Bye Bye, Grandma and Grandpa

Last week was a run-of-the-mill-week for the most part. School was good, my birthday was uneventful (not in a bad way, just busy with work and a parenting seminar that evening), Aaron's work was OK, etc. etc. Caleb has been having a few allergy issues but who in Oklahoma isn't these days?!?


This pic is pretty typical of Caleb these days - the "who me?" pose when he's been caught with something not meant for him. In this case, it was his Dad's mouse and wrist rest from the computer. So far, he's not found anything dangerous or gross as he gets into things.



We did a little spring shopping this week and it was quite warm when we got home from running errands on Thursday. I slipped on a pair of Caleb's new shorts to discover that, though he is off the charts for his height, he must be long-waisted because the shorts looked more like capris :) When this happens with pants, you can just roll them up or put a temporary hem, but what are you supposed to do with shorts?



On Friday, we got up and began coloring a special project. We made several notes for Grandma and G-Dad (my parents) to take on their missions trips. Mom is in Azerbaijan and Dad is in Monterrey, Mexico. They return Saturday and the following Monday, respectively. I am sure they would covet your prayers for safe and effective trips. Later on Friday we met up with Mom for a bite of lunch and gave her the notes, making her promise not to peek.



Friday night I worked part of the sleepover at Riverfield, making a little cash and, since Caleb was up at school too, giving Aaron a night off.


Good thing too because Caleb and his Dad had lots of quality time together on Saturday while I was at Miss OK/Teen OK Contestants' Day. To me, this always signals the 'insanity' that is countdown to pageant week in June. It is so much fun but TONS of work. This year, our 31 teen contestants were able to perform their talents too (in the past, we've just had time for the Miss contestants). Let me tell you that these are some of the most talented 13-17 year olds I've seen. If you are looking for a good show, mark June 5-7 on your calendar now.

Sunday was church, a Sunday School baby shower, then Sunday School leadership meeting so I don't feel like I got much of a weekend. Here's a funny photo of Caleb really enjoying a leftover cupcake from the shower.


OK, one more photo of my precious boy. This one was taken the week before Easter at Gilcrease Museum. My friend Alissa is raising money for a mission trip our Sunday School class is going on by donating her photo session fees to the trip. I've not seen them all but she did send a couple for me to enjoy. I think this is my fave so far.


Tomorrow we should close on our lot and we have a second meeting with the architect on Wednesday. Here goes nothin'...

Have a great week!

Easter Fun

Since people would probably rather see pics of our adorable son instead of reading all my wordy write-ups, I will try to keep this short, with just a caption to correspond with the following photos.



Caleb is beginning to really enjoy the park across the street. He loves the quack-quack.



Ever since we did the cry-it-out, sleep-through-the-night thing (it's worked every night with NO waking...knock on wood), he has become very attached to his blanket. Usually just when he's sleepy, though sometimes when he walks in his room and sees it in his crib.


Here's a video of Caleb preparing to eat:



Caleb got kinda quiet in his room the other day. I was able to sneak in with the camera to capture this moment.



The same day, I was drying my hair (I promise he's not really unsupervised, he's noisy enough that you pretty much know where he is and what he 's up to) when I heard a "thunk" against the wall. I walk in the living room to see Caleb inside his toy box.

Friday we joined my mom and sister at In the Raw. It was Caleb's first experience with sushi...not a big fan, but he did like the edamame and the itr salad.

He was a big helper on Saturday as I prepared the potato casserole for Easter dinner. He really got into smooshing the cornflakes for the topping.

All decked out for Easter Sunday at church.

He didn't really grasp the concept of looking through his whole Easter basket. Nevermind the Thomas the Tank Engine book and DVD, he went straight for the box of raisins.

Egg hunting was a process. He would find an egg, shake it to see if there was anything inside, then ask for help to open it so he could eat whatever goodies were in there RIGHT THEN.

This video shows Caleb discovering another egg, with a quick "please" in sign language", and snacking on the goldfish and M&Ms.


