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Stories |
2/19/06- What a great blessing it is to go and worship God and have children who can do well during church services! Caleb did great during church services yesterday, and so did Daniel. It just makes it so nice when they are good, because you can actually pay attention during services!
We went to the Watkins house for lunch and had a great meal and a great time, as usual. We always enjoy being with them. We decided to stay there for the afternoon, because if we had tried to go all the way home, we would have only been home for an hour, and then had to turn around and go back to church, so we just relaxed there at their house. Caleb was able to take a nap, which we were glad about, and Daniel's schedule worked out fine.
2/18/06- Just a relaxing Saturday! The weather is cold with freezing rain, so we are staying inside today! Aaron and Caleb made pancakes this morning and they were so good. Caleb loves helping out in the kitchen; he's so cute!
Daniel has been doing just fabulous. He's been sleeping for 8-10 hours a night, for which we are SO thankful!! He's been waking up around 7am each morning to eat, staying up for an hour, going back to sleep for a long nap, and getting up around 11:00am to eat. Then, he's up for a couple hours, then goes down for a little short nap, and gets up to eat at 2pm. Then, is up for 1-2 hours, and "cat-naps;" eats around 4:30 or 5pm; plays some more, and has another little catnap, usually while we eat dinner. Then, gets up after we've eaten, around 7 or 7:30pm to eat, and then stays up playing with all of us until he's ready to eat his last feeding around 9:00pm. This works out well, because we try to have Caleb in bed between 8:30 and 9pm, so after we get Caleb to bed, then we get Daniel ready.
It's funny, because the whole year that I nursed Caleb, he always fell asleep during the last feeding, and I'd just put him to bed and he'd be fine the whole night, even though they say, "don't let them fall asleep nursing and then put them to bed asleep," for fear of them not falling asleep "on their own" naturally. Well, Caleb knew how to fall asleep on his own, every time I put him in his crib for his nap, or layed him on a blanket to sleep, so I wasn't worried about that. Caleb has just done GREAT when it comes to going to sleep, even now as a toddler. Now, since Daniel's been born, he tries to get a little more attention at bedtime, by getting up a few more times, to go potty (even though he just went!) and to just come in and say, "what'cha doin?" But, for the most part, he goes right to bed.
Daniel likes to eat the last feeding, and then be up a little while before he goes to bed, even though they say to put them to bed right after the last feeding. So, both of the boys want to do something different and "against the books"? Hey- if they're sleeping through the night, I'm going to do what works for me and them!!!!
2/16/06- Well, when I saw the weather report this morning and they said it was going to be 70 degrees, I thought it would be a great day to go to the ZOO!!! Caleb agreed when he woke up and I said, "Let's go to the zoo!!" We have a zoo pass that gets us into several zoos free; I got it last summer when we went to the Nashville Zoo, because it was such a good deal and we had a terrific time. We just went to the Chattanooga Zoo, but it was so much fun! The weather was just perfect. Caleb loved seeing the monkeys, snakes, birds, and turtles- those were his favorites. The Chattanooga Zoo is small, but it's nice, because it's not too overwhelming and crowded. The Zoo is part of Warner Park in Chattanooga, so there was a great playground that we went to after the zoo, and Caleb is not afraid of climbing on anything. He amazes me, because even though he's on the small side, he still climbs up on everything, no matter how high it goes, and slides down these big slides like there's nothing to it! Oh, and if you're wondering why there are no pictures posted of our exciting outing, it's because I forgot to charge the battery on my camera before we went! I brought the video camera, too, so I at least got to video some things, but I was disappointed I didn't get any shots with my camera. We'll just have to go back again!
After the zoo and park, we went to eat at Chick-Fil-A...one of Caleb's favorite places to eat. We just went through the drive-thru, because it was time for Daniel to eat, and I find it's easiest to go through a drive-thru, get something for me and Caleb, and get Caleb settled with his food, and then I climb to the back seat of the van with my food and eat it while I feed Daniel. One of the many reasons I love having a van. After we all ate, we ran to Target while we were right there and I picked up a few things and then we headed home.
