2 year pictures

We got these taken yesterday. I love the way they turned out!

Playset and Lots of Talking

For Caleb's birthday, we went together with Mom and Mr. L. to buy Caleb a backyard playset. We also put all of the money that he got for his birthday into the purchase. The shipment of 2 giant boxes arrived the week after Caleb turned 2. Rudy and I spent over an hour sorting and counting screws, bolts, washers and other assorted hardware to make sure it was all there and easily accessible. Last Sunday, we sorted out all of the lumber and labeled it to make sure we knew what was what and to make sure that all of the parts were accounted for and we could find them. There were 2 boards that needed to be replaced, so Rudy called and got those shipped out to us. We started putting the pieces together bit by bit and by Thursday, we had a slide, a glider and a rockwall/ladder. On Friday night, we hit it hard and started working to get the playset functional by this afternoon. We spent all day yesterday working on it and all morning today. When Caleb went down for his nap at noon, we had the fort built and everything else assembled. It just needed to be pieced together. When he woke up from his nap, he had a fully functional playset, complete with 2 swings, a glider, a slide, a picnic table, a dirtbox (supposed to be a sandbox, but we're not going to put sand in it), a rockwall and a fort! He loves it! He can even climb the ladder by himself. He spent the entire afternoon and evening playing outside today. Grandma Voise came over for dinner tonight and we all enjoyed watching Caleb play.

Caleb has become so independent lately and it's fun to just sit back and watch what he does. We're starting to hear more and more "I do it" and "Sha-Sha's turn." (He's still calling himself Sha-Sha and we have NO IDEA why.) He also likes to tell us "Mama's turn" or "Daddy's turn." My personal favorite is, "Good job, Mama!" I get praised for the strangest things - and sometimes for nothing at all. I could get used to that. :) On Friday, when I picked him up from daycare, I had trouble getting the car to start. Just as I was getting frustrated with it, Caleb piped up from the backseat with, "Uh-oh, car stuck." Then, when it finally started, he said, "There ya' go!" I cracked up laughing as I pulled out of the driveway.

Just when you think a 2-year-old is going to be the death of you...they do something to light up your life.

Tornado

We went to dinner at Rudy's grandmother's house last Saturday night. It was a gorgeous evening. We were sitting outside before dinner, enjoying the cool temperatures and the breeze. All of a sudden, the tornado siren went off. I scooped up Caleb and made a run for the walk-in closet. Everyone else followed us inside and stopped at the TV to see what the fuss was all about. Come to find out there was a tornado in Benton County. It wasn't really close to Grandma's house, but we stayed in the closet to be on the safe side. Rudy was in the bedroom, watching the TV and giving me updates. I got a little anxious when he said the storm was about a mile or two from our house. Once the threat passed, a little hail fell and that was all that we saw of the storm. Unfortunately, not everyone was so lucky. Come to find out, Caleb's daycare was hit by a tornado. It was a pretty small tornado, but did some significant damage to the daycare and the area around it. We got a call on Sunday that Pine Crest would be closed until at least noon on Tuesday. Rudy decided to take off work on Monday to stay with Caleb. They had a great day ~ playing, going to Fayetteville to hear the band in one of Rudy's classes and they even came to have lunch with me. On Tuesday, Caleb stayed with my friend Heidi who lives nearby. She's a stay-at-home mom of one of the kids that I see for therapy. She was so awesome to agree to keep Caleb. I dropped him off at her house at 8:00 on Tuesday. When I picked him up at almost 4:00, they were playing in the driveway and enjoying the beautiful weather. Heidi said that Caleb was super-easy to take care of. I was glad to hear that. I was afraid he would show the true 2-year-old side that we're seeing more and more of.

Caleb went back to daycare on Wednesday. The school still has some damage, but the toddler wind has been determined to be safe. Whew!

I Thought He Was Kidding

Rudy went turkey hunting on the morning of April 27th. It was his only chance to go all year because we've had so much rain and so much other stuff going on. He left earlier than I care to imagine. He goes way out in the middle of the middle of nowhere - no, that's not a typo - it's really that far out there. The last time he went he made a photocopy of his topographical map and highlighted the area where he would be...just in case.

