Oh Apathy...Oh Complacency...Are you going through the motions?

For the past couple of days, I have contemplated even writing a post about some of my feelings. I have posted on Facebook some very frustrated feelings, but I mostly get ignored. And honestly, there is a good chance this blog post will also be ignored. But I hope not. I feel led to share....

This message is for Christian Americans. No one else. The reason being is I am disappointed in the American Christian. We live in a country where freedom is one of the most priceless things we have. Other Christians in other nations would do anything to have that freedom to practice our faith as freely as we can. And while many of those freedoms are being challenged, the Constitution protects those freedoms. Our founders viewed faith to be just as essential as freedom. And we are fortunate that we can do that. Not everyone is free. In fact, I don't actually think Christian Americans really appreciate their freedom. It is way too easy to take it for granted. I say the same thing to myself. I don't think I have really appreciated what I can do as a Christian that I definitely cannot do in other countries. Just look at the Christians in other countries who are being slaughtered by ISIS. There are underground Christians all over the world. There are people starving for Christ...longing for truth and to hear this truth, while American Christians are stagnant. We like to pat ourselves on our back for putting quotes or verses on our wall as a way of saying "see, I'm a Christian." I in no way think those things are bad. They are good. But that doesn't mean we know what it means to suffer for Christ. I don't even think I really know what it means to suffer for Christ. But you ask those people in Iran, China, Iraq, etc who are literally laying their lives on the line for Jesus Christ, and they don't flinch in their faith. They will do whatever it takes to save their family members, save their friends to know Jesus. Even if it is illegal to do so. But here in America, we have "tolerant" Christians, we have people who flip flop on their beliefs, we have "Christians" that go to church on a weekly or almost daily basis, and yet they live the same lives as people who are not. This isn't what the Christian faith is about. Again, I point the same fingers at myself. I am incredibly flawed and fall short every single day.

But I think American Christians need to get out of their apathy, stop being complacent, and actually take their faith seriously. It's time. Our future as a nation is very questionable right now. When more than 50% of people claiming Christianity voted for a man who claims he is a Christian, but can't even tell us what he values, what his favorite verse is, when he jokes about how he would date his daughter because she is hot, where he brags about the number of women he has slept with, where he claims that his sex life is his own personal Vietnam, where he calls people nasty names and lies soo frequently that it has become a joke, and where a man who flip flops on his views almost on a daily basis - we have a problem.

If we are so passive and say "Well, I don't want a pastor-in-chief" or "I just want someone to win for the Republican party," then i would say we are compromising our values as Christians just to "win." I never claimed any man was perfect or that any man is a savior other than the only Savior we have - Jesus. But, we aren't supposed to compromise our values either.

Let's look at what happened last year with the videos that showed that Planned Parenthood was selling aborted baby parts, and where was the outrage? Do you realize, that maybe 5% of my Christian friends even expressed outrage on that? Or the numerous times in the past year that religious freedom has been on attack. Or how many even mentioned the be-headings of Christians in Egypt, etc.How many of your Christian friends and family did? Did your church say anything?  Did your pastor? If they did, then you are in the minority. Why are we staying silent? Is it because we don't want to be attacked? Labeled?

I hate to remind you - but staying silent isn't something Jesus wanted for his disciples. We were told to spread the gospel. We were told to speak out against injustices. We were told and shown how to live by Christ himself. He laid His very own life down. I think of this verse: "Do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God." ~ Micah 6:8

Again, I am pointing the finger at myself on this too. I have failed on this. And while God gives us much love and grace, he doesn't want us to be passive. He demands we stand for something. I am reminded of Revelation 3:15-16 - " I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot. So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth."

I don't want to be lukewarm. I want to stand for something. And when there is injustice, when there is violence, when there is evil occurring, we should be standing up and speaking out. We should be paying attention to what is going on and knowing what is going on in our country and in other countries. And we should know more about that than what Beyonce's newest song is about. We should be using our rights to vote (how many Christians are NOT voting and should?). Our pastors and clergy should be doing more. We have the right to peacefully protest against injustices as well, and we should. I just think it is way too easy in America to be passive and to be complacent. And we should be uncomfortable with what we are seeing. We should be looking for ways to volunteer and help organizations that fight against abortion, help in ways to protect children from sex-trafficking, stand in the gap for our fellow Christians in other countries and speak out for them. We should be on our knees praying for forgiveness for our apathy as a nation. We should be praying and seeking God in all we do. We can do more. I can do more.

