9 months

9 months! I remember last year I was helping my mom decorate her Christmas tree and I said, "wierd, next year at this time I will have a 9 month old!" And here we are... with a 9 month old. :) We love Caleb. He gets to be more and more fun every day. He has done a lot of new things and I am horrible and forget to write down the dates. But I know they have happened in the last month. :)

1. Caleb is now saying Mama AND Dada. Hurray Caleb! He says Dada when he is happy and Mama when he is upset. Nice.
2. Caleb is pulling himself up on EVERYTHING. He has pulled himself up a couple of times before but now it is constant. He would prefer to be on his little feet.
3. Caleb has stood up by myself... for a split second but he has done it! :) When he pulls himself up he will see something that he wants that is a bit far away so he will go for it and face plant. He is tough though and gets back up.
4. He is a champ at being on all fours to sitting.
5. He is starting to sleep better through the night... thank you to some help! I have learned (a little late... I know) that you feed, have wake time, then go to sleep. That way they don't associate sleep time with feeding time. (And he doesn't have to be nursed back to sleep). I wish I had done this A LOOOOOOOOOOOOONG time ago. But what do you do? :)
6. Caleb weighs the same but is longer. So his weight is now down to the 30th percentile or so, and his height is in the 60th.
7. He loves to grab people's noses. There have been a few times where I will say, Where is Daddy's nose? And he will grab Matt's nose. It is so fun to play with him (Caleb, not Matt). :)
8. Caleb is starting to give kisses. WET kisses. I love it. It is so cute.
9. He will also pull himself up in his crib and talk to himself because there is a mirror right in front of him and he can see himself. Matt and I are going to put a video camera in there to see what he is all doing instead of sleeping. :)


We have a lot of updating to do. First Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, first airplane ride to Texas. I will get to it soon. :) Sorry for taking so long!

8 Months

I am awful. Caleb is almost 9 months old and I haven't updated the blog in awhile. woops. We have been quite busy with traveling to Texas and adjusting to life because my parents moved to Ogden. Yes, you read right. My parents moved to Ogden. My mom received a promotion which is quite exciting and I am so proud of her for taking the job. I have a lot to blog about. BUT for now I will do a quick update on Caleb.

The week before he turned 8 months old he said "MAMA" hurray! (November 17th, 2010). He will only bust out with it when he is upset though. But I will take it whichever way it will come.

Caleb took his first airplane ride on his 8 month birthday (November 19th, 2010). -pictures to come. He did amazingly well. He flew great. Of course, we flew 1st class on our way there. Thank you to Matt's grandparents for letting us use their air miles.

Caleb is full on army crawling. He tries to work it out with his arms and legs but he likes that he can get around faster with army crawling.

He also started to wave at people.

Those are the main things that I can think of for his 8 month mark.

Oh yea... and we got a check up right before we went to Texas for him to get a flu shot booster and he weighed in at 18.5 lbs. Chubby baby. :) We love you!

7 Months

Caleb turned 7 months on the 19th... so a little over a week ago. The biggest change from now to last time I updated with Caleb is that he can now get up on his hands and knees, by himself. Before we could get him on his hands and knees and he would sit there for a second and then would lay down. Now, he is getting there himself and rocking back and forth.

And as of yesterday, the 26th, he started to army crawl. He is working so hard at crawling. Below is a video of him trying to do it. Matt and I really need to get a video camera because we are missing a lot of his actions. Anyway, he is a funny boy and we LOVE him. He loves the mirror and looking at books with pictures of himself in them. He is his best friend. Sorry fanny! :)

We also took Caleb to the park and Matt was helping him go on the slide. He wasn't TOO sure about it. He thought it was more fun to watch the other kids play. He loves people. We substituted a primary class in church for a couple of weeks. The ages of the kids are 7 and 8. They LOVED Caleb. Each one had to have their turn holding Caleb.... even though he is half their size. He is now wearing 9 month clothes. Sometimes I will force him into some 6 month clothing... but he is most comfortable in 9 months. He arms are a TAD too long but it doesn't bother him. Like Matt says, arms of a 7 month old, belly of a 9 month old. :) What can we say? He eats well. :) Speaking of eating well, we have moved onto veggies. His favorite is still pears, applesauce, AND apples with oatmeal. He REALLY loves apples with oatmeal. We have only tried carrots in the veggies section.

