caleb at 23 months

it's hard to believe, but caleb is right on the cusp of turning 2 years old. and in some ways, he already embodies toddlerhood and the "terrible two's." he has quite a temper at times (poor boy, he comes by it honest), loves to try to do things on his own such as use a spoon/fork, comb hair, put things away, etc., and mimic mommy and daddy's behavior. he is also communicating in two word phrases and has added some new words to his vocabulary. we are working on three word phrases (i.e., daddy go bye-bye), but he still relies on two words for now. he also is running, jumping, throwing, and climbing his way around the house. caleb still loves to read. he will sit with me for a good half-hour and we'll read all of his favorite books--"good night moon," "no, no, yes, yes," and "the little mouse, the red strawberry, and the big, hungry bear." he also likes to look at new books and points to everything wanting me to tell him the name of the person/object. we bought caleb the little people nativity scene for christmas and he has enjoyed playing with it all season. he likes to point to the wise men's gifts and say "baby jes" (translation: gifts are for baby jesus)...too cute. caleb is currently cutting his two year molars and it has started impacting his diet. for the past week he has lived on drinkable yogurt and chocolate milk. hopefully, the other 3 molars will break through the gums and he can get back to eating normally...and we can work on weaning caleb from his paci ("my"). my plan all along has been to have caleb leave his my in his bed during the day and just have it at nap/bedtime after his second birthday. but if he's still teething, the my will stay...i'm not supermom and i'm not fighting a battle i can't win. caleb also pee-pees in the potty every night before bathtime and occasionally during the day. again, i'm not looking to potty train him before april and the next baby, i'll fight that battle when i know i can win it. not only is caleb learning, i think mommy is too!

PBF staff dinner

this past thursday, the staff of Providence Baptist Fellowship got to enjoy dinner at maggiano's restaurant in nashville. one word could sum up the experience...YUM!!! not only were we able to enjoy tons of wonderful food, but we had a great evening of conversation and laughter. tom and i are so grateful to be able to serve alongside such a wonderful group of men and their wives. if i had to add a caption to this picture it would read, "we who are about to die, salute you" (reference: the movie gladiator). look carefully and you'll see joe holding a squid...tenacles and all. the calamari was the highlight of the evening for joe, john, and brian. seriously, the number of squid that those boys put away was nothing short of impressive. good work guys.

sbts graduation 2008

on friday, december 12th tom officially became a graduate of the southern baptist theological seminary in louisville, ky. the festivities kicked off with a reception at the president's, dr. mohler, house. i was totally jazzed for the reception, however, my excitement was short-lived. the only chance i had to "speak" with dr. mohler was a brief handshake in a receiving line...boo! on the plus side, we did get to ride in a phat party bus and tour dr. mohler's personal library. his personal collection of books is impressive. it contains approximately 55,000 volumes...and yes, they are catalogued according to a dewey decimal system...i asked. the convocation was wonderful. dr. mohler delivered a poignant message and challenge to the graduates. caleb even enjoyed himself...after a short half-hour nap, he enjoyed grandad, gran, and uncle patrick's laps for the remainder of the service...and plenty of cheesey crackers. after the ceremony, we had lunch at buckhead grill across the river in indiana. that restaurant was where tom and i had our first date and we always try to make a trip there when we're in louisville.

and we're having a...

since it's been approximately 3 weeks since we had our last ultrasound, i thought i'd finally post about it. in all seriousness, we have had an action-packed couple of weeks and i totally left the ultrasound cd at the ob's office...pregnancy brain strikes again! without further delay, i am very excited to announce that on april 25th we will welcome baby boy #2 into our family! we'll keep you posted on any possible names.

