Change

This week I have started babysitting (nannying, whatever) for a friend of mine's 2 kids-Braeden who is one month older than Caleb and Aubrey who is 3. Plus Caleb of course!! Her babysitter had to quit on them and she was in a bind...she didn't want to stick her kids in daycare...we need more money coming in as we're saving for a down payment on a house...I don't want to work full time and pay someone else to watch Caleb...so win/win! Now, watching 3 kids is a CHALLENGE. Wow. It's like having twins and a 3 year old really...so far this week I've been trying to figure out how to do nap times, feeding times, etc. while making sure I give her 3 year old plenty of attention as well. The first day was pretty good, the 2nd day was HARD, and today was a million percent better. I am definitely dog tired at the end of the day, but am so happy to be helping her out and making some money in the process. They have a great playset with baby swings in the backyard which has been fun, and lots of toys to play with. At first I was feeling guilty about dividing my time between all 3 of them, since Caleb has had my undivided attention since day 1. But I realize that he will be fine and it will help him for in the future when our family grows. I hope that things continue to go smoothly the rest of this week...I will be ready for the weekend, that's for sure!! :)
And speaking of change, Bryan graduates nursing school in about a week!! Sometimes it seems like these 2 years have flown by, other times it's felt like it's gone so slowly. He has a job lined up, yay! The nurses there already think he is wonderful and can do things better than some nurses who've been there for 10 years. All the compliments/praise embarass him, but I know he's secretly proud of himself, and I am, too! (Not so secretly!) I will be happy for him to have this stable job so we can buy a house and get settled...until he's ready to get his master's, of course! ;) Yay Bryan!!! I love you!!

"It sounds more like a hospital..."

Most of you all who read this know how much I love my church. We missed last week because Caleb was sick, so I downloaded the podcast to my iTunes and listened to it last night while Bryan was at the hospital. Jon told the best story about a woman he met at Wal-Mart this week whose (grown) daughter was so excited to introduce her to Jon because she'd been baptized Easter weekend. Anyway, the mom was really wary of Jon and was like "Are you all a cult? I don't want my daughter to be in a cult! You all didn't even have sunrise services on Easter, did you?" (Hillarious.) And then she asked, "What kind of people go to Southland anyway?" and Jon was telling her about all the different kinds of people who come-rich, poor, people struggling with different addictions, special needs people, young, old, homeless, people coming out of the stripping industry, etc etc etc. and the woman looked at Jon when he was done talking and said, "Huh. Sounds more like a hospital than a church" kinda snobby-like. Well, Jon is so great, because he was like, "Ma'am, I don't know if you realize it or not, but that's the highest compliment you could pay the memebers of Southland...because that is what the church is called to be! A hospital to the sick and weary; people struggling with the stuff of life!" And this is one of the reasons I love our church. He talked about how if he ever becomes a pastor like pastors of other churches that are so inward-focused then to flat out fire him. He said, "If Christianity is just about being a nice person, what's the point in that?" He has such a passion for actually getting off the pews and out of the building and making a difference in our town. Love it. Just had to share.

My new favorite picture

This is my new fav picture of my little boy. Sorry for the watermark-haven't scanned them in yet. Heartbreaker!!!

Still sick and a milestone

Well, Bryan and I are all better, but Caleb is still fighting the "BIG D". I talked to a nurse today who said that can last for up to a week after it all starts, it's normal. I feel so bad for him, although he acts 100% normal! She said to just feed him starchy, bland foods and it will work itself out of his system. I was supposed to start watching a friend's kids this week, but that looks like it's going to be held off till next week now!
In other news, Caleb is now doing the CUTEST thing!! He claps! He'll do it if you just say "YAY!!" in a happy voice, and he does it spontaneously as well. I'll have to get a picture of him clapping and put it up soon. That boy melts my heart on a daily basis!! :)

Welcome to motherhood...

