Trip to Carmi

We had a busy, fun, and relaxing weekend down in Carmi. We spent Thursday night through Monday afternoon down in Southern Illinois where it was very HOT and summer-like. It was nice to have such warm weather, but made it pretty tough to want to go outside and enjoy the small town sites. Anyhow, we spent a lot of time inside and enjoying the company of family that we don't get to spend nearly enough time with!

I've got plenty of pictures from the weekend thanks to Tyler being so good about grabbing the camera every so often. Unfortunately, we failed to get a lot of pictures showing all that we did throughout the weekend. We also missed getting pictures of some of the VIPs that Caleb spent the weekend with (including his Great Aunt Denise, Auntie Kalyn, and Grandma). Anyhow, we had fun together and are so glad to have spent time with everyone for a few days. We enjoyed swimming in the pool, taking a trip to Evansville to play at a toy store and meet extended family for dinner (whom Caleb warmed up to very quickly), watching Caleb run all over the house like a madman, eating plenty of good food, and just plain old r & r!

Toys, traveling, and together time!

These past few weeks of summer break have flown by! It's hard to believe we're nearing the end of June already. It has been awesome being at home with Caleb and I've loved every minute of my time with him. I'm already REALLY dreading August when it's time to start school again. At least I know I just have to make it until Christmas break when I'll start my maternity leave.

A few highlights of the last few weeks begin with the letter T. First off....toys. Caleb is really getting more joy out of playing with his toys. He's actually starting to use toys for what they're designed for and not just throwing them, chewing on them, or carrying them all around. His Nana Pam was kind enough to get a really fun toy at a garage sale. It's a big pop-up tent that he can crawl in and out of. It came with a bunch of little balls that are now hiding all over our house.
The next highlight was traveling. This past week, Caleb and I went to Lake of the Ozarks with my mom and sister. It was about a 6.5 hour trip and Caleb managed to do pretty well. He's been battling a cold all week, which made him pretty uncomfortable on the long car trip and he didn't sleep as much as I had hoped he would in the car. We stayed at my aunt's house for a few days and enjoyed the sunshine and warm weather. It was Caleb's first time playing in the pool (aside from last summer, when he was still too young to do much of anything). He loved the pool and is definitely a little fish! He's working hard on learning how to blow bubbles and kick. Hopefully by the end of the summer he'll have these two basics down and be close to being an independent swimmer (with the help of floaties of course). Caleb also enjoyed spending time out on the deck watching the boats and playing with my aunt's two dogs. We all made a trip to the outlet mall one evening as well. Caleb got a few new shirts and my mom even got some pj's for baby #2. It makes the whole pregnancy much more of a reality when stuff starts being purchased for the baby!
The final highlight was together time. We got home just in time for Father's Day and spent the day out in Indiana with my dad's family. Caleb napped for awhile, so we were able to relax and enjoy time with my aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandma. When he woke up he was ready to swim and show off his new skills to his daddy. He had a fun time and was worn out by the time we got home.

We hope this blog finds all the readers doing well and enjoying the beginning of summer. We're excited that the first trimester is over with this pregnancy...no more sickness and extreme exhaustion! It's all gone just in time to start enjoying the days of summer. We are heading to Carmi this weekend and can't wait to see everyone there. When we get back, we'll hopefully spend plenty of time making the most of our time together before heading back to work!

Summer Vacation (so far)

It's now been a whole week of summer vacation and I'm LOVING it! It has been so nice to switch from super fast paced mode to super relaxed mode. It's been great having time to get things done like laundry, cleaning, grocery shopping, etc.....and not have to cram it all in during the evenings or weekends! I love being home with Caleb and spending quality time hanging out. The more time I spend with him, the more I realize what an adorable and fun little guy he is. Caleb is so full of personality and is such a huge blessing to have. There are so many of Tyler's qualities built into him and it's neat to see how much of his daddy's great personality is developing in him. Anyhow, here are few pictures from our first week in summer mode.

I get to wake up and see this cute face all day...could it get any better than that?!?

Caleb loves, loves, loves Barney! He doesn't focus on too many things for as long as he can focus on a Barney episode!

Caleb is Daddy's little helper already. He was helping put up some safety gates on the deck so that we can spend plenty of time out there this summer.