the countdown is on

just in case you didn't know, we go back to the ob/gyn on friday afternoon to find out the sex of baby agnew #2. let's just hope that he/she doesn't decide to be modest. it would kill me not to find out!!!!!!!! we also have another countdown under way. caleb's 2nd birthday is only 38 days away. honestly, wasn't he just born?!? in preparation, i have been trying to get him to answer the question, "how old are you?" his favorite response, "to bus." loosely translated, 2 buses. i guess when he hears me count (1 year, 2 years), he feels free to insert his own unit of measure. and since the kid is crazy about buses--which for him are school buses, covered trailers, ups trucks, etc.--it makes complete sense to him.

thanksgiving

this year for thanksgiving, we did the grand tour. lynchburg, va and k-town all in 1 week. despite the long hours in the car, we had a great time. caleb even decided to sleep his usual 1 1/2-2 hours each day for his nap...that's a first for us when traveling :) we also celebrated tom's 33rd birthday this past saturday. and while i don't have the pics yet to prove it (my camera batteries were dead), his new sperry's look great. i'll make a mental note to post the pics as soon as my mom gets them to me because you've got to see caleb's "gobble, gobble" dance. too cute...the pics don't do it justice.

big al

silly me!!! i have completely forgotten to mention that tom will officially graduate from southern seminary on friday, december 12th. we are soooooo excited that one of us has finally finished. in case you didn't know, we've been on the (almost) 6 year plan...not typical, i know, but what is typical with us? however, the real reason i'm blogging is b/c i'm going to meet the president of southern seminary dr. mohler, whom my seminary roommates and i affectionately nicknamed big al. i am wildly anticipating this dessert reception at the his house. i know what you're thinking, desserts + pregnant amanda = embarrassing display of eating. not to worry, the eating will be under control thanks to a bigger mission. you see, big al has this medal (think flava flav size) that he wears only during convocation and graduation and i have always wanted to wear it. i've been feverishly thinking of ways to bring up the medal in casual conversation. so far my best line is, "so you know that medal that you wear..." not too hot, huh? good thing that i've got a couple of more weeks to work on it. in the meantime, got any suggestions?

was it ever football time in tennessee this year?

some things you just don't want to deal with...like cleaning the bathroom or plucking your eyebrows. however, a couple of weeks ago, i was forced to deal with a big it. the university of tennessee decided to part ways with its long-time football coach phillip fulmer. we all had been speculating for a couple of years how much longer he would hang on because let's face it, the past several seasons have not been...um, how do i delicately put this...good. in fact, it's been so hard to watch at times that i have had to clean the bathroom during a couple of games to escape the massacre on the field. but that still didn't change the fact that i wasn't ready for the big change. i kept thinking, "somethings just aren't supposed to change." in case you didn't know, we move like every 6 months...there's always a big change coming in our family...so things that are consistent are treasured. things like my favorite lipstick at clinique, the multi-colored lights and decades old ornaments on my mom's christmas tree, and FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE UT FOOTBALL. now i realize that i take obsession with ut football to a higher level than most people. for example, i have to be in the stadium and in my seat an hour before kickoff. "why?" you ask. because i watch the kickers warmup and eat my stadium hotdog. tom still doesn't like getting in the stadium that early, but bless his heart, he loves me enough to do it anyway. i don't know what next season holds in store for ut football, but let's just hope that mike hamilton doesn't decide to change anything else...i might not be able to handle it.

week 16 update

went to the doctor this past friday (end of 15 wks.) and everything is right on track. i still haven't gained any weight...yeah, right! tell that to my jeans. i've got to find out where to get one of those scales for after the baby comes :) the heartbeat was in the 150's. they took some blood for the quad screen test and we were on our way. we go back friday, december 5th for the big ultrasound. we're going to find out the gender, but in the meantime, take the poll and see if you're right!

