Advent

In an effort to make Christmas more meaningful this year and to try to start a family tradition that my kids will remember from their childhoods, I made an advent calendar. I got the basic idea from an old Martha Stewart magazine and adapted it to meet what I wanted it to be. I went to the dollar store in Hot Springs and bought 13 pairs of Christmas socks and enough little trinkets to fill each one. This weekend, I hung a ribbon on one of our walls and clothespinned the socks to the ribbon. Each clothespin has a date on it. Every day, we will take down that sock to see what trinket is inside. Also inside the sock is a piece of paper with an activity for us to do together, a special person to pray for and a simplified to preschool level Bible verse.

After church today, we took down the first sock. (Today is the first Sunday of Advent, even though it's not December yet.) Here's how it went:

Sock contained a chocolate covered marshmallow snowman.
Caleb's Response: "I don't like marshmallows!!!!" (He ended up eating it hours later and loved it.)
Planned Activity: wrap presents.
Unspoken purpose of activity: celebrate God's gift to us and giving gifts to others.
Result: After much whining about not being able to open presents, we explained that the presents stay under the tree until Christmas, when all the socks are gone. This placated him temporarily. He still really wants those baby trucks we got for his 9 month old cousin, though.
Other Result: Caleb and Rudy "sword fighting" and making funny voices with empty wrapping paper tubes while I wrapped presents.

Tonight at bedtime, we did pray for Memmie and Poppie, like the paper said we would. We also talked about what the Bible is (a book to teach us about God) and the simplified version of a lengthy verse in Isaiah. (We will be happy.)
Caleb's answer: "Not sad or angry?"
My answer: "No, God wants us to be happy."
Caleb's answer: "But you and Daddy always angry." (Just for clarification - in Caleb's world "always"means it has happened before, just like "last night" is anytime that is not right now.)
My answer: "Daddy and I get angry when you make bad choices, but we like to be happy when you make good choices. God likes it too."
Caleb's answer: "Okay, can we read a book about that real Santa?"

On that note, we're sticking with our original plan to not pretend that Santa is real. It's not easy, I tell you. Everywhere you look, there is something with Santa and everywhere we go, someone asks Caleb what Santa is bringing him for Christmas. I've struggled with how to handle it, but I'm sticking to my guns. Today, Caleb asked me, "Mama, will you call Santa and tell him I want one of those for Christmas?" Once again, I explained that Santa is pretend just like the other characters on TV and that his Christmas presents come from Mama and Daddy and the other people who love him. I'm not pushing it and I'm not preaching it, but when the questions come up, that's how I answer them. I know it's confusing to him to get mixed messages from us and the rest of the world, but I'd rather him be confused now rather than later when he's older and figures out that we've been lying to him all along.

So, tomorrow is the 2nd day of Advent. I wonder how long it'll take him to get the hang of the tradition...and will it be one that we continue? I hope so.

Terrible Threes

For the past 3 years, 6 months, 3 weeks and 3 days, I have thanked God for the gift that is Caleb. I have thanked Him for the opportunity to be a part of the life of such an amazing little boy. I have thanked Him for giving me the wisdom to either know what to do or figure out what to do in every situation that has come up. I have thanked Him for Caleb's humor, curiosity, gentleness, lovingness and general good nature. Every day has not been easy. This blog is full of stories - mostly good and some bad - of what our life has been like since Caleb arrived. (We sometimes like to say it was when Hurricane Caleb made landfall.) But there has never been a day that I wasn't thankful for him and I still am today, despite all of this:

I can honestly say that we are in the middle of one of our toughest phases of parenting to date. Everyone talks about the terrible twos, but I have decided that three is a much harder age than two...INFINITELY HARDER. Caleb's typically even nature has turned into a roller coaster that takes us from sweet/loving/joyous one moment to mean/whiny/cranky the next. We never know what we're going to get from one situation to the next and we never know how he's going to respond to anything. Something that delighted him yesterday may send him into a tantrum today. He may be outgoing at one turn and downright spiteful within minutes.

Rudy and I both are experiencing this change in behavior, but I seem to get the brunt of it. He has even gone so far as to go out of his way to purposefully step on my foot as he walked through a room. We're not sure if this has to do with the baby coming soon, a change in his routine at school (he's beginning a transition to a new classroom again), a growth spurt or just generally being three - or maybe a combination of all of the above. He has started to YELL at us when he doesn't want to do what we ask, ignore us blatantly and turn his back on us when we correct him. Fortunately, he isn't hitting us, but he's not far from it. He whines ridiculously when things don't go his way and whining is one of my greatest pet peeves in children. We have tried to continue using the 1-2-3 Magic discipline strategy that has worked for us in the past, but the timeouts just lead to more frustration. We have used our last resort of spanking a few times, but only when absolutely necessary to get his attention. There are times when I feel so deflated by it all that all I can do is cry. (I know...hormones.) Rudy and I both are frustrated and sometimes just look at each other like we're not sure who this little creature is who has taken over our child's body and brain. I think we've done a pretty good job of balancing each other - stepping in when we know the other person has had just about enough or being able to say to each other, "I need you to handle this because I'm at my wit's end."

