Happy Birthday Nathan!

Happy 31st birthday Nathan! It's hard to believe you were 25 when we started dating, where has all the wonderful time gone? We love you very much:-)

Love, Heather, Caleb, and Twix

Grandma's Caleb Fix

Grandma Sue came up from Florida to get a quick Caleb fix this weekend -:). She was amazed at how much he changed and how active he has gotten over the last 6 weeks since she and my dad were last here to visit.

On Saturday while Nathan was in school, Mom, Caleb, and I went to our community BBQ.  Nathan and I did not meet nearly as many people last year, and I am pretty sure it is because we did not have a sweet baby boy with us. It's amazing how many people come talk to you when you have a baby, and I must admit I like it because we have been wanting us to meet more people in the neighborhood. There are a lot of very friendly people with kids Caleb's age and a little older, and it will be fun for them to play together and become friends over the years.

On Saturday evening we had an early 31st birthday celebration for Nathan since he will be out of town for his birthday this year. I make him a cake every year (thank you Betty Crocker -:) and this year I was happy with how it turned out.

It was a rainy Sunday morning so we relaxed at home and Nathan opened his birthday presents. Daddy did a great job wearing Caleb out this morning, and he decided to fall asleep on the floor during tummy time. Isn't he the sweetest little boy!

This afternoon Caleb helped Nathan til up our garden while mom and I went to check out the Farmer's Market, and then this evening we twisted Grandma's arm real hard to babysit while Nathan and I went to dinner and church. We had a nice evening out, thank you mom.

My mom is here through tomorrow afternoon so we have another day to enjoy together, and we are so glad she was able to come and visit!



Just Hanging Out

Last week we were treated with beautiful fall weather, so we got outside for long walks everyday and relaxed one afternoon at the park. Today Caleb and I went to meet our friend Heather and Matt's new baby boy Isaac, who is 5 weeks younger than Caleb. He has a great head of hair and is so adorable and cuddly. It was fun to get the babies together and for us to catch up, and it will be nice when they get a little older and can play together. Here are some pictures of the week. Happy Monday!

Isaac and Caleb. As usual, Caleb is wide-eyed and ready to go!

The 'Heathers' with their little boys

Enjoying a morning nap

And an afternoon nap at the park

Hi bright eyes!

Two months old!

Caleb turned two months old today, and our sweet little boy is growing, growing, growing! He got his first round of shots today and he did great. Here are his latest growth stats:

Weight: 9lbs, 2.5 oz - 5th percentile
Length: 22 inches - 10th percentile
Head: 15 inches - 5th percentile

Caleb is very talkative and coos often. He recently started smiling, holds his head up well, bears weight on his legs and feet, tracks items with his eyes, and he loves being outside.  He nurses about every 3.5 - 4 hours and he sleeps about 4 hour stretches at night, though last night we were spoiled with a 5 hour stretch!

We feel so blessed to have Caleb in our lives and could not imagine life any other way. We love you Caleb!

Visit with Aunties

This weekend my good friends from high school, Lauren, Paula, and Marissa, came to visit and meet Caleb. Caleb's aunties loved holding and playing with him, and the consensus is he looks just like his daddy-:). We had a really fun weekend relaxing, catching up, reminiscing about high school, and laughing a lot. The thing I love about old friends is it does not matter how long it has been since you have seen one another, we can always pick up like no time has been lost.

It was a homemade cooking weekend! Paula and Lauren cooked a delicious meal of scallops and fennel salad for us on Friday night, and on Saturday they made summer squash soup from our monstrous squashes we grew in the garden, and a huge batch of hummus...yum! I even convinced Paula and Marissa to take a few squashes home. I did not get any pictures of the food, but it looked so pretty and tasted delicious. We watched some college football football, met Nathan in the evening for a happy hour with his classmates, and then had dinner at Sweetwater Tavern, a local favorite restaurant of ours. On Sunday, we had a delicious brunch out, watched more football, and cuddled with Caleb before the girls headed out in the afternoon.

I am so glad they came to visit, and I always laugh so much when we get together. There is nothing like good girlfriends, I love you girls -:). 

6 adults, 4 kids, and a dog

This weekend we drove to Salem to visit with Nathan's family over Labor Day. It was Caleb's first long roadtrip and he was a great traveler! He has now visited Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, Indiana, and Illinois and our trip totaled 1727 miles.

Our first stop along the way was the New River Gorge in West Virginia. This area of the US has a lot of old steel bridges, and the New River Bridge is the world's longest single-arch steel span bridge. Sitting at almost 900 feet above the river, it is the US's 2nd highest bridge. We drove down along the river and walked around, and then we went to the bridge observation point. The trees were so full so we did not get a great view of the bridge, but the view of the gorge was beautiful.

The next day we drove to Evansville, IN to visit good friends Mike and Brittney, and their daughters Caty and precious 4 week old Aubrey Caroline. We had a great time catching up with them and introducing Caleb to Aubrey and Caty. The babies looked so cute staring at each other and we all wondered what they were thinking. Caty is a great big sister to Aubrey, and she is lucky to be welcomed into a very loving family. Mike and Nathan grew up together in Salem, were college roommates, and were the best men in each other's weddings. It is great to see how close they remain after all these years, and special that we have children of similar ages.

When we arrived in Salem on Friday, we were happily greeted at home by Ned, and Caleb got a welcoming lick -:). We visited Grandma Betty at school and introduced Caleb to some of the teachers, then we visted Great Grandma Rose and her cat Sugar at the nursing home. On Saturday, Nathan and Mark left the house early in the morning to drive to Indy to watch Sam's soccer game. According to Nathan, Sam did a great job 'guarding' (sitting inside) the goal. Four year old soccer players sure look cute to watch!

After the soccer game everyone came back to Salem, and I got to meet our new nephew, Jacob.  He is a very sweet boy and he loves to cuddle. That afternoon Uncle Ron, Aunt Nancy, and Cousins Jennifer, Michael, and Catherine came over to visit and meet Caleb and Jacob. It was fun to see all the kids playing together, and we managed to get them all to sit still long enough to take a few pictures. It was a fun day!

On Sunday the weather was beautiful, so we played outside in the morning with the boys before church. Sam has a great imagination and Andrew likes following his big brother. They are 100% boy and I'm sure Jacob and Caleb will follow in suit. That afternoon, Caleb met Nathan's childhood friend Beau. He brought his boxer Maverick so Ned got to catch up with an old friend too. Poor Andrew thought Ned was in a fight and he got really upset saying, 'no Ned, fight.' We tried to explain he was just playing, but I don't think Andrew believed us.

On Sunday evening, Mark and Betty had a photographer take family pictures since all of the kids and grandkids were home. It was such a great idea and we are all very happy with the way the pictures came out. I especially love the picture of the cousins. Aren't they so precious?

Grandpa Mark, Grandma Betty, and Great Grandma Rose enjoyed some double duty throughout the weekend, and the boys were pooped by the end of the trip.

It was a wonderful weekend and we are very thankful for the time we were able to spend with everyone. We can't wait to do it again sometime soon!