GROWING TOO FAST!!

I hope you all had a great Christmas. We celebrated ours w/ Jason's family this year in Knoxville. We were excited that Kaleb would enjoy opening his gifts this year, but he did not seem to care. Instead he tried to pull every ornament there was off the tree. He also enjoyed chasing the chihauhaus around saying bow wow, bow wow.

This past week he has just exploded with new development. He started calling the dogs bow wow's and he started saying "uh oh" when he fell or dropped something. He started giving kisses on the cheeks when asked (which is the most awesome thing ever!!) He started being efficient and safe going down the stairs feet first on his stomach. Now he just flies down them like he's on a sled. He also started signing please, which i'm not sure where he learned, but picked up awfully fast when we taught it to him...i guess he figured out it helps get him what he wants...He is just so much fun! It was awesome to spend so much time with him over christmas break, but really hard to go to work today (even just for 4 hours)...We went to the park today b/c it was pretty nice outside finally!!

Thanksgiving

We had my side of the family join us for dinner at our house for the first time. I cooked my first turkey and was pretty impressed actually. I got a good recipe out of a magazine and had a friend that went to culinary school tell me some good tips. We had a great spread and enjoyed it thoroughly. I feel like I didn't get to spend much time w/ family b/c i was either cooking/cleaning or chasing Kaleb around. But it was still nice to have everyone together, especially since Christie and Brett will be going to Africa soon (march 09').

FUN AROUND THE HOUSE

What is Kaleb really doing in his dump truck??? Kaleb loves to stand in his dump truck. He loves to get in anything actually, whether it is the clothes basket, mixing bowls, his wagon or truck. He actually has a diaper on in this picture, but it sure doesnt look like it.

Earth to Jason, Earth to Jason...

Nylah and Kaleb gearing up for the football game...Go Titans! This is actually Kaleb's favorite toy. It blows balls up in the air.

Kaleb got this HUGE blow up soccer field for his birthday (thanks aunt amanda!). Nylah and him are enjoying themselves in their P.J.'s. Kaleb loves to roll around in his balls. I try to teach him colors at the same time. (always trying to teach him something). He now says hi, bye, mama, dada, bot-el, and ba (ball)

KALEB IS ONE!! PARTY TIME!!

Kaleb had a blast at his party. Thank you to everyone that came to help celebrate his big day! It was a whirlwind to me. I feel like I was running around the whole time, only getting to talk to everyone for 1-2 min. And somehow, I wasn't even paying attention to Kaleb. Therefore, we did not get may pictures. Above, Kaleb and the other kids playing w/ his new toys. I found this silly hat that was a birthday cake. He didnt mind it for a while.

He just dug right in to his cake b/c he had already had practice in San Antonio the week before.

I was going to make Kaleb's cake, but ended up making cupcakes instead. I got this icing w/ splenda in it b/c i thought it would be better for Kaleb and after I tried a cupcake I thought it was absolutely disgusting. So sorry if you had a splenda cupcake and didnt enjoy it. I will never buy that icing again.

Uncle Brett and Aunt Christie came up for dinner on Kaleb's actual birthday, Nov. 3rd, and brought him some cool marachas. They were jamming to the music here.

TRIP TO GATLINBURG

So we rented a beautiful cabin with a couple couples of friends a couple of weekends ago... On Sunday we went hiking and it had snowed...it was gorgeous!

Kaleb loved to hike although we couldnt go too far b/c he had the sniffles and we didnt want him to get too sick...unfortunately that night he came down w/ a 102 fever...oops...i still think he thinks it was worth it...

Here is our group...Andrew and Ulla, Mary and Dan, and the Bruns... We had such a great and relaxing time, we decided that we MUST do this again soon!

Playin around

Kaleb got a wagon for his birthday and loves to go for rides in it. Here he is with his aunt dog amigo the chicuacua

He loves toilet paper...although he doesnt take it all off the roll like all other kids. He will take some off and the rip it up into little pieces and then try to eat it!...???

Ever have a Zebra eat out of your hand or an Emu in your car??

My Dad and Jason got a little cabin fever in San Antonio so went to this game park there. This Emu was apparently VERY hungry and I think Jason was scared for his face and I am glad I was not there in the front seat for that.

I could not believe the animals got so close, so I'm glad they had this video to prove it.

SAN ANTONIO/ ABILENE CONT.

ACU's homecoming was a blur...we got there on friday at 4pm and left on saturday on 8pm. We went to the football game and met up w/ Kaleb's great Aunt Debbie and Uncle Pat. We enjoyed visiting with them during the game. ACU's football team has never been that great, but this year they are 8-0!! GO ACU!!

Prop, Props Props...the way to keep a one year old busy at a football game. He enjoyed hitting the man in front of him w/ his shaker paw.

We went to the pumkin patch while we were in San Antonio. Kaleb wanted this pumkin, but Jason couldn't pick it up.. (J/K). We did go home and carve a pumkin but Kaleb was not interested and just roamed around my Grandmothers yard. The weather was in the mid to upper 70's so it was great!

ROADTRIP TO SAN ANTONIO

Kaleb got to meet his great grandmother this past week. We drove to San Antonio by way of Abilene (for my 10 year college reunion). Kaleb did so well in the car and did not get antsy until the last hour of the trip each way...What a blessing to have such a cooperative kid ( I know we havent hit the toddler stage yet, but he has been an incredible baby)

Kaleb got to meet his 3rd cousin Gage who is three. Gage LOVES football and kept telling Kaleb to tackle him, and by the end of the night he was doing it on his own. I just hope that doesn't carry over to daycare!

