Farewell, Da!

The beginning of a beautiful baby and paci relationship...

Last picture of Caleb and his "Da!"

5 easy steps for a toddler to give up the paci...

Step One: Go to build-a-bear and pick out a teddy bear. Give mom a thumbs up that he is ready to become a big boy!

Step Two: Step on peddle to stuff bear.

Step Three: Gently place paci inside...

Step Four: Take bear to the tub for his first bath. This is serious work...all bears must pass strict inspection before going home!

Step Five: Give bear his first nice brushing...make sure not to leave out a single strand of teddy bear fur!

ALL DONE! Mission complete.

We took Caleb to make his "Da Bear" last Friday, December 4. He hasn't looked back since. Every now and then, I will catch Caleb out of the corner of my eye squeezing his bear's tummy just to make sure that his paci is still inside! This transition has been so much easier than I anticipated. I am so proud of my big boy! He amazes me every day! Congratulations on being such a big boy now, Mr. Caleb!

Thanksgiving Recap

Well, it was a quick, but WONDERFUL Thanksgiving break. We started out on Wednesday in Big Canoe with my mom, Dale, Aunt, Uncle, Stephen's Dad and my Grandparents. LOTS of yummy food, good memories and even some Christmas Cheer! We always celebrate Thanksgiving, my Grandfathers birthday and Christmas all at once so that we can celebrate these occasions together. We always have so much to be thankful for...especially when we all get to gather together for such a beautiful Holiday!

I have discovered a blog that I absolutely LOVE!! (http://www.foodallergymama.com/) All of her recipes are Caleb-safe since they are made without milk, eggs and nuts! I made chocolate cranberry cookies that I found on her site for Caleb's daycare Thanksgiving feast. It made a lot, so we had plenty left over to bring to Big Canoe. They were very yummy and everyone raved over them! I love being able to make something that tastes GOOD and is safe for Caleb to eat. I also tried her cranberry raisin pie on Sunday and it was yummy, too. In fact, it may just be a new favorite pie for this time of year! (and we all know how much this mama loves pumpkin pie!)

Thanksgiving day was spent watching the parade, eating left overs and relaxing. I love being able to relax on actual Thanksgiving day instead of having to scramble around in the kitchen. We have all the great food waiting for us in the refrigerator to warm up! :)

I actually went out on Black Friday this year and had a fun time! Stephen and Caleb stayed at home and I spent all my Christmas money and gift cards from my family! I love to be able to shop and not feel bad about it! Gift cards are the most perfect gift for me! (for anyone who needs any ideas!) ;)

Saturday and Sunday were spent decorating and just having some nice family time together. We are always so rushed during the week that a few days off spent at home just fill my heart! It was tough getting out of bed this morning, that is for sure! Now we are back to the grind at work and daycare. Stephen and I both have some time off before Christmas, and I am sure that we will enjoy it! This is my favorite time of the year!

Parent Teacher Conference

Well, Caleb had his first parent teacher conference today. I guess I should say that Stephen and I had our first parent teacher conference today! Caleb, along with his classmates, slept right through it on their little cots!

All in all, it was a good report! For the information section they wrote: "Caleb is a very sweet, loving child. He enjoys everything that we do! He has excellent listening ears and always does what is asked of him." They also said that "Caleb does well when transitioning from one activity to another. For the part where they had to write their concerns, they wrote "Caleb is very cautious and weary to try new things. However, he often warms up to the new activity and enjoys it! Sometimes his speech is difficult to understand, but we have already noticed improvement."

Isn't he a good boy!? There were just over four pages of developmental guidelines that he should be doing and only two weren't checked. One was " Uses words or gestures indicating a need to go to the bathroom." Both teachers laughed and said, well, he didn't do that until Tuesday and he started to do that out of the blue! Stephen and I also noticed this at home on Tuesday because he asked me to go sit on the potty and then went #1 and #2! The other blank that wasn't checked was "pulls at another person to show them some action or object. They agreed with us that rather than taking us to the object, he will usually bring it to them instead...which isn't too bad. The teachers did say that SOMETIMES he will not play with two or more peers at the same time, but that really just comes with his age. The younger twos are all doing the same thing and sometimes prefer one on one play with another child.

We are proud that we got a good report on our little man! Maybe he will keep up with his "Cautious manner" into his teen years and will stay out of trouble!

THE Coupon Mama!

So, a few of you have been asking about my couponing experiences the past month or so, and I am FINALLY sitting down to blog about it. I am far from an expert (there are some people who feed large families for under a dollar a week!!!) but I will give you the tips that I have on how I have saved so much money. I owe all of this to my friend Lauren who started posting pictures of her groceries and receipts on facebook. She was spending next to nothing for a lot of yummy looking food!