This evening, Aaron took Caleb to a basketball game at Whitwell and I took Daniel to the kindergarten night program at my school in South Pittsburg. Caleb had a blast playing with some of the coaches' kids. Caleb has so much fun with them, even though they are older than him.
It was neat for me to see my kids at the elementary school; they were all so cute! And I enjoyed catching up with the people I teach with there at SPES. I can't believe I go back in less than a month. It's flown by so quickly. Hopefully the last few weeks of school will go by quickly so it will be time for Summer Break!!
2/14/06- Happy Valentine's Day!!! This morning, I got up early and got last minute things done for the brunch before all the girls showed up. We had a great time!!! All the food was great- Jessica brought a really great breakfast casserole; Susan brought a yummy spinach salad; Danielle brought a great fruit salad, and I had some sandwiches made and a dish called "Cherries in the Snow"- a mix of cream cheese, cherry pie filling, and cool whip- it was yummy! Everything was great! They were all really excited to see the new room and kitchen, and it was great to be together.
My wonderful husband did something so special for me for Valentine's Day. He started telling me last week that he had a surprise for me for Valentine's Day, and of course, I was so excited! But, he thought I was going to figure out what it was, so he asked me almost everyday- "do you know what it is?" and I really had no clue! Then, he came home today and said, "okay, come help me get your Valentine's present out of the truck!" and he went to the front seat and handed me a card, and pretended like that was it- having both of us "carry" it toward the garage- ha, ha! Then, he said, "oh, that's not it! Oh, wow- what's this in the back of my truck!!!" And there was a BIG box back there! He asked me if I knew what it was, and I still had no clue!
We carried this BIG box up the stairs to the living room and on the side it said "fragile- handle with care," so I was really curious! I opened the side of the box, and then had a thought of what it might be...and I thought, "you know, I haven't noticed my wedding dress in Daniel's closet for over a while now! Could he have?...No...really!!!" So, sure enough, we pulled the box out of the outer box, and it said "Bridal Keepsake." And we opened the flap, and there in the oval shaped window of the box was my wedding dress and veil, perfectly packaged in this special box so I could still see it, but protected so I knew it wouldn't ruin. I was so happy- it was just so thoughtful and special for him to do that! And then in the card (he had me open the card after I opened the present, because of what he wrote) he talked about how special our wedding was and about me being his bride- it was so sweet!!!
I have always talked about wanting to have my wedding dress cleaned and put in the "special box"(I'm not sure exactly what they call it). Well, they do it at the cleaners that he takes his shirts to in Lookout Valley, and he asked them about it, and asked them if they could have it done in time for Valentine's Day. But, he thought for sure I'd notice that it wasn't hanging in the closet of the guest room/Daniel's room, because I'm always going in that closet to get something for Daniel to wear! He "snuck" the dress out of the house and into his truck one night last week when I wasn't here, and took it to the place to have it done. And like I said above, he asked me everyday if I knew yet what the surprise was! Special, special man I'm married to- I wouldn't trade him for anything...
2/13/06- Yeah! Walker County called school off, so Aaron got to be home for the day!! It was so nice to have him home; he and Caleb made pancakes, and I got to go to Wal-mart by myself, which was nice! Aaron also helped with things around the house, because I was having some of the girls and kids over from church for a Valentine's Brunch/birthday party for Heather and Melissa. I was able to get a lot done today for the party, since Aaron took care of picking up things around the house, so I wasn't too worried about the things I'd have to do in the morning. I had the table all set and a lot of the food made, and I had even picked up some goody bags and goody bag items!! Caleb helped me put those together, and he loved it.
2/12/06- We went to church in Sweeten's Cove this morning, since it was the second Sunday of the month when Aaron preaches for them. We were supposed to go to Midway church of Christ for evening services; they had invited Aaron to come preach for them Sunday evening. However, they are up on Monteagle mountain, and had to cancel services, because the snow was so bad and they had closed many of the back roads up there. So, they said they'd invite us back another time.