And part of that is in our lifestyle and how we speak about others. How we work. How we treat others. How we show compassion. We are supposed to vote differently. We are supposed to BE DIFFERENT.

This isn't a tirade full of anger. I promise. But I am frustrated. And I am even frustrated with myself. I know I could have said more and done more. But I don't want to live my life with regrets. I don't want to just go through the motions anymore. And Matthew West's song "Motions" really hits home with me on this:

"I don't wanna go through the motions

I don't wanna go one more day

Without Your all consuming passion inside of me

I don't wanna spend my whole life asking

What if I had given everything

Instead of going through the motions?" 

We can do it. We can be strong. With Jesus, anything is possible. Anything!

Don't compromise who God made you to be and trust in Him to do this. Are you with me? 

Enjoying Springtime and Caleb is 23 Months

Our big boy is 23 months and we have a month to go til we have a 2 year old! What?! When did that happen?! I swear this past year has truly flown by at lightning speed! It's amazing when I think of this little boy who used to be a tiny little guy who could fit in my arms perfectly. Now, he hangs out of my arms or wants to be Mr. Independent and walk or run on his own!

He is learning so much and surprising us everyday by the things he says and does.

Just in the past month, he has learned how to count to 10 very well, and can point to those numbers and know what they are. He has on occasion counted to 15 (though the teens sound very similar). He knows how to read most of the letters on a book, and can do the alphabet (the LMNOP gets a little mixed up, but he tries really hard).

He also attempts to "read" certain books he knows. He has a Bath Time book and goes through each page and talks about what it says. It's like he is memorizing what each page says, but you can see he is trying to learn the words as we go through it. In his Elmo "So Big" book, he knows the words "Ma-Ma-Ma," "Da-Da-Dah" "Ha-Ha-Ha" and "La-La-La" when I point to them! And in his airplane book, even though he can't read the words, he tells the story of what is on each page and what it is saying. He really loves books! He is definitely a bookworm!

There are more words to his vocabulary, but I couldn't possibly remember them all. Some of the ones right off the top of my head:

• "Be Cozee with Mommy" - He loves to be snuggly with Mommy and he will say he wants to be cozy with Mommy. Probably because he has heard me say "Do you want to be cozy here with mommy" when he wants to snuggle! 
• "Birday cake" - birthday cake (he said this when we celebrated his G-Pa's birthday, and now everytime he sees a cake)
• "we-seet" - for receipt. I know this is an odd one to know. But when we go to the grocery store, he wants to hold the receipt and we taught him the word and now when he sees one, he says the word and is entertained by it. 
• "Daddee at wook"- Daddy at work 
• "Goo-nigh Bye Bye" - when he says goodnight to Daddy at nighttime before I put him to bed. 
• He says "bus" every time he sees one when we drive somewhere or if he sees it on a book
• He used to say "Ah-si" for outside. Now he says "ow-side"
• "Popper" for his toy corn popper
• He knows Big Bird now pretty well and will say his name when he sees him. 
• He tell us "tall" for when he wants Todd or me to put him up on our shoulders! He loves to be tall! 
• "Let's go!" - When we go anywhere
• "Go to Pahk" for Go to park
• "Go for walk" - When he wants to walk anywhere whether we go outside or even just a little walk inside the house and he wants to go to another room. 
• He now tells us "dat way" and "in dare" (in there) and "ike dis" (like this) for how he wants us to do something or go somewhere
• "Wainin" for raining

There's so much more, but I can't remember it all. But these are some of the more memorable ones. 

We are enjoying the spring temperatures we are having now as well. Caleb is an outside boy and he loves to go for walks and go to the park! His favorite thing ever at the park is the swings! He still isn't a big fan of the slides. Not yet anyway. He loves to explore everything and anything. Even things you think aren't very interesting. And if there are steps somewhere....he wants to go up and down and up and down those steps. 

He has a big personality, full of laughter, fun, and sometimes drama. Yes our kid can be quite dramatic. He will throw himself on the floor if he is mad or frustrated. He also likes to make up laughs. He has his normal laugh, and then he has laughs that he plays with and practices. It's quite funny. 

And this month, we got his new big boy seat, He really loves it! He also really loves being able to see forward. He gets excited when we get in the front seat and he says "I see you!" It's too cute! I taught him what a green light and a red light are for as well. He knows that red light means stop, and when it is green, it means go! In fact, Todd was telling me when he picked up from the sitter the last time, that they were at a light, and it was green. He yelled "Geen" to go! haha! Too funny! What's nice is that he has this seat for his long road trip coming up. 

