Changes and a Changing Little Man...

Um, what?  I haven't blogged since February?  Wow.  Oops!  I think I kind of fell off the blogging wagon right about the time Caleb still wasn't sleeping through the night, my parents found out they were moving to Washington, and I made a crazy two week-plus trip to Nebraska and Minnesota.  Phew.  Since then the madness has continued :).  Here's a quick little update on our family and our little man, who is now NINE months old (wait, what??).

After talking for the last couple of years, mostly casually, about what kind of house we'd like to "move-up" to, we found a new development just a few miles from our current house and realized now was just the right place and time to go ahead with a move.  We are REALLY excited because this means nana and papa; aunt Reanna; and Uncle Justin and family will have an actual room and bathroom all to themselves whenever they come visit (and...anyone else who wants to come visit us!!).  Plus, we'll have a dedicated play room for the kiddos and a covered patio.  Cannot wait!  First though, we've been scrambling to get our house staged and ready so it can be listed tomorrow.  Phew!  It's a really good thing we've worked hard to take good care of our house, and that it's only 8 years old.  Most of the work was de-cluttering, de-personalizing, and some decorating/staging stuff.  We have it all ready now, and are really excited to see the listing go live tomorrow!  According to our realtor (and everyone else we talk to) the market is hot right now and we'll likely sell pretty quickly.  Though we have plenty of time, since our house won't be finished until November.  So, it looks like a rental/apartment stint may be in our future.  Fun times :).
Here's a little compilation picture of a few shots from the photographer

I've mostly stayed at home since Caleb joined our family, but I've kept my foot in the door at TSD as a contractor for a science grant through the outreach department.  A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of coordinating a brand new STEM camp held at TSD.  It was a ton of fun, but exhausting.  Luckily, nana was able to come for the whole week to take care of the kiddos!  They all had a blast...of course!  At the end of the week, papa flew in to join the fun and we celebrated Brie's birthday early with a fun family and friends party.  She's currently obsessed with Minnie Mouse, so she actually requested a Minnie Mouse party.  She had a blast, and even now understands that she's not three yet.  She asks me each day, "Am I three now momma?"  Then, we count how many more days until she's really three.  I cannot believe it's only 10 days.  How is my baby girl almost THREE?  She's such a joy, such a smarty-pants, and such a drama queen at times :).  Nana tells me she's a lot like her mommy...I have no idea what she's talking about...

Caleb remains, literally, the happiest baby on the block.  EVERYONE (YMCA child room workers, nursery workers, ladies at my Bible study table...everyone...) tells me what a joy he is, how precious he is, and how they just love him to pieces.  And he really is the most joyful little man.  He is just the best.baby.ever.  I love my Brielle, and she was not a horrible baby by any means, but Caleb is just the sweetest little guy ever and melts hearts everywhere he goes.  Who wouldn't love this smile?

He is 18lbs, 28 in, and has four teeth.  He scoots/slides around everywhere like a champ and isn't really interested in crawling on his hands and knees right now.  He desperately wants to pull him self up to standing, but just isn't quite there yet.  He almost sleeps through the night (most nights makes it until 3-4am before waking!) and loves eating any foods mommy gives him.  Brie thinks he's pretty awesome (most of the time at least) and loves playing little funny games with him and "sharing" her toys with him.  I can only hope her love for him continues as he gets older and more mobile (and more into "her" things).

4 Months

How is it that my little man is already four months old??  Here's how things are going for Caleb these days:

• At home weighs in at 13lbs 1 oz...his 4-month check is next week so we'll get his official weight and length then.
• Is a very, very happy baby!  He's rarely fussy and only gets really mad if he's hungry or over tired.  Such a sweet boy!
• 
• Loves his big sister and always watches and listens to her :).
• Has had some tummy/digestive issues that seem to be going away as long as mommy eats no dairy, soy, wheat, eggs, nuts, pork, or corn.  Mommy is losing weight on this strict diet :), but is committed to sticking to it (especially since the alternative seems to be VERY expensive prescription formula-eeps!)
• Is rolling from tummy to back more consistently and has rolled from back to tummy a few times as well.
• Laughed on his 4-month birthday for the first time!
• Met his uncle Justin last week and thought he was a pretty cool guy.  Both he and big sister (and mommy!) loved having him visit and can't wait to see him again this summer!
• Chews on his hands constantly...there's some teeth brewing for sure!
• Is very strong and moves around his play mat by scooting and rolling.  He thinks it is great fun.
• Still thinks sleeping only 2-4 hours a stretch is cool.  Mommy and daddy disagree and are working on convincing him otherwise.
• Is LOVED and adored by his mommy, daddy and big sister!

Happy 4 Months sweet baby boy--looking forward to all you'll learn in this next month!

3 Months!

A few days ago, this handsome fellow turned three months old!  Wow, time flies!

