that Cherry Pepsi doesn't looks so great at 1:00 a.m.

I was so excited tonight when I spotted a nice COLD diet Cherry Pepsi in the fridge, yum! I am not a big fan of ice, I'd rather have my soda nice and cold and do without the ice (one exception is crushed ice, I love it), so I was so excited when I saw a cold Pepsi in the fridge. Well it's 1:00 a.m. and I am now remembering why I don't drink caffeine. UGH! After about an hour of just lying in bed wide awake I decided to be a bit more productive and clean up the kitchen and office area, now that that's done I thought I'd blog a bit.

Today was a bit rough on Calvin, two bruises within 5 minutes of each other. I just hate seeing him in pain. The second bruise is a big one and both are within inches of each other on his forehead. I think we need to rethink keeping our shoes at the front door because he likes to take them out of the basket and I am constantly correcting him, so maybe it's time to remove the problem because he isn't catching on. You see one of the bruises is directly correlated with the shoes he diligently pulled out of the basket. I guess our little outdoor photo shoot is cancelled tomorrow due to bruises.

On to some more random stuff about us:
-Tonight after Marvin finished his dinner I was still eating and I wanted some veggies, without even thinking or saying a word to Marvin I plopped some on his plate too! I guess my job as a mom is spilling over some boundaries, well it gave us a good laugh that's for sure.

-I have been using a tiny travel brush for well over a year! It wasn't until I announced this to my sister and mom that I thought that was a bit strange! That was almost two months ago and whelp, I'm still using my travel brush! One of these days I'll make the plunge and get a real brush!

-My least favorite chore is doing the dishes! I love to cook, but hate to clean up. I am thoroughly enjoying having a dishwasher now, such a blessing!

-Marvin usually puts jelly on his pancakes.

-It takes Marvin about 15 minutes (10 minutes if he is rushing) to bike to work. By the way I have an amazing husband who is willing to do this so Calvin and I can have the car during the day! (and yes it is possible to only have one car for your family, it just takes some planning.)

-Calvin loves to take off with the maple syrup that he snags from the fridge every time I open it!

-Here the cake I'm hoping the attempt for Calvin's 1st Birthday Party
http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/monkey-cake
I'm new to cake decorating, but it looks easy enough, we'll see how it turns out. I am hoping to make a little personal cake in the shape of a banana for Calvin. I may be a bit ambitious, only time will tell. I can't believe he will be 1 year old in two weeks! Where has this year gone?

Whelp I better try the sleep thing again as it is approaching 2:00 a.m.

What Day Is It?

We got in late last night from an extended weekend with Marvin's family. It was a good time to see everyone, Calvin had a blast playing with his cousins. We even took in a couple football games, caught a birthday bash, and spoke at the grade school about our time overseas. Since we got home on a Monday evening I have been so confused about what day it was today, it did not feel like a Tuesday.

Thankfully we didn't have to rush our trip up and were able to stop at a park where Calvin could get out of his car seat and squirm. (It's a good thing we did because I left all the toys I had packed up for the road trip at home, eeks.) Our son loves to move so being in a car seat for over 3 hours was a border line torture for the poor guy.

It has been fun seeing how Calvin has warmed up to family every time we are around them. This time he had no problems going to aunts or uncles. He even lifted his hands for grandpa to pick him up. I am so glad we have these opportunities to spend with family. It's totally worth the schedule change to see him light up when his grandma comes into the room, or when he gives his aunt a nice little snuggle!


Grandma always has such fun toys for Calvin to play with. These bowls were quite the hit. They made the best sounds, and Marvin and I are very happy they are staying at Grandma's.


We even caught a JV game last night. Our nephew played really well, and it was a good game, unfortunately the other team caught up at the very end and won.

Getting lovin' from his Aunt and Uncle

Narwin & Alvin

While we lived in Turkey we found the Turkish had problems pronouncing Marvin's name. They tried we'll give them that, but it his name always ended up some form of Marwin! Hey it's pretty close, but still a little funny. So we thought that being back in America we wouldn't have any problems with his name being mispronounced. That was until we ordered Papa Johns. As I was fixing my plate I noticed the box and began laughing out of control when I read the word Narwin!





It doesn't stop there. I filled out some information to be a part of Parents as Teachers and a couple days later we recieved a letter from them addressed to Erica & Tim S! I am not sure where that name came from since it doesn't at all resemble Marvin. But apparently Calvin takes after his father, today we got a newsletter from Parents as Teachers and it listed the October bithdays. I quickly glanced and didn't see his name so I thought that since we were new it just didn't make it, no problem. Then I noticed a little boy named Alvin S with a birthday the same day as our Calvin S. Hmmmm.

Here's a picture of my "Narwin & Alvin" having fun together this weekend.

A Boy and His Box & Other Things that Make Me Smile

He has been playing with this box so much for the last week. He'll carry it around, bang on it, put stuff inside it, open and close the flaps. He loves this thing. I am thankful for the hours of entertainment this box has provided.



Here are a few other things that have rocked my world recently:

1. Calvin is feeding himself!!!! I can now load or unload the dishwasher without little hands helping me out!



2. Walgreens! Here's why:


I got all this stuff today for $3.81 cents. But the best part is I will get $6.00 back in rebates at the end of the month and I also got $2.00 store credit for my next visit. So they are basically paying me to shop there! (Marvin doesn't completely agree with me, but I'm working on him.)

3. Coupons! I have recently entered the world of couponing. (Yes there seriously is a world for this.) I always thought it would be cheaper to always buy the store brand or to shop at Aldi. But you can get amazing deals by cutting coupons and adding them with store sales. I get so excited as I look through the paper on Sunday and find ways to save our family money. Yes it is hard to try not to buy things just because they are free, but I have a great husband who gently reminds me of this every week.

