Caleb's ENT Visit

Last Tuesday night, Caleb went to bed with a cough. I gave him some cough medicine with codeine. He woke up at 3:00 AM and was ready to play. Apparently, the codeine had worn off. I put him in bed with me and we both dozed off and on - more off than on - until the alarm went off at 5:45. (Rudy always sleeps on the couch on Tuesday nights. Don't ask. It's a long story.)

Last Wednesday, Rudy showed up to get Caleb from school and he was getting in trouble. Ms. Natalie was in the middle of telling Caleb that he needed to go sit on the carpet, because he wasn't being a good listener. Uh-oh. We had a long talk about listening to teachers and Caleb said he would be a big boy on Thursday. We chalked it up to being tired since he had pretty much been up since 3 AM. Wednesday night, we gave him Benadryl to help his cough and help him sleep. He woke up at 4:30. Rudy put him in bed with us and none of us got any sleep worth a flip until the alarm went off.

Thursday, I picked Caleb up from school and his teacher said that he just hadn't been himself. He was still coughing. Ms. Natalie said that she almost called me to come get him, but decided to see if he could make it until I got there. We came home and met Rudy to eat dinner. After dinner, I took Caleb to convenient care. I've said it before, but there is nothing convenient about convenient care! We were there for 2 hours. I learned from my previous experiences and took a movie to entertain Caleb while we waited. We finally got in to see the doctor and found out that he was wheezing, had an ear infection on the left and had fluid in the right ear. We got prescriptions for an inhaler and an antibiotic.

On Friday, I called the ENT's office and made the first appointment I could get. I took Caleb to the ENT this morning at 9:30. Dr. Lee listened to my plea for replacement of Caleb's tubes and agreed that it was the right thing to do. He also suggested removal of his adenoids. I'm all for whatever is going to keep us from being as sick as we (I do mean "we") were all last year.

Caleb's surgery is scheduled for next Friday - October 10th. We're hoping and praying that it will help like it did last time!

Pepapa's Birthday Party

We went to Hot Springs on Friday for Pepapa's 70th birthday party at Mom and Mr. L's house! We got there Friday night and let Caleb play for a while before trying to put him to bed. We weren't sure how bedtime would go, though. For the first time, we were trying to get him to sleep in a "big bed" with rails on the side, instead of in the pack & play. He has really gotten too big for the P&P and we all decided it was time for another solution. Caleb was having none of that. He cried and asked me to stay with him. He's started telling me that he's scared a lot lately. He knows it gets me every time! Rudy insisted on sleeping with him Friday night.

We spent most of Saturday getting ready for the big party! We slowed down long enough to visit with Jimmy and Kim for a while. At 2:30, we all paused just long enough to watch the beginning of the Hogs' game against Texas. It was a completely nauseating experience. The Hogs are just so bad this year and Texas beat the living daylights out of us. We were glad when the guests started arriving for the party and we could put that behind us and have fun.

The party was a complete success! There were over 50 people there, including Pepapa's family and friends. Everyone had a great time and the food was delicious. Rudy treated us all to the Arkansas fight song and then played Happy Birthday on his trumpet. Pepapa seemed to really enjoy the party and that was the most important part!

After the party, we cleaned up a little and then headed for bed. We were all exhausted! I slept with Caleb in his big bed and for once, we both actually slept. We were both so tired, there was no way we could avoid it!

We headed for home yesterday, loaded down with leftovers from the party and exhausted from all the fun. We stumbled through the evening and put Caleb to bed a little early before falling onto our pillows. The family fun was well worth the exhaustion, but we're sure glad we aren't doing it all again next weekend! :)

