Caleb is 1

Do I like my birthday cake? 

I do!  I do!

I scream!  I shake!

I want to eat it with my hands.

I want to eat it like a man.

I like to throw it in my hair;

I like to throw it everywhere!

So I'm no Dr. Seuss, but that poem has been running through my head all morning!  Caleb had a Cat in the Hat birthday party, complete with a Cat-in-the-Hat cake that Sarah had baked.  It's safe to say Caleb liked it!

Caleb was much more mellow than Jacob was at his first birthday party.  He pretty much just went with the flow.

Oooh, look... balloons!

He got lots of cool presents, and then we played outside for a while until naptime.  And when's ready for his nap- he's ready!  Don't even try to take one last picture!

Happy First Birthday Caleb!

The One About Hair

I'm a bit obsessed with my hair.  Not obsessed as in, "Wow, my hair always looks so awesome," but obsessed as in, "Hmmm... I wonder if people think my hair looks wierd today."  That kind of obsessed. 

So when I found this cute little blog called It's the Small Things, I was seriously jealous over Kate's hair skillz.  Granted, she is a professional, but I would give my right arm to be able to do my hair like hers.

See? 

via

She calls this style the Bouncy Curled Under and even gives a tutorial! It looks easy, but something tells me she and I would not end up with the same result, though! 

How about this one?

via

A-dorable!  Again, this style has a video tutorial. 

How funny would it be if I brought my laptop into the salon so my stylist could watch these videos?  I might actually do it!

TGIF!

The Pictures That Would Have Been

We went to Frank's parents' over Labor Day weekend.  We had a great time, and I took lots of great pictures which I planned on posting here until I discovered they had been deleted by a naughty little 21 month old. 

So, this post will tell you about the pictures that would have been....

*  The first picture would have been one of Jacob and his cousin Brett playing in the grass at the high school football game on Friday night.  Brett had given Jaocb a little Bearcats t-shirt, so they were both in school shirts.  It didn't matter that Jacob doesn't talk much; they communicated in the language of boys:  wrestling, running, and rolling the grass.  As I watched those two under the lights of the football field, I couldn't help but think that soon, they would probably be on the other side of the fence as high school football players.

*  The next pictures would be some great family pictures from Bennie's, the Italian restaurant we went to on Saturday night to celebrate Anna's birthday.  It's difficult to catch that many people in a good pose, so I'm especially sad about losing these.  The restaurant was very family-friendly, and we had a great time. 

*  The next picture would have been of Anna's red, white, and blue birthday cake.  It was pretty. And tasty.

*  The next picture would have been on Frank and me, sitting on the back deck at my sister-in-law Rachael's sister Bobbi's house.  (Did you follow that?)  After we put Jacob to bed, we headed over there to meet Rachael and Garett, Rachael's two sisters and cousin and their husbands, along with two other couples. There was a bonfire, kids making s'mores, and tons of food.  I so enjoyed hanging out with everyone and found myself wishing that we lived closer so we could do it more often.  (Disclaimer:  I didn't actually bring my camera here, but while I'm recreating pictures, let's just pretend I did.)

*  The next picture would have been of Jacob riding rides at the DuQuoin State Fair.  This is the first time he's ever ridden a real ride, other than a carousel or a ride at the mall!  I was a little nervous strapping him in, but he LOVED it!  Jenna and Brett took turns riding with him, too, so that made me feel better.  There were only three rides that Jacob could ride since he is under 36 inches tall, but he rode them to death!  Here's a little video link of the kids at the fair...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtuXaELffD0&feature=youtube_gdata

Goodbye Summer 2011

Feeding Time

If you know Jacob at all, you know that he's a terrible eater.  His eating- or lack thereof- is a subject that deserves at least one entire post, but it's also a subject that consumes so much of my day that I hate thinking about any more than I have to. 

I did think of a couple of new tricks this week.  I bought him a new plate and silverware with the Cars 2 characters, that so far (knock on wood), keeps him a bit more interested in his food.  We've also been "feeding" his stuffed animals, which he totally enjoys. 

Much as this subject annoys/stresses me out, this picture of him feeding his stuffed dolphin is seriously adorable. 

Updates

Sorry to tell such a long, rambling story about our hot water and then leave you hanging on the ending.  The ending was actually very anti-climactic:  The plumber came that afternoon, and within a few minutes, he was back upstairs.  He had lit the pilot light and really had no explanation for why we couldn't get it to stay lit that morning, other than we had really strong winds overnight and into the early morning.  The best part?  He didn't charge us!!

Remember this post?  I went to Hobby Lobby that weekend to look for supplies.  However, by the time I found a frame I liked ($34 at 50% off), a "J" letter, two different kinds of spray paint, and some ribbon, the cost would have been just as much as buying something new, so I decided to pass.  I would really like to get some new fall decorations this year, so I'll save my money for that.  It's a cute project, though, and something to keep in mind should I ever find a cheap frame. 

And finally, a nail polish update.  (I'll bet Frank just stopped reading.) This is Essie's "Chinchilly," one of their new fall colors. 

Love it!  Dark nail polish sometimes looks a little goth on me because I'm so fair, but this is a nice steely-grey color that's just perfect for fall!

Hot Water and Hot Tempers

***Warning- Rant Ahead***

Some of you might already know that last Thursday, the pilot light on our water heater went out.  We (and when I say "we," I really mean Frank, because I'm too nervous to mess with it) couldn't get it re-lit, so we called the plumber. 

The good news?  The plumber said it was likely the thermocouple, and that's a cheap fix. 

The bad news?  Our water heater is an American, and this particular part had a class-action suit against it, so we had to order the conversion kit directly from the company... and wait three more days.  (It's now Saturday.)

So we heat stock pots of water on the stove for baths, and I put off most of the laundry until Tuesday, when the part is scheduled to arrive.  It's annoying, but it's only a few days, right? 

On Tuesday, I was thrilled to call the plumber to tell him that the part had arrived.  The plumber installs the new part late Tuesday afternoon and- yay!- we have hot water!  If only this were the end of the story.

This morning, Frank took a suspiciously lukewarm shower, and when we went down to inspect the water heater, sure enough, the pilot light was out.  I called the plumber who said that American ships a defective part about 50% of the time!  He instructed me to call the company, explain the situation, ask for a new part, and also ask for a labor code that he can use so that we don't have to pay for the installation. 

When I call American, they said not only would they not send the new part for free, or pay for the installation, they would only re-ship the part if the plumber came back to troubleshoot.  Their reasoning was that they couldn't be sure it was really their part that was the problem.  This option left me paying for a service call, a part, and an installation fee, which I ever-so-nicely explained to them would NOT be happening. 

Fast forward three more phone calls to the plumber, one more call to the company, and a phone call to Frank,who also called the company, and that brings us up to now.  American still refuses to take responsibility for the part and now alleges it must have been faulty installation by the plumber.  The plumber is coming back out today to troubleshoot, and says that if it was their error, we will not be charged.  If they determine that it is the part, they will call the company and continue to push for them to pay the installation costs.  The owner of the plumbing company has also made a separate contact to American this morning about their customer service and shifting of blame, and I'm waiting to hear the outcome of that call. 

The best case scenario is that we are out another $100 and without hot water for a few more days.  Worse case scenario?  I won't even jinx us by typing it....