fall fun

hope you enjoy the pics

caleb at 21...and 22 months

can't believe that i've skipped a month blogging about caleb's progress. the second one isn't even here yet and i'm already slacking! caleb is officially 22 months old and quite the big boy. he's started putting some phrases together. for example, "bye-bye mommy/daddy," "thank you, mommy/daddy," "blue ball," "it aht (hot)". he's also starting to categorize items. all cars are bye-byes, but trucks are trucks, all covered trailers are buses, all girls are mommies and all boys are daddies. love the way their little brains work! he also has started telling stories. his favorite is telling on daddy passing gas. the reason i know his subject matter is b/c he'll say "daddy, babble babble babble phfff." it's an unmistakable farting noise...cracks us both up every time. we've moved into 18 month clothes, but only if they have the adjustable waist. caleb's still on the skinny side, but he's steadily gaining weight. he's gotten noticeably heavier in the past month. could be b/c he's discovered that he loves mac n cheese and chick-fil-a chicken nuggets. he'll actually eat 3 of them! i thought he'd never eat protein, but i guess if you fry it, he'll eat it. other than that, he's diet is still pretty much the same-fruit, cheese, crackers will always satisfy. he also loves to just be outside. caleb will push his lawnmower around, pick up rocks and sticks, and just otherwise be happy outside for a good hour. i'm very thankful it doesn't take much to entertain him outside, but it kinda stinks that winter makes us cut our outside time short. i've also started letting him watch 1 tv show a day...gasp! since it is cold in the mornings and we can't get outside at 8:30 a.m. anymore, he watches tigger and pooh every morning. he loves it...well, about 20 mins. of it. still working on the attention span. he watches "boo boo" and drinks his "dooce (rhymes with moose)" while mommy gets a few chores done...pretty good deal if you ask me. we've also been exploring our artistic side. he loves play-doh and for the most part, doesn't put it in his mouth. and i love the crayola color wonder products. we have the markers, coloring book, and finger paint. he stays entertained for a good while and his grandmothers get some pretty cute pics. his favorite books right now are: "goodnight moon," "the little mouse, the red, ripe strawberry, and the big hungry bear," and "no no, yes yes."

oh, baby!

i went to the doctor last friday for my 11 1/2 week checkup. nothing too eventful...i peed in the cup and got to hear the baby's heart beat. it was in the 160's and i have gained 0 pounds!!! hard to believe, but the scales don't lie...or let's at least hope that they don't. next check is friday, november 7th...which will probably be the next time i get online :)

guess what...

when i named our blog, i purposely left out a number between those and little agnews, b/c i knew that one day our family would grow. well, that day has come, or it will april 25th!!! caleb has officially graduated to "big brother" status and we're positive that he'll handle that role beautifully. i'm officially 8 1/2 weeks pregnant with no sickness...yay! and yes, for those with inquiring minds, we will be finding out the gender. i'm way too nosey not to! caleb and baby agnew #2 will be 27 months apart in age. oddly enough, so are tom and his brother...totally not planned, but still a cool coincidence. the sonogram picture is not the best, but if you look to left of the flash blur, you'll see baby agnew #2. we got to see his/her heartbeat...so sweet! caleb doing his best impression of mommy being pregnant. looking at his expression, i'd say i would have to be 9 1/2 months pregnant and just ate a lemon...ha!