Speaking of such things - We are looking forward to some wonderful memories coming up - our first family vacation as the three of us! We are visiting my sister, Jen and brother, Wes in Virginia Beach! Some major firsts for Caleb - his first long road trip (11 hour trip) and his first time visiting the ocean! It isn't his first hotel stay as we did that on New Years Eve, but this will be a longer time! We are soo looking forward to it!! 

Stay tuned for more fun updates...and next month, our boy is 2!!! I leave you with this sweet face! 

Ch...Ch...Changes..and Caleb Updates!

Well our big boy is just two months away from turning 2!! And that's sooo exciting. This past month he has done way more changing and has learned SOO much more than even in previous months! I will get more into that later though...

But right now, the changes!

So my office moved from downtown Dayton to outside downtown Dayton in a really cool building located in Tech Town! We used to pay for parking, and we paid between 75-85 dollars a month (depending on if I was late with the payment). But then once we moved, no more parking fees! The new building is very modern and quite fun! I love my new cubicle, and it just feels like a new and clean slate for our office. (I have some pictures below - not the best, but came from my phone).

Our new building

The ceiling from the entryway

Entering our office

Enjoying my new office! 

Part of my cubicle - I love the orange stripe! It's so fun!

Another fun change for me is I was recently given the project manager position of a project I have worked on for 10 years! This is going to give me a chance to really show what I can do and hopefully helps me learn how to be an effective, efficient, and good manager and leader!

So all in - very excited about the new changes from this past month! But, changes didn't just happen in my work life. Mister Caleb is also changing rapidly!

He is definitely a little boy and no longer a baby (though, he will always be my baby)! I don't know how this happened or what changed, except that Caleb will now lay down in his bed and go to sleep on his own and sleep THROUGH THE NIGHT! :) YAY!! This Momma is so happy! It's really quite sweet...not sure how it all started, but he drinks water before going to bed, and we say our prayers and rock maybe a couple of minutes in the rocking chair to settle down (he's not asleep), and then he shows me he wants to go into his bed. I lay him down, put his blanket on him, and give him his bed-time penguin (this is very recent too), and there is no crying! He just goes to sleep! And he sleeps the whole night! Oh my gosh! It's so wonderful! And it's really quite precious to see him hug and love his little penguin as he goes to sleep. See - changes can be really good!! :)

Also - this little guy is talking SO MUCH more! He is talking in sentences! He repeats a lot of what we say now (gotta make sure we are careful and don't say anything we don't want him to repeat). And he has just added so much more vocabulary this month. It just spiked up majorly!

I won't be able to get it all down here, but some of my favorites are;

• "hereyougo" - Here you go! I guess I say that a lot! ;) So once he gets something from me or I have fixed something for him, he says "hereyougo" 
• "It's a wewo sign!" - He says that when he sees a yellow sign. He knows the color yellow and knows what signs are! 
• Actually...in general, when he points to something he always starts with "it's a (word)" 
• When I ask him something, he usually will say Yes! He can say no and has said it a few times, but when I ask him to do something and he doesn't want to do it or gets mad, it is usually a whine instead of a "no." 
• He knows a lot more animals now - "elefun" for elephant, "mahkey" is monkey, "pingen" is penguin, "birdie" is birdie, "doggie" is doggie, "kitcat" is kittie cat, etc. He is really annuciating words a lot better! 
• He now tries to call people more by their names. G-Pa is "B-Pa," but then I recently discovered that he calls Grandma the same thing. So both of them right now are "B-Pa." 
• He recently saw a photo of Jen and said "An Jen" for aunt Jen! 
• He has gotten better about asking for what he wants to eat. He will ask for "Ba-Kah" (sound of a chicken), "Bagen" for bacon, "pech" for a toddler pouch that has veggies and fruits, "go-gur" for yogurt, "See-Rul" for cereal, etc. 
• He knows the colors yellow, purple, pink, and sometimes red and green. 
• He is getting better at singing the ABCs. If you point to a letter, he knows many of them just by pointing to them. The book I made with photos of things that start with the letters, we go through and I say "A is for..." and then point to the picture, and he gets at least 22 of the 26 items! It's hard to say Xylophone for X. LOL! 
• He sometimes knows how to count 1 through 6. He definitely knows the number 1 2 and 3 when he sees them. He sometimes knows the others (4 through 6). It's good he knows 2 since he is turning 2 very soon! 
• If Mommy is doing stuff and he wants me to pay attention to him, he always says "All done!" as he points to my computer, phone or whatever I am doing.
• He says "kiss" now when we give him kisses or when he sees Mommy and Daddy kiss! So sweet! 

