Growing Boy, Jill Riese Photography, and Benjamin Button

Good Morning!

I realized this morning that Calvin will be turning 1 in just a few short months! What? He changes so much every day. Aaron and I were just talking about how much he has picked up in just the past feww days. He is now pointing at everything and everyone, he likes to give open mouth wet kisses (really, he does), he stands all by himself, and he likes to dance (well, bounce). It so amazing to watch your child grow and develop right in front of your eyes. He has us wrapped around his little fingers....I dream about him, I think about him first thing when I wake up and right before I close my eyes at night. And when he is sleeping, I sometimes find myself wanting to wake him, just so I can see his baby blues! I never knew that being a mom would completley change the way you look at life, because children become your life and I believe they are the reason you are put on this pretty planet!

I went to Jill Riese Photography blog site this morning (http://www.jillriesephotography.blogspot.com/) to get an update, which I often do. She has been taking Calvin's pictures since he was 2 weeks old, and she also shot him at 7 months too. She is so wonderful with children, having 3 of her own, and she captures every expression beautifully! She will be taking Cal's 1 year pictures too and I can't wait!

One last thing, Aaron and I went to the Curious Case of Benjamin Button (with Brad Pitt) yesterday. I must say it is one of my favorite movies of all time! It compares to Forest Gump, Big Fish, and the Notebook! Which are 3 of my favorite movie stories. I recommend it to anyone who wants to see a great movie, with some comedy, a love story, drama...basically a little bit of everything, for everyone! What a great flick!

...speaking of flicks, take a look at these great flicks...Enjoy!

Abby


Clip #1:
Calvin and the Singing Snowmen (and Uncle Matt recovering a football fumble, hilarious!)

Clip #2:
Calvin being cute and showing a little bit of his new dance jig (more of a bounce).

Calvin's 1st Baby Jesus Birthday, Santa Day, and Winter White Christmas!

Merry Christmas!!!

Aaron, Calvin and I hope that everyone had a fabulous holiday with lots of love and happiness!!!

Our first Christmas with Calvin was absolutley perfect...Santa was very good to all of us. Aaron and I both say that Christmas will always be so special now that Calvin is in our lives! We have been truley blessed!

Finally... some pictures! Enjoy!

Daddy love is the best! (Thanksgiving 08)


















Calvin and Mommy

Grandpa time with Ryder!

Calvin- 9 months old

Picture By Mommy (trying to be a photographer)

Wow Wow Wow!

Hi all! It has been over a month since I have updated this blog of ours! Wow Wow Wow...lots to tell you!

I started my daycare on December 1st (I am sure you were all aware). My 3rd week is almost over, it may be over since the weather is so bad outside...may be a snow day tomorrow. :) My fingers are crossed...anyway, I LOVE MY JOB!!! My kidos are so great and soooooo sweet! I love being home and being with Calvin too...what a lucky mom I am! We made Christmas cookies today and my kids decorated them with frosting and sprinkles and such. It was my first time making sugar cookies...the first batch were too close together on the cookie sheet and when the timer went off I took a peak at them and it was ONE BIG cookie...I laughed, but I also was kind of bummed out. :( The next batch turned out better, thankfully! The mommy's and daddy's enjoyed them and my kids had fun!

Christmas is already next week and I have few more gifts on my list to purchase. I am getting nervous because the time is flying by and I hope I get everything done. Aaron, Calvin and I will spend Christmas Eve with my family, it's a tradition, and then spend Christmas day with Aaron's family. Aunt Beth (Aaron's sister) is in town for over a week so we hope to see her as much as we can. Calvin sure has missed her!!!

Aaron and I were planning on taking Calvin to meet Santa for the first time tonight, but we had to stay home due to the weather and a sports injury. Aaron plays in basketball league on Wednesday evenings and last night he was injured. He went to the doctor today and found out he tore his calf muscle and will be on crutches for a week or two and cannot do anything physical for 5 weeks. I can tell he is a little bummed out about not being able to play ball for a while...but I think he enjoys being waited on. ;) I try my best to take care of him when he is sick or hurt! He stayed home today from work and I think he decided that work was a better option...it is hard to relax with 6 babies playing all around you. ;)

Calvin Calvin Calvin...he is getting so big and his hair keeps growing and growing! Daddy will not let me cut it, so Calvin will have a mop on his head for a while. It is cute though and I can't think about cutting it anyway, that would mean he is growing up and that makes me sad...I don't want my baby to grow up. All the kids at daycare call him the big baby...because I have a 3 month old too, who they call the little baby. So cute. I don't think Calvin liked sharing his mommy the last few weeks...but as the days go by he is getting better and better about the whole idea.

