What you've been missing - Part 2:Transitioning

When we first moved to Virginia, Dave still commuted back to Maryland for about two and a half weeks for his old job. Thankfully, several members of our church family volunteered to let him stay with them instead of coming back to VA every night. He ended up taking two of the couples up on their offer. (Thanks, Chris, Erin, James, and Anna!) This was such a blessing because, otherwise, he would have been on the road 4+ hours daily. Meanwhile, Caleb and I stayed at my parents' house at night because the locks hadn't been changed at our new house yet and it felt strange in a new place by ourselves.

We closed on the old house Sept. 27th but kept having complications closing on the new one. It ended up being delayed about two and a half weeks because the lender and mortgage company were not being cooperative or efficient. Dave seemed to be on the phone with them constantly during that time trying to settle everything. Luckily, the church allowed us to move in anyway so at least we had a place to live and could start unpacking while everything was waiting to be settled.

About two weeks after we arrived, Dave's parents came to visit. Grandma and Grandpa McKinstry were lots of fun for Caleb!

While they were here, we were able to visit the Luray Heritage Festival, which is my favorite event of the year around here. While Daddy and Grandpa looked at the tractors, poor Caleb had to look at crafts with Mommy and Grandma so that we could keep him in the shade. Maybe next year he'll get to have fun with the men. However, he did get to watch the cloggers for awhile which was pretty entertaining until the dust in the barn started getting too much for a little boy.

Since then, we have been slowly unpacking and trying to get into a new daily routine which I'll tell you more about next time...

What you've been missing - Part 1:The Move

Over the past two months so much change has taken place. I'll try to give you a short overview of what we've been up to lately to catch everyone up on everything.

THE MOVE
September was filled with packing boxes and cleaning both the old house and the new.

My mom helped so much with this process. Since the new house sat empty for about two and a half years, the dust was pretty thick. She helped me clean and clean and clean. She also kept an eye on Caleb and entertained him which let me get quite a bit more done. Caleb and she both enjoyed the quality time.

A number of other family members chipped in to help too. My sister and granny helped watched Caleb a little, and we hired my uncle Larry to put a fresh coat of paint throughout the house.

Finally, both houses were ready and everything was packed. The movers took us to our new home on September 24, 2010.


Caleb just laid in his Pack-n-play and entertained himself most of the day. He was such a good boy despite the heat and all of the moving going on around him. However, we did have a small mishap. I can't remember exactly how it happened but Caleb's outfit ended up wet and the movers had already loaded all of his clothes. I was fearing he was just going to have to wear a diaper until we got everything unpacked when I remembered that I had a couple pairs of overalls in my car.

We made that two hour journey between the two houses for the last time and were finally here to stay.

**More pictures of the house will be on the way once we get unpacked.

Caleb loves the wiener dog

When I was about 12 years old, we talked mom and dad into buying us a wiener puppy named Ginger. She was the baby in the family for the last 14 years until Caleb arrived. We were curious to see how she would react to him and what he would think about her.

Initially, Ginger seemed not to pay much attention. She would walk by and try to lick Caleb occasionally and try to lay on his blanket when she found the opportunity. Sometimes if he started to cry loudly, she'd come into the bedroom to see what was happening, but for the most part she went on about her normal routine. The only time she seemed a little jealous was when one of us were down on the floor playing with the baby. She would try to stick her little body in between everything so we would pet her and love on her a little too.

Caleb also ignored Ginger for the most part. For the past couple months or so, he's been reaching out a little to touch her or grab her tail but that's about the extent of their interaction.

One day in May, I tried to do a photo session with the two of them. A lady from work gave me a wiener dog onsie and hat for Caleb at one of my showers, so long before he was born I had the bright idea of dressing him up and taking his picture with Ginger.

After several attempts to get a good picture, Caleb finally had a melt down because Ginger licked him in the face.


Despite the rocky start, today something magical happened and these two became best buddies. Here is a little preview of their blossoming friendship:

Not even his mommy can make him giggle like that. I guess it's my turn to be jealous.:)

Caleb's first trip to Washington D.C.

A couple of weeks ago, Dave's high school buddy, Dave Nimke, came to visit Washington D.C. Since Nimke lives near Chicago, we rarely see him. The last time these two guys had a chance to hang out was on our wedding day.


When Nimke said he was coming, Dave and I decided to meet up with him. Despite the fact that every trip I take on the metro or into D.C. worries my mother, and even more so now that I am toting her baby grandson, we decided to brave it. We were glad we did because we had a very nice time with no complications.

After riding the metro into the city, we met each other
on the D.C. mall. Here is Caleb with his daddy and Dave Nimke
standing on the mall with the capital building behind them.

We visited two museums: the U.S. Botanic Garden and the Smithsonian Museum of American History. While I've been to the American History museum several times (it is my favorite), this was the first time I'd been to the Botanic Garden. Since I've had the opportunity to plant my own flower beds after Dave purchased our current home in MD, I really notice plants a lot more and am interested in all the different types. I think I appreciated the museum and was much more interested than I would have been four years ago.

Dave, Caleb, and I pose for a family portrait inside
the jungle room of the Botanic Garden museum.

The best part of the trip though was just getting to spend time catching up with each other.

Caleb was such a good boy and seemed to enjoy his first trip to D.C. It was a great time to visit while he is too small to run off. He just sat in his stroller and played with his toys most of the day. It was also a lot of fun for him to make happy, high-pitched squealing noises in the American History museum...Well, it was more fun for Caleb than his parents who were trying to get him to make quieter noises. Hopefully, we will go back after he is a bit older and can actually learn a little bit from the experience.