Again - this is just some of the things. I couldn't possibly remember everything because he always seems to learn something new that takes us off guard! ;) 

Caleb also had his first Easter Egg hunt this month at church! He was really excited about the steps! He kept going up and down the steps. And he learned on those steps how to step up and step down without holding the railing! Such a big boy! But when it was time to hunt for eggs, he didn't want to go. LOL! That was until he saw all the pretty eggs on the ground. Then he had fun! But once we were done with that, he had to go back to the steps. 

Easter Egg hunt! 

Caleb's loot!

This month we are celebrating Easter, G-Pa's birthday, and hopefully enjoying some more of this wonderful spring weather! And then at the end of April, our very first vacation (with the three of us) to Virginia Beach and to see Aunt Jen and Uncle Wes! So exciting! Looking forward to many memories! 

But until then...I leave you with Caleb laughing! He has the best laugh! :)

Christmas 2.0 and Caleb's 21 Month Update!

This past month has been quite busy! The last weekend in January, we celebrated Christmas 2.0 with my sister, Jen and my brother-in-love, Wes! It was soo nice to spend time with them as a family! We hadn't seen them since the end of summer last year, so it was very much needed time!

We opened up some presents and enjoyed some Christmas food (Dad's Christmas Lasagna), and watched Christmas movies (see - it really was Christmas 2,0). We also went to my parents property for a bit, and Caleb enjoyed playing on G-Pa's trailer. Instead of playing "Peekaboo," Caleb says "I see yo!" And that's not a typo. He actually says "yo" instead of you. And he played that a ton with his Aunt Jen!

"I see yo!" 

"I see yo!" 

Caleb and Aunt Jen were buddies for sure during that time, and Caleb made everyone laugh so hard. He is really growing into this cute, funny, little boy! He has us all wrapped around his finger!

A couple of weeks later, we celebrated Valentines with our cutie pie! We got him his first Magna Doodle (which he LOVES), an Elmo book (My Fuzzy Valentine), and a yummy chocolate/peanut butter snack! Todd and I will be celebrating later this weekend our own Valentine's time. We each make our Valentines, so I look forward to seeing what Todd did for me. And I will share what I did for him after this weekend (don't want him to accidentally see).

Caleb Update:
So here's an update on our little Mister: He is hovering around 25-26 pounds, and he getting taller. He was 32.5 inches the last time we measured him (November), but I bet he has grown a little more since then. Before we know it, we will have to get him a big boy car seat! :)

What a face! He looks more and more like a little boy every single day. 

He is definitely our big boy!

He has learned so many words and is using many sentences now! Some of the cute words/sayings:

• Let's Go! (when we have to leave to go outside)
• Go! Go! Go! (if the car is still, and he wants to get moving)
• He now says Elmo fully instead of Mo! 
• "geh sum to eat" (Get something to eat!)
• EAT! (sometimes he just says EAT because he is hungry)
• He can say most of the Alphabet. His favorite parts of the alphabet to say is R, S, T, U, V - not sure why that is his favorite,. He can sing the ABCs and in tune as well, but he misses that middle part (L, M, N, O).  
• "Puh well" - Puzzle
• "Cen Cen" is chicken. He used to only make the chicken sound, but now he tries to say chicken.
• Toes - he says this very well! He loves his toes! 
• Horse - seriously he says this correctly and very well! 
• He says "Yes" more when we ask him questions. And if he doesn't want to do something or have something, he will either say No, or kind of grunt "Eh"
• With his new magna doodler, he actually recites letters (like A, B, C) when he is "doodling." We think he is trying to write, even though he can't write. But we were excited he wanted to try and do that. 
• We are working on his name. We go through all the letters with him and he knows most of the letters of his name. L and E trip him up sometimes. 
• He can now say "Jesus" very well! I have these old pictures passed down from my great mother that have pictures of Jesus on them. He knows them! 
• B-Pa - recently he called his G-Pa this! 
• He will typically repeat words you ask him to say or his version. So he is learning more words all the time. 
• We have worked some on the numbers, but I think he sometimes gets confused with numbers and letters. However, our sitter, Jane, has told us that he will count to six (with a little help). I haven't heard him yet, but that's encouraging. He does say "Se vay" for seven. 
• "Veeyo" is video! And when he wants a "video," he means he wants us to put on Elmo. We get Elmo's World and many of his songs on YouTube. And we use Chromecast to put it on the TV so he can enjoy it! 
• He will actually say as a sentence - "want a veeyo"
• If he wants to go for a walk, he will say "Wok" for walk and grab your hand!
• When he points to something, he will usually say "It's A (Fill in the blank)"
• "Want to Dah" - want to dance
• We have the Periodic table as a shower curtain, and I taught Caleb that the sign for Radioactive means "Boom!" - So when he sees it, he says "Boom!" 
• He is doing really well and learning all the time! I love seeing him learn. It really makes me soo happy to see him do so well! 

