Daddy's Boy

Caleb loves his daddy. It is ridiculously adorable, except for when I am feeding him. If Caleb even hears the door from the garage to the house open in the afternoon while he is eating, he stops. And he refuses to eat again until he sees his dad come in the door, talks to him, and plays with him for awhile. Then I still have to ask John to leave, and Caleb has to be quite positive that he is not in the room anymore by searching around for a few minutes, before he will eat again. It is quite a process, and sometimes after all of that he still won't eat again because he just wants to play with his dad. But, I definitely can't complain. I love the way Caleb's eyes light up when John walks in the room and his big cheeks can barely contain his smile....and the smile on John's face is just about as priceless. :) I am so thankful for the father that John is to Caleb.

Basketball season gets a little busy, but John always makes sure to run home between school and games or get home from practice early enough to roll around with Caleb on the floor. I think it is Caleb's favorite time of the day...and mine too. :)

Caleb's First Food

I have been putting off giving Caleb food mainly because he has a good schedule right now, and I don't really like change. :) And I was just a little scared because I had no idea what I was doing...but what else is new with being a mom? He had been waking up crying in the middle of the night a few times, so I thought maybe now is the time to try food. So, we gave him some rice oatmeal mixed with a little breast milk. Overall I would say it went pretty well. He didn't cry or throw a fuss, and I think we got a little bit of food in his stomach. He was very interested in the spoon, but after a few bites he wasn't very interested in the food. He just shut his mouth and wouldn't eat anymore. I have given him a little bit of food around 5 or 6 p.m. after he drinks milk every day since, and he still will only eat a little bit and then just decides he is done. I guess we will just keep trying it and see how it goes.

 A little smirk after his first bite.

 

Wanting to hold and play with the spoon.

 

 

 

To Moms

Being a mom. It's one of those tough, rewarding, 24/7, crazy emotional types of jobs. One you had no idea what to expect when you signed up for it...or accidentally got thrown into it. But I'm sure all moms out there would say it's the best job they have ever been given.

So if we are all in agreement that some days it is really really hard to be a mom, and some days it is really really amazing to be a mom, why does there seem to be a battle going on between moms? My husband would probably rant at me for even attempting to write about the subject because of how often he sees posts about working/non-working mothers or a variety of other topics. I mean let's face it, there are a lot of discussions going on about the "right way" to parent a child...

Breast fed vs. bottle fed, home delivery vs. hospital, cry it out vs. sleep with your baby, cloth diapers vs. disposables, scheduled feedings vs. feed on demand, stay at home mom vs. working mom (or both), breast feed for 6 mo. vs. 1 year (or 2 or...), pureed food vs. cut up food, starting food at 3 mo. vs. starting food at ??? mo..., rock your baby to sleep vs. cry themselves to sleep, sleep on stomach vs. sleep on back, don't eat chocolate while pregnant/breast feeding vs. eat whatever you want, have a glass of wine while breast feeding vs. are you out of your mind to drink alcohol with a baby, sleep in the car seat vs. never sleep in a car seat, have a noise maker vs. make your baby used to noise, bathe your baby every day vs. bathe your baby once a week, use lotion vs. never use lotion, swaddle your baby vs. are you seriously going to suffocate them like that, read to your baby in the womb vs. can that really make a different, don't change your life at all for your baby vs. never take your baby out of the home, immunizations vs. those cause autism, stick the kid in front of the tv vs. technology kills brain cells ...and this all just for babies. The debates get even more numerous when it comes to when to send your child to school, what type of school to send your child, what type of food to give your child, how to discipline/not discipline your child. For all the decisions that need to be made out there for parenting, there are probably a hundred different options of how they can be done. And for all the people there are in the world, someone somewhere has probably tried it. And the funniest thing is...their kid probably survived. Not only survived, but probably turned out to be a pretty good adult who makes a decent contribution to society.

Now, I am a first time mom. I am far from having things figured out. But of all the things I have learned from parenting in my short six months as a mother, I think the most important came from my own mother. When I was questioning one of the bazillion decisions that I need to make as a mother (probably one of the ones listed above), my mom told me that, "You are his mother. And no one knows your baby and your family like you do. So do what is best for you and your baby."

Wow...light bulb moment. You mean every mom (and dad) out there is probably just doing what they think is best for their child and their family? And even though moms sometimes make very different decisions in parenting, they are all just trying to be the best mom they can be to their child? And you mean when I make a decision maybe they aren't judging me because at some point they have had to make that same decision? So...we're really all in this mothering/parenthood thing together? Yea...I guess we are.

And with all those decisions out there, how important are they...really?? I was reading a book om marriage in light of eternity and it touched on parenting. It made me realize that the thing I want most for my son (and future children) is that he is a follower of Christ. If I can teach him to love the Lord and to see Christ's love in action through me, do all those other little tiny mundane every day decisions really mean all that much? I want my child to be willing to sacrifice all he has for Christ much more than I want him to be breast fed, or sleep through the night, or... Eternity is on the line here...not whether their butts are in cloth or disposable diapers.