So. How do I do it? Well, my main source is http://www.southernsavers.com/. This is a fantastic website that lists many of the stores (in the South!) and what their weekly specials are, and what coupons are out there that can be matched up with the deals. The key is to start a stockpile of coupons from the Sunday paper. I also get a special Thursday paper that also has coupons inside. Publix has weekly B1G1 (buy one get one) deals. You do not have to buy both products to get the savings. They actually ring up at half price. For these B1G1 deals, you can also use TWO coupons (one for each product) Publix is a fantastic store to use your coupons. They will double coupons (unless specified not to) up to 50 cents. They also accept competitor store coupons and you can use these store coupons WITH a manufacturers coupon. For instance, last night I had a 50 cents off one bag of chex mix coupon from target. This coupon was doubled to $1 off. I also had a manufacturers coupon for 50 cents off (not to be doubled, per the coupon). They had their bag of chex mix on sale for (around) $1.67. So I paid 17 cents for a bag of chex mix!

I do find that Kroger usually has the better price on meats. If I am buying a lot of meat (and milk...they usually have great milk prices!) then I will make two trips. I live one mile from Publix and less than a mile from Kroger, so this is economical for me and still save money, rather than spending gas money to get from one to the other! That may not work for everyone!

I now try to only buy things I have a coupon for and, unless I have coupons that add up to make a product free, I won't buy something JUST because I have a coupon for it. I will also still comparison shop. For instance, I had a 60 cent off coupon for mayo last night, but that still made the name brand more expensive than store brand so I bought the Publix mayo instead.

Publix does have a Sunday and Monday special every week. It is their mystery coupon and most stores do not require you to have the actual coupon...check with your local store to see if you need it. Last night, I got a pack of hotdogs for 1 penny! The week before was a container of oatmeal. I have also gotten four rolls of toilet paper for only 1 cent.

The website I mentioned saves YOU from having to go through each weekly ad and comparing what coupons you have, etc. AND, it also gives you links to printable coupons. She will only write out the best deals of each weekly and will list what items you can walk away with for FREE! Last night, I got two packages of gravy mix, a container of softsoap, some zantac, and a box of cereal for free. I also paid next to nothing for the hotdogs, chex mix, BATTERIES!!, juicy juice and produce, to name a few.

Going to the store is actually quite fun for me now! I love hearing the total, then handing over my coupons and just watching the savings add up. I spent $34 last night for a weeks worth of groceries (plus some!) and spent $43! So nice!

Like I said, I am far from an expert....but these are the tips that I use. I do still have to be loyal to some name brands because of Caleb's allergies. In fact, I have emailed some of those companies complimenting their products and they have sent coupons in the mail! let me know if you have any questions, and I will be happy to try and help you save as much as I have!!

Shake Shake Shake

I am not quite sure what song Caleb decided to sing last night, but he was very into it. They must have learned a new song at school because I took Caleb to his room to get him ready for bed last night and he busted out in a song and dance! It was adorable. I think he sang something along the lines of "Shake Shake Shake" (and he pounded his fists together with each "shake" and then said something like "Shhhh--oooo--oooooo!" And rolled his arms around each other. He repeated this over and over and also added a clapping section in there. I wish I had the video camera upstairs when he was doing it! Such a silly boy! I will have to ask his teachers if they have recently learned a new song!

Cuteness

This blog post is dedicated to the cuteness that Caleb has been lately!

So, Caleb has decided that he loves to feed his Kitty Cat! He will pick out her bowl, bring it to us with the can and a spooon and wait for us to fill up the bowl. He then proceeds to take it to Lucy's mat. Lucy is always in the way, so he says "Scuse Me Sucy!" and bends over to put her bowl on the mat. Then, he pets her on the back and tells her to enjoy her meal. He loves his kitty. He will also tell her bye every morning the whole way out of the subdivision. "See ya Sucy!" "Bye bye Sucy" Today I think he even said "Miss you Sucy!"

I also just love all the cuteness from him in the morning. He will wake up and call out for us. Once we open his door, the sweetest little voice say s"Heeeeeyyy!" and he stands up to get picked up out of his crib.

Caleb really enjoys any of the little chores we ask him to do. For instance, he loves to put his dirty clothes in the hamper, throw his diapers away in the diaper pail, check the mail, put his shoes where they belong in his room and help Mommy or Daddy when we are in the kitchen. I love having a cute little helper!

I will finish with a cute little picture of Caleb's class at the Pumpkin Patch. He went on his first field trip yesterday and Stephen and I were both so excited to go along with him. He loved the pumpkins and the animals they have at the farm! We also got to go on a hayride!

Gone Fishin'

Well, Caleb's birthday party has come and gone. (I knew it would take me too long to finally sit down and blog about it...) A great time was had by all. Caleb was a little unsure of why so many people were in his house that day, but he got over it quickly with some yummy food and juice. It was a fishing theme, complete with fish shaped finger sandwiches, a tray of worms crawling around in dirt...OK, so they were really gummy worms in crushed up oreo cookies :), shells that we collected at the beach and his stuffed animal fish caught up in a fish trap. He loved all his food, but he especially LOVED his cake. In fact, the days that followed his party, Caleb would attempt to go in the kitchen by himself, stand on his tip toes and peek over the counter top at his cake. We would catch him and he would turn around and say "CAKE!" We were blessed that Pat Sheppard made him another beautiful AND allergy free birthday cake!

