Caleb saw his (and Daddy's) puppy, on his actual birthday!

Caleb was very excited. He wanted to hold the puppy, let it run around, squeeze it, etc. He tried to give the puppy every toy in the box... how generous, right. Caleb had a good time and in the end said, "Bye Titan". He handled it very good. The next morning he did mention that he wanted to see the puppy again, but we couldn't. He was sad about that. He got over it, SO FAR. Caleb is to the stage that he is able to understand "sad", and he will tell you in the most adorably heart wrenching way and whinny puppy voice and pouty chicken lips "That make me sad". Of course on the 4th time in a row of him saying that at bedtime just so he won't have to go to sleep, it does get a little less adorable.



Well, I don't have much time. Jockey is getting 2, count them 2 teeth in right now, and he is not happy about it. So I'll just upload some of the puppy pictures and leave this blog at that.

The puppy is the sweetest and most calm in the litter. He likes to play, and sleep. He is in the process of being weaned and will begin crate training shortly. He is tinted with the dark fur creating a saddle like appearance on his back, but I am told that that will grow out into a fawn (khakie) color. His ears will be cropped a few days before we bring him home and then the ears will be wrapped for a few weeks. He is pretty wrinkly now, but I'm sure he is going to be doing a lot of growing before and after we pick him up. The best news is that our puppy will be picked up on June 11th. That's right, less than two weeks away. If I keep Caleb (and Daddy) busy enough, then the time will fly by.

That's all for now. Good night.

3 Year Old Birthday Party for CALEB!!!

I can not believe by little boy is 3. Three YEARS since he was a baby newly born. Well, he's taller, walks and talks more that's for sure. The person he is developing into is fascinating to watch.

This is the first year that Caleb had any input to give about his party. He wanted his bouncy house there, he wanted his friend Donovyn there, he wanted a CHOCOLATE cake, and a balloon on his cake. I think we accomplished all that! He had a blast.

Caleb has his party on Saturday. He had a very good time. The Lord blessed us with the best weather possible for the bouncy house to be set up, despite all forecasts to the contrary. The bouncy house was the best way to keep the kids entertained. He bounced and went down the slide with glee and giggles. The smiles on the children's faces made this parent feel like she had done something right! We had to keep the bouncing safe and not so aggressive when they bumped into each other, but it was more than worth having at the party. The daycare facility at the white house was very nice to have, and was greatly used; the playset and toys are priceless when trying to keep kids having constructive fun. Caleb's friend Donovyn came, which is very cool because he is Caleb's first friend. And it was wonderful to have Cousin Tessa and Cousin Gavin! It is great to see cousins and friends all the same age playing so well together.

Caleb blew out his #3 birthday candle and then ate chocolate cake. He had resisted all day from touching it and trying to eat it... Caleb saying "just looking, mom" wasn't too be trusted. So when he finally got to interact with his cake he was excited and relieved. He was shy though with everyone around him singing a hearty Happy Birthday. He got the candle out in one strong breath and then buried his head in his arms as if he was overwhelmed with the attention when he accomplished such a feat. Eating cake got him out of the shyness.


Then it was on to the gifts. Caleb had been eyeing the items that were sticking out of the gift bags all day. Again, he resisted well, with reminders. All the children were excited and couldn't hold back from helping Caleb, thus every child there opened a little of something. I'm glad this didn't bother Caleb. He was just excited to get the remote controlled dump truck (thank you Papa Bill and Judy) and the big green truck with motorcycle (thank you Uncle Jeff and Aunt Danene) out of their many layers of childproof packaging. He liked all the gifts, but other than the afore mentioned items, I was pleasantly surprised that the other big hit was a nerf foam rocket laucher from the DOLLAR store. Is he an easily made happy kid or what!? Each kid thought that it was a great gift and had to take a turn with it. Caleb got lovely and thoughtful gifts; THANK YOU to all who came to his party to help him celebrate and be extra special for a day and for the generous gifts. This was Uncle Jeff, Aunt Danene and Papa Bill's first time attending a birthday party for Caleb. Thank you for coming. Caleb really enjoyed having you there, he kept asking where you were and what you were doing for the rest of the night.

After the gifts were opened, it was a bit more of the playing, jumping and then of course the clean up. Caleb napped almost immediately after getting into the car! The wonderful, happy little guy had just plain run out of steam having used up all his energy having FUN all afternoon.

