When it rains...

First, we pitch a giant fit because it means we can't go outside much during the day, especially now that it's been much cooler outside.

Next, we decide on the fun things we can do inside the house! Today we decided to have a little fun in the kitchen sink. Caleb is a big fan of playing in water so since it was too cool outside to play in the rain puddles, I just let him have a little splash in the sink. Maybe this means he will love washing dishes one day!

Finally, we made some yummy caramel corn. What a great addition to a rainy, fall day! A house full of a wonderful caramel smell and a tasty snack! You can make your own by following this recipe.

Caleb watching the popcorn pop.

Cooking up the caramel.

The final product!

Going, Going....GONE!

Oh Caleb and his corn. This kid loves it...and I must say it's one of my favorite things to watch him eat! He has a little process where he starts by gnawing away at the ends and then he moves to the middle; however, not only does he chew away at the kernels he also spends much time sucking the juices off the cob. It's so funny and it does a nice time occupying his time at the table. Hmmm...come to think of it, I just may start giving him corn on the cob every night! HA! Enjoy the pics!

Gnawing away!!

Inspecting to see what is left...

A happy corn eater!!

The remains

Labor-less Weekend

All play, no work. That's the way our Labor Day holiday was, and that's just the way I like it! We had such a great long weekend. Chad and I got to spend some time by ourselves and we also got lots of quality as out little family of three. Check out the pictures below for a recap of our days together.

WE RELAXED!!!!
Obviously I was up and about, but Caleb, Chad and Daisy enjoyed a relaxing Friday morning. Caleb woke up and was just getting over being sick so I let him watch a "movie" (aka Baby Einstien) in our room. You can tell Chad and Daisy were oblivious to him being there!

IKEA and BILLY GRAHAM LIBRARY:
Chad and I took off on Saturday to head to Charlotte. I've been wanting to hit up IKEA so mom and dad kept Caleb and off we went. We decided that since we were headed that way we'd also stop by the Billy Graham Library since we'd been wanting to go there as well. WOW! What a neat trip. The whole experience far surpassed our expectations. What a wonderful ministry this is!! It is so inspirational to watch the journey of a man who simply completely yielded his life to Christ. I knew he had touched a lot of lives, but WOW! If you've never been here, you definitely need to make the trip. I promise you it will be a blessing.

GEORGIA AQUARIUM:

Monday we decided to take Caleb to the GA Aquarium. Another very neat place. I will say, it was a little much for an almost 18 month old, but there were parts he really enjoyed. It was somewhat difficult because there were tons of people so we couldn't really just let him walk around so he got a little frustrated having to be held or in the stroller the entire time. However, mommy and daddy had a blast!!

Caleb's favorite part was playing outside of the aqauarium!!!

NEW COUSIN!!!

And last.....although we had a labor-less weekend we had one family member who took the day quite literally!!! Caleb's first first cousin was born on Labor Day. His name is Braylon Jackson Byce and he and his mommy are doing well. Caleb has not met him yet, but is sure to love him!

Do you see what I see?!?!

For weeks now I have been looking for the first signs of fall. The very first sign I found was on the cover of my Southern Living magazine that arrived last week. Yesterday, while Caleb and I were playing outside, we found something a little more promising. Take a look...

(look around the bottom of the tree!)

Caleb would pick up a leaf and say, "OOOOOOOhhhhh" and then rip it apart and throw it down. I can't wait until they all turn crunchy because he will have a blast!! Fall is definitely on it's way. Oh...and the weather yesterday was absolutely PERFECT!!! It almost felt a little cool. Lovin' it!!!!

Where's the horse shampoo?

I had a baby shower to attend on Saturday so Chad was in charge of going to get Caleb's hair cut. Keep in mind this is his 5th haircut, so you'd think he might start becoming a pro at it. HA! If you walked in the salon while he was having his haircut you would probably think the stylist was stabbing him with the scissors while his mom or dad held him down and allowed her to. It's the worst expereince ever!!! He did great with his very first haircut and everyone after that has pretty much been a nightmare! I told Chad that since I have to take him to the Dr. by myself, then he had to have the job of getting his haircut! After this past Saturday we may just let the kid have long hair! Here's how it went down:

This is a picture of Caleb the day before his haircut with my brother, Corey.
AND........

This is the result of a screaming, flailing, fighting little boy who let the stylist majorly gap up his baby boy hair. This was the only thing left to do after she cut the large accidental chunks out of his hair...

