Oh Where is My Bathroom

We bought this house 4 years ago. Actually, there was no house here when we signed the deal. We thought half the fun would be making all the decisions that go along with building a house from the ground up. While our house is not the biggest house in the neighborhood, much less the biggest in the group of people we know, it's ours and we love it and will live here until we can unload it on someone else and get something bigger. But I digress. When we built this house we had a fabulous realtor who was able to get many of our requests written into our contract. However, there were a couple of things that he could not do and we had to get to the builder right before it was done if we wanted it changed. One of these things is the popcorn that was standardly (is that a word?) sprayed onto the ceilings. I managed to get here right after the work crew had just done it and left. I have always hated it and wanted it gone. We planned on doing all kinds of things to the house when we moved in, but as luck would have it, I got pregnant the day after we moved in. Obviously, that is not affecting us this time. Second child syndrome?
Yesterday, Jes decided he was going to start removing some of the offending popcorn and started in our bathroom, a logical place because it's a smaller room with tile on the floor. He got about half way done and had to go to work. It is still in that state today. Officially, we are sharing a bathroom with our 2 year old. What fun.

Baby Update

I had a doctor's appointment on Thursday and while I will spare you all the gory details, let's just suffice it to say that I was tested for everything under the sun at this appointment.
I am 12 weeks along now so we're officially in the throes of all things baby. I was able to hear the heartbeat, 160, which the doctor said sounded strong. We won't have our official "determine the gender" sonogram until February, but at least it gives us something to look forward to. While I would love the know the gender now, but our doctor likes to wait until the baby is around 20 weeks (I'll be right at that) before having this test done. That way there will be little to no issue with development questions. The only thing we will have to be concerned about is position of the baby. Hopefully, this one will be like his/her big brother was and be very open and happy to show what it has!

Our Fun, Festive Christmas

I am so behind in posting these pictures, so there are lots of them. Our Christmas party season kicked off on Thursday when Caleb had his class party at Mother's Day Out.

















Here's Caleb and a few of his friends singing Jingle Bells. I actually got a little misty during this song. I guess I realized it was his first little "program". Who knew that Jingle Bells could make a mother cry. I blame the hormones.
















He is supposed to be singing Away in a Manger here and he did manage to get most of the song out, but he had spotted me and was trying to inch my way. He stood right in the middle of the room for this song!
















Caleb's party included pizza and cookies for lunch. Unfortunately, someone thought it was a good idea to put chocolate candy out on the table as decoration. I guess they thought the 2 year olds wouldn't mess with it. This is Caleb unwrapping his first of five. He was quick and covered in chocolate before I could even get to him.
















Eating pizza. Can you tell he was in a chocolate induced haze here?















The kids had made these as gifts for us a couple of weeks before. If you can't see it well, it's a Christmas tree made out of his hands. It is on a plaque that had been glazed and fired, so it will be nice on the wall somewhere.
















The cookie part of lunch. This was the closest I could get him to it. He didn't want to eat it, but who would after all the chocolate he had had.

















We also had a book exchange at this party too. Caleb got a Dr. Seuss ABC book that he actually already had, but we didn't tell anyone that. He still loved it and it will most likely live in the car so that he can look at it there.
















Saturday night we went to my parent's house for the annual Lee family Christmas party. Here's my mom and the kiddos having a birthday party for Jesus. The Christmas story was read, candles lit and song sung. Caleb had a good time with this this year.
















Then came the present opening.
















Caleb got lots of fun things from his aunts and uncles.
















Every year we try to get a group picture of all the kids, so here's this years. From left to right: Matt (he's 18 and heading off to the navy this summer. We're all pretty proud!), Dixie (Matt's sister), Madison, Tristen and Caleb.
















My mom and dad got Caleb these Cars pajamas. He looked so cute and I wanted a picture of him so bad. After many tries, this was the best I could get. He had not had a nap and was in a foul mood. We headed home right after this!
















Christmas morning we got up and Caleb opened his stocking. This is my favorite part and I could have taken a million pictures, but I did restrain myself and didn't put all of them here. Here he is before digging in.
















Here's Caleb roaring like a lion. I think he liked it!















Of all the gifts, this was his favorite. I got this "blackberry" from Big Lots for $2 when I was there looking for something else. I knew he would play with it, but he is still carrying it around today.
















