I recently made some small changes to Caleb’s room. I wanted to change it from his nursery to a “big boy” room. There was no need to change the paint color or rearrange the furniture so the changes are subtle. But for me, it’s enough to get excited about. My sweet Sister-in-Law made the cute artwork for the walls.

It’s also been a while since I updated everyone on our little guy. It’s hard to remember since I don’t do monthly updates anymore. Caleb just got over a scary sickness of which he had a fever as high as 104.6. We now think he has an inner ear infection just by the way he’s been acting recently. His balance is off and he’s cranky all day long. We’ll be going into the doctor tomorrow to find out for sure. Aside from that, he’s been doing great. He can say (with much exuberance) “dog”. He also waves and says “bye” and “night night”. “Noi noi” is a favorite, but I have  yet to figure out its meaning. He blows kisses, points to a variety of body parts and dances. He can throw and catch a football, kick soccer balls, and bounce basketballs (much to his father’s delight). He had figured out how to turn on, unlock, and navigate his way through my iphone. It’s a little unsettling that he knows more about technology at one  than I did at five years old. His sippy cup has become his lovey of choice and he demands it at bedtime. This has been quite a struggle because he likes to play with it and chew on the spout instead of falling asleep. First thing in the morning he prefers to lounge on his toddler couch with sippy cup in hand while watching his favorite cartoon “Boz the Bear” in order to properly wake up. He loves the outdoors. He would spend all day outside if he had the choice. He’s also discovered bugs and is fascinated by the creepy crawlies that lurk around the backyard. There aren’t that many in AZ so we actually have to search them out. He is such a cuddler and loves to give hugs and kisses.

He has become quite the celebrity at our local stores. I tend to frequent Target and Sprouts during my weekly errands. The garden center lady at Target dotes over him every time we visit. The moment she spots him, she squeals with delight, calling him “my little gerber angel baby!”. There are also a couple of cashiers at Sprouts who get excited when they see us come in. They also fight over who gets to ring us up. I guess he’s quite a little ham.

I’m not really sure what kind of style he has. I think it’s a cross between irish dancing and line dancing. Whatever it is, it’s crazy cute.

Come Wednesday, half of our house will be in shambles…and I’m so stinking excited!

Why?

Hopefully in a few months the garage will be transformed into a huge family room and an office/fourth bedroom will be built onto the back of the house. We will also extend our patio roof, built a carport off the side of the new family room and paint/stucco the entire outside of the house. Some people (okay, a lot of people) think we’re crazy to live in AZ and not have a garage. But I know from experience that as long as the car is in the shade, it’ll be fine. Besides, why should the car get the biggest room in the house? The extra bedroom will free up some space for more kids and/or  hobbies and the family room will give us some more breathing room. It’s way better than moving in this economy and we love our house for so many reasons (awesome layout, awesome backyard, great location) we really have no desire to move.

Once demo starts on Wednesday, our lives will become full of noise and dust. But the exciting changes far outweigh the inconveniences we’ll have to endure. Andy and I keep joking that house projects are one of the things we do best together. We love going to Lowe’s and looking at flooring, lighting, etc. I played Sims 1-3 simply to build awesome houses and now I kind of get to build my own.

Here are a few “before” pictures with some homemade conceptual art:

I finally got the hankering to turn Caleb’s nursery into a big boy room. My Sis-in-law gifted me some ridiculously cute canvases and an awesome growth chart a few months ago. I set them aside thinking I would get this redecoration started “right quick”. Two + months later, I’ve finally gotten around to it. Fortunately, I didn’t have to repaint anything because the artwork I got matched perfectly with his already blue room; one more thing I didn’t have to worry about. All I had to do was replace some wall decorations and move a bookcase. Easy Peasy. I figured this transition was also a good time to take some current portraits of Caleb.

Caleb’s also at the stage where everything is novel. He’s also discovering that every part of his body has a name. He’s got all the facial parts down and is working on the rest of his body.  He loves pointing out these features on other people and animals too.  It’s a great laugh when he gets up close and personal exploring someone’s ears, hair, eyes, etc.

Here’s the portrait series I’m using in his room. Truthfully, there were about a dozen to choose from. I had such a hard time deciding on only four that I put them all up on Facebook and let everyone else decide for me. That made things even harder. After much deliberation I finalized these four. I’m printing them out in 11×14 prints and hanging them around the window. I’ll post the finished room when the get here.

• Work has been exceptionally busy - but exceptionally rewarding of late.  For those of you who aren’t familiar with Facebook, our company builds Facebook games and we currently have two very successful games that you can try out and play on Facebook.  You can learn more at our companies website: http://www.brokenbulbstudios.com I am exceptionally thankful for my opportunities at the company and the blessing of having a good job in the current economic climate.
• Due to the wonderful housing market, the possibility of moving anytime in the distant future seems impossible, as we’re well upside down on this house.  So we’ve decided we’re going to do some renovations!  We are in talks with a couple of contractors about converting our garage into a family room, and building on an additional office behind it, as well as expanding our porch.  It looks like we’ll definitely be getting started on the project in the next few weeks, and it should be pretty cool.  Will give Caleb some more space and us an extra bedroom.
• I’ve decided to abandon my gluten free diet, after about 2 months of efforts to fix my stomach problems.  I only improved about 10% over the time and the diet was exceptionally limiting as well as difficult to get enough calories to maintain weight.  We continue to pray for a means to solve the stomach problems all the while knowing God’s plan is better than ours for the trial.
• Lastly we ask for prayers for a couple of friends of ours and their kids as they go through an exceptionally difficult situation.  Pray that God may use the difficult situation to shine the light of the gospel into the hearts of those involved.  Also for great comfort to the families dealing with the difficult time and long recovery.