Thanksgiving and Christmas 2011

Caleb, Brandt and I went to Caleb's Aunt Shannon's house in Midwest City to spend Thanksgiving with his side of the family. It was really nice seeing everyone that we had not seen in a while. Brandt loved getting to play with all of his cousins. The following Sunday we had Thanksgiving dinner with my aunt, uncle and cousins at my parent's house and I ate way too much as usual!! We didnt get up early this year to go black Friday shopping like we did last year but we did go to Sears and got a great deal on a front loading washer and dryer. Im so excited to use it but we are waiting until we get our new house built so it's in the shop for now. 't was very bittersweet this year though since this was the first holiday without Lynda here. It was so weird not having her there. It still doesn't feel real. We went and visited her gravesite a couple of days before Christmas so we could see her foot stone and put flowers on her grave.

Caleb actually was home for Christmas which I was so happy because for a while there we didn't know if he would be or not. He got to stay two weeks so that was even better. He has been working in North Dakota and sometimes he said it gets like 20 below! I don't know how he does it, I hate cold weather! For Christmas we did our family Santa on Christmas Eve morning because we couldn't wait to give Brandt his present. We got him a Ford Raptor Powerwheels. Its the cutest thing ever when he drives it around the yard. He acts like he's been doing it for years. Then Christmas eve night we went over to my parents house and Dustin and Jenn, my aunt, uncle and cousins were there too so that was a lot of fun. Then Christmas morning we woke up and had Santa at my parents house like usual. Brandt got a Big Buzz which was his favorite present of all. He had been asking for it the whole year. He also got a leap pad from my parents. We had a wonderful Christmas--it just was over with way too fast!! Its kind of depressing how fast it goes. Caleb won't be here for NYE so thats kind of a bummer but its alright. I'll just ring in the new year with my sweet little boy! Here's to a great 2012!!

Dallas Cowboy Game

Caleb got us tickets to the Dallas Cowboy game on October 23rd for our anniversary. The stadium was awesome and even better we had front row seats!! My aunt and uncle were actually there too so we met them at halftime and talked to them for a while. Caleb saw these autographed helmets and thought he would bid on one not thinking he would actually get it--well needless to say he did! So after spending like $10 on each beer we also had to spend $500 on a helmet!! It will look cool in our bonus room at least..haha. The World Series was also going on so it was crazy down there. We had a great time and I can't wait until we can go to another one!

Missouri Trip September 2011

The whole crew!

Best Friends!!

Brandt's first fish!

We went to Missouri to visit our best friends "The Zettler's!!" We had a blast! I laughed harder on this trip than I did in a very long time. Brandt and Aiden got to do so many fun things while we were there. They went fishing (it was Brandt's first time), got to go play at Bonker's with their Daddy's, and got to go to "The Little Gym" for a Birthday Party and went for ice cream afterwards. Brandt did so good in the car and no sickness this time praise the Lord!! Donna, Matt and Allie all came to Oklahoma for the OU/Mizzou game so we didn't get to see them but we did get to see MeMe and Melissa so that was awesome. We all stayed at Lauren's parents new house which is huge and so pretty! We even got to go to dinner "kid free" while the boys stayed with a babysitter so that was really nice. Lauren and I even got to spend some time just us which never happens anymore--we got pedicures and went to Melissa's body jam class at the gym. It was a great trip and I can't wait to see them again! Visiting them made me want to move there--everything was so green and beautiful. Far cry from all the dead trees and grass here :( Its sad because best friends shouldn't have to live so far apart! But I guess that just makes it that much better when we finally do get to see each other!

Brandt's 2 1/2!!

