McCaskill Family Update: 2011

Happy 1st Birthday!

We decided to combine Casen & Collins' 1st birthday party with Christmas this year so that more family could be a part. Aunt Lori & Uncle Mike were here with Gram & Wampa; & Nana, Pop, Aunt Megan, & Aunt Lindsey drove in from Dallas to help celebrate. We had a blast!

Opening birthday gifts.

We spent a lot of time pulling wrapping paper out of Case & Lainey's mouths - they kept trying to eat the paper.

Welcome to Toyland!! These are all of the wonderful, thoughtful, & fun gifts the kids received this year for Christmas & their birthday. Thanks everyone! They are already having so much fun playing together.

Casen & Collins have very different ideas about how to eat cake. Case likes the "lick one finger" option...

While Collins thought "I've got 10 fingers for a reason!"

Aunt Lindsey made these beautiful melted crayon canvases with the kid's names - how creative!

Collins testing out her Bounce 'n' Ride in her new jogging suit.

Casen taking Charlie Horse & Rio for a ride in his new racecar.

Casen making the rounds with his Vtech activity walker.

Collins testing out the Vtech activity table - she's not walking quite yet.

Case & Lainey are having so much fun playing with their tent & pop-up tunnel! It's so cute to watch them play together!

Collins loves playing horsey with Nana!

For their actual birthday, we took the kids to the Caldwell Zoo in Tyler for the 1st time. We had a lot of fun walking around & seeing all the animals - can't wait to go back when they're older!

Merry Christmas 2011

Casen & Collins' first Christmas - our two best gifts this year are sitting under the tree.
Casen learned how to pat-a-cake recently & doesn't waste any opportunity to show off his new skills!

Case & Lainey opening their Christmas ornaments from mom & dad.

Casen "helping" mommy decorate the Christmas tree.

Collins "helping" mommy wrap presents.

11 months

Casen & Collins are 11 months old! Casen is walking well with support & just recently began walking behind push-toys. He is so proud of himself when he walks - the enthusiasm is contagious! Collins started waving a couple of weeks ago & now pulls herself up to a stand. She is also getting 2 more teeth (this makes 11 total, & no - Casen still doesn't have any).

When we got these 12 month sleepers as a shower gift, I remember thinking they looked big enough for a 3 yr old kid. Well, here they are fitting my 11 month old babies!

Go Cowboys! Check out Casen's retro jersey from Gram & Wampa - Uncle Mike wore that 30+ yrs ago.

While making dinner one night, Bryan turned around to find Casen "surfing" on the door of the dishwasher. By the time he grabbed the camera, Casen had pulled up on the dishwasher cage. He is so curious!

Our little Calvin Klein model in training :)

Collins loves her Sophie giraffe from Aunt Lori.

Casen loves Sophie, too!

Collins pulling up on the baby jail.

At Danville Farms picking out the kids' first Christmas tree. It's so small because we're putting it on a table to keep little hands away from breakable ornaments :)

Casen with his beautiful Aunt Lindsey.

We were able to visit with Bryan's Aunt Donna while in Dallas last weekend.

Casen & his Great Aunt Donna.

McCaskill Christmas 2011.

Twin cousins - Emma & Ella with Sam & Charlotte.

Precious!

Taking a good picture with 4 different babies is easier said than done. Collins is making a break for it!

Laura & I took the kids for their first visit with Santa Claus... at least they didn't pee or puke on Santa or Mrs. Claus!

Casen walking himself behind a toy... & oh so proud!

Collins & her Nana.

Accidents Happen...

A few weeks ago, we went to pick up Casen & Collins from the church nursery. The nursery workers told us that Collins busted her lip & it was bleeding a little bit. I picked her up to check on her & immediately noticed that her top two front teeth were chipped! Out of the 5 women working/volunteering in the nursery (watching 7 babies) no one actually witnessed the accident; however they assumed she hit her mouth on the bottom of a crib while crawling on the floor. Needless to say, Mommy was not at all happy (in fact, I cried on the way home from church). Accidents happen & you can't watch kids every second of every day, but it just hurts to know that my baby got hurt when I wasn't there to protect her.
Luckily, the broken teeth do not seem to bother Collins at all. The dentist did not see any apparent nerve damage. She said that we will be able to fix at least the worst of the two teeth when she is a little older. The bad news is the correction will likely require that she be put under anesthesia. At least we have time to weigh out the options.