a look back at caleb's birthday

ok it's too late to be writing anything.... my mind is mainly asleep, but here are my thoughts for the day. today my sweet little boy is turning one! i love looking back to a year ago, and living over in my mind all the feelings from that time! i remember the night before, how excited i was to be getting induced that next morning.... and then, it all happened so fast! i vividly remember that last hour before caleb was born.... with no pain medicine and lots of contractions, it was a rough time, but what i remember the most sharply are those few moments when i realized he was going to be born quickly, and then that instant less than a minute later, when he landed on the table with no doctor to catch him :) he was so tiny and pink and had the most beautiful cry! the nurse held him up for me to kiss him before they took him away to clean him up and weigh him... but he was very slimy :) it was such a relief to know, for one, that labor was over... but also to know that i had seen him and instantly loved him. it's funny, you hear people say all the time how they're afraid they won't love their second baby like they do their first... and it sounds ridiculous, but i could identify with it. i was afraid that i would disappoint myself by not caring as much as i should, or something.... but as soon as i saw that little sweetie my heart just melted for him. he is such a precious little boy! and every day is just as much fun as the last... so while it is sad to me that he and maggie are growing up so fast, i am enjoying (almost!) every minute of our times together. here's a picture, just to remember what he looked like back in his younger days :)

easter at lawtons and ledfords

Today we had a wonderful day with lots and lots of family! Early this morning we had a big breakfast and had some family and friends over to eat. I had prepared most of it last night so that most everything was just stuck in the oven this morning. We took turns reading Easter Bible passages and ate lots of food! After church we went to lunch with Casey's mom's side of the family, and after that we went to his dad's side. Casey has 36 first cousins, most of whom are married and have the their own kids, so you can imagine what big and exciting get-togethers these are! The great part is that everyone lives so close together! It's amazing to be a part of a family that is all right here and sees each other so often. Literally, we drove 3 miles to the first get-together, and the other is less than a mile from our house. And these people are not only close geographically... they really enjoy each other! And as far as we know they are all believers, which makes Easter such a joyful time, since we are all celebrating the same thing... what Jesus has done!

Here are some pictures of our happy day today... although the first few are from yesterday. We went to an Easter egg hunt yesterday.

















Maggie and Caleb each got some very exciting Easter baskets at breakfast.


Caleb with his aunt Ashley

















We all went to Casey's grandma's house for the Ledford get-together....




Caleb and his daddy. He of course always tries to grab the camera.

updates and a few maggie stories

(Caleb getting into my candle cabinet)



We have been having a fun last few weeks! .... Caleb FINALLY started walking all over the place (after several false alarms), so we are now doing more little-boy chasing than ever. He and Maggie are so different. Casey and I looked back at Maggie's baby book to see what she was doing at his age, and were amazed. By 12 months, Maggie would repeat any word you asked her to. Caleb used to say bye bye and Dada, but now he just says "Mama", and only when he's calling for me. He won't repeat anything, even if I ask him to.

Oh, and in case anyone is interested in an update on the whole nursing thing.... Caleb went that whole day and evening without nursing, but at 4am he woke up and wanted to nurse in bed with me for an hour! And he hasn't showed any more signs of wanting to stop. I'm not sure what his problem was that one day, but God used it to help prepare me for my little boy "growing up"-- when he really does have to stop, hopefully I will be emotionally able to handle it now!

Maggie is as sweet as ever. She does go through some rough patches sometimes, especially in the afternoons... but her attitude has drastically improved in the last week. Today we were eating lunch and she was begging me for grapes for dessert. I had told her she needed to finish her soup first. She asked me again, "Mommy, when can I have grapes!??", and I said, "Hurry up and finish your soup." She said, "God tells us to be patient, Mommy." One of these days I am going to figure out how to put videos from the video camera on here. I haven't tried at all yet, but I don't see how I'll ever sit down and actually do it! There are so many adorable things going on around here every day that I would love to post. One of my favorites is Maggie reading. She does it mainly when she thinks I'm not paying attention. She has some Bible story books that are the same ones I grew up reading. They're very simple and have great pictures. I had only read her the story of Simon and the fish maybe 2 times, when one day I caught her reading when she didn't know I was looking. It was the part of the story where the net comes up full of fish. She "read" word for word what was on the page, in a very animated little voice: "Big fish, little fish, wiggily fish-- OH MY!" Since then I've noticed that she can "read" all the stories in that book. Today as walked by her room I saw her reading about David and Goliath. As she pointed to the pictures (her doll was listening), she said, "I will fight you! God will help me."

Well, off to get a little more cleaning done before she wakes up from her nap!