Holidays galore

Thanksgiving starts an extremely busy time for most, but for us it was above and beyond. For team O this year we had Nov 24th-Dec 5th in Hawaii, Thanksgiving, Vacation, and Katie Ultraman support crew, Dec 11th Grandma Potee (my mom) arrives, Dec 12th Cale's birthday, Dec 13th Cale's birthday party at our place, Dec 19th JP and Cari's 10 year wedding anniversary, oh yeah then Christmas. In there somewhere was the company Christmas party, gift exchanges and parties with friends, and Christmas cards and shopping! We are in the home stretch now only Christmas to go. I tell you what, at 30 weeks pregnant I am about to drop, this cycling weather causing all 3 of us to have colds is not helping matters either :( I am looking forward to Jan 3rd (the weekend after I have to go back to work on the 2nd. Here are some pictures from Cale's 3rd birthday. Through all of this Cale has been the typical trooper, he is so cute he melts my heart every day.

Grandma was here for Cale's birthday, fun making cupcakes!

JP went up to Cale's school for the party for Cale and Blake (same birthday)

Cupcakes at the party at our house

We had the kids paint snowmen, we got some interesting artists in the group!

Uncle Ben gave Cale a Home Depot grinder toy, it was the hit of the party

Football, Football, Football

Auburn Football, according to some there is nothing better. As an Auburn student I became an addict, like many others. Once a year (at least) we try, as a good Auburn couple, to return to pay our respects for a game. We met in Auburn, had an orange and blue wedding, had wedding photos taken on campus, have a niece in school there now, and still have that one awesome roommate that never left that draw us back there. It was so great to get back this year (we missed last year, Cale and I stayed home when JP went to the Arkansas game in Arkansas). Shell and I just pick off where ever we left off no matter how long it has been since we have seen each other, I can't think of a better definition of friendship. We had a great time with Shell and Chuck, Ashley and Kali, and Cale had the best time of all. We bought him all kinds of Auburn gear, including a small football that he did not let go of until we got back to Dallas!

The new found respect for football for Cale remained into this past weekend. We had the crew over to watch the painful Georgia/Auburn game. At half time the boys went out front for some catch, this time Cale wanted to participate. My dad was in town for the game, he and Cale had a great time playing football. The picture below is my dad trying to juke Cale and the next one down is Cale running in for a touchdown (nice tuck son!). Can't ask for more precious boy moments than these!

Halloween with Superman!

We were a bit concerned about Cale and Halloween. He did not want to dress up, buy a costume, or go door to door before the actual event. It was a struggle but we got him into his Superman costume from last year...

Cale in 2007

Cale 2008

He loved getting candy, and eating as much as we would let him.

We stayed at the house this year and took him door to door with his neighbor friend Haizen.


He ended up having a blast as superman. So much so that he sleep in his costume and demanded that he be Superman for Saturday as well (even when he went to Home Depot with Dad, orange smock and superman!). He was too cute to deny :)

There have been complaints from friends and family that I have not posted any pictures of me since I have been 'showing' this pregnancy. Well here you go... I have been told that at 23 weeks I don't look very big at all. I beg to differ. Although I know I will get much, much bigger, I still feel like I am as big as a house.

I am feeling the little guy move a lot these days, and all the sonograms have seen a very healthy, growing boy! So far so good :)

Zoo

We did go to the Dallas Zoo just over a week ago, here are some pictures of our adventure down on the train and at the Zoo...

Take a Time out for fun

Well, yesterday should have gone like this (according to my type A brain): get up, go for a run, go to church, go to lunch with friends, come home, put Cale down for a nap, wash windows and clean the garage while JP finishes the fence work, get Cale up, go to community group, go to dinner, come home and work for a couple of hours (to prep for a meeting on Monday), go to bed.
Sometimes the free spirit of JP and Cale actually do get through to me. Here is how yesterday actually went: roll out of bed around 8:30, no shower, grab breakfast at McDonald's on the way to the DART station, catch the DART train down to the Dallas Zoo, have a blast with Cale and JP at the Zoo for a couple of hours, ride the train home, all 3 of us go down for a nap, Cale wakes us up, we are late to community group, community group decides there are only 5 of us so we go to dinner instead, come home, get some work done, go to bed.
It was all worth it. Cale had such a great time riding the train and going to the Zoo, we all did. I will post some pictures from our adventure when I get time in my schedule to upload them!!! :)
Enjoy the time we have, the other stuff will always be there tomorrow.

Cale's Story for Grandma

New Class Today1

Cale started a new class today at school, the upper 2's and 3's class, called the Skeeters. He has been talking a lot about being a skeeter (moving up from the crickets class). He has many friends that have already moved up, he was looking forward to joining them. This morning when I dropped him off, he was a bit apprehensive to go into the room (the bigger kids get to go into a separate room at drop off time, different than the 'big room' where he has been dropped off for the last year). He did not want to leave me, but then we started seeing his friends, Harlow, Blake, Will... We walked into the room, he still did not want me to leave. Harlow then came over gave Cale a big hug and a kiss, grabbed his hand and took him over to play. It was so cute I almost melted.