It was another great week and weekend, with fun times spent with Aunt Mo (who was on Spring Break) and Grandma and Grandpa Walton (who where in town for Easter).

Thanks to my family for a great Sunday, complete with mimosas (is that OK on Easter??), early b-day presents, and a 1/2 b-day 1/2 Easter cake. I guess if you have to share your celebration with anyone, splitting time with Jesus isn't too bad :)

I share my b-day with my good friend Heidi. We are made of the same fabric and are just a few years apart from being sisters. Happy birthday, friend!

Have a great week, everyone!

PS- Our 10 year HS reunion date has been set. Known anyone that graduated from BA in '98? Pass the link on the side column on to them!

All About the Hair

Fairly uneventful week- thankfully!! Caleb made it through all three days of school happy and healthy. I am convinced that there is a direct correlation between how dirty he is when I pick him up and how much fun he had that day. The weather was nice enough that his class played outside quite a bit so he definitely "smelled like an outside kid", which was my mom's sweet way of telling us we were stinky when we were growing up.

Thursday was Caleb's 15 month checkup. He is over 97% (as high as the chart will compute) for height and head circumference and 71% for the weight. Aaron is thinking we might need to get out the protein shakes or Krispy Kremes to pack a few pounds on him :) He also got two shots but was a trooper. We went from the pediatrician's office to a haircut for Caleb with a few errands in between. I don't know if he was tired, hungry, or if the Tylenol from his shots was wearing off but he was not his usual happy-go-lucky haircut boy this time. It still looks cute and Michelle was so sweet to share her banana with Caleb in an attempt to keep him happy. Here's a shot of my spruced-up boy.

Friday morning, I left early to head to OKC then onto Dallas with my friend Mandy for a little R&R or, actually, S&S (spa and shopping). It was a great time of chatting, eating, laughing, and catching up. When Mandy sends me the pics, I'll post one of us in these really great aprons we treated ourselves to.

Aaron watched Caleb most of the weekend, except for during the workday Friday, when Grandma filled in. The boys had a fun time together, including dinner and time with our semi-famous friend, Nick, who is on the upcoming Bravo series, Step It Up and Dance. He was in town teaching at a Tremaine (sp?) Dance event. Caleb loved watching the instructors' performance on Sunday afternoon; Aaron said he was clapping like crazy.

Caleb is really getting in to bathtime these days...with one exception, he does not like it when I style his hair in funny ways. You can't really tell in this picture but he was very fussy about looking in the mirror and seeing something not-normal.

This week is Spring Break at school but I still work (love being "administration"). It is very low key and casual, so I was able to meet Aaron and our builder at the architect's office today. Yep, we signed a contract on the lot and will close at the end of the month!! It is very exciting...and nerve-wracking, stressful, etc. As most of you know, Aaron and I are both quite opinionated and stubborn so this house-building process will certainly be a lesson in cooperation, patience, and sweet spirited-ness.

Since I will probably not post again until next Monday, HAPPY EASTER to everyone!!

Believe it or not we are finally well (knock on wood)!! Caleb enjoyed his first full day back at school today. His teachers and friends were thrilled that he was back too.

Last week was yet another adventure in juggling schedules to help Caleb get well outside of school and let me work most of Mon-Wed. A big shout-out to Grandma and Grandpa who were indispensable these last three weeks!!

Caleb was really feeling well enough last week that we had lots of fun around the house. The pic at the top of the page is of Caleb modeling his new hat. The dogs' heartworm medicine arrived in the box and, once empty, Caleb decided it was the newest fashion. He was quite proud...until he bonked into the corner of the desk because he couldn't see where he was going.

My highlight of the week was definitely this next video. Caleb loves to get in his bathroom and find the travel-size bottles of body wash and shampoo. On this particular day, he brought them with him to the changing table where he proceeded to crash them into each other. If you've ever seen Billy Madison (one of my Top 5 favorite movies), you know where this is going.


Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing - Photo Books

If that was the high point of the week, the trying part was on Friday night. Aaron was working late and Caleb was in bed. After about an hour of being asleep, he woke up and started crying, something that has become a norm these past few weeks because he's woken up in a sweat due to his fevers. He had been fever-free all day and I was busy cleaning the bathroom so I decided I'd just let him cry it out. The guy has some will power because he cried it out for almost an hour before finally falling back asleep. (Aaron would have definitely caved in if he would have been here). He woke once in the middle of the night and cried for just a bit. Every night since (knock on wood again), he's either slept through or stirred just for awhile and then gone back down. Not to say that there won't be some really rough night in the future but if we'd have known it would have been this painless, we would have done this a long time ago. I will admit that while I enjoy the space in bed, I do miss snuggling with the little fella in the mornings.

On Thursday, Caleb was "helping" me tidy up the house and pulled my Bible off my nightstand. He was very intrigued by it and started flipping through the pages. When I began singing "The B-I-B-L-E" he tried to sing along, so of course I had to grab the camera:


Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing - Photo Books

Caleb is still in LOVE with books. He is also growing more and more content to entertain himself as he investigates how things work. Over the weekend, he was playing with his toys in the living room and it got quiet. We snuck in to see him sitting in his little chair, reading his book. What a big boy!!

Saturday night was Riverfield's annual auction. It was a lot of fun and we raised some serious $$ for the school. For the record, I have gone by myself the last two years and not spent a dime. This year Aaron comes with and now we are the proud owners of several housewares items, a facial gift certificate, and a 7 night stay at a condo in Telluride, CO which we split with a co-worker and his wife. It's for a great cause, right?!?

The other news is that we have made an offer on a lot in Jenks. We looked at all corners of the Tulsa area but really liked where we are, so if this all pans out, we'll be building about a mile and 1/2 southeast of here. Will keep you posted for sure as things develop.

Have a great and healthy week!!

15 Months Continued

(I just realized that this looks like he's working on a 'job', but he's not)

So we are still dealing with the flu at our casa. Thankfully, Aaron and I have stayed mostly healthy (little bit of allergy and sore throat issues but that's it). Aaron took off work today and took Caleb back in to see the doctor who said it's still just the flu and it is on its way out. In our opinion, it can't get out soon enough!!

Here are a few fun pictures from last week.

It was nice enough one afternoon that we were able to use the wagon Caleb received for Christmas to go on a walk through the neighborhood. We packed it up with lots of fun toys and, of course, a snack for the road. Caleb thoroughly enjoyed himself, but I am going to have our master engineer (Aaron) take a look to see if the wheels are aligned because I fought that silly wagon for control the whole way.

What would March be without that wonderful springtime tradition...Girl Scout cookies!! Ours arrived last week and Caleb was able to savor his first-ever bites of Thin Mint. He kept calling it a cracker but I had to explain how this was a COOKIE, and one of the best cookies ever made.

As you can imagine, even though he was in pretty good spirits, we did a lot of resting last week. Here's a cute picture of the two of us conked out.

And, if a picture is worth a thousand words, here's the one that sums up our last 3+ weeks. If your 15 month old knows how to take his own temperature, he's been under the weather for way too long ;)


On another warm day, we spent quite a bit of time playing in the backyard. Initially, Caleb was unsure about walking in the tall crunchy grass but eventually figured it out and enjoyed following the dogs around the yard and picking up then throwing the baseball.

That's it for last week. Have a good one~

You've Got to be Kidding Me (15 months old too)

For some of you this is old news, but after I posted my "finally healthy" blog last week, Caleb went to school on Monday only to leave in the afternoon with a fever. We went to his pediatrician who tested him for flu and the test came back positive. So, for a week now we've been battling that. The good thing is that besides his fever coming back every time the Motrin or Tylenol wears off, he hasn't been feeling badly (also frustrating b/c we are stuck at home since he's considered still contagious until he's fever free for 24 hours).

Anywho...more pics and stories tomorrow. Just wanted to give a heads up to those who worry when I don't get around to posting on Sundays or Mondays :)