Happy-Lee Ever After

Too smart....

2011-06-22T07:03:00.000-07:00

Yes, I know. Bad blogger. But, I had a funny story from yesterday that I just had to post...

So Caleb has a magna doodle in the car that he loves to play with while I am driving. Lately, he has been very proud of his art work, saying "Mommy, look!" I always tell him that I can't turn around in the car and will have to look at it later. Apparently, that answer isn't good enough, so when he tells me to look at his masterpiece, I give a quick nod to the back and say "Wow! That looks great, Caleb!"

Yesterday on the way home it was no different. The conversation went a little like this:
Caleb: Look what I draw, Mommy!
Me: Wow! That is a great drawing Caleb!
Caleb (lets out a huge sigh): Ugh. Mommy, I didn't really draw anything!

Kid is too smart for his own good. And Mom is busted....

Update

2011-04-20T06:36:00.001-07:00

Long time, no blog! I have no excuses. We have surely had lots of fun and exciting things happen, but I have just not sat down to write about them. I could break this post up into lots of many posts....but surely, with my blogging track record, you would be left with one post. SO, here goes. I have left you waiting long enough, now you will get to read an extremely long, hopefully not too boring, blog! :) Consider yourself warned, this is very much a stream of conscious blog. Not too much format, just listing some exciting memories that we have recently shared as a family!

First and foremost:
I have to start this blog post with a story about this sweet smiling face. We recently purchased new portable DVD players to go in our car for long trips. Caleb was told if he put his feet on them, they would be taken down until the next long car trip. Well, after the Disney trip, wouldn't you know, he put his foot on it. Several days later, he asked about them and we told him that he broke the rule so they had to be taken inside. The conversation that followed almost brought tears to our eyes:

Stephen: Does that make you sad that you can't watch tv in the car anymore?

Caleb: No.

Stephen: No? Well, it should make you sad. You broke a rule and now there is no more movie time in the car for a very long time.

Caleb: But, I like to be happy. I try to always be happy instead of sad. It makes me feel good.

My dear Caleb, I hope you will always keep that outlook in life. No matter what. And thank you for the reminder!

Disney:

I don't even know where to begin with describing our trip to Disney. I have been to Disney a few times before and had a wonderful time. I have to say I never expected this trip to be seriously one of the happiest times of my life. To see your child's eyes light up with excitement with they see the Castle or Mickey Mouse, in person, for the first time in their young life is just beyond what words can express.

Caleb loved every single aspect of the Magic Kingdom. When we walked into Hollywood Studios, he spotted some characters right away and began shouting "Hi!!! hi!!!! Hi Minnie Mouse!!!!" over and over and over again. So much excitement! Caleb has always been a happy little boy, but I have seriously never seen him smile as much as he did in Disney World. The parades were also a huge hit. He waved at all the characters and danced to the music as the parade passed by. I especially loved the Main Street Electrical Parade. How neat!

His favorite things about Disney were riding the tram to and from the parking lot, riding the monorail (what is it with the monorail and kids? Don't they all just love it?), the Dumbo ride, the magic carpet ride, and meeting the characters. He was a little timid at first when meeting the characters, but soon grew to love it.

One of my most favorite moments from the trip was a conversation I had with Caleb before going back to a park one night after his nap.

Me: Caleb, how about we go back to Disney and eat some....ICE CREAM!?!

Caleb (with a sad face): But, I allergic. I no can have ice cream.

Me: But, Caleb, we are in Disney. Mickey Mouse makes sure ALL of his friends can eat ice cream at Disney. He has SPECIAL ice cream made just for you!

Caleb (gasps with excitement): Really???

Me: YES!

Caleb: YAY!!!!!!!!! Let's go eat ICE CREAM!!! Let's go NOW!!

Seriously, for a mother of a child with food allergies, you do not realize what a big deal this is. What kid goes to Disney and can't eat ice cream? The folks at Disney are AMAZING when it comes to food allergies. They make sure all their guests are treated fair and are taken good care of. A chance to be like every other "normal" kid is well worth the money you shovel out for a trip to Disney!

The last night we were there, we went to a character dinner at Chef Mickey's. Again, this was another great dinner and they were awesome with Caleb's allergies. We got seated and the Chef came to our table to personally take Caleb on a tour of the buffet. For those of you who don't know, a buffet is NOT an ideal dinner for a person with food allergies. Think about it, the serving pieces get tossed back into the wrong dish, a guest drops a piece of cheese while making it's way to their plate and so on. For someone with severe allergies, a buffet is a part of their worst nightmare! BUT, not at Disney. As the Chef took us around, he pointed out all the foods Caleb could eat and what we should avoid. Once Caleb decided on his meal (oddly, his favorite thing on the buffet line was the vegetables!), the Chef wrote down what he wanted and then went to the kitchen and prepared the food personally for him on clean dishes, clean pots and pans and ruled out the possibility of any cross contamination!! He devoured his food. The Chef came to check on him no less than four times during the meal to see if it tasted good or if he needed anything else. He also brought him out another special bowl of ice cream and a cupcake made without nuts, eggs, wheat, or milk. (They keep these made for their gluten free guests.) Would you believe Caleb had the nerve to tell me that "These are even better than mommy's cupcakes?!!?" Geez! I lost a baking competition to a mouse! ;) They treated Caleb like a king and all the characters came to our table not once, but twice! They made Caleb laugh, they gave him hugs and high fives and they even danced and had everyone wave their napkins up over their heads. This meal was pricey, but probably the most memorable meal I have ever had! Look at the smiles on this child's face!!!

