fairhaven weekend trip

Last weekend we left Friday for a weekend trip to Fairhaven - some cabins in Roan Mountain, TN that we love to visit - it is run by a Christian organization.  We left after I got off of work on Friday and headed up there.  It wasn't supposed to snow but it was supposed to be really cold.  When we got there we realized that it had snowed earlier in the week and because it was 8 degrees outside when we got there the snow was still around.  It was gorgeous...

We brought some food and stopped for some food on the way in.  The cabins don't have tvs so it was a great getaway to relax and read.

When we got there it was 0 degrees and inside our cabin it didn't feel that much warmer.  A nice lady that works there brought us a space heater and we ended up sleeping in the same room with Caleigh since it was so cold! The hill leading down to the gazebo that we went sledding on...

lifegroup christmas party 2008

While Adam was out of town skiing in December, Caleigh and I attended our annual lifegroup Christmas party.  This year we had a tacky Christmas sweater party.  (I don't really dress like this.)  I debated about whether or not to post this but decided in the name of fun I would show just what I can do.  I am wearing the prize for tackiest sweater on my head which obscures my Christmas pom-pom headband - a last minute suggestion from Celia Kulp.  Mary was jealous that she couldn't wear it.

My sweater is actually a very long vest from one of my mom's friends who has lots of Christmas cheer (and 3 or 4 sweaters to choose from!).  I also wore a jingle bell necklace and Karen let me borrow her Christmas tree light necklace with the strict stipulation that I return it in perfect condition so that she could wear it.  The necklace really sealed my victory - especially the 3 different settings: all lights on, all lights flashing in unison, or all lights flashing at random.  Good thing nobody in our lifegroup has a seizure disorder.  My favorite moment from the Christmas party came from the last white elephant Santa gift.  Lauren got the pleasure of opening this enormous pair of men's underwear with an iTunes gift card hidden in the crotch.  Truly classy for an Uptown bunch.  I love this picture with some of the ladies' faces in various degrees of shock.

When Caleigh reads this blog in every how many years she is going to wonder...  who did my parents hang out with?

scary doctor's appointment

On Thursday, I went in for my 16 week OB appointment (only the 2nd time I have been by myself).  Our doctor (Dr. Gourley) couldn't find the heartbeat.  Adam wasn't there so I was really freaking out... the doctor just kept saying, "I'm only hearing your heartbeat... I'm only hearing your heartbeat."  He listened for a long time and searched all over my belly to try to find it.  Then he said, "This happens all the time, the baby might be laying in a way that we can't hear the heartbeat."  And I am crying thinking everything this happens to people I know they have a miscarriage and thinking that I am going to be all alone when I find out about the bad news, etc.  So the doctor says that we are going to have to do an ultrasound here in the room in a minute to make sure everything is ok (in hindsight he was very - maybe overly - optimistic and if it had ended up being bad news I would have wished he was a little more realistic in saying what was going on).  So the doctor leaves the room and is gone for (thankfully) only about 5 minutes during which I texted Adam and said: dr can't find heartbeat, getting ultrasound in a few to see if everything is ok.  Of course he is feeling awful that he isn't there - he immediately turned around and headed to the doctor's appointment.  During those 5 minutes I was praying so much and then the doctor came in and did the ultrasound and saw the heartbeat - the baby is totally fine, praise the Lord - and the baby measured exactly 16 wk and 4 days which was what I was on Friday.  What a relief...  Adam got to the doctors right when I was walking out of the office which was good because I was emotional and freaking out.  The doctor was funny afterwards and making jokes about how he didn't look at the baby's privates so we would have to wait 2 more weeks to find out if it is a boy or a girl.  We would love to have you join us in praising God for the life of this tiny baby, and that God would continue to protect and sustain this life inside me (and that it would be a boy) :).  I guess the doctor wasn't overly concerned because I hadn't had any bleeding and I have been feeling the baby move pretty much every day.  I am so glad that everything is ok... it makes me realize even more that in the chaos of not knowing where we will be next year or where we will live when the baby comes or what Adam will do about MBA school - that I really do already love and want this baby so bad.

dinner with kulps

The week of New Years the Kulps came over (2/3rds kid free) and joined us for dinner.  This is Mary's attempt to document their time there...  (Clearly I am slacking off in the picture taking department)

I made my first cheesecake!  I think it actually turned out pretty good - next time I think I need to beat the cheese for a little longer so that it will be fluffier - not bad for a non-baker. For dinner we had baked potato soup and salad, very yummy.... A blurry attempt at a self shot...

