IT'S A GIRL!

October 22-28, 2012
 This week we've been trying to have a more predictable sleep schedule with at least one nap every day. It has sort of been working . . . Caleb has at least spent some time in his crib every day, regardless of if he napped during it.

I love you! (I'll pretend he's doing it on purpose)

This is week 20, marking halfway through the pregnancy! It also means we got to have our anatomy ultrasound. I love watching each part of the baby move, from the cute little hands and feet to each valve of the heart. It is amazing how developed and beautiful the tiny baby is already. As we were watching the screen on the ultrasound machine, as the tech was checking different measurements and looking at different body parts, there were a few times I thought I could tell that we were not having a boy. Sure enough, after a few minutes she announced that we are having a girl!

I was excited but Allen was VERY excited! He is looking forward to having a little girl to hold and cuddle and love. I'm sure he would have been happy to have another boy, but I know he was really wanting a little "daddy's girl".

Another special part of this ultrasound, was that my mom got to come! She and my dad were in Houston for a church assignment and stayed with us for a few days. Ultrasounds have come a long way since she had babies, so I think it was fun for her to see our little girl moving around too! After we came home and put Caleb down for a nap, Allen and my dad kept working while my mom and I went to JoAnn's to buy fabric for our baby girl's quilt!

Playing blocks with Grammy

This is after we found out we were having a girl. I can't remember why Caleb has his shoes on but no clothes...

I know Grandpa doesn't like how he looks in these pictures but I think they're adorable!

Playing with Grandpa

What's Grandpa working on?

Friday night we had our church Trunk-or-Treat. We went as the classy family we are: trailer trash. It took people a while to recognize Allen and couldn't look at him the same way at church the next day.

Caleb was scared of Allen with his wig and hair on. I can't say that I'm surprised.

As part of the Trunk or Treat, there was a chili cook-off. We tried lots of chili and cornbread. When we'd gone back for seconds (or thirds) I gave Caleb some of my cornbread before I tried it. He kind of started fussing and sticking his tongue out. I gave him a drink and then fed him some more cornbread. He fussed a little bit again before having another drink. When I ate some of the cornbread, I figured out why he was fussing: the cornbread was full of jalapenos! 

My pregnant belly (with one child on the hip) adds to the effect. 

Saturday night we went to another Halloween party. It was at our neighbor's house and we didn't want to give them any wrong ideas about us, so we just dressed up as soccer players. Not worth taking a picture of.

Building and knocking down blocks

Cuddling with Dad

Dancing with Grammy to the piano's demo songs. 

Dancing with Grandpa

It was so fun to have my parents stay with us for the weekend, even if they were busy with their meetings for a lot of it.

Sleep Training Begins

October 15-21, 2012

After a year of Caleb still not sleeping through the night and the past 2-3 months of him getting up 1-2 times a night and waking up for the day at 4 am and no consistent naps, I decided it was sleep training time. I was given "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Baby" (or something like that) at a baby shower and it was recommended to me by lots of people. I had read it and used some of the things in it before, but this week we stepped it up and really began sleep training. We are both ready for it.

This whole week was rough on Caleb and I as we tried to break him of bad habits and get him to not be so over-tired all of the time. It was also hard for me to not hold him until he fell asleep... that's the only time he'd cuddle with me since we stopped nursing.

Caleb loves sweeping and mopping. 

We rarely make it through breakfast without him pointing to the mop and broom, begging to play with them.

We don't watch TV or movies much but he's already figured out where DVDs go... luckily he doesn't know how to open the Blu-ray player yet.

Off-roading

Got hit by an acorn... those squirrels are dangerous.

There was a truck coming down the street with music playing loudly so Caleb had to stop pushing the trike to watch the truck and dance along to the music.

Dancing

He danced a little too hard and fell.

Saturday morning with Dad

Watching Baby Einstein with Dad

Different angle to prove that Allen was actually watching with him and not sleeping. :) 

This week I started doing rehab on the ankle of someone in our ward who was supposed to be out on his mission already but had hurt his ankle badly. I also had an activity days' Halloween party and on Saturday we had a baptism of another child in our Primary class. Allen has been working hard and studying hard for his upcoming actuarial exam. He has also started getting up early to run in the morning before going to work (4:45 am).

Caleb turned ONE!

October 8-14, 2012

One-year old!!! Where has the time gone?!

First birthday stats:

Height: 31.5" (92.6%)        Weight: 22 lb 5 oz   (43%)            Head Circ: 19.25" (97.4%)   

He's still tall and has a big head but is finally gaining in the weight category. 

I'm now 18 weeks along with baby #2 and had thought I'd felt him/her move throughout the previous couple of weeks but wasn't sure. On Monday when Caleb was taking a nap, I lay down to try to sleep and definitely felt the baby move! 

We got get the mail together every day, this was his birthday package from Great Grandma and Grandpa

He likes playing with sticks

Probably watching Tangled, his favorite movie. 

Caleb's birthday was Wednesday so after Dad got home from work we opened presents. 

Here he's playing with the car toy Allen and I got for him.

Dad's special present for Caleb was two packages of fruit snacks. Caleb loved them!

Caleb loves the books that Great Grandma and Grandpa sent, especially sticking his fingers through the holes and seeing them on the other side.

After presents we were going to let him eat/destroy what was left of his cake but he mostly just painted with the frosting on the tile. We got some cute video of it and of him stepping in the cake. Maybe someday I'll put videos up again. PS Crisco-based frosting is hard to mop off the tile... just fyi.

The presents from the grandparents didn't make it until 7 pm on his birthday, which is also after he was asleep so we didn't open those until later. I also don't have pictures of those on here, but he loves them: a car track and a school bus. His favorite part of all of the toys is making them make noise.

He loves to talk on my phone. I put it on speaker phone and then follow him in circles around the house to be able to talk to people. 

I ate a clump of dirt.

At his 12 month check-up, the nurse was asking about potential lead poisoning and if he ate any non-food objects. I jokingly said something about him eating acorns... she didn't think it was funny. 

This is the only picture I got of Caleb playing with his friend Luke. He has been coming over once a week for an hour while his mom teaches harp. They are cute to watch play together!

Playing in the dirt

Playing in the trash

Saturday was our Primary Program practice and the baptism of one of the girls in our class.

Sunday there was a big thunderstorm in the morning so we went on the porch to watch (and get muddy, of course).

Sunday was the Primary Program and our class did so well! Caleb sat with Michelle while Allen and I were on the stand with our class. I only heard him once! I was watching him and he was more well-behaved than usual. He had just woken up from his nap so he was in a good mood. He  was also hungry and ate for the majority of the meeting, which helped him sit still.

Playing after church

Sunday night Allen and I worked on family history after we got Caleb to bed. We made some big breakthroughs on his side of the family, linking up ancestors!

This week Caleb started on whole milk instead of formula, laughed himself to sleep a couple of times in my arms (so cute!) and Mommy/mama is still his only real word that he says consistently.