Ahhh Vacation

He's Getting So Big

I don't think there is a day here lately that I haven't made a comment about how big Caleb is getting. I swear we put him to bed at night and in the morning he has become more and more of a little boy. I went to Kansas Thursday and Friday for work and when I called David and Caleb Thursday night I was both sad and proud of my little guy and couldn't believe how big he sounded. First he usually doesn't want to chat on the phone for very long and typically gets preoccupied pretty quickly but Thursday night he actually carried on a little conversation with me and would answer questions that I asked him about his day/night and made other comments about little things that he was thinking about at the moment. As we were talking David asked Caleb if he wanted to sing a song and Caleb busted out singing Jingle Bells (well at least the first part where you just repeat jingle bells, jingle bells.....). My heart swelled with pride and I hated that I wasn't there to see him sing it in person. Since he doesn't really know all of the words David sang the rest of the song for him and Caleb would do the "hey" part of the song. Such a sweet little duet.

Happy 2nd Birthday Caleb!

BYE, BYE 1!

HELLO 2!

Is it really possible that you are 2 today?! Your Daddy and I are in such denial and can't believe that another year has come and gone. You are such a blessing to us and we can't imagine our home without you in it. You are full of life and have tons of energy and although this keeps us very busy and on our toes we wouldn't want it any other way. Here is just a few things about you:

*We have converted your crib into a toddler bed and you have done great with the change. Daddy and I still can't believe how easy you made the transition.

*You apparently do not like sleeping in socks and it is a rarity if you actually make it through the night with them still on.

*You LOVE books and at night typically say "read" and want us to read you a book before bed. I'm sure this is partly a stall tactic but none the less I don't think a day goes by that you aren't flipping through a book. One of your favorite books right now is "If You Give a Cat a Cupcake". Daddy and I like it when we get to the part where the cat goes to karate class. When I first read you this book I said "aaiiiyaaa" and did a karate chop after that part and it has stuck with you because you typically do this every time we come to that page.

*You still take an afternoon nap

*When you get up in the morning or from a nap you don't need any type of warm up time you are just up and on the go. You are like the energizer bunny and just keep going, going, going until we put you to bed at night.

*You don't have a lot of patience and do not take to well to us telling you no or you not getting your way. If this occurs you either let out a scream, stomp your foot, hit yourself or something close by or a combination or mixture of any of the above.

*You love getting to help out in the kitchen or just about anywhere for that matter. Just assign you a task and you are ready to pitch in and be a helper. I love it when you say "Caleb, helper"

*Some of your various sayings/sentences are "hold you, hold me", "so good", "no, sir" (it doesn't matter if you are a girl or a boy everyone is sir to you), "Dada, work"

*You are obsessed with drums and can't get enough of them right now. You love watching the end scene of Drumline where the two percussion sections are battling it out.

*We are not necessarily in full fledged potty training mode but we have started sitting you on it every now and then. Saturday when you were sitting on your potty chair you kept looking down in the potty and saying "pee, pee where is it". I must have mentioned to you something about keep trying because you finally looked at me and said "pee, pee where is it I trying". You pee peed on the potty Friday and Saturday morning and Sunday evening.

*You can count to 12

*You don't know your colors but if we ask you what color something is you at least respond with the name of a color.

Sucker!

Caleb currently has two favorite items that he can't seem to get enough of lately, one being drums and the second suckers. He was very excited by all of the suckers he received on Halloween so it was no surprise that after dinner last night he asked for one. Since he ate pretty good we decided we would let him have one. After only a few licks he handed it back to me and kept saying "different, different sucker". I kept trying to persuade him that the one he had was just fine but he insisted that he needed a different sucker. I remembered that Nana had said he really wasn't finishing suckers at their house so I thought maybe he really didn't like the mini tootsie roll pop that I gave him that he confiscated from Nana and Papa's house on Halloween. I finally decided to trade him out and give him one of the dum dums that he has had no problem devouring. After giving it to him I got side tracked talking to David and forgot to take the mini tootsie pop away from him only to look over a few minutes later to find this...

Hmmm.....who's the sucker? Looks like I got played by a not quite 2 year old. Needless to say he had no problem whatsoever eating both the dum dum and mini tootsie roll pop that he insisted he didn't want.

