar and shows how "brave" our little climber is. gotta love that big ol' smile!

Friday, February 4, 2011

celebrating buggy

the day he was born was perfect and it went the way we had planned. of course, a c-section was never really the way I had dreamt of having babies, but it's the reality for me and I'm ok with it. our ultimate goal was accomplished and we were holding our precious newborn son before noon on january 26th, 2010 (as seen here). so as his first birthday approached, I will admit that I was overwhelmed by the feeling of "where did that year go?" I just couldn't grasp it.

I took time to go back through pictures and remember the "henry moments." what a beautiful addition to our family. he was the puzzle piece we didn't know was missing. our family grew and we are better for it.

henry is funny, charming, lovable, daring, wild, loud, brave, silly, sweet, smart, happy, and precious. he loves to talk and to sign new words. he's always carrying around a ball and loves to climb on anything. if he hears a tune he will be the first to start dancing. his crazy hair is the perfect complement to his personality. our buggy is just that...ours. and we love him to pieces.

the party was planned for the weekend, but we didn't want to let his real birthday go by unnoticed. so on wednesday night we pow-wowed at a local pizza joint and invited family and friends to join us. a special thanks to those of you who braved the arctic chill to celebrate little henny-bug.

when it came time to celebrate his magical first year, we decided to do it up right. we surrounded ourselves with family and kept the party small. good thing, given the fact that my go-to location for birthday parties at our house (a.k.a. the garage/driveway) is buried under feet of snow and we live in a cracker-box.

our bug theme was a given. after all, henry has been nicknamed "buggy" for quite some time. and boy does he live up to that name - he's cute as a bug, but can definitely be a bugger at times! oh, how we love him!

one year olds are oblivious to the concept of gifts. two year old brothers, however, are fully aware. miles took it upon himself to open nearly every one of henry's gifts and cousin josiah took one for the team and joined in. now that the party is over, we are once again left with piles of wonderful new items to find homes for. in with the new - out with the old. for now though, everything is still plopped on the living room floor, because we love the new toys and (let's be honest) we've all got a case of cabin fever that seems to be cured with the addition of new entertainment!

the cake was definitely not love at first sight for this little bug.

after he got acquainted with the chocolate cake for a short time, he changed his mind and started digging. after all, he is part of our family...cake eating is a pre-requisite.

we are blessed to have our entire family all living within the limits of the same city. we know that the greatest gift we can give our children is that of a loving, supportive family. it is clear that our boys are loved - and we are most grateful for that.

the first year flew by and, as each day passes, I make a point to remember something special he did or something new that I noticed about him. some may call me crazy, but I also take time to write my thoughts down in a calendar for each of the boys. they are growing up too fast, but I'm determined to remember every stage. kyle and I are so proud of who they are and marvel at the two gifts that we have been given.

happy birthday henry-bug. you are so loved.

BONUS: I couldn't leave out this precious moment caught on camera. miles loves his baby owl. sweet little callan is precious and he makes us all realize even more how fast our babies are growing up. don't you just want to eat him up? love him.