So to all you moms (and dads) out there-you're doing a great job. Whatever decisions you have made and will have to continue to make, I hope you know they're just fine. Your child may shed a few more tears or have a few more temper tantrums, but they will be fine. And at the end of the day, as long as they are a disciple of Christ, then you did one heck of a job parenting them.

I saw these two videos the other day (partly helped to spark my thinking on this blog post, along with my night out with 9 moms last weekend), so I had to share it. Hope it brings a few laughs/smiles to your day as you continue to parent your child the best way you know how.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Me9yrREXOj4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yotq4zr0dRc

6 months

I have officially kept a baby alive for 6 months...I feel pretty accomplished. :) After having him home a few days after he was born, it felt like 6 months was years away. And now, it has come so quickly! After all my fretting about the first few months of having a baby, I am happily surprised to say that it has gone great and been a lot of fun!

Caleb is doing great and seems to be growing and changing every day! He is such a happy little boy and seems to light up a room with his smile. I love taking him to church, basketball games, the grocery store, or  out to eat because he will just give huge smiles to whoever looks his direction. He is quite a social butterfly (his father will tell you he is just like his mother), and loves to be the center of attention. His smile and giggles just melt my heart and always make me smile...even if he has just peed on the carpet, blown out of his diaper, and spit up all over his clothes. :)

Here are some other facts about Caleb at 6 months:
-he is rolling all over the floor and will just keep rolling to get to whatever he wants
-he has just started to scoot/throw/wiggle himself backwards
-he can sit up for a few seconds on his own and does well with a pillow around him
-he is very curious...about everything...and tries to grab anything within reach
-after he grabs whatever he can find, he eats it...everything goes in his mouth
-he doesn't have any teeth but loves to chew and is constantly drooling
-he eats 5 times a day (7:45, 11:00, 2:00, 5:00, 7:15) and sleeps 12ish hours a night
-we are still doing the eat, awake, sleep schedule and he usually takes one long nap during the day (1 1/2-2 hrs.) and then two other short naps (30 min.-1 hr.)
-no food yet, just milk (and he is pretty chunky so we think he is doing ok. :))
-he loves to play with his toes, stick his tongue out, and be naked
-his favorite thing is to be completely naked and roll all over the floor while you talk to him/tickle him
-he drinks anywhere from 7 1/2-9 oz. and still does great with a bottle
-he has 1 or more dirty diapers a day
-he is becoming more and more aware of people and will often cry when he sees a new face, but as long as he is by mom and dad he does just fine
-he loves to talk/scream/babble
-he will still fall asleep wherever we put him down at night and has done great staying up late at some bball games and sleeping in the next morning
-he is very content, growing like crazy, and so much fun right now!

Weekend Out

This weekend I got not only one, but two nights out. I love Caleb and enjoy putting him to bed at night when he is all cuddly, but I also really like getting out of the house. :) Caleb is great at taking bottles and going to bed, so I can truly enjoy my nights away.

On Friday night a group of 12 women got together and went out to eat at Luciano's in Sioux Falls. Every couple of months one of our friends who is a young mom in the area plans a woman's night out to a different restaurant or fun location. As the majority of us are either breastfeeding, pregnant, or have older kids at home, we all REALLY look forward to this night. It was a blast! The food was absolutely amazing...you should check out the restaurant if you are ever in Sioux Falls and enjoy Italian food. And we got a whole night with no distractions, feedings, or crying kids to be able to just relax and talk. We closed down the restaurant and still had so much to say on the drive home....surprise surprise with a group of women right?:) I feel so blessed to have this many young women/moms living in Edgerton. God has truly provided great Christian friends for me here, and I love the support that we an give each other in our jobs, motherhood, and our walk with the Lord.

 Such a great group of women!

A big thanks to John who stayed home with this chunk for the night.

By the time I got back to Edgerton on Friday night, my parents had gotten to our house.We all relaxed on Saturday morning and then went to John's games for the afternoon and saw two wins! On Saturday night my parents were willing to baby-sit for us so that we could go on a date to Sioux Falls. We got groceries, went out for supper, and looked at kitchen tables. It was great to have an evening to ourselves to be able to just talk and be together. Basketball has been/is going to be busy, so we really enjoyed a night with just the two of us. And I think grandpa and grandma enjoyed the night with Caleb too. :) Thanks mom and dad for driving up (on dad's birthday) to spend some time with us and Caleb!

Happy Birthday Dad!

"I've been watching you, Dad..."

I was cooking in the kitchen on Saturday morning, and looked into the living room to see this...

John re-organizing his tackle-box and working on his fishing poles, and Caleb watching ever so diligently and contently. I have a slight feeling this is a sign of things to come...:) Now, if only he would enjoy watching me cook as much as he does watching his daddy work on his fishing stuff.