Last Saturday, Caleb and Rudy were playing outside for a few minutes and Caleb fell. He hit his head on the concrete patio. His behavior was so bizarre all weekend that I actually questioned how hard he hit his head. This fear was only compounded by him waking during the night, crying uncontrollably and not being able to tell me what was wrong. Fortunately, some Tylenol and a snuggle cured whatever was causing the crying. I actually slept with him that night to make sure I could check on him periodically and be there if he woke up again, though. He woke up the next morning feeling fine and his behavior evened out somewhat for most of Sunday, so I'm no longer worried about his fall.

It comforts me to know that my friends agree with me. I posted a status about my frustration on Facebook and was immediately inundated with "amen" and "us too" and "I agree" comments. It doesn't make it any easier, though. The only thing that makes it easier is those moments in between tantrums when our normal Caleb is around, giving hugs and laughing and being silly. I revel in the times when he wants to snuggle or play instead of argue or whine. I know that what does not kill us will only make us stronger...and we're going to need the strength to get through age three again with Nola.

Sleep Talking, Cookies, a Sunday Hike and Christmas Lights

Last Friday (11/20), I was excited to have a night out with some friends from work. We went to see the latest Twilight movie, New Moon, and then went out afterward for dinner. Caleb and Rudy had a boys' night at home, which I hear was uneventful. I got home late with my cheeks hurting from laughing so much. I decided to sleep with Caleb so that Rudy wouldn't have to tiptoe around the next morning while getting ready to go hunting.

When I went into Caleb's room, I first thought he had woken up. I soon realized that he was sound asleep, but talking out loud. I have no idea what he said, but he was definitely talking. I chuckled quietly as I crawled in bed with him and went to sleep. Sometime during the night, I woke up to find him clapping in his sleep. Whatever he was dreaming about must have been applause-worthy. I giggled again and went back to sleep. As usual, he was wide awake before the sun came up. I convinced him to stay in the bed until the "sun woke up," which he did, but as soon as he could see light outside, he was rip-roaring ready to go! We had a quiet morning at home, watching TV, doing laundry and playing. I, admittedly, dozed a couple of times on the couch while he was playing or watching TV, but never for long. He won't have that! As soon as he sees my eyes close, he yells, "Wake up, Mama!" In the meantime, he talked incessantly and managed to LITERALLY dump every single toy in his playroom into a heap in the middle of the floor.

When Rudy got home from his (thankfully uneventful) trip to the mountains, I managed to get a shower. He played with Caleb while I got dressed and then Caleb and I went to the grocery store to give him a few minutes to recharge his batteries that had been running since before 4:00 AM. While we were at the store, I decided that Caleb and I needed to actually DO something together. We had been together all day, but hadn't really done anything meaningful. We bought stuff to make cookies and he was so excited. He told everyone we saw that we were going to make them.

When we got home, I started a pot of veggie soup while Rudy supervised the Great Playroom Cleanup of 2009. Once that was done, Caleb and I took to the task of preparing the cookies. He stood on his stepladder and helped me crack the eggs and stir the dough, then put it on the cookie sheets. He smiled the whole time. The most amazing moment was when he leaned over on my shoulder and said, "Mama, you my best helper." I grinned at him and told him he was my best helper too. We put the cookies in the oven and then watched them bake.

While they were baking, he asked me what I estimate to be about the 7412th question of the day. When I told him "I don't know" he shrugged and said he would just ask his other mom. I quickly informed him that he didn't have another mom. His response: "Yes I do, Sweetie." While trying to suppress laughter at the fact that he called me Sweetie, I asked him who his other mom was. His response: "Daddy."

After dinner, when the cookies were all baked and cooled, we made an attempt at icing them and putting on sprinkles. Caleb helped me squeeze the icing on, put on a few sprinkles and then lost interest. He really just wanted to eat them. I couldn't blame him, so I gave him the biggest cookie in the batch and finished icing the rest myself.

After church on Sunday, Caleb and Rudy went for a hike at Tanyard Creek in Bella Vista. Rudy tells me that they had a good time. They love to hike together. I look forward to next fall when we can all go together. We'll strap Nola in the carrier and go out to enjoy God's nature as a family. However, this fall, I'm in my 3rd trimester of pregnancy and TIRED. I waved as they left and truthfully contemplated the idea of going out to cut back the mums and clean up the flowerbed. That contemplation quickly turned to a more realistic nap. I slept most of the time that the boys were gone and got up when they got home.

Sunday evening, we went to Fayetteville to make an attempt at getting a Christmas card picture at the Lights of the Ozarks in the square.

