Time is Tickin' Away, Tick Tick Tickin' Away

Besides being the title of a great DC Talk song, this blog title really sums up life these days. While I feel like I am able to at least keep my head above water, I do wonder where the days, hours, and minutes go. I think my to-do list will never be complete and that I add twice as many new tasks as old ones I check off. Which almost tempts me to not even make a list but those of you that know me know that I could make it about 1/2 a day without my lists :)

Here's cutie patootie- staring at her hands and figuring out how they work. She already has a pretty lengthy attention span, not to brag or anything, and will really be attentive to books we read or shows that are on TV (don't call DHS on me yet, she doesn't get to watch all that often).


We had some snow several weeks ago after a few days of 80 degree weather - gotta love Oklahoma in the spring. Here's Miss H in her colorful handmade hat (thanks April!).

Here's Caleb enjoying the big white flakes.


Caleb's new favorite hangout place is our bed. This is perhaps because we still have no furniture for him to sit on downstairs so the bed wins by default. The good news is that when we were in KC a few weekends ago, we ventured to Nebraska Furniture Mart and found most of the items we need. Just FYI, if you are looking for great deals and an almost-overwhelming selection (82 acres of furniture, seriously!), it is worth the trip.

Speaking of KC, we went there for my sister's bachelorette bash. We had a great time and I think the party girls got more sleep than Aaron and the kiddos did at Aunt Debbie's house, bless their hearts.

With the warm temps, we've spent more fun time out on the deck. This was Caleb's green shirt for St. Patty's day. Harper also had green on but spit up all over her outfit as I was getting the camera out. She spits up so much more than Caleb ever did. She doesn't really seem uncomfortable but I sometimes wonder about reflux because it can be an hour since she's eaten and everything will just come right back up.

Harper continues to be more and more engaged in conversations and likes to make eye contact and interact. She was especially convivial (big word award!) on this night but quieted down a little by the time we got the camera out.


We did quite a bit of spring/summer clothes shopping the last few weeks (which now seems pointless since it is very cold and rainy with snow predicted overnight). Caleb also had to get some gear for his upcoming soccer experience. More on that later! Anyway, here is Caleb in one of his favorite new outfits.

Here's a pretty recent pic of Harper. I covered up her "business" for modesty's sake but you do miss the impressive leg rolls and big belly. Girlfriend doesn't miss too many meals!

We had to get creative with babysitting during Spring Break since our regular sitter was gone but I still had to work. So H hung out with grandma one day. They had a great time but Mom did comment that Harper was awake enough that her list of to-dos didn't see much action. This was no newsflash to me (see opening paragraph) but was funny because I took Harper to work with me the day before and she literally slept for 4 1/2 hours straight. Harper on a walk with grandma.


When Caleb and I went to pick up Harper, we went on a walk and stayed for dinner. Grandma had a great helper to push the stroller.


One night this week, Harper was up while we were getting Caleb settled for bed. Here's a typical nutty night at our house. Caleb's running commentary cracks me up. And, as you can see, Harper is getting thisclose to rolling over. Aaron and I agree we don't remember Caleb making such a concentrated effort to accomplish this.


Caleb has been doing a great job on the potty this week. We certainly aren't ready to be diaper free but he's gone on the big potty at least once a day everyday. At school, they are going to start asking him if he wants to "take a turn" when the other kids do. To encourage the process, I bought him some big boy undies this week. He was very proud and wanted to wear them on top of his diaper but I told him that's not how it worked. We'll see how we continue to progress.

I am sure Caleb will ring my neck one day for posting this and that maybe the blog police will shut me down for using inappropriate language, but this video is too funny not to be shared. I'll just say that Caleb had a lot of fruit and veggies over last weekend and was a little "raw" in the diaper area, if you catch my drift. And I attended a continuing ed class once where the speaker said it was very important to use proper terminology with your children regarding their private parts. Bet you can't wait to push play, eh?

So Caleb and his friend started the Lil' Kickers program yesterday at Soccer City. I had let Owen's mom know about a good sale at Kohl's and we joked about how the boys would show up in the same outfit. Then they really did - ha!

Here's Caleb in action. It is a very fun class and I got lots of exercise. This is mainly because Caleb wasn't using his best listening ears so I had to keep chasing after him to get him back to the group. I definitely determined that we'll get there right on time next week so he doesn't have a chance to run around like crazy then have to calm down and listen to his coach.


Here they are stomping on bubbles.

The funniest part of the session was when they were playing Red Light Green Light. The coach would say, "Green light" and everyone would take off. When she called, "Red light", Caleb would stop, but then yell out, "Green light" himself and take off, and then his teammates would follow. No matter how many times I tried to explain that only the coach got to say "Red light" or "Green light" it didn't matter. We will be working on this before next week :)

Other funny things that Caleb has been up to:

• He is a total parrot. He has entertained us with "Here's the deal" (something I say all the time) to "OK team let's go" and "I cannot believe it!" (courtesy of Little Einsteins) and "It's such a beautiful day" (that would be from my mom), and my fave "That's a good idea, mommy! Good job!".
• When we went out to eat with friends last weekend he said "Bye Rob, bye Ha-ha". When I asked him about saying bye to the baby in Ha-ha's belly, he said, "Bye Harper!". Well, kinda...
• He is really getting into pretending. He'll say "let's pretend mama's car is Rocket" and then want to buckle his seat belt and blast off. Or he'll say, "Pretend to be a fish" and make a fish face.