Couch Potato

While we rarely watch TV at home, Caleb seems to be addicted to that colorful screen as soon as he sees its glow. He is not quite as interested in black and white shows but enjoys a Baby Einstein DVD we have and watching westerns at his Grandma and Granddaddy Vaught's house.

Twice last weekend, we laid him on the floor on his tummy with his head facing the opposite way from the TV. Both times he kicked and scooted 180 degrees until he was facing it; then, he stopped and just laid there staring at the screen. This was pretty amazing considering usually he just lays there like a log when you put him on his stomach maybe kicking his legs a little or fussing to be moved into a different position.

Plus, at least twice last week when someone was holding him on their lap facing the other direction from the television, Caleb arched himself back so he could watch it upside down.

What are we going to do with this boy!

Out with the old and in with the new

Since before we were married, Dave and I talked about moving back to my hometown eventually. In the past month or so, that dream seems to be becoming a reality.

Shortly after Caleb was born, Dave began interviewing for jobs. With the job market the way it is these days, we expected it would take a long time to find anything worthwhile and figured he'd definitely have to take a pay cut. Unbelievably, Dave got not one but two job offers; both offering to pay him more than he is currently making.

Next, we decided to put our house on the market. Again, with the way the economy is now, we weren't sure how long it would take to sell our home. Nine days later we had an offer! Within about two weeks, a contract was on our home.

Finally, we went searching for a new house that would be close to my family but still a reasonable distance for Dave to commute. After looking and looking at places we initially thought would be best, nothing seemed to fit. Then, we found a beautiful home that a local church wanted to sell. Since they hadn't had many offers when the house was on the market, and none that were worthwhile, they removed their listing. Fortunately, my dad knew the pastor and suggested we look at the home. The details in the house were lovely, and it was it a great location for us. Because the house was no longer listed through a realtor and there was no commission to pay, we were able to make a lower offer than would have otherwise been accepted.

We feel blessed for how smoothly God has worked things out for us. Hopefully many of you can come visit us in our new home once all the details have been ironed out and the moving completed!

For now, here are some pictures of our first home as a family in MD for those who have never seen it:

Front and Back Exterior

First Floor: Living room, dining room, kitchen, master bedroom, and master bath

Basement: Family room and half bathroom (Not seen - work room and laundry room)

Second Floor: Caleb's room, office, Caleb's bathroom

Scrubba Dub Dub ....Caleb in the tub!

Lately, one of Caleb's favorite things to do is splash around in the bathtub. Several pairs of Dave's shorts have ended up pretty wet during this super fun time!

Here is a video to give you an idea of how bath time usually goes around here (don't worry... washcloths were used to censor this film):




For the past few weeks, Caleb often has meltdowns at night before bedtime. However, if we put him in the tub, the tears and crying stop and he's happy once again. Unfortunately, bath time always comes to an end and, shortly after the little boy dries off, the fussin' begins.

He gets this love of the tub honest though. His mama usually takes at least one opportunity to soak in the tub everyday. Whenever I didn't feel well as a kid (and even now as an adult), the bath tub was the place I always retreated to to feel better and relax.

Caleb hasn't always loved bath time quite as much. At the hospital and when he first came home, he could only have sponge baths. Caleb was pretty distraught over the whole situation.



Hair washing, on the other hand, has pretty much always been a good experience:



After he was big enough to be in the tub, we used a little one Amanda and Bonnie bought for him.
It is a three in one tub designed to grow with him.
1. At first, he was in a sling.

2. Then, he had a little seat to sit on (as seen in the video above).
3. Finally, we can remove the seat and just use the basin.

I also bought a little bath seat that I thought would be great for traveling and to use at Grandma's house. I think it looks like a miniature lawn chair.

No matter the method, he comes out looking so sweet in his hooded towel.

Can't you just smell the Baby Magic?

Rice Cereal

I am unsure how any baby can get as big as Caleb is on breast milk alone, but until he was four months old that's all he had to eat or drink. At our visit to Dr. Carter's this week, she said it was okay for the little chunker to start eating some rice cereal. Let me preface this blog post by saying all three of us were clueless about how this was supposed to be done.

Hmm...What's in that box, Mommy?

Here is Caleb's first bite:


Enjoy this video of Dave and I attempting to feed Caleb from a spoon for the first time ever:



Caleb seemed to like the cereal and even tried to lick it off his bib. We got a fair amount into his mouth eventually but didn't really put a dent in the suggested serving size. For a first feeding the box said to give him one tbsp of cereal mixed with four tbsp of breastmilk. Did anyone else's baby eat that much the first time? Honestly, I was impressed how much he was actually able to consume on the first try. My mom mixed it up a little thicker the next time; Caleb was able to keep it in his mouth better then but didn't seem to like it as much.

This was also a big step for Caleb because it was his first time sitting up like a big boy in his booster seat. We think he did a nice job all around!

Our big boy

Today Caleb turned four months old, so we headed to Dr. Carter's for his wellness check-up and shots :(.


Caleb was 17 lbs 5oz and 26.5" long. He is in the 90th percentile for his weight and the 94th for his height. His head circumference was 42.5 cm (57th percentile).

This is a big jump from his first week visit when he was 6 lbs 12 oz (14th percentile), 20" long (44th percentile), and had a head circumference of 34 cm (12th percentile).


I really like our pediatrician for several reasons but the most important is that they openly demonstrate their faith. From Bible verses and encouraging messages on the walls to going on mission trips, the doctors make a point to spread the good news.


Unfortunately, this will probably be Caleb's last trip to Dr. Carter since we will be moving soon. We took a picture for him to remember her by down the road.