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!)

Fun in the Morning

Caleb is our early riser and since the time change....well, Daddy could stand for some more sleep!

Waiting on solids

Eli is very interested in watching others eat and seems to be wanting to participate in the dinner table activities. Just the other day he about did a back flip out of the Bumbo chair trying to grab onto the chocolate pie we were having for dessert (or was it the shiny foil that was covering it?).

See that pie there? They think it's out of my reach.

I'll show them!Reach, reach and........PULL!

Has it really been almost a month since I last blogged?

What in the world have we been up to? It is fall in Tennessee, which is by far, in my opinion the south's best season! Cool weather and leaves turning are just heaven- it's what I wait all year for (well, that and Thanksgiving and Christmas!)! Both of my boys are just growing like crazy. Caleb will be turning 3 next month and Eli weighed just over 17 pounds at the MD today! We took him because I was concerned he might have an ear infection due to his biting (me, while nursing- can we say ouch?), pulling on his left ear like crazy and sporadic fussiness. No ear infection, but the MD said he has some major teeth eruptions going on. He was 4 months to the day when I saw his first 2 bottom teeth peeking through and now it seems as if he has a few more on the way- poor guy! He is soooo very interested in eating too, but we are waiting until he is closer to 6 months per advice from his MD to hopefully help prevent the development of any food allergies. And speaking of food allergies, we had some great news at the allergist office last week.... Caleb has apparently outgrown his oat and wheat allergy- YAY! I was waiting a few days to share because I wanted to try him at home with them first before fully believing it to be true. Now that he has been eating oat and wheat the past few days without any apparent worsening of his eczema I can allow myself the joy of believing it. It has made for much happiness around here the past few days. Caleb had his first sandwich (ham with vegannaise) and proceeded to request it for his next 3 meals. He also had his first real pizza (well crust anyway; I made it with just veggies- no cheese as rice cheese just doesn't quite cut it for pizza. But I guess Caleb was just so excited with the taste of the crust that he scraped all the veggies off and ate just the crust!). He also had his first hot dog ON A BUN! He loved it. I know, hot dogs aren't the best thing to feed your kid, but to make sure they are allergy friendly I buy the organic ones (can you believe they have organic hot dogs???) and serve them Carolina style with chili and slaw. And our chili was vegetarian too, so I mean this was practically health food (um, no, but I like to point out the positives!). The boy devoured his hot dog- it was so great to watch! And he has been talking about bread like it is a new friend. Really and truly not having to be wheat free has opened so many doors!!! It was kind of weird at the allergist office as the poor boy had about 30 scratches they did on his back. Which, to report on the bad part of the visit, Caleb tested positive for a number of environmental allergens (cat, dust mites, mold, etc.) and also tested positive to soybean, which had previously been negative. Soymilk has been a staple in our house so when we talked to the allergist about it he said, "Definitely go with experience. If he's eating soy without problems then that's fine." But, the allergist did really stress to us the seriousness of the nut and peanut allergy telling us of a patient of his who was college age who was very intelligent and aware about her peanut allergy but died from eating chili that she was unaware of contained peanut butter (the hidden ingredient). He said she felt her mouth burning from the chili but thought it was just "hot" and so she kept eating it and she died! Scary, scary. Makes me not feel too bad about my carefulness with Caleb and people who take care of him. I pray we don't ever face anything like that. Here are a few pictures to share.Don't you just love this shirt? One from my brother's collection! Love it!

Eli's new favorite toy- the exersaucer! Which we got for $10 at a consignment sale- I love a good deal and I love recycling used toys!

Caleb practicing his scary face.

Baby thug. Coming soon, Christmas baby thug.

Can't we just get some sleep around here?

Cuteness!

A Tale of Two Videos

Kids are soooooo funny! Caleb and Eli have brought so much joy into our lives- it is great how their hilariousness catches us off guard at times and right when we need it to boot. Caleb has just now started actually pronouncing the "L" sound. Anything with the "L" sound would previously sound like "Yu". (By the way, if anyone is a phonics person, sorry I don't know the correct pronunciation symbols- please feel free to leave the correct notations!) For instance, Caleb was prounounced Cayub, Love was Yuv, etc. It is somewhat sad to see that he has outgrown his babytalk, but life is always about change isn't it!

Laughing at Big Brother

Eli has been laughing for a few weeks now. My dad was the first to make him laugh which is no surprise as my day loves babies (he loves toddlers and big kids too, but he is really silly with babies). Anyway, the other day I was on the computer with Eli on the bed beside me and Caleb jumping all around the room (including the bed). All of a sudden I noticed Eli making a noise and upon paying a little closer attention, I realized he was laughing at his big brother as Caleb was falling on the bed. It was one of those moments where your heart goes "click" and you take an emotional picture (Angie Smith talks about this on her blog). So much came into my heart and mind at that moment. I realized just what it means for my boys to be brothers! Isn't it true that no one in the world can quite make you laugh like your siblings? Get my brothers and sister and myself together and there will definitely be laughter (occasionally disagreements, tears, put-downs, and other not so positive communication occurs, but we usually always laugh). My siblings have been making me laugh for most of my life now and I hope I have brought some laughter into their lives as well. Think about the history you share with your siblings. They, more than anyone else, have seen you- the real you. I have heard it said that sibling relationships are the longest relationships a person will have and when you think about how true that is, it really makes you appreciate your siblings and it also makes you desire to have good relationships with them. I am so very blessed in the sibling department. While my brothers and sister and I don't always see eye to eye, there are really few other people in the world I would trust as much as them. It is amazing to me to see that brother-brother relationship already emerging between Caleb and Eli with them still so little, but Eli already has the adoring eyes turned toward Caleb and Caleb has already taken on the somewhat rough big brother routine as well as caretaker with his younger brother. It was so funny to Jeremy and I the other day in the car when Caleb told us to stop talking because baby brother was asleep. I have also heard that people who have good sibling relationships tend to live longer. Sorry I have no source to credit this with, but it would make sense. If you can feel "connected" to something at an early age (a sibling) and that connectedness lasts throughout your lifetime, think how good that is for your general well-being. I pray and hope Caleb and Eli have a bright future to look forward to together as brothers.