the sickness

Caleigh has had a rough run of this cold season - in the beginning of December she had tubes in her ears.  About 2 weeks later she had a cold that wouldn't go away and was especially grouchy and clingy so we went back to the doctor.   Apparently you can have a double ear infection even with tubes in both ears.  You learn something new everyday - I guess they forgot to tell us that tiny detail.  So we left the doctor that day with double ear infections, ear drops, wheezing, and 3 times a day albuterol breathing treatments.  We didn't realize how sick Caleigh actually was until the week after Christmas.  It was like she woke up that week.  She starting walking all the time, talking all the time and saying lots of fun new words, signing please and all done, and was just a different baby all around.  It is funny how your kid gets sick and goes through a hard parenting month and you just don't realize how bad it was until it's over.  Caleigh is SO fun right now - I need to do a 13 month update soon... actually by the time I do it it will probably be 14 months.

christmas 2008

We had a great Christmas!  I absolutly love Christmas and look forward to it and the holiday season all year.  Sometimes (like this year), I am sad on Christmas because it means the end of the Advent season and another 11 months of waiting for it to come around again.  Caleigh wore a super cute Christmas outfit and increased the joy of our Christmas morning.  On Christmas morning I made monkey bread and we spend the morning exchanging gifts.  She loved opening her presents - little people and shoes from us.  

After her morning nap we went down to my parents' house to exchange gifts and to eat an excellent Christmas dinner.  Cals loved opening her gifts - I don't think she cared what she was unwrapping - she would have been happy tearing paper off of anything.  She was so funny to watch. And she got an awesome wagon from Gigi and Poppop - thanks y'all!  She loves riding in it. From Uncle David Caleigh got a fun ball popper.  In this video I wonder who is having more fun - Caleigh playing with it or everyone else laughing at it...

Only 11 more months until December comes around again and we can't wait... and next time around we will have a 2 year old and a 6 month old; it's hard to believe.

christmas eve!

We had a busy and fun Christmas Eve!  In the morning I made a sausage/egg casserole so we had a family breakfast (Caleigh actually waited until almost 9 to eat!).  After showers and clean clothes, Adam took Cals to distribute one of our Christmas traditions.  I made little Christmas tree bags of Chex mix (thanks for the help mom!) and also snickerdoodle cookies and tied those up with some ribbon and a note. 

Adam and Cals went door to door handing out the treat bags and for those people who weren't home we hung them on their door nobs.  We look forward to doing this every year and letting our kids take them to the neighbors as they get older. Then we headed off to a Christmas brunch (more of a lunch this year) with Jess, Kim, and Marcy... we also love this tradition - it was great to catch up all together.  Looking forward to next year when I will have 2 kids, Kim will be married, and who knows what's on the plate for everyone else!  I love living life with y'all! After naptime at home for Cals (and last minute shopping for Adam) we got dressed up and headed to the Christmas Eve service at Uptown.  It truly does not feel like Christmas Eve to me without going to church.  It was a little busier and more distracting having Cals there as a busy 1 year old (compared to being 4 weeks old last year) but it was still great.  Here Dave is giving a Christmas story to the kiddos - (80 of them at least!) And after that we headed off to meet Grandpa and Gammy Dyer like we do every year for Christmas Eve dinner and presents.  This year we did it at their house which worked out great for Cals.  She enjoyed opening some awesome gifts... And was just gorgeous in her borrowed (thanks Kulps!) Christmas dress.  Here she is proudly displaying her UNC baby board book. We love all the traditions of Christmas Eve and it is almost sad for me when Christmas Eve and Christmas get here because they are my favorite time of year and when they get here it means they are almost over and I have to wait another whole year to experience it again.  Merry Christmas!

prego!

I hope that by now most of you have heard the news - from us or from our Christmas letter... We are expecting another baby!  We are due June 22nd which will put Cals and baby bean almost 19 months apart.  

Looks like a sweet little teddy bear!  We will find out on Jan. 22nd if it is a boy or a girl - and I think we are going to put up a poll shortly so you can voice your opinion!  We are so excited for y'all to share in our joy!

adam skiing...

The weekend before Christmas Adam left on Friday night to fly to Boston and meet up with my brother for a short ski trip.  My brother lives in Keene, NH and they drove back to Charlotte the following Tuesday (14 hours on a good day) for Christmas.  Fortunately or unfortunately Adam flew to Boston in the middle of a big snowstorm... I knew I better start praying for the weekend when he told me that the pilot announced that they were circling the Boston airport waiting for the runway to be plowed so the plane could land.  Here is a picture of them driving to the ski resort, yes that is the road...

David on the left and Adam on the right... They skiied Okemo, Killington, and Sugarbush and had a great time!  And Caleigh and I managed to make it through the weekend without them. Cals and I actually ended up spending the night in 4 different places in 4 nights - I did all of our Christmas shopping in 2 days (which Adam was grateful to miss).  And Sunday night we our lifegroup Christmas party with some Panthers watching afterwards.  More pictures on that to come...

what a helper

Caleigh often helps me unload the dishwasher in the mornings and this particular morning was like no other.  I must have forgotten to take into account how much she loves to climb.  I was putting away some utensils (and my back was turned for half a second), and then I turned around to see this...

