More and More "Boy"

There are times when Caleb is very sweet and mild-mannered, even shy. But more and more often, he will turn into this boisterous, adventurous, and half-crazy little man. Not that there is anything wrong with it (in the appropriate time and place, of course) but I can't figure out if it's just something that happens to all little boys or if he learned it from other kids at school with older siblings. One such example happened last week when we went out to look at the lot.


Caleb had already taken a bath and brushed his teeth. Aaron was going to look at the plumbing progress and so we all loaded up, went through McDonald's for a hot fudge sundae, then went to the new house. Caleb was content for awhile just walking along the concrete from the footings but then discovered a big pile of dirt "Whoa dirt!!" He drove his trucks along the edge of the pile for a bit, then decided it was more fun to crawl on top of the pile, roll down the other side, and generally get filthy...in his pjs and with a sundae-sticky face now covered in sand. Thankfully our to-be-neighbor was out chatting with us and let us use his hose to spray Caleb down. Lesson learned: house first, bath later.


We have continued sorting and packing up unneeded things around the house. This does beg the question, "If you don't need it for the next few months, do you really need it at all?" We've been pretty good about choosing wisely between tossing/donating/packing up, if I do say so myself. I was way behind on putting away the clothes Caleb has outgrown so I tackled that over the weekend. Caleb was his usually helpful self, taking clothes out after I put them in and then getting into the storage bins. Not super productive, but very cute.


Part of packing up Caleb's old clothes meant going through bags of bigger clothes friends have given us. What a treasure trove of things that will fit this winter! Caleb's favorite find was a pair of Elmo slippers. Thankfully he can't get them on himself or I'd think he would wear them all the time.


Thursday Caleb and I got haircuts (as seen in pictures from later in the week) but Thursday morning I was combing banana out of his hair - don't ask - and thought it would be funny to put it in a ponytail. I showed Caleb, thinking he'd hate it and pull it right out. Instead he wore it around the house until it fell out then came back with the elastic and asked for me to do it "again". HA!


We went swimming at our friend Leslie's pool with some Sunday School girls and their kiddos this week. It was tons of fun and Caleb was a regular little water baby. It makes me wish that we had found time for lessons this summer, though I did hear that a gym in town does them year round and you don't have to be a member. Since I am turning into more and more of a whale, I might let Aaron take on that fun task with Caleb. They have several horses at Leslie's house so Caleb was totally enamored with them, until they came up to the fence and tried to lick him. Thanks Leslie (and Aidan) for inviting us over!

Here's Caleb wearing Aaron's sunglasses. What a big boy!


And here's Mr. Intellectual Aristocrat enjoying Caillou (ky-you) on TV. This pose totally cracks me up. Aaron never sits like this so maybe he picked it up from my dad or something?? Caillou is Caleb's favorite TV show. It comes on Sprout and PBS and he LOVES it. He has recently figured out how to turn on the TV in our bedroom and will sit down and ask for "ky ky" until you turn on one of the several that we have on DVR.


Caleb's class at Riverfield has been learning several yoga poses over the last few months. The only one I recognize when he does it at home is the "downward dog". He does it very well and always says "down dog" when he does it then stand back up and says "yeah!". Funny fella. Please disregard the Chuck Norris-like outfit; it is a random tank and pants that I paired together and called pjs.


We have a new roof on the current house so that's another checked-off item on our "to do" list. The new house has below ground plumbing in place and hopefully some progress will be made this week.

Sunday was Miss OK's Outstanding Teen Alicia Clifton's send off party. For those not in the pageant realm, it's a gathering of family and pageant people where the titleholder models the clothes she'll wear at national competition, answers questions from the crowd, etc. And there are always these yummy sugar cookies with cute pink crowns on them. Alicia heads to Orlando this week to begin rehearsals and the crew that will cheer her on (including me) leaves next week. Yippee!!

Several people have inquired about the name-choosing for baby girl Walton. Nothing yet, and we really haven't talked about it much. However, Aaron has threatened to send out a mass email to friends and family saying we've chosen "Wanda". So if you get that, please disregard. Nothing against the Wandas of the world, it's just not on my Top 10 list. We have started at least looking at bedding, etc. Bed, Bath, and Beyond, which I love, now carries baby things (at least on the internet - don't know about in store) so I've been perusing things online tonight.

Have a great week!

