Jumper to dress

This last weekend we were in SL looking at homes and decided to stop by the DownEast warehouse clearance store in South Salt Lake (West Hope Ave). My sis had gone there a few days ago and said they had swim suits for $12! When we went there weren't many suits in my size but I did get a tankini for $12 which is such a steal. For the last several months whenever I've gone into a DownEast I've been eying this jumpsuit. It looks so easy to wear and comfortable, but the price was always way too high for me since it would kind of be an experimental outfit. Anyway, the clearance center had the jumpsuit for only $10! Granted they only had one and I didn't know it at the time but it was probably two sizes too small (there are no dressing rooms at the center and every sale is final). I got home and tried it on..yikes. I still loved it and thought it had potential so I went to work on it. I was able to turn it into a tea-length dress and I love it!

Still would love to own this jumpsuit...just in the right size

I think this may be my first big transformation of clothing and while I don't want to have to re-purpose all of my clothes, it is kind of fun once in a while :-)

Happenings

 We haven't been up to much lately, just enjoying the summer! Justin's new job is going well, we are still adjusting to the change in our evenings though. Whereas Justin used to be home around 5:30 and we would all eat together, I feed Caleb, prepare dinner for Justin and I then eat when he gets home around 6:30. We will play with C for a bit then put him down around 7pm. Justin doesn't get much quality time with C during the week now, mostly on the weekends. The night before C's 1st birthday though, he was totally tuckered out at 7pm (not sure what we did that day but it must have been exhausting). Caleb gave dad some 1st rate snuggle time, which is beyond rare. I don't think Caleb has cuddled/slept on us like this since he was a newborn.



On Caleb's birthday, I tried to make it a special day for him. We had breakfast & balloons, in between naps we played with bubbles (& I tried my hand at a 1st birthday photo shoot, which did not go very well). That evening we had cupcakes and attended the Strawberry Days Rodeo. It was the first time Caleb and I have been to a rodeo, kind of a fun atmosphere! When you are in that strong, country atmosphere you feel like it is the coolest thing to wear bejeweled leather outfits and ride horses around...then you leave the rodeo and reality sets back in. 

Have you ever seen such a look of determination??

And then the innocent eyes that follows the cupcake destruction

We have been frequenting the pool, blessed pool. Caleb still is so happy in the pool and I am so happy to be enjoying the sun. Justin joins us on the weekend, we love our do-whatever-we-please Saturdays.

We have also started the house hunting a bit more seriously, we have contacted a realtor even! There are still so many unknowns...mostly where he want to live exactly. But that is also taking up our evenings, searching for homes online and then driving around areas on the weekend. Utah doesn't really offer our preferred, traditional/colonial two-story (brick) home, we are mostly seeing split levels (eck), but we will probably end of living in a split level, compromise is the name of the game! At least we are living in a beautiful area with family nearby.

Hope everyone is enjoying their summer, it is going by super fast. I know what comes next, so I am really trying to enjoy these long summer days as much as possible!

Caleb's 1st Birthday

In some ways this last year has been the hardest ever...sleep deprivation, hormonal craziness, adjusting to being a stay-at-home mom. But without a doubt, it has been the happiest and most fulfilling year of my life and of our family's. We are so blessed to have Caleb in our family. He is so full of life and happiness. He is curious and investigates everything in sight. He has the most hilarious stare that he gives everything he is unsure of, Justin and I even get it from time to time. Who would have thought the baby that cried so hard he stopped breathing would grow into this gleeful, happy infant (who truly rarely cries, just fusses loudly). He makes being a stay-at-home mom a sweet job!


 
Here are some updates:
+ Weight: 19 lbs 2 oz (6th %tile)
+Length: 29.5" (33 %tile)

+ Caleb has three words in his vocabulary now: Dada, Momma (granted he doesn't say this very often), and Nana
+ Caleb is pretty great at feeding himself with his little pinchers. He loves cheerios, bread, well... he is really a big fan of any normal food, its baby food that he doesn't care too much for now. He hasn't warmed up to cow's milk unfortunately. I'm hoping he starts to enjoy it soon, I'm ready to be done with formula!
+ Caleb loves sitting up and playing with his toys. He can still navigate around on the ground to get what he wants, but he does it in a mixture of rolls and scooting on his back. Not a crawler yet!
+ Caleb LOVES the pool. He is so content floating around in his baby float, I don't keep track of time but its long enough for his toes to turn into prunes!
+ Caleb has started clapping and patting his belly and doing all sorts of silly hand movements.

