Update on the Cauley's

Things have been crazy as usual for us. Just busy, busy, busy and this week is no exception. Neither is next week for that matter.

Bryce had his six month well baby visit today...4 shots and 1 oral vaccination. He cried for about 20 seconds and then smiled. That is so unlike Jacob, who would cry for 10 minutes after his shots or should I say screamed bloody murder. Bryce weighed in at 18 lbs (50%ile) and was 26 1/2" long (75%ile). I am proud to say that he is doing GREAT!

Jacob is in full training mode for the Grands over Thanksgiving in Tulsa. He loves it as he is getting to ride more than usual. That is a big trip for us and we are all looking forward to it. Not just the racing but getting to see family too. He made straight A's the first 9 weeks of school and we are very proud of him. He is such a smart kid!

I feel like a chicken running around with its head cut off. Always busy, never a break until the evening gets here. Today Shane and I went to have lunch with Jacob at school. He loves it when we surprise him. When he gets home from school, he has to do 2 days of homework. Then we leave for the book fair at his school. The prices aren't necessarily great, but Jacob and I both love books so we manage to spend too much money anyway. After the book fair, Jacob is in a Thanksgiving musical at school. I am sure it will be cute.

Tomorrow, Jacob has a BMX bike lesson. The lessons last 2-3 hours so it is a long afternoon for him.

Thursday, we will be going to have lunch with Jacob again for the Thanksgiving Feast....gross! Nothing worse than cafeteria turkey and dressing. We are pulling him out of school early that day to drive to Dallas.

Friday is our adoption finalization in Dallas!!!!! We go before the judge about 8am that morning. It takes about 15 minutes in front of the judge and then we go somewhere else and sign papers with the lawyer. Mom and Dad are driving up to Dallas to be there with us. I am sure the morning will be anticlimatic but emotional and exciting at the same time. After that, we are planning on meeting my friend Karen and her mom, Sherry, for lunch. We will most likely go hang out at their house until we drive to Desoto so Shane and Jacob can race. Saturday we plan on coming home.

Does that sound like a crazy week or what? I even left out all the cleaning, packing and errands I have to do over the next 3 days!

I am trying to not even think of what has to be done for next week's long trip. One thing at a time, right?

God bless!

In memory of Jeff Lee

I wanted to share with you an awesome experience that happened to me recently.


My friend Jeff Lee, age 81, died last Wednesday. I am embarrassed to admit that I as unaware that he had been diagnosed with cancer about 6 months ago. Jeff and I didn't see each other extremely often, but I was touched by his genuine nature every time we spoke at the YMCA or at church.


Jeff loved to worship the Lord. The first time we met, he approached me at that YMCA while I was on the elyptical machine with my headphones on. He approached, with a smile, and said something that I didn't hear. I removed my headphones and said, "excuse me?" with a smile of course. And he said "Are you practicing?" I said, "excuse me? Oh you must go to Cypress Bible Church." to which he replied, "Yes, I do." He had recognized me as the drummer from church and proceeded to tell me about how much he thoroughly enjoyed worship every Sunday morning and in particular how much he enjoyed the drums ;-) He had hit the nail on the head, because I made a practice of putting our upcoming Sunday Order of Worship on a playlist on my iPod, which I listen "practice" to while I work out. Over the next year or so, I would run into Jeff at the Y or at church. He always had a smile and a kind comment to share. We shared stories about infertility and adoption (I believe both of his kids are adopted), church, worship, drums and various other topics. It was never a bother to stop and visit with Jeff.


I had the distinct honor of being asked to particpate in the music for his funeral service this past Monday. We played four songs: In the Garden, How Great Thou Art, I Am Free and I'll Fly Away. It is so awesome to attend a memorial service for someone who really loved to worship. My friend and worship leader, Paul Taggart, introduced the song I Am Free as an unlikely song to hear at a memorial service due to its really upbeat tempo, but it was one of Jeff's favorite songs. Paul told the story of how Jeff (I introduced Jeff to Paul shortly after Jeff and I met) would approach Paul after services and ask "When are you going to play I Am Free again?" It is not often you get such a request from the older community. How awesome is that? We played it at Jeff's service very tastefully with acoustic guitar, piano and a cajon for the percussion part (the fancy wooden box you see me sit on and play at church; very cool instrument.) I was a bit curious to see how the song would go over. I am pleased to tell you that the attendees, and especially the family, LOVED it! Wow, how incredible it was to see everyone praising God in a time of earthly loss. You see, they all knew Jeff had gone home to be with his Father. It was a very special time and I wouldn't have traded it for anything.


