Lexie and Mommy Time

Caleb and Greg left early Friday to go camping with Greg's brother and his kids and Greg's dad. Caleb has been so excited since they talked about going. Caleb got up extra early Friday morning, the one morning I was to go into work at 10a.m., and dressed himself stating he was ready to go. He left me instructions before they left. "Mommy you have to stay here with Baby Lexie because she can't stay by herself. I want you feed her, and make sure no one takes her. Ok mommy?" He always ensures Lexie is taken care of, like he's the only one who knows what she needs. When I dropped off Lex at daycare, the teacher informed me Caleb leaves her instructions most mornings too. Apparently Caleb tells her "I want Lexie to have mat time and I want her to play with this toy today", as he picks a toy of the day. Greg usually takes the kids to daycare so I didn't realize extra instructions were being given. What a protective big brother she has. She may not appreciate his protectiveness when she's old enough to date, but I think I will love it. Lexie and I have enjoyed hanging out. We went shopping for some summer clothes for Lexie and then lounged around the house the rest of the time. Well what lounging that could be done between nursing every 3 to 4 hours, diaper changes every 2h, and baby food twice a day. At least I didn't have to worry about dinner for everyone and only had one child to bathe and entertain. I finished a book and even watched a few of the shows I had recorded finally. Caleb seems to be having a good time away. I have talked to him a couple of times already and he quickly told me what fun he was having then told Greg "I'm done talking to mommy now" and ran off. I don't think he misses me too much. I'm glad he and daddy are enjoying their boys weekend.

Soccer/ Dedication

Yesterday Caleb had another soccer game. It went much better than the previous two. Caleb had been getting into a habit of wanting to walk off the field and sit down. He would say he was "too tired and needed to rest" even though he had only played a few minutes. Last week when we told him it was time to go play his soccer game he said " I don't want to go mommy." When I asked why he said "because it's too boring. They don't let me get the ball." He does have a few older boys on the team now and at this age sharing isn't an option. The coach tries to rotate the kids, but at this age there is no "team" it's all about "i". "I" didn't win because "i" didn't make a goal. Though I still tried to explain how a team works, I also told him if he wanted to make a goal he had to continue to try harder to get the ball. So yesterday he did just that and scored 4 goals. They played a pretty good team too, so it was actually an exciting game.

Today was Lexie's dedication at our new church. Gigi came back to attend as well. She was upstairs with Caleb when he woke up. She asked him if he knew what we were doing at church today and he answered "yeah, we are taking Lexie to church to get her pregnant." After a total shock, my mom quickly corrected Caleb's thought process. I guess "dedication" is a difficult word to remember. Unfortunately Lexie didn't feel so great, she has been fighting a cold the last few days. But it was a great service with wonderful memories. The Scripture we picked to be read for Lexie was Colossians 1:9-10. For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way; bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God. We took Gigi out to lunch afterward before she had to head home again.

The rest of the day we took it easy and actually caught up on much needed rest. Poor Lexie tried to fight off a fever the rest of the day. She finally settled into a comfortable sleep around 9:30pm with the help of Tylenol. I hope tomorrow is a better day for her. Daddy is going to keep her in the morning until I can get home. Thank goodness for half day Mondays.

Babysitter

Caleb experienced his first babysitter Saturday night, while Greg and I went shopping and out to dinner. He was very excited about meeting this potential new friend. We had to change her title to "big boy sitter" though, he was offended by "babysitter". This was our first babysitting experience, besides friends or family, so we were excited about the prospect of future outings. She is the teenage daughter of one of my nurses so I know all about her and that's so comforting. Caleb had only minimal hesitation about us leaving him alone with her. And when we returned, he seemed to have enjoyed himself. They were still playing with all his hot wheels when we returned home and had put together all his race tracks. It was nice to see him actually play with some of the hundreds of toys we have bought him. She seemed to have plenty of patience for all his needs. And according to her mom, she seemed to enjoy him as well. Great for future nights out. She told her mom that Caleb made her laugh constantly and was super cute. Such a flirt already. Apparently he asked her "why do you have Elmo on your shirt." She told him because her mommy bought it for her, and she liked Elmo. He replied "Elmo is for babies." What a toot.

