Hannah Grace and Caleb

I'm 4!

2011-10-15T11:51:00.002-05:00

We started thinking about what we should do for Caleb's 4th birthday... one day, he was looking through a party catalog and saw Cars 2 party stuff... and that was it. We decided to have a low-stress get together at our house, and he had a great time. I never knew he had so many different "cheese" smiles. :) He wasn't too sure about everyone singing "Happy birthday" to him, but he stayed strong. :) I can't believe my baby is getting so big; I am glad to decided to go ahead and be potty trained before he turned 4... it was touch and go there for awhile. He's such a blend of sweet, ornery, smart, active, and silly. How I love this little boy...

Fall at Silver Dollar City

2011-10-15T11:36:00.001-05:00

In case you can't tell by previous posts, we really heart our season passes to SDC. Caleb loves going and will ride pretty much everything he is tall enough for... with the exception of Fire in the Hole. He rode that twice, and I'm pretty sure we've scarred him for life on that one. :)

The Great Summer Rewind

2011-10-15T11:31:00.002-05:00

1st soccer game ever.... he had fun (not playing soccer, but pretending to shoot the other kids and blocking out with his forearms :)

Nana and I took Caleb on a trip to War Eagle Caverns.... at which point we discovered that he freaks out at the thought of going in a cave. So, Nana took Caleb to play in the dirt and rocks while I went on the cave tour. I had a great time! :)

Caleb and Daddy enjoying one of our many trips to the pool

Trying his hand at milking a cow at Lowell Mudtown Days

1st movie at the theatre... of course, we had to see Cars 2! He did pretty good until about halfway through... then he got restless and started throwing popcorn on the people in front of us. Oh, and towards the end I noticed my lap felt wet... his pull-up leaked and he left with a wet bottom and I left with a wet lap. Just part of motherhood, right?!?

We got to take Poppa Ed and Ashley on one of our Silver Dollar City trips. We had a great time... we were blessed with unseasonably cooler weather (meaning, it was 90 instead of 105).

Riding the tractor at Aunt Carla and Uncle Roger's house

My 1st fishing trip!

What a face.... that bowling ball must have been heeeeaaavvvvy. This was Caleb's first time to bowl... he loved it. We have gone back a few times since.

So sad to have to do computer work while on vacation in Branson... the work is never done. :)

Getting up close and personal with some cows at the Washington County Fair (thanks Mr. Brett for taking him close... cuz Mom and Dad sure weren't going to)

T-shirts

2011-07-20T11:00:00.002-05:00

We are doing one last Hearts 4 Hannah shirt order... please see heartsforhannah.blogspot.com for more info.

New Blog

2011-07-02T21:44:00.000-05:00

If any of you checked in on the Caringbridge site during or after my sweet baby's battle with cancer, I have created a new blog to sort of replace the caringbridge journal. The site is heartsforhannah.blogspot.com if you are interested in checking it out. I wish I could adequately express how much all of the prayers, love, and support have meant to our family.

Butterflies

2011-06-30T09:34:00.000-05:00

Hannah Grace always loved seeing butterflies... so every time I see one, I think of her and her child-like amazement and curiosity with nature. She loved ladybugs too. I always see lots of butterflies at Silver Dollar City, so I snapped a quick picture.

I also saw a neat wreath at SDC that used some big metal-looking flowers, so I got on a mission to (try) and make one. I'm not very crafty at all, so this was a big undertaking for me. I realized that Hannah had some colorful flowers hanging in her room (the pink and yellow ones on the bottom left side), so I decided to make it a "Hannah" wreath- hence adding the butterflies. It's nothing great, but it makes me smile every time I see it... and we need all the smiles we can get in this life.

Summer Fun

2011-06-30T09:26:00.000-05:00

Naturals Game

Aquatic Center

New trampoline

Tired boy at Whitewater

A new friend in Branson

Riding the train at Silver Dollar City

Cool kid at Lowell Mudtown Days

He bounced up and down like he was really galloping across the prairie!

After swimming at "Mr. Kebin's", Mr. Kevin's bedroom floor is a good place for a nap, right?

1st ever movie theatre experience- Cars 2!

Storytime at the library

Easter, etc (Wow, I'm so behind)

2011-06-22T19:19:00.000-05:00

A lot to catch up on...

Caleb enjoying trying out his new big-boy bed

Easter morning

Had a very yucky Easter weekend, weather-wise... so we had lots of Easter egg hunts in the house. As you can see from his face, he looooooved it!

He had a great time racing for the cure... this was in April, and he will still tell anyone that he "waced por the cure".

We actually visited E.B. the weekend after Easter (see above note for weather info.)... he had not a stitch of fear- ready to climb right on up there.

MDO program

2011-03-23T15:13:00.000-05:00

Ms. Amy takes Caleb to Mother's Day Out at Fellowship every Monday... good for him to have some interaction with other kiddos, and he absolutely loves going. Here are some pictures from his music program... he actually mouthed a few of the words and did most of the motions. We were just happy that Caleb took the stage, and not t-rex... which is who he usually is these days :)

I just wanna squeeze that serious little face...

Snow days....

2011-02-12T08:39:00.000-06:00

Caleb's face when some snow he threw blew back in his face... priceless

Making his first snow angel...

Caleb decided that Nana needed to be in on the "getting thrown into the snow" act

So, this has obviously been a snowy winter... Caleb loved playing out in the snow. His favorite things to do were throw snow, make "football" (foot) prints, and make snow angels. I'm pretty sure he would've stayed outside until he was a little snowman himself if I would've let him...

Christmas '10

2011-01-01T10:06:00.002-06:00

Enjoying a cookie with MawMaw

Almost immediately after opening cars from Aunt Ashley (or Auntie as they say in New Hampshire :)

My new Kindle from Dad.... yippee!

This is a Hannah Grace face if I've ever seen one...

