Caleb's 2nd Birthday 2008

Today March 27 is Caleb's 2nd Birthday. Last year we landed back in San Antonio on March 20 after our long journey just in time to celebrate our new son's 1st birthday a week later. The year has gone by pretty quickly with a lot of memories of "firsts" that will last our entire lives. Caleb meeting our family and friends for the first time in person. Caleb saying "mommie" and "dada" for the first time. Caleb first learning to walk without our help just a few days after we arrived back home. Caleb's first visit to the zoo. Caleb's first visit to the beach. He loved the beach and I am sure is going to love going back this summer. Caleb's first Christmas with us. Caleb saying "luv u" for the first time. It has been a fun ride so far and I look forward to all the coming firsts to spend with my son Caleb and beautiful wife Pet. And now Caleb is about to turn 2 for the first time (and last time).

We had a great Easter! I think that Caleb is a choco-holic like his mom! He wouldn't even wait for someone to take off the wrapper before biting in. Caleb got to do 2 Easter egg hunts. One was on Saturday morning at our church. By Sunday afternoon when he got to have another Easter egg hunt at our house, he already knew what was in the eggs and he would try to open them before putting them in his basket. We had a nice relaxing Easter weekend with food, family, and celebrating Christ's crucifixion and resurrection. Caleb had given us a Christmas present of a pair of Spurs tickets to a night game on Good Friday. So we got to enjoy a good basketball game too! Also, Pet was off the whole week before Easter weekend for Spring Break. She really enjoyed being with Caleb all day every day for the entire week. She would love to be doing that full time. This summer, we plan on looking at our financial options more closely to see if that is even possible. Anyway, Caleb had a great time. We spent Easter Sunday with Pet's parents, her sister and brother-in-law, and Caleb's cousins Anthony and Tyler. Tyler is only 1 month older that Caleb so it was fun watching them both run around hunting eggs, playing, rolling around on the ground, swinging and sliding on our swing set, fighting over eggs and balloons (ok - that last part wasn't so fun).


Caleb is doing great. He is awesome! He is very sociable (unlike us) and affectionate. He is repeating and copying me and Pet so we better be careful what we say. He loves to play outside. We got him a swing set for toddlers for the Spring and Summer season so we did not have to go to a park all the time. Even at age 2 he is good at catching a football thanks to the expert guidance of his daddy :). He likes to eat pizza (who doesn't?). He loves to eat tomatoes and potatoes. He eats lettuce as long as there is ranch dressing. He would drink ranch dressing if we would let him. He has tried to grab the small dipping cup of ranch dressing and gulp it down. He was not very happy that we took it away. Indoors he likes to watch Barney so as soon as the tv goes on he says "Baa-ee". He keeps on repeating this until we cave in (so much for watching the Spurs). His birthday theme this year will be Barney. We will be celebrating his birthday this Saturday at our house. He chases our cat Astro all over the house, but hasn't caught him yet. Sometimes I pick up Astro for him to pet. He still likes playing with daddy and his small basketball goal. We got Caleb a Manu Ginoboli shirt when we went to the Spurs game. He looks so cute in it. He has toys in every part of our house.

Well, I guess that is it for now. Talk to you later. Here are some photos since Christmas.

One last thing. A special thanks to Rod, Kym, and Aray in California for their most recent post on their blog. They are our special friends who we got to share our Kazakhstan adoption journey with. Rod and Kym adopted their beautiful daughter Aray the same time we were over there getting our son Caleb. We will always have a special bond with them as God chose to bless both of us at the same time and place in the most memorable journey of our lives. The physical journey to a far away land and the emotional journey of starting new families together. They are now starting the long adoption process again and are planning on going back to Kazakhstan to add to their family. You can read up on their adoption adventure story to Kazakhstan to adopt Aray at "http://www.rodandkym.blogspot.com/". Another thing I think is awesome is that Aray was born on the exact same date as me - June 25.

P.S.: HAPPY BIRTHDAY CALEB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Caleb and mommie in our backyard.

Caleb and daddy at our Church playground.


Caleb collecting Easter eggs in our backyard. (Go Spurs!)

Tyler and Caleb swinging in our backyard.

Caleb sitting on our couch eating some dried apple snacks.

Tyler at his birthday in Feb. (Yum - look at all that pizza!!)

Caleb - future all pro football player or future Cowboys fan at least.

Caleb and daddy at park.