These two make a pretty good looking pair.

Snow Day

We had our first full snow day this week...and it was awesome! Snow days are a great perk of being a teacher and being married to a teacher. :) We also had two 2 hour late starts this week, so it was a nice way to ease back in to school after Christmas break.

I had a couple other teachers over for brunch in the morning while John got me groceries (isn't he great?!). Then we visited his grandma in the afternoon and just hung out around the house in our comfy clothes. The wind was blowing quite a bit, and we ended up losing power for a couple hours at night. This is the second time this has happened this winter, and we love it. John gets out all of his fishing headlamps, lanterns, and flashlights, and I light candles around the house. Even Caleb was getting into it and having fun in the dark. Thankfully our fireplace still worked, so we camped out down there for awhile to help keep Caleb warm. Sometimes I think we should pretend the power is out more often so we can't get on the internet to do school work or watch TV or cook or really have any distractions at all. :) The power did end up coming back on later that night, and we were thankful to sleep in our warm beds for the night. What a blessing to have heat during this cold winter!

 Sitting by the fireplace to keep warm.

 Caleb loved the lantern. 

John's fishing headlight and the candles to light our way.

VZ Christmas

After Top family Christmas we headed down to Pella on Friday morning. We spent Friday night eating supper with just my grandparents. It was great to get them some alone time with Caleb and just to be able to catch up on their lives in Pella. I miss Saturday morning McDonalds dates with them and going to their house to play cards in the afternoons. It had been way too long since they had seen Caleb, so we were very thankful for the time together.

Great Grandpa & Grandma VZ with the great grand-kids.

Saturday was reunion day, and it was awesome! Three different reunions with friends from high school. In the morning a bunch of girls from my class got together at our friend Karlie's house for breakfast. It is crazy to see where the Lord has led our group of friends to different places all over the U.S...and the world! Then in the afternoon my friends Katie, Sarah, and Alaina stopped over. It was great to catch up with them and have them spend a little time with Caleb.

 High school friends meeting Caleb for the first time.

Sarah, Caleb, me, and Katie.

My family all got in later on Saturday, so we had the rest of the weekend to hangout together. We got together with my aunt and uncle, cousins, and grandparents to play bingo, celebrate Christmas, and open gifts.

VZ Christmas party- G&G with the grand-kids & great grand-kids.

We also got to have our immediate family Christmas, play a lot of games, play with the three kids, sit in the hot tub, and play a lot of hand and foot. My nieces are absolutely adorable, and I love seeing their little personalities come out. Erin is very spirited and quick witted- I could laugh all day long at the things she says. Kate is becoming very mobile and loves to coo and get into everything. Both of them are so sweet to Caleb, and by all his smiles I think he liked them too! It was a wonderful few days together as a family!

 Caleb loved rolling around with uncle Scott.

 He loves to be held by aunt Jody.

 Opening gifts with grandpa & grandma. 

 Caleb loved his gifts...and eating the wrapping paper. :)

Kate (11 mo.), Caleb (5 mo.), Erin (3 yrs.)

 These two love each other! It's so fun to see them talk and grab at each other.

Group hug- my sister has the cutest little girls! 

 Making a ginger bread house with Erin. She is growing up soo fast!

 Uncle Scott read Caleb lots of sports articles and taught him to play the drums. :)

 Crazy how much has changed in 1 year! So glad I could go through this whole experience of pregnancy and becoming a mom right along side my sister!

All 3 grand-kids LOVE grandpa and grandma!

I'm so thankful Caleb has such a great uncle and aunt!

Top Christmas

Wow it has been a whirl wind of Christmas celebrations since I last posted. Having an almost two week break has been fantastic, and we are very glad we have these last few days to re-cooperate from the holiday celebrations.

We finished up exams on Tuesday and then headed to John's parents on Wednesday for the annual Christmas decorating extravaganza. It has become very entertaining with 3 little boys wanting to participate in the fun. :)

 The cookie decorating group minus Grandma Top.

 We love christmas cookies! :)

Then on Christmas Day we went to Sioux Falls to spend the day at his sister and brother-in-law's house. We played the increasingly exciting game of 'Deal or No Deal' and even came away with a decent amount of cash this year. We also opened stockings, ate way too much for supper, and opened gifts. Caleb is too little to play with his cousins yet, but he did enjoy watching them run around and open their presents. It was a lot of fun to have the whole afternoon and night to be able to hang out together.

 Grandma Top and Caleb by the Christmas tree.

 Grandpa & Grandma Top

 Ethan (4), Braden (2), Caleb (5 mo.)

 Aunt Tianna with Caleb

 Andrew and Amber (Andrew won deal or no deal this year)

 Caleb's 1st fishing pole- not sure if John or Caleb is more excited. :)

 The kids and grandkids.

The whole gang.