6 months

I took Callan's 6 month pictures the day after he turned 6 months, but here I am posting them just one week before he turns 7 months.  

SEVEN MONTHS!   

Where has the time gone?!  

These pictures are appropriate - Callan does not stay still.  He's constantly on the move.  Always reaching for something, even if it's out of his reach.  His favorite things to grab?  Cell phones, remote controls, water bottles, and the dog's toys.

Callan, please stop growing up so fast.

At Callan's 6 month check up {he was 6 months, 16 days old}, he weighed in at 15 lbs 7 oz and measured 26 inches.  He doesn't see the Dr. again until August.

Callan is sitting up on his own like an old pro, has graduated to big boy baths {always supported} and loves it - he's quite the water slapper, plays well by himself, wakes only once a night for a little "snack", LOVES music {especially Lady A} and car commercials, has a stuffed elephant named Ernie, enjoys sweet potatoes, takes 3-4 naps a day, is on our schedule {this is both a good thing and a bad thing}, adores his Ellie, reaches for and grabs faces, spends a lot of his time gnawing on his toys, loves being outside, army crawls {albeit awkwardly}...

I love my boy to no end.  He is a very special answer to prayer, years of prayer.  I love the little boy that he is becoming.  So full of spunk and personality.  

I am amazed by him, and by Him. 

I feel complete.

it's tornado season

Monday and Tuesday of this week made me a little uneasy.  Actually, more than uneasy.  On Monday we had our first tornado watch, turned warning, of the season.  This East coast girl doesn't really know how to handle this type of situation.  To say I wasn't shaking when the tornado sirens went off would be a lie.

Having weather applications on my phone sets me at ease a bit - at least I'm kept informed and updated.

 We are so thankful that this house came with a tornado shelter.  It isn't in the best shape, and it leaks a bit when it rains, but like I told Travis, I'd stand in 3 feet of water in that shelter if it protects us from a tornado.

 On Monday, Travis texted me when the base's tornado sirens went off and told me to get in the shelter.  Let me just tell you how difficult it is to carry a baby, a bag, AND open the storm shelter door while shaking with fear as the adrenaline RUSHED through my body.  I had tossed (not really tossed, but you get the idea) Ellie into the shelter as soon as Travis had texted me.  After we were in the shelter for about 5 minutes, I heard the town's sirens going off.  SCARY STUFF.  The city of Enid has never suffered significantly from a tornado, but that doesn't mean it can't happen.  The possibility exists.  And this is all new for us.

We settled in and got cozy.

{sorry for the minimal lighting - I only had one flashlight on in the corner of the room}

There were several large tornadoes that tore through Oklahoma a bit south/southwest/southeast from here on both Monday and Tuesday.  The city of Piedmont suffered tremendous loss (on Tuesday).  Be prayerful for the Hamil family.  My heart aches for them. 

{Tuesday's local tornadoes}

 After it was safe to leave the shelter (we spent about an hour in there), we made our way back into the house. 

A little while later, Callan and I took a walk in the backyard to investigate the sky...my jaw dropped when I saw these clouds.  A friend (Hi, Kristen!) informed me that they are called mammatus clouds (she's an extreme weather fanatic).  ;)
They were incredible.  I've never seen the sky look more alive.  Amazing.

 Weather predictions were much worse for Tuesday, so we (we, as in Travis) ran out and bought a shop vac to suck out the inch + of water from the storm shelter that dripped in during Monday's weather, added weather stripping to the top of the shelter door to minimize leaking, picked up a battery powered lantern, and packed a few more necessities, as well as valuables (gun, hard drive, video camera, lock box, etc.) into the storm shelter.  Thankfully Tuesday's weather, here in Enid, was much milder and the tornado sirens never went off.  We were thankful for that.  Other cities weren't as lucky.

Once the storm passed, we were able to smile, well, I was - Callan didn't know the difference either way - he was smiling the whole time.

 

You know how some things don't really seem real until you experience them, or at least a legit threat of them?  That's how I'm feeling.  The devastation of tornadoes has been close to home.  It makes it really real, ya know?  I never had to worry about these intense storms before.  Now I do.
All I want to do is keep my family safe.  
I can't imagine being a resident of Joplin, MO or of Piedmont, OK (about an hour South of Enid) (or any other town that has suffered from a tornado)...the loss is tremendous.
Not just of things, but of life.  

