Thirty One

Ok so my 31st birthday was a little less than 2 weeks ago so this post is a little late.  It started off great with a card and a kiss from Dave before he left for work.  Then Caleb and I danced and he decided to sing me the Happy Birthday song...it resembled crying but I'm pretty sure there was a 'Happy Birthday' somewhere in there and an 'I love you mommy' somewhere in there too. ;)  Maybe not since he won't start talking for awhile but just roll with it.  I like to believe there is happy meaning behind that crying.  My mom stayed an extra night just so Dave and I could go out for my birthday so that was SUPER nice of her!  After work Dave and I headed to the Mall of America to do a little shopping.  We then ate some delish sushi at Tiger Sushi and after that headed to the rotunda in the MOA to watch Sanctus Real.  They performed some AMAZING live music.  It was a fabulous birthday!  I received a bunch of texts, calls, FB messages and of course the famous phone call from my mother-in-law singing Happy Birthday to me!  Thank you everyone for a great birthday I feel so very loved and I'm blessed to have you all in my life!

4 months!

Caleb turned 4 months on January 29th!  It's crazy that he's already 1/3 of the way to his 1st birthday.  He seems to be growing so fast...especially in length!  It's been another great month, I think the only challenge we've had is he's been fussy while eating but that seems to be improving.  YAY!  Another round of shots are on the way which I think is more tough for momma than Caleb.  The sound he made right after he got shots last time made me tear up a bit, you could tell it was a cry of pain...but a little snuggling from momma made it all better. :)

Grandma Patty is officially babysitting now and Caleb is just LOVING time with her.  She does such a great job with him that sometimes I think he might just like her more than me. :)  We are extremely grateful that she watches him twice a week.  She even cleans, does laundry and cooks while she's here...and I did NOT ask her to do that.  She's seriously the most amazing mom EVER!!  Dave and I had our first weekend away from Caleb and it was great for us to get some time together but we definitely missed him!  We missed him so much that we had to Facetime through Dave and my brothers's phones just so we could see him!  I don't think he realized it was us on the phone but it was fun for us to see him!  Again, thanks grandma Patty for watching Caleb.  We love you!

4 month milestones/likes:
We've gotten a few giggles out of him
He's quite the chatterbox
He's really good at grabbing and holding toys
He enjoys naked time
He likes watching his feet move
The ABCs still make him smile
He loves going for rides in the stroller, even if it's just around the apartment
He's getting a bit more sturdy with sitting up
He smiles at other babies which is fun to watch
LOVES LOVES LOVES bath time

It's been another great month buddy we love you!

Christmas

Ok so it's time to play a little catch up!  Every Christmas season is always so exciting but this Christmas was a bit more special because we had this cute little baby to show off and start new traditions with!  This is a little sad to say but this year was the first year Dave and I put up a Christmas tree and decorated it together.  Our living room transformed into a warm and cozy room all from just a Christmas tree and a spiced cider candle.  We started another new tradition of baking a birthday cake for Jesus.  We are excited about doing this every year and hopefully next year I can get the spelling on the cake right.  I forgot the H in birthday...so this year it was Happy Birtday Jesus!  It was probably just Dave's eastside ghetto talk rubbing off on me. Neither of us noticed it until the next day when Dave was scrolling through his pictures. :)  Oops!  I'm looking for a good Christmas morning breakfast tradition so if anyone has any great recipes let me know!  I found an orange cinnamon roll recipe that I might try that got great reviews...if it's delicious I will post the recipe on here.

So we had 5...yes 5 Christmas celebrations!  It's a bit tiring but it's so much fun!!  Christmas Eve we went to Dave's parents in St. Paul and had a wonderful time there.  Caleb loved hanging out with Grandpa Mike, Grandma Lala, Uncle Dan, Auntie Emily and Cousin Kaylin.  He was of course spoiled with lots of snuggles, kisses and Christmas gifts! 

The next morning we had our own family Christmas with Caleb.  We went into Caleb's room that morning to get him from his crib and Dave recorded it all while singing "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas"...a tradition passed on from Grandpa Mike who used to sing that to Dave & Dan Christmas morning.  Gift opening was fun but it will be even more exciting next year when Caleb will be a bit more interactive.  He pretty much stared blankly as I opened a gift for him...I thought well that was a bit anticlimactic. Ha!

That afternoon we headed to Dave's dad's extended family Christmas at Schaar's Bluff which is the perfect spot for the big Kapaun family.  Everyone was able to meet Caleb for the first time and of course he got lots of love being passed around to everyone...well all the aunts and girl cousins anyway.  I don't think guys in general care until they can carry on a conversation.