Take a Guess

Cute little man!

A couple of weeks ago we went to the lake with some friends Cale had the greatest time swimming in the Lake! We also had a great time hanging out with our closest friends, it was nice to get away for the weekend. He is looking more and more like a little kid, no more baby boy.


He is talking up a storm. I love it, he can tell us all about his day at daycare and what he wants to do. We have him in swimming lessons now at the gym by our work two nights a week. He has a lot of fun and then doesn't want to get out! My little fishy, maybe a triathlete some day!

Been too long...

Well much has happened in our lives since my last post. I have been a little tired and sick and therefore not really motivated to sit down and write. It has been taking me all the energy I have had just to work and keep up with very minimal functioning at home. Why you ask? We are pregnant! I am due on March the 3rd. This time around it has been much different than it was with Cale, I was ill the first 13 weeks, nauseous from about 10 am until I went to bed. I am feeling better now and looking forward to getting through the rest of this pregnancy!

We have had many fun times as well in the past month or so, here are some of our memorable moments...

Buster and Pepper are still the same (although this is not Buster's best angle!)

Cale and JP love the trampoline

Chris welcomed his son Jaxon to the world, Cale loves his cousin!

Uncle Chris still let's Cale do anything he wants

Proud Daddy

We were all proud of Cale for diving into a cupcake at Quade's birthday, this is a milestone for our 'clean freak' of a two year old :)

Cale and Quade at Quade's 3rd birthday party, best friends

Cale at Bree's birthday party, thanks Bree for my soccer bear Jaxon (named after my cousin)

Maybe this will be the start of me keeping up with this again, at least until March :)

Hint: looks like we will be one closer to a boys soccer team come March...

Recovery

Well the AC guys are here this morning and the nights have been cool so this actually has not been a big deal at all. JP is recovering well and seems to be better today than yesterday. We got my car last night, I absolutly love it (I am so spoiled!). I had taken today off work so I am just hanging out making sure the AC guys don't fall out of the attic. Now we get to prep for a trip to Iowa :) At least we will have a new car to play with.

Eventful Weekend

For us and our closest friends the last 5 days have been pretty incredible. Meg had her baby, the Lee's closed on a house and bought 2 cars, and we bought a car and had a middle of the night trip to the ER (oh and no AC at the house)! I just can not get over how crazy this all is. It is kind of funny how just when I thought God was teaching me all about being in His control, He teaches me how far he can go with that. He has blessed our family so much and the more I learn to rely on Him the better this adventure gets!!
So for our part of the craziness: On Saturday we purchased a new car (actually JP did all the negotiations). We got a Honda Pilot to replace my Matrix (I almost said old Matrix, but at only 5 years old, if that, JP would have smacked me for calling it 'old'). I said my goodbye's to the Matrix on Sat and hope to pick up the new car tonight!! It is so nice, I am very exited.

The other thing was our trip to the ER. On Saturday night after Cale was in bed we heard the air conditioning start to make some noise up in the attic. We knew that there was a fan that had been having issues on the furnace and it sounded like it was finally dying. JP went up in the attic to check it out. Well, on the way back down he slipped on the attic stairs (at the top) and proceeded to slide down the attic stairs with his face. He hit his forehead first and then his chin, and never regained control before hitting the floor. I watched the whole thing happen. Needless to say I was freaking out. He was bleeding badly from his chin and once in the bathroom was spitting blood. He did not loose consciousness, thank God. I don't know how I would have dealt with that. He hopped up (in his OCDness because he was bleeding on the carpet) and got into the bathroom. We put a towel on his chin, he then tried to calm me down, I was a shaking mess. He told me he thought he was fine, I disagreed. I eventually called Chris (JP's brother) and asked him to come over to keep Cale so I could take JP to the ER. We headed to ER at Presby Dallas. After 3 hours in the ER (not a bad experience, we were seen right away), we headed home (after also stopping by the pharmacy for some good stuff and the McDonald's for some more good stuff). By 3 am we were back home, nothing broken, lots of bruises and 3 stitches in the chin.
Needless to say by Sunday morning we realized the AC was now dead and after a service call on Sunday realized we were going to have to pony up for a new furnace. Found out today that it would be Wednesday before that is ready, goody, 2 more nights in a house in Dallas TX without AC in July. Fun stuff, maybe we will sleep in the new car tonight!! :)

Spoiled Rotten Weekend

This was actually the weekend before father's day, but oh well. Cale went to Home Depot with his dad (and Quade and Quade's daddy) on Sat morning, my mom (Grandma) came to town, we took him to the Aquarium on Monday (skipping school) and then bought him a bike (actually two bikes, but the big wheel is a bit big yet).

