We're Having A...

BOY!!!

We found out this morning that we are going to welcome another little boy into our family! We were so excited to get to see this little baby and finally get to start planning. He is very healthy and looks absolutely perfect on the ultrasound. Even though this is the 3rd time I have been through this, it still amazes me to see this little tiny baby. You can't help but be amazed at God's handiwork when you see this.

Of course, Caleb was thrilled to hear the news that he was going to have a brother. Both our kids, plus my mom and mother-in-law were with us at the doctor's office. Russ and I went in to the ultrasound to go through all the measuring and stuff first. Once all that had been done and the technician said that everything looked great, everyone else came in to hear if it was a boy or a girl. When the technician showed us the picture, there was no doubt it was a boy. Caleb heard her say boy and then he said "Isn't it amazing?" It was really neat to see his reaction. He couldn't wait to get to school and tell his teachers and friends about his new brother. Kathryn was more amazed my mommy laying on a table then the actual baby pictures. I don't think she could understand how the pictures were the baby. Caleb definitely could though. The baby even lifted it's hand and waved at them. They thought it was really cool!

We feel completely blessed for this new precious life and are so thankful to the Lord. We are looking forward to meeting him in February!

Introducing Baby Boy Taylor weighing a whopping 8 ounces :)

Here is his sweet little profile

Here he is sucking his thumb - following very well in his big brother and sister's footsteps!

Here he has his little hands up at his mouth


Thank you Lord for this sweet blessing!

Mud Run!

Yesterday, Russ participated in a mud run in Columbia, SC. He and 4 other guys competed in a 4 mile long obstacle course in ALL mud. It was held at the Marine Corps Base and is a big event that goes on every year. This was the first year the Russ competed in it and it was certainly an experience! The kids and I went along to support Russ in the race and cheer him on. His team ended up doing really well and finished in about 52 minutes. There were many different obstacles for them to do as a group, but overall I think they just had fun getting to play in the mud! At the end, he was absolutely CAKED in mud all over his body!

The team before they started the race - notice how clean they are!

On your mark, get set, GO!

Russ is the one waving.

Russ crawling under a big mesh area


The mud drips off them...

Here's the group near the end of the race in nasty, muddy water!

Of course, while Russ was running his race, Caleb had to participate in the Polywag obstacle course for kids. He was so excited to get to play in the mud without anyone telling him not too. In fact, I was encouraging him to get as muddy as he could! He did a great job and really had a blast. The first time he went through the obstacle course he was really insecure about it. He took a long time getting the nerve to go through each part. Thankfully there were some really kind and patient teenage boys who did everything they could to help him out. I thought for sure he wouldn't do the course again because he got mud in his eyes and I had to come out to him and wipe his face off. However, after he finished he was ready to do it again! He ended up going through the obstacle course 3 different times. He was very brave and I was very proud of him. He was by far the youngest of the kids there!

Here he is waiting in line to start the course, anxious to get dirty!

He said the water was really cold!

Crawling through a muddy tunnel

Sliding down a big dirt hill

Sliding into a muddy ravine

Wading through the yucky water!

The finished product - any little boy's dream!

Kathryn enjoyed watching Caleb and playing on a little dirt hill herself.

She wasn't afraid to get dirty :)



My two muddy boys!

It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's...

SUPERMAN!

A couple of months ago, Caleb starting having a really hard time staying in his room at night because he was afraid. Russ and I tried everything we could think of to help him, but nothing seemed to be working. He knows that God is with him, protecting him but that still didn't help much. Caleb has really gotten into playing superhero recently, and somehow figured out who Superman was. Russ had a wonderful idea to help Caleb sleep better. He bought Caleb Superman pajamas and made him his own cd of the music from the original Superman movie. Caleb LOVED the idea and absolutely loves the music. He can hum every bit of it for you! He started putting his Superman pajamas on for bed every night and listened to his new cd, which we put on repeat so it would play until we turned it off! Whenever he got afraid, he would just press play on his cd player and relax. It worked! Since then, Caleb has not been afraid at all! My husband has the BEST ideas in the world!

A side note - Today Kathryn was really quiet for a few minutes, so I decided to go see what she was up to. This is what I found :

A hungry little girl who decided to get in the pantry, find the goldfish, climb up in her high chair and eat to her little heart's content! All of this was her doing. It was so cute, I couldn't help but laugh. I was a little frustrated though because it was 5:45. So did she eat any supper, not hardly! I guess she filled up on goldfish!

Time for School!

Caleb started his first day of preschool today. He is in a 4 year old class and is going to be going 2 days a week at our church weeschool. He was so excited to begin school today and has been anticipating it for a couple of weeks now. He has some good friends in his class including Caroline and Kailyn. They have known each other since they were born, so of course us mommy's are happy they are in the same class. He also has some friends from his class last year. They have two GREAT teachers who have really impressed me so far, so we are looking forward to a great year. Caleb really enjoyed his first day and can't wait to go back again on Tuesday! It's hard to believe this is his last year of preschool. I'm hoping that this year won't go by too fast :(

Our big 4 year old anxious to start his day!

Caroline came to meet him at the door. What a sweet friend!