Nominated...

So Jen from Jen the Newlywed nominated me for the liebster award.
Yes I know, I know, you are jealous.

But for real, its fun to be nominated.  First, I'm supposed to share 11 facts about myself.  So here ya go...

1. My cat has thumbs.
2. I don't mind doing laundry.  I'd say its my chore of choice, followed by...yeah nothing.
3. My favorite color is turquoise.
4. I speak Spanish.
5. I have watched all seasons of Gilmore Girls all the way through at least 4 times.
6. I drink 2 cups of decaf coffee every morning with just milk and cream, no sugar.
7. I once started a calligraphy company and after 1 job decided it wasn't for me.
8. I'm currently watching Parenthood on Netflix.
9. Organization is one of my current goals.  Its a slow process.
10. Sometimes I cut my own bangs.
11. My favorite fruit is grapefruit and my baby boy loves it too!

And now she has asked me some questions and here are my answers...

1. Do you play a musical instrument? If not, what would you like to learn to play if given the chance?  In high school I played the piano, trumpet, and clarinet.  I really miss playing.  I would love to start playing again.

2. Where would you like to go on your next vacation?  In my dreamworld...Paris.  Or the Grand Canyon.

3. What physical attribute do you have that you wouldn't change?  My brown eyes.

4. What are your favorite movies from your childhood that you would like to share with your children?  Milo and Otis, Cinderella

5. What did your prom dress look like?  Periwinkle with sequins and beads.  It was slimming and spaghetti strap.  I loved it.

6. You're given a choice of a 2 week vacation in New York City, 2 weeks in Hawaii, or 2 weeks skiing in Colorado. What would you choose?  2 week vacation to New York City.  I would love to spend the days in the city and going to all the fun restaurants and shows.

7. Is there something about who you are today that would surprise the 12 year old version of yourself?  Hmmm.  That I've got a little boy!

8. If you could have a different first name, what would you choose?  Hmmm again.

9. What's an item on your to-do list that you keep putting off?  There are several...one is looking for a new internet company...ours is not so great.

10. When was the last time you laughed till you cried?  I can't remember the situation but I know it was recently.  

Thank you Jen for nominating me!!

Happy 9 months Caleb!

Today my baby is 9 months old.  

He is so sweet and his personality is coming out more and more daily.  

I'm loving my time at home with him and I'm looking forward to the next stage of doing some more focused learning activities.

At 9 months, Caleb is...

Size: Caleb weighs 21 pounds, 12 ounces meaning we're almost out of our infant car seat...the max is 22lbs!  We went today for his 9 month check-up to a new doctor and he is in the 70th percentile for weight and at 29.5 inches in the 85th percentile of height.  Caleb is wearing mostly 9 month and 6-12 month clothes.  A lot of the 6 month clothes are too small.  

"I'm excited!"

Also could be "All done!"

Or maybe his own version of waving.  

I'm doing some signing with him - all done, eat, please, cat, and more.  And he does use the all done sign at the end of his meal.  

Likes: Caleb loves eating, crawling, putting everything in his mouth, and pulling up on every possible surface, even his own little friends!  He loves the cats and laughs at them and "talks" to them when they walk into the room.  His favorite toys right now are any type of ball, big or small, and the real golf club Ben has given him.  

Dislikes: Not getting his way, not eating when he wants to eat, sitting in the bathtub.  He wants to pull up to standing or to his knees in the bathtub, but it just isn't safe.  I'm not quite sure how to convey to him the danger of it and he doesn't understand "no" yet, or at least he's not responding to it in this context.  So for now, we just end the bath after countless times of making him sit.  

Working on/Milestones: Caleb is pretty much a pro at pulling up now to any surface, wall, leg, table, chair, etc.  The pediatrician said today he looked like he was close to walking. (Yikes!)

And he's pretty good at getting back down now - not near as many dramatic crashes ending in crying.  

I guess the next milestone is standing and then (Eek!) walking.  

Took a little break to sit and relax.  He's got his mama's fair skin.

Also, this month, he got his first two teeth!  He definitely had a week or two of not so great sleeping/naps but overall, it wasn't the horrible ordeal I expected.  

