News!!

Watch the video for some big news!

That probably would've worked better if I didn't have that rotating alien on the side of the page yet. Our due date is August 20th. We are so excited!

We Lost

Today it became blatantly clear to me that we don't always win the fight. We fight so hard, but sometimes we lose. I already knew this I guess, but work got me thinking about it. On my way home I thought, we fought SO hard for so many months and so did he. And for what? Nothing? Well it didn't take me too long to realize it's not for nothing. Because most of the time we win. It's not our job to decide when we win and when we lose. It's our job to fight. So Angel, fly away home. You are happy now and so we will try to be happy too.

Santa!

Nate took Caleb to see Santa at the children's museum this year. We were so stunned that he actually sat in his lap and didn't scream or run away! His answer when we ask what he wants for Christmas is very consistent: dinosaurs and cars. I asked if he wanted a bike for Christmas and he said, "Nope, I think I already got one!" (referring to his tricycle). Hopefully he'll change his mind when he sees his real bicycle Christmas morning!

Nate's a Doctor!

A doctor of jurisprudence that is. He graduated from the Texas Tech School of Law on Saturday. We are soooo proud of him! The night was one to remember . . . Half way through the keynote speaker, the power went out campus-wide. We had a couple emergency lights on in the auditorium, but the stage was completely dark. Well they decided to go ahead with the ceremony, so the graduates walked across the stage in the dark. Which also means we have no pictures or videotape of it. The next problem was the restaurant we planned to go to had a 2 hour wait. So we settled for Applebee's. Next, our waitress' son got in a car accident, so she had to leave before our order came out. And of course about 5 out of the ten plates they brought out were either the wrong thing or non-existent. But all in all, it was still a wonderful night. We had so much family come to support Nate in his accomplishment, and I don't think anything could temper the excitement of being done with law school! Once again, we're so proud of you Nate!



Thank you to Tiffani's family for making the drive to Lubbock, and especially to Nate's mom, who came all the way from Utah for the occasion.
This is the professor that Nate chose to "hood" him. He is the main one over the international classes, and went on and on to our parents about how great Nate is.

Football!

Saturday was the last home game of the season - the last of Nate's college career. Our babysitter was busy that day, so we decided to take Caleb with us. They were nice to let him in without a ticket, even though he's twice the age that a ticket is required for. We had a ton of fun and Caleb was sooo good! We were very proud of him for behaving for 3 1/2 hours. He met a friend in the stands and just ran around in our little area, ate popcorn, and sat on Daddy's shoulders to see part of the game. He even clapped and screamed at the appropriate times!

Of course he was pooped by the time we left. We tried everything to keep him awake on the way home, but nothing worked.

Christmas Time!

In keeping with tradition, we set up the Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving. Nate and Caleb were so cute working together.

Brunette for a Day

Well here's your one and only chance to see me with brown hair. I dyed it today, but it didn't quite turn out the way I wanted, so I'll be dying it back blonde tomorrow!

Vacuums

Have I mentioned that Caleb's obsessed with vacuums? I kept thinking it was just a phase he would grow out of, but no, he's definitely obsessed. He asks to go to the store and look at vacuums almost on a daily basis. His favorite store is not Toys 'R' Us, but Sears, otherwise referred to as "The Vacuum Store." We were ready to leave Target once, but he wanted to stay and walk around. So I decided to stay and let him lead the way for once. He found the vacuums within a couple minutes, and stayed there for about 25 minutes, just staring and admiring. I kept trying to get him to go to the toy section, but no. He would have stayed at the vacuums longer, but I was so bored out of my mind that I finally dragged him away. He also asks to look at vacuums on the computer all the time. Well one day I got tired of looking them up for him, so I printed out a bunch of pictures off the web. They now hang above his bed so he can look at them as he goes to sleep! Crazy kid!

We got him his own little Dirt Devil for his birthday, and he LOVES it. He took it to bed with him every night for a while.