I think it is so cute how Caleb is discovering new textures. The way he feels things is so adorable. He waves his hand over the material... I will just have to video tape it.

Caleb always wakes up so happy. I can't help but be excited to see him in the morning because he is so cheerful. He makes funny sounds and grins. He is definitely a morning baby. He goes to bed between 7 and 7:30 which is so nice for Matt and me because we have time to ourselves to blog, read, watch a movie etc. Last night, Caleb was seriously up every hour... so tiring. So I should be in bed right now while he is sleeping but sorry... I want to update the blog. :) My only complaint about blogging is how LOOONG it takes to upload a video. My goodness. :)Since it takes so long, I am uploading more videos to my facebook. So check them out there. :)

6 months

Okay, so I am a couple of weeks behind. Ugh. I am so bad. I really need to update more diligently.



Caleb turned 6 months on September 19th. I can't believe he is already 6 months! He is getting so stinking big!

At his 6 months appointment he did really well.
He weighed:16 lbs. 10 ounces
He was 26.6 inches long.

Some new things that he is doing: (Some of these things may not be new. But I can't remember what I posted from his 5 months). :)

Sitting up for long periods of time. woohoo :) Sometimes he will lose his balance but the majority of the time he will catch it.


He is reaching out to whoever he wants to hold him. (I love it with all of my heart. It melts my heart when he reaches his arms out to me).

He has has cut 2 teeth. When he laughs or gives you a big cheesy smile you can see them. Or when he gets mad because you are trying to take a picture of his teeth (like the one posted). :)


He is nursing and eating solids. Thank goodness for Grandmama Later who buys him pears, peaches, etc. I always forget. :) His favorite so far are pears and applesauce. We are going to move to veggies here pretty soon.

He responds to his name really well. He will look at you with those big beautiful blue eyes and smile.

Likes to play games, be sung to, and read to. A couple favorite games are: "I'm going to get you" game. We get on our hands and knees and hide behind a chair/couch and slowly come around the corner saying "I'm going to get you" he thinks its pretty funny. Especially when Papa Later does it. Well, anything that Papa Later does, Caleb thinks is funny. Another game is getting in our little carrier that we hold him in that we strap on our chest and jump up and down. He screams like it is a rollar coaster ride. His favorite songs are: "We are good Sandlappers"; "Who I Am" - from Sesame Street(posted below); "Popcorn Popping"; and the Alphabet. His favorite books are pop-up books.




He is rolling over like a champ. Have to keep an eye on him because you never know where he will end up :)

He talks all the time. He loves other children. He gets a bit more quiet around other kids but once he is comfortable he will chat it up with them. At church on Sunday he was playing with a little boy in front of us. Smiling and talking.

He is discovering new sounds that he can make every day. Which cracks us up sometimes. Some of his HIGH pitched screams will make my ears ring. haha. I love it though. Well, maybe not LOVE it. But I am glad that he is finding new sounds. :)

He is working on getting on his knees and hands. If we help him get there, he will stay there for a bit. (October 7th was when he did it REALLY well).

He is starting to pull himself up onto things. He obviously can't do it really well or with items that are too tall. But his pack and play, he can. So I need to move the pad down so that it isn't a hazard. He is becoming so mobile. The other day I had him in his bouncer and then I turned around for seriously 2 seconds and when I turned back he was completely out of the bouncer sitting up on the floor. It looked like someone took him out and sat him down. (I was the only one home, so I know he did it himself). Little monkey baby.

He LOVES to jump. My dad is now calling him JC. (Jumping Caleb). haha. He is definitely all boy. BUSY BUSY.

He loves my parent's cats. When they are around he loves to stare at them and try to touch them. But we don't let him. I let him once and he just grabbed a hold of the cat's hair and pulled. woops. Good thing the cat didn't mind. :)

Caleb's eyelashes are getting SO stinking long. Every time I look at them they seem to be longer. If they get darker, they will be SOO beautiful. They already are, but if they are darker you will be able to see them from a mile away. :)

I have been working on sign language with Caleb. I think that he understands "milk" because when I sign it he gets really excited. Or if daddy signs it, he looks at me. haha. He will make the sign "milk" but I am not sure if he means milk or if he is just playing with his hands. Babies are smart... smarter than we think.