Another highlight for Caleb was when everyone sang the Happy Birthday song. He looked all around at everyone singing and got a huge grin on his face. Here is just a sampling of the pictures from the day...

Happy Birthday Song...told you he loved it!

Mommy decorating the table...

All this birthday stuff makes a boy thirsty! (See his little fishing vest?)

Waiting on his new car to be put together....think he was excited??? :)

His yummy and CUTE birthday cake!

Happy Birthday, my sweet boy!

Happy Birthday

I figured I would go ahead with the Happy Birthday Caleb post...by the looks of my blog, I have become slack and an event as important as this should not pass by without a posting of it's own!

How can I be a mommy of a 2 year old already? Time has gone by so fast. Sometimes I wish I could just slow down the time and bottle it up. I don't want to miss anything and yet feel at the same time like I miss so much! I figured I would write a little letter to Caleb today as my post...

Dear Caleb,

Happy 2nd Birthday! Not a day goes by that I do not thank God for you. You really are my sunshine. I know I may sing that to you a lot, but it really is true. Even on dark bad days, all I need to do is see your smile and things are ok, if only for a moment. I cannot get enough of your sweet hugs and kisses and will drop anything I am doing if you shout from the other room, "mama?" You have learned so much this year and I am so proud of you. You have made friends and love to talk about what you did on the way home from school. Your favorite things to do at school are singing songs and going on walks with the blue rope. I say blue because you always make sure to remind me of the color when you talk about your walks at school. I am pretty sure that your best friend is Kate. If I ask you what you did that day, 9 times out of 10, it has something to do with Kate. You two love to play together and I think it is so sweet to watch you play with your friends. I think you will be a good friend as you grow up because you seem to already have such a big heart for your friends!

You also like to play outside in our back yard with Daddy and get very excited when you get to pick cherry tomatoes from the garden and eat them straight from the vine. Another favorite thing of yours at home is Lucy, our kitty cat! Many times you will go in your play room, look around for her and if she isn't in there, you will pat your legs and say "kitty, kitty, kitty" and when she finally comes running into the room, you will get so excited! Your vocabulary has grown and I have a feeling that you will soon be speaking in complete sentances. Your current favorite phrase is "I want more! (moe!)" Needless to say, we hear that just about every night at dinner! You do love to eat! :)

My favorite part of the day is going in to your room each morning. Your face lights up, and you quickly get to your feet, scoop up your blanket (which you call Kee or Kit) and say "Up!" I pick you up and you always lay your sweet little head on my shoulder. That is one of those feelings I want to bottle up so I can keep it with me and open it up whenever I want to! From there, we will go in my bed and you will drink your milk (moke) and watch Blues Clues on TV. Those 5 minutes of snuggle time really do get me through the day!

You are so smart, Caleb. You love shapes. In fact, you can name off pretty much any shape, from oval to octagon and you are usually correct! You are also great with puzzles and no longer need my help to get them put together. Another sign that you are gaining your independance. It makes me so proud to watch you learn new things and do things by yourself.

I could go on and on about the silly things you do to make us laugh, make us smile and even make us cry tears of joy! This letter would get long, and the few readers that I have on my blog would probably get bored!

I really am so lucky to be your mom! I am so honored and humbled every day to think that God chose Stephen and Me to be your mom and dad. We must have done something right to deserve the title of "Caleb's Parents" because we could not be more proud of you, our sweet Little Man. My heart is so full of love for you and skips a beat when I see you playing outside at daycare, or discover your scent on a blanket you have left in my car or just hear your name. Thank you for being you, Caleb. I hope you have a wonderful birthday, full of all your favorite things!

XOXO,

Mama

Then: October 5, 2007

Now: September 2009

Wordless Wednesday: I didn't steal the cookies from the cookie jar!

Goodnight Moon

I really wish I had a video camera last night. Caleb and I were reading stories before bed. He was sitting in my lap and had given me a pile of books to read. As soon as I finished "Goodnight Moon" he jumped down, walked over by his bed and sat on the floor. What happened next melted my heart. He opened the book and read it to me. He has done this before, but last night just seemed different and more special. Maybe because he was saying actual words from the pages rather than made up words!

This is about the words he used as he read:
Page 1: babahda MOON!
Page 2: lalaladadada CHAIR!
Page 3: COMB!!!
Page 4: dababada COMB!!!!
Page 5: BOON!! (his word for balloon)
Page 8: (he skipped a few...) COMB!!!! (He was really stuck on the comb last night...)
Page 9: He put his finger up to his mouth "Shhhhhh!"
Page 10: Comb!
Page 11: ninite STAR!!! (then he waved to the star in the book)
Page 12 (or so!) SHHHHH!!!!
Page 13: ALL DONE!!! and he claps his hands, so proud of his reading...

What a sweet boy! I love that he read Mommy a Night Night Story last night. So precious!

