He's One!

This year just flew by so fast. I have no idea where it went! On Sunday, March 13th, our baby boy turned one year old. I'm excited that he is growing up because his silly little personality is blossoming and he is learning new things as each day goes by. But at the same time, I am sad that he is growing up so quickly.

Our precious boy went from this,

To this,

to this,

to this handsome fellow.

My due date was actually March 11, 2010, but Caleb decided he was way to comfy in my tummy, so he decided to stay put as long as he could. So, we (my doctor included) decided to 'evict' him. On the morning of Saturday, March 13, 2010, at 7:30 in the morning, we checked into Mercy Gilbert Hospital to start the induction. I think I probably would have gone into labor by myself that day because they used only two of three rounds of gels to get my labor started. For me, labor is really, really painful. I have back contractions and it's so intense that I feel like I'm going to die. And that's at only 3 or so cm dilated. I had to wait until I got to 4. And it takes forever because my body won't relax because of the pain.

So, after walking around the L&D halls for a few hours and going into the waiting room to visit my parents and Ella (she couldn't come to me because of the restrictions from H1N1 last year, and she was sick), I finally reached 4cm. Yay! Time for an epidural. But first I had to have some blood test before they would give it to me, and wouldn't you know it, but the hospital lab was swamped. I had to wait over two hours for them to come take my blood. And another 1-2 hours (around 7:30pm) to finally get the epidural. By this time, I had progressed to 7cm.

My nurse was wonderful and so helpful. She tried her best to hurry them up. Unfortunately, her shift ended just after I got the epidural. She tried to stay as late as she could, but had to leave. On her way out, she joked that knowing her luck, I would have the baby while she's in the parking lot.

The new nurse came in and the first she did was check me. I was at 10cm already! Time to push! At 8:05pm, Caleb Craig Newman was born. He weighed 7lbs 10oz. And Tammy (my nurse that left) was probably still in the parking lot. And, I almost had him without an epidural. I was only able to enjoy being pain free for about 30 minutes!

Our poor little guy had the umbilical cord wrapped around his neck, but the doctor was able to get it unwrapped before he was fully born, so it thankfully caused no problems. And his hands and feet were purple for a little while, but he was very healthy.

We are so blessed to have Caleb in our family. We all love him so very much. He is such a happy little boy, and such a joy to just sit back and watch him (until he gets into something!). And I love how he and Ella are best buds. They are only 21 months apart, and are so close to each other. They play together and are sometimes even cohorts in crime!


Happy Birthday, Caleb!

I would also like to wish my mom a happy birthday. Today is her birthday.

Our House

In December, we found out that the homeowners of our house were foreclosing on it. They actually were trying to do a loan modification, but you know how those go these days. They usually do not work out. Especially if your mortgage company is Bank of America. Anyway, we were really disappointed because we had only lived in the house for eight months, and were planning on staying for at least two years.

The house hunt really tested my faith. And I mean really. At one point, I even had an mental breakdown. It was good for me, though, because it opened my mind. I realized that something would work out and that Heavenly Father would not let us become homeless. I just had to have faith. It was really hard trying to keep the faith. We had at least two really good opportunities go through. And one of them being less than a month before the house would be foreclosed.

We didn't want to go through a property management company because we didn't have the money for deposits, and we wouldn't get the deposits from our then current house back in time. But, after the last house opportunity fell through, we decided we would have to just do it. We called our real estate agent, who we just love, (her name is Dawnell Gebhardt if anyone needs an agent) and that night, she sent us several listings to pick through and go look at the next day.

The very first house on the list just stood out to us. It looked perfect for us. And the price was perfect. The only downside was that it wasn't in our ward (it;s actually in my sister's ward), but at this point, it was the least of our worries. We saw all the houses the next day and put in an application for that first house that night. We didn't want to risk losing it.

This house was saved just for us. It was a great house for a great price. There was lots of activity on it (people coming to see it), but no one had put in an application for it. Very odd for out here. And, there's no risk of it being foreclosed on because an investor bought it to rent it out. Another reason I know this house was set aside for us was that there were several things that could have possibly made it fall through. But, in the end, everything worked out perfectly, and we moved in this past weekend. And it feels so good. This is such a great blessing for us.

Here are some pictures (from the listing). I will have to take more pictures after we get settled.

Sports

Thanks to my wonderful husband, I have discovered a new sport. I think I might like this sport the best, and I really wish I knew how to play it! I'm actually thinking of having Craig teaching me how to play. It's one I thought of in high school as being nerdy (look who's talking) and silly. Right up there with golf and soccer. Oh, and hockey, too.

I have fallen for the game of tennis! If you understand the rules and and actually know what's going on, it's really fun to watch! Right now, the Australian Open is going on. We have watched it every day and even gave up watching our favorite show Castle (okay, we recorded it and watched it last night).

Anyway, the following two people are my favorite tennis players. They are really good and fun to watch!

The girl is Caroline Wozniacki and she is from Denmark. I like to say we are kin because my family comes from Denmark. However, I recently found out her parents actually from Poland. Her last name is obviously not Danish.

The guy is Roger Federer and is from Switzerland. The only word that truly describe him is awesomeness. Look him up. He's won a lot of stuff.

Umm...Yeah

So this is what happened as I was writing yesterday's post.



If you can't tell, that is Desitin all over them. Those two little stinkers decided to take their love for each other and become cohorts in crime. They sneaked into Caleb's room (which they have never done before and will not again because I put one of those child-proof door knob thingys on his door) and Ella decided to get into the Desitin. I am amazed how much she was able to get out of the tube, because I was going to throw it out after the next use! Besides themselves, she was also able to smear it on his dresser, hamper, and crib.

