18 months

I felt like 6 months was our first big milestone with Cap. Then there was the 1 year which is of course a big one...mostly for the parents I think. Now here we are with the next big one 18 months, 1 1/2 years old. This just always seemed like a big one to me. You hear so many people say this is the start of really fun toddler season. I have really found that each month we enter a new season to parenting as Cap enters into new growth. I don't necessarily find that one stage is easier or harder than the next, just very different. I haven't found one stage to be more fun than the next either, again, just different.

I love watching this boy grow and all the new tricks he comes up with every week. This month has brought a whole new peace for me being a mother that I will share later on. It is an intense job that the Lord has blessed us with, but it is one that cannot be compared with anything else in this life.

What started out as growing a human being in my belly, formed into taking care of every need of an newborn baby, to showing and exploring the world to a crawling boy, which formed into a walking boy learning what he likes and doesn't like and learning to communicate his desires and needs to us with signing and words. So much of who we are, how we act with others, our bad and good habits, how we eat and sleep, our passions and character, etc start forming and start their foundation as soon as we are born and enter this outside world.

Cap came out fresh, not knowing a thing really. We are here to teach, nurture, explore along side, show him love, mercy and compassion and encourage him to do the same for others, to teach him to make good choices, to teach him HOW to make choices, to show him how big the ocean is, show him how to make things grow, teach him to put dirty clothes in his basket and pick up his cars when we are done playing with them for the day, teaching him how to "do" life, then teaching him to go without knowing and any road any cost. This stuff doesn't start when he is 3 or 5 or when he hits middle school age, it started 18 months ago. I must admit, it is exhausting. Some days this mother gig doesn't look so pretty. God has this wonderful plan for Cap. And I say to you my son, "Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid, do not be discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go!" Joshua 1:9

Moving on:)
Newest tricks:
- takes his book, the rock, the duck, etc potty and does our "sign" noise with them
- did I mention he got 10 teeth in a matter of 6-8 weeks?? 4 of them are still slowly creeping more out.
- teething champ, you hardly would know he is even teething at all
- wears 24 month, 2t clothes up top, 18-24 pants, and size 5-6 foot
- 31 inches tall, 27.8 lbs, all taken at home
- talks a lot!  he was repeating the last word of everything you would say to him. now he just talks and talks
- loves bikes though never been on one
- really likes to go for rides in his stroller which is great for me so I can run with him
- if you ask him if he wants to go do something such as park, store, grammi and papa's house, he stops what he's doing...gives a head shake and heads straight for the back stairs towards our car
- loves to read books, current top 2 favorite is "brown bear brown bear" and "chicka chicka boom boom"
- he really likes animals, i might have said this one before, but it doesn't matter how big or small he wants to hold or touch it!
- been climbing up to get into his car seat for awhile now, big deal to me
- likes to be around other kids
- loves to play on big rocks, and still loves the small ones!
- no more BULLET!!!!! more on that another time
- still pees during naps and at night time
- has climbed out of his crib numerous times!!! took a bad enough fall that he hasn't done it sense then.
- favorite word right now is "off" he would like the light off, the fan off, the shirt off, the door off etc!
- a couple of days ago i told him bye and that i would be back after my run, he said "kiss, kiss"
- when i tell him i love him he almost always comes in for a kiss
- tries really hard to put on his own shoes
- would like to eat peanut butter 10 times a day, i have to get a video of him saying peanut butter, hilarious!!!
- loves to pick apples off the tree out back and eat them

I am sure I am missing bunches. He is full of personality these days. Full of opinions too! We are proud of our son and looking forward to the days ahead with him!

Cheyenne Mountain Zoo = Awesomeness

Bryce's sister and kiddos just left after being able to spend a week here in the Springs. We have not seen them since June of last year! Way too long when you have little ones. They grow way to fast. Our niece is way past toddler and now in Kindergarten. Our nephew was barely walking and now climbing and running all over the place! So nice to have cousins!!! 

We did lots of fun stuff while here including going to our local zoo. It was a blast! We were so early we got to watch the giraffes come outside which was awesome. The giraffes are just great because there heads are eyeish level with you depending on your size of course. You can feed them lettuce too! They are a hit! The kids loved it and so did us 5 adults too:) 

This is Cap pointing to the Giraffes coming out of the building heading our way.

