Happy Birthday Karis!

One year ago today, we had just cancelled Bible study, Kellie and Clay had picked up Caleb to spend the night at their house, and I was dusting our house. My contractions were picking up, but it was definitely still the "fun" part of labor. I knew I had to get to the hospital fairly quickly because I needed the group B strep antibiotic before she was born. Given the quickness of Caleb's birth, I wanted to make sure that I was there early. We checked into the hospital around 11:00 pm with my contractions around 4 or 5 minutes apart. I was sufficiently dilated and I went on to my room. We called our families and they rushed to the hospital. Once again, given the speed of Caleb's delivery, no one wanted to miss it. Well, it turns out that Karis was going to take a little longer which was fine because I needed that antibiotic. Instead of sleeping, we all stayed up and talked...all night long. I didn't have any pain medicine, but it was fine because it really didn't hurt anyway. We laughed, told jokes, and had a great time. There was some sleeping that went on (Ashley had been up since 3:00 am the day before), but mostly we just hung out. At 4:00 am, I had finished my antibiotic, so we started getting serious about having a baby. They broke my water and the contractions began. At 5:00 am, they checked me again and I hadn't changed (still 6cm). From that point on though, it's all a blur. I think the exam set things off because she started to come and man did she come. At 6ish the nurse came in, and I asked her to check me. I told her (or whoever was listening) that if I wasn't ready to push that someone better line up some good pain medicine because I was over it being natural. Thankfully I was 10 cm and ready to push. I gave a practice push, three good pushes (sets of pushes) and thought she was just about out. All of a sudden things got kind of tense in the room. They said she was stuck. I had people on my stomach telling me to push even though there wasn't a contraction to push with. I'm pretty sure that someone's arm was inside of me but I only know that because of bystanders in the room (Ashley and my mom) telling me that it happened. All I knew was that I was doing the hardest thing I had ever done and that I had to do it well. Then she was here, taking her first breath, letting out her first cry, and wiggling her way into my heart. I was completely spent and had no energy at all, but within a few minutes I sat up, held her and was ready to do it all over again. It's really amazing how God does that. The love that we are able to have for our children is nothing short of a miracle.

As I recall that night one year ago, I can't believe how quickly the past year has gone by. I have LOVED watching her grow and change.

She loves to give hugs and will tuck her head under your chin and just squeeze you (she especially loves giving Ashley hugs).

She gives the sweetest, sloppiest, open mouth kisses and then says "mmmmmah."

She has taken her first steps, but I wouldn't say that she's walking yet.

She loves to dance.

She's a little monkey and climbs on everything (and falls off on occassion).

She adores her big brother.

She has learned to screech when she doesn't get what she wants, something is taken away from her that she wants, or she wants something in general...we're working on this a lot.

She loves being in the water...especially the toilet:)

She's starting to sign when she wants something...all done, more, please are the ones she uses the most. Today when we were taking a walk (she was in the stroller), she signed all done and said "ahhh don." I asked her if she was ready to stop to which she responded with the sign for more and said "mo mo mo."

She says several things, Mama, Dada, Hi Kitty, Dog, Bye Bye, Hi, Ahhh Don (all done), Mo Mo Mo (more), and lots and lots of other babble words. She has the sweetest little voice and apparently loves to hear it as much as we do due to all the "talking" she does:)

She has the sweetest smile in the world. It lights up her whole face when she smiles, especially her eyes.

She recognizes friends and family and gets excited about seeing them.

She is such a happy baby. She rarely ever cries or fusses unless something is wrong (or she's not getting what she really wants - see above - and even that is over very quickly).

She is so easy going and laid back.

She is tough as nails!

It's amazing that in just one year, she has gone from completely helpless to this sweet little child on the brink of toddlerhood with an amazing personality. We are so thankful for her life and for the blessing that God has given us in her. We can't wait to see what God has in store for her life!

Happy Birthday Caleb!

It has been sooo long since I've posted and I've missed it. There are many many reasons that I haven't had a chance to write, but I'm not going it to it today. Today is about Caleb and celebrating his three years of life!

We started last night by telling him about the night before he was born. He loves to hear our stories and kept asking questions (mostly "why"). Then this morning I told him the next section of the story about going to the hospital and knowing that we were giong to hold our first baby boy soon. When Ashley got home, it was around 11:45 and we told him about him being born and how we were amazed at the miracle that God had just given us. Then tonight when we were putting him to sleep, we told him about our first night in the hospital with him when it was just Daddy, Mommy, and Caleb. We are so thankful for the three years that we've had with him and for the amazing little boy that he's become. This is what we love about him the most:

He has the sweetest little voice in the world.

He sings all the time and knows so many songs. So many times they come out of nowhere. It could be a song that we haven't sung in months and he'll still remember all the words.

He prays for his friends and family. Sometimes he's in a hurry, but usually he seems to know just who to pray for.

He loves the mud, running, playing ball, and all things boy.

He crawls in our laps to read and will sit there for so long. Going to the library is one of his favorite things to do.

He gets excited about playing with his friends. They can play together in relative peace and have the most fun games that they make up. I found he and Dayla sitting in the recliner together a few weeks ago. They were "reading" a book to each other.

He really does love Karis even though he doesn't really like for her to take his toys. I've found them playing together so sweetly recently. I love it:)

He's witty and has a great sense of humor. He always knows just how to make us laugh.

He has an amazing joy for life that makes his eyes sparkle when he's excited about something.

He always wants to do his best.

He loves playing with play doh, washing anything in the sink, and helping us do things. His new thing to say is, "I'm a great helper."

He loves to work in the garden, planting things, digging holes, watering the plants, etc.

He loves cooking, sprouting seeds, making bread, juicing vegetables, etc.

He is absolutely the sweetest kiddo in the world. We love you Caleb and are so thankful that God has given us three years with you.

(I'll post pictures of the party after this weekend)