Time Flies

I can't believe that Caleb's 2nd birthday is right around the corner. Time just flies by way too fast. It is so hard to sit back and enjoy every single moment, but I really wish I could do more of that! I love watching Caleb grow and learn new things. It is amazing and I will forever be so thankful that God chose Stephen and me to be Caleb's parents. We must have done something right in our past to be blessed with such a great little boy!

So, I am planning Caleb's birthday party. I walked into Party City yesterday afternoon and had to blink. Wasn't I just there yesterday picking out first birthday gear? A year goes by way too fast! This year we are doing a fishing themed party. Caleb loves fish, and loves to tell you what they "say" by bobbing his head up and down and opening and closing his mouth really fast. So, a fishing theme it is. I am slowly getting decorations, picking out cake ideas, and deciding on what we will do at his party. We have decided to hold it at the house this year, which could either go very well or be a disaster...to clean up! It will be a smaller party this year, on a Sunday, so as not to interfere with football, and be all about the birthday boy. All food will be Caleb safe this year. That is my main request. It isn't fair to have to tell the birthday boy "No" on his birthday! (Well, when it comes to food anyways!) I will be trying a couple new recipes the month leading up to it, so everything will taste good to Caleb and all of the other guests! Be on the lookout in just over a month for birthday party pictures! :)

Beach Trip 09

Ok, so we have been back well over a week and I still haven't blogged about the beach...SORRY! I guess my thoughts were that once I blogged about the trip it was over....We certainly were not ready to say good bye to the beach.

Caleb LOVED the water and by the end of the week got used to the sand. He refused to walk in the soft sand for the first part of the trip, but by the last night he was off walking in the soft sand on his own. Pretty much, every day was the same and it was a routine we all enjoyed!

We woke up, had breakfast and got ready to head out to the beach. We hauled out all the gear and let Caleb decide if he wanted to play in the water, play in the sand or go on a walk with his wagon. He really liked looking for shells and snack time on the beach the most! About lunch time, we would go up to the room and eat lunch. Caleb would then nap for 2 hours or so and we would either head back down to the beach or take up some chairs at the pool. Caleb's favorite part about the pool was the steps. Up and down, up and down. He also liked to jump in and have mommy or daddy catch him. Then, in the evenings we would head out for dinner or go on evening walks once we were cleaned up. We stayed in a few nights, but we really enjoyed trying some new restaurants. We were SO thankful how accomodating all the places were with Caleb's food allergies. Most of them made him a special meal in his own skillet, which was very appreciated by mommy and daddy. We think Caleb's favorite restaurant was Bubba Gumps. We sat outside and he loved our waitress, who was always bringing Caleb a pack of crackers. Caleb did not care for the birds that live on the deck....I think he thought they were going to take his food! Here are a few pictures....enjoy!

Caleb has moved up to the Two Year Old room at daycare and seems to be loving it. He gets very excited when we drop him off in the morning and he usually runs in the door saying "HEEEEYYYYY!!!"

We got great news at the allergist this morning and we actually left feeling optimistic...which is quite the change! His peanut allergy looks as if it is going away! Thank goodness. We are hoping the eggs and milk will soon follow suit! Please keep your fingers crossed that one day, Caleb will be completly free of all his food allergies! We like hearing good things from the allergist!

wordless Wednesday

This is kind of how I feel today, too.

(I promise I will eventually get around to blogging about the beach!)

Beach Time

August 2008 - Ormond Beach....We can't wait to have NEW beach pictures this year!

YAY! We are leaving for the beach today! I am so excited! We have been telling Caleb how much fun he will have playing in the sand and the water. I think he is the most excited about the sand. Just about everything is packed and we almost have the house ready to go. I dont know if I will be able to blog from the beach, so I hope all my loyal readers (if there are any at all, LOL!) have a great week!



Also, for a Caleb update. He LOVES to talk about shapes now. The whole ride in to work today, he was talking. and talking. and talking! He is pretty good at identifying his shapes now and we are starting to notice the road signs on the side of the road that look like squares, diamonds and triangles! It will be quiet and then all the sudden I hear "Dia-nond!!!" and will look back and there is Caleb pointing at a diamond shaped road sign. What a smart boy! It seems his speech is really taking off lately! It is fun to see what he is going to come up with!

I Luf u

"I luf u" The sweetest words a mommy can hear. Caleb always has been such a sweet baby. Now, he is even sweeter. Last night as I was putting him to bed he looked up at me, smiled and said "I luf u!" then laid his little head on his pillow. I told him "I love you, too!" He then repeated himself 5 more times....and it won't ever get old! He has said it quite a few other times the past couple weeks, but last night was just too cute the way he said it over and over. My sweet little boy is growing up and growing sweeter by the minute.

Hey Buddy

I think Caleb has his first best friend. This morning as we were leaving for daycare I asked him who he was going to play with today. His response without skipping a beat was "Kate!" They seem to feel the same way towards each other because whenever I see Kate, she always says "Hey Caleb's Mommy!"

