Around the time that Caleb turned 15-months, he started having some really bad separation anxiety issues. We tried all kinds of things to help him understand separation and how it is just part of life, but nothing seemed to be helping. Stephen and I talked about it and decided that enrolling him in a Mother's Day Out program might actually help, so after checking into a couple of different programs we picked one. On Thursday, September 4th, Caleb attended his first day of Mother's Day Out! His first day went well and he had a great time, he cried very little and actually took a nap for them, I was extremely impressed and very hopeful! He had a couple of very rough Thursdays after that, and I was beginning to wonder if it was all going to work. The workers decided that part of his frustration was the room he was in (toddlers -- he was bored), so they moved him to the 2-year old room and that's all it took... he loves it and is doing great! This past Thursday, he was actually asking me if he could go play with his friends and see Miss Kim, Ms. Patricia, and Ms. Lisa (his teachers); I am so excited!
Stephen's cousin, David, got married on September 20th! It was a beautiful wedding and we all had alot of fun. Stephen and Josh were both ushers and I was in the house party, so we all stayed pretty busy; keeping up with Caleb was the interesting part!
On, September 30, 2008, my baby boy turned two years old! We celebrated his second birthday in style with a "Construction" themed party! It was a very small party, with my brother and his girlfriend, Jenna, and a few close family friends in attendance. Caleb had a ton of fun, and we thoroughly enjoyed watching him "officially" turn two at 9:17 p.m.!
- He has a precious smile and cute little giggle that just melt my heart!
- He gives the absolute best hugs and kisses!
Caleb sitting at his birthday table!
Caleb's cookie cake
Isabella and Caleb
Stephen, Caleb, and I
Caleb with his Uncle Josh and Jenna
OCTOBER
Caleb's two year check-up with Dr. Meyer was on October 2nd. He weighed 29.5 lbs. and was 36 inches tall...my how things have change in just two years! He got two shots and the flu mist; he did really well getting his shots (I was alittle nervous because he has gotten so much bigger in size since his last shots and Stephen was out of town, so it was just me and the nurse to hold him down if he got unruly)!
The first weekend in October, we made a trip to my parents! We went for several different reasons, but the main one was to attend the 60th Wedding Anniversary Party for my Great Aunt and Great Uncle on Saturday, October 4th. We traveled up on Thursday evening, so that Caleb would take a nap in the car (Haha...no such luck with that one), and so we could get a good nights sleep and go to Canton on Friday morning. When we arrived, Caleb had a bit of a surprise waiting for him, since mom and dad were unable to attend Caleb's "official" birthday party, they decided to have a party of their own for Caleb. It was so cute! He walked in the door only to find presents and cake, and best of all mamaw, papaw, and gigi...he was so excited!
Caleb with his presents from Mamaw and Papaw, and Gigi!
Caleb with his John Deere tricycle from Mamaw and Papaw!
One the 3rd, we made our way to Canton and we were ready to shop! The morning started out great, but about 30 minutes into our shopping adventure Stephen and I received a phone call that made the rest of the day really quite sad... Stephen's grandmother had passed away earlier that morning. We walked around aimlessly for a good while and then we headed back to mom and dad's so that we could decide what we needed to do. After talking with his family, Stephen decided that we would stay to attend the 60th Wedding Anniversary Party and then he would head home for the visitation on Sunday and mom would come with me so that she could stay with Caleb during the funeral on Monday.
Me with my mom, my great aunts, great uncle, and grandma at the 60th Wedding Anniversary Party!
On October 28th, we made our annual trip to the "Habitat for Humanity Pumpkin Patch." This year Uncle Josh and Jenna went with us; after we purchased our pumpkins we went back to the house to carve jack-o-lanterns. Uncle Josh carved a "Lightning McQueen" pumpkin for Caleb...it was very cute!
Caleb's first trip to the pumpkin patch in 2006! My how things have changed...in this picture he weighed less than our pumpkin and was barely bigger than the pumpkin in size!
And this year...Caleb picking out his "little" pumpkin!
Caleb sitting with the "pumpkin cross!" I thought this was a really neat picture, Jenna took one at an angle that is even better, but I don't have a copy of it...yet :-)
He liked sitting ON the pumpkins, this boy is hysterical!
Caleb, Uncle Josh, and Jenna showing off their finished product..."Lightning McQueen!"