2/11/06- Fun family day in the snow!! It snowed up on Monteagle Mountain, which is just about 25 miles from our house, so we all went up there to play in the 3-4 inches that they got! It was so much fun! We were all dressed in so many layers, we could barely move, but we stayed warm. Caleb had a blast playing in the snow. He has never really been around snow, except for one time that it snowed last year in New Jersey while we were up with my parents for Christmas. He was only 18 months old at the time and just didn't know what to think about it then. But, he had a lot of fun with it this time.
After we played in Sewanee, on the campus of the University of the South, we went to lunch at Pizza Hut- yum! Then we went down the back side of the mountain, through Tracy City so we could go by Foster Falls, and then down into Jasper to go home. We all had a great time!
2/10/06- We went to Chattanooga today to pick-up Daniel's pictures and to run a few errands while we were there. We had a late start this morning, but eventually made it out and over to Chattanooga. The pictures turned out great! Now I just need to cut them, write his name and age on the backs and send them out.
Aaron gets off early on Fridays from school, so since he didn't have a basketball game to run to, we met for an early dinner in Fort Oglethorpe at Panera Bread. Then, Aaron took Caleb to Dalton to watch the Ridgeland Boys Basketball team game, and headed home with Daniel.
2/7/06- Well, we went for Daniel's 2 month check-up today! He's 14 lbs.!!!!!! I can't believe it! Well, I can, because my arms feel it everyday! But, I didn't think he had hit 14 lbs. I thought 13 something. He's 14 lbs., and 23 and 1/4 inches long. So, he's almost doubled his birthweight in two months, and grown 3 inches. Caleb was 13 lbs. 4 oz. at his 4 month check-up! I guess that's why Daniel's fitting in Caleb's 3-6 month clothes already! I never pay too much attention to "the charts," but it was interesting to see that Daniel is in the 90th percentile for weight and 50th percentile for height. Dr. Fox thinks he'll even out by the time he is 2 years old. He said he looks great and just keep up with what I'm doing!
2/5/06- Daniel is 2 months old today!! Time is just flying by. We go on Tuesday for his 2 month check-up. I'm so curious to see how big he is! I have gone through Caleb's baby clothes and pulled out all of the 3-6 months clothes, because Daniel is able to fit in them already! It's so funny to put him in outfits that I know Caleb didn't wear until he was 4, 5, and 6 months old...and Daniel fits in them at 2 months old!! He's just a big boy.
2/3/06- Tonight we went to Aaron's last home basketball game at Ridgeland High School. It was so neat to go. Caleb always has so much fun and loves seeing his Daddy coach. The lady who's the scorekeeper took Caleb to get an Italian Ice, so that took him almost the whole entire first half to eat! I felt like I spent the first half wiping up pieces that he dropped, and rocking Daniel to sleep! But, everything worked out- both boys were terrific! Ridgeland won, so it was a great night for all of us. Aaron really enjoyed us coming to the game.
2/2/06- What a wonderful and exciting day! Some of the girls at church were talking about going to Chickamauga, Georgia, Wednesday night after church, and decided to meet over there today for lunch and to shop at the antique shops that they have there. I had never been and decided to go- it was great! I love looking in antique shops; it's always so much fun to see things that you grew up with as a child, worth so much money now (that our parents threw in the 25 cent box at the yard sale!!). But, you can also find several accents for your home, because there are so many different styles in these shops.
It was also a great day, because Chickamauga, GA is where Aaron's school is that he teaches at, so we were able to go by and see him for a little bit, and meet some of his students and teachers he teaches with. Caleb was so excited to see him and Aaron enjoyed our little visit.
