And she's crawling!

This video was taken one week ago! She has gotten much better in just 1 week! She is now also pulling herself up all the time... we anticipate she will be walking by Christmas!

Trick or Treat!

Caleb the Cowboy!
Our Pumpkin Fairy

Quite the duo!

We had a great time dressing these two up this year! Already had most everything for their outfits, so we polished them up with a couple trips to Hobby Lobby and the Dollar Store. We took pictures then went to visit Derek, Karin, and Owen to pass out candy. It was a lot of fun!

6 Month Old Abby!

Daddy makes me laugh!
Happy on my tummy!

What a precious smile!

Help! I'm stuck!

Aunt Jodi spiked my hair!

Abby is always on the move! She is quite different from Caleb in that way. We can't leave her for a minute because she'll roll herself across the room or under the table! She loves her food, especially sweet potatoes, peaches, and pears. I don't think there has been anything she hasn't liked yet except bananas. Abby has started babbling a little more. She loves to follow Caleb, watch what he's doing, and of course grab what he's playing with! He doesn't get too happy about that. She's our precious baby girl!

Swim Class!

Caleb and Jason took a swim class together this Fall which ended a week ago. Here is Caleb reminiscing on the things he does. Abby and I went to the final class to actually see the things he's been talking about. It was fun! Caleb really progressed over the 5 weeks of class. He was pretty scared to try some things for a while, but daddy got him to do a lot of the activities!

Time Flies When Having Fun...

We had a fabulous summer! August was spent preparing for a couple long trips... to VA for a wedding then to Peoria for a long Labor Day. Highlights that you can see in the pictures:
-Caleb got his cast off! It was quite traumatic for him, quite possibly worse than getting it on. He's all better though!
-Abby started solids this month has finally gotten the hang of it.
-Jodi came along to VA with us to be our "nanny". We had such a wonderful time with Aunt DiDi!
-Abby is sitting on her own now and rolling around a lot.
-Caleb is obsessed with stacking things still. He puts whatever he can find in and out of tubes, cartons, etc...
-We celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary!
-Caleb started swim class today with daddy and loved it! Hoorah!
-Jason is finished with classes at EMU! Planning on attending graduation ceremony in December!
-Amber is teaching piano this fall and playing for the MSU Children's Choir and Choral Union. Very grateful for those opportunities!

God has been good to us! We have much to be thankful for.

Coming soon... video of Caleb discovering his name!

Caleb's BooBoo!

Got his blue arm this morning! Bubbles will help!
We love a waterproof cast!

Running around with Gpa Mike!

Caleb had his first major booboo! He fell off a bench at the farmer's market, and unfortunately I didn't know he was hurt right away. We headed straight home, and he seemed to be doing fine eating and playing with his toys. I noticed he wasn't putting pressure on his left arm though. After talking with the doc, we decided to watch it for a day or so since there was no swelling or bruising. Well, a week goes by and he still complains about his hand! So we got an x-ray and sure enough... he had a buckle fracture in his radius. Basically, that means his radius is a little bent. They referred us to the orthopedic people, and they want him in a cast for 2 weeks! So... it looks worse than what it is, but I'm so thankful I followed my gut. Obviously, he seems to be adjusting well to his cast which we call his "blue arm." When I ask him if he likes his blue arm, he says "Yes!" :) Thank you, Lord, for keeping Caleb safe! We'll keep you updated on how it heals.

P.S. Have to say thank you to Uncle Dominic for the awesome pictures with Gpa Mike!

Buddies

Who's going to blink first?
I'm showing Abby how it works!

Aren't they cute? Abby trying out her new chair. :)

Every now and then I get a glimpse of how nice it will be when Caleb and Abby start playing together. I hope that they will be best of friends! Caleb treats Abby so sweetly most of the time. He's starting to realize he might have to share with her though! Abby is going to have to toughen up with Caleb for a brother... he's kind of a klutz. :) Look forward to proof of that in my next posting!

Words of Wisdom from Abigail :)

I know this is kind of long, but I wanted to make sure I got Abigail "talking" for a little bit. Her big brother is always so conscious of his sissy all the time. :)

Words of Wisdom from Caleb

Hope you enjoy some of Caleb's funny comments. BTW... "Baba" is his new nickname for mama. We think he thinks it is funny, so he has decided to call me that. :) So silly!

4th of July

Abby got herself in quite an interesting position!
Caleb loves to play with Abby's swing!

Yes... Caleb put a "hat" on Abby!

Daddy and Abby ready to go to 4th of July Picnic!