My baby boy turned 2 1/2 yesterday. Where has the time gone? It is absolutely amazing to watch how many new things he is learning every single day. His vocabulary has gotten huge and he repeats everything now (so we have to be careful..lol) He started back to Mother's Day Out the Tuesday after Labor Day and he is loving it. He is in the 2 year old class this year and they actually have a curriculum they follow so he is learning all kinds of new stuff. He gets to do an art project everyday so I love getting to see them when we get home! He is so full of energy and just a genuinely sweet kid. He is doing so well with potty training. I haven't even had to do much of anything--he basically did it all himself! Today he told me that he didn't want to wear a diaper because he was a big boy now! So hopefully he will be fully potty trained. We are going to Missouri to visit Lauren so I can't wait for him to get to play with Ryan and Aiden again. My mom took him to the doctor yesterday because I looked in his ear and it looked like it might have been infected and it turns out they both were! Poor Guy!! Im just hoping that it clears up before we go to Missouri. We converted his crib into a toddler bed a few months back and that has been a struggle. He gets out of it about a million times. He's getting better about going to sleep but he still wakes up around 1 every night to get in our bed. I don't really mind because I love snuggling with him as long as he goes to sleep in his bed first so I can take a shower and get things done. I love that little boy so much! I don't know what we did before we had him...We are so blessed!!

Sad times

I don't know if I had mentioned this previously or not but Lynda (Caleb's mom) got diagnosed with Stage 4 pancreatic and liver cancer back in November 2010. After a hard fight she passed away August 19, 2011. Luckily she felt good (as good as you can feel with cancer I'm guessing) right up until about 3 weeks until she died so we were so happy about that. She was able to have Thanksgiving and Christmas with all her family and be at Brandts 2nd birthday as well as watch her second grandson Jacob (Cody's baby) be born. Her funeral was very nice with so many beautiful flowers from all the people who loved her. She was a great lady, Mom and Grandma who always treated me so nice and did so much for me, Caleb and Brandt. The Holidays will be so tough this year without her. She will be missed so very much. It kills me to think about Brandt not getting to know his Grandma. When we drive by her house he will say "Grandma in Heaven with Jesus?". I know she is in a better place where she is no longer suffering but it is still so hard. It still doesn't feel real. I don't think it ever will.

Meeting Baby Ryan!

The 4th of July weekend my best friends Lauren and Nate came to visit with their two boys Aiden and the newest addition Ryan James Zettler! I was so happy to actually get to meet him when while he was just 1 month old because I didn't get to see Aiden for the first time until he was 7 months old. He was so cute and cuddly! That Saturday night Caleb and I went to a Miranda Lambert, Merle Haggard and Stoney Larue concert at Ft. Sill. It was outdoors and smoking hot--not to mention my allergies went haywire as soon as we got there so I sneezed, coughed and my nose ran the entire time. Needless to say I was pretty much miserable. We ended up leaving early. There was a burn ban in Duncan so we couldn't pop fireworks or even go watch any so it didn't really feel the the 4th of July! Monday night we had a fish fry at my parents house so that was fun. Brandt loved getting to play with Aiden--they were hilarious to watch together! My mom babysat all of the boys while we went and ate at Don Jose's and we came back and my mom had put the new 3 month onesie that I had just bought Ryan on Aiden instead. It was the funniest thing I had ever seen. Me and Lauren about peed our pants!!!!! I am so glad I got to see them and I can't wait to go up there hopefully in October for a football game!

My 27'th Birthday

I cannot believe I am 27. I don't feel 27 at all--i think I stopped counting at 23 because thats how i old I feel..haha. For my Birthday Caleb and I, Dustin and Jenn, and Erica and Blake went and ate at Don Jose's and then just went back to our house afterwards for drinks and just to hang out. Brandt stayed the night with Bubby and Ba which he loves--he would probably just live with them if he could! Haha! We had a really great time!

Vegas 2011

Back in May my mom and I went to Vegas on a whim. We stayed at New York New York (which was awesome) and had a blast. Brandt stayed with Caleb so they got to have some male bonding time :) We basically just ate, drank, gambled and ate some more! haha! We also got to go see Criss Angel so that was exciting. Our seats were like four rows away from the stage so we could see every little thing. We only stayed 3 days and 2 nights which that was plenty for us I think--I was so tired of hearing the sound of slot machines by the 3rd day! But we had a great time and it was really nice to just be able to go somewhere just the two of us like old times.

