Life as we know it

 Mark gave Caleb a beef stick that he had (still in the package) to play with as a distraction since he was getting tired and fussy. Pretty soon he had fallen asleep, still clutching the beef stick!

 I love seeing his personality beginning to come out!

I guess I've been busy lately, considering I haven't posted in over 2 months! I've been teaching a class that's a couple days a week this term and working one full day a week as well. Not much flying, but when I look at the face in these pictures I have no regrets at all. Caleb has recently discovered that he can go places rolling, so he's been all over the place. He also likes to scream for fun... not sure that I'm into that one so much, but I sure like it when he makes other noises, such as practicing talking. Finally after 8 months he's sleeping through the night more often than not, it's not every night and he still doesn't like to go to sleep, but I'll take what I can get. Uninterrupted sleep from 11PM 'til 7AM is great! :)

Other things I've been up to besides playing with Caleb, feeding him, moving him away from the areas of our house that still aren't baby-proofed, removing his hearing-aid from his mouth and putting it back in his ear, etc. are preparing to give the message in middle school group this Sunday, and working on a cookbook. I  decided about a month ago to put together a cookbook with our family's favorite recipes along with pictures of the dishes for Christmas gifts... yes, I decided to take on that project with less than 2 months 'til Christmas! It's been a little crazy getting everything together, but it's been fun to work on.

Mark is still busy working both of his "part-time" jobs and then staying home with Caleb while I'm at work. After almost a year leading the middle school group at church he still loves it... just wishes he had more time in the day to prepare for his messages or hang out with students.

Overall we're busy, but incredibly blessed!

6 months

I can't believe he's 6 months old already! Someone asked if the time has flown by and I told them that the days have but the nights haven't. Just when we think he's getting into a schedule he changes things up on us. I guess he just likes to keep up guessing.

He has pretty well mastered rolling over from his tummy to his back and occasionally gets from his back onto his tummy. His vocabulary is expanding to now include Ds and Ls, coughs, heaving breathing and high pitched screaming just for fun! Lately his favorite thing to do seems to be sharing his milky drool, as everytime I pick him up he either sucks on my neck or my chin... oh well, I've heard milk is good for your skin and I'll just say he's giving me a kiss.

One of the things I've been enjoying the most is the grin he gets when I pull out my guitar and sing. I may not be the best singer or musician, but knowing that my son likes it means a lot to me. :)

There's normally something in his mouth, whether it's a toy, his hand or both

I love his smile!

Caleb's first taste of a vegetable

He liked it eventually

I tried to turn this picture around,
but then figured it represents him pretty well right now
as he enjoys being upside down

Rockin' & Rollin'

Caleb's 5 months old and finally rolled over for the first time today... diaper changes will never be the same! We started giving him a little rice cereal recently, and after the first bite which he usually makes a face for he gobbles up the rest no problem... usually wanting more. Also he's finally been sleeping through the night consistantly (6-8 hrs) for the last several nights which is wonderful! I never thought I'd be rejoicing over 6 hours of sleep, but it's amazing what a difference uninterupted sleep makes. We were really proud of him for how well he did on our ~10hr. trip out to Idaho for middle school camp. He had his fussy periods, but I don't even like being in a car that long, so I can't blame him. That was his second long trip this summer and we've got one more planned, so hopefully it will go as smoothly.

He's getting bigger

I keep thinking Caleb's a little baby still, but then I see a newborn and realize how much he's grown. He's 4 months old now and a little over twice his birth weight. We're having a blast with him! He smiles a lot, has started playing with toys, loves playing with his hands and shoving them as far into his mouth as he can, holds his head up while lying on his tummy (although he still doesn't have complete neck support), "talks" and has just started laughing occasionally.
Mark was helping out at high school camp out of town a couple weeks ago, so I had the single-mom experience. Just not having the support when Caleb's tired, crying his eyes out, and there's nothing you can do to calm him down was hard. It's definitely been nice having him back again this last week.
I started flying again a little bit at the beginning of the month, after almost 4 months of being on the ground. It's been hard to get out of the house, but nice to be back up in the air as well.

Happy & sad... still cute!

He looked so cute in his big boy clothes that I had to take a picture... unfortunately he was hungry at the moment and didn't like the delay in getting fed. I still think he's cute, even when he's screaming. :)

Even though I don't get much done when Caleb's asleep on me, I love how snuggly he is and know he won't be like this forever, so I try to enjoy it as often as I can

I haven't necessarily gotten everything done that I'm supposed to (like dishes), but I've finally gotten a few scrapbook pages done. I'll try to post more soon.

Look who's smiling!

First dryer ride... he liked it! :)
He's finally smiling

Caleb is actually sleeping right now, and not in my arms, so I have 2 hands to type with! It's the little things in life! :)

Caleb finally started smiling a few weeks ago! Yay! The smiles are still pretty few and far between, but it's sure nice to see a big smile after a long day and night of crying. He still has a really hard time getting to sleep at night and is often up until 2 or 3 in the morning before finally falling asleep. Once he gets to sleep he usually sleeps 4 to 6 hours at a time, but it's the getting him to sleep that's tough. I've spent quite a few nights on the couch now so that Mark can get some sleep before he has to go to work... alas, it won't last forever... I've never known of a teenager who can't sleep and doesn't like to sleep in. :)

Other news, Mark graduated earlier in the month with a 3.95 GPA and was given a couple other awards! I wasn't able to be in for the entire ceremony due to Caleb getting fussy, but I was able to see him get his awards and diploma... I'm really proud of him!

I've been teaching one class this term and will probably be flying a little again in the summer.

The latest

The whole family

My two favorite guys!

Well, I still don't have time for much of an update. But here is our amazing Caleb... he doesn't like to go to sleep at night, but we still love him. :)

Well, he came 12 days earlier than expected, but he's here and he's perfect!

Caleb Brian arrived on March 16 at 4:27PM, weighed 7 lbs. 2 oz. and was 21 in. long

Getting closer

Not a whole lot has changed since my last post, except that the baby's gotten bigger and therefore I've gotten a bit more awkward, but still can't complain.
Mark's loving his job working with the Jr. High and occasionally comments on how he's amazed he's getting paid to do ministry! I'm really glad he's enjoying it... and getting paid. :)
We still have about 7 weeks until the baby arrives, but lots to do in the mean time. We're moving into a new apartment next week, so that should keep us busy, and I'm still working for another couple weeks at least before taking a break.

Growing baby = Growing Jill

Well, it's been a long time since I posted last, but wanted to let you know what's been going on over the last couple months. I know the baby's not here yet, but I've started a photo-journaling baby album anyway. So far it's been a place to record how the pregnancy's been going, milestones along the way, and at least a picture each month to track baby and tummy growth. I'm really looking forward to the pages that will be added in a few months when the baby arrives, but in the meantime Mark & I are enjoying each day and making sure that when the baby does arrive he or she knows that they've been loved even before they were born.

Other big news is that Mark finished college in December and within a couple weeks had a job as the Jr. High leader at the church we've been attending and helping out in for the last 3 years! God is good!

There are lots of unknowns still ahead, but we're looking forward to what God has planned and seeing what He does through it all.