Caleb at 2 Weeks

I can't believe it, Caleb is 2 weeks old already. These last two weeks have flown by, and probably have been one of the best two weeks of my life. I am so in love with my family, I feel so blessed and thankful right now.

Anyway, for those interested, Caleb's 2 week appointment went great! He gained just under a pound and grew two inches. Our doctor really believes his birth length was probably a little inaccurate since he was a little ball. So he clocked in at 8 lbs, 6 oz and 20.5 inches. Looking mighty strong. Everything else sounded great and looked great. He is a solid eater, lover of baths, great sleeper and hates being cold. He is wide eyed when Elyse talks to him and overall, perfect.

Words Can't Describe..

...How Thankful and in Love I Am With These Three.

Celebrating Christmas

This past Christmas like all the others, came and went with a blink of an eye. We spent the past few days with Nate's parents. It was great having them here and Elyse sure loved all the attention. Overall, we spent the Christmas season by, being with family,
making a birthday cake for Jesus, and of course, eating it,
opening presents and,
playing games. Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa, Elyse even got to get some game playing in this year. Puppy Bingo, highly recommend this game if you have a toddler.

Anyway, hope you all had a wonderful and memorable Christmas.

Merry Christmas

We hope you all have a wonderful and blessed Christmas! May you and your family rejoice in the day and celebrate the reason for the season.

Elyse Meets Caleb

Well we successfully have made it through one day and two nights. The nights have gone well for the most part. Caleb is a wonderful sleeper and eater and I know it has only been a few nights, but I am praying that it continues.

Anyway, we got home around 5:30 on Saturday, and Elyse couldn't have been anymore excited to meet Caleb. The video shows exactly what I mean. Hard to hear, but she kept saying "Hi", "Caleb", and "Love you". Plus look at that smile on her face :)

At the end of the previous video she was running to go the couch in order to do this:


Not only is Elyse in love with Caleb, but I think he already loves her a lot too. Every time she talks or holds him, he opens his eyes. Their interest in each other has to be the most blessed thing I have every seen.

What's In A Name?

For the most part, people pick a name for their child for one of three reasons, they like the name, its meaning and/or family significance. So it was no surprise that many people have asked us, "How did you guys come up with the name, Caleb?" In fact, I can remember them asking us the same thing with Elyse, and I had the exact same response. We chose the name because of all three reasons above. We love the name, there is family significance to the name and the most important, the meaning.

Elyse Irene: (Elyse) God is my oath, (Irene) peaceful and was Nate's grandmother's name
Caleb William: (Caleb) faithful and devoted to the Lord, (William) will to desire and protect and is Natalie's father's name

Hope to get videos up soon of Elyse meeting Caleb for the first time!

Going Home

So here's the tentative plan, we are to be dismissed around noon tomorrow. We can't wait to get Caleb home to meet Elyse! Please pray that everything goes smoothly for both him and Mariah during their checkups and dismissal tomorrow.

With that being said, we are asking that you please give us the night to get adjusted to being a family of four. We do plan on attending service on Sunday, but if you would like more time with us and Caleb please feel free to come over anytime between 3:30-6:00 on Sunday. We would also love to see you anytime Monday-Wednesday, we just ask that you call ahead during those days to double check that it works. Look forward to seeing you all and introducing you to Caleb in person.

One more picture of our precious Caleb, and yes, he is a paci guy and has his Dada's hair :)

More Pictures of Caleb

Nate and I have been so blessed to be surrounded by these amazing people! We can feel the presence of God the entire time.
Heidi (birth counselor), Rande (Mariah's mom), Nate (BF), Mariah (BM), Judy (Mariah's grandmother) and us
Caleb's birth family: Mariah, Rande, Monica, Ray and Malachi

Introducing...

Caleb William Klauser
7 lbs, 7 oz and 18.5 inches long
5:56 PM

He is absolutely perfect and such an answer to prayer. Praise God!
More pictures to come :)

December 16th

Two years ago today we were blessed with finalizing Elyse's adoption. She was officially ours forever today.

