Eight Months Today!

This little boy...

...is into everything!

But he sure is cute and everyone seems to like him -- a lot!

This month Caleb has really learned to get around. He crawls fast and can push back into sitting -- it fact that's always how we find him in his crib now.

His new babbling sound is "ba ba ba".

He's got two little teeth that are really coming in -- he tried biting his mom a bit this month, ouch!

He scrunches up his little face sometimes, particularly when he is tired. That's also when he slaps the back of his hands -- kind of backward clapping.

He's learned to wave and will do it about half the time he's asked to. He likes waving to big brother Dillon when he gets on the school bus.

He's sweeter than sweet and just has a wonderful nature. While we were in Idaho he really won over some friends -- he's hard not to like. He continues to be soooo smiley. And I could kiss his little cheeks all day - so could Grandpa!

He's tried almost everything edible and even had his first french fry this week. It helped get him through our LONG drive. He was quite the trooper.

We just can't get enough of this little man. I fall more in love with him everyday. Month nine, here we come!

Merry Christmas

We survived the 23 hour, straight through the night, drive from Chicago and are in Idaho to spend the holidays with family.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Catching up

I've kind of fallen out of the blogging world for a couple weeks. I think Christmas cards are to blame. So here are just a few things I'll want to remember:

1. A family bowling trip

2. A wonderful Thanksgiving with friends from church and the missionaries.

We made this cute little turkey basket at the library family story time.

I always love having the missionaries in our home. And it's fun to get them on a holiday 'cause they can be a little more relaxed. We've got a great duo here right now and they're super fun with the kids. This video is for their mommies.

3. The Holly Days Parade

We got to ride the float with Santa!

4. First Snow Fall, although we haven't seen any snow since and it's supposed to be in the 50s this week! That's fine with me!

Aaron had just put these babies on the night before (so I feel better about our 24 HOUR DRIVE to Idaho!)

5. Live Nativity

Dillon and Wesley were such cute shepherds. When Wesley came out in costume he spread his arms out to the side and yelled, "Ta da!" It was tricky to get pics of the actual performance, but you get the idea.

Caleb was so cute all bundled up.

Aaron and I sang in the nativity choir and also did a duet as part of the music performance. We did Sally Deford's What Child is This? It's a great arrangement.

We also sang as a family at an assisted living facility with some friends last week. It was so fun. Dillon was so great with the residents. They requested us come back for Easter!

I can't believe December is nearly half way over. Christmas is literally around the corner!!!

Seven Months Old Today!

Our little man is seven months old today. Somehow this month got away without hundreds of pictures. But I'm glad I got this one. Caleb loves his older brothers and they are pretty sweet with him.

Lots has happened this month. He loves to eat anything you give him. He's figured out how to feed himself little things like puffs and pieces of bread. He can click and making razzing noises with his tongue. He's also started babbling "ah-da-da-da." He rolls all over and likes to do the plank position and stick his little bum right up in the air. He's mastered the army crawl and on Tuesday of this week he started doing this! This is the only shot I got of him today. But it's a great one and shows exactly what he is up to these days -- getting into everything.

He is constantly moving. So much so, our friend has "diagnosed" him with Restless Body Syndrome. You will rarely find him holding still, except for the first few moments after he wakes up and he's content just to snuggle.

He still likes his early morning feeding, although today it didn't come until 7:15AM! So we're getting closer to sleeping completely through the night!

We love our little Caleb and can't get enough of his big smile and spontaneous giggle!

Stats:

19 pounds 6.5 oz -- 71st percentile

27 inches long -- 56th percentile

45 inch head circumference -- 74th percentile

[ First tooth appeared on 11/28! Bottom right and bottom left may be coming as well!]

First Grade Sentences

I love that Dillon is really learning to read and write now. He's pretty good. His teacher really encourages the children to sound out their own words and write sentences on their own. I get such a kick out of some of the things he brings home. I can't keep all these papers, but have to remember these cute sentences. He's already improved a lot, so I'll try to list them in chronological order as much as I can. He was getting his Bs and Ds confused at first. Here are some of my favorites, spelled Dillon style (no italics if it was an instruction on the paper):

• Let me tell you what I did last summer! I playd at my nabrs hows and swhengd on the swhengs. It wus fun so I did it ovr, ovr and ovr. (Yes, we really need to get a swing set -- gotta get a back yard first.)
• The tigr shorc has gils on its heb so it can dreth wobr throo its gils. [Translation: The tiger shark has gills on its head so it can breathe water through its gills.]