Caleb also has a great sense of humor. He gets when things are fun or funny and has a GREAT belly laugh. It is very contagious. When he starts laughing so does everyone else.

Caleb is a happy, healthy, strong baby. Which we are VERY grateful for. It is a blessing to have Caleb and to be his parents.

Sesame Street: Will.i.am's Song "What I Am"

I thought this was cute. Sometimes we all need a self esteem boost from Sesame Street :)

Counting Blessings...

I can't help but count my many blessings. It seems lately I have heard an overwhelming amount of tragedies about young parents losing their children. It is absolutely heartbreaking. I cry for these families. I can't imagine what they are going through... nor do I want to try to imagine. But I don't want their losses go to waste... their losses have taught me to love my family more, cherish my time with them more, read more, laugh more. Their losses have helped me remember what this life is about. It has helped put things into perspective. Though their losses are tragic and sad, my testimony has grown in Heavenly Father's plan and that families are forever. We can be together with our families for eternity if we live as Heavenly Father would have us live. Which takes work. I am willing to do that work. It is worth it. So I am making a greater resolve to do better. Do better with my family. Worry less about work, the house, money, whatever worldly things there are to worry about. And redirect my focus to the Lord and His plan. And whenever I feel myself get tired of holding Caleb because he is teething and he doesn't want to be put down, I am going to remember... at least I get to hold him. At least I get to hear him cry because his mouth hurts. Every ounce of energy that it takes to raise Caleb, I am going to appreciate and love. I am going to appreciate and love being tired. Being tired because I have a baby is a blessing. And it is one of many that I will count.

Family Pictures

Thanks to my mom for taking these pictures and thanks to Angie for letting us use this beautiful spot.

5 Months!!

I can't believe Caleb is already 5 months old!! He is growing so quickly. I just love him and want to squeeze him... gently. :) A LOT of changes have happened... and A LOT of them have happened within the last couple of weeks!

1. Caleb rolled over for the first time ON PURPOSE on Monday. August 16th. He is now rolling over all the time. I can hardly keep him on his back. I have a feeling crawling is in our near future.
2. He is CONSTANTLY grabbing for things. And succeeds the majority of the time! He gets a bit frustrated when he wants to grab something but it is stuck onto something and he can't grab it. It is pretty cute to watch. He has some busy hands.
3. He is sitting up by himself. I still need to keep my eye on him so that he doesn't face plant. But he does really well.
4. He turns to sound perfectly... even when he hears the kitty at my parents he will turn to look at it.
5. He reaches out to me. I came home from the store and he got so excited and put his arms out. I about died.
6. He is starting to play games with us such as peek-a-boo. (Us doing the peek-a-boo part and him doing the laughing part). :)
7. Drum roll, please.... he ate rice cereal for the first time on Monday. HE LOVED IT! I mean LOVED LOVED LOVED it. He chomped down on it as if it were a steak. We video taped it... which will be in a later post. :)

He is growing so fast and there are so many things that he is doing... I wish I had more time to write them all down. I will try in a later post. :) All I know is that he is so cute and we love him and are so grateful to be his parents.

Happy 5 Month birthday! :)

whats on my mind?

Background: Some friends of ours invited us to dinner and I asked if I could bring anything. Through text messaging we got side tracked and were talking about other things. I knew that she was at target and she always finds great deals.

Story: So, through a text message she asked me, "do you have any baby carrots?"
My response, "are they on sale?"
Her, "no you silly girl, I was thinking if you did, you could bring them to dinner."
Me,"well, the reason why we haven't started Caleb on foods is because my mom wants to be there and to take pictures. So I need to wait until next tuesday when they get back. So until then... wait. Are you talking about baby food carrots or adult actual baby carrots?"
Her, "I was talking about adult baby carrots. But all of that is good to know."

I am pretty sure I laughed for a good 20 minutes over that one. I have been feeding Caleb so much lately all I can think about is "I can't wait until we start rice cereal."

New Dining Room Set

So Matt and I found this beautiful solid wood table and chairs on Craigslist. It was originally all brown so we spiced it up and painted it and gave the seats a new fabric. We forgot to do the before picture... but here are the after pictures. :)

Learning names can be pretty funny...

