More praying

My yard sale deal

I love yard sales!! I was going to go run in a race that my friend Jennifer told me about. She was going to cheer me on since the race went past her house. Courtney was going to get up and go cheer me on as well. So I got up, got ready and went to wake Courtney up....at 6:00 am. Yeah, didn't happen. Sleeping beauty wouldn't budge. But I didn't want to let Jennifer down so I went by myself. I didn't get out of my subdivision before I spotted two yard sales. I had time since I didn't have to wait for sleeping beauty to get ready so I stopped. I called Jennifer to tell her about an awesome deal of a play pink kitchen set for $15 that needed a little work. There was a washer/dryer combo, stove, and kitchen sink. I was really looking for one for Caleb but, of course, he can't have a pink one! She reminded me I could paint it...duh! Then she broke the news that she wasn't getting out of the bed for the race either. So I bought the kitchen set intending on giving it to Jennifer's daughter but talked myself into painting it for Caleb instead. Sorry, Jenn. Then I skipped the race and went to more yard sales.

Anyway after I spray painted it, I saw on the bottom that it was Pottery Barn Kids. Then I looked it up on the internet....$250.00 for each piece. So I got a deal, huh. I was so pumped!! $750.00 worth for $15.00. Can't beat that, and look how cool it turned out!! And Caleb LOVES it!

Redbirds game....best day ever!

Sometimes I look at Caleb and ask him "when did you get so big?". Last night at the Redbirds game, I took him to the playground. He climbed up the stairs all by himself, dodged the older kids running past him and slid down the slide. I ran back and forth between the stairs and slide making sure he didn't fall. As he walked up the stairs, he would stop on the 3rd or 4th step, look at me through the rails and say "Hi Mama!" and then he would reach for me to get a hug and kiss before he got up to the slide....every time. It was one of the sweetest, most precious moments that I knew I needed to soak it all in. I know there will be a day that he won't need me to make sure he makes it safely up the stairs and pausing to tell me Hi will be the last thing on his mind. I know there will be a time when hugging or kissing me in public will be totally unacceptable so for right now I'm gonna enjoy every minute of it. And so I let him go up the stairs and down the slide as long as he wanted to. The Redbirds stadium has an area called "the bluff" where you can bring a blanket and sit on the grass to watch the game. This was such an awesome idea! We didn't have to worry about Caleb sitting still and bothering people behind us, although he did stop to say Hi to everyone we passed. Then proceeded to show people where their eyes, nose and mouths were. He is definitely not a shy boy! I loved that he could run around, throw a ball and occasionally glance over at the game. I didn't think to bring a ball but leave it to Caleb to find one. He picked one up, I told him no it wasn't his, and the people around the ball told us to take it because someone else had left it behind. Whew, thank goodness because I'm sure that would have caused a breakdown had I took a ball away from him! I took Caleb and the ball to our blanket to try to get Caleb to stay in one area and throw the ball. Well, of course, he had to throw the ball to everyone around us. He made some friends with a group of teenagers who were sitting in front of us. He talked and talked to them, gave them high fives, and loved playing catch with them. One of the guys disappeared for a few minutes and returned with a plastic Redbirds bat and ball for Caleb. Isn't that the sweetest thing??? I thought I was gonna cry just because it was so nice and thoughtful of him to get my child, someone he doesn't even know, a toy. And let me tell you, Caleb LOVED it. I don't think I really watched any of the game, but I had such a wonderful time! It is so fun watching Caleb play with other people! I feel so proud of him I could burst sometimes! I'm pretty sure this ranks as one of the most fun days so far in Caleb's life to him and to me!

Courtney and Makayla

Wow what a busy week we have had! Courtney and Makayla came to visit for a little over a week and we stayed busy pretty much the whole time. We went to the zoo twice, Mud Island, swimming at Jennifer's house several times, paint a piece pottery, the sprinkler park, a Redbirds game, and the Farmer's Market. We also had a water gun fight while Caleb napped which was totally unfair since Courtney and Makayla teamed up and tried to soak me. I tried the "divide and conquer" strategy telling each one that the other told me to soak them, but after a while they didn't care and they went after me instead. We also played Guesstures and as much as I would like to brag that me and Makayla stomped our competition, I have to give credit to Courtney and Jason. They did win the first game by several points. But as I explained to them, really Makayla and I are the best team since we won the second game. I mean, you look at the most recent game to pick who is best, right?

