Grandpa!

My parents came to the UNM vs. BYU football game last week and it was SUCH A BLAST to have them here. Caleb was in absolute heaven the whole time and I needed some good quality parent time. It was an awesome trip.

Anyone who knows my dad knows he is a kid in an old mans body (a very fit old mans body:-). He is so amazing with his grand kids, and Caleb felt pretty dang special to have him all to himself over the weekend.

We were grateful to have dad here because he was able to get an incredible deal on a swing set we got for Caleb for Christmas. My dad is the worlds best negotiater. Where do you think I learned it:-). Online the swing set cost I believe $1,800, but was on sale at Walmart for $800 because the company sent the swing set after the season was over so they were trying to get rid of them. We ended up getting it for $500. We are SO EXCITED. I'm pretty sure that Dan is more excited than any of us to be able to use all his tools to put it up. It's pretty complicated which is what Dan loves.

We have been working in our backyard to prep for it and we are planning on working over the whole Thanksgiving break because it will be the only chunk of time Dan will have off in a long time. I'm actually really excited. We have had a blast working in the backyard together with the baby. Caleb LOVES being outside and doing manual labor together reminds us of our Chalk Creek days when we did all the stone work on a cabin. Such sweet memories.

That's pretty much what's been going on lately. Below are some pictures of Caleb with his Baba. He's so stinkin cute...both of them!

Caleb wanted the camera.

Three Best Things:

1. I already mentioned my dad above about what an amazing grandpa he is, so my first best thing is my mom. I LOVE my mom with all my heart. It was so great having her here. We were able to pick out a tree together for my Christmas present this year and I LOVE it. My house looks so beautiful. I love Christmas. Yes, I know I'm a freak for already decorating, but if I wait until after Thanksgiving it's just way too short.

One of the things I love about my mom is her eye for beauty and her work ethic. My front yard needed some serious help. Within minutes she came up with a plan and we worked and worked and worked. I don't know a woman who works harder than my mom. She has been that way our whole lives and it's an attribute I value so much. It was a lot of fun working together and she has implanted in me a desire to beautify my yard this spring with color (which is lacking in Albuquerque).

She is also amazing with Caleb. I feel so blessed to have my parents. Thank you for coming to visit.

2. My home. I love our house. Yeah, there are a lot of things I would change about it, like my counters in my kitchen, or getting rid of the carpet in our master bathroom etc. But overall, it is such an awesome house. I wouldn't change anything about the floor plan which is the most important thing. Even though we will probably outgrow this house by time Dan is done, I will be really sad to leave. We are so blessed to be in this home with the neighbors we have and the location we live. Maybe I appreciate it a lot more because we didn't get our first home until I was almost 30:-). I just feel really blessed to have a home that we love.

3. My new calling!!!! I can't believe I didn't post about being released from the Relief Society presidency. Can I hear a Hallelujah? The RS president's husband got called to be stake president so she had to be released which meant we were released too! I feel really bad that I was so excited to be released, but it really is such a relief. I just am not a fan of planning activities. It was daunting. Although I was so grateful for the people I got to serve with.

Dan and I both have now been called to be ward missionaries. We just got the call so we really haven't done anything yet, but missionary work is something I love. The ward mission leaders are awesome, and our ward has a lot of missionary work going on. I'm super excited.

Hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving. We will be here working in our yard and will take a break to have our own Thanksgiving dinner. Wish me luck, I have never cooked for Thanksgiving.

Sunday Will Come

I just read Elder Wirthlin's talk "Sunday Will Come". I love the analogy he uses. He talks about how Christ was crucified on Friday and how it was the darkest Friday this world will ever know. I can't imagine the sadness of his apostles and his sweet mother. The despair and heartache must have been so deep, but like Elder Wirthlin said, the doom of that day did not endure because on Sunday, our Lord and Savior broke the bands of death and was resurrected!

We all experience Fridays. As you all know my darkest Friday thus far happened last week. It was such an overwhelming day. I had the constant ache in my heart and a deep feeling of despair that I feared would linger far too long. However, I was not alone.

