So Much Love for Caleb!

SO many people were anxious to come to meet Caleb at the hospital- family, church friends, co-workers, kids at work...- but since I was so exhausted as well as needing to feed Caleb, we ended up asking people to wait until later to meet him. It was a hard decision since we love people and were excited for everyone to meet Caleb, but it was a good choice. After being home a few days, though, I couldn't wait any longer. We started by inviting a couple people over at a time each day. When Caleb was about a week old, it became clear that I needed to get out of the house a little each day, so we went looking for more people who had been patiently waiting.

I had not planned on bringing Caleb into my workplace (full of kids and germs), but when we stopped by I made the mistake of poking my head in the door to ask for a co-worker to come outside to meet him. As soon as I did, someone yelled my name and all the kids found out that I was outside. Not long after, a staff member came out and said that the kids were dying to meet him, that they promised to be quiet and not touch him if I let them come out to see him. How could I say no. A minute later a stream of kids came out the front door, quieter than I've EVER seen them! They all seemed so proud and happy to meet him! I'm so glad it worked out so soon!
Cheryl, a close friend from work came over and was SO HAPPY to hold Caleb!
Julie, another good friend from work, who came with two others, who are also from work. I really enjoyed their interest in hearing the entire story of his birth! It was fun telling it and having people care about such a huge experience in our lives!
Kara stopped by and let us borrow her computer, since ours wasn't working when we got home from the hospital. This was a huge blessing since a computer is how I stay connected with family and friends around the world. It was harder than I would have imagined to have to wait several days to communicate anything with people who were anxiously waiting to hear and see all about Caleb. Thank you Kara!
More friends from work came by on their lunch break! Caleb didn't mind at all being passed around two or three times! :) He slept through it all.
Even Tasha, one of the gals at my doctor's office was anxiously waiting to meet him! We stopped by just for her and even had the chance to talk to our doctor as well. I've been SO thankful for the entire staff at my doctor's office. They've been amazing and I'll even miss my monthly and weekly visits.
Kim, from work. Caleb is shirtless since I hadn't yet learned that I need to pack an extra shirt or onesie for every outing. Of course he peed on the one he was wearing when we left. It was a hot day anyway, so he didn't seem to mind.

Our good friend, Gabe and his son....

...and his wife Jaime came to visit and share some love with Caleb....

And their daughter, Adelaide.

Can you see where Caleb gets his good looks?! :) Proud and Happy Daddy! Our first BIG outing was to a friend's wedding...11 days old. We had a great time but probably should have left early, since I was wiped out for the entire next day or two. Almost everyone from our church was there, so it gave people a chance to see him, although he slept for most of the time next to me in a sling....too many people to pass him around just yet.

So as you can see, Caleb is fully loved from the start. I quit taking pictures of everyone who met and held him since it has been so many. It's even fun to see strangers at the store so interested in him. Matt's customers at Starbucks have even been super excited when we've brought him into the store! We were even congratulated through rolled down windows at a stop light one day on our way home by one of them! So much love....and it's still coming. Honestly, I needed a couple days to just be alone with Caleb and recuperate from it all the last couple days. But I'm thankful!!!

Now...time for bed. Goodnight.

Proud Parent Pictures!

Ok, so we're pretty proud of our little guy....and of course he's the CUTEST BOY IN THE WHOLE WORLD!!! None cuter! :)

Thursday evening, when just 16 days old, Caleb gave us his first "happy face" while I bounced him on my lap, talked to him and kissed his cheeks. Not quite a smile yet but at least happiness in his eyes! And no, it wasn't gas this time (although this shows up quite often and gets some pretty funny and smiling faces as well). He brightened our night for about 20 minutes before sleep came over him once again!

Just being cute before his second showing of his Happy Face the next day!!!

First some silliness!!!

Connecting with him brought mommy "happy tears." These moments are amazing! I can't imagine how it will be once he really smiles, laughs and interacts even more! It's truly amazing watching a little boy change and grow in so many ways each day!

Aunt Cindy caught the look on camera!!! I could stare at this boy for hours!

Please pray for Caleb's digestion. We're thankful it's not colic but it's still hard to watch him daily, and almost hourly, cry over uncomfortable stomach issues. We usually find one thing or another that eventually helps it pass, but it's still hard and tiring.

Tomorrow Caleb will be 3 weeks old! The doctors say he's healthy and doing great! He's already grown a couple inches and is in the 90th percentile in height. He quickly regained weight and eats very well. He sleeps pretty well at night, although I'd be happy if he'd add one more hour after each time he eats. Until then, napping with him during the day helps. We've been super thankful for meals from church, encouragement from friends, and love from so many. Thanks to everyone who has loved us and Caleb in one way or another over the last month. We love each of you!

Meeting the Family!

Without question, Caleb is already loved by his whole family!!!

After mom left, Cindy came for a week to get some good Auntie time and help me out at home!

