December 31

It's a wild New Year's Eve around here - Chris and I are celebrating with a bottle of sparkling pomegranate juice, to the sound of a baby monitor. Boring as it may be, I think we are all pleased with this sedate celebration.

A few bedtime shots for you:

Caleb fresh out of the bath. Daddy was playing peek-a-boo with him, thus the huge smile.

Do you remember his first bath, with that same towel?

Crazy, isn't it? That was nearly 18 months ago. It amazes me to think how much our world has changed since then.

We even managed to fit in a little New Year's celebration before bedtime. Bubbles in the bathtub and a festive crown - what more does a little boy need? 

Since we're walking down memory lane, do you remember Caleb with the same crown last year?

Now he has even more fun with it! 

It's getting crazy up in here! 

Happy new year!

We wish all of you a blessed 2011!

December 30

We had another busy, fun-filled day today! I'm going to be so sad when Chris goes back to work and life returns to normal.

It was unusually warm today (nearly 60 degrees!), which meant that Caleb's beloved snowman looked like this by 9 a.m.

Yep - a chunk of ice, some rocks, tomatoes, and a carrot. Caleb spent most of the morning looking out the patio window, saying, "Shahshy?" ("Frosty?")

He was really concerned about the fact that his snowman was gone, but he never cried. He just kept going back to look for poor Frosty!

Later, we took advantage of the unseasonably warm weather with a trip to the Zoo, which has a great Christmas light display. We never would have made the 45-minute drive of our own volition, but my dear friend Sara and her family are fancy-schmancy Zoo members, so they suggested the trip. We had so much fun! It's kind of hard to take Christmas light photos, though, so there's not much to see.

Chris and Caleb enjoyed watching feeding time at the penguin house. Also, in case you were wondering, Caleb has decided that penguins say, "Waddle waddle."

Caleb was curious about the penguins!

Sara and her family. Aren't they sweet?

No photos of us, though - it seems like every photo of me lately looks horrifying, so I've decided to stop trying. I've only gained about 13 pounds so far this pregnancy, but somehow it all seems to have gone to my face, so I look like the incredible inflatable woman. Ugh. Now I'm just rambling. I'm going to bed. 



December 29

No post yesterday - nothing particularly interesting happened. Just a lot of hanging out at home!

Today, though, we had lots of fun with two of our favorite people. Chris and Amber met us at the Hill for lunch, then introduced us to the Missouri Baking Company and their Amaretto Macaroons, which will forever haunt me. We may have to make the 45-minute drive again soon, just so that I can buy an obscene amount of those delicious little nuggets. I'm salivating right now, just thinking of them. (But it doesn't take much to make a pregnant woman drool...)

Then we visited the Missouri Botanical Garden, where we braved the drizzle to see their Holiday Train and Flower Show and the Climatron. I was really surprised to see how much Caleb enjoyed the whole thing!

At first, Caleb wanted Chris to hold his hand as he explored. That didn't last long.

He enjoyed the train display. See his little finger pointing at something interesting?

I think he's excited about another train? Not sure, though. It could be a flower that has him so worked up. The kid likes flowers.

He was so happy to look at all of the flowers and trains and little houses! I'm still getting used to him running around and exploring things on his own. I think I enjoy watching him a little bit TOO much, but I love imagining what he's thinking and seeing.

Then we went to the Climatron, where Caleb led the way. When we first entered, he pointed at every leaf he saw (that's right. Every leaf in the simulated tropical rainforest.) and said, "Leaf! Leaf!" He said it to Daddy, he said it to me, he said it to Chris and Amber. Apparently he really wanted to make sure we noticed the leaves. All 9.3 million of them.

Caleb was also enchanted by the running water in the Climatron. Eventually Chris had to step in and remove Caleb from the fountain because he was soaking his sleeves. What a fun day!



December 27

Chris is home from work all week, which makes me a happy, happy woman. (Until he goes back to work. Then? Not so much.) Plus, Caleb was a sleeping machine today. He slept until 8:45 this morning (13 and a half hours!), then took a 3 and a half hour nap this afternoon. I'm really hoping he's either catching up on sleep or growing, not that he's fighting off some sort of sickness.

We had a relaxing day of hanging out at the house and playing with toys and visiting with friends.

Chris assembled Caleb's gift from Aunt Sally - a Sit and Spin! I love the skeptical look on Caleb's face, and the frustrated look on Chris'!

Caleb still can't quite operate it on his own, but he (and Chris) enjoyed some Daddy-assisted spinning.

And yes, our house is an explosion of toys. It's kind of embarrassing - I need to do something about that! Also, we got feedback today from our house showing last week. Sadly, the people didn't want our house, but the realtor who showed it had really great things to say about the house. We'll just have to keep praying that God will send the right person!

December 26

It's been a busy few days! Any 3-day period that warrants 5 blog posts (you read me right - keep scrolling down!) means that a lot of fun things have been going on!

After all of the Christmas festivities, we were excited to have a quiet morning at church and home. Chris was even kind enough to let me take a 2-hour nap. (Seriously, it appears that pregnant-Carrie needs at least 10 hours of sleep to function normally. If I only get 8 hours, it's rough on everyone.)

Chris woke me up at 4:00 to inform me that he was taking Caleb sledding. After much debate, I finally convinced Chris that the little hill in our backyard was much more appropriate for our 17-month-old than the big sledding hill at the park.

Like most things, Caleb was skeptical at first. The whole first run, he had a blank expression on his face.

But by the time Daddy got him to the top of the hill again, he was all smiles!

Both boys had so much fun sledding!

After about 5 runs down the hill, though, Caleb was finished.

He had more pressing matters to attend to, like visiting with his snowman. 

