So I left the house at 10:36 this morning. We went to Payless, Kmart, the bank (had to go in to cash in rolled change), TJ Maxx, and Food Lion. Okay so I also went through the McDonald’s drive-thru too, as my little darling has entered the chicken nugget phase. I pulled back in my driveway at 12:47. In and out of a rear facing carseat 5 times in two hours with winter clothes on (I know I could turn him around, but I really still think it is the safest way for him). So, errands for the week…check, check. I’m so bad about that. I let little errands build up because let’s face it, running errands with kids is usually stressful and tedious at best. But a lot of the errands are somewhat times sensitive. Like the fact that we ran out of milk at lunchtime yesterday. And we had nothing else for Caleb to drink but water. Literally. A pair of shoes that I needed to return was fast approaching the end of their 30 day return window. So I ran around like a crazy person this morning getting all of these things done. I was on the phone with a friend of mine who has 3 boys, ages 5, 3, and 21 months. She asked if Caleb was in the cart (in Kmart). No he was running around. Touching everything. She said I was braver than she was. She said even if she only has one with her, he goes in the cart. Caleb still goes in the cart at the grocery store, but for other shopping trips, I am trying to let him ‘have his freedom’ so that he learns to stay close and help out. Overall he does pretty good. But it is poke-your-eyes-out-with-pencils kind of tedious. “Come on Caleb. Yes I see it. Come on. Let’s go look at this. Okay. Come on. Want to carry this? Yes I see it sweetheart. We need to go. Come on bud.” But I’m sure you know how that goes. We even left a Thomas the Train flashlight this morning!! Yup, I patted myself on the back for that parenting moment. I treaded eeeever so carefully, as Kmart is like a no-man’s-land these days. No one ever goes there anymore. But they had a game that was on our Christmas list (and I couldn’t find it anywhere else), and they also have the My First Craftsman tools, which we’ll be stocking up on. As we walked through the store carrying the sixteen freakin dollar Thomas flashlight, he incessantly repeated, “I can take Thomas home Mommy. We pay for Thomas now? I can take Thomas up dare (pointing toward the registers).” This kid’s not dumb, seriously. So we set Thomas down a number of times and bid him farewell, only to go back and retrieve him. Finally I set him down, we both waved goodbye, and I distracted him with carrying a big box. Then he saw a Little Einsteins book. What Thomas? Shwhew, wipes forehead with back of hand. I can’t believe I wormed my way out of that one sans meltdown!

He really is a good kid though. He is actually fairly easy to shop with. I consider myself lucky. 5 stops in two hours without a peep. I started this thing at his bedtime where I say “Snug as a bug in aaaaa…*and I stop to think for a few seconds and then make something up* a burrito!!” He starts giggling and say “A RUUUG!” “OOh a rug,” I exclaim. “That’s right, a rug. Silly old Mommy. I get confused.” Now he looks forward to it every night. One night I was falling a few seconds behind schedule in saying it and he said, “You can say snug bug Mommy.” I have successfully taught him to say “May I have…” this week. He already says please and thank you at the end of the sentence. Scott had to do some plumbing work under the house this past weekend. The bathtub drain was stopped up. We tried to use a pipe snake to no avail, and we pretty much ruined it trying over and over. So he crawled under the house, and Caleb and I sat in the bathroom waiting. I poured near boiling water down the drain to identify where the clog was. Scott yelled back up to me that it worked like a charm. You should have seen the look on Caleb’s face. Priceless. His eyes got huge, and he said, “Daddy go down de draim Mommy!” And yes I do mean draim. With an M. So Scott started hollering back at him. Caleb yelled back, “I can rescue you Daddy! We find you!” He looked at me and said, “Daddy go down de draim. He gotta be somewhere!” It has obviously stuck with him, as I was putting him down for a nap yesterday after lunch, and he patted me gently on my cheek and said, “Don’t worry Mommy. We can find Daddy down de draim.” I told him Daddy was at work and he was satisfied with that answer.

So much fun. Honestly. I had no idea. Some days I wish I could keep him this age forever. It is just such a wide eyed discovery period where they can begin to talk back finally. You get to hear what is going on inside that little head. I had to wait two solid years. He literally stopped talking around his first birthday and soaked up words until his second birthday without a peep. Then he decided it was time. He did animal sounds one week, single words the next week, 2-3 word sentences the following, and 6+ word sentences within another two weeks. And his speech is extremely clear. Has been since he started talking. He was just waiting until he knew he could say everything perfectly. No use wasting your breath if no one understands you I suppose. And don’t even act like you might not understand or be listening. Because he will get about an inch from your face and take your face with his hands and make you stare right at him. He is truly a mess. And I am so lucky to have him.

