Yummy!

We just made these vegan Buckwheat pancakes and they were so good! We served them with bananas and maple syrup and they were just yummy! Next time I think I will add some ground flax seed since we are "no nuts." Jeremy even loved them and he isn't usually to crazy about the off-taste soy milk imparts on baked goods. Seeing that I have about 3#'s of buckwheat flour to use before it expires in March, we'll be making these again soon- several times in fact! I couldn't even take a picture because we didn't have any leftovers!

Potty-training

Caleb has been doing exceptionally well the last day or so of his potty-training. He had ZERO poopy or pee pee accidents yesterday. He is still wearing a pull-up for naps and a diaper at night, but we are thrilled with his daytime success! We have been giving him life-savers for every successful trip to the potty, but that has now changed to just when he poops. Yesterday he must have pooped 4 or 5 times on the potty- a couple of 'big' ones and a couple of 'little' ones. His very last one was somewhat loose, so I just quickly flushed the toilet after wiping him off (Oh the joys of motherhood!). Anyway, after I flushed it he said, "Can you flush that back up? I didn't see it." I couldn't help but bust out laughing. I quickly explained that once it's flushed, it's flushed- THANK GOODNESS! He usually inspects what he has done in the potty after he is finished as I think he is still somewhat surprised by what happens- sort of like, "How'd that get there?" I have to say 3 is turning out to be a fun age!

Isn't he a cutie?

Hard to believe this little guy is 8 months old already! Where does the time go? He has been crawling for about a month now and easily pulls himself to a sitting and/or kneeling position. He is a very content baby and manages to take his brother's pestering in stride without so much as a wimper (most of the time anyway!). He has some of the sweetest baby babbles! He does have a little bit of a temper. On occasion he has cried and arched his head and back as if to say, "Give me what I want and give it to me now!" Most often this is in regards to nursing or just wanting to be held by his mommy. He does not care for riding in his carseat for long periods. He is most content when down on the floor and free to do what we have termed "pooze toozing," meaning crawling about and stopping to investigate whatever may attract one's attention. At this point, his temperament seems to be very much like my brother Seth's. Seth is sooo very laid back but watch out if you make him mad! (For most of his younger years, Seth dealt with the daily pesterings of my oldest brother Josh and the daily naggings of my youngest brother Luke.) Caleb's temperament, on the other hand, has most reminded me of my brother Josh's (his aggressiveness and independent nature) and my brother Luke's (his being very particular). Neither temperament is any better, but in certain situations one is easier to deal with than the other. How wonderfully blessed Jeremy and I are with such great boys!

It's Snowing!

We recently had some snow, so amidst all the school closings and mad grocery runs, we managed a trek out onto our cul-de-sac for some sledding. Caleb was having a wonderful time playing in the snow and sledding until I requested a picture with him after we sledded together. He wanted nothing of the sort! The picture was captured despite his protest, but afterward he threw himself to the side of the rode face down in the snow! Well, that ended the sledding for the day. He was happy to try again the next day although there wasn't enough snow left to be able to sled much.
Oh the anticipation! It was funny trying to convince Caleb of the need for layering one's clothing.

Angel-making anyone? Not enough snow to fall backwards onto the ground without giving yourself a concussion.Didn't really want to be in this picture either.Check out that snow outfit!

We checked, there were no sleds size 6-9 months.Bringing out the big guns! This was Jeremy's family's sled when he was growing up. Worked like a charm!Eli, "I am so over this snow thing."And they're off!The picture that ended it all!

Eating and Christmas- How could you have one without the other?

I forgot to mention on my last post that Eli started solids on Thanksgiving Day- Yay for food! Of course, we held back on offering him the turkey and sweet potatoes, but we did offer him some lovely rice cereal. We gave the first feeding privilege to my dad as he loves, loves feeding babies. I must say, he is quite good at it even though Eli was less than interested. I don't have any pictures from this to post as my brother did the honors and he has yet to send me copies. Here's a video taken a few weeks later. I think more ends up being spit out than actually ingested. And to be truthful, the amount consumed hasn't really improved! This has been a really huge difference between Caleb and Eli. Caleb took to food like crazy and absolutely loved it. He rarely refused food and would eat and eat and eat. Eli, on the other hand, takes just a couple of bites and readily lets you know he is done.

