HaPpY BiRtHdAy, CALE!!!!

Well, my baby boy is 1!! I simply can't believe it. First birthdays are special, but for me they are a little sad. It means my baby is growing up and as if he didn't accomplish enough and grow way too much already he now isn't even considered a "baby" anymore. It's a little rough on a momma. However, it is here and we are excited about it. This morning when we woke up Ella and I sang Happy Birthday to him. He rocked back and forth, grinned ear to ear and giggled like he knew it was something special...and it is! Tonight we cooked his favorite dinner (grilled hamburgers), I baked a cake and he opened some presents. Good news-the Euten's are some proud owners of some Tonka trucks (in EVERY color), these are the first trucks our household has seen. The bad news-Cale's still carrying around my brush and Ella's bunny:) He does love his new "boy toys" though! Here's some pics from tonight...

He went for it face first! Saturday should be fun:)

"Here, mama...have some!"

Birthday kisses!

The birthday boy!!

It looks like he's making a mad dash for presents here...NOPE, he wanted the Mickey Mouse bag and there was no stopping him!

My first truck.

"This is my 'nother truck, Chuck. And I know how to make him go!""I think Chuck's my favorite!"

Happy birthday, lil buddy! We love you so very much! You are sheer joy and happiness and I thank the Lord every night for you! I'm honored to be your mother and it is my blessing to watch you grow and learn and love. You have such a special place in my heart and I'm SO glad that you're mine!!

Forget-me-nots!

• Sometimes when you ask Ella where she lives, she says, “Chelsea Lane” instead of Chelsea, Alabama…Chelsea Lane is a little boutique that we go to a lot to buy gifts and such. You can see where that would get confusing.
• She STILL says “fishin”or “finishin” instead of finished. I.e. when she is done in the bathroom she calls me saying, “Mommy, I’m fishin!” or after a meal she says, “Ok, I’m finishin.”
• She calls fettuccine alfredo, “alfredo pencinni”. Sometimes I can’t remember how to say it correctly. It is her favorite food. (And grapes.) She is a GREAT eater and not picky.
• She only likes dirt where dirt is supposed to be. For example, at the park or outside somewhere. She doesn’t mind playing in it at those places and even calls it “playing dirt” as if it were a real game. However, if there is dirt somewhere else like on the floor or in the tub she FREAKS OUT.
• She changes clothes 5,000 times a day…just for the fun of it.
• Her favorite color is “Pink. Light pink.” And she says it just like that.
• She pronounces it “fRavrite” instead of favorite and “eNmergency” instead of “emergency”.
• She used to call a “porcupine” a “pikey pone.” She doesn’t do this anymore.
• She introduces Cale as “Cale Rabbit” to everyone, all the time as if it is his REAL name.
• When not minding daddy one night he asked her if she misbehaved like that at church in the nursery and she kindly replied, “No, I don’t be mean to THEM.” She was VERY serious!
• She calls the garden a gardING.
• She doesn’t like peanut butter…yet. She calls it “butter.”
• Lettuce is “salad.” Whether it’s in a bowl or on a sandwich.
• A turtle neck is a turtle “mick”.
• It’s camo FLAGE instead of camouflage. And if it’s big enough she calls it Hooge instead of huge.
• If it doesn’t come on the Disney Channel or isn’t a cartoon, it’s a “people show.” She doesn’t like a people show!
• She sings ALL DAY. Songs from the radio, some she learned from church, some she just makes up, but she’s always singing. She loves Carrie Underwood. And, she loves to dance. She loves a tutu.
• If it takes more than five minutes than it takes too long.
• When she wakes up in the morning she says, “The sun’s out, it’s time to get up now.”
• She is shy at first if she doesn’t know someone, but warms up quickly. However, if you say something wrong, she’s quick to correct. One time in a store she had a stuffed cat that one of the employees called a bunny. She quickly responded, “It’s a cat!”
• If something is expensive or she at least thinks it should be she calls it “expensible.”
• She would color all day.
• She likes daddy to play with her, but this doesn’t mean play, it means “throw me up in the air as many times as he can possibly do it.”
• She’s a perfectionist and gets frustrated easily when she can’t do something on her own.
• She calls the Tahoe a “Taco”.
• She LOVES high heels, I mean LOOOOVES them. On the flip side she loves her jammies and would only wear them all the time…with heels.
• Ranch dressing is “white sauce” and she eats sauce with EVERYTHING.
• She is a night owl.
• She enjoys going outside with daddy to catch frogs or "light bugs"…and, she’s good at it.
• She is constantly reminding Matt that we’re not supposed to hunt the animals, we love the animals.
• She knows that God is her heavenly father and that He’s always here. She was excited to find out that she had two fathers!
• She is a picker and nail-biter!
• She is a big helper to momma and even offers (sometimes) to help clean-up without being asked. But, sometimes she’s “too tired.” She likes to pick out Cale’s clothes and his jammies.
• She loves to dress-up and has an imagination bigger than the continental U.S.
• She flips her hair like a teenager and knows how to put on mascara (she’s only allowed to use the clear kind.) I told her she can't wear black till she's 16...for now she's ok with this.
• She has a sense of smell like a dog!
• She argues with me when I tell her I love her more…she won’t find out that she’s wrong here until she has kids of her own.
• She is beautiful!
• She is not yet graceful.
• She talks with her eyes.
• She will tell you exactly what is on her mind…she won’t sugar coat it.
• She talks like a southern belle, sometimes she talks like a redneck.
• She has a mean streak, lacks patience, but doesn’t have much of a temper.
• She tests my patience, melts my heart, sets off my temper and challenges me.
• She asks questions…a lot of questions…hard questions.
• She is listening when you think she’s not and can repeat a conversation you had (with or without her) in its entirety, verbatim!
• She is BOSSY, sweet, kind, intelligent, well-spoken and opinionated.
• Sometimes it’s like looking at Matt, sometimes it’s like I’m talking to me.

