Long Time

Well it has been a long time since I have posted anything so here are a couple new pictures for you to see. Kaleb is Crawling everywhere and pulling himself up to anything he can find. He follows his Dad everywhere he goes, he looks like quite the little puppy dog. He has started to clap and is happy to show his new skill. He is now 9 months and growing fast.

Merry Christmas!
Our family had a great Christmas. It was Kaleb's first Christmas and he seemed to have lots of fun with all his new toys. He still doesn't know what is going on, but he was happy to play with all his toys and enjoy the excitement around him. Kaleb gave us two good Christmas presents. He is getting his second tooth and he is beginning to crawl. Everytime we go to pick him up in his crib he is on his hands and knees. He tries so hard and is getting better everyday. I am excited, but know life from this point on is going to change. On Christmas we were able to spend time with both families. The benefits to living close to parents. We spent Christmas Eve with my family. My brother Ben was home from California. It was good to see him. Rachel and Jenny and their families weren't able to come next year, but hopefully next year. Aaron is still on his mission in Utah, but only has 9 months left. We talked him on Christmas. He is doing well and loves being on a mission for our church. On Christmas day we spent time at Erich's parents. His sister and husband came so it was fun to see them and then his brother Geoff is still on his mission in Brazil so we also talked to him on the phone. He will be home in 6 months. Both of their missions have gone so fast. I am sure the next few months will fly by. Here are a couple of pictures from Christmas:

Erich's B-Day:
Yesterday was Erich's birthday. We did not get to spend to much time together because he had to work all day, but we were able to eat breakfast together(pancakes, eggs, and sausage). Then he opened his presents. After work that night his parents came over for cake and ice cream. So a typical birthday, but still a fun day.


Kaleb wanted to help daddy open some of his presents. Here is a couple of pictures of Kaleb in front of our Christmas Tree.

Hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Snow Storm:
This past weekend Kaleb and I were stuck in a large snow storm that blanketed the mid-west. Luckily I had gone to visit my parents and was planning on spending the night with them, because Erich was in Wisconsin. We had heard a big storm was coming, but didn't expect it to be this big. Everything was closed even our Walmart, because they were afraid the roof might fall in. We had fun hanging out with my parents. We made carmel popcorn, homemade granola, and put up Christmas decorations.



Kaleb is starting to get the idea of crawling, but is continue to push backwards and get frustrated.


Well the storm has kept us inside the last few days, but roads are finally beginning to improve. It has slowed down my Christmas shopping, but I am sure I will still get it done. Hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday season. Keep warm.

Happy Thanksgiving
I hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving. We had a wonderful holiday. We spent time with Erich's family on Thanksgiving day. We ate wonderful food and like always probably too much food. My parents were out of town for Thanksgiving so we had a Thanksgiving dinner with them on the previous sunday. We were pretty spoiled this year with two Thanksgivings. Erich and I have much to be thankful for. We just want to tell all of you that we are greatful for your friendships and love. We kept busy over the holiday weekend hanging out with some new friends that we have made from Ogden Utah. They are awesome. We did some holiday shopping together and had a Barbeque out at Jubilee College State Park. It has been beautiful weather here in Illinois over the last couple of days. In the 60's and 70's it made it possible to do lots of fun things outside. Here are a couple pictures from the Holiday weekend.
Jessica and Kaleb. Kaleb has made a new friend.

Grandma Ekenstam with Kaleb.

Waterloo Here We Come
Our little family made a trip up to Waterloo, Iowa this weekend to visit Erich's sister and brother in law. We had a good time spending time together. We went out to a state park and walked all around. Erich has a GPS so we did some Geocaching. It was lots of fun. Kaleb is starting to lift his stomach off the ground and is trying to get in the crawling position. He gets frustrated because he goes for the toys, but when he pushes he goes backwards away from the toys. It is still going to be awhile before he crawls, but fun to see the little progress. Well here a couple of new pics.

Well there are a few crazy pics. of Kaleb. Talk to ya soon.

NEW JOB!
Well Erich got the Job with Fed-Ex so we are very excited in our house. He is still in school, but this is a great job to have during school. We have been waiting almost two months to hear back about the job, but I guess it is just a long process. He is doing the training in Chicago for two weeks so Kaleb and I are going to miss him. That will be the longest we have been apart since we started dating and been married.

Here are a couple pictures of Kaleb while he is playing. He is growing up so fast.

Halloween Party:
Last night we went to a halloween party. It was lots of fun. All the kids were so cute. Of course there were many kids in animal costumes. We tried to get pictures of all the animals, but they kept running away. But here are some of Kaleb and his friend Abie. They were quite intriqued
by one another.

Happy Halloween Everyone!

Six Month Check-Up

Weight: 17.8 lbs (50%)

Length:26.5 inches (50%)

Head: 42 cm (10%)

Well Kaleb is doing well and the doctor says he looks great. Kaleb of course smiled at everyone. After his shots of course he was crying, but then he gave one of the nurses a big smile, what a charmer.

Sitting Up:
Kaleb is starting to sit up on his own. He is still a little wobbly but is starting to get the hang of it. Of course I was there with the camera.