He called me at about 10:30 and said he was on his way home. I automatically assumed he had killed a turkey because why else would be coming home that early? He said that he hadn't killed a turkey but that he had been in the woods long enough. He then began to tell me about sitting in the woods with a gun strong enough to kill a turkey and seeing a BEAR. Yep. A bear.

No, this is not the exact bear that Rudy saw. Just a bear - exactly like the kind of black bear one might find in the mountains of Arkansas.

Back to the story...

So, Rudy is hunting and sees a bear. He then tries to calmly return to his truck without losing sight of the bear. As he is doing so, he hears a huge splash and looks toward the nearby pond, where he sees a BIGGER BEAR. Apparently bear number one was the offspring of bear number two. Now - I'm no hunter, but I know that you don't come between Mama Bear and Baby Bear and get away with it easily.

Rudy was fortunate. He managed to get back to his truck safely and had just enough phone battery to call me to say he was coming home. It took a while for it to settle in that my husband had just seen a real bear that was not in a zoo. Once that sunk in, I was more than a little freaked out, but just glad that he made it home safely.

On a slightly freakier note - just before Rudy called me to say he was coming home, Caleb was playing with some animal toys and looked up at me and said, "Grrrr, Daddy." Spooky!

Caleb's 2nd Birthday

Caleb turned 2 on Friday, May 2nd. We celebrated his birthday with cupcakes in his class at daycare. My supervisor at work was nice enough to let me leave a little early so that I could be there for the fun. The cupcakes were a hit - but I owe a HUGE apology to all of the parents in the classroom. I made the mistake of getting cupcakes with blue and green icing. Oops. The teachers put t-shirts on them to keep them from getting completely covered in icing, but their hands and faces were stained blue! (The green ones weren't as bad.) I felt awful! Even after soap and water washing, those kids were little Smurfs! The worst part was the next day when I changed Caleb's BM diaper! It was neon green!!! I honestly had to call Mom in the room to witness it. Gross!

After the cupcake party, Caleb and I came home and relaxed for a little while. Mom got here about 4:15 and we visited for a little bit before going to get dinner. Spaghetti is one of Caleb's favorite foods, so we went to the Olive Garden for dinner. Rudy was playing at a concert in Fayetteville, so he didn't get home until after Caleb was asleep.

On Saturday, we woke up in party mode. Mom and I grabbed lunch at McAlister's, got my haircut, and picked up balloons, cake and ice cream. We made it back in time to get Caleb ready for his party and head for the neighborhood clubhouse. We tied the balloons on the fence, put out the cake and plates and waited for our guests to arrive. We had a great turnout for the party. Here's who came: Mom, Jan, Grandma Voise, Michael (Jan's friend) and a co-worker, Donald, Stacy, Aurick and Alivia Schmidt, Leslie, Jackson and Grace Lyons (and Les' friend, Ginny), and our neighbors Shalini, Davey and Jacob. It was a fun party and Caleb got lots of fun presents. He didn't cry once - which I was happy about!

Saturday night we were exhausted. Rudy went out and got a pizza and we stayed in to play with Caleb's new toys.

My Baby's Not a Baby Anymore

It's just impossible for me to wrap my mind around the fact that Caleb was born 2 years ago tomorrow. I have thought all day today about how miserable I was 2 years ago today! But - I finished my last grad school class exactly 2 years ago today and what a relief that was!


We went out for our 3rd annual May 1st BBQ dinner tonight. I know it's a strange tradition, but I like it.


I'm leaving work a little early tomorrow to join Caleb and his class for their afternoon snack. I'm taking cupcakes for his birthday. Mom is leaving work at noon so she'll be here shortly after we come home. Rudy has a concert tomorrow night, so he won't be home until late.


Saturday is the big party! We're just having friends and family meet at the neighborhood park for cake and ice cream, but I think it will be so much fun! Caleb loves to play on the playground and I know he'll love all of the attention. The weather is supposed to be beautiful, so hopefully we won't get rained out.