We've got a crawler...

FINALLY!!!  At a little over 9 and a half month, Caleb finally ventured out and took his first crawls...

 Right to Ike's dog toy :).  

He makes his way slowly across the room and then lunges to whatever he is going after.  Hannah was his biggest coach and cheerleader and we all hoorayed when he was making such great progress.  

Watch me she always says :).

We're so proud of our little man...we'll be chasing him away from the dog food in no time...that was always one of Hannah's favorite spots, too!

Happy Daddy's Day...

So, Caleb, what did YOU have for dinner??

His first adventure of tortellini...he LOVED it as you can tell.  Hannah, on the other had to be bribed to try one little piece.  She liked it after she had it...good thing...leftover dinners are the next day's lunches around these parts!!

We've reached 2 1/2...

Hannah is now officially two years and 6 months old...so, what's new with her??

• She can do a somersault all by herself
• She is mastering the coordination to hop on one foot
• She loves to read books and has most of her favorites memorized
• She has started to say "thank you so much" when we give her something she has asked for
• She has several break downs every day for things such as...not being given the 'right' sippy cup, brushing her hair, changing out of her pajamas, not getting to watch Elmo...she is two and a half...what did we expect?
• She's learned the effective art of bargaining...no treat after dinner until she eats, no Elmo unless she gets dressed without whining, time-outs for not listening.
• She has learned just recently that she has an audience when Caleb is around.  She can get him laughing like no one else and he watches her EVERY move to see what she is going to come up with next.  Bath time is some of their silliest moments...they have a ball.
• Hannah can count to 20 (although she almost always skips 13 and 15)
• She can write an H and an A...one more letter and her name is complete!!  
• Her hair is finally long enough for a full-blown pony tail
• She has a new requirement to wear socks to bed, regardless or not if they match
• She loves to be outside...doing anything...she still has the best time in her pink baby swing and often has a hard time when it's Caleb's turn.  But, we have to share...that's a pretty valuable life lesson!
• She sleeps with quite an army of blankets and animals.  She has still stuck with her favorite baby doll, but has recently added Rainbow, a unicorn that grandpa bought her this weekend.  I keep telling her she'll only be able to pick one blanket and one item to sleep with when we are on vacation...See the fifth bullet point, I'm preparing myself already!
• Hannah likes to sing songs...her best are Happy Birthday, Twinkle Twinkle, Sneaky Little Alligator, and the Hot Dog song.
• Her appetite has much improved and she consistently eats all of her lunch everyday at school.  She recently ordered a cheeseburger while we were out which surprised me!  Some of her favorite things are still yogurt, applesauce, and any fruit.  
• She is a hoot, she makes us laugh everyday and we love her to pieces.  Although there are many times she tries our patience, she is such a kind, sweet, smart, compassionate little girl and brings joy to our lives every day. 

Huh??

For months Caleb has had chronic ear infections that have been resistant to EVERY antibiotic that was prescribed.  We went through the whole regiment and were prescribed some twice.  It was evident that he was the perfect candidate for tubes.  We were thankful for a cancellation that allowed us to get a surgery scheduled sooner than we thought.  Hannah headed off to grandma and grandpa's where she spent the night so we could focus on Caleb and getting to the surgery center at 6:45.  His surgeon was the same one who did Hannah's a little over a year ago.  

Saying a prayer before the surgery.

Lounging in the gurney waiting for his turn

The surgery took about 15 minutes.  I remembered Hannah's only being 5 or 10, so when we went past that with Caleb I started pacing.  Turns out they were so infected the doctor had to vacuum out all of the gunk, which took a little time.  She could not believe the condition of his ears and wondered how he wasn't constantly crying out in pain...he is the BEST baby and you wouldn't even have known anything was wrong. He couldn't hear anything, some days that would be ok...but hopefully we're on the mend.

He was one hungry boy as he wasn't able to eat after midnight...he's not one to miss ANY meals!

And some puffs...they make everything better!

We went for his post op today, May 25th and one of his tubes is clogged.  Since we will be boarding an airplane in just a few days, it was recommended to use hydrogen peroxide drops followed by more antibiotic drops to dissolve the clog and get the tube open.  Some more pain and crying is to come, but prayerfully this will be the last for a long while!!!

Chip off the ol' block...

One nice May evening we went out after dinner to blow some bubbles...check out how the two of them are sitting...

And Caleb trying it out, too :)

My Redeemer Lives...

Happy Easter!!  We were so glad to have Mimi and Papa visiting for the Easter weekend.  We did so many fun things!  We blew bubbles...the weather was finally nice enough to be outside!

We went for walks around the block.

Caleb sported his new sunglasses from Grandma and Grandpa as Hannah pulled him in the wagon.

We hugged, cuddled and had some snacks during our arts and crafts.

We painted Easter eggs...I love the determination on her sweet little face.

We went to a pancake breakfast and Easter egg hunt at Grandpa and Grandma's church.

And got LOTS of good candy and treats.

We went and dyed Easter eggs over lunch.

And watched out the window after lunch at a wandering goose.

Then, finally, Sunday, the BIG day.  The Easter bunny came into our house over night and left eggs filled with goodies all over.  Hannah liked the ones with the Hershey kisses in them the best!

We went to an amazing worship service at church where we celebrated with hundreds of other believers the greatest gift any one of us could be given...the promise of an everlasting life with our Savior...the One who knows how many hairs are on your head, the One who loves you no matter what, and the One who sacrificed His one and only son so that we may live for eternity with Him.  It was absolutely amazing to be a part of such a wonderful day filled with love and life and family.  

Our little bunny, Caleb's first Easter!!!