I have truly experienced what Alma preached in Mosiah 18:8-9. There is so much power in bearing one another's burdens so they may be light. I have felt this. My burden is not mine only. Every comment, every phone call, text, email, note has made this trial more bearable. I want to thank you all from the bottom of my heart for being so willing to "Comfort those that stand in need of comfort". I feel so loved, blessed, and more than anything, understood. I have not felt alone. Thank you!

I want to recount a few things that have been sweet little tender mercies.

Caleb is not a big cuddler. He will cuddle with me before he goes to sleep but other than that, he will do a few throughout the day that only last seconds. The night of the day I found out I was alone with Caleb and he crawled up into my lap and we watched videos of Caleb for 30 minutes before putting him to bed. He cuddled his head on my shoulder the entire time. It was just what mom needed. Then while putting him to bed and rocking him in the dark he was unusually lovey. I laughed out loud multiple times because he was being so silly and endearing. What a love gift during such a difficult day.

After putting Caleb to bed I sat in a chair and really just cried. Gracie got all concerned and gently put her two front paws on my lap and got close to my face. She's always starving for love and affection, but that night I needed her love and affection. It was a sweet moment.

Wednesday was definitely the hardest. I have actually been doing really well. I haven't battled with the deep despair like I thought I would. Although there have been some moments here and there when it creeps in. Today was tough. I got all teary when I saw some pregnant girls in my ward. I'm not jealous, I just felt empty. I'm nervous for the actual miscarriage. I just have no idea how I will react. I just hope it happens sooner than later so I can have some closure.

I had the sweetest experience Thursday night. I asked Dan to give me a priesthood blessing of peace and that the miscarriage will happen quickly and safely. I was holding Caleb towards me when Dan put his hands on my head and began the blessing. In that moment I felt more than just Dan's hands on my head. My precious son had his two little hands on my forehead. I lost it. He only did it for a few seconds, but it was enough.

I am so incredibly grateful to have a husband who is worthy to bless me and to be an example to my son. I saw what it means to pass down the priesthood from generation to generation and the power in that. I got to glimpse the future my son has in that one day he too will be able to bless his wife and family. What a sweet reminder of how powerful example is. It is so important for our children to "see" the gospel in action. I will never forget that moment. It will forever be written on my mother heart.

I am so incredibly grateful for the gospel. I have felt the power of the Comforter. I have felt the Lord use each one of you to say the right thing. I know I can do this because so many of you have done this. I am hopeful and have been blessed with peace and assurance. Without the gospel I don't know how I would deal with this loss, but I know the time will come when this baby will come back to me. I find peace in that Sunday will come. I love you all more than you know. I can't even begin to express how healing your words have been for us. I pray I can be there for you in the same way during your dark Fridays and may we all rejoice together in our Sundays!

Much love,

Bri

Happy Halloween!

BOO! You scared? Caleb sure was:-).

Here are the gnome pictures from the zoo. I'm just glad we got some great shots because it was CRAZY there. There were thousands of families. I'm glad we went, but it will probably be the only Halloween we ever go.

So many people died over how cute Caleb looked. We got a lot of laughs and "ooohhhhhs". It's just so funny to watch him wobble around going every which way. We love this little gnome.

We had an absolute blast trick or treating. I forgot how much fun it is. Having a kid is a great excuse and he was so dang cute at all the houses. At first I thought we would only go to the neighbors we know but we ended up doing quite a bit of our neighborhood. When we first started, we were the only trick or treaters. I figured since we have a lot of older people in our neighborhood there probably wouldn't be a lot of trick or treaters. I was wrong. Parents ship em into our neighborhood so we had a ton. It was an absolute blast and I was really impressed with how cute all our neighbors were. We got some good candy, not so good for losing the pounds I've gained in the last 10 weeks.

Can I eat this kids face off? He is so dang cute.

