Black Beauty

Guess what came in the mail today? This beauty. Free one day shipping! Can't beat that. Plus ten dollars off. What a deal. I wish I had known about the Ergo Carrier before Caleb was born. He loved being nestled to our chests from the get-go. Unfortunately he outgrew his baby Bjorn carrier at two months :( It only held twenty pounds and he was a chunk). I've been pinning away for the Ergo from the time Caleb outgrew his carrier. After a lot of research and talking to other moms who have the Ergo we decided we would invest (well, actually it was a gift from baby's Nani) in this for baby #2 and we can use it with Caleb until then (It holds up to 40 lbs) and is much more comfortable for baby and us! I'm just so excited about it! It'll make things a lot easier when out and about with toddler and baby. Caleb hated his car seat and so he lived in his carrier until his chunky legs no longer fit into it. We were bummed to have to stop using it when he outgrew it. The nice thing with the Ergo is that it carries infant to toddler. One of those things I wish I had known before Caleb was born. That and starting out with a double stroller instead of single. We knew we wanted more than one and to have them close in age. Hello! Would have been good to know :)
photo credit here...
http://www.ergobabycarriers.com/babycarriers/item/BC6CA/

Binky Boo

The time has come. I am cringing inside because the date is set and I am dreading the weeks ahead. Caleb's binks are going bye-bye and the poor little guy doesn't even know it's coming. I hate to rock the boat. He has such a good sleep routine going and he's such a little champ sleeper (at home). He loves his binkies so much. You can hear him outside his bedroom door humming away. Whenever he is upset and gets a hold of his bink he starts humming. The sweetest little sound. As soon as the bink is in his mouth he cuddles up to Dave or I. I don't want his little hums and cuddles to end with the bink. I am writing this down so I remember what it was like in a house with blue binks. And a little boy who has loved those binks since the first time we gave it to him.
The reason we have come to this heart-wrenching (I'm being a little dramatic I admit) decision is because we don't want Caleb and Baby #2 with binks at the same time. But we actually decided months ago before we were even pregnant that we wanted Caleb off the binks before he turned a year and a half. He mostly uses them just for sleep but if we are driving or he's in the stroller or church he also gets them if needed. If he's teething and really fussy, the bink comes out. As much as I want to let him have them still for sleeping I think, for us, it's better to get rid of them altogether. To be honest Dave and I use them as a crutch for all those fussy times and I'm not sure we'd stick to our guns and be consistent with sleep-only binks. So best for us to just get rid of them altogether. We want to do this before we transition Caleb to a bed this summer. All these transitions for our little guy before the biggest one yet comes this summer! Baby steps they say.
The binks with be replaced with a lovey. And my hope is that within a couple weeks Caleb will adjust and be okay sleeping again.
I am writing this so that I don't break down and cave! The date is set for Monday (after our trip down south)
Now that I am feeling better and not as tired and clutching the toilet every day and Caleb is feeling better, (teething and being sick on hold) we are ready! (I'm trying to be optimistic about this but I cringe!)
So long binks...we will miss you! The next week's posts may not be so happy. If anyone has any words of wisdom they'd like to offer up we'd gladly take them :)

Counting Sheep

One of the not so fun things of traveling with a one year old is the lack of sleep we all get. Caleb sleeps through the night 11-12 hours and takes about 3 hours worth of naps during the day when at home. But on the go? Not so much. 30 minute snoozes here or there. He is easily distracted with so much to see and do! And shall we mention the night time sleep while traveling? This usually entails Caleb starting out in the pack-n-play and then seeing that Dave and I are mere inches away from him; how can he not cry to be picked up and plucked smack in the middle of Dave and I in the night. Not that I don't mind cuddling with my little love bug, but he is a bed hog and a wiggly worm while sleeping so Dave and I are usually in a half state of sleep all night long.

All this being said. Probably the best thing about coming home from a trip is sleep. Caleb in his crib in his room. Us in our bed in our room. All of us sleeping soundly through the night (except for me with my prego bathroom trips that have already begun) and Caleb once again taking a glorious morning and afternoon nap!

We love our sleep around here. And nothing is much sweeter than a sleeping child right? You forget all of the hoodlum that occurred during the day and smile in wonder at this precious little being in your life.

And as I write this. Our little sweet pea is still soundly sleeping in his crib (i even snuck in for a picture) almost 13 hours later (he usually awakens us at 6:30 am for a little extra cuddling before breakfast). So we will enjoy this while we can before sickness or teething or Binky weaning occurs (next week..eek).

Curled Toes

Big Boy Feet. Where did those little toes go?

Caleb got some new shoes. They say their feet grow and need bigger shoes about every 2-3 months. We missed the boat by a couple months and his poor toes were curling up in his shoe. He went from a size 51/2 Extra Wide to a 7 Extra Wide. We got a pair of sneakers and sandals. He was pretty excited about them. Probably because his little toes actually had room again! So sad. The nice lady helping us told us to put socks with the sandals inside for a bit so he won't get blisters. When I dressed him this morning. I couldn't resist grabbing the camera for a couple pics. I had a good laugh over this get-up. Thought I would share!

Bubbles

Wrapped

I'm having one of those moments. The one, where I look into those big blue eyes, staring right back at me, and I see everything that has been and hope for all that will be. I see such innocence and wonder from a little creature so small. I see a little piece of me and a little piece of Dave. I see such sweetness in this boy of ours and I just have a...heart squeeze. Where my heart fills like it just might over pour with such pure happiness.
He's staring at his Nani in the top picture. And when I look at it, I swear there is a picture of me when I was a little girl, with that exact same look. A little tentative. A little unsure. Our sweet little boy. With such a silly side, such a sweet side, tending to be more cautious in new places and with new people, and yet no fear when outside on his own exploring his world around him.

And the last one. Cause, I just can't help myself. Little toddler tushes might just be one of the cutest things ever as they toddle around still a litte unsteady and wobbly on their feet. Bending and turning, touching each little thing they encounter. Such curiosity.

Little boy in blue. We love you!

The skies opened up a rainstorm for us today

so we tasted the raindrops on our tongues, dipped our toes in the puddles, opened up our arms and tried to catch raindrops in our hands. We peered out the window and listened to the pitter-patter on the rooftop and smiled when big drops of hail pounded the pavement. We love our sunshine, but we love our rain too!