Sick boys

I have two pretty sick boys in the house. I have been a little behind on updating because of all the sickness around here.

Caleb started wheezing and coughing really bad a week ago. So we took him in and he had bronchitis.y mom thankfully drove up for the week to take care of him so john and I could both go to work. What a huge blessing to have her around. By mid-week caleb was back to his normal self. 

Then on Sunday John started feeling sick and by Tuesday morning caleb was sick too. Since then there has been lots of coughing and lots of nap taking. They are both pretty miserable and I feel so bad for them! I'm praying some rest this weekend will put them both over the hump. 

And until they are better, I'm getting in lots of cuddle time.

The Park

This is a little late, but last Saturday we met Scott in Luverne to have lunch and play at the park with Caleb. Caleb loved the swing, watching the guys play catch, and being outside. He did not however, love the slide. A few tears and a very scared face, but he recovered by sitting by uncle Scott on the swing. :)

 John loving the slide, Caleb not loving the slide.

 Much more fun on the swing with Uncle Scott.

Loving the sunshine and family time!

Moving Weekend

My brother moved into his condo in Sioux Falls this weekend, so we went up all day Saturday to help out. Thankfully all of my grandparents and uncles and aunts were there to help, and to help take care of Caleb. We had a lot of fun and even got in some pizza and basketball at night. Then on Sunday my parents, brother, and Grandpa & Grandma VZ came over for Sunday lunch. It was great to see them and have all of them get to play with Caleb. We took Caleb to the park in the afternoon and then headed to Luverne to spend Sunday night with John's family. It was a great Easter weekend spent enjoying family time and reflecting on Christ's death and resurrection.

 So happy by Uncle Scott.

 Caleb loving time with his uncle.

 Hugs from grandpa.

 Caleb learning football at the park.

 Giving high-fives on the swing.

 He loves the swing and being outside!

Caleb enjoying the park with grandpa and grandma.

Fun on the Farm

John's aunt and uncle live on a farm a few miles outside of Edgerton. Last year they invited us to come have supper with them and see their baby chicks. We got to hold those cute little yellow bundles and learn about how they care for them on the farm. Then a few months later they invited us back to chop off their heads, pluck their feathers, and pull out their inner parts...needless to say I preferred the first visit. :) Although I felt like I was in some crazy form of family initiation, I did very much enjoy having a bunch of very delicious chickens in our freezer by the end of the night.

So, this year they invited us and Caleb to come out and see the chicks. We thought we would let him get used to them before he comes back in May and sees us kill them all. :) We imaged he would want to grab the chicks and eat them...like he does everything else he sees...but he actually could have cared less about the chicks. He was more interested in the containers where their food was sitting. We had fun watching his facial expressions and then took him on a ranger ride around the farm to see the cows. He was pretty wide eyed through the whole evening, but seemed to have a good time. Hopefully this is the first of many of his adventures on farms in the area.

 A little hesitant with the kitty.

"I don't think this is very fun mom and dad."

 "please take me out of here."

 "I don't get why everyone is so interested in these yellow fuzz balls."

 "hmm....what's crawling on dad's shoulder?"

 Ranger ride.

Checking out the cows.

8 months & 80 years

Caleb turned 8 months and my Grandpa V.W. had his 80th birthday during March. I'm so glad that Caleb has gotten to have his grandparents and great-grandparents around for his 8 months of life, and I hope he gets to enjoy all of them for many more years to come!

 Happy 80th Birthday Grandpa!

 The whole gang celebrating at supper in Adrian.

Caleb has become much more mobile now that he is 8 months old, and we have had to put locks on the cupboards under the sink and lower his crib. I feel like he is now a small toddler instead of a baby! His 8 month pictures were also a little more difficult to take because he did not want to sit still for one second. He was one of the most relaxed babies I have ever heard about, but he is one active little guy now!

Helping dad put child protectors on the cupboards...he wasn't quite sure about the power tools.:)

 Clapping!

 This pretty much sums up how the picture taking went for the afternoon...:)

 Love that little tongue!

Here are some other facts about Caleb at 8 months:
-he sleeps from 8:00-7/7:30
-he still takes 3 naps a day 9:30-10:15, 12:30-2:00, 4:30-5:30
-he drinks 5 times a day and drinks anywhere from 7-9 oz.
-he hates oatmeal cereal so we switched to carrots. he ate that for about a week and now hates that and squash, and if we even make a motion of putting a spoon in his mouth
-he can crawl (but still does army crawl when he wants to go really fast)
-he can pull himself up onto his knees and just recently has begun pulling himself onto his feet (although he is fairly unstable doing this so it is slightly hazardous)
-he takes a bottle great and goes down for naps/bed great, except at other people's houses in which he screams bloody murder
-he is a lot more afraid of strangers and new places and is much more tight with his smiles and often cries when he goes to new people
-he loves being outside on walks and at night he likes to walk around the house with John
-he likes the bath
-no teeth but is still drooling and eating everything
-he is quite a chatter box and we love hearing all of his new noises
-he is extremely curious and still refuses to eat in front of other people
-he loves to give kisses and clap/do patty cake and they are both the cutest thing

 I love his kisses...they are slobbery and are more like him eating my face, but they are the best!

He is still one very happy boy and is providing lots of entertainment for his parents!:)

Warm Weather

The past few weeks we have had some beautiful weather in Minnesota! Lots of sunshine and unusually high temperatures...it has been wonderful! Sadly this week is a little different story. :( But because we know the weather can change very quickly here, we like to take advantage of any nice day we have by spending it outside!

 His first ride sitting up in the stroller...he loved it!

Family walk on a Sunday afternoon...despite Caleb's facial expression, he really did have a good time. :)

Laughter

I have decided my favorite thing to hear is my son laughing. There is nothing sweeter than the sound of his giggles and the huge smile on his face.