We're still here

I never realize how long it's been since I last posted pics until someone out of town tells me they need pics of their nephew and niece! Sorry, Janice, I'll try to get better at doing it more often! :)
This is Caleb's special trip to get frozen yogurt for going poo on the potty. Before you get too excited - it has never happened again. He has pooped on the carpet, as well as in the bath tub, but not in the potty again. (yes, so gross) He absolutely refuses to go on the potty again, but I'm hoping that he'll change his mind sometime soon.
The past month has been so much fun with Caleb. He has entered a new phase and just seems like such a big boy. His vocabulary is pretty amazing, and he got a very special compliment at church. His teacher says he has excellent manners. He is so sweet and is constantly telling me thank you for every little thing. He opens the gate for me at the top of the stairs and says "mommy, is it good gentleman to open doors for people?", and I say, "yes, it is!"
We repeat this scenario every morning! Love it.

Caleb is also clearly getting older, as the daily meltdowns/fits are almost non-existent for the past month. And when I tell him to go to time out, he just goes instead of hitting me or running away or pitching a huge fit. It's so much easier and less exhausting, that's for sure. He has also had a huge growth spurt and is now in all 3T clothes and weighs about 34 lbs.

We have some pretty funny conversations with Caleb. Every night we pray with him, and he lists all the people he wants to pray for, which always includes many people. He also asks us to pray that he won't be scared of dinosaurs or lions (though I think it's now a habit and he is not scared of dinosaurs or lions at night - he's been doing a great job of falling asleep by himself lately). Well, the other night Marc was very tired and when he was praying with Caleb he prayed that Caleb would not be scared of dinosaurs or lions or grapes. The grapes part was one of those complete exhaustion/you have no idea where that came from kind of thing. But Caleb thought that was hilarious and just started laughing hysterically. He said "Daddy, did you just pray that I won't be scared of grapes?!" Hahahahaha. He still asks Marc to pray that he won't be scared of grapes and then laughs at his joke!
Thanksgiving cookies at Mimi and Pappi's
We have a tradition that every year after Thanksgiving we turn on the Christmas music, bake cookies, and decorate and put of the Christmas tree. Marc and I both have such fond memories of doing this when we were kids. Caleb had a great time helping me make cookies this year and helping Marc hang lights.
My mom made this a while back, but I have been meaning to put up a picture of this blanket for Karis - I love it!
Karis is getting so big. She weighs a little over 18lbs and is all over the place. She now has 4 teeth. Her top front 2 came in about 2 weeks ago. She loves to sit and eat finger foods and gets really mad when she can't have what we are eating!
She also said her first word, which I am particularly excited about since it was "momma"! Sometimes she'll say it if I ask her to, but usually she says it when I walk away from her and she follows me and clearly says "momma". She also said "dada" that same day when I asked her to. It is the sweetest thing to watch her get excited when her daddy gets home from work. She is also waving hi and bye to people - such a sweetie.



Aunt Janice, I wore this shirt just for you! I love you - Karis

Halloween Festivities

A couple of days before Halloween the kids and I headed to a pumpkin patch with some friends. We had such a good time riding the hay ride, feeding goats, picking out pumpkins and playing on the bails of hay.



For Halloween we went to a fall festival at a local church. Caleb was hilarious. He is definitely at that age where candy is very exciting! His favorite movies are Cars and the Toy Story movies. We asked him what he wanted to be for Halloween, and he said Buzz Lightyear, so Buzz it was.
Karis was a butterfly. I was so proud of this "homemade" costume. I only spent $1 on it, and that was for the pipe cleaners. The skirt was a gift from Aunt Janice, and the wings were a party favor from a b-day party last month.

Grammy and Gramps met us out there for a little while...I love this picture of Karis and Elaine!
And this one of Karis and Tom
Caleb had a blast playing all of the games - especially anything involving throwing a ball
He was especially excited about taking a picture with Jack, even though he has no clue who Jack is. But he absolutely insisted that he wanted to take a picture with him.
Thank you, Grammy, for these awesome electronic wings - Caleb loves them!

That's the most beautiful butterfly I've ever seen :)

Long Overdue Update

I know it's been way too long since I've posted any pictures or updates when people start asking me to please put up some pictures b/c they miss the kiddos. We've had a crazy past couple of months. We've battled a couple of illnesses, including 3 weeks of a wretched stomach virus, one of us at a time (except Karis, which is really amazing!). Marc's grandmother also was very sick and in the hospital for quite a while, so he was heading out to East Texas a couple of times a week. But thankfully she is doing much better now.
My sister was also in town for about a week, and it was her first time to meet Karis! We had to take advantage of everyone being together, so we took a family photo. I don't think any of the kids are looking at the camera, but it's still a pretty good one.
Aunt Emily and Karis
Emily, Matt, and Caleb


Back in August we also got a Rose family photo - love it

Update - Karis

The last time I blogged was about 2 months ago, and I was in the process of sleep training with Karis. I am so excited to be able to report that she is sleeping great! She goes down for the night about 6:30pm, wakes up once to nurse, and sleeps until about 6:30am. She takes a good morning and afternoon nap every day. Each time I lay her down, night or nap, she either doesn't cry at all or only for a few minutes. It's made such a huge difference to me, because I actually have some time to myself or with Marc in the evenings, and sometimes even dinner with a friend. Since I last blogged, Karis started crawling, got 2 teeth, and is pulling up and standing. She's still not fond of the bottle and refuses pureed solids, whether jarred or something I made. But over the past few weeks I have discovered that she loves finger foods. So she eats puffs, banana chunks, avocado pieces, and softened apple chunks. I need to come up with some new options, but am so thankful she's finally eating some solids.

She continues to be such a happy, easy-going, sweet baby girl. She loves bath time and especially loves playing with her big brother. Karis is also babbling more and saying "mama" and "dada", although I don't think she assigns the meaning to either of us yet....but I kind of think her first words will be "mama" ;) The other day I was walking away from her to do something in the kitchen and she started crawling after me fussing and saying "mamamama".
She has the longest tongue (like me!) and is constantly sticking it out - too funny.
We have been enjoying this beautiful weather by going to the park almost every day. Karis loves being outside, though I have to constantly try to keep her from eating the grass :)

She is into everything, crawling and exploring like mad
Her 2 little teeth - though they're much bigger than this now
Attempting to climb the stairs!
Yes, these are the looks I get when trying to feed her solids
Cracks me up every time!
And these last 4 are my favorites - in her adorable outfit from Aunt Janice - thank you! She started out sitting up in the cart, but decided to get much more comfortable by the end...

Two of a Kind