caleigh's 1st birthday party

We had so much fun at Caleigh's 1st birthday party.  When the guests arrived we had burgers, hotdogs, chips, potato salad, baked beans, and apples with dip.  After we ate we had cake!  Caleigh had her own ladybug cake - Bennett helped her blow out the candle on her cake.

Caleigh had no idea what to think about the cake - Adam tried to coax her into the red icing. And I took the head of the ladybug off to try to convince her to taste it. She wasn't a fan until she pried the Oreo off of the side of the cake and got a taste of that.  Ritz crackers are one of her favorite things and what better than basically a chocolate cracker.  All that chocolate and icing was making her thirsty.  We caught her 'red-handed' at the party - and I actually said that. After cake we showed a short clip of pictures from Caleigh's first year and then opened some presents.  All in all we really had a fabulous time.  I wish I would have gotten some better pictures but she is so hard to capture on film these days.  I need to do a 12 month update soon - probably after the holidays.  But I will say that on November 18th she took her first couple steps - on her way to the coffee table to try and grab the remote.  Since then she has taken a couple per day but overall she is very cautious so it may take her a while to really take off.  Her first birthday party really was so much fun and we are so thankful to have had a year with her so far!

getting ready for caleigh's party...

Caleigh's first birthday is on Wednesday - the day before Thanksgiving so because of the holiday we decided to celebrate on the Saturday before.  We did a ladybug theme and had people over from 11:30-1 for a cookout and cake.  Making the ladybug cake...

The finished product - and a little ladybug all for Caleigh.

womens retreat

Over the weekend the dads got the kiddos and the women of Uptown headed off to Montreat, NC for a women's retreat.  These are the ladies from my prayer square and my roadtrip buddies for the ride up and back - Mary, me, Melissa, and Carrie.

While we were up there Henry experienced his first snow - can't you tell that it's snowing? We had a fabulous weekend!

charlotte in the fall

This is why I love Charlotte in the fall (yes, November is still fall down here in the south)... it is gorgeous.  Clear blue skies, changing leaves... and to think that this is only a taste of all of eternity - that even creation groans with the weight of sin.  Help us, Lord, to long for eternity with you.

And I love Caleigh Grace in the fall - dressed in her warm clothes enjoying an afternoon at the park. Beautiful...

avocado

Paint by avocado...

Is that avocado in your eye? Caleigh does love avocado, and cheese, as you will see in this first video... and Ritz crackers as you will see in the second video.  Really there is not a food that Caleigh does not like.  She likes tons of things that Adam and I wouldn't touch - let me see if I can same a few - avocado, green peas, broccoli (I hate broccoli but Adam likes it), sweet potatoes, hummus (ugh, the texture - worst ever), vegetable cream cheese, wheat germ, yogurt (Adam will eat this), buckwheat pancakes, squash, etc... If you are getting the correct picture it would seem that Caleigh is a normal eater and Adam and I are picky - Adam would say that he is not picky but I will admit that I am an extremely picky eater; I do not like to go 'out of the box' with food.  But somehow God has given us a child that will.

I recorded these videos to document something that Caleigh has been doing with her food that we think is hilarious.  She will put it in her mouth with one hand - usually her right - and then if she feels that it is not completely in her mouth she will use one of her wrists or arms to push it in.  It is so funny when she does it - I was trying so hard not to crack up in these clips.

**For some reason blogger won't let me upload the second clip but you get the picture.

welcome to the world henry dirks!

So this post is extremely late considering that Henry Lewis Dirks was born on Carrie's due date of October 7th.  Henry was 8 lb. 12 oz. and he made it into the world after Carrie had only been at the hospital for an hour or two... by the time she got there she was already 9 cm... my hero!  Here is a picture of Adam, Tyler, and Jake holding their sons - poor Adam only has a girl so Elmo had to sub in (is Elmo a boy?  I don't even know...).

