Eloise's Birthday Shoot

One of my favorite things to do leading up to my kids' birthdays is to do a mini photo shoot.  I love coming up with a good theme but this year I let Eloise pick out a headband at the store and a dress from her closet for her shoot.  Her selections turned her into a beautiful garden fairy.  

 Love this beautiful girl!

Eloise's Birthday Questionnaire

What is your favorite color?

Pink.

What is your favorite toy?

Ponies.

What is your favorite movie or TV show?

Goldie & Bear on the TV. Peppa Pig on my iPad.

What is your favorite thing to do?

Play Hide & Seek.

What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast?  Lunch?  Dinner?

Cereal – Crackers & Cheese (aka Lunchables) – Mac & Cheese

What is your favorite outfit?

Dresses!

What is your favorite book?

Touch & Feel Book.

What is your favorite song?

“Can’t Feel my Face”

What makes you laugh?

Tickling.

What is the best time of the day?

Monday.

What do you sleep with at night?

My Kitty.

Who are your friends?       

Lauren, Leah, Jacob, Cordell, Madison, James, Lucy L, Lucy P, Amerah, Alex, Camille

Who is your best friend?

Lauren

What do you like best about school?

Circle Time

What do you love to do with Mom?

Go to your office

What do you love to do with Dad?

Go Hunting

What do you want to be when you grow up?

Be a nurse for dogs & cats when they are sick. 

Work on my computer and write messages.


*Just for fun, you can check out her answers from last year HERE.

Happy 15 Months Preston!

Happy 15 months Prestie Bestie! 

The last 3 months and this summer have flown by.  You have kept us so busy chasing you (literally) that the days seem to fly by.  If you aren't running to Piper's dog food bowl to pick up a handful of food and throw it like confetti, you are using the couch as your own gymnastics studio or wrestling arena.  You are on the go nonstop.  You are becoming more and more verbal but not necessarily saying anything that makes a ton of sense.  Right now, your sweet little "Hi" and "Bye" with a little wave are precious.  Both of us are often accompanied by a little kiss too.  I die.

Besides your wubbanubs, you really had not yet become that attached to anything.  And then all of the sudden, you realized that this blankie from Grandma Carrot was all yours and now you have to have it. 

Your favorite past time when we are in your room is to unload the bookshelf and sit and "read."  It's sweet that you bring us books to read to you at night right before bed.  In my opinion, this is the most precious time as it is the only time when you are the still and snuggly.   

Recently, you've turned into a Daddy's boy. You love to sit right next to him and cross your ankles to get comfy. 

It looks like history is repeating itself when it comes to your teething patterns.  You got all of your 8 front teeth (4 on top, 4 on the bottom) all at once.  Now, you are getting many of your other teeth and those dreaded molars.  It was time to bust out the toothbrush!  You are doing more chewing than brushing but it's a start. 

We went for a checkup at the ENT and Preston's ears and ear tubes are looking good.  Definitely a game changer for him.

News flash: Preston's sleep could be better...still. 

But then he does stuff like this at bedtime and you forgive him for waking up at 3am. 

Preston is so busy these days...

He loves to push the swiffer around inside & this big broom outside. Whatever keeps you occupied while Mommy makes dinner! 

Preston kicked off his 15th month with a case of Hand Foot & Mouth. It's as horrific as it sounds. 

He's all better now and back to hanging with his favorite person. 

I see this face a bunch of times during the day.  It's the Stinker Face.

Eloise the Ballerina

Our little prima ballerina Eloise started doing ballet classes last year in the late Winter/early Spring.  Of course, she loved the outfits and quickly perfected her leaps and twirls.  Last weekend was the culmination of her "training," as she had her 1st Ballet Recital.  She was all decked out in her costume, ballerina bun hairstyle and some special makeup.  I had tons of fun being her personal glam squad by doing her hair and makeup.  She loved every minute of it! 

When I was putting the makeup on, she said to me "Will my friends recognize me?  They might think I'm a Mommy because I've got your makeup on."  She was so worried about her makeup that she had a mini meltdown with fake tears about the rain ruining her makeup.  Lord help me when she is a teenager!

Who knows if Eloise will continue her ballet "career" in the coming years but at least I can say that I was able to have my moment as a Dance Mom or a Stage Mom.  I was armed with extra bobby pins and hairspray while we waited back stage for her number.  That moment that I left her with her classmates and teacher to go take my seat in the auditorium made me a little emotional.  I'm that Mom who gets teary-eyed at the drop of a hat.  Don't worry - I pulled it together by the time I got to my seat.