caleb at 20 months

trying on winter clothes. caleb really liked the pjs with the "shoes." the lack of posting has reached a new low as caleb is almost 21 months old and i'm just now getting around to writing about his 20th month. alas, good things must come to those who have to wait b/c there's no internet in the house. this month has been both the same and different for mr. caleb. he still eats pretty much the same things day after day, but has decided to branch out just a little bit...into the land of bacon!!! he rarely gets it at home, mainly at gran & nana's houses, but when we do have it, i have to stop him after 2 pieces--i can just hear his cholesterol getting higher. i'm convinced that any male i'm related to can easily eat a whole pound of bacon and caleb probably won't be an exception. he's also decided that he likes baked potatoes, macaroni & cheese, and a certain brand of rice that is really more like a rissoto. good thing as he's still a skinny little fella. for those who care, it's all organic...just sayin' showing you his muscles :) he's developed a few more tricks. he really likes to close the door to our bedroom, wait for one of use to come open it, and run and hide in his room, or behind the closet door. he thinks he is so clever. he also likes to line up at the end of the hall, or against a wall, and take off running after you say "go!" it's hilarious to watch him run. also high on the cuteness scale is when caleb is sitting in the floor, says our name, and pats the space next to him for us to sit. it's irresistible. and sometimes, just for kicks and giggles, he'll walk around backwards or on his tiptoes. driving the jeep caleb understands everything and likes to have little jobs to do. he can put dirty clothes in the laundry, get diapers for his diaper bag, bibs for lunch, throw things in the garbage can, and put the pillows on the bed after i make it. pretty impressive that in just 20 months of life, he goes from understanding no verbal cues to going into the next room and getting me what i ask for. i think repeating new words has lost its novelty, but he has one phrase that he can say, "it's/that's a bawwwwl." the boy loves to throw balls. so much so, that the other day, he picked up the remote and said "ball?" translation: "are we going to watch football now?" i have to say, i shed a few tears...go vols! he does a few animal noises (cow, monkey, elephant, dog) and loves to pick up objects around the house and identify them as "mommy/daddy." he's also started remembering his favorite parts of books and wanting to read them. he's a happy, active little man. we couldn't ask for anything better :)

grandma agnew

tom's grandmother, geneva agnew, passed away this past sunday. she was 91 years old. while i had only met mrs. agnew once about a year and a half ago, numerous people testified to her godly, quiet character; a virtue that is sadly missing in my life most days. it was wonderful to hear how the marker of her life was her character and not her cooking, or physical beauty, or for heaven's sake, her bank account. while most days i stress over getting to the grocery store or keeping up with the laundry, i have to confess, i don't stress over making God's Word a priority. in fact, i've been known to congratulate myself when i carve out a few minutes during caleb's naptime, a.k.a. "my" time, for reading and prayer. pretty bold to tell God to stay out of "my" time, huh??? while i had very little opportunity to have a personal relationship with mrs. agnew, her lasting character quitely encouraged me today to serve the God she served with the same faithfulness.

who knew?

i found the internet and it's in floyd, va. that's right, floyd. it's about as big as it sounds, but there's free wi-fi at the lodge we're staying at. tom's grandmother passed away and we're in town for her funeral tomorrow. hopefully, tomorrow evening i'll have a much cheerier post.

hilton head, sc 2008

the first week of august, the agnew family was officially on vacation as nana was nice enough to invite us to share a house with her and the girls. as i have previously mentioned, it was a 7 1/2 hour trip down to the beach, but i am so thankful that caleb was very content to eat sunchips for at least 6 of those hours. i kid, but he did eat a whole lot that trip...wonder who he learned that from?!? from the moment we got there, caleb was thrilled to be in and around water. he has a really cute inflatable car (complete with a working horn) that he liked to float around the pool in, but after a while, he had to be in the water. tom or i would swim him around the pool and he LOVED it!!! he kicked and squirmed so much that i am convinced he would have been happy for me to let go and let him be free. can't wait until next spring when we can take swim lessons together at the y. i was a little trepidatious about how caleb would react to the ocean, and i was so pleased (and shocked) that he LOVED it. there were numerous times that he would take off running into the water (check out the above pic) and not stop until i grabbed him (he was up to his waist)!!! while on the beach, i learned yet another reason that i love crocs, they keep loose sand off of caleb's feet. for as much as he loved the water, he hated the loose sand. it simply would not do for his feet or hands to be covered in sand. someone, anyone, had to grab a wet wipe and get it off!!! aside from the occasional breakdown over the sand, we enjoyed about 2 hours of beach time a day...pretty good for a couple of palefaces like us :)