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My kitchen needed some serious help. I still had dishes stacked up from our cookie making! Please don’t look back to see how long ago that was!! I’ve started recycling, and my recycle storage is on the back porch (though that door at the end of the counter) so the recycling backs up on that countertop next to the door. So here’s my first before and after for Tackle It Tuesday. Go join in on the fun next week! I didn’t get to the top of the fridge, but it is on my list for this week.

Before:

After:

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My secret? I did it. With him strapped in a high chair. Well not really strapped, but trapped by the no-longer-used tray. I put on a movie and all went well for the most part. He did get hair in his mouth by the end, and quickly melted down, but I put him right in the bathtub. So at least his hair is mostly out of his eyes!

Yep he got Mommy and Papa’s (my dad) eyelashes for sure.

The trials and tribulations of toddlerhood.  Have lunch served to you.  Take nap.  Get up.  Have snack served to you.

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No matter what product you find, there is always something cooler. Ever noticed that? Take for instance a puppet theater. I suppose one could go down to the local hobby store, purchase a piece of fabric, cut a rectangular whole in it and hang it from a doorway. Or if you prefer the disposable playhouse variety, use a cardboard box. But really, FAO Schwarz takes the cake. And a lot more of your money. But hey, seriously, how cool is this?? I am trying to see with my logic eyes, this thing huge but it fits in that neat little baggy and a little over the top the coolest theater ever and perhaps a little much for a two year old but he could use it for a playhouse tooooo! Hmm. Do I want him to have this or do I want it?

If you can’t see the video for some reason, go here.

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I, unknowingly at the time, did the best thing I could have possibly done this afternoon. I’ve felt kind of blah all day, so we put our shoes on about 4 and headed outside. I opened the door, but decided to double back for my camera. We finally came back in around 6pm, with my two gig memory card full! So you know that little part earlier about posting so many photos? Yeah just forget that. Here’s a good two or three or thirty.

What you should know: no cats were harmed in the making of these pictures. Maybe a little less than happy and perhaps a little squished and frustrated, but not harmed. See, that’s the beauty of pets that come into the picture as babies when the baby of the house is already present. They adapt quite well to being picked up by their heads, and barely make a fuss at all when someone pulls their tail! No, we don’t let him be purposefully mean to them or anything. He says, “I can be gentle wif dem Mommy. Commere kittty kitty!” And he picks them up. A lot. And they just let him. They wait patiently to be put down, and don’t even try to run away usually. Maybe these particular kittens are even less ’sensitive’ because we raised them from about two weeks old. Their mommy was hit by a car, and we had to get bottles and kitty formula, so they are friendly to an annoying point. They wait at the crack in the door to attack outgoing shoelaces!

I can love on da kitty

Running

Really. This is fun. Can’t you tell by expression?

Just being artistic.

I don’t know what these were…blackberries?

More kitty in tree. Luckily, in the last two weeks, he has learned how to get himself down without help.

More artsyness.

I really like the movement in this picture.

Love this!

Pushcars can’t climb trees!

He looks mischievous doesn’t he?

Love this one too.

What we learned: Bark doesn’t feel good when it hits you in the eye…

…Nor does it taste very good!

What? They like being held like this. I swear.

They have ears. POKE.

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happy halloween

Oct 29

Posted by: Rachel in: blog, current events

You’ve been mooned!

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I’m in a blogging lull.  Most of my content over the last month has been pictures.  Not necessarily a bad thing, as photography is my passion, but you might be getting bored.  The last really long post I can remember writing was my ’southern by the grace of god’ post when I returned from my grandmother’s funeral.  It has been a long month.  There was so much traveling and emotional stress during those few weeks, I just came out the other side exhausted.  I guess I am mentally still trying to recoup from that and gear up for the holidays.  So I do apologize for not having much to say.  I thought I’d at least do some get-to-know-me blogging though.  You probably already know/see plenty about Caleb!  I found a website today called The Daily Meme, and they organize blog memes and challenges by days of the week and such.  So that was how I happened upon Manic Mondays.  Feel free to go look around there if you are feeling slightly less than inspired.

