TCU Game Day

While in town for Thanksgiving, we were able to attend the final game of the Horned Frogs regular season. It also happened to be the only game standing between TCU and an undefeated season....WOW! We had a big time at the game and even rushed the field at the end of it (with Cal strapped to my chest!). Here are some of the pictures, but they are all on the mobileme site.

Now it's time to go BOWLING! We will find out where we go on Sunday..... stay tuned!!!

Bonding with Poppy

Eddie's dad had a really busy fall with football season. He flew in to NC before his team played Clemson to meet Cal. He got in after midnight and left at 6 the following morning. It was such a short visit, but it was worth it to be able to hold him.

As soon as we pulled in the driveway in TX, "Big Ed" (as I call him) or "Poppy" (as Cal will call him) ran out to meet our car. He had Cal unstrapped and in his arms within minutes of us getting there. He was soooooo sweet with Cal and I got some great pictures of them getting to know each other....(these are random pictures from the trip; they are allll out of order).

our last night in Texas....taking a little snooze together

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after brunch, Poppy got Cal asleep in his arms

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after the TCU victory, Poppy carried a sleeping Cal around the stadium

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Poppy got the big WIN and to hold his grandson :)... smiles all around

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this was as soon as we arrived. Cal was in his arms immediately

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then they got on the floor so Cal could stretch and "talk" to Poppy...

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Poppy wanted some alone time with Cal so he took him on a little walk in the neighborhood.

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Before the big game...Poppy was late to pre-game warm ups because he couldn't leave Cal!

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Showing him off to all of the coaches...

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Before the game started, in Poppy's office
Just talking in the kitchen :)

Cal's Texas Grandparents are crazy about him, and I just thought it was so special for Big Ed (Cal's namesake...sort of) to get to spend this time with his grandson. It was tough to leave them today...they didn't want to let Cal go! At least we will see them at the BOWL GAME soon.

Thanksgiving Day Feast

Eddie's mom picked us up at the airport and we headed to their house for Thanksgiving Dinner. Some of Eddie's dad's players were not able to have dinner with their families, so they came over to eat with us. I loved seeing Cal with those BIG guys!!!

Here are some pictures of Cal's super cute Thanksgiving Day outfit that almost didn't fit the little chunk:

It was a wonderful day, and we have so much for which we are thankful. I got a little teary-eyed over all of our blessings. Sweet Cal is such a little miracle and I am so thankful to have him and such a loving, wonderful husband to share my life with! Hope everyone reading this had a great Thanksgiving too!!!

xoxo

Turkey Day flying to Texas

We flew out Thanksgiving Day morning to Fort Worth to spend Thanksgiving with Eddie's family. Cal had a SUPER cute Thanksgiving Day outfit (if I do say so myself!), that was just about too small on him :). Good thing he couldn't eat everything on turkey day....it certainly would not have fit by the end of the day! Pics of this in next post...

Our flight was super early on Thursday, and I was pretty much a stress case trying to get everything ready to go. We did not take a stroller or car seat, so we didn't have to lug those items (we borrowed them from someone in Texas). I carried my diaper bag and Cal in the Baby Bjorn and put other important things in a carry on suitcase. When we got out of the car and loaded Cal in the carrier, he fell asleep immediately. We walked through the "special needs" line in the airport and they let me keep Cal in the carrier without having to take him out (PHEW!).

Cal in the carrier.....ready to go!

We got bulk head seats on the plane, so we have plenty of leg room. He woke up when we sat down, but wasn't fussy at all. I got out the "Hooter Hider" (hilarious name, by the way--ha!), and he ate away during take off. He fell right asleep and slept until we landed in Atlanta!

Snoozin' on the plane-- no big deal!!

In Atlanta, Eddie's sister, Carrie, met us at the gate; she was on the same flight from ATL to DFW! We were able to rearrange seats so that we could all be in a row together, so I wasn't going to be feeding him with a stranger right next to us. Again, I feed him on take off and he sleep the rest of the flight! PHEW!

Sitting in the Atlanta airport with Aunt Ceebs!

From Atlanta to Dallas/Fort Worth!

I was a nervous mess about flying with him, but he seriously did not cry once! On our first flight of the day, there were like 30 babies on the flight so it was a noisy flight, but our little guy wasn't adding to the chaos!

WE MADE IT! I was beyond exhausted by Thursday night (all the food might have something to do with that.....), but we did it! PHEW!

Seriously? It's December???

I looooove Christmas and the whole holiday season, so I have been anxiously awaiting the start of December to change the blog background. I have been in the *holiday spirit* since Halloween, when the radio stations started playing Christmas music! It's just such a happy time of year and makes me feel so blessed.

There's LOTS to update on the blog, but I couldn't do that until the backdrop was changed... :)

Happy Holidays, y'all!

PS-- I just wrote this, then went to change it, and the website is down--ha! I will change it as soon as it's up and running!