Silver Dollar City

2011-01-01T09:58:00.002-06:00

We had a fun day at SDC over Christmas break... it was Caleb's first trip. He absolutely loved going on the rides... he rode every single thing that he was big enough to ride. We also got to see Santa... he climbed right up there and told him he wanted cars for Christmas. This is his "cheese" picture with Santa...

Caleb's 3rd birthday

2010-10-23T17:35:00.003-05:00

I just have to say that I can't believe my baby is 3 already... I know every parent feels that way, but it's even more pronounced since I feel like we lost several months of our lives this past year. I'm so thankful for him every single day... trying not to take any of it for granted.

Enjoying a cupcake treat on the evening of his actual bday (the 12th)...

Opening presents from Poppa Ed...he is honestly excited to get clothes- must be like his Daddy.

This cake gave all of us a party in our tummies!

Blowing out a special 3 candle... this was the same candle that Hannah Grace blew out on her third bday.

Having a blast in the play area of Chick fila... he thought it was hilarious when he would let his balloon float up and Kendell or Mr. Jimmy would jump up and get it. It's the little things sometimes...

Happy Birthday, sweet boy!

Random Pics

2010-10-23T17:30:00.002-05:00

Caleb and I enjoying the train ride at the Promenade on nice Saturday....

The Jack Ryan Gillham foundation put on a golf tournament in August. This foundation supports families who have children in ACH. Our sweet friends the McCarvers sponsored a hole in honor of precious Hannah Grace.

vacation

2010-10-23T17:16:00.002-05:00

James and I hit year #10 this summer... so we decided to venture off to Cancun. I think the last time we went anywhere alone together for any length of time was our 1st anniversary... maybe? Caleb had a great time in NLR with Memaw and Pepaw, and we talked to him pretty much every day via Skype.

View from back sliding glass door...

View from one of the many restaurants... I wonder how much it would cost to move to this resort?

Sigh...

2010-10-23T17:07:00.003-05:00

That sigh is me realizing how much catching-up I need to do. Part of the reason I don't post very often (besides lack of time) is that I can't stand to look at this messed up blog. Every since my old background expired, I haven't been able to make it look halfway decent. Maybe Christmas break...

Sweet friends Bonnie and Becky who came out to support Hannah's H.O.P.E.

Poppa Ed and Caleb enjoying some time outside at Aunt Carla's this summer...

This was supposed to be a "cheese" that looked more like a "someone please get me out of here"!

I have a great idea.... I should cover up Smokey with sand!

Oh my...

2010-09-30T22:21:00.002-05:00

Has it really been that long since I posted? I am pretty much a blog failure here lately... and this post is for my friend LW who is tired of seeing my bucket garden :)

Caleb is growing so fast... he will be 3 in less than 2 weeks. Here are some new things from him (among the many new things):
-He says "How bout go outside?" or "How bout we build blocks?"... quite the little negotiator, just like his Sissy was.
-He will sometimes add "or something"... like, lets play puzzles or something
-He has a knack for picking up on songs off the radio...like "California Girls"
-He runs out from the bathroom after his bath to show whoever is around that he has a naked booty.
-He is quite the little politician at church- he says hi and bye to everyone and gives out hugs left and right to people he doesn't even know.
-He says "You're my baaaaaaby"... wonder who tells him that? :)
-He loves to chase our dog Molly around and scare her... poor Molly
-He still loves to read... I will find him in his room with books spread out all around him. He can "read" several books that he's memorized.
-He loves going to "school" (Mother's Day Out)... he only goes on Mondays, but he literally says every day that he wants to go to school.
-He also loves Puggles (his little Wed. night class at church)... if it's not school he wants to go to, it's church. He will tell us what all God made... flowers, birds, trees... and me!

Such a sweet boy.... I will try and catch up eventually with actual pictures.

Bucket Garden

2010-07-06T20:35:00.003-05:00

I'm sure this is not that impressive to many of you who have wonderful gardens... that are actually in the ground :) However, this is HUGE for me... I do not have a green thumb at all. In fact, I'm an expert plant killer. A good friend came and basically kindly did all this for me b/c I wouldn't have known where to start. It's given me something to do... I enjoy going out and watering... checking for progress. Again, pretty big for me. Nana commented that my Mammaw and Pappaw must be smiling down from Heaven- they grew lots of stuff at their house back in the day. If I don't kill these, I might graduate to an actual garden in the ground next year!

If you look closely, you will see a tomato in the top middle of this pic... and a little cherry tomato in the bottom-slightly right of center.

Still dancin...

2010-07-06T20:13:00.002-05:00

Caleb visited with Memaw and Pepaw for a few days last week while Mommy got some work done- including painting the hall (bleh). Pepaw took this little video of Caleb's moves... now he's added the famous "ending move". That's Aunt Susan (SuSu) that gets to have a "dance party" (as he calls it).

Branson

2010-07-06T20:05:00.003-05:00

We went to Branson a few weeks ago... Caleb had a great time at the pool and at this little kiddie ride place (as you can see below). I was surprised by how much he liked the pool- it had a shallow end, so he could walk up and down the ramp doing his weird eye stuff with the rail (I will try and get video of this sometime). He also liked to jump off the side... if you held his hands. He would not just jump off and trust me to catch him... nothing like Sissy. She would jump hoping that I wouldn't be able to get to her.

Just tell me that these faces are not full of pure joy...

Relay for Life

2010-07-06T19:57:00.002-05:00

Catching up... as usual. We went to the luminary lighting ceremony at the Relay for Life in June... this benefits the American Cancer Society. It was another one of those terrible, but good things. I never know if I'm going to be glad I went to things such as this... but in the long run, I usually am. I told Caleb that there were lights for Sissy... and he repeated that lots of times. Thanks again to all of you who donated in Hannah Grace's memory...

Sweet boy in his stroller...

So sad that there has to be a track-full of these....

Caleb's new pool

2010-06-19T21:34:00.002-05:00

We got Caleb a little plastic baby pool for the backyard... as I've said before, he doesn't necessarily always enjoy the water. He spent the first few minutes clinging to my leg....