Precious little (or big!) Henry... Can you see the excitement in this photo?  Maggie was celebrating and Caleigh was trying to figure out what all the commotion was about.

happy halloween

Caleigh was a cute little ladybug for Halloween.  Here are some shots from before we went out - the Dirks + family, the Hunts + family, and the our parents came over for some chili before we took our kiddos out trick or treating in Dilworth.  Caleigh was not to thrilled to get into her costume and I could not get her to smile 1 time with her hat on.

Maggie and Caleigh were dressed so much alike - though Maggie was a butterfly. Our little bugs... (and a cat in the background) Maggie: "Hmm, these antennae look really fun to play with."

Caleigh: "I am actually not that thrilled that you are touching the hat I hate wearing." - She looks very perplexed. Caleigh: "Please don't touch the antennae."

and actually trick-or-treating...

We made it outside and put Caleigh, Sam, and Maggie got into the wagon.  It was like there were at least 10 paparazzi there - flashes were going off left and right.  I think the whole point of Halloween with little babies is to take pictures.  

Is there an elephant in the room?

This would be the best picture by far of Caleigh for the night but it is blurry.  So sad. We had an entire entourage of people with us - 15 adults and 4 babies (including Henry who was in the sling). Daddy and his little ladybug - she really enjoyed playing with the candy all night. Did anyone actually get a good one of these - how do you get 1 almost one year old and 2 toddlers to look at the cameras while their moms do?  I have no idea.  Halloween was a lot of fun but we were so exhausted by the time it was over.  It took us about an hour to go to 6 houses so Caleigh's candy stash was not stellar.  We had a great time and cannot wait for next year!

last week

Last Sunday the Kulps invited us to the Panthers game against Arizona.  On the 6th row (which was actually the first row just above the tunnel where the players (Arizona unfortunately) run into and out of.  The Panthers pulled out a victory that seemed unlikely in the first half and we had a fabulous time.  Thanks Kulps!

Then on Monday Adam and I had some grilled chicken salads that looked so yummy I had to take a picture of them. I love it when Caleigh squats like this... She has been standing on her own a lot lately (just for maybe 15-30 seconds at a time).  Often she stands there playing with a toy but in this case it looks like she is reading a magazine or the paper. While I am in the kitchen Caleigh will often play in 'her' cabinet which is the one we keep all of the tupperware in.  She enjoys taking every single item out of the cabinet and recently has started climbing into the cabinet.  She takes a little slide in this video but notice how she is fine and doesn't cry until I ask her if she is okay.  Hence the reason why we hold our breaths when she falls and wait to see if she is going to cry before making a peep.

all in a day's work...

Just some photos from one day last week -

Playing outside on a gorgeous day with her riding lion.

Kissing the baby... And spending plenty of time perfecting her favorite pasttime... opening the wipes container and pulling them all out!  

"Mom, I don't know who pulled out those wipes, I'm just sitting over here playing with this bag." "Well, ok mom, I was really just opening and closing the lid on the wipes container." "Ok, I'm guilty, you caught me in the act." "Now you really caught me... but I don't really care because I am actually pretty proud of myself."

Clearly it didn't happen this time but usually when I catch Caleigh doing something that she doesn't think she is supposed to she will jump a mile out of her skin when I say her name.  This time she is just so proud of herself.

smarty pants (at least we think so)

Caleigh will be 11 months tomorrow (I can't believe it - didn't I just do her 10 month update?) and this is SUCH a fun age.  It is so neat to watch her mind work and discover new things about the world everyday.  She just learned (maybe during the last week and a half) how to put things back in.  ("put in, Caleigh" - we've been saying that forever but she just started doing it!).  Watch...

Caleigh is also quite the budding reader.  Well, to clarify she actually doesn't read but she does spent lots of time sitting at her book pile and flipping through her picture books.  Here she is enjoying a classic...

In the past month (especially the past week) Caleigh has really taken to standing on her own.  She will often pull up to stand and then let go and play with whatever she is holding.  The most she can do is maybe 20 seconds... I still can't imagine her walking that soon though - she is just not a risk taker.  Caleigh is also very into handing us things ("thank you, Caleigh").  She is such a sweet little goose and we have absolutely LOVED these past 11 months - what a gift from God!

panthers game!