After our stockings, we headed to my parent's house again for present opening. After a lunch of steak and chicken off the grill, salad and baked potatoes, we tackled the presents. Of course Caleb had a ton!
















As you can see, Caleb loved tearing the paper off all his packages!
















On Christmas Eve, Jes, Caleb and I met my dad at the mall and my dad bought this Coach purse for my mom. After she protested about the price for a short time, I think she came around and likes it. She has always wanted one, but would never buy one for herself.
















Ok, this one has a little bit of a story. Every year Jes talks about wanting summer sausage to eat and I never remember to get it. This year I actually did and he was super excited and I think surprised!















As you can see we all had a great holiday and hope you did too!

Curious Caleb

We have officially entered the why phase in Caleb's childhood. I was wondering when this would hit and he has proven to be full of questions.
Lately, when I tell/ask Caleb to do something, he will most likely respond with "why mama?" I think the cutest thing he does right now, though, is if he is trying to do something and it doesn't quite go the way he planned it, he will look at me and say, "what do I do now, mama?" It's much better than the whining and screaming that he used to do!

This Time of Year

Sorry that there has been an obvious lack of postings here. This pregnancy thing has really thrown me for a loop this time around. I have been so sick lately, not to mention exhausted, forgetful, etc. It seems to hit me in the evening with a vengence. Last time, with Caleb, I wouldn't even take a cough drop when I had a chest cold, but this time around I have been forced to take Zofran just to function in the evenings. I don't have to take it everyday, but just the days when I'm really out of it which has only really been once or twice. For the most part, I just deal with the lingering nausea and try to forget about it. I channel Scarlett O'Hara most days for this!
We are in this busy time of the semester around the Mathis household. Even though I'm the one actually at work, Jes and Caleb have to tolerate a little less of me, or at least a little more preoccupied me, this time in the semester until all finals are over. The good thing is that it will be all over next week. I'm counting the days.
We also managed to get our Christmas tree up last weekend. The last time we had our tree up, Caleb wasn't even 1 yet. With all the traveling we have done and the fear of a toddler pulling it down on top of him, we haven't put it up until this year. Caleb loved helping decorate with me. You can tell the part he did as there are probably 15 ornaments on the same 3 branches. It was cute, so I left it just like that. He also loves it when Jes plugs it in every evening and he will run up to it and say, "green Christmas tree!". Caleb's other favorite thing this time of year are all the snowmen. We have another obsession on our hands, I'm afraid. He's seems to spot snowmen everywhere and never hesitates to point them out.
It seems lately, that Caleb is getting much better in putting together sentences when he speaks too. He will say things very clearly now that he used to muddle together before. Today, when we were getting ready to leave for MOPS, he ran to the door and said very clearly, "I unlock door. Let's go Mama. I go play." It's so much fun to be able to carry on an actual conversation with him now, even if I still have to translate a few words for others!

Our New Little One

Ok, so most of you know that we are expecting our second baby. If you didn't, surprise! We are pregnant!
Today we went to the doctor to have our first sonogram to make sure that all is well in babydom. To our surprise, the sonographer found 2 sacs, but only one contained a baby. Whew. We know lots of families who have multiples and we were NOT aiming to be another. Anyway, everything looks really good with the baby. Our official due date is July 9th. I attached the picture that looked the best and the easiest to see (for our sonogram deficient friends out there! :) ).

Caleb is doing much better since his discharged from the hospital. He's still coughing, but he's up to all type of mischief lately, so we know that he's just about back to normal. Today, he did something pretty exciting. I was changing his diaper right before he and I took our nap and he looked at me and said, "Mama, me pee pee on the potty." I took that to mean that he needed to go and he took off running for the potty and actually went! I was very excited, but I'm not getting my hopes up quite yet as this is not the first time he's pottied in the right place. Maybe this will be the start of potty training! A girl can hope!

Home Again

Well, we are back home. Caleb was released this morning around 11:30 and was asleep in his car seat before we even made it half way home. It was a very scary experience, even with all my time in the medical field, but I have to say that the staff at the hospital were all very knowledgable and did a great job. They all just fell in love with Caleb, but come one, who wouldn't!
We at the Mathis house will be staying in for a little while to try to get Caleb as well as possible before the week starts again for us. He is still coughing quite alot, but he's on many medications and should be over this asap. Thanks for all the prayers and well wishes.