Chad called me on the phone while I was at the shower and said, "Umm....I think you might be upset about what I did." Yeah, not a great way to start a phone call. Anyway, he explained and yes, I was a little upset, but I got home and he's still a super cute kid!! Thank goodness it's only hair. I feel sure that with daily use of horse shampoo it will soon grow back!!!

FREE PUPPY!

Need a snuggly friend?!?!! Here's your ticket!!This little guy showed up at Chad's office today. He was with four others and they all now have homes. He's the only one left....poor guy! We have him with us right now and he is very, very sweet and seems to get along great with our cocker spaniel and with Caleb. Chad took him to be checked out by the vet today and he's fine. He had his first round of puppy shots and is due for boosters in a week. He is about 6 weeks old and we think he may be in the lab family. If you or someone you know would like to give this little guy home, please contact me ASAP. We need to have a home by the week's end.

Arabian Tea

This past weekend I made my first journey to Arab (pronounced aaaaaay-rab), Alabama, the hometown of my brother’s fiancé. In Arab it is tradition for each bride to have a bridal “tea”. I had never heard of this before and it was nothing short of interesting. Kristen tried to explain it to me before we came, but this is one of those things you just have to attend yourself. Here are some facts about the “tea”:

***************

FACT #1:

You don't actually drink tea. They just served typical shower food - finger foods, fruit, and PUNCH! Check out the picture below.

***************

FACT #2:

The bride doesn’t open the gifts; the hostesses do. The bride basically stands at the door and greets her guests. Most of the gifts have already been delivered to the house hosting the tea prior to the event. A majority of the people in Arab buy their gifts at a few little shops downtown so these stores deliver the purchased gifts to the hosting house and the gifts are already on display in rooms throughout the house (by categories) when you arrive. (see pics below)

Kristen greeting guests w/ the hostess.

Room #1: Kitchen things

Room #2: Auburn related items. No VT things for Corey. Poor guy!

Room #3: Baskets, linens, etc.

***************
FACT #3:

It is considered rude for the bride to walk through the rooms and look at her gifts! I thought this was crazy!! Kristen and Corey had to wait until they got back to her house to look through it all; although I think I did hear Kristen mention that she went and peeked at the things one quick time!!

Kristen with her mom and sisters.

Me and Kristen

Soon-to-be Sosebee's



Kristen asked me what I thought it when it was over and I told her it was “different”! I meant this in the nicest way; just nothing like I have ever been to or even heard of! I asked her if she got bored just standing by the door and not getting to look at her loot, but she said she had fun and that it was just what she had expected. Of course, she’s been going to Arabian “teas” her whole life!!

It was exciting getting to meet all her family and friends. Only 18 more days and I’ll have a new sis! I can’t wait!

P.S. The house that the shower was hosted in was AMAZING! I never thought I would see a hot pink dining room that looked good, but I did this weekend. I felt like I was walking through the pages of a magazine! Loved it!

The Lazy Days of Summer (so far...)

Although we haven't vacationed anywhere this summer, we've done lots of fun summer-y activities over the past few weeks. The weather has been unbelievably hot so we've done just about anything to keep cool. I suppose that's the south for ya! Here are a few pics of what we've been up to

PLAYING IN THE POOL AT GRANNIE'S

CHILLIN' ON THE BOAT

(what a stud muffin captain!)

takin' it easy!





PLAYING WITH ELLA CLAIRE

LEARNING TO THROW ROCKS WITH DADDY

(while we wait on fireworks)

Caleb seems to be enjoying it all. He's at such a fun age and is just so curious about EVERYTHING!!! We are enjoying every minute of watching him learn and explore. I will be great until he discovers bugs!!! UGH!!

A shower, our Anniversary, a wedding, Father's Day

I have been putting off this post because I wanted to add pictures, but that just hasn't happened so I decided just to go ahead and write! Hopefully my brillant verbage will draw just as good of a mental picture for you...ha!

Oh, where to start. I guess I will proceed in chronological order since we've had some big events at the Byce household as of late...

It all started a few weeks ago with my soon-to-be-sis-in-law's bridal shower. We always hold the Sosebee family shower at Brick St. Cafe in Greenville and it has never disappointed us. Oh me, oh my the food and atmosphere is SOOOOO....good there. As a matter of fact, with Corey and Kristen being the last to get married in the Sosebee fam, we started discussing that maybe we need to start getting together to celebrate anniversaries!! The shower was wonderful and the happy couple got lots and lots of very nice things - esp for their kitchen, which is out there somewhere, they just aren't sure where yet....meaning, they still are not sure where they are going to live. Yes folks, they are getting married in 5 weeks and still have no place of residence thanks to the current economy. BOTH are having a hard time finding jobs and they aren't even picky. They seriously will live anywhere....I mean, come on, they met overseas! Please keep this on your prayer list. I know it has to be so frustrating, but also know that these 2 will just be happy to be married, jobs or not! :)

