Happy 4th Birthday, Caleb!

Today Caleb is 4 years old! I know all moms say this, but seriously, where has the time gone? I commented to Gabe about how easily I can take myself back to that day in the hospital. I suppose all mothers feel that way. It was a pretty eventful day in our lives - he made sure that December 2nd was all his - my water broke at midnight and he was born by 5:39am. He made quite an entrance!

 
To my son: You are an amazing gift from God.  You are sharp - each day you teach me that you learn so quickly, pick up so much and are smarter than I ever give you credit for.   You are particular - you love rules, especially when you are the one setting them, and you love things to be in order and in their place. I admit that your Daddy and I probably had a little to do with that OCD behavior.  You are funny - you love to make up silly words, tell jokes and when in a comfortable setting, be the center of attention. You are a negotiator - You definitely have your Daddy's gene for finding the loophole in almost everything.  While this is frustrating to your mom sometimes, I know it will serve you well as you grow and think "outside the box".  You are handsome - never have I known a cuter little red-head in my life! You are kind and patient - we worried about how you would react when Owen was born and you have been nothing but loving.  You are so kind to him and love to kiss and hug him everyday.  He couldn't ask for a better big brother.  We love you, son.  And I'm looking forward to this next year with my 4 year old - oh the things you will teach me!

I'm baaaaack!

I admit...I've been terrible.  But after seeing my friend Julie get back to her blog and after my father-in-law used one of my past posts during Owen's dedication, I realized that I really need to get back to it.  I took some time yesterday to read through my old posts about Caleb and our general life happenings.  It made me want to have the same record of what's happening with Owen during this precious time and also to keep track of how Caleb is changing.   I also realized that I used to post something at least once a week and then slowly went to one post per month.  Yikes! No wonder everyone lost interest.  But since we're past the stage of sleepless nights and we're embarking on what appears to be a fairly regular routine, I'm going to try it again.
   So without further ado, I'm going to attempt to catch you up on the last 4 months of our lives with some highlights and pictures.  We've actually been quite busy within the last few months, so there's a lot!

Owen over the past 5 months...he's a big boy!  At his 4 month appointment he was 2 inches longer than Caleb was and about 1.5 lbs more.  Caleb better watch out!

 We made some visits to friends who recently had babies.

Sam, Caleb, me, Owen, Jenny, Maggie and Tug

Gus, Olivia, Anna, Caleb and Owen

 Gabe had a lot of concerts over the summer, so it was nice to take the kids out of the house for awhile.  It's a novel idea when you're used to having a December baby.

Caleb dancing to the Batman theme that the Brass Band of Central Illinois was playing

Looking pretty fly

We also hit the Illinois State Fair and the Sweetcorn Festival.  Hooray for Daddy being home in the summer so we can do all of these things as a family.  I wouldn't trade his summers off for anything!

Caleb loved all of the rides.  He was even brave enough to go on the kids ferris wheel.

Mmmm...sweet corn on a stick.  Does summer get better than that? 

Caleb's 1st day of preschool.  He was pretty excited!  He got to go pick out his school supplies and get a new backpack.  Earlier in the summer his two "big kid buddies" sent him a letter showing their pictures and telling him how excited they were that he was coming.  His first comment about them was "they're pretty!"  Lord, help us now!

Hittin' the Pumpkin Farm!

2nd Annual Brass on Deck

Inspector Closseau on a hunt to find the pink panther.

The quintet

ISU Homecoming 2011

It was cold, but we all had a good time.  Caleb loved all of the marching bands!

 My mom was visiting with all of her ISU roommates for their anniversary of graduating from ISU.  I'm not sure she'll appreciate if I post how many years, so let's just say it was a mile marker. :) I'm sure my kids will be taking pictures of me with my friends in years to come! 

Halloween!

Owen was a giraffe and Caleb was, what else, Batman.  Anytime you ask Caleb his name, or say his name, he says "no, my name is Batman"

Eating cereal for the first time.  It was hit! But it took awhile to perfect eating off the spoon.

Caleb's 4th Birthday party

 I cannot believe he is almost 4 years old!  Where did that time go?