One of the great things about a 3 year old is they are really into events. Caleb loved seeing the decorations go up for Christmas and was more than thrilled to help decorate the Christmas tree. He thought it was a daily job, however, as he could not leave the tree alone! A week or so after it had been up, most of the lower third of the tree was void of ornaments as Caleb was continually moving them so Jeremy had to move them up to the top of the tree. Jeremy and I (and Eli) missed out on my family's Christmas celebration due to a horrible stomach bug. The bug bit Caleb (and several of his school classmates) a couple of days before we got it. Jeremy loves to share the fact that he knew he would get sick because the night Caleb got sick he threw up on Jeremy's face. Anyway, it was not a fun day for us but we were relieved that my mom took charge of Caleb for the day so he could have Christmas with them and open his presents but we sure did hate to miss sharing it with him and everyone else. I think his favorite gift was the oreo cookies my mom put in his stocking! Interesting note, my mom, dad and brother Luke all came down with the bug as well as Jeremy's mom. I felt like we were a germ mine! When Jeremy picked Caleb up the next day (my mom was wonderful enough to let Caleb spend the night with them, which is likely why she got sick) he couldn't wait to help us open our gifts. (I'll remind you I was just recovering from the sickness in these pictures!) He did the same for Pat and Russ when they came over to celebrate with us a couple of days later.

Christmas Day was a nice morning for us. Caleb woke us up early as usual. When he noticed the gifts under the tree he said something like "Who are the presents for?" I'm not against Santa or anything like that, but I have not pushed Caleb into believing anyone other than the person giving him the gift is responsible for giving it to him. We sang Happy Birthday to Jesus and lit a candle to celebrate (Caleb really associates birthdays with candles, so we thought it would be a good way for him to make the connection.) We then opened our gifts and then invited my parents and brother over to eat breakfast with us. Pre gift-openingA football! Jeremy knew just what to get Caleb- this was by far his favorite gift!Eli loved his new gift for his first Christmas so much he fell asleep in it!

Jeremy was quite pleased to eat lunch at my parents later that afternoon before he headed off to work. We had missed the good food from the family celebration due to our sickness (nothing tasted good then) so this more than made up for it!

Thanksgivivg 2009 and introducing Ace Robert

What a wonderful Thanksgiving! Seriously, I know Thanksgiving was technically last year, but can you believe the holidays are over? 2010 seemed to arrive in a rush! Just to recap, we had a wonderful Thanksgiving at my parents with most of the immediate family and many extended family (Brother Seth was in Argentina and Sister-in-law Karina had just given birth to our newest Walters, Ace Robert). We had much to be thankful for and our family share time was filled with gratitude to God for his abundant blessings and love and to each other for our togetherness. I wasn't able to take many pictures due to the great need to talk with cousins, aunts, uncles, etc.

Eli took a generous nap on cousin Emily which was a nice break for me!

The entire family (minus Seth, Karina and Ace), and Eli still napping on Miss Emily

Due to a terrible cough and head cold, I didn't manage to see Ace until the week or so after he was born. Seth had also arrived home and wanted to see him so we took Emily and Eli over to visit Big Brother Rad and his family!

Proud mama!

Isn't he adorable? And a true gift from God! If you can't tell, I love him!

Uncle Seth is quite crazy over him as well!

Caleb is 3!

We celebrated the wonderful gift of Caleb's 3rd birthday in November. Hard to imagine it was just 3 years ago Caleb came into our lives and forever changed them. What a blessing he has been to us- he is truly a gift from God!

Caleb started the party day (actaully the day after his birthday) helping daddy rake leaves in our yard. What a blast!

We grilled hot dogs and had all the fixin's (allergy friendly of course!).
What a special treat that Miss Emily, our cousin from Raleigh got to join in on the festivities along with Uncle Luke and Uncle Josh.

Radnor's favorite part of the meal was yet to come- this boy loves some cake!

Uncle Russ helped daddy get the bonfire going in the backyard for roasting marshmallows.All set for wishes at 3!

Granddaddy and Caleb running his new toy train that Mamaw gave him. Choo Choo!

Grandparents are the best and give the best gifts!Mommy, Miss Emily, Grandmama and Aunt Karina (anxiously awaiting the birth of Ace- in just a little over another week!)