"Yes Sir?"

Kaleb loves to have a picnic outside. One cute thing he is doing is putting 'yes sir?' onto the end of every statement, especially if he wants to do something. "Mama, pa-leaze go outside. Yes sir?" "Candy, mama. Yes sir?" (All in a southern accent!) I was listening to him talk on the phone to a dear friend, Dalene, and he kept saying, 'yes sir'. So, I guess we need to work on the 'yes mam's' now!

Gardening

Kaleb enjoys helping mommy water her seedlings, flowers and plants. Everyday we go out and see what new seeds have come up, how many strawberry blooms we have, and how many tomatoes are coming on. I saw my green beans were finally poking through the ground and so I told Kaleb, "Come see the beans that are coming up...they are cool." When I showed him the little plants coming out of the ground he said, "Cool Beans!" I thought that was pretty cute!

"Get the gun"

The commotion was too much...all I could hear was 'get de gun mama, shoot de deer". His eyebrows were raised and he was trying to whisper but his excitement couldn't be contained! He grabbed the gun and I grabbed the camera. Fortunately, we got a few 'shots' before the commotion scared the deer off! We actually get to watch several deer at the feeder at least a couple of times a week.

Secrets

I must write this one down....Kaleb loves to tell secrets. At night we will be laying in his bed and he says, 'secrets, mom'. Last night his secrets included just naming people. I would in turn list names of people in his ear. Then I told him a BIG secret...I said, "I love you! I want you to go night-night! It's time to close your eyes." He whispered back in my ear, "Bad Secret" and laid down very quickly!!! I laughed so hard!

Fun with Cousins

Joshua and Kaleb

Luke and Kaleb

We met a few of Kaleb's cousins (Joshua, Luke, Baylee, and Josie) at the mall to play in this neat play area. I was glad Aunt LaLa was along so we could chat and watch the kids.

Tumbling Tot

Kaleb loves to do somersaults. He started doing them several months ago after watching some of his young girlfriends, Emily and Lauren Badeen, do their gymnastic tricks!!! Thankfully he has a very hard head!!

Kaleb is quite the phone talker...he's talking to Aunt Audie about the deer he saw this morning at the feeder. He has kept a few of his uncles captive on the phone...they don't want to hang up on him but he cries if they say, 'bye'. He can carry on quite the conversation in his own language...most of it you can understand.

Daddy has been teaching little man some volleyball skills. He's getting ready for the big serve! Several of us have enjoyed playing some sand volleyball now that it has warmed up. Nathan and I try to do a league every season. We just ended a 9 week court league and now we are headed for the sand league. They are quite fun.

So much to contemplate at such an age!!! I had been watering my plants and flowers when I found him sitting under this big tree in our yard. We are ready for some grass...not weeds!!!

Just a bunch of 'Kids'

Let me introduce Kaleb's girlfriend to you...Ruth Hobbs. You cannot separate these two! Ruth came home with us after our Special Meeting on Sunday and we were able to take her back to Tulsa, OK yesterday. She is staying at the home of some folks who have all these cute 'kid' goats. Kaleb didn't quite know what to think but he warmed up pretty quickly.

I'm a Big Brother!

NO, we haven't delivered yet...here's wishing! But, Kaleb put his big brother skills to good work when 'bebe Kingston' and his mommy, Tasha, stayed with us! What a fun time! Their stay was too short but I was glad to put the 'new baby' skills to work again...up every 2-3 hours, lots of diaper changes, umbilical cord care, feeding challenges, etc!!! I guess it is too late to have second thoughts about having another one! haha! Kaleb and Tasha got acquainted before 'bebe Kingston' was here...we talked lots about the baby inside her tummy. Now he talks about mommy's baby in her tummy and baby Kingston...in all his jabber it sounds like he is beginning to understand that one day mommy will have a baby like 'bebe Kingston'. "Soooo sweet," as Kaleb says.

Walking Down Memory Lane

2 1/2 years old

My little hunter! For my own memory, I wanted to jot down a few sayings from the past months. The mind so easily forgets...unfortunately. The first year of life makes every parent proud with so many developmental stages. Then the vocal stages begin and this to me says so much more about personality!!! So, forgive me as I try and recap a few of his sayings!