{Thanks for letting me get serious here for a moment...}

On a lighter note, I hope you have a wonderful Memorial Day and take advantage of being outdoors this long weekend!  Enjoy every moment.

road trip for family, no. 2

May 13-22

While my parents were here visiting a few weeks ago (read about their visit here), we got word that Travis' grandmother was in the hospital.  A few days later, she was called home.  How glorious it is that she is now with her Savior.  She'll never have to worry about losing her teeth again...the thought of that makes me smile.  

Her earthly, gummy smile will be missed.

A trip back to Fresno (for the funeral) was in order.

Our roadtrip began around 9 am on Friday, May 13 (about an hour and a half after my parents left for the airport).  The first leg of the drive was from Enid to Kingman, AZ where we spent the night at a hotel.  We left the hotel around 9 am the following day (Saturday) and arrived in Fresno 4 pm-ish.   

Here's a look at our route.

Just looking at it makes me tired.

Here are a few shots from on our way to Fresno.  We made pretty good time, considering all the stops to fill up on gas, to feed and change Callan, and to walk Ellie.

 

The drive really is a beautiful one, although veeeeery long.  Spending two days in the car with a 6 month old and a little mutt is exhausting.

 Since the little town of Fowler is on our way into Fresno, we made a quick stop at our friends' house.  I love the fact that they, literally, ran out of the house to greet us and to meet Callan for the first time.  We miss the Dunshees!  The girls had so much fun holding Callan, and so did Sean (but he won't admit to it).  ;)

 On Sunday morning, we were so excited to visit our home church in Fresno, Copper Springs.  We miss our church family immensely!  We had Callan dedicated that morning.  Very special.  We saw lots of friends that morning and got oodles of hugs.  We even got to witness the baptism of one of our friend's mothers.  Praise God!

We spent lots of time with our dear friends, the Koppers.  We miss them TONS.  I loved watching them meet Callan for the first time.  Their little girl is very special and an absolute doll, and we are so excited that they have a baby boy due to arrive in October!  { SO EXCITED }

Callan got his first "big boy bath" while visiting with the Koppers one evening.  You should have seen the 6.5 of us crowded into the bathroom.  :) 

(Thanks for capturing the moment, Tiffany!)

{LOVE this picture}

The reason for our spur of the moment trip to Fresno was bittersweet.  We joined with Travis' family in celebrating the life of a beloved woman, his grandmother.  The cemetery where she was buried is one of the most beautiful cemeteries I have ever seen, full of trees and roses.  

It's a very special place.

Sadly, Callan didn't get to meet his great-grandmother before she passed, but was his great-grandfather ever excited to meet our little man.  He couldn't get enough.  I think Callan was a happy distraction from the sadness of his loss.

 We had a few firsts on this trip, aside from the big boy bath.  Callan visited his first casino.  Yes, casino.  But not for the gambling, because, well, that would be illegal, but for the BUFFET.  Chuckchansi Gold Casino has THE best buffet.  We all lost our will power, just a smidge, that night.

Callan also sat in a shopping cart for the first time.  He was so proud.  He's getting so big!

Oh, and that picture of Travis holding Callan was just too funny to not include.  Ha!

 So after our 6 day visit to the "NO", we began our long trek home to Enid on Saturday, May 21, .  The first day, we drove from Fresno to Albuquerque, and then traveled the rest of the way on Sunday. 

 

Home never felt so good.  We've decided that we need at least 6 months between such long roadtrips.   For the sake of our sanity.

It's been a slow process of unpacking, getting laundry done, and putting everything back in their places because nature had me on edge earlier this week.  But I'll save that for tomorrow.  

{read about our last roadtrip for family here}

i'm baaack

From where you ask?  Well, it's kind of a long story, so I'll share it a little bit at a time.  

Lets start with May 7-13.  That's about where I last left off.

My parents came out to visit from New Jersey.  We enjoyed spending the week together.  It was special to spend my first mother's day with my parents and my little family.  Over the course of the week, my parents spent lots of time admiring and playing with Callan, while I got some work done in Callan's room {although I'm quite a ways from being finished}.  But hooray for progress!

