bumbo

I think Caleigh likes the bumbo so much more now that she can climb on it than when she was a little baby that sat in it.

Let me see if I fit in it this way... What is in there??? (I LOVE when she squats like that.  I think it makes her look like such a little girl.) Mom, my leg is actually stuck in there... No other way to get the leg out...

busy

Mom can't you see that I found something pretty awesome on the edge of the carpet in this corner - can't you see that I just don't have time for pictures anymore...

PS She is wearing a Carolina Girls... best in the world t-shirt.  She looks so big to me in this picture!

just being silly

A tisket, a tasket, Caleigh's in a basket...

She tips over these baskets on her changing table (which we don't actually use to change her anymore) several times a day so we thought we would give her a taste of her own medicine.  Look at me... Smiling only for Daddy of course... Trying to flee the confines of the basket but not quite sure how to do it so she's just being silly.

lake nantahala

Last week we were gone from Aug. 9th until Aug. 16th to Lake Nantahala in the far southwestern corner of North Carolina (basically near where NC, SC, GA, and TN meet).  We went with my family and we had a great time.  The lake is small but absolutely beautiful.  There was no cell phone or internet service so we felt a bit disconnected from the world, but we did have TV and watched ALOT of Olympics.  Besides relaxing beside the lake (my mom and Karen shown here)...

We also spent alot of time watching the dogs swim and fetch (our Bales swam so much more than she ever has!).  We rented a pontoon boat on Monday, Tuesday, and Friday.  Here are some pictures from the boat.  We tried to follow the rules and keep Caleigh in a lifejacket the whole time but she REALLY hated it.  Since she was so unhappy we decided to go ahead and let her practice driving the boat (with my assistance of course). In this photo Caleigh is saying, "Mom, I really don't like being out here with nowhere to crawl or cruise and nothing to explore... but at least you took off my lifejacket for a minute." My parents enjoyed some great Caleigh time while we were there.  I just weaned Caleigh/ she weaned herself the week before we left for the lake so each morning my parents got Caleigh up and fed her her bottle and her breakfast so that Adam and I could sleep in (which we are not very good at) but it was nice to at least be able to relax a little in the mornings.  And let me tell you - we needed the sleep with how late we were staying up watching the Olympics.  While we were at the lake I really saw the importance of DVR. :)

Here is a shot of Caleigh snuggling up to my mom (a special treat since the snuggling really doesn't happen too often with Caleigh - she is way too busy and not into being held that much).  Here are some (not very good!) shots of us tubing on the lake.  The pontoon actually pulled us pretty fast, especially with two people on there.  Here are some action shots of Adam and I. As you can see Adam was the deadweight on our team... Adam was a little exhausted and took a break for a little while in the boat with Caleigh. Then he went back out there with my brother, David. The dogs were exhausted after each day on the boat and all the swimming they did. Other than the boating we played alot of games; our favorites are: Settlers of Catan, Bananagrams (my new favorite!), and Hand and Foot.  Here is Karen working on one of the crafts that she brought for the week. Caleigh got some good Daddy time and laughed alot for him. Adam, David, and I also went rafting on the Nantahala River one day while we were there.  It was so much fun and I am SO bummed that I don't have any pictures of it.  The Nantahala River only has class 2 and 3 rapids but it was awesome because we went in a smaller raft by ourselves without a guide.  The 3 of us took turns guiding the raft down the river (about a 9 mile stretch).  We had a few mishaps along the way and the 37 degree water was FREEZING (we thought they were joking when the asked us about wetsuits but apparently not)... but it was so much fun.  I have never been so sore in my life as I was after paddling hard for 2 hours straight.

For those who have never seen it I wanted to include a short clip of Karen throwing a little tantrum (this one is just a joke - she is putting on a show for us as you can see from her smiles - but there are definitely real ones that I didn't film).  In this video we are joking her about what she is going to get to order for dinner when we go out that night.  Of course we all knew she wanted and would order: chicken fingers and fries as she does EVERYWHERE we go EVERYTIME we go out.  I seriously don't think she has ever gotten anything else.  She is such a good sport with all the joking and our trips would never be the same without her.  She always makes us laugh and is included in all of our best memories about vacations.