July has been going by sooo fast! It has been such a good month though. We started off with a bang! Caleb and Abby enjoyed their 1st firework experience! We weren't quite sure what to expect, but they both did so well. Abby just stared at them from her car seat, and Caleb loved looking at the lights! The only thing that made him upset was when everyone else got really loud... he didn't like that. Poor daddy! Jason loves being loud at fireworks, but he has a sensitive son. More pics from July to come!

Abigail is in the Bible!

I have an ironic story to share tonight. While in Grand Haven last week, we were chatting around dinner about baby names and why we chose the ones we did and what our other options were. I said that one of the reasons I liked Abigail is that she is in the Bible. Jodi (my sister) said, "There's an Abigail in the Bible?" I said, "Yes." She says, "Where?" I said, "I can't remember, but I know there is!" How funny that I didn't look it up before. I just knew the name was there somewhere!

Yesterday morning, since Abby was up early, I remembered I needed to look up Abigail in the Bible just to prove to my sister she was there... plus I was curious. Her story is found in I Samuel 25:2-44, and here is what I read 1st:

2- "A certain man in Maon, who had property there at Carmel, was very wealthy. He had a thousand goats and three thousand sheep, which he was shearing in Carmel.
3- His name was Nabal and his wife's name was Abigail. She was an intelligent and beautiful woman, but her husband, a Calebite, was surly and mean in his dealings."

How funny is that! I told God He had quite the sense of humor, and odd that I didn't look that up until now! The story goes on to tell how Abigail helped King David even though her husband was mean. Her husband ends up dying and she becomes Kind David's wife. You can read the rest of the story if I peaked your interest at all.

So... Yes, Jodi, Abigail is in the Bible!

Rolling Around

Today Abby started rolling off her tummy for the 1st time! I grabbed the camera to catch it. :) We also went to the MSU Horticultural Gardens this afternoon. Caleb and I had great fun looking at the flowers and playing in the water fountain. I wish I had my camera with me. We'll have to go again soon and take pics. It was the perfect way to enjoy a gorgeous afternoon.

Abby is 2 Months/ Trip to Grand Haven

Abby is still doing so well! She had her 2 month appointment last week and is still off the charts. She'll be beating up her brother in no time! :) She's is such a sweetheart: starting to babble more and learning to roll around a little. Caleb makes us laugh all the time! We went to Grand Haven for a few days, and even though it wasn't quite beach weather we still had a great time! Abby is starting to become a better night sleeper. For my birthday present, she slept 9 hours... the longest ever for her!

Afternoon at the Park

Going down the slide with mommy
Abigail staying cool in the shade

Swinging with Aunt Lindsey

We've had a couple of the most beautiful days here! We went to the park with Aunt Lindsey while she is home from school and had so much fun! Caleb went in the swing for the first time, went down the slide, got his feet in the lake, and learned how to eat an ice cream cone. What a fun afternoon! Abigail stayed in the shade and slept most of the time. :)

More than anything...

More than anything I must have flowers, always and always.

-Claude Monet

Cross from my dear friend Lisa reminds me to pray for my family.
My orchid is blooming again!

Deck is finally ready for Summer!

That Monet quote is one of mine and my sister's favorite quotes. With a "treeman" for a father, we grew up just naturally loving plants. Every vacation we would have to go to the botanical gardens if they had one. Pretty much every place we've been to has had one!!! One of my Mother's Day gift this year was a bouquet of flowers from Abby (and Jason). Unfortunately I didn't remember to take a picture of it before some of the flowers died. :( I did get a picture of my orchid though which started blooming again Mother's Day weekend. Orchids are my favorite flower, yet I've never been able to keep one alive.... until now!

This past weekend I got my flowers planted and the deck cleaned up. We can enjoy that space again! Both Abby and Caleb were napping, so I ate lunch outside and just enjoyed God's creation. I hope to have more afternoons like that! Caleb is already developing a love for the outdoors. He now points out all the flowers, trees, sticks, leaves, rocks... he's just fascinated by it all! I love that about him! He is a bit afraid of the grass though. I don't think he likes the way it feels yet. I often wonder why do we have all these toys when he is happiest playing with a bunch of rocks?! I was just in the mood to share something that makes me happy today. Next time I'll show pictures of the kids again. :)

Abby's 1st Month and Caleb's Obsessions

4 Weeks Old!
Modeling her Brazilian outfit from Aunt Jodi!

Our big boy loves his mac'n'cheese!

What her shirt says is TRUE!