Having Some Fun with Caleb

Caleb's First Church Outfit

I haven't really had Caleb wear official church clothes... just an outfit of some kind. But today was the first day he wore a button up shirt and nice pants. (Other than his blessing day, of course).

Caleb's First Time Going Swimming

The other day we went to a birthday party (happy birthday Eja) and they had a little kiddie pool so we put Caleb in it. At first he curled up his little toes and fussed because it was so cold. But then he realized it was pretty fun so he splashed around and was loving it. Matt and I realized we needed to take him swimming! We took him to the Aquatic Center yesterday and he had a pretty good time. :) He was so mesmerized by the water and all of the little kids. It was so hard to take pictures of his cute face because he wouldn't look away from the water or the other kiddos.

Here are some pictures of my two loves of my life swimming away....















Someone splashed them, while getting out of the pool, right when I took this.



caleb fell right asleep after swimming on our way home. He was pooped.

Matt's Graduation

Hurray! Matt graduated! We had a surprised graduation party for him back in June when he graduated. Our dear friend Ashley made these adorable cupcakes. I keep on telling her to start a blog because she always has the cutest and most creative ideas. Anyway...

He has worked so hard. If I may brag about my husband for a moment....

Matt completed his associates in Allied Health and bachelors in Health Care Administration in just a little over one year.

(This online school that he went to allows students to take as many courses as you are able to within a year and you pay a flat rate for that year. So whether you complete one course or 20 you pay the same).

Matt completed over 30 classes (over 90 credits) within that years time. He worked SOO hard. He completed a course every week to 2 weeks. He rocked the house. He sacrificed a lot by being able to finish so quickly. He sacrificed hanging out with friends, going golfing, the movies, all of the fun leisurely activities... he sacrificed. As many of you know, he work at 5 AM every day so he has to go to bed early too. He has been putting in 15 hour days for the past year and even though he was pretty burnt out within the first 6 months, he endured well. VERY well. :)

Matt is such a hard worker and I am so blessed to have a husband that gives his all in everything that he does. He is amazing and I love him.

4 months

(pictures done by elizabeth later) :)


Okay, now that Caleb is 4 months and 10 days old, I guess it is time to do his 4 month update. :)

Caleb is changing so quickly! I can't even believe it.

He had his 4 month check-up on his 4 month birthday... July 19th, 2010. He is healthy and strong and has grown a lot!

He is weighing in at 14 lbs. 8.5 ounces and has grown to 25.5 inches long.

He is smiling and laughing all the time and we love every second of it.

Some new things that he is doing:

He rolled over for the first time on Sunday July 25, 2010. (I am sure it was on accident, but it was very exciting).

He can sit up by himself for a split second then starts to wilt. Sometimes he can sit up for 2 or 3 split seconds. :)

He is a champ with holding up his head. He no longer surrenders at tummy time. He will actually hold up his head instead of laying face down. Although, he still isn't a fan of tummy time. The other day he threw up because of it. Poor thing.

He has discovered his tongue. ALWAYS holding it out.... well, only when Matt or my dad is around. hmm.... I wonder why. Maybe because they taught him that! bad habits already. :)

He has discovered his feet. When he sees them he immediately starts to try to grab them.

We think he is teething. He rubs his fist on his gums and will occasionally get fussy for no reason... which is NOT like him.

He always wakes up happy as can be. Every morning I sing to him "Good morning, good morning, you are first to see the sun. Good morning, good morning to you." (My mom taught me it. Caleb loves it).

He is constantly moving his legs. When he learns to crawl and walk I have a feeling he will be going going going.

He loves to talk and sing along to the piano. It is really cute. We really need to get some of these things on camera I have decided.

He is doing great with his motor skills by grabbing things and trying to play with toys. He has a jumper and does really well in it.

Caleb is changing daily and is such a joy.

Motherhood: An Eternal Partnership with God

Motherhood: An Eternal Partnership with God

you know who you are...

Happy First Father's Day!!

I am pretty behind on my posts... woops.

But this is a start. Matt's first father's day. We got him a candy message board, a world's gym membership, some church socks, and a new driver. (The new driver was for his graduation as well).

