Photos of the Day

Baby Caleb is getting a bit chunkier and a bit more handsome every day.

Why the long faces?

I may have mentioned before that my lovely pets are no longer the jolly animals they used to be. Since the arrival of baby Caleb my three darling furry friends no longer feel they are put first in our lives. Now I assure you that I provide countless hours of snuggles and words of praise for my kitties and puppies. Don't let the long faces fool you. Maybe they are sad that I have found a new subject to photograph.
So here's to trying to make amends. Paxton the dog, Pinto the cat, and Jean the cat – I STILL LOVE YOU ALL!!!

Photo of the Day

QUESTION:
How does one manage to fall asleep on their changing table with their arms floating in the air, yet when set gently in their crib after being rocked for 15 minutes they scream bloody murder? Just wondering...

Photo of the Day

I call this photo "The Biggest Boy."

Rain, Rain, Go Away

…But not really.

Sometimes a rainy day is a great excuse to just sit around the house and be lazy. Hubby and I had big plans to go out to Raleigh Wide Open today and try out for Wheel of Fortune. We knew it was going to be extremely crowded and pretty obnoxious to navigate with a baby, but we really want to be contestants on the gameshow. As we peeked out the window this morning and the skies spelled gloom, we were almost relieved. Inclement weather most likely cancelled tryouts, and no way were we going to bring a baby out in the rain.
So we ate a yummy classic breakfast of eggs, bacon and toast while in bed, went to a noon wine tasting at Wine Authorities, and sat around the house the rest of the afternoon, cracking open some delicious beers once it hit five o’clock (you should have seen me pacing the floors staring at the clock waiting for 5 to come).
It was the perfect day to cuddle and enjoy family.

Paxton the dog not enjoying the rainy weather

The selection offered by Wine Authorities for today's free wine tasting. The Malbec Rose was my favorite. Hubby enjoyed the Altosur Sauv. Blanc.

Hubby rocking baby Caleb in front of the enomatic,
where they serve wine on tap!!

Back at home, hubby and baby Caleb snuggling on this cool, wet day

Our beer selection for the evening, both Bell's products.
We couldn't choose between the Double Cream Stout and the Java Stout, so we got both.

Comes in waves

This past weekend I went to the baby shower of a friend from middle school and high school. She is 33 weeks pregnant and absolutely glowing. The funny thing about baby showers is that you will always find other new mothers and other pregnant women in attendance. It caught my attention that both the guest of honor and my best friend Bridget are both currently pregnant. I had to take their photo together to compare preggo bellies.

I then realized that momentous life events such as pregnancy and marriage have the tendency to come in waves. All of us high school friends got married within two years of each other and we all had babies within two years of each other. We devotedly attended bridal shower after bachelorette party after baby shower to help one another celebrate.

At the baby shower this weekend, all of us either had kids or were pregnant.

And at Bridget's son's 1st birthday last April, more than half of us were pregnant.

Even our hometown photographer (John Payne) thinks it is coincidental that we do everything together. It was his idea to do a bridal photo shoot of all of us a few years ago.

I wonder which trend will come next. Our children's high school graduations? Our renewals of wedding vows? Our retirement parties? Eventually even our funerals? Whatever comes next, I know we all have much to be thankful for.

A catchy tune

You know how it is sometimes impossible to get a song out of your head? It can be the worst of songs, like Toby Keith's "I Wanna Talk About Me," or it can be a beautiful little tune – only if you're lucky, which usually isn't the case. Sometimes it's a song that you invent.
Well this morning when baby Caleb took a massive poo that squirted out the sides of his precious size-1 diaper, the poo seeped onto the really cute outfit he was wearing.
I caught myself creating a little melody to go along with the poo-filled event. In order to calm down his little baby whimpers I sang to him the following tune:
"If we make a stinky then we change our clothes,
and that's the rule of the outfit."
I just repeated that over and over and over and over....
Baby Caleb absolutely loved my little song, and I loved that he wasn't crying. Unfortunately the song stayed in my head all day long.
I was a little sad that I had to remove his darling poo-stained outfit. But in its place I found another treasure – a Disney Dalmation outfit from his Aunt Brenda. He is so adorable in it I decided he had to model it for the blog.

P.S. - Am I the only one who wants to eat his chunky little thighs??

Candy coated apples

I forgot to mention the most important part of the NC State Fair – the candy apples. I always hunt for the best deal. Usually I get 3 for $5, but this year we found 2 for $3 so I purchased 4 delicious, sticky, candy-coated apples. Quadruple YUM!!!! As you can see from the photo, one has already been devoured (on the car ride home from the fair). A second was eaten directly after taking this photo.

The perfect Tuesday

For hubby's day off work, he, Caleb and I spent the afternoon in Raleigh at the North Carolina State Fair. Somehow we've been able to make the trip every year since we've been married, though I truly doubted we'd get to go this year. But on a warm, sunny, Autumn day such as today, we found it impossible not to venture that direction. And since we have baby Caleb and were unable to ride any rides, we managed to spend less than $50!!! (That's a bargain in State Fair money).

After a leisurely stroll across the grounds, we immediately began to think about greasy fair food.

I was craving fried pickles and hubby a corn dog. The fried pickles were probably one of the saltiest things I've ever eaten.

Caleb enjoyed a bottle.

With our contented little man propped on his daddy's shoulder, we watched a BMX exhibition.

Overall it was a very pleasant trip to the fair. If you ever get the chance to visit the fairgrounds during the day on a weekday, I'd highly recommend it. There are far fewer crowds and less people I want to punch in the face for crowding my personal space.

Big smile

This, if you haven't already noticed, is what I live for now. Making little Caleb smile is the best part of my days – well, besides when my hubby comes home from work. And of course eating Jelly Belly jelly beans isn't so bad either.

Man of the house

Baby Caleb taking over his daddy's spot in bed.
(Don't worry...hubby is standing right beside the bed to
catch him in the event that Caleb topples).

Photos of the Day

This is the jolly face of my darling son who slept HORRIBLY last night and then proceeded to projectile vomit all over me this morning after his first substantial feeding in hours. P.S. I do not recommend Gripe Water for curing the hiccups. Just let the baby hiccup.

The voice of God

As you know baby Caleb received a good number of books for his library during the summer baby shower thrown in his honor. I have had the pleasure of reading to him since the day we brought him home from the hospital, thanks in large part to these generous, thoughtful gifts from loved ones. I absolutely love reading to baby Caleb; we probably read about 2 books a day, mostly during feedings, while burping, or sometimes when he is wide awake (which isn't too often). We read stories about brown bears and about puppies who wear sweaters. We read stories about sloths in the rainforest and about tigers who like to be tickled. Many times, I simply read to Caleb aloud from Barbara Kingsolver's Prodigal Summer – the book I'm currently reading.
Through our storytime moments over the past six weeks I've become talented in the art of voices. I can imitate most of the characters in Caleb's books and I can do a mean barn animal impression. But there is one voice I have yet to master.
As we read through Caleb's library, we also read from the Jesus Storybook Bible daily. Now I can perform an amazing Daniel or Moses, but how can I be expected to do the voice of God?! Sometimes I do it loud and booming and sometimes I do it quiet and kind. But no matter what, I feel ill-equipped to imitate God's voice. How does one do it justice??

Born to Rock

Born to rock, or born to be rocked?