Next was Chad and I's 4th anniversary. I can't believe it's already been that long. It was a fun day. I greeted Chad to sticky notes all over the house and in his car wishing him a happy day and telling him what a great hubs he is and he treated me to a day of shopping at the outlets in Commerce, GA! I do believe I got the better end of the deal! That night mom and dad came over to keep Caleb and we went on a date to The Galley. We had a great view of Lake Hartwell (which is FINALLY full) and many of the boats that are docked at the marina close by. We skipped dessert at dinner and headed to OUR favorite dessert place, Brusters, for some yummy ice cream. It really was a fun evening and gave us some much needed one-on-one time. Before baby, Chad and I always (the 2 whole years that was!) took an anniversary trip. Now that Caleb is around we opted for dinner out on Wednesday and a weekend trip to the giant metropolis of Aiken, SC! Acutally Chad was in a wedding so we had to leave Friday afternoon, spend the night and come home Saturday night after the wedding. It wasn't quite Florida or a Carribean cruise, but it was nice to get away for a night and get to sleep late! We didn't actually pick up Caleb from mom and dad until Sunday afternoon and on Sunday we slept until 10am!!! I can honestly say this is the first time we've done this since Caleb was born. I hate we missed church, but it was SOOOOOO...wonderful.

The Sunday we picked Caleb up was Father's Day so we spent the rest of the day celebrating the dads in our lives. We started with a cookout at Grannie and Papa's and ended with dinner with Chad's parents. Hopefully through all the celebrating with families Chad felt special too!! Caleb gave him a card and a coupon for the gift he is going to give him. He hasn't been able to get back to Greenville to pick it up yet, but this is it. We can't wait to jam the summer away!

And he's off!!!

My baby boy has offically reached that milestone that distinguishes a toddler from a baby...He's walking!! Caleb has definitely taken his own little time deciding to do this. His progression went something like this: 6 months - rolling tummy to back from one end of the room to another; 8-9 months - army crawling everywhere and pulling up on things; 11 months - crawling up on all fours and starting to cruise furniture, pushing his walking toy around like crazy; 13 months - continuing to cruise furniture and becoming more of a risk taker by attmepting to let go of things and stand on his own; 15 months - finally walking! For about the past 3-4 weeks he would stand and take about 3-4 steps and then fall into your arms, but yesterday we were at mom's house and it just all seemed to click. He and I were the only ones there because we were waiting on mom and dad to get home. He pulled up on one of the end tables and then just decided to walk from the den straight into the kitchen. It was probably about 13-14 steps. It was completely unprompted. He just decided he could do it. Now there is no stopping him! It's so cute to watch. He holds his arms out to the side (for balance) and is so proud once he reaches his destination!! Could it possibly have anything to do with the round of applause he gets everytime he does it?!?! I have to say when he first did it it made me tear up a little. I haven't been emotional about him getting bigger like some people do because I have just loved every stage, but for some reason the walking tugged a little at my heartstrings! He really is getting to be a big boy and I know this is just the start of him being a more independent little man.

VICTORY!!!!!

Let me just tell you...we had a stubborn and determined little guy on our hands!! After no luck catching the little rodent the first day, we ALMOST got him after the second night. Matt (bro-in-law), who was the fearless one to drive the car with the unwanted visitor checked the second morning and the mouse had gotten stuck in the gooey stuff the night before, but managed to use all his mighty mouse might to get out!!! Left on the sticky stuff was the fur from his belly - seriously. So then we had on our hands a half-skinned mouse running around the car. On his way to work Matt would always see him run around the passagers side so after the third night and not cathing him again, he lined the sticky strips and all the traps in a straight line - the exact path the mouse been following the previous mornings. This must have been the trick because Matt saw him come out for his morning excercise (or breakfast, maybe) during his drive to work that day. The mouse made it through the TWO things of sticky stuff and then this is what happened when he hit the very first trap:

You can see that he was not very big. In this picture he is beside a regular sized mouse trap. I wish I could be nice and say we tried not to kill him, but I would be lying. He is now in mouse heaven and I promise they are happier to have him there than I was to have him in my car! Now, let's just hope he really was a HE and that there are no offpspring!!!