Up and Over

I knew the day would eventually come but I was hoping it would be a few more months down the road but it didn't wait, it happened Thursday morning. Thursday was starting out like any other morning and then I heard it "the crash" it luckily wasn't "the thud" I had feared it would be, you know the sickening "thud" of head connecting with concrete, but none the less it was enough of a noise for me to realize instantly that Caleb had climbed out of his crib. I immediately jumped up out of bed and ran to his room where I was greeted by a little boy walking toward me, not standing up in his crib with his arms outstretched for me to pick him up but instead outstretched arms of a little boy standing on the ground shaking because he had just fell out of his crib. He amazingly wasn't hurt and must have instead somewhat lowered himself down out of his crib vs. tumbling out. From the best I can tell he landed on his toy lawnmower that was off to the side of his crib. Poor little guy he really didn't cry long but was just shaking a little and kept saying "fall, foot, hurt". We decided immediately that we didn't want to give him a second chance to try his escape act as we worried the next fall might be a bit worse since the floor in his room is stained concrete. So, when David got home that night he converted Caleb's crib into a toddler bed. The first thing Caleb did when he climbed up into his new bed was grab a hold of the shorter toddler rail and attempt to hold onto it and jump up and down as he has done a million times. He was sadly a little confused as he learned this no longer worked.

I've been very worried about moving Caleb out of his crib as I have had visions of him roaming around his room all night or us wearing a path in the floor from the numerous times of going back and forth to his room and putting him back into bed but he has surprised us and is really doing a great job with the change in routine. The first night we put him in bed we talked with him about how he needed to stay in bed, how he was sleeping in a big boy bed, etc. After reading a couple books and going through our night time routine David laid him in his bed and we both ran to our room to watch his reaction in the baby monitor. Caleb sat there a few minutes and then climbed out of bed and went to his door (yes, we are mean parents and had shut the door to his room and since he currently can't turn the door knob he was stuck). He ended up crying a few minutes and then walked back over to his bed and climbed up into it. He tossed and turned for a little while, threw his blankets around and then climbed back out of bed and walked over to his door. He cried just a little while and then climbed back up into his bed. It was the saddest but sweetest thing to watch put we were so proud of him. The whole process only took about 10 minutes. He ended up falling a sleep for an hour then woke up and got out of bed. I ended up caving and went in and got him and hugged him and put him back in bed where he stayed until morning. So far it is turning out to be a pretty smooth transition. As far as we know he isn't getting up in the middle of the night and it doesn't appear that he is messing with any of the toys in his room after we put him to bed. Tonight David actually was able to put him in bed and he went to sleep without getting up. We are so proud of him. I think this has been one of the harder milestones as he just seems so big now. What happened to the little guy that I swear we just brought home from the hospital?

A little Father/Son tag team action

Coupon - Buy One Dozen Eggs, Get One Free

Hurry and go take the pledge here to join America's farmer's in a commitment to live more healthy and give back to the community. After doing so, you'll be able to print a coupon twice (hit your back button to print second coupon) for a free dozen eggs (up to $1.50 value) when you buy one dozen. There are no restrictions on the brand of eggs you must buy, so it appears you can use these anywhere that accepts printable coupons on any type of eggs.

Coupon Expires 12/31/2009

Hurry, only available to the first 20,000 who take the American Egg Board's pledge to live more healthy.

Thanks Money Saving Mom!

Day 1 - It's All About Baby Steps

Today's the day! Our Monthly Cash Flow Plan (aka budget) is completed, money has been withdrawn from the bank and our envelopes are stuffed. It's time to put into practice what we are learning in Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University. Here's a look at what will either become our new best friend or worst enemy. I'm hoping for new best friend and wish the rest of you in our Wednesday night class all the best!

Quick and Easy Recipe

Are you looking for something that is quick and easy for dinner tonight? Here is a new recipe we have added to our line up.

Pepperoni Pasta
8 oz. angel hair pasta
3 oz. pepperoni slices
3 T. olive oil
1 can sliced black olives (optional)
1 large can diced tomatoes
1/4 c. grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. salt

Cook pasta.
Meanwhile, combine other ingredients. Drain pasta; mix with tomato sauce and toss to coat.


It seriously takes me longer to boil the water for the pasta than it does to put the dish together. For those of you that were part of "Team Cameron" this is great way to use the mini pepperoni that we received in our goodie bags.

Church.....Class!

Caleb is so funny and has gotten to where all we have to do is start driving down Dixieland Rd. and he starts saying "class....church" or just "class, class, class". Typically on Sunday mornings he also has to hold both mine and David's hand to walk across the parking lot and if one of us isn't already holding his hand he reaches up to us and says "hand". It's very funny because this is the only place were it's part of his routine to feel like he needs to hold our hand when he walks in. David took the camera with him last week and captured some of Caleb's time in class. Here are a few pictures of him playing on a little toy piano and composing a little song.

Putting a few finishing touches on your song.

Viola! Proud of your finished product.

Team Cameron

Yesterday we joined our spiritual family in taking strides for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. This is the second year that we have been part of Team Cameron and have walked in honor of Cameron Vargas. It was a great morning of fellowship and being outdoors. We enjoyed watching Caleb play and run around and even left with some great goody bags filled with all kinds of coupons and sample items.
Caleb enjoying one of the various activities set up for the kids.

Some of our group letting lose and getting their groove on.

Team Cameron!

