Ho Ho Holy Cow it is Already Almost Christmas!

So, my last post was in September, and I feel like I just composed it. As I sit here, staring at the computer screen I see that the school year is almost half over, and my son's second birthday is right around the corner. Not to mention, of course, my favorite time of year - Christmas!!! I love the decorations (seriously, I have a problem), the food (umm...another problem), and the cold weather that lets me have tons of apple cider and a fire in the fireplace. Sometimes, I get so busy or stressed that I forget how much fun this time of year is. But it has gotten so much easier with Billy. He has so much curiosity about all of the Christmas decorations, is loving playing in the cold weather, and is just so much fun that it helps me remember how much I love Christmas. It's like being a kid all over again. Here are a few pictures you can enjoy! Merry Christmas, all - and I'll try to be more consistent!

Billy and his cousin Elliot

Turkey Trottin' across the finish line!

Billy and his Aunt Jessica

Christmas Card Pose....Merry Christmas all!

Wow. Where has the time......

GONE???? School started 5 weeks ago, and after the summer I forgot how quickly the year just swooshes on by. I miss my summer days! So, here I am to blog, albeit quickly, about the happenings in the Keltner household. Billy is 20 months old. 20. In 4 months he'll be 2. I can't believe it's been two years. He can talk your ear off, mimic you perfectly (guess what you get when you spend the summer telling the loud-barking bassett to shut up? A toddler who quietly says "shut up" without moving his lips because he knows he's not supposed to say it!), race you, sing his favorite nursery rhymes (including the alphabet - mostly) on key, and tell you he does or doesn't like something. He blows me away daily. Lately, he's been asking for my sister's fiance, Chad. I told him Chad is back in Boston. Now, when he sees a picture of Chad, he says "Chad, Boton". Another crazy thing - he recognizes places we're going in the car. If we drive towards Firewheel, he says "Tina's House" (his sitter), a couple of blocks from my parents' place, he says "Bill-o, Lala", and if we exit off of 75 anywhere around Lovers, he starts looking for Gammy's house. It is pretty awesome.

Recently, Billy got to ride on his first Ferris Wheel - at Addison Oktoberfest. He saw it from across the park, pointed and said "WOW!" We rode it, and the whole time he kept saying "I up here, Wheel". He also waved at the people he saw on the ground, and kept throwing in the occasional "woah!". I can't wait to take him on the Texas Star. How much fun will THAT be!!! He also got to see hot air balloons at the Balloon Fest - and he kept telling them to "Get down". It was funny to watch him try to "catch" the balloons.

I don't know when I'll blog again, coming up soon I'll be helping my parents with the very big and extremely emotional task of packing up their house. I can't even begin to tell you all of the things that go through my mind just thinking of it. For those who don't know, they've been splitting their time between Temple and Mesquite for my dad's new job. It is too much on them to keep splitting the time between two places (financially and emotionally), so they're moving down there. Selfishly, I hate it. I know it is what needs to happen, but I've never been more than 30 minutes away from my parents....so it is a HUGE thing for me. I know it is only 2 1/2 hours, but with working, Billy, and Eric's schedule, it just makes it that much harder to see them all the time ... I know, I know, there are webcams...but that's just not the same.

Well - as Billy would say "Bye, Later"....

Testing out mobile blogging...let's see just how connected I can be! I figure with this I can at least upload silly Billy pictures more quickly!

My Son, The Clothes Horse....

So, I was doing a little maintenance on Billy's closet this morning (which is funny, because I never thin out my closet), and pulled out all of his 12 month and starting-to-get-too-short 18 month clothes. I tried to add what I pulled out to the 9-12 month tub of clothes in our recently cleaned out (only to be filled up again) guest room closet, only to find I could fit no more. I crammed them into a Central Market bag. My son, the 18 month old, has three tubs and a brown grocery bag full of clothes he's outgrown over the last 18 months. When I say tubs, I'm talking about those tubs with the hinged lids that interlock to close (when there aren't clothes spilling out of them). I have two more of them in the attic with Christmas decorations in them - they're good sized tubs. But my little man has managed to fill up THREE of them. Stuffed to the gills! How can a child this young have so many clothes??? I was looking at the stack this afternoon, and I suddenly began feeling very thankful for all of our friends and family who have so sweetly given us these pieces of clothing. I know we didn't even buy half of what is in those tubs, and that is amazing to me. That little boy is so adored by so many people - that they see things in the store and just grab them up! It is bittersweet to see all the clothes, because it seems like only yesterday he fit into the smallest of them. And I know it will be no time at all before I'm in the same situation as my Best Friend with her almost 7th grader buying new uniforms to compensate for a 2 inch growth spurt! Ahhh...if only I could just slow down time a few seconds each day!

A Sad Day for Mama...

