Prayer

If you are reading our blog, then I ask that you please say a prayer for our sweet Caleb. He started stuttering about 1 month ago. At first, we just laughed at it and thought that it was just a phase that he would soon get over. It actually sounded cute at times and it didn't effect him at all. We just thot it was as a result of all of the changes that have happened in his life, especially welcoming a new baby into his home. After about 2 weeks of stuttering, it started to change. He was aware that he was stuttering, so he wanted to stop. Instead of stuttering now, he just pushes really hard to get the first word of a sentence out. It makes his face get red and his voice get really loud. After he gets the first word out, then the rest of the sentence is ok. Russ has taught him to try to relax, blow a breath out and try to speak softer and slower. This does seem to help him some, but then he is speaking so softly it is hard to understand him. It does seem to come and go. We have noticed that it tends to bother him more when he is tired or when Russ is out of town. The past 2 days it has been really bad. He gets very frustrated when he can't get his words out and it is heart wrenching to watch. It has brought me to tears twice because he seems to be struggling so much to talk. We just have to be very patient, let him have time to get it out, and not finish his sentences for him. Let me tell you, this is very hard! We have noticed that it has started affecting how much he is talking. He has been very verbal and we really don't want this to hinder his communication. He has even started pointing at things because trying to talk takes too much effort. I spoke with our pediatrician Dr. Baker ( who is absolutely wonderful!) and he thinks we should get Caleb started in speach therapy. He says that when the stuttering starts to affect a child's self-esteem, makes him frustrated to talk and makes him start talking less, then he needs to get some help. Russ and I agree with Dr. Baker and want to do the best thing for our child. He is so bright and so verbal, that we don't want anything to interfere with that. Please pray that Caleb will get over this soon. Please pray that this is just a phase and will pass quickly. Pray that Russ and I will have the patience to hear him out. Pray that we will make the right decision about how to treat this. It is hard to know if we should just give it more time to work out on it's own, or if we should get Caleb some proffessional help. How blessed we are to have a God who listen's and answers the prayers of His children.

Our Sweet Baby Girl

It is hard to believe that our sweet little Kathryn is already 2 months old. These past 2 months have been great, even the sleepless nights and all! She is such a good baby and sleeps so well. It really has been a joy having her so far. She really responds to us now with lots of smiles, so that makes it so much fun. She talks back to us with her little baby coos. Russ can really get her going and they seem to have a conversation with each other. It is so sweet to watch! She is sleeping really well now and sleeps through the night mosts nights. Caleb is getting more and more used to having a sister and just yesterday I caught him in Kathryn's room standing on the side of the crib and looking down at her. It was the sweetest sight! He really does love her!

I took her to her 2 month appoitment today to see Dr. Baker. She weighs 11 pounds, 12 oz and is 23 inches. She is in the upper 50% for weight and 75% for height. She is much bigger than Caleb was at this age!

We went to pick up Caleb at Nana and Papa's house after that and drove to my parents house in Greenville. We are here until Friday because Russ is gone on a business trip to San Diego.

School is Fun!

Caleb went to his first day of preschool today! He is going to the Carmel Wee School for 1 day a week this year. Our church has a wonderful preschool program that we are so thankful for. Everything is brand new and so top of the line. It is going to be great for him and great for me too! He loved his first day today, and I liked having a morning all to myself and Kathryn. His teachers are Ms. Holly and Ms. Amy. Caleb seems to really like them. We got him all set for school this morning with his new back pack, lunch box, juice cup and all. He walked into his classroom like he owned it all. He didn't look back even 1 time! He had to bring in his favorite teddy bear today and they focused on bears for the whole day. He came home wearing a hat with a bear on it that says "Caleb is beary special!" He painted a picture of a teddy bear that he is proudly displaying on our refrigerator now (he loves to show off his art). He has 2 good friends in his class, Caroline and Cole. He has known Caroline since he was in the womb and he has known Cole since he was born a few months later. I am so grateful for these sweet friendships of his! I know he will make lots more this year becuase there are 12 other children in his class. His teachers said he did great and sat in circle time very well. I am very proud of him. He was exhausted when I picked him up and he was asleep in the car before we even left the parking lot! He took a great nap when we got home too!

Something funny I have to share: After school today I was talking to Caroline's mom, Donna. She asked me if Caleb got hurt today because when she asked Caroline about school, she said that Caleb got a boo boo and was crying. When I asked Caleb later this afternoon how his school was today, he said that Caroline got hurt today and was crying. Donna, he said that she was standing on her chair at lunch and she fell off! I don't know who was telling the truth, but evidently it made an impact on both of them today! Maybe they both got boo boo's :)

Caleb sporting his new monkey back pack. He didn't want to wear it and was in the process of dropping it.