This is Caleb looking at a kid dressed up as spider man. He loved seeing all the kids. I love the little squat he was doing.

Here he is again looking at some kids.

The Hourglass Theory

This blog brought me peace. It spoke to my soul. Thank you my Monica for sending this to me.

A post is soon to come. I love you all more than you know.

Bri

Heartbroken

Today I went in for my ultra sound and the baby was measuring 9 weeks and 5 days, what we guessed it would be. I asked her "where's the heartbeat?"

This is an experience I never wanted to have. To see a baby without a heartbeat. She said it must have just happened because the baby was measuring at the size of our earliest guess. It was awful. I was there by myself because Dan is on night float so he has to sleep all day. While I was in there I felt like this can't be real. Why couldn't it just have happened on it's own without me seeing this lifeless baby?

The midwife came to talk to me afterward to see how I want to proceed. I just want it to happen naturally so now we are just playing the waiting game. She asked me if I have a good support system. I am so grateful that my answer to this question is yes. Yes, I have people who love me and will mourn with me. Yes, I will be able to get through this. So many women have gone through this and now I will have more of an empathy for others in the same situation.

I'm not gonna lie, I felt anger while driving home. I was angry because we have to start all over again and for various other reasons, but I know this too will go away. I'm also grateful that we know things are working, and I pray we can conceive quickly again.

I wanted to post this because I've been getting messages and texts to see how it went today. I love you all, and want you to know that I will be OK.

Thank Heaven for a precious little boy that will make this so much easier.

Much love,

Bri

Herman O. Maxwell And Cute Little Gnomes!

Usually I say 3 best things, but I have more than 3 so here I go!

1. The ward Halloween party. It was a lot of fun. Caleb is to the age where he is a lot harder but SO MUCH FUN. He MADE our night. We dressed him up as a garden gnome and were cracking up ALL NIGHT along with everyone that saw him. It was a total hit and I can't wait until Saturday so we can get better pictures outside because this pic below doesn't do him justice. It was so funny to see this wobbly gnome walking around with a plastic pumpkin everywhere he was NOT supposed to be:-). Oh how I love this kid!

2. We got our first half gallon of low-fat (I think it tastes so much better than the normal kind) egg nog on Saturday. HAPPY DAY! I LOVE egg nog and so does Caleb. Although, more than anything, I love what egg nog represents. YAY FOR HOLIDAYS AND FAMILY! I'm so excited for the holidays this year because Caleb is at a place where he can be such a big part of them.

3. Herman O Maxwell. This teddy bear is really special to me. I received it as a gift from my companions on my mission. I told them I never really had a teddy bear as a child so they surprised me with this bear. Oddly he became kind of famous in the mission. I. Love. This. Bear. The great thing about him is so does Caleb. He is the one thing in Caleb's crib every night that he does not throw out on the floor. If Herman O is on the floor he will give him loves and I hear him babbling in the morning and figure he's talking to his buddy. Here is a picture of Caleb sleeping in his pack n play with Herman O in Utah. I thought it was too cute to not post.
4. Herman O. brings me to my fourth best thing. The companion that gave me Herman O. born today 31 years ago, Monica Maxwell (now Hemsley, but she will always be Max to me). There is a bond created on a mission that is unexplainable. I adore this girl, and am so grateful for her birth 31 years ago and that she has been such a big part of my life. When I think about Max I automatically think about the gift she has to make people feel heard. She is truly gifted at listening and has such an ability to understand those around her. This was such a powerful tool on the mission with investigators and companions! She has so many other qualities about her, but I think this is a quality that is so unique. Max, I will NEVER forget the night we (with Herman O.) sat and cried together after I got that really hard letter. You didn't have to say anything. I felt your love, compassion, and support. You are truly a gift from God. Happy birthday beautiful lady, mother, friend! I love you more than you know!

5. My last best thing is how LOVED I have felt receiving all your comments about Hoopes baby number 2! I feel like we have so many people who are cheering for us and who love us. It has been so sweet reading your comments (more than once:-). What a sweet record for our next little one to read when old enough. THANK YOU THAN YOU THANK YOU! I can't wait to share our journey with all of you once again! MUCH LOVE TO ALL!!!