2/1/06- It's February! Today, we are staying home, until it's time to leave for church. After being gone for the last 2 days, I need a day to catch up on things, and these boys need to recover. Daniel again slept until 7:00am! Oh, it's so nice to have him sleeping through the night. 7 weeks old just seems to be when it clicks with these boys. Both were 7 weeks old when they started sleeping through the night! I knew there was reason 7 was my favorite number!!
1/31/06- We survived our trip to Dickson! The one morning I planned to get out early, both boys slept in! But, everything worked out great. I couldn't believe that Daniel had slept so long- I fed him at 9:00pm, and at 7:00am, he still wasn't up! 10 hours!!! He's doing so great. I needed to get on the road, so I got him up and fed him, and then put him back to sleep and finished getting myself and Caleb ready to go. We were on the road by 9:00am, and stopped one time to feed Daniel and take Caleb potty, and made it to my Grandma's in Dickson by noon. Caleb went right to Grandma's door, rang the door bell, and when she opened the door, he gave Grandma a big hug! And when I got inside with Daniel, I got him out of the carrier, and he just gave the biggest smile to me and Grandma- it was so sweet! My Aunt Jeanne and cousin Lisa, and her new baby, Milly, all came over shortly after we arrived. Milly was born just 2 weeks before Daniel and she's so cute!! It was so good to see her and my aunt and cousin. They were only able to stay for lunch, because they had an appointment at 2pm. But, we had a great visit with Grandma and our cousin, David. Caleb had a blast playing with them. Grandma got out a bunch of toys that I had remember as a child, so it was neat to watch Caleb play with them.
We left Dickson around 4:00pm, and Caleb was definitely ready for a nap. He was great, but it was several hours past his naptime, so he fell asleep in the van by the end of Grandma's road. Daniel was already asleep, but I knew he would need to eat around 5:15pm. I decided to go Hwy. 96 home, towards Franklin, TN, because I didn't want to hit Nashville traffic. I called my brother, Matt, who works in Nashville, and asked him if he wanted to meet for dinner in Franklin. So, I got to Franklin, fed Daniel, and then met up with Matt at Logan's to eat (Caleb loves Logan's Roadhouse!). We had a great time, and Caleb was so excited to see his Uncle Matt. Daniel was fabulous- he was awake almost the whole time, and in such a great mood. It was just at the end that he started getting a little fussy, but he had been up for an hour and a half, so he was ready for a nap. I rocked him a little bit as I finished my meal, put his jacket on, and buckled him up in the carrier, and he went to sleep. He's so good!
We got on the road to head back home, and I wondered if Daniel would make it all the way home, or if he'd wake up and want to eat again. Well, just past the Manchester exit (Exit 114 on I-24), he woke up. For those of you who know I-24, you know that there really aren't any more exits until you get to the rest area on top of Monteagle Mountain, which is Exit 134- 20 miles later!!! So, needless to say, Daniel cried for most of the 20 miles! We pulled into the rest area, locked the doors, and I fed him. Luckily, I had the portable DVD player with us, and Caleb was watching a movie. We made it home by 9:00pm, and Caleb was ready for bed. But, he told Daddy about his great day and how much fun he had and who he got to see. Daniel stayed awake after I fed him up on the mountain, and was still awake when we got home. He was excited to see his Daddy, too, they spent some time together before bed. He's just so cute all of the things he's doing now! I fed him around 9:40pm, and when I layed him in his crib at 10:00pm, he went RIGHT TO SLEEP!! No crying at all! It was great!