 Owen's Dedication

The same night that we had Caleb's birthday party we decided to do Owen's dedication.  Seemed appropriate to ask the family to only travel one time.  Especially in the busy holiday season.  It worked out.  It was a lovely service! And this time around, our kid was actually awake for his dedication.  What a nice little family!

Introducing: Owen Robert Myers

It only took me a month, but I'm happy to announce that Owen Robert Myers was born on June 22, 2011 at 3:43pm. He weighed 7lb 13 oz and was 20 inches long. He is truly perfect in every way and we thank God for this blessing in our lives.

It feels like he's already so big and it's only been a month. Big brother Caleb is doing amazing. He loves to give Owen hugs and kisses - almost too much. We have to tell him often that he needs to let Owen sleep. It's a good problem to have. And for the most part, we haven't had any additional discpline issues since Owen joined our family. It helps that Gabe is home for the summer and can keep Caleb occupied during these first few weeks of marathon nursing.

Gabe and I both go back to work at almost the same time, so it should be interesting how everything pans out. I'm a little nervous about having both kids, while trying to get work done too. Maybe Owen will be closer to sleeping through the night by then. I looked back and Caleb was sleeping through the night by 3 months....here's hoping that Owen follows suit!


Here are a few pics of our last month:

First day home!

First bottle from daddy - he loved it!

We visited the Schwab family last Friday. Baby Maggie was born about a week before Owen, but she is such a cute little peanut. The boys love babies!

Seriously, doesn't he look so big already?! Here he is at 1 month. Check out his monstrous feet! :)

Squeezing one more in...

Well, how about that! I'm getting at least one more post in before this baby. A miracle of miracles!

The Silders came to visit! (Toby, Caleb, Katharine and Ian) I just think that Toby and Caleb could be brothers with that red hair. And Ian has some red in the back too. What are the odds of our families having so many red-heads! I guess we'll have to see if "Ralph" has red hair too!

My baby bump at about 38 1/2 weeks. He's going to come any day now!

Enjoying a little water in the backyard. He was shivering but loved every moment of it!

Now the question is, why doesn't that love for water transfer to the pool? First swimming lesson of the season. He was hanging onto Gabe like a monkey most of the time. Here's hoping the rest of the week goes a little bit better!

Photo Update....again

Who am I kidding? I barely have my head screwed on straight. I have no deep thoughts to ponder or incredible words of wisdom to bestow. I'm just trying to keep my head above water before this baby comes. It's officially been more than a month since I posted something. I would gather a guess that you probably won't see something again until the baby comes (but I might surprise you!). Here are some photos of our last month (I have videos to post, but I've been tryin all night and they won't upload - I'll try tomorrow). There's a lot because, well, we do a lot and never seem to stop and it's my blog so I can post as much as I want. :)

Easter in Highland

All of the kids hunting for Easter eggs

Caleb getting his Easter basket with sweet pajamas and spiky hair.

The Myers family


The 2011 Strollathon

Amy, Sophie, Andy and Ryan

The whole reason we "stroll" for a cure - our sweet Sophie!

Go Team Sophie!

The girls we're strolling for and their families. If you didn't come out this year, I encourage you to join us next year. And so many thank you's to my friends who came out to support Sophie.

Hey, what's better than free cookies with a buddy on a spring day!


Mother's Day

Me and my boy(s)!

All of the Maxwell and Myers' moms on Mother's Day: April, Marilyn, Muriel, Candy and me.

Swinging is a new favorite activity - we've discovered "spinning" really fast.

Our neighbors, Bob and Ellen, have a huge maple tree in their backyard. Yet, somehow those little whirlybirds seem to always make their way to our yard. We had an incredible wind one day and it looked like a scene from "The Birds."


Yes, Caleb still has imaginary friends - all girls. In this video, he's decided that he's going to push Ruby on the swings.

Caleb drew this picture for me a few days ago "to cheer me up." I know I'm a little biased, but I think that's a pretty good racecar for a 3 year old.

My ever-growing belly! It sticks out so far now that it's even hard for complete strangers not to touch it....or comment on it. 4 weeks to go!!!