Jacob and Caleb

Here's a pic taken from Jacob's birthday party last weekend. These 2 fight like brothers and are inseparable.

Caleb Graduations from Pre-K Today!

We're so proud of our little booger....Caleb graduations from Pre-Kindergarten today! We have our first Parent Teacher conference today at 4:20pm...and then the Cap and Gown portion starts at 7pm tonight.

As a surprise, we have booked a hotel room for the weekend in Charlotte and have bought tickets to Carowinds. We're planning on leaving straight from the graduation and Caleb doesn't know yet. The plan is to tell him after the Parent Teacher Conference and before the Cap and Gown affair.

I'm so excited! This is probably the first year where he'll actually be able to enjoy the rides and the weather won't be too hot (in the mid-80s) tomorrow.

Happy Graduation Caleb! We're so proud of you!

Monster Jam 2011

Caleb LOVES Monster Trucks so we went to Monster Jam 2011 this past weekend before my work trip to NY. He had a blast at the "pit party" where he was able to take pictures with all the trucks....:)

First Tooth has Fallen Out!

Caleb's first tooth fell out yesterday! He fell and his tooth came out and he was very upset at first that he couldn't find it. He was thinking about those lost tooth fairy dollars.

The going rate was $2/tooth as far as I know ;)

Also, Caleb may require dental surgery which will mean a day in the hospital to get all the work that he needs done. I'm holding my breath waiting for the insurance to come back and tell me how much this is going to cost us. My poor baby.

Haircut!

Haircut! :D

First Dentist Appointment

Caleb went to his first Dentist Appointment on the weekend....and he has cavities! He'll be referred to a pediatric dentist as it appears that there's a lot of work to be done. He had a loose tooth and the dentist was casually trying to distract him while she tugged on it (it's VERY loose) but he was like "What are you doing! That hurts!"...:)

He was a trooper. Only cried a little at the beginning.

Thank you Uncle Eric & Auntie Kelly

Uncle Eric and Auntie Kelly sent Caleb a motorcycle lego kit which Caleb promptly tore apart and tried to put together. With Daddy's help of course. Caleb now carries these toys with him wherever he goes :)

Basketball

We took Caleb to his first Basketball practice and game. He did pretty well considering we hadn't really taught him how to dribble ect. There wasn't any crying and these 2 coaches were really good and positive. They even gave out the first medal of the season to Caleb! (although I think they just asked the kids a question and he was the first to respond). There was another little boy that got upset that he didn't get a medal so I had Caleb go up to him and tell him "good job...maybe next time you'll get a medal"....I was kinda hoping that he would offer his...but he's 5...so...he took it out and put it on with a big smile. :D

So now, every Saturday from 3-5 we have an hour of basketball practice and then an hour game.

Tattoo Phase I

This is the first picture of my tattoo. It's phase I (hopefully only of 2) and I had it done at Blue Flame on Peace street. The initial session was about 2 1/2 hours before I tapped out and my endorphins had kicked in and my body was shaking and felt extremely cold. The second session will finish off some of the lines and add in the embellishments around it. I'm so excited that I finally did this! My other 3 tattoos were nothing in comparison to this one.

New Years

This New Years we went to Raleigh's First Night with the Styons family. They had an early acorn drop at 7pm for the kids so after that we went to Angela's cousin's house to watch the countdown and play guitar hero. What was even better was that her cousin is a foodie so the spread was impressive! All in all, it was a great relaxed way to bring in the New Year. May 2011 bring lots of good news and positive energy!

Snow in NC brings sentimental puffs

We're in a winter weather storm advisory for pretty much all day today. Not to worry, the snow won't stick around for long. It's Sunday today and the temperatures are projected to be in the 60s by the end of the week.

There isn't a better feeling than being at home with those that matter the most and not needing anything. We're downstairs with the space heaters running, watching movies on Netflix instant queue on the Xbox and Caleb is busily playing with all of his toys that Santa brought.

Hopefully one day, Caleb will read this and realize how much thought we've put into this. Jay was not raised believing in Santa. In his world, his mother provided everything. In our childhood, while there were definately years where we knew but went along with the magic anyways, we believed that if we stayed up late enough, we would hear the bells from Santa's sleigh on Christmas eve. We would wake up really early and go downstairs to see the presents under the tree before our parents woke up. Michelle and I would attempt breakfast (which always included pancakes and eggs) and then would rouse our parents to begin the day of presents.

Yes, presents were not supposed to be the highlight, but to us, it represented just how well we knew each other. My mother would be pragmatic and hint at stuff that she liked. My dad was never happy unless we got a really good deal on a gift. Otherwise, he would scoff "don't waste your money on me. Save it and buy something that you really want". To this day, I register surprise when I realize that my sister may know me better than I know myself (at times) even though we are so far apart.

So while Jay and I are in opposing views on the belief of Santa and exactly how much we should support the fantasy, we both agree that it's an important part of his childhood and his happiness and the memories he needs to sustain him through life is the most important thing.

So now I'm sitting in our living room watching the snow outside and I'm thankful for all the things that we have and am just enjoying the company. The year has flown by, largely influenced by my recent job change to IBM, I feel like I have to constantly remind myself that no matter how important work is with all the energy it takes to stay on top of things, Caleb's happiness and growth is the ONLY thing that matters.

Let's chalk my nostalgia to being lucky enough to have so much time off, the pondering of new years resolutions, re-prioritizing, and the re-examination of our own personal goals. I now have begun a big ol' sentimental puff.

Kristi's Shower

Kristi's baby shower! All of us 'co-hosted' the shower for Kristi...Angela made that cake!

Halloween at the Sennet House!

This year we threw our first Sennet Halloween Costume Party! All the adults got into the spirit (why should Halloween only be for little trick or treaters?) and we ended the night playing American Idol and Rock Band. I was so happy to see everybody....it's been awhile since we were all in a group together.

Halloween Party

We went to a Halloween party last weekend and it was a hoot! We (as in the adults) had so much fun! Jay was a "pimp" and I was the cop that was on his payroll, and the Styon's were the "Cullens" from Twilight.

State Fair 2010

As per our annual tradition, we all went to the State Fair last weekend. We didn't overdo ourselves this year with the food and Caleb had 2 ears of roasted corn and fried chicken gizzards! (To be fair, Caleb had no idea what they were and I supplied generous doses of ketchup...)

Olympic Torch!

We went to the International Festival in Raleigh this past weekend and they had a Canadian booth there....with the Olympic Torch! Too bad Caleb's eyes are half-closed but he did get to hold it!

Braids!

Our neighbor braided Caleb's hair for the first time today and she said that he did so good! He looks a little glum in that picture because his scalp was still sore and he wanted me to "make it like before"...

We convinced him that he looks so handsome that way and that his preschool teacher wanted to see his hair too so he reluctantly let Jay put on a skull cap on him so that he can sleep and the braids won't come undone.

After we were home for awhile, he made it upstairs and started checking his braids in the mirror. He was so pleased with himself and now he's agreed that he likes them too. (We'll see :))

It's a welcome change from the 'crazy' hair that he had been sporting :)

Zoo Visit!

A group of us went to the NC Zoo today and had a very exhausting but very fun day. It was our first time there and we were surprised at the variety of animals that they had there. The group consisted of the Styon, Wallace and Sherron family. We also brought along our new neighbor, Jacob who played wonderfully with all the kids.

An outing like this reminds us of what's important in life is to be able to do and enjoy the company of all our friends and family. We've grown close to this particular group this past year and I look forward to many more outings!