Trip to Florida

Cool dude!
Cute in his speedo!
Last night... beautiful sunset on the beach!

Caleb and I recently made our 1st trip together without daddy. Daddy had to be at school, and we missed him soooo much, and it was so good to come home. We went to Florida for a vacation with my family, and we had so much fun! It was a first of many things for Caleb: plane ride, hot and muggy weather, pools, ocean and much more! Caleb loved the ocean and the pool... He takes after his mommy that way. :) He wasn't too happy just sitting under the umbrella on the beach, so we spent most of our time in the water. My family was wonderful the entire time being flexible and giving me a break when I needed it! I forgot another first! Caleb saw his first bear!!!! Would you believe it?! We saw a bear in Florida. We went to this swamp area to walk around and look for wildlife... well, we didn't see much except a big brown bear only 30 feet away from us!

It was a wonderful trip! I am so grateful to my parents for helping make the trip possible.

It has been an exciting month so far! Caleb has started some solid foods like squash, sweet potato, and carrots. So far he likes them all!! We celebrated my parents' 30th Anniversary at the end of May, had a visit from Aunt Jodi, Grandma Mary and Grandpa Brian around Father's Day, and survived a week of VBS with Caleb. Besides taking care of Caleb, Amber is teaching piano a couple afternoons a week, Jason finished a summer session of classes and is working hard at the driving school now, and Caleb is confidently learning to roll around and almost sitting on his own.

So, it's been a great month and I thought I'd share some of the pictures we've taken.

We're slowing down a little with the picture taking. :)

Father's Day

I know... it's been too long since I've updated this. We're supposed to have more time in the summers right?! That's usually not the case for me. Our "extra" time gets filled up with fun stuff. Well, the Redoutey family has been doing great! I wanted to share with you our Father's Day project. Jason had seen a card in an ad that he thought was really cool, so I decided to recreate it for his gift from Caleb. Thankfully, Grandma Mary was there to help with the set design. :) This is the almost finished project. It turned out so cute! We added below the feet...

jason and caleb

first father's day

june 2008

Cute Moments and a Blessing!

1st morning eating cereal! (Beginning)
Eating Cereal (End!)
New Habit - sucking thumb

He was so cute that we let him take his nap on the blanket.

So excited that Aunt Lindsey is coming home!
Go Spartans! Wait... Go Illini!

It's been a couple of great weeks since my 1st Mother's Day! It was a great one too! Caleb gave me a couple gifts on Mother's Day. The first one was sleeping in till 9:15. :) Then when I got him up he had a Douglas J package in his crib for me! He knew just what I wanted, so I got to go get some pampering and get my haircut that week. Thank you, Caleb (and Jason)!

We wanted to share with you another blessing from God that we noticed recently. If you have been following the blog from the beginning, you know that Jason had a Diaper Party with his friends before Caleb was born. We were blessed with tons of diapers in all sizes! Well, to this date we have only had to buy 2 packs of newborn diapers. We didn't have enough of that size. A couple weeks ago, I was opening our last pack of diapers in the next size. I commented to Jason that we were on our last pack and isn't it interesting that Caleb is growing out of them at the same time?! I don't think that this was a coincidence. I know that it was a sign from God that He cares for us so much that He provided just the right amount of diapers Caleb would need. I'm saving a diaper, so that I will always remember God's provision for us during this time.

Happy Mother's Day, Grandma Mary!

Go Illini!
I finally got the pictures up! Thanks for helping me, mom!

Being silly!

He does smile!

My favorite! :) I can definitely see both of us in Caleb now.

Happy Mother's Day, Mom! Since we can't be with you today, I wanted to send you a special message from the 3 of us. I love you so much! Hope you enjoy it. :)

Making Wonderful Memories

Visiting Kelly and Ryan in Chicago

Enjoying his spot on the couch!

This past weekend we went to Chicago to visit our friends. We had a wonderful time and Caleb did really well out of his normal environment. We are so thankful for friends that make us feel right at home!

Today was a rollercoaster day: it began well, went down in the middle, and ended very well. Caleb had an appointment to check on his weight, and he gained a large amount in a week so we're so thankful for that! It was an emotional afternoon, but we quickly remembered how things have changed so much for the good since we brought him home from the hospital. We were laughing how crazy it was the 1st week home! Caleb is just changing, and becoming so grown up! :) Tonight was a night I'll remember for a long time. Caleb and I went to my in-laws for dinner and stayed up a little past his bedtime, but he was so happy! When I was putting him to bed I wished that moment could last forever... holding him in my arms. I never knew I could love someone so much! I feel so blessed to be Caleb's mom.

1st Walk to Quality Dairy

Exploring the outside with daddy!

Snacking on daddy's finger

Still snacking on daddy's finger!

We enjoyed this outing to Quality Dairy the other day. It was a beautiful day for a walk and QD has the best deal in town for ice cream! The deal is to order a kid size waffle cone and they give you 3 scoops for only..... $1.29! What a deal! Caleb enjoyed his too. :)