Overdue Update...

Welcome to the world Kyle Dean Fisk! And kudos to Miss Terra for a skosh over forty hours worth of labor to bring that gorgeous little man into the world! All of our kiddos look forward to playing with you!

Happy Sunday afternoon! It’s been an eventful couple of weeks, and I’ve just been overwhelmed with life in general and haven’t been able to write to the extent that everyone knows I need to. But the boy just went to bed and I’ve got about thirty minutes before I follow his lead, so I thought I’d jot some thoughts down. I’ve been reprimanded for not keeping track of all of Caleb’s milestones ~ but the way I see it, this way, I just won’t feel guilty when I don’t keep track of my next children’s big moments. It’s even – neither kid has anything down in writing!
Happy Belated Father’s Day, all y’all papas! Jonathan’s first Daddy’s Day was absolutely a blast. But more on that later ~ Caleb Z was dedicated last Saturday night.

For those who question the late date: we had really hoped that Grandma and Grandpa Fashbaugh could be around for it, so when Caleb was about three months old and they made a visit, we wanted to have it done then. However, we were too late for the church to accommodate us at that time. (With our church growing, they only do it one weekend a month, and we didn’t have the right weekend.) Then we had to wait for Grandpa Garmane to make a long trip to Germany. Then at that point, we were sort of hoping that Grandma and Grandpa Fashbaugh might be able to make it back out. Unfortunately, trips to Denver are more expensive than one might think, so we had to plan on having them attend in spirit.

We did an early Father’s Day celebration Saturday, so my folks were coming up to go out to lunch before the big event. Unfortunately, Caleb was teething hardcore, I was feeling all sick and dizzy with vertigo, and Jonathan was a little nauseous himself. On any normal weekend, this would be nasty, but on Dedication and Father’s Day weekend, it was traumatic!

I actually called my folks to come over a hair early to help me clean up my kitchen. I NEVER ask for help cleaning ~ mainly because I’m always so embarrassed that it has gotten that bad to begin with! But both parents and my baby sis rolled up their shirtsleeves and rocked my kitchen. (Thanks, guys!) Then we went out to lunch, and spent a nice afternoon just chatting and trying to make Caleb Z giggle.
It was rougher than you might think!

At about 3:30, we had the rest of the crew come over for an early supper/late lunch before heading to church. Auntie Alisa and her friend Chris came, Auntie Cristina, and crazy Aunt Johnna. Together with Auntie Meg and the Garmane Grandparents, we had quite a crew!

Off to church we went, and it was absolutely wonderful. Caleb fell asleep during worship, because we had to stay through the second service for the dedication. (He was in the nursery for the first service.) Anyway, he was the only guy dedicated that night, so it was pretty special. Pastor John called us up, and we took Grandpa and Grandma and the two (biological) aunties up with us. All the pastors prayed for us ~ if you were at our wedding, it was a similarly powerful. Then Jonathan got to do Pride Rock. It was AWESOME!

Unfortunately, we enlisted Chris to take video from Jonathan’s digital camera and the prayer went way longer than we had memory in the camera. So ~ aunties who WEREN’T on stage, can you send me some pictures?

Father’s Day was really special, too. I don’t think I did as good a job for Jonathan as he did for me, though. It’s hard to figure out what to get him. And he told me after the fact that he wished we’d bought him a tie. Just for the “tradition” of it.

A lot of other stuff is going on with Caleb Z. Let’s see – first of all, he’s sort of crawling. Mostly, he uses his feet to scoot himself forward. It’s adorable! Plus, he pulls himself up, and would rather stand up than do anything else. He’s always loved his doorway jumper, but now he jumps up and down no matter what he’s doing. If he’s in the exersaucer, he’s impossible to stop bouncing. And he bounces all over the place just when he’s standing in front of you.

Another first! We went to the park today and Caleb had his first swing ride. It was such a blast! We both really had a great time. I wished that I'd had a camera, because he was too precious for words. I taught him to hold onto the front of the swing to maintain his balance.

Caleb’s been really icky this weekend ~ I think it’s just teething again, mainly because this is how he was when he was last teething so badly. But this time he’s adding a cough, which is my only concern. His little nose is running, he’s cranky and a teeny bit feverish. We had to miss a few pretty big things this weekend because I didn’t want to expose him to a bunch of other people. Again, I said it wrong – I didn’t want to expose other people to HIM!

Ohmigoodness, this is a little longer than I had anticipated. I’m ready for bed…

Two Teeth, Big Attitude...

(This was actually written Monday, June 11th at 7:00 am. I'm not so techno-savvy!)

Okay, so all y'all moms out there are going to have to help me out with this - it could be a total coincidence, but I'm seeing a connection. Caleb has been nodding for about a month now. It's so adorable! He just nods and nods, sometimes between every bite, sometimes when I ask questions that don't deserve a nod, and sometimes for absolutely no reason at all.

All of a sudden, he learned how to shake his head "no." And just like THAT, Caleb has learned how to throw a tantrum! Connection? I THINK SO! When I'm trying to fasten him into his carseat, he'll grab my keys or whatever I'm holding in my mouth. Then when I try to take them back, he'll just howl and shake his head. And while it's sad for me that my days of total compliance are over, it's exciting to be moving into the next era of mommy-hood - keeping calm when he's not absolutely perfect all the time!

SO! His first tooth was followed immediately by number two. Because I've never been around any other baby this much, I don't know whether his experience is common or if he's having a rougher time of it than most. I tend to believe the former. He's just a lot fussier than he's ever been in his life. He screams and cries and needs to be held CONSTANTLY. Which works pretty well for me since he's not usually much of a cuddler and now he's all precious and snuggly. I actually cradled him and rocked him to slep on Saturday. My little heart just went pitty-pat.

Last week was a bit of a nightmare as far as work was concerned for me. I hadn't been that busy in ages. But the biggest problem came in that I wasn't getting enough sleep, which compounded the issue. Caleb was teething, it was in the upper nineties all week (and I don't have a/c in my car!) and Jonathan went on a trip, so the dogs woke me up at least eight times a night thinking that he was coming home. Grr... But with a full weekend behind me, I feel rested and ready to face another week!

Caleb's dedication is coming up this weekend. It's at the 6:30 service on Saturday night, which concerns me just a smidge because he's generally pretty wiped out by 6:30, and the acutal dedication probably won't be until seven or even later. I'm hoping that having some family and friends around will be enough to keep him chipper! Because dedications are always at second services, we haven't been to too many of them, so I'm not entirely sure of what to expect, but I'm hoping they still do "Pride Rock" where you get to hold your little one up to the church.

Check out his new pictures. Jonny had been so busy with work and play and trips that he hadn't gotten any up for a while. Man, is he a cuteness! We just found out John and Sharon are having a little girl. My first reaction was FINALLY! A potential bride for my little man! (We actually do already pray for our future daughter in law. Even if she's NOT born yet!)

I gotta get. My little boy is in SUCH a good mood that I don't want to spend any more time away from him than I have to this morning!