Here's what's happening with the little man at 3 months:

• He gives the best smiles!
• He is getting better at reaching for and grasping onto objects.
• Loves his new play mat, especially the ladybug.
• Loves watching and listening to his big sister :).
• Has rolled over belly to back a few times, but is not consistent yet.
• Still loves to be swaddled, but doesn't love his paci all the time.
• Loves to chit chat and "tallk" to mommy.  (Evidenced here)
• Isn't as good of a sleeper as big sister, his longest stretch to date is about six hours, but usually his long stretch at night is only four to five hours.
• Loves to cuddle and sleep on his momma at about 4am every day.
• Is loved so much!!!

Can't wait to see what new things this little man will be doing in the next month :)!!  So blessed to be his momma!

Happy New Year!!

We have been so blessed this year and are looking forward to all that's in store in 2014.  May all our family and friends have a wonderful and blessed new year!

Happy New Year from our little man and little princess :)!!

Christmas 2013

I'm finding it so hard to believe that tomorrow is Christmas Eve!  We are not traveling to NE this year, so we are having our very first Christmas in Texas in our own home and trying to figure out what traditions we'd like to have in our little family of four.  While I'm definitely sad to not be "home" for the holidays, I am happy to be starting our own family traditions (and happy to not spend 14+ hours in the car wih an infant who needs to eat every few hours!). 

Here's a little look at the Halvorsen family traditions we're starting this first Christmas in Texas:
Christmas Eve--Church at 4 (when our kids are older I'm hoping Christmas Eve day will involve volunteering of some sort) followed by dinner of soup.  Open one package (new jammies!) and watch a movie together (this year we're trying Polar Express).
Christmas--Open gifts from family and Santa in the morning.  We are going to follow this gift giving theme: one thing you want, one thing you need, one thing to wear and one thing to read.  This is my attempt to keep gifts in check :).  Then, one thing from Santa and stockings, of course :).  After that we'll hang out and spend time with Justin's family.

Of course, our traditions may change some throughout the years if we are traveling, or as we think of/find new things and as Brie and Caleb get older.  But, for now it has been fun to talk about what we did growing up and blend those things and new things into our own family traditions.  For this year, I'm really looking forward to seeing the magic of Christmas through Brie's eyes.

And, to make this post complete with a picture--here's Brie and daddy visiting the Santa at Justin's work party last Friday morning.  She was really excited to see Santa...until it was time to see Santa, then she wasn't so sure :).
And, if you want a smile, go watch this video of Caleb chatting it up with mommy :).

Thankful

Happy Belated Thanksgiving to you all!  We've been really busy  in this month of November, enjoying an extended visit from Nana and then a visit from Papa and Aunt "Do-do" as well.  We enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving feast prepared by my mom (and a tiny bit by me) with our good friends Eric, Laura and Katie.  Brie and Katie had the BEST time playing together--they are just too cute!

 Ready for Turkey Dinner!  Brie & Katie sat by themselves at Brie's little table.  They thought they were hot stuff :).

And after getting their fill of turkey, they worked hard to destroy Brie's nice, clean room :).

Caleb turned 8 weeks old on Thanksgiving--I can hardly believe my little man is already 8 weeks old!  He's growing and changing each day--so fun to watch!

I am so thankful we were able to enjoy having my mom here for two weeks before my dad and sister arrived for the week of Thanksgiving.  She was able to spend lots of time cuddling Caleb and playing with Brie.  We packed lots of fun things into those two weeks including family portraits, two trips to the outlet mall, visiting Santa, a trip to the zoo, and lots of trips to the park and bike rides around the block!  I'm so blessed to have a wonderful mom who was so eager and willing to come spend time with us and help me adjust to life with two kiddos.

 I love, love, love this :)

 Even monkey visited Santa :)

 Train ride after visiting Santa

 Nana loves these two so much!

 Love this face!

 Family of four--wow!

Me and mom :)

After our two weeks with nana, papa and aunt Re arrived.  The weather turned very cold for down here, with a couple of days in the 30s, so we weren't able to get out and do much, but we enjoyed reading, playing play-doh, watching Frosty the Snowman, Skype-ing with Uncle Justin, Aunt Kat, Ella & Olivia, and just hanging out.  Brie also transitioned to her "big-girl" bed and she's done great with it so far!  

We have much to be thankful for this year!  Our families; our health; our beautiful, vibrant, full-of-sass Brie; our adorable, cuddly, changing every day Caleb; and our friends and church community to name a few.  We have been richly blessed this year!!

 Three generations of Husker fans :)

 Smiles for auntie Re on her birthday

Big Girl Bed!

Halloween 2013--4 Weeks Old!

Our little man is 4 weeks old today!

And our little lady had a fun time dressing up and going trick-or-treating!  At one house she told them, "Happy Birthday!" instead of "trick-or-treat."  They gave her double candy because they thought she was just too adorable :).