Trip to the Zoo and other fun things:

As if going to Disney wasn't enough, the weekend after we got back, we took an afternoon to go to Lake Lanier to the Arts and Craft Festival and Boat Show. Caleb had fun (and so did Daddy) getting on an off the big boats and yachts. That evening, we went to an outdoor restaurant on the lake and listened to some live music from the Brat Pak (80's tunes) and had a blast. They had a big sandy beach area, so Caleb played in there for a while.

The following weekend, we made a trip to Zoo Atlanta. Caleb said his favorite animals were the elephants. The Zoo was a lot of fun and came on the heels of a zoo learning theme at Caleb's daycare.

So, as you can see, it has been very busy in our home! We have had lots of good, quality family time. Caleb is growing so very fast. It is just such a bittersweet thing to watch. I tucked him in to bed the other night and realized that this, right this very moment, is such a wonderful moment and I am so very blessed to get to experience this stage of life. To have a young child and mold them and teach them new things every day. You can't get these moments back.

I will conclude with that. This blog post has already turned into a novel and I appreciate you if you made it this far! :) On a side note, be on the lookout. This blogger format is about to drive me batty. I think we will be "moving" to wordpress in the near future. I can't take these crazy formats and I know my blood pressure will rise again after I hit post and it looks funky and crazy and not like what my "preview" looks like. I will keep you updated and where you can find me. In the meantime, enjoy some time with your family and friends and savor every moment you have with them!

Happy Valentine's Day!

2011-02-14T06:04:00.000-08:00

Just a quick post this morning, but could someone please tell me how my baby is old enough to be doing this all on his own?

Seriously? Writing ALL by himself?! My goodness how does time go by so fast???

I hope you all have a happy Valentine's Day! Mine started out with a really cute three year old asking me to be his Valentine. Then, his Daddy also followed suit. It will be a great day!

2011-01-25T07:21:00.000-08:00

So happy to be home!

Caleb has been full of one liners lately, so I just had to get them down in blog-form. By the way, hello everyone. Long time no blog. I blame our house flood, but in reality, that probably has nothing to do with it. We have moved back in, though. Now we are in the process of cleaning. And cleaning. And cleaning. Love the new flat un-textured ceilings. Hate the dust!

Anyways, here are a few one liners from Caleb:

Me: (As we are passing the Processing plant yesterday...and it smelled worse than normal) Ew. It stinks today!
Caleb: (He sniffs) EEEWWW! It IS stinky today. Does someone need to go potty??
A few minutes pass... Caleb: I think a train back there went potty. He made it stinky!

Explaining to Caleb that we get to bring Lucy home tonight, as she has still been at the condo because we are getting our stairs stained. Caleb: Yay! Lucy can come home now because it wont rain on her inside anymore!

The other day in the car, we heard a train's whistle. Caleb: Hurry Mommy! I need you to hurry so I can see that choo choo train! (as we were stopped still in traffic).

Every time we went to see progress on our house. Caleb "I like the new (fill in the blank)!" Literally everything he saw, new or old, he liked!

Caleb to me a little while back when I was wearing a vest with (fake, no worries, PETA) fur on it: Mommy, I like your shirt. You look just like a dog!!" (He was so proud, too!)

We had to get a shower curtain yesterday. As we passed a toy section, every item Caleb saw he wanted. (typical child! ) Well, he would make the same comment. "OHHHH, Mommy! I like that toy. I wish I could have it!" (emphasise the WISH part when reading!)

As a man with a white beard passed us the other day at Home Depot: Caleb: Mommy! Look it's Santa Claus! Here at Home Peepo!"

That is all you get for now. I REALLY need to get these down on my blog as soon as he says them. I always forget by the time I sit down to write!!

OH! How could I forget!? Caleb actually read his first sentence a couple weeks ago! He has been learning words. He loves to read his friend's names. Well, he kept talking about his teacher's dog the other day named Tucker. So I taught him how to spell it and then put some words together that I thought he might know. He read it. Here he is with his first sentence! :) I am so proud!

So very thankful

2010-11-19T06:32:00.000-08:00

There have been some small moments lately that have made me just so thankful to me a mom. (Ok, so I am always thankful, but these moments have really stood out and I hope to remember them always)

Yesterday, Caleb's teachers decorated the classroom for Christmas. They put up white lights all over the room, along with ornaments and they were playing Christmas music. Stephen picked Caleb up from school and they were playing outside. Well, as soon as they got back inside, Caleb ran into his classroom, jumped up in the air and landed with his arms and legs spread wide apart. "Ta-da!!!!!! Christmas!!!" he proudly exclaimed. I think Little Buddy is excited for Christmas this year!

They also recently made Thanksgiving Handprints for an art project. They had to tell their teacher one thing they were thankful for. Out of everything he could pick, Caleb proudly told them he was thankful for Jesus. What a sweet little boy!

We took Caleb for his first ride on the Macy's Pink Pig. A huge Atlanta tradition. His face was lit up the entire time as he looked at everything we passed. I hope I will always remember the look of excitement and curiosity in his eyes! His favorite part was when the conductor said "All aboard!" He ran to the front seat to begin his trip! After the ride, we went to Chick Fil-a for lunch. I think he may have been even more thrilled with who we saw there - a Chick Fil-A cow, than the Pink Pig!