Caleigh decided that since the bottom was empty she better climb up in the dishwasher to get the items off of the top shelf... Only I don't think she is putting them away in the correct place... She is so fast!  Other things she enjoys doing when I turn my back (besides climbing), is crawling into the bathroom and finding an open toilet bowl to play in.  Twice she has been caught splashing in an unsuspecting bowl... good think I don't have OCD but even I think that is pretty gross.  At least it was at our house...

silky-lover

We have adopted this nickname for Caleigh, along with goose (which we call her all the time)... because in fact she is a silky-lover.  It has become her other constant companion - besides her thumb.  Silky even goes to the dirtiest of places... (ie park swing)...

We better get a replacement silky just in case or we could be in some serious trouble.

picture time

Last weekend Adam, Caleigh, and I went to the park with the McNamees and Daniel took a bunch of pictures for us.  The purpose was for a Christmas card pic (which we had a ton to choose from), but he took some other fabulous shots as well.  Thanks Daniel!  I think these are the best pictures of us as a family that we have...

What's a picture of Caleigh without her constant companion - the thumb... Ouch!  But she does look very entertained.  I LOVE this picture of us... This one was our Christmas card pic - Adam wanted one in color because he said in the black and white you can't tell how big and blue and gorgeous Caleigh's eyes are... true...

cute kids in pjs

Celia and Cals...

We brought Caleigh to lifegroup in her pajamas to put her down to sleep there and it turns out that Bennett was wearing the same pjs.  (The ones Caleigh is wearing are the Kulps)  Bennett is still working on how to do rabbit ears so we will just say these are antlers. So cute!

walking and dancing

I think I would officially say that Caleigh is walking now.  She chooses to walk over crawling - but does still resort to crawling after the walking seems to be too slow.  She really is walking so much now - though I still wouldn't say it is a means of transportation yet.  One of the main things that is hindering her is that she doesn't think she can stand back up once she sits/falls down - she really can but doesn't realize it.  I figured out that it is really hard to get a video of her walking when you are the only one there to take it.  This was the best I could do for now but I will have to post some other attempts soon.

You can tell that we are moving into toddlerhood and mastering the big muscle motor skills.  Caleigh has recently taken to dancing which looks a little like bouncing up and down but you get the gist.  Notice in this video how she is so easily distracted from one task and how quick she is to try to find something else to do.

will smith!

On Thursday I had a doctors appointment and then visited another one of our friends whose 4 year old son was having surgery.  It just so happened that the same day, Will Smith came to Levine Children's Hospital (where I also work) to sign autographs and meet the patients there.  I tried to wait in line to get my picture taken with him but it was for patient's only - too bad.  I tried to snag some pictures though - 

We are pretty much best friends now... I love when celebrities use their fame for a good cause - way to go Will Smith.

getting tubes

On Wednesday we went to the hospital for Caleigh to get tubes put in her ears.   She hasn't really had many ear infections but she has had one in her right ear for at least the past 3 months.  She went through 5 antibiotics including a series of 3 Rocephin shots in a row but nothing cleared it up; after a meeting with a pediatric EENT specialist we decided that Caleigh would get tubes put in her ears.  We were glad to finally get it over with - to be done with the antibiotics, doctors visits, and her being in pain (although Caleigh in pain really isn't that bad - it is actually really hard to tell if she is ever sick because she is such a good baby).  We had so many people praying for us during the surgery and Adam and I felt a complete peace about letting her go.  We prayed Psalm 121:7-8 for Caleigh: "The Lord will keep you from all harm - he will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore."  And we prayed Isaiah 41:10 for us: "Do not fear, for I am with you; do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God.  I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand."

Silky got to go with the silky-lover back to the OR.  Silky has really been around the block!  Caleigh didn't even freak out when we handed her to one of the OR nurses to carry her back there - she grabbed silky and laid her head on the lady's shoulder.  At some point we are really going to have to teach her not to go to strangers. :) They gave her some medicine to relax her a little before 8 am and by 8:25 she was in the recovery room.  The doctor said it went really well and that there was a lot of thick gunk in her ears that he drained out.  When she first woke up she was crying this weird psychotic cry and her head was rolling all around - it was a little bit freaky.  After some oxygen and some Mommy-time she perked right back up to her usual self by 9 am.   We were so thankful to all of our friends and family that took time to pray for us, send email updates, and for Pastor Dave who came and prayed with us at the hospital.  

stubborn goose

She got in there all by herself...

And then got stuck... and then eventually got out by herself... And then she decided to try to climb in there from another angle.  In case you are wondering just how stubborn Caleigh is and just how determined she is to do what she wants...

christmas tree from lowe's

On the Saturday after Thanksgiving we headed to Lowe's to pick out a Christmas tree.  After much searching we came up with a pretty good one.

(And yes... we did get the Lowe's employee to take our picture...)