This morning when we arrived at daycare, it was too cute. Caleb starts down the hall towards his classroom, waving at the walls, hitting the top of the trashcan, debates taking a sip of water from the water fountain and then dashes towards his room. As soon as he walked in today, Kate walks around the corner saying "Hi! Hi Buddy!!! Caleb! hey Buddy!!!" Caleb just smiles and acts shy, and then he finally waves back to her. "Hey!" Caleb says - he sounds like a Canadian when he says hey ... "Eh!!" Anyways, I take his backpack, hang it up and told his teacher that he was excited to play with Kate today. She said that the two of them do frequently play together and they play well with each other. When I turned around after signing him in, Kate (who had been constantly talking with Caleb since I walked in the door) and Caleb were getting down on their hands and knees crawling around. I was wondering if they were pretending to be cats or dogs because they were making silly faces. I took his lunch to the kitchen and peeked back down the hall where I could see the two of them sitting on their cubbies talking to each other...probably plotting their next big adventure!

Picture perfect weekend

If I could have an ideal weekend, it may be pretty close to the weekend we just had!

Saturday started off with the usual cleaning of the house. However, at 1:30, Stephen and I left for the Braves game in Atlanta. It was ARAMARK's client appreciation day, so we had a two hour tailgating party, complete with goody bags, raffles (which I apparently won, but we had already left and I have yet to hear what I got!), and yummy food and drinks. They also gave us $20 in Braves Bucks, so we could either spend it on food, drinks or merchandise. We decided to take some drinks with us after the party, and there were so many yummy snacks in the goody bags, that we decided to get Caleb his first tomahawk and Braves Baseball cap! The weather was PERFECT....in the mid-80's for the high and the seats were in the shade, so the breeze would blow every now and then to keep us cool. So nice! The Braves lost (we think it is the Lee curse as Stephen and I have never been to a game together, and we have been to quite a few, where they have won!) but it really didn't matter. We spent some great time together and had such awesome weather and seats! The All American Rejects had a concert after the game, so we moved down to the second row (only 10 rows down from where our original seats were) to watch the concert and watch the sun set over Turner Field. The game and concert were topped off with a trip to the Varsity! YUM!

Sunday was just as nice. We went to church and had a nice service. After the service was over, we let Caleb play out on the playground in the, once again, perfect weather! He had a nice time and we went home for lunch and his nap time. Stephen and I spent Caleb's nap time relaxing and watching a movie. When Caleb woke up, we went to the State Farmers Market south of Atlanta for some good fruits and veggies. When we returned home, it was play time in the backyard. Caleb even helped Stephen shuck the corn for dinner! He got a kick out of it.

Weekends like that are SO nice! I am already looking forward to this weekend, even though we will spend the majority of it getting ready for our VACATION to the beach!! YES!!!!!

Dancing Machine

Caleb has turned into quite the dancing and singing machine...in the car. Every night when riding home, he either wants to sing (we always have to start with the Dora theme song!) or turn up the car radio really loud and dance in his car seat. He has mastered car dancing...which for him consists of clapping, patting his lap, the head bop, swaying his arms from side to side, or "raising the roof." The latter seems to be his favorite and he has started to combine the head bop with raising the roof.

If he has requested to sing songs, he will quickly let you know that you have picked the wrong one by saying "noooo!" and signing for more. Kinda like hitting the skip button....

Passers by must think we are all nuts....because yes, even Daddy gets in on the action when we are all riding together. You know what, let them think what they want. Times like these don't last forever and I am perfectly happy being the crazy family driving down the road and raising the roof!

Half Day Fridays

A perk of working at Brenau is getting off at noon on Fridays during the summer. I have always enjoyed this perk, but this year has been an exceptionally good year for Half Day Fridays. This is how our half day Friday started last week. We usually start off with a nap! (Not me, just Caleb.) I will either take the two or so hours to clean the house or just catch up on daytime TV...the only time that I get to watch Days of Our Lives anymore...

After nap time, Caleb and I will enjoy a snack together and then head out for a fun activity. This time, we went to Discover Mills Mall to look for shoes for mommy (we tried this a few weeks ago, only I left my wallet at home!). After a successful shoe find, we continued to stroll around the mall. We had a nice time and came home to watch Dora The Explorer, you know - Caleb's movie star girlfriend! Other half day Fridays this summer have been spent at Monkey Joes, The Park, the indoor playground at the mall of Georgia and just chilling together at home in the baby pool. Such fun. I will miss getting to spend so much time with Caleb when the summer is over! He is such a sweet boy and is just growing up so fast!

Toddlerville

(Yes, this is an old picture...)


Welcome to Toddlerville! You know, the point where your laid back baby enters the phase of his life where he wants it his way or no way! I guess we are still pretty lucky. We have only had two meltdowns that lasted longer than 5 seconds...but geez, are they not fun! While Toddlerville does have it's not so fun moments like tantrums and meltdowns, there are always more good moments than bad, which I will focus on today. Maybe because they are happy moments or maybe because I am trying to forget about Caleb's minute long meltdown at the Chiropractor's office yesterday!



