Baby Purcell #2's Nursery

Over the last couple of weeks we have transformed Baby #2's room from my extended storage unit into a nursery. Initially we were going to move Caleb to the new room since we already had Nathan's childhood beds set up, but we decided to keep Caleb where he is and make another nursery. Nathan was hard at work taking down the beds and moving furniture around, while I arguably got the easier job of cleaning out and organizing the closet and shelves. Score on being 34 weeks pregnant! 

Baby's room has lots of special items, from Nathan's childhood furniture, Elizabeth's rocker that she so kindly gave us when they moved abroad, an IU picture from Nathan's childhood and the matching UF picture.

Brownie, Nathan's childhood dog on the top right, a painting from our nephew Sam and Nathan's Easter booties from 31 years ago on the middle left, international stuffed toys from family and friends, and pictures of dad and mom. Once our little guy arrives, we will get some family pictures up!

And if I told you this was all of his clothes, I would be lying. We are thankful to have so many hand-me-downs from family and friends, and we hope to give LOTS of baby items to good friends down the line. I still had room to store some of my junk in the closet ;).

And a special wall for Big, Big Brother Caleb:). This will be replaced with a picture of Caleb and his little brother real soon!

Nathan picked out the bedding and mobile for the room, puppies and sports - what more can a little boy want? We kind of laughed that we have a pseudo sports theme, being the unsports fans we are...

We love the way the room turned out, and more importantly we are excited about Baby #2's arrival in 6 weeks or less!

Lazy weekend and a Preggo Shot

We had no plans this weekend and it was so nice! It rained on and off both days, and the temperatures felt like the start of fall. We had the air off and windows open. Nathan is really enjoying having his weekends back since he is done with school, and so are we. We spent a lot of time around the house doing some odds and ends, playing with Caleb, and practicing walking with him. He is doing great and each day he gets more adventurous. I also got  a new camera lens, so I have been experimenting. Here are a few pictures from the week:

This is week 34 for Baby Boy Purcell #2. Thankfully I am still feeling great and have a good energy level throughout the day. I have little to no swelling and I am sleeping well most nights. I have gained 32 pounds so far. I had a doctor's appointment last Friday and our little boy has a strong heart beat. Doctor even thinks his head is down, will see for sure this Friday at the next sonogram.

We've got a walker!

The day has come, Caleb is walking! This past week he has been taking a few steps, and tonight he took off :).

13 months old!

The reason I did not blog sooner is because we have been in major organizing/purging mode this week. We cleaned out our garage...well Nathan did 99% of the work and I just cleaned out some boxes.  I have been getting the new baby's room ready. Hopefully in the next week or two we will be done.

Our little firecracker turned 13 months old this week. The best word to describe Caleb this month is FUN! He loves to play, especially with toys he can push like trucks, cars, walkers, and wagons. His favorite place to be is outside, he enjoys crawling most and he also likes to walk holding onto our hands. This month Caleb transitioned to a sippy cup, and he loves, loves, loves milk.

Caleb babbles up a storm, points and asks about many things, and he understands a lot more than he can express. The latest words he understands and mimics are Elmo, turtle, monkey, lion, giraffe, milk, diaper, shoes, feet, and head. He likes to flip through books on his own and babble at the pages. At night he talks to himself or his toys for a good half hour before falling asleep. These are the nights it would be fun to have a video monitor! Daddy taught him how to stick out his tongue and it cracks us all up. Anytime we laugh at him, he laughs right back. He is also learning how to throw things. Everything from toys off of our balcony, down the stairs, food off of his high chair, toys and blanket out of his crib, toys out of the bathtub. We are all learning as we go:).

Nathan took Caleb to Lowes this weekend to get some toilet latches and shelves for the new baby's room. Nathan turned around for a few seconds and Caleb took off with the cart, hahaha! Enjoy the video.

Here are his latest stats:
Clothes: 12 - 18 months
Diapers: Size 4
Eating: lots of milk, getting picky about chicken nuggets and fish sticks, fruit of all kinds, mac-n-cheese, pizza, turkey and cheese sandwiches, pancakes, waffles, oatmeal, pureed veggies (he is learning what they are in true form), crackers, puffs, cheese, meat raviolis
Sleep: about 7:30pm - 6am
Naps: one a day at daycare, and 2 a day on the weekends

Happy 13 month birthday Wildman! We love you!!

Tuff Guy Tuesday

Caleb plays pretty hard when he gets home from daycare in the evening. Enjoy the video:

He turned 13 months old today, stay tuned for another blog post later this week ;).

A night away in the mountains and 32 weeks pregnant

To celebrate Nathan’s graduation, we spent a night away by ourselves at Shenandoah National Park. Our good friends, Justin and Tara and their 3 girls watched Caleb for the night. This was the first time we spent the night away from Caleb. We knew he was in great hands and he would have a blast hanging out with their family.

