There's No Denying This Kid....

I've said since the day Cael was born that I had pictures at home of Courtney when he was a baby and if you didn't know the dates you would think the pictures were of Cael. Well - I found some of those pics today! For those of you that keep saying, "He looks just like his Daddy!" - you're right!!


















That's Courtney on the left at 3 months and his cousin, Kenny, on the right at 5 months.

More smiles!!

Here are a few pictures I got of Mr. Cael smiling tonight. I love that he is smiling and trying to copy us now. He's growing so much!!

Our weekend back home

We finally got to take Cael on his first trip to Salina & Minneapolis last weekend. I think we did pretty good on the packing thing - although it's difficult with an infant! We packed just the right amount of clothes & diapers. We were very busy getting ready for our trip but it was well worth it! We left on Thursday and got to Salina just as Granddad Calvin got off work. We went to dinner and took it easy that night. Friday we got up and went to Minneapolis for Cael's pictures for the Minneapolis Messenger. He wore his "thug" outfit complete with his black Chuck Taylor's and hat. It was rough getting the picture because he was very hungry but we managed to got a good picture. Once we get the pictures back I'll put a copy up on here. I can't wait for it to be in the paper!! Friday night Courtney's step-sister, Amy, and her family came to Salina to meet Cael. We haven't seen them in a long time!

Here's Aunt Amy and her nephew.


















Saturday we went to town and saw Great Grandma Butler and Great Aunt Kim. We also had a BBQ at Dustin & Monica's house so people could come meet the boy. Happy 1st Anniversary to Dustin & Monica by the way! Anyway - before we went to the BBQ we stopped by Travis & Nicole's new house. AJ was so cute with Cael. It was the first time she had met him. She wanted to hold him so bad! She settled for looking at him and trying to pick up his carseat. I picked it up and she held on to it and we walked. She was a big help! She was so cute trying to hug & kiss Cael while he was in his seat.

Here are some pics of AJ and her cousin Cael.



















After seeing the Noons we went to the McCowns for our BBQ. It was fun to see Courtney's family and most of them were seeing Cael for the first time. He got passed around quite a bit but he was a trooper! He is such a content baby!!

Here is Cael with his Great Aunt Val.

















Cael and his Great Aunt Margaret, aka Smudge.


















Cael with one of Mommy's oldest friends Nicci. Monica, Nicci & I have known each other since we were LITTLE!!!


















Now here are just a few of my boys at the BBQ. Courtney was playing with Gunner - if you could call if playing...




















Saturday night Cael's Great Aunt Sharon took Cael for the night so Courtney & I could go to the races. It was nice to get out again for a few hours with friends & family. We got to Sharon's when Cael was already asleep. But by the time we got ready to go to bed he was waking up to eat! Ah the life of parents!!

Sunday we had lunch with some of Courtney's family. I was a little disappointed because some relatives that I thought would show up didn't but there's not much you can do about it! After lunch we drove back to Salina to say goodbye to Granddad Calvin & Grandma Donna but we were so darn tired we decided to spend the night there again. I took a few pictures of my boys at Granddad's house. This is what some of my favorite times now look like.
















We got home Monday morning and have had a pretty quiet week. I had my Dr. appointment on Monday afternoon and got the okay to do anything I want! Yahoo!! Tuesday was pretty boring and Wednesday we went out to dinner with Grammie & Papa. Thursday was pretty boring and today I went to my classroom and got all of the furniture situated. Tomorrow Tio Bill is coming up for lunch and Grammie & Papa are going to take the boy for the night. I don't remember the last time I slept through the night without having to get up. We aren't looking forward to him not being around but it will be nice to get some sleep! Next week Cael's Great Aunt Sharon is coming up to watch him for a day so we can get some stuff done. I will be going back to my school to finish getting it ready. I feel pretty good about what I have done now but I may need to go up a couple of times next week. The week after that I start back to work! I can't believe it's that time already!! Courtney will be with the boy alone for a week then he will go to day care for a few days before going full time the week of the 17th. I am not ready for that. I'm done talking about it now. Anyway! Hope everyone has had a great week!

For Cael's Aunties!

LOVE this picture!! And it's one of his first smiles! He's growing so fast!!