While my parents were here, we learned that Callan likes to hang out in the laundry basket (but never unsupervised!).  Too cute, right? 

My Dad and Callan are quite the pair.

My Mom was a little under the weather during their visit, but she couldn't pass up the chance to feed Callan a little rice cereal.   She kept her distance most of their stay, hopefully she can get lots of snuggles and kisses in the next time she's here!

I'm playing lots of catch up this week.  

I'm a bit overwhelmed.  

You'll soon learn why.  

Unpacking, laundry, cleaning, organizing, painting, shelter stocking...sigh.

quote this

 "A tiny bouquet of flowers can fill a room with sunshine, a tiny act of kindness can fill a heart with joy." 

- Katherine Nilson

Hey, all you mommies out there, I want to wish you the happiest of mother's days!  I'm so thankful to be celebrating my first this year, AND to be celebrating with my mom (and dad) here visiting.  Hope your weekend is filled with nothing but loveliness!

 

rice rice baby

Get it?  Rice rice baby.  That's right, I just referred to and played off of a Vanilla Ice song.  I'm that cool.

Anyways, guess what time it is?

 Time to start introducing solid foods...oh yea!  Callan will be 6 months old on Sunday (I can't believe it!).  He's able to sit up on his own, quite confidently, too, he's reaching for anything we might be eating, almost everything he grabs goes directly in his mouth, so we figured now is as good a time as any to start in on rice cereal.  The signs are there, so we went for it.

 He wasn't quite sure about the whole new food/new texture thing at first, but he caught on quickly and was opening his mouth for more before we knew it.  What a fun experience - I love all the "firsts" that are right around the corner.

Of course we had to capture this "first" on video.  Nothing funny happened, just a baby eating cereal.  But it was a milestone, so we had to catch it on film.

kreativ blogger award

Anna, over at Blissful Whimsy, recently made me feel pretty darn special.  She gave me a Kreativ blogger award!  Yup, me and my little 'ol blog.  Thanks so much, Anna!

Part of the deal in accepting this award is to share 10 things about myself. 

So, here we go...

1.  I love me a toasted bagel with cream cheese and fresh, sliced tomato.

2.  Doctors gave me and my husband less than a 1% chance of naturally conceiving a child.  Callan truly is a miracle.  I thank God for my son every time I scoop him up.

3.  I'm a procrastinator.  Big time.

4.  I love to take pictures.  I wish I had the patience to learn how to really use my DSLR.  For me, it's just an expensive point-and-shoot.  Sad, huh?

5.  Hazelnut creamer in my coffee is my fav.  Light and sweet, please.

6. I'm currently on a mission to get back down to my pre-pregnancy weight.  And then minus a few more pounds.  I figured it's been 6 months...I don't have an excuse anymore.

7.  I met my husband online.  We met in June of 2003 and got married March of 2004.  When it's right, ya just know.

8.  I love traditions.

9.  I'm weirdly possessive over my kitchen.  There IS a "right" way to load the dishwasher...

10.  I miss California.

Now it's my turn to hand out this prestigious (haha!) award.  Flattering if nothing else, right?  Here are my 10 blog picks to receive this award :

Lindsay @ Paint me a Picture 

Sharstin @ me and mine

Jessica @ Living the Swell Life

Shelley @ Crazy Wonderful

Tamara @ Momma ra

Heather @ Cookie Mondays

Kyle @ Like the Rain

Cherish @ Kiwi Freckles

Lavender & Lilies 

Frilly Details

I follow, probably, two dozen blogs so it was hard to narrow it down.  I chose ones that I thoroughly look forward to seeing a new post from, and ones that might fly under the radar for some of you.  So check them out!

Well, that was fun, wasn't it?  :)

sunday sundae

Over the weekend, I indulged in one of these yummy sundaes.

Vanilla ice cream, chunky peanut butter sauce, a little whipped cream, and a few slivered almonds to top it off. 

I don't feel guilty because 1) it was tiny {it could have fit, entirely, in a 1 cup measuring cup}, and 2) I've worked out every day since last Tuesday {and I don't plan on quitting anytime soon.  Go me!}

I'm obsessed.  And we need more peanut butter.