• Back in December his uncles taught him to say..."hey baby, I need a pow-pow". Pow-pow is a word he acquired from his Spanish friend, Armondito. To translate, it means 'spanking'!
• Yesterday, he tried to tell daddy and Uncle "Urn" (Aaron) about how mommy pulled over the car and gave him a 'big pow-pow'. He had a long story to go with it. I wish I could of heard him tell it. He always tells about his spankings to Nathan or I! At least they are making some sort of impression!
• Whenever he has hurt himself or he is telling about his spankings he'll make a little sound (as if he's trying to be tough) and then say, "hurt bad".
• "burg-cheese" (cheese burger)....I'll never forget when we told him we were going to eat a hamburger - he stuck his finger in his nose and said, 'ewwww'! I guess he thought we were going to feed him his boogers! Poor kid!
• Most kids love McDonald's but not Kaleb...every time we pass his favorite place, Sonic, he says,"burg-cheese". Last October we went on a road trip and in the early morning hours (about 4 am), Kaleb managed to see the unlit signs of Sonic! Our mission was then to find an open Sonic for his burg-cheese!!!
• "hope" (help and open)...most of the time used when he needs me to open something.
• He can count to 10 without problems but then counts by 2's (I guess eleven, thirteen, etc. are hard for him to say!)
• He loves colors right now. "Momma, rainbow song, do it." Then when I finish, "daddy, do it". When he wants a drink, he says, 'geen (green) juice." This refers to the color of cup he wants for his juice. Lately he has wanted his purple gum...however, the gum is pink! He's working on those colors!
• Night time brings on fun with daddy..."westle, daddy". Wrestling has become a favorite activity with dad.
• "Pants on, shoes on, socks on." Kaleb loves to get dressed in the morning...he is adamant about choosing his clothes and shoes. If I choose something he doesn't like he can get whiny! Most mornings he brings his clothes he has picked out to me, including his diaper!
• He loves his shoes and he makes sure everyone sees them! His new red boots have been attached to his feet since last weekend.
• He also likes to tell me what he wants for breakfast. His normal choice is 'hot cer'al' (hot cereal). Lunch choice is a 'cheese san'-winch'. He has started asking for 'meat and cheese'!
• Recently he asked for a "tor'-tia". He realized the ending was 'tia' which he calls his aunt Erin. He said 'tor-tia' a couple of times and then started saying, "tor-nana, tor-papa, tor-daddy, tor-mommy...." He went through everyone in the family with the prefix tor-! Absolutely hilarious!
• Daddy has taught him how to give back rubs...he is pretty liberal with these! He'll get in my office chair with me and say, 'back rub mommy?" Great guy in training!
• His please has gotten pretty southern sounding...he draws it out... 'paw-leaze!
• "shoot the gun...ducks, deer, elk, geese,.." He normally is looking out our back door at the deer feeder with gun in hand rattling off all the things he can see from his point of view. Daddy has been teaching him gun safety...so, we only shoot outside at critters and animals!
• Kaleb loves horses...his favorite is "Piky". "Ride Piky momma, paw-leaze". Nana and Papa's new stables are one of his favorite places to go.
• "No way not" and 'no way not, Jose" are a few funny comments when we ask him something!
• Kaleb loves to show me his accomplishments...'sow you mommy'.
• He has now gotten to the point in the car when he tells us he is 'tired'! We'll tell him to close his eyes and before long he is asleep!
• "top-it"(stop it)
• He bumped into me the other day and said, 'sorry, mama, sorry'. How sweet is that! He has been saying it more often if he realizes he has hurt you.
• I love you is..."e-you". This is my favorite. He has been saying this one forever and he hasn't grown too big to stop saying it yet!

I have loved watching him go from single words to now forming sentences...such an awesome stage. I guess there is no way to recap every thing he says because his vocabulary has gotten quite large. What really interest me is...although Kaleb doesn't speak many words in Spanish he completely responds and obeys whatever his Spanish babysitter tells him. It is fun to watch him play with his Spanish friends who only speak their language to him.

2 years old

Walking Down Memory Lane

18 months

1st Birthday

10 months

7 months

Walking Down Memory Lane

3 months

1 month

Hospital

"Making the decision to have a child - it's momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart walking around outside your body."

-Elizabeth Stone

We are continually amazed how fast our little bundle turned into such an awesome toddler...where did the time go? We are so thankful for every momentous occasion, no matter how small or great! We are anxious to add another joy to our life in November.