The Dance Studio will not let parents record of photograph the actual recital so the best thing we have is a video that Grandma Sandy took at the Rehearsal. The actual performance was just as "entertaining" as the rehearsal.   

Following her performance, Daddy was armed with a dozen red roses for his princess.  While we were waiting for him to pull the car around, she was semi-struggling to the hold the bouquet and said, "Why did Daddy get me such big flowers?  I can't ever hold them!"

We are so proud of Eloise for performing in the Recital.  It was 2 shows in 2 days.  Many kids did not show for the 2nd show so I appreciate that she was willing and able to follow through on this commitment.  It's been fun watching her progress over the past year or so and we can't wait to see what she does next.

Summer So Far

The Littlest Kalins kids have been busy so far this summer!  Lots of fun with friends and family and making memories.  Here are some of the highlights:

 Eloise attended a Pretty Princess Tea Party with her fellow princess fanatics Grace & Camille Archer.  The girls had a blast and were smitten with all the princesses!

 

A few years ago, we started the tradition of taking pictures of the kids for Father's Day for all the Dads and Grandpas in the family.  This year may have been the best one yet!

No worries! We got some cute ones too. 

Daddy got a new zero-turn radiance riding mower this Summer which I guess is super cool.  Eloise thinks it is awesome and loves "driving" it.  

 When the weather cooperates, we have been taking walks around our neighborhood to get some fresh air before bath time & bed time.  It took a few walks for us to appreciate how Eloise is observing the world flower by flower, bird by bird, rock by rock etc.  Sometimes the walk takes a little longer than planned but she literally is stopping to smell the roses along the way and who are we to stop her.  Eloise is so much fun right now as she says the funniest things and is regularly singing or making up her own songs.  When she picked up this leaf on one of our walks, she said to us, "I love this leaf.  I'm going to keep it forever.  I'm going to take a bath with it and I'm going to sleep with it."  She dropped it like 3 minutes later. 

 Water table = Endless hours of fun for kids of all ages. 

Great Grandma Fitz loves watching these sweeties play together.  No amount of crying or fussing phases this ultimate mom.  I love getting advice from her or just validation that I'm doing okay as a mom.  

Preston loves being surrounded by all his girl cousins.  He is pretty captivated by Brooke and can be quite sweet with her.  

Hi! My name is Preston and I'm a real stinker.  I demand tons of food and then love throwing it on the ground. 

Only a photographer's child has proper camera hold technique at 14 months old.  He even says his own version of "Cheese!"

Eloise is just few weeks away from her 1st Ballet recital.  This is from last weekend when they were practicing their group bow at the end.  God Bless Ms. Ellen for her patience with these girls.  It's going to be a memorable 2 minutes, folks!

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Happy 14 months Preston Bradley!!

Well, here we are another month past and Preston is 14 months old!  He is over 25 lbs and turning more into a rambunctious little boy every day.  He is currently cutting his back molars along with a bunch of other teeth.  Poor little guy.  He's a bruiser and a tough guy so he's pushing through it.  

So, what is Preston up to? He's become more vocal everyday and more agile & coordinated. He can climb up & down on all the furniture with no problem. He tries to sing the "E-I-E-I-O" in Old MacDonald when you sing it to him. Precious.  He yells "Hi!" when I answer my phone in the car. Similarly, he says BYE to everyone when we are leaving school and waves like a politician to the whole playground. It's hilarious when he yells, "MMMAAA!" to get my attention. Most of this happens when he is waiting for food in the highchair. Haha! To be honest, it reminds of the scene in Wedding Crashers when Will Ferrell yells to mother about bringing food for him and his friends..."MAAA!  The meatloaf!" 

He is a water baby! Loves to put his face in water - bathtub, water table & pool. He thinks it's so funny. This is refreshing because Eloise is very timid around water - especially in her face.  Unfortunately, we've entered the era of toddler temper tantrums. He can't say much so he just screams and waves his little hands & arms. 

My favorite party trick with him right now is, "Where's your belly?" He lifts up his shirt and pats that big ole belly with the biggest smile on his face. I die. 

Lots more summer fun still to be had.  Stay tuned!