Bri!

Tender Mercy

I cannot believe it's been over a month since I have posted. There are so many things I could post about to "catch up" but it all seems insignificant now. It's sad when that happens. I love the "little moments" and I am recommitting to recording those moments again because we are too blessed not to.

As you all know, I was in Utah a couple of weeks ago. It was such a great trip, but there was a lot of sickness going on. I felt horrible the whole time and Caleb got his first stomach flu type sickness. He was a little stud even though he was feeling so crappy. It was the first time he has ever thrown up and it scared the crap out of me. My mom ended up getting sick, my dad got a touch of it, and my brothers girlfriend (or friend;-) got it full blown. I just figured I had the same thing but not as severe. Other than dealing with sickies it was such a fun trip. Although I was DREADING the drive home cause I still wasn't feeling better.

Caleb was so great on the drive there and back. I felt so lucky he was such an angel because I was struggling. I felt horrible. We ended up staying in Utah an extra day because both Caleb and I needed a little bit more recovery before making the 10 hour drive. We finally made it home Tuesday night safe and sound.

As most of you know, we did treatments to get pregnant with Caleb for 3 years. We have been wanting to get pregnant again for a while now, but I wasn't starting my cycle even though I stopped breastfeeding when Caleb was 13 months old. A few weeks ago I bled for a day and a half and was SO EXCITED that I even called my mom and my sister to share the good news. We were finally going to be able to start the process of "trying".

Dan has been doing his injections for 3 months now using the expired left over meds from Caleb. He hadn't started the double dose yet (which costs $1,000 a month) because I hadn't started my cycle. We knew we needed to figure out what to do because Dan's old meds would run out in a month which would require a trip to Venezuela by Dan or his Dad. Venezuela is where we bought the meds (Dan's parents lived there at the time) for Caleb because it is SO MUCH cheaper there than here in the states. I don't even know how much it would cost us here and never want to find out. We just feel so incredibly blessed for Dan's parents helping us out with the meds, otherwise we could have never afforded Caleb.

Because we tried for so long with Caleb, we have a ton of pregnancy test and ovulation test lying around our house. I figured I might as well take one considering I had felt like crap for too long. I have taken so many negative pregnancy tests in my life and had every intention this too would be negative. It was 10:30 at night and the second I dipped the stick 2 lines appeared!!!!!

I have envisioned my reaction for a while now. I always thought there would be tears and that I would tell Dan/family in a special way that I was pregnant. This was such a shock I just started screaming and laughing. Dan ran in to see what was up and I handed over the stick. He was SHOCKED. We both were just laughing and yelling. HOW? WHEN? WHAT? We were just shocked.

Of course I was too amped to not tell my family. The cute way of telling loved ones went out the window. I called Ashlee and then my mom and they were SO EXCITED. It was so much fun sharing this shocking miracle with my family. I texted my sister in law Chelsea who I mountain biked with a few days before telling her WHY I was sick and that it wasn't the flu. We just couldn't believe it. YAY!!!!

We have no idea how far along I am. I would guess I'm probably between 6 and 10 weeks. I have an initial appointment with a nurse practitioner on Thursday to set up an internal ultra sound to figure out where I am. I normally would never do an internal ultra sound, but I want to make sure we have an accurate due date cause I don't want to fight the induction battle for being "over due" if they get my date wrong. The ultra sound for Caleb put us a week earlier than his actual due date. The reason I knew they were wrong was because we knew his conception date without a doubt. It's so weird we have NO CLUE with this one because I never had a period. Now I know I was just spotting a few weeks ago. CRAZY!

It's interesting to think back on the prayer I said out loud with Caleb driving from my parents house on my way home. I was praying to get home safely but then really prayed that we would be able to add to our family and not fight the same battle we fought for Caleb. I even got emotional. What a sweet tender mercy that there was already a little spirit growing inside of me at that moment. I am still in complete shock. It still doesn't seem real other than the fact I haven't felt good which sucks cause I never got sick with Caleb, but hey I'll take it!

