A Weekend of Memories

We had a great trip to the lake with my side of the fam (except Uncle Chris...we miss you!!!), despite the fact that it rained most of the weekend. Here are some of our favorite "captured" memories:

Papa pointing out the waterfall at Dogwood Canyon.

"Wow," Caleb says.

At the lakehouse, Caleb is fascinated with the bubbles (don't mind his clothing...didn't you know that a swim shirt and pajama bottoms are all the new rave this season???) :)

Back at home and in the sunshine, we head to the neighborhood park and then to the pond (thanks for my new outfit, Aunt Crystal).

All Grown Up

Today my baby brother and sister graduated from high school!!!! I still can't believe that in a few short months they will be off to college. I wasn't expecting to get emotional at their graduation, but as they were walking in the gymnasium together with their cap and gown on, I completely lost it and just started bawling (another indication of my crazy hormones)! I am SO proud of both of them...they have stayed true to themselves and their faith (which is something few people are able to do in high school). They both have plans to attend Oklahoma Christian University in the fall. Brad will be gone all summer working with a homeless ministry in Colorado. Kellie and my mom were supposed to go to Zimbabwe in June, but the trip was cancelled due to political instability. She is now trying to work out the details of going to Zambia for a few weeks to work with a dear friend Meagan who works at an orphanage. Both of them have found their individual callings to reach out to others and both have such sweet, compassionate hearts. I know God has such amazing plans for their lives and I am so excited to get to watch those plans unfold! Brad & Kel, I love you and am so proud of you! CONGRATULATIONS!!!

Constant Motion

Apparently I need to adjust the setting on my camera to "sport" for every photograph...he is in constant motion all the time! The only time that he isn't moving is when he snuggles up in our laps to read a book. Oh, and the days of letting us rock him before & after naps are already a memory. :( It reminds me of the picture book "Let Me Hold You Longer" by Karen Kingsbury. If you have a little boy, this one ranks right up there with "Love You Forever." Here is the first few pages:

"Long ago you came to me, a miracle of firsts:

First smiles, first teeth, first baby steps,

a sunbeam on the burst.

But one day you will move away

And leave to me your past,

And I will be left thinking of

A lifetime of your lasts...

The last time that I held a bottle

To your baby lips.

The last time that I lifted you

And held you on my hip.

The last night when you woke up crying

Needing to be walked.

When last you crawled up with your blanket

Wanting to be rocked.

The last time when you ran to me,

Still small enough to hold.

The last time that you'd marry me

When you grew old.

Precious, simple moments,

bright flashes from your past.

Would I have held on longer

If I'd known they were your last?"

Yes, I know you must be thinking, "What's with all the sappy stuff lately?" All I can say is that it must be the pregnancy hormones...

A few of his favorite things...

• TALKING!!!! Caleb LOVES to talk...this is probably his biggest developmental strength. I started writing down the words that he says (with knowing the meaning) and so far I have counted 49! Granted, some of the words we can only understand, but hey they're consistent...that's a good start!
  

• BOOKS!!! This is Caleb's current fascination. He is OBSESSED with books. On the weekdays when it is just Caleb and me, I probably read him 30 books during the day (most of them are the same ones read numerous times). He loves to point to the pictures or identify the picture using his words. I'll admit that it is tiring. I absolutely love that he loves books and it is pretty adorable how he reverses himself into my lap on the floor, but after the 4th rendition of "Toes, Ears, & Nose," I am spent. I also occasionally try to read him an actual Picture Book that is a story. I know he doesn't get what is going on, but I think it's good for him to learn to sit still throughout a book that is a little longer.
  


• Singing! I have to somewhat watch the time whenever I start doing a finger play with him...whenever the song is finished he says "more" (which could go on for a good 20 minutes). He loves "If you're happy and you know it," "This Little Light of Mine" "The Noble Duke of York," "Five Little Ducks", and pretty much any other song that has actions. He also loves to "pat" his Bible. We always read him a bible story before he goes to bed and before reading, we always have to sing "How I love to pat my Bible."
  
  
• The Wiggles--We don't watch much TV during the day (or when Caleb is awake), but he is particularly fond of the Wiggles. No other show holds his attention for more than a few minutes...and it's only 1 particular Wiggles tape. I think it is called "Wiggle Time" or something like that (it's one of the first ones and is a VHS hand-me-down).
  
  
• As previously mentioned, his BISSIE (aka Blankie) and vacuum.
  
  


• McDonald's Happy Meals...I blame this one on my mom. :) She was the first one to give him a happy meal when she kept him overnight in January. He LOVES cheeseburgers!
  


• RUNNING...and even more so: Running away from me!
  
  
• The colors blue and purple...maybe because those are the only two he can say! He loves to point out when he sees something purple especially.
  
  
• The word "No." Right now, Caleb responds to ANY question with a "no." It could be...do you want ice cream or a new toy or to go to the park (all things he would love), but it's always "no." He'll bring me a book and go, "uh, uh, uh." Then I'll ask him, "Do you want me to read the book to you?" Of course he says "no," but really means yes. Gotta love the negativity phase!!! :)

Baby Makes Four...

Caleb is going to be a big brother! We are so excited to share our news with everyone! I am almost 10 weeks along and I'm due on November 29th. We ask that you pray for this precious new life and for the many wonderful (but I'm sure at times challenging) changes that we will go through as a family. Again, I am reminded of the wondrous and amazing ability of God to create another little life!

Baby #2 at 9 weeks, 4 days. He/she was already moving around!

Caleb is going to be a great big brother! I know he will be so sweet & loving with our new little one.

Rocking Song

Kevin and I have been cherishing our quiet rocking times with Caleb when he lets us just hold him. I think we both aren't sure how long these precious moments will last. Today as I was rocking him and he was asleep, I just kept thinking how sweet and innocent he is. The love that I felt for him just overflowed out of me and I wondered if that is how God feels about each of His children. During this moment, I was reminded of Acapella's "Rocking Song." If you haven't heard this song and you are a parent, it is so so precious. I, of course, substitute the "she" in the song for "he" and "her" for "him" to make it more personal to me. It brings tears to my eyes almost every time I hear this song. I tried to find the song as an audio file to share but couldn't figure out how to do it. So I decided to just make a quick slideshow with Caleb's pictures from birth to now. I hope you enjoy the words to the song!

Running Weekend

This weekend we went to Oklahoma City for the Memorial Marathon. Kevin participated in the marathon relay (the 8-point something leg) with 4 other friends. Unfortunately, I didn't get to see him run because Caleb had a really rough night at the hotel. He woke up at 3 a.m. wide-awake. He wasn't crying, just calling out different names. For four hours we tried to get him down and he absolutely refused. Finally, at 7 am he fell back asleep (we were supposed to leave for the race at 7:15). Kevin went on without us and I fell back asleep as well, hoping we could both sleep for a few hours. Sure enough, 30 minutes later the hotel calls us and wakes Caleb up (it turned out to be that they called the wrong room anyway). The weird thing is he NEVER wakes up at night. Kevin and I even said that we don't think he slept that terribly his very first night after being born. Oh well...he slept all the way home in the car and went to sleep early on Sunday night. He is running a bit of a fever, but I think that might be from teething (either that or a virus, we aren't sure). Besides Kevin running, I spent much of my time chasing Caleb, who enjoyed running in the halls of the hotel. :)

Unfortunately, we have no pictures to document our interesting weekend. I took our camera, expecting to take pictures of Kevin running. I think some friends might have taken some pictures, so hopefully we can get some from them!