Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Birthday Dance

These are really dark but this is Caleb dancing to his new Blue's Clues radio! HILARIOUS! you have to watch them both!



Celebrating Caleb's Birthday...one more time!

Blowing out the candles


Aunt Amy showing him how to make a 3 with his fingers. He has his own way of doning things and insists that his way is the correct way.
Play with Papa and Gamma Boo's Noah's Ark
Caleb and Ariel in the tent with the sleeping bag
For dinner tonight, Caleb insisted that we have Papa Murphy's Pizza with ranch and chocolate cupcakes for dessert. Dan's sister (Amy) was unable to make it to Caleb's birthday party so she came up from Fayetteville to have dinner with us. We all ate the pizza, sand happy birthday and he blew out three candles and then we opened gifts. Caleb sill hadn't opened my dad's gift that him and Les sent so he opened that and he also opened Amy's gift. My dad and Les got him a wooden Noah's Ark set with a book that goes with it. It is perfect because not only does he love to play with all the animals but it goes great in his room as a display when it is not being played with. Amy got him a blue urban cammo tent and sleeping bag set. It's got the sleeping bag, tent, flashlight, dog tags, water bottle, and a compass! HE LOVED IT! He even loved it so much that he slept in his tent all night long last night! Needless to say...this boy had a great birthday! Thanks for the gifts Daddy and Les and also to Amy to!
One tired little boy...this is kinda dark but this was him at exactly 11:40pm (the time he was born) sleeping in his tent.

Homemade Ice Cream at Grandma and Jim's

Last year for Father's Day and also for my mom and Caleb's birthday, we went to my mom and Jim's house to eat Homemade icecream and thought that it would be a great idea to do it every year. So we went to their house on Sunday evening after dinner. Jim had bought my mom this huge triple chocolate cake (since she loves chocolate) so we all had cake and ice cream on their porch/car port. The weather was great and so was the yummy ice cream!

Caleb taking a big spoonful of ice cream and chocolate cake.Ariel eating ice cream for the first time. She loved it!

She loved it so much that she fell asleep in the van as soon as we left my mom's house.

Monday, June 18, 2007

Happy Birthday Caleb and Grandma (my mom) we love you SO much!

What a great thing to share...my mom said that when Caleb was born that he could take all her birthdays now and she wouldn't turn a year older! Here's to another year that Caleb gives back to Grandma!

Here are some precious things that Caleb is doing these days:

~He will look at me and say "Mommy I love you, you sure are pretty"
~He knows sign language now since we are teaching Ariel how to sign and he uses it constantly
~He has been potty trained completely for almost a year and can wash his hands and go to the bathroom all by himself now!
~He says the most wonderful prayers "Thank you God for..." and whatever comes to mind...usually the things that we had done that day and the people we had seen.
~He loves Chance and has learned to feed him all by himself...this is chore of some sorts
~He can draw rectangles and triangles. His favorite are smiley faces though.
~He knows all of his alphabet and all of his numbers through 20 although he tends to skip a few here and there.
~He loves to be with Daddy and wants to be in every activity that he is doing.
~He loves it when Ariel fists wakes up from a nap...he says "She's awake!" and sometimes claps for her.
~He still loves fruit...anything fruit he will eat. As far as other food goes, he is still mighty picky but has gotten better since I have started making him eat what we eat at night.
~He still sleeps with Lambie, Kitty and his blanket every night.
~He has two imaginary friends...Handy Manny from Disney Channel and Alan (whom is a friend of ours from our connection group). He will walk around the house and pretend he is talking to them on the phone and then walk to the front door and knock and say "Come in Alan (or Handy Manny) let me show you my room".
~Granny is still his favorite (sorry Grandma!) she even comes before me at times!
~He insists that Aunt Amy bring him a gift every time that she comes...spoiled a little?
~He can call the cows..."Whooohooo, come on cows"
~He can ride a bike with training wheels fairly well by himself
~He still wears a size 12 month shorts
~He doesn't care to take long baths much anymore...he prefers showers or stand up rinse off baths
~He loves to have clean sheets and likes to smell them when they come out of the dryer
~He begs to play games on the computer and then throws a fit when he has to get off
~Has to do everything by himself...thank God for slip on sandals!
~He likes to wear Daddy's cologne and deoderant and at night before bed he has to use mouthwash...oh and he made up a sign language sign for mouthwash as well!

I am sure that I could go on forever since he does so much but this will at least give you an idea!

Sunday, June 17, 2007

Happy Father's Day!




These were taken this morning before church.

Thankful for my life and all that I have

I was reminded on Friday on how precious my children are to me. About a month ago, our church received news that a couple from our home group from a few years ago (whom had moved to North Carolina for a job transfer) lost their baby due to premature labor at 26 weeks. Although that couple was not here for us to love on, it still made me think about how fragile life is.

After the kids and I got home from the pool on Friday afternoon, I had put the kids in bed and then received a phone call from a friend of mine. The news on the other end was devastating. Another couple from the same home group lost their baby at about 25 weeks with no heart beat. The mom had to be induced and then yesterday morning delivered a stillborn child.

