Caleb, Caleb, Caleb

He's been in rare form since he became a one year old.

Playing with new and old toys on Sunday morning. He loves his new dump truck ride on toy because it's the perfect height for puzzles!


On Monday he started climbing up into the fort. By himself. It was nervewrecking and amazing all at the same time. I snapped these two pictures quickly and then resumed my position of standing guard behind him just in case his leg slipped through. That only happened once.




We also went to the neighborhood pool for the first time this year on Monday. Caleb yelled when I first put him in his new float, but got over it quickly. He loved floating around, and his little legs were kicking the whole time. It was so cute.


His first experience with the pool was so different than Luke's first experience...he cried for the first minute but then got over it, and didn't get upset again until I was putting him back into the float after getting him out for a bit. He did not appreciate that, and he let everyone know it. Here's a video that I shot on Monday. Luke has a small wooden Rangers bat that Caleb loves. I was getting dressed for the day when I heard Caleb screaming like a banshee so I went to check things out. This is what I found.


He is a stinker. He wanted that bat and was not pleased that his brother wasn't just giving it to him. Afterwards, I distracted him with a different toy and told Luke to play with the bat where Caleb couldn't see him. So Luke went behind the couch. As soon as Caleb heard the sound of Luke dropping the bat to the floor, he took off crawling as fast as he could to get his hands on that bat.

We've been working on him only having the paci in his crib and in his carseat. {Although at his one year appointment, his pediatrician said that he still needs it some because of the five teeth he is cutting right now...so we're being lenient with him.} Whenever I take it from him, he says, "Bye bye." And it's so cute.


And finally...I made our new favorite dinner tonight, spaghetti bread. Basically spaghetti baked in a loaf of bread. So good. Anyway, Caleb was yelling at us as I was fixing the bread and decided he just couldn't wait for dinner. He hasn't been eating a ton lately because of his teeth, but he made up for it tonight! Can you say spaghetti monster?!






The funniest part was watching him while we were eating. He had his hand down in the seat and we weren't sure what he was doing. A few seconds later, he pulls up his hand full of noodles that he had dropped.
He went straight from his seat to the bathtub, dropping spaghetti noodles as we went. What a mess!

Caleb's 1st Birthday Party!

We had Caleb's 1st birthday party on Saturday! My goal was to keep it small but cute. After looking online I couldn't find any cute "1st Birthday" themes that I liked. Since when did everything get so cheesy? Anyway...I decided to make my own theme.

I loved the cowboy/Western idea...I actually almost did that for Luke's 1st birthday before I found something else that I liked more. So I found a super cute digital scrapbooking kit - Little Buckaroos from Shabby Miss Jenn Designs - and went to town. I loved the red and blue bandana papers and pretty much based the whole party around that.

Here is his invitation:


The set up.


Food & drinks.



Cupcake toppers on Target cupcakes...white cake with Bettercream icing {think Cool Whip}...best cake you will ever eat.


Party favors were red and blue rock candy from Party City and sheriffs badges. I used old jars from chicken bouillon crystals and put a cute label around them. The rock candy was a hit because it's so uncommon.


The banner, the cupcake toppers, the food labels, the water bottle labels, the labels on the party favor jars, and his collage were all made using the Little Buckaroos kit and printed at Staples. Best money I have ever spent!
I had planned on having games and stuff for the kids to do, but ended up staying away from that. Instead they all just played in the backyard on the swingset and with all the sports stuff we have back there. Everyone seemed to have a great time.

One little boy started out the party in a grumpy mood. Unfortunately, it was the guest of honor! He is cutting five teeth and had taken an earlier-than-usual nap that day. But he cheered up when we headed outside. My awesome neighbor Jamie made his shirt.


Picture with Mommy!


Right before the party started, our air conditioning stopped working. It was 82 degrees in our house when the guests got there. So we took the presents outside to the back porch; thankfully there was a nice breeze.


This picture cracks me up...I don't know if he is patting her back or pushing her away. I have a feeling it's the latter, knowing these two.


Some of Nate's family pitched in to get Caleb this sandbox. Based on his face, I think he likes it. Just a little. :)


Playing with the girls.


Thankfully the a/c started working again {thank you, handy husband!} so we were able to go back inside for cupcakes.
Traditional family pic before singing "Happy Birthday" to Caleb.


Caleb loves cake. He totally knew what was about to happen.


He points at everything these days; I loved this pic.


Going to town! Everyone thought it was hilarious to watch him. After his smash cake experience on his birthday, he knew what to do!