A couple gifts from Aunt Cindy! :)

Grandpa Oldham, aka Opa Chuck, looking quite proud!

Aunt Beth and the kids have come to visit as well! We also had the chance to Skype with Uncle Alastair and Aunt Allison, and introduce Caleb to his cousin Abigail, who is only 2 months older! Once again, we're thanking God that we live in the age of Skype capabilities!

And of course Uncle Bob came over one evening to celebrate with Matt and Dad during the "I'm a new Daddy" guy celebrations!

Now we're looking forward to Grandma Oldham, aka Oma Judy, coming this week and hopefully skyping with Uncle Craig and soon-to-be Aunt Paulette! We're so thankful that Caleb immediately has so many people who love and care for him!....and this is just his FAMILY!!! more visiting pictures to come...

We Love Caleb!

His cute self taking a nap!

First sponge bath at home! He seemed to really enjoy being naked...and clean!

Ya gotta love the hooded bath towels! I think I'll have one for him until he's 6 feet tall! :)

After giving him a couple of these now, I think I've decided that after a bath is one of my favorite times with him. He's clean, content, and I could hold him like this forever...of course i haven't held him like this long enough to get soaked with pee or anything else too unpleasant. :)

After a couple weeks he started to look into our eyes and study our faces! Does it ever get old?

Our first family picture! It's amazing how quickly he has become such a huge part of our lives! It wouldn't seem right without him! We love you Caleb Matthew!

Grandma and Grandpa Boersma!

To me "Grandma and Grandpa Boersma" are the NAMES of my grandparents, so it's taken a bit of getting used to hearing MY PARENTS being called the same thing. I think I've adjusted now that I've heard it said more than a couple times.

We got home from the hospital Thursday afternoon and Mom and Dad arrived that evening!

Caleb sporting his "I'd rather be biking with Grandpa" onesie! We decided that all he needs now is a baby sized bandana for his head to complete the look!

Proud Grandparents making sure Caleb is ok! It was SO good to have them here but harder than ever when they had to leave.

Dad and Matt having the classic "I'm-a-Daddy" man time!

Mom was a HUGE help for a whole week! She cooked amazing food (including the best zucchini bread ever-i think we ate 5 loaves), cleaned, watched Caleb so I could sleep, and was pretty much the best mom ever! But that's pretty much a norm for her! :) Thanks mom! And thanks to dad for being a bachelor for a week so she could be here!

Yes, Caleb is truly loved by his Grandma and Grandpa Boersma! I think we'll be getting a LOT more use out of Skype from now on!

September 13...Caleb is BORN!!!

...I woke up at 3:30a.m. from a popping/wet feeling, jumped out of bed and ran to the bathroom while calling out to Matt that my water had broken!!! Thank you God!!! Maybe this was His plan in the first place but it sure seemed like He had answered my prayer. Either way, I was so thankful that I didn't have to wait another week!

Our desire was to give birth as naturally as possible. Of course things never go exactly as planned, so there were a few things that were different than we had hoped for. I DID make it through without any medication though!!! If you're interested in details, let me know and I'll tell the whole story. For now, I'll just say that I think ANY woman who accomplishes this deserves a HUGE award!!! I still look back and have a hard time believing all that I felt and went through. Matt was AMAZING and I honestly don't know if I could have made it without his support. The above picture is right after Caleb was born....Matt said that at this moment he was feeling SUPER proud of me. I'll admit that I'll never be so willing to accept such praise! :) I felt pretty proud myself! :)

We were a bit pre-occupied the whole time at the hospital and didn't do a very good job at getting appropriate pictures for public viewing. :) Sorry. This is pretty much the only one soon after birth that I can post and you can only see his eye. You'll just have to take our word for it that he was CUTE right from the start, and only a "wedge head" instead of cone! :) (sorry for the blue and underline. i don't know how to fix it)

Here's one of our WONDERFUL nurses...and a little more of a view of our room.

Proud Daddy right before leaving the hospital. Again, sorry for lack of pictures. I didn't even think of it until a few days after being home. Something about only getting a few hours of sleep in two nights...giving birth....learning to breast feed...healing...etc.

And here's our little guy ready to go home!!!...oh, almost forgot the details...

8lb.5oz. 19 in. long. Born 9/13/11 at 7:20p.m.

LOVE the flowers from mom and dad! I considered them my "labor award!" Thank You!

more pictures and stories to come....

Last Pregnant Pic

I think we took these at about 40 weeks...

This shows more accurately how I felt most of the time for the last couple weeks of being pregnant....SOOOoooo ready to meet Caleb and be done with pregnancy.
We went for a check-up 3 days after Caleb was due and were told that I had progressed less than anyone the doctor had every checked after their due date. Logically, it seemed Caleb wouldn't be showing up soon or naturally as I had hoped. But I know my God and that He is above logic, so that night I asked if He'd allow Caleb to come soon. I knew He didn't have to answer but I also knew that He likes to hear the desires of His kids. So I asked and went to sleep around 1a.m.......