3 years of wedded bliss

on august 6th, tom and i celebrated our third wedding anniversary. for those of you trying to do the math, we were married for 8 months before we found out that we were having caleb...i know how some of you think. since we were in hilton head, sc and nana volunteered to babysit (thank you nana!!!), we decided to go to savannah, ga for the afternoon. and i had the brilliant idea to take a trolley tour of the town. did i mention that it was august...in deep southern georgia??? yeah, i sweated profusely for an hour and a half...was not a pretty picture. however, we did manage to have a great time. savannah was a beautiful city, no matter the temperature. while in savannah, we rubbed elbows with the local celebrities...ha! we went by the famous (or in some people's minds infamous) lady & sons resturant at 4:30 p.m. and the wait time for a table that evening was a whopping 5 hours! love me some paula deen, but her fried chicken can't be that good! it may be a little late, but i just wanted to shout a BIG i love you to tom. you're the best man that i know and i'm glad that you're mine!

looooong break....again

i'll have to make this post quick b/c i'm at panera, tom wants the computer back (since when does "our" translate into "mine"), and caleb is about done with his "nak" (snack). we got back from the beach and guess what??? stilll no internet at the house...go figure. a few fast facts, tom and i celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary on august 6th (awwwwwww) and i attended my 10 year high school reunion (go hornets!). hopefully, i'll get to do a full-fledged post one day soon, complete with pictures. hey, a girl can dream. until then, i'll miss you internet....sigh...

caleb at 19 months

caleb turns 19 months old on wednesday, so i thought that i'd share a few of his favorite things. he is still fascinated with his crocs, especially since his nana bought him 2 jibits to put in them. he has a dump truck and an excavator--nana can find the best things--and is busying himself trying to figure out how to put them on/take them off. he also loooooooooooooves the water. we were a little worried that he may not like the ocean, a perfectly reasonable fear if you are only 31" tall and weigh a whopping 22 lbs., but he loved it...at least for the first 30 minutes. i think he just got too hot and too overwhelmed. however, he can spend almost 2 hours in a pool before he (and i) gets tired. he has a few new tricks in his vocabulary this month. he really enjoys the long "e" sound and will add it to just about everything: momeeeee, dadeeee, naneeee (we think it's nana, but we're still not sure), jakeeeeeee (jack). he's also become much better at pronouncing his "s" and "th" sounds so that bus and bath are discernable to everyone. and i am most proud of the fact that he will repeat thank you when i ask him to. it's so cute to hear "tan ouuuuuu" after i hand him more crackers. this week, caleb has been more adventurous in his diet. yesterday he ate soy sausage, bacon, and grilled chicken...all in the same day!!!! i'm still not convinced that bacon and chicken will be permanent additions, but it was nice to see him branch out a little. as far as discipline goes, it's all typical toddler stuff. he will protest, quite loudly, when he has to quit an activity before he wants to, or gets told "no." i will quickly remove him from the situation, or smack the little hand if need be, to end the protest. he also has the wonderful habit of smacking at things and people (namely mommy, daddy, and jack) when he is frustrated. however, it only takes a stern "no hitting!" and time out in the crib for caleb to decide not to smack anymore...at least for that day. all in all, he's a readily compliant child with a normal amount of defiant outbursts. and given his gene pool, that's a blessing!!!

road trip **now with pictures**

so how does an almost 19 month old keep busy on a 7 1/2 hour drive from nashville to hilton head??? glad you asked...since the portable dvd player wouldn't load any of the discs, i reached into my mary poppins inspired bag and found 2 strands of beads, a purse-sized lint roller, plastic spoons, a singing frog, coloring book, colored pencils, 2 lift-the-flap books from the target dollar bins (yay!), a calculator (shhhh, caleb thinks it's a cell phone), 2 tonka trucks, a travel size maga doodle, bubbles, a pinwheel, and a partridge in a pear tree--whew!!! if you currently do not have a toddler, or it's been a couple of years, the contents may sound strange, but trust me, those $2 strands of beads that i bought off of a street vendor at a ut football game have paid for themselves a thousand times over. they completely fulfill caleb's need to put on/take off/do-it-myself...they were good for at least 30 mins. of content riding. i took a couple of cute pics of caleb in the truck (think sticking plastic spoon in the holes of his crocs), but left the usb cable to my camera at home. i know that you're thinking, "WHY DIDN'T SHE JUST PUT IT IN THAT STUPID BAG OF HERS?!?", but when you're trying to out think a 19 month old sometimes you just forget the obvious...now if i could only find my other blue flipflop...