Then he decided that it could be fun to splash his feet in the water... and his hands, just a bit. Hopefully he will get used to being in his pool and have a good time with it this summer.

Time flies...

2010-05-29T17:18:00.003-05:00

Caleb in his "comfy chair"... and he looks pretty comfy.

Has it really been 2 months since I've posted? I don't even know where to start... but this is a video I took a few weeks ago. We were in the Taco Bell drive through line (I know... I let my kid eat great stuff), and all this sudden Caleb pops out with "I love Taco Bell". I didn't think I heard him right at first, but he repeated it, so I pulled out the ol' Flip cam to catch him. He definitely loves some Taco Bell... and with his little southern voice, the "Bell" has about 4 syllables. He eats an order of rice and a soft taco with no problem at all... and sometimes asks for more.

Some new Caleb things...

*He now says "thank you soooo much"

*Still says things like "Wanna hold you?"... so you say "You want me to hold you?" and he says "Ooookkkk" in this really cute, high voice like it was all your idea.

*He still loves to read- he can "read" several books all by himself. We have this whole routine where we have to lie on his bed and read 2 or 3 books every night... then he says "Momma (or Daddy) lay down with you?"

*He can now climb up on our bed all by himself... and when he's ready to get down, he says "sliiiiide down", gets on his tummy, and slides until his feet reach the ground.

*He knows many shapes... which I didn't realize until he started pointing out circles, triangles, squares, etc. that he finds in his toys, puzzles, etc.

LR zoo

2010-03-26T22:56:00.003-05:00

We made a little trip to the LR zoo today. I would love to say Caleb had a great time... but unfortunately, it didn't go quite the way we had planned. He didn't want to ride in the stroller, so he cried until we let him out. We tried to let him walk, but he kept going way ahead and wouldn't stay with us. He cried the whole time we held his hand. I think he looked at about ohhhhh, 3 animals. He just wanted to run loose! Maybe next year...

One of the 3 times he actually looked...

random stuff

2010-03-09T20:56:00.002-06:00

Just a few random Caleb facts:

*He loves to wash his hands and brush his teeth (but not so much if you are helping him brush)

*He's still a dancing machine

*He is talking up a storm ("Where daddy go?", "turn light on", etc)

*He likes to say something like, "I play with you?", then he says "Ok" like you were the one who suggested it and he is agreeing to go along :)

*He refers to himself quite often in 3rd person, e.g. "Good job, Bubba" to himself

Caleb, you are one of the sweetest, funniest little boys I have ever met. I hope that somewhere in there, you have some memories of your sissy... we are pretty sure she manages to whisper some things in your ear at certain moments :) You wanted to go in her room twice today which is something you never do. I wish I knew what you were thinking... but I do know that I love to kiss and squeeze your sweet face.

balloons for Hannah

2010-02-20T09:17:00.002-06:00

Some sweet teachers at Monitor Elementary organized a balloon release to honor Hannah Grace's memory. All the 5th graders released balloons with little notes attached. These notes had her picture and the link to her caringbridge. It encouraged whoever found one to do something good for someone else. A note was found in Florida (!!!) a few days later, and the sweet woman e-mailed the school. What a special thing...

Caleb and "the haircut"

2010-02-06T08:59:00.002-06:00

This is just a random cute picture I threw in...

So, Ms. Amy took Caleb to our normal place to get his hair cut Tuesday, but things didn't go so well. His hair ended up really short on the sides and back and longer on the top with patches in it. So, after hours of consideration at home that evening, we decided to just let Dad go to work with the clippers ("we" meaning mostly Mom- I was slow to relent). He ended up looking really cute, but I just can't stand how much of a "big boy" he looks like now!

A few new things:

*He is putting lots of words together, such as: "Wanna play?", "Wanna hug?", "Sit down with me", "Molly, hush", etc.

*He now gives hugs sometimes on his own- without us having to beg for them :)

*He can now actually count objects with one-to-one correspondence up to 10

*He's learned more colors, like purple, orange, black, etc.

He is such a good, sweet boy... our big problem with him is that he wants to stand up/jump up and down in the booth when we go out to eat. If that's the biggest problem we have, we'll take it!

My little reader

2010-01-24T20:44:00.002-06:00

As I've said before, Caleb loves to read books. One of his favorites is Goodnight, Gorilla. We have read it probably hundreds of time. I noticed a week or two ago that he can pretty much say all the words. One part has all the animals saying "good night" in little speech bubbles- some of the print is big and some is little... hence, the different "voices" he uses. Of course, the kindergarten teacher in me is beaming with pride, so I had to share!

He's a dancing king...

2010-01-24T20:34:00.002-06:00

Caleb's new favorite dancing tune is the "Itsy Bitsy Spider" that his stuffed spider plays. We really like the "hands on the knees" move- not sure who taught him that one. He literally dances multiple times every day...not kidding.

Caleb gets tickled...

2010-01-03T17:35:00.001-06:00

Caleb loves the episode of "Backyardigans" where they are doing hurdles in a race... it cracks him up everytime!

Caleb's barnyard sounds

2010-01-03T17:28:00.003-06:00

Caleb shows off his animal sounds skillz... and his funny voices.

New things...

2009-12-29T19:56:00.002-06:00

Well, I'm many months behind, but in the spirit of trying, here are some things Mr. Caleb has been doing lately:

*Says "ready to roll" when we are about to go somewhere

*Says "we go bye bye"

*Very consistently says "thank you"... working on "please"

*Experiments with using different voices to say things (high squeak, low voice, etc)

*Loves to give hugs, will consent to letting us kiss his head :)

*Knows many animal sounds, knows body parts, can say numbers 1-10, and knows several colors.

Little man is our special guy!

Christmas '09

2009-12-29T19:48:00.003-06:00

Caleb liked ripping the paper off- but if it had a bow, the bow HAD to come off first. Just another little quirk for our OCD boy...:)

Here's a good "cheese" in front of the train table Santa brought him... he played with it for about an hour Christmas morning. I think Santa hit the mark...

