Happy V-Day!

Happy Day-of-Love everyone! This Valentine's Day I realized that it was not much different than any other day with me and Blake. I asked him to help me with something, and he said, "Anything to help you today on Valentine's Day." But I know that he would have willingly helped me any other day as well. I am so grateful for a wonderful husband and an incredible marriage. I know I am so blessed. As little of a gift as it seems, I made cookies for Blake for Valentine's Day. But they were not just any cookies - they were cake cookies! With his favorite sugar thingies on top. But Blake got me the best Valentine's Day gift EVER - "Every Kiss Begins with Kay!" - A white gold ring with two pink saphire hearts in the middle and small diamonds, and a matching necklace. SO PRETTY, I love them both so much. Thank you Blakey, my love!

Having Caleb around all day for Valentine's Day was a different feeling, but we loved it! He is such a sweetheart.

The other day, we went on a walk with Caleb in this little brown outfit and carried him in a front carrier.

He loved watching the scenery around him on the walk and soon fell asleep, and slept for a while afterward! Precious.

Last week was Caleb's 1 Month checkup at the doctor. He weighed in at 10 pounds 15 ounces, 23 inches!!! Big boy! Also, 3 days ago he started smiling! It has been such a joy, and I can't wait to get his smile in a picture! His smile just lights up his entire face, it's incredible. What joy it brings to everyone around him (especially his mommy).

My Brother, A Missionary!

Woah. Yesterday my little brother opened his mission call!!! (I totally guessed it - I knew he'd go somewhere where the people looked totally different from him, probably short and dark haired.) Well, he is going to the Culiacan Mexico, Spanish speaking mission on June 4, 2008! I am way excited for him!!!! I am also so proud of him! I can see a big change in him in the last 24 hours. It's like he has grown up even more just from opening that pretty white envelope. Love ya Terry!!!

Caleb is 1 Month Old!

Today, Caleb is one month old. This picture is him today, with his first pair of shoes ever that his Uncle Terry bought for him! I cannot believe it has been a whole month since he entered this world and made it a better place to be. On the other hand, I do feel like labor/delivery was years ago!!

Caleb is really developing and growing quickly. He has a doctor's appointment this Thursday and we'll know how heavy he is, but I am guessing he's over 10 pounds already! He's quickly outgrowing newborn clothes and growing into the 0-3 Month size. He does, however, have a little teeny bum and just recently outgrew preemie diapers and now must wear the Newborn size, Huggies preferably.

He now follows people with his eyes, especially me! I love it! Also, he is beginning to have a predictable night time sleeping schedule. This week was beautiful. He always has his long period of sleeping at night, but usually it's about 3 1/2 to 4 hours long. Well, Tuesday night he slept from 2 to 7 a.m., five hours! Woo! Wednesday night from 12:30 to 8:30 a.m. Eight hours, wow! We felt great that day! Thursday night was another 5 hour night and Friday night was a 6 hour night! Last night wasn't quite as good but I dont even mind, we had such a great week with good sleep!

It is amazing how much our love grows for Caleb every day. He is such a special person and we know that Heavenly Father loves him so much. Every new thing he does is exciting, and we are loving watching his personality come out!


Four Generations on my mom's side! Caleb, Me, my Mom, and her parents.
Four generations on my dad's side! Caleb, me, my dad, and his mother.
My dad calls this the "Three Monkeys in a Row" picture. He gave Caleb the monkey in his lap, then Caleb, then the monkey to the back right of Caleb!
Today was Caleb's first experience at church! Yay! He was of course extremely popular. He did pretty well, but had a hard time getting to sleep. By the time Relief Society rolled around, the mission president's wife was holding the little guy and she had to say the opening prayer. Caleb decided to participate... he screamed a bit, the Relief Society found it hilarious! So, I took him into the mother's lounge where it's nice and quite and he almost immediately fell asleep. Good thing too because he was pretty much awake at that point since 4:30 a.m.! Everyone of course thought Caleb looks so much like his granddaddy. Here they are making the same face. My dad says that Caleb totally copied him.

Great Mommy Moment
The other day I was home alone with Caleb and Cozmo. Well, I laid Caleb down for a sec to change his diaper and then he looked so happy there, so I let him be for a bit. Next thing I know, he has vomited all over himself. (He has acid reflux and I must not have kept him upright long enough after he ate.) I felt so bad for him! I picked him up and got the vomit all over me (I didnt even care, I just wanted Caleb to be warm). Then, I had to keep Cozmo from eating it or stepping in it, so I pinned him in the kitchen. I got Caleb's bath ready and a new outfit. Then, I bathed him all by myself (huge accomplishment!) and got him all cleaned up. He was a great sport and did not cry at all. He just looked at me like, "Good job mom. Way to keep it together." Then, I cleaned up the vomit, took care of Cozmo, threw all the vomited-on stuff in the washer, and cleaned up the bath. It was hard but fun to see that I am getting a hang of things. Being a mom rocks!

Kids-In-Mind

I just realized I have not published my gratitude for this amazing website. The movies these days are full of junk, even if they are not rated R. Personally, I got burned too many times taking my chances at watching PG-13 movies. Because of that, I want to be careful if I go to see a movie. So, I check the movie on Kids-In-Mind to see how it rates morally, violently, etc. Then, I can make an educated decision on whether or not to see it. You should check it out, seriously it rocks. It has been a long time since I saw a movie I regretted seeing, because of this website!

I Hate Tornadoes

Last night was terrifying. I went to the Predator's NHL Hockey game in downtown Nashville with my mom while Blake stayed with Caleb (yep, best husband ever!). When we went to leave the game, it was pouring rain outside. A loud siren went off in the city and we heard that it meant a Tornado Warning. Yep, warning being the key word here. Throughout my childhood, whenever there was a storm, my parents would turn on the tv and sometimes the words would appear in bold red and white "Tornado Watch." I remember always needing to clarify that watch did not mean warning. If the words "Tornado Warning" appeared, I would freak out, terrified that we'd get hit. Last night, when they said the word warning, I had to go over that in my head, "Warning... not Watch... Warning meaning... a tornado has been sited!!!???" I also heard someone say, "It is south of us but will be here in 10 minutes." Yeah I panicked.

My mom drove quickly home but I could not look out the window. I called Blake and he and Caleb were sitting in the downstairs bathroom, the safest place in the house during a tornado warning, because the storm was headed from south of us northward. I have never been so scared. For the first time in my life, I am a mom and I need to be the brave one. That is scarier than just being scared itself!

On our way home, hail started coming down. I am pretty sure that hail and tornadoes often go hand in hand. That made the situation worse for me. Mom drove fast and we got to the house safely and Blake and Caleb were safe. We looked on the internet and the storm had passed us. It said that the tornado was now in downtown Nashville. Man was I glad that mom was so insistent on driving home immediately!

Well, I thought that we were in the clear but I was still spooked by it all. The rain got harder and the wind got stronger in the night. It was still thundering and lightning every few minutes. I could not get to sleep until 3 am. Blake gave me a blessing and I knew everything would be okay. I still had an uneasy feeling like this was no normal storm. When we woke up this morning, we found out that it was not normal indeed. This was the worst tornado storm in the U.S. in the last decade. It was also apparently among the worst 15 tornado storms in U.S. history. There were 30 to 40 tornadoes sited and about 50 casualties. No wonder I had that spooked feeling. This picture is of one of the tornadoes from last night. Freakin scary.

Speaking of scary, look at how much hair came off of Cozmo when Blake brushed him for like 5 minutes. Dude, this puppy can shed! He loves chewing his brush, as you can see, after getting brushed, it's his way of getting even!