This past weekend we headed up to Grantsburg to have Christmas with my parents!  Dave literally counts down the days until we get there because we always have the traditional shrimp and crab legs for dinner.  Don't worry mom and dad he's more excited to see you. :)  After dinner we watched the Packers/Vikings game...I won't rub it in since there's a Viking's fan in the house.  Lastly Caleb received a very special gift from Grandpa Harley.  Grandpa Harley recorded his voice while reading The Night Before Christmas story on a recordable book.  SO CUTE!  Now Caleb can listen to Grandpa Harley read him that story every year for Christmas!

Lastly we had Christmas with my dad's extended family and again Caleb got passed around a ton!  He also got to meet Finley, my cousin Shannon's daughter who is one month younger than Caleb.  Caleb LOVES looking at himself in the mirror so I always say that he loves babies.  Well that was true because he LOVED Finley.  I don't blame him she's beautiful like her mommy!

Christmas 2012 was a blast filled with so much loving family.  Thanks everyone for an amazing Christmas, we love you all.  Below are a few pics for you to enjoy!
 

 

 


 

3 months!

Wow 3 months already??  It's amazing how fast time flies especially once you have a child.  When we look back at pictures from the hospital it's amazing to see how much he's changed already.  Caleb has definitely brought us some challenges over the past few months but the smiles and laughter have far outweighed those challenges.  Once that heart warming smile comes out we seem to quickly forget about him being naughty! :)  At his 2 month appointment he was quite a bit underweight (one of the challenges of nursing and not knowing how much they are getting), but we just had his 3 month weight check appointment and he's doing great!  He gained 3lbs 3oz over the last month so we were really excited to see that growth.  The pediatrician told us we took our homework seriously.  He's no longer nursing because the bottle is just way too convenient but that's ok as long as he's healthy, that's all that matters!  We are excited to see what new things he does over the next month but until then we are enjoying each and every day.

3 month milestones/likes:
He discovered his hands
He's no longer in the holding/snuggling phase (sad day for mama)
He likes when we whistle
He enjoys when mommy sings him the ABCs
He likes sitting up in dad's arms
He enjoyed his first Christmas
He loves looking at himself in the mirror
He likes sleeping 9-10 hours a night...mom and dad like this even more

It's been a great 3 months buddy we love you!

Smiles

The title explains itself, need I say more!  Maybe just one more thing...I've always loved the sound of children's laughter and seeing their faces light up with a big smile but there's something about your own child seeing you and giving the biggest smile in the world that just melts your heart!  Love this guy and his heart melting smiles.  Enjoy!

 

First Snowfall

We woke up this morning to an amazing winter wonderland!!  It was so exciting looking out at the white ground and seeing each branch on every tree covered with snow!  This is why I LOVE living in Minnesota because each season brings it's own excitement and beauty.  There is just something about the first snowfall.  It brings me back to days of making snowmen and forts with my brother, sledding with friends and making countless snow angels!  Our family did a lot of snowmobiling growing up which brings back a lot of great memories, excluding one time when I rear ended my brother on the snowmobile...that's not such a fond memory. :)  And if you know my dad at all we of course did TONS of ice fishing.  I remember one time it was just my dad and I out fishing and we caught 75 sunfish in 2 days.  I was probably 10 years old but I remember putting my line back in the hole and immediately a fish was on.  It's like we had struck gold!  There are so many great winter memories and even though it gets cold in the winter you can still go outside, play hard and come back inside to a cozy house and warm up with a big cup of hot chocolate!

We are excited to create a bunch of fun winter memories with Caleb.  This year he's a little too young but next year we'll be taking him sledding and I'm sure grandpa Harley will have him out ice fishing.  Below are some pics of Caleb's first snowfall.  Enjoy the snow everyone!

2 Months, Almost Walking!

The first couple of months as a family have been fun, challenging and rewarding all at the same time! As parents, we have learned some new things and life is significantly different. We love that we have expanded our family and Caleb truly is a blessing in our lives. Even though he is still brand new, he is developing fast and showing us new things all the time. He is perfecting his tummy-time skills, rolling over, and of course showing off his big, warm smile! As you can see in the video attached, he is even learning how to walk :).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgiWSmINca0&feature=plcp

Caleb is sleeping great at night, which both of us love.  I think we have been asking God for that and speaking that into existence well before Carissa was even pregnant with Caleb.  Thank you God!  Thanksgiving was great at Grandpa Mike and Grandma LaLa's house.  Caleb was crying a little bit that day, but it turned out to be just fine because Grandma says he is just singing.  I think otherwise, but we will still roll with that.  Then, Grandma Patty came down for the day on Thanksgiving weekend.  The girls baked all day, I helped eat the cookies, and Caleb and I hung out watching football together.

Now that we are into December, our little family is super excited about the Christmas season!  It is both Carissa and my favorite holiday and even though Caleb may be too young to understand, we are excited for him to experience his first Christmas.  Both the Meyer and Kapaun families do a great job of enjoying each other's presence around this time of year, and we are excited for Caleb to grow up in these great families!

Check out his 2 month pics...