The George Jr. High volleyball team bought him some neat gifts. They got him The Very Hungry Caterpillar, and he immediately wanted to read it. This boy loves him some books.

What a sweet face...

Another video of Hannah

2009-12-01T22:11:00.002-06:00

Here's another video I have- taken in July... her little light sure is shining now.

Video of Hannah

2009-11-08T13:31:00.002-06:00

Here's a little video I took earlier today to show just how far Miss Hannah has come in a week...

Halloween 2009

2009-10-31T20:20:00.003-05:00

We were lucky to get even one good picture... he wasn't feelin sittin on the bench.

2009-10-21T11:33:00.003-05:00

He wasn't overly enthusaiastic about the cake...

Caleb is getting excited to see his Wonderpets "Fly-boat" in this bag... definitely caught his attention!

He pulled out the Five Little Pumpkins book- you can tell this boy likes being read to. He immediately forgot the rest of what was in the bag and brought it to me to read. What a sweet boy...

Here was the make-shift Wonderpets cake... I found some little figurines in the toy aisle and added them to a ready-to-buy cake from Walmart. Those of you who know me well know that it killed me not to have a full-out "themed" birthday party.... but hey, we do the best we can. I think he still had fun, and he had his family with him... that's all that matters in the long run.

Happy big number 2, Bubba!

Friends and Family

2009-09-21T21:07:00.002-05:00

I'm sure many of you have heard about our experiences the last few days at Children's Hospital... I have started a separate page to document that so I can keep this one for light, happy moments. Please visit www.caringbridge.org for updates if you would like... the name of the site is hannahgracecrumby.

Frisco Fair Time

2009-09-12T15:00:00.002-05:00

Well, we didn't get off to such a great start... Caleb was not happy about riding in his stroller. Amazingly, he does this just fine for Ms. Amy, but not for us! :) We need to find out her special secret...

He decided to let me hold him for awhile.... look at that little sweet, serious face.

Sweet smile on the carousel... Hannah loves all kinds of rides.

Nana and Hannah, being their silly selves...

Happy 30th, Momma!

2009-09-12T14:50:00.002-05:00

I had so many special treats for the big 3-0... these flowers were hand-delivered by James and his parents at school on the Friday before my birthday. Ms. Amy and Caleb came to visit me earlier that day, and Caleb brought me some of the red ones that I stuck in with these. My kindergarten friend Alicia blessed me with the "30" crown... along with decorating my classroom.

Thought I would throw in a few sweet pictures of my baby boy... my other sweet angel refused to take a picture with me on my birthday... sigh.

Second day of pre-school

2009-09-12T14:45:00.003-05:00

Well, as you can see I'm running a little behind on the blogging...it's amazing how things change once school starts back!

Miss Hannah started full-time preschool this year... we've been so blessed to have her stay with Ms. Amy all these years, but we thought it was time to put her in a more formal setting so that she would be ready for kindergarten. This was actually the 2nd day... she was not at all going to cooperate for a pic the first morning. It took a few days for her to get into a routine... and Mom discovering that she needed to get up a little earlier!

She likes her teacher, Ms. Tracy... she has made friends and enjoys chapel and music time. I just really can't believe she'll be going to kindergarten with me next year!

Gentry Safari

2009-08-08T15:44:00.003-05:00

We went to the safari today... we went when I was pregnant with Caleb, and this was our 2nd time back. It was interesting, to say the least...

As some of you may know, James is scared of all birds.... and I have a particular aversion to Emu's... so we were both leaning waaaaaay back when our friend (James' nemesis) came to see us. Hannah wasn't much of a fan, either... unless they were far away. Then, she would say "Hi, Mr. Bird". In Hannah-speak, this is called an "oskrich".

Caleb was not at all afraid of the kangaroos... I actually missed seeing this b/c I was sitting on a log with Hannah, who was busy throwing a fit.

Wow... it's amazing how much they look alike...

Hannah was making her "lion face".

Pizza time!

2009-08-08T13:55:00.003-05:00

Hannah and I tried out our pizza-making skills... she likes to help cook, unless it involves getting her hands dirty. :) What can I say... she takes after Daddy. She was proud of her pizza, and it actually tasted good!

Sissy and Bubba

2009-08-08T13:45:00.004-05:00

We actually caught them being sweet... in the "cuddle chair" watching a cartoon

Trying on fun glasses...

Jumpzone Visit

2009-08-08T13:40:00.002-05:00

We took our first trip to Jumpzone in Bentonville a few weeks ago... I had heard great things about it but had never been brave enough to go! :) We went on a Sat. evening so Daddy could go with us, and we had a great time! Mommy will be sure and remember not to put her elbow down as she slides next time... ouch.

Caleb's first trip down the dumptruck slide- he made the worst face, but he immediately wanted to do it again.

Sissy wasn't scared at all- she just got on everything like she owned the place! This is a drastic difference from what would have happened last summer... she's growing up so fast and becoming so brave.

We heart the Jones Center!!!!

2009-07-25T13:23:00.002-05:00

We have spent half our summer at the Jones Center... or at least it feels like it anyway. Hannah went to swim lessons there for 2 weeks (Jennifer Wiggins is AWESOME, btw), and then we went back for her cousins' birthday party. We had a great time... our kiddos absolutely love that water slide. I got brave and took Caleb this time- and I managed to hold him up out of the water every time. We were all ready for a nap afterwards...

Oops...

2009-07-14T13:39:00.002-05:00

This is what Daddy found when he went in to wake up Caleb one morning...

Daddy, the photographer...

2009-07-14T13:13:00.003-05:00

These are some really cute pics that Daddy took in the backyard...

Happy 4th!

2009-07-04T12:30:00.003-05:00

Nana and Hannah enjoying the Springdale Rodeo Parade...

Caleb liked the horses... and he was an excellent waver!