still here and kickin'

it's been a loooooooooooong time since i've been on the internet, let alone made a blog entry. in the past 2 1/2 weeks we have been to x-fuge in panama city beach, florida, moved into a new house, and are currently in hilton head, sc for a much needed vacation. hopefully this week i will be able to catch up on entries. oh internet, how i have missed you!!!

yum!

since we were supposed to go to k-town this afternoon and i was a good little housewife and didn't buy a ton of groceries, i am left to eat cool whip for lunch...no wait, kroger brand whipped topping. it may be a little gross, but at least it's "lite."

18 months old

caleb turned 18 months old on july 6th and we went for his regularly scheduled well-check this morning. his stats now are 21 lbs. and 13 oz.!!! i was so excited, he's in the 10th percentile for weight, and hasn't slacked off in his rate of weight gain...yay! he's 30 and 1/8'' tall (50th percentile) and his head is in the 60th percentile for circumference. and he's doing all of the things that 18 month old little boys do...running, climbing, scraping his knees, throwing balls, scribbling on paper, chatting up a storm, and oh yeah, pitching fits. thus far, he has only shown his temper to me and daddy, but this past wednesday night, the nursery workers at church were all commenting on how well behaved caleb is, so i'm really hoping he doesn't prove them wrong. a few of caleb's favorite foods are frozen blueberries, soy sausage, grapes, cheesey crackers, spaghetti, mandarin oranges, banana/pumpkin muffins, and baked organic french fries w/ketchup. he uses quite a few words and occasionally drops one (right now it's momma--what the heck?!?) to use a new one. his current favorites are uh-oh, no no, Da-dee, bye-bye, shewsh (shoes), door, mo (more), ma (mine), ball, and ja-kee (jack is our dog and we affectionately refer to him as jacky). he's pretty laid back in public, but at home he's a regular wild man. his absolute favorite game is to be chased. tom or i will usually chase him around the dividing wall between the living and dining room, suddenly change directions, and meet caleb face-to-face. caleb screams and then laughs his head off. he also likes it when tom hides behind the bathroom door and pops out to surprise him. he has a couple of other cute tricks...he loves to give high-fives, carry my keys to the car, and show people his teeth (his face is priceless). he can also tell you what sounds a dog, a firetruck, and a motorcycle (a couple of the neighbors have them) make. all in all, we're lovin' life with an 18 month old!

4th of July

caleb showing off his "shewsh" we were pretty low key in our celebration today. we started out by sleeping in until almost 7:00...that's a whole half-hour later than usual :) later in the morning, we went to the mall and picked up a couple of things that we will be needing for the beach. i got a way cute floppy straw hat (only $12 at gap!) and we splurged and bought caleb a pair of crocs. totally unlike tom to approve such a purchase, but i had looked at super wal-mart and super target and found no croc knock-offs in his size or his color (don't think pink or purple would work). after caleb's nap, we filled up his pool and put the crocs to good use. we spent an hour under the shade tree in the front yard splashin' and watchin' the world pass by. and as of 10:30, we're enjoying a free fireworks show courtesy of our neighbors...awesome, as long as caleb stays asleep! love that face!!!