They get so close to you!

 I don't think this girl was so exciting about sharing her space!

The 7 of us with Bryce taking pictures watching all the giraffes come out.

Then you got to feed them. Cap like doing this too. Very brave I thought.

We could almost be in Africa:)

We fed some chickens thanks to Papa. I think this is always one of Caps favorites

because it reminds him of N.C. and the farm. 

A little bit of water time which he loved and would have done longer!

Potty time in the trees. Cute little bum.

some goat petting

and a little bit of some cousin pics...not easy just so you know!!!

This is something that is a must do with kids around here. You can pack in your lunch and drinks for the day or you can eat at their lodge which is pretty good food with a great variety. We got there early when they first opened and finished up right after lunch. Perfect timing for us though you could spend all day there pretty easily.

Did I mention how awesome Cap has done with staying dry?? I thought with the cousins being here he would be having lots of accidents because of all the stimulation and not wanting to stop and go, but not the case at all. Not only is he staying dry but he is telling us he needs to go instead of us telling him its time. Even if we aren't in the same room he will come get us and tell us. Just very proud of him. We still have some misses here and there, but they are getting farther and farther apart. We haven't figured out how to stay dry during naptime yet, but may be just time will get us there.

Enjoy,

Fresh Start

Our lives have been so different these past few months than what they have been over the past years. Bryce and I worked at camp for 4 out of the 5 summers we have been married. This is the second summer we have had a "normal" non-camp summer. Of course, our first normal summer we hiked over a 1,000 miles off the Pacific Crest Trail. This summer we took our 1 year old to Kenya and moved 2 time zones west. But that normal defines us as a couple and now a family. A road less traveled for sure, kind of like the road to heaven.

In our very different summer, blogging about our family and lives has gotten pushed back quite a bit. You add the camera issue, and then it just got pushed even more! Well, I think it is time for a change. I have lots to share and want to get back to a better routine of this. I know my family and friends who live far off appreciate it, especially pictures of the Captain:)

So here is for a Fresh Start. I won't let pictures be an excuse any longer. To prove it, I am posting this!
Enjoy,

A Fast Month!

August has stormed by us somehow. Well, almost. I guess there is still a week left in there! Bryce ordered door hangers for his business so he has been very busy this month passing them out to various neighborhoods. They have been very successful and we are ready to order more soon. Huge praise!

Then we made a last minute trip to San Angelo. We were already planning on going to Lubbock for my youngest brother Collin's graduation, but decided to leave a few days earlier and head a few more hours south to SA. It was all together a 12 hour road trip. By far the farthest trip in a car seat Cap has ever done. It went great!!! We surprised my family which was just awesome. I felt terrible not calling a few of my good friends that live there but we were short on time and just weren't planning on being there until the last moment. So very sorry!!!

We had a great time with family and we are soooo proud of Collin and his wife Ashley. They both are in grad school at Tech now and just moved into a cute rent house near the school. Cap has turned into the social butterfly since Kenya. He really misses being around everyone and having new people play with him all the time. He really misses his dad when he goes to work. It is quite sad in the morning when Bryce leaves. After a couple of hours we finally stop saying 'da-dy' every minute:)

We have had friends staying with us for the last few nights from North Carolina. It has been so good to see them. The only thing that would have made it better is to have Heath and Katie here with them, our other couple friend from NC :) However, they called us last night while we were all together. So great to talk to them and hear all the new news with their live. We miss you guys!

I have a very hard time blogging without pictures to speak of what we have been up to. I will be very excited to get a smaller lens or camera hopefully soon!! I love my larger lens but it is not very practical for everyday shots with a 1 year old.

Here is a pic from the wedding we went to last month. Thanks Erin for sending this to us!!
More to come later!

