Wrestling season is coming to an end....

It has been a long last few months for the Marsh family. We've spent alot of time traveling to wrestling tournaments and our boy has been a trooper. Next week will be our last tournament as we travel to State in Salina. This weekend we were in Holton for Regionals. Friday afternoon when Cael and I drove to Holton and it was pretty crappy weather. It was starting to snow/rain in Leavenworth when we left and the county road I had to take to get to Holton was covered in slush. We sat through Regionals all afternoon & evening on Friday and Cael was struggling. He was cranky because he hadn't had his long naps that day. When we left Friday night it was slick and foggy! I drove very slow because I get nervous driving in nasty stuff with baby boy in the back seat. We got up Saturday morning and left early so we'd get good seats. Cael had a really good day yesterday. He even got some good naps in...as long as Mommy was holding him. He's going through a phase right now where he really only wants his Mommy to hold him. My sweet boy! It is nice to feel loved but Mommy can use a break every once in a while, too! We saw some real good wrestling over the weekend. Complete with a dislocated to the point of bones almost popping out of the skin elbows...courtesy of "Uncle Pineau"! He didn't do it on purpose - it was mainly the way the guy landed. They even had to call for EMS and they gave him an IV right there on the mat! Pineau & Johnson got 3rd so we've got boys in for next week. When we left to come home last night the weather was getting bad. I drove about 35 mph most of the way home. The county road had not been plowed so there were times I couldn't even tell if I was on the road or in the ditch. But we made it home safe. Here are a few pictures I took yesterday!

I know this one is fuzzy but his smile was so cute!!











Look Ma! I'm standing up!










You shut your mouth when you're talking to me, Pup!

One of Cael's cutest pictures ever...

Now that we've mailed the picture out I can finally post it! This was a Valentine's pictures we took and it is freaking ADORABLE!!! Yes I know I'm saying it about my own son but he is one of the cutest babies I have EVER seen in my life! Don't you agree?

I'm one of the boys!

Yesterday was our DVL tournament for wrestling. Luckily it was in Leavenworth so Cael and I got to "sleep in" and not have to rush. Cael had a very rough night Friday night and he & I were up from 2:30 until 4:00. So I let him sleep until he woke up yesterday. For the 2nd year in a row we lost the tournament by just a few points. We got 2nd place and lost by only 2 points yesterday!! The same wrestler as last year didn't wrestle at the DVL which probably would have put us in 1st place. And one of the boys lost a match he should have one which would have given him 3rd place and us 1st. Oh well - there's always next year! I took a picture of the boys with their little mascot, "Jedi". Sorry it's blurry. The camera had been in the car and I ran to get it and didn't get it warmed up enough before I took the picture. :( It's still a good picture though! The boy that's holding Cael is his "Uncle Pineau".

It's almost time for baseball, Daddy!

I took these last weekend and forgot to post them. It is almost time for baseball season to begin. We have regional wrestling next weekend, state the weekend after that and then baseball begins on Monday. Basically - 2 weeks for tomorrow my husband will start his 2nd sport and Cael and I will continue having Cael & Mommy time after school. At least these sporting events will be outside so we can get some fresh air!

8 Months

I can't believe our boy is 8 months old already! You know what that means....only 4 months until his first birthday!! And yes Mommy is already starting to plan. I already know what I'm doing for his cakes and invitations. I even know the date (Saturday, June 12 in case you're wondering...exactly 1 year from when he came home from the hospital!)! I don't know the time or anything but it will be here at the house. Anyway - here are his 8 month pictures that we took on Wednesday. We have been so busy this is the first chance I've had to post them. Enjoy!!

Choo Choo!

Trooper Cael

We have no idea where this outfit came from but I found it in Cael's closet this morning. This post is for Uncle Jim & Uncle Travis....Daddy says, "Where are the donuts?!"













Here is the big question: Would you rather be stopped by Trooper Cael in a Jeep...












On a horse.....












Or on a Moose?












I don't think I have to worry about it any way because he would never pull over his Mommy!!

I'm ready to eat steak!

Not alot to update. We've had a busy but quiet last couple of weeks. A week ago Cael started with a really runny nose because....HE WAS GETTING TEETH!!! Let's see where we begin:

Last Monday I came home after school with a little fever so Courtney took care of Mr. Boy for the evening. I stayed home on Tuesday but Cael went to daycare so I could rest. I still had a fever on Tuesday and that night Cael was up every 2 hours. It was a LONG night! He went to daycare on Wednesday and I stayed home again although I was feeling much better. Wednesday evening was very rough. He screamed & cried from 4:00 until about 8:00. I called my Mom for advice because I had done everything I could think of to get him comfortable. I felt the first tooth popping through that night. Mom ended up coming to the house & spending the night in case we needed her. He did fine that night and slept much better. Thursday and Friday were fine and then we got up for the wrestling tournament on Saturday. I felt his mouth to check on his tooth at 8:30 that morning and there was 1 tooth - same one. At about 10:00 he was chewing on the lid to his bottle and I thought I saw another one. He did it again and I saw it again. So I stuck my finger in his mouth and there it was. Tooth numero dos!!! From 8:30-10:00 he got a tooth and didn't even fuss!!! Yesterday he started to cough a little and this morning it was awful! Poor guy is so congested and hacking. He coughs so hard he turns red and his eyes water. I took him to the Dr. because one of my kiddos at school had croup last week and was at school while contagious, lovely! I wanted to make sure he didn't have that or worse like coming down with RSV. They said it's just the teething and a little head cold on top of that. We're giving him liquid children's Zyrtec and they said it should kick in and help by tomorrow. Fingers crossed everyone! Courtney's got a dual tournament Thursday night in Lawrence and another one in Onaga on Friday night. We'll see what happens. I think I'll just check Mr. Boy is doing when I pick him up from daycare. I hope he's better! Other than that we've been pretty low key around here. Wrestling is almost over and then it's on to baseball!

Happy note - Travis & Nicole had baby girl #2 yesterday! KayLynn Grace was born by c-section around 10:30 yesterday. Can't wait to meet her when we're in Salina for state wrestling the last weekend of this month!!

Here is a pic I took at the wrestling tournament a few weeks ago. The boy with Cael is his "Uncle Pineau" as he calls himself. He's one of Courtney's wrestlers. Those high school boys love Cael! He also started sitting in shopping carts & high chairs like a big boy! Lemons taste much better when you're sitting like a big boy. And - he's just too beautiful when he sleeps! Have a great week!

A Long Overdue Thank You

I seldom find myself at a loss for words and I consider myself to be reasonably proficient in the English language. That being said, I have been thinking about this for almost 8 months now and I am still at a loss. There is no way to express how grateful I am to my wife for the gift she has given me. Our son has completed a life that I didn't even realize was incomplete. Looking back now I can see a void in everything that I have done, and that void is now filled thanks to her. She is an amazing woman who has created the most perfect son a father could ask for. My days are now spent thinking of his smile and how to make him laugh. I owe all my current happiness to her. While life has not been all sunshine and rainbows these past 8 months, it has been more than worth any of the bad times just to see his big gummy grin. I know this isn't much for 8 months of thought, but like I said, the words do not exist to express how I feel. It is beyond grateful, beyond love, and beyond happiness. I love you both!

Correction....

When I posted last I was pretty tired and Cael was fussing because it was bed time. Why am I writing that? My son weighs a little more than 7 pounds. He weighs 17 lbs. 10 oz. Wouldn't that be a tall skinny baby? :)

I'm back!

I haven't updated lately and I'm in trouble for that. I apologize. We have been so busy with wrestling I feel like we're never home! Where to begin....

Last week we had a 2 day tournament in Wabaunsee. Well, it was at Wabaunsee High School which is in Alma and we stayed in Wamego. I took off a little early and got Cael and we headed there. He has been doing great with the DVD player he got for Christmas. We have recorded 4 1/2 hours of "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse" and he LOVES it! It was Cael's first time in a motel so I of course took pictures of him sleeping and of him waking up Saturday morning. The drive there on Friday wasn't bad then when we drove to Wamego that night it was very foggy. Saturday morning it was so foggy it was slick! I had the worst time driving to the High School that morning. The fog was supposed to have lifted by noon but it never did all day. Mom & Dad showed up that evening and I sent Cael home with them. I didn't want to have him out in the dark and heavy fog. I ended up staying until the end of the tournament and drove home with one of the managers. It was a good thing she was there because I had a terrible time seeing in the fog. I was so glad to be home! Here are a few pix of Cael from that tournament. He is so good at tournaments. Even with all of the screaming he sleeps!!












This past week we had Senior night at PRHS and the only home dual. Cael and I of course went. For each home wrestling event the Moms make singlets to put on the wall. I walked in to the gym and was immediately asked, "Did you see it?" I turned around and there it was....a tiny singlet with "Jedi" written on it! Do they love this baby or what?! I of course I had to have his picture taken. He's their good luck charm....as long as he's in his singlet and has his booties on!










We got Cael's big boy car seat this week! It's a convertible seat that goes from 5-100 lbs. so we won't have to buy another car seat....EVER! It stays in the car so he has to be carried in and out of places now. He's a big boy! This weekend has been super busy, too. Friday afternoon Cael got his second round of seasonal flu shots. They ran out of the H1N1 so he hasn't gotten the 2nd round of it yet but he will in a few weeks. I took him for his shots at 1:00 and then we headed to Holton for a JV wrestling tournament. We got there at 3:30 Friday afternoon and left at 9:00. Cael was tired so I left because I thought he would sleep in the car. They were supposed to wrestle 5 rounds and at 10:00 they were at the end of the 4th round and decided to quit. Courtney got home at about 12:00 and was up at 4:15 to be at the school by 5:30 for weigh ins. We were back at Holton at 9:00 yesterday morning for more wrestling!! We left about 6:00 yesterday. Again my son was a trooper!! I took a few cute pictures of him yesterday but they are on my phone so I need to get them downloaded this week. Here is a picture of Cael in his big boy car seat. I am a dork. It was his first time in it so I had to stand outside of day care taking pictures!











