Under the weather

Caleb has been a bit under the weather the past couple of days. We came back from Highland on Sunday night and now his nose is constantly running and/or stuffy. In fact, I'm listening to my little one snoring right now over the monitor. Not sure what's up. I'm thinking it might be teeth? flucuation of the weather? Don't you love when you're the mom and you have no idea what's wrong with your kid?Doesn't he look so pathetic all curled up in the blanket with his mouth open so he can breathe?

What are these things?!

Is it just B-N? Or is everybody being attacked by these miniscule little bugs in the last week? It's becoming a problem by our house. We can't even go play outside because we come back covered in them. They just float through the air like dust, but they're bugs. And they're smaller than gnats, so you can't really swat them away Ugh! They are so gross! And just to prove that we have a problem, I took some pictures of the back part of our house. We have quite the plethora of spiders due to living right by weeds and the Trail, so these unpleasant little visitors seem to be getting caught very easily by the webs.

All the little black spots you see on the siding are swarms of the little bugs stuck to spider webs on the back part of our house. Classy! Good thing we're not trying to sell this place anymore!

Mama...potty?

We've recently made the dive into the potty-training world. Let me preface this by saying that I in no way really think that Caleb is ready for this. He's a boy, under the age of 2 - it's just not likely. So I'm trying not to get too hopeful.

However, since his 18 month doctor's appointment, we were given some literature from the dr. to start thinking about it and start using words, encouraging him in that area, etc. I haven't been making a real big effort, but he's given me some warning signs that have prompted me to buy the ever-so-classy "potty chair".

Warning Sign #1: A few days ago, he turned over one of his buckets, sat down, and said "Potty?"
Warning Sign #2: Last night, while having dinner guests (of course), he came over to me while we were playing, grabbed his diaper, and said "Mama...potty?" I asked him if he wanted to go potty and he shook his head yes and ran to the bathroom. I was a bit bewildered. We went in, I took his diaper off and had him sit on the big potty. He sat there, smiled all the while, touched the toilet paper and then sure enough, he had peed.

Gabe said he hadn't seen me this excited in a really long time. I'm not going to deny it, it was pretty cool. So we now have his own potty chair, which he helped me put together today. We've sat on it once, but no luck.

I'm trying not to be too hopeful...but oh, to be done with diapers!!!

Why I've been missing...

I apologize that I've been few and far between with my blog posts lately. I know how disappointing it is to go out to someone's blog hoping for something new and seeing the same old stuff for weeks at a time. So without further ado, the reason I've been missing is that WE BOUGHT A NEW HOUSE!!!

It's really been an unbelievable couple of weeks. I just feel like God has blessed us on so many levels of this decision. He helped us find a house we love, at a great price, in a great location. Gabe and I did not start out particularly looking for a house. We both had a desire in our hearts to be in a house someday - specifically something with a yard and a place that really felt like a home. Not sharing walls was a plus. Earlier this summer I drove by a cute little house on my way to the office and decided to look it up online when I got home. Gabe and I both liked it, so we asked our friend Dave, who is a realtor, to show it to us. And thus, the home search began.

It's almost hard to believe that we're doing this, as I never thought we would be able to find a house living on one income. But God certainly had different plans, knew the desires of our hearts and has blessed us so tremendously in the entire situation. He couldn't have made the decision any clearer or easier.

For anyone who has ever ventured into buying a house, you know what I mean when I use the words "exciting but stressful." Add the additional task of selling the house that you're living in, and you've got a migraine on the horizon. However, we couldn't have asked for more.

We found a beautiful home in the school district that Gabe teaches in. We're very excited about this, as it will cut down on drive time, as well as, meaning that Caleb and any future kiddos will be at Gabe's school. What kid wouldn't want to go to the music room after school and bang on the drums?

In addition, the people that we're working with are incredibly awesome, from the sellers to the buyers, to our real estate agent and our mortgage lender. We also were tremendously blessed with some unexpected money during this process, which we will forever be grateful for. Just another small (or big I should say) step in achieving the American dream of owning a house. My grandma also surprised us just a few days ago and told us we could have her lawnmower. Now that's awesome! That would have been our first major purchase once we were in the house - now we don't have to worry about it.

I also just have to point out the timeline of this thing. We put an offer on the house we're moving to on August 20th. By August 31st we had a signed purchase agreement in our hands for the house we're currently in. That's 11 days!! And we didn't even have to list it with an agent. Praise the Lord for no agent fees!!

So anyway, that's where I've been! It's been a crazy last couple of months, but we're excited! We're looking forward to being moved in (probaby end of October) so that you can all come and see the new place!

Pics from the last few weeks

Some cute pics from the last couple of weeks:

Can you believe our parents make us do things like this?

Contemplative

Sneakin'

Sophie's first day of kindergarten! Can you believe she's already 5? I can't!

Gracie, Caleb and Katharine all dressed up for church.

Sometimes playing with your trucks just wears you out!

Product Placement

I'm diverting away from my normal "Caleb" posts to bring you a quick post about 3 really great products that I think everyone should know about. I was talking to April the other day about these and how we had wished we knew earlier how great they are. So without further ado, I'm bringing them to you:

1. Mr. Clean Magic Eraser - oh my! If you haven't tried this, you're missing out. Those little suckers can clean ANYTHING! And they're especially wonderful on things like shower doors, wall scuffs, random marks on your floors. I cannot explain how it works because it seems like a normal sponge, but it's amazing!

2. Reynolds Slow Cooker Liners - This handy little bag has saved my sad little dishpan hands so many hours of work. If you use your crockpot for anything, these are worth picking up. You get 4 in a box for about $1.75 (at Wal-Mart). Basically, you just put the liner in your crockpot first and then prepare as normal. Then when you're done, you just take the liner out and throw it away. You still have to wash the pot, but we're talking a rinse, not a scourging.

3. CHI - okay, so I admit that I've racked my brain for another kitchen-type item to add to the list, but nothing was coming to mind. So I thought I'd just add another product that I've fallen in love with. If you do any straightening of your hair, the CHI is the absolute best! I don't know why the ceramic plates work so much better than my Revlon equivalent, but they do! It's an pricey endeavor, but if you straighten your hair everyday, I think it would be a worthy investment.

So hit me with some of your favorites!

Previous Post

So I made an attempt to put a slideshow on my blog and it didn't work out the way I had hoped. For one, the pictures below are in backwards order. And for another, none of my descriptions of the photos showed up. Whoops. So anyway, they are pics of our most recent vacation to the Dells - some family, some fun, some artsy...you get the picture!