April showers bring...

*a flooded backyard. The realtor forgot to mention we were purchasing swamp-front property. It turns out the forest behind us (despite being totally creepy) serves a few great purposes:

1- no need to install and maintain a backyard pool which will come in really handy this summer.

2-no need to rent National Geographic videos about the perpetuation of mosquito colonies as we will have a front-row seat to witness this phenomenon in our very own backyard.

April showers ALSO bring...
*motivation to finish projects dreamed up months ago for Caleb's room such as...

-framing and hanging these super cute prints from Falldowntree (thanks, Kerri):

-designing, constructing and painting the components of this wall art project (thanks, Heather):

April showers ALSO bring...

*the Easter holiday which included:

1-waking up to find a trail of colored rabbit turds (a.k.a jelly beans) leading me to a message left by the Easter bunny himself.

2-making homemade rolls by myself for the first time ever---a smashing success I must say (thanks to my mom being available to answer my questions every 10 minutes).

3-being introduced to authentic Louisiana crawfish which was served at an Easter party (who needs ham and potatoes when you can have a big ol' cooler of crawfish?)

Don't worry, it's dead:

I wasn't overly enthused with the critters myself, but they sent us home with a tub-full which provided quite the aroma in our spacious 4-door-sedan and right on into the house. What a relief because I've been looking for crawfish-scented Glade plug-ins all over the place and kept coming up short!

What better way to receive inspiration for a Gospel Doctrine lesson than chowing on crawfish?

April showers ALSO bring...

*an adorable four-month-old boy named Caleb who still wears pjs most of the time

There were three in the bed and the little one said...

ROLL OVER, ROLL OVER!!! Which is exactly what Caleb can now do. After graduating from grandma bootcamp which consisted of early-morning calisthenics with Grandma Costley, Caleb now knows how to weasel his way out of the dreaded Tummy Time (which he has always disliked, hence the out of control bald zone--I mean, bald spot on the back of his head).

So far he's limited to rolling from tummy to back in one direction, but with a bit more practice we're confident he will master all methods of Tummy Time escape.

Here is some footage of his amazing new trick:

Giving daddy some "knucks" to celebrate his victory:

Here is a close up of the aforementioned "bald zone." Despite the kind words of consolation from many well-intentioned individuals, I have been paying close attention to the back of babies' heads lately and what Caleb has going on is NOT a "normal" bald spot. PS-this picture was taken pre-hair cut and now I can see why my mom was so adamant about buzzing him. Thanks, mom:)

In case you're wondering, here's a small snip-it of grandma bootcamp: the perfect mix of strenuous exercise followed by luxurious massage (butt rubs are his favorite).

Check out the video clip from Caleb's hair cut below...

Grandpa's charm

I had to post this video clip of Caleb's first hair cut. My dad was instrumental in completing the task without too much trauma. When I was little he was constantly making up songs and rhymes to make us laugh and his charm continues with the grandkids. Thanks to Tiff for capturing the moment on video!

Here are the "lyrics" to his tune in case the clapping makes it hard to understand:

Ha ga hee ga naga who noo noo
I don’t know why these women make you cry
This is something, all they got to do is say, “hi”
You don’t like to cry
You don’t like to moan
I don’t know why the women make you make the sounds alone.
Oh, ho, hee, they make you feel alone
Oh, ho, hee, we’re bros you and me!
…
Hee haw hee. Are they about done?
I think the end is about to be called
‘Cause in a minute you will be bald!

As a side note, the little boy who you see toward the end of the video is my sister's 2-yr-old who snuck into my parents' shower while Caleb's hair cut was in full swing and smeared body wash all over his head. Hence the reference to having "product" in his hair. He was the next client in grandma's salon.

This is a picture of the hair that was in the sink after Caleb's hair cut. How many three-month-olds have that much hair to spare???

Firsts

We've had an exciting three weeks full of firsts for Caleb:

• First airplane ride




• First time meeting his grandpas...
  
  
  

...and cousins...(Joey, Luke, Jacob, Tiff, Caleb, David; Izzy, Caleb, Lolo, & Ryan; Luke & Caleb)

...and aunts and uncles...(Aunt Ali; Aunt Jess)

...and friends! (MariLouise, Caleb & Jonathan; Melanie & Caleb; Afton, Collan, me & Caleb; Andrea, Caleb & Savannah; Lindsay, me & Caleb)

• First (and only) baby blessing
  

The Ludlow men

• First hair cut-My mom was feeling brave during our visit to UT and took on the difficult task of cutting the hair of an active 3-month-old. Thank goodness for grandpa's ability to distract and soothe and grandma's ability to buzz a moving target!
  

BEFORE:

DURING:

AFTER:

• First time in his crib (he graduated from the bassinet when we arrived back in Shreveport)
  
  
  

What an exciting life!