4 Months Later....

Our last blog post was March 18! That was when Calla turned 10-months old. It has been nearly 4 months of silence on the blog, but orderly chaos in our lives! So what has happened in 4 months? Instead of writing one gigantic post, I am going to write a few posts looking back over the things that the Lord has done in our lives. He is faithful and good!

Ten!

Calla is 10 months old today! She is such a big girl now - she plays peek-a-boo, barks like a doggy, gives "five," puts her arms up when asked how big she is, sometimes blows kisses, sleeps through the night (again), has 1 1/2 teeth, pushes buttons, reaches for everything, and has started finger-feeding herself table food. Her sinful little heart already shines through with her desire to exert her will and demand things (usually to be picked up or food)! We are working on teaching her how to sign "please" and say "up." She has some motor delays, but the Lord was kind in giving me a background in child development, so Calla gets exercise and practice often. My Texas ECI buddies will be amused to know that I put in a call for a PT eval, and it's going on 3 weeks, still no call back. Different place, for sure! On a happier note, we have enjoyed being home with family in California for so long. Calla is loving the weather! We took her to the beach, and take her to the park a lot. Here are some recent pictures of our 10-month-old!!

The pictures above are from today. It was a beautiful day, and so we took a blanket outside and played on the lawn. Calla seemed very peaceful and enjoyed hearing and watching the birdies.

This picture was of Calla and her cousin Luc at the park yesterday. It's hard to get 2 babies to look at you, so I was singing Calla's favorite song (don't ask me why!), "Do Your Ears Hang Low?" Calla decided to demonstrate the meaning of this song to Luc. What a little bully!

We took a spontaneous after-church trip to Malibu, where the sun was bright and the sky was clear. Calla loved watching the ocean. She continued to wave at the waves and say "hi" to them.

These are some great pictures from the park a few weeks ago. She has already grown a lot since then!

Here are some links to some fun videos of Calla from our YouTube account:

Calla sees the sea and waves at the waves.

Where's Calla?

So Big!

Sending out our Love from California

Here it is, the end of January, and we still have not updated pictures from Christmas! Most of life has been a little crazy, and then when it hasn't been crazy, we have had such good times with family that I don't think to go on the computer and upload pictures. I think that it's a very good thing when I don't remember to go on the computer! The biggest thing in our lives that hasn't been posted is Darby's seminary graduation!!!! He graduated in December, with a Master of Arts in Church Music degree. I am so proud of him - his diligence, hard work, and perseverance. He worked up to 3 jobs at the same time, finished his degree plan a year early, and (he wouldn't tell you this, but I'm his wife so I can!) he got straight A's!! I can't describe what I have learned from him during this process of being in seminary. His parents flew out to visit us to witness his graduation. Here is a picture of us after graduation.

Shortly after graduation, it came time to say goodbye to friends and people who had become family to us. This is a picture of our Care Group from Redeemer Church, on our last day meeting. We miss all of you! This is a picture of Calla's friend from Care Group. We are sad to split them apart -- her name is Lily, and we think their complimentary names indicate that they are meant to be friends or pen pals (together, they are Calla Lily)!The drive to Fort Worth was blissfully uneventful. After weeks of school, packing, cleaning, etc., it was nice to just sit in the car and do nothing for 3 days. God blessed us with a quiet and content baby. When we made it to my parents' house in Acton, there was a surprise awaiting us. My whole family had worked hard to make Calla her very own nursery. What a treat, after the first 7 months of her life having just the corner of an office and a pack 'n play to sleep in! Here are pictures of her new room. It is perfect. What I love the most is having carpet to let her play on. I contribute hard wood floors to some developmental delays! This is Calla on her new changing table with Nana. Calla smiling with Daddy, her uncle Dan, and her cousin Luc.We were able to visit with our dear friends the Sandersons. The Lord can be interesting with His plans -- we are trading places with them! After both husbands graduating from seminary at the same time, they moved out to Texas about a week after we came back to California. They will be serving in a church near Lubbock. Here is a picture of Stephanie, Suzie, Calla and me. Finally, we get to the Christmas pictures! What a special Christmas, to be with family after being away so long, and for Calla to have her first Christmas (and all the photo shoots that go along with it). Calla got 2 presents from her Mommy and Daddy - a special book that lights up and plays music, and a little Nativity music box.