Hannah liked everything about the parade... especially all the candy she got.

Happy 4th of July!

More summer fun...

2009-07-01T18:23:00.006-05:00

It's amazing how they can go from this...

to this!

They had a great time out in the little pool today... Caleb finally realized that it is really just like taking a bath! They had fun pouring and dumping water... Hannah really enjoyed dumping it on her brother. :)

Even Smokey got in on the act....

Nothing like having your own human fountain to entertain you....

Little Mr. Chatterbox...

2009-06-28T20:54:00.002-05:00

Well, he may not exactly be a chatterbox (yet), but he has had a language explosion! Nana took off work last Mon-Wed to keep him while I went to a workshop (sweet Nana), and when I got home Monday she said that it sounded like he had been repeating "Good job" after she said it. Of course, he wouldn't repeat this feat for me. He just kept adding to his repertoire every day... so now, he says the following: bye (byyyyyyiieeee), Nana, Sissy (diidii), thank you (he does this on his own when you give him something), bite, up (no "p" sound, but we know what he means), Memaw, Pepaw... that's all I can think of for now. This is reminding me how the same thing happened with Hannah Grace- we thought she was never going to really start talking, and then one day she just starting rattling things off. And she never looked back....

the "faux-hawk"

2009-06-21T21:26:00.004-05:00

Dad has this obsession with wanting to take my sweet baby boy out in public with a faux-hawk hairdo... of course, I very rarely allow this to happen (did I mention he's my sweet boy?). But, his hair looked all crazy after his nap last Sunday, so I gave in and let Daddy take charge. Here's a little video I took...

Wedding weekend

2009-06-21T21:19:00.003-05:00

We had a busy weekend of wedding fun! Hannah was a flower girl in James' cousin Michael's wedding. Her cousins were also flower girls. She did a great job at the rehearsal (Mom missed it due to the horrific stomach virus we have going around in this house). I was a little worried about her actually making it down the aisle during the "real" wedding. Those of you who are well acquainted with her know that she can be shy and doesn't like everyone looking at her. But, she did a fabulous job! She walked down the aisle just fine... however, she would not return back down the aisle when it was over, but I thought, hey- she did the important one! Then, she had a blast on the dance floor at the reception for (I'm not kidding) a solid 2 hours. Of course, Dad said that she inherited her dancing skills from her Mama... and he did not mean that as a compliment. Hannah and Daddy danced together for a song... he picked her up and held her little arm out, and she looked so happy. Of course, I had to tear up a little- I didn't know motherhood made you so darn sappy! All in all- a great weekend...

Throw up and Blue Crayon....

2009-06-07T21:01:00.002-05:00

So, I woke up Saturday morning to the joyous sight of throw up all over Caleb's crib... and him. That sweet baby didn't even fuss or anything... he even had it in his ear :( He seemed to be on the road to recovery by Sat. afternoon; alas, it happened again during the night (but not as bad). I kept him home from church this morning, and I decided to wash my little seat sacks from school along with his sheet and some other white clothes. I suppose that one of the seat sacks had a little piece of blue crayon still inside... so just picture clothes and seat sacks with blue streaks all over, and a dryer coated blue inside. Nice...

I have no idea...

2009-06-03T21:07:00.001-05:00

So, we were eating dinner the other night... I was talking about a gift that I was debating about... should I do this, or that, or what about this, etc etc (as James and Mom probably wished I would shut up already)... all this sudden, Hannah looks up with this really serious face and says, "I have no idea", shakes her head a little, and goes back to eating. She cracks me up....

Pinkalicious!

2009-06-03T20:45:00.003-05:00

Maybe now that school's out I will have more time to devote to blogging... so in honor of the first day of summer break, here goes...

Hannah has a new favorite book- in this story, a little girl loooooves pink... she sneaks around and eats too many pink cupcakes and is surprised to wake up and find that she has turned pink! So, I decided it would be fun to make "pinkalicious" cupcakes...

I finally convinced her to go do something else instead of watching the oven for 18 minutes...

Enjoying the fruits of our labor (after bathtime)... of course, she wouldn't eat the actual cupcake- only licked the icing!

After this adventure, we went for a family hair-cut-a-thon... will have to post a pic soon of Miss Hannah's precious new haircut... she looks so big!

Jones Center swimming fun

2009-05-08T20:59:00.002-05:00

I just have to say that this made me a nervous wreck- but Dad insisted that Caleb would love going down the slide. Dad would just hold him up out of the water when they got to the pool part. Sure enough, he kept trying to go back over and climb those stairs to go again!

A rare moment when we captured a real "Hannah" facial expression...

I'm sure you get the idea...he loves to grab Sissy's hair when he gets a chance. Of course, she acts like she's dying. We kept telling her he was going to pay her back one day!

School program

2009-05-08T20:53:00.002-05:00

Hannah sang in her mother's day out program at Fellowship. We were so proud of her- she got up there like a big girl and sang her heart out! She also did most of the motions. Luckily, she decided that this wasn't the time for interpretive dancing... not that this has ever happened before (ha). She was very concerned about finding us... she saw Daddy in the audience taking pictures and kept "winking" at him. Her wink consists of scrunching her face up and closing both eyes. Her favorite song was "My God is so big, so strong and so nighty- yes, nighty... not mighty. She's getting so big...

Caleb's dishwasher adventures...

2009-05-08T20:49:00.003-05:00

Caleb loooooves anything to do with the dishwasher.... he likes to take the silverware out, put stuff in the dishwasher, slide the rack out, etc. He can be anywhere in the house and hear the sound of you opening it up, and he comes runnin! If you tell him to close it, he will push the door up until it is almost closed. This is much more fun than playing with any of those silly toys... :)

Night-night prayer

2009-04-23T21:22:00.002-05:00

Tonight as I tucked Hannah in, I asked her if she wanted to pray first or if she wanted me to (I usually get to go first). She wanted to pray first this time- she said "Dear God, thank you for being in my heart". I just thought that was the sweetest thing ever- children are amazing sometimes through their simplicity.