Caleb with ice pack for his "boo boo" ( now he always says "ice" when he gets hurt)

Caleb with electric car from Nana and Papa just after Christmas

Christmas 2007

Christmas has always been our favorite time of year. This Christmas was that much more special because Caleb was with us! Wow! What a terrific 1st Christmas for Caleb. Last year, he received gifts from friends and family, but didn't actually get to open them because he wasn't home yet. This year, boy did he get to open presents!! He has gotten very good at opening presents, whether they are his or not!
We have several different Christmas celebrations with different sides of families. It was a little overwhelming...needless to say, his schedule was quite messed up. He had several late nights and not many naps.
He sat on Santa's lap, but screamed his head off. The picture is still cute, though. When we left, he waved goodbye and blew kisses to Santa, though. His next encounter with a real-live Santa (as opposed to pictures and stuffed ones) was at Brad's parents' house. Every year in Kirby (even when Brad and I were little) Santa comes around on a fire truck in a parade and throws out candy to the children. Ashley and Caleb both enjoyed waving to Santa (from afar!) Now, everywhere he sees a Santa, he yells "Anta," whether it's a picture, stuffed toy, or even Colonel Sanders on the KFC sign (ha-ha!)
We had a couple of special surprises for Christmas. We received a wonderful package from Rod, Kym, and Aray all the way from California! It was filled with yummy treats and a toy drum for Caleb, which he loves! Then, on Christmas Day, we had a message from them wishing us a Merry Christmas. We returned their call and spoke to them on speaker phone for quite a while. We had a lot of catching up to do! It was great hearing their voices, including Aray's!! They are probably going to visit in March on their way to a wedding. It'll be exciting to see each other again and to see in person how much the children have grown!
Anyway, Caleb and his Mommy and Daddy had a wonderful Christmas! We have a lot to be thankful for!
As I type this, one year ago today, Brad and I were somewhere between Amsterdam and Taraz on our way to see our Caleb for the first time! What a year!!!!

Fall 2007

Well, Caleb is now 19 months old! Wow! He is growing taller and saying new things each day! He loves to say "ball!" In fact, anything round is a "ball". For instance, the moon is a "ball!" So you can imagine what he thought when we went to a pumpkin patch!
He had a good time on halloween with his cousins Anthony and Tyler. Caleb and Tyler didn't quite know what was going on...why there were dressed as animals, but they had fun. We only visited Grandparents' houses and a few neighbors, but as you will see in one of the pictures he was tired by the end of the night.

Summer 2007 Update

Hi everyone!

Well, we've been home from Kaz for four months now. Wow, in some ways it seems like it has been longer than that, and in other ways it seems like we just got home.

Caleb is doing wonderfully! He is very healthy! The only thing that we are working on is his slightly deficient iron level. We are giving him an iron supplement daily. He sure is growing! At 15 months, he weighs 22 pounds and is about 30 inches tall! He eats just about anything that we give him. He no longer takes a bottle during the day, but most nights before bed he does take one.

Caleb loves his cousins Tyler(16 months) and Ashley (13 months), but he absolutely adores his older cousin, Anthony (7 years)! I think that he thinks Anthony hung the moon! Anthony loves him as well! In fact, one day during Sunday School, Anthony's teacher asked the class if they ever felt the presence of the Holy Spirit. Anthony's hand shot up and the teacher called on him. He said, "I do whenever my baby cousin, Caleb, smiles at me!" Tears came to my eyes the first time I heard about that, and everytime I've told someone else about it (including typing it right now!)

Caleb is nothing like the scared, reserved little boy from the orphanage. He is confident, loves to make people laugh, and is very friendly. He hugs, kisses, and blows kisses!

He is saying more and more things. His favorite word is still kitty, however uh-oh and duck are gaining ground. He also is starting to say his cousin Tyler's favorite saying, I like it!, with the emphasis on the word like. It's amazing how much of what we say he understands! It is absolutely hilarious when someone asks a question like, "Where's Daddy?" Caleb shrugs his shoulders, while putting his hands up with his mouth wide open. You have to see it to really appreciate it!

Since being home, we've had many celebrations, went on a family vacation to the beach, and have just had a lot of fun! Here are pictures of some of those occasions!!

Fourth of July:



At the Alamo:



Wearing Alamo souvenir:



At Cousin Ashley's First Birthday Party:


At the Zoo with Cousin Ashley:



At the zoo with Cousin Tyler and Cousin Anthony:




Fun at home: swimming and shooting hoops.




Baby Dedication at Church on Mother's Day:






Fun with family and friends:










Caleb's first trip to the beach, July 2007: (Photos are from our condo, the beach, restaurants, and the aquariam.)























Caleb at Chuck E. Cheese: (I don't know why it keeps putting this here, but I give up trying to put it where it belongs...although, it is really annoying to me!!)