This pumpkin is all aglow!
October 30th, Caleb had a fall festival/halloween party with his mother's day out friends. He had lots of fun! They had everything set up with games and snacks, it was really neat and Stephen and I enjoyed watching Caleb play and assisting him with the games.
Instead of thowing the balls, Caleb decided that putting them directly into the holes made more sense!
What a stinker! I can just see the mischief about to erupt!
Caleb was only a month old for his first halloween in 2006, he was a little "bull" and I wore my "John Deere Country Girl" shirt. It wasn't a planned thing, but when we saw the pictures later on, I decided that a family theme for halloween was a fun idea.
Caleb's first halloween in 2006!
Last year Curious George was at the top of Caleb's favorite cartoon characters and I had the idea to dress Caleb as a monkey (Curious George) and Stephen would be his friendly companion "The Man in Yellow."
Caleb as "Curious George" in 2007!
The whole thing turned out great, so I continued with the theme idea again this year. Stephen told me he didn't think that it was possible to top the Curious George theme from last year...so I took that as a challenge! As I was searching through ideas, I came across a parrot costume for a toddler; I thought about Caleb and all of his new found abilities to talk non-stop and repeat everything that we say...a parrot was perfect for our little munchkin! I was so excited because Stephen and I could be the pirate shoulders that he would sit on! So, this halloween we were "Two Pirates and a Parrot."
A "jibber-jabbering" parrot in 2008!
We got all dressed up and took Caleb trick or treating, and to the fall festival at Hillcrest Baptist Church. Central Baptist had their fall festival the weekend before, but all of us were sick with a nasty cold, so we didn't attend that one.
Caleb trick-or-treating at Jenna's apartment!
Uncle Josh was dressed-up as a cowboy and Jenna was Miss Universe! Josh scared Caleb with his outfit, he had to take off his hat and mustache before Caleb would have anything to do with him, it was pretty funny!
Caleb and I at the fall festival!
NOVEMBER
November was a fairly calm month...thank goodness! We had a couple of exciting events, but we were mostly just around the house doing our normal activities. Our big project for the month was to build some cabinets in the garage. They are great and have helped get some of the clutter up and off the floor of the garage.
Caleb has discovered the ladder...
Hanging out in the garage!
My handymen!
We attended the Ducks Unlimited Banquet with the Texas A&M University Chapter on November 6th. This was Caleb's first time to attend the banquet, and he won his very first raffle while we were there! The best part was that since his Uncle Josh was one of the DU officers he got to give Caleb his prize...we thought that was very cool!
Caleb and Stephen at the DU Banquet!
Caleb getting his raffle prize from Uncle Josh...yes, it's a Mallard Rocking Duck!
Here he is riding his "Rocking Duck!" He gets this thing really rocking and I'm pretty sure one day it's going to fly off!!!
Uncle Josh and Caleb talking some "philosophy!" They are so cute together...it is going to be really hard when Uncle Josh has moved after graduation!
I attended Advent at our church on November 11th, it was beautiful and really got me in the Christmas spirit! I gradually began decorating the house for Christmas, the weekend after Advent.
Caleb helping decorate our Christmas Tree in the kitchen!
I hosted my first "Holiday Wishes Showcase" a holiday open house for my Mary Kay business November 21-22. It was productive and I had alot of fun getting everything ready!
Getting ready for my showcase
We went to my parents for Thanksgiving and had a really good time! It was nice to be able to rest and relax!
Caleb, ready to eat some turkey! He was so ready we caught him chewing on his football (he was really chewing on the ball, but in our defense he was cutting his two-year molars)!
Stephen and I got up at 2:30 a.m. on the Friday after Thanksgiving and went on our first ever "Black Friday" shopping adventure. We were completely exhausted by the time that we got back to mom and dad's, but we had so much fun and were completely in awe at all the people out shopping! I think that I can safely say that we will be making this an annual event...we had so much fun together!
While Stephen and I were shopping, Caleb slept-in and then had pancakes with Mamaw, Papaw, and Uncle Josh. This was the picture that we got while we were out and about...it seems that Caleb stuffed himself real well and then wanted to brag about it ~ Mamaw and Papaw thought that was a great idea!
So that gets me almost caught up with our posts...I've begun work on December and January and hopefully I will have that one up before January is over!!!