We have had some nicer weather more recently, and that means he gets to go outside or "Ou Side."

He is still a pretty picky eater. We are still working on that. But, green beans are his favorite veggie for sure. His favorite foods are: bacon, green beans, bananas, grapes, cookies (the nutritional bars by Plum Organics), chicken fries (shaped in the form of a fry), peanut butter to dip apples and bananas in, and apple sauce. 

We feel so blessed as parents to have our big boy! He makes us so proud! Every. Single. Day!

Here's to Caleb's 22nd month....just three more months til we have a 2 year old! Until then, I leave you with this cutie pie!

Caleb is 20 months old and the Start of the New Year

20 months old! When I think he only has 4 more months til his 2nd birthday, I just don't know where the time went. This 2nd year is going by MUCH faster than the first year. He is astounding us every week with the newest things he is saying and doing. 

So as with other posts, here are some new words or modifications on words that he is saying now:

• Saturn - yeah this one astonished me a couple of weeks ago. One of the books he has includes a photo of Earth and Saturn, and he so matter of factly said "Saturn" when he saw Saturn. I was amazed!
• "Obot" for Robot. There are a few books he has that have robots in them. 
• "May Say" - medicine. I hate that he knows this word, but when you deal with coughs and/or teething, he is going to pick up on the word
• "Bable" for table.
• "milk" for milk
• "book" for book. He never really said book before. He just knew what we were saying when we said book. But he would never say the word until this past month. 
• "MoMo" is Elmo
• "Peegee" for penguin (this is definitely an improvement from when he used to say Pa for penguin.
• "Suh" for sun
• "Sy" for slide
• "vac" for vacuum - (not too bad if you ask me)
• "Spoo" for spoon
• "Hi" for hi. He says this a lot now when he sees us
• "Peas" for please

He can say a few phrases too. He says "Get this" and "Mommy peas" (Mommy please), "I want Daddee", and "What is that?" He is doing better with phrases...and because I am kind of tired as I write this, I can't remember every phrase. But he is doing well! 

And I mentioned he is a helper, but it's fun to say "Caleb, please put this back." And he picks up the toy and puts it right back in its spot! Or if Todd says "bring this to Mommy," he does it! He also likes to tease people. If someone asks him for a cracker or for something he has, he will sometimes act like he is giving it and then take it right back (totally smiling and teasing them)! 

He is quite a pro at puzzles too. He was at my parents over a week ago, and they had a puzzle from when I was little and he had no trouble putting it together! Now these are for kids his age, but it's just impressive that he just knows what to do with these puzzles! 

He takes apart stuff like our remote, buckles, etc. And with our Christmas lights we had up, he wanted to plug them in and tried to (many times). UGH! Scare me to death. But he knows what to do because he has seen us do it. Just don't want him to get electrocuted. I do see an engineer in our future (if he wants to) because he really wants to understand how things work. I love watching his brain work! 

So all in all - he's growing very well and learning a ton! I wish I could say I have learned how to handle tantrums better, but I haven't. Screaming can be soo hard to deal with sometimes, but I am trying. He is soo independent and wants to choose the things he eats and does! 

We had a nice Christmas and New Years and are looking forward to a delayed "Christmas" with my sister, Jen and brother-in-law, Wes in just one week! They couldn't come visit us until the end of January, so we are just celebrating again! Plus - when my sister is in town, I am there! I miss her so much! She is without a doubt my best friend! I think we talk several times a week (via text) so that helps at least. But a text can never replace the time spent in person! So I am anxiously waiting for another week to go by to see her!

