Just A Thought

I was driving to the boat dock to meet some friends on Saturday and I was listening to a new Christian station called Big Fish FM. The dj started talking about this YouTube video of Penn, from Penn and Teller (the magicians), talking about an encounter he had with a Christian. Now I guess Penn is a proclaimed "militant atheist". Does that just mean he's hostile to those who try to talk to him about God? I'm not sure. I've never heard that term before. The video is a little hard to watch, but the message is great. If you get a chance, click on the link below (hopefully it works - I couldn't figure out how to get the video on here) I think it will make you think too. All this Christian did was pass along a small Bible to this militant atheist and it obviously got him thinking enough to post this on YouTube.

http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAF2NuAI9EU

Worn Out

I wonder......when I'm all cuddled up on Shawn's shoulder, do my cheeks get real chubby and does my tongue stick out all fat-like? I'm sure that even if they do, I'm not this cute!

Family Vacation

I am finally getting my pictures on here from last weekend. It was Caleb's first time at the beach and he wasn't really sure whether he liked it or not. He kept breathing real heavy like he was going to cry, but he never did. I think he liked the warm water in the baby pool much better.

Adarrah didn't want Caleb out of her site the whole time she was here. This is why it's called a "baby" pool...adults don't really fit in there.

The beach is too tiring, so I had to take a nap on dad.

We went out to eat that night and dad was kind enough to take me out to the car to change my poopy diaper. Thanks mom for leaving him only 2 wipes. He had to use clothes and spit up rags to clean me off. At least she gave me a bath when we got home.

Not only is the beach tiring...but so is putt-putt.

I'm going to have to frame this picture. My brother never smiles. Never!

Oh So Close!!

Being on my belly isn't as bad as I thought it was. I'm getting pretty close to getting up on all fours! Just watch my video....it won't be long! Daddy didn't say anything about me not crawling while he was gone. He just said no walking!

Off To Vegas

We said goodbye to Shawn this morning...only for a couple of weeks this time, but it makes me sad for Caleb. I'm sure he doesn't really know, but just knowing that he won't get to see him or play with him everynight is hard. The last few nights they've been glued to each other. I love to watch those sweet little moments.

"The Overlook Hotel"

For those of you who have seen The Shining, you will get a kick out of this story. I have not seen the movie all the way through. Just bits and pieces when it was on tv. I don't like scary movies, especially now that I am alone alot!

The Overlook Hotel is the hotel Jack Nicholson and his family stay in while in Colorado. I have been to Estes Park, CO back in college and we drove past this hotel. It's big and beautiful, but I would never want to stay in it. I mean, if you've seen bits and pieces of the movie, you'd know why.

As we were planning our vacation to Estes Park my only request to Shawn was that I do not want to stay in The Shining hotel. I know, cheesy to be afraid of a hotel that was in a scary movie, but that's just me. We looked through a ton of hotels and cabins and The Stanley Hotel looks to be the best place. It's right in the middle of the mountains, it's historic and beautiful and the price wasn't that bad. So as you know, we booked it. THEN, I learned on Thursday night that this IS the hotel in The Shining!!! I get online yesterday to look it up and sure enough it's the one. Steven King even wrote most of the movie in room 218. (I really hope we don't get that room)!! Then I start reading some historic stuff about it and supposedly the whole hotel is really haunted. Especially the 4th floor and room 418 has the most paranormal activity! Supposedly people have been know to hear children playing and laughing up and down the hallway when there weren't any kids even staying there. 75% of the staff has reported ghost sightings.

I decided not to read any further and completely scare myself. I'm thinking about buying a tent when we get there and just camping out in the woods. If that doesn't pan out, I'm just going to sleep with the lights on.

Family Time

We had a great time with my mom, dad, sister, niece and brother this past weekend. Caleb was spoiled, of course...but then again that's what grandparents and aunts and uncles are supposed to do, right!

Part of the Family Is Here

Aunt Jenny and cousin Adarrah made it finally at 10pm last night. They were all supposed to be here at 4:00 yesterday afternoon, but they're flight into Atlanta was 40 minutes late and they missed their connecting flight. Jennifer and Adarrah finally got on a standby flight at 8:30, but my mom, dad and brother had to get a hotel and they'll hopefully here today at 4. We're keeping our fingers crossed! Caleb's ready to see his grandma and grandpa.

Feeling Better

Thankfully, I think Caleb is feeling better today. Only a couple of sneezes and a few coughs. He's smiling and talking much more too. I wouldn't really care if he was sick, but my family will be here tomorrow and he needs to be rested up for all the spoiling they're going to do.

He was so tired he fell asleep in his highchair after feeding him.

Man I wish Wrigley would play with me!

I think I'm still tired, mom.

I'm feeling better!!!

Sick Little Boy

The best thing about a sick baby............always wanting to cuddle!

THANK YOU!!

Shawn and I would like to say Thank You to everyone who donated toys in honor of Brady's birthday. I think that, selfishly, this is a way for us to make sure he is never forgotten. But we also know how appreciative the children's hospitals are for all of your donations. We know that if Brady were here today, you all would be buying him toys and gifts for his birthdays. We also know that most of the time our children have way too much as it is. Just knowing that the toys we give will help a sick child have a little bit of fun while laying in bed, makes it all worth while!