The First of Many...

Our excitement for last week happened on Friday night at Lowe's and we don't have pictures or video to show for it.

As shown in last week's blog, Caleb is very into racing these days. He was racing around Lowe's and we made the comment that we're surprised he hadn't bitten it yet. (Note to other parents: NEVER verbalize something like this... you doom yourself!) So, sure enough he goes running down the aisle and falls to his knees, then elbows, and topples forward on his head because of his momentum. We hurry over to pick him up and he is bleeding! Now, I will say that we stayed very calm (I was more calm the Aaron, FYI) but rushed him to the bathroom to get cleaned up. This was another interesting discovery - do you go in the men's or women's bathroom? We chose men's and, conveniently, it was empty. Thankfully, the bleeding stopped quickly and was coming from his nose, which, in my expert opinion, is better than his mouth, tongue, teeth, or lips. The nice guy from customer service followed us in the bathroom to make sure Caleb was going to be OK and got us his cold can of soda from the break room to put on his nose.

Everything pretty much paled in comparison after that, but it was a good week. I did go to a wedding with a totally inebriated groomsman, which was entertaining and mortifying. We also went to our Sunday School class Progressive Dinner. It is a pain to coordinate but is always a good time.

Here are a few fun pics from last week.

Caleb having fun in the sprinkler. He doesn't get that it is doesn't sting so badly when you're not so close to the spicket.


Caleb stuck behind the end table. He looks like he is having fun but, based on a video that's too dark to post, he really was stuck and got pretty frustrated.


Caleb having fun with my boxing gloves. He has really enjoyed some of the interesting things we've uncovered as we sort and pack up this house.


And, to tide you over until next week, here are two videos.

The first is of Caleb trying to figure out what to do with the gloves. His first guess is that they were a hat, so we showed him what they really were, but he ended up back with the hat/gloves.


The second is a short one of Caleb in his favorite chair, anticipating the start of Cars. He LOVES this movie and has started saying "Ca-chow" (what Lightening McQueen says in the movie) whenever you mention Cars.

It's hard to believe but I am already halfway through this pregnancy. Actually, more than halfway since I'll have a C-section at 39 weeks. We don't have a name yet and haven't really done any shopping as far as nursery bedding, clothes, or anything else. I am sure it will all come together just fine.

Have a great week!

Just Another Summer Week

To you loyal readers that used to check the blog every Monday morning that turned into Tuesday morning then the occasional Wednesday morning, I sincerely apologize. I have no excuse other than I've been busy doing other things. I really feel like I have to get back on track or I'll be really bad about blogging when Baby #2 arrives. So here goes...

Caleb spent most of last week under the weather. Tuesday evening his tummy was a little grumbly. We found out why all day Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, etc. as we went through an entire Sam's-sized box of diapers. He finally rounded the bend Sunday afternoon, a blessing because Aaron and I both really needed to be at work on Monday morning. He never ran a fever and never really had loss of appetite, just a lot of funky diapers. In additional to bowel issues, he started to break out with these spots on his back and legs. And, like any good mom, I circled them when I first noticed them so that I could monitor whether or not they were growing in number or in size. (They did neither.)


Over the weekend we relocated a plant that was running out of room in its old pot. Caleb was very eager to help in the process, as you can see.

Because of the constant diaper changing, the close eye on the spots, and the Oklahoma heat, Caleb spent a lot of last week in just his diaper. Here is a cute picture that shows Caleb driving his car on an unsuspecting (and unappreciative) Lilah. Note: that is dried ketchup from lunch on his chest. We were on our way to the changing table then down for a nap, so I hadn't fought the "clean up" fight yet.

We have continued working on our house and met with the listing agent on Sunday. He was complimentary of the house and of the cleaning, sorting, updating work we've done so far. We will probably list mid-September or early October so we have more time for our "fun" weekend projects. Caleb really enjoyed playing in, on, and around the box that a new shelving unit arrived in.


There is some forward progress on the lot. The footings have been poured and the house has been formed. And in the next week - 10 days the plumbers and slab-layers should be out there. We shall see.

Here is a funny picture of Caleb from a few weeks ago at school. The teachers swear he was eating crackers but it sure looks likes he is enjoying a nice bowl of mud.


Here are two funny videos of Caleb's latest entertainment. He loves to race and will let you know by emphatically saying "Race" or "Mark" (as in "On your mark").

