A Sunny Spring Day with the Jolliffs

This past Saturday, we went to visit Hap, Elizabeth, and the 3 musketeers in Richmond. It was a beautiful day and with 4 adults and 4 kids, what better thing can you do than spend the day outside -:). After a quick lunch, we went downtown to Maymont Park. It was a beautiful park that was hundreds of acres of space to roam and animals to watch and pet. It was like a zoo, but almost better! As soon as we go there, the boys wanted to run around.

Sweet Andrew stopped to pick me a flower -:).

There was a petting zoo, and the boys enjoyed petting the goats, seeing pigs, chickens, and cows.

Uncle Nathan, Sam, Caleb, and Jacob took a little R&R in the grass.

And the babies tried to eat the grass -:)

There was not a cloud in the sky, it was a perfect day!

Andrew fought a bear, at least they are both smiling.

Sam and Andrew are the newest rock climbers in the family.

Thanks for a fun day, Jolliffs! We love you.

Big Boy

 Our little boy is getting so big! He loves big boy baths and playing with his friends in the tub.

I have been waiting for 8 months to get a cute tushy shot...haha:)

Self-service on the bottle, sometimes.

Caleb gets in the crawling position often...

And still loves to stand -:). We love you big boy!

Visit with Grandma Sue

Grandma Sue came to visit us for a few days last week. She flew in on Friday evening and stayed with us until Tuesday morning. We did not have any specific plans, it was just nice to relax and for her to spend time with Caleb (and us of course).

The weather was really nice most of the weekend so we played outside in the yard and went to the park.

We played inside when it was too cold.

Caleb loves climbing all over things, he is so much fun to watch!

And he loves looking out the window.

And scooting too....

Thank you so much for the great visit and fun weekend, mom. We love you!

Sweet Boys

This past Sunday Nathan, Caleb, and I spent the day in Richmond to visit the Hap, Elizabeth , Sam, Andrew, and Jacob. We met for lunch, and then went back to their place to play for the afternoon. While Nathan and Hap played with the boys, I attended a prayer tea with Elizabeth and the other women in their group. We learned about women of other cultures, learned some cultural prayer stances, and prayed for women all around the world. It was a really neat experience, and I was glad that Elizabeth invited me to attend. We spent the rest of the day playing with the boys, and it was fun to get the cousins together again. Caleb and Jacob are changing so much, we just love getting to spend time with Hap, Elizabeth, and those silly boys!

Here is a video from bath time tonight. Caleb just found his tongue...it cracked me up!



Power 24 hours with Grandpa Mark and Grandma Betty

Grandpa Mark and Grandma Betty came to Virginia this weekend to visit Hap, Elizabeth, and the boys and to see us 3. I know they cherish every moment they get to spend with their families, and we are so thankful they had the opportunity to visit with the Jolliffs before they depart to go overseas next month.  After a nice visit with them on Friday and Saturday, they headed up to see us for a  power visit (that is our name for quick, action packed visits, of which we have had many over the years).

Caleb stayed awake to see grandpa and grandma on Saturday evening. They last saw him in person during Christmas (we Skype most weekends), and he has become quite the active little boy since their last visit. After a bit of play and cuddling, grandma gave Caleb his bottle and rocked him to sleep.  Mark and Betty did not come empty handed. They kindly hauled a trailer that had Nathan's childhood bunk beds and desk, an awesome barnwood kitchen table, lamps, toys, and a couple of strollers from Elizabeth. Nathan and Mark got a workout and brought everything upstairs ready for assembly on Sunday. On Sunday morning grandpa and grandma got lots of playtime with Caleb before church, and afterwards we went out for brunch. While Caleb enjoyed a  3 hour nap, Mark and Nathan put Caleb's future room together - it's a fun room! Once he woke up, grandpa and grandma got to play  with him for a little while before hitting the road.

 
Thank you grandpa and grandma for the great power visit. We love you!

7 months old

Caleb turned 7 months old on Valentine's Day. He has a very sweet personality, is full of energy, curious about everything, loves his playmat and being around all of his friends (stuffed animals), he grabs for Twix (our cat) when she is in arms reach, and he is moving around all the time. The last few days he has been scooting...especially for cell phones! He loves to stand while holding onto things, and he laughs and smiles a lot. His teachers at daycare all adore him, and he is in a good mood when he gets home. He loves to stare outside, so we are looking forward to warmer weather soon so we can play outdoors in the evenings and weekend. Here are his latest stats: 

Weight: 15lbs 5oz
Clothes: 3-6 and 6 months
Diapers: size 2
Eating: 5 bottles a day, plus oatmeal for breakfast, fruits and veggies with two other bottles, and sometimes rice for dinner
Sleep: about 7:30pm - 6:00am -  sleeping through the night!
Naps: 2-3 a day


Caleb cracks us up everyday, and if we had to describe him in one word, it is fun! There is nothing sweeter than the sound of him laughing and babbling. We love you Caleb. Happy 7 month birthday!

Two teeth -:).

Caleb's second tooth sprouted this week. You can see them when he is smiling big in the bathtub, and we certainly feel them as he chomps on our fingers. This week, we started feeding him puffs. He has not figured out that he can eat them, and he has a really cute and confused look on his face as he chews them and tries to decide what to do.

This weekend we visited with our friends Josh and Melanie. They recently bought a new home, so we went over to check it out and have dinner. It is a beautiful home, and they seem to have lots of projects planned over the next year. They had fun visiting with Caleb, and he was his usual energetic self. I had my camera in my purse, and completely forgot to take a single picture! Today, Nathan and I volunteered at our church nursery, and we were in the infants room. We had 3 babies, 5, 6, and 7 months old. The 7 month old girl had so much energy and her personality reminded us a lot of Caleb's. I think those two are going to be partners in crime real soon...and they'd make a cute couple -:).  Not too heavy on the pictures this week. Happy Sunday!

Caleb vs. his first tooth

Caleb is still working on his first tooth...or shall I say that tooth is working on him. It is sprouting little by little, and we can tell it is really bothering him at times. We give him different things to help the pain (no, we have not tried rum on the teether, yet -:), mostly tylenol at night so he (and we) can sleep better.

Aside from the battle of the tooth, all is great here. Caleb had a fun week in daycare and continues to be in a really playful mood when he gets home in the evenings. He made us a couple of art projects last week that are proudly displayed on our fridge - of course!  It rained most of the weekend but we got outside for a nice family walk this beautiful afternoon. Here are some pictures from our week -:).

And a video -:)

Happy Sunday!

Visit with my girls...

The Kerns family is very special to us, and they have been great friends over the last several years. When we first started spending a lot of time together, Zoey was a little older than Caleb, and now she is 6! We have really enjoyed watching their three girls grow (Mackenzie 11; Delaney 9; Zoey 6) and being a part of their lives, and we are excited that Caleb will have the same opportunity with them. Here is a picture from last week of the girls loving on Caleb. He is their surrogate son, since Justin says he can't make boys -:).

I think we have a future babysitter really soon!