The other day while in Costco I saw a mother with a brand new baby on her shoulder who was fussing. The mom was lovingly bouncing her and soothing her. I started crying right then and there. I was overwhelmed with gratitude, love and excitement. I was embarrassed that I had absolutely no control of my emotions. I think I'm more emotional this pregnancy. How I know this is that I cried while watching "The Office". It was the episode when Jim and Pam got married. Who cries in "The Office"? I might be the first.

We feel so blessed this happened so easily. Why, we don't know, but what we do know is that the Lord has blessed us. I have been worried that it could take a long time again and that saddened me because I am "older" and want to be done by time I'm 35. We are so grateful that the meds worked even though they were expired and that we wont have to worry about stocking up again. What a blessing especially in this economy. WOOHOOO!!! So there you have it. We are PREGNANT! I was going to wait to share this because things happen during the first trimester, but we are just too excited to hold it in and pray all goes well for us.

Thanks to all who have prayed for us on this journey of starting our family. It has truly changed my life and I cannot wait to add to our family. Caleb has brought us more joy than I ever thought possible. We can't wait to meet the next little one.

I will post more later on what's been going on with us, but I wanted this post to be dedicated to the "tender mercy" we have recently experienced. We feel so blessed and feel the love of the Lord very strongly in our lives. There is no greater miracle than the miracle of life. We love you dearly little one! Welcome to our growing family!!!

Dog Bones?

I wish I would have gotten the video when I first caught him because he took off crawling cause he knew he was in trouble. I almost just took the bones away from him but I remembered Ashlee's blog saying it's important to take pictures so you can laugh later. Our camera was set to video so that's what I got. This little guy has been getting into EVERYTHING lately. He's a cute little stinker for sure.

Knee Walkin!

Three Best Things:

1. That Carl and Amber live here now. It has been so nice to have "old friends" in a new place. Even though I have to hear about a lot of "hospital talk" when the boys get together it's always a good time. I'm also grateful that I love Amber's kids because we trade babysitting and it's nice to watch kids you like:-). Although Amber definitely watches Caleb more than I watch her kids. I have been mountain biking more since they moved here than the whole year before combined! THANK YOU AMBER, you have no idea how much it means to us. I owe you BIG TIME! Bring those kiddos of yours over.

2. Cycling. We did an awesome mountain bike ride last Saturday in the foothills. I rode with 4 orthopedic surgeons and a ER doctor. Talk about the right people to be with if anyone crashed:-). It was such a blast. I love mountain biking. Today we decided to ride the tandem up to the Sandia Crest. It has been a LONG time since we have really ridden the tandem. Usually I am on my bike and Dan is on his pulling the trailer. I forgot how much I LOVE the tandem. It's nice to be able to always be with someone because when I'm on my single I get left in the dust which is fine because I don't mind riding by myself, but it was fun to be able to hang out with my man the whole ride. What I realized today though is how in sync we are on the tandem. I remember the first time we got on a tandem it took A LOT of getting used to each others riding styles and the different balance required. It was so cool to realize today that we are constantly communicating on the bike (like where to lean, which foot needs to be down, when to pedal, etc.) but there are no words involved. I just "know". We talked about it afterwards and Dan said, how we have done thousands of miles together so it now just comes naturally. I love that. I hope we can be as "in sync" in our relationship as we are on the bike. I am so grateful for Dan. We have an amazing life and I'm glad it's him who I get to "ride" it with!

3. How excited Caleb gets when we come in after our rides. Every time we get back to pick Caleb up he freaks out. He kicks his legs and giggles out of excitement like he hasn't seen us for weeks. It is such an ego booster. It melts my heart EVERY time. I love our little guy so much.

Dance Dance Dance

Walking

Donner, Heaven On Earth!

Caleb and Grandpa Ren!

