Caleb bouncing with Grandma

Caleb and Cousin Julia in KC

Baptism Pic and Mission Trip Link

To follow up from Sunday's post, here is a picture of us from Caleb's baptism (not sure why it's so dark, it was really bright in the sanctuary, but you get the idea):


And here is the link to check in on Mom's trip to Tanzania. They leave tomorrow around noon on the lovely 24 hour flight (I knew there was a reason I was staying home!!).
http://www.asburytulsa.org/ministries/global-outreach/vim-journal.html

Hope everyone is well and that you're staying dry in all this rain :)

Week 29- a baptism and all sorts of things leading up to it

GRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!



I just spent 45 minutes writing this and the oh-so-handy autodraft feature saved immediately after I highlighted one word which made 3/4 of the blog apparently disappear for no reason. GRRRRRR!!!!



So here's the cliff's notes version:



1)Caleb was baptized today. The following people were there: both sets of grandparents, Aunt Morgan, and honorary aunts Heidi (and her family), Mandy, and Damaris. You can watch the service at this link. We are about 9 minutes into the service if you want to fast forward. Caleb slept through the entire thing but looked really cute. We all went to First Watch to eat after church. Hopefully Aaron's mom will have a decent picture as the one taken with our camera turned out all blurry.



2)Caleb got his first haircut on Thursday. Our friend Michelle at b. jolie salon and spa cut it for us. After the haircut we met Heidi at Kathleen's Kids and she bought Caleb the really cute romper outfit he wore today at the baptism. Thanks Michelle and Heidi!!




3)We found a whole new set of toys for Caleb to play with that were marked 6 months+. He really likes them, especially his ring set.


4)Caleb had his 6 month pictures taken on Thursday. Our friend Betsy, who took his newborn and 2 month pics, took these as well. You can get a sneak peak at her blog: http://www.gregoryphotography.blogspot.com/. They turned out soooo well - thanks Betsy. If anyone is interested in having some in home photos taken (what a nice convenience it is not to travel!), you should look her up.

5)Caleb's Grandpa and Grandma Walton came in town on Friday evening and left today after lunch. He enjoyed hanging out with them, especially when Grandma helped Caleb bounce on the side of the pool as Aaron and Frank filled it up. We also made a group trip to Sam's- Caleb's first time there.


Here's the part of the original post that didn't disappear:

After Grandma and Grandpa Walton left, we ventured out to the pool which was much warmer than the last time we tried it. Caleb LOVED it and especially liked chewing on the float. We hung out for quite awhile and even blew up my big silver mat so I could catch some rays. Hopefully we'll have a chance to get out there some more this week. He was really pooped afterward, as you can tell by the pic at the top of the blog, where he literally passed out while holding his 29 weeks sign.




Caleb gets to go to VBS this week because his babysitter is helping there. My mom is excited because she'll get to see him some before she leaves for Tanzania on Wednesday morning. I think she is more concerned about leaving Caleb than she has ever been about leaving us when she's gone on mission trips before :( There's usually a link on the church website for updates on the mission, etc. that I'll post when I get it so you can keep up to date with what she's doing over there.

OK, sorry for the bitter start to the blog. Just makes me a wee bit frustrated when all my hard work and wonderful writing bites the dust for no apparent reason. Have a great week!

Week 28- big family reunion and FATHER'S DAY

This week was fun and busy. Caleb was at the babysitters on Wednesday morning (I worked 1/2 day Wednesday so we could leave town early for the family reunion) and I went to pick him up from her girls' swimming lessons. Of course it was POURING rain and I had to run in and get him then take him in the stroller back out to the parking lot, load him in the car, break down the stroller, then get in the car myself. We really looked like wet rats. I had several errands to run before we left town the next morning. A call to Aaron confirmed that it was going to rain all afternoon, so there was no point in going home to wait it out. Therefore Caleb and I just ran our errands wet and soggy. He thought it was funny to get re-soaked every time we got in and out of the car. It definitely made me wish for the days of the carrier - much easier and faster.

With pageant week last week and rain off and on for several weeks, our backyard looks like a rainforest. So Wednesday evening I am scurrying around, trying to get ready to leave town and I hear Lilah barking like crazy in the backyard. I put Caleb in the Exersaucer (screaming mad) and go out, ready to rip into the dogs because there is mud slung about 4 feet high onto the fence where they have been digging a lovely hole. Their collars weren't on so I had no way of dragging them away without getting totally covered in mud myself. Turns out there was a turtle along the fence line that our dogs decided they must have. Here's a shot of Lilah in all her muddy glory. You can tell she knows she's in big big trouble.

