Feathered Friends

Just before lunch today, we noticed a little duck couple outside our patio doors. Caleb absolutely loves animals, so whenever he sees any "creature" in our backyard (squirrels, chipmunks, bunnies, birds, etc.) he gets very excited.

We got out some bread to feed them, and Caleb was just ecstatic. He did not quite understand why he couldn't just run up to the ducks and pet them, but did enjoy watching them nibble at the bread pieces we threw out to them. And at first, he remained very still and quiet so that they would come and eat.

Here they are, close to the house, hunting for the bread...they got pretty close until Caleb became really excited and started yelling "cack-cack-cack" ("quack-quack-quack").


Action shot....Caleb in mid-throw.
At this point, the ducks were obviously on their way somewhere else, but my sweet boy still had some hope that they would come back if he threw more bread.


Bye-bye duckies!


It is so great to see Caleb get so excited about something so simple...ah, life through the eyes of a child. It's good stuff.

20 Months!

Hi. It's me, Caleb. I figured that since I am now 20 months old, Mom should let me in on this blogging thing.



I don't see what the big deal about being 20 months old is. It is just 1 month older than 19 months, isn't it? Mom said that because it has a "2" at the beginning of it, it reminds her that I am much closer to 24 months...and being 2 years old. I think it is pretty great that I am getting closer to being 2. And, I know that Mom does, too....she is just a little more emotional about it than I am. That's how she is sometimes, you know?

I am up to a whole lot these days. Here are a few things about me...

I like to do puzzles and really love to figure out how to fit shapes together, and how they fit into things. Mom and Dad are always telling me how proud of me they are.

I still love shooting hoops, and am getting pretty good. Mom and Dad are really impressed with my shooting form already! Most mornings, the very first thing I want to do is to go shoot baskets. Even breakfast can wait for me to get some shots in.

Oh, I am a good helper, too. I like to help Mom with the laundry and cleaning. She tells me that she hopes I am always willing to help like that. We'll see.

Lately, I prefer to climb UP the stairs on my knees (crawling), but walk down the stairs like Mom and Dad, holding on to the railing. This scares them a bit, but I do pretty well.

I am learning some shapes and colors, letters and numbers. My favorite number is 2 (which I call "dos"...as in the Spanish word for "two"), and my favorite color is blue ("boo"). I really like the letters "S", "X", and "O". At the playground, there is a tic-tac-toe board, and I like to show off and tell Mom and Dad which letters are which.

My favorite word to say right now is "ouse" (how I say the word "outside") and "ball". Mommy especially likes when I say "okee-dokee". I admit, it is pretty cute when I say that.

I still love bananas, and eat one every morning with breakfast. I also love cheese (in any form...plain, with macaroni, grilled, etc.). I love veggies and fruit, but not so much chocolate chip cookies.

One of my favorite times of the day is right before bed. Every night, before I go to sleep, Daddy reads to me from my Bible. I love to sit with Daddy and read. And, I know that he loves that, too.

I am not sure what to think about this "baby sister" they keep telling me about. They tell me that she is sleeping in Mommy's tummy, but that is a bit confusing to me. However, I do like to poke Mom's belly button, and sometimes, if you catch me in the right mood, I will kiss Mommy's tummy, so that my Baby sister gets some love from her big brother. Mom and Dad are going to be moving me into my big boy bedroom sometime over the next couple of months...we'll see how that goes.

Mom is telling me it is time to go...she said to tell you that they could all go on and on and on about how much they love me, and how proud they are of me, but at some point we have to end this post.

Thanks for reading!

XOXO,
Caleb

3 Years!

Happy Anniversary to us!

It's hard to believe that it was 3 years ago that we said our "I dos"! April 23, 2006 was a beautiful day...temperature in the mid 60s and sunny. It seems like forever ago, yet just yesterday. I guess that time is funny like that!

Wedding Day

Communion and Cord and Veil


At the reception...officially hitched...


Honeymoon in Puerto Rico

The Beach...


The mountains...


On a hike through the rainforest...

A Fun Weekend

Friday, some friends came over to play. We all went to the park in our neighborhood and had a great time playing on the playset, swinging, and running around.
*Sorry these first photos are so small!*

The gang...in the back are Ella (2 years) and Caleb...Ella's brother Matt (12 months) and Coralyn (9 months) are up front.


Ella showing Caleb how to pick dandelions...


We had so much fun at the park with our friends, that we decided to go back after Caleb's nap. He absolutely loves to be outside....and he often tells us of his wishes to go outside by saying "ouse"....many times throughout the day! He really enjoys the park and has recently conquered his fear of the big swirly slide! He now loves climbing all the way up there and going down, all by himself! It is so sweet to see his proud look once he makes it all the way to the top!


He still loves to swing...


He looks like such a big boy in these photos!


Today, Kris and I (and Heidi) went to a Cubs/Cardinals game...it was a great day to be outside, and an ever better day because the Cubbies won. =) Sorry, Kris!


We snapped this picture this morning, before we left for the game...after we got Caleb up this morning, and he noticed Daddy's hat, he wanted to wear his, too. =)


Caleb is spending the night at Grandma and Grandpa's tonight...here's a picture my Dad took of him enjoying his bath!

