Come home please...

My Little Sister is currently up at a Scout Camp being a Cope Course instructor and has been this entire summer! But the good news is, she will be home in two weeks!! Taylor and I weren't exactly friends when we were little. Colby and I are 15 months apart so always stuck together and teased and tormented her as much as we could. Then Colby left on his mission and I had to be her friend. :) No honestly, we got to be really close and I think even after I got married, we got even closer. I can talk to Taylor about a lot of stuff. She is a great little sister but also one of my Best Friends. Sure she can be a little spacey but the girl has so many other talents! She has a solid testimony, a great sense of humor, she'll listen to me when I need her to, and she is a strong person (inside and out :) ).

Now, those are just a few of her talents. She sings, harmonizes, writes music, reads music and can tell you every note or key you sing in, Amazingly! She draws, colors, paints, doodles better than anyone I have ever met. She takes pictures with her photographer brain and has every aspect of an artist. :)

This is one of her most recent drawings... yes, done in pencil, also yes, done in about a week. She did this of our really good friend Lindsey's kids. One; they are stinkin adorable! but two: this picture is almost identical to the one she copied it from.... and did I mention they are way cute!! I was so impressed with her, every time she does another artwork of some kind I am more impressed with this talent of hers. Maybe I can force her in to doing one for me when she gets home?... Or maybe Colby and I will torment her until she does, I'm sure Colby would be in on it if he got a picture out of it too. :)

4 weeks later...

Wow, I have really slacking when it comes to keeping up on my blog! That's right, it has been 4 weeks... :( Well let me tell you why.

Shortly after Josh wrecked his mountain bike, Oakland and I got to go to Island Park with my family for a reunion. I will post pictures of that later because Oakland and I had a blast and really enjoyed spending so much time together. The weekend we got home, we moved...in to a HOUSE!!!! Yay! (pictures will come later) I have loved every minute of it but with moving comes packing, heavy lifting, unpacking, putting things away, organizing, etc. As you can imagine Josh is not able to do a lot of that since his accident so I have been trying to take on his duties as well. We also do not currently have internet so when I do have down time, I can't blog. I know lame excuses again! But I had some time today at my Mom's so thought I would just update you on Oakland....

She is getting so big! Her first tooth is coming in, she is SOOO close to crawling but normally ends up in tears of frustration when she can't reach the toy I have put out of reach. Her hair still stands on end and I can't do anything about it. :)

She loves reading and My Grandma gave her the "5 green and speckled frogs" book. It is by far her favorite and she loves to look through the pages.

Like I mentioned- we moved. It was very happy and sad, Oakland absolutely adores my Grandparents so it was really hard moving out of their basement. She got to see them so much and I think the world of them and am amazed at what great grandparents they are to me, but especially how much they love Oakland. I miss them a lot during the day when I'm at home but am glad that I can still visit whenever I want!

Oakland loves our new home (now... she didn't at first and was really scared of being by herself in any room of the house)

Her hair is long enough but not thick enough yet to put in a pony tail (and who needs a pony tail when it already sticks up right?). I found some little clips that seem to work good... but as you can tell from Oaklands face- she's not really a fan.

Oakland is a very good eater but is also very in to feeding herself. :)

Her new favorite thing is Bath- time!

She is now in a forward facing car seat and it is such a LIFE SAVER for a baby that hates car seats. She's a little better now that she can see everything and I can reach her if I need to.

Oakland has a really cute personality lately. I took this picture last night because she was being the biggest ham! She screams all the time- not being upset, she's actually really happy when she does it normally... just likes to hear her own voice I guess?

Now that I'm back in the groove of things, I'll try to post more, but enjoy the pictures for now!

Dear Hospital...

I really appreciate your hospitality and the caring place you are. We have seen each other a lot lately and after much thought I have decided that it may be best for us to go our separate ways. While you have been there for us in our time of need, I'm thinking we need some time a part.

Best regards,
Cali

Josh crashed on his Mountain bike this last week and ended up in the ER with a broken collar bone, bruises and "road rash" everywhere on his right side and a torn MCL in his knee, which is now as big as both of my thighs! But the good news is- his bike is ok... Really that's all that matters according to him. His Boss confirmed that Josh is now a true biker because all real bikers break their collar bone at LEAST once.

When Josh first called me from somewhere in the mountains to let me know that he had crashed and wasn't sure if he could make it back down the mountain my first couple thoughts were, How am I going to find him in the mountains, if I do find him- how in the world am I supposed to get big ol Josh down the mountain, and Man- what more could happen this year.

Luckily some neighbor boys came with me and kept me calm on the long ride to find Josh, an extremely nice couple found Josh, packed up his bike, got him in their truck and took him to the Hospital. My neighbor boys then drove our car back home and I got Josh's truck, the nice couple waited at the hospital for me to make sure I was ok and then My Dad met me at the hospital to be with me while Josh was getting poked and prodded, x-rayed, and drugged up.

When I showed up at work the next day, my friends had said what bad luck we have. But then she said to me, "Really though, you are actually super lucky...You are both still alive."

On a happier note- Alex is super excited that now him and Josh are "twins".

Baby Mac and Oakland

The other day we made a family trip up to see Mac right before bedtime! We call the cemetery Mac's park and I really want Oakland to know it and like to go up there. I try to take her up as much as possible and she is always really good when we are up there. I don't know how it will be for her, not knowing Mac. I know that for me, Mac's park is more a place where I can remember him and I like to go up there because that's one of the few places we got to spend with his little body. I don't really know how to explain it, but his park is really special to me and I hope that my kids can understand that and feel the spirit that is in Baby Land.