Funny Toddler Moment Number 1:

Because it is hot outside, I am starting to pick Caleb up with a juice box in the evenings. We have a long ride home and I learned this trick because there would be days where we would be 10 minutes in to our 30 minute ride home and Caleb. Must. Have. Water/Juice. NOW! And who could blame him, he had been running around in 90+ degree weather for the past 30 minutes. Anyways, yesterday on the way home, Caleb had finished his juice box and I looked back at him and he was letting his sock monkey drink the left overs. I made some slurping sounds, at which, Caleb promptly began to crack up. I love the things he thinks up in the car. (Another favorite is saying "bye bye" to the cars we pass, singing, and sharing his paci with his stuffed animals....usually putting it to the animal's mouth, but I have caught him putting it by the animal's behind before...and laughing at himself)


Funny Toddler Moment Number 2:

I love the fact that Caleb is starting to sing. Usually he will sing the last word of the phrase really loud and not say much of the first, but instead will dance around and anticipate the words he knows/the last words of the song. This Funny Toddler Moment would go better with video...



Funny Toddler Moment Number 3:

Anytime we see a black SUV, Caleb yells out "DADA!!!!" and points to the car. Stephen drives a black 4Runner and I think it is sweet! However, he will do that even when we are in the 4Runner or if he is with Stephen! Silly boy!



Funny Toddler Moment Number 4:

I drove up to daycare the other day and the kids were all playing outside on the playground. He saw me drive up. Make a surprised face and pointed at me with both hands, before running to the gate saying "Mama! Mama! Mama!!!"



Funny Toddler Moment Number 5:

Caleb's face when he eats a lemon. Enough said.... And he always wants more....



Those are just some of the things that make me laugh. I know there will be more in the fun phase of life called Toddlerville....

Happy Fourth of July!

The Lee Family spent the weekend down at the farm in South Georgia. It was a nice weekend. We spent the time relaxing, spending time with family, and for me, making Peach Jam. We went down there with four boxes of jars to fill up with the peachy goodness and filled up most of them! Stephen spent the time playing with Caleb, going on "ga cart" - golf cart- rides and tractor rides, and they spent some time playing in the sprinkler and the pool. I would say it was a great weekend all around!

Caleb's favorite part of the weekend probably had to do with eating peaches! The first day we were there, I asked Caleb to help me carry two peaches from the box full of peaches by the backdoor into the kitchen. Instead, he took a big bite out of each one, then held it up to me to put with the "peaches to be rinsed" pile. Silly boy. The box was finally empty, but the rest of the weekend, Caleb would walk over to the back door, look in the box and shake his head "no" when he discovered the box still no longer had any peaches in it. Every now and then, we would wash one off and put it back in the box for Caleb to discover. It was his first time to eat peaches straight off the tree, rather than being cut up for him and he loved it! He would eat the peach all the way down to the pit, and then ask for more! I guess it is a good thing we live in the Peach State!

It was a wonderful weekend. The kind I wish we had more of!

Wordless Wednesday

(I havent blogged in a week and I start back with a wordless Wednesday. What can I say, I have been busy!)

Little Things...

I love little surprises. Today was no exception. I was walking back to my office in the hot Georgia sun. All of the sudden, I heard a little voice that sounded just like Caleb, along with some other little toddler voices. Sure enough, as I rounded the corner, I found Caleb and his classmates out on a walk with their teachers! (This is an older picture, but I thought it would do!) They were so cute and were all talking about the church bells that had been ringing. I decided to take a quick break and walk a little way with Caleb back to the daycare. He held Ms. Tamira's hand with his right hand and my hand with his left hand and we walked. We looked at the cars that drove by and at the plants. It was hot, so his tiny, sweaty hand would slip off my finger every now and then, but he would quickly reach back up, give me a smile and grab ahold of my index finger. Such a sweet boy that I have! Our walk today made my day and reminded me that even when it is hot outside and I can't wait to get back to my office in the air conditioning, taking the long way isn't always such a bad thing! It is times like this that I love working here at Brenau....the beautiful campus, the friendly staff and little surprise impromptu walks with my favorite boy!

Happy Father's Day!

"Any man can be a father, but it takes someone special to be a Daddy" - Anne Geddes

Caleb is one lucky little boy! He has a DADDY that loves him and cares for him with his whole heart. He may not realize it growing up, but one day, maybe when he has a child of his own, Caleb will look back on his childhood and have memories of playing, learning and laughing with his daddy and realize how lucky he is. Some of my favorite moments occur when Stephen and Caleb don't know that I am watching them. It might be when Stephen is giving Caleb a bath, and I can hear him singing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" with Caleb, or it might be when Stephen is outside giving Caleb wagon rides...which is always better than a wagon ride from Mommy. These wagon rides make special noises, go faster and always have surprises. My words cannot explain what a good Daddy Stephen is, so I thought I would make this blog more about pictures of my two favorite boys, and some quotes that I have found that really suit the two men in my life. I guess I should also say, that Caleb isn't the only lucky one....I am too! I love you, Stephen. Have a Happy Father's Day!