And just the other day, the real vacuum was out, and so he had to take that to his nap with him. Like I said, he's obsessed!

Funny

In case you've ever wondered what happens if you put in bubble bath AND turn on the jets . . .

Keep in mind, this bathtub is less than halfway full of actual water!

And one more random funny picture:

Zach's Birthday

First, I want to say THANK YOU to Stephanie for her beautiful photography that graces the walls of our home and the title of our blog! Your talent is amazing and not one to be taken for granted! Or to have others assume you'll work your butt off for them for free! :-)

Second, I wanted to say Stephanie and Jason threw an amazing birthday party for Zach this past weekend! We traveled down to Midland for his fifth birthday and it was sooo fun! Caleb and I both had a great time. They had a spy theme and made awesome marshmallow guns for the millions of kids that came. The backyard had tons of different targets to shoot the marshmallows at, and an obstacle course. Caleb thought the idea was to get right up to the targets and stick the gun through the hole in the middle, then shoot. He had the most fun shooting Grandpa Carroll and watching him fall over. They also had a bomb shaped pinata and a bomb shaped cake, complete with a sparking fuse sticking out of the top. Anyways, I was very impressed and Caleb had tons of fun. Unfortunately I forgot my camera, but click on "Jason and Stephanie" on the side of my blog, and you can see pictures on their blog, including a super cute one of Caleb.

New Glasses, Finally

Well some of you have asked which glasses I ended up getting. I spent two weeks looking at stores all over town, and I ended up buying the first pair I ever picked up. It took the patient employee working there finally saying in a VERY stern Hispanic accent, "You like those ones the best! It's your face they're going to be on, so you get the ones YOU like!" Well that's what I needed - someone to point out the obvious. So I promptly ordered them. One piece of advice though . . . Although your local one-stop-shopping center is very convenient, it's probably not the best idea to trust the handy-dandy optometrist attached to the store. Not the best quality doctor. He wrote my prescription wrong (put +'s instead of -'s), and wouldn't ever admit he made a mistake. When I told him I couldn't see anything with my glasses on, he told me I just needed to wear them longer to let my eyes adjust. When I told him it gives me a headache to wear them, he told me to take an aspirin! So then I finally figured out what the problem was myself - he wrote a prescription for a farsighted person, but I'm nearsighted. I went and told them that. Everyone else in the office agreed with me, but not the good ol' optometrist. He said my eyes should not have changed that much in two weeks, and there was something going on here. Had I started a new medication? Stopped taking any medications? Changed anything? "Nope, nothing," I said. I tried to tell him I had never been farsighted, but no, he could not admit he made a mistake. So I got my new prescription and, sure enough, the exact same prescription with minuses instead of pluses. My goodness, how ever did my eyes change sooo much in two weeks?!

The glasses were number 6 on the previous entry. Thank you so much to all of you who gave me your input! Now your job is to at least pretend that you LOVE my new glasses!

Nate's Graduation

Nate will be graduating from law school December 13th! One semester earlier than most of his class! Woohoo! The ceremony will be held at 5:00pm. Whoever wants to come is invited. There are only about 30 graduating, so there should be plenty of room, and hopefully it won't last too long. Congratulations to my handsome, dedicated, hard-working, wonderful husband!

Go Tech!

Get your guns up! Nate went to "the greatest football game ever" Saturday night! Texas Tech played the University of Texas, which WAS ranked number one in the nation. Notice I said WAS. Yep, we beat 'em!! We started out ahead, but then they caught up. Last minute of the game, UT scored a touchdown to pull ahead of Tech 33 to 32. Then with eight seconds left on the clock, Tech scored a touchdown and sealed the deal. The crowd rushed the field, and of course Nate joined in the fun. He went to the game with a couple of his friends while us womenfolk hung out with the kids. People had been camping outside of the stadium for an entire week leading up to the game just to get the best seats. They broke the record with how many people they packed into the stadium. Anyway, the point is, Tech beat the #1 team in the nation, who just happened to be one of our biggest rivals! We're now ranked #2! What an awesome time for Nate to be going to Tech! Of course we'll see tommorow if that ranking holds up . . .

