July 29, 2008

Compulsory Cleaning

Why is it that every major event in my life must be heralded by compulsory cleaning?

Take being pregnant, for example. In the weeks leading up to my due date with Caleb, I dusted, vacuumed, windexed, vacuumed again. Like somehow, if I had the baby early and my house wasn't perfectly clean or perfectly organized, I would be an unfit mother.

Now I know you will blame that on nesting. All pregnant women do that to some degree.

But I also clean like a maniac in the days preceding a big trip. Like our trip to Washington tomorrow. Do the dishes. Clean out the fridge. Do the dishes again. Heck, I even pulled out my photo scrapping stuff and organized it yesterday while I watched Phantom. Go figure. If I'd had time, I would've filed paperwork, cleaned off my desk, taken recycleables to the trash place, and changed Caleb's sheets.

All those things were on my To Do List. All of them could wait til we get back. And they're going to have to. Because I have characteristically packed too much into my day, and now I must choose between packing and mopping the kitchen floor. Packing wins, I'm afraid. A clean floor is nice, but having something to wear when I get to WA will be, uh, much nicer.

Why do I care so much? Why is it that I prepare for trips, babies, and anything else big with all this cleaning and organizing?? It's not as if, when we get from WA in a week, the house won't still be here. It's not as if when I come home, I will have lost the ability to clean. And tomorrow, when I'm on a plane headed north with my two favoritest people in the world, will the dusty coffee table really bother me? Nope.

*Sigh* One of life's little mysteries I guess. Or maybe just one of Nicole Neuhauser's little mysteries.

Anyway, friends, I'm off! I prolly will not post again till we get back. Don't worry, the camera is packed.

Washington, here we come!

July 26, 2008

A Beachy Day

WARNING: Way too many pictures ahead.

Don't say I didn't warn you. =) But really, how could I help it?? Today my mom, step-dad, and I took Caleb to the beach. For the first time since he's been walking. And since Jason couldn't be there, of course we had to document the entire experience with the camera. =) (Of course, we would have done that anyway, but hey, I'll use my hubby as the excuse for our collective shutter-buggishness). Anywho, here are *some* of those pictures. =) Enjoy a day at Coronado Beach with us!



Caleb is not too sure about the whole water thing.

He's much much happier playing in the sand.


Mommy and Grandma pursuade him to give the water another try.

Eventually, though, Caleb had enough of the water and went back to more sandy pursuits.


Not Caleb's Mommy, though. She loves the water. Can you tell?



Needless to say, we had a great time. Caleb may not be so excited by the water yet, but just give him time. I'm sure he'll come around. With both Mommy and Daddy having been water babies, I'm not sure he'll have much of a choice. =) In the meantime, sand castles are fun, too. So are sandy babies who fall asleep in the car on the way home.
You should have seen the tub after his bath. You could say we took a part of the beach home with us, at least for a little while until this mommy washed it all away. =)

July 23, 2008

Who Says SAHM's Don't Have Fun???

I wondered today what endless energy source powers small children. I suspect if I knew the answer, I'd probably be famous. Nobel Prize famous. But then, if there was an answer to be found in the first place, I'm sure someone else would have already discovered it. I'm not that smart.

Caleb never ceases to surprise me. Belle, my dog growing up, was always deathy afraid of the vacuum cleaner. When I was pregnant with Caleb, devouring baby book after baby book, I was fore-warned that most small children are afraid of them as well. But not our son. Oh no. And here's proof. I give you Adventures in Vacuuming:



Oh look! Mom's vacuuming again. Let's investigate!


Hmmm, it makes a lot of noise. Wonder what happens if I do this. . .


Can't push it, guess I'll just ride it!

Which is exactly what he tried to do. When that didn't work, he decided to investigate elsewhere.


And when a certain Mommy Bear rounded on him after her vacuuming came to an abrupt halt, he humbly and meekly tried to fix it:

Yep, that's our son!


July 21, 2008

Some reflections on perfection

I am reminded today, sitting on the sofa with the laptop, just how imperfect life is.

My house is, after a week of me and Caleb being sick, certainly less than perfect. Laundry to be put away, floors to be vacuumed, etc. With unexpected out-of-state company coming tomorrow to vist, I'm mighty tempted to fly around with mops, brooms, rags and dish soap. Maybe if I stress long enough and work hard enough, I can coax the house to order after a week of chaos. Maybe. If I were Mary Poppins.