For the Bible tells me so....

2009-04-14T20:36:00.002-05:00

So, I've been reading a wonderful book that my sweet friend Ashley recommended called Don't Make Me Count to 3 (Ginger Plowman). My husband and mom make fun of me for always reading some new parenting book, trying whatever it says for a few days, and then abandoning it. However, I think this one's going to stick! The basic idea of the book is that you have to discipline by reaching (and changing) your child's heart instead of just getting him/her to obey at that moment. Of course, the best way to do this is by using scripture to show the error of their ways and bringing them to repentance... sound familiar? It compares our responsibility to discipline our children with God's holy righteousness- He loves us too much to let us continue unrepentant in our sins. This really hit home with me since Hannah does have a pretty strong will- I can sometimes talk her into doing things, or reason, or beg :), but I know this is not effective in the long run.

So, I've been really talking to her about different scripture (mostly "Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right", "Honor your mother and father", and "Be ye kind one to another"). Tonight at dinner, we were talking about how she would need to take her medicine (just had a bout with strep throat). She informed us that she would take it b/c "You should take your medicine- it says that in the Bible". While that was definitely a funny moment, it let me know that at least she's getting the idea that we do things because we are commanded by God... not because we've been threatened, bribed, etc. Hopefully we can continue this journey with God's help and wisdom!

Easter, part 3

2009-04-12T21:08:00.003-05:00

Yes, that's Nana you see trying to get out of the picture.... Hannah would only cooperate if she could take pictures with Nana. I'm not sure why I look so tired/drugged...

I can't get over how handsome little boys are- I'm sure you can guess that Daddy picked out this Easter outfit... with tie and everything. If we could've gotten our two children in a picture together, you would've seen that her dress coordinated with his shirt/sweater vest. I guess we're going to have to go pay someone to get a good Easter pic of the two of them....

Attempt one at a family picture...

Attempt 2...

so we gave up and just tried Daddy and Caleb.

Easter, part 2

2009-04-12T20:59:00.003-05:00

We had our own Easter egg hunt in our front yard (twice, actually). Hannah Grace decided to do some modeling for Daddy.

Bless his heart- Caleb is just happy to be alive when he is able to be outside. He doesn't want anyone to hold his hand... or actually even stay too close. He is definitely displaying an independent streak!

Hannah did a great job dying eggs- she was a great listener! She decided that the eggs needed to be a "liiiiiittttle darker"- she liked to make them bright colored.

Easter morning- I told her the Easter Bunny brings more now than he did when I was a little girl. He must not know we're in a recession... :)

Easter, part 1

2009-04-12T20:47:00.003-05:00

After a minute or two, Caleb got into the spirit of things at our church's Easter eggstravaganza. He picked up several eggs and put them in his bucket... then he discovered that the eggs had things inside!

We finally had egg-hunting success this year! The last two years, Hannah stood there and cried when the whistle blew and all the kids ran out. She was a little hesitant at first, but Nana and Memaw encouraged her to get started! Here are the fruits (eggs) of her labor...

Hannah tentatively touched a few of the animals... Caleb couldn't wait to get in the pen and touch this piglet! I was afraid he would go for the food dish- he loves to eat our dogs' food, so I thought he might want to sample a different flavor. Thankfully, he was interested in the cute little pigs! Hannah kept saying, "Those look like bed hogs!"... that's what Nana calls her when she spends the night upstairs.

Showing off the rabbit on her cheek...

Caleb absolutely loved this inflatable slide... we went down 3 times in a row. When we finished, we would get back in line and he threw a fit the whole time wanting to get on right then and there... there was just this little thing called a line complicating things! I'm sure it was quite a sight watching me hoist him and myself up the side. I carried him with my right arm while pulling us up by hanging onto the rope with my left arm. After the 3rd time, Mom was huffing and puffing for sure...

Potty-training, anyone?

2009-04-04T21:35:00.003-05:00

I just have to say, I never dreamed I would still be fighting the "accident" battle this often with a 4-year old... anyone have any great words of wisdom?

(Disclaimer: This post comes after she stood in the store and peed in her pants, all over their carpet, without ever saying a word to me about needing to go.)

Spring Break- Family Time

2009-03-28T20:55:00.004-05:00

Mammaw, Dad, Ethan, Ashley, and Claudia (my two were sleeping hard in the car a few feet away)

Hannah and her cousin Ethan riding the cow at the museum...

Strolling along the River Market with Poppa Ed

Hangin out with Poppa Ed at Aunt Carla's house

Hannah LOVED jumping on Aunt Carla's trampoline... the same one that Mom used to jump on when she was a little girl.

Spring Break- LR Zoo and Museum of Discovery

2009-03-28T20:42:00.003-05:00

We visited the museum in LR- Hannah had a great time! They have the neatest stuff there- mostly, she liked to punch the buttons on everything.

Future hygienist?

She loved the "spinning tornado", as she called it... she kept experimenting by blowing on it, waving her hand through it, etc. She is her mother's daughter!

Here we are at the zoo... here's what happens when you pay $10 to rent a wagon for a certain 4 year old... (walking between Poppa Ed and Aunt Carla)

Striking a pose...

We thought this monkey was hilarious!

She told us later that the zebras were her favorite... she also enjoyed the train ride. We will definitely have to go back another time- Caleb was running fever, so he missed this outing.

Our new game...

2009-03-28T20:34:00.003-05:00

Caleb kept wanting to climb in the laundry basket, so I took him for a ride. Of course, Miss Hannah had to join in... wow- they are actually having fun together! :)

Being silly....

sticking our tongues out!

Library/Park Visit

2009-03-28T20:27:00.002-05:00

One of our favorite "nice weather" activities is visiting the Springdale library. Hannah loves to feed the ducks and geese... Daddy tries to be brave around all those big birds!

Little man loves to be outside... just like Sissy.

Super Man!