1/30/06- Another outing with Mommy and the boys! Daniel and Caleb and I went to Chattanooga to Chick-Fil-A for lunch and Caleb played in the play area after he ate his little nuggets. He was really good when I said it was time to go and didn't fuss about going- we are really working on this. He has been fussing about a lot of things lately, and we think it's an attention thing, but we want to break him of it quickly! So, after Chick-Fil-A, I wanted to go to Kohl's. I had told him that if he was good in Kohl's, than we would go to what he calls the "Thomas Store," which is Barnes and Noble. He'll say Barnes and Noble, but he always calls it the "Thomas Store" because they have an area in the kid section where they have Thomas the train set up, with the tracks and trains that the kids can play with. Now, even though his grandparents got him tracks and trains for Christmas, and he plays with them EVERYDAY at home, he still wants to go to the "Thomas Store!" Well, he was fantastic in Kohl's, and I was there for about 45 minutes to an hour! So, he deserved to go! He is also so good when I have to feed Daniel. When we are out like that, I usually just feed Daniel in the van, unless we are in the mall when it's feeding time, and I can go to one of the lounges to feed him. But, I usually just give Caleb a book to look at or a snack, and he is so good for the 15 to 20 minutes that it takes to feed Daniel. I'm so thankful that he is so good. We are truly blessed with wonderful, sweet, and precious boys!!
Tomorrow, the boys and I are traveling to Dickson, TN to see my grandmother, aunt and cousins. One of my cousins had a baby girl just 2 weeks before Daniel, and I haven't seen her yet! I'll fill you in with pictures and stories tomorrow!
1/29/06- Today was Sunday and we had our congregational meeting with the elders after evening services. It is so great to be a part of a congregation that has elders. When you are part of a work that has elders, you see how God intended for the church to work. During morning services, Caleb had a rough time. It's been a long time since we've had to take him out, but he's still adjusting to not having our undivided attention, especially after grandparents being here for almost a month! But, we really got after him and he was an angel for evening services. He sat there through the whole congregational meeting (almost 75 minutes) and was just great!
1/28/06- Daniel slept through again last night! Almost the same time: 9:30pm to 5:45am. He is just growing so much and doing so many things- it's so cute! He loves to lay in his pack n' play and look up at the mobile and kick his legs and move his arms really fast. And when he's on his Boppy pillow, he likes to bat at the things that hang from the soft, curved bars that are attached to the Boppy pillow. He'll get so excited and just started smiling and cooing at them!
Aaron had a basketball game last night, so Caleb and I had a fun Friday night of pizza and Aladdin. We snuggled up in a blanket on the couch and watched the movie- it was fun! Aaron's basketball season is almost over; just a few more games. I know he's enjoyed it, but I also know he's ready for a break.
Caleb and Aaron are going to a basketball game over at Motlow State College in Tullahoma, TN this afternoon. Caleb loves going places with his daddy, especially to ball games. He actually asked if they could go see South Pittsburg play the other night- it was cute.
1/26/06- Yeah!!! Daniel slept through last night!! 9:30pm to 5:30am!!! 8 hours of sleep- it was great! He's just been doing so much better at night. For the last week, he's been waking been doing either 4 hour stretches, or 7 hour stretches, and he did the 7 hour stretches on nights where I fed him at 8:00pm or 8:30pm. Well, then I tried to feed him at 10:00 or 10:30pm, and he was in such a deep sleep that I couldn't get him to wake up at all to eat! But, it was those nights that he would make it all the way until 3:30am, being 7 hours. So, I knew he could do it- we just had to adjust the last feeding. So, last night we had church, and he was awake almost the whole time at church, and then slept most of the way home, and then was up from 8:30 to 9:30pm, just cooing and playing with us. Then he ate at 9:30pm and went down right away, and the next thing I knew, he was crying at 5:30am!
Now, he might do what Caleb did. Caleb slept through the night once at 6 weeks old, and then went another 10 days before he slept through again, and then slept through consistently every night. So, Daniel might do the same thing. But, Daniel's been doing the long 6, 7, and now 8 hour stretches off and on since he was born, and the 7 hour stretches have been 3 times in the last week. We shall see what happens with this little guy!
We are going to Aaron's basketball game this afternoon. He arranged to bring the JV girls team from Ridgeland that he's been coaching, to come and play South Pittsburg's JV girls at South Pittsburg. This should be interesting, because these girls at South Pittsburg are the girls he coached last year, and the coach, Beth Webb, is the lady he coached with last year!! It should be fun! The 1st half of the game is during school, so I'll get to see a bunch of the kids I've had over the years. It's hard to believe that the kids who were 6th graders my first year of teaching are now sophomores in high school! That means that in 2 years, I will know, and have taught, all of the kids in South Pittsburg, kindergarten through 12th grade! Time really does fly by.