Matt is an amazing daddy. Caleb always lights up when he sees him. We went to the library the other day to get some books to read to Caleb. And while I was searching for some books, Matt and Caleb went and cuddled on a couch while Matt read him a book. All of the women in that library were in a puddle. Their hearts were melted for Matt. haha he is quite the stud muffin. Caleb loves to be read to and he is lucky that he has a loving daddy who loves to read to him. Thanks Matt for being such a great dad!!

3 months!

Update 1. Caleb turned 3 months on Saturday! I can't believe that he is already 3 months. He is so darling and we LOVE him.
- His size is in between 0-3 months and 3-6 months. The 0-3 is too small and the 3-6 is too big.
- He is laughing and smiling more consistently now. Although, if he is hungry or tired you can forget about it.
- Last night he had his first 2 5 hour stretches!! I couldn't believe it. He went to bed at 10 PM ate at 3 AM and then ate again at 8 AM. Amazing. In fact, I woke up more to go to the bathroom than I did feeding him. :)
- He is watching things more now... although Fanny is still, of course, his favorite. Today I was in a restaurant and he was breaking his neck to see something behind him... can you guess what it was? Yep, one of his many fan friends.
- He is grabbing onto things more... such as my hair.
- He is pushing himself up with his legs more often. He gets really excited when we start cheering for him when he stands. He loves it.
- He still hates tummy time. We are working on it though.
- And finally, I think that he is going to start rolling over soon. He can get himself from his back to his side. When he is on his belly, he just surrenders and lays there, poor thing.
- Summary? Caleb is nice and healthy. :) Happy 3 months birthday! :)
Caleb when he was just a couple of days old.


Caleb now... 3 months. Are his rolls not the cutest thing ever?


Caleb after a bath...

A Letter to My Friend

Dear Ashley,

How are you? Let me just tell you about my day yesterday. My phone died. I went to go charge it and it wouldn't charge. I figured Matt could probably fix it when he got home. He did better than fixed it... he broke it. I love my handy husband. So, to say the least I am going to Verizon today to get yet our 3rd new phone. (This time it really will be a new phone). Our phone number will stay the same. Maybe you could call or text me and let me know that it is you? Ugh. We JUST about had everyone's phone numbers again. Starting at square one. I thought technology was suppose to bring us convenience. Oh well. Anyway, even though it has been a couple of days... I miss you. I am glad that we are friends.

Sincerely,

The Lauers

My Heavenly Father Loves Me

Today I was looking at Caleb and felt a rush of heavenly Father's love for me. Caleb is so beautiful in every way and Heavenly Father sent him to us... even though the doctors said it was nearly impossible. Faith in the Lord makes all things possible. Caleb is yet one more blessing and miracle on top of many that helps me remember that yes, I know my Heavenly Father loves me.

From Peanut to Jabba

My mom called Caleb Jabba the Hutt the other day and I couldn't help but laugh because it is so true!! His cute Jabba the Hutt belly.... he is no longer a little peanut.

Nickname from birth to 2 months: Peanut
Nickname from 2 months to _______: Jabba

Fanny the Fan Friend

Fanny is Caleb's good friend. Fanny is always there for Caleb to look at and interact with. Fanny will entertain Caleb whenever Caleb wants. They talk together, they laugh and play together. Fanny is a great listener. Caleb can always count on Fanny. Caleb and Fanny love each other very much.

Who is Fanny you may ask?

Fanny is Caleb's fan friend on my bedroom ceiling. Caleb loves all of his fan friends... but fanny is his favorite.

Caleb and I spent the day out and about and when we got home tonight, I took Caleb out of his car seat and laid him on the bed. Caleb immediately searched for Fanny and quickly found her and they started to have a party! He squealed with delight, laughed, smiled, kicked his legs with excitement and seriously didn't take his eyes off Fanny for the next hour. In fact, when I would hold him to look another way he would bend his head back to see his old friend. They were catching up from the day, talking and laughing. He obviously missed his pal Fanny. And who could blame him? They are such good friends and have such a good time together!

Caleb fell asleep looking at Fanny. Rest easy baby, Fanny will be there as soon as you wake up.... every time. Thank you fanny for always being there for Caleb!

Photo Shoot

There were so many beautiful pictures taken... but it takes forever to upload each picture. So here are a few. :)