Finally, a break!

Justin finally gets a break. So do I, I guess.

He pulled nearly an all-nighter Monday night (2 hours of sleep) to finish a paper after taking a test.

He's been working like mad to get the tile up in the bathroom. That includes using a tile cutter outside when it's dark and so cold that there are ice crystals on the blade. Luckily, he's not sick! He's a rock!

I'm so excited for the bathroom to be finished. Ah, I want a bath so bad. Don't worry, we've still been bathing, just in a shower. Caleb especially misses splashing around! That'll be the best Christmas present for him! Oh, I love holidays!

I'm glad that he gets a break because now he'll actually be HOME when he's home. Is this supposed to be prepping me for dental school? When he's studying and gone and I really won't see him for a year? That'll be really tough if that's the case.

Anyway, we're happy it's break time! A break from school, from work, from teaching, from being sick...and Caleb is even communicating so well now! He signs and points and asks and oh! it's wonderful! I feel like my efforts are finally starting to have some sort of reward!

We have lots to be grateful for; too much for a blog post, so just believe us! :-) What are you grateful for? Especially if it's out of the ordinary train of thought?

A bit behind...as always!

So, I was playing with the new template options....and I just don't feel like I quite got it. Too many options, maybe??

I know I've GOT to have some pictures to put up, but I haven't uploaded from the camera in a couple of weeks! So, here's to a verbal update. Or something like that.

For starters, when did TRIX cereal become just colorful balls? Didn't it used to be little flowers and bananas and such?

Second, Caleb's first word was "thank you." It's sooo cute when he says it! Apparently we're giving him food all the time, cuz that's when he says it. We're still working on please. lol, one time I was trying to get him to say please when he wanted some pretzels. I knew what he wanted, but I wasn't responding. Well, he decided to take matters into his own hands. He picked up the pretzel container (one of those big ones that you get at a wholesale food store) and put it in my lap. haha, it made me laugh! He seriously eats more than I do!!

Third, Justin has now had 5 interviews: Case Western in Cleveland, OH; Iowa State in Iowa City; Minnesota in Minneapolis; Boston, in well, Boston; and Ohio State in Columbus. He has one more scheduled, and that is Oklahoma in Oklahoma City. We of course have our top 2 or 3...but what are your votes? We're not accepted to any yet. Dental schools have this agreement that nobody tells you "yes" until at least December 1. That way they all have a fair shot. I guess. So, we're still in limbo. And some of them can wait until February to let you know!

Fourth, I'm going to Disney World! With Caleb! I'm really sad Justin can't come with us, but so glad that we get to go and see my family and my new little niece! :-) My brother has an "internship" there so he gets us in for free. Pretty sweet. and my parents are helping us actually GET there...cuz, yeah, we don't have any extra money.

Fifth, Justin and I borrowed Hunger Games from my old roommate, Allie (thanks, Allie!), and we were hooked!! We drove to the most recent Columbus interview, and I read it the entire way there! Sadly, it only lasted us an hour on the way back! It is such a good book! When we started it, neither one of us was that impressed: "What's all the fuss about?" But by the time we were a couple hours into it, we'd run to the bathroom at rest stops so that we could get back to the truck and keep reading! We're ready to star the second one!

So, as you can see, we're keeping busy. We just had some changes made to our ward, and I'm really excited to go to church and see what happens with all the new families added to our boundaries. I'm also excited to actually GO to our ward; it's been almost a month!

Oh yeah...and be ready for some Halloween pics: Caleb's gonna be a doggy!! What else?

Caleb's 1 year pictures!

It happened over a month ago, already! But, we finally got his pictures taken yesterday at Target. Just as a side note, Target, JC PENNY, and SEARS all do free session + discounted sheets/discounted packages coupon deals. Well, I like Targets package deal: 16 wallets instead of 16 minis. Who knows what to do with that many minis anyway?

So, here's the link if you wanna check out our cutie pie!! They were so adorable, I had the hardest time picking one for the free 8x10...but I finally chose the one where he is standing. We love our little boy!


https://viewimages.targetportraits.com/sharealbum/sharealbumlist?rndId=1285460150&uId=1189702


I hope it works. Let me know if it doesn't and if you're still super curious.

Fair, family, and fun!

We've had a lot of fun the past month...

We were home by ourselves for a month while Justin's parents picked his brother up from his mission and took him back to BYU. It was a nice change to have the house to ourselves, to do the grocery shopping, our schedule, etc. But, it was made even more obvious to us that we depend on Justin's parents right now. We need their financial support, especially, cuz we just can't do it. We sure are blessed to have such a generous family, all the way around.

While we were by ourselves, Caleb and I played around the house; he helps me with the dishes a lot!

We went to a fair and Caleb got to pet some farm animals. It rained a bit and he was so tuckered by the end of it! It was a fun family outing!

One night we even stopped the ice cream truck and bought a push pop!! haha, Caleb LOVED it, though he needed some help with it at times.


Justin had an interview in Iowa. It was cheaper than flying so, we drove to Iowa. Yup, that's right, 21 hours one direction, 22 coming home. We stopped in Columbus to stay with my sister and drop Caleb off with Grandma who happened to be visiting...then Justin and I continued on to Iowa. It was really great to see the campus and the city. We liked it lot, actually. It wasn't too big, but just big enough. They're a little obsessed with their Hawkeyes though... We took a day break on our way home and Grandma treated all of us to the zoo! Thanks Grandma! It was really crowded and Caleb didn't get as excited about the animals...but it was nice to get out and see some of the city!

Now we're home!! This is what we did most of Monday (not really, but it sounds good, right?).

As for more updates, Justin has an interview scheduled with University of Minnesota, Boston University, and Ohio State University. That makes 5 in all! I'm so proud of him and his hard work. It's not gonna be easy to keep up his classes with all this traveling. It's so worth it though! He works so hard! We're excited about all the development and opportunity.

Caleb is so much fun! He gets into everything and loves to play hide and go seek, and that little squirt loves his cherry tomatoes straight from the vine.

Our Toddler

Caleb certainly has changed a lot since he was born; it's crazy how that happens!! haha


So, some funny things Caleb likes to do or has done:

1) He loves to push the volume button on the t.v. or the remote. That's fun too.
2) He loves crackers: as the left of the bottom right hand corner indicates.
3) Oh yeah, he loves Baby Einstein, especially the doggy puppet.
4) He LOVES dogs! We took him to the pet store at the mall, and he just squealed and screamed and
chased the little puppies around! So cute! We're excited for the day when we'll be able to get a family puppy.
5) He fell down the stairs: he hates it when he can't find me, so he was searching, moved the gate and fell down the stairs. We got a different gate. Now he's scared of the stairs without the gate.
6) He sure loves his Daddy!!

We love our little munchkin! He's a lot of work, really stubborn, but he's oh so much fun!