Out of my control

There are times that I nearly panic thinking about all of the terrible things that can happen to my loved ones. Having lost my oldest brother in my early teenage years, I am very prone to this type of thinking. If Kevin is 10 minutes late getting home from work, I am calling to make sure he wasn't in an accident. Yes, I know...I am paranoid! Being pregnant with Caleb, I remember how out of control I felt--his healthy growth and development in my tummy were completely up to God. My prayer life was probably best in my life when I was pregnant with Caleb--being our first child, I was nervous about everything. Now that Caleb is VERY mobile, I find myself getting nervous with "tottling" runs, falls, bumps, and bruises. Yet, I admit that I don't give this to God in prayer NEARLY as much as I should. I can spend countless hours worrying about an issue, but yet very little time asking for God's guidance. I pray that I can make this a priority in my life and maybe that will relieve some of my paranoia.

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." -Philippians 4:6

PS- This picture has nothing to do with the post, but I couldn't post without a picture and realized I never posted any Easter pictures...this was taken a week before Easter at an egg hunt at Kevin's nursing home.

Cuddler

If you know Caleb, you know that he is PURE boy...a mile a minute all the time! You might be surprised to know that he also loves to cuddle with me (especially before or after naps and before bedtime). He will just let me cradle him in my arms like a baby and rock him usually as long as I want to. He loves to poke my eyes, nose, and mouth. He also LOVES being read to. When we are in the living room and I am playing with him on the floor, he normally goes and gets a book from the basket, brings it to me, and sits on my lap for reading time. I know these moments won't last long, so I am going to cherish every minute!

"Bissie" and "Bacoom"

Since losing the paci, Caleb has become increasingly attached to his blankie, which he lovingly calls "Bissie." He sleeps with it for naps and nightime and then as soon as he is awake, yanks it through the slats in his crib and carries it EVERYWHERE around the house. I think it's pretty sweet.

Caleb's other new love is the vacuum, which he calls "bacoom." He goes to our closed closet door and says "vacuum" literally 10 times a day. When we do get the vacuum out, he beams with excitement. Grandma Donna brought over Blake's old toy vacuum and Caleb has been playing with it nonstop for the last 2 days. He is obsessed! If only he would keep that love for vacuums for another 5 years when I can actually reap the benefits of having vacuumed floors every day!

Mega Savings

This is by far the most money that I have ever saved since starting my new "coupon craze." I went to Target yesterday armed with 31 coupons...most of which were Target coupons that I either got from a mailer or online. A lot of the items that I had coupons for were also on sale, so I ended up saving a bunch...$40 in fact! Even the cashier said, "Wow, you saved a ton of money today." My grand total was $55.47...not bad for lots of fruit and 7 Johnson's Baby Products among other things!

PS-Click on the picture to enlarge it.

My New Hobby...

...is saving money on groceries and household items. It has become kind of like a game to me...I enjoy the satisfaction of a "good deal." My husband has definitely rubbed off on me. :)

How much did this small trip to Target cost??? $4.21! By stacking Target coupons with manufacturer coupons, I saved bunches!

Day 1 of No Paci

A memory from our beloved paci days...
We decided to go cold-turkey with the paci. We have put it off so that he could have it in the airplane and to help him sleep while we were on our trip. As you can see from the picture above, Caleb often sucked on his paci upside down, so I don't know that poking a hole in the nipple would have done much good.

It has gone much better than I expected! Thursday's morning nap was quite traumatic...Caleb cried for an hour while I went in every few minutes to console him (to no avail). Thursday afternoon was much better...he cried for 5 minutes and then fell asleep out of sheer exhaustion! Bedtime was a little rough last night, but he finally settled down and talked to himself for a while before falling asleep. He slept all night (which I totally wasn't planning on, Kevin and I had already talked about taking turns getting up with him last night) and even slept later this morning than he has in the last week...8:45! He fell asleep in the car after eating lunch with my mom and is sleeping soundly in his crib. So far, we are doing just fine with this transition. You might be wondering...how hard can taking a kid's paci away be? Well, when your child is completely dependant on it to fall asleep and has to be "retrained" to sleep without it, it gets a little sticky. And to think, I read Babywise cover to cover before Caleb was born and boldly declared (to myself) my child will not be dependant on a sleep prop! :)

I couldn't fall asleep last night because I started feeling guilty about whether I was doing the right thing. Does it really matter if he has his paci until he's ready to do away with it? He's just a baby (at least I consider him to still be) and he is comforted by it. Plus, it is so cute how he loves his paci so much. It seems like that's how all of my "motherly" decisions go. I always question myself as to whether I am doing the right thing. I am so glad that I have a creator who can help to bear my burdens (however small they might be). My intention in doing it now is to make it as least traumatic as possible. For now, we will keep on and hope that it is for the best...

Highlights from Orlando

We're back and had a wonderful time! The weather was perfect, the attractions were exhausting, and Caleb was an excellent traveler! Here are some of our favorite memories...

Disney World

I have never been to Disney World, so I was just as enthralled as Caleb!

Here we are meeting Mickey and Minnie...Caleb's favorite was Minnie. He is such a ladies man!

Taking it all in on top of Daddy's shoulders

Caleb's favorite ride was the carousel. He enjoyed the satisfaction of saying "neigh" the entire time he was on the ride! We went on this carousel at least twice.

We went on the Mad Tea Party ride and I just about had a panic attack right when we sat down. I am not very good on "spinning" rides...in fact, I throw up! So, when we first got on, I couldn't figure out how to make our teacup not spin and literally started freaking out. Kevin then informed me that if you want it to spin, you have to spin it yourself, otherwise it won't spin. Whew...no vomiting spells on this ride!

Here we are on Dumbo!

Caleb was completely exhausted after a day at Disney World (and so were we)!

At Downtown Disney...in front of Nessie made entirely of Legos and in the actual pond.

Caleb really liked one of the workers here!

Sea World

At Sea World, waiting to see the Shamu Show...we were all in awe at this incredible show!

Caleb enjoying Shamu!

In the Shark exhibit at Sea World. This was towards the end of the day and Caleb was SO tired!

Our Resort

At the Water park at our resort.

Caleb's first water slide.

Caleb LOVED to water. In fact, he is mad in this picture because Kevin made him get out. Unfortunately, the water in the kids park was FREEZING and his lips were seriously purple.

On the balcony of our villa...our hotel was SO nice!

At the NHC awards banquet

We had a great time, but it is back to real life now. Today is the first day that I have tried to put Caleb down for a nap without his paci...it has been very traumatic for both of us. Hopefully the next few days will be a little easier!