Nothing exciting going on here, but that's a good thing!

As most of you know Caleb started school almost two months ago, wow that went quick, and I also started working at the same place. We have been trying to get into a routine in the evenings as far as dinner, bathes and family time. It's still a work in progress, depending on if Caleb takes a nap that day or not. He is really enjoying his teachers and the new friends he is making. Chris and I both can already seem improvements in his developement. I'm really enjoying my classroom as well and the new co-workers/friends I've made. I wanted to share pictures from Calebs' daily sheets at school but I can't figure out how to copy them over.

Caleb converted over to a toddler bed Friday night. He climbs right in and covers up! He's having trouble taking naps since he can get up and play if he wants but we will get it sooner or later. Hopefully sooner than later because I like to nap when he does.

Caleb snoozing on his first night in the big boy bed

Awhile back, like I said its been awhile since I've blogged, Caleb celebrated his 2nd birthday. He had RSV so his party was cancelled but Memaw and Ava still made the trip up to celebrate. We had a mini party with balloons, games and cupcakes. It was a nice weekend given the circumstances and all the snow we got.

 Eating his cupcake and ice cream

This is just a silly picture I thought I'd share from one moring rushing around trying to get ready. He was supposed to be getting dressed for school and this is what he decided to wear. His pajama top and Daddy's shoes.



This weekend Tyson and Jordan turned 2, Caleb's BFF's! We went to celebrate with them and see some of our friends as well that we've been to busy to get together with. They had a really good birthday and Caleb had fun getting to spend the evening with his old buddies again.

 Caleb and Jordan cruising in Lightning McQueen and Tow Mater

 Gabrielle, Jordan and Caleb checking out the new toys

We came home after the party and played a few games of Ants in A Can and Chutes and Ladders before bed. Caleb is such a cheater!



It was a pretty low key weekend. Lots of family time! Next weekend we travel home to see my family and celebrate Erin's 21st birthday and Papaw Butlers 80th. This will be our first road trip since Caleb has been potty trained, wish us luck and stay tuned for pictures!





New Beginnings! Happy Endings!

We tried things a little differently for Christmas this year. We went to visit my family a week early so we could celebrate Christmas morning at our house and start our traditions. It was bitter sweet. Nice to not be in a million places on Christmas day but a little sad not seeing family. Caleb took his sweet time opening gifts, we made breakfast and then put toys together and played. Next came nap time and before we knew it the day was coming to an end. It was so fun seeing Caleb get excited about what he was uwrapping. And next year we will have twice the fun with two little boys! It was a great ending to the year and we are eager for what the new year has in store for us.

 The first thing he ran to when he walked into the living room!

 Trucks! Trucks! Trucks!

 Buzz, his favorite!

We've got a few exciting things coming for the New Year, another baby boy due at the end of April and I'm starting a job at the end of January teaching at Little Hands Learning Center. I still get to see Caleb everyday and work which is a huge plus for me! Caleb will be turning 2 and he's pretty excited to have his party at the JumpZone with all his cronies! Hopefully a house will be next on the list for us. We don't have that great of luck but that's how we are hoping our new year will start!

Salas' at the Circus!

We took off to the AllState Arena today to check out the circus! Chris scored box seats, which was great because Caleb was able to run around and didn't have to sit still in a seat for two hours, from his work. I must confess I'm 28 years old and I have NEVER been to the circus. Chris went when he was little but I figured the times have changed a little since then ;) So it was kinda the first time for all of us. To say the least Caleb absolutely loved it! I think he was overstimulated at one point because he laid down on the floor for a few minutes. Or it could've been from running into the railing and hitting his head. Either way, he was great! There were about a dozen tigers in a cage with a trainer and at one point Chris and I looked at each other thinking "Should we take Caleb out of here?" because they were clawing and roaring at this guy. I thought he was done for. That part ended abruptly and on came the elephants. They seem more lovable and less ravinous than the tigers. They would sit, dance, and lay down. Much more my style!

Waiting for the show to start!

Understand the overstimulation?

I think this was the best part of the show, elephants!

The End!

Three Little Pumpkins...and one on the way!

The holidays are getting more fun every year since Caleb is more interested in the festivities that go along with them. We grabbed some pumpkins at the grocery store and were going to paint them. Then I remembered I only had watercolor paint so that was pointless. Eventually we, well I should say I, ended up carving them while Chris watched football. I was assisted by Caleb of course who has to be right in the middle of everything!

Got the top off..now what Mom?

Found the knife!

Our finished products!

So I thought I'd be the old school Mom who made our Halloween costumes. Let me just say these were supposed to be the easiest costumes to make by hand, and I'm not going to lie they probably were really simple to someone with a sewing machine or any idea of how to use a needle and thread. This was not the case for me. I was venturing through Target grabbing some candy for the kids (which is code for Chris) and what do I see? Fred AND Wilma costumes. Already made, ready to go, for the same price that I paid for all the supplies to make ours. Needlesss to say our costumes will be store bought from now on. At least I tried, and I don't think I failed to bad.

Caleb as Bam Bam                                                   The Flintstones                                    

Full of Hot Air!

We headed to ABQ this past week for the 40th Annual Balloon Fiesta. Every year they have hot air balloons from all over the country come for a week or so. We took Caleb to the Balloon Glow one evening. They come and set up their balloons and then once it's dark out and all the balloons are inflated they have a count down and all the balloons fire up their....fire thing to make the balloons glow all at once. It's so pretty! The fire things are pretty loud and Caleb was a little scared at first, he got used to it though and I think he liked the Balloon Glow best. 

Setting up their balloon

This is the balloon all set up and "glowing"!