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If you could change anything about the way you were raised, what would it be and why?

I think I would want a sibling. I’m an only child, and for a host of reasons, I wish sometimes that I had a sibling.

Do you think that the world will be a better or a worse place 100 years from now?

I would like to think it would be better. Really. But when I look back over my 25 years, even just the last 10, it is hard to hope so. I shouldn’t be afraid to send my son to school, but I am. I shouldn’t have to avoid watching the news, but I do.

At the beginning of a relationship, do you trust your new partner unless there is something specific to make you do otherwise, or do you withhold your trust until he/she has earned it?

I’m a very trusting person, by nature. I trust most people until they give me a reason not to.

And one from last week: Would you be able to serve on a jury and sentence the defendant to the death penalty if he/she were found guilty of a crime that the court felt warranted the death penalty?

 Absolutely.  If I and the jury members were presented with evidence to convict a person without reasonable doubt in a case for which the death penalty was warranted, I would be honored to serve on behalf of the victim’s family.  Because I have been that in that family.  I don’t think you can truthfully answer this question until you have been.  And he has been on death row for ten years.

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So I started Caleb’s Christmas shopping today. I’ve been working on gathering list ideas for a couple days. Reading Amazon reviews. I took him with me, as Scott was working, and he just played with toys while I shopped. Since everything was in boxes, he didn’t seem too interested.

I can’t even begin to tell you how excited I am. There is a lull there for a while where Christmas is something to look forward to, but the Santa magic has been zapped. Let’s face it, you know you are getting socks and underwear no matter what. And if you’re from a small town like me, several friends of your family will lovingly include you on their Christmas shopping list. When they shop at Ace Hardware. Home of the finest hammers, toilet seats, and gifts from wind chimes to tacky picture frames and little angel figurines. But kids rescue us from our dull Christmas phase. They bring back the magic and it no longer matters if we get anything at all.  Santa is real again.  You experience that same tingling anticipation you remember from childhood, as you woke up Christmas morning and rubbed your eyes from having been unable to fall asleep until two hours past your bedtime.  Only now, you are already beside the tree gazing at the sea of presents, waiting anxiously with your camera for the pitter patter of footsteps.  You are still rubbing your sleepy eyes, but this time, because you have been up late putting together shiny red bicycles and 100 piece toys that require an electric drill.   Luckily you and your husband didn’t have to take shifts in the line waiting for the hottest toy this season.  Your wait was a mere seven hours this year.  But the look of amazement is all worth it.  Will they stop dead in their tracks to survey the presents?  Will they stand in silence or scream wildly?  Will the wrapping paper start flying as the blur that is your child passes your lens?  No matter what their reaction, you will always remember it.  Your heart will be smiling.

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A warning for moms: stay away from toysrus.com! The shop by age category may have cost me $200! Even though some of the stuff is grossly miscategorized. A tummy time mat for a 3-4 year old??

He LOVES to help Daddy work on things, and Scott can do almost anything to a car, so of course the engine on the toolbench appeals to him.

 This puppet theater hangs in a doorway, gotta love that!  He loves for me to animate the one puppet we have, and I think he will enjoy doing it himself soon

He does like Thomas (and the small aquadoodle I did a review on recently) so I thought this would be neat.  The train follows the “tracks!”  Of course people on Amazon gave it bad reviews because the train got confused/couldn’t follow 90+ degree turns *rolls eyes*

Playdoh activity center

This game got bad reviews, but I’m being stubborn because it looks so cute!  I think I’ll buy it local and try it out, that way I can take it back pre-Christmas if it sucks.

The photographer in me wants him to have his own camera :)   This is a new vtech one that I haven’t seen yet, of course Fisher Price makes one as well.

A tabletop easel with NO SPILL paint cups :)

Going along with the puppet theme, make your own puppets, I love them, they’re so cute!  I think the parts are interchangeable, in other words not permanent.

I want to see this soooo bad!

A membership to the children’s museum.  Yes I blocked out the city on the sign.  Might not be too hard to figure out, with internet research, but I’m not advertising.

 Hot Wheels storage.  Need I say more?

Teddy Ruxpin is a maybe at this point, but it sure makes me feel all nostalgic!

 A game that did get good reviews, a cute little monkey version of Kerplunk.

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