Friends, Fun & Frights

Okay, not really any frights but it seemed fitting for a Halloween post. We have had lots of fun this Halloween. Back before Caleb, Kevin and I used to enjoy a quiet evening at home with homemade potato soup and passing out candy to trick-or-treaters. That was going to be our tradition, but now that Caleb is here we have places to go and people to see! On Thursday (the day before Halloween) we went up to the Fountains with the playgroup from church for some trick-or-treating. On Halloween night, our first stop was to Grandma and Grandpa's to see all of Caleb's cousins. Next, we went to Trunk-or-Treat at church, then to see LoLo, Uncle Brad & Aunt Kellie. Our final stop was to see Mimi. Kevin and I were pooped by the end but Caleb had all the energy in the world (even without the candy that will plague every other Halloween). :)

Goldilocks & the Three Bears

Uncle Brad dressed up as Obama...Raises the "politicians kissing babies" thing to a whole new level involving tongue! :) This picture, of course, definitely does not indicate who I will be voting for on Tuesday!

Candace, Blake & Luke

Caleb and his cousins Evan, Emma, Ethan, & Luke

At the Fountains

Such a happy bear!

Caleb and his friend Carter

Papa Bear and Baby Bear

Loading the Container for Zimbabwe

On Saturday, we took Caleb downtown to help load the container to be sent to Zimbabwe. We weren't sure how this would work out considering that it was right in the middle of his morning nap, but he lasted for about 2 hours. He was in his stroller most of the time just sitting there and watching us and occasionally someone would come over and pick him up. Needless to say, he had lots of people to watch working away. If you haven't heard any updates about the country of Zimbabwe as a whole, it is complete chaos. They're estimating that in the matter of a couple months, nearly 5 million people will be starving. There are 1.3 million orphans now (more than 1 in 4 children in the country of Zimbabwe are orphans) and the average life span has dropped from the 70's (10 years ago) to the early 30's for both men and women due to the AIDS epidemic. Please keep the country of Zimbabwe in your prayers and my dad especially as he is traveling there on Friday with a group from church.

On another note, I have been pondering the following verse a lot this week: "Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not turn from it" -Proverbs 22:6. Caleb has started to throw fits whenever he doesn't get his way and I am totally not ready to have to discipline! He seems way too young for this. I have been putting him in his crib (lights on, door open opposite of what it is at nap times) for a minute or two when he does this but he just seems so young! On the other hand, I don't want to continually enable his behavior and then deal with it when he is 2 or 3 because by then I am sure it will be much more of a struggle. I have been reading about the appropriate way to mold a child's behavior but you find so many contradictions when reading...it is very frustrating. My mom and friends of ours have been telling me that I am doing the right thing, but I am totally not confident in myself since I have never done this before. I wish the writer of this Proverb (Solomon I think) would just have given us the exact instructions for this training! Isn't there a complete guide to parenting out there somewhere???

Kevin and I listened to Chuck Swindoll's tapes on Parenting when I was pregnant with Caleb and he said that the key phrase in this verse is "the way HE should go", meaning every child is different and what works for one might not work for another. He also said that keeping the child's temperament and their interests (when they are older) in mind whenever parenting...letting your child be their own person and not forcing them into this mold that you had in your mind of how they should be. There is a fine line between authoritative and authoritarian parenting...I just want Caleb to be allowed to be a baby while also learning to obey us, God's instructions, and other adults.

I thought this picture was too precious not to post...

This is a video of Caleb walking with his walker. He gets ahead of himself, but seems to enjoy it. He gets impatient after a while and would just rather crawl, so I think we've still got at least a month of two before he is going to be ready to walk.

My Little Pumpkin

We have had a great weekend! Today we went to Walter's Pumpkin Patch in Burns, Kansas. It was so much fun!!! We left with a caravan from church with about 10 other families at 9:30 and didn't leave the Pumpkin Patch until 1:30! We weren't planning on staying that long, but we were just having too much fun to leave. Caleb was so mesmerized by all the fun things to see and do, he was very content and didn't mind missing his nap and eating lunch really late. :) Some of our favorite things to do at the pumpkin patch were the underground slide, the corn playbox, and the tractor ride. Both Kevin and I put Caleb on our laps for the slide and he loved it! We had a wonderful time and can't wait to go back next year. I think he will have even more fun going on the paddleboats, climbing on the hay bales, and riding in the barrel train. Here are some pictures...

