A Sad Day...

Today while Caleb was "taking a nap" I heard a very loud thump and then Caleb crying. I ran in there to find Caleb laying on his floor. He had fallen out of his crib. I felt so bad for him!! That was sad, but I think he's ok. But the other sad part is that I was really hoping to keep him in his crib until he turns 10. :) He sleeps so much better in a confined space! So now I'm hoping that his fall scared him enough that he won't try it again anytime soon! We shall see!

On a happier note, Caleb has come up with a new recipe for you guys to try:

Yes, that's a peanut butter and jelly and cereal sandwich!

I left the room for just a minute and came back to find him VERY proud of himself.



The results of the first taste test are in:


He even ate most of it! So for those of you with recipe blogs, I'm sure Caleb will let you add it for a small fee! :)

If Caleb Has Brain Damage...

...we will know who to blame :)

This has been a favorite past time of theirs for many moons. Caleb thinks it's hilarious and begs for more and more and more!

Besides giving our child more brain damage this weekend, we also did lots of other fun stuff.

Thursday was a sad day because the Giani Mob deserted us and moved to Vegas. What is Caleb going to do without one of his main sidekicks? I guess we will try to still have fun and try to perfect our making of meatballs without them. That night though, Caleb and I went to an awesome concert while Chris went to school. That's fair, right?!?

(Thanks for the pic, JoEllen! This is Caleb having fun with his good buds Sal and Bradley)

Friday night, Chris and I hit the Phantom of the Opera at the Majestic Theater downtown. So fun! And thanks to the Cheneys for watching Caleb for us. (We have been lucky enough to have Chris's cousin and husband and adorable 6 month old girl staying with us for the last week or so while waiting for their moving truck to arrive. We have been having so much fun and are so excited to have more family join us in San Antonio!)



Saturday, we hit Sea World on opening day with the Cheneys. The weather was SOOOO nice!! And we were even some of the first season ticket holders to go, so they gave us free souvenier cups that can be refilled for only $0.99 the whole season! Sweet!




So there you have it. The good (fast car rides, family moving closer, phantoms, dolphins and free stuff), with the bad (mob movings and brain damage). All in a weekend's work.

And For My Next Trick...

So some of you will remember my problem with Caleb removing his diaper at "nap time" and spreading his joy all around. We were using duct tape on his diapers, which Caleb managed to remove. Then we switched to onesies and they have worked like a charm!

Until recently.

I went to get Caleb after his nap the other day (and yes, he actually took a nap) and there he was standing with one arm triumphantly in the air holding his wet diaper! With his onesie still all snapped! When he was asleep and I checked on him, I just made sure his onesie was still on and snapped. I didn't think to look to see if there was a diaper under the oneside. Somehow he managed to undo his diaper and pull it out with the onesie still snapped! As Rachel said, at least he has good problem solving skills.

I think we are now going to a combo of duct tape and onesies. That, or potty training. Caleb is actually really good at going potty whenever I ask him to. I'm just too lazy to ask him to go every hour or so. Maybe I'll have to stop being so lazy because I hate being outsmarted by a 2 year old!

A Few Injuries

We've had a few injuries at our house recently.

Caleb looks like his usual cute self...



...until he turns his head like this!

OUCH! Sadly it wasn't even the bike that did it. It happened while he was in his bed "taking a nap." Please note the quotation marks. I'm not sure if he did it while running his daily suicide sprints in his crib, or during his monkey antics trying to climb out of bed. All I know is he started crying pretty hard and that is how I found him. I guess it was time. After all, the huge goose egg he got from the living room table a couple days ago on his forehead was already healing to the point where you almost couldn't see it!


And then there's the tv.

No. No one puked on it, as it first appears. The picture frame on top of the tv fell and knocked over the candle that was lit and spilled wax all over. Apparently the ball that several people were playing with had nothing to do with it...hmmm.... Luckily, the tv was the only one injured. The outcome of surgery with a hot iron is still unknown. We'll keep you posted.


Then there is our deck that was injured by this (it's in the middle back by the fence):

Chris and I were minding our own business sitting in the kitchen chatting late the other night when Chris pointed out there was a SKUNK only a couple feet from me on the other side of our patio doors. Anyone that knows me well, knows this is NOT ok! We tried not to make any sudden moves to startle it, but then we smelled it seeping into our house. SICK!! And my wanna-be-national-geographic-photographer husband decided it would be fun to go outside and take pictures. What a nut! As he was taking a picture of one, suddenly another popped out ready to spray. Chris went running. I think he made it just in time. It didn't smell too bad inside the next day, and neither Jed nor Rachel nor Nolan commented on a skunk smell in our house (or were they just being nice?!?) So hopefully our deck and patio are off the injury list and past the danger smell point, although to be honest, I didn't go out and sniff. And for the Curtis Family, I think we found Ben the pet skunks he wanted. Feel free to pick them up anytime!!

