Not a Baby Anymore

Caleb turned 1 yesterday. I can't believe a year has gone by already. Yesterday was a little bittersweet for me. We have decided not to have anymore children so yesterday marked the end of babies in our house. As much as I love the fact that Caleb can crawl and get around, the fact that he is so happy and friendly, the fact that he has a great belly laugh and loves his sister whole heartedly, I was a little saddened to think that we don't have a "baby" anymore. Don't get me wrong, I don't miss the sleepless nights or making and washing tons of bottles, but I do miss being able to sit and hold a sleeping newborn. Caleb has changed so much over the past year. He is making his opinion known even though he only says a couple of words. He definitely lets us know when he is not happy about something (mainly when meals are over). He no longer gets a bottle or eats baby food. We will take away the paci in a few months too. He seems to be growing up so fast. I don't remember Angie growing this fast. I am very ready for him to walk though. He just doesn't seem to be interested in it at all. He pulls up and furniture walks but crawling is just fastest for him.

We had his party early so that it would be away from the Christmas get togethers. We had a small celebration last night for just the 4 of us and that was really nice. We had dinner at Jim N' Nicks and then had a small cake. It was intimate and very nice.

Well, that's about all, I just wanted to reflect on the last year in our lives. It seems hard to believe that last year when we attended our Christmas Eve service, we had a 3 day old and this year we will have a 1 year old. My how things change...

Merry Christmas, we love you all!!!

Thankfulness

We had an amazing service at church this morning. I am so thankful for a church staff who listens to God's call and really "gets" what people need. Mike only preached for about 10 minutes. The rest of the service was singing praises to our Lord and people coming to the mics to tell what they are thankful for. I heard stories of illnesses healed, addictions wiped away, hearts mended, God meeting needs, emotional hurts healed. I could just keep going. It was amazing to me how many people were thankful even in the midst of a storm. One woman has had the worst year that I think I have ever heard of, including hospitalization, a divorce, loss of a job. And yet, she was still thankful in the midst of all of that. I was truly touched by what I heard. Then, as we sang Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone), you could truly feel the Holy Spirit in the room. As we all praised God for releasing us from our "chains" we were truly thankful to Him. It was one of the best services we have ever had (in my opinion).

So, you ask, what am I thankful for? Well, I am thankful that God has allowed me to fulfill the calling He placed in my heart many years ago to be a stay at home mom. When He blessed us with children, He also blessed us financially so that I could be at home with them. He has given me an amazing husband who not only loves me and the kids unconditionally, but he is an incredible provider as well. He has been the love of my life since I was 15 and I thank God continually for that. I cannot imagine having to date and find someone new. I am thankful that we are all healthy. There are so many families dealing with illness and disease that it just makes me so thankful that we aren't in that valley.

Well, my kids are waking up from their Sunday afternoon siesta so its time to go and be their mom again!

Happy Thanksgiving! Make sure you tell the ones around you that you are thankful for them.

Caleb Update

I took Caleb to the doctor today for his 9 month check up (can you believe he is that old already?). He weighs 19 lbs and 11 oz. That is the 50th percentile for his weight, I think the fact that he is crawling has caused him to stop gaining weight so fast. He is 28 and half inches tall which is about the 80th percentile. His doctor said he looks great and he didn't even have to have any vaccinations today!! I had to take Angie with me and I was very nervous about this because the last time she was at the doctor, she was terribly afraid and cried and screamed the whole time. Since then, I have had my friend Katie keep her whenever Caleb had a doctors appointment. The plan for today was that I would take him while she was at school, but school was cancelled because of the flooding. She did wonderfully. She didn't cry or act out or even act nervous at all. One time she did ask to leave but I told her we weren't done yet and that was enough. She even hugged the doctor before we left. I was amazed!

Back to Caleb...he is growing so fast. He is crawling everywhere and he is so fast. He has this great belly laugh now that is just adorable and you can't help but laugh when you hear it. He is finding humor in odd and random things (for instance, yesterday he was laughing hysterically at a ball). He is just the happiest little boy. We are slowly taking away his bottles and will take another one away at the beginning of October. That will have him down to only two bottles a day. I can't believe we are already at that point in his life.

That's all for now. The kids are in bed so now we get to watch a TV show (recorded from last night since we can never seem to get them in bed in time to watch things live!).