Nathan and I arrived at Shenandoah mid day. We stayed at Skyland, where we got married, and we enjoyed reminiscing about our wedding day almost 3 years ago. The weather was gorgeous, in the 70’s. There was a wedding planned that afternoon, and when we arrived it was an empty setup very similar to our wedding day. It was simple and beautiful, just the way we remembered it.

After sneaking in a few pictures of the ceremony site, we checked into our room and then went for a hike. We decided to hike the Stony Man trail, one of our favorite short trails in the park. Last time we hiked this trail together was the morning before our wedding day.  In the summertime, Shenandoah is filled with wildflowers of all types and color, and everything is green and blooming. The views from the top are always spectacular.

After the hike, we took a nap, watched a beautiful sunset, ate a late dinner and ate their famous blackberry ice cream, listened to a local bluegrass band, and hung out on our balcony listening to the quiet sounds of the mountains.  And the finale treat for the night was getting 11 hours of sleep! The next day we hiked the Limberlost Trail and began our drive home. Of all the times I visited the park, I have never seen a bear. Today I saw my first little black bear crossing Skyline Drive.

Caleb had a great time, and everyone had fun with a little boy in the house for a couple of days. They had a BBQ with extended family Saturday night and Caleb was pooped by the end of the day after playing with everyone. He even slept in until 6:45 the next day! Thank you so much Justin, Tara, Mackenzie, Delaney, and Zoey for hanging out with Caleb and allowing us to have a great night away. We really appreciate it!

Soon to be walker

Caleb started bearing weight on his legs at only a few months old and he began furniture walking around 8 months. Nathan and I were sure we would have an early walker at the time. As it got closer to his one year birthday, we realized that Caleb loves to crawl and is quite efficient.

For the last couple of months, he has been using a walker and now is quite good with it. Over the past couple of weeks we catch him standing for a few seconds. Now he loves pushing the walker around, many times with just one hand. All we think he needs is a little confidence and he will be off on his own.  We are not pressuring him to walk, though we think it will be soon. Here are a couple of cute videos from tonight. When we are not outside, this is what most of are nights are like, and we love it.

Our little baby is turning into a little boy. As I put Caleb to bed tonight, I teared up for one of the first times, as I rocked him while he drank his milk from a sippy cup. Please stop growing so fast sweet Caleb!

Play like a champion weekend!

This weekend Nathan's cousins Jennifer, Joe, and their kids Michael, and Catherine came to visit us. Now that they are living in Rhode Island we have been able to see them every few months. Michael and Catherine are so much fun to play with and really good kids. They love their cousin 'Cal-ep' and are very helpful and enjoy playing with him.

They arrived on Friday afternoon and we just hung around the house, played, and ordered pizza. The kids were very entertained with Caleb's toys, it was an encouragement to see they will keep him and his little brother amused for many years. Jennifer said the key is to hide them for a while and then reintroduce them...we will remember that helpful hint!

On Saturday, while Nathan was at his last day of school, it was a beautiful day so we went to Sky Meadows State Park. Sky Meadows has lots of rolling pastures and woodlands, miles of trails to include the Appalachian Trail, and is filled with Civil War history.  We decided to hike the Piedmont Overlook trail. The views were beautiful!

Catherine loves butterflies. She was determine to catch one, and she did!

Joe was the super trooper who held Caleb in the backpack carrier. Caleb enjoyed going along for the ride and had fun on the hike. Thank you Joe!

This was probably the only 30 seconds that I was able to get Caleb to wear his hat...

View from the top!

For the last few weeks, we have caught Caleb standing for a second, then he crashes down. Today was the first time we saw him standing on his own for a good 10 seconds. We are so proud of you big guy! Notice the intense concentrated look on his face :)

Then we made our way down the trail. Joe, Michael, and Caleb made good time on the way down.

Today was Catherine's big day! This was the first hike she completed all by herself (not getting picked up). Jenn is a great motivator and told her when things get hard, pushing through makes us stronger. Great job Catherine!

After a good hike, we all enjoyed rocking chairs, a picnic, and talking with a Union Army Soldier (I did not get a picture of him).

I thought I forgot Caleb's water cup by the car (it was really hiding under a bag), but this is why babies need sippy cups...

Haha!

We relaxed and took naps when we got home from the hike, then hit the pool with the kids. Everyone had a good time swimming. Nathan was home by the time we got back to the house, and we had a BBQ to celebrate him being all done with school! It was a tiring and fun day outside. Everyone played like a champion!

Thank you for the fun weekend Joe, Jenn, Michael, and Catherine! Come back anytime :).

Nathan's last day of school!

Yesterday Nathan completed his last day of school!  Ever since I met Nathan in 2005, he has talked about going back to school for his Masters degree. He started his Masters in Engineering Management at George Washington University in March 2011, and now he is done! Graduation was held in May 2012 downtown DC on the mall, and after that he only had one more semester to go.

Nathan's cousins, Jennifer, Joe, and their kids Michael and Catherine are visiting with us for the weekend, and we had a BBQ and cake in celebration of Nathan's big accomplishment.

Nathan, we are so proud of you for your hard work and accomplishing this goal! Congratulations on a job well done!