Caleb and the Snail

This video shows our 'Walker, Memphis Ranger' pulling his toy snail that my cousins gave him. I thought it was hilarious when I saw him doing this and he looked so proud of himself, like "Look what I can do Mommy!"

Caleb's 1 Year Old!

We took Caleb to Huey's to have their World Famous Burgers for his first birthday. I know, sounds pretty cheesy (No pun intended!), but we're having a party for him next week after Thanksgiving so we thought we'd celebrate by eating out on his actual birthday since Caleb loves French fries (all my dietitian friends will read this and cringe!). It was a fun evening and the burgers and fries were great. I can't believe my baby's a year old and I can't believe we made it a year breastfeeding, which was our ultimate goal. I remember thinking when Caleb was born, "Okay, breastfeed while you're in the hospital and then we'll see if we can do it at home." Then it was, "Okay, let's make it 6 weeks." Then it was, "Okay, let's make it 2 months." I had to tell myself that each month while always thinking in the back of my mind that there are only 12 months to make it a year. Numerous times I thought we wouldn't make it and then we'd wind up doing it another day and well, those days turned into 12 months! It wasn't easy, but I am so glad we made it (who knows when Caleb will be finished breastfeeding; at this point I think I'm just going to let him wean himself as he may be somewhat allergic to cow's milk- I'm not saying I plan on nursing him until he's 2, but if we made it this far, we can make it another month or two- plus, with the holidays and our move to Nashville, I don't think now is a good time to try and forcefully wean him). Oh well, this was not intended to be about me, but about Caleb turning a year old!!!!

Over the River and Through the Woods...

We had a great time on a recent visit to Jackson to see Jeremy's mom. Caleb decided to combine his cardio cat-chasing exercises with some weight-lifting, which gave us all a laugh. No doubt Midnight, the cat, was glad to see us go!!

Look Who's Walking Now

Caleb's been taking steps the past couple of weeks and it really seems to have "clicked" somewhat for him these past two days. Here's a couple of short videos I took of his big excursions.

A Christmas Poem

My 11 year old niece Abigail Louise Hinkson wrote this poem. With the holidays just around the corner, I thought it was an excellent reminder of the real reason for the season.


It Was Christmas Eve

It was Christmas Eve,
And all through the nation
Between Christ and Christmas
There was no relation.

Instead were commercials,
And big jolly sleighs,
But no little Nativity
Or Baby Jesus plays.

People were wrapping,
And last-minute shopping
At big expensive stores
Until at last they were dropping.

Jesus was still in the basement,
With the rest of the scene,
While outside the world
Was watching a flat-screen.

No one sang carols
Of Christ Jesus the King,
Instead they were at stores
Using up green.

And after all the stores
Were finally closed
They sang of Rudolph,
The reindeer, red-nosed.

Then they decorated the tree
With tacky plastic things,
Like glittery this, gigantic that,
And beings with ugly huge wings.

Yet, never, not once,
Did they stop to consider,
Was there too little Jesus,
And maybe, too much glitter?

They just ran about
Like mind-controlled zombies
From Target and Sears
To Fitch and Abercrombies.

So don't let Christmas
Commercialism get you down,
Instead think of Baby Jesus
And give Him the crown.

Trick or Treat

Caleb had a great first Halloween. We went to Bellevue's Fall activities and he loved it! They had a petting zoo which he seemed to enjoy and all kinds of rides (none of which we rode, but he just enjoyed the excitement of seeing them). To our amazement, he kept his mask on the whole night. We also ran into several members from our Sunday School Class who have kids and they were all so cute! Unfortunately some of our pictures with them didn't turn out.

Double Trouble

My sister-in-law took these of Caleb (11 1/2 months) and his cousin Radnor (14 1/2 months) in Nashville recently looking at a stray cat hanging outside my parents patio door.