Preschool Begins

Angie began going to preschool this week. I had high hopes that she would be fine because at open house on Monday she was great. She was a little hesitant to go in the room but then she started to play and we painted a little. She was really enjoying herself. She even hugged the teacher before we left. I thought, "hey, this is great!". When we dropped her off Tuesday morning she was great again. She walked right into the room and never looked back. She could have cared less that we weren't in there with her. When I picked her up she was happy. She really seemed to enjoy herself. Then Thursday rolled around...I had to do the car line on Thursday. This is what started it all, I think. The person who took her from our car was someone we didn't know. She was hesitant to leave the van but I convinced her to get out. About 9:45 I got a call that she was still crying and had even thrown up because she was crying so hard. We agreed to let her stay and see what happened. They called back at 10:15 and said she was still crying but was a little better. We still decided for her to stay and I would just pick her up when school let out at 11:00. I just figured that she has to learn that school is fun and I am not going to come and rescue her just because she cries. We will see what next week holds.

On a side note, Caleb started crawling right after my last post. I believe it was on August 27th. I blogged that afternoon that he really wanted to but just hadn't figured it out. Well, later that afternoon, he figured it out! He is doing the army crawl but I don't think it'll be long before he is crawling on his hands and knees. He is pretty fast and we can already tell that he is going to be the child who gets into lots of things and will try to figure out how things work. Oh boy...

PS, the picture is from her first day of school. We took it before we left the house that morning.

Potty Training and Preschool

I guess you can tell what this blog will be about based on the title. We have been potty training Angie for the past couple of weeks and its going pretty well. She does great when we are at home, its when we leave that things tend to fall apart. We are trying the bare bottom method. That's where your child is bare bottom at home. So, when she has to go, she just goes and sits on her potty. The only problem is she isn't telling me when she has to go. That's why being in public is hard. We have just been using Pullups or diapers in public to avoid huge messes. She starts preschool on Tuesday. We have open house on Monday and I must admit that I am now a little sad and nervous about it. It hit me last week that I don't know any of the adults at her preschool. Yes, Angie has been in the church nursery since she was a newborn but I know a lot of the teachers and I know the director so she checks in on her for me. I am a little apprehensive but I know Angie will do just fine. We got a postcard from her teachers and will get to meet them on Monday. Their names are Miss Donna and Miss Mara. I have already taught Angie to say their names so that hopefully she will feel more comfortable when she meets them. I'll do another post after school has started to let you know how she did.

Caleb is doing great. He is almost 20 pounds now and he is just as happy as he can be. He wants to crawl so badly but he just hasn't figured it out yet. He gets up on his hands and knees and rocks but that's about it. He scoots himself backwards so between rolling over and going backward he moves all over the living room floor. Now, if he could only go forward...

That's all for now, I hear Caleb waking up and I know he'll be hungry in just a minute (the boy does LOVE to eat!). Until next time...

Caleb Update

Well, I just noticed that its been a while since I blogged last. Sorry about that to the few of you who read this! I took Caleb to the pediatrician this week for his check up. He now weighs 19 lbs and is 27 and 3/4 inches tall. He is in the 75th percentile for his weight and the 90th for his height. I think he is going to be tall like his daddy. On a side note, Angie weighed 19 lbs at her first birthday, so I think Caleb will far surpass her in size! He's rolling all around now and he can even sit up. I think he will be a crawler because when he is on his belly he tries to move forward to get toys. He is very smiley and absolutely LOVES his big sister. He watches her constantly and seems to look for her if she has left the room or is napping. You can almost see the wheels turning in his mind when he watches her, its almost as if he's thinking "I can do that too, I just know I can!". He still loves to eat and has tried all of the baby food veggies and is working on trying the fruits now. We have already eliminated one bottle from his day and are working on another one.

I am really looking forward to this fall when Angie starts preschool because it will give Caleb and I some time alone together. Poor kid, he hasn't been able to have all of Mommy since he was born! I definitely think he is going to be a little charmer. When he smiles I just melt. That's all for now.

Caleb News

Caleb is so much fun now. He is laughing which is just adorable. He rolled over on Memorial Day from his back to his front several times...but now he won't do it again. Nick says that he just wanted to prove that he could do it and doesn't feel the need to do it anymore. He loves his big sister so much. He was actually reaching out to hug her tonight. They are just precious together. The steroid cream that the doctor gave us for his head worked really well. It is totally cleared up now. I am still waiting for him to sleep all the way through the night but I guess that will happen soon enough. I figure I will get a good nights sleep after they grow up and leave the house!

