Cuteness Overload

Thanks to my friend Michelle for finding this adorable ensamble for Caleb...seriously this could not be any cuter.









It also came with a short sleeved onesie that says "Mommy's Little Squirt." LOVE IT!!!

Cowboy Day

Luke's school had Texas Week this week, in honor of the Fort Worth Stock Show. Today was the day for them to dress up like cowboys/cowgirls.

Woody had to pose for a pic with him. Because he's a cowboy, too.


He didn't want to pose for one by himself, but I made him.


Jamie took the kids to school while I stayed home with the little ones. Here are the BFFs, Luke and Reese, going into school.


{notice Luke's sheriff badge, we forgot that before we took the pics at home.}


I think we may have pics like that of these two in a few years...
Kinley and Caleb

Breakfast with Luke

Every morning Luke likes to sit at his little table, eat his cereal, and watch PBS Kids. That's just what he does. This rarely changes, except when he has something besides cereal for breakfast.

Caleb wants to join in, too. Every morning, he crawls over to Luke's table, pulls up, and tries to get Luke's cereal.

Finally I gave Luke a little pile of plain Cheerios to give to Caleb, because I wasn't quite ready to give Caleb his full breakfast yet. So Luke put out a few Cheerios at a time, and Caleb was in heaven eating "breakfast" with big brother.

8 Months

8 months already?!

Lots has happened in the past month...
-Crawling (tummy off the ground, on his hands and knees).
-Pulling up...everywhere. Toys, the couches, the fireplace, the crib, anywhere he can get his hands on.
-Sitting up from a laying position.
-Getting down from standing without hurting himself...sometimes. :::knock on wood:::
-Finger foods. He loves pancakes, waffles, pieces of pasta or mac n cheese, grilled cheese sandwiches, and of course, Puffs.
-Ear infection #2, which led to The Worst Diaper Rash Ever #2. Poor thing does not tolerate antibiotics well.
-Lots of snot. This kid seems to always have a cold.
-Still no teeth.
-1st Christmas and 1st New Year's.
-Lots of swinging on the new swingset.
-Not enough sleep. He either spends a few hours awake every night, or he wakes up for the day at 5 AM. There's no happy medium. I'm tired.
-First major bump on the head. We have to extra Caleb-proof the house because he's already done things Luke still has never done.
-First word...Mama. It only comes out when he's unhappy, but he definitely says "Mama".

Pictures are hard at 8 months...now that he's figured out how to go, go, go, that's all he wants to do!

Smiles are blurry because he's never still, and always at the beginning of a round of pictures when I haven't checked my camera settings. Oh well.


Then he notices the sign.


Then he wants the sign.


Then I take the sign away and photoshop it in later.


Then he stands up because he's had enough. And right after this, he falls off the couch.



This post was written on January 16th...pictures were taken on January 16th...it just took me 10 days to actually upload them to the computer.

Brothers.

The bond that has already formed between these two is astounding. I love, LOVE, love watching them interact. And their faces when they first see each other in the morning, or when we pick up Luke from school, is equal parts of love, joy, and "I missed you!" - melts my heart every time!! I used to worry about the age difference between the two of them, but not anymore.

Today I was working in the kitchen when I heard Luke babbling and Caleb laughing his head off. Now it drives me crazy when Luke babbles like he was, but Caleb was cracking up so hard that I couldn't get on to Luke! It was too cute to watch.



My favorite part is when Luke gets quiet and Caleb is looking at him with such encouragement...like he wants Luke to keep making him laugh. So cute. I'm so excited to watch this bond develop further as they get older (and I'm sure it will shift some, too...they are brothers, after all.)

Hello, 2012

We celebrated New Years Eve at the Ken Man shop again for the second year in a row. It's a little weird to have a party at the shop, but we all have a blast! There's plenty of room for the kids to run around, ride bikes, and it's outside city limits so we can have fireworks! Such a fun way to kick off the new year with good friends.

The kids loved toasting marshmallows and making smores!








The adults got in on the action as well.


Sparklers were a big hit, too.










We were all so proud of Sarah, who was scared of the sparklers last year but ended up holding them all by herself.


Nate helped each kid light their choice of a tank or a chicken several times. They loved it! Here they are waiting their turns and watching.


Then we moved over for the bigger fireworks. That was another hit with the little ones!


{the grown ups, too}


Happy New Year!

Firepit, Smores, and Camping...in the Backyard!

Having a cool swingset in the backyard is making all of us enjoy it so much more!

Luke loves having the swingset and has played on it everyday.


Last week we borrowed< a firepit from our neighbors so we could sit out back and watch Luke play in the evening when it was chilly. That prompted a quick trip to Kroger for hot dogs and all the fixin's for smores. And THAT prompted a spur of the moment idea to camp out in the backyard.











Roasting hot dogs. He was having fun, just sick of me taking pics. Hence the face.


Can you see Luke in the dark? He's eating a smore.


Nate and Luke bundled up and took almost every blanket that we own out to the tent to camp. I zipped them in the tent about 8:30 PM...


...and they were both sleeping in their warm beds inside by 10:30 PM. Apparently the air mattress sprung a leak and was already deflated by then, and Nate didn't like the idea of sleeping all night on a deflated air mattress. Weak. :)

Funny Luke Quotes

I just love this kid and what he comes up with.

Yesterday he and Reese are swinging and he jumps off the swing.
Reese: "Luke, how'd you do that?"
Luke: "God just made me that way."

~*~

We officially registered Luke for spring baseball. He is going to be playing on the same team with our neighbors, Joshua and Coy. Only drawback is that the team name is the Angels.

Mom: "Luke, you are on a real baseball team now!"
Luke: "Yay!"
Mom: "The team name is the Angels."
Luke sticks out his lower lip in a pout: "Mom, does this mean we like the Angels now?"
Mom: "Nope. But you can still play on a team called the Angels and only like the Rangers."
Luke, excited: "Thanks, MOM! I love you."

Busy Baby

So Caleb is mobile.

He is slowly replacing his inchworm crawl with full blown, belly off the ground, on hands and knees crawl. He's still much faster at the inchworm crawl, though; so when he needs to get somewhere quickly then he reverts.

As of Christmas Day, he is sitting up by himself. He's figured out how to get up on his hands and knees and then sit on his bottom. It's cute and fun to watch.

He's now a pro at pulling himself up to standing, too. In fact, that's all he wants to do right now is stand up. He's even figured out he can do it in his crib and that translated into pretty much no naps yesterday.

Now he just needs to figure out how to get down from standing without falling over backwards.