If people have a fraction of nice things to say about me at my funeral as they did at Jeff's I would feel very honored. How are you living your life? Are you living for Christ or for self? Jeff lived a very Christ honoring life and it was an encouragement to hear all of the nice things said of him at his memorial service. What will people say at your funeral? Of course, what is really important is what will God say when you stand before His throne? I am confident of what he said when Jeff entered... Well done, good and faithful servant.


I wish I had had an opportunity to visit with him during his final months. I regret that I had lost contact and didn't check on him when I didn't see him for a while. I look forward to seeing him again someday. His smile and forever positive attitude will not be forgotten.


In memory of Jeff Lee, my brother in Christ.


Peace,
Shane

Happy Six Month Birthday Bryce!

My sweet, precious baby boy,

What a blessing you are to our family. You have completed not just me but your Daddy and brother as well. It is so amazing to see how you light up when your Daddy and Jacob walk into the room. You have the biggest smile I have ever seen on a baby and I can't help but smile back each and every time I see your face light up. Your milestones have been slow coming but so special. You keep us laughing with your silly noises and silly faces. I can't believe you are about to start crawling and sitting up all at the same time. Life is about to really change at the Cauley house.

Bryce, you were hand picked by God to be our son and to be carried in the womb of a wonderful and beautiful woman who I hope to someday get to meet with you. It is so special to me to know that you have another mommy out there who loves you just as much as I do. She gave me the most special gift that a mother can give....YOU! From the moment I first held you, you were mine. It didn't matter that you didn't come from my womb, you were my son. You were a gift from God and you completed our family.

I look forward to the adventure we have ahead of us.

I love you,
Mommy

Not flesh of my flesh

Nor bone of my bone,

But still miraculously My own.

Never forget

For a single minute:

You didn't grow under my heart

But in it.

Where have the Cauley's been?

Since my beautiful wife is too busy to post these days, I figure its about time someone did :-) Bryce is doing very well. He is sleeping through the night consistently; however, he can't seem to make up his mind what time to wake up. The current wakey time is 6:30, but some days it's 7:30 to even 8:00! That doesn't happen very often though. He does however seem to be happier the longer he sleeps. We have found that putting him down earlier seems to help. We like to have him down by 7:30 and sometimes as early as 7:00. He still has some difficutly napping during the day, but its not that bad.

Tomorrow, Bryce will be 6 months old. Wow, how time flies. He loves to smile and demands constant attention, which he is usually provided. We don't want to spoil him, but he is making it tough :-) He is getting up on his hands and knees and taking that first lunge forward. I expect he will be crawling in the next few weeks. Here is a cute video I took of him this morning. He has become much more vocal lately and this is one of the first giggles caught on video.

Now if that doesn't make you smile, I don't know what will :-)

Bryce is a true blessing to this family and proof that God hears our prayers.

Jacob is training very hard for the BMX Grand Nationals in Tulsa. He is taking lessons from one of the true masters of the sport, three time world champion, John Purse (see pic below.) John is an amazing coach and has helped Jacob improve in just three lessons. The lessons are about 2 to 2.5 hours each. We plan to have two more lessons before the Grands, which are the weekend after Thanksgiving in Tulsa, OK. Jacob has shown significant improvement from one lesson to the next. It is amazing what a good coach can do both physically and mentally. He is not only training Jacob on the bike, but strength training (no weights) off of the bike. Jacob is usually pretty shot after 2.5 hours. John knows how to push him just hard enough; something us parents usually get all wrong.

The Grands schedule will be very demanding of Jacob as he is racing in multiple classes and the Race of Champions. The top ten riders in each age group are invited to the Race of Champions, which is the day after Thanksgiving and the day before the Grand Nationals (It's actually considered a different event, although it is raced on the Grands track.) It gives the riders the chance to win the acclaimed "ROC1" number plate for the following year if you win. It also gives the riders extra time on the track before the Grands, which is highly prized. Each eage group gets a whopping 30 minutes of practice on the track so extra races are a key advantage on a new track in preparing for the Grands the next two days. Jacob is registered to race two different classes in the ROC, 7/8 Open and 8 Intermediate. 7/8 open is a mixture of any qualifying 7 or 8 year old on a 20" bike or cruiser. It's just an "open" race. Jacob is a tough 8 year old so he should do very well in this class. Then he will race his usual 8 intermediate against other 8 intermediate riders. The Grands actually begin on Saturday, with 2 qualifying rounds on Saturday and the final qualifying round and main events on Sunday. Again, Jacob is racing 7/8 Open as well as 8 intermediate so he will be racing at various points throughout the weekend. There is a lot of time between his motos, but I'm sure it will still be somewhat hectic. We are so excited!

Here are a few more pics. Enjoy!

Cute boy.

Jacob and I dressed in our BMX uniforms for Halloween. We even rode our bikes door to door. Laura says I'm a dork.

Laura and Bryce.

Peace,
Shane