Simply.Sunday.

Lil Miss Priss!

Matt HATES the lace on this outfit. Sorry! This is just something he will have to get over right now. There WILL come a time when I won't be able to get him into anything that's not covered in dirt or holes...or both! It won't be this way for long...

Chores before church. Cale helps by taking things out and throwing them on the floor, until he finds something he likes and walks away with it. Ella actually directly hands you things or sets them on the counter for easier access. Nonetheless, they're helping!!

My "baby" is so grown up!

While daddy was fishing in Alaska...

we did some of this:

1. Stayed up too late and got up even later.

2. Hung out with "Baby Lukes" and Lissa and watched movies in bed.

3. Dressed up baby Luke's (who isn't really a baby anymore) like Sleeping Beauty...OR for his sake, Bret Micheals!

4. Had Honey come in town to help Momma...which, is ALWAYS fun!

5. And, ate A LOT of dessert!!!

When daddy got home, we got these...(and some other stuff)

And, saw some pictures of his trip,

I smell...

T-R-O-U-B-L-E!!!!!!! And, this is him...




He found the pop tarts, opened the pop tarts, and ate an entire one all by his little self!He really enjoyed it...can you tell??????I can't take my eyes off of him for a minute! If he's not digging in the trash, unrolling the toilet paper, finding and eating random food or paper OR my favorite splashing around in the toilet then he's making a mess or "un"cleaning somewhere! These activities are all so foreign to me. Ella NEVER did any of those things, we didn't baby proof the house at all. If it wasn't hers she wasn't interested, except for the tupperware cabinet, but I could handle that. It's quite often these days to hear her holler from the other room, "Momma, there's an enmergency!" I'm so thankful I have her to help me keep tabs on him. Boys are definitely a whole new ball game and I have to bring my A-game EVERYDAY!!! But, on the flip side he's the sweetest, cuddliest (probably not a word), precious little boy that I know. He has such a sweet heart already...with a little temper added in and I love every last part of him!

Who needs clothes...

...when you've got jammies! Somedays we do bother to actually get dressed:)

Clearly, it was nap time and he couldn't wait for the bed...I had literally turned around for two seconds!

Playing peek-a-boo with Sissy!

KISSES!!!!!

Ride 'em cowboy, and girl!

The time has flown! Cale will be 1 in three weeks, I can't believe it!!!! He took his first steps on June 31st and now is full-out walking in literally days. It's so funny seeing him waddle around. It brings me such joy seeing him round the corner. He now says "ow" when he falls or thinks something should hurt and "ahh oooo" instead of "uh oh," it's SOO cute. When you put the phone up to his ear he says, "bye"...he's a man of few words. Ella is such a big helper and loves him so much, though he does bother her sometimes getting into her stuff...little brothers! She starts MDO in September and is very excited. I am too, but am going to miss her terribly. It's only for four hours, but when she began to get frustrated at not being able to read and arguing with me about what letters are I knew it was time. I love spending my days playing with them and watching them interact with each other, which they do so much.

Look out Paula Dean!

We have a small truck load of peaches. So, last night Matt and Ella put their culinary abilities to good use and baked us a peach cobbler of epic proportion...it was DE-VINE (and, I think they had fun doing it!!) Cale loved it, we couldn't shovel it in fast enough and forget the plate, Ella was digging hers right out of the middle:)

Up close and personal...

And, as for this not-so-little booger, well, he really enjoyed his purple crayon this morning!

So, we went from peach to purple in a matter of hours! Life with a boy is SOOOO different...there is NEVER a dull moment:)