The other is Caleb and me singing Jesus Loves Me. However, his true colors show through when he becomes more interested in cheesin' for the camera than singing about Jesus. Ha!

That's it from here. Try to stay cool in this hot hot weather and have a good rest of the week!

Doesn't Feel Like A Weekend When You're Working The Whole Time

We've had several friends move recently and we were discussing the irony of how you fix up your house to sell it and move without really enjoying the benefits of fixing it up for yourself. Hmmm. But we are moving forward (for ourselves and/or the eventual new owners of our home) and making progress on our projects.

Aaron has painted the guest bath and our office. We've cleaned out and sorted through lots of stuff, taking lots to our new climate controlled storage unit. Why climate controlled, you may ask? Aaron would try to tell you it's for the candles and pictures we're storing there but the majority of the space is for his 23 (!!!) boxes of Sports Illustrateds and countless other boxes and binders of baseball and basketball cards. These precious mementos cannot be subjected to the cruel Oklahoma heat in our attic. I like to give him a hard time but it is amazing how much bigger closets look when they aren't filled to the brim with stuff. I put away all my winter clothes and the summer clothes I no longer fit into since I won't be needing them until after we move. Aaron got out my bin of maternity clothes from the attic but I haven't gotten into it yet (thank goodness for the flowy, peasant-style top that's so popular right now).

Perhaps most different has been the removal of our piano to it's temporary home (thanks BJ and Lisa!). Despite what pictures posted in past blogs may lead you to believe, we don't use it daily and it was taking up a LOT of space in the living room. So it is hanging out in South Tulsa for a few months in an effort to make our living room look large and open.

OK, enough typing and on to the pictures. My parents retrieved our camera over 4th of July weekend in KC so we finally have some pics. Some are from a month or more ago but they are too cute not to post. They should be from most to least recent, not that it matters much.

Mr. Adventurous Climbs the Ladder


Peek-a-Boo, Lilah


New TV-Watching Seat


Naked on the Slide


Naked Lawn Boy (he'll love me for this some day)


Balls Go Splash (not naked)


Really Close Up


Smiling in KC


Sharing (or attempting to) with Cousin Ada


And here are two videos. Aaron must have taken this first one as I've never seen it before. The funny thing is that there's probably 3 minutes worth of video of Caleb just doing this over and over, trying to figure out how things work.


The other is Caleb when we first got the Elmo sprinkler. He was not too sure about it. Now he runs straight for it any time he's in the backyard, regardless of if he's fully dressed or not. He's done the same with the sprinkler system that's been on in the yard a few mornings when we've walked Aaron out to his car to say goodbye. No concept of "hey, I'm in my pajamas which means I am not prepared for water play" for Caleb :)


Have a great week!

Fun, Food, Friends, Fireworks

Isn't this time of year fun? Yes, it's a million degrees in the shade and there's not really any good TV on unless you're into reality shows or Olympic trials (yeah!!) but I have always liked cooking out with friends, eating ice cream, and watching fireworks. In Middle and High School, my group of friends always went to our friend Heather's house out east of town to swim and watch the guys almost set themselves on fire on the street behind her house. Oh the good ol' days.

The week leading up to the 4th was uneventful- good school week for Caleb and work week for us. We've been working on a "must do to the house before we put it on the market" list and began tackling some of those projects. Aaron has been watching Design to Sell on HGTV for a week and now knows everything about what to update in your house to sell it quickly. (Note slight sarcasm.) Here's a picture of Caleb 'helping' Aaron as he takes the screws out of the living room wall where we used to have a great big mirror.


We also bought quite a bit of paint for the house. We both really like the new color (it's one we used in Caleb's room) but also they discontinued our original paint and have not been able to match it so there's no way to touch up scuffs or scratches unless you repaint the entire room. And with an open floor plan like ours, painting a hallway turns into painting the entry, living, and other hallway. Lovely. I hid the paint cans behind the kitchen table and Caleb left them alone until tonight. Here's what Aaron found:

Back to our weekend...

On the 3rd, we went with some friends to Keifer, OK (151st west of Hwy 75 so not that far away) for a great fireworks display. Caleb was riled up and wiggling around his stroller waiting for it to begin and once it did, he was awestruck. I didn't think a picture would have turned out in the darkness but it was a priceless image. Eyes huge, mouth literally dropped to his chest, just watching. Even when I asked him, "Do you like it?" or "What do you think?", he just kept staring. Then when the whole thing was over he clapped and said "again". It was a great show with not a very big crowd, which was nice.