We can't believe how quickly a month has passed. Abigail is still doing so well and had her 1 month checkup today and is 12 lbs. 2 oz. already. She looks much older than what she is, so sometimes I forget she still needs her snuggling! Caleb is still enjoying her and likes to push her in the swing... actually he likes to play with the lights on the swing more! Which brings us to Caleb's recent obsessions. It's funny how we pretty much do the same thing every day, but he loves it!!!! He loves to turn lights on and off, but that means picking him up. Needless to say he doesn't get to do that nearly as much as he would like! Only if he says, "please!" That's very important! His other obsession is so odd and I can't believe I haven't shared about it yet! SMOKE DETECTORS!

It started when he was calling the detector in our house a "ball." Grandma Becky explained it was not a "ball" but a smoke detector. Well, he just loved that word I guess and now says "detet!" and tries to find all the dectectors everywhere we go: at the hospital, the zoo, the pet store, etc... Even if there are crazy monkeys right in front of him, he is trying to find the detectors. Oh... it's the same thing with ceiling fans too! :)

We love Caleb! He makes life so interesting. Abigail will be giggling all the time with him around.

Abby's 1st Couple Weeks Home!

These past couple weeks at home have flown by! Abby will be 2 weeks old tomorrow! I cannot believe how well the transition home with Abby has gone. Grandma Mary was here for the entire 1st week, and we couldn't have done it without her! She took care of Caleb... He's a bit chunkier now! She was hoping to cook more, but like me was too tired by the end of the day because of dear little Caleb. We had yummy takeout several nights! Thank you for all your help, mom!

Caleb really enjoys his baby sister! He always knows where Baby is and loves to pat her all over! He calls her "Baby" or "Sissy." He seems to have reverted to some of his more baby-ish tendencies as you may see in some of the pictures. He's more cuddly and is obsessed with the pacifier.

Abigail has already surpassed her birth weight: 10 lb 2 oz when we had a weight check on Wednesday! That was a big relief for us. She is a very easy going baby! The Lord knew we needed her in our life! It certainly wasn't our timing, but now I can see His hand perfectly. She is the perfect addition to our family!

Enjoy the pics! Keep praying for us!

It's a Girl!

Abigail Grace Redoutey
Born: April 4, 2009 at 4:37 pm
10 lb. 1 oz. and 21 inches long

We are so excited to welcome Abigail to our family! We are glad to be home and doing well as a family of 4. Abigail was born on her Great-Grandpa Russell's birthday! Caleb loves his baby sister. He doesn't pay her too much attention yet, but is very aware she is around. He will be her protector I'm sure! One cute story: yesterday after we came home from the hospital, Abby's hat had fallen off and I told Caleb that was baby's hat. Well, he picked it up and brought it over to her! So sweet!

Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers.

Walking 101

We shared with you a little bit of Caleb's first tries self-feeding with the spoon, well here are some of his 1st steps! We are so proud of him. Just like crawling... he had to wait a while, but once he's ready he just starts taking off. We'll try to show more later, but we ran out of memory on the camera while shooting. Caleb learns to walk just in time for his brother or sister to arrive.

Yeah Caleb!

"March"ing in like a Lion

Staff vs. Senior Game at Pinckney High School

We had fun watching "Dr. J" play some b-ball!

Caleb learning to walk with daddy!

We're in Frankenmuth... do I look German?

Sleeping with Pooh Bear in my mouth!

Well, we had quite the busy weekend, which reminded me of how fast our time is quickly flying by! Friday night we went to watch Jason play some b-ball at the high school where he's been student teaching at. It was fun to see him in that environment and now to be able to picture where he goes every weekday! He has 3 more weeks of teaching in the classroom, and 5 more weeks left of student teaching. The end is in sight! After the game we went to Zukey Lake Tavern, which apparently is famous in MI. I definitely had the best burger ever!!!! I thought the picture of Caleb walking with Jason in L&L (our grocery store across the street) was so cute! He looks like a little man! Sunday we went to Frankenmuth to celebrate Great Grandma Redoutey's 80th birthday! We had a great lunch and had lots of fun seeing everyone. Caleb enjoyed being the center of attention and played a lot of peekaboo at the table. This morning I was waking Caleb up from his nap and noticed he wasn't just sleeping with Pooh bear... he had Pooh bear in his mouth while sleeping! No wonder it's always disgusting! :) I had to take the picture before he woke up.

