Caleb's school picture

We got Caleb's school pictures in today and I thought I would share it. He looks like such a big boy! I can't believe how big he is. He is doing so well at school. He is doing things at school that I have never seen him do. He showed me last week how he can get to standing in his walker all by himself! They have really been working with him on getting into and out of his walker all by himself and getting in and out of his wheelchair as well. He is doing some amazing things at school. His teacher will tell me things that he has done and my response is always: "I didn't know he could do that!"

New territory

So we put Benjamin down for his morning nap, and we hear a strange sound over the monitor. Glenn runs back to make sure Benjamin is ok...then Glenn yells: "Cassie come here, quick!" This is what we found. The little booger is pulling up and standing in his crib! The noise we heard was him eating the railing (picture below). We decided now was a good time to lower the mattress so he doesn't flip himself right over the edge. This is new territory for us, Caleb never did this. Benjamin is really going to keep us on our toes!

Thanksgiving

We went to Gammy and Grandpa Al's house for Thanksgiving yesterday. Grandpa Al cooks a fried turkey which is oh so yummy. Caleb wanted to skip the turkey all together and go straight for the apple pie! That boy loves dessert...he takes after his mommy. We gave Benjamin a couple bites of sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, and stuffing. He seemed to really like it. He is eating more and more table food lately. He really likes to eat things that he can pick up himself, he gets kinda mad when we spoon feed him.

Caleb had a lot of fun over there. After eating he wanted Gammy and Aunt Rachel to spin him around really fast in the office chair. He must have had them spin him around dozens of times. He was so dizzy that you could see his eyes trying to keep up with the room spinning around him. But he loved every second of it.

We had a good time. I am thankful to have a family to spend Thanksgiving with. The boys make holidays a lot of fun.

Family Camp 2009

This weekend was the annual Spina Bifida Family Camp. This was our third year to go and I think it was the best so far. The older Caleb gets, the more he seems to enjoy it. There were a ton of families there, some familiar faces and some new faces as well. I love Family Camp, it is so great to be around people who know what having a child with Spina Bifida is like. I don't have to explain to them what Spina Bifida is because they already know. We share a vocabulary that other parents can't relate to (hydrocephalus, MRI, intermittent cathing, bowel management program, Chiari malformation, etc). Caleb fits right in, and he has an absolute blast. He was so confident and outgoing this weekend, I was so proud of him. Here are some pictures from the weekend.

We usually have a campfire our first night there but the weather kept us from building a fire outside so the volunteers built a fire in the fireplace in the dining hall. We sang songs and made smores.

This is Saturday morning as we are getting ready to go on the scavenger hunt. If I look tired, it's because I was, I think I got about 45 minutes of sleep Friday night. Benjamin did not sleep well at all and with all of us sleeping in the same room it made for a long night.

How cute is Benjamin in that hat? He was such a trooper this weekend. He was absolutely exhausted but that didn't keep him from smiling at everyone.

The camp makes a brick for every family that comes to camp, here is our brick from our first year at camp.

Caleb sticking out his tongue with the cow mural.

Caleb and Bryce doing a craft together.

Fishing on the dock...I wonder if they will catch anything?

Well lookie here, they caught a fish.

Caleb got his face painted at the carnival. It looks like an alligator trying to eat his eye ball.

Munching on a snow cone.

It was a great weekend, we are exhausted and I have about 10 loads of laundry to do!

Benjamin cracking himself up

A lovely, quiet dinner with my boys...

...not so much.

Weekend in Austin

Glenn had a conference in Austin this weekend, since it is only a 3 hour drive for us we decided that we would all go. Glenn was in training sessions during the day so I took the boys out and about town. Here are some pictures from our weekend.

Benjamin checking out the king size bed. It was quite a challenge having both boys sleeping in the same room as us. It was hard to keep Caleb quite while Benjamin was sleeping and vice versa.

This is from our first night in Austin, we went to this really neat restaurant that is right over the lake. We sat outside and enjoyed some really yummy mexican food.

View of the lake from our table.

Caleb enjoying some chips and queso.

On Saturday I took the boys to the Austin Children's Museum. It had a lot of really need exhibits. Caleb had a good time.