When we walked into the hospital yesterday, there was a young kid sitting outside with his mom. His IV pump was with him. His head was completely bald and yet they both had a smile on their face as we walked by. Shawn said it took all he had to not just reach into our bags and give him something. Shawn's mom got to hand a little girl a toy, who was so excited to get it, gave her a big hug.

That is why we do this!

Yes, it's to remember Brady and in our own small little world, to make us feel good that everyone remembers him. But more importantly it's for those little kids, who are confined to their beds or to that IV pump, who are weak and bald, who don't get to pick out toys at the toy store on a regular basis and maybe don't even get to play with other kids that often. Those little kids who aren't getting to be real kids right now. And all that being said, this being their life right now, they still have enough to give you a smile as you walk by them.

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

Thank you for continuing to love us and show your love for Brady! And thank you for giving and making a child feel special that you thought of them!

All of our love, Shawn, Elaine, Brady and Caleb

Saturday

We woke up this morning to a much better kid. Thank God! We're still not sure why his temperature was so high and we guess the lab didn't find anything wrong with his urine sample (since we didn't get a call back), so we'll just leave it at that.

We took all of our toys to the Children's Hospital today and made a couple of other stops. The main stop was for a hiking backpack for our upcoming trip to CO. Our trip is only going to cost us $100....it's all the accessories we're going to buy that make up the other $1,900! We took him for a walk in the neighborhood once we got home and he seemed to like it, so that's a plus. Now all we need is to be in the mountains!

His newest trick, if you want to call it that, is blowing "raspberries" with food in his mouth. We did it for fun in the video, but we will have to put a stop to this on the right quick:o) We both kept telling him no, but it's almost as if he did it more when we said it. I'm sure it's something all babies do. Anyway, it's cute right now, so we let it slide maybe a couple of more times.

Caleb's 6 Month Check Up

Today was an interesting day. It was supposed to just be Caleb's 6 month check up and luckily Shawn had today off, so we planned on doing something fun. The airshow started today, so maybe we'd go check out some planes.

It all started when I went to feed him at 4:30am. Now that he can roll over from his back to his front so well, he is doing it in his bed. He also ends up 180 degrees from where he started or with his head clear up in the corner. That's where I found him. His head was burning up, but I figured it was just because he was rooting around, rubbing his head into his bumper. Since his head was still hot after feeding him I decided to take his temperature. It was 101.8. I thought that was a little high so I called the 24 hour nurse to make sure. Good thing it wasn't an emergency because I sat on the phone for 25 minutes to talk to the nurse 5 minutes (which is probably why they tell you up front If this is an emergency, hang up and diall 911). She said that unless it was 103 I shouldn't worry about it. We took it again before we left the house and it was only 99.3, so I thought "great." We ate breakfast, saw an old friend (great to see you Shawn!) and then went to Caleb's appt. By this point his head was hot again and I knew he had a temperature. Sure enough, it was 102.3......no vaccines today. Instead we opted to have blood drawn and a catheter stuck up him to see what the problem was. His ears looked good, his lungs sounded good, his throat looked good, so we weren't sure what was causing the problem. To make a long story short......he screamed for about an hour, they couldn't get any blood so they had to keep trying, he didn't have any pee left in him so the catheter didn't work, his temp was still 102 and now he was just mad and tired. We left for lunch so they could process the blood they did get, which told us that he was fine. They tried to get some urine out of him again (thinking he may have a kidney infection), but still no luck. Temp is still 102, so we decided to call it a day. We'll watch him over night and in the morning and hopefully it'll be down. In the meantime, they stuck this plastic bag to him in hopes we'll catch some urine to take into the urgent care center in the morning.

All that said.....here are his stats for today:

Head circ.: 16.92in. (10-25%)
Height: 27.95in. (75-90% - TALL!!)
Weight: 16lbs. 3.8oz. (10-25%)

Hopefully we'll have a happy, healthy baby tomorrow and we can go and deliver our toys to the children's hospital!

Cale'b

Happy 6 Month Birthday!

Six months ago today, Caleb arrived and immediately melted our hearts!

It's hard to believe how much he's grown.

We are loving every minute we have with him!

We can't wait to see what he has in store for us in the next 6 months!

Messy Eater

When do we get passed the messy stage of eating?

We tried bananas this morning and he was way more excited about them rather than the green beans.

I Was Running!

I think we're raising another Forrest Gump! He can't just walk around...he runs everywhere he goes...mostly chasing Wrigley, who hates it! Here's just one video of about a handful I've taken.

Not only that, but he is now talking alot more...to himself. And he's found out that he can make his voice louder, so he's not just talking, he's yelling. It's so cute.....now.....we'll see how cute it is after a few weeks.

Vacation

Our vacation is finally planned for Estes Park, CO at the end of June.

We may not come back!

My First Dinner

Last night I got my first taste of what the real world has to offer me other than plain old cereal.

Green beans.....mmmmm!

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day, Moms!

Not only did we celebrate Mother's Day at church, but we also had Caleb dedicated. (I forgot the camera, but I think there was someone from the church taking pictures - I hope). Shawn asked me what I wanted to do today. If I wanted to go shopping by myself or just get out by myself, but you know what? It's hot out and I'm just plain tired, so I think I'm going to lay around the house and possibly, finally watch Marley and Me! My mom asked me what Caleb got me for Mother's Day and I said "nothing". Shawn said, "I didn't even think of it from that angle. I guess I've got alot to learn:o)" .

I hope all you moms enjoy your day today!