closing

We are closing on our condo tomorrow morning at 9:30.  After that we have a crazy week - I work Wed night.  Thurs morning the painter is coming to paint the bedrooms and bathrooms in our new place.  I work Thurs night.  Friday morning we leave for Fairhaven (cabins in the mountains of East TN - near Boone) with the Dirks - Caleigh's first trip!  Sunday we come back and have lifegroup and the Oscars.  Monday we are going to pack and half-move (all the small stuff).  Then we are renting a truck on Tuesday and moving all the big stuff.  Hopefully our life will be so much less crazy by next Wednesday!

more tummy time craziness

Same tummy time antics but with different protests this time.  We have progressed from crying as a form of communication during tummy time...

This was from a couple of days ago.  Caleigh is getting a tiny bit better at tummy time everyday.  She is now able to hold her head up at a 90 degree angle for several moments at the beginning of each tummy time session.  And today she actually used her hands for a second to prop herself up.  We are so proud of her... we are just waiting for the roll over.  I think it will be awhile...

caleigh's first superbowl party

Getting ready for our first Superbowl with Caleigh - a tradition for many years to come.  This year we decided to cheer for the Giants - as you can see by our homemade fan apparel.  

Adam, Tyler, me, Carrie, and Cals....  Go Giants! A celebratory picture as Caleigh cheered the Giants onto victory.

election

Here is a really cool website that I borrowed from Kim's blog.  It is a really great tool that tells you which candidates your political tools are closest too.

http://www.electoralcompass.com/v/wsj

I am closest to Rudy Giuliani who is now out and next closest to McCain.  Apparently I am a very moderate Republican (very close to the middle of the graph).  I am furthest from Obama which was kindof suprising because I do agree with him on some things and I like his charismatic personality.

cheeks

On of Caleigh's best features is her huge and adorable cheeks.  Here she is showing them off.

Here is a before picture, loving the pacifier (only loves it sometimes). And here is an after picture.  Apparently the cheeks got in the way of the pacifier...  She needs a pacy (or a fufu as Adam used to call his) for plus sized cheeks. :)

toys

caleigh is becoming more and more interested in toys - she will unintentionally hold onto things and the other day she put one of her toys in her mouth to explore it.  we are so delighted to see how much she changes everyday!  she is such a blessing and an amazing gift from God.

2 months!

Caleigh was 2 months old last weekend, on January 26th.  Today she went to see Dr. Ball for her 2 month checkup and shots.  She is a chunk (an average chunk) at 11 lb 2 oz (barely above 50th percentile) and 22.5 inches (exactly 50th percentile) and 15.5 inches head circumference (50-75th %).  She screamed during her shots but is otherwise doing well and is very healthy.  Although Caleigh has good head control we still got a prescription for more tummy time.  Yuck.  Happy 2 months Cals.  BTW, Caleigh thought Dr. Ball was hilarious, she couldn't stop smiling at her.

tummy time video

is it obvious Caleigh doesn't like tummy time?  i'm just trying to figure it out. :)

for the record, Caleigh would like you to know that when she tries she can get about halfway over on her tummy and then she gets stuck halfway up in the air.  we will keep working on it...

tummy time

So... Caleigh hates tummy time.  But after hearing about Brody rolling over already (he is only 2 weeks older than Caleigh) I decided to beef up her tummy time.  Now we are doing tummy time every time she is awake until she starts crying - which is usually only a few minutes.  Here are some pix of our experiences so far. 

playtime

Caleigh's friend Maggie came over for some pot pie (Caleigh did not partake) and some socializing.

Carrie and I with our pink girls. Maggie is looking a little distressed... maybe it is just an act for the camera?

dog or human in disguise

What kind of dog sits like this??  Must be the one and only Bales...

blowout... literally, out...

Here is the evidence of one of several big poopy diapers we have been constantly changing.  She loves to poop right when we unfasten the diaper as well and then she will smile really big - she must be proud of herself.  This one required a bath and a load of laundry because it came out of the diaper.  I am sure she will love for us to get this picture out when she brings guys home.