Self-Feeding 101

I so appreciated everyone's comments on my last posting. It seemed to hit home to many of us! Caleb is finally recovering from being sick for about a week and a half.... cough, cold, 2 teeth coming in, fever sometimes! I'm so glad he has his personality again... I think. :) I'm just kidding! Caleb just has such a strong temperament sometimes, and I wish he could just talk and tell me what's wrong. We do our best in communicating right now as much as we can. I just want him to know that we love him! Caleb now has 7 teeth that are in. He is still cruising around the furniture, but hasn't walked on his own yet. I do wonder if that might not be a good thing with Baby #2 coming in just 3-4 weeks. :) Caleb loves to play with the coasters on the coffee table right now. He spins them around, drops them on the floor, picks them up, and does it all over again! He likes to pat mommy's belly when we talk about the baby. I'm not sure if he understands or just thinks my belly is the baby! We're getting so excited to find out if we're having a boy or girl. Either way, we'll be soooo excited! Hope you enjoy the video of Caleb. Haven't taken too many pictures, but thought I'd share something we're working on.

A Mother's Take on I Corinthian's 13

My mother passed along a few parenting books to Jason and I that she and my dad read when my sister and I were young. I've been reading one of them recently called A Mother's Heart by Jean Fleming. It's got some wonderful insight on developing character as a mother. This morning while Caleb was drinking his bottle next to me in bed I was reading a little bit and came across the author's own paraphrase of I Corinthians 13. I thought it was quite interesting, so I decided to write my own paraphrase this afternoon while Caleb is napping. Hope you enjoy!

"If I try to keep my house clean and in perfect order, but do not show love to my family -

it is all for nothing.

If I create the most beautiful drapes and pillows, delicious meals, always look attractive, but am not loving to my family -

I am nothing.

If I'm busy teaching Sunday school, playing for choir, teaching piano, meeting with friends, going to Bible study, but fail to give enough love to my family -

I gain nothing.

Love is patient... changes diapers, cleans up after meals, does laundry, comforts the sick - over and over and over again.

Love is kind, even though I'm tired and 8 months pregnant!

Love doesn't wish I was another woman -

who has no kids so she can go shopping or go on a night out whenever she feels like it.

Love doesn't try to impress others with my son's achievements... or my own.

Love doesn't scream back at my son.

Love doesn't feel sorry for myself because I didn't get to do what I wanted to do today - read, take a long shower, nap.

Love doesn't react in anger quickly.

Love doesn't remind my husband that he's forgotten to take the trash out... again.

Love doesn't rejoice when another woman's children are going crazy on a plane and mine is not.

Love always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

The Music Man

Shooting Hoops!

"Getting down" to Beach Boys
Starting to move a little

"I'm not going to touch, mama! Just listen!"



I know these may not be the best pictures ever, but today I was just thinking about how much Caleb loves music! I kind of thought he might like music with having a pianist for a mom and a dad who can put anything to song! I mentioned earlier that Caleb loves the stereo! So, today I popped in a little Beach Boys and sure enough... he crawled right over and started bopping along. "Barbara Ann" is his favorite!

What fascinates me is the kind of music he likes though. For those of you who don't know this about him, I hope you find it interesting too. We travel a lot since my family is in Illinois, so sometimes we have had to try various things to keep him entertained or to help him go to sleep. One trip he just wouldn't stop crying and go to sleep even though it was way past his naptime, so Jason decides to pop in his opera cd. Immediately, Caleb went quiet and didn't make another peep thanks to "O Mio Babbino Caro." It now works like a charm consistently!

Most recently, since we purchased our new to us minivan, we have found out Caleb loves Ladysmith Black Mambazo! This is a famous acapella African group that Jason introduced me to when we started dating. Turn on a little Ladysmith and Caleb is soothed, entertained, or put to sleep!

I appreciate our son's eclectic taste! He makes life interesting!

Christmas 2008

I'm finally getting my act together after the holidays, and blogging again. We had a wonderful, busy Christmas season! We celebrated Jesus' birth in IL, MI, and TN. We thought you might enjoy a slideshow of pictures of what we have been up to since Thanksgiving. Hope you enjoy the pictures... be sure to check out the birthday pictures as well!

Since the New Year has begun, life hasn't slowed down much. Caleb seems to have tons of energy now since he began to crawl. He's pulling himself up on everything that he can, and cruises along. He hasn't been able to walk on his own yet, but I have a feeling it's not too far away. His favorite attraction is the stereo right now. We are really working on teaching him "no!" He's constantly going over to the stereo, which keeps us all on our toes. He's learning to obey more all of the time! His favorite toy from Christmas is probably the Sports Center he got. He loves shooting baskets and hitting the baseball, and gets so excited when the points light up!

Jason is in his 3rd week of student teaching! He will take over classes completely beginning next week after finals. He's doing a great job so far, and seems to be enjoying it.

Amber is still teaching piano 2 days a week. For the most part is trying to keep up with her boys and maintain enough energy to do that while being 7 1/2 months pregnant. We are getting excited to share what Baby Redoutey #2 will be like.