To all of you who sent or brought their birthday wishes to Caleb, you were part of something wonderful for a very special little boy, THANK YOU very much!

Camping in Anacortes (Mother's Day weekend)

Well, it has been one EXTREMELY busy week, so I am just now able to write about Mother's day weekend. We decided on a trip up to Anacortes. Friday was pouring rain as we loaded up the trailer; both Mike and I reserved the right to veto the stay and head home if it was miserable up north. However, it was beautiful weather when we arrived up there. Perfect camping weather.
Caleb got to throw lots of rocks into the water. Caleb (and the whole family) began looking at the patterns and colors of the rocks. He really began to look, and be interested. Perhaps a rock polisher is in his future. Then he watched the boats from the shore and even saw some in the marina. And, the definition of a good camping is that we see deer, he had a good camping trip because we saw deer. Caleb was very interested in the fire. He wanted to throw things into it all the time. Although little tiny twigs couldn't hurt anything, little boys have a way of graduating the items and size of the items and then it can get out of control. But to distract him, we had a good time with a Sticker hunt in the campsite. He likes this game, so in a camping setting was double fun. Then to keep him away from the fire and yet still be eessential to the fire efforts, Caleb and I went in search of firewood/walk. He liked helping and created his own pile of firewood. We visited the little park in the camp grounds. We also did something very important to a camping trip in Anacortes. We purchased peel-n-eat shrimp! This is a tradition from Mommy's childhood, so it was special and funny when Caleb ate it up. He must have had over 3 dozen shrimp in the weekend. He tried to peel a few himself, but I think he realized that it was faster to just mooch the ones that somebody else had already labored over. Smart boy.

Uncle Jeff and Aunt Danene drove up to visit us on Friday night. It was wonderful to share the camping experience with them. For mommy, it was like she and her brother were camping all over again... only now we got to see what it was like as adults. For Caleb, he really liked seeing his Uncle Jeff. This time Caleb and Aunt Danene even got to spend some quality time together. He walked with her to the beach and then she took pictures of him. He got into that, he started posing like an adorable little ham. Unlce Jeff got a bit of time with Joshy, and I thin they both liked that. Aunt Danene held Jockey and got her "jockey fix". It was very nice for them to take time out to drive up to see us, thank you.

The other visit we got was from Papa Bill and Judy. They drove up on Sunday morning to visit. Once Zuma calmed down, it was nice. She had to act all dominate over their 2 little dogs. We had a nice chat and Caleb climbed up and sat with Papa Bill. Then they headed off to Great Grandma and Great Grandpa Severson's house; we had already planned on doing that, so we packed up quickly and headed in that direction too. Once we got to Camano Island, Caleb, Papa Bill and Daddy when clam digging. They came back with alot, I'm told that Caleb helped count. The four generations of family sat down to a meal that included shrimp and clams. It was neat to share this experience with Caleb because Mommy ate lots of seafood at Camano Island when she was growing up. The Great Grandparents were glad to see the boys... and the shrimp too I think. Caleb had a good time trying to feed Papa Bil''s dogs the cat food. And Caleb got a bit more adventuresome this time because he had visited again. He wanted me to come see and come look at things frequently. I guess Mommy takes for granted the wonders that the little boy discovers; it's neat to see what a little kid was like at the Great-Grandparent's house, almost like getting a glimpse of what I was like there so many years ago.
As if that wasn't enough family for one day, we stopped by Uncle Jeff and Aunt Danene's house on the way home. Caleb ran around and acted silly in the backyard. Uncle Jeff showed Caleb a mint plant, but Caleb didn't get that that was a special plant that you pluck the leaves off, thus he began to pluck the leaves off of several other plants before we could stop him.
Finally we arrived home and Caleb's day was ended on a perfect note. The jumpy house was set up for him to use.

Caleb had a wonderful time camping and seeing family. I hope that there are more camping trips with just as much fun and sun this summer.

Joshy had a good time too. He was just a trooper being toted here and there. He is very cooperative and easy going.

So Happy Mother's day to our Mothers and to those who are reading this who are mothers to others.

Our puppy is waving 'Hello'!!!

Ok, so this post isn't about Caleb or Josh. But this was all I have time for with other projects looming up before me. I thought I'd share a picture of what will be the newest "boy" in our home. He is just 3 weeks old in this picture. We are told that he is the 'sweetest' puppy in the litter and is up and playing with both his siblings and father.

I'll try to post more pictures and stories from this last camping weekend tomorrow morning or early afternoon.

