Halloween Weekend

 We enjoyed a nice little Halloween in the comfort of our home this year. Kal-el is still a bit to young to go running around on foot for Trick-Or-Treating so we opted to stay in for some home made treats and family time watching the Oregon game instead. This was Chris's last weekend home before his conductor training in GA so the cozy family time was much needed. I don't think either of us minded that we didn't have to stuff an unwilling toddler into a custume and run around like mad dodgeing traffic for sugar filled candies that he couldn't eat anyway! The only thing I wish I could of gotten was a picture of Super in his garden gnome costume. Kal-el hated the hat that came with the costume and absolutely refused to sport the ensemble in its entirety. :(  He usually loves wearing hats so I never dreamed this costume wouldn't agree with him. Oh well..note to self ..no hats next year :) He still ended up with lots of treats from all of our family. Kal-el couldn't of been any happier munching on the Oregon and Halloween cupcakes that Mommy made while he and Daddy watched the game Saturday night.   Today we got up early and made sure Daddy was packed and ready to go on his 3 week work trip. Kal-el was asleep when it was time for him to leave (probably a good thing) so I let him play over at Nannie and Poppa's while I drove Chris bear to the drop off location to wait for his carpool. Kal-el and I will be thinking about him every second and praying for his safe return. Chris has made a couple of trips  to Oregon alone in the 5 years that we have been together. So this isn't the longest we have had to go but it will be a big adjustment for little man. I always leave little notes in his suitcases. This one said....We love and miss you sooooo much already xoxoxo *Big lip prints on note* Love Lauren, Super, and Little Bean
If it gets to crazy I'll just have Super fly me down there ;)

 

Chris trying to get Kal-el to like his costume

Halloween cupcakes..yummy

Chris's Oregon cupcakes :)

Game time!

Trying to lick coffee from Daddy's finger lol

Super could literally watch football all day with his Daddy..Ginger however doesn't have

an option..she is the designated good luck charm that is forced to watch all games ..good girl Ginger! lol

Chris and I right before he left :)

Kal-el's First Modeling Assignment

   This past week Kal-el's modeling agency out of Nashville gave us a call and asked if we would be interested in having Kal-el appear in his very first commerical. We were so happy that he was chosen out of several children from several different agencies. We of course said yes after hearing the details. The commerical is for Williamson Medical Center in Franklin TN and it will air in the general Nashville area. Kal-el played the role of a "young professional's son". The scene centers around a father coming home and interacting with his son after work. The commerical is entitled "What Matters Most" and is a very family oriented commerical. We thought this would be a great first time experience for Super!
   Chris and I had a wonderful drive up to Tennessee with no major occurrences other than a wet diaper and some less than favorable weather conditions. The filming location for the particular scene that starred Kal-el was in a beautiful home in one of Franklin's neiborhoods. When we arrived we were meet with a warm welcome from the film crew as well as the director and producer. They were crazy about Kal-el from the minute then saw him and after he warmed up a little he turned into as little ham as he interacted with them.  Two of the producer's 9 children..that's right 9!!! were there so Super really enjoyed playing with them. The fact that they were both very pretty little girls didn't hurt! :) While the crew finished filming the prior scene we were told to make ourselves at home. Some very yummy catered food was brought in and Kal-el wasgiven some tennis balls to play with because he kept saying ball and one of the crew went to round some up for him. Wow acting like a star already...huh Super? :) Kal-el got his hair brushed by the makeup artist (thats all they do to kids) while his clothes were being steamed. He loved every single minute of the attention. He kept staring at her powder brush that she used on the other actors and eventually started whining for it. He sees Mommy use hers and sometimes gets to play with it. After a few more rounds of tossing the balls back and forth it was time for Kal-el to film his scene.
   The room with all the film crew, bright lights, and big cameras seemed a bit overwhelming at first. Most of it was somewhat familiar to me from my modeling days but commerical set ups are a bit different and require the involvement of more individuals to execute the game plan. Once Kal-el had a second to take it all in he started to notice everyone around him and seemed to be totally at ease. There was only one problem. My sweet boy liked everyone on set EXCEPT the guy who was supposed to be playing his father...uh oh..not good especially considering they were to be the only two individuals in the scene. Not sure what the actor's deal was but it was painfully obvious that he was a little uncomfortable with kids and had not a clue how to interact with them. The director had to give him very specific instructions about working with children. He eventually caught on. It really was a major team effort. Chris played a huge role in getting Kal-el to walk right where they needed him and to smile on cue. Lots and lots of balls had to be thrown back and forth to keep Super happy and to ward off any boredom. I had to stay stragically hidden behind a door opening for the majority of the filming. I was trying to remain unseen because I knew Kal-el would run over to me if he saw me. I would occasionally stick my camera out and sneak a shot of the filming process. Chris did most of the work because Kal-el responded better to his requests. No suprise there! lol Kal-el would get distracted and occasionally run over to the director's camera seat on wheels and yell "CAR!" Everyone thought this was so funny. He would also grab the teddy bear on set, proceed to kiss it, bite it's nose and then full body tackle it! More roars of laughter. Kal-el is so rotten. :) We were finally told that it was a wrap. They got all the shots they needed. The director told us he was very pleased with how filming went.

