15 months old and counting....

On August 2nd, Caleb turned 15 months old! Where does the time go? I know we will be celebrating the holidays and then his next birthday before I know it, but for today I am so blessed to have Caleb for the 15 months we have. If I had to give you one word to describe Caleb right now, that would have to be BUSY! Yes, I have heard boys are busy, but I had no idea just what I was in for :) Caleb loves to go back and forth at the pool we go to from baby pool to big pool (back & forth, back & forth). He loves the water which is great, but has no fear of it either. Caleb will dive head first into the pool (hoping we catch him at some point--which we do ofcourse). At his 15 month appointment, he was 32 1/2 inches long
(90%) and weighed 23 lbs and 15oz (45%) which means he hasn't gained any weight since his 12 month appt. In fact he lost a few ounces. This is totally normal especially with such an active toddler so I've heard. The Dr's. first words when she came into the room to check Caleb were "Is he an active child". At that moment I thought, you have no idea :) So fortunately, she wasn't concerned considering how active he is. Caleb is talking a good bit more and has lots of words including (mama, Dada, ball, night night, pool, berries, moon, pizza, choo choo, hot, juice, please, thank you, ho ho, hop, up, bubbles, pee pee, poo pooh, diaper, shoes, cheese, bye bye, Elmo, Gigi, and hi. It is so much fun every time he repeats or grasps the meaning of a new word! Caleb enjoys getting out and will tell me bye bye when he is ready to go somewhere and do something. He is also telling me most of the time when he has a dirty diaper! Does this mean he will potty train early--one can only hope :) Caleb loves to be chased and will do a sideways step until you catch on to play chase with him. He is not much of a mall shopper so I have begun taking him in his wagon full of toys so I can do some shopping every now and again. So if you see a crazy lady in the mall pulling a wagon please don't make fun...it is me and for just this season of life I had to get creative! I could go on and on about my favorite little person, but for know the laundry is waiting while sweet cheeks sleeps. I love you Caleb with all my heart!

Caleb's First Haircut

I finally broke down last week and decided it was time for Caleb to get his first haircut. I am not sure why that first haircut is such a big deal, but I think it has something to do with his growing up and moving from the baby stage to a little boy/toddler stage. Needless to say after being called a little girl for the umtenth time I thought I better get Caleb's hair cut. He did a great job sitting for his first haircut. I didn't let her take too much hair off, but just a shape up/trim.


$18 later.....(I think Daddy will be cutting Caleb's hair after this--seems a little expensive for a little clip!) But how cute am I now!!!!!!!!!

Chastain Park

Sunday night one of my sweet friends, Suzanne, invited me to join her and a couple of girls for a concert at Chastain Park. I had been to one other concert there, but this time we had a table which totally made the concert. We had all kinds of yummy food and were able to sit and enjoy good music at the same time! It made for such a great evening and I had a couple hours without sweet cheeks pulling at me and saying "up"! Although, I thought I would know more of the music from Counting Crows....I think I recognized just one song. Oh well, it was so much fun regardless....thanks for the invite Suzanne!

Aspen is back!

We were so excited to welcome Aspen back after six long months from being away on summer camp down in FL! When we dropped him off we had no idea it would be six months later picking him back up. He and Caleb have quickly become best buds and it is so cute to watch them play together. If you can believe it, Aspen has grown just in the last six months. We are guessing he weighs in the neighborhood of 140-150. He is a big boy, but as I like to say "Gentle Giant". I told Josh last night that I didn't realize how much I missed Aspen till we got him back. He brings so much joy and love into our little family. I sure do sleep better at night after having him back.

Aspen and Caleb playing a game of tug of war. Notice how hard Caleb is pulling and Aspen is so relaxed...I am guessing he is thinking can't you pull harder than that!

St. Simons

Caleb and I just returned from a really fun trip to the beach with my mom, my Aunt Brenda & Uncle Louie, cousin Daphne and my sister Andrea and her family. We had the best weather and such a wonderful vacation. I grew up going to St. Simons and love to return for visits. It is so quaint and charming. Caleb enjoyed his second visit very much and looks forward to going back!

Caleb loved playing in the ocean and the sand as well. He liked the sand so much that he tried to eat it on multiple occasions!

We went to the pier every night to see what was being caught and to let Caleb's cousins go crabbing. We saw two baby sharps being caught one of the nights we were out on the pier.

My cousin, Daphne, and I prior to eating seafood at The Crab Trap. I grew up going to eat at this restaurant and I cannot go to St. Simons without eating there.

There were ducks in the pond where we stayed and Caleb loved feeding and chasing them everyday. We were also fortunate enough to be there while 2 (yes I said 2) ducks were sitting on the same nest with 17 eggs below waiting to hatch!

Independence Day

We had a great 4th of July weekend up at Lake Rabun with some of our favorite friends! Caleb came along to entertain the crowd and prepare our friends that are expecting for parenthood. We had lots of fun floating in the lake, eating lots of yummy food and what girls do best talking....talking....talking. I decided to ski on Sunday before we can home and enjoyed all 7 minutes of it. I realized I had not used some of the muscles that are required for skiing in a long time and was sore for the following 3 or 4 days! This mommy is getting older than she'd like to admit and it is harder to recover after activities I use to do for longer periods of time and with less pain :)

Six years later......still in love!

Today Josh and I celebrate our sixth anniversary! We just returned from Hilton Head where we celebrated early and were able to get away just the two of us for several days. I had never spent any extended time in HH and just loved my time there. We stayed right on the beach and were able to soak in the sunshine (which was very hot, but perfect). We ate at some delicious restaurants (Salty Dogs, The Oyster Factory and on the bay at Harbour Town). We enjoyed sleeping in late....which I hadn't done in such a long time. It was just wonderful! Today I want to take a minute to list my top 6 reasons why I love my wonderful husband and they include:

1. Josh is one of the most gracious people I know. He extends grace when often undeserved and is quick to forgive. Thank you ,Josh, for extending me grace day after day!

2. Josh loves to play. This is one of the first reasons we really connected. We both love playing games, sports, etc. You are my favorite playmate Josh with Caleb pulling a close second :)

3. Josh loves Jesus! This is so evident by his passion to serve the Lord and others. He is eager to honor the Lord with his life. I have grown so much in my walk with the Lord because of you Josh....thank you!

4. Josh is my knight in shining armor. Not only is Josh still opening my doors, but he is also still as good looking as ever (even with a little less hair)!

5. Josh is a dreamer and keeps my life exciting. I admire and love this about Josh because he keeps me on my toes (and sometimes this may even involve moving out West).

6. Josh loves me. I am confident in Josh's love for me and that feels really good. Thank you for loving me unconditionally Josh!

The list could go on, but for six years you just get six reasons :)

Josh, I love doing life with you! Happy 6th Anniversary!