“I cannot think of any need in childhood as strong as the need for a father's protection.” -Sigmund Freud

“My father gave me the greatest gift anyone could give another person, he believed in me.” -Jim Valvano

A man never stands as tall as when he kneels to help a child. - Knights of Pythagoras

It is easier for a father to have children than for children to have a real father. - Pope John XXIII

One night a father overheard his son pray: Dear God, Make me the kind of man my Daddy is. Later that night, the Father prayed, Dear God, Make me the kind of man my son wants me to be. - Unknown

Blessed indeed is the man who hears many gentle voices call him father! - Lydia M. Child, Philothea: A Romance, 1836

“The most important thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother.” -David O. McKay

Thank you for loving me, Stephen!

Ladies Man...

Caleb always makes us laugh. The one "theme" that has really gotten chuckles from mom and dad lately has been Caleb's way with the girls. We should have known he would be a ladies man when his first word was "Emma" one of his classmates. This was back when both of them were in the Infant room. They are still together now in the Toddler Room, and will be moving up to the Two Year old room together in August. She is a couple months older than Caleb, but one of the youngest of his "girlfriends"...Caleb tends to like the older women. So, in addition to Emma, here is a countdown of Caleb's crushes and a little story to go with each of them...

5. Dora...as in "Dora The Explorer". Caleb cannot get enough "Dora" or "Abba" as he fondly calls her. They spend many evenings together after dinner, always with Boots the Monkey and the cute purple backpack. I picked Caleb up from daycare yesterday and the kids were all sitting inside (it was horribly hot outside, so they came in to wind down and cool off) watching an episode of Dora. The teachers said they had all been cracking up as Caleb watched the show, yelled "Maaaaappppp!!!" every time the map came on and told Swiper to stop swiping (and being so shocked when Swiper the Fox actually took Dora's stuff!). Dora is usually one of the first things Caleb says when we get home in the evenings. I bought Caleb a can of corn a couple weeks ago with her picture on it and now when ever I get a can of vegetables out, Caleb asks to hold the can and scans it over to see if his girl's face is on the can.

4. Miss Addie Frye. Caleb doesn't actually "know" her yet, but he has seen her picture and certainly approves of the arranged marriage his mom and her friend have set up for the future. Addie is one of the twin daugthers of one of my friends, Steph. She was born just a couple weeks before Caleb. I certainly hope that the two week age difference will be enough when he grows up - you know since he likes older women. Don't worry, Addie's twin sister, Kara, also has an arranged marriage, and they both have given the approval of their future husbands! :)

3. Emma in the three year old room. Yep. Another Emma from Caleb's daycare. She is in the three year old room and Caleb thinks she is one of the greatest things ever. Sometimes I will get to daycare and watch Caleb play on the playground when he isn't looking. Usually, he is playing with her. One time they were walking to the slide, hand in hand. Yesterday during the Dora movie, the two were sitting side by side and sweet Emma let Caleb know his mommy had arrived when I walked into the room. Many times when we pass the three year old room, Caleb will stop at their entrance and look inside for her, smile and wave, before heading over to his own classroom.

2. Ms. Heather. Ms. Heather was one of Caleb's first crushes. She is the Director of the Daycare and Caleb adores her! Even when Caleb was a tiny baby, he always gave Ms. Heather sweet smiles and would give her a shy look when she walked in the room. He became a master at the "eye cut" as I like to call it. He will get a shy grin on his face, scrunch up his shoulders and cut his eyes away, sort of like saying "Awe shucks!" Most days when we leave daycare, he will walk by her office and stop to see if she will walk out. He always has big hugs for her and sometimes I think he might just rather go home with her than me!

1. Miss Melinda. Oh goodness, we cannot even say Miss Melinda's name without Caleb turning to goo! He loves her. He definitely gives her the "eye cut" as well, and literally every time I say her name, Caleb gets big eyes and a huge smile! She is out on vacation this week, but every morning Caleb walks in the room and looks around...and I know she is who he is looking for! For a while, Caleb went through a phase where he would "flirt" with her. She would be standing up, he would walk over, tap her on the leg and when she turned around, he would run away screaming and laughing! She is definitely Caleb's main squeeze right now! Here they are on the playground....can't you see that he just loves her!?

Well, there it is - the list of Caleb's top five favorite women...other than yours truely of course! (and I didn't even mention the fact that every time we go to a restaurant, he will pick out one girl/woman and flirt with her the whole meal!!) He is a cute boy, so all those women should consider themselves very lucky ladies to have the affection of Master Caleb!

Ouch!

Well, I had the inevitable phone call from daycare today. Nothing major at all, but it was my first "injury phone call" from daycare. They have called before (usually because Caleb had a fever) but I always get butterflies when I hear his teacher on the other end of the line. This morning, Caleb apparently bit the dust. He smacked his lip on the floor. At first, the teacher thought it was pretty deep but, thankfully, it stopped bleeding and he stopped crying pretty fast. Glad it was nothing major and they just wanted to let me know. It took a lot, but I didn't fly over there to check on him. He is in good hands there. They love him and he loves them right back.

