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.