Sometimes, after I get him dressed in the morning, I will tell Caleb that he looks great. His response? "Whistle at me!!"

Caleb is still talking about the holes in our house and if I mistakenly say "Let's go home," he promptly corrects me and says "We no go home. We have holes in our house. We go to Grandadddy's House!" I think he is ready for the holes to be patched up so he can sleep in his own bed. (We are very very slowly making progress and hope to get a lot done this weekend!)

The small moments make mommy-hood so worth living!

Drying Out

2010-11-17T06:53:00.000-08:00

Yep. We are drying out. For those of you who did not see on facebook, Stephen and I had a massive flood in our house. A connecting valve for a pipe under our guest bath sink gave our and the pipe began gushing out water...when we were not at home. It had to have leaked about 1000 gallons of water during the day. It was on the second floor of our house, so it flooded the upstairs hall, soaking into the carpet in every single room upstairs, except for our bed room. It also went down the steps and through the ceiling into our kitchen, living room and laundry area and half bath downstairs. In the end, we will have to replace the hardwoods, ceilings, carpets, flooring in both upstairs bathrooms, the vanity in the guest bath upstairs, baseboards up and down stairs and repaint most rooms downstairs and hall upstairs. We will also need a new couch, tv and some other small items will need to be replaced. Thankfully all of our sentimental items and pictures came out ok. The verdict is still out on the laptop that was sitting directly underneath one of the major leaky spots. Honestly, I think we are just a little scared to turn it on. Said laptop is the home to oh so many pictures and documents! Hopefully, Mr. IT Man (Stephen) can get it fixed, or at least recover the documents.

Not sure when we will be able to get back in our home. I am really hoping to be in there for Christmas, but even at that point not everything will be fixed.

Yes. It is a big pain. We do have good insurance and that is assuring. I hate being displaced from our home, especially during the holidays. However, I know it could be so much worse. The flood occurred on Wednesday, the same day I experienced my first flat tire. We were stressed and worried, but thankful our entire house was not destroyed. As we sat in our hotel room Thursday night, everything was put into perspective with one phone call. We learned some devastating news about a friend and member of our church who was killed riding his bicycle. He left behind a wife and two sweet children. We now keep that family in our prayers and hold on to each other a little tighter. We will also take a flood any day.

So, as we dry out, we still continue to count our blessings. This Thanksgiving, we may not have our home back together, but we still have the people in that home....all together, and that is what really matters the most.

Happy Thanksgiving to all! Remember to count your blessings!

Happy Halloween - a couple days late!

2010-11-02T07:56:00.000-07:00

Three is a very fun year for Halloween! Everything from pumpkin picking, pumpkin carving (ok, so he refused to touch the insides of the pumpkin for the most part. I finally convinced him at clean up time...), and of course, the trick or treating. He even wore his pirate hat the entire time! Caleb is typically not a fan of any type of hat for longer than 5 seconds!

Trick or treating was a lot of fun this year. Each house we approached, he would look for the "ring bell" and yell out "There is the ring bell!" when he would find it. He perfected his "tick or teat" and managed to score a bunch of candy, most of which he can't eat. Bummer! He doesn't seem to mind when we tell him he can't have something and we were sure to have a good stash of "Caleb-safe" candy on hand to help him re-fill his goodie bag.

I can't believe it is already November. We are in my favorite part of the year and it just seems to be flying by already! I want time to stand still. I want to see the Holidays this year through the eyes of a child. I want to soak each and every moment in and not pass days away without being appreciative for what I have. I think having a child makes this time of year so much more magical, and for that I am so very thankful!

Here are a few pictures from our fun Halloween! Happy November!

Happy Birthday, Caleb!

2010-10-05T13:11:00.001-07:00

How you went from this:

to this:

in the blink of an eye is beyond me.

My goodness, my precious Caleb. Time sure has flown. Just over an hour ago, three years to this date you came in to my life. I never expected motherhood to be such pure joy. At three years old, you just amaze me with how smart and talented you are. You love music and will tap your foot or clap your hands to the beat of the music. Just a couple weeks ago, you actually drew a picture of a quarter note and correctly identified it on sheet music. You must be a musical prodigy. :) You also know all of your letters and can count to thirty all by yourself. You can read your friends names and are starting to familiarize yourself with short words as well. You started to tell us your letters (big ones and little ones as you say) at two and a half years old. It really was just so amazing to me!

The things you come up with to say now are also amazing. "What you said mommy?" You are also starting to get into sports. You take part in "playball" at school and your coach says you have improved so much since the start of the school year when we enrolled you in the program. Your daddy and I think you are great at kicking a ball and you have also gotten really good at hitting a baseball off the tee!

On this day, your third birthday, I just want you to know how much you are loved, my Little Buddy! I sometimes go in your room at night and pray over you while you sleep. I thank God for bringing you into our lives and pray that you live a long, healthy and happy life. I pray that I can make a difference in your life...teach you right from wrong, how to be a gentleman, and that you will grow up always surrounded by love. I really do not know how I got so lucky to be chosen as your mommy. You bless me every single day with the most precious smile and sweet little voice. My heart melts each time you tell me that you love me. I would give you the world if I could, as you have given me more than you will ever know.

Happy birthday, sweet Caleb! And many, many more!

Wordless Wednesday...

2010-09-15T10:06:00.000-07:00

Ok, so technically there are some words... :)

Remember Me?