1/24/06- Another great day! Today, I took Caleb to his school, because he's been asking me a lot lately, "can I go to school today, Mommy?", so I made an appointment to get my haircut in Chattanooga and for Caleb to go to his school for the day. He had a blast, of course, with all of his little friends! They've been asking about him, too, so when he walked in this morning, I don't know who was more excited to see who! When I came to pick him up, he didn't want to leave, but he wasn't crying and throwing a fit about staying...he just wanted to stay and play with all of the toys! We got in the van and he said, "I had such a great day, Mommy!" I was so glad!
While I was getting my haircut, Rachele watched Daniel. It gave her an idea of what it will be like in a few months to have Joey (will be 3 on February 24) and Hannah (will be 2 on March 24) and an infant altogether, while Jackson, her 5 year old, is at school! It was nice and relaxing to just go and get my haircut by myself. It had been months since I had been to get it cut, and it was needing it!
After I picked up Daniel from Rachele's, I went to JCPenney's to get Daniel's pictures taken. He did GREAT! The appointment was at 1:20pm, so I made sure he was fed right beforehand and dressed, so he would be awake and in a good mood. Well, when I got there at 1:15pm, they were just calling the people before me. So, it was 1:35pm before I got in there, and of course, he fell asleep! But, I had planned to have him in his little plaid shirt and courdoroys if he was awake, and if he was asleep, just do naked/diaper shots. Oh, they are precious! They turned out soooooo good! I brought the blue "Collins" blanket that the kindergarten teachers had gotten for me, and also a little blue blankie bear that Bob and Sandi got for Daniel for Christmas. The photographer loved them and used them in some of the pictures. She ended up taking about 10 different poses and he was asleep for the first half and then awake for the second half. I can't wait to post them! Well, when I was picking my pictures and choosing what sizes I wanted for each pose, she put one of those multi-image enhancement pictures together, with the picture of Daniel with the Collins blanket, and also the one with him and the blankie bear, and it looked great. Then she asked me if she could use that arrangement for the studio. I was so excited!! I said "yes," and she told me that when it comes in, they'll let us know, and they'll have it in the studio for a few months, and then offer it to us at half price. So, if you're in the Penney's in Hamilton Place after the middle of February, you'll have to go in and look at Daniel's picture!!!!
1/22/06- Things continue to go well! We had some people over from church on Friday night and had a wonderful time. Now that the house is finally done and back in order, after all of the remodeling, and now that we've settled into the routine of 2 kids, we're trying to have people over more. It was so nice to have the kitchen and new room done; it just works so much better and I'm so thankful that we were able to remodel these 2 rooms.
Daniel has done great the last few nights! I think he finally has his days and nights figured out. The past few days, he's been up more during the day, and then at night, he's going right back to sleep if he wakes up in the middle of the night. He wasn't doing that before- he would eat at 2 or 3 am and then be wide awake, and I was very exhausted. So, now I think we are on the right track. I was reading that at 3 weeks, 6 weeks, and 3 months, infants usually go through a big growth spurt and sometimes have trouble as they are going through the transitions that are involved during the growth spurt. Daniel has had a hard time at both of these periods of 3 weeks and 6 weeks, but now he'll be 7 weeks old on Monday, and he's doing great! I just still can't get over how much he's growing. He'll be going for his 2 month check-up in just a couple weeks. We'll see how much he's grown since we went to the doctor when he was 5 weeks old.
Caleb is doing well, too. I am always amazed when he talks to me. Someone at church was talking to him recently, and said they felt like they were talking to a "little Aaron"!! He is so much like I was when I was his age: mischevious and sneaky- just a little stinker! And he's so much like Aaron when it comes to talking to people: just a regular conversationalist! It's so cute.
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