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...

 

 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone...a day late!  We enjoyed family time yesterday so we didn't get a chance to write a Thanksgiving Day blog.  We hope that you all were able to enjoy some amazing quality family time yesterday.  We did and enjoyed every minute of it.  We had an amazing realization yesterday.  Caleb decided yesterday that he wanted to cry more than normal and as this can sometimes be stressful we just realized that we feel blessed every single day that we get to spend with him, even if he is being a little cranky...or like my mother-in-law likes to say he's just singing. :)

There are so many things to be thankful for like Jesus, my hero Dave, our little bundle of joy Caleb, our families and friends, our health, our warm place to live, food on the table, our church, our business, our jobs, our safe cars, our country and so many other things!  I am so grateful for everything God has given us and I hope all year round we are reminded of how blessed we really are and not just thankful one day a year.

We absolutely love this time of year.  It's the time of year where things seem to slow down a bit and you really reflect on family.  I'm so very thankful for family all year round but there's just something about this time of year that brings it out!  I feel like it brings out the gratefulness in everyone obviously with Thanksgiving as well as every one's giving spirit around Christmas.  It's the time of year where maybe you haven't seen some of your relatives since the past holiday season but you can just pick right up where you left off and enjoy a lot of laughter and love!  It's the time of year where your heart wants to give abundantly to so many others and every one's selfless side shines.  It's the time of year where you enjoy warm fall scented candles in every store or those traditional holiday decorations that your mom always puts out or that feeling you get during the first snow fall and seeing Christmas lights sparkle everywhere and of course baking your favorite cookies all day with your mom until you are exhausted!  Whatever it may be, this time of year our hearts are always just a little bit warmer and I love it!

We hope everyone had an amazing Thanksgiving and we pray blessings and quality family time over you and your family this time of year!

Love,
Dave, Carissa and Caleb

Love

Dear Caleb,

I wanted to write a personal letter to you, hoping that this will benefit you in the future. I had a great opportunity on November 6th to vote for men and women who will lead this great country we live in. Because your mommy and I follow Jesus and what the bible teaches, we have a responsibility to do what we can by voting. God makes this clear in Exodus 18:21. He says that we shall choose people from the people, God fearing people of truth. So your mommy and I went and voted. Although many of the people we voted for did not win, we still have a responsibility to respect people in authority. We will continue to respect and pray for our president, his family, and all the leaders of our country.

You see Caleb, we live in a great country and we serve a great God. And regardless of whether or not we get our way all the time, we still have a great life. As you grow up, you won’t always agree with every person you come in contact with and that is okay. But God does call us to love one another. When you are playing sports against an opponent, when you disagree with a classmate in school, or when you get frustrated with a friend, we still are called to love these people.

So, regardless of anything you do in your life. Whether you go on to be a great athlete, a successful business owner, an engineer or an artist. Regardless of when you make good or bad decisions, mommy and daddy will always love you. There isn’t anything you can do to make us love you less.

Love,
Daddy

Time to Vote

I have always felt blessed to be born in the United States of America!  Every time I hear the Star Spangled Banner I am overwhelmed with pride and it never fails that I get tears in my eyes.  Freedom is so important and has been an ever growing passion of mine over the past 10 years.  It's election day and I am excited to get out there and vote!  It's always important to vote but I feel this year it's more important than ever.  I believe our country needs Godly leaders that bring this country back to what it was founded on so many years ago which developed us into the leading nation.  I've always voted based on standards and principles that line up with the word of God and because of that my voting choice is always clear.  I pray this morning that the right leaders are elected into office this year.  Prayer is powerful so please pray for the leaders of our country and be sure to vote!  May God bless the USA today!!

My song of choice today!  God Bless the USA by Lee Greenwood http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q65KZIqay4E