2010-09-13T09:07:00.001-07:00

I have been horrible at keeping up with this blog lately and I hate that! I love to have the little day-to-day stories written down and I haven't been doing a good job. Maybe I will work on changing that. We will see!

So...what has been keeping me so busy? I did start another blog. It's called 52 Treats I Can Eat. I created it to give me some new exciting things to feed Caleb that most non-food allergic kids get to eat every day, whenever they want. You can find it at www.52treatsicaneat.wordpress.com. I usually put in where I have made substitutions to make it Caleb-safe....so while it is a blog geared towards food allergies, everyone can enjoy it!

Here are some of those silly moments that I haven't been writing down. Sorry for the stream of consciousness writing...just not feeling it today, as I have been doing data entry all morning. (and now spending my lunch typing on a computer....something isn't right here!)

Caleb has transitioned into a new class at school. The first week was a little rough since most of his old friends went into a new classroom without him. Thankfully, he has his friend Ella from his other classes in there with him and has grown to love all the new kids - all girls - as well. He is such a ladies man already. Every morning he runs in and the girls all run up to him to talk to him. His friend Ella is usually the first one to greet him. The other day, she ran up to him and put her hands on her hips, looked out the corner of her eye and said "Heeeey Big Boy!" The next morning....it was similar, only this time she said "Hey Caleb! Are you going to come and get me?" (Yes, he did....of they went to play with their favorite toys together!) One of my favorites happened just about a week ago. He ran into his room, as he always does, and said "Hey Ladies!!" He was so proud and I think he takes his role as the "Man of the Classroom" very seriously. He always wants to be the "caboose" for the day. Maybe so he can be sure to protect his "ladies" as they walk down the hall!

He amazes me every day. I have said before how well he does with his letters. Now he will randomly find a letter in a book or on a flashcard, cup, menu, etc. and say "There is a C in my name." or "There is an S in Miss Sarah's Name!" he gets so proud of himself...and I do, too! :)

He is great at calling the "Dawgs!" You should ask him to say "Go Dawgs" for you sometime!

OH! How have I gone without blogging this huge milestone??? Caleb is officially FULLY potty trained. Day and night time! He has done GREAT! It was about mid-August when he was trained and has done wonderful ever since. He loves being a big boy and going in the potty. Many mornings he will go into the bathroom and say "I stand up. Because I am a big boy!" So nice to not have to deal with diapers any more.

I will try to be better about keeping up with this blog. I need to! I hate for the little funny moments to pass on by without being documented!

Catching Fireworks

2010-07-06T09:40:00.000-07:00

Well, the long July 4th weekend has come to a close. It really was a wonderful weekend! We spent the weekend down at the Farm. Caleb's first question as we pulled up to the farm was "Where is the tractor?" And that kind of sums up how the weekend went. He was on the move getting to try all sorts of new things.

Caleb went on tractor rides with his Daddy, golf cart rides, ate MANY peaches (the 4th is the annual peach jam making trip! - more to come on that in a bit., went swimming, ate blackberries fresh off the blackberry bush - turning his mouth and shirt a very dark shade of purple, played in the garden, and,of course, watched fireworks. He loved every minute of it! We went to Eastman, GA to see the fireworks show, and they did a great job! Caleb's favorites were the big ones that look like they are coming right at you in a perfect;y formed ball. He would hold out his hands and try to catch them. He even put some of those "fireworks" in his pocket to save for later. And, yes, the next day, he asked for his pants so he could pull one out of the pocket. This is a picture of Caleb and his daddy playing while waiting for the sun to go down. See his expression?? It pretty much stayed like that the whole weekend.

On to the peach jam....I completed four huge batches of the yummy goodness. I also made a double batch of peach cobbler for everyone to eat. It was so good! We had peach everything, and by the end of the weekend, I had to have pealed over 50 cups of peaches....which is A LOT, and we still have some peaches left over. (anyone have any good peach-something recipes???) Caleb proved to be a good helper and was a master peach sampler by the end of the weekend. He can't get enough.

We took our time coming home from the farm and stopped in Macon to visit their Bass Pro Shops and stretch our legs. It was a nice little outing and Caleb loved watching the fishies in a different store than where we usually go to pass the time when we get Cabin Fever! We got home and went swimming, where Caleb got to learn something else new and exciting...belly flops! Of course the padding of his puddle jumper takes away the sting. ;) The alarm went off this morning, and here I am back at work - don't worry, I am on my lunch break!

I hope you all had a nice 4th of July weekend, as well. Now, I get to count down the days until Beach Time! YAY!!!

So I won't ever forget...

2010-06-10T06:48:00.000-07:00

Caleb, you really do make me laugh every single day. Here are a few tidbits of things you have said or done lately that have made me laugh:

I love how you say sunglasses. "Mommy, I need my funglasses!"
You got your toy phone out the other day and called up your girlfriend Kate and said "Hey Kate! You gotta go potty?"
I was making dinner the other night and told you that you would need to play by yourself in the living room or watch tv. As I was letting the water rise to a boil, I came and sat down next to you on the coach. You immediatly pushed me over and said "No Snuggle, Mommy! You go cook dinner!"
You have a silly laugh that you do when you have forgotten to do something. For instance, last night you used your fingers instead of your spoon to eat your peas. When I told you to use your spoon, you did your silly laugh and said "Oh yeah!" with your hands out to your side. It is the same response every time and I love it!
Sometimes your daddy and I will be talking at the dinner table and you will all of the sudden say "No talking Mommy! Listening ears!!" I think your daddy put you up to it, but he swears he didn't!
You still love the trashman. He is the first person you thank God for every night when you say your prayers. (and you usually thank God for the trashman at least two or three times each night.)
I love how you lay out all your animals across your bed every night. You are allowed to pick one out (this is after they started to keep you up at night, and when we asked you to go to sleep you said you couldn't because your animals were awake). After you pick out one animal, you put the rest in your chair and tell them to all snuggle with each other. (snuggling is your THING! You are very good at it!)