The Pictures as Promised:


Caleb on his new bike on our sidewalk.

Caleb with his bike while camping at Toppenish.

I mentioned that Jockey liked cookies:

Before:

And After:

See, I told you he likes cookies. Too bad he treats them like body lotion.

Jockey, still cute once he's all washed up.

And Jockey STANDING!!!

And my little ham Caleb wanted to hold his brother for a picture:

Ok, really good night all.

Life Happens Fast!


I tell you, one day Jockey is just commando crawling and doesn't roll when he is on a bed. Suddenly, watch out now. Sunday before church, Josh decided to real crawl! He just up and did it. THEN, he crawled right out of the family room and started trying to climb up the stairs to get to a toy. He didn't totally crawl up the stairs because he reached the toy, but if it was any higher he would have climbed! THEN, he pulled himself up on a mattress (and also on a loveseat that we have) and stood up and let go! Of course his "stand" only lasted 2-3 seconds. But the attempt and effort is there. I'm so excited. He is not my little baby anymore. He's on the verge of toddlerhood.

Caleb has gotten his bouncey house. He loves it. He, of course, loves for others to join him. Tessa was the first guest, and he asks for her to join him every time it is inflated! He asks me and daddy, and even Joshy to come. I'm so glad that we have had a few nice sunny days to actually get it outside to use it. The grin on Caleb's face was priceless. And the static on in his hair is hilarious.

The other big thing in Caleb's life is gymnastics. He has switched gyms to one in Woodinville. Grammy takes him on Tuesdays. It's their special activity. And Caleb is really excelling in his new class. Caleb comes home saying "Bob told me..." and then he does some move that he learned. Bob, the teacher/coach, has made quite and impact on Caleb. He can do three different pose/moves, he has been on the tall balance beam and even walked backward on it, and he is being to learn and get the feel for backward flips. On the last one, the longer he wants to wait is fine with me. But he is very excited about it. The most funny thing is (other than his "Bob told me") is that he says gymnastics in a way that it sounds like 'nasty'. Well, I'm glad that he likes it all. It has helped his developement physically and socially, and hopefully set the stage for a class setting.

Caleb has entered another phase. A shrill phase. I wish that it wasn't so, but he has learned and it reaching new heights with his voice. Yikes. Fortunately he is demonstrating this new talent outside of the car. Most often he is fake whistling. Like all little boys, he is mimicking daddy. Daddy knows how to whistle, most often to gain the attention of our dog Zuma. Caleb sticks his cute little middle three fingers in his mouth and then with his voice, chirps. He doesn't actually whistle, but you could have fooled him. He is so proud of his accomplishment too.

Caleb has such a personality. He is hard to contain at times. He is sensitive to the little boys at playgroup when they are upset, even if they have been bullies to him all day. He, at times, is a little rough and plays bumper cars with others, sometimes when they least expect it. He can be bossy, something we are trying to work on, but it comes out most often when he is protecting Josh. He really loves his little brother. Caleb is just a character that I love to watch develope.

Caleb was standing on our walkway out in front of our house next to Josh, who was in the carseat carrier. Mike was pulling the car into the driveway, and Caleb stepped between Josh and the driveway and put his arms up to want to protect Josh. When the car kept coming, because neither son was actually in danger of getting hit, Caleb didn't think that the car was going to stop, so that wonderful, smart, little boy began to drag Josh's carrier away from the moving car! Can you believe that! The insight, instinct, and love that he acted out of is amazing.

Josh is not to be overlooked in the personality department either. Josh loves to watch Caleb and laugh and laugh. He likes his toys, and don't you dare take them away from him(Caleb, this means you). He is showing a lack of patience with himself when he can't stand as much as he wants to or reach the item of new found interest. He is determined. He is observant and smart. He gives kisses and smiles out all the time. And what an enthusiastic eater. Diced avacados and banana are some of the favorites. Although liverwurst ranks. He loves to have quiet cuddle time with Daddy, and I love that they have that time too.

Well, this is long enough. I'm going to try to get some pictures posted. And then I have to get ready for another weekend of camping. Anacortes, here we come.

Jockey is unbelievable!

I just can't believe it. He is doing so much. And the progress he's made is amazing.

If I haven't mentioned it before, he is "crawling". Well, sort of. He doesn't get his tummy off the ground, but he's quick and it is so funny to watch. So I don't want to leave the impression that he's stationary if I say he's not technically crawling, because he is on the go. If he sets his sights on something he will get there! And is he ever determined, he will take on an obstacle course to get to the object of his interest.