A taste of Vacation...

Because of my work schedule, long vacations during June and July are not possible for us. We take the first week of August for our annual beach trip and every summer it seems to take forever to get here! Last week, Stephen and I decided we were long over due for a trip down to Savannah to visit family. We decided to leave on Friday afternoon and stay until Sunday afternoon.

Being spontaneous with a toddler is not an easy task! Before Caleb, we could pack for a weekend trip in an hour....this time it took a few hours and lots of lists to make sure we wouldn't forget anything!! We got to Savannah late Friday night around midnight and crashed right away...which was a good thing because when Caleb woke up at 5:45 Saturday morning, he was extremely confused about where he was, and must have also been confused about the fact that normally he wakes up two hours later. Needless to say, he was taking a nap at 8:30. Stephen and I didn't mind one bit that we had to wake up early. With a view like this, who could complain?

We headed out to Tybee (apparently we were not the only people with that idea, as there was traffic and more people than we expected. Could have been the pretty weather or the fact that Miley Cyrus was filming a movie on the island and everyone wanted to meet her!?) Last summer, Caleb refused to put his feet (or any other body part, for that matter!) in the sand, so we were not sure how the beach trip would go this year. Don't forget my child will NOT get his head wet, either! Well, he showed us that he is a big boy now! He played for hours in the sand and even sat in a little bit of water and played with daddy! He loved the beach - still doesn't like to get all the way in the waves, but we definitely made progress. After the beach, we headed to the Yacht Club to meet Stephen's cousin and his two boys. We warned his cousin in advance that Caleb would cry in the pool. Well, once again, Caleb wanted to prove us wrong! He loved the pool! He laughed, he smiled, he splashed AND kept signing "more" when his Daddy would throw him in the air and catch him in the water! Who would have thought "Mr. I hate bath time" would have been such a little fishy this weekend?!? He has not done well at our local pool either, but now I am thinking it is because of all the water slides and fountains in our hometown pool. It does make us feel better - Stephen and I both were wondering how two people who love the water so much could produce a little boy who wouldn't go near it!

With all the fun at the pool and beach, we did have a scare with Caleb's food allergies. He accidentally stuck his hand in some melted ice cream at the pool and immediately got covered in hives on his hand, arm, side, back and even a few on his face. All from just skin contact! Poor guy. We made a benedryl run and before even giving him any his hives were gone. We gave him some as a precaution, but it has taught me to be more diligent about always making sure we have his Benedryl and Epi-pen with us at all times! Food allergies really stink!

Caleb got to play with his other cousins, Addison and Elliot, Saturday night and fell in love with them - and I think they fell in love right back! Before we left on Sunday morning, he kept giving them hugs and kisses!

It was a wonderful weekend and I sure do hope the few hours out on the beach in Tybee will hold me over for our week long vacation in Daytona in August!

Well, here goes....

So, I have decided to write a blog...you know...since I have time to spare?!? (If someone who has a child under the age of 18 has spare time, I would love to know how you have found it...) I always enjoy reading my friend's blogs and for the past few days little things have happened that I feel would be good to record "on paper." I am sure that most of my blogs will be about Caleb, since my whole world revolves around him, and I wouldn't have it any other way. I can't say that I am the best writer, and I can assure you there will be spelling and punctuation errors, so I will go ahead now and thank anyone who reads this in advance. :)

I figure my first should most certainly have a picture of the little dude that I will be writing about on a daily basis...so here he is....Master Caleb Lee. (Isn't he the most precious thing you have ever seen? His Daddy is pretty cute, too, huh!?!)

So, what is Caleb up to these days, you ask?!? Well, just this morning as we were riding to work I looked in the back seat and Caleb was ever so proudly looking at his sweet little hand with his index and middle fingers pointed straight in the air, and the other three fingers in a fist. He looked at me with a smile, looked back down to his fingers, and then said "TOOOOOO!" Yep -Caleb can now count to two on his fingers with ease. If given some help he can make it to four. "Un, TOOOO, EEEEE, FOOOOO!" Any time he learns a new trick, he gets very tickled with himself and will laugh about it...so I am sure we will be getting some more giggles out of his new trick the next few days. It is fun hearing new words come out of his mouth. I am sure that I am the only one who can understand most of these words, but they are "words" none the less....and I am proud of him for it!

At 20 months old, Caleb also enjoys dancing, watching Dora the Explorer, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse or Little Einsteins, and going down the "Fide" (slide) at either the park, daycare or at home. His best friend is Lucy, our black kitty and he has recently started to try and pick her up...she isn't too sure about his new found strength, but still comes by Caleb every now and then to rub on his legs - which always ends with him squealing and the kitty making a mad dash for the next room.

Oh, and I guess I should also clear the air. So many of my friends have started up a blog when they find out they are pregnant. NO - not pregnant! We may add a fourth SOME day, but not yet. :)

Thanks to those who have read the first post of what I hope to be many in the "Happy-Lee Ever After" series!