SheSheBows (for him)

One of my sorority sister is a Stay-At-Home Mom who started her own monogramming business. She has an adorable daughter and makes the cutest things. I have bought many items from her (some for Caleb, some for friends).
Check her out .... www.sheshebows.blogspot.com (button on the left)

14 Months Old

My baby is not a baby anymore :(

It is hard to believe Caleb is 14 months old already. I feel like just yesterday I was bringing him home from the hospital. Time flies too fast when you are having fun.
Caleb is my greatest joy. I love spending time with him and watching him change day to day. He loves to dance and run and play with his blocks. He gives the best hugs and kisses and walks around saying "dada" & "mama" but his favorite thing to say is "ba." Anything can be a "ba" (bottle, ball, balloon, etc). It is so sweet and he steals my heart.

Here are some pictures I took today (his 14 month birthday)

Momma, pick me up

Look at my blocks

Daddy is SO cool when he plays the guitar

Mother's Day, Grandma, & Dancing

I have been so busy the last couple weeks that I had not had a chance to blog.

Mother's Day 2010 was another successful day. It was my second Mother's Day and of course Caleb and Braden went out of their way to make me feel special. I got a beautiful flower arrangement from my favorite shop (Bows & Arrows) and a gorgeous green (my favorite color) necklace [the picture of me wearing the necklace did NOT turn out good]. Since we had plans to spend Mother's Day with the Howell Family, we decided to celebrate a little early just the three of us with a big, tasty meal at Houston's. I ate so much but was so happily stuffed with yummy food.


Last week Grandma (my mom) was in town visiting. She hadn't seen Caleb in a month and was having grandson withdrawal symptoms. She also had to help my baby sister with some wedding planning fun. It was a great week with Grandma. We always love having her in town.

Caleb is always into something he is not supposed to be into. Lately you can find him climbing on the treadmill in the guest room. We always laugh and say he is working out his chubby little thighs (that we love so much). He is just too cute.

After Caleb' s jog on the treadmill, he went down for a nap. I couldn't resist trying to get a couple pictures of him sleeping.

So angelic when he sleeps!


Grandma bought Caleb this really cute outfit (I love the cutoff jeans). He was rocking his new outfit for me :)

While Grandma was in town, she taught Caleb to LOVE Nilla Wafers. I can vividly remember sitting in my rocking chair as a child with a box of Nilla Wafers and watching cartoons. Needless to say, Caleb is a BIG fan and eats a few cookies a day.

The other night Caleb had been playing so hard that he needed a quick break to get some water and hang out with Daddy.

I love it when Caleb and Braden match (blue polo & plaid shorts)

Sweet Baby Face!

Well, not so much a baby with all those teeth!

We have been working with Caleb at feeding himself with a spoon/fork. He can eat with his hands with no problems but we would like our child to be a little neater.

The other night, he would not give up the fork after dinner.

Most mornings on the way to school, Caleb falls asleep in the car. I just couldn't resist another angelic picture of my baby sleeping.

Last night after dinner Braden turned on some tunes and we all danced around the living room.

Caleb is laughing at Daddy's goofy dancing

Caleb is starting to get into it

Then Caleb wanted to Dance with me

And I dipped him

When it was time for bed, Braden took off Caleb's clothes but he was not done dancing.

WOW! What is this? Is this my big belly where all my food goes?

Last (but not least) my sweet puppy girl, Lexi.

I have to brag on my sweet puppy. She has been a rockstar when it comes to Caleb. We are working with Caleb on being gentle and nice to animals. But, he is so rough with Lexi. Does Lexi bite him? No. She takes all the abuse and still kisses him every day. I could not have asked for a better dog to have. She has really been patient and kind to Caleb - for that, I am blessed.

My Dress Is Here

As you might know, I am going to be the Matron of Honor in my little sisters wedding in August. (I know Matron sound like I am an old maid). Well, my dress came in the mail yesterday. I tried it on and it looks great. I am really excited for the big day (I love weddings).

Here is a picture of the dress (obviously I am not the model wearing the dress).

Sleep Training is NOT for the Weak At Heart

So, Braden and I have embarked on the task of "sleep training" (better known as listening to Caleb scream himself to sleep at night).
I KNOW, we are really late in doing this but I have to admit that I was not ready for this stage yet (I am still not ready). I have always enjoyed the bonding time I have with Caleb each night as he snuggles close to me while I rock him and read a book, sing some lullabys, drink a bottle, and he falls asleep. I KNOW, I should not have ever started this trend but I did and now I am paying the price of having to listen to my baby scream himself to sleep.
So, I don't have the heart to take the bottle and the rocking him to sleep away at the same time.

Night 1: Sunday, May 9th
We started with giving him a bottle and then I put him down in his crib still awake. He fussed a little and I just patted his back and told him I loved him and would see him in the morning. He was ok until I reached the door then he started to scream. I left the room and wanted to cry myself. I went back in about 5 minutes later and he looked at me like I was a horrible mommy for leaving him. I picked him up, comforted him, and then put him back down. He was ok until I reached the door then he started to scream. I left the room and wanted to cry myself. I waited another 10 minutes and repeated the routine.
[NOTE** While I am doing this, Braden is on the computer researching how to get your 1 year old to sleep]
Finally, I can't take it anymore so Braden takes a turn. With the same outcome - - screaming hysterically. But this time we let him cry-it-out and I try to occupy my time with doing laundry and cleaning up. It took about 20 minutes but Caleb finally started to give in and fall asleep.

Night 2: Monday, May 10th
We gave Caleb a nice warm bath. Then we got him ready for bed while I made up some fun night time songs. Then we gave Caleb his bottle, I read "Goodnight Moon", rang him his favorite song of "Hush Little Baby," and I put him down. With no hesitation, he started screaming. I told him I loved him and would see him in the morning. I left the room, started my stopwatch on my phone, and was going to wait 15 minutes before going in. But, we never made it to 15 minutes because he gave in and fell asleep somewhere around 14 minutes.

We are praying for less of a struggle tonight. Hopefully this will be as easy as "training" Caleb to sleep through the night.

Painting Fun

Last weekend Caleb wanted to make his PaPa a "Get Well Soon" sign to hang at home so he will feel better each time he saw his sign. So, we stripped Caleb down to his diaper and let him go to town on the sign. It was a big mess but I know Caleb loved it and so did PaPa.

Don't eat the paint!!

After painting, Mommy scrubbed Caleb clean.