I cried on and off all day on Friday and prayed for these couples. I don't understand how God could take such a precious child away from these Godly couples and I really don't think that any of us will ever understand. I do know that God's hands are in it. I have no doubt that God sends us trials and pain in order to get our attention and to turn our eyes toward Him.

Pastor talked this morning about experiencing God's presence. He said that God has torn us, so He can heal us, He has wounded us, so He can bind us, and He has brought us low, so He can raise us up and God's power in us is realized only when is presence is apparant. Pain is God's tool He uses to get us into His presence. I pray that this is what God is doing in these loved one's lives and that they will feel comfort and peace as they heal.

Wax on, Wax off




Dan and Caleb waxed Dan's truck yesterday. Caleb was such a big help...well at least he tried!

After they were done, Dan had a soccer game to go to so I got the kids down for a nap. For some reason it took Caleb and hour and a half to finally fall asleep and then he only slept for 45 minutes. He did the same thing today...I put him down at 2:00 and it is after 3:00 now. He really must not be tired but I know that he needs a nap and I need a break!

Dan won his semi-final game yesterday so he is off to the finals next weekend! Good job guys! I am so bummed that I have only been to two games this year. It's just hard having two kids and trying to keep them content (and Caleb off the field) for the whole game...or even half of he game at that!
For a celebration for Dan winning, he and Caleb played in the pool in the backyard and I cooked spaghetti and meaballs which is one of Dan's fav's and then we had brownies for dessert. We all sat on the patio (even Ariel in her high chair) and ate spaghetti and sipped iced tea. I love the summers!

First Day at the Pool




Well we started it off late but Friday was our first day at the pool! We met Lindsay, Zoe and Andie there and spent about 3 hours baking in the sun and splashing in the water. Jim was even there a little while as well. It was great to see him since he is always doing yardwork at the house! Caleb had a little duck floatie that he picked out at Wal-Mart that he used the whole time. I had a little float that I got Ariel but she screamed when I put her in it. She just sat in my lap the whole time and splashed in the water. Caleb ate a good lunch and then when we got home they both crashed...Ariel slept for 3 hours and Caleb slept for 4!!

Saturday, June 09, 2007

Ariel's first orange

Ariel was sitting in Granny's lap after Caleb's birthday party and Granny gave her an orange to taste. This was her reaction!

Caleb's 3rd Birthday Party

Caleb had his 3rd Birthday Party today at 10:30! Olivia, Ashlyn, Hailey and Elijah and his cousin came to celebrate! He had a Curious George theme and we had plates and napkins and even cupcakes to go with! Here are some pictures...we had a blast!

The Goody Bags that Caleb and I made

Curious George Birthday Cupcakes

What are they looking at?

Cookie Monster

Opening his presents

Happy Birthday to You!
Blowing out the candles
Yummy Cupcake!

The Pergola




Dan finished the Pergola on the back patio this morning before Caleb's birthday party. It is so awesome! We are really going to enjoy ourselves out there this summer!

Friday, June 08, 2007

My baby girl is 8 Months!!


Ariel is now 8 months old. She is sitting very well by herself and when she is on her belly she is able to lift her bottom in the air. We are thinking she will start to crawl soon. She is completely weaned from breastfeeding and is taking the bottle like a pro. Her hair is getting a bit longer but no near long enough for the clip in bows. Dan calls her his grub worm because she is so much chunkier than Caleb ever was. We joke at times that Ariel will surpass Caleb when she is two! She is still a great sleeper. Sleeps generally from 8:30-7:30 every night. The past two Saturday nights she has woken up about an hour after falling asleep and just cried at the top of her lungs. It has happend both times while Dan and I have been trying to watch a movie! We think it is just from teething, I gave her tylenol both times and some teething tablets and then just held her in my arms and she was asleep both times within 15-20 minutes. So needless to say, she still has no teeth yet.

I can't believe how fast she is growing. I am very thankful that she isn't already active...gives me more "baby" time. I am pretty sure that the reason why she isn't doing things near as quickly as Caleb did is because she is so laid back! She is just so content to just sit and play with her toys.

Caleb and Ariel are starting to interact more with each other. They will sit and just giggle back and forth. She has started realizing when Caleb takes things from her that if she cries she will get it back (most of the time!).

One thing that Ariel does that I haven't seen any other baby do is move and twist her wrists constantly. Take a look in the videos and you will see what I mean!




Friday, June 01, 2007

Tickle Me Ariel

Website

My NEW Website is up and going...check it out!

www.peek-a-booimages.blogspot.com

Ainsley's 2nd Birthday Party





Here are some pictures of the kids at Ainsley Bean's birthday party last Saturday.

I love my Cheerios!


Here she is showing you all how much she loves her Cheerios!

Mother's Day/ Ariel's Dedication Picture 2007


On Mother's Day, Ariel was dedicated to our church and they had a photographer there to take pictures of the families that were being dedicated. This is the first picture that we have had taken with all four of us together! I am in the process of ordering some copies soon!

Caleb and his rabbit puppet

About two weeks ago, Caleb went to Harrison to see his Granny. When he came back he had an early birthday gift from Great Grandmother Cole and he was so excited about it. It was a sock puppet kit! The next day we got the hot glue out and out the puppet together and this is him outside on the patio with it. He loves to play with it...even with his sister!

He looks so handsome in this picture!