Every red car you see is Ms. Melinda's car.

You love to hide, but you always give yourself away. If you want to play hide and seek, you usually see your daddy and will yell out "Hide! hide!" Sometimes you hide somewhere, others you stand really still in the middle of the room with your eyes closed and your hands over your eyes. As soon as someone says "Where's Caleb?" You pop out and say "HEEEEEEYYYY!"

I love to watch you dance! You have some great moves!

The other day, you accidently put two legs in the same leg hole of your pants. You were very upset by it. (When i told you how to fix it, you did the silly laugh and said "oh yeah!")

When you get very excited to tell someone something, your words just can't keep up with you. You can tell a whole story in about 10 seconds, but none of the words can be understood. But, you have the most excited look on your face and you will be pointing all around to tell us about the exciting thing that just happened.

I know there are so many other moments I could write about. I will have to just write them down as they happen because it really is every day that you say or do something that cracks me up. This post wouldn't be complete without the following picture that Ms. Nyssa sent to me from school. You were hot and sweaty, so your teachers spiked up your hair and wanted to take a picture. When they told you to smile, here was your response:

Letter Scavenger Hunt

2010-06-07T08:43:00.000-07:00

During the summers, I get off work at noon. I love the Brenau Summer Fridays. It actually helps me feel as though I have a bit of a "summer break." This past Friday, Caleb and I went on a letter scavenger hunt through the mall. He rode in his stroller, I told him what letter to look for. When he found it, he would should out "There it is!" and I would take a picture of the letter. He LOVED this activity. (and now that I blog about it, I feel like a real "mom-blogger" and it makes me feel a little bit giddy.) He has loved looking through the pictures on my phone. Last week I saw a picture of "Alphabet Mystery Box" in one of my friend's photo album. Basically, there is a mat with every letter of the Alphabet and a box. Inside the box is a small toy/item that starts with every letter of the alphabet. The child reaches in a draws out a toy and then places the toy on the corresponding letter on the mat. I have decided (how's this for a "mom-blogger" activity??) to laminate each photo - although, I may take a few new ones so they won't be blurry - onto a mat of our own and create our own version of the Alphabet Mystery Box game. I think Caleb will totally dig it and feel some pride in knowing that he helped make the game! How is that for creativity from this working-mom?

Have I ever told you what a great stay at home mom I could be?? ;)

(Now, before I post I am saying a little prayer that blogger carries over the format I have posted my letters in. It looks great in Preview...but always looks different on my actual blog...here goes nothing...)

Glimpses of the Past

2010-06-03T09:31:00.001-07:00

Since day one of starting my job at Brenau University, every now and then a smell, a picture or the distinct creak of the Alpha Chi steps will open a floodgate of memories of my time spent here as a student. As a part of my job of conducting summer camps, I have to do a walk-thru of each building on campus every year before the first camp starts. While a very tedious task, it is actually one of my favorite parts of working here. Why? Well, you will have to continue reading to find out.

I began conducting my walk-thrus this morning. Sometimes, I have to catch my breath or just laugh because if feels as if something out of a movie. Case in point, the long, currently empty and quiet (except for the aforementioned creaking) Alpha Chi front stairway that I walked down this morning. For just a brief moment while I was walking down the steps, the area transformed into a loud and crowded gathering point. I saw Kristen, holding our cordless telephone (not a cellphone!) in her hands, probably talking or singing. I saw Katie and Lindsay in their room at the top of the stairs...Katie with her LONG, flowing locks of blond hair. I could hear Eryn's voice in the background, and saw dried macaroni left randomly in the middle of the floor from her cooking. I also saw Emmie, probably playing some sort of a prank on someone. Most of all, that empty stairwell today was filled with laughter. It was never an easy task to walk up those stairs without stopping. There were usually a few sisters sitting on the top of the steps, and it was very hard to pass them without joining in on their conversation.

(one of the many random things you could find at the top of the stairs...)

(always something to do in the Alpha Chi House)

It's really funny that each place on this campus still smells the same. Yonah Hall still smells the same as it did the very first day I moved into Yonah 101 as a freshman. Not a horrible smell, but just a distinct smell that I cannot describe with words. I can't walk into Yonah 1st without thinking of the fun times I spent on that hall. Man, we sure were carefree back then! Strawberries lined the doors and walls along the hall...we called it the Strawberry Patch because so many of my hallmates joing the ZTA house that year. I can see myself rushing to dance class, having to pass Casey and Melissa's room on the way. Don't let those sweet innocent girls fool you. They were the number one reason that I would SKIP a ballet class! When I did skip ballet, they always had some sort of fun adventure or activity that I would much rather go on or be a part of. So. many. memories.