Here is our four generation picture above

We also celebrated Kaleb's birthday a week early so that GiGi, grandad and great grandmommy could enjoy in the fun too! Kaleb was very surprisingly gentle with his cake at first...then after Jason pushed his head into it once, he did it himself. He eventually got down to the cake and seemed to thoroughly enjoy it.

PLAY DATES

So, Kaleb and I have enjoyed some recent play dates. Abby and him enjoyed (kind of) dressing up in Kaleb's halloween outfits. He still doesnt like the big giraffe head and Abby the monkey was trying to help him out!

Kaleb had a blast following Casey around the house trying to do what big boys do...Casey is about 7 months older than Kaleb...and alot tanner too...check out how pasty Kaleb is in comparison.

BUT I DONT WANT TO BE A GIRAFFE!!

So I found an adorable halloween costume at our church consignment sale...We tried it on and he did not seem to like it too much. It is for a 2 year old, but it was so cute i had to get it...apparently your neck muscles are alot stronger when you're two b/c K-man did not appreciate the cool, but heavy giraffe head. I also got a monkey costume, but it is way too big, so he can wear it next year. Kaleb does however enjoy dragging these costumes around the house like a stuffed animal/blanket.

Teething

Kaleb has been a little behind in getting his teeth. Now he has 3 coming in at once. Here he is double fisting his teeting rings and drooling like a champ! But he takes it all in stride.

Unrelated: The other day Kaleb went and picked up Jason's dirty socks that he had worn all day that were by the door. He runs over to where I was sitting on the floor and sticks them in my face laughing hysterically. He is definately Jason's kid. Jason does that to me all the time saying "see how hard i've worked today", but I dont recall him doing it since Kaleb's been around.

Now I know that Kaleb is not cognitivly developed enough to know what he was really doing, but we thought it was halarious, due to the history of Jason and his dirty socks.

DINNER TIME!

Lately, Kaleb has been getting very excited about dinner time. He loves to eat now that he can feed himself with his fingers (although in the video we are feeding him w/ a spoon). I think its making us more conscience of what we eat, noting that we need to eat more vegetables. I think his favorite is chicken, especially in enchiladas!

Thanks for the comments! It motivates me to write more b/c I know people are actually looking. Of course I look at your blogs all the time and never comment, so I really dont expect anyone to do any different, but its good to hear from ya'll that I dont see too often!

Our son, the orangutan

Ever since we started giving Kaleb real bananas to eat, he's been running around the house swinging his arms in the air...hmmm...

Kaleb's new pad

I went to a consignment sale the other day and found this cool house for Kaleb. The only problem was that its huge and I dont know where to put it. So as of now, its in the smack dab middle of our living room.
He has not figured out which is the window and which is the door yet though...But he has had so much fun w/ it so far.

Nylah's First Birthday

Nylah got balls for her birthday and all the kids looooved them!
Kaleb's a party animal!!This was suppose to be the first picture on the post, but I can't figure out how to do all this pictures... Oh well, Nylah enjoyed her cake...a little too much...
She got a bath after this one...

South Carolina Aquarium

Kaleb's favorite exhibit was the shark toilet bowl!
Kaleb met his first bald eagle...
Kaleb loves to rock climb like his parents!!
Kaleb actually really walked for the first time here at the Aquarium. There was a turf floor in this section and Kaleb did not like to crawl on it because it hurt his knees, so he just got up and walked...he took 7 steps...He had taken 3-4 before this, but here is where the magic happened. He started trying to walk everywhere after this. Now (in Sept.) he's walking everywhere...running at times, although he usually ends up on his face eating the carpet.

Chawston cont.

We went and saw this very old tree, over 400 years old...it had the longest limbs that were supported by posts.
We had to take the horse drawn carriage tour of the city. Unfortunatly our tour guides favorite saying was "Isn't that cool!" which he said after every statement he made...kind of annoying, even in that slow Chawston accent.
Isnt the frog suppose to turn into the prince??? Jason turned into a frog temporarily for this picture.

Charleston Vacation cont.

Here's our family beach pictures and some "photojournalistic" pictures...we had to take all of our beach walks at dusk...which was beautiful of course...

CHARLESTON VACATION- Day 1

He's definately ours...the first thing he did was head for the water...
So, it was suppose to rain our whole vacation b/c a recent hurricane, but it was a beautiful first day, so we rushed to the beach to get at least one day of sun...
Kaleb loved the sand and played in it for hours...look at the determined look on his face...he loved his shovel...
Well, finally he passed out and just had sand everywhere. So while he slept in my arms I took a wet wipe and wiped the sand from around his eyes. I should have taken the below picture as a hint b/c little did I know that the wipes stripped the sunscreen off his face and he got burnt around his left eye.

After we noticed we went in immediately but it was too late... He actually blistered and we felt sooo bad for him, although he looked worse than he felt. So, even though it did not rain even one day while we were there, we were forced inside b/c of Kaleb damaged sensitive skin...We felt like child abusers as we walked around town w/ our red and blistered little boy.

So, to all you parents that have not been to the beach yet...wash your child in the ocean and then reapply sunscreen!!!!