Most of the photo shoot was spent wrestling this guy into the chair and then acting crazy enough for him to look at me while I took a picture.  

Sleeping: Before Christmas, Caleb was sleeping through the night beautifully.  

Then our two week trip and his sleeping was all over the place.  

It was a little bit of a transition back home but he is now sleeping through the night again 

(thank goodness!).  

He wakes up for like 5 minutes here and there but goes back to sleep on his own.  

The pediatrician today told me to try my best not to feed him at night anymore because it just reinforces the night waking.  

Ugh...not fun.

He still goes to bed around 7pm and wakes up around 7, sometimes a little earlier, sometimes later. 

He takes 2 naps most days...a morning one around 9 and an afternoon nap around 1:30 or 2.  

They each last anywhere from an hour to two hours depending on the day and what we've had going on.   

I'm much more careful about staying home for naps now.  Just as much for me as for him...I hate missing my hour break time at home!  

This part of the photos was NOT easy!  He did not want to lay down flat and just wanted to play.

Golf Club!

Daddy!

Eating: Caleb is nursing 4-5 times a day now depending on how early he wakes up and what our day is like.  

He's eating 3 meals.

For breakfast, he has yogurt mixed with pureed fruit, maybe some toast, and some scrambled egg yolks.

Lunch is usually some sort of fruit and veggie puree.

Dinner is usually a bigger meal and mostly table food - I try to do some sort of meat, chicken or ground turkey, peas or mixed veggies, and maybe some fruit and cheese.  

I love seeing him try new foods and enjoy them.  I gave him some grapefruit this week and I'm so excited to say that he loves it!  Its by far my favorite fruit - I think I had 2-3 grapefruits every week I was pregnant.  

We're going to have a little golfer walking around before we know it.

Love you buddy!

Happy 8 months Caleb!

Caleb is 8 months (a week ago...)!  

Our family so enjoyed being with him and seeing his many sweet faces and new sounds and skills that he does.
He was the star of the show at each place we went.  

At 8 months, Caleb is...

Size: Caleb is around 20 pounds now and definitely feels as heavy as 20 pounds.  

He's wearing 6 month, 9 month, 6-12 month, and 12 months clothes, all depending on the brand and type of clothing.  

He's got some crazy chuncky thighs and chubby cheeks.
We get a lot of comments on his size.  

Sometimes he looks and feels so big to me and other times he still seems so small.  

Likes: This boy is so busy right now.  

He loves to crawl around and is in constant exploration of his environment.  

He can pick out the tiniest little piece of food, lint, fuzz, paper, dirt, or whatever it is on the floor!

  Sometimes I look over and see him chewing and I know he's put something he shouldn't have in his mouth.  

I hate to admit it, but he had his first (lets be honest, it probably won't be his last) piece of cat food today.  I got it before he swallowed it though!

Dislikes: As mentioned, Caleb gets into everything now and often finds something he shouldn't have.

He does not like to have a toy he's playing with taken away. 

Working on/Milestones: Caleb has long mastered crawling, sitting, and going from one to the other.

  The main skills he's working on now is pulling up.  

He goes to his knees often by balancing against a wall or piece of furniture.  

He pulled up onto the coffee table for the first time today.  No surface is safe now!

Also, this week, Caleb is getting his first tooth.  I can see it just peeking through.  Teething has not been too bad.  He definitely isn't sleeping as well as normal but he hasn't been too cranky and has still been taking his naps pretty well.  Thank goodness.  Maybe I just expected the worst so this isn't so bad.  

Oh those legs.

We finally are getting some hair too!

Sleeping: Caleb is sleeping through the night (when we're not out of town!) about 12-13 hours.  

He takes a good morning nap as long as we're at home from about 9:30 and then will take a later afternoon nap around 1:30 or 2:00 that lasts around an hour.  

If he had a short morning nap, he might take 3 naps.  

He's still going to bed around 7:00 and waking between 7 and 8.  

Also, we are now to the point of losing the nap if he gets a small power nap in the car.  

Bummer!  It never used to really matter but now it definitely does.  