YUCK. That has been the word to describe our household since Saturday! At 4:30 a.m. Caleb woke up hungry, and I went to get him, only to discover that he had vomited in his crib-most likely hours earlier based on what it looked like-and it was ALL OVER HIM, the sheet, etc. He was such a good sport, though, just took his bottle and went right back to sleep. On Sat. it started coming out the other end (SORRY, GROSS I KNOW!!!) and WOW, it was bad. The thing was, he acted totally fine-happy as could be! We bought some Pedialyte and I thought it was on it's way out on Sat. night, and we decided to go to church on Sunday, just not put him in the nursery so he wouldn't expose other babies to it. We get to church in the pouring rain, I go to get him out of his car seat and he had vomited all over himself on the drive there (we had to move his carseat so we couldn't see him the little mirror anymore). Needless to say, we turned around and went straight home. Poor thing! He had the "big D" Sun. too, but acted totally happy and fine still. We had life group at Saul Good on Sun. night so my mom watched Caleb and said he was fine. But Monday morning, it had hit both Bryan and I BAD. And I found out later, my mom too--who told me she hasn't been pukey sick for 9 years, when she ate some food she was allergic to in Thailand. Sorry mom!! Bryan had to go to work since he has no sick days left, and so I stayed home and took care of Caleb the best I could. Luckily, he was SOO good about napping. Bryan did come home a little early when he just couldn't take it any more and boy were we a sight to see I'm sure!! It was not fun, esp. when Caleb threw up again after he had some formula before bed. PHEW! But this morning we ALL woke up feeling a lot better, thank goodness! My mom told me, "Welcome to motherhood!" because apparently when the kids get sick, you're pretty likely to get sick as well. Fun times!

Our Easter--Caleb's First!!!!

What a wonderful Easter we had today!!! Caleb got his first Easter basket, complete with a great book on the real meaning of Easter, some toy keys (because he loves Mommy's!), some new onesies, a stuffed bunny, and 2 Cadburry eggs for mommy and daddy! ;) We got ready for church (after poor Bryan only slept for 1 1/2 hours after working from 7-7 the night before!) in our green-themed clothes, and headed out for the service. We got there super early, which was a good thing, because it was a packed house. The service was amazing-music, message, all awesome. The best part was when Jon said, "You know, we do this every week!" Hahaha. He spoke about our response to Christ's rising from the dead...how we need to "die" (be baptized, accept Him) in order to "never die"-have that eternal life He offers us. After church we went to my mom's to eat lunch, had a little photo shoot among the tulips, got another Easter basket, etc. Then we headed BACK to church at 3 for the first ever baptisms in the pond!! There were over 150 people (some are saying 200) who "died so that they may never die"...it was so incredible to be a part of it. Perfect weather. We then went home, where Daddy and Caleb fell asleep in the rocking chair and Mommy uploaded pictures to Facebook. Took a little walk around the neighborhood, came home, and got ready for bed. A wonderful day. "Oh praise the One who paid my debt and raised this life up from the dead..." Amen and Amen!!

9 months old!

I cannot believe my baby boy is 9 months old! (I'll probably be saying this his whole life!) We went for his doctor's appointment today, and he was 21 lbs and was 30.5 inches! That is the 59th percentile for weight and 97th for length! So, he is still long and lean!!! He was so good, even when he had to get his finger pricked to check for anemia (no shots, hooray!!). Then we came home, had a nap, then we were off to check out the Easter bunny! I will share pics as soon as I scan them in. He smiled, grabbed the bunny's fur, and was SOOOO good. And he looked adorable, thanks to Kendra's son's cute outfit we borrowed. Then we went shopping for an Easter dress for Mommy, and found one, as well as earrings and a necklace that match! (All on sale, yay!) Now, we just have to find Daddy something to match us! ;) So, it has been a good day, and he is conked out now!

Spring has sprung!

Here are just a few pics we took today while out and about in the beautiful weather. We went to the horse park to walk around, but found out it costs $15/person to do that, so we found some horses in the parking lot to look at and enjoy!! :) Then we went to the cemetery (sounds strange, but it is beautiful!) to drive around and decided to take some pictures! There were TONS of people there taking Easter pictures, so I think we're going to have to go back once I have an outfit for him. Bryan is working at the hospital from 7pm-7am again this weekend, so it is lonely at night, but I'm having fun with a picture editing device we have on our computer, so that's taking a lot of my time!! Caleb was unfortunately up EVERY TWO HOURS last night--not really upset, just AWAKE. Hungry and wanting to be held. Poor thing...hoping there is not a repeat of that tonight, though!! Enjoy the pictures!

Mustard and Ketchup Fun!!

So, I get these emails every week that have ideas of what to do with your baby. This past week, they suggested "ketchup and mustard art". So, we tried it! I squirted some of each on his high chair tray and BOY did he have fun!!! He smelled like a hot dog afterwards. :) Needless to say, he went STRAIGHT into the bathtub after this. So, if you need something to do on a rainy day, now you have something!