2009-03-09T20:10:00.003-05:00

Here's our little super man... you can't really tell in this pic, but these jammies emphasize his super "gut"! He acted really silly after Daddy got him ready for bed... he was dancing around... showing off some of his steppin'!

Shortly after this, Hannah was brushing her teeth- she looks in the bathroom mirror and says (quite matter-of-factly), "My hair looks pretty good"... what a character.

Funny sayings...

2009-03-07T20:45:00.002-06:00

So, last night Hannah and I were drawing... she wanted me to draw a sad face. I did, and she looked at the face and said "Well, bless your heart!"... of course, in her sweet Southern drawl it sounded too cute.

Tonight, we went out to eat. I forgot what I said or did, but she told me that "I can always count on you". I just don't know where she comes up with this stuff...

Caleb has started trying to hit us when he gets mad, and he bit my shoulder (hard!) today when I was trying to keep him on my laugh... feels like the fun times are starting!

bath time

2009-03-02T21:23:00.003-06:00

Caleb- You are such a happy little thing...

I tried to capture those little dimples in his hands.... I will be so sad when those disappear! How time flies...

This is what you look like when I take something away that you want!

Here you are playing, "Where's Caleb?".

Bike riding-101

2009-03-02T21:18:00.002-06:00

Daddy, giving some last minute instructions....

That looks like a happy face!

Hannah got a "big-girl" bike for her birthday. She was very excited to try it out....she did pretty good, except for the whole the-brakes-go-on-when-you-push-your-feet-back thing... but she'll get the hang of it!

4th Birthday Fun!

2009-02-28T21:58:00.003-06:00

We celebrated Hannah's birthday with a princess party. Here's a brief run-down.... girls arrived dressed in princess attire, our special helpers helped with make-up and hair, we made jewelry boxes, ate special princess snacks (Mulan's melon salad, Pocahontas' popcorn, Snow White's apples, etc), and played Princess and the Pea. It was a lot of fun... the birthday girl herself just wanted to play in her room. She also did not appreciate everyone singing "Happy Birthday" to her- but I can understand that. That is kind of an awkward moment even for adults! I think she was just overwhelmed by it all.... I told everyone that next year I am just going to tell everyone to show up at Chuck E. Cheese and throw out some plates and pizza! :)

Caleb kept trying to put a tiara on his head, so we finally put one on for him...

Sweet Faces...

2009-02-28T21:55:00.002-06:00

Ice days...

2009-01-31T09:15:00.005-06:00

So, what can we do with no electricity?

We can play Hi-ho-cherry-o (after a trip to "Old McDonalds" for some warm food).

We can play in drawers... (notice the outfit- had the fleece thing on over the footie pajamas to keep him warm)

We can play blocks.... lots of blocks.

You don't realize how much you take for granted until something like this happens... lights, heat, being able to go anywhere you want, TV (for Hannah), etc. I guess we all need a reminder sometimes about how good we have it here!

Ice, ice, baby...

2009-01-29T20:54:00.003-06:00

Hannah had a great time throwing snowballs at Daddy, and playing with "bicycles" (icicles).

Our ice-covered domain...

This is the first time she really got into playing out in the snow... Caleb had a runny nose, so he watched out the window.

Silly faces...

2009-01-29T20:50:00.002-06:00

brownie time

2009-01-29T20:46:00.003-06:00

Hannah and I made brownies one evening last week... she loves to help bake, but she rarely eats the final product- unless we have made cookies. She's not a big "sweets" eater- no cake, brownies, ice cream, etc. She does love any kind of candy, though, so I guess there's still hope for her....

Hannah's new words...

2009-01-26T21:47:00.004-06:00

Now, she likes to throw in the word "occasionally" in conversation... she also told Caleb yesterday that he looked "swell"... where does she come up with this stuff?

As many of you know, she can be a tad "difficult"... like yesterday, when she had not 1, not 2, but 3 accidents, or this morning, when she refused to change out of her princess dress to go to school... but I wouldn't change her. My prayer is that God will give us the wisdom to mold some of her "stronger" qualities into things that will make her a great adult! Even though I wonder sometimes where she really came from, I know that God made her the way she is... plus a little bit of spoiling. To prove that last point, Nana just came in and told me that Hannah wants to watch a movie for "2 minutes"... even though it's 9:52 pm. So, I guess duty calls....

Big Kisses

2009-01-26T21:42:00.003-06:00

Just last week, Caleb started giving me those big, mouth-wide-open kisses on the face... and he makes the noise that I make when I give him a big kiss. I would try to reproduce the sound in writing, but I don't think it would work! :)

Some of his new(er) tricks...

blowing a kiss (again, along with the noise)

When he wants something, he holds his hands up in the air and flexes his fingers back and forth... how can you resist that?

He loves to play "chase".

Randomly Cute Pics...

2009-01-19T20:58:00.003-06:00

Not sure what this face is...

Imagine him making the "pop-pop" sound that you can make when you press your lips together/in and pop them open (if that makes any sense)... another new trick of his, along with (finally) waving and blowing kisses. We clapped when he first blew a kiss, so now he will do it and then clap for himself!

Playing "pat a cake"... not sure why they both look sleepy and/or drugged... we're having a few more moments where she actually plays good with him- he loves it when she does pat a cake, and they play hide and go seek. She hides, and we ask him where Sissy is... he goes and "finds" her, she screams, he laughs, then joins in the screaming...

I look like Momma!

2009-01-19T20:55:00.002-06:00

Well, as you all know, there is no part of Hannah that looks like me normally... so it made my heart happy when she ran and showed Daddy that she looked like Momma after her bath one night...

FEED ME!!!!!

2009-01-19T20:46:00.002-06:00

Caleb, you love anything that has to do with food. The pantry is one of your favorite places to play!

This is what you look like when we're too slow getting the food over to your tray...

and then you waste no time! You love rice just like Daddy.

Momma thought your belly was going to pop...