I am writing this blog as my summer is rapidly coming to a close. I "officially" have two more weeks off, but this week I'm enrolled in a staff development course on Life Science. It is a great course, but this morning was very, very sad. Instead of running to greet my boy in his PJs and then slowly starting our morning (either with breakfast or an episode of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse), I had to get him dressed and then get ready myself. Now, me and Eric take turns in the morning during the school year - but I wanted to do it this morning. This first of what is about to be 180+ mornings where I've got to rush, rush, rush to get my already rapidly growing boy off to the sitter (whom he LOVES) so I can get off to work. If any of you have seen him lately you'd agree - there's very little baby left in him as he transitions completely into toddlerdom. I just hate that it seems that time moves so quickly! And, don't get me wrong, I love my job, BUT - I spend just about every moment wondering "what is he doing now?", "what is he learning?" "what absolutely amazing thing is he going to show me when I see him this evening?"

I know next summer will be here before I know it....and before that I've got Christmas and Spring Break as little teasers...but some days I wish we could just keep on hanging out at the house, doing our little routines and playing our little games every day. That is why weekends during the school year are so precious. That is why I tend to put everyone else on "ignore" on Saturdays....the only day me, Billy, and even Eric can just have our quiet, family at home time. So I guess this is not only a "highly emotional" post from a mom who is starting to think staying home wouldn't be all bad....but also a bit of an advance apology to everyone - since once school starts I'll either go MIA a lot, or say no more often than I want...to protect the precious few weekend days we have to play while Billy still wants to hang out with his parents ;)

That said - if you're really wanting to see us and you know we're caught up in the constant whirlwind of life...give a call and stop on by. Just know, I very strongly hold to this poem given to my by my mom - "Cleaning and scrubbing can wait til tomorrow, but babies grow up, we've learned to our sorrow. So quiet down cobwebs, and dust go to sleep - I'm rocking my baby, and babies don't keep" -Anonymous (this means, there's clutter, dust, and maybe even (gasp) dishes in the sink...so deal with it! :)

And here's a photo of my rapidly growing boy....I have some video, but all the little toot wants to do is "see" what is recording when I turn it on:

Busy bees at the Keltner household...

We've been busy around here! Between swim lessons and Tiny Tots gymnastics, there has been a LOT going on! I'm just so sad that there is less than a month left of my summer with Billy, and I really wish it could last a little longer! Next week is Billy's 18 month appointment. I cannot believe it has been a year and a half since he was born! I was looking at photos today, and he's gotten so big, and sounds so big when he talks (we're getting two word sentences now) that it is just amazing how quickly they grow and learn. I swear, by next summer I have NO IDEA where he'll be. And I know that we'll be at next summer in the blink of an eye. I wish I could slow down time a little. But, as it is, I am enjoying every minute of my summer home with Wild Bill....even when all he wants is to "come here"...because I know that soon enough he'll barely remember he used to ALWAYS want to be on my hip or sitting in my lap. Here are some recent pictures of my sweet boy having his summer fun!

swimming at Lala and Grandpa's "other" house in Temple.

Playing in the foam pit!

Front Roll! This is his favorite move. If you say front roll, he bends over and waits for you to flip him!

More fun with Lala (my mom) this time.....

Chocolate pudding - and his "surprised" face. If you ask him if he's surprised, this is the face he makes.

Swim lessons. Billy HATES having to float on his back. He'll finally do it about halfway down, but he screams the whole time.


1, 2, 3......
Dunk! Finally got him to submerge without drinking half the pool on the second to last day!

Food Allergy Strikes Again...

Well, I have now spent the last two hours doing as much research as possible on food allergies - specifically peanuts. Went to dinner tonight, Billy, my mom, and me, at Olive Garden. Ordered Billy the ravioli, and mom and I each got a pasta dish. As we waited on food, Billy gnawed on a bread stick and we ate our salad. When the food got there, we got cheese on our dishes and mom offered Billy some of her shredded cheese (he is a CHEESE MANIAC) while he waited impatiently for me to get his food ready. Shortly after this, three hives appeared on his chin and the skin over his mouth. My mom noticed it first. I wiped his face and hands and we continued our meal, thinking he looked better. After a bite of the ravioli, more hives appeared, all around his mouth. Panicked, I dug in the diaper bag to find the Benadryl, which I found quickly, and the medicine dropper - which took a minute. I gave him the Benadryl, and within minutes his hives were going away.

I asked the server if any of the food was prepared with nuts, and he gave me a blank look. Then he said, "I don't believe so". I have since emailed Olive Garden (they really don't have any info on their website available as to allergens), hopefully I'll get a response. We assumed it had something to do with the cheese grater or the block of cheese, because that seemed to be the thing that kicked off the hives. Somehow, I think something came in contact with peanuts (or, since it is an Italian place, I'm thinking pine nuts), or he's allergic to something else now, too.

Fortunately, there are a ton of moms of food allergic kids in cyberspace, and I've been reading many of their stories tonight. I'm also going to visit Amazon and purchase a couple of books, and it looks like I might be baking his birthday cake from now on (too many scary stories of bakery incidents). After this event, I'm going to have to be much more vigilant, and make sure EVERYONE who takes care of Billy knows to read EVERY label. Probably ought to make sure there is always Benadryl ready for him, too. I guess I'll need to attach the medicine dropper to the bottle in the bag, because seriously, I was panicked trying to find it.

You know, just when you think you're getting the hang of this parenting thing, here comes a curveball, and it's back to square one. Oh well - off to research more ways to keep him safe around peanuts....