Hopefully today we will be blessed with holding our son. That's right, Mariah is in labor and we are heading out asap! Please pray for her delivery, health for her and baby as well as safe travel for us.

We now have a laptop that we are bringing with so stay tuned for pictures and name of our son :)

"The Life of an Elf" Take 3

Macy's Annual Christmas display is up for viewing again. Unfortunately it has been the same for the last three years, "The Life of an Elf". So here is a recap of our experiences of seeing it.

Take 1, 2008
No photo since Elyse was three months old and spent the entire time asleep in her car seat.

Take 2, 2009
Remember this photo? Elyse was terrified of the entire exhibit.

Take 3, 2010
As you can see, she is smiling. This year, Elyse started off timid with either wanting me to hold her or sit in her stroller. However, once we got to the bakery display with candy and food she was 100% enjoying herself and interested. Which made the experience of seeing it again all worth it.

Another reason today was so much fun is because Elyse and I saw it with some of our really good friends. Thank you ladies for joining us for a little Christmas activity.
Jenny with Aiden, us, Angela with Landon and Sarah with Mason

Happy Birthday Nate

Today marks 31 years that my husband has been alive. I am so blessed to have him in my life and I love him for so many reasons; but here in no particular order are just a few (31 to be exact).
1. unconditional love he gives me
2. a devoted father
3. puts God first
4. his servant hood
5. patient
6. amazing leader
7. thrives to succeed
8. great listener
9. provider
10. sense of humor
11. exercise companion
12. lover
13. dependable
14. honest
15. good in the kitchen
16. faithful
17. builder and fixer of our home
18. dancer
19. handsome
20. heart for adoption
21. confident
22. intelligent
23. challenges me
24. outgoing
25. courageous
26. helpful
27. gentle
28. trustworthy
29. humble
30. protector
31. compassionate

Nate, I love you so much and hope you have a Happy 31st Birthday!

Side note: computer is still down, picture and post was uploaded while at my mom's last night in order to wish my husband, a Happy 31st Birthday today!

Frustrated

Sorry to inform you family members and fellow bloggers, but our computer has crashed again. Three times in two years. Hope to get it fixed or get another one soon so we can post pictures and videos when our son arrives.

Seriously

It's bad enough that I have one love who enjoys video games, but two, seriously?!? Caught Elyse in the action of pretending to play Nate's XBOX 360.

Just A Few Tears At First

Elyse has only used a pacifier while sleeping or in the car while on long trips since she was 6 months old. Therefore, I knew when the time came where she was going to have to get rid of her pacis was not going to be easy. In fact, I just imagined the worse happening since she does not fight us or cry when it is time to go to bed or nap. With that being said, a few months ago Elyse bit through her paci, so much that we had to take scissors and cut it. I was so afraid it would break at night and she would swallow it and choke. She was then down to one and we often warned her that if she bit it too we would have to cut it and she would be all done with pacis. Well, Monday night Nate and I looked at it and it was hanging by hardly anything, so Nate asked her if she wanted to cut it. She said, "Yes" and did just so. After holding two pieces of paci in her hand she began to cry, "No cut, no cut." I grabbed her (tears filled in my eyes too) and looked at her and said, "Elyse Dada and Mama are so proud of you." Her crying instantly stopped. She then volunteered to throw the two in the garbage. We clapped our hands and gave her so much praise. She then took about an hour to fall asleep, wasn't so much crying as just needed to get use to falling asleep without it. Happy to say she slept through the night, did great at nap yesterday and went down without a problem last night. Besides a few earlier mornings than normal, so far so good. Both Nate and I are so proud of her. I don't know if having her see baby Chloe needing it showed her that babies use it or what, but her attitude towards pacis appeared to change last week. In fact, she would hold Chloe's and give it to Chloe or her doll, but would not use it herself. Positive sign in my opinion. I am aware that when baby boy comes it may result in her wanting a paci, and we won't fully object if she needs one while sleeping again. However, for now, we are hopeful that pacis are done for our little girl, who isn't so little anymore.