You are probably wondering where pictures are...well we have been without a computer for the last few weeks and my brother Corey just hooked one up for us. Now I cannot find the camera cord so I can't download any pictures yet...I know, it is killing me too! :) I have been in front of a computer for over 5 years now...and not even having one for the last 3 weeks was sooooo hard! I am in heaven right now, and I told Aaron that I will probably be up all night. Just kidding.

Ok, I promise now that I have a computer I will keep updating our blog weekly! I love keeping everyone in the loop on what's going on in our lives.

I want to wish you all a very MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! Have fun and stay safe!

Love,
Abby, Aaron and Calvin

Watch for Falling Bubbles...

Calvin loves to be in the bath tub. He is such a silly fish, in or out of the water! :) Enjoy.

Calvin's 1st Halloween

Halloween was fun and Calvin looked so cute as a chubby lion. He did not have one smile to show us all night...no reaction at all. Typical Calvin.















We went to grandma and grandpa's and TO see all of his cousins in their costumes. Cadynce was a Witch, Chason and Ryder were both Dragons. They were all so cute.














We also went to a Halloween party with cousin Cameron and cousin Paige a couple of weeks ago and we got to see them dressed as Husker cheerleaders. "Go Big Red!"















November is here... and now mommy is counting down the days until she is home with her baby boy (24 days)! I am so excited! :)

Little Bloomers opens December 1st!

Hi there. For those of you who do not know...I am starting a day care in my home! I begin December 1st and I am very excited!!! I will be caring for 4 babies and Calvin. I know, that's a lot, but I have no doubt that I will love it! I am going into this knowing that there will be challenges and obstacles, but I love children and this is something that I have wanted to do for a long time.

Now that Calvin is in my life I want to be at home with him and watch him grow and see all the fun milestones. As a new mom I have learned that the kinds of things you want for your child is most likely very similar to what other parents want for their children as well. It is hard for parents to trust someone they don't know with their baby. I want to love and care for children whose parents do have to work during the day, and give them a safe and nurturing environment to grow and learn while their parents are away.

This is a special quote that helped me through the last couple of months...
"If you have a goal in life that takes a lot of energy, that requires a lot of work, that incurs a great deal of interest and that is a challenge to you, you will always look forward to waking up to see what the new day brings." -Susan Polis Schultz

Caring for little ones has been my goal and thanks to Aaron and his support (and God of course) my new journey is about to begin. Wish me luck!

Love,
Abby

November is just around the corner!?!?!

The days go by so fast, don't they? I just looked at the calendar and November is only 1 1/2 weeks away! Election Day will be here before you know it! Wow!

Our family does not have anything to exciting to report on. We are happy that we got to enjoy some time outside last weekend before this cold weather came through. I hate how the weather turns so fast...I was hoping for a longer fall.

Calvin just turned 8 months old, he has 4 teeth now and daddy thinks that he will be walking at 9 months. Calvin is the smartest baby in the world you know...wink wink. ;)

After almost a year Aaron finally has been given a job title at his job. He is the the Senior Research Analyst for American Communications Group, a lobbying firm here in Lincoln.

I recently began to Jazzercise- and I love it. It makes me feel good and it is a great stress reliever! I also enjoy it so much because I go with my mom and I love spending time with her. We have fun and we laugh A LOT! :) (you would too if you could see us.)

As usual, I have included recent pictures of Calvin. He is getting big and his hair is growing longer and longer each week. Aaron will not let me trim it- I think Calvin is going to have very long hair because Aaron does not want him to loose it like he did. I tell him that won't be for another 17 years or so. :)

Take care,
Abby


Calvin likes to play outside and pick up leaves.



















Mom made him wear this matching outfit.



















Calvin enjoys playing in his playpen.

Calvin and friends

Good Morning,

I had to grab the camera first thing this morning and record Calvin playing and exploring in his bedroom. He is so much fun in the morning and can usually make mommy late for work because I would rather stay home and observe his every move. He can always put a smile on my face in the morning, he is such a joy. :)

Calvin likes to pull himself up to his toy chest and say hi to his friends that sit on top. (you will have to turn your head to watch this video, sorry.)



BaBaBa- Calvin and his little lamb.

Baby Teeth and Lots of Drool

Calvin has been teething and has 2 new teeth on the bottom (you can see them in the picture). He has been a trooper. His two top teeth look like they will poke through any day now. Calvin is going to be a lion for Halloween. Strangely he has begun to growl at people as you can see in the video below with his cousins Cameron and Paige. Aaron and I think it is so cute, but we are not sure where he picked up this new GROWL? (You may also here grandma Farber in the background of this video trying to get her 3 grandchildren to pose for a perfect picture...surprisingly that did not happen. ;)


Paige, Cameron, and Calvin (the only one with all of them looking at the camera)














Video: Calvin growling at his cousins.