For those who were concerned about what Karen got to eat that night - she did order chicken fingers and even shared half of one with me!

All in all we had a great trip and can't wait to do it again next year.

pulling up and showing some personality

This video clip was taken before we went to the lake over a week and a half ago (Caleigh was about 8 months and 1 week).  She had just started to pull up on stuff before we went to the lake.  Her favorite thing to pull up on before we left was her little musical table.  

As you can see in the video Caleigh is also really starting to have a will.  She tries to pull herself up and then when she can't do it she throws a little tantrum to show us that she is frustrated with herself.  She is also persistent - she will try and try again to pull herself up.

All of that persistence has paid off though because now she is pulling up on EVERYTHING.   She has even taken to a modified form of crawling - she crawls with one foot up as if she is half walking.  She also has really good balance and sometimes will let go of whatever she was holding on to and just stand alone for several seconds.  It is so fun to see her grow up and change.  She is getting so big!  We go for her 9 month appointment on Aug. 28th and we are excited to see how big she really is.

blowing zerberts

Adam introduced the word zerberts to me... I guess it is another way to say blowing raspberries.  Caleigh has been doing it for a while and we decided to finally get it on video.  In this clip she is also doing one of her primal yells - this happens when she gets super excited and doesn't know how to express it so she kicks her feet and squeals in the highest octave possible.

knights game!

We had a semi-lifegroup social on Saturday night (the same night of the Panthers fan fest - a truly sporty day) and headed to the Charlotte Knight's game.  I don't know if anyone actually watched the game... I didn't - I am pretty sure the Knight's lost though.  The game was fun and brought back lots of memories of when Adam worked for the Carolina Mudcats during the first year of our marriage.  It also brought back memories of junior high and going on New Life 91.9 night and hearing Jeff Moore and the Distance, or Point of Grace; ironically that radio station is still playing those groups... hilarious.  

Here is the group...

And Caleigh and I looking all matchy-matchy before we left. Pastor Dave wants to know, "Do you like this face?" We really do. :)

...quoting the one and only Bennett Kulp...

panthers fan fest

On Saturday we had a very sporty day.  In the morning we skipped Caleigh's morning nap and went to Panthers Fan Fest.  It got us so excited about this season of Panthers football; hopefully it will be better than last season.

Our girl was a sleepyhead but she did great! My eyes are like half closed in this picture - I was a sleepyhead too. And we got to see the Kulps - the Kulp girls helped to wake Caleigh up.  We have always thought that Caleigh would be such an introvert just because she is content to watch and observe people and she has just seemed quiet.  Lately it seems like she is coming out of her shell.  She doesn't laugh much but she thinks that other babies her age are hilarious and she laughs her head off when she is around them - especially the Kulp girls.  So I don't know what she will be like as she gets older - we are so excited to find out... her personality is a mystery.

swingin' gal

caleigh LOVES to swing.  she always laughs while swinging (and her laughs are hard to get).  unfortunately we started recording this too late, after the big belly laughs subsided, but she is still a cutie.

hanging out

Even now I know I will look back on these days with such fondness... When Adam (and I on some days) get home from work we tag team feeding Caleigh, her bath, and her bedtime and we have her in bed by 6:45 or 7.  On typical nights we eat dinner right after she goes to bed around 7.  This time for us is so fun to hang out... One night this week we had wine and a big grilled chicken salad for dinner.  The salad didn't do so well as to blunt the effects of the wine.  So... you get a daddy and a dog - both a little crazy...

And a little Nachooooooooooooo (if you haven't seen Nacho Libre, the greatest movie ever, you might want to stop reading here). Here is a clip of Adam performing his favorite moving from this movie about Luchadors (sp? = wrestlers in English).  Every time Adam does this I absolutely die laughing (a very wheezy laugh from which I acquired the nickname "Wheezy" in college).  We actually had to tape it twice because the first time all you could hear was an extreme wheeze.  Only one question left to ask: Have you seen these moves?