Eating: Caleb is nursing 4-5 times a day still, and occasionally once at night.  

He also eats solids three times a day in the morning, mid-day and early evening.  

He's loving solids and we're going to start adding a lot since at 8 months, he can have a whole host of new things!  

I get most of my information and recipes/techniques from Wholesome Baby Food.  

He usually has whole milk plain yogurt mixed with fruit in the morning and different combinations of fruits and veggies for lunch and dinner.
This month, we'll be starting some meats, egg yolks, oatmeal, and many new fruits and vegetables.
So far, he's not allergic to anything and only doesn't like avocado (I know, its sad!) nor the sweet potato/apple mixture.

Arms are gettin stronger

We love you sweet boy!

Christmas part 3: Mississippi

On the Saturday after Christmas, we flew to Mississippi to visit Ben's extended family.  Ben's parents picked us up and we drove 3 hours to Cleveland, MS to see Ben's grandparents on his dad's side.  Sadly, I don't have any pictures from that trip because, well, I had the stomach flu.  Not fun!  

We stayed about 2 hours and then drove 3 more hours to Tupelo where we would stay for a few days.  Not the most fun drive ever I have to say.  

But we made it and I felt better by the next day thankfully.  

Pa is so great with Caleb.  He loves to bounce him and sit with him and Caleb enjoyed every minute of it!

Hello sweet heart!

We spent the time in MS just hanging out, a little bit of shopping, a good amount of eating, and of course card games!  

Caleb does this little two-fingered wave-ish thing.  I'm not sure why but I think it has something to do with trying to wave.  

Four generations!  Ben, Caleb, Pa, and Mark (Ben's dad)

Our family with Mimi and Pa on their 60th wedding anniversary.

We spent new year's eve with Ben's family and enjoyed just playing games, talking, and hanging out.  New year's day, we flew home and it was so so nice to be in our own home in our own bed.  

Over the next few days, I did about 6 loads of laundry, put all the clothes, stuff, and toys away that we had taken with us and got some order finally!  

It was a great holiday and we have some great memories of Caleb's first Christmas.

I have to admit though that Monday morning when everyone went bak to work was pretty nice just being in regular life and trying to remember what my normal routines are!  

I really do like just normal life.

Christmas part 2: Christmas Day

We continued our Christmas adventure in Fairview with my parents.  We spent Christmas eve celebrating with my mom's side of the family and then went to a Christmas eve service.  Caleb just listened to the music and was mesmorized by the candle-lit ending.  That's my favorite part of the evening and it was special to get to experience it with my sweet little man.  

Christmas morning, as tradition goes, we went to my sister's house in Fairview for breakfast.  

Our tradition is that the guys of the family make the "pinch-me coffee cake" that goes with our breakfast.  Ben has the honor of participating in this tradition as well :).  

It was actually a rainy Christmas morning that called for freezing temps and snow by the afternoon.

Uncle Keith, Tia Marisela, and C

Grammy

My sweet little family

Daddy!

I love this picture!  This is my parents, Grammy and Grandaddy, with their 5 grandsons.  Maybe someday we will add a granddaughter but for now, its just grandsons.  So sweet!

Christmas part 1: Cooper Christmas

This Christmas was an exciting traveling adventure!  We left December 21st and Caleb and I didn't come back until January 1st.  

We started our Christmas adventure in Arlington.

We came in Friday night and spent Saturday shopping, napping, and eating!  

Sunday, I got to unexpectedly go to the Cowboy game with my Dad, nephews, brother, and brother-in-law.  They did lose but it was a fun time with the guys.  It was actually the longest time during the day that I've been away from Caleb.  He did so well but I was so glad to see him when I got back!  

Sunday night, we did Cooper Christmas.  Caleb played while we opened gifts, probably ate some paper, and played some more while Mark read the Christmas story.  

Mark and Pat reading the Christmas story.

Presents!  Caleb got some cute clothes, a really sweet book, and an activity table from his Cooper fam.  

And who can forget the annual daughter-in-law Christmas purses.  Cherish and I went small this year and got identical cross-body brown purses.