6 Months Old

Today Caleb is 6 months old! Time has sure gone fast! We went to Des Moines last Friday and took his 6 month photos in time for the holiday season. Caleb is so different than Isaac when it comes to pictures, he doesn't cry and he smiles from ear to ear. Isaac is still professional camera shy as I had to drag him into the room in order to have his picture taken with Caleb! Caleb is a flirt, such a ladies man! The photographer told him he was a cutie and he just smiled bigger! We had a hard time choosing the pictures we wanted because they were just so good! Here a just a few of the best:

We didn't take a lot of individuals of Isaac but here is one of his best photos. Isaac doesn't cry anymore but pictures are difficult because he refuses to stand still! A lot of the pictures ended up being of Isaac jumping in the air.

Here are my two boys in front of the Christmas scene. They are so cute!

6 months means Caleb is now closer to being 1 year old than he is to being a newborn. I was just looking through pictures for scrapbooking this morning and remembering the day of his birth. I remember it so vividly yet it seems like such a long time ago. Caleb has had double ear infection the past 10 days. We started with just one ear infected, got antibiotics and a week later we went in for a recheck and he had it in the other ear. How do you get ear infection when you've been on antibiotics??? Anyway, at that appointment he weighed 18 pounds. I'm interested to see what his stats are at his 6 month appointment. Caleb is now rolling to his stomach but hasn't quite figured out how to get back over. That usually makes him angry! He hasn't cut any teeth yet but he is chewing on everything so it probably won't be long.

We are headed north this Thanksgiving. Zach's parents bought a hotel stay in Rochester for Friday and Saturday night so we are excited to take Isaac swimming and do a little Christmas shopping. Zach's sister will be home from Portland so we are going to do our Christmas exchange early. Then Zach and I took Monday off so we will be putting up Christmas decorations and recuperating from traveling! We hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Caleb's Dedication

This Sunday we had Caleb's dedication at church. We chose Caleb's name from the story in the Bible where the 12 spies were sent into the Promise Land to scout the land. When the 12 spies returned only Caleb and Joshua believed and had faith that God would give them the land. The rest of the spies were afraid the people living in the land would defeat them. The verse that we read was Numbers 14:24 where God is talking to Moses and says - "But my servant Caleb is different from the others. He has remained loyal to me, and I will bring him into the land he explored. His descendants will receive their full share of the land." Our prayer for Caleb is that he would remain loyal to God and he would have faith that God can do the impossible.

We had a lot family here this weekend for the dedication. Below are some pictures of our family, the Erickson family, and the Beerends family.

Halloween

I've been meaning to get these Halloween photos up on the blog for a little while. So hear they are. Caleb was a puppy and Isaac was a tiger.


In the morning we took the kids to the square. They had some activities and trick-or-treating around the square. It was alright and I think Isaac enjoyed it. Below is a picture of Caleb in the car on the way there.


After naps in the afternoon, we went to the Blank Park Zoo. They have something called Night Eyes for Halloween. It was fun. You walked through the zoo and collected some candy and they had games and things for the kids to do as well. The tiger was out walking around so we got some pictures of Isaac with the tiger.

The tiger came right up to the window at one point. Isaac and mommy were checking him out.

Later, mommy found Caleb trying to steal daddy's candy. Caleb had his hand in the candy bag.

Caleb finding out he was caught. Candy stealer.

Isaac doing what he likes best.

Pumpkin Carving

This weekend Grandpa and Grandma Erickson came down for Friday and Saturday. The boys enjoyed some time playing with them. They brought tractor books for Isaac which he loves. They were John Deere advertising pamphlets but Isaac likes to look at the pictures. Below are some pictures of the boys in matching outfits that we bought them.

Isaac poked Caleb in the eye and Regina got the picture. He will pay for that later. On Saturday we went and bought some pumpkins to carve and we carved it up on Saturday evening. Below are the pictures of Isaac helping clean the pumpkin out and the final result.

On Sunday Grandpa and Grandma Beerends came to babysit the boys while Regina and I went to our church's membership meeting. The boys enjoyed play time with them as well. This weekend the boys got their share of grandparent's time.

Family Vacation

Last week we traveled to the Amana Colonies for a "mini" family vacation. This was our first since Isaac was born! We traveled Thursday to Williamsburg and spent the afternoon shopping at the Tanger Outlet Mall. We found a lot of great deals and Isaac enjoyed riding "his" tractor (Bob the builder) and "his" golf cart (a Mickey Mouse ride). He still talks about them when he sees the pictures! :) Caleb enjoyed some stroller time while we shopped.