Angie's New Room

Angie is now in a twin bed. She has hit a growth spurt recently and we realized that she was just too big for her toddler bed. She absolutely LOVES her new big girl bed. We had to buy new bedding and therefore we redid her room. It is now PINK (thanks to her daddy). We are hoping that by reiterating that she is a big girl now, we will get her more interested in the potty. She has used it a couple of times but nothing consistent. I would love for her to be totally potty trained by the time we go to Disney this fall but I am trying not to worry about it too much. I guess it will happen when it happens!

Caleb's Check-Up

Caleb had his check-up today. He is quite the big boy now. He is 16 lbs 6 oz (80th percentile) and 26 and 1/4 in long (90th percentile). The doctor thinks he's doing great. He does have eczema though but its mostly on his head. I have to get a steriod cream for it and hopefully that will clear it up. Angie had the same thing on her head but hers wasn't has severe has his is. If it doesn't clear up, he'll have to see a pediatric dermatologist. Dr. Clements thinks he is teething but it will probably be weeks or even a couple of months before it breaks through. He of course charmed the pants off of everyone. He was so happy while we were there, until the shots of course. He seems to grow and change every day. He is just the best baby. He loves to watch his sister and standing is his absolute favorite. He loves for us to hold his hands and let him stand. I have a feeling that once he's mobile there will be no stopping him.

Angie gave me the best mother's day present yesterday. I was sitting in the recliner and she climbed up in my lap and gave me a big hug. It was just the right gift. She always seems to know when I need a hug or a snuggle.

I hope you all had a great Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day

I just wanted to do a quick post to tell all of my fellow mothers out there...HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!! I have a friend who just had a baby 2 weeks ago and I am so happy for her to have her first mother's day. Then on the other end of the spectrum, my Nana will celebrate her 63rd mother's day. I love that no matter how long we have been mothers, we all get to celebrate together on one day. I hope all the Mommies have a GREAT day tomorrow!! By the way, Angie is in that belly.

(Caleb has a check up on Monday so I'll post new kid info then)

Growing Up

Caleb is growing up so fast. I can't believe he is already 4 months old. To celebrate his four month birthday, he rolled over from his front to his back!! I am very excited because this, in my opinion, is really the first big milestone. I also think he laughed today too. This has been a big day for him. It seems like just yesterday that we were headed home from the hospital and now he can smile, roll over, possibly laugh, coo, follow things around the room with his eyes. He is such a big boy now. He still isn't sleeping through the night yet. I don't have to feed him but I have to get up to give him his paci. Some nights I only have to get up once or twice, some nights its a lot more than that. I think its just that he doesn't like to sleep because he also fights his naps during the day. I guess this is my payback for bragging on what a good sleeper Angie has always been.

Hopefully tonight will be better...

Angie Update

I took Angie to the doctor on Monday for her 2 year check up...my how time flies! She is now 26 lbs and 34 in tall. She is in the 50th percentile for her weight and the 75th percentile for her height. So basically, she is tall and skinny, which I already knew. She only had to get one shot this time so that was good but they did have to prick her toe to check for anemia (I guess they do this for all 2 year olds?). Her hemoglobin was perfect, so no anemia. She did a little better than I expected her to do, the last time she was there was when Caleb was sick and she screamed and cried for the entire 2 hours. So needless to say I was a little concerned as to how she would react. She only cried when they were actually doing stuff to her and not just when they were in the room so that was good I thought.

I am going to be checking out a local preschool that we are considering putting her into this fall. It would just be 2 days a week and it is at a Methodist church. I will tour it on Tuesday to see if we like it. I know this may seem a little early but we want to get her used to the routine of school and socializing with other children more often each week. Plus, it will give me some alone time with Caleb that he and I haven't had.

Speaking of Caleb, he is doing great. We are getting closer to sleeping through the night. The last couple of nights all I have had to do in the middle of the night was put his paci back in his mouth and he didn't need to eat until around 5:00 or 6:00 so that's really good. He is such a happy, smiley baby. He really loves his big sister, he just watches her all the time and talks to her.

Well, its time for me to go to bed...

She's a Big Girl Now!