Rodent Update

And I say update, because HE IS STILL IN MY CAR! Apparently this little guy has made quite the cozy little home somewhere in my car. The day we discovered him we set mouse traps up all over the car. No luck. That night Chad and his brother tore the car apart and found nothing. They set up more traps that night with cheese to intice the little guy, but when we checked the next morning....No luck. Chad's brother drove the car to work yesterday and left traps set up while he was there with peanut butter on them (we read this worked better than cheese) and still NO LUCK! Oh...and I forgot to mention that he SAW him on his way to work gallavanting around the floorboard again. This little guy is tricky, but we are bound to get him eventually. We have vacuumed the whole car so there are no crumbs except what is on the traps. Last night we tried a soft cheese because, again, we read this works better because they can't just get it and run off with it. So, at this point if he wants food he's gotta go to the trap. The only downside is that (in yet another attempt to rid my car of this visitor) we called an exterminator to see what to do and he said they can live without food for up to 7 days. Just great. Thankfully my in-laws have an extra car that they have been driving so that I can drive their car. Unfortuantely, the saga still continues. I will send a final update hopefully very, very soon.

Hickory, Dickory Dock...

...the mouse ran up the clock and then apparently STRAIGHT INTO MY CAR!!!!! AGGGHHH! I am so not kidding. This morning I was driving to school on I-85 and I thought I saw something run from under the seat to the front of the car on the passenger's side. Of course I only saw this with my peripheral vision, so I wasn't quite sure. I looked as much as I could while driving but didn't see anything except my phone charger in the floor. I just chalked it up to my imagination and kept driving. But then, only a few minutes down the road I saw the exact same thing going this time from the front to the back. I didn't figure there was any way I could have imagined this twice and it freaked me out, so I pulled over on the side of the interstate. I immediately called Chad and this is how the convo went:

Me: Chad, where are you?

Chad: I am at Exit ___ (which happened to be one exit behind me)

Me: Well you have to come and get me.

Chad: What? Why?

Me: Because there is something in my car and I am standing on the side of the interstate.

Chad: (who has started laughing at me at this point) What is it? A spider?

Me: No seriously it is something big and you better come and get me because I am NOT getting back into my car.

So, my knight came to my rescue. We opened the car and he was immediately able to find little "droppings" under the seat. UUGHHHHH!!! Chad and I traded cars and I headed on to school. About 2 minutes after we parted ways Chad called me and told me he'd seen it scurrying around. It even freaked him out and he said he just prayed all the way home that he would get there fast! Anyway, my car is now sitting at my in-laws with mouse traps and this sticky stuff in it to capture this critter. I must say that if I was going to have this happen I am glad it happened the way it did because if I had seen it and recognized what it was while I was driving, I can ASSURE you I would have wrecked my car! My dad always told me that if there was a bee in my car just to pull over (cause I HATE bees)....I guess the same rule applies to rodents!

I'll keep ya updated on how it all goes down!

DISCLAIMER: WE DO NOT KEEP A NASTY CAR . THIS COULD HAPPEN TO ANY OF YOU!

Packing, packing, packing...

No, we are not moving again, but by the looks of all the stuff I am having to gather to go on our short family vacay to the beach, you would think we are! I thought I took a lot when it was just Chad and I, but throw a child in the picture and I feel like I practically have to load up one entire room from our house. We just take the usual - clothes, shoes, toiletries, etc. But for sweet, little, 1 year old Caleb we have to take it all - pack 'n play to sleep in, pack 'n play mattress, cover for mattress so it will be more comfy, sheet for mattress and cover, clothes and lots of them just in case he messes something up or it's cooler one day, stroller, travel highchair, toys to occupy him while we are in a foreign house, sippy cups, the baby monitor, diapers for a long weekend along with the wipes, butt paste and fresh smelling bags for the "shoo shoo" ones. The list goes on and on and this doesn't include the emergency items (thermometer, tylenol, etc). Oh, and since are headed to the beach, did I mention we are throwing in the wagon too?!?! Ok...off to get it all in the car.

Happy Memorial Day Weekend!

Be safe and remember to give thanks for those who have fought for our country and for those who still are. A big shout out to my cuz, Jason, who will be leaving (AGAIN!) very soon to go do just that. I LOVE YA, CUZ AND WILL BE PRAYING FOR YOU!

My little mocking bird...