Caleb's willingness to take pictures lately has been somewhat limited. Sunday was no exception. A very nice family offered to take our picture if we would take theirs. Their 11 month old son was so cooperative and could even be convinced to look at the camera with a couple of whistles and giggles. Our 3 1/2 year old son was a whole different story. We got a series of pictures of Caleb looking off to the side, making faces and holding his hands in front of his face. After some serious bribery involving a pony ride, we did manage ONE decent shot out of about 20. I cropped it to make it work for our Christmas card. I'd have to say it was nothing short of our version of the Griswolds' trying to take a Christmas picture. By the time we were finished at the square, we were worn out and hungry. We treated ourselves to dinner at the Catfish Hole and it was delicious despite the fact that Caleb was behaving like he had never been in a restaurant before. More on that in another post.

On the other hand, Caleb fell asleep in the car on the way to Fayetteville and when I woke him up to tell him to look out the window, his expression was priceless. He said, "Oh! It's Christmas lights! They are beautiful!" I reminded myself several times that that was the real reason we went. I tried to look past the whining and the lack of cooperation and remember that short moment when he was mesmerized by the millions of little lights in the trees and on the buildings. That's what it was supposed to be about and in the end, it was. That's what he'll remember and that's what I hope to remember too.

Deer Camp 2009

Last year was Caleb's first time to go to deer camp. He loved it. He has talked about it all year. Anytime we try to call my parents and they don't answer, he thinks they must be at deer camp. He was so excited about going back this year. All through October, he would ask, "Is it Halloween yet?" because he knew that deer camp came after Halloween. With the fun that he had last year, we decided to extend the tradition and make a go of spending the whole weekend as a family at deer camp this year. Mom and Mr.L. have a really nice travel camper that we stay in when we go down there. It is somewhat spacious and there's room for everyone to sleep. There's a bathroom and a kitchenette in the camper. In addition, there's a shower and a full kitchen in the "big camp," which is actually a trailer that the rest of the guys stay in at camp. They have built on to the trailer so much that there is basically an outdoor kitchen as well. Of course, they have also rigged up the camp with DirecTV, so that you never miss a minute of football and they've installed a cell phone booster so no calls are missed. There are 4-wheelers to ride, stars to gaze at and (for Caleb) lots and lots of dirt to be played in. The campfire burns continuously and there's always someone to talk to sitting around the fire.

The friends that we have at deer camp are more of an extended family. Mr. L. has known them all for many years and everyone is always so welcoming to our family. Rudy has been so grateful for their welcome and for being invited to hunt with them - even if it does mean taking lots of good-natured ribbing about anything and everything imaginable. You're always guaranteed a good laugh at deer camp and you're pretty much guaranteed way too much really good food.

I was admittedly nervous about this year's trip. I reached 28 weeks of pregnancy on the day that we got to camp (11/13). It took us almost 4 1/2 hours to get there, leaving after working all day. Sleeping has not been easy for me for some time now. I toss and turn and take my body pillow with me each time. I was nervous about being able to sleep in the camper on a bottom bunk bed, hearing the sounds of 4 other people and not being able to easily get up and use the restroom during the night without waking up everyone else. I almost backed out. I almost sent Rudy and Caleb without me. I went through several scenarios in my mind from staying home to going to Hot Springs and just driving over during the day. I finally told myself to suck it up because it meant a lot to my family and I wanted to be part of the fun and the family tradition.

When we got to camp, it was pretty late. Caleb was beside himself with excitement. He sat in his little kid's camp chair and couldn't even say anything. He just beamed and grinned and literally shook with excitement. That was worth the long drive in itself. We finally got him calmed down and ready for bed and Mom and I took him to go to bed in the camper. I laughed as I wedged myself and my body pillow into the bottom bunk. I commented on Facebook that it was sort of like trying to pack a week's worth of clothes into an overnight bag. I read for a little while until Rudy and Mr.L. came in to go to bed. I made a concerted effort to go to sleep. My concerted effort lasted a few hours. I dozed off sometime during the night, only to wake up at about 2:30 when one of my campermates used the bathroom that was literally about 3 feet from my head (separated by a plywood wall of course). After that, it was all over. No more sleep for me. I was quite thankful to have my iPhone by my side and spent the next few hours honing my Sudoku skills and browsing Facebook. By the time the guys got up and went to breakfast at 4:30, I had made up my mind that I would not be spending Saturday night in the camper. I didn't want to interrupt anyone else's fun, so I devised a plan for going back to Hot Springs and meeting Rudy in Malvern on Sunday.

When Mom and Caleb got up, I unwedged myself from the bottom bunk and made my way to Mom and Mr.L's bed at the front of the camper. There, I found about 3 glorious hours of sleep. When I woke up, I got dressed and joined Mom and Caleb by the fire. I told Mom my plan for the day: stay at camp until the guys went back out for the afternoon/evening hunt, then leave for Hot Springs. I was going to take her car so that they would have the carseat for Caleb. She suggested that she and Caleb just come with me and we finally decided on that plan. Caleb spent the day riding the 4-wheeler with Pops and Daddy, playing in the dirt, throwing sticks in the fire and eating junk food. He was in absolute heaven! At about 2:00, we were all tired, so we decided to just leave a little early. Caleb was upset about leaving, but was so tired that he was sound asleep shortly after we made the turn out of camp.