We headed to Kansas City on Thursday. Caleb was once again a great traveler with one exception. We stopped to feed him and get a snack for ourselves and I could tell that he had filled his diaper by the oh-so-pleasant aroma in the car. I quickly changed his diaper but was too late- it had already oozed onto his onesie and shorts. It is a challenge to change a leaky stinky diaper in the backseat of a car, FYI. I got halfway through the process and just let him hang out in his bib and fresh diaper. He looks so proud of himself (and just a little ornery, no?). A disclaimer...the car wasn't moving or even on at this point.

That night Caleb got to spend quality time with Aunt Debbie while Aaron and I went to Worlds of Fun theme park. It had been a long time since I had been on roller coasters and we had a really great time. There was no crowd- literally we just walked right on every ride. My favorite coaster from my childhood, the Orient Express, was gone which made me sad. But there were several fun new ones in it's place. Aaron didn't tell me until 1/2 way though that he's really not a roller coaster fan but he was a good sport and went along with me for a second round of all the coasters. Caleb and Aunt Deb had a good time together. Her newest grandbaby, Ada, had just been there so she still had lots of toys out for Caleb.


The next morning we got up and Caleb had a "first" experience...his first shower. He hadn't taken a bath the night before so we thought we'd clean him up before we headed to the reunion. It was actually more challenging than I had thought, especially the rinsing the hair part because he was just sputtering and gasping as the water came down his face. So then I laid him down and used a cup to rinse. Of course, I went to stand up and jammed my backside into the faucet. If you are curious to see the shape of Aunt Debbie's bathtub faucet head, it is nicely imprinted in black and blue on my booty. :)


Caleb has become a big time waller-er (as in rolls around the bed, etc). At one point Friday morning he ended up scooting his way up my belly and I thought it would make an interesting picture to show him at 6+ months in relation to the C-section scar. You can barely see the top half of the scar but it is crazy to think they squeezed all 8 pounds 15 ounces out of that tiny incision.

That afternoon we met my cousin Tiffany and her family at the Plaza for lunch. After yummy lunch at Baja 600, we did a little shopping and Caleb looked very at ease seeing the Plaza sights. I asked Aaron if he thought his company would ever need a KC branch (I'd move there in a heartbeat) but he said no.

Caleb and his cousin Julia hadn't seen each other since Christmas and it was entertaining to watch them interact. At the restaurant, they had been across the table in high chairs so there wasn't much interaction. However, it was a different story when we got to the hotel and let them play with each other. I got some video that's hilarious; I am laughing so hard while shooting it that it's all wobbly. At one point Julia (who just started crawling) is rocking back and forth on all fours and Caleb is grabbing for her bloomers from behind her. HA! However, my free dropshots.com account says I am over quota so I have to find a new way to post video. Watch for it later in the week.

When we were little, our grandma used to sew matching outfits for Morgan, our cousins Tiffany and Cortney, and myself. Well, I don't sew and neither does my mom so I bought matching pjs for Julia and Caleb to wear at the reunion. They looked too cute. She is one month and one day older than him and much more mobile but he seems to tower over her. At one point, I put him on his tummy and he started to roll over. He got most of the way over then Julia helped him get all the way turned over as she grabbed his pjs and pulled him on over. :)

Today is Aaron's first Father's Day so I'll take this opportunity to say what a great dad he is. And a great hubby too. For having no background in babysitting or childcare, he really is a natural with this 'dad' stuff. Caleb wore his "My Dad Rules" onesie today so that the world would know how wonderful his dad is. If I had a onesie that said "My Husband Rules", I would have worn it too. Here's a cute shot of Caleb napping shortly before we checked out of the hotel. Is it me or does he look like a giant?


I think I have mentioned before that I thought the drooling would slow down after his first two teeth came in. But apparently there is good reason that it has still been coming because his third tooth is pretty much here. As is the case with all exceptional children, he is not following the 'normal' tooth progression; this third one is coming in right of center on the bottom. When he's in a good mood, I'll try to snap a picture of it. Here's a picture from earlier this week of his drool-covered shirt and face. You'd think he was trying to tell us another tooth was on the way...duh.

OK, sorry for the forever-long post. I'll stop now. Have a great week!!

Pageant Week (week 27 for Caleb)

WE SURVIVED THE WEEK!!!

Caleb was a total and complete angel all week long. What a trooper he was- from being up at ORU all day to attending some of the evening prelim competitions to staying with babysitters several nights in a row. Of course, everyone he met up at the Mabee Center thought he was adorable (duh!). I don't have tons of pictures from the week but several people took different ones that hopefully I'll get in the future and be able to post. A big thanks to our friends Laura and Nick for watching Caleb so much this week; hopefully it was good practice for them in the future (or good birth control!!). Thanks also to Mom and Morgan for helping with Caleb, to Dad for being a wonderful judges' host, and to Aaron for being willing to do anything he could to make this week run smoothly.

