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!