My baby girl is no longer a baby. She is 2 today! I can't believe how fast the last two years have flown by. It seems like just yesterday we were bringing her home from the hospital. It is amazing to me how much children learn in their first couple of years of life. She can walk, talk, feed herself, knows her alphabet and numbers. She tries to brush her own hair and put on her own clothes. She is interested in going potty, she loves to play outside...I could go on and on. When we brought her home from the hospital she could barely hold her head up. What a difference two years can make. We are celebrating today by having lunch with Daddy and some work friends. Tomorrow, Daddy is taking off work so we can have the kids' pictures made and Saturday we get to have our ELMO party!!!!!! Angie is very excited about her party and knows that she is having Elmo everything. Her gift to me today is that she is sleeping in (its 8:30 and she's still asleep) and I think that is just about the best gift anyone could ever get. I was awake this morning feeding Caleb and realized that it was at that same time 2 years ago that I was trying to push little Angie out. Angie is our precious little sweetheart and though at times she can make me want to pull my hair out, I don't think I could love another little girl more! She means the world to us and we are so thankful that we get to be her parents. I sometimes think about her future and wonder what she will be when she grows up...I'm thinking something in the drama field!

All of this was to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ANGIE!!!!! Mommy and Daddy love you very much!

The pic with this blog is Angie as a newborn, I thought you might want to see what she looked like way back then :) And yes, her hair was red even then.

Big Updates

Well, our little ones aren't so little any more. Angie is quite the big girl now. She can say anything, and I do mean anything! She repeats just about everything she hears so be careful what you say if you are around her. She knows her ABC's and can count to 10. I am so proud of her accomplishments. She is now going to the playground and sliding on the big girl slide...ALL BY HERSELF!!!!! I was shocked. She climbs up to it and slides right on down. She even fell the other day as she reached the bottom and instead of crying like I expected, she jumped up and said "Angie ok" and went right back to sliding. I was utterly amazed. This is the same little girl who just a year ago would cry if she even though she was going to fall. She had her first bee sting yesterday. And yes, I freaked out! I ran inside and gave her Benadryl right away just in case she's allergic. Thankfully, she's fine. Her thumb (where she was stung) was swollen for a couple of hours and then nothing. You would never even know that it happened. I can't believe that she will be 2 next week!

On to Caleb...I took him to the doctor today for his 2 month check up. Its a little late because he couldn't have his vaccines while he was still sick from the RSV. He is 13 pounds 12 ounces. He has nearly doubled his birth weight!! I can't believe it. Angie never grew this fast. He is smiling and cooing and is just the most precious thing. He loves to talk to anyone who will listen. I can tell he is going to be quite the little charmer. He did not like getting his shots today but he doesn't seem to be any worse for the wear now. He is starting to watch Angie and I think that is so sweet. He seems to be enjoying all of the time we are spending outside. He still isn't sleeping through the night but I think he's close.

We are looking forward to Angie's birthday party next week. Of course it will be an Elmo party. I don't think we could have anything else. That's all for now. I want to go to bed so that I can get a little sleep!!

My Wife is Wonderful

I know that mother's day is coming up in May, but I wanted to say thank you to my wife now for what a wonderful job she does. She has been so wonderful these past few weeks through giving birth and all four of us being sick... she is an inspiration to me each day.









I also wanted to use this opportunity to post some recent pictures of Angie and Caleb. We haven't written in a while... probably because of the 'all four of us being sick.'

Any ways, thanks for reading and keeping up with 'all of us.'

Nick

Settling In

Ok, sorry its been so long since we've posted anything. Life has been a little hectic with a newborn and almost 2 year old. Every time I think, "Hmm, I need to blog", one of them needs something and then I never get back to it. We have been trying to settle into some sort of routine although we definitely don't have a schedule for Caleb yet. He is still a little young for that. Angie seems to be adjusting to life as a big sister very well. She was not herself last weekend but on Tuesday I noticed that both of her bottom eye teeth had cut through so I think that is what caused her to be shall we say, difficult?

Caleb is growing and getting bigger. I don't know how much he weighs because we haven't gone back to the doctor yet. I am guessing that he is over 8 pounds though because he has outgrown the newborn size clothes and those are supposed to fit babies up to 8 pounds. He's getting a little chunky. He is starting to have more awake time which is fun but its also hard because I want to give him lots of attention and I can't always do that. We have discovered that he needs noise to sleep just like his big sister did so now we have the radio playing in his room at night.

We are getting excited about Angie's second birthday coming up soon. We are going to have an Elmo party (could we really do anything else?). I hope she enjoys her cake more this year than she did last year. She just didn't seem to get into the whole "diving in" thing. She amazes us every day with how much she is learning. I can ask her to repeat almost any word and she can usually do it. So that has made me more cautious about what she watches on TV so that she doesn't pick up words that we don't want her to say.

That's all for now, I was using naptime to type this and I still have more things to do before they wake up!