First day of Mother's Day Out

This is Caleb right before we left to take him to his first day of Mother's Day Out. He was not unhappy, just somewhat sullen and shy. As usual, we do things in a crazy way. Jeremy had to run out that morning to buy him a mat for nap time as when I had stopped at Target the day before, they were sold out (yes, I know, you shouldn't wait until the last minute to purchase these things, but honestly we had just signed him up for the program a few days ago! I've always been such a procrastinator!). Jeremy said he got the very last mat Wal-mart had and he also bought him a backpack- I had already taken care of the lunchbox. Spiderman was the only cool one they had for boys. What happened to Batman and Superman anyway? Not that I have anything against Spiderman, but that's just all they had.
So here's Caleb when we arrived at the church. He was in a much better mood and seemed excited about "school." We went inside and met his teacher and the program director who were both super nice. He only cried for a minute when we left. My biggest worry with Caleb going to Mother's Day Out is the fact that he might grab something from somebody else's lunch to eat that he is allergic to. So far that has not been a problem. Guess what Caleb carried in his lunch box? Cut up ham (allergen free), a bag of grapes and cup up cucumber, 2 allergen free cookies, a small bag of Lays potato chips and an apple juice box. Wonder how many 2 year olds carry cucumbers in their lunch box? The only thing Caleb said about school was that he had to go out in the hallway. Of course, Jeremy and I are immediately wondering if we have the troublemaker child, but then we also thought that he was a little young to be punished by being "sent to the hall." We found out on his second day of school from his teacher that yes, he had indeed had to go out to the hall, but it was during naptime and not because he was in trouble, but because he was kicking the wall (I guess that's not a punishable offense yet) and would not settle down and go to sleep. And his teacher did accompany him and she said he went right to sleep when he laid down on his mat in the hallway.
Here's Eli loving some tummy time! It's so great to see him becoming such a little person and showing such interest in the world around him! He is getting so very big too. Hard to believe he is almost 3 months! He has shown some patches of eczema, but his pediatrician isn't overly concerned- just encouraged lotioning twice a day and steroid cream as needed.

Trip to NC

My mom, sister, Eli and myself recently attended my cousin Ben's wedding in NC. It was a beautiful wedding and a very fun trip for all of us. We were able to see numerous aunts, uncles and cousins. We didn't take Caleb with us as it would not have made for a fun trip for him (be still baby, no whining Caleb, stop Caleb, don't touch Caleb, etc.), so he spent the night with Granddaddy on Friday night as Jeremy had to work and then spent Saturday with Jeremy. Granddaddy said he and Caleb had a good time- they took a 3 hour nap that afternoon but then Caleb didn't go to bed until 11 that night. I believe he was up at his usual 6 am the next morning! He and Jeremy then went to the zoo on Saturday and church on Sunday. No pictures from their weekend as I had the camera, so here's a look at what momma and Eli were up to.My Aunt Bonnie and Uncle Buzz who hosted us for the weekend

My cousin Anna and her adorable son Asher

Eli after a good night's sleep

Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin Beam

My mom and her sisters and sister-in-law

My cousin Mandie (the maid of honor)

Eli was not shy of attention!

My sister and cousins

What a great girls weekend!

Eli on the way home- we had both been missing Caleb and Daddy too!

This Ain't My Momma!

We like to do laundry and we like to play

For some reason Caleb really enjoys folding washcloths and burp cloths. He starts folding them before I can even sit the basket down. It is so funny, but he actually does a really good job! Wonder what he'll think of laundry in 10 years or so?

Eli is such a sweet baby. He loves to be around people and is usually quite content if he has a human face to look at nearby. Caleb enjoys bringing him toys and stuffed animals and gives him plenty of wet kisses right on the mouth.

Zoo time

We managed a family trip to the zoo and had a great time! The weather was perfect- hot but not too hot. Eli slept most of the time and Caleb's favorite part by far was the Jungle Gym, not the animals! Jeremy had a hard time keeping up with him.

Here we go!Eli enjoying a break at our stop for lunch.

Man to man talk.

Thank goodness for juice boxes!

Crazy fun!

Caleb's cheesey smile!

Do I really have to stop for another picture?

Cousin Radnor wasn't with us, but this guy beside Caleb sure did look like him from behind.

Typical Caleb if you can catch him when he doesn't know you're taking the picture.