Entertaining Angels

It finally hit me. Cap does this thing every night and it never made any sense to me until a couple of weeks ago. We pretty much do the same thing every night with Cap before he goes to bed. He goes potty, we put our pj's on, sit down and read a story from the book Jesus Stories, then we pray, give kisses, and lay him down and leave his room. He can be pretty amped, but as soon as we start our routine he pretty much begs us to go to bed. He might be the only kid his age who ask to go to sleep and this included his nap time too! He will even get the book marker, which is just a notecard, that we use in Jesus Stories and put it on the page while we are reading so that we will stop and he can go to bed. It is hilarious! But that is a little off from what I was wanting to share.

When we give kisses he will give Bryce a kiss then me or visa versa, but then he always goes to this "3rd person" and tries to give them a kiss too. I never really go it, but then it finally hit me, he sees angels. Might sound crazy to some, probably not to most of you though. The way his eyes can light up makes you know it is an angel. Some times he even gives the angel two kisses! I told him that was fine by me since she will be the one staying up all night with you and I plan on going to sleep!

So now this angel shows up in other places besides bedtime kisses. I probably just didn't notice it before, but she hangs out with us a lot! We just started giving Cap M&M's for telling us he needs to go potty instead of just us going on timing. So after one of the times he went yesterday I gave him his M and he tried giving it to his angel. He just smiled with his whole body. Apparently, she didn't want it or he changed his mind and he threw it in his mouth. I asked him for a high five for going potty, which we always do, and he gave me one then turned and gave her one too. It was awesome.

Just wanted to share that with you. Here are a few really old pics I just pulled off my camera. First week of life! Enjoy!

Rocks

I was doing laundry a couple of days ago and at the very bottom of the washer were 3 small rocks. Some might find stuff left in a pocket a little annoying especially something that could potentially cause some damage to a nice new washer, but not me. I was so happy to have those 3 little rocks hanging out with my boys clothes, thankful God blessed me with a boy and prepared my heart since birth for him. I just hope when the day come for a small critter to be put in his pocket he gets taken out before the next washing! Or, that the little critter can swim I guess!

Thankful for my husband who teaches and shows Cap what it means to be a man. I love my family.

I just thought we might not have enough pics on here of Cap's bum!

I just don't see the point of getting clothes wet if you don't have to!

miss those curls:(

First Hair Cut

I have been delaying his haircut for months now. The longer it get the cuter it looks and the more those little curls curl. However, the longer it gets, the more it is is his eyes and I just didn't know what to do about it. So, we had our first haircut. Here is before the cut playing with some legos which was a first for him. I think he would love a set of his own sooner than later!

 Then off the sit in a car while watching the movie Cars. He even got a lolly pop which was a bit funny since he wasn't keeping it in his mouth so hair kept getting stuck on it. Of course than it dropped, a little sad but he was confident there would be something else good if we wanted him to sit still. So another lolly pop!

At first I loved it not being in his eyes, but by the next day I wanted his sweet long curly hair back!!! It is just hair so it will grow again. I just need to find a way to keep it out of his face better between now and then. I forgot to take after shots. Probably due to the shock I was in!

A couple of days later Cap and I went down to a new "city trail" down the street from us that follows a creek. I put him in the backpack and went for a short walk. It was very nice and I can't wait to get a bike one day and ride with Cap. It would be perfect for that.

After the walk we went down to the creek to play in the water. It didn't look like very awesome water, but it was water and it is hot here with no AC. So we played for an hour and threw rocks and what not. So you can see his hair better in these pics.

This would be when he decided to give it a little taste. Ha! Wasn't so pleased with that idea!

Cap is just doing all sorts of things. He has been pretty good these last few days. Lots of fun to be around. He loves to jump off things right now, which means you really have to watch him because he gives you about a 2 second warning. Still loves rocks and balls. Copies what we say A LOT but as usual more when it is just us not when we are out. He pretend talks on the phone a lot. Dances anytime he hears music even if he is the only one who hears it! Loves his daddy in particular right now. It is quite cute. I love how he says da-ddy in his little whispery voice.

Bryce is in the process of starting his own window washing business. He has been doing lots of research about it all and is very excited about doing it. He got to work with a very nice guy for a day here in town who offered to teach him some things and give some advice. It was a great and helpful opportunity for him. Please pray with us for some customers as he roams the streets and strip malls for business. The business is called SonLight Window Washing. Good name.

Well, guess that winds it all up for now. Enjoy!