(porch time)

Many of the halls or areas on campus may look different now, but if I try really hard, I can see it...and it looks exactly the same as it did when I was here as a student. Every year when students move in or out of their dorm, I see my college friends. I see Karri and Amanda across campus...running towards me laughing. I hear Cessna calling my name (I should say nickname, that I still don't like!) from Crudup front porch. I see Laura sitting on the ZTA porch while I am out on the AXO porch, and I do believe we were attempting to have some sort of a conversation from right where we were. I see so many distinct memories that I will always treasure so dear to my heart, and I just hope that those students moving in or out will have similar memories and similar stories when they are my age.

Well, I must get back to work. More walk thru's to conduct. More memories that I am sure will come back to me and make me laugh this afternoon. I am so lucky to have such fond memories of my college days. I truly don't think you can get that at just any college....so thanks to all my "Brenau Girls" for giving me so many things to smile about every day when I "see" you at work!

Wordless Wednesday

2010-05-26T09:26:00.000-07:00

If I am not going to take the time to post a nice long blog, I figured I could at least post a picture for Wordless Wednesday...

Isn't he a stud? I heart summer...and I heart my little boy even more!

Out of the Mouths of Kids

2010-04-30T06:35:00.000-07:00

I love funny things kids say. The conversation last night at dinner with Caleb was no exception.

The scene: Dinner table. Fussy Caleb who has just finished a growth spurt...therefore, he wants to eat nothing. He starts to play with his food, so we take it away.

Stephen: Caleb, don't play with your food at the table. Mommy worked very hard to cook this meal for us, so just try a bite.
Caleb: NO! I want down. EXCUSED?
Tami: You can't be excused until Mommy and Daddy are finished.
Tami: Do you want your food back?
Caleb: NO! I want to cry!

I love it how he would rather cry than eat. (Yes, that was sarcastic....) But, his statement really did make me laugh!

Smartie pants

2010-04-22T06:18:00.000-07:00

I guess I am writing this blog more for documentation. BUT, I am so proud of Caleb! He knows and recognizes ALL of his letters with the sounds they make. I can't believe it! He will be reading before I know it! He sounded out the word "NOAH" at a restaurant the other day. 2.5 years old and "read" his first word!

He also sat through the play that Stephen and I have been working on, "Noah and the One Way Ticket." He LOVED all the music and especially loved the animals. His favorite was the dog! He sat in his seat and danced as each song came on...and in some cases, even sang along!

He is growing up so fast and amazes me every single day! He seems like he might be a soccer player one day. He loves to kick the ball! I know nothing about soccer, but I have to say that the little guy has some good form when kicking that ball...especially when he kicks it hard, complete with sticking out his tongue!

Oh, and he has a fascination with the trash man and dumpsters. He LOVES Friday mornings because he gets to go outside and watch the trash man. The trash man now looks for us when he makes his stop at the house and always waves and says hello to Caleb. It totally makes Caleb's day. I admit, I will be so proud, even if he decides he wants to be a trash man when he grows up! ;)

He is Risen!

2010-04-05T07:10:00.000-07:00

If I could describe a perfect Easter Sunday, I would list every second of our day yesterday. It really was perfect. Every moment from the excited look on Caleb's face when he came downstairs to see his Easter Basket to concluding the evening outside under the stars with wine and snacks was absolutly amazing. God sure did provide a beautiful day for Easter this year!

I do believe that Caleb is very fond of the Easter Bunny. Where many kids start to kick and scream, Caleb was in awe! We went to Lake Lanier Islands for their Easter Brunch this year and the highlight for Caleb was the fact that the Easter Bunny walked around the room where we ate lunch. Any time the Big Bunny was semi-close to the table, Caleb would shout out "Come Here Easter Bunny!!" He hugged the bunny, gave him high fives and enjoyed all the Easter Eggs that were given to him. Dare I say, that Caleb might like the Easter Bunny better than Santa?

Spring has certainly arrived and we have enjoyed it...except for the darn bumble bees and pollen that has already turned everything in sight yellow! We have been eating outside, playing outside and we have even already brought out the swim suits to play in the sprinkler. Yes...it is already that hot in Georgia. Today, the high is 86! Here are just a couple pictures from our weekend.

I love being a Mommy!

2010-03-15T12:11:00.001-07:00

A friend showed me this today, and I thought it was totally blog-worthy. I can't take credit for the words, but I totally "get" their meaning. Of course, I had to include a mommy-moment picture, as well! :)

MOTHERS

Real Mothers don't eat quiche;

They don't have time to make it.

Real Mothers know that their kitchen utensils

Are probably in the sandbox.

Real Mothers often have sticky floors,

Filthy ovens and happy kids.

Real Mothers know that dried play dough

Doesn't come out of carpets.

Real Mothers don't want to know what

The vacuum just sucked up....

Real Mothers sometimes ask 'Why me?'

And get their answer when a littleVoice says, 'Because I love you best..'

Real Mothers know that a child's growth

Is not measured by height or years or grade...

It is marked by the progression of Mommy to Mom to Mother.......

The Images of Mother

4 YEARS OF AGE - My Mommy can do anything!

8 YEARS OF AGE - My Mom knows a lot! A whole lot!

12 YEARS OF AGE - My Mother doesn’t know everything!

14 YEARS OF AGE - My Mother? She wouldn’t have a clue.

16 YEARS OF AGE - Mother? She's so five minutes ago.

18 YEARS OF AGE - That old woman? She's way out of date!

25 YEARS OF AGE - Well, she might know a little bit about it!

35 YEARS OF AGE - Before we decide, let's get Mom's opinion.

45 YEARS OF AGE - Wonder what Mom would have thought about it?

65 YEARS OF AGE - Wish I could talk it over with Mom...

The beauty of a woman is not in the clothes she wears, the figure she carries, or the way she combs her hair..