My favorite...

Our little pumpkin is over 2 feet tall!
Fall Family Fun!

Just being silly...you can see the underground slide behind us
Playing in the corn! Caleb loved it!!!



Picking out our pumpkins
Daddy and Caleb on the big John Deere tractor
Caleb, London & Abbey...just a few seconds before Caleb was trying to eat the mud. He is definitely all boy...the whole time we were trying to pick out pumpkins, he wanted down on the ground to crawl!

Smiling for a picture before heading home

Fireproof

Kevin and I were able to have a date night tonight (thanks Dean and Donna for watching Caleb). We went to the gourmet restaurant, Planet Sub, to Freddie's to get a Pumpkin Pie Concrete, and then to see the movie Fireproof. Kevin is actually helping me write this post because we were both so touched by this movie. It is created from the same people who made Facing the Giants, with Kirk Cameron (from Growing Pains) playing the lead role. He plays a firefighter named Caleb (love the name) who is facing a troubled time in his marriage. Attempting to help his son, Caleb's dad gives him the "Love Dare" and challenges him to try this dare for 40 days before he calls it quits on his marriage. I don't want to give anything else away because I think that EVERYONE should see this movie (married, unmarried, male, or female). We were both so encouraged by it. I think that the work that the Sherwood Baptist Church in Georgia (who made the movie for under $500,000 and didn't pay any of its actors) is doing to the movie industry is nothing short of God-breathed. With Facing the Giants, once we got over the terrible acting, the movie had such a great message. In this movie, the acting was much better and it was very funny in parts. Most of all, it has encouraged us to show self-sacrificial love to our spouse. The song at the end of the movie had the lyrics "love is not a fight, but it's worth fighting for." The two main things that both Kevin and I got out of this movie is that (1) it is difficult for a marriage to work if both people aren't centered on growing closer to God and (2) marriage takes self-sacrifice sometimes. Go see this movie, you will so encouraged to show your spouse the love that Christ shows us!!!

On another note, we have already had a busy weekend. Kevin took the day off (just for fun) and we went to Exploration Place with Uncle Chris (pictures coming soon...we had to use the old 35mm since our camera was out of batteries) and tomorrow we are going to the Pumpkin Patch. :)

Learning So Much!

As a first grade teacher, February was my favorite month of the year. After almost 6 months of HARD WORK, students who weren't able to read, suddenly got it! A couple teacher friends and I called February the "Magic Month" for first grade. I remember wishing in September when I was exhausted after working with my first graders that February would just get here already! Now that I am not teaching, I am really missing seeing the progress that kids make throughout the year. I miss the camaraderie of the staff and the friendships I formed. I THRIVE on praise and words of affirmation (as Kevin will tell you), so I am especially missing the "you're a great teacher" comments from parents, my principal, and other teachers. I really miss the phonetic spelling and sweet notes that say "Yoo R the bestest teecher." As a mom, you're eight month old can't look at you and tell you, "Wow, Mom, you are doing a really great job with me!" However, they tell you in other ways like smiles, kisses, and cuddles. I wouldn't trade my new job for anything! :)

As much as I miss teaching a roomful of 6 year olds, I wouldn't want to miss a minute on the opportunity of being Caleb's first teacher. This age seems to be like the "magic month" in my classroom. I am so amazed how much he has learned in the past few months (not because of me, but I am so glad I have gotten to witness it). From sitting up to crawling, and now standing and trying to climb stairs (yes, he has climbed up 2 stairs as I have been sitting at the computer typing this...who knew you would need a baby gate for the bottom of the stairs?). Today he was rolling a ball and chasing it and I kept saying "ball" and then he looked at me, looked at the ball and said "ba". I really don't think this is an actual word or that he understands what he was saying, but at least he was trying to make the same sound as me. Yesterday, he had a cowboy outfit on and Uncle Chris was saying "Yee-haw". Caleb starting mimicking the tone of the Yee-haw (high then low) in squeals. It took us by surprise! He also has learned to shake his head "no" in the last couple of days. Caleb also knows exactly what he wants...he has begun to throw little fits if you take something away from him or he doesn't get what he wants. I am not really sure what to do about that... Kevin and I have been reading What to Expect the First Year together so that we are both on the same page and we recently read we are supposed to have him start self-feeding (both with finger foods and practicing holding a spoon). We have tried that for a couple days and WHAT A MESS! I have included a humorous video of one feeble attempt.