The big news of the week is that "my" girls did awesome- Megan won rookie talent on her night, Damaris won rookie and overall talent on her night. Then last night, both made the Top 10 and Damaris went on to be named 4th runner up. I certainly can't take much of the credit but was so very very proud of them. Hopefully I'll get a few pictures of me with the girls to post but in the meantime you can go to www.missoklahoma.org to see pictures of the events.

Here is a picture of Caleb from Tuesday night's prelim. It was the only Miss prelim he went to and he was really well behaved, especially considering it started around his bedtime. He fought sleep the whole evening, like he was going to miss something exciting and loved the sparkly dresses and the fun images on the video screens. The opening number music was so loud that we covered his ears and even used earplugs. He really had a good time, even though he looks a little unhappy in this picture.

The teen pageant went off without a hitch. We are very excited to have Jamie Butemeyer, Miss South OKC's teen, as our 2007 winner. Aaron has already updated the teen website so you can go to www.missteenoklahoma.org to see more. We have 7 weeks before Jamie leaves for the national pageant in Orlando- thankfully she is very well prepared so it will be busy but not impossible. Our pageant theme was "Spice It Up" and we did just that by secretly deciding to have a Top 12 instead of a Top 10 during our Finals. It was so fun to watch the reactions of the girls onstage and hear the collective gasp of the audience when the emcee made the announcement.

Needless to say, we are all totally exhausted. Caleb woke up this morning around 6:00 but thankfully went back to sleep after I fed him. This is from yesterday afternoon with even Lilah lounging on the couch. Caleb's hair was gelled up in honor of Kent, the pageant's producer, who really took a liking to Caleb over the week. We knew we would see him Saturday morning when we went to move our stuff out of the Mabee Center so we got it all spiked up. Ha!

Caleb also got to hang out with Miss America several times throughout the week. As I mentioned last Sunday, he got a special VIP badge. We had Lauren sign it so we could put it in his scrapbook, unless he eats and destroys it first :)

I have about 5 more loads of laundry to do and we are heading out of town later this week to go to family reunion in Kansas City. I am very excited because we are going a day early so Aaron and I can go to Worlds of Fun while Aunt Debbie watches Caleb. I haven't been on a roller coaster in forever and can't wait!!

Have a great week!

A 6 Month Birthday!!

Not much time to write this week so here's the Cliff's Notes version of Week 26 (6 months!!).

Caleb officially turned 6 months on Sunday. It was like he knew it was a big day- he woke up happy and playful and stayed that way all day. He was actually a pretty big ham all week, I think it's just the age/stage he's at right now.

He was being so silly playing with his tongue. The new advancement here is that if you stick your tongue out several times in a row, he'll study you then stick his out too. This was on Saturday, right before we met some friends at Tin Star (love it!) for lunch. As you can see in the pic, he was having a great hair day too.

This one is from the bath. Each night, I help stand him up as we transfer from the bath to the towel to dry off. He stands all the time but is especially proud of himself when he does it in the bath. We always use a second washcloth to dry off his face and hair. Somehow he ended up looking like was wearing a beret in these.


We bought the "big boy car seat" several weeks ago but just hadn't made the switch. Then the pediatrician commented that he was definitely too long and too heavy to be in the carrier any more. So Sunday's drive to church was the inaugural ride in the new car seat. What a big boy he is!

As I've written for several weeks now, this week is PAGEANT WEEK!! The first event of pageant week was a lunch on Sunday afternoon. Caleb was a charmer, he even had his own VIP Guest badge so he has full access to the Mabee Center this week- ha! He pooped out in line for food (Aunt Heidi is wonderful at putting him to sleep) so then he was passed over to Bob while Heidi ate. The picture is of Caleb, Bob, and Lauren. Not too shabby to have 2 pictures with Miss America by the time you're 6 months old, huh?

Understandably, this blog usually revolves around Caleb (like you guys would want to read about just Aaron and me?!?). But this picture was too hilarious to pass up. It was us heading out to Aaron's brother-in-law's 40th birthday party on Friday night. It was an 80s theme with appropriate dress required. How awesome do we look? The party was a blast with a great 80's cover band called the Spazmatics that play at the House of Blues in Las Vegas, but were here to play Tim's party. We were some of the more tame costumes of the night, believe it or not!

OK, heading to bed. Tomorrow is the day the Teen contestants move their stuff into the Mabee Center so we'll be going like gangbusters the rest of the week. I was actually in bed around 11:15 but Caleb woke up at 1:00ish. We had a little chat with him about how this week, of all weeks, it would be great if he could sleep through the night. We'll see if the pep talk works :)

Have a great week!!