When we got to Hot Springs, I practically made a b-line for the shower. I could not wait to get the smoke and dirt off of me. We ate dinner, gave Caleb a bath and all went to bed early. Caleb slept with Mom and I stretched out in my bed alone. I slept so hard that I never even woke up during the night - a rarity these days.

Sunday morning, Rudy called to say that he had gotten a deer - his first buck ever. It was an 8 point and he was pretty excited about it. That meant that we had a little extra time to hit the road, because he had to clean it and then get cleaned up and come to meet us in Malvern in Mom's car. We eventually met up and headed for home as Mom went back down to the camp for a couple more days.

It worked out fine. I learned my lesson. I'm not cut out for spending the night at deer camp. I love my family and love to spend time with them. Family time around that fire can never be replaced, but I'm not an outdoors person. I need a hot shower, a clean towel, a big comfy bed, walls that are made of sturdier stuff than aluminum and plywood, a room with a door, no spiders/walking sticks/lizards...basically, the comforts of home. In confessing all of this to Rudy and later to Mom, I came to realize that nobody expects me to like deer camp just because everyone else does. It's just fine if I don't want to spend the night. It's only a little over an hour back to Mom's house. I can go spend a day once or twice a year around that fabulous campfire, enjoy the laughs, the friends, the traditions...and then get in the car and go home and nobody thinks worse of me for it. Rudy and I agreed that me trying to spend a weekend at deer camp for the sake of togetherness is sort of like him trying to survive a scrapbook weekend for the same reason - it's just not the way we were meant to be together.

From now on, I'm excited about deer camp weekends! I get to enjoy the fun and watch Caleb (and the rest of my family) enjoy the fun...and then I get to go home, take a hot shower and sleep in a cozy bed. They can have the bugs, dirt and 4:30 AM breakfasts!

Gestational Diabetes?

I had my 27 week OB appointment on 11/12. It was the one I've been dreading. I had to take the gestational diabetes screening test. This is really not a big deal, except that I failed the screening last time and had to come back for the full-blown 3 hour needlefest. I narrowly passed that test and was determined not to have gestational diabetes in my first pregnancy. I was nervous about this one because I have noticed that I often don't feel so hot about 30 minutes after I eat. I even had a day when I just might have had a pumpkin muffin with cream cheese icing and hot chocolate for breakfast and thought I was going to die because I felt so awful. It was no fun - sweating, dizzy, heart racing, etc. I had all but convinced myself that I was bound to fail this screening and have to do the "big test" again only to find out that I was forbidden to eat sweets for the rest of my pregnancy including Thanksgiving and Christmas! I drank the super-sugary drink that I was given and an hour later, was in the lab having my blood drawn.

After my lab appointment, I saw Dr. Ford, who told me that "everything looks fine" just like she always does. She asked if I had any questions, I said no and we went our separate ways.

That was on a Thursday. I carried my phone around on Friday, anticipating the call from the lab. No call. I carried my phone around on Monday and Tuesday, anticipating the call. No call. On Wednesday, I called the office. The nurse pulled up my record and said that my screening results were within normal limits. HALLELLUJAH - pass the ice cream! The next week, I got a letter in the mail saying the same thing and did yet another happy dance.

Now I'm just watching myself to make sure I don't overindulge in sweets and trying to balance things with some protein. When I start to feel a little woozy, I eat some meat, cheese or peanut butter and I'm usually back to normal within a short time. I've tried to switch to Splenda-sweetened tea instead of drinking my normal one Coke per day. Just knowing that I don't HAVE to give up the sweets makes self-imposed moderation better. Plus - it means that Nola is more likely to be healthy and less likely to be gigantic. Both of these things bode well for me...and her.

A Moment of God's Grace

This past Sunday was communion Sunday at church. The first Sunday of the month always is. This was the first time we've been there for communion Sunday in a while. I was glad to see in the bulletin that children come back from children's church to be with their families for communion, but I wasn't sure how it would go with Caleb. First of all, he was in one of his strange moods. He was being obstinant as all get out one minute and clinging to me to snuggle the next minute.

The sermon series this month is on grace. As I listened to the sermon, little did I know that I would experience a moment of grace during communion.

When the children came back into the sanctuary, Caleb came over and climbed up in my lap.

The pastor offered the beautiful words of communion:
"This is my body, broken for you. Take, eat. Do this in remembrance of Me.
This is my blood, shed for you. Take, drink. Do this in remembrance of Me."

Then we filed out of our seats. Caleb was holding my hand and Rudy was standing behind us. When we got to the serving station, I told Caleb to do what I did and gave him a piece of bread from the basket. I dipped my bread into the cup and he followed suit. The server whispered to him, "Jesus loves you." My eyes filled up with tears and my heart filled up with grace.