The last week....

Let's see - where were we?! Last Friday was pretty uneventful. Aunt Sandi came up and Mom & Dad came over for dinner. Saturday we had a BBQ with our family and the Bridges clan. It was so nice because they sent Courtney & I to take a nap while they all watched Cael. It was nice to get a few hours of sleep. It's not that Cael doesn't sleep well because he does for a 1 month old but we just don't sleep as sound as we used to. I try to leave Courtney alone most nights and not get him up with me which is taking a toll on me but it's worth it to have a happy husband. Maybe one of these nights he'll pay me back! Sunday we went to Amanda's for Anna's birthday party. I can't believe she's 5 years old already!! How did that happen?! Further more - I can't believe Nic is 10!!! WOW! Time really does fly by! Monday was a rough day - we went shopping & out to eat with the parents and Joy and had to say goodbye to her. I NEVER cry when she leaves and I didn't when she left 3 weeks ago but I sobbed like Cael this time!! I guess it's a combo or hormones (I know - you're shocked that I, of all people, am hormonal!) and the fact that I won't get to see her until Christmas. Normally that wouldn't be a huge deal because we've done this since 2001 when she moved to DC but it's different with having the boy here. He was so comfy on her boobs!! That sounds funny.... he would lay on her chest and sleep for HOURS! If she would have let me I would have strapped him to her chest during the night and I'm sure he would have slept all night! Yesterday I went to my school to start getting my room ready and left pretty quick. I cleaned up and organized one closet and then went to get all the paper work for our day care. I'm so relieved that's taken care of! Today has been pretty laid back - just getting ready to go home tomorrow. Most of Courtney's family back in Salina, Minneapolis, Ada, etc. haven't met Cael so we're going to go home for a while. We have an appointment on Friday afternoon to have his pictures taken for The Future Leaders of Tomorrow edition of the newspaper. I'll post a copy when I get them. I'm excited to have those taken! We ended up not taking newborn pics with Amy because he skin didn't really clear up. He still has some baby zits (poor guy!) and a little peeling on his head. I decided I have been taking a ton of pictures here and we'll probably just have pictures done in another month or so. We'll see! We will definitely be going out to Amy's for pictures at some point (lots of points probably!). He's just so darn cute!!! Here are a few pictures we took this weekend. I'll post more after this weekend when we're at home. I'm sure I'll take lots of pictures back home!

Lucky Joy!













Don't get your hopes up ladies....he's taken by Hattie Jean!!













Awfully cozy on Aunt Joy's chest at The Yard House.
















Rockin his first pair of Chuck Taylor "shoes" from Cool Aunt Joy! (Oh yes, he will be wearing a pair in his pictures Friday!)

GRRRR! Baby. Very GRRRR!!!

So Curtis got Cael a "bear skin rug" when he was born. We decided he needed his picture taken on the rug. Since the newborn pictures didn't work out (maybe next week) we decided he needed his 1 month pictures taken on it so we did that the other night. We have now decided that every month for that month's picture we will take his picture on the bear skin rug. Isn't he adorable?!?!

One Month Old

We can't believe our baby boy is 1 month old already!! Some days it feels like he's been here forever and other days it feels like just yesterday I was in labor. He had his 1 month Dr. appointment on Monday and we found out he is continuing to grow! He now weighs 7 lbs. 15 oz. (2 lbs. heavier than birth!) and is 20.5" long (1 full inch longer!). He is still having latching issues and pooping issues so he's still getting bottles for now. We have to keep giving him Caro syrup with every bottle. I hope that clears itself up soon! We were supposed to have his newborn pictures done tomorrow morning but his skin doesn't look too great right now so we've decided to wait until it clears up. He has the lovely baby acne and his head is peeling. Not sure if that's because his head is growing so fast o rwhat but it's annoying! I really wanted to do his newborn pics while Joy is here to have pictures taken with her but oh well!