The next day, some other friends came over for dinner and playtime. Owen and Caleb played well together (much better than Caleb was with his friend Katy the previous week) and dinner was yummy - gotta love brisket from Rib Crib.

We headed out to see the flyover and fireworks at Jenks airport's 50th birthday celebration that we read about in the paper. Only problem was it was misprinted in the paper. The poor old security guy at the Jones Airport had to tell car after car that there were planes leaving from the airport to go flyover the Riverparks area and that there were going to be fireworks at the Riverwalk area but that no 50th birthday celebration was ever planned. Oops! So we traveled over to Riverwalk and waited over an hour for it to get dark then watched a less than stellar show. Owen and Caleb were tired and it wasn't really loud or bright enough to get their attention (though I will say we were quite a ways away, on the other side of the 97th St. bridge. So we left about 10 minutes into the show. Oh well.

When I was looking through pictures recently, I found that we have TONS of just Caleb but hardly any of Caleb with Aaron or me and even fewer of the three of us. Maybe its because we'll soon be a family of four, but I am really wanting to get some photos of Caleb with his parents (preferably before I am huge and swollen all over). So here's an attempt from over the weekend as we waited for our friends to arrive. Pardon Caleb's semi-trance...he was in the middle of watching Cars and was not thrilled to be interrupted.


No big progress on the house. I have determined I am not going to blog about what "should" happen in the near future with the house because it never works that way. I'll just wait until we make some steps forward then talk about it.

We received our first baby girl gift in the mail this week. My cousin (who has an adorable girl so she knows all about how to shop for pink) sent a super cute pink sweater and pant set with matching hat. Yippee! (And thanks, TT).

Not too many pics and way too many words but that's what you get this week. Have a great one!

Catching Up

Well, I am back. I would never have predicted that I would be a blog slacker. But, once I got out of the habit (plus leaving the camera in KC), it has been hard to get back in. But we borrowed my parents' camera so we are not devoid of pictures for this blog!!

Here are two pictures from our trip to KC several weekends ago. Already blogged about it but here's some photo proof. Caleb with his third cousins then our fam at my favorite Plaza restaurant.

I was getting something out of our hall closet the other day and had to move my 5 lb. weights to get to it. I turn around when I heard Caleb grunting and groaning and here's what I found. He thought it was very fun but we had to put it away before he dropped it on his toes or mine.

The next weekend we had a fun party for another Sunday School friend's son who was turning two. It was at the Mohawk Park Splash Pad and was a lot of fun. If you've not been out there, you should check it out. It took Caleb awhile to get comfortable with the water but then he LOVED it. One picture is of Caleb under the water rainbow and the other is of Caleb and Owen checking out the drainage system.

Last week we put up Caleb's little pool in the backyard. As I did last summer, I made sure this new pool was big enough to fit an adult raft. So Thursday I put Caleb down for nap and headed out to enjoy a new book and catch some sun. I had been out there about an hour when I start to get sleepy and I hear Caleb beginning to stir in the monitor so I think, "I can just rest for a sec then Caleb will wake me up". OVER NINETY MINUTES LATER, I wake up and am burnt to a crisp, but, as always happens, only in certain places. My face, chest, and legs from the knees up are bright red. But the truly special mark is the space on my growing belly between where the tankini top stopped and the swim bottoms started. Let's just say Aaron took to calling me the "red striped zebra" (I am sure he meant it in the sweetest way possible.). I will spare you and not show you any horrific pictures.

Friday, Caleb's best friend from school came over to play. Her mom is off for the summer so Katy's not been in class and Caleb has been missing her. The plan was to play in the park across the street or let them run around in the sprinkler but the weather did not cooperate. So we were inside, which was fine until Caleb turned in to Mr. Selfish right before our eyes. Poor Katy could not touch a single thing in the house without Caleb yelling "No" or "Me" (he doesn't know "mine" yet but I bet that's coming soon). At one point, he was sitting on his bouncy zebra, not because he was playing on it but purely so Katy couldn't, with a toy under each arm and was still yelling at her not to touch even one of the 200 Duplo blocks that were on the other side of the room. It wasn't all bad - here's one shot of them playing the piano together and another of them hugging (Caleb was fine with it until Katy went in for the kiss. I think his face is priceless!)