She was right. The server who doesn't know my child knew that Jesus loves him because she knows that He loves all children - even the ones who don't sit quietly in their seats during the opening hymns, even the ones who make faces at the people in the pew behind them, even the ones whose Daddies have to take them out for a couple of minutes because they are fiddling with hymnals and making noise. The symbolism and meaning of Christ's body and blood given for me and, even more, for Caleb, was overwhelming in that moment. God's grace was evident. Caleb doesn't understand what happened in that moment. He doesn't yet understand the meaning of what I'm sure he thought was a really strange little snack at church. He won't understand those things for a long time, but that doesn't make the practice any less meaningful for our family to share.

As we took our seats and I fought back tears of emotion, I held my child in my lap and thanked God for the gift of my son and His.

Yes, Jesus loves Caleb. He loves me too. He loves me even when I'm impatient, even when I'm unkind, even when I get angry and, amazingly, even when I'm unfaithful to Him. God's grace is evident everyday. I just have to open my eyes to see it.

Our Final Gameday of 2009

Whew - what a weekend! We thought we were going to have to sell our Razorback game tickets (again) for this week's game against South Carolina, because our babysitting plans fell through. We couldn't think of anyone else that we could ask to babysit and we really couldn't afford to pay anyone for the 7 hours that would be involved, so I posted the tickets for sale on Facebook. I was shocked and so grateful when one of my fabulous co-workers offered to keep Caleb for free. God bless her for saving our final gameday of the year!

Chad and Ronni spent the night with us on Friday and Caleb had his first taste of giving up his big kid room so that it could be our guest room. He did okay with it because he got to sleep on his Lightning McQueen blow-up mattress in our room. I thought I was going to kill him before he finally went to sleep, but once he settled down, we were all fine.

We got up Saturday morning and hit the ground running. Rudy and I took Caleb to Bella Vista to spend the day with Mrs. Kat and her son, Luke. They had a great time and even though Kat won't let me pay her or even pay her back, I am indebted to her. Rudy and I made it to Fayetteville and found a parking spot that didn't require us to hike uphill before or after the game. (This was important for a woman who is 27 weeks pregnant and a man who pulled a hamstring playing softball last week.) We walked over to say hi to the Lyons crew at their tailgate spot and then made our way to the stadium to meet the Wisemans. They graciously offered us tickets in their luxury box again, so we were able to sell our tickets on our way into the stadium. (Yet another bonus!) The weather was beautiful, the game was great and we ended up beating South Carolina.

There is another game next week against Troy, but we aren't going because it's opening weekend of deer season and my family is all going to deer camp. Yep - we have become THOSE PEOPLE. The rest of the games are either away games or are being played in Little Rock, so we don't have tickets.

After the game we drove back up to Bella Vista to get Caleb. Kat said that the boys had a great time together and that they went for a hike at Tanyard Creek and had lunch at Chick-Fil-A. Caleb must have been in Heaven! He was tired, though. He fell asleep in the car on the way home, but as soon as Rudy laid him in his bed, he was wide awake and ready to go again.

I spent Friday evening Christmas shopping. I always like to have my shopping done before Thanksgiving if possible. It just seems like I enjoy the entire Holiday season more that way. I managed to get all of our gifts except for one and that one isn't available in Rogers. I'll have to get it the next time we go to Fayetteville. While I was out, I also made a wishlist for Caleb to share with his grandparents. I got home about 9:15 Saturday night and I was worn out! Somehow, though - I managed to work on the photo book that I always give to family for Christmas. I just need the November and December pictures and it's ready to be ordered! Hopefully, being proactive about Christmas shopping will make Thanksgiving and Christmas just that much more enjoyable this year!

Belly Dancing

You know what's stranger than feeling an unborn child moving inside of your belly? SEEING an unborn child moving inside of your belly. While it is incredibly cool and one of those experiences in pregnancy that I cherish and enjoy - it is still really strange to see my belly move on its own. It happened tonight for the first time with Nola. I remember Caleb kicking so hard one time that the TV remote fell off my belly.

I think Caleb may have felt her move on Sunday. He was sitting in what's left of my lap watching TV when I felt Nola do a little moving around. Caleb turned around and looked at me, then looked at my belly with an odd look on his face. He didn't say anything, but he did get up and move. How do you explain that to a 3-year-old? I didn't even try.

Rudy still hasn't felt Nola move. She does it all the time and I can feel her pretty often when I put my hand on my belly. For some reason, though, when Rudy tries to feel her movements, she stops. She's either so calmed by her daddy that she doesn't move when he's near or she's so stubborn that she doesn't want to put on a show for anyone. Which do you think we prefer?

Nola's Bedding

I picked out some bedding for Nola's room that I absolutely love!!! Guess what...it's NOT pink. I know you're shocked. It has been ordered and is on its way here as I type this! (Thanks, Mom and Mr. L.!)