   We had such an awesome time and I am so proud of Kal-el. I absolutely can't wait to see the results once the editing process is finished. Looks like Mr. Hollywwod might be following in Mommy's footsteps, then again he may end up not really caring for it, which is totally fine to. Whatever he chooses Chris and I will always support him 100%. Either way he can now say he appeared in his very first commerical at 19 months old! So glad we found a dependable professional agency for little man and we look forward to hearing from them in the future. I will be sure and post the commerical as soon as I can get my hands on it!

On the ride down...can you tell he wants my camera out of his face lol

The beautiful shoot location

Sharing an apple with Daddy inbetween takes...

A quick change of shirts with Mommy..

On set :)

All done time to go home..they let him have a couple of balls for the drive home :)

Daddy's New Job

 Chris recently took a conductor position with Norfolk Southern Railway. My  great grandfather, grandfather, father as well as my husband's grandfather all retired from the railroad. It's almost like tradition in a way. It can be hard work at times but provides a nice living and wonderful benefits. We are so grateful that he got on when he did. There are not that many good jobs in this area so this is such a blessing. Chris has worked hard and I'm very proud of him. He leaves for 3 weeks of training in Duluth, GA this coming Sunday. I'm going to miss him so much. I don't know who will go crazy first...me or Super :) I'm sure we will be fine. I've made jokes about having a life sized cardboard photo cut out of me that he can prop up in his hotel room. He was so excited about that idea! I'm kidding, he thinks I'm full of weirdness :) At any rate it may end up being a loooong three weeks. I told him not to be suprised if I'm showing when he gets back. I started showing at 8 weeks with Kal-el and I hear it's sooner the second go around. Chris will be home just in time for Thanksgiving and for our first ultrasound at my 10 weeks doctors appointment. Please pray for his safe travel, return, and of course my sanity!

Keeping Up With Kal-el- October

 - The theme for this month would have to be balls. Any kind, football, basketball, baseball, tennis ball, Kal-el loves them all.  He smiles so sweetly when one gets tossed his way. He is going to fall in love with sports. I'm sure Dada can't wait!

- Super is doing some major talking as of lately.  He tries to mimick new words that he hears us say regularly. His vocab has expanded to include several new words.  "Ball" and "Car" are his two favorite words of the moment but "chicken" and "Papa" have also made their way out of his little mouth! Any time we go for a ride he points out all the different cars and proudly says "car".

- He is still so in love with other children.  He hasn't meet a single child ..girl or boy that he doesn't want to interact with. This may be slightly more true for the little girls that Casanova meets . :) I know he will make the best big brother ever!

- I have pointed to my tummy a couple of times and showed Kal-el where the baby will be. He giggles and then puts his finger in my belly button and says "Baby!"