i am "superior"

no, this post is not about my pride (which i have already mentioned is excessive), or anything else profound for that matter...only stating facts in this post...j/k!!! while reading my daily circuit of blogs, i came across a link to test how you rate as a 1930's housewife or husband (www.magatsu.net/maritaltest). i was intrigued and mildly excited to find out that i have a "superior" rating. the only higher rating is "very superior." impressed, aren't ya? a few of my negative qualities, according to the poll, are: i use vulgar language, i wear red nail polish, and i don't dress for breakfast. on the positive side, i don't smell like cigarette smoke, i like children, and i tell my husband that i love him. damn, i am a good housewife. not to make light of the subject, i really do love being a SAHM and can't imagine doing anything else at this stage of life. and oh yeah, don't confuse my family's decision for me to stay at home with those who believe that it's the only option. we are striving to honor God in all we do and believe that there is enough freedom within that task to be stay-at-home moms/dads as well as work-outside-the-home moms/dads. not that i'm the definitive authority on the subject, but i'm just sayin'.

must read

i know, i know...2 posts in 1 day!!! but seriously, head over to www.twoinstitutions.org and read the entire 3 part interview that mike hall has conducted with a parent/leader/teacher in the student ministry at providence baptist church in raleigh, nc. it's great.

say it isn't so!!!!

recently i had one of those fleeting thoughts of "i need to google that," but naturally kept putting it off b/c when i'm on the internet i have important correspondence to conduct and educational articles to read (haha!). so today, i finally got around to googling the oh so important topic of...palm oil. now, i always had a hunch that it was bad for me, but i kinda suppressed it b/c the skippy natural peanut butter (which contains palm oil) is fab-u-lous!!! we've been eating it for about a year and a half....well, not caleb, he's only been eating it for about 4 solid months. cannot believe what i, his wonderful mother, have been letting him put into his body under the guise of "natural." true, palm oil is a natural substance, but it's not healthy. clogs the arteries as well as any unnatural oil that i really am trying to avoid as much as possible. except for when we go out to eat and i like to see how many french fries (fried in the aforementioned yucky-bad-for-you oil) i can cram in my mouth before people start to look at me like i'm weird...what?!?! i love french fries. anyway, i'm super bummed because the skippy natural peanut butter has a great texture--shouldn't it with all the palm oil keeping it smooth?--which i consider the hardest characteristic of a natural/organic peanut butter to master. so, i'm once again in search of a heathy (key word here) peanut butter that doesn't taste grainy...or need too much stiring...or need to be refrigerated...and oh yeah, doesn't cost $6 a jar. should be easy, right?

new haircut

dear internet, i got bangs today. i was really nervous because it's been like 9 years since i've had bangs (and i went to great clips), but i think it turned out pretty well. sorry for the crummy self-portrait, but tom is taking a nap and there was no one to tell me that my pose was cuter in my head than in real life :) write back soon, amanda

father's day

i know that i'm late, but if you've been paying attention, you would know that we rarely celebrate holidays on their correct date, especially mother's and father's days. when your husband is a pastor, sundays are anything but free for leisurely lunches and snapshots of the whole family...at the same time. however, it is kinda fun going out to eat and getting presents after everyone else has celebrated. hello, no-long-lines-at-the-cheesecake-factory...yum! on to father's day...tom was with the students at world changers in muncie, IN so we celebrated last weekend. his mom and the girls were in town and helped make it extra special. they made a welcome home banner and maddie even presented tom with the father's day gifts she made for him during the last days of school (of course, she made them on behalf of caleb...seeing how he can't write yet and all). her little book was sooooooo cute. the picture didn't turn out so well, but it says i love my dad b/c he prays for me. how sweet!!! tom was really excited about his new wallabees...i know this because he immediately asked, "how much did you pay for these?" apparently the amount one can enjoy a gift is directly related to how much money is left in the bank account after it's purchased. after all these years (okay, 3 years...ha!), he still hasn't learned that i am really good at shopping...i got those shoes for a steal. yay me!!!! caleb even got excited about the wallabees. don't adjust your screen...size 13 shoes really do appear that large next to a 17 month old child.