And in a paragraph of venting, I have been insulted on Harper's behalf twice recently. Once was when we were at Walmart and an old lady was being friendly to Caleb while Harper was asleep in her carrier in the cart. Then she told Caleb he sure was cuter than his little sister. Say what?!?! And the second one was today when an insurance guy came by to take pictures and measurements for our home owner's policy. The guy said, "Hey little fella" even though she was dressed in a pink and brown outfit. We will be changing insurance providers soon, I assure you. I am trying not to have a complex about this but will apparently be permanently affixing a bow to her head and will dress her only in frilly pink dresses.

We had a fun time out last night with my friend Heidi and her hubby in celebration of our birthdays (we share 3/25, but are just a few years apart) at In the Raw. Yum! My birthday present from Aaron and the kiddos is a wii and wii fit. We've not actually purchased it yet but I am super excited. I am sure the wii will have me in supermodel-worthy shape in no time, right?

One more thing: Congrats to my longtime friend, Meagan, on the arrival of their bundle of joy last week. Can't wait to see him in person at Mo's wedding!

OK, enough writing. Have a great one and stay warm!

Lots of Catch Up

Here' s the last three weeks in a nutshell...enjoy!

Harper grows more and more animated every day. This means she is not sleeping as much and is letting us know when she is dissatisfied with things more often, which means my scant free time is even less now :) She is still a smiling, sweet girl.

Because there's still no living room furniture, we spend a lot of time up in the game room. Here's Caleb and Harper enjoying some Little Einsteins.

We've set up our computers in the guest room for now (until we find office furniture we like). The dogs liked to jump up on the bed and sit in the sunshine. Caleb wanted to join them one morning. I've since banned the dogs from the bed because, even though it wasn't expensive bedding, it is new and I imagine our guests would like to sleep on a dog hair-free zone.

Here's a picture from last fall that I just came across. Our Sunday School class had a tailgate party to advertise our class. It was in the church parking lot and was a family event. Here are Caleb and his buds.

Caleb and I ventured to the park in our neighborhood shortly after we moved in. He really liked the slide.

This big hill is right by the park. Caleb and I decided we would climb up it to get to the path on top, rather than walking around. We got about 1/2 way up and I realized it was quite a bit steeper than it looks, but we made it.


Here's the walking path around the lake. Our house doesn't back up to the lake but we do have a nice view from our front door between our neighbor's houses.

Morgan celebrated her 26th birthday on Feb. 21st. She had her first bridal shower that afternoon then we all went out for bowling that night (her request). It was a lot of fun and Aunt Debbie and our cousin Jill came in from out of town for the festivities. Thanks to Debbie for the banana bread (long gone) and Jill for the pictures, pizza, and gin and tonics at the bowling alley.


Here's a video of Caleb when we first started bowling. His enthusiasm waned quickly but he was very excited at first.


Week 12, I realized Harper was big enough for the Bumbo seat. Yeah, another 'holding area' for her.


There is a donut shop on the corner by our house. Caleb saw a firetruck there one day and asked what kind of store it was. A few days later, Caleb and I had a special treat together when we stopped by the donut store on our way to school. I think everyone at Riverfield heard about Caleb's green sprinkle donut that day.


We've had crazy swings in weather but enjoyed an 80-degree day a few weeks ago at the zoo with our friend Owen and his mom. I think the boys might have enjoyed the playground just as much as the animals.

I didn't realize my camera was still on video instead of photo, but the result is cute I think.


I bought Caleb his own chair for the patio. However, on this day, he was enjoying the chair inside.

Finally, we took a picture of the front of the house. It is now painted with shutters and gutters on (minus one that needs to be re-done because it was built the wrong size). The garage is to the left, you just can't see the driveway.

Harper really likes to chew and suck on her hands. I don't know if she's pre-teething (Caleb had his first tooth at 4 months, I think) or if she's going to be our thumb-sucker.

Gotta love Girl Scout cookie time. This is Caleb's "I am a cookie monster" face. (Notice him squeezing in to the Bumbo seat. He keeps calling it a potty. I'm hoping he doesn't try to use it as such.)

We spent several nice evenings out on our porch recently. It was warm enough to leave the doors open so Aaron could be working on a project inside but still talk with us. I really love having all the mature trees; it's so cool to wake up and hear birds chirping.

Caleb hung out at Grandma and G-Dad's last weekend and also enjoyed their porch. Busy busy guy.

Caleb and Harper snuggling. He continues to be so sweet and thoughtful with regard to his sister. And she is interactive enough now that he'll make a face at her and she'll laugh at him, which makes him laugh back at her. So cute!!

Forgot to mention last time that Harper had her 2 mo. check up. She weighed in at 13 lbs. 13 ounces and 24 1/2 inches long. That is off the charts for both, but a little smaller than Caleb at his 2 mo. check up.

What else do I have to report? Let's see...I was sick as a dog last week with body ache, high fever, chills, cough, etc. etc. The worst was Thursday but I was feeling much better by the weekend and now just need to shake this old lady cough.

When you have a second, check out http://www.riverfield.org/ and notice the renovated site, complete with a picture of the cutest toddler ever seen. I didn't have a thing to do with that picture being there, I promise.

This weekend is my sister's bachelorette party in KC. It should be a fun time but I do feel somewhat over the hill. I can just see me sitting in the car saying, "You guys go on in, I need to sit in here and pump for awhile." Ha!

We are making furniture progress- ordered a dining set and purchased and assembled a kitchen table and chairs. I think our main issue with the living room is that we're not totally sure how we want to set it up and what pieces we want (couch and love seat vs. couch and two chairs, etc.). We do have our piano in the alcove now. THANKS to the Reids for keeping it for the past several months at their house.

I am sure there are many many things or cute quips and quotes that I am forgetting. I hate it because this is supposed to be my outlet for such things and when I only update every other week or so, I forget them. Sorry kids, you have a bummer of baby book :)

Have a great week!