You can see from the giant bowling ball belly that someone just ate. And now, the bath.  I think this picture is a little x-rated for the blog but let's face it.  We all love naked babies. :) And now all clean in my PJs.  Life is so sweet. 

bumbo

Caleigh was over at her friend Maggie's house for a playdate and Maggie said, "Cals, check out my awesome purple bumbo!"  So Caleigh tried it, being the daredevil that she is, even though I told her that bumbo's aren't really for 7 week old babies.  At first she thought she was cool stuff...

And then she got a little grumpy and said, "Mom you were right, get me outta this thing."  That may be the last time she listens to Maggie. :)

Church Dress

On Sunday Caleigh wore her first dress to church; before this Sunday she was too small to fit into anything.  Here brown dress was very cute and we also loved her mary jane tights!  Here are some post church pix (you can see Adam and I are already out of our church clothes!).  A little sleepy...

A fun picture of our family that Adam took.  Please just regard the double chin in which Caleigh is storing all of her milk :)  Caleigh would like you to know that her position just magnified her double chin, it actually isn't that bad in her mind... Daddy loves our little peanut...

go tarheels!

On Saturday we had a fun time watching the UNC v NCSU basketball game with a bunch of friends from college that now live in Charlotte.  It was Caleigh's first bball watching party and she wore her tarheel outfit to the game.  However, before I could capture a picture of our cute Carolina girl, she proceeded to poop all over herself and I had to put her in a backup outfit.  If I was really a planner this backup outfit would have also been UNC-themed... but I am not that together.  Anyways, we had a great time and the Heels won by a landslide.

Some senior-year housemates.  Me, Shaynah, Caleigh, Marcy, and Kim. We segregated towards the end as the game was getting more boring and Caleigh was awake and more exciting... Here is Greg, Michael, Lee, and Adam... As you can see on the female side of the room, Caleigh is holding everyone's attention. We had a great time and hopefully there will be a UNC themed baby picture coming soon. :)

Nights

Caleigh slept through the night last night for the second straight night (from 11 pm until 7 am when I went in and woke her up).  Yay!!!  In celebration of this great fete she has accomplished at 6.5 weeks of age we wanted to post some fun pictures.

In this one she is enjoying her new winter hat (thanks Gigi!) as well as her fist.  She likes to suck on her fist and when she is lucky sometimes just the thumb gets into her mouth.  We think part of the reason she can sleep through the night is because she has gotten so good at finding her hands!

I love this picture!

What a happy girl!  She is giving us such a wide range of expressions now... She is a little buddah and she apparently stores all her milk in her cheeks and her chin! Daddy and Cals hanging out...

One month old

Caleigh is pondering what she thinks about being one month old (actually 5 weeks in these pictures).

And after her one month checkup on Dec. 27th... She was super excited to learn that she was 8 lb and 15 oz (50th percentile), 21 inches (50th percentile).  She is perfectly average.  Her birth weight was 6 lb 14 oz and less than 25th percentile so she is slowly becoming a little chunkomunko we always knew she would be.

Christmas Day Stop #2

We headed up to the Dyers for Christmas dinner. (It made for a busy but fun family day!) Grandma Dyer holding Caleigh... Poppop and Gigi with Caleigh... Poppop and Grandpa Dyer and Adam hanging out before dinner. Overall Caleigh slept through most of Christmas - but she got some great gifts! We are so thankful that we got our Christmas gift early this year (Caleigh of course!).

Caleigh's First Christmas

Our first stop on Christmas day after we opened gifts at home was the Adams' house. Here is Poppop with Caleigh and Uncle David. Aunt Karen is opening some fun craft presents while the dogs enjoy their Christmas stuffed animal (that they rapidly ripped the stuffing out of). The Adams' dog is Yasmin on the left and that is our Bales on the right. Gigi and Caleigh... Adam and I with Caleigh. I became skilled at the one handed opening of presents, with Adam's help of course... Aunt Karen got a fun coat that looks like about 20 neighborhood cats had to be skinned to produce the lining. PETA would not be proud, but clearly she is proud of her coat.

Pre-Christmas Randomness

We started a tradition this year of getting together with some college friends/roommates for breakfast on Christmas Eve. Caleigh joined us for the festivities and is now in training to become a Carolina girl. Here is Kim, Jess, Caleigh, me, and Marcy. Christmas card outtake (hope you enjoyed the actual card!) Notice Caleigh is in her personalized stocking courtesy of Gigi - Thanks! A visit with Jess at Panera... and hanging out with Marcy in Caleigh's room...