Ride'em Cowboy

Hanging out on the couch with Dad!

Petting Zoo
We went to the Apple Blossom Orchard this weekend and had fun picking apples, seeing the animals (this goat stuck his tongue out at us) and just enjoying the beautiful saturday. It was a perfect fall day.

RANDOM PICS:
















Lots of new pics. The last few times I have tried to post anything on-line the website has been all weird but it looks like today I am going to be able to download lots of pics. Hope you enjoy.

MINI ME!
















Exciting news for me is that I am now able to be home with Kaleb full-time. My last day at CEFCU was September 29th and I must admit I was pretty excited to be home with Kaleb.

Kaleb and my mom. Enjoying time together.


Kaleb bouncing around. He loves to stand up
so this toy is great.

My brother in law and sister in law
(Kerstin & Sean) came to visit last weekend and
Kaleb enjoyed the extra attention that he received.
He likes his Aunt Kerstin.

Play Date at Grandma and Grandpa Shurtleff's

Kaleb and I had a fun sunday with the grandparents. Erich was busy with other responsibilities so we spent the day playing. As you will see below Kaleb is having a wonderful time.

Tummy Time-he loves his caterpillar!



First time in the Exersaucer and enjoying it.


Being Charming and very cute for the camera. I think we have a flirt on our hands.



In other exciting news he is getting his first tooth and I have to admit he hasn't even been that fussy. I didn't know he was getting one until my mom felt his gums today and we could feel it poking through. Hope he always is that good when he gets new teeth.

FIRST BIG MILESTONE! On September 19th, 2006

Exciting News! Kaleb rolled over! I was playing with him on the floor in his bedroom and decided to go put something away and when I came back something seemed different he was on his stomach playing with a little stuffed puppy dog. I had to think for a minute and then realized that was not how I left him. He had rolled from his Back to his Stomach. I was so sad I missed it so of course I put him on his back again hoping he would roll over again so I could see and he did. I am definitely his biggest cheerleader. By this point I have retrieved the video camera and turned him on his back again hoping to capture it on tape so his daddy can see the exciting new event. And like the charmer and performer that he is he rolled over one more time. I have been waiting for him to move putting him down for more tummy time but to my surprise he decided to roll from back to tummy first.

ARE THOSE TOES CONNECTED?

Well we have been doing well and trying to keep up with everything. This past saturday Erich woke up to the ceiling in our bathroom caving in. We had a pipe leak and of course it was over the weekend so we had to wait to have it fixed. Erich used his engineering skills and manuevered the leak so it drained into the tub. Luckily a plumber came out Tuesday and fixed everything.
Kaleb is being such a cutie. The last couple of days he has been pretty mello sleeping a lot, but then yesterday he let loose and was talking all day. It was so cute. It was like he had a billion stories to tell us. Well in the last couple of days he has found his feet and they must be pretty interesting because everytime we put him down to play he goes for the toes. He is also getting his hair back. He was born with so much hair that I thought he wouldn't loose any of it, but he lost almost all of it and it is now coming in. We also had our church pig-nic this weekend. It was lots of fun. They do it every year. Unfortunately it down poured so we had to try and fit about 150 people under a little pivilion. Erich was grilling so he got stuck in the rain and was drenched. It didn't stop the picnic though. It turned out to be lots of fun.

First Baseball Game !



My parents, Kaleb, and I went to a Single A Baseball game tonight. It was fun to watch Kaleb take in everything. He was pretty over stimulated. I was excited to see that at the gate he got a Mr. Potato Head, bobble head and a hat(which he is sporting in the pictures below). We had a lot of fun. It was a perfect night for a game low 70's and beautiful. In the last innings of the game Kaleb began to dose off, but everytime the crowd would cheer he woke up so he eventually gave up on sleep and just had fun playing.

Solid Foods

Kaleb has reached the exciting stage of Solid Foods. Kind of. He was able to experience rice cereal for the first time this week. He did pretty good, but of course it was all over his face.
Who Knows how much actually got in his mouth, but we keep trying.

VACATION TO UTAH!

We survived the long 20 hour drive from Illinois to Utah and 20 hours from Utah to Illinois. Kaleb was great. He was such a trooper. We have a great road tripper on our hands. He was happy and smiling the whole way. There was more complaining from us big kids in the car.
Well we kept busy seeing family and friends. Erich and I said we were going to need a vacation just to catch up from this one, but it was well worth it. Sorry for anyone that we didn't get a chance to see, hopefully next time.
Erich even managed to get a morning of fishing in and of course plenty of golf. Kaleb and I were able to spend time with my sister Rachel and her kids. Sally, Daniel, and Ethan had fun bringing Kaleb lots of toys. Kaleb just laid there and smiled. I can't wait until he can play with toys and interact. Everyone says enjoy these moments when they are little because they go so fast, but it is so fun to see them learn new things that you want them to keep learning and growing. Here are some pictures from our trip:




Kaleb and I went and played with his Aunt Rachel and his Cousins:
Sally, Daniel, and Ethan. We played at the Dinosaur muesum in Thanksgiving Point and at Aunt Rachel's.





Up in the Uintas: This is Provo River Falls and Crystal Lake