Caleb is getting very silly. We used the last tissue one day so he took the box to throw it in the trash. I never heard the box make it in the trashcan so I walked in to his room. And this is what I found:

In consumer news, beware of your Weight Watchers Smart Ones meals. I was heating up a yummy Fiesta Quesadilla last week and when I walked back in the kitchen, after being gone for 25 seconds, the microwave had flames inside it. We doused it with water then pulled out the food to see what happened. I have eaten these several times and have never seen a wire of any sort as part of the heating sleeve. I guess it sparked which lit the cardboard on fire as well as the paper towel I had under it. WOW! I emailed Weight Watchers about it but haven't heard back. Channel 2 works for you, here I come. I did throw away the quesadilla as it was getting stinky but I have photo evidence.

In house news, we are finally making some progress. The land has been cleared and is ready for footing, then plumbing, then foundation. Hopefully the weather will cooperate. We visited quite a few homes over the last two weekends as part of Tulsa's Parade of Homes and got some good ideas.

And we had another OB visit on Thursday. Everything continues to look great and Dr. Williamson confirmed his earlier suspicions and said we should definitely start "thinking pink"! Very exciting - lots of bows and ruffles on the horizon for the Waltons!

Well, that's the last two weeks in the world of the Waltons. Have a good one~

A Blog Without New Pictures

Well I was all set to make up for the lack of blogging the past few weeks then, sure enough, we left our camera in KC last weekend so we have no pictures available from the last few weeks! SORRY!!!

So this will be a boring post with just my witty comments to entertain you.

WE SURVIVED PAGEANT WEEK!!! I know people have various opinions about pageants but, whatever your stance, it takes a heck of a lot of effort to put this whole thing together. And, as would totally be the case, Caleb was still under the weather and was not well enough to go to school (we actually sent him one morning but I got a call while at the Mabee Center that I needed to come get him) so then we were really scrambling for babysitters. By the end of the week, he was crying when the doorbell rung because he knew it was another sitter coming and Mom and Dad were leaving. I think there were 6 or 7 different babysitters throughout pageant week- thanks to each of you!!!

Our teen pageant winner is an awesome girl. She is very smart and super talented. She is a world champion tap dancer and holds a Guinness book record for most consecutive pirouettes. Here's a clip from a few years ago that the news did on Alicia. If you want to see more, feel free to google or search youtube for Alicia Clifton.



Last week we just worked to get back to normal- lots of sleeping, laundry, cleaning, etc. Then Saturday we went to Kansas City to celebrate my Aunt Debbie's retirement from teaching elementary school for nearly 20 years. Lots of family came so it was good to see them and catch up. Plus we got to eat at my fave KC restaurant, Baja 600, which is on the Plaza. YUM!

Caleb is talking up a storm. In fact, one of his teachers was asked what words could Caleb say and her response was, "What words can't Caleb say?!?" He is continuing to form his own opinion about what he would and would not like to do (we are getting a lot of "No"). Oh well!

Our first "child" Samson has injured himself somehow. My guess is that he jumped off the bed and landed funny but, however it happened, he has been diagnosed with a herniated disk in his back and is on anti-inflammatories and pain killers for the next 7-10 days and we have to keep him in his kennel except to feed him and let him go outside. We are hoping this heals him as we would rather avoid a costly and dangerous back surgery. As Caleb says, "See-see (Samson) sad". Here's a cute photo from several Christmases ago. Sam is with Aaron.


OK, as an apology to you faithful blog-readers (who don't comment nearly as often as Aaron would like, by the way), I have some exciting news for you. Several of you may have heard this through the grapevine but...


Yep, Caleb is going to be a big brother!!!!! We have known for quite awhile and told our families on Mother's Day but I haven't told my work yet (I am going to tomorrow so if you know anyone at Riverfield, or if you are from Riverfield...SHHHH!!) so I hadn't posted it on here. I am due Dec. 12th but will schedule a C-Section for the week before. So pretty much this baby and Caleb will be two years and a few days apart. Now you know why we've really been anxious to get our new house going :)

So that's the scoop from the Walton house. Hope everyone has been doing well and enjoying their summer. Have a great week!