The Boulton Blog: I'm Proud to be an American

This week has been fun and full of family time. I can't believe how blessed I am and count myself fortunate to live so close to so many of them. :)

Caleb: He's mind boggling at times. Yesterday Byron and I heard him counting for the first time. We had picked up my sister Alyssa to babysit for us and she was in the backseat with him and got him to count to 5! Apparently she counts his toes with him all the time, so now all we hear out of Caleb's mouth is "three, four, three, four, FIVE!" or he'll just say "Five" over and over again. It's pretty darn adorable.

Byron: He's been working on a training this week that he'll be presenting on base with a co-worker next Tuesday and Wednesday. It's a little stressful since everything was decided so last minute and he lost a day of work due to Independence Day, but I think things will come together alright and he'll do a great job. He's been riding his bike rain or shine and I have to admit, it's great to know how much he loves it. I finally got him a reflective vest this week to make him more visible and I feel safer knowing that he'll wear it even though it's rather...eye catching hahaha. He's still getting up a half hour earlier to excersize in the mornings and I'm wondering what will happen after David is born :)

Arielle: I haven't really done much this week. Monday I took my sisters to Hobby Lobby with me for a craft I wanted to make for David's room. Their glassware was 50% off so I got to save $5 on the glass block I needed (woo hoo!) and I managed to get it put together that afternoon. It looks awesome and I love it :). Wednesday I went with my family to Carillon Park, a historical museum type place that has a lot of information on Dayton's history. There are some old buildings out back you can walk through, a carousel, and lot's of cool stuff to look at and listen to. Caleb had fun running around with his aunts and uncles and I can't wait to take Byron there. Friday went by really fast, I spent the morning at my parents house and watched a couple of my brothers and sisters so everyone else could go see "Despicable Me 2" at the theater. When they got back we ran to the store for a couple things then I got to go pick up Byron from work since he was ahead on hours and it was the end of the pay period. It was a great week and I'm so glad I have such an awesome family. Saturday night I went to a baby shower for a girl that had been in the singles branch with us and it was so fun seeing her and her family. She's having a baby girl in November and I was reminded again of how hard it is to find shoes for boys when almost every other gift had a cute pair of shoes to go with it.

In General: Thursday Byron had the day off work for Independence Day so we spent the morning at home being lazy and enjoying time together as a family. There was a steady rain all morning and the forecast called for it the whole rest of the day (which it did) so my Aunt Liz had to cancel the family barbeque we were going to have at her house and since it was the only thing Byron and I had planned to do that day I was pretty bummed out. Fortunately I have a wonderful husband who let me invite everyone to our house instead and I spent the afternoon cleaning and running to GFS so we could have pulled pork sandwiches for everyone. It was great fun getting to socialize and spend time with family and we missed my grandparents and Uncle Ben's family who were unable to make it. We didn't go to the fireworks since Byron wasn't feeling 100% and Caleb was tired, but they were cancelled anyway so we didn't worry about it too much. Friday night Byron and I got to go out for the evening. Alyssa watched Caleb for us while we went to Cox to go for a walk and feed the fish (it's funny how you almost always manage to draw a bigger crowd of people than fish who get excited about how close they'll come to the bank) and then out for dinner. When we got back we found out my family was at the pool so we took Alyssa to Goodwill to look for some capris she could pack for EFY and then we went to the library before finally dropping her off. The fireworks had been rescheduled for that night and my family went, but we didn't, which I regret a little bit, but time spent at home is always worth it. Yesterday was pretty busy too, lots of errands to run, but we got to spend time together and Caleb was so sweet all day that I can't complain. I just love how much he's growing.

David: He's growing and he's strong. I feel him kicking me most of the day and sometimes wonder if he's going for a jail break or something when an especially pointy elbow or knee finds it's way to the surface repeatedly. I'm going as a "pregnant volunteer" to Kettering College of Medical Arts for another ultra sound (free!!!) on Tuesday and I'm looking forward to seeing him again since I have dreams all the time about holding him.

I think that's everything for this week. Thank you all for reading and I hope you had a fun week too! Cheerio!

The night light I made Monday afternoon for the nursery.
The words on it are the last line to the lullaby my mom made up when I was a baby and sang to all of her children.

To the tune of "Rock a bye baby"
Rocking my baby holding her(him) tight
Kissing her(him) softly, saying goodnight
Hoping tomorrow stays far away
So my little Angel won't go away

This is what the light looks like turned on.
I got the idea on Pinterest and feel like it turned out really well.

Caleb was given a cup full of hershey kisses to share with his Aunts and uncles Thursday morning -
he was having fun eating them while handing them out to every one hahaha