San Antonio 2011

Caleb was off the weekend of Easter, but he didn't get to come home so Brandt and I decided to head down to San Antonio to see him. We took Brandt to Sea World and he loved it--he kept calling for Amu, Amu (Shamu..haha) He loved playing in the water and I never thought we were going to be able to get him to leave. Then later that night we went and ate dinner on the Riverwalk. We had a blast! Brandt was perfect in the car there and back so that made things so much easier because I was pretty worried about that.

I ran my second 5k on April 30th. It was the Stampede 5k at the Simmons Center. I did 10 seconds worse than my first 5k last month so I was pretty mad at myself for that. But I only ran like once the whole month so that didn't help at all. But oh well--it was fun and I got a t-shirt...haha. I plan on doing more and this time actually training for it!!

Brandt's 2!

We just had a small get together at our house this year for Brandt's 2nd Birthday. It was much less stressful than last year because it was just our family so I didn't have to worry about "entertaining" people (because if you know me thats something that sends me into major anxiety mode..lol. Caleb set up the sandbox outside and Brandt played in that the entire time. It was Sid the Science Kid theme and everything turned out really cute. Especially the cake--it looked like something that should have been on TLC! The lady did an awesome job. Everybody had a good time and it was nice just to spend time with family. I cannot believe my baby boy is 2!! He is getting so big so fast. We bought him some big boy underwear--they are the cutest little things ive ever seen. Hes getting very good at telling us when he needs to go "pee pee" and going in the potty. He hasn't pooped in it yet so that should be interesting..haha. He has started saying a ton of words and learning shapes. His favorite thing though is still watching Toy Story. My poor mom has seen that movie a thousand times by now but he never gets sick of it! We are getting more adjusted to Caleb being gone two weeks at a time but it still is hard. Especially this past weekend because Brandt got double ear infections again for the second time in 3 months and he was coughing really bad so it was pretty scary to be all by ourselves with him so sick like that. Plus it would make it a lot easier to go somewhere like workout or tan at night if Caleb was home because then I feel awful having to ask my mom to watch him so I can go do that stuff after she has had him during the day all week. I hope we didn't make the wrong decision with him taking this job. I mean don't get me wrong--the money is nice and being able to save so much and pay off debt is awesome but I don't want the price to pay for that be our family and marriage suffering. But it's too late now so i just pray we can get through this and stay close and make it work.

I think me, Caleb, my mom and Lynda are planning on going to South Padre Island in June to stay at my Aunt's condo and to see my cousins and my Aunt so that will be nice to get away. Cody and his wife Nani are expecting a baby boy (Jakob) around the first of June. I can't wait to see Brandt with his new cousin--he will love it. Lauren is also due in June so as soon as she has her baby I think we are going to go to Missouri to visit and meet her/him so that's exciting as well. It seems like every single person I know is pregnant right now. Crazy! Not me though! lol. I couldn't imagine having a 2 year old that demands all my attention and a new baby.

I ran in my first 5k on March 26th and actually finished without passing out which was my only goal! My time was 39:11 which I know isn't the greatest but I pretty proud of it considering I had never done anything like that before. It was really fun so I decided to sign up for another one on April 30th. It's the Stampede 5k at the Simmons Center. I want to at least run it in 37 this time so we will see. I haven't had a lot of time to train for it so I don't know. I like the challenge though. All too often people get sedintary and set in their ways and comfortable so I wanted to do something out of my comfort zone to push myself and running was definitely it. I am not a runner and never have been but I never thought I would enjoy it so much so now I plan to continue doing 5k's.

Lately

Well we did end up getting to go to to OKC for Valentine's Day. We went and ate at Mama Roja's on Lake Hefner (it was amazing!) and went to Penn Square. I got a new Iphone 4! The kitchen faucet ended up being clogged up and something inside of it busted so we had to get a new one but at least we got water again shortly after my last post! Its been warming up alot here lately. This week its even supposed to get into the 80's! I feel like I didn't even get to wear half of my winter clothes because it doesnt even seem like it was cold for very long. But thats okay with me--I am not a fan of cold weather! And we bought another new car..lol. No more new cars for us for a LONG time! Caleb got a 2011 White Chevrolet Silverado 4 door 4x4 thats lifted and has black rockstar wheels on it. Its so awesome. I'm really happy for him because he definitely deserves it as hard as he works! It's getting a little bit easier when he's gone now. Im starting to get used to it a little more. It still gets boring and I still miss him like crazy though but Brandt and I have just kinda got into our own little routine so it's not such a shocker anymore not to have help with him. Last time he was home my Mom kept Brandt for the night and we got to go eat at Kobe's and go see "Just Go With It" at the movies. It was really fun. I'm maintaing my diet really well but I decided that I would let myself "cheat" one night every time Caleb comes home just so I won't get burnt out. Lol.