Caleb had a blast with "KK" and "Corky". Part of the time he called both of them KK but when he really concentrated, he would say Corky. The first thing out of his mouth every morning was their names. Yeah, so much for "Mama". Caleb really enjoyed the water misters at the zoo. He stood under them saying "wawa wawa". Oh, he is so cute! I thought for sure he would enjoy the sprinkler park, but he was a little scared of it. I guess partly he was just tired from such a busy week. He did find a pink ball while we were trying to have a picnic. Of course, he wouldn't sit still long enough to eat because he wanted the ball so bad. I have a problem getting him to eat when we are outside. He doesn't understand the concept of a "picnic". Outside = play to him. Anyway, back to the sprinkler part of the day. Caleb liked the water when the pressure was really low and the water was below him, but once it shot up in the air, he was done with that one and started looking for another one. I'll post pictures later after I get caught up on my journaling.

Greased pig

Putting sunscreen on a toddler is like trying to capture a greased pig. I'm waiting the 15 minutes before going in the sun after applying the sunscreen. Of course, if you count when I first started applying it, we could have left here 15 minutes ago....but then again, his little legs and butt crack would have been sunburned. His shorts usually start drifting down when he gets wet so I make sure to apply sunscreen on his bootie, too. He will appreciate that later. Today was mothers day out. It starts at 9:00. I woke up at 9:00. How is it that on my free day, everyone's gonna sleep in? Even Jason slept late. They don't accept kids after 10 so I still had to take out the trash, fix Caleb's lunch, get ready, feed and dress him.....we made it right at the cutoff. He made it just in time for snacktime. I was glad, too, because he only ate 1/4 of his waffle and milk en route to the church. When I picked him up, he shouted without being prompted to his teachers "BYE BYE" matter-of-factly. He cracks me up. When we got home, he immediately said "B B B B". He wanted to sing the B-I-B-L-E song so I turned it on to his delight. He starting dancing and singing and got pretty irritated when his song ended. He told me "push push" so I would push the button and start it over. We listened to it 1200 times. He talked to nannie on the phone telling her "no no Nannie no no". I'm not sure what she did wrong. The other day he dropped the phone on his foot and started scolding Nannie. "No no Nannie no no". Apparently, Nannie made that happen even though he hadn't been talking to her right then, or even all day for that matter.

Time Out

Caleb just went to time out for spilling his milk. He does it on purpose. Evidently it's fun to turn his sippy cup upside down and pound it on the table until milk runs out. I told him to go to time out and as soon as he sat down, he started saying "sazzeee" (sorry). Then he came and gave me a kiss and said "no no gilk no no". I reminded him that it was his fault and not the milk's fault. And he said "no no gilk no no". Then he went to the sippy cup drawer, handed me another cup and said "juice?". I don't think so.

Praying at Lenny's (BUMP)

All Boy

Caleb held his fists tight and slung the contents of one of them at me. What was it he threw at me? A bettle....a live beetle. Just as I was getting over the shock of having an orange bug hurled at me, he pelted another one my way with his other hand. He had retrieved them from his car. They weren't supposed to be there so he was getting rid of them. And what better way to clean out his car than to throw them at his mama.

Outside!

Caleb is learning how to count....not necessarily in order but we are working on it. He leaves out 1, 4, and 5 when he is counting to 10. Sometimes he forgets 7, too. He is also learning the alphabet and the words to the song "The B-I-B-L-E". It's so cute!! He sings "the B-B-B-B-B".....oh well, he gets 2 out of the 5 letters right. Ha Ha. He also knows who built the ark..."No No". We usually add the "ah" for him. We have a CD that has lots of sunday school songs on it and we sing and dance to them. "Who Built the Ark" is one of our favorites and I have it very well choreographed (not really, but to a toddler it's pretty cool). I blew up his little swimming pool and he is LOVING the "wawa". He was very tentative getting in it at first but after a few minutes, he was laying in it splashing around, even putting his face in the water. It's so fun watching him learn new things. It seems like some things take forever to teach him and then other things I don't even know where he learned it. He fake snores when you tell him to go to sleep. Where did he learn that?? He is just so funny! Granny and Grandaddy came to visit this weekend. We told Caleb they were coming and we thought he was excited then so you can only imagine his excitement when they walked through the door. He met them with "Geggy!! Geggy!!". Sometimes he says their names really well, but I think when he is excited it comes out sounding more like "geggy". And sometimes it's hard to distinguish which one he is calling for. He loved playing with them and sat still for a few minutes to hear Granny read some stories to him. He couldn't hardly wait to get out of his crib in the mornings to see "Geggy!". He looked everywhere for them Monday morning and after his afternoon nap. I had to take him in the spare room and bathroom to prove to him that they weren't here. We are about to go outside. I've already slathered him up with sunscreen and the 15 minutes you are supposed to wait is up. He loves going outside and if you call he will tell you Outside! Car! Sweee (swing)! and now WaWa! That's what he does outside and he will tell you all about it. Ok, gotta go now. Someone's ready for some attention.