He loved playing in the pretend school bus in the lobby of the preschool. They have such cute toys now!

Bye Bye Mom!

Playing with his new friend

Off to play more!

Deciding where he should go to next!

Playing with his good friend Caroline

He's got his teddy bear hat on and he was so proud of it!

Sound asleep before we even left the parking lot!

Kathryn Slept Through the Night!!!

I just wanted to share the news with you that Kathryn slept through the night for the 1st time last night! We are so proud of her. She went to bed at 11:00 pm and woke up at 6:30 am! We were very surprised, but very happy. For the past week, she has been going until about 4:30 or 5:00, buI didn't know she could go to 6:30. I know this may not happen from this night on, but it's a start. We'll have to see how she does tonight!

I took her to the doctor yesterday because of some acid reflux that she has been having. Thankfully Dr. Baker gave her a prescription to help her. We will have to see if it helps. She is just like her older brother with this reflux! She weighed 11 pounds 2 ounces yesterday! Just look at those fat cheeks!

Beach Pictures from Myrtle Beach

On to the Next Beach!

We made it to Myrtle Beach on Sunday evening to spend the week with my parents, my brother Jay and his girlfriend Stephanie. Jay lives in Colorado, so we hadn't seen him since this past Christmas. It was so great seeing him and spending time with he and his girlfriend. Caleb loves Uncle Jay and always wants to be around him. We had beautiful weather the entire time, so we spent a lot of time outside. Russ was able to stay until Tuesday evening and then he headed home to work.

Caleb really loved the ocean this time and he played and played and played out in the waves. Each time we go to the beach he seems to get less and less afraid of the water. He even preferred to go to the beach over the pool this time. We would swing him around in the waves, the water would splash up into his face and he would say "agin, agin!" We took Kathryn out to the beach a couple of times so that I could get some much needed sun! She pretty much just slept out there, but was very good. We made it out to the water park just outside the condo with Caleb a couple of times too. He really liked the lazy river and didn't really enjoy the water slides, much to our surprise!

My parents helped out with Caleb so much and he loves spending time with Mimi and Grampy. They keep him very busy. He was outside most of his waking time, going on walks and splashing in the ocean. We went out to get icecream on Friday night at Painter's Icecream. We got Caleb a cup of chocolate icecream, but he really just wanted everyone else's, especially Uncle Jay's and Grampy's. I guess next time I will get him his own cone!

We said our sad good-bye to Uncle Jay and Stephanie on Saturday because we won't see them again until Christmas. We packed up the car and drove home to spend some much needed time with Russ. Overall, we had a wonderful time on both of the beach trips. Caleb and Kathryn travel great and we all got a much needed vacation in the sun!

Enjoy all of the pictures!

Beach Pictures from Litchfield

Beach Time!

Sorry it has been so long since I have written on the blog. We have been out of town for the last week and half. We got back home on Saturday and have been busy ever since!


We were able to go on our first vacation together as a family since Kathryn was born! We went to Russ' parent's beach house down in Litchfield, SC. for about 5 days. They bought a new beach house this past year and it is so nice. It even has a pool in the backyard that we all enjoy! Caleb, Kathryn and I left on Wednesday evening, Aug. 29 and we rode down with Russ' parents. Russ joined us on Friday night after he got off work. We spent most of our time at the pool, but we made it out to the beach for a while on Sunday morning. It is much easier to just head out in the back yard to the pool rather than getting everyone and everything together to get out to the beach. And much less sandy! I'm learning how hard it is to get out with 2 children, especially a newborn! Thankfully, Ernie and Dinah watched Caleb most of the time. Dinah even got up at the crack of dawn with Caleb each morning so that Kathryn and I could sleep a little later. Can I even tell you how nice that is! They took Caleb out on wagon rides, golf cart rides and even a bike ride. However the bike ride was cut short because of a flat tire! When Russ came, he enjoyed playing in the pool and beach with Caleb. We put Kathryn in her bathing suit and put her in the pool for the first time. She really liked it and didn't act like the chilly water bothered her at all. I think she will love the water one day. We even took her on to the beach on Sunday. She stayed bundled up the whole time because it was very windy! All I pretty much did most if the time was stay inside and feed Kathryn! Well, I guess I did get out a little, but only for small amounts of time. We had a great time though and enjoyed every minute of the pool and beach. We left on Sunday evening headed to Myrtle Beach to spend a week with my family. We were living the life!