Today is my baby's 2nd Birthday! I cannot believe he is already two. The time has flown by so fast its sad. I look at baby pictures of him and I can barely even remember him being that small. On the other hand he is at such a fun age now. He's saying lots of new words everyday and loves loves loves playing outside. I think he would live outside if we would let him! He's a big helper now and helps Mommy put up dishes and pick up his toys. He even helped Grandpa in the yard the other day. I took him to Urgent Med last night because the night before he cried out alot and he never usually cries at night and come to find out he has an ear infection and a ruptured ear drum. I feel so bad for him because I can remember how bad those hurt. We are having a small family get together for his Birthday this coming Saturday so I hope he feels better by then! I registered to run/walk a 5k on March 26th so that should be interesting. I am definitely not a runner but I felt like I needed to challenge myself. I have been training and suprisingly I really like it. I actually look forward to go jogging which is definitely a change for me! My goal is just to finish--I feel like I would have a sense of accomplishment for putting my mind to something outside of my normal comfort zone and completing it--and I get a t-shirt so thats fun too :)

Big Changes

Caleb recently got a new job with Superior Well Services which would entail him being gone for 2 weeks straight and home for one week. Even though we knew him being gone for that long at a time would be very hard, the pay increase was just too good to pass up. The first week he was gone I was less scared at night than I expected I would be. I didnt know what to expect really because he had never been gone for more than 2 nights and thats when he went to Canada with his job last year. I knew it would be a big adjustment not having him there to help me with Brandt and BOY WAS I RIGHT!! It was a bit overwhelming at times but I am so thankful that my Mom is there to help me!!

Last Thursday I was randomly looking online for Tahoes or Yukons (something I do all the time b/c I have always wanted one) and found exactly what Ive been wanting at Battison's. A fully loaded 2008 White GMC Yukon I called Caleb and told him about it and he told me to go test drive it. So I test drove it and of course fell in love..lol. Caleb told me if they would give me pay-off for my car then I could have it. I highly doubted that they would give me that much since my Terrain was only a year old but they did!! It was almost like it was meant to be because it only raised my payments like $10 a month and my car insurance actually went down. Its exactly what Ive always wanted. Brandt has so much more room and there is plenty of room for another carseat in case we ever have another baby :) You can definitely tell the previous owner took excellent care of it. It basically looks brand new! As you can tell Im excited about the new car..haha. Something Im definitely not excited about is all this snow we are getting! The weather said it was supposed to be getting really bad on Tuesday Feb. 1st and all I could think about is Caleb not being able to make it home and for another replay of last years ice storm. YUCK!! But thankfully Caleb was able to make it home and boy was Brandt happy to see his Daddy! All I had been hearing for the past two weeks before that was Dada! Dada? We both missed him so much--I never realized how much I relied on Caleb and wont be taking having him around for granted ever again! So it started snowing and kept snowing and kept snowing. Our pipes froze even though I left the water dripping and we are still without water so we have been having to take showers at my parents house. The dishes and laundry are piling up and that is stressing me out bad!! Tomorrow is supposed to warm up so I'm praying that will thaw out the pipes. If the roads are ok tomorrow Caleb and I are planning on going to OKC and going shopping, dinner and a movie for our Valentines Day since he will gone on the actual day. But I guess we will see if we actually get to tomorrow. I. HATE. SNOW. and ice..lol. and cold weather for that matter. I need to move somewhere where it never snows. On another note, I cannot believe that my baby boy will be 2 years old next month!! My how time flies :(

