A day with Caleb, and a RIDICULOUS amount of photos

A day with my favorite big boy in Cashville:
The Child and Youth Services on post offers a Super Saturday twice a month where they invite families with a deployed Soldier to a day (9-5) of free childcare. Today I took Joshua in to his classroom while Caleb and I went to Nashville. Caleb's been talking about leaving Joshua here and going to the museum for a week now. We went to the Frist Center in Nashville. They have a cool exhibit up called Paint Made Flesh with some cool images by artists like Picasso, Francis Bacon, Lucian Freud, Willem de Kooning, and Jenny Saville. It was fun talking about art with Caleb, and seeing how manipulating paint can render different aspects of human flesh. After that we hit up the "ArtQuest" exhibit which is a kids area with lots of stations with things to draw, paint, make, build, etc. He loved it. I loved playing with just him and being able to focus on what interests him. We paint and draw at home, but this inspired me to do different things. We hit up the Museum Cafe for a coffee (me) and a muffin (him) before we got in the car and headed towards Nolensville and the most delicious Mexican restaurant and tortilleria in the city. It was so worth it. I got some fish tacos and a veggie quesadilla to go. Sitting and waiting with just Caleb in the restaurant was great. He just sat and relaxed while I chomped on chips and read a magazine. Delightful. Caleb picked out a cookie with sprinkles at the tortilleria to go along with his turkey and cheese in his new "lunch pack." (Thanks, Michelle.)


With our picnic lunches in tow, we headed down toward Metro Park to eat and run around. The park is on the river at the end of Broadway (where all of Country Honky Tonks are). I took a few pictures of Caleb, in an effort to get that 3 year old portrait. I don't think I got it, but I got some cute ones.

And we ended the day at Fort Nashborough, a tiny little area with some 17th century artifacts that Caleb enjoyed looking at and playing in.

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Styles by Joshua


You know that scene in the Little Mermaid where Ariel thinks the fork is a comb? Joshua hasn't seen the movie, but he knows the moves.

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Caleb's 3rd Birthday

Caleb's third birthday was two Saturdays ago. We had lots of little friends here, five toddlers besides Caleb and Joshua. After some homemade pizza and a lot of noise, we brought Caleb his birthday cake. When I asked Caleb what he wanted for his birthday a month ago, he said, "A lion cake with cherries." At some point, he changed his mind and he wanted a "Truck cake with cherries." So that's what I made. With some help from my mom and sister Amanda, and three hours of careful placement of icing, the masterpiece was made. Caleb was delighted with his cake, but barely took a bite, he was so excited. Opening presents consisted of a thirty minute paper-tear and Caleb was assisted by some of his friends.
His favorite presents this year were a play-drill from my Grandma, and a dress-up Soldier costume. Luckily our friends David and Robin, helped him put his costume to use as they led him through a mission to fight the bad guys using his compass, map, flashlight, binoculars, and knife. The bad guys (David) didn't stand a chance, especially when Caleb called for back-up from the Blackhawks nearby. (Robin's a Blackhawk pilot.)
We loved having so many friends and family come for the party. Caleb felt special and was proud to look just like Dada at the end of the night.

A few more pictures of my creation:

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The last test I'll have to take for a while

Joshua woke up early with me one morning a few weeks ago. Do you think he gets it?


Baby number 3 from Kristen Toth on Vimeo.

By the way, I now know that there is a smudge on the lens of my camera (a baby's dirty fingerprint, no doubt), which is why I say in the video "It's not a hundred percent clear." But really it is. Also, I was silly and thought that the horizontal line in the circle window was the one that mattered, but really it's the vertical line that is the sign of a positive test.
So, we're having a baby! Don't know the due date, but we should soon. I'm having a dating ultrasound on Sunday. I'm either 9 weeks right now (with a due date of Sept. 29) or 13 weeks (with a due date of Aug. 31). Kevin's due back in August.

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Same as above

For some (blogger)reason, I can't get the original post to show comments unless I have this similar post beneath it. Maybe it's because I'm using Vimeo for the first time? I don't know.

Joshua woke up early with me one morning a few weeks ago. Do you think he gets it?


Baby number 3 from Kristen Toth on Vimeo.

By the way, I now know that there is a smudge on the lens of my camera (a baby's dirty fingerprint, no doubt), which is why I say in the video "It's not a hundred percent clear." But really it is. Also, I was silly and thought that the horizontal line in the circle window was the one that mattered, but really it's the vertical line that is the sign of a positive test.
So, we're having a baby! Don't know the due date, but we should soon. I'm having a dating ultrasound on Sunday. I'm either 9 weeks right now (with a due date of Sept. 29) or 13 weeks (with a due date of Aug. 31). Kevin's due back in August.

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More Zoo pictures

Me-aw (my mom) and Joshua
Caleb and a sea lion

All three of us miss you, Dada The whole zoo crew. From left my sister Amanda, Caleb, Joshua, me, Russell, cousins Knox and Ashton, Me-aw.

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Memphis Zoo

We visited my sister and her family last weekend in Memphis for baby Knox's first birthday. I have a thousand other pics, but I saw these and wanted to share right away. We all loved the polar bears at the zoo yesterday.

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Binging in the Zone- NOT a good idea

I've been living in the "Zone" for the past 2 weeks. Not a diet, but for healthy nutrition. I got Kevin some Zone books for his birthday in December and said I would cook for him according to it. I did it for a week before he left and I realized that it is pretty easy to adhere to. It's mostly just eating a balanced diet of protein, carbs, and fats, and making sure that the carbs are good carbs- lots of veggies, some fruit, little refined grains. And eating often so you don't start looking for snackies. The hardest part is cutting up all the veggies.
Anyways, I've been on it for a couple of weeks. My exceptions have been a couple of cookies, and some diet cokes. But then yesterday was a road trip to my sister's in Memphis. I was hustling out of the door and failed to pack lunches. We ended up at the only stop in the middle of nowhere in the middle of I-40: Arby's. Sure, I'll splurge, I thought. I've been good. A roast beef sandwich, half of a curly fries, and 2 big diet cokes. Almost immediately I felt like I had a rock in my stomach. By the time I got to my sister's a couple of hours later, I was woozy and nauseous. I felt terrible the entire afternoon and evening. It was really difficult playing with the boys. Late at night I saw my yucky lunch again and finally I felt better.
I guess it was the combination of not eating grease or saturated fat for so long and a skunky sandwich that must have been less than fresh. It's good motivation to to get back in the Zone, and not binge anymore.
Just because I'm looking for company, is anyone else out there (in addition to Michelle) in the Zone?

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Maintenance Man

It was another day indoors, we had two maintenance appointments keeping us in all morning. When the man came to fix the broken light fixture on the fan, he brought a drill with him. Very exciting for the boys. (The globe was broken by a certain little boy throwing a wooden ball in the air, repeatedly.) The boys were enthralled, to say the least. I even got them some cheese snacks to eat while they watched.

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A day indoors

It's still freezing cold outside. When it's below freezing I have a hard time even wanting to go to the gym. So I didn't. We made smoothies, which the boys loved.Caleb drank it up, while Joshua took his to the computer where he started yelling "Dada! Dada!" (There's a picture of Kevin and Caleb as the wallpaper on the monitor.)
After I got him down from his dangerous perch, I came back in the kitchen to find this nice painting. Then a couple of little friends, Brooke and Saedi came over for a little visit. Brooke asked for a cookie and I couldn't resist. So the three older babies ate snickerdoodles. (I know they are flat, I'm trying to find the best recipe. Haven't found it yet.)

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