So thankful

5 months

Where oh where has the time gone? Just 5 short months ago, Cal was merely hours old, 6 lbs 8 oz, 19 inches long. He was little but mighty! Oh what a difference 5 months makes. He’s now weighing in close to 15 lbs and somewhere around 26 inches. Cal jabbers, rolls, screams, kicks, laughs, cuddles, grabs, eats like a horse and sleeps like, well, a baby. Cal has a long list of things he loves but here’s just a few:

• Being outside with the sounds of rustling leaves and car horns
• Big kids, preferably in the 2-5 age range
• Playing airplane with Daddy
• Noisy restaurants. He’s quite the people watcher/charmer.
• The Wizard of Oz munchkin scene. This is one of the few things Mommy has let him watch on TV and he was enamored.
• His Magic Seahorse
• Not wearing clothes
• Having jibber jabber conversations with Mommy on her big, comfy bed.

It’s really hard to wrap my head around the fact that he’s only been in our lives for 5 months. It feels like forever and it feels like it’s only been minutes. The love that you have for your child is no joke.

2 little piggies...and a hotdog

I was a little indecisive with Cal's costume. It was his first, after all, and it had to be memorable. I wanted to find a sweet little piglet because Annie already had the pig costume from last year. Well, it was HUGE and I couldn't return it. So along came the hotdog. I guess pork was the theme of Halloween this year. Strange but cute.

Cancer sucks

So the word "sucks" isn't so articulate but that is how I'm feeling right now. I'm angry at cancer - breast cancer, brain tumors and peritoneum cancer in particular. Haven't heard of that last one? Well, it sucks too and it requires the same treatment that makes you lose your hair, makes you sick, keeps you from hugging and holding your loved ones just because flu season started early this year. I'm feeling a little down because too many people that I know and love are dealing with seriously life altering events because of this dreaded disease right now. These thriving, lovely people still have many, many years of living left to do, so if you can't find a cure for cancer immediately, please at least add them to your prayer list, if praying is something you do....

Aunt Kay Walton
Julie Williams
Jenny McGee
Steve Stewart

Up, up and away

I know that there are much more important things to worry about in the world, but I would be lying if I said that I wasn’t glued to my computer yesterday when the “balloon boy” was allegedly flying through the air. Maybe it’s the new mom in me, but I was pretty nervous for the kid. That thing was going really fast, really high in the air. Well, we all know how it ended. The little punk was in a cardboard box hiding in the attic the whole time. And then he got sick on national television this morning. Twice. I watch the Today show every morning because Meredith and Matt somehow make my early mornings a bit easier. I don’t watch it to see a little kid barf in a Tuperware container as his famewhoring dad tries to talk his way out of a corner. I’m officially over the balloon boy. Ick.

Back on the saddle

Wow. I really dropped the ball on this blogging thing. I've been reading a few really stellar blogs lately and they have inspired me to open up shop again. I got too busy with life and growing the little seed that is now named Calvin. There is so much to tell. I guess I didn't feel like I had much to say over the last 10 months but there was a lot going on. My life was consumed with baby-growing and, man, that made me tired. I would like to introduce you to my new little time suck.....
I'll be better with this blogging gig. I promise.

Boy, was I wrong.

I’m becoming one of those bloggers that just takes up space on the internet. With the holidays and work craziness after the first of the year, I turned my back on the blogging world for a bit. I’ll try to be better.

The holidays turned out pretty much like we expected. I got to spend lots of extra time with my family since I went down a few days earlier than Jeff. That was fantastic. I also got to see some out-of-towner friends that I missed terribly (I guess I’m an out-of-towner now too). Brianne and I got to spend a whopping 30 minutes together after not physically seeing each other for almost 2 years. It doesn’t matter though because we are lifers. Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were pretty exhausting since we hit all sides of the family within 24 hours. Annie was even a crab when we rolled into St Louis for the Buergler Christmas. We are so thankful for our families but something is going to have to give next year since we will have the little one in tow.

Speaking of which, all the old wives tales did not hold water for us in the gender department – the high heart rate, the Chinese birth calendar, etc… they all said we would have a girl. But as you can see for yourself, Little Man is definitely a little man. We found out on January 5th when I was almost 17 weeks. I was stunned into silence and Jeff turned into Chatty Kathy with the ultrasound tech. I simply could not believe that it was a boy! I had people ask me if I was disappointed which is quite frankly a ludicrous and tacky question. No, I’m not disappointed! I was shocked because we had moved into a new phase of the pregnancy. Instead of a shadowy blob on an ultrasound, I have a tiny little boy swimming around in there and it is simply amazing.

Now that I’m right at 21 weeks, things are moving right along. The 2nd trimester really is a honeymoon period. I have tons of energy and a HUGE appetite. I finally have a definite bump that I don’t mind showing off. He kicks me quite a bit but it’s still the fluttery, muscle-twitchy kicks, nothing with any power yet.

The last thing certainly worth mentioning is Jeff had a BIG birthday on January 23rd. He started out as a party pooper when I made any celebration suggestions. Finally, on his actual birthday, he got into the spirit of things and we ended up celebrating with good friends all weekend long. Since I’m not a terribly romantic person, I told him to pick out his own gift to which he promptly ran to Sports Authority and bought a treadmill and several other things for a home gym. He claims that he has no problem turning 30; however, I can’t help but think that that turning 30 and becoming a father in the same year didn’t have something to do with this purchase :-).