The beauty of a woman must be seen from within her eyes,

Because that is the doorway to her heart,

The place where love resides.

The beauty of a woman is not in a facial mole,

But true beauty in a woman is reflected in her soul.

It is the caring that she lovingly gives, the passion that sheShows, and the beauty of a woman with passing years only grows!

I can taste spring

2010-03-12T06:49:00.000-08:00

Last week was my Spring Break. I was supposed to have Thursday and Friday off for the break, but a snow "storm" came in on Tuesday and ever so nicely extended my Spring Break to almost an entire week! It was so nice! Caleb and I stayed in on Tuesday and had lunch with Stephen since he was sent home early due to the snow. We had lunch at one of our favorite places, Frontera, and then spent the rest of the day inside and warm. Wednesday, all the snow had melted, so Caleb and I ventured out to Discover Mills to see the "fishies" and just had a nice day together. I had planned on taking Caleb to daycare on Thursday and Friday so I could stay home and do some spring cleaning...which is exactly what I did. It was nice to be able to spend some of my break with the boy and then let him go play with his friends while I got to clean the house. On Thursday and Friday, I made sure to have a nice meal ready for the boys when they got home and even had a fresh drink waiting on Stephen when he got home...you know, so Stephen would know what it would be like if I were a Stay at Home Mom. :)

The weekend was just beautiful, so Caleb and I spent some time at the park and had lots of outside play! He even helped Daddy out in the yard some. So nice to breathe some fresh air!

Of course, most of this week it has rained and been cool....but I really enjoyed being able to have a taste of spring last weekend. It will get me through until April or whenever our last frost hits...Stephen says it will be April 15....which is over a month away. I hope not! I am ready for warm weather!

Updates

2010-02-26T10:41:00.000-08:00

I am so bad about blogging. Thank goodness for Lunch Breaks that I don't have to work through, so that I can update all my loyal readers (hello?!?! Are there any out there?) on what has been going on in our lives. Really, besides work we are keeping busy with Little Man. I have been busy with Church and spend most of my Sunday's there until about 3:30! We are working on this year's Musical, which I am choreographing again and having a blast getting to dance and move around again! (My how I have lost flexibility since having Caleb!)

We got some great news about a week ago with Caleb! He went for his 6 month check up at the allergist and he tested NEGATIVE to a peanut allergy! The doctor told us there was about a 20% chance he would outgrow it, and an 80% chance he would outgrow his other allergies (milk, egg, cat and sweet potato). Well, he still tests positive (Very severe for milk!) to his other allergies, but we are so thankful his peanut allergy seems to have gone away! I spent many nights praying that Caleb would be in that 20% and it is looking like he is! In 6 more months, we will re-test and if it is negative, we will do a food challenge. Now, I pray that his other allergies go down. I used to want them to totally go away, and I would still love that....BUT I just want them to be less severe now. I can handle a runny nose if he were to come into contact with an allergen, but anaphylactic reactions scare the crap out of me! I never want Caleb to have to experience that! He also tested negative again to shrimp and fish, so the doctor told us we can slowly introduce it to him....and BOY did Caleb enjoy his first bite of shrimp! (with NO reactions!) It is nice to be able to start giving him some other options to eat!

I have become quite obsessed with baking. I can't get enough. Who knew that baking could be relaxing? Thanks to Food Allergy Mama, I can bake yummy treats for my boy to eat safely and they taste great! (trust me, there are plenty of allergen free recipes out there that taste like cardboard....) IF any of you need some good recipes, food allergies or not, take a look here: www.foodallergymama.com YUMMY!

I guess I will just end this post with a funny conversation from the car this morning. As you can see, Caleb is talking more and more and entering the questioning phase! This conversation took place on our ride to work....about 30 minutes, and YES, it lasted about the entire trip:

Caleb (after watching the garbage truck pass by our house): Where did trash man go?
Me: He went to the neighbor's house to get more trash.
Caleb: More trash?
Me: Yep! More trash.

(then we get in the car, turn on Mickey Mouse and go about our ride)

Caleb: Where trash man go?
Me: To get more trash
Caleb: More trash?
Me: Yep. More trash.
REPEAT AT LEAST 30 times.
Caleb: Where trash man go?
Me: To the North Pole to see Santa Claus
Caleb, looking confused and shaking his head: THAT'S not right!!!
Me: Its not right? Then, where did he go?
Caleb: To get more trash! SILLY!

I love that kid!

Snow Day!

2010-02-15T06:33:00.001-08:00

We finally had a decent amount of snow! Caleb absolutly loved it! We had 4 inches of the white stuff by the time the snow stopped falling! We attempted to sled out back on a trashcan lid, but couldn't get too far because the powder was too thick. Saturday morning, when we went out to play for round two, we decided to try the recycling bin down the driveway. That was the key! Caleb LOVED it. We wore ourselves out walking up and down that driveway pulling Caleb in the recycling bin! He stayed out in it most of the morning and then came inside to get some milk and watch the Olympics...ok, so the Olympics were my idea! :) Here are just a few of our pictures from all the snow!

Big Boy

2010-01-19T11:37:00.001-08:00

In the past month, Caleb has really turned in to such a big boy. Time seems to have doubled this month. He is now in a big boy bed, no paci, got his hair cut at a big boy barber shop (and finally liked it. I think the children's place was overwhelming for him with all the distractions!), he is talking better, and we bought him some big boy underwear.