Caleb's 1st Gameday Experience

Rudy and I were so excited to share one of our favorite experiences with Caleb and Jan this past weekend. On Saturday, the 4 of us went to the pre-game rally at the Arkansas Alumni House. Because the kickoff was so early, we had a breakfast buffet instead of the usual fare, but it was so fun to show Caleb off in his Razorback regalia! When we first got to the house, we took a few pictures, but the fog was so thick, you couldn't even see the stadium in the background! As we were about to go in to get something to eat, the cheerleaders showed up. Several of them took to Caleb right away and he was super-thrilled to see some real "bee-zuh-backs." We hurried up to get a front row seat for the cheerleaders' performance. Caleb was tentatively in the middle of the action as the cheerleaders called the Hogs and sang the Fight Song. When they came out into the crowd to dance to "Hey, Baby," one of the girls came straight to Caleb. He was completely freaked out by that, but didn't cry. He just put his hands in his mouth like he always does when he's nervous. As soon as I offered for him to come back to me, he nose-dived into my arms. The cheerleader was very sweet about it and we thanked her a lot for taking the time for him. After they left, we had a yummy breakfast and even topped it off with frozen custard. (I don't care if they did change the name, it'll always be Shakey's to me!) Throughout the morning, I bored everyone to tears with my need to take pictures. I just couldn't stand the idea of not getting that perfect shot at such an opportune time! Once we were finished at the Alumni House, we meandered through some of the tailgaters. Jan was amazed by the atmosphere and we all soaked up the grins that came Caleb's way as he checked it all out. We stopped and took MORE pictures and then Jan and Caleb headed back to Rogers while Rudy and I made our way into the stadium. Alabama beat the living daylights out of us (49-14)! We spent the first half of the game in our seats with the sun beating down on us, then Rudy's co-worker and friend, Richard called and invited us up to their luxury box for the remainder of the game. The air-conditioning and hospitality were much appreciated! We stayed in Fayetteville for an early dinner at Jose's and then came back home exhausted.

Now...we prepare to play Texas on Saturday. Ugh.

Those Villines Boys

We found out this week that Todd and Tammy are expecting a baby boy! Won't it be fun for Caleb to have not only his cool cousin Elle who he idolizes, but also another boy to drive trucks and throw footballs with?!? The world just wouldn't be right without another generation of those Villines boys!

Back in Time

I was supposed to be working this afternoon while Caleb was napping. I stumbled upon a website (yearbookyourself.com) that kept my attention much longer than it should have. On this website, you upload a picture and then the site puts your face into old yearbook pictures. While I found some humor in morphing myself back to 1992 (all too realistic), it was much more fun to send Caleb back in time.

Haley (circa 1992)

Caleb (1956)

Caleb (1960)

Caleb (1970)

Caleb 1988 (is it me, or does he look a little like Rudy here?)

Caleb 1990Caleb 1992

Astronomy with a 2-year-old

Scene: Rudy and Caleb are reading a book. On each page of the book, there is a different learning theme (i.e., numbers, colors, shapes, etc). They turn to the "planets" page (which I think is a little far-fetched for a toddler's book, but I digress...) and the hilarity ensues.

Rudy: "That's the sun."
Caleb: "the sun"
Rudy: "That's the earth."
Caleb: "the earth"
Rudy: "That's Uranus."
Caleb: "That's my anus."

I haven't seen Rudy laugh that hard in a very long time.

Caleb Sings

Caleb loves music. He loves to bang on a drum, tap on the piano and play his Daddy's trumpet. He loves to dance, too - but mostly he loves to sing. He's been singing for a long time. Now, though, he sings real songs with real words. Sometimes the lyrics are a little questionable. Sometimes we're not really sure what in the world he's saying. He sings, "kinkle kinkle little star" often. For a long time, he sang "This Old Man" over and over at the top of his little lungs. This summer, he's really gotten into sports. Because of this new love for baseball and football, he started singing "The Baseball Song" (Take Me Out to the Ballgame) and "The Football Game Song" (The Razorback Fight Song). Just last week, he came home from school singing the ABC song. The more we listened, the more we realized just how precious his version was. We were on the phone with my parents one night and Caleb was showing off his new song. He sang his ABC and his "koo-r-s" and then came to the end of the song. Instead of "now I know my ABC's, next time won't you sing with me", Caleb sang "now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep." We all laughed and he knew he had done something great. I've tried for days to get a good video recording of Caleb singing these songs. I wanted to capture them before he grows out of the way he sings them now. This evening, we managed to record him without him knowing it. We got a good recording of ABC's and a pretty good one of the baseball song. By the time we got to the football song, he was distracted and didn't finish the song. I'll try again later. But, for now - here's the latest of Caleb's performances:

Ouch.

Last night, Caleb and I were reading books together. It's truly one of my favorite things to do. I love that he loves books. I sit in the floor in his room and he brings me book after book. We read them and talk about them for long stretches of time. I love it.