4. Library. You can check out anything for FREE! We haven't rented a single DVD since we returned to the states because they are free at the library. Sure the collection isn't the most recent, but we've seen some good flicks for FREE! I will certainly miss it when we're back in CA.

5. Fall Weather. It is my favorite season. I love being able to put a sweater on in the morning and shed it during the afternoon.

6. Garage Sales & Craigslist. I have stocked up on Calvin's clothing through both of these and found some amazing deals in the process.

What a Great Weekend

Last week was filled to the brim. I will admit I was bit stressed at the thought of leaving Calvin overnight. It was the first time I have been away from him for more than 3 hours. I wondered how he would eat, sleep, etc., etc...... But he did great. It is nice to know that he will be fine without me around every second of his day.

This weekend truly was a great weekend to be around such sweet women. I am so thankful for the opportunity to share with so many about our work in Central Asia as well as share a few things that Father has impressed upon my heart. There was also such great teaching and they also loved me by giving me my own room! It was AWESOME to take a shower without having to worry about Calvin waking up, or worry about him waking up in the middle of the night. It was such a restful retreat.

My dad came down to watch Calvin while Marvin went to work on Friday. Calvin loves playing with grandpa and my dad quickly saw how much he loves to walk around. It's his favorite thing to do now.

In fact today he walked holding my hand all the way from our car to the front of Dillons. He got a little distracted by the bumpy side walk in the entrance so I had to pick him up and carry him the rest of the way. I am so excited about the hand holding phase of life. There is something sweet about holding a child's hand. I love being able to let him walk places when we aren't in a hurry. He was smiling so big today when I let him walk. I am thankful for this time of staying at home with him.

Right now we are praying about me going back to work. We aren't sure what kind of hours Marvin will get this winter and he would really like to take another intensive class in January, so we have to save up for that one. I would really love to continue to stay at home and ideally it would be great to watch another child. I say one because our car probably can't handle more than one other child, we love our Corolla but it's not made to transport lots of car seats. We'll see where God leads us in this endeavor.

My sister even came for a visit last week. Calvin loved playing with Aunt Natalie.

Wiped Out

We loved our 3 day Labor Day weekend and Calvin had such a fun time with his Daddy. I love watching them play together. We grilled tonight and every time Marvin went outside to check our steaks Calvin followed and had his face pressed up against the sliding door watching his every move. It was pretty sweet.

Last weekend Marvin's brother and family came down for a visit. Calvin loved playing with his cousins. The first day they were here it was amazing how little he played with his toys. I couldn't believe how clean the living room was. (Sometimes I think he gets a little bored playing with mama.) When he woke up on Sunday morning he was so happy to see that his cousins were here ready to play.

We went to the zoo on Sunday but unfortunately it rained while we were there so we had to wait out the rain in the gorilla exhibit, but the girls had fun playing peek-a-boo while we waited, thankfully the rain was short lived.

This week turned out to be pretty busy and exhausting as my allergies wiped me out. I had little motivation this week, and it took a lot to get me going in the mornings. We had something to do everyday, which would be great normally but with allergies it made for a long week. Despite allergies we really did have a fun week of getting together with some good friends. Calvin and I went to a really cool park with a friend of mine from college and her little girl. Calvin had a blast and it there were several things for him to do other than swing. Later that day Calvin’s buddy came by so his parents could go out on a date. He had so much fun on Thursday; it was filled with lots of giggles.

Friday I was able to catch up with a friend from High School who was in Kansas to visit her family. Who knew that our friendship that started in French class would continue to this day? Merry it was fun to see pictures of all your hard work on your house and meeting your kids and it would certainly be fun to visit you one day, we love France. Calvin had a blast playing with his new friends. I was a bit disappointed that it rained the entire time they were here. I had hoped to go to the zoo or park. The kids didn’t seem to mind though. Then Friday evening we tried to have a game night with one of Marvin's buddies from college and his wife, but we ended up talking the entire time.

So needless-to-say I was wiped out today. PTL Calvin slept in until 8:00, yep that is our new sleeping in time!!!! It’s no wonder why I crashed on the couch during Calvin's afternoon nap. I love naps on Saturday.

Walking

Well it has been a very busy week around our place. Calvin is growing up so quickly these days. He took his first steps over a week ago and has been tottering along and his balance is getting better every day. Today he successfully bent down, picked up a toy and stood back up without falling down. Marvin even commented that his facial expressions have changed to be more like a little boy and less babyish.

He certainly is a lot of fun right now, but he can certainly make a mess! He can now open the kitchen cabinets and has an unbelievable reach to get every last thing out of the cabinets. I have locks on the cabinets I don't want him in but occasionally I accidentally leave them unlocked and it's like he has a radar that tells him when to make a beeline for that unlocked cabinet. Before you know it all of the pots and pan are now an obstacle course in the kitchen. (Calvin has his own cabinet in the kitchen where he can get into, it's filled with some plastic things but he loves the pots and pans much better.) I learned very quickly that I better downsize the amount of things in his cabinet as I was picking up all day long. Oh I can't wait until he learns the art of cleaning up! We are trying but it seems like the second everything is put way he immediately starts taking them back out! Grrrrr.

Here is a video of our little man taken the day after he took his first steps. It's amazing how much sturdier he is now and it's only a week later. He crawled into the back room while I was loading the dishwasher and I could hear him making all sorts of noises so I grabbed the camera. It's so funny how excited he gets about going outside and the squirrels in the backyard.