Growin' Up

Maybe it's because Caleb's birthday is just around the corner but I am realizing that he is definitely not a little boy anymore. It seems like his vocabulary and his ability to put sentences together has just blossomed over the last few weeks. His independence is growing too, which has its benefits and drawbacks :) I think my favorite new thing he says is when he walks into a room, looks at you and says, "Mama, what doing?". It just cracks me up. This, combined with "Mama, what that?" and "Mama, help you" are all indicators that he is really almost two years old :( and that I will be answering a lot of questions from here on out (at least we haven't started the "Why?" yet!)


After my doctor's appointment last week, we ate an early lunch at Braum's. All the highchairs were nasty or broken...shocking, I know, and it confirmed my theory that you're better off driving through at Braum's than walking in and seeing how dirty it always is... so Caleb sat in the booth next to Dada without even a booster seat. He did a great job, did not squirm or anything.


Of course, as soon as I brag on him doing such a great job, he'll have a total breakdown next time we try it. That seems to be my curse lately. Like last week when I wrote about what a great job he's been doing with falling asleep in his bed, etc. From then on, we've had the toughest time getting him to bed. Well, actually, he's fine with the bed but then he will just hang out there and flop around, ask for milk, look for toys, want a book, excuse, excuse, excuse for 30+ minutes until he finally passes out. One night in particular he finally scooted himself out of bed and stood at the door, throwing a fit to see Aaron. Even after he found Aaron, he still would not calm down. I let him boo-hoo at the foot of our bed while I put laundry away and the next time I walked in, here's what I found:



Last Friday was Visiting Day at Riverfield. Mom, Caleb, and I went walking around school and worked on some fun projects in Caleb's class then we all walked over to the high school for a program/performance. Caleb's class had a very important part that starred their favorite barnyard friend, Billy Ray. The toddlers wore shirts that said "I love Billy Ray" and Billy Ray's shirt said "I love Toddlers". It was pretty funny to see a goat on a leash be dragged through the gym with Pre-School through High School parents and their families watching, while 20+ two year-olds try to feed Billy Ray some stale bread cubes. Thankfully Aaron had arrived at that point so he was able to help corral Caleb.



I think I mentioned last week that Caleb is all about the Christmas songs. His new requests are "Santa Baby" and Bing Crosby's "It's a Marshmallow World in the Winter" but he still loves his "Jingle Bells". Evidently he and Aaron were trying to open up my iTunes to play it last weekend.



Quick pic of how the Snoogle is not just for pregnant women or their lounging toddlers (as in the picture I posted last week of Caleb) but is apparently very comfy for dogs too.


OK, one more video. You'll have to pardon the fact that it is sideways. I shot it that way and it's not worth the time/effort to take it into a whole other program just to rotate it because the audio is really what's awesome about the clip. Last night, I decided to beat grocery traffic and head to Walmart around 9pm while Aaron put Caleb to bed. Here's what I heard in the monitor when I came home:

(That's my hubby, not my son, snoring like there's no tomorrow)

Several people have asked how the house-selling is going. We showed it 4 times last week, including twice to the same guy. Hopefully these will turn into offers and a contract as I am not really sure how we will manage to have a "show-ready" house when Miss Harper (and her bouncy seat, pack-n-play, swing, boppy, etc.) make their debut. It's tempting to stress out about it but this whole situation is truly out of my control so what's the point, right?

We were killing time last week while our house was being shown and ended up buying Caleb 4 new Cars (the movie) cars from Target. He was very excited to hold them in their little plastic box and cooperated very nicely by handing over the box to the cashier who needed to make it go "beep-beep" so we could take them home (think we've had a few breakdowns in the line when we have to hand over something we don't want to?!?!). On our way out, he looked up at us, sighed a big sigh, and said, "I so happy!!". Melted our hearts and made us laugh out loud. Of course, he's now added it to his repertoire since it got such a great response the first time :)

Hope that each of you has a wonderful Thanksgiving! Be safe and eat lots!!

Two Busy Weeks But Nothing Exciting...

We've been pretty busy and yet, there is nothing super-exciting to report.

