No pictures please!

A Day With Grandpa Miller

Dutch Boy

Naked Baby!

Katie Winne's Birthday Fun!

We all got to act like kids again (not that we usually don't...but...)... We surprised Katie at Craig's Cruisers and it was a blast! Here are a few pics from the event...

It turns out that I (Amy) am pretty fierce on the go cart track. Just as Dana and Jeff.

This is supposed to be our "fake smile" pose. However, if you look closely, you can see that some people (RUSS) did a psycho smile instead...

This is our "awkward" pose. This is our "awkward hand" pose. Russ and Katie definitely win this one!

Easter

We had a great time with the Miller's this Easter. Of course, I am going to let you all know that I, Amy Miller, won the Miller Easter Egg Hunt. Of course, maybe it was because Katie Mika wasn't there this year, but I'll take the victory nonetheless. :)

Our Little Song Writer

Turkey

On the move part 2

A day in the life of Caleb

During the day, Caleb likes to play, play, play! He also loves Frodo as you can see from the picture below...
Of course, Caleb likes to spend a big part of his day eating...but sometimes he just can't get it right...

When it's time to wake up from a nap, Caleb always wakes up with a smile!
After a long day of eating, playing, and sleeping, Caleb enjoys bath time.

Finally, the day is over and Caleb is tired out. Usually he will go to bed about 8/8:30 and sleep until 7 or 7:30 and wake up happy and ready for another fun filled day!

On the move

4 Month Stats

Weight: 15 pounds (25th percentile)

Height: 25 inches (50th percentile)

New Discoveries: Grabbing at things (especially other people's faces), holds his bottle, loves his feet, does NOT love rice cereal, and he sucks his middle finger and ring finger at the same time...no thumbs here!

It's been a while...

Here are a few updates on our happenings since our last post before Christmas. Enjoy!

1. Christmas with the Cottrell's: This year we finally came to the realization that our family is way too big to fit into anyone's house. So, this year, we all went to the lake house in Northern Wisconsin. We rented it without really knowing how it would fit our family, but it turned out to be great! We had lots of fun playing games, eating, playing broomball, and spending time with the fam. I can't wait to do it again next year! Below is a picture of Caleb with all of his cousins!

2. Christmas at the Miller's: This year, Rhianon and Heath were here with us! We had a blast with them and were so thankful for the time spent with the WHOLE family together! Caleb was happy to finally meet his Aunt and Uncle as well :) Here is a picture of Caleb with Auntie Rhianon.

3. Skate and Capes: For Megan's 30th birthday party, we all ventured over to Livonia for Megan's Skate and Capes party. As you can see, the theme was Super Heroes. We had so much fun!

4. Caleb is now 4 months old....and SO much fun!! He makes parenting easy...really! He's been sleeping great, eating great, growing great....he's pretty dang awesome :) (brag brag).

A Mother's Love

As I was laying in bed thinking about all I have yet to do to be officially "ready" for Christmas, I began to think about my little boy...as is the usual place where my thoughts drift. I began to think about how much I love him and what a miracle he is and how,thanks to him, life will never be the same.

Then my thoughts drifted to the manger scene of long ago. I, for the first time ever, truly feel like I can relate to the essence and mood of that scene. I can picture everyone standing around, staring into the manger at the miracle of Jesus...just like we do every day at our little boy. I wonder if they were all just waiting and hoping for Jesus to open his eyes or to smile...and when He did, I wonder if they all said, "Oh look!- he smiled!!" Every little twitch, blink, yawn, or gassy smile, suddenly becomes the most interesting and precious thing in the world!

And to imagine- having that much love for your child- and then on top of that, knowing that you were looking at the gassy smiles of the King and Savior and kissing the chubby little cheeks of the face of God.

Wow.

Thanks to HIM, life will never be the same.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Giggles

What I've learned so far about being a mom and about babies...

10. There never are enough burp rags.

9. Dogs like to eat baby spit up.

8. I feel more like a cow than a woman.

7. Husbands are BIG helpers!

6. Early mornings aren't so bad when you have a smiley baby to wake up to.

5. Change the diaper IMMEDIATELY when you suspect a poopy...or else it will creep up and out and all over.

4. Don't just pack extra outfits for the baby, pack an extra for the mommy and daddy too.

3. Letting Caleb cry sometimes is okay...even though it breaks my heart.

2. There's nothing like story time right before bed...SOOOOOOOO cuddly!!

And the #1 thing I've learned so far... to thank God every day for our sweet boy.

It doesn't take much...

...to make Caleb happy. He has this one toy that he talks to and laughs at. Enjoy the cutest 2 and a half minutes ever!!.....

"O Christmas Tree..."

Amy: "Can we get a Christmas tree? There's a slim 9 foot pre-lit on sale at Joann Fabrics."

Russ: "Oh ya, how much?"

Amy: "$119...that's a really good deal".

Russ: "So that's like me and a half. Does that look tall enough if I stand over here next to the window?".

Amy: "Yes."

Russ: "It really will only go to the bottom of those windows. How much for a taller tree?"

Amy: "There's a 12 footer at Sam's Club but it's $250."

Russ: "Check Craigs List."

Amy: "Okay. Here's a 12 footer for $150 here in Holland."

Russ: "Call em up!"

Amy: "You do it."

A little while later, Russ arrived home with this...Russ: "I might need a little help."

Amy: "Why? It can't be THAT big."

A little while later Russ began to assemble the 12 footer that he bought...

Amy: "Don't you think it's a little too big?"

Russ: "Let's finish putting it up and see."

Amy: "Okay."

Amy: "It's huge. People are going to make fun of us for our oversized tree. I've never seen a tree this big in a house before."

Russ: "It's not that bad. I like it! It's cool. If you're gonna put up a Christmas tree, it might as well be a big one. Besides, it's staying up now after all that work."

Amy: "I'd like to officially go on the record by saying that I wanted the 9 foot slim tree from Joann's."

Russ: "Okay Scrooge."

Amy: "We should blog this conversation."

Russ: "We should title it 'Mines Bigger Than Yours'."

Amy: "That sounds perverted."

Russ: "Yup."

2 Month Stats

Well, it looks like our little Caleb is right on track and hanging aroundthe 75th percentile in all areas. Currently he weighs 13 pounds, is 23.5 inches long, and has Russ' beautiful blue eyes.

Oh and yes...he still has all that hair...

Family

For those of you who don't have family nearby, I'm sure you can relate.

This morning my family left after spending a couple of days with us. Usually I cry my eyes out after they leave, but today it was different because I knew that I would see them again in a few weeks at Thanksgiving....that is until I picked up Caleb and got a wiff of his hair- it smelled like his Grandpa Cottrell's aftershave. The tears came flooding down. I was going to give Caleb a bath this morning, but I think I'll wait till later so I can keep smelling his hair.

I've been saying goodbye now for 12 years. It never gets easier.

Thanks Mom and Dad and Becky for making the trip to see us. It meant SO much to us that you took the time to come here for a visit and we had a BLAST with you.

Love you!

(This is is a picture of Grandpa Cottrell with Caleb when he was only a couple of days old)