In recent news - I had a car accident! I won't go into specifics, but I am quite mad at myself about it. It was mainly because of the poor snowy conditions, but I should have also been more careful. Thankfully, I had already dropped off Caleb to our sitter, so he wasn't involved. Annoyed about the situation honestly, and this car is old. We are still holding onto the car for a while as it is still driveable. I will be quite sad when it is finally done. So far we are going on 13 years with this car! This was the first car I ever owned myself, and it has been through so much. So we aren't ready quite yet to get rid of it, but the time is coming! 

I used to enjoy snow, but after all our family has been through in the past year and a half, I am more or less just ready for spring. I look forward to taking Caleb to the park again and going on walks. Even Caleb isn't sure about the snow thing. He hates being bundled up (until he walks outside and realizes it's so cold). He isn't interested in snow yet, even though I have tried to play with him a little in it. He doesn't even like walking on the snow and freaks out a little about it. I think maybe next year he might like snow a little more. We'll see. I think all in all, we are just ready for pretty birds chirping and flowers blooming again! And temperatures above 30 degrees! 

I think that's about it for now....I look forward to sharing about our time with my sister and brother next month! Until then, stay warm and stay safe and enjoy another picture of this cutie pie! 

The Blessings of 2015

So this year has been rough, but I would rather focus on the blessings from 2015 and think on those things. I know in previous years, I always wished away the years. I always looked forward to the next year as an escape. But I have also learned that you can find blessings (even small ones) during hard times and hard years! After all, we are told in Philippians 4:8, "Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, let your mind dwell on these things." 

So, no I am not listing out resolutions. I would rather list out the beautiful blessings that did come with 2015 and hope for some more beautiful memories in 2016! So here I go:

January - 

• We rang in 2015 as a family of three. It wasn't our normal plan and we weren't with our friends (as in previous years), but we were together as a family and still made it special. Caleb didn't sleep much before midnight, as I think he sensed some fun was going on! 
• Caleb also learned to crawl and stand up on his own in January! Quite exciting! 

February -

• Caleb's First Valentines Day, and fortunately, it was spent at home together as a family. Caleb only had to stay in the hospital from RSV for one day and came home the day before Valentines Day! So while it wasn't overly romantic, it was celebrated with the product of our beautiful love! 

March -

• Caleb stood all on his own (without support)! YAY! Plus, we started practice walking with him as he holds our hands! 
• I celebrated 10 years with CH2M! Quite an accomplishment!
• Celebrated my Dad's birthday! 

April -

• Caleb started walking six steps all on his own! And he just got better as the month went on! Go Caleb! 
• It was warm enough to go outside and have Caleb experience his first swing ride! 

May - 

• Mommy and Caleb had more park outings
• Celebrated Mother's Day with the cutest little boy and my sweet husband! 
• Caleb turned 1!! Can't even believe it! He had a wonderful day! 
• My sister Jen and my brother-in-love, Wes surprised us by coming to Caleb's birthday! So we got to see her throughout Memorial Day weekend! 

June - 

• We lost our old sitter because she decided not to watch Caleb anymore. And within a couple of days, we found our new and current sitter, Jane! She is incredible! So even though I was initially upset about the other sitter, we are SOOO much happier with Jane! 
• More beautiful park outings! Caleb is all about nature! Sticks and walks! 
• Caleb started holding our hands going down steps! 
• Celebrated Father's Day! 
• Went to the annual Independence Day picnic with our friends in Columbus area, and Caleb chased after a dog and enjoyed fireworks! 
• Celebrate every day there is no infection in Todd's arm! 

July - 

• Caleb's vocabulary continues to grow....
• We put balloons in the air on July 2nd as a family in memory of Gabriel. We intend on doing this every year to honor the beautiful, yet short life of Gabriel Taber!
• Enjoyed Independence Day with my family
• As a family, we went to a petting zoo where Caleb had a ball seeing chickens, birds, sheep, a donkey, horses, cows, and a kitty! We had a lot of fun! 
• As a family, we went to Newport Aquarium and had a ball! Caleb loved seeing all the fish, and the penguins of course! 
• Celebrate every day there is no infection in Todd's arm! 

August - 

• Todd's last scab came OFF!! YAY! This was huge! No sign of infection! Todd returned to work (for good) as well! 
• Enjoying lots of walks and park time with Caleb! 
• Caleb climbs and talks a ton! He just jabbers and climbs on EVERYTHING! 
• Caleb and Mommy went to Caleb's first pro-life rally! 

September - 

• Celebrated Mom's birthday! 
• Celebrated My birthday! 
• Todd surprised me by sending beautiful birthday flowers to my hotel when I was out in the field for my birthday! 
• My favorite season begins - FALL!  