I don't know how many of you saw My Mom's post but there was a statue up at Mac's park of Jesus with little kids sitting around his knee. It was a really meaningful statue to probably a lot of the parents that have children buried there. Well, someone took a sledge hammer to Jesus and they ended up having to take the whole status down. :( It was on the news but here is a picture of how it looks now. On my Mom's blog there is a picture of right after it happened. Mac's grave is right behind the garden so just a few feet away from this statue. It's really sad...

Hopefully Mac's headstone will be leveled this spring from the tractor that drove over it to add another friend to Mac's park. It's a little crooked right now, but what little boy does stay in tip top shape when they are almost 2? :)

The Mom, The Wheelchair, and the stroller

So the other day, I came home to this...

So much fun! Alex is back in his wheelchair because the screw they put in his hip has broken. They will be doing surgery again soon to fix it and he'll most likely be in a full body cast after.

:( Poor guy. My Mom is so amazing to take care of the girls as well as keep Alex entertained and having fun in the wheelchair. to keep posted on Alex, read here...Thanks Mom and Alex for doing a train walk with Oakland!!!

The great outdoors!

Oakland mowed her first lawn last Saturday with Grandpa Scott. Thanks Grandpa for being such a great man and always so willing to play, watch and entertain Oakland. She really loves you and is luck to have you as a Great-Grandpa!

Ok- can they look more alike? Oakland is totally her Dad's little girl!

She loves the grass...

Nothing better than painted toe nails and a freshly mowed lawn!!

Oakland + Stroller = Pure Happiness

What more can I say? Oakland absolutely loves her stroller. Now that it's warm, it's her new favorite toy... And you all know I enjoy it too!!!

Bikes...

So any of you that know Josh, knows he gets on kicks of what he wants to buy next. Shoes, a toy chest, games... even items he knows we won't have for a long time; a house, a BIG truck, a motorcycle, a jeep, a big screen tv... everything that has to come when you are rich. :)

Well he got his mind set on bikes. A mountain bike for himself, a nice bike for me to ride and a trailer for Oakland. I was not too excited about that until he said the main reason he wanted it was to ride up to Mac's grave on a warm summer day with Oak and I.... Awwww- I'm sold!!!



Josh rides at least 3-4 times a week, I try to do my best but get so warn out! I really need to get my leg back in shape from the blood clot. It still gets really weak or cramps up if I do too much. And I am proud to brag about Josh and say that he HAS actually ridden from our house up to Mac's grave!!!



Oakland loves riding behind our bikes. She seriously enjoys looking around, going over bumps, and being outside. It's a really fun family activity and we do it often so I'm glad that we bought them!


After the bike ride is done, Oak is always sad to go back in her car seat... but she knows we will do it again!!

She's in good hands

This is a conversation Josh and I had via text when I was at work and he was watching Oakland:

Cali: How's my baby?
Josh: So good... we both just woke up...she's so cute
Cali: Did you guys play outside?
Josh: Yeah she loves it... but she got hungry so we came in quick.
Cali: Thanks for taking such good care of her...
Josh: I have to... She's my girl

Awww. What a sweet Daddy!!!

Why did this happen to me?

When Mac first passed away, I think everyone's first thought was "Why". Sometimes you just can't help it. I wondered why I wasn't good enough to be a Mom, or what I had done to cause this to happen. I wondered why I had gone through the entire 9 months of pregnancy, only to have a life with Mac cut short because of a cord accident. I wondered why God would do this to me? Why does he not love me enough to keep me from feeling that pain. I think everyone tends to do this when life gets tough.

Today though, I say this...

Why did God love me enough to trust me with his choice spirits and allow me to have Oakland on this earth to raise? What did I do to cause this to happen- be lucky enough to have two amazing kids. Why did I go through the doubts and hurt thinking I wasn't good enough when I know now what I do? Why would God do this to me? Why does he LOVE me so much that he would let me feel pain so that when Oakland was born, I know the hurt I could have felt and can feel the gratitude, pure love, and happiness towards our kids.

A wise women once said, "We can ask "why?" and "if only..." all we want, but it won't change the reality that Mac just wasn't meant to stay with us. No matter what would have happened differently, the outcome would have remained the same. God does not make mistakes. Mac was simply not meant to be here. He was too perfect to stay. His spirit was so pure that he had to be called home before enduring the trials and pains of this world. He fulfilled his earthly mission in the short time he was here and has returned to his heavenly home."

I say, "We should ask "why?" about the good things in life every day, because Heavenly Father loves us enough to bless us on a daily basis. No matter what does happen in our lives, God does not make mistakes. Some things are meant to happen, to teach us and to help us grow. We need to strive to be perfect. Our family needs to look up to Mac and his spirit that is so pure and live through the trials and pain of this world so we can be with him again some day. We need to fulfill our earthly mission in the time we have so we can also return to our heavenly home."

Why am I and my family healthy?
Why do I get the oppurtunity to raise such an amazing little girl?
Why do I have such a great job?
Why do I have a husband that loves me?
Why do I get the chance to see snow and smell rain?
Why do I get the priviledge to live in a day where there are wonderous things happening in the church?
Why do I deserve this? Why is this happening to me? HOW did I get so lucky...

Facts

Oakland is 16 pounds 5 ounces- 93 percentile!
She is 26 inches long- 97 percentile!! (remember this girl is only 4 months)

She gets comfy when sleeping- no messing around!


She's got the big bug eye look going on...


Did I mention that's all the time...


She is still a very serious baby but if you are a man- she loves you and will smile at you.

G.G. got her a new book- It's the only one she'll sit through and quite thouroughly enjoys it!

She loves her tummy!

She attended her first baseball game on March 20th and could only pay attention to breathing in that darn wind. Maybe another day she will be interested in it. Daddy hopes. :)