My Nike Ipod

Yesterday we met up with some women from Bartlett Baptist Church to pray in the park. Caleb had a lot of fun running around the park, chasing the squirrels and swinging. He thought the little boy throwing a coke can at a little girl was pretty funny. He laughed so hard and wanted in on the fun so he picked up some of the mulch and started throwing it too. I had to explain to him that wasn't nice and to time out he went. I was pretty excited when my well trained child sat nicely down on the side of the playground for his time out punishment without making a scene when I looked down and saw that he was sitting right beside the mulch, picking it up and still throwing it. Argh!!!

The women got in a big circle, held hands and prayed for our families and ourselves to raise these little monsters, ummm, I mean precious gifts from God. The women with small children kept their eyes open. Ommmmm, I'm telling! Good thing, too, because a couple of us (including myself) had to run after the little munchkins as they darted out to the road. They didn't know we were praying with our eyes open.

I thought Caleb would love the prayer in the park given that he loves to hold our hands and pray. He did hold onto a hand and "prayed" but it went a little long for him. He shouted "Amen" in the middle of the prayer and I had to whisper to him that we weren't quite done.

After the park, I bravely drove us to Costco and managed to keep Caleb in the cart thanks to some goldfish crackers, dried strawberries, pizza, and fruit snack samples. He was getting really squirmy and tired of shopping at the end but I managed to keep him from throwing a tantrum and breathed a sigh of relief once we made it to the car. Then I realized the brownie mix I had bought was opened and I had to return it. You see where this is going, right? Tired, hot child strapped in a grocery cart. Uh-huh. Last thing I wanted to do was go back in the store. I got in the store, explained the situation and ran the cart back to the brownie mix to get an unopened one all the while promising Caleb he could push the buttons for the jeep, garage door, microwave and any other button he wanted to push so long as he didn't start thrashing in the cart. It worked, he stayed fairly calm, and we left the store. I proudly walked to my beeping, lights flashing jeep with my semi-calm child. Yep, he found the panic button.

He stayed awake all the way home and at one point in the trip excitedly yelled out "GRGREE". I think he was in a very drowsy state and thought mom had driven us all the way to Granny's house. That's twice he has done that. I think there is one spot in our route to and from the stores that reminds him of Big Rock. Anyway, we got stopped by the train which I was very excited to show him. Whatever happened to the "caboose". You never see those anymore. It's quite frustrating to me. Caleb made it all the way to the entrance of our subdivision before falling asleep. He woke up as soon as I put him in his crib. And that was the extent of his nap for the day. So so sad for me. I need a nap. I mean, I need him to nap.

Isn't he a cutie??

Dear God, please get me out of time out.

Caleb started to bite me the other day. It made me so mad and I started saying "Caleb, you DO NOT bite Mama or I'll...." when Caleb put his hands together, bowed his head, started jibbering and finished with "Amen". Yeah, I wasn't so mad anymore. It was hard to keep a straight face. The boy knows when to pray. Now when he gets sent to timeout, he starts praying. Yesterday he wanted to pray with me and I asked who we were going to pray for. He said Daddy, Shh (that's what he calls Michelle) and so we did.

At night we put socks on his feet and they seem to fascinate him when he wakes up. They are usually off by morning and he is playing with them. If they aren't in his hands when we take him out of the crib, he will search for them. He says socks, socks, socks and shoes.

Sunny days, everything's A Ok

I've been trying to teach Caleb his colors, shapes, letters, etc. So far he can point out and tell you the sounds the letter M, H, and sometimes P make (most of the time). It seems to take weeks to teach him one letter. As for colors and shapes, well, sometimes he can point out a square or circle. He has the star down pat. Colors, no. I can't tell you how long I've been trying to get the boy to tell the difference between blue, yellow, red and green. He just started watching Sesame Street the last 2 weeks and can already tell me 5 of the different characters. Cookie! Grover! Elmo! Oscar! Ernie (who he sometimes gets confused with Elmo)! Guess I'm gonna have to dress up in a big, furry square and dance around singing "I'm a blue, square....I'm a blue, square!!".

I don't let Caleb watch a lot of TV so that's why Sesame Street has just been introduced. The Backyardagans are a lot of fun, but not much education there. I didn't really care for Sesame Street because I can't stand Baby Bear. I still fast forward through him. I can't stand the way he talks. It gives me the creeps. I feel like he is teaching children to not use the letter "R"....even though it was the letter of the day the other day. Anyway, for some reason I started recording it and I wish I had let him watch it earlier. I had no idea he would love it so much. Oh well. I found a Sesame Street toy at a yard sale--which he absolutely loves. He dropped it on his foot and said "No No Cookie", like it was Cookie Monster's fault or something.