October - 

• Enjoyed fall leaves together as a family at the park, etc. 
• Went to pick out Caleb's first pumpkin
• Caleb had a ball trick-or-treating with his grandparents! He was the cutest puppy dog! 

November - 

• Celebrated our 7 Year Wedding Anniversary
• Todd and I went out for a long weekend to Indy to celebrate our 7 Year and honestly, we were celebrating the end of infection/arm trials. We celebrated being able to get out as a couple and enjoy time with each other! 
• Celebrated Todd's birthday! 
• Took beautiful family photos! 
• We survived a whole year since Todd's accident, and he still has no sign of infection and his arm is healed! Praise God! 

December - 

• Enjoyed putting up our Christmas tree, and Caleb especially loved it!
• Enjoyed time as a family at Clifton Mill and looking at all of the beautiful Christmas lights! It was a perfect night as a family, and Caleb couldn't get enough. He actually sat through 3 showings of the Trans Siberian Orchestra light show! He was soo excited about the lights! 
• We celebrated an early Christmas with Todd's Mom
• We celebrated Christmas as a family on Christmas morning, and then my parents came over for a nice Christmas day! 
• Caleb continues to learn more and more! 

Year As A Whole - 

• God provided for us financially to get through all of the hospital bills, etc. When you have 7 surgeries/hospital stays for Todd in 2015 alone, and a hospital stay for Caleb, you tend to rack up the hospital bills. Thankfully, our insurance is pretty decent, that instead of tens of thousands of dollars, we just had to spend a few thousand dollars. (JUST - I am kidding with the "just". That's a lot of money folks, but God provided)
• He also helped us as a family. I was still learning as a new Mom and God gave me the strength (emotional and physical) to take care of Caleb and Todd for a good 6-7 months in 2015 alone (not counting 2014). 
• God helped Todd through much of Todd's emotional stress. I don't care what you say, or if you are the strongest, most macho guy there is - 9 surgeries and frustration after frustration with the healing process, you would have emotional stress too! Plus, as a guy, it's hard. I am not a guy, but guys want to take care of their family. Not the other way around. And even though I am not a guy, I do get that. But God helped Todd through that, and I believe Todd knows without ANY doubt that I am always there for him. In sickness and in health! Always. 
• Todd and I are healing in our own relationship struggles. We had some tough times earlier this year in our marriage, but God has been working on us. So I am thankful that we are doing even better. 
• When very few people in the Christian community were there for us (seems blunt I guess, but it's true), God still was. And He provided when others didn't. But I did experience more compassion from people who don't claim to have much of a Christian faith, and that was even more eye opening. That doesn't change my opinion on who Jesus is at all. It just means that the Church needs to actually practice what Jesus taught (Not even saying all of the Church is like this, because I know there are really good, practice-what-you-preach, Christians out there). Plus, I fear this discounts the few, but amazing people who were there for us! Because I truly am grateful for them.  ~ But I digress. I just know that I learned who I want to be, and I am thankful that I have been able to help others out this year, if nothing else but to be a listening ear and to show them love and compassion. Honestly - that's all people want when they are going through a hard time. They don't need to be preached at. 
• My prayer life has been pretty strong. I don't spend hours on my knees, but I do spend time there on my knees (more than ever before). I pray in the car, I pray when I am on a walk, when I am up with my son in the hospital because he is struggling to breathe, when my husband can't sleep because of pain, after an argument with whomever, morning, noon, and night. I pray! And it's not all rosy prayers either. Let me be honest - this year, I prayed a lot of prayers where I cussed! Most people know I don't cuss as a general rule. I don't think it is very Christ-like and I don't want to be a person that uses inappropriate language. BUT - I did. I was even more real than ever before with God. But I learned back in 2012 when we were going through our loss of Gabriel, that God could handle it. So I wasn't afraid of ruining my relationship with God. I knew He already knew my hurt feelings. I was letting it out. And I knew He would love me anyway. God just wants us to be real. Just like any relationship you have, you need to be real! 
• And on the subject of prayer - our son is starting to learn how to pray as well. I want Caleb to learn as early as possible that praying is just talking to Jesus (your best friend in the whole world), and that He will always be there. Always. It's not fictitious. It's not a fairy tale. I know because I have been in the middle of praying (talking with Jesus), and then someone will text me and God had told them to reach out to me and they knew things I didn't tell them. So you can't convince me that prayer isn't important or that it's useless. I hope to teach Caleb as early as possible that he always, always, always has God! 