(Do you see his little mittened hand, waving at his snowman?)

Also, did you notice the Cardinals cap on underneath the snowsuit? Again, I'm not sure whether this was Caleb's preference, or Daddy's preference. 

Regardless, both boys are big fans of their matching Cardinals caps!



December 25 - part 2

Whoo, boy! There's a lot of blogging going on 'round here! Sit tight - I still have a few more posts to write!

After Caleb took his nap on Christmas Day, we headed over to Chris' parents' house to celebrate again. By this point, he was short about 3 hours sleep, so I was concerned that he might not be the best company for a group of people who were so excited to see him.

Before we even got around to the present-opening and the meal-eating, Caleb was so worn out from everyone's attentions that he had to take a break on Grandad's shoulder.

What a sweet boy!

After that break, Caleb tore into the mountains of gifts from Chris' family.

Much later in the evening, I noticed that Caleb had wandered off. After a little bit of searching, I found him in this quiet corner with his Cheerios, new remote-control fire engine, and Grandmother's reindeer. I guess he needed a bit of a breather!

Caleb's favorite gift of the night was this Caleb-sized shovel from Grandmother. I can't wait to put this kid to work around the house! Between his new cleaning set and this shovel, he's finally prepared to pull his weight around here!

Caleb ended the night by coloring with Grandad and Grandmother. It warmed my heart to see a tradition like that unfold - the book they were coloring in was a Christmas coloring book that the family has pulled out for the last few years. I hope it lasts for a while, so that in a few years Caleb can look back and see his scribbles from 2010!

December 25 - Part 1

This post is kind of a doozy - I hope you don't mind a lot of pictures!

(Of course you don't mind lots of pictures. If you did, you wouldn't be reading this blog.)

I know. We're huge geeks. But when I found these family jammies at The Children's Place last December for $5 each, I couldn't pass them up. I just wish I'd bought every size they had in the kids ones so that we could do it next year, too.

Also, I know that I don't look very pregnant. But I promise - I'm 23 weeks pregnant, and the belly is really noticeable (when I'm not wearing oversized, striped jammies, that is!).

Caleb was really excited to open his stocking!

My favorite gift was this camera bag from Jo Totes. Sara, I think you may need one too! Except for the scratchy zipper, I'm totally in love with it. (And that's the back side - the front is way cuter!)

We had to take a break from the present-opening to eat breakfast and look out the window at our snowman.

Caleb was really pumped to open his gift from his GREAT Aunt Maggie.

Seriously, this was the only present Caleb was excited to open. He started smiling as soon as he saw what it was!

Zoom! He loves it! Thank you, Maggie!

This was the only present Caleb opened all by himself.

Caleb's absolute favorite gift (out of 3 Christmas celebrations!) was this Caleb-sized cleaning set. It had a broom,

and a mop, along with a duster and a hand broom and dustpan. Caleb loves them, and keeps running around the house saying, "Seep!Seep! Mop! Mop!" It's pretty funny.

He was also excited to get his own Cardinals cap, since Daddy's is still a little big for him.

What a great morning!

We are so thankful for all of the blessings God has bestowed upon us, and are so grateful to be able to have such an abundant celebration. But we are even more thankful for God's gift to us: salvation through Jesus Christ. It's our fervent prayer that, despite all of the gift-giving and chaos that accompanies Christmas, we will be able to teach Caleb about the true importance of this Holy day.

Merry Christmas!

December 24 - Part 2

Since I was a pre-teen, my family has always celebrated Christmas on Christmas Eve. It's become a tradition that I really cherish, because it's always a relaxed, low-key evening. There are gifts, but our focus is more on family and enjoying our time together. I was worried that Caleb's 7:00 bedtime and crummy nap today might make things a little stressful, but he was a champ and held out until we got home around 10:00.

Before I show you pictures, here are a few links to remind you how funny Caleb was at this time last year:

Caleb's 5-month birthday

Caleb in front of the tree

Caleb on Christmas Eve

Caleb's first Christmas

Caleb borrowed his cousin Max's Santa hat and sat in a box. What a funny boy!

Max is 4 and a half months old.

It's crazy to think that Caleb was just a little bigger than Max last year. Max loves watching Caleb run around.

All three cousins - Max (4 and a half months), Caleb (17 and a half months) and Ryan (almost 13!). It's funny to think that next year we'll have an 8-month-old to add to the mix!

Caleb's gift from Grandpa was the first present he opened this Christmas season. I expected him to be more into the paper-ripping, but he was generally only moderately interested.

Eventually he asked Daddy to help him.

Grandpa's gift was Caleb's very own computer mouse! Caleb held onto it most of the evening.

It's kind of a crazy picture, but this is our happy family! Caleb was feeling a little bit wiggly by the time we got around to picture-taking. Also, please note that both Chris and I have hand puppets - Chris has a pig, and mine is a sheep (it's buried under Caleb).

What a fun evening!



December 24 - Part 1

I have so many fun pictures to show you from our Christmas celebrations, that I'll have to split it up into mulitple posts. Hope you don't mind!

We were so excited to wake up Christmas Eve morning to find snow falling!

I would just like to remind you how cute (and how little) Caleb was when he first experienced snow:

This was December 19, 2009. Caleb was 5 months old, and we were thrilled that he could sit up on his own in the snow! But that's all he could do.

Now? It's a whole other story.

First Caleb wanted to explore the snow. 

What is this stuff?

It's fun! (The snowsuit was a $5 garage sale purchase back in May. What a find!)

Chris quickly taught Caleb about throwing snowballs,

and building snowmen.

Caleb was pleased with the snowman. He even started saying, "snowman" and for the next few hours, would run to the patio door to go look at his snowman.

The boys had so much fun in the snow!