The transition to the "big boy bed" is going well. It's really just his crib converted into a toddler bed. The only problem is that the rail doesn't leave much room for him to get in our out on his own. This is a great thing when he stirs in the early morning or middle of the night as he doesn't get out but frustrates him when he tries to crawl in. Our luck may change but, for now, he does really well with getting into bed, saying prayers, and snuggling with his blankets to fall asleep. I truly thought this would be a hard transition for him, since he had pretty much been rocked/held until he fell asleep every day of his life. Here's a cute picture of him after bath time.

I broke out the Christmas music and Caleb loves Jingle Bells, especially this version that starts with a horse whinny-ing in the background. We've taken numerous trips to Home Depot and Lowe's in our light fixture search and Caleb is fascinated by all the pre-lit trees and the big blowup yard decor.

We are making progress on the house. Staining of cabinets and hopefully installation of counter tops this week. With the time change it is very difficult to get out there when its still light enough to take pictures. In fact, Aaron usually goes by himself on his way home from work and has to use a flashlight. I think Caleb realizes it is actually a house...our house. He is learning his way around and loves to show us where his bathtub is and where Baby Harper's (or Harp-arp as he sometimes says) room is. And, of course, he loves going up the stairs. We should just have the trim guy build in a baby gate at the top and bottom.

Here's a sweet picture of Caleb just hanging out in our bed. He is getting better at saying "cheese" for the camera.

Two weekends ago was our Covenant women's retreat. It was a great time with lots of learning and fun fellowship. We stayed out at Stone Creek Bed and Breakfast in east Broken Arrow, which was awesome. The cabin was cozy, even if it did have a few too many taxidermy animals in it, and the clubhouse was great. I very much recommend it for any sort of church or family gathering.

While I was away, Caleb and Aaron had a great time. I left the camera at home, hoping there would be lots of great photos from their adventures. There weren't but there was this funny video. As you can tell, Caleb has turned into somewhat of a mimic. Very cute until he here's you say, "Good Lord" when someone almost hits your car in the parking lot- ha!


Last night was a Covenant hayride and bonfire out at a class member's house. The family was super hospitable to open their home and property to 60+ adults and kiddos. It is fun to watch Caleb and this set of friends really start to play together instead of just next to each other. Here's Caleb, Owen, and Aidan playing the drum and singing their ABCs together.

Here's another video clip. I can't ever remember what I've blogged about before or not but Caleb will, out of nowhere, pretend to pick up a cookie and either eat it or share it with you. It started in the bathtub but now it happens anywhere. I think it is because the paw of the dog's foot on the spout cover looks like a chocolate chip cookie? Who knows!

This Friday is the opening of Twilight the movie. And you better believe there's a group of us that have already bought our tickets through Fandango and will be there for the 4:05pm showing, like a bunch of high schoolers. Yeah!!! I am so excited but hope that it lives up to how great the book is.

Congrats to my friend KIMMMMM and her family, who welcomed their son into the world last week. He is such a cutie; I think he looks a lot like his big sister. Hope you guys head this way over the holidays!!!

In the total bummer category, my friend Heather texted me last night that there was a special sale on a certain Britax car seat at Target.com. - $42.99 for a seat that is regularly around $260. So, with my mom's help because we were in the car on the way home from the bonfire, we ordered 3, then ordered another when we got home. I passed the info along to all sorts of friends who, in total, ordered at least 15 between them. Aaron thought it was too good to be true, even when our purchases went through and we were sent a confirmation email. Well, we all got cancellation emails today. I am consulting with our friend Rob, who is an attorney, and might have him write a strongly worded letter because I would think they would have to (or at least should feel obligated to) honor the discounted price.

I think that's it for our not-so-exciting two weeks. We did schedule our C Section for early morning on Dec. 9th. Now we'll just see if Harper decides to wait patiently or not. Hmmm.

Have a great one!

Cute Little Monkey

Happy belated Halloween to everyone. It's actually one of my least favorite holidays- chalk it up to being an adult who is still intimidated by people in costumes/masks/etc. But I do love candy and cute kiddos in their costumes.