Adam and I went to the Panthers game on Sunday (sans Cals).  It was PERFECT football weather - beautiful clear blue skies - high of 64... and we got to see an excellent game! (Panthers 30, New Orleans Saints 7).

See what I mean - beautiful Sunday in Charlotte... It was a little chilly, as you can see we were in the last row... not the last row on the lower level but the last row in the whole stadium.  We actually had a great view of the game and it was awesome to not have anyone sitting behind us.  The negatives may have been the wind (cold!) and the 95 steps or more it took to reach our seats - my legs were burning and we were both a little out of breath each time.   The location of our seats reminds me of senior year in college when we FINALLY got to go to the UNC-Duke basketball game and where were our seats?  You guessed it - very last row touching the wall - although the air was not as brisk there - we were actually kind of suffocating and could literally touch the ceiling above us... and if I recall correctly we lost the game in the last minute or so.  Great memories!  I am going to try to find that picture and scan it in :)  does anyone have it?

funny bone

On Saturday night we had dinner at my parents' house and Caleigh was pretty moody - she started out by crying her eyes out when she sat down and put the first bite of food in her mouth (maybe she didn't like it? - who knows) and then she was fine for the rest of the meal.  At the end of the meal Karen started throwing Yasmin's food to her (Yasmin is my parents black lab/boxer mix) and Yasmin was jumping all over the place and catching it in her mouth.  Caleigh must have gotten her funny bone tickled because she laughed hysterically for at least 5 or 10 minutes.  We were able to catch some of it on video!  It was seriously the hardest I have ever heard her laugh.

playdate with maggie

Yesterday we spent some fun time hanging out with Carrie, Maggie, and Henry.  Caleigh and Maggie had a blast together as usual and I captured some of it on video...

more hair...

Caleigh's first hair sprout...

walking and waving

Such a cute video.  Caleigh is still at around the same stage of cruising and she does enjoy walking with her lion - though I can't say that it looks very natural for her.  

Once again - check out the hair... sometimes it has a life of its own!

henry's debut

Welcome to the world Henry Lewis Dirks!  8 lb 12 oz and very punctual - he arrived on his due date.  Congratulations Dirks!  (This baby could never be one of ours - look at the dark hair!)

Group picture, outtake #3.  Maggie is cheering in an effort to get a picture without her thumb in her mouth and in all the commotion Caleigh is very concerned about what is happening behind her. The men and their sons - well Adam only has Elmo for now... maybe a male heir one day.

nice hair

at the park

We love living close to so many parks in Charlotte and the fall weather has been so beautiful that we have spent a lot of time there!  Here are some pictures of Caleigh playing.

Mom, don't interrupt me - can't you see how busy I am?

Actually I think I am going to just head on out of here. But wait, how do I get out? Oh, maybe it is this way.

not yo momma's bath time

Caleigh loves her bathtime and it is a necessity after meals.  Caleigh is into raising everything over her head right now: her bottle when she is done with it, her silky (as seen in the previous post while playing peek-a-boo with herself), keys, toys, etc... This trend has continued into the bath tub and so she spends a good bit of the bath accidently rinsing herself.  So cute!

So excited! Caleigh is also into dropping things right now.  This is especially unfortunate when I walk to my car carrying at least 5 bags and Caleigh and I give her my keys to play with... not a great scene when I have to put everything and everyone down to pick up the keys that she dropped.  You think I would have learned. :)  She is into dropping food off of her tray when she is done with it (not allowed by the way), dropping toys, and getting bath toys out of her way...

Caleigh is also mesmerized by the water - she is a little confused as to why she can't grab it.  Notice the tongue out while she is concentrating - she has also been doing that a lot lately.  For no reason she will just stick her tongue all the way out.  The phases and stages she has gone through are so fun!