Are they not two of the cutest kids you have ever seen? Holland was obsessed with the babies. She was so dang cute with them.

Surfing baby!

Two blue eyed kids!

This is baby Wyatt and Dan. Wyatt was in Dan's arm much of the time because he was convinced Dan was his Dad.

The only thing Caleb got from the Phillips side are his BIG ears. That is definitely a Swenson trait.

This is Caleb talking on his imaginary phone...Hello!

This kid has such blue eyes.

I love his little almost dimple in his left cheek.

First time out on the tube.

Caleb was such a trooper. The water is pretty dang cold for a baby. Notice how Dan says "don't pull your arm out". I almost did. Curse my shoulder...

Three Best Things:

1. Being in one of my favorite places on earth with Dan and Caleb. Donner is SO BEAUTIFUL. I love it. I love that you have access to the lake, mountain biking, road biking, rock climbing, hiking, etc all in the same place. It is paradise.

2. That I have sister-in-laws that I would choose for friends. The Hoopes boys did good:-).

3. My favorite day of the whole trip was the last day. We did an amazing road ride and then came back and went surfing. It was pretty dang cold because a cold front came in so no one was on the lake. The weird weather made it all the more fun!

Caleb did surprisingly well on the long drive. It was WAY too much driving for my liking. We drove for four full days and were only there for 5 full days. Don't think we will ever do that again. I wish we lived closer to Donner. It is such a magical place. Thanks Hoopes for such an amazing place to gather. Many memories will be made there!

Dada, This One's For You!!!

I immediately got the camera out right after he did it for the first time. I think Caleb is as proud of himself as I am. Dan hates to miss anything so this is for you babe! LOVE YOU!

Watch Gracie in the background. It's hilarious. I can just see her thinking "Who is this psycho owner I have squealing?"

I'm A Wuss

I gave into the little man this afternoon. He was so upset when I was trying to put him down for his second nap that I ended up nursing him. I've decided to wait to cut out that last feeding until after Tahoe. Why can't I just get my dang period??? Never thought I would be excited to get a period...sigh.

Colons, Boobs, & Baby!

There have been a couple of big things that have happened lately that I want to update before we head off to Tahoe on Saturday. I'm really excited to go to Tahoe, but NOT excited for the drive. It is a 17 hour drive. Not sure if we will survive, but we shall see. Caleb has been doing better in the car since we got his new car seat. He is still rear facing, but he's able to look out the windows because it's so much higher than the infant seat. By the way, I LOVE our Britax Roundabout. I will recommend it to ANYONE. It is such a great seat. Thank you everyone for your feedback in helping us choose. We could not be happier with how awesome it is. I want one for myself:-).

I went to my GI appointment a couple of weeks ago. The doctor said that all my symptoms are pointing to proctitis (colitis of the rectum...yummy). He put me on a medication to see if it works which would confirm if it was in fact proctitis. I have another appointment with him in 2 months and then we will go from there.

I was so bugged when I went to get the meds because the copay was 20 bucks. They don't have it in generic so I have to pay the higher amount. While I was researching the side effects, and trying to see if there was a generic I found out how much 30 doses cost. $450.00. After I saw that I stopped complaining about my $20 a month. As I read about it I read that it can take up to 4-6 weeks to work. Well!!!! It started working the FIRST DAY!!! You have no idea what a BLESSING this is. My symptoms were awful. They acted up mostly in the evening, so I often times would not want to go out in the evenings because it was so bad. I wont go into details, but this has been an absolute miracle. I didn't realize how bad it really was until now. I'm not sure if I need to be on the meds forever or just for flare ups, but I will find out more at my next appointment. I feel like a new person.

In other news, Caleb is completely weaned as of yesterday. He did great. I think it was harder for me than it was for him. It was time though because I really need to start my cycle again. Dan started the expensive treatment a couple of weeks ago, so we need to get cooking. I pray we can get pregnant SOON. It would break my heart if it took another 3 years, although I don't think it will.

