New Firsts

Finally the camera/software crisis has been averted and pictures of Caleb are formatted for email and blog use! SO many special moments have passed but I will stick to the most seasonal/relevant....

1st teeth poked through October 17th

At the Pumpkin Patch with Gam

Halloween at the lake

Lovebug....

just had 2 share this.....

I am so fried and sleep-deprived these days and boy does my lower back huuuurtt! A teething baby and all-nighter husband = no rest for me. This was an email I sent my husband. No energy or care to re-write or spell correctly. I think he got my meaning. Did you?!

no i am not sleepiong\\ i am making brownies for the party and drinking beer. and the brownies are not even homemade. iam so done!!! vbiubur but didn't think 45 min nap was gonna make my day. would have probaly woken up crany. so there! sweeti sleepoing 2 nite!!!!!!

Photo Update (at last!)

I know, I know. Photos and posts have been few and far-between. We have been experiencing technical difficulties with new camera and computer software. So I have reverted to the handy point-and-shoot, which while it does not have the amazing quality of our new, technically challenged camera, does indeed provide a photo record of some sort. Enjoy!

not a baby anymore...

drivin' with Daddy

all bundled up for a walk (42 degrees in October!?@)

playing with his new toy (gotta love craigslist!)

do you think he'll be walking soon?

holiday catalog shopping :)

Booty by Mail

Treasures arrived today! A box full of love from my friend and her boys in Michigan. It is so nice to get meaningful mail, and Caleb has a slew of new-to-him clothes to wear now and to grow into. Made me smile. Big!

xo T

Things You Learn When Vacationing with Baby

= Bed-and-Breakfast owners are not totally receptive to you showing up with an "unannounced" infant

= Baby does NOT accommodate your need for rest

= Long drives are not baby's favorite way to spend his time, and he lets you know it in a LOUD and PAINFUL way

= Five days of a different environment/schedule really bite you in the bottom once you return home

= Using baby's at-home playpen as an away-from-home crib sends a mixed message that baby has a hard time decrypting

= You will undoubtedly not pack enough infant clothing to accommodate the increased number of mealtime accidents and/or spit-up events

= Meals out with baby - while harried - are certainly entertaining. Like when he crawls over your shoulder to blow really loud raspberries at the young couple next to you (trying) to have a romantic dinner. Or when he then leans over and spits up at their feet.

= You will inevitably forget your extra camera battery and charger and have virtually no record of baby's first vacation

:)

Better

I feel like I have to get better at this. At mothering. At blogging. At photographing. Lately I have been exploring links-within-links to various blogs from as close as this state to as far away as New Zealand. There are a lot of talented, thoughtful, creative people out there. It made me hopeful that I too could be one of them, but it also made me feel woefully sad and inadequate. I don't have the TIME or the ENERGY to be thoughtful very often, nor do I use my creativity or talents enough. Most of the time I am wrestling with my 6 1/2-month-old, trying with mixed success to: diaper or de-diaper; clothe him; put him down to bed; bathe him; feed him; get him in-and-out of the carseat/stroller. It doesn't sound like much, but it certainly fills a 14-hour day. There are days, like today, when I haven't gotten to bed just early enough the night before. When I was awakened after midnight by baby's cries, then again just hours later by my working-late husband who was baking a pizza. Follow that with more cries from my little one when at 5:30 he had decided enough! with sleep and wasn't it time to begin the day with crib gymnastics?

Fast forward to 3 hours later, when after a 25-minute powernap, baby was ready to go at it again. So as he was screaming himself into a hyperventilative state in his crib, I raced through my shower madly scrubbing, soaping, rinsing, drying and creaming, thinking, If this is my day today, then I should at least be clean for it.

Does it get easier? Will I get better at this? Any of it? Will I not want to cry on almost a daily basis? Will I learn to live in the moment and accept all for what it is and simply BREATHE?

Oh, this living. It's hard. And the mothering thing? Even harder.

Swimmin'

It has been some time since a photo share, so while we await the videographer's (ahem) final edit of Caleb's first swim, please enjoy! This little fish loves the water...