We were on book number 7 or 8 last night - a book called "The Way I Feel." It has beautiful pictures and is intended to teach about emotions. Caleb giggled at the silly picture and growled at the angry picture. When we got to the sad picture, he said, "Why he crying?" My automatic therapist's response was, "I don't know. Why do you think he's crying?" That's when my precious child said the words that crushed me, "He sad. He Mama go to work." Oh. My. Gosh. I was stunned to silence for a few moments while I tried to gather myself. My only response was, "Yes, he's sad. His mama is sad to leave him too, but Mamas always come back. Mama will always come back."

Blue Ribbons and Black Stormclouds

Let me first start by saying how grateful we are that our beloved New Orleans was spared the tragedy that it faced during Hurricane Katrina. Now let me say that I'm amazed that yet another massive hurricane is headed for the Gulf. We have family in Harlingen, TX and we're praying for their safety during Hurricane Ike.

Who knew that we'd ever feel the effects of a hurricane? We live in Arkansas...make that Northern Arkansas! But feel it we did - it rained buckets for a few days after Gustav hit the coast. We considered the construction of an ark in our backyard...just in case. The rain stopped just before we thought we were going to drown (or at least get prune-fingers) from it. Now, it's starting again. We're getting the very first outskirts of Ike and we're expected to have some pretty nasty weather as the weekend goes on.

September has been a very busy month for us so far. Rudy and I are facing the challenge of getting acclimated to our daily schedules. We come home tired at night and do our best to keep up with the typical energy level of a 2-year-old. By the time Caleb goes to bed, we're definitely ready for some downtime. I've been reading a lot lately. I've really gotten into the Twilight series. I never thought I'd like a novel series about vampires and werewolves, but this one is seriously good. I've devoured the first 3 books and I'm now starting the 4th and final one. I'm completely hooked!

The Hogs have almost caused us to need blood pressure medication already this season! Two games in and things aren't looking so good for the rest of the year. I certainly hope that I'm pleasantly surprised, but I'm not sure we can handle the SEC if we can barely beat ULM and Western Illinois! Ugh.

We started something new this week. Our neighbors, Davey and Shalini have agreed to a babysitting swap with us! We decided to watch each others' kids one night a month. They'll keep Caleb on the first Thursday night of the month and we'll keep Jakey on the second Thursday. It's just for 2 hours - but it gives us a chance to have a grown-up dinner date once a month. We started this last night. They took Caleb to the county fair and despite a little rain, they had a great time. We expected them home around 8:15. Shalini called at 8:30 and said they were just about to leave! The boys apparently had a wonderful time looking at all of the animals and riding the carousel. Caleb was exhausted by the time I got him in bed. It was well after 9:00. I crashed right after he did. Since Caleb had so much fun last night, Rudy and I decided we'd take him back to the fair tonight. We went right at 5:00, before the crowds got too heavy. The only ride he was big enough for was the carousel. He loved it! He kept saying, "Yee Haw - Ride a horse!" He also loved seeing all of the animals - including tiny little baby monkeys and a huge snake! Of course, we also went to the livestock barn to see the farm animals. That's not exactly my cup of tea, but the boys loved the cows, pigs, sheep and goats. We had "fair food" for dinner - corn dogs, nachos and lemonade for Caleb and I and a fajita wrap and nachos for Rudy. After dinner, we indulged a little more and got a bag of cotton candy. Caleb's first bite brought giggles. He loved it! He kept asking for more and then telling me he was sticky. When we came out of the livestock barn, there were very dark stormclouds in the sky. We decided it was time to head for the house. By the time we got to the car, the first raindrops were starting to fall. It was perfect timing! We got home in time to watch the Wonder Pets and get Caleb to bed almost on time. We're looking forward to a quiet weekend at home. We'll see what tomorrow brings...

A Video About Kim & Melanie

This video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Am3bEGTdRw) is about my aunt Kim and her sister Melanie's story about breast cancer. It's amazing and insipiring. Our family is so proud of the strength that they have both shown. Now, they are on a mission to spread the word about early detection and treatment of breast cancer. Powerful women.

Prayers for NOLA

Three years after Hurricane Katrina devastated a city that Rudy and I love as though it were our own, we ask you to please pray for New Orleans and her people as they prepare for another potential disaster. Our hearts are in The Big Easy tonight.