Halloween

We had a good Halloween this year. We went to the ward Trunk-or-treat on the 24th. It was held at a farm outside of town where we got to take a hayride, see animals, eat chili, and of course, get lots of candy! Caleb was excited to see his girlfriend dressed up as a bumble-bee.

He also got to wear his fireman costume to preschool on Thursday and went trick-or-treating around all the classrooms. Then on Friday, we went to a Halloween carnival at the children's museum. Caleb played hard. His favorites were basketball and the giant snakes! The snakes were too much for his Daddy to handle, but he just wanted to stay there and watch them for like 15 minutes! We offered for him to go trick-or-treating around the neighborhood when we got home, but he said, "No, I just want to have warm milk and watch Dora." I guess we wore him out!

Happy Halloween!

On Board the Potty Train

(He's always asking "Where's the train?)

So I guess I'm gonna give this blogging thing a second try. Here goes . . .

Our newest news is that Caleb is potty trained!! Yeayyyy! I'm so proud of him. I dreaded the process for so long that when we actually did it, I was very pleasantly surprised. He only had occasional accidents for about a week, and hasn't had any since then (about three weeks now!). We only had one really bad day, and the rest were pretty good. Such a good boy! I do have some funny things to say about it too, though. He had a blue and green step stool, but I decided we needed another one for the other bathroom. So he was with me when I went to buy one, and absolutely insisted that we get the pink one! I even offered to buy the more expensive red one with his favorite cartoon character (Dora) on it. He would have none of it! I told him pink is for girls and Daddy was not going to be happy with us for getting a pink one. He still insisted. I'd like to think he wanted to benefit breast cancer research, as the pink one pledged to donate part of the proceeds to it. He's not girly, he's just generous! So here's a picture of him washing his hands on the pink stool.

One of the best tricks I tried was letting him throw a cheerio in the potty, and then aiming for it when he pees. Funny I know, but it works! Somehow he came up with the idea that all people present must wave bye-bye to the cheerio as he flushes it down. It's become a ritual now. If not followed, a tantrum will ensue! So there we are waving bye-bye. . .

Caleb's First Fish!

Well, May has been a very busy month, and Caleb and I have actually been out of town more than in town. I have several pictures to put up from our trips, but wanted to get this one up first. In order to keep in line with tradition, Grandpa Christensen took us fishing while we were in Utah. Since it was still a little cold, we just went for a few hours at a nice little pond in Lehi. Grandma and Grandpa bought Caleb a fishing pole, and sure enough, he caught his first fish! Daddy reeled it in most of the way, but when it got close enough to see, he handed the pole over to Caleb. Caleb reeled it in a little more, and as soon as that poor fish started flopping around in the shallow water, Caleb decided the best action to take would be to beat the fish into submission. I felt bad for the fish but it was soooo funny! Caleb kept whacking it over and over again with the pole and refused to finish reeling it in. Well we finally got it into the net and here's a picture of Caleb with his first fish ever! He also like poking it with his finger and watching it flop around in the net. We threw it back, but I don't think the poor thing survived. . .

I'm sure this is just the start of many fishing trips to come with Grandpa and Grandma Christensen.

He's so Polite!

Today we were driving and I sneezed. Caleb asked, "You okay, Mommy?" I said, "Yeah I'm okay." "Good," he said. Then, tonight, we had had about 20 minutes of panic because the satelite wasn't working and therefore Caleb couldn't watch Dora before going to bed. Nate finally got it fixed, and, after confirming with us several times that Daddy had fixed it, Caleb said, "Good job Daddy!" Nate said "Thanks Caleb." "You welcome Daddy." He also has been thanking me for everything lately. Anytime I give him anything, do anything for him, or sometimes just walk by him, he says, "Thanks Mommy." It's kind of nice to be thanked for everything you do! So maybe I do like this talking thing . . .