New Year's 2011

Our NYE was pretty low key this year (as it starts to be once you have a baby..lol..well at least for us). We just went out to eat with our friends Blake, Erica and Steve at La Fiesta and then went home to our little buddy. I wouldn't have had it any other way!! I am looking forward to what the New Year has in store for our family. God is already opening up new doors for us and I am very excited and thankful for that. Caleb is going to start a new job with Superior that will mean more money but also mean him being gone alot so Im kinda nervous about that. I just hope it is the right decision for our family. I am so blessed to have such an amazing husband though that works so hard to make a better life for us. I am so thankful to have a happy, healthy little boy who is the light of my life! I am very blessed and I thank God for everything he's given me and for loving me. I pray for those who need healing at this time. I know he is bigger than what we are going through right now and can work miracles. On another note, I have totally gone off the deep end with my diet. The holidays really screwed me up. So starting Monday its back to the diet. This weekend we are going to the Thunder game and staying in Bricktown so I thought I better wait until after that so I could have one last hoorah without having to be on a diet...lol. We got our shop built on our land and we are in the process of getting everything set up in it now. Hopefully we will be able to start building a house sooner than we thought since Caleb got this new job. Like I said, I'm looking forward to seeing what the New Year brings!!

Christmas 2010

I definitely got everything I wanted and more this Christmas!! I think everyone did! Christmas Eve we all got together at my parent's house for our annual Christmas Eve party. We all had a great time! The next morning we had our very own Christmas morning with Brandt and his Santa presents for the first time. He got a Diego tricycle, Woody Doll, Magna Doddle, Firetruck, movies, hat and clothes. He definitely like his Diego tricycle the best and would not get off of it for days not even to eat! Then we headed over to my parent's house for Christmas morning over there. He got a new Red Flyer tricycle and when he saw it he said "WHOA!" It was priceless. He wouldn't get off that one either..lol. I got a new Coach purse from Caleb which I love!! This Christmas was kind of bittersweet because of certain family member's illnesses (which I won't go into detail) but I'm just glad we could spend it all together!

Thanksgiving 2010

Brandt and Aiden in Missouri

Lynda with her boys on Thanksgiving

This Thanksgiving was wonderful because Caleb's whole family got to come for lunch at my parent's house. His brother that had been in Iraq and we never get to see even was there. It was great to have everyone together. The day after Thanksgiving we headed up to Missouri to see our best friends The Zettler's. Brandt had been sick a few days before Thanksgiving but I thought surely he was over it by that time so we went ahead and went. Well he definitely wasn't over it and it got way worse. He threw up all over their floor as soon as we got there. I felt so bad!! Then he proceeded to throw up everyday while we were there. I ended up getting the stomach bug as well and was sick for a whole day. It was absolutely awful especially to have to be sick in someone elses house--I was just thankful it was there house and not someone I barely knew. It was bad enough as it was!! They were so nice and understanding about it but i still felt awful. We had a long drive back but thankfully no one got sick in the car. When we got home Brandt was so lethargic it was starting to get scary so we ended up having to take him to the E.R. He had a stomach virus, ear infection and sore throat but thankfully he was not dehydrated. He was fine after a few days but I felt so sorry for him!! My mom was sick over Thanksgiving too so needless to say it wasn't the best Thanksgiving when it came to all the sickness!! But we still had lots of fun getting to spend time with Lauren, Nate and Aiden as always!! She is pregnant so I can't wait to go back and this time to get to see the new little addition!!

Halloween 2010

Brandt was a hamburger for Halloween this year. He actually wore his costume so I was pleasantly surprised. We took him to the mall in town for some trick or treating. He went up to all the people and held out his bucket like he had been doing it for years. It was hilarious. He got lots of candy (most of which his daddy ate..lol). Of course we had to take him by to see Bubby and Grandpa and then we went to show Grandma Lynda. The next afternoon we took him to the Boo Review on Mainstreet in Duncan. There was a costume contest which he didn't win :( but still had a good time. That was about it for our Halloween this year. He was the cutest little hamburger Ive ever seen!!