On Thursday, Mom and I took Caleb to Pumpkin Town. Caleb had a good time, though he refused to ride one of the ponies. He liked being close to them and patting them but made it through one terror-stricken trip around the circle all the horses were tied to. He had a blast picking out another "lil-lil pump-pun" and also a funny-looking gourd for Baby Girl. Now every time he pats my tummy he says, "Hi Baby Girl. Gourd??" even if we are at church and the gourd is nowhere to be found.

Here are the school pics I promised you last week (at least, I think that's when I promised them). Despite the slight drool stains around his neck band, his individual one is pretty cute. And it certainly isn't every school where your kid has a llama and two donkeys in the background. I pared down the group photo but wanted to show how silly Caleb was - who knows what he was laughing about, especially considering that most of the other friends from his class were barely managing a smile. By the way, his shirt said "Voted Best Dressed" on the little blue ribbon you can't really see. Still a cute pic but you don't get the funny part of the shirt since you can't see it.

On Friday we got up and put on the monkey costume for the first time in over a month. Call me silly, but I totally forgot about reintroducing it several times after the initial try-on. Caleb was not thrilled about the top, especially the hat. I convinced myself it was because it was quite toasty in his Old Navy performance fleece costume (which would be perfect for any other part of the country or even Oklahoma in any other year). He eventually settled down to do some puzzle-working in his closet. Who knew monkeys were so bright?

Friday night we met friends up at Asbury for the Fall Festival. Caleb had a great time with his friends and spent most of the evening watching the remote control race cars. We also stopped by the photo booth and caught our little monkey on camera. Good thing they take 4 pics- it took him that long to grasp the concept of look at the screen, not mama. What a good "cheese" in the last picture.

Caleb and Owen watching the cars:


Caleb behind the bean bag toss, looking out the lion's mouth. I don't know if Aaron told him to be sad or if he was just making that perfect "help I'm stuck in the lion's jaws" face.


Caleb has been all about singing lately. He is starting to come home with new songs from school. A big benefit of working where your son attends school - you can ask for interpretation of the "words" and "melodies" that your two year-old is coming home with. His very favorite this week is Bringing Home A Baby Bumble Bee. He was in love with Row Row Row Your Boat but has now moved on, as shown in this video.


Same sitting, same purpose - to catch Caleb on camera singing some tunes. This take quickly goes awry as Caleb finds fun facial orifices to discover. Then I get tickled, he starts laughing, and that's the end of that.


Thursday was a trip to the Baby Girl doctor, as Caleb calls it. Here's Mr. Independent enjoying his own chair in the waiting room.


Everything is looking good. Two weeks from now is 36 weeks and I'll start my every week appointments- can't believe it is so close. Several people had asked us if we'd heard an estimated weight. Call it morbid curiosity with regard for the lady that produced an 8 pound 15 ounce boy almost two years ago :) Dr. Williamson said that the average 34 week baby is between 4 1/2 and 5 pounds. However, based on ultrasound measurements, she is weighing in at just over 6 pounds already. Most babies gain between 1/2 and 1 pound per week from here on out - don't do the math, it will just make you hurt! Can we say "Thank God for a scheduled C Section!!"

OK, as a special bonus to all you loyal readers out there, we are FINALLY releasing our chosen name here on our blog before we tell anyone else (though we did send an email to our parents giving them a heads up to be sure to check out the new blog update). So, show some appreciation for this special blog announcement via the comment section - that means all of you lurkers, not just the ones that comment frequently!!

Yeah! Aaron finally took his hour (yes, it was tonight as I started writing this) and we have a decision. Now I can order a personalized stocking- yippee!

This is a fairly normal week, if by normal you mean lots of fast-paced decisions about the house and trying to keep the current one in tip-top shape in case we get a call for a showing. Saturday is an all-day girls retreat for Covenant, our church community group. It is at a bed and breakfast in BA, just past the Bluebell Creamery. Looking very forward to the girl time!

OK, must hit the hay. This silly time change still has me all messed up. Oh, one more shout out to recently-announced expecting friends, including Bopha and several girls from work (counting me, there are 8 Riverfield employees expecting!).

Have a great week!

PS- Prayers please for my mom and her mission team that leave for Mexico on Wednesday. They'll return Sunday. And for Aaron's mom, who is undergoing a heart cath procedure tomorrow (Tuesday) in Amarillo to look into some blockage.