Guess what my 2-year-old said today?
"No Mommy. Stop. It's not yours french fries."
I'm not sure I like this talking thing!

Bedtime Clan

I know I just barely posted pictures, but I just had to put this one up. This is how Caleb fell asleep for his nap today. Let me explain what you see. On the right side is his lawn mower - he's been absolutely obsessed with it lately, and takes it with him EVERWHERE he goes, including to bed at night and at naptime. On his head is the camo hat he refused to take off - a gift from Grandma and Grandpa Christensen for his first birthday. Next to his right cheek is "white bear." This is his special teddy bear that he got from Grandpa Carroll. He's insisted on taking it to bed with him since he got it about 6 months ago. On the left side of the crib is "brown bear." He started taking that to bed with him in addition to white bear about a month ago. And next to his left cheek is his stuffed dog - "goggy" - which is his newest addition to the bedtime clan. He doesn't ever kick any friends out of the clan, just keeps adding new ones. So his bed is getting fuller and fuller. We usually have to go in after he falls asleep and remove some of the junk. Anyway, he looked too cute to pass up the picture opportunity.

I thought these pics showed Caleb's personality perfectly.

Cheesy

Goofy

Sweet

Caleb Can Count!!!!!!

HOLY COW!! I didn't even know he could count to three, much less to ten. Just out of the blue, he counted all ten caterpillars in his book tonight. Like it was nothing! One-two-three-four-five-six-seven-eight-nine-ten! He had never even counted to two for me before. I guess I shouldn't be surprised. He does everything that way - waits until he's good and ready, and knows for sure that he can do it, before he'll even try. Like walking - wouldn't take a step until he was 14 months old, but was a pro as soon as he started. He never fell because he wouldn't even try until he knew he could do it without falling. Crazy kid. All this time we've been trying to teach him to count! I'm so excited!

Saving Babies

So, when I have to go to work, Nate always tells Caleb that mommy has to go save babies. Now, as soon as Caleb sees me wearing my purple scrubs, he says, "Mommy save babies?" Yes Caleb, mommy's going to save babies. One night, he didn't want me to leave and was clinging to my leg. So I picked him up and asked if he wanted to come to work with me. He said "Cabeb save babies!" We think he's pretty cute.
(No, that's not a typo. He hasn't figured out how to say his L's yet. So he replaces them with random other letters.)

Trip to Dallas

Over Spring Break, Caleb and I took a trip to Dallas to visit Aunt Melissa, Uncle Timmy, and Kade. Caleb loved the plane ride. On the way down the runway, he was saying, "Go, go, go! We goin' fast!"


We had a great time just relaxing and letting the boys play together. They kept us running at the park!


Daddy got to stop by for Easter after doing interviews in San Antonio and Austin. (Woohoo!!! He got an internship for the Summer and job for after he graduates in San Antonio. Congratulations Nate!!) Caleb loooooved the red swing in the backyard. He wore us out yelling for more "under-gogs" (under-dogs). He also had a great time exploring Aunt Melissa's woodsy backyard, and watching the trains go by right behind the back fence! Every time one went by, he would yell "hear a choo choo?!"

And of course he took full advantage of the one day out of the year he gets to eat candy for breakfast.
We also had a cute little Easter egg hunt for the boys:
Thanks to the Richeys for letting us come hang out. It was a great break!

What Does Caleb Say?

Today I got sure proof that Caleb is well on his way to being a man. The conversation went like this: "What does the cat say?" "Meowwwww!" "What does the sheep say?" "baaaaaah" "What does the rooster say?" "Cock-a-doo!" "What does Caleb say?" And, right on cue, he farted.

Vitamin A

Caleb's method of getting Vitamin A:
1. Dip carrot in applesauce.
2. Shove entire carrot in mouth.
3. Chew, chew chew.
4. Spit chewed carrot back out onto plate.
5. Repeat.

At least he put it back on the plate!