Happy Easter

We hope that you had a wonderful Easter, and that you all were able to celebrate, in one way or another, the Resurrection of Christ.


I had a wonderful time singing in our church's choir this weekend. It was great to be a part of the celebration for all of Harvest's services!

Left to Right:
Priya - a friend from Small Group; Tanya, friend and former roomie; Jenni, friend and also a former roomie; ***please ignore my eye, that still has not gone back to normal!


My parents and brother came out for church this morning, and we all had dinner at our house. I caught everyone a little off guard with this photo...but, it is the only one I got. =)


Caleb had a good day...he looked very handsome in his Easter outfit, and loved having Grandma and Grandpa McCarty, and Uncle Warren spend the day with us. He also had a great time looking for eggs in the backyard, and playing with the gifts that came in his basket.

It was fun to see him understand the idea of hunting for eggs and to see his excitement with the new toys in his special basket (although he preferred playing with the plastic eggs over the toys...it figures!).

However, it will be even MORE exciting, in years to come, to see Caleb come to understand the real reason we celebrate Easter...that it is a day to REJOICE, because Jesus Christ has risen...He is alive...and because of this awesome truth, we can have life too, by believing in Him. We pray, constantly, that Caleb will one day come to know Him, and that he will become a man after God's own heart.

We took lots of pictures today, so I put them in a slideshow...enjoy!

Cookie Helper

Caleb loves to help (I would imagine that most kids at this age do). He likes to sweep, vacuum, help with the laundry, and even wipe up spills! I can only hope and pray that as he grows up, this won't fizzle out. We'll see....=)

Today, Caleb helped me bake cookies.

Watching the mixer spin....he loved this part!


Checking out the chocolate chips before pouring them in...


He did it! And not a single chip fell to the floor!


Mixing the chocolate chips in...


The finished product...


Taste test...


Here he said "Mmmmm" after an initial taste...


Caleb doesn't like chocolate very much (he doesn't get this from Mommy). In fact, he is not a big fan of sweets at all, which is fine with me! He liked the first bite of the cookie, but when he got to a chocolate chip, he wasn't too pleased...and, that was it. He didn't want any more.


And of course, since I didn't want to waste that cookie, I sacrificed and ate it for him. =)

Our Sweet Boy

Caleb and I both have pink eye again. It's quite frustrating, considering I thought that I was doing a pretty good job of laundering, Lysoling, Cloroxing, etc. So, we are both back on drops, which thankfully, have been helping.

Caleb also face-planted yesterday on the hardwood floor while he was playing, and got a pretty bad fat lip. The poor guy! He wouldn't keep ice on his lip to help the swelling...but, Grandma had a genius idea - a popsicle! That was much more appealing, and seemed to help some of the initial swelling.

Despite these, and other "ailments" over the past couple of weeks, Caleb has continued to be (for the most part!) his happy self! While at times a bit clingier and whinier than normal, he has been pretty tough. Much tougher than his Mommy, that is for sure .=)

Here's a picture of our sweet boy from the doctor's office yesterday.

Swollen eye. Swollen lip.

But, he still looks pretty cute to me!

What a Week

As mentioned in our previous post, our house has pretty much been "germ-city" over this past week. While Caleb has been recovering very well, thanks to eye drops for his pink eye and antibiotics for his double ear infection, I, on the other hand, have not been quite as fortunate!

Tuesday night, I came down with pretty bad pink eye in both eyes. I thought I had done such a good job of "protecting" myself and the house from Caleb's infection. I guess I didn't do good enough! We were at at friend's house when I noticed the first signs of it and my wonderful friend Katie took me to Walgreen's to get a prescription for eye drops that my OB called in, while Kris and Katie's husband Marc finished their game of poker. =)

The eye drops helped, and over the next 3-4 days, my eyes began to clear up, thankfully. Unfortunately, the rest of me wasn't clearing up so well.

Yesterday (Saturday), I got a call from my doctor, and he told me that although the throat culture they had done on Tuesday came back negative for strep throat, it was positive for haemophilus influenza. Lovely. Because I hadn't been getting any better, he decided to put me on an antibiotic to kill all of that yucky bacteria. After double checking with my OB that the medicine was okay for me to take, I started that yesterday, and already feel a bit better.

I have also managed to get a subconjunctival hemorrhage in my eye, most likely from all the coughing I have been doing. Basically, a blood vessel beneath the clear part of my eye has broken, and the white part of my eye is bright red as a result of the bleeding. Again, lovely. While the term "subconjunctival hemorrhage "sounds awful, and my eye looks horrible, there should be no lasting damage to my vision, and there is no pain, thankfully. However, please know that if you see me over the next week or so, you might be a bit scared. I won't take offense if you can't look at me directly. =)

Kris has been in New York since Thursday for a work conference, so we spent most of the weekend at my parents'. My wonderful mother picked Caleb up on Thursday morning so that I could relax and rest all day Thursday...I joined them in Roscoe on Friday. I am so thankful to have family close by, and that they are so willing to help out when needed. It helps that they absolutely adore their charming grandson. =)

Anyway, all of that to get to a couple of cute pictures. While at my mom and dad's house, Caleb got to help with some yard work. Here are some photos from that.





I am back to work tomorrow after missing every day last week but Monday. Hopefully my kids are not too disturbed by my "bleeding eye"!