This is Calla with her Grandpa (my Dad). I have tons more photos of her with all the different family members, too many to post, but I thought this one came out especially sweet.Calla got this hippo and these pink boots from her Aunt Shelbie, Uncle Morgan, and their boys Jasper and Silas. I think this is my favorite picture from Christmas! Calla has grown and developed in amazing ways since coming out here. I already mentioned the carpet, but I also think it's all the stimulation from so many types of people. She is now able to roll over both ways, blow raspberries, lift her arms to be picked up, sit without falling, dance (looks more like rocking right now) to music, and she will move a special way every time she hears the song, "Row, Row, Row Your Boat." She amazed me just yesterday by learning how to drink from a straw - my straw. I'm glad I had water in the cup! Her first word was, "hi," though she is inconsistent with it. She will sometimes wave. Her sleeping is a lot better, only waking up once during the night. She has her first bad cold right now, and is a little fussy. Darby and I thank God every night for the joy she has. We learn how to love life from watching her joy. Here are the most recent pictures that we took of her. She is now 8 months old.

Here is Calla sitting with Luc. They look like little dolls!

Happy 1/2 Birthday!

Calla celebrated her 1/2 Birthday on November 18th. Yep, can you believe it? She is already 6 months old! She is truly a blessing from the Lord, and we are thankful for each day we have with her. Enjoy some pictures from the past couple of weeks, and have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Happy Callaween!

I know it's been a long time since Calla pictures have been updated. A lot has changed since I last posted about Calla! She is now about 5 1/2 months old, weighs about 17 pounds, and is already in a size 3 diaper! She has a lot of personality, knows how to giggle, can sit for maybe 1 minute by herself, and has rolled off her tummy a few more times (still working on this!). She went on an airplane for the first time in September to visit California and all the family there. Mommy had to travel alone with Calla and didn't know what to expect. The Lord showed His kindness on the entire trip, from Calla giggling through the airport security line to the stewardess taking our carry-on and putting it with her suitcase, and the nice older man who sat with us and told us during take-off, "You know, everyone on this plane has been a baby once or had a baby once, so don't worry if she cries." Calla went a long time without needing to nurse, so that didn't have to happen on the plane, and she giggled for half of the return flight. Calla got to meet so much loving family, like her Grandad, her Aunts and Uncles, and many cousins and friends. She was quiet throughout the trip, and started babbling her "ba" sounds the day we got home. She reaches for things quite adeptly, and frustrates herself by pulling her pacifier out of her mouth. She wakes up during the night now, so Mommy is getting to know what it's like to have a "real" baby! Enjoy these pictures!

Calla enjoyed her first Halloween as a precious yellow duckie. She slept in the outfit and it kept her nice and warm. She went to Kroger with Mommy and Daddy so Mommy could do her couponing, and Daddy ran up and down the aisles with her. People oohed and aahed at how cute she looks!

This is Calla and Mommy practicing using the Bjorn a few days before their trip to California. Calla loves facing outward, so she did great.

You might have seen my posting about the Blog giveaways I was entering. I won the one for some hair bows! See the pink one in this photo. If you have a baby girl in your life, check out the bows at Cloudy Day Creations. Calla started showing signs that she was ready to start solids at about 4 1/2 months. This was from the first day we tried. She loved it! We stopped for a few weeks and resumed again a couple weeks ago. She is now up to eating rice cereal, oat cereal, carrots, apples, and bananas.
Calla was given this dress by her cousin Audrey. This was her first day to wear the bonnet and tights, too! Some pics from California. This is Calla meeting her Uncle Danny. He had made a few comments about wanting to see her without the bows, so this is how we dressed her for their first meeting. Calla got to meet her cousin Luc! They are just 3 months apart, but very different little babies. Luc took his first step while we were there - at 7 months old!

This is Calla with all the cousins on the Hughes side. They all took their turns holding and kissing her!

These pictures are of Calla wearing the dress Tim and Isabel bought her. So cute!

Calla dressed up for her Daddy's performance lab performance and his recital. She heard about half of a song before needing to be taken out, because she tried to compete by singing louder!

This is the picture that won Calla the photo competition. Thank you to everyone who voted!

Here she is sitting up well on her changing table for the first time. Nana and Grandpa got to see it, because we were skyping with them. Mommy was surprised at how well she did.

Calla is squealing and happy like she is whenever she is outside or at a store.

Here is Calla all bundled up on one of the more chilly nights.

Wearing my new bib and ready to eat some carrots!

Can you tell that she's covered in carrots? I'm glad we started off naked to begin with, because she had to go straight to the bath after this!

For those of you who made it through to the end of the post, here is a cute video of Calla babbling and demanding to be heard!