Kale's first Thanksgiving

Such a happy boy! Kale had turkey baby food for Thanksgiving. It smelled so gross...like cat food. I think I will stick with feeding him fruits and veggies.

David had several people come visit him for Thanksgiving. The hospital put on a nice Thanksgiving dinner for all of the vets and their families. The food actually was not bad, considering it came from a hospital cafeteria!

 Happy Thanksgiving from the Helling family!

Our Trip to DC

We made a trip to DC to visit David Ray over the Thanksgiving holiday. Kale is doing well and is up and about much of the time. Kale enjoyed hanging out in his bed.

David took Kale for a spin in his new electric wheelchair. He raced up and down the hallway and did donuts. Kale loved it.

 I love this picture of the two of them together. Kale just loves his Uncle David.

 Kale's current obsession is cell phones. He just can't get enough of them. If Kris or I are talking on our phones, he will literally grab it out of our hands. He loves to chew on them too. ( I think he will be getting a tooth any day now.)

Kale was completely off of his schedule on this trip. He would stay up way past his bedtime. We went out to dinner on Friday night and Kale was delirious he was so tired. He laughed at everyone and everything.

When he gets tired, he laughs uncontrollably...I guess it's better than crying. 

Getting ready for Christmas

I finally convinced Kris to hang Christmas lights this year! I love Christmas and love going to look at lights. I have been trying to get him to hang lights for years, but he told me he would do it when we had kids...well, guess what! We have kids, so I had to take him up on his offer!

We did learn a valuable lesson. There is a difference between LED lights and regular lights. The lights on the bushes are "white" LED lights. The ones on the trees are regular white lights. They look completely different. I also messed up and bought twinkling lights (not my favorite). It looks like part of the lights don't work, but they all do!

Our Christmas tree! I love decorating it and hanging the ornaments each year. It brings back so many great memories.

I found these great stockings from Pottery Barn. We have been looking for nice stockings for awhile and were finally able to find them. They are big too! That means Santa will bring more stuff.

Our dining room table is all set and ready for the holiday meal. 

Our New Home

We are one step closer to our new home. We signed a contract, found a lot, and selected a builder. We have decided on a house plan. Our home should be done on or before March 31st.

We are very excited about building a house. We know it's going to be a lot of work, but we are looking forward to picking out all of the details of this home. One of our favorite features of this house is the outdoor kitchen. It is amazing.

http://www.flexmls.com/share/xkd/7406-COBBLESTONE-DR-Amarillo-TX-79119

The above link is an existing home that has our same floorplan. You can view the photos or take a virtual tour.

Caution...disgusting post--don't read if you have a sensitive stomach

I don't see how Kale does it...he had such a major explosion today. He actually had to have a bath. He was sitting in his room, playing quietly. I walked in and smelled poop. As soon as I picked him up, I couldn't believe my eyes (or nose). Poo was everywhere!!! He had poo in his hair, on his socks, in his ear, EVERYWHERE!!! (He must take after his Uncle Aaron :) ) Having a baby can be so gross sometimes!

I know some of you are probably wondering why on earth I would post something like this. Well, this blog is for Kale. I want to capture all of the moments...even the gross ones!

Kale and his best bud

Kale loves Molly and Molly is pretty fond of him too. She lets him sit on her back. He wraps his little arms around her neck. It's so cute! She is very protective too. She will not let Jonah get near Kale. Kale loves to share this teething biscuits with Molly...that's probably why she likes him so much.

I am so thankful for...

I am so thankful for my little man. He just melts my heart. I can't imagine my life without him in it. This time last year we found out he was a boy...I wanted to have a girl so bad. I had actually already purchased several dresses before we found out the gender. But now...I can't imagine having a girl. My little man is so sweet.

I have found myself reflecting on this past year alot over the past month or so. Here are some of the things I have learned.

• Motherhood is hard. Everyone said it is the hardest thing you will ever do and that is true. But you really can't understand until you are actually a mom. Being a mom is the most selfless act ever.
• Being a mom is the most wonderful thing that has ever happened to me.
• A baby really does change EVERYTHING---it makes it better!!
• God always provides and more, he gives you your heart's desires.
• Sleep is completely overrated. I can operate on much less sleep than I ever thought possible...and I'm not even tired (well most of the time)!
• I am blessed beyond compare.
• It is really hard to find good childcare.
• It's not about the "stuff."
• You can live anywhere (even Amarillo), if it's with the people you love.

Our First Snow Day

Friday morning I awoke to....SNOW!!!! We got about 4 inches and it was still coming down as we were heading to work. I was shocked that school was still in session, but from what I hear, they don't cancel school too much around here. I had to scrape my car because (a) Kris was out of town and (b) our two car garage is currently full of all of the furniture that won't fit into our lease house. I miss my garage!

The roads were covered with snow. It didn't seem like they were plowed at all, but luckily the snow was slushy so it wasn't too bad to drive in.

Trees and limbs were down all over Amarillo. We had several large limbs down in both our front and back yard.

I bundled Kale up to take him outside in the frigid temperature. He couldn't move with his puffy pea coat on. He was not too happy in the car ride on the way to the babysitter. I think he was hot...

He is STRONG!!!

You may be wondering exactly what this is. This is Kale's teething biscuit after he got finished throwing a fit. He has quite a temper (I don't know who he would've gotten that from!). Today he got mad and he put his teething biscuit down on his tray and banged it just one time with his fist. He broke it into several pieces and it went all over the floor and his tray. I was so shocked, I audibly gasped and then started laughing hysterically.

Kale had his 6 month well child check up earlier this week. He is 28 1/2 inches long and is in the 87 percentile for heighth. Only 1/2 inch more and he will no longer be allowed to travel in the baby carrier--we will have to move to the big boy carseat! He weighed 17 1/2 pounds and was in the 45 percentile for weight. The doctor was very pleased with his growth and stated that he would probably be tall and skinny. The doctor also said that she sees alot of babies and he is very strong compared to his peers (which I guess is evident by the teeth biscuit). On another front, she said we should expect a tooth any day now!

Sitting Up

I can't believe Kale is sitting up! He is getting so big!! Just a few days ago, I was getting paranoid that he was still struggling with sitting up. Now, all of the sudden, he has become quite adept at it. My little baby is becoming a toddler!