Memories, Milestones and Mishaps

Did I mention June is a busy month? Lets recap:

Weekend #1: Hosted a small group cookout. Don't let the name "small group" fool you. While our group has the typical number of adults (about 5 couples) we have 80% of the kids who attend Hope Church. Ok, I might be exaggerating slightly, but when you see the joyful chaos of a dozen kiddos playing in your back yard, you know your "small group" has something extra special.

I loved the chance to get to know some of the kids better and was especially thankful for the beautiful weather that let us all sit outside and gave the kids room to run. Caleb, amazingly, slept through it all which makes me feel a lot braver about having people over after his bed time.

Weekend #2: We set up our very first yard sale. People tried to warn us it wasn't worth it and after two loooong, hot days and very little traffic, I have to say: I completely agree. However, I'm still super excited about all the stuff we are getting rid of and will be hauling to Good Will. Extra special thanks to Jen and Denise who helped those hours pass cheerfully!

Weekend #3: We were blessed to host David's middle brother, Josh. While we were still in Florida, Josh and a friend moved up to New York so this is the first opportunity we've had to visit with him in person for almost 5 months. I love having weekend guests and thoroughly enjoyed planning meals and activities. However,as any parent knows, the best laid plans...

Josh arrived Thursday night after Caleb went to bed. It was my first time doing Caleb's bed time routine by myself since he was 7 weeks old and I was pleasantly surprised to find I was up to the challenge and it went quite smoothly. Though, I will admit, I was too afraid to take my hands off of him in the tub to soap him up so his bath that evening was water only!

The next day, we set aside some of the fun we were planning so I could take Caleb to the pediatrician. I just had this gut feeling his ear infection wasn't gone despite the fact we finished antibiotics that morning. Sure enough, the right ear was still infected. So, round two of antibiotics began.

That evening another family hosted our not-so-small "small group" and David's coworker, Denise came over to watch Caleb while we enjoyed dinner baby free. Caleb had a hard time going to sleep so I sent David and Josh ahead, but managed to make it in time for food. When we got home, we asked Denise to stay played Fluxx, Apples to Apples and ate ice cream. It was a wonderful night!

Seriously, does this kid look sick to you?

Saturday, we attempted to go hiking, only to find poor Caleb was being swarmed by biting yellow flies. Josh got to see my neurotic mommy side come out and we promptly made a dash for the parking lot. I spent some time beating myself up for not thinking about bug spray as the guys shook their heads. Eventually I relaxed, chalked it up to a learning experience and we went to go get ice cream. Ice cream fixes everything, right?

Watching the river in a non-yellow-fly-infested area

The last time I was checking out this stream I was 8 months pregnant!

Sunday began at 5:30am with a very alert Caleb. Completely forgetting it was Father's Day, I asked my sweet husband to get up with him. David changed him and played with him until I rolled out of bed at 7. Neither of us realized what day it was until Josh wished David a happy Father's Day. Oops!

The rest of the morning was spent learning and worshiping at church followed by a lazy afternoon of relaxing and cooking steaks on the grill. I was so excited to make Josh some mashed potatoes (his favorite) but was sad to discover I still need a bit more practice! The potatoes were on the "al dente" side as Josh graciously termed them, but ended up tasting pretty good with a generous dose of milk and a dollop of sour cream.

One of the cool castles Uncle Josh built for Caleb to destroy

This morning, I woke up feeling sad about Josh leaving, but all other thoughts were quickly pushed from my mind when I suddenly realized I'd been overdosing Caleb with antibiotics for two days, ever since the doctor had moved him from an antibiotic that was given 2x's/day to one only given once/day. No wonder the poor kid was having some loaded diapers. Talk about a terrible feeling. The 20 minutes until my doctors office opened were some of the longest of my life. Josh definitely got to see a second mommy-meltdown!

Fortunately after talking to the office, who told me to call the pharmacy, I was reassured that the type of medicine I'd been giving twice/day instead of once/day would have no long term effects. I definitely learned my lesson though, in the future both David and I will read the dosage instructions so he can double check my medicine giving!

After I stopped hyperventilating, it was time to take final pictures and give last hugs. Caleb absolutely loved all the time he spend with Josh from the moment he got here. Uncles are great for shoulder rides, teaching you how to high five and feeding you pieces of their banana. It was a wonderful weekend and David and I are already looking forward to the next one : )

Next weekend: Caleb's 1st birthday!