Reminder

Just a quick reminder that tomorrow, Friday, April 29th from 5:30-7:30 PM is Caleb's open house. Please stop by even for a minute to grab a piece of cake and let us say "Thank you" for praying and supporting us.

Caleb Says, "No Thanks"

This picture just cracks me up. Whether it was because Caleb was close to nap time, the fact that he just wasn't in the loving mood like the rest of us or most likely because Elyse was kissing him too hard; but one thing is for sure he was not at all happy.

A Simplistic Easter

This Easter was very simple, yet perfect; especially thanks to the weather and company. We spent the day with my side. We went to church and did our other traditional Easter activities.
We color dyed our Easter eggs
We told the Easter story to Elyse through resurrection eggs
We read the Easter story to Elyse
Elyse went on her Easter egg hunt, she was smiling the entire time
Caleb woke up from his nap just in time to open the eggs and their Easter baskets.

We hope you too had a blessed and memorable Easter.

He Is Risen

We just wanted to wish you all a Happy Easter. May it be full of joy, love and laughter. May you also take a moment and reflect the true meaning behind Easter. We are so thankful for our Lord in Savior, Jesus Christ who died for our sins and rose again so we could be free. We love you all, and again, Happy Easter.

Flood of Prayers...Time of Celebration

Caleb's adoption is finalized! We are filled with so many emotions that I don't know if I will be able to express them all in this post. I know many have asked for updates, but due to respect of Caleb's birth family we wanted to wait until this all was done. I want to start off with a quick recap of the last few months for us. It all began on December 16th when the crying of a beautiful and perfect baby boy brought tears to my eyes and weakening of my legs. Caleb was placed in my arms and instantly I praised God and thanked his birthmother. Caleb turned four months on Sunday, and even though the months have been full of joy seeing him everyday, it’s also been full of trust, patience, and hope in our Father above. See we received a phone call on Valentine’s stating Caleb’s birthmother wanted him back in 48 hours. Instantly, as many of you know we sent out prayer requests and within 24 hours our story spread around the world. People were e-mailing and commenting from Turkey, Russia, NY to CA. With each day we waited for his birthmother to decide what she wanted to do we relied on God and how faithful He is to get us through another day. Then on March 2nd we received the phone call that one of the two most amazing women we know had decided to sacrificially forever give us Caleb to parent. With the support and love of her mother and her family, Caleb's rights were signed over to us on March 7th. We then faced another time of waiting when we needed the signature of Caleb's birthmother's father (she's a minor). Holding onto the belief that God is all good and does do miraculous things, the birthmother's birth father finally signed.

The thing that brings us such joy besides Caleb's adoption being finalized is that Caleb's birthmother will now be adopted by her stepfather, who is an amazing man of God. A story that only God could ordain.

I want to take a moment and also express our gratitude towards Caleb's birth mother and family. We have so much love and compassion for them and thankful that they are now apart of our extended family. Never once did Nate and I feel anger, resentment, frustration towards them; especially the birthmom, and how could we ever, she blessed us with a beautiful son?!? Forever we are grateful for Caleb's birthmother!!!!!

Now that our mountain is in the sea, we can look back and see that it was all for His will. Adoption isn't always going to be easy, but as Nate and I know from personal experience God’s picture is way beyond what we can fathom. Therefore, please be encouraged and not threatened on the struggles, uncertainty, love and relationships that comes with adoption.

As a special thank you for all your prayers and support, you are all welcome over next Friday, April 29th anytime between 5:30-7:30 PM for cake and celebration. Please e-mail, text or call if you plan on stopping over so we can have a count for cake. Thanks and hope to see you all!

Bottle to Spoon

Last Friday was Caleb's first time eating cereal. As you can see in the first video, he was slow to get it and unsure. However, the second video was day two and he did much better. Now we feel like he enjoys his cereal more than milk. Mostly because he is our social butterfly and eating cereal means he gets to sit up and still see what is going on. I don't want to rush time, but super excited to start him on actual baby food in a few months. Growing up way too fast!

Six Years

Today marks six years that I have been married to my best friend. With each year came a new struggle we had to overcome together with the help of our Lord in Savior. However, I would never want our marriage to be any different than it has been; because, it has made us rely on each other and God so much more. I feel so blessed to have a marriage based on love, trust, communication and friendship.

Nate, thank you for the last 6 years and I have so much joy in the fact that (God willing) we will have so many more to celebrate in. I love you with all my heart and Happy Anniversary.

A quick glimpse of the last six years. How pictures of just Nate and I are becoming fewer and fewer ;)
2005: 2006: 2007: 2008: 2009: 2010: Today, 2011:

Caleb Turns 4 Months

Tomorrow, Caleb will be 4 months old. The reason I am posting it today is because he had his doctor appointment today, plus I am posting another post involving the other special man in my life tomorrow. Anyway, he did great at his appointment. Smiling and cooing the entire time. His doctor said he is doing well and improving a lot on his neck strength, yet still at 98% makes it rather hard to hold it up on his own for a long time. We also plan on beginning cereal with him, (blog post on that coming soon).

Caleb, you are becoming one intelligent, handsome and joyous little boy. We love you so much and are so excited to see what else you will learn and do this month. Happy 4 Month Birthday Big Guy!

Statistics:
Weight: 13 lbs, 5 oz (32%)
Height: 25 inches (76%)

After Naps

Everyday after Caleb's nap you can usually find him and I working on his tummy time. Once Elyse wakes up we spend the rest of our time waiting for Nate to get home either doing a princess puzzle or reading. Nothing too exciting, but sure do love hanging out with my loves.
Favorite parts of the video, how attentive Caleb is to Elyse while she reads to him and the precious kiss at the end. :)

Special Company

Last week, Nate, Elyse, Caleb and I had someone very special come visit us, Rande, Caleb's birth grandmother. Rande was in town all week for business and made the hall up to our house to share the evening with us. It was very short but wonderful. We LOVED having her here and catching up. A special thanks to Rande for coming to see us.

No Fear

I'm amazed at how one year can make such a difference in the life of a child. Last year, Elyse went to the park almost everyday, and was very cautious of things. She loved to climb, but slides were a different story. Hated them, especially the tunnel ones. She also wasn't a fan of swinging on the big swings. This year however, everything is different. When we were at my dad and stepmom's we visited the park a few times. While there, Elyse couldn't stop going down the large slides, tunnel slides, swinging on the big swings, climbing and doing the monkey bars. Glad she isn't afraid anymore, but I think she is going to keep me very busy at the park this summer

A few random pictures of Caleb I took while in Las Vegas too. I maybe bias, but he sure is one handsome little guy! :)

Fun in Vegas

For the past few days, we packed up and headed to Las Vegas to visit my dad and stepmom. The kiddos did wonderful on the flight and while there. The weather, hospitality and trip was perfect. In fact, this morning Elyse stated she was not ready to go home. That is probably because we left with two lightly packed suitcases and returned with two extremely packed suitcases and a carry-on full of things. That's right the kiddos were spoiled rotten! We just wish we wouldn't have to wait so long to see them again.

A special thank you to my Dad and Carmela for everything. We had an amazing time and miss you both already. Love you and really appreciate everything you did.