Of course, I'm not getting the WHOLE set. That's a little bit overkill. I ordered the crib set (bumper, sheet, dust ruffle & quilt). I also got the changing pad cover and the pillow that will go in the rocking chair. I'm hoping to get the valance, but haven't ordered it yet. I decided against the lamp and rug. I don't want the hamper, diaper stacker or picture frames (!).

Isn't it beautiful?!? And it's girly/feminine without being frou-frou or pink. Just what I was looking for!

The Fine Line of Tackiness

When we had Caleb, I was honestly humbled by the baby showers that we were given. It seemed like everyone we knew wanted to help us celebrate our new baby boy. I registered for everything that I was told we would need and tried to make sure that most of the things we chose were relatively gender neutral so that we would be able to use them again if we had a second baby and it turned out to be a girl. I was always taught that you have baby showers for the first baby, but not for the second (or any others). That's not to say that all babies shouldn't be celebrated, but I've always done that on a slightly lesser scale - more along the lines of individual gifts from those that are close to you rather than an actual baby shower. It never even crossed my mind to register for gifts for Nola or that anyone would bring up having a shower for us. Now people have started to ask what kinds of things we want or need for Nola. It has taken me a little by surprise and has gotten me to thinking about what we really do need. Of course, we need basic essentials (diapers, wipes, etc) and baby girl clothes since everything we currently have is some shade of blue or green and most things have a car, truck, dinosaur or sports ball on it. There are a few other things that we need or want that have either come on the market in the past 3 years or that we have but need a second one for Nola.

After asking for opinions from my Facebook friends, I've decided to walk the fine line of tackiness and post a wishlist for Nola here on my blog. (Most everyone said it was just fine, by the way.) The list is over on the right sidebar. Here's my justification to myself: People have asked and those who aren't interested can ignore it. It's not like I just decided to make up a list and distribute it to everyone I know. Nobody is expected to get us anything at all. I'm just using this as a central place to keep a list and share it with those who ask for it.

Busy Weekend = Long Post (Halloween & Big Kid Room)

We started off the weekend with Caleb's Halloween party at school. Mom and Mr. L. came to witness the fun. This party was much tamer than his Christmas party last year. Basically, the kids just ate their snack in their costumes. Here are a couple of pictures... After the party, we came home. Caleb was in a horribly whiny, fussy, cranky mood. He cried about everything, yelled at all of us and basically was not himself at all. I put him in time out and had to give him a spanking within a matter of an hour. Mom & Mr. L. were going to take him out for pizza, but wisely decided against it. Instead, they went and picked up a pizza to eat at home while Rudy and I went out to Bonefish Grill for my birthday dinner. When we got home, we thought about carving pumpkins, but we were too tired. We decided to just go to bed instead. (We never did carve pumpkins this year. Oh, well.)

Saturday morning, I took Caleb to Alivia's birthday party. He was still not himself, but his behavior was improved enough to make it through the party. (Though he did get a spanking before we left because he yelled at Pops. Rudy wasn't having any of that!) Caleb loved getting another chance to wear his costume, but he wasn't so sure about all of those 5 year olds having so much party fun. He stuck pretty close to me and really just wanted to go play in Alivia's room. I did find the irony in watching him play in her pink room with her pink toys while wearing his football uniform (complete with shoulder pads and cleats). Here are a couple of pics from the party...

Livi the birthday girl and her sweet Mama, Stacy:

My favorite Razorback player and the cupcake he decorated:

Ah, the irony...
While Caleb and I were gone to the party, a major transformation was happening at our house. Mom, Mr. L and Rudy were taking all of the furniture out of our guest room and moving Caleb's bedroom furniture into what will soon become Nola's room! They moved the bed from the guest room into Caleb's room to become his BIG KID BED! They packed up the headboard, chest of drawers, night stand and chair from the guest room to take to a consignment store in Hot Springs. When Caleb and I got home from the party, I handed him off to Rudy to attempt to get a nap or at least some rest and Mom and I went to Target in search of big kid furniture and bedding. They had everything we needed, so we came home loaded down with 3 boxes of furniture to be assembled, a quilt, sheets, pillowcases, wall hangings, etc, etc, etc.

Here are the before pictures. The room is messy, but I didn't worry with cleaning it up just for "before" pictures. This is the furniture we got when Caleb was born. His dresser has a changing table and his bed is converted from his crib. The rocking chair on the left side was the rocking chair that my mom used when I was a baby.

These shelves hold lots of memorabilia and some books that I was keeping out of Caleb's reach until he learned not to tear the pages. The lamp that looks like a hot air balloon was in my nursery when I was a baby.

Here are the after pictures, but the room isn't quite finished. The chest and bookcase went together beautifully, but the nightstand box was missing one piece. Rudy is calling tomorrow to have that sent to us. The nightstand goes in the corner and will probably have a lamp on it. That far corner needs something tall and that makes the most sense. We also need something on the wall above Caleb's bed. I was going to put the square wall hangings of the sports balls there as a makeshift headboard, but Rudy and I were afraid Caleb would knock them off the wall onto his head. I'm now debating on a vinyl cutout of his name or something like that. Whatever it is will have to be pretty big, so I'm not sure yet.