When I was growing up, whenever anyone would ask what I wanted to be when I grew up I always said a mom and a teacher. Who knew that at 24 (almost 25) I would already be in the midst of fulfilling my childhood dreams! I absolutely love being a mom. It brings so much joy to watch your child grow and has instilled in me a much deeper faith in our creator than I would have otherwise never known. What a blessing parenthood is!

I couldn't resist putting this picture up...

Farmer's Market Fun

We went to the Old Town Farmer's Market yesterday with our friends James and Kristen and their little one London. We had a great time buying lots of wholesome food and seeing some belly dancers perform...(yes belly dancers). :)

Caleb and London holding hands on the ride to downtown. Perhaps there may be an arranged marriage in the future???
Kristen and London with the belly dancers. London had fun watching them!
Daddies having fun with their little ones!
After we got home, Caleb spotted Daddy working in the yard through our front window. He was so excited!
Caleb is cured!!! He is no longer scared of the grass...now he just wants to eat it!

All About Kisses

What a busy week we have had! Last Saturday was Brad and Kellie's Homecoming. They both looked great and we enjoyed getting to see them all dressed up. It makes me sad that this is the last year we will be doing this...they are seniors so next year they will be in college somewhere! Uncle Chris has been in town and has joined us when we went to ABC Music & Me class and the zoo. We wish Uncle Chris could stay forever...

Speaking of Uncle Chris, he must be rubbing off on Caleb! He has started doing this rolling of the tongue kitten purr sound. He does it when he laughs, cries, and everytime in between. I have never heard another baby make this sound, but my mom said that Chris did this when he was a baby whenever he wanted his blanket. We have tried and tried to capture this sound on video without much luck. Finally, I was able to catch just a tiny bit of it yesterday as Caleb was attempting to grab the camera while I was taping him.

Caleb is very into giving kisses these days. If we pucker our lips in front of him, Caleb will normally lean in and give us a wet one right on the mouth. He also recognizes faces in his books and will kiss the faces that he sees in the books. At first I just thought he was trying to lick the books since he is teething, but then I noticed that he was always aiming directly for the face on the page. I have uploaded a video of him doing this as I read him his Bible story before bed. My little guy is definitely a lover!

Below you will find both videos...enjoy!!!

http://www.onetruemedia.com/shared?p=7236a5a3610740d3e04a68&skin_id=701&utm_source=otm&utm_medium=text_url

A Fun Weekend

We had a great weekend. Here are some pictures to document our fun. :) Uncle Chris is in town for the week, so we have lots of fun to be had with him.Crystal brought Emma over for lunch on Saturday and Caleb had so much fun playing with his cousin!
Caleb, Emma, and Grandma enjoying time together.

Caleb seems to be watching Sage a little too closely and picking up some bad habits!

After our Sunday afternoon walk, we let Caleb crawl on the driveway over to the sprinkler. To say that he was intrigued would be an understatement!

Caleb got pretty wet, but he didn't mind. He was having fun with the water!

Friday Night Lights & Precious Moments

I have decided that Friday night football is a wonderland for babies...the lights, the noise, the excitement, the cheerleaders (especially Aunt Kellie)! Caleb went to his second football game last night and was completely mesmerized the entire time. We went with our good friends Richard, Rachel, and Abbey (and Jackson who is just about ready to make his entrance into the world). We sat with my mom (LoLo) and Caleb wanted to be in her arms almost the entire game! Here are some pictures...