Some pilots couldn't hear the countdown so not every balloon is glowing. This is the jist of it though

You can walk around and be right next to the balloons. As you can see it's pretty crowded.

A couple days later we went to the Dawn Patrol in the morning where the balloons actually take flight and come back and land. There were over 300 balloons that morning. You could sit there all day and watch them fly around but Caleb wasn't having it. After a couple of hours he was more interested in the Police Horses than the balloons.

Chris, Me, Caleb and Grandma Salas

Balloons taking off

Balloons coming back

Other than the Balloon Fiesta we ate A LOT of good Mexican food, went to the zoo and got to see a couple of good friends. It was definitely a successfull trip and can't wait to take both kids next time...in a few years that is!

Time flies....when you're having fun!



It's been forever since I've posted a blog. I will not get into the details of why I haven't moved off the couch for the past 9 weeks because I might not stop, and now is not the time for a pity party. We had visitors every weekend for a month, a couple of months ago, so I'll start with that first. My Dad spent the weekend with us, so we took him to the Harley Davidson Museum in WI. I love Milwaukee and will jump on any chance to go and plus my Dad is a pretty big Harley fan. Caleb loves anything with wheels so it sounded like a good idea. I got to "test drive" a bike myself which was pretty cool. Not to worry it was set on a track so I didn't actually move anywhere. It was a lot of fun and I think we all enjoyed it.

Pap and Caleb on the Harley

 My cousin Jacoby got to come up to the windy city for the firt time. My Aunt and cousins brought him so he wouldn't be bored with just me and Caleb. We did the tourist thing around the city, water taxi, Michigan Ave., Hancock Observatory and the Bean. It was a beautiful day, perfect for shopping and strolling around. I tried to embarass him as much as I could by stopping and making him take pictures with everything. Oh, and Chris even went with us, which is a pretty big deal because he hates downtown. It was fun and he didn't want to leave so that's always a good sign. Plus Caleb loves the company and cried when everyone left. :(

Hancock Observatory

Catherine and Emmit came over one afternoon to make sushi for lunch. The poor lady was craving some sushi and she gave me a kit for my bridal shower so we finally did it. It was pretty fun and the sushi was really good. Mine were HUGE and I wasn't sure how to size them down. Catherine had to show me up with a nice presentation. We made Caleb and Emmit peanut butter and jelly sushi rolls for their lunch. They were so cute. Just a pb&j sandwich rolled up and cut like a sushi roll. We couldn't leave em out!

 Our masterpieces!

 Emmit and Caleb eating their rolls with chopsticks!

Mom came up for her birthday! I was sick with a stomach bug while she was here but being the wonderful daughter that I am I sucked it up and took her to the Botanic Garden. It was a hot miserable day but that place is so beautiful! Caleb ended up getting his head stuck in between these rails in the picture below and we weren't sure how we were going to get him out of there. We thought of butter, but darn the luck we were fresh out. Contimplated removing an ear but all we had was a fingernail file, so we just twisted, tugged and pulled while he screamed and people stared. He might have an ear that sticks out permanently now but we got him out of there. Then mom and I went to lunch, saw a sign for an astrologer and got our palms read just for fun. I'm not gonna tell you what happened when we walked through those doors...all I know is one of us peed on the couch from laughing so hard, got locked in a closet and found prescription drugs. Happy Birthday Mom!

Caleb, me and Mom (pre-head stuck scenario)

Here and There

It's been awhile since I've posted anything. We've just been layin low and running around town. Nothing too exciting. For the Fourth of July we went to see our friend Mackenzie play some holiday music at Grant Park. She played with the Chicago Orchestra, we took a blanket and lunch, and had a blast. We weren't to sure how Caleb was going to do because he didn't want to just sit there. Once the music started though he was all ears. He even danced a couple times. Never know, we might have a future band member on our hands.

 Staying occupied with some ice cream

 There's Mackenzie on the right in the white shirt :)

A couple weekends ago we were sick of hanging around the house and took of to Wisconsin. We headed into Milwaukee and went to Summerfest for the day. It's a classier, more kid friendly version of Lallopalooza. They had great food, good music and a kid area. Caleb got to play at the playground, had balloon animals made for him and then run around in the big fountain. They also had music for kids which he loved. The band let him beat their drums. It was a fun day and Milwaukee is a pretty cool little place. 

 A lady warned us she's bad at taking pictures, she tends to cut people out. Point taken!

 Our little hippie baby, no shoes, needs a hair cut and banging on the bongos!

 He refused to run through the water

 So this is what he ended up doing, sending out the vibe!

I love taking pictures of Caleb in the bathtub. If you saw his photo album you would think most of his life was spent in the tub. Chris's back was hurting so he jumped in and turned the jets on. Caleb wouldn't let him go alone so he jumped in too.

My Aunt and her family go camping a lot and they ended up this way. We met up with them at the Indiana Dunes State Park or National Forest I'm not sure which one. Anyways, it's a really nice beach, the same as here but clean, nice people and no bacteria alerts. We spent the day there and it was so HOT. The water was cool and the sand was "hot as blazes" according to Laiken. Caleb played in the sand, splashed in the water and pooped on Laiken. Played some interesting games of "Would You Rather" with Trevor, people watched and just relaxed. It's always nice to get to see family without packing up your life and driving for 5 hours.

 This is the gold gazebo we were supposed to look for amongst 50 other gold gazebos out there :)

We finally got to use Caleb's pop-up cabana and he loved it!

We've got a few visitors coming these next weekends ahead, a race to run with my sister and a wedding to attend so I'm sure we will have more frequent posts in the future. It was nice to relax and stay close to home this past month.