Playing with the construction trucks at the museum.

Caleb snuggling in all the pillows on the bed.

Austin had a Zoo/Animal Sanctuary. It is a non-profit zoo that houses a variety of animals that needed homes. It was a really neat place, probably my favorite part of the whole weekend. There were peacocks just walking around all over this zoo. Caleb got a kick out of that.

Caleb LOVED the llamas. I think it is because he recently watched "The Emperor's New Groove"

Caleb feeding the goats. The zoo gave us a small bag of food so that we could feed some of the animals. Caleb chose to give the entire bag to the goats.

Benjamin looking at the goats...not too sure what he thinks about them. I love the look on his face! Benjamin was such a trooper this entire weekend. His schedule was thrown out the window while we were out of town and he just went with the flow. Such a good boy.

OK this goat was just cracking me up. Look at that face, it's hideous. And those teeth! That is a face only a mother could love!

All-in-all it was a good weekend in Austin. We are all exhausted and happy to be home so we can sleep in our own beds...and our own rooms!

Benjamin loves his big brother

Benjamin absolutely loves Caleb. I can't keep Benjamin away from him! Caleb was laying on the floor today and Benjamin couldn't resist climbing all over him. Caleb was so sweet about it, he just let Benjamin do his thing. Caleb is usually patient with Benjamin unless he is trying to take his toys (which is often). Benjamin wants to play with whatever Caleb has and it drives Caleb crazy! I have to run interference all day long. These boys keep me on my toes!

Helicopter mom

I've taken Caleb to the new playground the past couple of days after I pick him up from school. Yesterday we went just for fun and today we went for Physical Therapy. I don't get sad about Caleb very often, God had blessed me with such a peace...but I've gotten sad the past couple of days. I love this new playground, it is wonderful watching Caleb have the freedom to move around on the equipment, I know that he is having a lot of fun. But I feel like such a "helicopter mom", I hover around him the whole time because I'm worried he is going to run some kid over with his wheelchair or that he is going to fall forward in his chair (it's happened before). I look around at all these other moms and none of them are on the play equipment with their kids. The other moms are chatting with one another, enjoying adult conversation. They aren't hovering around their kids like I am. I'm envious.

Caleb has such an independence in his wheelchair and he is confident. I love seeing that in him. I love that he says "hi" to all the other kids on the playground. I was so touched yesterday when this boy Caleb's age came up to him and talked to him. It was so cute watching these two boys talk to each other. Caleb really enjoyed it and it meant a lot to me that this boy wanted to play with Caleb. Most kids look at Caleb like he is an alien and then they walk away. I don't blame them, kids are very honest in their reaction and Caleb may be the first kid they have ever seen in a wheelchair. It's just hard sometimes. But then I look at Caleb and he is just having fun, being a kid. He isn't sad, he's smiling and enjoying the time outside. I'm allowing myself to be sad today, it's ok to be sad sometimes. I know many of you can relate and that is why I have shared this.

Here is a video of him walking today at the park. He is doing so great. He works so hard, even when he doesn't really want to. I love that boy.

Ethan's 4th Birthday Party

We went to Ethan's 4th Birthday party today. The party was at this really neat place where the kids got to pick out a piece of pottery and then paint it.

Caleb picked out a motorcycle to paint. Here he is painting his custom bike.

Caleb and Bryce eating cupcakes. It was good to see Bryce and Ethan. We haven't gotten all of our boys together in a very long time.

Caleb with blue lips from the huge cupcake he ate.

Caleb's finished masterpiece. Now that is a custom-made motorcycle, you can't buy this kind of bike at a Harley Davidson dealership.

PT at the Park

Since the weather is absolutely beautiful right now we decided to have physical therapy with Ms. Vickie at the new playground today. This was Caleb's first time to use his walker at the new playground. He did absolutely amazing (I've included a video). I love this first picture of him. He's just gorgeous!

Ms. Vickie was so sweet and found several pecans for Caleb. She spent several minutes opening pecans so he could have a little snack. She's so sweet.

I added "Caleb's Story" to the link list on the right side of the blog for those of you that are interested.