Dan is loving 2ND year for the most part. He LIVES for the OR. He is truly gifted in this field. I have to brag about how awesome he is. He did a complete knee replacement the other day at the VA hospital and the device rep went off on how good Dan did the knee. People, you gotta understand this was his FIRST knee replacement he has ever done. I guess the rep told the attending how impressed he was with Dan and the attending said "Yeah, I know, I really think Dan is going to be better than Clayton" (The rep told this to Dan later). Clayton just finished his residency this year and is known as the best resident in Ortho! There have been a lot of other things that have happened like this. I don't think his parents had any idea that all the hours Dan worked on his car and bikes played a huge role in him becoming a true craftsman. He will be a gifted surgeon. I am SO PROUD!

Three Best Things:

1. Caleb's cuddles. Since I have been slowly weaning him, he has been way more cuddly. I think since he isn't getting the cuddle nurse time, he is more willing to cuddle at other times. I LOVE it. Tonight while I was putting him to bed I just started to cry while cuddling this little lovey. I was thinking about the previous post that I read about Nie Nie and how grateful I am that I am a mother to this beautiful boy. It was one of those moments I savored because I know this time will pass all too quickly. I rocked him extra long tonight. Oh how I adore this boy.

2. Mountain biking in New Mexico. The mountain biking here is AWESOME. I thought I would never say this, but it's better than Utah's. I am really enjoying living here. It is an awesome place. I was telling Dan that when the time comes to leave I will be very sad. We feel blessed to be here for residency. We just wish it was closer to both our families.

3. Modern medicine. I'm not a huge fan of doctors, and I often think that modern medicine can make things worse (especially in maternity care) but I am SO GRATEFUL for it when it's necessary. I feel like a new woman.

Chickie

This tender post made me cry.

Lake Powell Giggles

Happy Birthday Love Of Our Lives!

He was such a beautiful newborn

Welcome to the world little one!

Truly love at first sight

Here he is now! As cute as ever.

Playing with his pal Logan in his water table we got him for his birthday. Thanks Maga!

Caleb playing with the train Bob and Margie (our next door neighbors who we adore) got him. They also got him a super cute shirt, jeans, and sweatshirt that will fit him this winter. They really are the cutest neighbors ever. They couldn't make it to the party but she was able to come over earlier.

Hi beautiful boy!

I cannot believe I have a 1 year old. I spent a lot of time last week looking at old pictures and pondering his birth. I cannot believe a year has come and gone. While I'm excited, I'm also sad because I realize how fleeting our babies childhood will be. He will be 5 before we know it (which will actually be nice cause that means Dan will be done with residency:-).

We celebrated his birthday with Carl and Amber, Dustin (another ortho resident who we LOVE), and Camille and Owen (another ortho resident who is also LDS). It was just a little get together, but we had a great time. Thanks everyone for coming to celebrate our miracle baby. Unfortunately the battery died in our camera and the memory card filled up in Carl and Amber's camera so we did not get a lot of pics. Thank heavens Amber was there though or we would have nothing.

Anyone who knows Caleb knows he is not super interested in food. I knew the whole cake thing probably wouldn't be that exciting. I was right. He kind of looked at it and poked his finger in the hole where the candle was (he loves holes). He got into it a little bit but not really. Maybe next year:-).

I love this little boy so much. We are so blessed to have him in our family. I can't imagine life without him. There is nothing like being a mother. THANK YOU Caleb for coming into our family. You have my heart in your chubby little hands. WE LOVE YOU!

1 year stats:

Weight: 22 pounds= 33%
Height: 30 3/4 inches= 73%
Head: 47.5cm 18 3/4inches= 78%

Chunky Buns

"Does my bum look fat? Be honest"

Crying cause I took away his rock he was trying to eat

Can someone explain to me why this is cute on him but not on me?

I love getting him up from his naps when he is happy. How can you resist this sweet thing?

Crazy!

This is pretty amazing, and crazy. Can you believe the size of these bellies?