Reasoning

Tonight Nathaniel was practicing his reasoning skills on me.

Nate: Caleb wants chocolate.
Me: Ok. (I gave Caleb a piece of wrapped chocolate)

Nate: Can I have chocolate?
Me: No, you already had some.

Nate: Caleb wants to share.

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Caleb is starting to get around. Not by crawling or rolling to his destination...he's doing a "butt scoot". He will lean way forward and scoot forward while sitting up. Creative movement!

New baby

Guessing how big Charlie would be. My guess was the closest: he weighed in at 7 lbs 5 oz and 19.5 inches long! Charlie Wyatt is the sweetest and cutest little baby! Pam, Caleb and I drove over the next day to meet him.

So tiny and so sweet!

I think that they are going to have some trouble with the girls! (What girl wouldn't pucker up for those lips!)

Real Winter

Last night I drove back from Missouri. It was a great drive, the kids were fine (even though the DVD player is on the fritz...sigh) until we got about 20 miles away. Then we started to see snow, and more snow...and everyone slowed to a crawl. The heavy snow combined with the high winds made for some great white out conditions. It was ok as long as I was following someone. The GPS said that I should arrive home at 5:30 which put me about 30 minutes past Caleb's next feeding. I thought that it was worth it so that we could just get home. Little did I know.

The crawl never improved. It got slower. The snow picked up, the wind picked up and you couldn't tell where the lines on the road were. I was thankful for the rumble strip and the barrier. I spent the majority of the last twenty miles trying to keep the rumble strip between my tires. Then at 6:15 it was time to exit. I made it across three lanes of traffic and saw the first exit for Michigan City. I thought that I might take it because then I could finally pull over and nurse Caleb and let Nate run around in the van. I started to pull over and realized that I didn't have a clue where the exit actually was. I couldn't see the road and I knew that it was a ramp that went up so if I missed then I would be in big trouble. So, I got back on the road and decided to try the next exit five miles down the road. After listening to more screaming and more crying we finally made it to the next exit. Thankfully the snow let up enough that I could see the road and we made it safely off the interstate. It was so scary to see oncoming traffic and realize that there was no barrier! I was the first one in line and I didn't have anyone to follow...even more scary. I finally pulled over and let someone pass me. They were far more brave than me! I was finally in the home stretch! Only a few more miles! Caleb was still screaming and Nate was starting to cry just to keep him company. I didn't want to stop because we were so close to home and visibility was so poor. (It was about 6:50 and the snow was easily a foot deep) Finally my GPS told me that I needed to turn into my neighborhood. I missed one of the turns onto my street and I had to go up a pretty steep hill but my car couldn't make it so after we slid back down to the bottom of the hill I turned around to see if I could figure out the other way to get home. I knew we were only about a block from our house. (Pretty scary that I couldn't figure it out! What did they do before GPS?) We finally made it into our driveway at 7:15, I have never been so excited to push the garage door button!

Some pictures around our house this morning. I have a new respect for snow. I am so thankful to have made it home safely.

Fun with Family

Last week we went and visited Pete's parents while Pete went and watched movers pack up our house in Knoxville. Apparently winter weather likes to follow us. The night that we arrived they had an ice storm. It was pretty fun because we weren't out of power but Far Far (Pete's dad) was out of school for 3 days. Nate had a blast playing and sledding and helping. It is amazing to me how quickly he is growing up!

Nate's make shift boots. Regular shoes, cover with plastic bags then cover with thick socks and boot strap suspenders (from far far's time in the army).

Apparently Nate knew that I wasn't a very good driver and was not inclined to sled with me. I still had a great time!!! Notice my father-in-law's army boots that I am wearing!! I was not prepared for winter weather!

Nate observing how to make a scratching post for the cat.

I love how attentive he is to anything Far Far tells him.

Lake Michigan

One of the fun things about living so close to the lake is seeing the progression of winter. You can hardly tell that there is a lake there!

Catching up

Caleb is eating! He is pretty sure about what he likes and doesn't like. However, I have discovered that I can mix things together and he'll eat it. For example: pears and squash! Yum! He also LOVES bananas but they don't always love him and peas make him gag....but I am thankful that he is eating so well now! I didn't know that he would eat things mixed when I took this picture. (The idea of bananas and peas makes me gag...but if he'll eat it...)

**I tried to mix pears and peas and he still gagged. Oh well. Peas may not be his thing.