• I like scool! I like my techr misis jasprs and ol my frens. I like ort and lunch and jim and math and evretheg.
• School is col and it is osum. I luve art and lunch at school.
• I can bro shorcs enewar. [draw sharks anywhere] At lest ef it is papr.
• Eggs or bracubol. [Eggs are breakable.]
• I like to...I like to eat food. I like to eat soe much I olmost eat the hol panchree. Sume times I dont. I dont like lemens varee much. I sume times eat ulot.
• My favorite season is summer. I like summer becus I swim and becus I plae awt side whith my frens and my bruther. I dont like it wen I get musceto bites. I do like it wen I see stors and butrflies.
• My favret game is Horses. Me and my bruthr Wesley are horses. It is fun. I like that gam. I plae it evreday. My bruther likes it to. He rids me. He likes wen I let him rid me. I like it to. Wen I am a hors my name is Red Licrish.
• I am a pummpcun. I live at a form with a scare croe. The scarecroes name is Luke. He is nise. I look all arawhnd. I see cids. They ar picen pummpcuns, but not me.
• Dillon is a strong boy. He likes Legos. His favorite thing is his stuffed animal dolphin. Dillon likes to eat pizza. Chucky Cheese is a place he likes to go to. His favorite sport is soccer. Did you know that Dillon likes horses?

Now I can clean off the door!

A New Motto

I don't "talk" on my blog very much, but I've had some thoughts that I think are worth remembering. I apologize if it's too personal, this is more for me than anyone else. I have a new motto / inspiration / something to live up to. It comes from Galatians 5:22 in the Bible.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance...

I came across it several nights ago after praying to be a better, more patient and loving mother. What an answer, hey?! This is how I need to parent, with the Spirit, filled with love, and concentrating on the JOY part. I need to be gentle with the sweet little ones with which I've been blessed. And on those days when I have just had it, I need to have faith and trust in the Lord -- let Him help me carry the burden. I wrote it down and have kept it next to my bed, re-reading the words several times. I've studied some of the specific words that are used. More than anything, I keep finding myself repeating the words in my head during the day. That alone has brought a lot of comfort. You see, I love my children. They are my life. They are why I get up every morning. And they are the reason I crash on my pillow at night. They wear me out! Three children has really been an adjustment and challenge for me. They are each so unique. I'm realizing that more now that Wesley is a little older. Things that were so simple with Dillon are huge battles with him. And the other way around as well. Some things that were so difficult with Dillon are not even issues with Wesley. And Caleb is his own man, too. It's so fun to see how different they are, although I was hoping parenting would get easier after the first child thinking I would know how to do it. Not so. Tonight we had one of those moments where it all seems worth it. It started with reading 'scripture stories.' The boys actually listened, probably just because they thought it was cool that the story was about a tower. Then we said a prayer and I helped them into bed. As I did, I sang "I know that my Savior Loves Me." The first few lines go like this...

A long time ago in a beautiful place, children were gathered 'round Jesus. He blessed and taught as they felt of His love, each saw the tears on His face.

I've sung it a hundred times, but this time Wesley stopped me and asked "Why did Jesus have tears on His face?" I explained to him it was because He loved the children so much. We talked about how sometimes people cry when they are talking at church because they are happy and are feeling the Holy Ghost. That really sparked Dillon's interest. We talked for a while and ended up deciding Dillon should say a special prayer to help him feel the Holy Ghost more and recognize it when he does. He also prayed that he'll listen to the words people are saying in church and understand things. He prayed for help in school as well. It was a really sweet, thoughtful prayer. When he finished he saw me wiping my cheeks and asked," Do you have tears?" I confirmed that I did, because I was feeling the Holy Ghost. And with a huge smile on his face he replied, "I think I'm feeling the Holy Ghost too Mom! I feel really good and happy." I thought back on my new favorite scripture and how grateful I was to feel the JOY and LOVE parts of parenting at that moment. The Spirit was there in that room and I think my boy may have felt it. I am so grateful to be a mom and even more grateful that I don't have to do it alone. The Lord understands my needs and those of my children and He is willing to help us along the way. I just have to remember to listen.

(Anyone know why Blogger messes up my paragraphs?)

Happy Halloweeeeeeen!

This has been the holiday that never ends. It started with a Halloween themed playgroup last Wednesday (of which I already posted pics). The next event was the party at Wesley's preschool. He was the cutest cowboy EVER! And Wes is a pretty good cowboy name if you ask me.

