First Smiles

One month old

Caleb is one month old today. So it's about time I post the pictures my friend took when he was 4 days old. She did a great job but I've decided no picture does him justice. He just gets cuter every day. Here are the newborn pics:

I know this one is funny and a little out of focus, but for the first couple weeks of his life he would suddenly sneeze 4-5 times in a row and they were just the cutest sneezes, so I'm glad we captured one.

Here are some pics taken in the last week.

We love his little head. It's the perfect shape and is covered in quite a bit of hair compared to our other babies.

We sure do love our little Caleb man!

Dillon is 6!

Dillon turned 6 last week. Hard to believe. We had a little party the Saturday before. I planned it for the park so I wouldn't have to host a big party with a two week old baby, but unfortunately it was cold and raining so we had to move the party to our house. It was a little crazy with 10 kids running around our house, but we survived. We played a couple games in the basement.

Then we let them decorate their own cupcakes.

Dillon made a wish... ... and opened way too many presents.

The morning of his birthday he found a new bike waiting in the living room for him. He hopped on immediately so Dad could see him ride it before leaving for work. That night we went to dinner at his favorite place, All Aboard Diner.

He got to make another birthday wish.

A couple great things about my Dillon:

• He has always been a great sleeper, even now, with a crazy little brother running in and out of the room
• He usually cleans up his whole plate at dinner time
• He is very loving these days and insists on flashing me a double sign language "I love you" every time I drop him off at school. Apparently if you do it with both hands at the same time it means "I love you, I love you, so much!"
• He's a fantastic bike rider and has been for a year now.
• He has the best laugh!
• He's a great reader and counter
• He continues to love trains more than anything else in the world.
• He's pretty tough when it comes to doctors, etc. Last week he had a cavity filled with absolutely no numbing/medication. The dentist kept saying he's going to grow up to be a Marine!!
• He is a great big brother to his new little brother, Caleb. He loves to hold him and play with him. I had to include a couple cute pictures. I love you Dillon. We're so glad you're our #1 son!!

It's always fun when Grandpa comes

My wonderful dad came to spend a week with us and help out with a new baby around. He was awesome! The best thing he did was get up with the boys in the morning and let me get a little extra sleep. He also read lots of books, made store runs, took Dillon to school, and watched the boys when I needed to go to appointments etc.

The big boys loved having him around. He was so fun with them.

We took a trip to the park and they had a ball playing on the swings with Grandpa trying to "eat" them.

He got caught up on all his Disney movies.

And by the end of the week I think we wore him out. Thanks so much for coming Dad. My boys are so lucky to have you as a grandpa. We love you!

National Train Day

I'm not sure if you're aware, but last Saturday was National Train Day. Yeah, pretty big deal -- hah! Dillon is still obsessed with locomotives, so I wanted to go check it out. So all of us, including my dad, ventured down, via train, to Chicago Union Station to check out the festivities. Caleb had his first ride on a Metra train.

They had several model train displays.

Dillon was in heaven! He was especially excited about the train that had real steam!

Kind of a funny picture of my dad and Wesley, but this was a cool old train we got to peek inside.

Dillon had me take a picture of him in front of almost every engine. He was loving life!

Pretty cute little train lover.

Even with the crowds, it was a fun little adventure for us. We just might have to go again next year.

Caleb Moments

Caleb is two weeks old today. I want to document some things about him so I can remember what he was like as a newborn. I know he's going to grow way too fast. First, I want to document about my very first moments with him. My first thought when I first saw him was "Caleb", which might sound really simple, but Aaron and I had had a hard time feeling good about a name and I suddenly felt really good about Caleb. They put him right onto my belly so I could see him for a couple minutes before whisking him away to clean him up a little. When they brought him back, he was really crying, which was good, so he could get all the fluid out of his lungs. As soon as I pulled him close and started talking softly to him, he immediately settled right down. It was amazing. He knew my voice and it comforted him. There is just nothing like the immediate connection between a mommy and her baby. I felt it. I experienced the same thing a couple other times in the hospital when he'd get a little upset. The sound of my voice always calmed him down.

The day after coming home from the hospital I sent my bigger boys to a birthday party. After nursing Caleb, he fell asleep laying against my chest. I thought about doing something productive but then decided to just sit and enjoy him. I sat on the couch rubbing my cheek against his perfectly soft little cheek for probably an hour. It was a precious moment.

Caleb has been a great baby. He sleeps a lot. And every 2-3 hours he grunts a little to let me know he is hungry. Then he'll just lie awake looking around for a while. Then a little more grunting to let me know he's ready for his binkie and a good swaddle, and he's back to sleep. He's up during the night, but usually just to eat and then he falls right back to sleep. I really can't complain.

He likes to look to the right, especially when he is hungry. It's like he's been told there is food waiting on his right shoulder. He just keeps turning his head as far as he possibly can, hoping he'll eventually get to something yummy.

• Most babies like to keep their little legs bent up close to their body like they have been for the last nine months -- not Caleb. From the moment he came out he's always got them stretched right out, hovering a couple inches above the ground. I love seeing his skinny little bowed legs all tense.
• He's a sneezer. A couple times a day, he'll suddenly sneeze 4-5 times in a row. It's hilarious.
• I love feeling the palms of his hands and feet -- I cannot get over how incredibly soft they are.
• Grandpa swears he can get a smile out of him, and although I have a really hard time believing that without seeing the proof, he's sweet enough, it really would not surprise me at all.
• Sometimes when he is nursing his breathing sounds a lot like a squeaky rocker!

He's just the perfect baby, really, and I am so happy to have him around. Yeah, it'll be nice when I can start sleeping through the night again, but then he'll be bigger, so I'm trying to enjoy every precious moment with my newborn.

More pictures of Caleb

My little man is a week old today. He's been a pretty good baby so far. He doesn't complain much. Sometimes he likes to be awake late at night, but he usually sleeps really well after that. He's just so sweet! Here are some more pictures to help you get an idea how darn cute he is.

Going home from the hospital

First bath at home -- he wasn't real thrilled about it.

Happy awake time

Caleb is a sweet boy and we're so excited he came to our family. I'm feeling pretty good -- I feel like I'm recovering more quickly this time around. My sweet dad is here to help for the next week and hopefully I'll be able to get my feet underneath me after that. I just still can't believe I am the mother of THREE BOYS!!!