Happy Birthday, Chris!

Yesterday was Chris's birthday. Nice that it was a national holiday too--so he had the day off! Spoiled!

First, I have to apologize for lack of any pictures. Not sure what my problem was, I just forgot.

Sunday night we celebrated by having friends over for dinner and games. Then on Monday, we let Chris sleep in. I didn't think he knew how to sleep in anymore. But he seemed to somehow manage. Caleb was so excited to give him his presents and eventually made a beeline for the sleeping Chris and woke him up with presents.

Next we did some more birthday shopping and went out to lunch. Then we met up with friends for a picnic at the park. The weather and the company were perfect!! We played at the park forever and it was so nice to just spend time together!

Then last night we met up with more friends for dinner at Rudy's. It was the perfect end to a perfect day.

Thanks to all of you that helped us celebrate, sent cards, and called to wish him a Happy Birthday!

Caleb was so tired by the end of the day that he fell asleep in the car on the way home and didn't even wake up when we changed his diaper change and put his pajamas on. And that is no small feat because he can fight falling asleep with the best of them! There is a first for everything, I guess!

We made cupcakes for Chris to bring to work today with strict instructions that those that ate one had to rib him about getting old. Apparently though, those instructions were not followed and not even one person has teased him. Darn!

Happy Birthday, Chris! We love you!

Valentine Fun

Caleb and I decided last night to make some cookies for Chris for Valentine's Day. Caleb loved rolling out the dough and then "push!" the heart cookie cutters into the dough:



He also liked snitching the frosting:



And loved putting conversation hearts on the frosted cookies:



Here is our finished project. He is still talking about "making cookies for daddy."



During the process of waiting for the cookies to bake, Caleb also created our next edition of "I Spy":


See if you can find:
1 picture colored by Caleb of a worker
Various magnet letters
1 picture colored by Caleb of people at church
1 finger painting by Caleb
2 Note pads
1 empty bag of M&M's from the trash

Not sure what's up with taking stuff out of the trash and hanging it up. But it is certainly entertaining.

Chris surprised us by coming home mid-day today and bringing an awesome lunch and treat and flowers!

Then tonight we celebrated valentine's day by Chris going to school to take a test and Caleb and I just hanging out at home.

And yes, my friends, even at bath time, Caleb can find things to stack and line up!





Tonight I decided to put on a cd with some music during bath time. Here is Caleb after his bath, "getting ready for bed". If it wasn't this:

(his latest and greatest dance moves....)

It was this:

Hmmm...maybe we will skip the bedtime music next time. Or go with something a little lighter. :)

Hope everyone had a good Valentine's Day!!

Too Much Excitement!

So many exciting things the last few days....

Friday, Chris received an offer for a big promotion out of the blue. He accepted and is now a project manager. As if he needed more on his full plate of full-time work, full-time school, full-time church stuff. But I'm excited for him and know he will do great. And in the land of corporate cubicles, he even gets to have his own office. Big time stuff. :) We went out to Olive Garden to celebrate and had celebratory pie at the house of our friends.

Saturday, Chris had a service project and Caleb and I went to the zoo with the Giani Mob. We had so much fun!! Thanks, guys!





And even at the zoo, Caleb can manage to find things to stack and line up:





On Sunday, we were also able to attend the blessing of cute and adorable Nolan!!

Other exciting news! Our good friend Brian received his lds mission call to Washington DC South, leaving April 23rd (I think...) and Chris was so excited to be able to ordain him on Sunday.

We also ate Sunday dinner with our good friends, the Weatherholtz. We really think of them as our family. It is always a treat to spend time with them!

Monday, Caleb and I surprised Chris with early birthday tickets to the Rodeo/Sara Evans concert. I originally thought I would just get a babysitter for Caleb, but when I thought about all the animals and music and stuff, I thought it would be ten times more fun with him there. And I was right! We saw all kinds of animals and had such a good time:

We saw sheep, pigs, goats, mules, cows, chickens, and a bunch of other stuff I don't remember:



This one's for you, dad--Caleb HAD to sit on and drive each and every tractor we passed:



They grow em big in the state of Texas--texas-sized cow and chicken (rooster? I don't know my farm animals. Sorry, dad).





Here are some random pictures of the fun night:







The concert was great. Even though it was country music. :)



Caleb figured out that if you knock on the glass, all the chicks come running. He thought that was just hilarious:


Now, I know what you're thinking...Rodeo/Sara Evans tickets for Chris's birthday? But Chris does enjoy the rodeo (just ask him about the "famous" Preston Night Rodeo!) and since we've moved to Texas he has become a huge country music fan. I know, I know...he's joined the dark side. He likes to think of it as immersing himself in the local culture or something.

So if you see Chris, be sure to wish him a Happy Birthday and be sure to rub it in about how OOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLLDDDDDDDDDD he is! After all, he is a whopping 6 months older than me! Talk about robbing the cradle, old man! :)

Pie!