After the outlet mall we checked into our hotel, which had a waterpark. We spent all day Friday at the hotel. Isaac really enjoyed swimming except for the big bucket that spilled water over the entire play area every so often. He is a little traumatized as daddy didn't realize it was there until it had sent water on his and Isaac's head the first night. He didn't really care to get too close after that! This was Caleb's first time in the water and he seemed to enjoy it.

After naps on Friday afternoon we played on the playground at the hotel. Isaac really enjoyed running around the castle, sliding down the big slide, and swinging on the tire swing.

I took this picture as we were walking through the parking lot on the way to the park. I thought it would be funny but it turned out to be a really cool picture of our little family! Caleb is strapped to me in the baby bjorn, you can kind of see him by my head.

I was a little worried about us all sleeping in the same room, especially since Caleb wakes up in the middle of the night to eat. However things went better than I expected. Zach ended up sleeping with Isaac and that helped Isaac to get some good sleep. Isaac did manage to fall out of bed one night but he didn't even wake up! Zach had a hard time getting him back into bed. Below is a picture of the boys Friday morning watching their cartoons on the bed.

Saturday we went to Coralville to see where my brother and his wife now live. We spent some time at the Coralville Mall and then took off for home. Sunday was spent catching up on some much needed sleep! We had a really great time and the boys did too.

Last Month

Lots has happened since our last post. I had sinus surgery a couple of weeks ago. Grandma Erickson came down to help Regina out while I was recovering. We also had a visit from my Aunt Cheryl and my Grandpa and Grandma. Aunt Cheryl bought a four wheeler for Isaac to ride on. He really likes it. We have 2 four wheelers now and I race Isaac in the driveway. Below are a few pictures to enjoy.

Tummy time

Caleb during tummy time

Racing four wheelers

Caleb playing with his links

Isaac kissing Caleb in his exersaucer

Weekend Away

This past Thursday Iowa State opened up the college football season. So Regina put the boys in their ISU gear. Below is a picture of them together.

This past weekend we went to Austin, MN to visit my parents. We stopped at my dad's golf course in Charles City on the way up to play a little golf and let Isaac on a golf course for the first time. He loved it. He really liked to drive the golf cart. Below is a picture of him in the golf cart.

On Sunday morning, we went to my dad's farm and went out on the boat to go fishing. I caught one right away and then Isaac helped me reel it in. Below is a picture of the fish with Isaac and grandpa.

Isaac got tired and disinterested in fishing pretty quickly. He just wanted to drive the green tractor. So later, he got to drive the tractor with grandpa. Below are some pictures.

Iowa State Fair

On Saturday we went to the Iowa State Fair. The City of Des Moines gave us some free tickets to get in and $6 for food. So we went to the fair. The first thing we saw when entering the fair was Elmo. Isaac likes Elmo and he and Regina got a picture with Elmo.

Next we went to the Little Farmers site so Isaac could be a farmer. His hat was a little big.

Isaac got to ride on a green tractor, which he loved.

Picture of Caleb at the fair.

Regina and Isaac went down the big slide. Isaac enjoyed it.

It was a little hot at the fair, but we enjoyed it. After the slide we found something to eat and then went home to take naps.

Pictures

Last Friday we picked Zach up at work and went to West Des Moines to take professional pictures. We haven't taken any since Isaac was 18 months and didn't know if Isaac would take any good photos or not. All of our other experiences have been terrible but this one proved us wrong! Isaac was hesitant at first but warmed up to the photographer when she showed him a stuffed monkey. Here are a few of the pictures:

Brothers:

Isaac:

Caleb:

Things are going well at our house. Caleb is sleeping from about 9 PM to 6 AM each night and we are so thankful. He is growing like crazy! At his 2 month check up he was 13 1/2 pounds and 24 inches long! Isaac continues to amaze us, we are learning to watch what we say as he repeats everything! He loves to play outside and mow with daddy. He also gets very excited about Papa's tractor. He loves tractor rides and tells us about them daily! Isaac has learned how to operate the phone and is known to call daddy at work or Papa without mommy knowing!

I am back to work and enjoying a day without children. I am only working one day a week now so it's a full days work in order to get all the finances done! Monday evenings are early to bed evenings!

This weekend we are headed to my parents for my 10 year class reunion. Isaac is so excited because that means he'll get a tractor ride! Zach and I are happy to have a golf outing with our friends. Hopefully the rain will stay away!