Drool monster!













Calvin loves this little chick that quacks. We will have all of his toys out on the floor and he will not play with any of them until he finds his chick. It is so fun to watch him try to find it.


Calvin's naked butt! :)

Fall is here!

OH, gosh where do I begin. Aaron and I are very excited for Fall to begin for many reasons. First, it is our favorite season and we wish it would last much longer! The leaves changing colors, cool mornings and evenings, windows open, we just love it!!! Second, football has started- I think Aaron is WAY more excited about this than I am, however I do enjoy Husker game days! Third, the summer has been crazy!!! We are ready to slow down and just focus on family, relaxing, and enjoying our time together at home.

Calvin Matthew is growing like a weed! He is almost 6 1/2 months old! He is sitting up all by himself and is "army" crawling everywhere, he is fast. It's like he woke up one day and said, "I'm going to crawl." He is just a joy to watch and he is a very good baby...we thank God everyday for blessing us with such a sweet boy. He has brought us so much joy from the minute he wakes up to the time he lays down for bed at night!

Aaron and I are doing well- we would like do some updates to our home this fall and winter. Aaron showed me that he can be quite the handy man recently- I jammed a key into our front door knob and we had to replace it with a new one. I will admit I had doubts about if we would ever have a door knob on front door again...ha. Just kidding Aaron. Aaron was in a good friend of his wedding a couple weeks ago and we had a really nice time. Aaron enjoyed showing Calvin off. We have enjoy having grandma Farber in Lincoln. Calvin likes it when she babysits him (and Aaron and I enjoy a night out alone every once in a while too) We also went to South Dakota for my grandma Anderson's 80th birthday party. 6 hours in the car was a little to long for Calvin, but he did great. 5 1/2 into it he started getting a little fussy. Now every time we put him in his car seat he squrims. We tell him we are not going far. :) My grandma enjoyed meeting the boys, Calvin and Ryder, and we look forward to the next time!

I will try to better at updating this blog now that life is slowing down again...below are a few pictures. Enjoy! I hope you all are doing wonderful.

Calvin started eating food August 7th. I am making all his food for now. It's been fun, but it is a lot of work. We will see how long it lasts. ;)















Calvin sitting by himself- he is so cute!


















Calvin army crawling to get the newspaper

Calvin is 4 months old!

Our family has been very busy this past month and we are not slowing down anytime soon. I had my company marketing conference in Oklahoma City at the start of the month and Aaron and Calvin got to come too. Calvin had his first long road trip and he was so good. We had dinner at a few really nice restaurants and went to a beautiful botanical garden. Daddy and Calvin visited the Boomer Sooner football stadium while mom went to the conference one of the days. We had a great time!

Calvin is such a happy boy and he is quite the talker now as you can see in the video below. Calvin also had his first swimming experience, and of course he had no reaction what so ever. We hope he enjoyed it as much as we did!!! ;) He is 4 months old today. Time really does fly by.

Father's Day was a great day! Calvin and Mommy brought daddy breakfast in bed. Calvin spent the entire day with dad, he even got to watch his daddy's basketball game. We have the best daddy in the world!

With all of the weddings and family gatherings going on this summer, I hope we have time to update this blog again soon. I hope everyone is enjoying their summer as much as we are!

Take care,
Abby

Mother's Day Weekend

This was my first Mother's Day and it was fantastic thanks to Aaron and Calvin! :) We spent most of the day at Pioneer's Park. Calvin experienced his first picnic and then we walked around enjoying the beautiful weather. I hope your Mother's Day was memorable. ~ Abby

Good Morning!

Aaron sent me a link to his friend Mary's blog spot this morning. I thought this would be a great way to keep everyone informed about what's going on in our lives and to show pictures of Calvin of course. We hope you enjoy it!

Abby :)


This past Sunday my family went to the cabin. We grilled hamburgers, played volleyball, and took lots of pictures. :) We had lots of fun!

Calvin and cousin Ryder















Calvin smiles more and more everyday! We love it!



















Calvin's new favorite things are his hands, fingers, and arms...he enjoys sucking on them all.















Calvin started daycare this week. He goes to a in home daycare with 3 other babies, "Just 4 Babies". He is Linda's 48th baby! We love her! Linda says that he is the most laid back baby she has ever cared for. We were not surprised.

Linda, Calvin, & his new friend Nya














Stay tuned...we will be back with more soon.