Joshy will vocally let us know if he is upset about that item being taken away or removed from his reach, don't worry about that. Josh is very happy, unless the items that are currently making him happy are taken away. Of course he could be happy with any number of choking hazards and I just can't let him keep those even if they make him happier than a child in Disneyland. But also, Caleb sometimes tests to see if that toy or teething biscuit is really truely what Josh is enjoying, and that isn't a happy moment.

Josh is babbling up a storm. He has said Momma, Dadda, Caleb and a few other things. But he actually is puckering his cute little lips and trying to mimick sounds, on a good day. Other days he just wants to say what he has on his mind. I just can't believe that at 8 months he has already spoken a few words! Well, I guess if Caleb can walk early, then Josh has to be special too and talk early! I'm glad that each one has chosen to be special and unique. I can't wait for the funny things that Josh will say to me; it's been fun with Caleb. My favorite right now is Caleb says "Jesus in my heart, makin' me feel better" and "I say I love you mommy thank you". What really makes me happy, Josh knows his name.... and his nicknames, all of them. When I call out to him as he is crawling away, he stops and turns and smiles at me, and then of course he has to turn around and keep going!

Joshy, that crazy strong boy. He is pulling himself up on things! I had to go get the play table out of storage this week. He is crawling up to things, pulling himself up and doing the best he can to get into a stand position! Amazing. Time really flys and I didn't notice how much Josh is doing until Auntie Brittany came over and saw him. She hasn't see Josh in about 2 1/2-3 weeks and was shocked at all the things that he is doing now.

Josh really likes the outdoors. He sits still a surprising amount of time on a blanket in the backyard and watches me weed the garden. He looks up at the sky and trees, and back to me. He is stepping up his observation skills and learning curve. Eventually he does start finding the grass interesting, it's inevitable. But he is so calm and content with observing nature. I'm so happy with that, and very happy that the weather is turning nice and he will be able to discover and learn more.

So that's the Jockey update! (Caleb update to come!)

We're back from Toppenish.

We had lots of sun. A surprise wind storm on Saturday that blew out our plans to actually cook at camp. The sky went from bright sun to a overcast, after dusk look within an hour; and the sand and dirt in the air was remarkable. I personally love wind, so I wasn't intimidated... but I agree, sand/dirt in my dinner isn't too palatable.

Caleb had a wonderful time. He rode his bike a few times. We were fortunate enough to get a spot right on the jogging trail, so Caleb could have a little independence to ride (if he chose to). We also colored on the jogging trail with chalk and had a hop-scotch set up, as well as lines of boundaries for Caleb not to cross. He made sure we know that we couldn't cross them either because those are the rules.
Caleb went swimming several times. He is really doing well. He was actually putting his face in the water and holding his breath all by himself repetitiously. He is getting so brave and confident in the water, the skills just have to come up quickly to match his enthusiasm. Until then, Daddy is a faithful companion in the water; I'd do it but all the waters see a little too chilly, and Caleb with Jockey is a bit of a handful in a pool.
Caleb slept in Papa and Grammy Dahl's motorcoach each night. They were happy to have him, but probably a little happier the second night when he actually slept in his own bed. He can be a bit of a mover while he sleeps. The second morning was a bit of a dream morning for him. Wake up, have cereal (no milk) and be able to watch cartoons before leaving the warm cozy covers. What are grandparents for but to let their grandsons have a perfect morning.

Caleb had a great time, with one exception. He is getting some molars in. I believe they are his 2 year old molars coming in late. It is hard to get a bead on and a visual on where it hurts exactly in a little guys mouth with a few fingers and a tongue bouncing around in a half open mouth. But molars are my best guess. I'm going to keep trying to check on his mouth because I feel that his eating habits are being interrupted by his discomfort. I am trying to keep him current on his Ibrophen and Baby Orajel.

Well, there isn't any playgroup today. But that is ok because there is lots to clean up from a camping trip, and I'm exhausted. The hopes for additional sleep were not fulfilled, and then last night Josh was particularly demanding and was up several times for over an hour last night. So we will find plenty to occupy our time this day. We are also hoping for the correct bouncy house to arrive this week, perhaps in time to play with Tessa while she is staying with Grammy and Papa Dahl. So off I go to get a few things done. Thanks for reading.