In The Hospital

Well, this is kind of a long story, so just hold on. We knew that Caleb was not feeling well. He had been going down hill so to speak starting Sunday evening when he started running fevers well about the 101 mark. We decided to go ahead and take him to the doctor Tuesday to make sure he got all the medication he needed and see the doctor before the holiday. Long story short, he was diagnosed with flu and pneumonia.
Last night, I went ahead and went to my last class of the week. About 30 minutes into it, Jes called me in a panic and said he needed me to come home right away. He said that Caleb was jerking around and was "not breathing right". I listened to him over the phone and he sounded like he was panting and Jes was really freaked out, so I told him to take him to the ER. We spent a hellish 30-45 minutes trying to get an IV in him but he was so dehydrated from a high fever (about 104) that it took forever and 4 punctures. We was admitted and we'll most likely be here tomorrow for Thanksgiving too.
Happy Thanksgiving to all of you tomorrow. Have fun with your families. I know I will.

Busy, Busy

I've been trying to formulate an interesting post in my head for the past week or so and the only things that I can think about are the many functions and responsibilities that we have been involved in lately. I'll break it down by members of the Mathis household.
Jes: He's been working up a storm at his new job at Love Field. He loves it and is one of only 2 other inspectors for the whole Dallas branch of his company. He has to take call every other week and often is called in if he is on call. The company is a very good one and believes in taking care of their employees so as to increase productivity. Like I said, Jes loves it there and is planning on staying so long that he retires from there.
Shannon: I've also been working quite a bit. I have managed to bite off more than I can chew this semester as well. I'm currently teaching 4 classes (5 would be a full time load), with one of the them being a day class while Caleb is at school. While this does fill my time when Caleb is away, it is quite tiring to fly back and forth between the house, the school and Caleb's school. We only have about 3 more weeks, so I can make it that much longer! I have also ended up as the household veterinarian. We had Jaq (the dog) neutered a couple of weeks ago and the change is tremendous! He's much more calm now and is actually fun to be around. We were also told that he looks like he might have Great Pyrenees in him (remember he has a dead beat dad). Have you seen one of those dogs? They are HUGE! Come to think of it, so is Jaq. Great.
Caleb: He's been going to Mother's Day Out twice a week and is having the time of his life. After the little issue we had earlier, he switched teachers within his room and is flourishing! He's learning so much and is loving school now. Caleb has also become quite the social butterfly. It seems like we see kids all the time that he knows and they will carry on conversations in that 2 year old speak that only they can understand. We even got a call from a mom from my MOPS group last week saying that her son was begging to have Caleb come over a play. Who knew that our son would be so popular!
That's about all that's been going on around here.

Halloween 2007

This Halloween, our church decided to not have their big Fall Festival, so we decided to attend my parent's church's Trunk or Treat event. Basically, everyone sets up games in the trunk or back of their vehicle and the kids come along and play. I think my mom and dad's game was the most popular as the line was always the longest!















Caleb was Larry from Veggie Tales this year.




















I know, same picture, but I loved the expression on his face. It's almost like he's saying, "ok, enough pictures mom, let's go get some candy!"















The scene when we finally found my parents. Caleb talks non-stop of his Mommaw and PawPaw. He wanted to find him first and here he is running to my mom. It was sweet.





















Caleb, or I mean Larry, and Mommaw.
















Playing Mommaw and Pappaw's game with Pappaw.

















Bean bag toss





















Showing off his loot. This was about half way through. That little pumpkin was mostly full when we left!
















Daddy and Larry
















Mama and Larry.

















Playing the ring toss game, but to Caleb it was the ring place game. Everyone thought it was cute.

















Tossing different balls through the hoop. He liked this one!
















The hayless rides. It was a fun idea and Caleb smiled the whole way. It reminded me of a beauty queen on a float because all the people would look and smile and say how cute he was as we passed by. All we need to do now is perfect the wave!
















Don't know why this picture is here. I think we were waiting to play a game.
















Playing Mommaw and PawPaw's game again. We had so much fun this year!

Pumpkin Patch Part 2 FOILED!