Saturday when we were at Target, I decided to pick up a pair to let him work towards it. Well, he kept talking about it, so last night I let him wear them for a little over an hour. He did great and stayed dry! He even went pee pee on the potty right after he took them off. The first words out of his mouth this morning when he woke up were "UNDERWEAR! UNDERWEAR!" I felt bad because I had to tell him no since he was going to daycare...I am sure they appreciated the fact that I didn't make his first full day in underwear when he was on their watch! I did let him pack a pair, so maybe he will get to wear them a little today....we will see. If not, he can try again tonight. I really don't think I am ready!!! Caleb has literally grown up in just one month with all these new things. It is so sweet to watch him grow. He amazes me with the new things he ASKS to do. I always heard it was hard to change to a big bed and I thought going #2 in the potty was torture for toddlers!?! My toddler, I mean big boy, disagrees! Way to go, Master Caleb!

Snow Day

2010-01-11T06:17:00.000-08:00

Well, Caleb had his first snow day where school was cancelled! We got out a little early on Thursday and had all of Friday off. When I found out Brenau would be closed, I immediatly began envisioning showing Caleb how to make a snow angel and making a little snow man for Caleb, since he loves snow men! Only, our "snow day" was not like that. In fact, we hardly had any snow! We mainly got ice. Caleb did love the snow this year. We went out and played in it a little before it started to stick. By Friday morning, the ground was white, but had ice over it and we had single digit wind chills all day long with heavy winds. Not much fun to play in. Instead, we made a big pot of Chili, which Caleb is a fan of, and watched lots of TV, played inside and stayed warm. It was nice to have a long weekend after we had so much time off at Christmas...it helped break us in the the whole working and school thing a little easier.

Looks like this will be a full week of work...BUT...another perk of working for a University is that I have next Monday off for MLK day!

I'm baaaccckkk!

2010-01-05T06:09:00.000-08:00

I am a horrible blogger! Before I started my blog, I would randomly think of great blog posts and tell myself to start a blog. Now that I have one...I have bloggers block!

Here is a recap of the past 3 weeks....
Caleb's last week of school and my last week of work were spent at home. Poor little man had a minor case of pneumonia, wheezing, a double ear infection and a high fever. The doctors tested him for the flu, which came back negative, but they treated him for it just in case. Lots of medicines and breathing treatments later, he is much better and was healthy in time for Christmas.

Speaking of Christmas...we had a wonderful one. It was so fun this year with Caleb. He had an Elf visit us every night starting on Thanksgiving. We named him Buddy. Every morning Caleb would look around for Buddy...I think Caleb's favorite spot that Buddy hid was around his soap bottle in the bathroom. Santa was very good to Caleb this year. He brought him a train table and wooden train set! http://www.facebook.com/TamiWLee?v=app_2392950137&ref=nf#/video/video.php?v=513337142475 try this link...it may not work.
This was Caleb's reaction to seeing his train table for the first time. I would say he was a tad bit excited!

Caleb also decided that 2010 would be the year for the Big Boy Bed! We converted his crib on New Year's Eve and haven't looked back. He really amazes me at how he adapts to change. He did great without a paci and hasnt once cried, gotten out of bed when he wasn't supposed to or fallen out of the bed! (Ok, so the last one is sure to happen at some point...what kid DOESN'T fall out of bed?) I am so very proud of him for being such a big boy. I guess we will tackle potty training before too long, but I will said that I haven't had to change a dirty diaper in over three weeks because he has only gone #2 on the potty!! YAY for Caleb!

I started back to work yesterday after three weeks off. I was thankful to not be too far behind and back in a routine...but I missed being home something terrible! I missed being able to straighten up the house a little each day so I dont have a messy house...and have to spend this weekend cleaning. Boo for that! We also STILL have to take Christmas down...which we will tackle slowly this week and finish this weekend...I hope!

I hope that you will all have a Happy 2010!! I will TRY to be a little better about blogging....but, don't hold me to it! :)

Farewell, Da!

2009-12-06T11:25:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-30T13:40:00.001-08:00

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

2009-11-19T10:58:00.000-08:00

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!

2009-11-17T06:31:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-10T07:08:00.000-08:00

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

2009-10-23T09:30:00.001-07:00

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'

2009-10-13T09:13:00.000-07:00

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

2009-10-02T10:11:00.001-07:00

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!

2009-09-02T10:16:00.000-07:00

Goodnight Moon

2009-09-01T10:23:00.000-07:00

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

2009-08-21T09:12:00.000-07:00

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

2009-08-18T10:00:00.000-07:00

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

2009-08-12T10:23:00.000-07:00

This is kind of how I feel today, too.

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

Beach Time

2009-07-31T05:44:00.001-07:00

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

2009-07-27T10:48:00.000-07:00

"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

2009-07-24T05:34:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-20T09:50:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-17T07:28:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-13T12:18:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-09T09:53:00.000-07:00

(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!

2009-07-06T09:43:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-01T09:23:00.000-07:00

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

Little Things...

2009-06-23T09:41:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-06-19T07:12:00.000-07:00

"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...

2009-06-17T08:31:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-06-15T11:12:00.000-07:00

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...

2009-06-15T06:03:00.001-07:00

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....

2009-06-11T10:54:00.000-07:00

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!