As soon as Caleb turned 1 it was like he decided it was time to start picking up words. As of yesterday he could say mama, da-da, juice, Daisy, uh -oh (but he leaves off the oh and just says "up"), Papa, and quack quack. Well today he added a new word to his reportoire. Here's how the story goes. I had him on the kitchen counter putting his shoes on. As he was sitting there he picked up an apple. I said, "APPLE". He tries to repeat my word and does a pretty good job. Then I suppose he decides this apple is very ball-like and tosses it to the ground. As he does this I say to him, "OHHHHH.....NOOOO" in which he repeats back to me as clear as can be and as if he's said it 100 times "OHHHHHH....NO!" Of course I die laughing and then get him to repeat it 10 more times just to make sure he was really saying it, and sure enough he was. He is just getting to be so funny, but I guess we really must start watching the things we say around him. No more of the "s words"...you know shut up, stupid, etc. - that's about as bad as it gets at our house!

Fhoto Friday

A moment with Ella Claire

WHOA!!! It's electric! :)

Enjoying his most recent favorite activity - wagon rides!

Caught!!!

When I walked into Caleb's room today this is what I found. I ran to get my camera. I have many, many hopes and dreams for my little guy and one of them is that he enjoy reading. Hopefully we are getting off to a good start!!!

Happy Friday to everyone!

Oh so random...

1. I have been a super slack blogger lately!!

2. Going back to work part time has been wonderful!! I am working at my old school, still in first grade, but only as a teacher's assistant. I am there 8-12 and it's the perfect amount of time. Then, I'm off to pick up Caleb by 12:30 and we have the rest of the day together. The adult interaction and getting to work with the kids again has been wonderful. And I might add it's the perfect job...walk in the door at 8, out at 12, take nothing home, and plan nothing in between!! Ahhhhhh.....

3. Caleb started having super bad relux a few weeks after he turned one. He's never had it before, but it was classic symptoms - screaming and bowing his back when you tried to lay him down, not keeping down food and not sleeping at night. It was AWFUL. Honestly, we got less sleep during all this than we did when he was an infant. After about 5 days of trying things (taking him off dairy, going all soy, etc) we finally figured out it was reflux and he started Prevacid. Now, he's back to his happy, sleeping little self!!! Let's just hope we don't have to stay on the meds long because they are not cheap!!!

4. My little bro is moving back to SC next week. He's been in CA since September and is coming back this way. He is also planning a wedding and getting married in August. I am so excited about have a new sis! Oh...and the bridesmaids dresses are AWESOME!!! She found them at etsy.com and I can't wait to wear it!

5. I am loving American Idol this season. I agreed with the vote offs last night, but am going to have a hard time from here on out because everyone else is so good!!!

6. We are about to hit what seems like a second Christmas in our house. It starts this weekend with Chad's mom's b-day, then mother's day is around the corner, Chad's dad's b-day is the weekend after that, my dad's is a few days after that and then it's wedding shower time for Corey and Kristen. Guess it's time to do some holiday shopping!!!

7.I am headed to a Women's Retreat next weekend with church in Mt. Pleasant and I am so pumped. I can't wait to be refreshed and renewed and also get to spend some quality time with some great girlfriends. This will be the first time Caleb has been with Chad for the entire weekend, but I'm sure he'll do great!

8. We are planning to have a yard sale at the end of May so this means we are going to be spending our free time "cleaning out" everything. I think the decluttering will be very theraputic...at least at the end of it. Thinking about doing it actually stresses me out!!

9. I gave in and ordered The Wave . I saw the infomercial and thought it looked pretty cool. I have tried it a few times and it IS cool! You don't feel like you are really working out, but boy was I sore the days after! You totally enagage your core in all the exercises so you can really feel your abs the next day (although I am still lookin' to SEE mine!). I never buy this stuff, but I really liked this. Oh...and an added bonus is that the studio that came up with this produt is in Columbia, SC and the girl that owns the studion went to High School with me. I guess that made me feel like it was more legit than other things I've seen.

10. This is one of the scriptures that was used in our sermon this past Sunday and it's one I've been meditating on and being so thankful for this week:
"Therefore, since we have a great high preist who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have high preist who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are - yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receice mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." Hebrews 4:14-16

OK, that's it for my randomness right now! Maybe I will get back to being a regular blogger very soon!!

Christ the Lord is Risen Today!

We had such a great Easter spending time with our church family and our immediate family. We celebrated with our family at church first thing Sunday morning and then headed to our house for a big 'ole yummy to the tummy lunch complete with turkey, mac and cheese, green bean casserole, pineapple casserole, mashed potatoes and rolls. We enjoyed watching Caleb look through his Easter basket at his goodies; although he wasn't really sure what was going on. Most of all, we loved having a day set aside to celebrate our risen Saviour. What I'm even more thankful for is that this is something we can celebrate EVERY day!

Checking out his new Baby Einstein video

The lunch centerpiece. The flowers turned the water pink, but made for a cool effect!

Me and the hubs.