Meeting with Santa and decorating the Tree...

We had a pretty busy weekend including all kinds of activities, including visit with the Santa at the Zoo, putting up a tree and decorating the outside of our house. Noah had a blast, however he has been coughing badly for the last couple weeks now (if not longer) so it's time for us to check in with the doctor tomorrow to see if everything is ok. Ever since he started the Mother's Morning Out program at the church he seems to have always some kind of cold. I am only hoping this has nothing to do with bronchitis. Anyways, I took some snapshots of Noah at the Zoo event so just want to share these. He had a blast just running around and playing with the bubbles and he didn't even mind sitting on Santa's lap :))My brave little boy! After seeing the Santa we spent couple hours just walking through the Zoo and seeing the animals. We haven't realized how cold it was until we got there so i had to buy a hat for Noah because the little man would get even sicker :)

Noah sitting on Santa's lap.


Playing with bubbles.



Walking with daddy :)

At the petting Zoo--Noah's most favorite place in the entire Zoo. He just loves these animals and is not one bit scared of them :)






Daddy loving on the goat :)



Watching some monkey...Ever since our last visit at the Zoo when Noah got really close with the monkeys behind the window, he has been very apprehensive with them. Long story short, he is ok with them as soon as they are far away from him. Who would of thought that my boy will be scared of monkeys :)


Noah and daddy :)


Noah did however like to see the elephants...they may just be his favorites animals at the Zoo :)

Back at home and decorating the Christmas Tree with daddy.

Leah's 3D pictures!

A few weeks ago i had my 3D ultrasound made with Perinatal Consultants and I would love to share the pictures of our little baby girl with our friends and family :) At this point I cannot tell whether she looks more like me or Paul but i love my little girl to death already! I think this is soo neat what a technology can do nowadays :)

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Happy Thanksgiving to our wonderful family! As we reflect back on our lives today, we thank God for all we have (and we have so much). We are especially thankful for our incredible son Noah, my healthy pregnancy and for all the loving family and friends that God has sent into our lives.

We had a great thanksgiving this year. It was different because we usually spend it with Paul's family in Pell City but this year we found out last minute that Paul's parents decided to go out of town so we made our own Thanksgiving in Mableton, just the three of us (plus the doggies :) Paul did all the cooking and it was simply delicious (Ok i did a strawberry cake). He cooked our turkey on a big green egg smoker all day long and made a homemade stuffing plus the side dishes. Thank you honey for such an incredible and special dinner :)

Leaves...

We had pretty incredible weather here in GA for the past month so a few days ago I decided to take advantage of it (before it gets really cold) and so I made a pile out of leaves in our front-yard and I let Noah play in it. He had so much fun jumping into the leaves over and over again :) I have to say that the day before, he had even more fun in the leaves with his close neighbor buddies: Will, Andrew and Jack. Lately, Noah has become very close friends with those three and there almost isn't a day in a week that he doesn't join them on the block for a playdate. Here are some pictures of Noah playing in the leaves (first solo in our yard then with his buddies on the block).









Pictures taken by Jack's mommy Katie (just slightly sharpened and adjusted by me). On the picture: Jack, Noah, Andrew and Will.

Mini Blog Makeover!

So when I printed Noah's 2nd year book couple days ago, I decided to do some quick blog makeover so people can enjoy bigger pictures on my blog. I definitely enjoy it more now, besides I was kind of tired of looking at the same old blog template :)
These are the first two pictures in the bigger version:


Sneak peak from my last session with Noah :)

Decking the Halls...

In Callahan's house we are early with everything, especially holiday decorations. Last week me and Noah took down all our Halloween stuff only to replace it immediately with Christmas decorations :) We are almost done decorating inside (we have a stairs garland to add and a main tree next week) and then we are only left with outside!!! (Noah's playhouse is also almost ready, we just need to finish decorating the roof tomorrow). I just LOVE all this Christmas stuff around. It reminds me of when i was a little girl and me and my parents used to decorate for Christmas. It was the best time in the whole year and i want my kids to feel the same :) There is nothing like a lit up tree in the evening, fire in the background, smell of a freshly burned Christmas candle and a Christmas music...Ah and lets not forget about cookies :) Lots of baked cookies!!! Christmas time is simply the best!

On a different note, I can't believe I'm now 29 weeks pregnant! Time flies. My little girl will be here soon and soon enough it will be four of us...It just still seems unreal to me. I can't imagine having another child in the house besides Noah. I am little scared but also very excited. I have 2 months left with just me and Noah. I would like to do so many things together before Leah comes but I also feel little bit more tired these days. It doesn't help to know that i have been diagnosed with marginal placenta previa and now cannot lift Noah anymore (Oh how I love to carry him and throw him up in the air). The doctor said that there is still a chance that my placenta may move up but also there is a big chance that it may not and then i will not be able to have a normal delivery. I'd like to think that everything will be ok and that the issue will be resolved in the next couple weeks. In the meantime, i do have to be extremely careful not to overdo things. We want our girl to stay inside of me as long as possible!
Anyways, here are couple of pictures of Noah i took just a few days ago.

Noah by the tree in his playroom.

Mommy 28 weeks pregnant with Leah, Noah and Lilly (Gosh I am getting really big!)

Playing with some vintage frames...

Noah in a Vintage frame and vintage overlay (sitting on a bathtub). LOVE IT!

Noah's 2nd year check up

Yesterday we went to a Northside Hospital for Noah's second year check up and his last Hepatitis A shot (he doesn't have to have any shots until his 4th birthday!!). We didn't see Dr.B but we saw Dr. Harrison, which is also very nice, although more on the conservative side. It looks like my boy is doing great. Here are Noah's stats:
Weight: 34 and a half pounds (which puts him in 95% category for weight).
Height: 37"(which puts him also in 95% for height).
Head Circumference: 50cm.
It looks like Noah is going to be a big boy! Haha. Other than this Noah is supposed to give up his bottle entirely and we ought to change his whole milk to 1% milk. I was really afraid that he will have a hard time giving up his milk before nap-time and at night, but he seems to be doing fine without it. Now instead of the bottle, i read him bedtime stories and he falls asleep (although not too fast and he still needs me in the room with him until he is sound asleep :) But that's ok--I may as well enjoy it till it lasts. Soon enough he will want me out of his room :)
Anyways, Dr Harrison loved Noah and he kept telling me how special Noah is. Yes--I do feel the same way and I will always feel blessed for having such a wonderful son.

Noah outside couple days ago :)

Noah in his new toddler bed. We did changed his bed after we found out that his buddy Sara fell out of her crib and broke her leg. We went to a store next day and got Noah a new bed, which is really likes :)

Noah's 2nd year pictures

Last year I promised myself that every year, around Noah's birthday we will do a special, outdoor birthday photo session. This way every year we can compare how much our little bobas has changed, and besides I LOVE doing it. This year, we went to a nearby park on actual Noah's birthday and I can't even tell you how much fun we had snapping pictures while running around and playing. Here is the outcome, which i really like:







That's my boy!!!



Old time charmer :)