Fishing and Zoo Fun

Monday afternoon Greg took Caleb for his first boating and fishing expedition. Before they left, Greg sat with Caleb in the boat. "Why are we sitting in the boat daddy?" So we can go over the rules", says daddy. After the rules were explained Caleb asks, " Ok are we going fishing now? "Ok, but I have some rules too daddy. You can't touch my stuff. This is my bag and this is your bag daddy. Don't touch my bag, don't touch my fishing pole, and don't touch my water bottle. Ok daddy, let's go." Quite the expert already. Greg said he did a super job, and caught 4 Perch on his own. Caleb was so proud. Next month the boys are planning to go for a two day camping trip with Grandpa Allen and Uncle Jason. I am a little worried about that trip. Letting him go right up the road fishing was hard enough. Baby steps please!!!!Yesterday we headed to the Zoo with Sarah and her girls Teresa and Addison. Caleb informed me that "we hadn't been to the Zoo in too long". We arrived a little late after suffering through multiple delays before leaving the house. It is much harder to travel with two, especially when you deal with unexpected diaper blowouts or off track nursing demands. But once we made it there, things went pretty smoothly. Lexie was a trooper hanging out in the stroller most of the day. Caleb climbed almost every rock wall we passed and loudly proclaimed every move we were to make. It was such a wonderful day to be out and about though. We loved seeing all the animals up close again. When we reached the bird exhibit, Sarah bravely took the kids inside to feed the birds. While Lex and I enjoyed the view from outside the cage. We made our way to the carousel so the kids could enjoy a ride, then stopped for an ice cream treat before jumping on the train to the entrance. We made it through most of the zoo before bad attitude crept into the picture. Caleb's defiant attitude only surfaced on our way out of the zoo, which I tried to tolerate patiently since it had been a long day without napping. So overall it was a successful outing. And we so enjoyed seeing our friends again.It didn't surprise me when Caleb passed out for a short nap on our way home. Then we had to quickly make and eat dinner before heading over to swimming lessons. What a day!

Fun at the Museum

I took the kids to the Ft Worth Museum on my Tuesday off to let Caleb enjoy some of the great activities they had. I also enjoyed seeing all the wonderful exhibits again. There is so much to do there, that we only got to participate in a few exhibits in the 4 hours we were there. Caleb loved working on the "construction site" and playing in the water center. He was a trooper when we had to stop and feed baby Lexie, thank goodness for cartoons on my iphone. Then we headed to the Dino dig where we discovered several different fossils. He was also a huge fan of the dino-puzzles on the computer. We even did some inventing while we were there;Caleb invented some sort of flying contraption I think. It was a great way to spend my day off with the kids. We'll probably spend lots of Tuesday's at the museum.

Easter Weekend

We took off early Friday to head home for the weekend. My sisters and their families all arrived about the same time late Friday afternoon. Caleb was so excited about seeing his cousins, he didn't fall asleep until right before we arrived in Brady. It was nice to be with my family again, we rarely get to be together all at the same time anymore. Caleb had so much fun playing with Logan and Dylan, they wore themselves out with all the fun to be had a Gigi's. Lexie enjoyed being spoiled by everyone. She had no complaints about getting to snuggle with so many people.The Easter bunny left baskets full of goodies for the kids Easter morning. They were so excited! Caleb loved his new Ironman super hero while Lexie tried to eat her new bunny. Later the Easter bunny helped the adults hide the eggs for the hunt. Caleb said " the Easter bunny is sneaky mommy. That's why you can't see him." Caleb had plenty of candy by the time Easter weekend was over. Oh boy!

Going to GiGi's

We are leaving for Grandma's house tomorrow for Easter. Caleb is so excited. He has been looking forward to seeing his cousins all week. When I told him we were leaving tomorrow, he said "so I'll go to sleep, wake up and go to school, take a nap, and then we go. Is that right mommy?" I love his sense of time. He even helped me pack his clothes and reminded to pack some candy "in case I need it mommy." This will be our first trip with Lexie. Trying to pack for all of us feels like we're moving. I had forgotten how difficult it is to go away from home with a baby. Though I'm excited to see my family, it's been a long time since we've made it home. Hope everyone has a happy Easter. God Bless.