After cake everyone just hung out and talked while the kids played. It was a great, low-kew party - perfect first birthday for my little cowboy!

Caleb's 1st Birthday!

The birthday boy, first thing in the morning!


His birthday breakfast was his favorite, pancakes! We didn't light the candle, but Luke and I sang to him and he LOVED it.


I wanted to get a picture of him at 12:16 PM - the exact moment he turned one - but he was napping and I didn't want to risk waking him up! So after nap we did his 12 month photoshoot. He was a difficult subject because he didn't want to sit still and smile. But that changed when I gave him the animals from his birthday present from Bee and Justin. I just love this picture - he was laughing and shaking the animals around; just being silly little Caleb.


After dinner we opened up his birthday presents from us and from Luke.


Sweet boys...Luke made Caleb his birthday card and he was very proud of it.


The Rombergs came over to have cupcakes and sing "Happy Birthday" to Caleb.
He was a total ham during the singing. And he kept pointing to the cake like he was saying - "That's for me! Give it to me!"


First touch.


First taste.


Going back for more!


A handful this time.


He caught on quickly.


He defined the meaning of a smash cake, that's for sure.






And that's Caleb's first birthday! It was a great day. Today is his one year well visit {and shots} and then Saturday is his birthday party - can't wait!

1 Year.

One year ago today, Caleb Michael joined our family.

There are moments where it feels like I can't remember him not being around, and there are moments where I look at him and think - where did you come from? Since when do we have two kids?!! He has brought such joy to our family in the past year. He is so full of spunk and his own unique personality. He is so different from his big brother; wild and crazy, into everything he can get his hands on, but then happy as can be, sweet and shy at times, too. Caleb truly is our pistol...any ideas I had about Luke being one make me laugh at how naive I used to be.

Just in the last few days, he has started to climb. He climbed onto our raised brick hearth...he climbed up the "stairs" of Luke's step stool and fell over the top of it...he climbed onto the dishwasher...he tried climbing into the kitchen chairs...he tried climbing onto the window sill. He is not walking yet, though; I wish he would walk before trying these more daring moves. He stands on his own when he feels like it and takes a couple steps from here to there, but for the most part he is content to crawl. Or walk behind something. He's figured out how to maneuver the push walker we have in the house around his various obstacles {furniture} and now he constantly buzzes around. We'll see how long it takes him to figure out that he is physically able to do it on his own.

Caleb starts his second year of life with 1/4 of a tooth. His top right tooth is still barely coming in. His bottom gums are swollen, but no teeth are anywhere near the surface. His top left tooth is swollen, too; but no sign it either. At this rate he'll be starting kindergarten and we'll be waiting on his molars or something. However, he is extremely miserable and has every teething symptom in the book right now so I have to believe SOMETHING his happening in those gums of his.

He is a babbling machine right now. He is repeating so many words/sounds back to us. Some words he says consistently these days are Daisy "Day-ee", quack "ack", more "MOH!" {screeched as loud as possible}. Tonight he was saying dog "doh"; we'll see if that catches on.

His current loves are balls, bubbles, and animals. We started reading Luke's old favorite, "Peek-A-Moo" a few weeks ago and it was a huge hit with Caleb, too. He is always pulling out all the animal books we have stacked on the shelf in the living room and looking at them. It's pretty cute. What's not cute is that I'm putting up books about fifteen times a day, but whatever.

As of today, he is officially done with formula!! That's the best part about him turning one. He's doing great with sippy cups and is now drinking three sippys a day with whole milk. His favorite foods right now are blueberries, grilled chicken, peas, and cheese. I only hope this will continue into toddlerhood.

That's all I have about our crazy little Caleb...we are so blessed to have him!

Here's Caleb's one year collage that I made; what a difference a year makes.


And finally, here's Caleb today! 12 months old!

Mother's Day

It was a quiet day - we went to church and then down to see Nate's mom. During that time, the four of us snuck away to our land to check on the cows.

Anniversary at the Arboretum

Saturday, May 5th, was my parents' 40th anniversary!

They wanted to celebrate with family time and a picnic at the Dallas Arboretum. The Chihuly exhibit opened that day and my mom really wanted to see it. So we obliged and spent a very hot day with lots of crowds at the Arboretum looking at pretty glass placed in random flower beds.

The not-so-newlyweds.


My gorgeous boys. They had so much fun and were so good!


One of Luke's favorites.




Caleb and Boppa walking.


Caleb is such a ham!






Luke thought this was really cool.


Family picture.


Luke and Mammie.


Our family of four!