Today was spent in Overland Park with my Mom. I needed to go to Sams so she met us for lunch. It was fun to be out with the 3 of us.

Here are Cael's 7 month stats as of Friday: he weighs 7 lbs. 10 oz. which puts him in the 30th percentile, he is 28 inches long which puts him in the 75th percentile. He has gained almost 12 lbs. since birth and grown 8 1/2 inches! I can't believe what a big boy we have! I will try to keep up with posting pictures and what not. Wrestling is almost over so we should have more time to be at home....until baseball starts! Hope everyone has a great week and have a great Kansas Day on Friday! (I am a dork - but I'm also a Kindergarten teacher so that's a big deal!)

7 Months

Christmas in Minneapolis

We were finally able to go to Minneapolis for Christmas with the Noon families over New Years. We went to Minneapolis on New Year's Eve and Aunt Sharon watched the boy while we went out. We went to Delphos and hung out with friends and had a nice time. It was nice to get away for a few hours but of course we were happy to get back to Cael. He must have wanted us to come home because he was awake waiting for us!

On New Year's Day we got up and made a chocolate pie before going to Dustin & Monica's house to see that side of the family. We had fun hanging out with them. Shelby, Grandma Parsons, Anthony & Marissa came over. I bought another cookbook from Grandma to support her Walk for the Cure again. I can't wait to try out some of the recipes! We went back to the Noons for dinner & Christmas with them. It was fun to see both Noon families, Grandma Hoard & Uncle Andy. We ate dinner and opened presents. Cael and AJ were so cute! They get along really well! I think Alta will make a great big sister to KayLynn who will be here soon. After all of that we played Wii for a while. We had a great time! (Courtney & I are loving our Wii also! We played for quite a while this morning since we didn't have school.) Cael got a toy that has a spinner in the center like the final game on The Price is Right. It's so funny because, as I've said before, he apparently loves that show. He will sit there forever spinning the wheel. The funniest part is that he will spin it and then wait for it to talk to him before he spins it again. He's so stinking smart!!

Saturday morning we got up and went to Grandma Butler's to take our official traditional 6 month pictures of Cael. He is such a ham when the camera comes out! He of course did great and no pee on the scarf!! We went to Salina to see Granddad & Grandma Marsh but Granddad still wasn't feeling well. We basically dropped off gifts, ate lunch that we picked up on the way there & left. Calvin didn't want to hold Cael because he didn't want to get him sick. We left Salina and started to drive home. When we got to Topeka we saw a car in the ditch and then there was a wreck so we had to get off of the interstate. By now it was starting to snow & blow. We drove to Lawrence and were just on the West side of the East Lawrence exit when we came to a stop. Right at that exit is a bridge and construction all around the bridge. We sat for an HOUR because of a roll over accident in the construction on the bridge. We had to scoot over as far as we could so emergency crews could get through. By the time we left there it was snowing and blowing pretty hard. It took us an hour to get home from Lawrence which is usually a 30 minute drive.

Here are a few pictures of our trip to Minneapolis & the drive home. Enjoy the rest of your week!

Daddy's head is funny!

Snowy days...

Well, over Christmas we got a LOT of snow. It has been so cold and the sun has not been shining so none of it has melted away. Yesterday we got hit again! The worst part is that the wind is so strong and cold. The actual temperature is hanging out around 10 degrees but with the wind chill is in the negatives. Tomorrow there's a chance that the wind chill will be -35!!! Courtney didn't have school yesterday because they were anticipating it getting nasty....and they were right! Around noon it got pretty bad. My district, of course, was the only one in the area open yesterday. No surprise there! Today we were both closed. I'm sure Courtney will be closed tomorrow because of the temperature and there is a chance we will be too. We'll see! I had to take just a few pictures of the snow before I had to come in because of the damn cold!












My poor cold squirrels!!

Go Cowboys!

I had to make sure Cael & Mommy matched to watch the BIG game last Sunday. How 'bout them Cowboys?!?! That game was HUGE!!! We'll probably be at a wrestling tournament this Saturday but hopefully that won't affect the game. I'm sure the Cowboys can win again....even if I'm now watching. :(

I'm a Big Boy Now!

Mr. Cael is sitting up so good by himself now that we decided to try letting him take a bath in the big bathtub by himself. I of course was worried that it was too slippery so I put a towel down. He loved splashing in the water and playing with his new tub toys. And, of course, I made my husband take pictures to mark the occasion. My little man isn't so little anymore! I can't believe that in a few days I'll have to take his 7 month pictures! Stay tuned...