What we are up to these days...

Caleb and I have been doing a little bit of preschool activities. He loves them. He is working on pasting, coloring, letters, and numbers. The teacher in me really enjoys our little "school" time each day (or every other day or whenever we get to it!).
Abby has discovered Baby Einstein videos today. She really appreciated the Old MacDonald Had a Farm segment and was mooing with the cows. And Mom? I have been playing with blend modes in photoshop. All of sudden, something clicked, and I know how to do something new. Click on the picture to see the detail, and head over to the Capron Collection to see some more.

Abby on the Move

Watch this video to see Abby on the move, why we call her a little firecracker, a little bit of jealousy from Caleb, and the plight of a second born when it comes to getting a little attention!

Here's Caleb's video from roughly the same age

Playtime

Caleb really enjoyed pushing Abby on the car. Do you think Abby was enjoying it? :)

Have I mentioned I am becoming obsessed with photography and photoshop? I am, and it is taking up a good amount of time (which just made me look at the clock and realize that I should be fixing dinner!). Here are today's pics:

Heidi

Have you seen this commercial?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jr0D21Ex0OE

It reminds of us of the many times we have tried to catch Heidi when she gets out. The bad thing is that she goes around marking her territory in all of our neighbors' yards and we can't catch her. The good thing is that I don't worry about the animal control people being able to catch her and take her away!

Abby 11 Months Old

Abby is 11 months old. Her newest nicknames are "Sassy Abby" and "Little Firecracker", and they are quite fitting. She is showing her strong personality more and more especially with her brother. On our drive to ABQ, Abby woke up screaming loudly, and I looked back to see Caleb's foot on her carseat. We thought that he was kicking her and got onto him for it. Then I observed him merely setting his foot on her seat again, and she just wailed. I don't think that he had kicked her at all. She was just mad as could be that he was touching her seat. That is not to say that Caleb doesn't ever kick/push Abby. We are constantly having to work with him on sharing his toys with Abby. She takes it fairly well, but her favorite thing to do is to be free in the "train room" to touch all of the trains without being yelled at by her big brother! Anytime Abby is entertained for awhile, it is likely she is playing with Caleb's toys. Jon and Caleb bought Abby a toy car at the grocery store this week, but she still seems to want Caleb's cars. Abby loves cats and dogs and books that are soft. She has a soft cuddly pink blanket that she sleeps with. She also really enjoys bathtime and has crawled into the bathroom several times and sat by the tub waiting for us to get the hint. Abby eats, and eats, and eats. She had the stomach bug this month, took a small break from her large appetite, and now she is good to go again. I am glad that she a good eater, but it is a challenge coming up with enough variety and food to fill her up! Abby is walking along all of the furniture and can stand alone for a few seconds if she doesn't realize that is what she is doing. If she does realize I have let go of her hand, she very slowly lowers herself down to her bottom with great control. I can see that she is building up the strength to walk, but she doesn't want us to let go of her hands yet. I can't wait to see how old she will be when she does walk. This is a great age. I love seeing Abby's personality begin to emerge. We love our little "firecracker"!

VOTE

Jon commented on why I am not making him look better using photoshop, and we got into a discussion about who he most resembles. Please vote for the character that looks most like my sweet husband. :)


A. Hopper from A Bug's LifeB. Corbin Bernsen (dad on Psych)
C. The Green Goblin
D. Lance Armstrong

Happy Monday!

Caleb at 2 3/4 years

What a big boy our preemie has become. He is quick to tell us that he is not a little boy. "I am a BIG boy mommy!" Caleb spends nearly all of his time playing with his cars or trains. After Christmas he has quite a collection of each of these, and he plays independently very well, which is a good thing as this is not the case with his sister. Caleb does ask me to come play with him often though. When we play he is very specific about which car or train he wants me to use. He knows what he likes and is faithful! He is a very particular child. I suppose most 2 year olds are particular, but sometimes he is a little over the top. He is sure to place his cups on coasters. He doesn't want anything out of place around the house, and he is often caught lining his cars and trains up by size and color. When we drove to Albuquerque for Christmas, we enjoyed listening to Caleb talk in the car. Here are some of our favorite Caleb quotes. First, during several meltdowns in the car he would say, "My eyes are wet!" He didn't like the tears rolling down his face. Another one was, "Mom, I need to go peeee. I don't want to go in a bush. I'll wait for the station." Then at the gas station in the bathroom after I told him all of the stalls were full, he yelled "Get out!" We had to have a little discussion about politeness after that. Then we returned to the car, and I was strapping him into his carseat, he said with urgency, "My bum bum is out of my undies!". We had to fix that in a hurry. Clothing is a real issue for this boy. He is bothered by it often and wants to wear jammies all of the time. I am trying to decipher if the meltdowns about clothing are two year old tantrums or if he is genuinely bothered by it- extra sensitive or something. I guess it is a bit of both. We have pretty much decided he needs to get over it though! Caleb has grown to be a good helper around the house. He is learning to clear the table and throws his cups in the sink when he is finished with them. When I do laundry he is able to put all of his clothes away in his dresser drawers in the correct spots. He seems to enjoy this activity a great deal too. His favorite thing to watch me fold and then to put away are his underwear. He loves to go through each different type of undies and pick out a special pair each day. We are still wearing diapers at nighttime. We may work on that final potty training transition soon since we are nearly out of diapers for him. Caleb is starting to show an interest in numbers and letters, and honestly has learned lots of numbers from his Thomas trains. He is fascinated the letter C, because his name starts with C. He also knows that he has a A in his name, and when I tell him that Abby's name starts with A, he says "no my name starts with A". He doesn't even want to share the letters of the alphabet with his sister. We have a ways to go on the whole sharing thing and on how number and language work! All and all we are joyful as we watch Caleb begin to grow into a our "big" little boy. Three years old is just around the corner.