Family Time

Tonight we enjoyed a little family time in the kitchen. Caleb started out a little fussy when we first got home so I decided to include him in getting dinner ready.

He had a good time helping David and I put toppings on the pizza and quickly forgot about throwing a fit. He is such a great little helper and who knows may have a future in the pizza business.

Viola, the finished product!

Since pizza making went so well we decided to make some snickerdoodle cookies while we were at it. I don't think I've actually ever made snickerdoodle cookies so I got to experience a first with Caleb.

They were "Mmmm.........good" as Caleb says and will definitely be something we make again.

Happy Father's Day Daddy!

Thanks for being the best Daddy ever! Thanks for reading to me, acting silly with me, sharing ice cream with me, being a great example for me and loving Mommy and me so much that I wonder sometimes if its got to hurt. Mommy and I love you lots and lots and thank you for taking such great care of us and for being our best friend.

Love,

Caleb

P.S. Mommy said sorry that she used our picture from Mother's Day. She realized later that the only pictures she got of us together today was when we were in the pool.

Way Back When-esday

Hope you don't mind Kimberley but I decided to join in this week on your "Way Back When-esday" fun.


Timeline: 8-3-08


Timeline: 6-6-09

Don't worry we have since purchased a little larger pool since the last picture so that he will have a little more room to splash around this summer.

Summer Nights

I love me some summer nights! Tonight when we got home David worked on getting the sprinklers ready for the summer and made sure they were all adjusted properly. Caleb enjoyed getting to play in them just as long as the water didn't hit him in the face. Since he was wet we decided to just eat outside as there was no point in drying him off only for him to want to go back outside when we finished and play in his "bath" as he likes to call it (aka the inflatable swimming pool) and run around in the yard some more. We had a great time just hanging out together and watching Caleb play in the backyard.

We decided to be a little lazy and instead of taking Caleb upstairs to the bathtub we just did a quick little sponge bath in the kitchen sink. This is something we haven't done in a long time so Caleb had to be sure and touch and mess with everything that was within arms reach.

Nana and Papa emailed us some pictures of his play date today with Madeline and pics of him playing in the sprinkler at their house. Caleb must of had me scroll through those pictures 7 or 8 times while he told me a story about each picture. Every time I would go to close out the program he would let me know that he wasn't done looking at them yet.

He went right to sleep tonight and didn't make a peep after David put him in his crib. David and I went then back outside and sat and listened to the sprinklers water the shrubs. It may sound silly but it's super relaxing and sounds like a nice little rainfall.

Ahhhh, nothing like summer nights.

See Spot Run

After taking a rather lengthy hiatus from reading I decided to finally give the TV a little break at night and see if I could still actually remember how to read a book. I'm happy to report that I still have it in me and recently just finished this great book and can't wait to see the movie.

I think I actually liked it better than The Da Vinci Code and have heard that Angels and Demons was better as a movie than The Da Vinci Code. For my next pick I've selected The Shack. So, what are you reading this summer that you recommend?

Happy Memorial Day

Dine In or Carry Out

Caleb must have really played hard yesterday at Nana and Papa's because he ended up falling asleep on the way home and even took a little cat nap after we got there. He woke up for just a second when we walked in and David took him and Caleb snuggled right into him and fell back to sleep. After a few minutes we decided we better wake him up or suffer the consequences of him not wanting to go to bed. After waking up he headed straight outside to play in his new house. I was in the process of making dinner so it was pretty much ready after just a few minutes of him being outside. I knew he wasn't going to be happy having to come in to eat since he hadn't been out long but I had no idea of the total melt down he was going to have. We finally decided it really wasn't worth all the water works and since it was so nice out we decided to just take our dinner outside. Caleb loved getting to eat in his little house and I'm sure this is just the first of many meals he will have out there. I am so glad he is enjoying his new playhouse.

Summer Home

Well after weighing all our options and much discussion, more so than I'm sure David cared for, we finally decided to take the plunge and buy a summer home! Now before you get too excited it's nothing overly elaborate and will sadly not be making it on the next tour of homes but we love it and think it will provide many hours of entertainment this summer. Since we didn't want something that we had to spend hours cleaning we went with a little less square footage than some of the other homes we looked at. It does however come furnished with a table and chairs, a very nice doorbell, phone, and shutters and a door that you can spend countless hours opening and shutting. Oh, and I must not forget a mail slot for all that highly important mail. So without further ado here is a look at the Winberry's summer estate.

Caleb was so excited when he saw it. He has already opened and shut the door and shutters a million times and can't get enough of ringing the door bell. He has several toy phones but he walked around carrying the phone that came with the house as if he had never had one. I think it has definitely been a hit and that he will enjoy playing in his new house this summer.

That's My Boys

Such cheese balls! Yep, it's good times at the Winberry's......good times!

Doesn't He Make You Smile