Monday after our appointment we did a little shopping and then went home. That night Shelby called us and the Hardesty clan was going to be at The Legends to eat and she wanted us to come up so they could meet the baby. All it took was for her to say they were eating at Hooters and Courtney was in! So, yes, at 1 month of age our boy had his first experience at Hooters. The funny part is that our waitress was the same one as we had 3 days before Cael was born. As we were walking in I said to Courtney, "Wouldn't it be weird if we had the same waitress and she could see the baby?!" As soon as we walked in - there she was! Ha! We decided since it was his first trip there he needed his picture taken with his Hooters girl. How funny!














On Tuesday I picked up Joy from the airport. We spent Tuesday together and then Wednesday Courtney, Mom & Dad sent us to a spa for the afternoon. We both got hour long massages (ssssoooo good!!), manicures & pedicures. It was the most relaxing 3 1/2 hours ever! My husband has been so amazing this last month. I can't believe some of the things he has done for us. He cleans the entire house, he does laundry, he takes care of the yard work and yet he still has time to feed the baby and change him. I know he does all of this so I won't have to and because he appreciates everything that I have been through. Thursday Joy & I are going to go buy him a gift to say thank you.

Friday Aunt Sandi is coming up to see Joy. Sunday we have Anna's birthday and Monday Joy leaves to go back to DC. It's been a fast week already!! I can't believe I start work again in a month!! Luckily on Monday Courtney & I found our day care for Cael. Thank goodness that all worked out. Thank you Amanda for finding Tracy for us!! I think we'll be really happy with the care he will get. Being happy with actually leaving him is a different story! I am definitely not looking forward to the first time I drop him off.

Busy Baby Days!

Cael had a pretty busy week of meeting new people. Last week we took him to Mom's office to meet Aunt Jacque. Gizmo, the dog, wasn't quite sure what to make of Cael. He was definitely not happy when Mom was holding Cael because she is supposed to hold him! If she was standing and holding Cael Giz was jumping at her non stop. When we put him in his car seat to leave Gizmo just stared at him for the longest time. The funniest part is that Cael is bigger than Gizmo already!













On Wednesday we took Cael to Easton to the wrestling room for his first practice. They have open practice on Wednesday nights and we had to take Cael up to meet some of his wrestling buddies! Mr. & Mrs. Pineau came out to meet Cael too. I spend lots of time with them during wrestling season. Cael did really good. He stayed awake the entire practice. We did not put him down on the mat because they are so darn dirty right now but Courtney took him out for pictures. He will be spending LOTS of time in that wrestling room I'm sure!!














On Friday Dad called and he had some tickets to the Royals game for that night. What's that?! A night out without baby?! Might as well!! So Mom & Dad came to the house and took care of Mr. Cael so Courtney, Jim, Amanda & I could go to the game. The seats were amazing! The Royals were themselves and lost 5-0 but the weather was great, it was buck night ($1.00 for hot dogs, soda, peanuts, etc.) and there were fireworks at the end so it was worth it. This is how close we were - I took a picture of the jumbotron. We had a great night but by the end of the game I was ready to get home to see my baby!! It was all we could do to not pick him up from his crib when we got home. We needed a night away but missed him very much!












Yesterday was the 4th and Allyn Plattner's graduation party in Sabetha. We ended up going to Sabetha early to meet Angelia & Jason's new baby, Jethro Arnold Steiner. Angelia was due on June 18th (I was due the 19th) but ended up with a c-section on the 12th. So Cael is actually 2 days older than Jethro but was smaller at birth & is still smaller. It was fun to have them together to interact a little. Jethro was basically awake the entire time we were there and Cael slept for almost the entire time! Once he goes for a car ride he is toast! For those of you who don't know - Courtney & I taught in Sabetha our first 2 years of teaching. I taught with Marilyn who is Jason's sister. Courtney taught with Angelia at the high school there. We went on their first date to Seneca to go bowling and then we went back for their wedding after we had already moved to LV. They've had a rough time of it with a couple of miscarriages so Jethro is truly a blessing. It was nice to go through the pregnancy with Angelia because we e-mailed quite a bit about things that were going on. Yesterday it was so nice to be able to talk to her again and hear how things are going for them and to be able to compare how things are with us now. Jethro is such a good eater! He makes Cael look like he isn't eating anything! Then we headed over to Uncle Allyn's party for Cael to meet him finally. It was nice to see people we haven't seen in a long time.


















The best Blue Steel picture yet!