I was one of the parents that helped with the party. It's always fun to get an inside view of your kids at school. Wes is a pretty good boy.

The next event was on Friday -- the Trunk or Treat at our church. Behold the fabulous costumes! (notice Wesley had a costume change, also notice the super cute bags my sisters sent) Not sure who that guy in the suit is!

Cruella and her puppies!

(Yes, this is the third time we've done this, I couldn't resist)

Dillon had a blast with the donuts. I think he ate FIVE!

Trunk to trunk is so much faster than door to door.

The most exciting thing on Saturday is that I let the boys wear their costumes to the grocery store. The next holiday event was on Sunday -- our little tradition of Dinner in a Pumpkin. It turned out pretty awesome this year. And my sweet friends added a delicious salad and absolutely beautiful homemade rolls to the menu (I should have got a picture of those). Dessert was pumpkin bars and Carmel Apple Cider! YUM!

While the pumpkin was cooking we had some fun carving pumpkins.

Dillon loves playing with the seeds.Awesome dad! Great picture!

The finished products

The fun continued today. We ran over to Dillon's school to see him in the parade.

Caleb enjoyed the show!

And later we all headed out to Trick or Treat. This is a shot of some of the neighborhood kids.

Wesley loved the whole thing. He kept yelling things like "I got another one of these kinds!"

We were significantly slower than the older neighborhood kids and ended up venturing on our own back toward the house.

Dillon and Wesley were great.

Cute puppy in the stroller

All in all, it was a great Halloween. I can't believe the holiday season is on its way!

Six Months Old!

Caleb is 6 months old today! Wow, this is going fast! I took lots of naked baby pics this month so we can remember his awesome rolls! He continues to be so smiley! Everywhere we go people comment how he is such a happy baby. He's making more noises. Grunting, sighing, moaning, whimpering, etc. He is especially vocal when he eats and boy, does this boy LOVE to eat! He's had rice cereal, squash, peas, beans, bananas, oatmeal, sweet potatoes and carrots. We just introduced puffs which is great since he just wants something in his mouth all the time. He needs to hurry and get some teeth so he can really have fun. When he wants something in his mouth, he smacks his lips and has even figured out how to click his tongue. We're working on the sleep thing. He was getting tricky, so here's how it works now. I always give him the option to be rocked to sleep, but if he fights me at all, he goes into the crib and gets to figure it out on his own. We did that a few times and he hardly ever fights me now. He'll take the cuddling (and I like it too!). This is another time he has become more vocal. As he relaxes he usually whimpers or groans a little. Sweet! We've had to do some middle of the night crying too. If he wakes up any time between 8 PM and 4 AM, he gets to cry himself back to sleep. After that, I'll usually give in. Last night he slept from 8:30 to 6AM. I went in then, let him eat, and he went right back to sleep until almost 8:00. I'll take it. Eventually we'll have to get rid of that early morning snack.

This was probably the last time I put him on the bed. He is rolling all over the place now. And he rotates on his stomach real fast. He does this funny thing I call 'beached whale' where he leaves his tummy on the ground but everything else is moving --legs and arms flapping all over. He's a pretty restless little dude, constantly moving. It's a rare moment when he just sits still on your lap.

He's also just started making the funniest face, usually when he is upset or tired. He squints his eyes shut while he whines. He usually points his face straight up and arches his back too. Funny boy.

Caleb can sit all by himself now. Eventually he'll fall over, but it takes a while. He looks like a little Buddha here.

We went to a Halloween playgroup today. I have another costume planned for our church party on Friday night (family theme), but I had to try this one out. And I must say, he is the cutest giraffe I have ever seen, although he is the last person that should be dressing as a tall, thin, long-necked animal -- I don't think he even has a neck!

Unfortunately things went down hill after the playgroup. I had Wesley hold him on his lap for less than one second and he pretty much just let go. Poor Caleb flopped right off the chair and face planted onto the hard wood floor. He and I had blood all over and I was sure he'd broken his nose or something. (We'll have to see how my shirt weathered) Aaron reassured me that there is no way he could break a bone in that face. It is way too padded. But his face was a little puffier than usual and he hasn't been his happy self, so I didn't take any more pictures today.

But we sure do love our little man. Here's a little video of his cute giggles. He loves playing with Daddy!

Stats about three weeks ago:

18lbs 13 oz -- 86th percentile

26.75 inches -- 76th percentile

Head 44.5 cm -- 82nd percentile