Now the top shelf has baby memorabilia, but the other 2 shelves have Caleb's favorite stuffed "friends." I'm sure we'll whittle those away over time, but I'm not ready to see them go just yet. He still really likes them and they make me smile. The kite was on the ceiling above his toddler bed and he asked me to put it back in his big kid room. I tried to find a way to make it work. The tail goes all the way down the wall.

You can barely see it, but there is a set of hooks on the wall behind the door. It's hung low so that Caleb can reach the hooks for his hats and backpack. It's one of my favorite parts of the room.

And, of course, Saturday night was Halloween. We didn't get off to a very good start. Nobody on our street was home! The first house we actually went to was crazy, though! They were giving out five dollar bills! Rudy and I tried to figure out if we could change clothes and take Caleb back in a different costume, but decided that was just stingy. :) Pops pulled Caleb in his wagon and we all walked through the neighborhood to do the trick-or-treat circuit. Caleb loved it this year. At one house, instead of saying "trick-or-treat," he said "Touchdown Arkansas!" I laughed so hard I almost cried! When we had had our fill of trick-or-treating, we came home and Mom heated up a big pot of crawfish/shrimp etouffee for our supper. We watched the Razorback game on DVR delay and they manhandled Eastern Michigan. We were shocked that we only had 2 sets of trick-or-treaters. I bought a ton of candy and we now have a ton of candy to get rid of. We gave those kids that came by almost a whole bucketful and still have bunches left over.

This morning, Mom and Mr. L. left for home and the three of us went to church. After church, we came home to eat lunch and work some more on Caleb's room. Caleb loved helping his daddy build. Rudy went to meet some college friends for dinner this evening. Now, we're all home and Caleb is in his big kid bed for the first time all by himself. We'll see how it goes. I'm hoping that the time change will play in our favor and he'll be tired enough to get to sleep by himself. I should probably get to bed early tonight just in case we have one of those nights...

26 Weeks

And the belly just keeps on growing...

No, I'm not usually pigeon-toed. I have no idea why I'm standing that way. :)

Flu Shot Frustration

With all of the media hype about how bad the flu is this year and how lethally dangerous it can be for pregnant women and young children, I decided to do whatever it takes to get flu shots (including H1N1) for my family.

I called Caleb's pediatrician's office and my general practitioner's office multiple times for a couple of weeks. IF I got an answer, I was on hold each time for 15 minutes or more before I had to hang up because I can only call a medical office during my work day and I don't have that much time to spend on hold. When I finally did get through to Caleb's ped's office, they told me that my only option for him would be to get his shot at one of the flu clinics and they may or may not have the H1N1 vaccine.

The day before I went to my OB appointment in October, I called to see if I would be able to get a flu shot. The receptionist told me that they had them in stock. I went in to my appointment planning to get my shot. They gave the last one to the person before me. Aaagghh! The nurse told me that she heard that they had them at the Target pharmacy and that there wasn't usually a long line like at the walk-in clinic at Wal Mart. After my appointment, I called Target and was assured that they had plenty and I could get one. I took Caleb with me because Rudy was teaching lessons. I asked about getting a shot for him too, but apparently there is an AR law that pharmacies can't give vaccinations to children under 18. Lovely. I did manage to get my shot, though. It cost me $24.

Rudy and Caleb went to Wellquest on the following Friday (after I called to see if they had shots available) and got their shots for $37 each. Actually, they got the Flumist, which is supposed to be more effective. They both got nasty colds afterwards, but no flu!

So, we were halfway through the vaccination process for 2009's crazy flu season! I made it my personal mission to find out how to get the elusive H1N1 vaccines. The AR Dept of Health decided that only pregnant women, children 6 mos-4yrs and up to 18 with other health concerns would be given the vaccine. That ruled out Rudy, but left Caleb and I eligible. (I wasn't happy about not being able to get it for everyone, though! Doesn't it put Caleb and I at risk if Rudy can't get the shot? Hmmm...) After multiple calls to my OB's office, Caleb's pediatrician's office and my general practitioner's office, I determined that the only way we'd be able to get the vaccine would be to go to one of the free flu shot clinics being put on by the health department. Free? Good! During the school day? Bad! (I muttered several angry things about it being criminal to be a working parent and how messed up the system has become when we can't protect our families, etc, etc.) After talking to my school nurse, I determined that I can get my vaccination at one of the school-sponsored clinics and because I'm pregnant, they will even let me go earlier than my school's scheduled day, which isn't until 11/17. Hallelujah! So, that just leaves Caleb - the person I'm most interested in protecting at this point.