- He can now point out most of his body parts. He loves to point out Mommy's eyes, nose, and lips. The eye part is not always gentle..meaness! ;)

- He is not anywhere near over his love for shoes...he will literally try on anyones shoes anytime, anyplace. The bigger and more adult looking the shoe the better.

- Kal-el has a new favorite urban dance song..."Teach me how to Dougie" Chris always lets him watch the Oregon mascot version...  the "duckie" lol We all love Puddles the duck!

- His bedtime the first half of this month was 12:00 midnight, no thats not a typo....lol...after much work we have brought that down to 10 pm.

-He has decided just this month that he despises his carseat when he's sleepy. Previously this was a welcomed spot for a nice nap on a car ride. That is no more. He fights sleep harder than ever in his car seat but thankfully gives it up pretty easily any other time. I think we can manage this trade off.

-He adores bath time. His favorite is taking a bath with Mommy or Daddy in the big bathtub where he can play with his water basketball set!

-Kal-el got his first call back from his Nashville modeling agency this month...he is going to be in his very first commerical..I will post details very soon!

Wordless Wednesday- Cuddle time with Tuggs

Book of the Month- The Very Hungry Caterpillar

This month's selection has been around a long time. It's quite the classic. I even remember reading it when I was a child. Aunt Sandra sent this book to Kal-el a few weeks back and he absolutely adores it! He loves to stick his little fingers over all the holes in the pages where the caterpillar has been. He becomes irrate if we turn the pages before he is done! :) Chris and I read this one just about every night per Super's request. Kal-el has a favorite page and I have to admit that its my favorite. It's this one.....

This is the part of the book where the caterpillar seriously gets down on some food. I always have ad libs when I read to Kal-el. Partly to keep Chris and I entertained.

The page reads "On Saturday he ate through one piece of chocolate cake, one ice cream cone, one pickle, one slice of Swiss cheese, one slice of salami, one lollipop, one piece of cherry pie, one sausage, one cupcake, and one slice of watermelon.

I always insert random statements like..." Wow chunky butt caterpillar must of dined at Ryan's buffet." "Or thats what Mommy ate everyday when you were in her tummy." We all giggle. It's a great little book with lots of bright colors that encourages counting. I don't think we will be tired of this one anytime soon! 

Symptoms?...Already!

  So I am only 5 weeks pregnant but wow am I ever aware of it! I was a good 8 weeks into my last pregancy before I started having symptoms but thats definately not the case this time. If you know me you know how much I love food. These days I'm pretty much revolted by my former love. Sweets and desserts really turn me off at the moment. This is coming from someone who typically would welcome something sweet after almost any meal. I've lost a about 3 pounds so far.  I'm able to keep food down I just don't want very much of it. It's actually helping me to keep a healthy mind set this time around. When I was preggo with Kal-el I did what many first time mothers do and cashed in my one time pass to eat like a piggy. I think I was already up 10lbs at this point in my last pregancy. Being more conscience of my eating will also help when I'm chasing around a two year old late in my pregnancy!
 I wouldn't call it a craving by any means but for some reason one of the only things that my tummy can handle right now is an......Egg Sandwich. Not sure why. I'm not even fond of eggs really but yesterday at lunch it hit me that I could probably handle it and might even enjoy it! So thats what I had...an Egg Sandwich with no mayo and a couple of pieces of bacon and it did the trick. Not sure what next week will bring but the eggs have it this week!

Wordless Wednesday- Before and After Big Boy Haircut!

Happy 78th Birthday Nannie!

 We had such a wonderful time celebrating Nannie's 78th Birthday today! It's hard to believe that a whole year has past. Kal-el was only 9 months old at her birthday party last year and this year he is 19 months and eating all of her birthday cake up! :) I don't think she minded one bit! They are so close and as a extra gift this year Nannie found out that she is going to be a Great Grandmother again! What a happy time. Happy Birthday Nannie, we love you so much!
Chris, Lauren, "Super" & Borquez "Bean"  :-)

Bless my sweet child's heart he look completly TERRIFIED of the LOUD

Birthday song!