Cale is so good, it is easy to spoil him. This is a child that can not be bribed with candy or ice cream, one that can count to 15 and can name all his colors. I am a very proud mommy, and love to teach Cale anything and everything right now, he is like a little sponge!

Ever since that weekend he asks often to go to 'mo depo' :)

Father's Day

This year Cale gave his daddy a grill, a really daddy gift. To bad Cale will not eat anything that we might cook on the grill :)
Cale still loves his dad very much and always tells everyone 'this is my daddy' whenever he meets anyone.
I think mommy is gaining some ground, but daddy is still a favorite.

Old Grill
New Grill

Blog, what is a blog?!

What a slacker I am! Well, not really, just busy, busy with life! Work has gotten pretty crazy. I usually have a few days a week where I do leave the office around 5:30-6pm and then get back on the computer after Cale goes to bed around 9 and work for a couple more hours. I am still trying to do bible study one night a week and get in one weeknight workout (riding on Wed).

Memorial day weekend was great. JP, Cale and I went down to Austin for the Cap Tex Triathlon, like we have done the past 3-4 years. This race was my come back race two years ago after having Cale. We usually go down on Friday to Georgetown, where my friend Katie's folks live (in Sun City). They live on the golf course and it is always a fun weekend of riding, golfing, and eating (oh yeah and a race in there somewhere). Mern and P took care of Cale on Saturday after I got in an hour and a half ride with Todd, Katie, and Kym that morning so that JP and I could go play some golf. I played the first 9 and then cut out to go down to race packet pick up with the girls. JP, Todd and P played the back 9. We ate some yummy pasta and lasagna that night (got to carb load, even if it is a sprint race!). Sunday we got up around 6 (the other girls got up earlier and went down for the Olympic distance race that started at 7) and got down for the sprint start around 9am. We say Suzanne and Katie go out on the bike then I headed over for the start. I was very calm, out to have fun, I knew it would be hot out on the run course so I just tried to do what I could. I had borrowed Brian's wetsuit (little tight but it worked) since mine is full sleeves and the water was around 73 degrees. Kissed little man and big man and off into the water I went. Swim went well, open water in town lake, just stayed constant. 14:32 for 750 meter swim, for only swimming twice in the last 5 months I will take it. Then out of the water and on to the bike, felt great, flying on the bike, arms a bit sore from the swim but 12 miles is not far for me. 37:13 for the bike (20K) average of 20 mph, not bad for all the turns and the two u-turns on the course. Now for the run, and here comes the sun, nice, I needed more heat. Started to jog, cramping ever so slightly. Just kept it at a slow jog, walking the one hill and through the water stops. Run 31:22 for 5K, 10min/mi pace, that will work.

I went into this race to do it for fun, I raced in the Athena (weight class, big girls) category, as usual. On Monday we looked up the results and I had actually won this category by 8 minutes, I was shocked. Katie also won the Athena category for the Olympic distance, all good.

Total time 1:29:09, no personal best, but a best for the day!

Monday I decided to ride for a couple of hours with Katie, that was actually fun. I rode 2 hours and then ate Mern's awesome breakfast, then out for golf. Katie, Todd, JP and I played 18 holes, downed some lunch and then headed back to Dallas. Despite all the activity Cale, JP and I had a great weekend. Cale was absolutely wonderful! We had a great time together!

Fun :)

We are having a lot of fun with life right now. Cale is at a fun age and things seem to be going very well. Although my hip is still having issues and I am most likely looking at another 2-4 weeks with no running, I am enjoying my time! Work is crazy, but I have been able to balance my time pretty well. I just got done with the reviews of most of the folks that work for me this week and I received a lot of good feedback on what I have done so far, this always helps! JP and Cale always make me smile, no matter what else is going on in life.
Cale now has a favorite word(s) that he uses to crack me up, when we ask him something and he just feels like being silly, he says "hotdog". It can go something like this:
Cale, who is your favorite teacher at school?
--Hotdoggg
Cale, what are we going to do tonight?
--Hotdogg
He also is very much a funny man. He will banter back and forth with you. If he is starting to whine about something I can say, "Cale are you going to cry?" and he says, "you cry", I say "no, you cry" and he will go back and forth "no, mommy, you cry" while laughing hysterically. This started after my mom stayed with him for 5 days. Mom, what else did you teach him??? Here is some of the fun we are having in pictures..

Easter (better late than never)

Easter 2006

Family Easter 2006
Easter 2008
Family Easter 2008
Lunch with Friends

Easter this year was fun. I opted out of going down to Kerrville like I usually do each year to ride. It was a good trade to watch Cale find eggs and try and learn about the real meaning of Easter. We got lots of pictures. We started with the egg hunt at school, my mom took him to this while we were out of town. Then on Saturday we participated in the neighborhood egg hunt. We had church on Sunday and ate lunch with some great friends (welcome Taylor to the crew!).