A Year of Many Memories

Well, the day is finally here.  My little Caleb is a year old today!  The time has gone by so fast.  It seems like just yesterday that I had him.  John and I can't believe how much he has changed from that first day, when he couldn't do anything without our help.

I remember getting to see him the first time after Dr. Huss delivered him.  The nurse brought him to my side of the curtain (I had a C-section).  He was the most perfect thing ever!  Of course, Micah was the most perfect thing ever as well.  Wow, it's bringing tears to my eyes right now thinking about it.  What a sap I am!

I remember introducing Caleb to Micah and Micah's gentle little kiss on his head.  It was so sweet.  Of course, now Micah would rather drive a hot wheel on Caleb's head than give him a kiss.  But he still gives his brother kisses now and then.

There have been a lot of firsts for my little boy this first year.  His first bath, his first time sleeping through the night (oh what a wonderful feeling!), his first smile, his first tooth, his first time rolling over, and his first steps. 

Caleb started taking steps a few weeks ago, and now he is just toddling all over the house.  It's a great thing, but it just reminds me how much he is growing up.  And it all has happened in one little year.

Although I am surprised that one year has gone so fast, I am excited for all the years to come. 

 

Leaving, on a jet plane

So the boys and I are off to Texas again.  This time we are going so we can attend my cousin Rebekah's wedding.  We are all so excited to celebrate the beginning of her new life with Justin.  We are happy to have him in our family. 

We leave on Wednesday morning, and will be returning the following Tuesday.  I would like to stay a little longer, but my little boy will be turning 1 on Thursday the 14th.  I wouldn't want John to miss out on Caleb's first birthday. 

Lompoc Flower Festival

Well, the Flower Festival has come and gone, and the Stults Family had a good time attending.  The boys and I went to walk around Friday afternoon and look at the crafts and vendors.  It was such a nice day.  We looked at the games and rides in the carnival, but I told Micah that we would wait until the next day when John could go with us.  Micah thought that sounded like a good idea.  So we played on the playground instead.

Saturday morning we slept in (actually I let John sleep in, since he got up with Caleb during the night).  Once we were all ready to go, we went to the park.  Micah was so excited to ride all the rides.  He has never really shown an interest in wanting to get on the rides, but this time was different.  We got him a wristband, which was a much better deal than buying tickets.  He and John rode the merry go round first.

Then Micah discovered the 4 wheelers and the motorcycles.  His favorite ride by far was the motorcycles.  Micah even rode a horse.  They were having pony rides, and Micah actually wanted to get on.  I was surprised!  My boy is growing up fast!  We stayed at the park for a couple of hours, and then decide to go home and rest for a while.  After Micah woke up from his nap, we went back to the park for more fun.  We really had a nice time, even though it was so crowded. 

Oh The Places He Will Go

Life as the mother of two seems to be getting just a little bit easier nowadays.  Caleb is growing leaps and bounds.  He has been crawling for a couple of months now, and it is a wonderful thing. 

Before he was able to crawl, if I left the room, Caleb would get mad and start to cry.  So I would then have to go pick him up and take him to whatever room I was going to in order to keep him happy.  It really made doing things around the house more of a chore than they usually were.  And you all know how I hate doing chores!

Now that Caleb can crawl, a whole new world has opened up for him.  He can go wherever he wants.  He can follow after me or John or Micah.  It is kind of liberating knowing that I don't always have to pick him up and take him with me.  And now I can get some things done in one trip.  I used to have to take the things to the room, then go back for Caleb, or vice versa.

Does this mean that I will get more things done around the house, you ask.  Well, knowing me...probably not.  I procrastinate those kinds of things until they get to an almost unmanageable level.  But maybe in my perfect future, I will get better at that.

Is it hot in here?

Well, I thought I had left the hot weather back in Texas. But I guess it followed me all the way back to Lompoc. We have been having some sweltering weather here the last few days, and it looks like it might continue for a while.

John came in this morning (about 10:45 a.m. mind you) and said it was already 100 degrees. That seems more like Texas weather than Lompoc weather to me. But luckily, we are ready for it. Yesterday, we raided Micah's piggy bank and went to Wally World and got him a little kiddy pool. Micah picked the color he wanted and paid for it. We swam in it yesterday as soon as we got home, and we've been sitting in it again today. A purchase worth every penny.