There are times in your life that you just want to tuck away in a little box and open up whenever you want to relive that moment. This morning was such a time. Caleb woke up around 7:30 and Kevin went in to get him up and changed as is our routine. Since it was a Saturday, we decided to just hang out in our bed for a little while. Caleb is always SO excited to see us in the mornings and is so happy. He started crawling around on our bed and crawled up to my face. He started giving me wide-open, slobbery kisses all over my face, occasionally granting Kevin one as well. This went on for about 5 or 10 minutes and we just smiled, laughed, and kissed for those precious minutes. It was a moment I never want to forget. I fall more in love with my son as each day goes on...it doesn't seem as though my heart could love any more and then it does. My mom always said it happened that way...she described it as a chamber of your heart opening up! After this, Kevin got in the shower and Caleb was curious, so he poked his head around the shower curtain to say hello. Fun-loving Daddy let him get in, clothes and all!

Spray-On Tan

Brace yourself for my long-windedness...

It seems as though Caleb is very sensitive to the carotenes in his food. He only eats 1 orange vegetable a day, but my dad says that there are as much carotenes in green beans as in carrots. So...needless to say my little guy looks orange most of the time. We went up to the school where I taught for the last three years a couple of weeks ago and one of the fifth grade teachers said that he looks like he has a spray-on tan. He really does most of the time! However, I assure you that I am not subjecting my 8 month old son to a cosmetic alteration!

Today marks the 7-year anniversary since Kevin and I started dating. It is hard to believe!!! I am still amazed that we ended up together. I know that it must have been God's plan for things to have worked out the way that they did. I can tell you that I do not know a sweeter, more thoughtful man than my husband. I don't think I could have dreamed of a better man to spend my life with. Having Caleb has added a new appreciation to my love for him...not only is he my amazing husband but now he is an incredible father to our son. He is such an example to me and I love him for continually challenging me to be a better person. I thank God everyday for putting Kevin in my life!

On another note, I have been doing an online Beth Moore study called "Believing God" (which I am shamefully slow at completing--rather than watching the lesson and doing the homework in 1 week as it should be, it seems to take me 3 weeks). I am always amazed how my individual study time makes such a difference in my relationship with God. It makes me feel so guilty that I seem to have such a problem making that a priority. The most important job as a mother is to do everything in my power to get my kid(s) to Heaven someday. The main way that Caleb is going to learn about God in his early years is by our example. Kevin and I have had many discussions on making sure that we are keeping our individual relationships strong so that we can be an example to Caleb. I feel like I have already had a hard time with this. Instead of insisting that I take at least 10-15 minutes a day studying and reading during my free time, I would rather write on this blog or watch a movie we ordered from Netflix. I don't know why it is so hard! That is definitely the most important thing in life...I just need to remember that during my daily activities. Another aspect that Kevin and I want to be examples of is serving others. Again, this seems to take a backseat to all the menial daily activities that occupy my time. There are so many people in need and so many things to do that opportunities to serve are everywhere. However, I really want Caleb to be involved in most of these opportunities (even though he won't actually be doing anything for a while). If anyone has any ideas of things that I can do with Caleb or things that we can do as a family, let me know.

Finally, last week in the Bible study the topic was on believing that God can do what He says He can do. This includes miracles. Beth pointed out that a lot of churches these days are considering miracles to be a thing of past generations. She posed that perhaps we see little because we believe little. I think miracles still happen today...my sweet niece and nephews (the triplets) are a testament to that...they are so healthy and happy! She gave several examples of medical miracles in the homework that totally blew me away. We have some close friends who are currently going through some very serious medical issues. This has rejuvenated my prayer life...instead of praying the generic prayer that God "be" with these people (which of course still applies), I am praying that He would heal them completely. I fervently want to believe that it is possible. Surely the God who created EVERYTHING can intervene in one of His creations and perform the supernatural. We just have to have the faith to ask...

Within a few hours after writing this post, I did my study for the day. I feel like Beth Moore's words were said directly to me, "I have undoubtedly discovered that if Satan can't get to me with destruction, he will try to get to me with distraction. We have only one turn on this green earth. We will never get to do this again. We cannot do a hundred things to the glory of God, but Dear One, we can certainly do a few. What you and I need is focus. Day in and day out. Eyes on the goal."