Life ain't perfect.

Last Thursday, our pediatrician officially labeled Caleb "speech delayed." He's just not talking. At all. He says the occassional Da-Da, but that's it, and Da-Da doesn't always mean Daddy. He might, when in particularly accomodating spirits, say Ju for juice, but he's much more likely to just run and point to the fridge. Which of course means the same thing. So we're going to see a specialist next Tuesday as per our doctor's orders to see if Caleb is just being a wee bit lazy with language development, or if there's some deeper problem.

*sigh*

Life ain't perfect.

But you know what? That's ok.

I don't have to have a perfectly clean house to enjoy my friends' company tomorrow. I know they won't care. Why should I? We are getting together to visit, not inspect my floors. =) Somehow we'll all survive.

And Caleb . . . is going to be just fine. He doesn't have to talk for me to love him. Heck, he doesn't even have to talk for me to understand him. He's still our little bud. He's still our little munchkin. And by God's grace, we'll manage through this, too.

Life doesn't have to be perfect for me to enjoy it. I guess that choice is ultimately up to me. =)

July 19, 2008

Non-sleepy Time

And now, a poem:

Ahem.

What do you do when your toddler won't sleep?
Do you take him to the Zoo?
Do you put him in a canoe?
Do you seal him up with duct tape so he can't make a peep?
What do you do when your toddler won't sleep?

Well I don't know what you do, but when it became apparent by 9:00 last night that Caleb wouldn't sleep, we packed him up and took him to see Wall-E. :) Pajamas and bear and all. He thought it was the coolest thing to be out driving around in the dark. And even though the screen was big and the noise was loud, he didn't get scared. Not once. :) Of course, maybe sitting in Daddy's lap and eating ice out of Daddy's cup helped.

We had fun. :) Oh yes, we did!

July 14, 2008

Birthday Flowers


Aren't they beautiful???
Thanks Dad and Anne! They were a wonderful surprise Wednesday morning!

July 8, 2008

Heads Up on Posties

Hello friends. How have ya'll been? Busy? Yeah, me too.

I just wanted to write a lil' posty here and let you know not to expect many posties from me in the near future. (I know, I know, I haven't been all that verbose as of late, but still. I wanted to give you fair warning. Full disclosure and all that.).

But whyyyy? you ask in mournful tones. Well, I shall hand you a kleenex and explain:

My daytimer is full. In two words, that's why. Tomorrow I'm hanging out with Mom and going to a doctor's appointment. Thursday Caleb and I have a playdate with some new friends from chruch. Then I'm heading out to Oceanside this weekend to watch Ashleigh's little guy Troy.

Next week, I'm hoping to go to the desert to see my dad and the Jacksons (and by "Jacksons" I mean little Elizabeth, of course ;).

And the week after that? Washington, my friends. Yep. One whole blessed week of forested island living. :) Oh yeah, and getting to spend time with Jason's family. :) I've been advised to bring a swimsuit, because apparently, you haven't lived until you've swam in a lake. My mother-in-law is determined that I should have such an experience, whether I want it or not. :) And being the kind woman she is, she gave me advance warning: I will be dunked if necessary.

Anyway, that's what my daytimer has planned for July. Who am I to argue with it?

So if you don't hear from me for several days or a week or two, don't be concerned. I'll be back. With pictures, if ya'll are very lucky. . .

Unless I drown in said lake. Then all bets are off.

July 5, 2008

4th of July Fun

Lake Murray. American BBQ. Brownie and Berry Parfaits.
Home Fellowship Friends. Sparkly Fireworks. Two cute kids.
What could be better?

Meet Miss Brooklyn:
















And then, there's my son . . .


. . . who is so grown-up now!

Two Tonka trucks: $7. Curious George t-shirt: $5. Gas to drive to the park: $455, 677.oo.

One dirty little boy? Priceless.


Yeah, so it ocurred to me (after the fact, of course) that I didn't take any pictures of us adults. Or of the yummy parfaits. Or of Daisy the dog, who was oh-so-cute-and-snuggly yesterday. Oh well. There's always next year. :)

Happy (belated) 4th of July everyone!