I pray that 2016 is better than we could have imagined, and I am hopeful for some new and special memories. I am hoping that Caleb will get to experience the ocean and visit his Aunt Jen and Uncle Wes in April/May. I am hopeful that Todd and I will get to have a nice anniversary vacation that even requires an airplane trip (last time we did that together was in 2010)! I am hoping for so many other things as well. But even if those things don't happen, we are a family! And that's one of the biggest blessings of all time! I love my family more than words could ever say!  

May you all have a wonderful 2016! I pray it is full of blessings (little and big ones)! 

Caleb is 19 months old!!

Wow...can he really be 19 months?! Another photo comparison above - one year apart at Christmastime! He could fit so perfectly in one arm. But a year later, he is just so big (or as Caleb says "soooooooooo biiig") :)

His vocabulary is just growing soooooooo much just this past month! So as with other posts, here are some new words or modifications on words that he is saying now:

• culcul - circle
• keckle - freckle (whe he points to all of Mommy's freckles)
• Bi - for Bike
• Sta - for star
• He knows more animal sounds and makes a rooster sound, a dog sound, cow sound (sometimes), duck sounds, bear or lion sound (grrrr), chicken sound, horse sound, bird sound, and sheep sound. 
• He really tries to sing the ABC song. I can tell because he will say S T oooh (for U), C, D...he loves to sing it. He is doing better and better with the alphabet
• beekee (for binky "pacifier"). He has been using that more for his teething. But we are trying to not give it to him too often because we don't want him addicted to it. 
• Hot - for hot. Whenever he hears the microwave or when he sees us taking something out of the oven, or even when he sees Mommy's curling iron, he says "hot." And he has learned to not touch. 
• I woo for "I love you." :) This one melts the heart for sure! 
• Tee - eee for TV
• Veee - oh - for Video
• Wai for light
• Apple saw - for apple sauce
• Yes for yes. 
• He has started saying no too. ;) 
• And while this isn't an improvement per se on truck, he says "guck" but then he growls! Who taught him that?! Ha! He sounds like Tim the Tool Man Taylor from Home Improvement! :) 

And I am probably forgetting a couple more words...hard to keep up on all the words. But more and more we understand what he wants. 

He has become quite the little helper in the past 2 months. I meant to mention that last month, but he will close doors (whether it is the refrigerator or our front door, etc) if we ask him to close a door. If we say it is time to clean up the toys, he helps put his blocks away and put all the puzzle pieces back in the puzzle. He loves to help push a stroller or cart in the grocery store, and he loves to help put away his Jumparoo (after he is done playing in it). When we ask him to give us something, he is usually pretty good about getting it and bringing it to us. 

We are teaching him that throwing things when he is mad is not right. If he throws something because he is mad, we will sit with him and ask him to pick it up (no matter how long it takes). He is stubborn and won't do it immediately, but eventually he learns and picks it up. We are trying to instill in him that you don't throw things to get what you want. He is gradually learning. 

He has been sleeping pretty well, with the exception of some nights of bad teething. He has only 4 more teeth to get! We have all the canines now. So we are just waiting on the 2 year molars (which he is already going through pain on as his fingers are more frequently in the back of his mouth). 

The past month has been pretty nice! We enjoyed Thanksgiving with my parents. We saw Christmas lights at Clifton Mill. And we visited Grandma G (Todd's Mom)! 

Christmas lights at Clifton Mill

Christmas lights at Clifton Mill

Visiting with Grandma G

Grandma G gave Caleb his first candycane

This was a favorite gift that Grandma G got him. Elmo puppet book! 

We have also been getting over sick. Okay - mostly me. I had a very nasty sinus infection that Caleb seemed to avoid getting. I am hoping and praying that for at least the next couple of weeks, we can all be healthy and no one gets sick! 

Oh and in pretty big news - Todd is no longer on any antibiotics! YAY! So in the next month, we will monitor him to ensure no signs of infection. If no signs of infection show up in a month, we should be good! :) Which will then mean that Todd can resume helping me with diapers and even watching him on Thursdays! So please keep in prayer about that for us! 

We look forward to the next couple of weeks as a family and also with family and friends for Christmas and New Years! I pray you all have a wonderful and blessed Christmas and a Happy New Year! Remember the reason we celebrate - Jesus! He is the hope for us all! Much love! 

And I leave you with a picture of our 19 month old! He's just so cute!