February and October are extra fun months at our house because Marie Callender's has $5.99 pie month. Caleb is also very excited because it is pie month. I think we have discovered that Caleb too likes pie. You be the judge:


What a funny kid. He is definitely a half Nelson, huh?!? Gets just a little bit excited about treats. It makes me so proud. It's times like this when I feel good inside--like I have really taught him some things right. :)

p.s. Notice the drawings in the background that Caleb colored at church. For some reason, he is especially proud of his pictures lately. As soon as we are done with church, he has to "Show daddy!!!" and then precedes to shove the picture at EVERYONE in the hallway at church to show them his masterpiece on the way to find and show his dad.

Watch For Flying Objects!

Ok, so this picture has nothing to do with the story below, but it does show off Caleb's new pajamas from Grandma and Grandpa! He LOVES them, so thank you so much!!!

The other day we were driving around and "someone" who shall remain nameless, decided to be a bad citizen and rolled down his window while driving and tossed his gum out.

Next thing I know, from the back seat Caleb is asking to have his window rolled down. Not thinking about it, I asked the nameless person who was driving to roll his window down. Caleb then proceeds to pick his nose and flick his booger out the window. Of course my initial reaction was, "Sick! That's yucky, Caleb!" Which of course only encourages the behavior. He now does it the WHOLE TIME we are in the car!

***This paragraph edited for content--a.k.a. deleted--by nameless person***

So the moral of the story is, be careful what you do around kids because they too will pick up your habit. And the second moral is to pretend like it doesn't even phase you because the bigger the reaction, the more fun it is! What I can't figure out is how Caleb could even tell what this nameless person was doing because his car seat is directly behind the drivers seat. Maybe he could see it in the mirror? Still trying to figure this mystery out.

So if you see us driving down the street with "bob" cranked (which is Caleb's veggie tale christmas cd that we HAVE TO listen to everywhere we go or else you hear, "Mom! Mom! Bob! Bob! Please? Please! Bob! Moooooooooooooooom! By the way, thanks for the cd, Cindy! I think....:) But I digress...). Anyway, if you see us driving around town with Caleb's window down and "bob" cranked, beware of flying objects coming from our back seat!!

Party!!

Saturday we had a birthday party for Caleb at our favorite place--Chuck E Cheese's! Caleb was spoiled rotten, but, hey, he only turns 2 once! :) We were able to celebrate with lots of Caleb's buddies (of all ages! ranging from two months, to ?!!!?) and had so much fun!!

Here are some pictures of our train-themed fun:

Caleb started out the day by lining up his animals. Again. I'm beginning to think I can tell a lot by his mood by the way they are lined up. Like this time, they were all close together and facing into his room. Maybe that means he's in a good mood and when they're far apart and facing the wall, he's in a bad mood. :)



Anyway, the fun started when Caleb got some Thomas the Train balloons:



We headed to Chuck E Cheese's and Caleb took off enjoying all the rides and the dancing and singing animal shows.



Caleb wasn't the only one enjoying the rides. Party goers of all ages seemed to enjoy the rides.... :)



Caleb also enjoyed climbing into the "choo-choo" and cars that are several feet off the ground with lots of slides and fun stuff. Once again, I think Chris enjoyed it just as much!



This picture shows some of the fun equipment they had. And it's also a fun game of "Where's Waldo" for you, er in this case, "Where's Heath". See if you can find Heath having fun with all the kids! :)



And of course there was lots of food. I had to try hard to convince Caleb to stop playing and come eat! We had pizza, a couple kinds of cake, chocolate train suckers, and train sugar cookies.

I have to admit that we kind of threw a lot of it together. The chocolate suckers were done, and I had baked the cakes and cookies, but hadn't frosted anything. Then we convinced the Giani mob to come over and help us with some stuff. (Thanks by the way! You're the best!!) Then when we were done, they twisted our arms and MADE us play a game (that turned into a really long game!) Ok, so it was the other way around. I think they wanted to go home, but we made them play! Yeah, I know what you're thinking...Krista whooped up on everybody again. But actually, I didn't win this time. I know...it's shocking to me too. I won't mention who won...I don't want to start the bragging over again. Anyway, the game was lots of fun and it's always fun to hang out with the Giani mob. But the bottom line is that we started frosting and decorating everything at 1:00 a.m. Oops. We set a time limit for ourselves of 2:30a.m. We finished--maybe not with everything looking as planned, but finished none the less. :) And Chris and I had fun hanging out together and decorating baked stuff.


Caleb had a fun time opening all his presents. He was spoiled rotten!!!!!!!!







It's at celebrations like this that we also really miss all of you who would have been there that live so far away!! But we still had tons of fun! Thank you to all of you who came and celebrated Caleb's birthday with us! We feel blessed to have such great friends!