I am so thankful the tube was almost empty! If it wasn't, I think I would have crawled back into bed. It was one of those pull-out-your-hair days.

I can laugh about it now, and I'm pretty sure it's one of those things that just about every kids does (like cutting their own hair) I was actually waiting for the day when she would get into the Desitin, just like I'm waiting for the day when she tries to cut her hair *cringe*. I will be doing my best to prevent that one, though!

Disclaimer: Please excuse Ella's appearance. I had not fixed her hair yet, and she was making those faces because she hates the flash of the camera. I didn't use it, but she still made the faces.

Love

Ella and Caleb truly love each other. I can see it in how they interact with each other. I've been able to see it since Caleb was only a few months old. The way they looked at each other and reacted to each other when they saw the other one was proof.

And now that they are older, it's so cute seeing the love between the two. Ella love to hug and kiss her little brother, and Caleb gets so excited when he sees his older sister. And they both love playing together in Ella's room. They go in there just about every morning to play. In fact, right now I can hear them in there both laughing!

Of course, like any siblings, they also fight. Since Caleb can't talk, they obviously can't argue like me and you would, but they do it in their own way! And they only argue when Caleb is trying to take something Ella is playing with. It usually goes like this:

Ella: No, Caleb!
Caleb: Ahhhhhh!
E: Caleb, stop it!
C: babble, babble, babble (very loudly)

And so forth, lasting about a minute or so. Ella usually then takes whatever they are fighting over and leaves. But, sometimes, it ends with Ella in time-out because she pushed Caleb down.

Yesterday, since Craig didn't have to work, we were out and about. We had to stop off at Walmart to get something really quick, so I stayed in the car with the kids. We were talking and singing, when all of a sudden I see this:

They were reaching out to each other grabbing hands! So adorable! And apparently, they wanted to recreate art. It looks very similar to Michelangelo's painting on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. Just kidding on that, but I thought it was funny how the picture looks like it!

I am so glad they are close.It is my dream to have all our kids close to one another. I hope these two continue being close and that their future siblings will be also.

The Month of December

Wow. This month has sped by so quickly! Probably because we have been so busy. I have actually missed a couple important posts, so I will write the condensed versions (or at least I'll try).

This was the month of appointments. We had about three or four in a one and a half week period. The most important one was Caleb's nine month well check. He turned nine months one the 13th. Here are his stats from the appointment.

Weight: 16lbs 14oz, 5-10th-ish%
Height: 27.75in, 12th%

So, our little guy didn't grow much these three months, but he is following suite with Ella (he's actually almost the exact same size she was at his age, she just weighed about 5oz less). He only had a 1lb 4oz weight gain and grew only 3/4in. He went from 70th% in height down to the 12th. We (meaning us and the doctor) aren't concerned because he is extremely active. Never stops moving. He's been crawling since 6 months, sitting and pulling himself up since 7 months, and he began cruising (walking along furniture) since 8.5 months. So he's very busy. A little brag: His doctor was very impressed at all of this and said he was advanced. He said that many babies aren't even crawling at 8 or 9 months. I was actually surprised at that. So I guess Ella was not behind at all when she started crawling at 9 months.

Caleb also now has three teeth with another one on the way! He's had his two bottom teeth for a couple months, but he got one of his top teeth on the 24th! The other one should be here in the next few days.

This month, Ella turned 2 1/2. She is just growing up so fast! She's also had a major growth spurt. I'm very curious as to how tall she is compared to other kids her age, but her next appointment isn't until she's three. She has grown so much that her 2T pants are all too short now. This was shocking considering that she could still wear 18 month pants in about September. Good thing we have a supply of 3T pants, thanks to my sister and one of our home teachers in our old ward! The only problem is that Ella has not really grown much in her waist, and not all of her pants have an adjustable waist.

Ella has also exploded in her speech. She spoke really well a month ago, but in the past three weeks, she has turned into a different kid. It's totally amazing.

And of course, the month of December brings Christmas! As a gift to our parents. We (as in I) took some family pictures. They are no where near professional, and our lighting in our house is really bad, but at least the kids turned out cute! I photoshopped the ones we gave to them. Except for fixing the red eye, they are raw. Here are a few.



And here are some for Christmas Day. I asked Ella to show the camera her toys, and boy did she! Also, excuse her pant-less self. She's in a phase where she won't wear pants to bed.



We had a great Christmas being with family and was so fun with Ella being old enough to get excited over it!

Deck the Halls

Thanksgiving was fantastic, but I'm going to do things a little out of order. When I can get photos from other people, I will post about Thanksgiving.

Ella's first Christmas - 6 months old
This is one of my favorites I took that year

I just have to say that I am so excited about Christmas! We have quite a bit less money for things than the last few years we've been married (thankfully we were able to sell some stuff so we actually have something), but that's okay!

It's funny, because I think I'm even more excited than years past. I think it's because Ella is starting get excited this year. She doesn't know about getting presents, but she talks about Santa Claus sometimes and LOVES Christmas music. It's so cute watching her in the rear view mirror rocking out to it!

And this year we have a new addition to celebrate with! Caleb will have a blast ripping and tearing into his presents! He does that anyway to books ( unfortunately, he's already torn up at least two of Ella's books I was able to keep nice since she was a baby).

I just love the Christmas spirit in the air. This year, I think I am going to learn that you can have a nice and enjoyable Christmas with very little money. Christmas is ultimately not about money or gifts.

Merry Christmas, everybody!