While Mom's away....

Today, I helped out a friend of mine who owns a bridal salon. She asked me to wear a couple gowns in a "fashion show" for an event that her salon was sponsoring. In order for me to participate, I had to leave the house at 1 and not get home until 7 ish. I was a little panic-y this morning getting everything ready. I got Cal all dressed and ready to go. Eddie came in and decided that he should get to pick Cal's outfit for the day, since they were going to be together... this is what he picked:

When I came home from the day, Cal had on no pants, no hat, one sock, a flannel button down shirt and was sound asleep on his tummy on the couch :). I took pictures of that too (with a different camera), and will upload them to mobile me eventually.

UPDATE: here is the picture of Cal when I got home from being gone:

Here are some pictures from the bridal show:

Me and Tiffani in our 2nd dresses.

Me and my "bridesmaid", Tiffani!

Some of the models before the finishing touches.... they were BIG finishing touches. :)

It was tough leaving Cal all day, but I think it was good for me...and Eddie! Eddie did such a great job with him. I knew he would be fine, but I panicked when I got a call from him saying Cal wouldn't take the bottle...yikes! I was freaking out, but it turns out, Cal just needed to be rocked to sleep and he was fine. When he woke up, he took the bottle like a champ! Phew! All in all, it was a great day. Eddie got some "guy time" and I was able to have some ME time (and get my hair and make up done.... who doesn't love that???).

HOT DOG!!! Momma's happy!

I woke up yesterday morning exhausted. We are trying to cut out one of Cal's nighttime feedings, but this means that momma still gets up every time he cries to put the paci back in and to soothe him until he is asleep. It is trying, but I know it is worth it. I looked at Eddie yesterday morning and I said, "This has GOT to start getting easier, because I am getting so tired!" I as getting up at midnight, 3:00, and 6:00 to feed, and then when we cut out a feeding, I was up at midnight, and then at 3 until about 4:30 and then at 5:30 again (ACK!).

But guess what? Last night, I put Cal down at 11:15 and he slept until......4:15!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HOT DAMN!!!! Pardon my language, but I can't even tell you how rested I felt when I went into him at 4:15! I fed him, and put him back in the crib (on the tummy-yay!) and my boy slept until 6:15! I brought him in bed with us and fed him again and we both fell asleep until 8---

YEEEEEHHHAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWW!!!

Now let's see if it happens again...... please? please??? PLEASE?!?!?!?!?

JUST what I needed!

I have been stressing out about not having Cal on a schedule. He is 9 weeks old, not sleeping through the night, is unpredictable in his napping, and wants to eat all the time. Am I the world's worst mom??

Usually, when I talk to other moms about this, they suggest this book, or that philosophy...I always look into them, but really can't see me being THAT structured-- don't get me wrong: I want a schedule, but one where he can nap wherever we are, not in a pitch black nursery with whale songs playing (okay, that was an exaggeration....), but still, I want him to be able to be flexible enough to be able to nap anywhere, etc., and I just want to have some kind of predictability as to his eating.

Yesterday, I met a friend from college for lunch. Stephanie and I weren't in the same sorority at Elon, but we were in a bunch of education classes together and I always thought she was the sweetest girl. She has the most beautiful daughter who is 5 1/2 months and we had such a great lunch. Stephanie told me that her baby took until about 3 months to get into a real routine and she just kind of fell into it... no books about eat time/wake time/ play time....BLAH. Just let the kid be a kid and it will all happen.

Let me tell you: this was JUST what I needed! In hind sight, I think all of these other mothers that were telling me about the different philosophies were just making me feel less and less adequate as a mother. I know they weren't doing that on purpose, but when you talk to someone and they are *shocked* that you don't have your baby on a routine at 9 weeks, how are you supposed to feel?

So, Stephanie, if you are reading this: THANK YOU!!!! I loved having lunch with you and meeting your sweet little angel. I can't wait until we can do it again so you can make me feel a little more normal :).

Sigh....it's getting easier every single day...... :)

SPLISH SPLASH!

We have been giving Cal his bath on the counter of our bathroom, in his whale tub. After last night's bath, we will no longer be doing that. This went on for about 30 minutes, but we only grabbed the video camera for the last few minutes of it. It takes wayyyy too long to upload videos to the blog, but check it out on our mobileme site. You will see why he can't be on the counter any more! I am still cleaning up!

One month pictures!

I took Cal for his one month pictures with Tamara Lackey, our wedding photographer. She is SO talented and we are HUGE fans of hers. She was kind enough to waive the sitting fee since we are repeat clients. On our wedding day, she had a way of capturing our emotions the whole day, and I think she did a great job of doing that again with Cal.

I thought it was only going to be pictures of Cal, but she had me get in some of them (actually, a lot of them!). I am so in love with the pictures and couldn't be happier with how they turned out!

Enjoy!

http://www.tamaralackey.com/CalWilliamsonOctober2009/