 We had a birthday celebration for Caleb last Saturday night. We had pizza & cupcakes, opened presents then we took the party to the pool! It was such a fun evening and even better, we were surrounded by all our family and friends. Thanks for coming everyone!

An American Tale: Blackhams Go West

The week following Justin's graduation, we had planned our family vacation to San Diego. It worked out perfectly, Justin's last day at Pinnacle was on June 6th (he was able to leave early) and we headed on our trip that evening. (We unfortunately got bad news from Toyota when we took our Highlander in for a check-up, a major part was malfunctioning and the car wouldn't be fit for a road trip. However, Toyota said the part was still under warranty, yes!, and they would cover the cost of a rental car while our car was being repaired, yes yes!. So although we didn't want to pay extra for a rental car it was such a blessing. We had a bigger SUV, we didn't have to put miles on our Highlander, and we didn't have to worry about cleaning our Highlander out when we got home).

So aside from that setback, we were all packed and ready to hit the road. Of course, road trips with an infant don't go as quickly as you think they would. And to be honest, I am not the best at road trips either, my small bladder makes for frequent stops. Poor Justin! He is used to his nonstop drives to Chicago. Anyway, we were making a stop in Vegas to break up the length of the road trip. We got into Vegas around 11pm Wednesday night. We stayed at our favorite place-the JW Marriott, its west of the strip, in a quiet part of town, and is such a nice resort. The weather was beautiful and we spent Thurs and Fri soaking up the sun at the pool and enjoying our evenings around town. We took Caleb (in his stroller) to the Vegas Strip Thursday night. There was so much happening that Caleb was enamored the entire time. We didn't realize how many escalators and stairs you have to navigate around when you take a stroller but it was better than carrying him the whole time! We did our usual stops, the Bellagio Conservatory and fountains and we added a couple new stops this time: the flamingos at The Flamingo Hotel and a sundae at Serendipity 3. There were so many nice people commenting on how cute and good Caleb was. We haven't taken Caleb out of Utah much, where a baby is a common occurrence, it is cute to see how non-Utahans gush over babies. Our time in Vegas went by too fast but we hit the road Saturday afternoon and made our way to San Diego.

The amazing Bellagio Conservatory. They change out many of these flowers daily. There was a ladybug made of red carnations (at least 300 of them the sign said) and they were changed daily!

Caleb was so enthralled by everything, he had to sit up in his carseat for most of the Vegas strip visit

Caleb was mesmerized by the fountains

We arrived in San Diego Saturday around 9:30pm. We got up and attended a local ward's Sacrament meeting, went home and napped then went to the Mormon Battalion and the San Diego Temple. The Mormon Battalion in Old Town is amazing. The Church has done an awesome job with the message given and the interactive movie they show. Plus Justin's great (not sure how many generations it is honestly..) grandfather helped with the Mormon Battalion and later settled Spring City but his gun is kept in the glass case at the Battalion. How cool is that?! The Temple was gorgeous, albeit, I am still partial to the Logan Temple :-)

Other activities from the week... driving up the PCH, shopping right at the US/Mexico border, visiting Point Loma tide pools, walking around Old Town, a quick visit to the Coronado beach (we stayed on Coronado and loved our location!), and trying to swim at our pool. The unexpected thing about San Diego was how chilly it was! Not only was it chilly but since we were on the coast it was cloudy most every day. Sunday was really only our sunny day. We wanted to swim in our pool and spend time at the beach but it was just too cold unfortunately. (Made us wonder why we didn't stay in Vegas the whole time!) But we still enjoyed our family time and sightseeing.

What's that there in the sky Caleb?

The Mormon Battalion

Caleb getting in his nightly read before bed

This dessert was as delicious as it looks. From a popular place called Extraordinary Desserts. I wish we could have tried everything they had! This was a "Fruited Chocolate Tart"...the fruit was so good with the chocolate!

Point Loma tide pools

Old Town was so bright and vibrant... or maybe it was because we hadn't seen the sun much! I loved the Spanish style buildings and atmosphere

Old Town had a shop that specialized in root beer and beef jerky. Justin was in heaven with their 'smooth' root beers

Our sundae from Ghiradelli. Don't worry...although Caleb would have taken that big of a bite for sure, we didn't get it all to him...at once at least.

Coronado beach

View from our balcony

It was a wonderful trip!! Caleb was a sweetheart the whole time. We were worried about the car rides and him sleeping in our room in his pack n play. He couldn't sleep at first in the car but got used to it towards the end of the trip and he slept even better on our trip then he does when we are at home. I am guessing we wore him out pretty good! But I was so happy to come home at the end of the trip!