After a few moments of near panic, I decided that I had only one choice: Mom and Mr. L. I hate to ask for help from them. Actually, I'm not really fond of asking for help from anyone. This time, I had no choice. I can't afford to take off work to take Caleb to a flu clinic that is only open from 8-6 and will likely run out of the needed vaccine before school hours are over. I also couldn't afford to go to it myself and expose myself to that many people who could be sick. Rudy couldn't take off work either. I sucked up my pride and called Mom. They were planning to come up this past Friday anyway, so I asked if there was any possibility that they could come earlier in the day to take Caleb to get his shot. Of course, they agreed to do it. They get up before the roosters anyway, so they were in the car on Friday morning at about 5:30. (Yes, really.)

I called the health department on Thursday to see what paperwork would be needed since Mom/Mr. L. don't have guardianship of Caleb. Apparently, they didn't need it. I went ahead and typed up a letter giving them my permission to sign anything and copied Caleb's insurance card and birth certificate. (I wasn't taking any chances.) Sometime during the night, it dawned on me that the same form that I filled out for the school clinic would likely be the form that they would have to fill out for the community clinic. When I got to school on Friday, I asked the nurse for a blank copy and filled it out for Caleb. I gave it to Mom and Mr L when they came by the school to get my car (since it had a carseat). They went to get Caleb at daycare and then went to the clinic. The line was wrapped around the building. Mom decided to take the form that I had filled out up to the person at the entrance to make sure she had the necessary paperwork. After being passed off to several other people, a lady told her to transfer the answers to another form in black ink and come back to see her. Mom did what the lady said and they took Caleb straight in to get his H1N1 mist. They were there for about 30 minutes!!! Mom called me and said they were finished and headed back to Caleb's school. I couldn't believe it! Everyone I had talked to and seen on the news had been in line after line for anywhere from an hour to 4 hours to get those shots! Woo hoo! Score one for Mama and LaLa!

Now it's just me that needs a shot. I'm getting it this week. Hallelujah! This flu shot frustration is almost over...I hope.

Turning 33

I turned 33 last week. No, seriously. 33!

We left Rogers as soon as we could on Friday afternoon and headed for St. Louis (county). After a long and uncomfortable drive, we ended up making it to Eureka in time to watch the 4th quarter of the EHS football game with my friend Monica. Rudy even got to say hi to his former co-worker (and current friend) John. Despite freezing our rear-ends off, Caleb and I loved being at the game and Caleb particularly loved seeing how muddy the "football guys" were. They were a big, sloppy mess! Rudy left us at the game to drop our bags off at the Sheltons' house and then met another friend for hot wings. After the game, Caleb and I piled in the car with Monica and her kids for their traditional trip through the Taco Bell drive-thru. Once we ran for the border, we headed to their house to get settled in and visit for just a little bit before hitting the bed. Caleb decided he would sleep in the twin bed with me, which was quite a feat considering my current size and need for a body pillow to sleep somewhat comfortably. I quickly declared on Saturday morning that Caleb would be sleeping with Rudy that night.

We got up Saturday morning and got ready to meet Jerry at one of our favorite restaurants for lunch. It was delicious as always and we enjoyed getting to visit with Jerry as well. After lunch, we went back to the Sheltons' and Rudy got ready to go downtown for the marching band festival. He wanted to get there in time to see the Summit band perform before meeting up with the Fayetteville band. Caleb and I spent the afternoon with Monica, Katherine and Daniel, just being lazy and visiting. Caleb thought those big kids were pretty cool. (We also watched a little bit of the Hogs game against Ole Miss. Suffice it to say that I don't want to talk about it. We looked like a junior high team playing a college team rather than 2 SEC teams playing each other. It was miserable.)

Monica, Caleb and I dropped the big kids off at church for their Reality House around 6:00 and then the 3 of us went to eat Mexican food to celebrate my birthday. When we got back, Monica put candles in the birthday cake that Rudy got for me and Caleb blew them out. We ate a little cake, visited a little more and then went to pick up the big kids. Rudy got home from the contest late...and shared his bed with Caleb.

Sunday morning, we got up and hit the road for home. The drive home was miserably uncomfortable. I tried to sleep, but Caleb kept waking me up. I just could not get comfortable. I declared that I would not be making any more long road trips while pregnant. Rudy reminded me that we're driving to deer camp in a couple of weeks. Uh-oh.

I don't have ANY pictures from the weekend in Eureka. I had my camera handy the whole time. I just never got the energy or gumption to take a picture. Again...uh-oh.

My Facebook status for the day:
I turned 33 today with perspective. Even though the Hogs lost, I have a healthy family, wonderful friends and abundant blessings. Praise God for another trip around the sun!

Pumpkin Patch

We made our 3rd annual visit to the Right Choices Corn Maze & Pumpkin Patch on 10/18. It was a beautiful day - one of very few that we had this October. We had a great time as usual. Caleb's favorite parts were the corn box and the cow train. We spent the afternoon walking all over the place and ended up leaving with 3 pumpkins.

Picking the perfect pumpkin:

Playing in the corn box:

Having fun on the downhill slide:

Being a daredevil on the hay jump:

Just one of the many reasons that I love Fall!