Long Time, No Update

Well, I don't know why I can't seem to keep this thing updated, but I have resolved to do a better job of it.  We'll see if I can keep that resolution.

Micah turned 3 at the end of April.  He had a great time at his birthday party.   Like his daddy, he enjoys being the center of attention.  I'm not speaking out of turn because I know that John would agree with me.  Micah had a Spiderman party, and had a ton of fun playing with friends and family...and of course, getting to eat his cake.

 

One of the presents Micah got was a Cars fishing pole.  The next day, we went to River Park so Micah could try his hand at fishing.   He is already really good at casting.  He tries so hard to be just like his dad that he kept imitating everything John was doing.

Caleb is also growing like a weed.  He just turned 10 months  old.  He just cut two more teeth up on top, bringing him to a grand total of four teeth.  Two on top and two on the bottom, with one more on top coming in.  He crawls everywhere, and he has started pulling himself up.  It won't be long until he is walking all over the place.

 

The boys and I just got back from a trip to Texas to see my parents and sister.  We had a good time, even with the heat.  Since we live in Lompoc, we have gotten used to nice, cool weather.   But the heat wasn't anything that a little plastic pool in my parents' backyard couldn't solve.

Our trip back home was delayed for a few days because Caleb got an ear infection and couldn't fly.  But it cleared up quickly enough for us to fly home in time for Father's Day.   The boys were so glad to be home with their daddy.

An Update on Us

So, it's been a while since I've updated this thing. I decided to update everyone on what's been going on in the Stults household. First and foremost, we moved! We are now in a 3 bedroom house with a great backyard and TONS more space than our itsy bitsy little house we were renting. We moved into John's grandma's house. She has recently moved in with John's mom.

In between packing and moving, all of us went on vacation in Hawaii. We went with my parents, my sister and her boyfriend, and our good friends Jacquie and Justin. What a blast! The weather was great, and the house we rented was beautiful! We got to visit popular tourist attractions such as Pearl Harbor, the USS Arizona memorial, the USS Missouri, and the USS Bowfin submarine. We visited Huanama Bay, Kailua Beach, Lanikai Beach, the Blowhole, the North Shore, and historic Hailewa. We took the boys to an aquarium our last day, and we visited Waikiki Beach.

John got sick with the flu our last day in Hawaii. He spent the entire flight back sleeping. I got the sick the next day. No fun, especially when there is moving to be done. But we got it all moved, and now the unpacking and organizing begins.

Let me see...Here are some stats on the boys.

Micah turns 3 at the end of April. He is getting to be big stuff, and a great help with his little brother. He is about 38 pounds and 3 feet tall. We think he is looking taller over the past few days, so we can't wait to get the official measurement when he goes to the doctor. He has been speaking many more words than he used to. We are thankful for that. He still needs to be interpreted for when we're around others, but his speech is getting better and better. I will probably still look into getting speech therapy for him since he doesn't finish off his words. But all in all, he is a healthy and happy boy.

Caleb just turned 7 months old. He cut his first tooth about 2 weeks ago. At his last appointment he weighed almost 18 pounds, and was 26 3/4 inches long. My big boy! He is doing well, and really enjoys eating baby food and baby cereal. He really enjoys watching his big brother. Right now we're going through a little bout of separation anxiety whenever Mom leaves the room. Caleb loves to tell us what is going on in his life. The problem is, we don't understand what he's saying. It all sounds like squeals and giggles to us. But that's ok.

One major changed that has recently happened is John's change of jobs. He is now working for El Dorado Broadcasters, who own some local radio stations. He sells airtime to businesses who want to put their commercials on the radio. He is a schmoozer, so he is really good at his job. He's been there since the beginning of March. We are really excited to see where this will take him.

Well, that's about it for us. Nothing new to report on me, except that I seem to be attracting sickness. Besides getting the flu in February, I just got over Strep Throat. I haven't been this sick so close together in quite a while. I've had enough, thank you very much. That's all on the home front. Keep us updated on how you have been.