If you haven't seen Nacho Libre you should seriously borrow it from us - we LOVE it!

this week

On Wed. we went to the mall with Carrie and Mags to attempt to get some $1.50 cheesecake... We did not get some cheesecake but Cals did try out her new stroller.  Well, it is not actually new, it is the same one we used with the car seat... but this is the first time she has ridden in it like a big girl.

And when I got home from work today (Thursday) Caleigh was crawling everywhere, under the chair and the exersaucer even.  She is a busy little girl these days.

happy birthday karen!

My sister, Karen's, 22nd birthday was on Monday.  We met her and my parents at Maggiano's to celebrate.  

Karen got a Vera Bradley wallet to match her purse. My parent's entertained Caleigh after her first ever biter biscuit was gone. Classic Karen expression...

Note the gift - a mega buy!  Karen is absolutely obsessed with crafts even though each one only takes less than an hour to complete.  For the last 10 years she has always gotten some type of craft for every birthday and Christmas.

lake lure & milestones

a picture of us hanging out on the couch at lake lure

a photoshopped photo-op Caleigh was 8 months on Saturday and until now we haven't had much progress in the crawling department.  She is just a content baby - happy to stay in one place.  She is starting to show some signs of crawling though - mostly pulling herself forward with her arms, but here she is attempting to move ahead...

On both of these videos you can definitely hear Gammy in the background cheering Caleigh on... pretty hilarious :)  In this one she also gets a little distracted by Adam's hairy legs - pulling out his leg hair is actually one of her favorite pasttimes (seriously!).

So I definitely would not say that Caleigh is crawling by any means... but she is getting closer and closer.

lake lure putt-putt

On Saturday afternoon after the weather cleared up we went to play some putt-putt.  Caleigh got her own club and ball and thoroughly enjoyed chewing on them both (clearly I am not one of those germaphobe moms).  We were all pretty excited about Caleigh's first trip to the "golf" course.  Here she is being so cute and excited...

A pose with grandpa... Karen and Gammy... Caleigh manhandling her golf club this time, she looks like she actually might hit the ball :)

Mama and her Cals A big poopy mess needed a quick change on the golf course... while the grandmas tried to convince me to let them take Caleigh inside to the bathroom, I decided the putting green would be much faster and cleaner (seriously... bacteria grow where it is wet).  Not quite the golf etiquette Adam was hoping for. Gammy and Cals Pop-pop and Cals

lake lure boat trip

On Friday we spent the day relaxing - at the spa (for me and Vicki) and on the golf course again (for Adam and Kent).  On Saturday we headed out on a pontoon boat - unfortunately the weather was crappy and it rained a bunch but we still had a good time.  We brought Bales with us on vacation too - she had the best vacation ever because she got tons of attention and got to be outside a lot.  She loved being on the boat but wasn't going to get close to jumping in the water.

My parents drove up for the day too (only 95 miles from CLT).  Caleigh wasn't so fond of the boat.  She actually liked the wind in her face but really hated the life jacket.  Super sad face... Well, maybe the life jacket isn't so bad if I can chew on the buckles... Adam and I swam despite the 72 degree weather... unfortunately we didn't have a ladder so here is us trying to get back on the boat. My dad wanted to join in the swimming fun without a thought of how he would get back in the boat :)  

lake lure pool time

We just got back from a trip to Lake Lure.  We went up on Wednesday afternoon and stayed until Sunday with Adam's parents.  It was a really relaxing trip!  On Thursday we went golfing and then in the afternoon we headed down to the pool.  The pool is great - it has a lazy river and everything.  Caleigh loved the water once again.  Her new thing was kicking her feet in the water... we made a short video of it but I'm not sure if the average person (ie non-parent, non-grandparent) could tell that's what she was doing.

On Thursday night we had an all-American dinner of grilled chicken, corn on the cob, and watermelon.  Caleigh enjoyed barley cereal, green beans, and her first taste of watermelon.

P.S. At the end of this video she isn't choking... don't worry :)