Daddy's Little Golf Prodigy

2009-01-19T20:40:00.002-06:00

Memaw and Pepaw got Hannah Grace her own set of golf clubs for Christmas... I thought I should capture the first "lesson" for posterity's sake. Of course, Dad couldn't let her just try it... he had to show her the correct golf grip and everything. Notice the attempt at golfing in the princess dress... she quickly decided to shed it once the club got stuck in the material.

I should've recorded what happened after this, but I was too busy laughing and doing the trying-not-to-let-her-see-me-laughing thing. She got frustrated very quickly and decided to slam the club down on the ground repeatedly/throw it. Wonder who she takes after... I'll have to admit, both of us on this one!

Catching Up...

2009-01-19T20:24:00.005-06:00

OK, so I haven't posted in a while.... mostly due to the fact that we have been using a borrowed camera, and we couldn't get the pics off the memory card because we had no software for said camera, etc. etc. James got a new camera recently, so hopefully I'll be back on track... or at least, as much on track as I'll ever be. :)

Christmas

One of his new tricks he learned over Christmas: holding up his hand or a toy to his ear and saying "hewoo"... or something like that

Who knows?????

Hannah and her cousin Claudia at Aunt Carla's...

After licking the beaters when Mom made Hershey Bar pie on Christmas day...

Caleb liked the tissue paper... that's about all he cared about!

Hannah and Caleb got to open presents from Pappaw Ed on Christmas Eve. She loves Disney movies right now, so she was excited to get Sleeping Beauty.

Actually....

2008-12-12T20:58:00.001-06:00

Apparently, Hannah Grace has a new favorite word... last night, I overheard her tell Caleb that "actually, we don't play with this stuff". Then tonight, we went to Chick-fil-a so she could eat and play. She told some other kid, "actually, I am 3 years old". I heard her use that word at least 4 other times while we were there! She had her hands on those hips with a really serious face, too... don't know who she could get that from! :)

Our trip to the square...

2008-12-12T20:52:00.002-06:00

Nana and Bubba- he was not impressed with things by this point...

We had a great time... Hannah continues to love "Christmas"... that's what she calls anything remotely to do with Christmas decorations. As in, "Look, Mom... I see Christmas!" Caleb just wanted me to let him get down and walk everywhere, which was really impossible with all the rough terrain/people, but we let him go part of the time. He's getting to that "wiggly, squirmy, doing everything he can to get down" stage... I can barely hang on to him already!

We drove through our church's living nativity before going out to the square. Hannah just kept asking "Where's baby Jesus?". That's the only part she cared about.

Visit to Santa

2008-12-12T20:48:00.002-06:00

Well, we weren't sure how things were going to go this year... the last two years, Hannah did not appreciate seeing Santa. Of course, she talked a big talk in the days leading up to our visit, but we were still surprised when she actually talked to him and even gave him a hug! Notice the increments in which she moved closer...

Caleb wasn't bothered at all.... I think he liked seeing someone who has a big belly, too!

Pre-school choir performance

2008-12-09T21:28:00.001-06:00

Hannah, belting it out, Crumby-style...

Getting serious with the globe!

A little pre-performance snack... he needed one too even though he was just watching!

Thanksgiving fun...

2008-12-09T21:23:00.002-06:00

Caleb and MawMaw (great-grandmother) play on Thanksgiving...

Caleb made MeMaw so proud... a man who is interested in cleaning!

Hannah made a cute apple-turkey.... Nana's fun idea!

He's a walking man...

2008-12-01T21:23:00.001-06:00

Yes, it's official...Caleb has now figured out that he can walk! Things are really getting exciting around here! Unfortunately, our camera is broken, so it will be a while before I can post any pics/videos... thought I'd go ahead and let you know about his new-found skill!

random...

2008-11-08T22:11:00.002-06:00

We went to the mall to have Caleb's 12 month portraits done.... afterwards, Hannah needed a ride... we put Caleb in there with her, and they had the best time! I actually took a half-decent pic, so I thought I'd better post...

Halloween

2008-11-08T21:59:00.003-06:00

Trick-or-Treating at the Promenade...

My class dressed up like the book Peter Pan for book character day... Amber (my intern) and I were twinkie-Tinker Bells!

We got ready and then headed to Trunk-or-Treat at church. We had a great time with our Peter Pan and Tinker Bell!

(yes, the kids were lucky to inherit my propensity to have "demon" red eyes in almost all pics...)

Pumpkin Patch

2008-11-04T21:26:00.002-06:00

This is the end result of our adventure...

Caleb just wanted to get his hands on a pumpkin!

Yet another GREAT picture of the two of them.... I don't feel so bad- JC Penney's couldn't get a good one either. :)

First Birthday!!!!

2008-10-14T20:53:00.003-05:00

Getting ready for the party... 3 out of the 4 of us are excited to have our picture made :)

Of course, he loved the tissue paper the best... and Sissy made sure he stayed supplied! She was a big helper... handed him his presents and helped him open a few.

Needless to say... the cake was a hit! I finally took it away because I was afraid he would make himself sick... then he licked himself for about 10 minutes after- until I could put him in the tub!

First Haircut

2008-10-14T20:49:00.003-05:00

I finally had to admit that Caleb's hair was way too long over his ears... so he had his first haircut! As you can probably see, he wasn't too thrilled about being forcibly detained... he was much better after Daddy got a book out! He looks like such a big boy now!

Bikes, Blues, and BBQ

2008-09-28T16:45:00.003-05:00

We decided to check out the festivities Friday night... mostly to support Pit 4 a King, which won the taster's choice award (Go Kevin)! If we ever get a good picture of all of us, I will rejoice... :)

fun at the park

2008-09-27T14:36:00.003-05:00

Hannah Grace and Barbie are ready for some fun...

One of the sweetest smiles I've ever seen....

Yes, my children are nosy... wonder who they got that from?

Dad and Caleb- ready for the big slide!

the "crawl"

2008-09-13T18:51:00.002-05:00

i finally got it to work... thanks, ashley!