Well, today Caleb and I were supposed to make the trek to the Dallas Arboretum to take pictures in the pumpkin patch there, but we had to make an unexpected stop at the emergency room last night. Apparently, it was Jes's time to pass another kidney stone. It was a relatively uneventful one until the very end when they shot him up with some type of pain medication and he had an allergic reaction to it. Not a fun night for all of us. You can imagine...
Since it was so late when we got home, I make the executive decision to stay around town and rest a little, and to keep an eye on Jes as he stayed home from work. Maybe we'll make the trip some other time.

Pumpkin Patch Part 1

With it being fall and all everyone is heading out to the pumpkin patches in their area. Our church put on a Mommy and Me playdate at our local pumpkin patch in Celina, just up the road from us. We decided to go and see if we could get our yearly pumpkin picture here. We didn't have much luck as Caleb was in a pretty foul mood (you'll see) and he insisted on smiling this huge toothy grin that just didn't look natural. Anyway, the pictures are as follows:

















This pumpkin patch is a working farm and they have animals. Here Caleb is feeding the animals. This is the sheep he loved!
















And there there were the goats...















and then there was this goat who ran off with Caleb's animal feed, cup and all. All this animal slobber sent my germaphobia into overdrive, so after I gave Caleb a bath in Purell, we steered clear of anymore animals!















Caleb with some pumpkins. Still in a good mood here...















Caleb looking pretty cute...















A good smile, finally. Now where is the pumpkin???















This tractor was the downfall of the day. While Caleb had a great time on it, he did not want to get off.















Happy as a clam, but notice the person waiting for their turn in the background. I had to drag him off (literally) and carry him away while he screamed, "mine", "ride", "my turn" and all other types of 2 year old obscenities.















In time out from being ugly to me, all stemming from having to get off the tractor. This was after a crying, throw yourself on the ground (well maybe not that bad, but it sure felt like it with all those other mom's looking at us) fit.





















Time out, round 2. Still not being nice. Love this age...

















Yes, I did actually let him get back on to have a picture with his friend KJ, but in my defense, this was an hour or more later and he didn't act as poorly when he got off because KJ was distracting him.
















Picking out his pumpking from the pumpkin patch.
















Found just the right one and we headed for home!
We are going to the Arboretum on Monday with my MOPS group, so maybe we'll get our pumpkin picture there. Be ready for round 2 soon!

This Past Weekend

Sorry about the uninteresting title. I am having trouble being interesting lately...
I wanted to post this pictures of our weekend and the fun we had.

















This picture isn't exactly from this weekend. In fact, I think it's a few weeks old, but it represents a huge milestone in our house for Caleb. For a long time we had to thicken every liquid that Caleb put into his mouth because he would aspirate it into his lungs if we didn't. Now that we don't have to do that it was time to teach Caleb how to drink out of a cup like a regular person. My mom bought Caleb this cup a little while ago and here he is drinking out of it unassisted. He's such a big boy!















Friday night Jes "surprised" me by planning this little birthday get together for myself and my friends. We went to Apricio's (not sure of the spelling, or pronunciation for that matter) in the square in McKinney. We have been here before and love the food, so it was a perfect place for my birthday dinner! Here's a picture of our table.
















Here's the same picture at the opposite end. The people are as follows: starting on the left, Kevin and Courtney Chadwick, my daddy and mama, Lila and Andy Burkig, Shane and Angie Wade, Derek and Brynne Riley, us, and Melissa Dickey. We had a great time with all our friends! Thanks y'all!















Saturday we decided to make the trek out to Fort Worth to see the air show. We thought Caleb was finally old enough and he would like it. Turns out he did!


















Here are Jes and Caleb getting ready to go see those huge planes!




















This guy was flying around when we arrived and he would do things like this that you would swear would end up in a plane crash. It was really fun to watch, and a little scary!

















Here are Caleb and I in front of some plane. I swore I would remember the names, but I'm not the airplane person in the family. If this weekend proves me right, I'm officially outnumbered by airplane people...















Like father like son. Caleb was fascinated with the workings of this plane. It must run in the genes!
















Here are Caleb and the pilot of an Apache Helicoptor on his bird. Like how I snuck in a little terminology there. That's what living with an airplane guy for years will get you...