Christmas Pictures 2009

A Decade Of Memories

To celebrate the start of the next decade, here are a few favorite memories from the last decade.

2000- Jon and I went to Peru to visit Uncle Tom and Aunt Caroline. During one part of the trip, we rode a bus high into the Andes mountains- into la selva, the jungle. At one point the bus stopped, and Jon had to go throw up in the alley. I remember I was proud of myself for handling the elevation change better than Jon did! After the trip, Jon went to work at Kanakuk, and I had a job in Albuquerque. We only got to talk on the phone every several weeks, so we wrote letters to each other. In August, we were so excited and happy to see each other again when we both returned to Waco for school.

2001- Jon and I got engaged in November. His proposal was elaborate and tricky. The night before the engagement day, he took me to our favorite restaurant and acted all serious to make me think that he was going to ask that night. Then he said, he was tired and just wanted to go home. He wanted to throw me off. He did lots of memorable and sweet things throughout the next day including taking me to different places on campus, having the Baylor bells play Ode to Joy for us, and washing my feet. When he finally asked me, he said I love you to me for the first time ever. I said yes.

2002- So many firsts this year- graduation from Baylor, getting married, and starting my first year teaching. Jon and I moved into an little apartment on campus and felt so grown up. Jon did his student teaching at Robinson High School.

2003- We bought a house, bought a dog (Heidi), sold Jon's truck and bought a car. Jon graduated with his undergraduate degree and began grad school. He finished his running career at Baylor having set two Baylor relay records that stand to this day.

2004- I began my second year teaching and had one of the best years. I had a great team to work with and a great class. I felt a lot more comfortable as a teacher and was truly enjoying myself. Jon continued to work on his graduate degree and worked as a GA with the track team.

2005- Jon graduated with his master's degree and started working full time for Baylor as a coach. We had officially decided to stay in Waco and be "working adults" in Waco. We reluctantly got our Texas driver's licenses.2006- Jon and I went to Spain and Portugal. We enjoyed traveling around and seeing new things, but we only enjoyed the sandwich de jamon the first few times we had it! There were a lot of "sandwiches de jamon"! Our favorite part of the trip was Portugal. The people were great, and it seemed a bit less discovered than the coastal part of Spain.2007- Sweet Caleb Lee was born! He was early and had to be put on a ventilator in the NICU. This was a difficult and somewhat defining part of my life. He is now a healthy happy nearly 3 year old. I will always think back on our first days home with him and the joy I felt at becoming the mom of our little redhead! It also stands out in my mind that I quit teaching this year. I am so glad to be a stay at home mom, but I was still sad leaving my job as a teacher. I will go back some day.2008- Caleb experienced many firsts in this second year of his life- walking, talking (towards the end of it), and showing us his personality more and more. In June, we went to ABQ for Mike and Tiffany's wedding. In July, we went to Hawaii with Jon's dad, Rhonda, and Eric's family. We enjoyed the trip, and I tried to keep the morning sickness under control as I was pregnant with Abby. Another first this year, was spending the holidays, both Thanksgiving and Christmas, at home in Waco. I had never been away from family on Christmas, but we stayed home because I was very pregnant with Abby. We made some very special memories experiencing Christmas together as a family of three that I will remember and cherish. Christmas was special for Jon and me as we experienced it through the eyes of Caleb.2009- We became a family of four! Abby arrived in February, and we have been quite busy since then! In March, she had to be hospitalized with a high fever, another somewhat defining time in my life. Caleb and Abby's time in the hospital left them with no physical or emotional changes, but I think those times taught me to remember to be thankful for our health day in and day out. Remembering our health helps me to keep other "worries" in perspective.

What lies ahead in the next decade? In the last, I went from a college student to a wife and teacher and then to a mom. What a wonderful decade it has been (tears in my eyes!)!

Happy New Year from our family to your family!