Firsts for Cousin Caleb

The title of the blog is Our Little Miracles, implying Ryan & Evan. Caleb is our nephew. He is little. And all babies are miracles. He fits the theme, so expect posts dedicated to Caleb to pop up once in a while.

In late October, Caleb (along with his parents) made his very first road trip from their home in Chicagoland to our place. We were honored that Stevensville, Michigan will forevermore be remembered as Caleb's first long distance destination. He was 8 weeks at the time.

Evan petting baby Caleb. 

We celebrated Christine's (Caleb's mommy) birthday while we were all together.  

We all went out to eat too. And this outing was Caleb's first restaurant experience! Lots of firsts! He ate (a bottle) right along with us, and dozed now and then. He was very quiet and did a lot of wide-eyed observing of this new and exciting place.

Our next visit with Baby C was for Evan's birthday weekend. This was an overnight trip and Caleb's first hotel experience. His parents report that he slept through the night. Following his night time routine, just as he does at home. He was 13 weeks at this visit.

Caleb likes to be held like this. I think it gives him a good view, so he can observe! Here he's observing all Evan's birthday fun at Surfari Joe's waterpark.

 Cute little family!

Water park cat naps. Cozy with Grandma.

Catching some zzz's.

The night before Evan's party, we all met for dinner at The Buck in downtown St. Joe. Caleb needed a little extra TLC at this outing. I just love this picture of my baby brother holding his own baby. 

I don't know what to say about these pictures. They are touching and sweet and make me think about how these little cousins are going to grow into men together. Hopefully, friends for life.

[We are looking forward to seeing Caleb, and of course the rest of my family, when we all gather at my parents' house for Christmas. This is time when they grow and change so much, so quickly. I'm eager to see him laugh and roll over, milestones he's hit since we last saw him.]

Thanksgiving 2013

Before Christmas arrives, I thought I better post a couple pictures from our Thanksgiving celebration. 

I think this Thanksgiving table looks lovely!

  Burke, a culinary visionary, headed the Thanksgiving cooking team. 

We were very THANKFUL to have Nana & Lolo visit us. 

These Arizonians braved the cold to spend special time with us!

Ryan helped me prep the stuffing the night before Thanksgiving. This is my [only] contribution to the menu. It's a delicious Ponka recipe. Now I'm passing it down to a fourth generation. 

Ryan had the audacity to lose yet another tooth on Thanksgiving Day. He pulled it out himself while I was out shoveling snow. I pulled out the first one he lost back in June, but have missed the next three. It's becoming a running joke - that I'm not around when they come out. The tooth fairy sent him on a little scavenger hunt. His prize was a little stuffed animal he's had his eye on. His toothless grin is priceless!

Not directly related to Thanksgiving, but the next couple pictures were other notables from Nana & Lolo's visit. 

We had a leaf conundrum this year. We have a few big trees and a lot of leaves that fall. It was difficult to get them up due to frequent rain and [early] snow. Nana pitched in to pick up some of the leaves. The progress she made inspired me to pick up a big chunk of leaves a few days later, which in turn inspired Burke to finish the job - at least, in the front yard. Thanks, Nana, for getting the ball rolling! 

Before they headed home, Nana & Lolo were guest readers in Ryan's kindergarten classroom. I can't really say more than it was a really touching, sweet and memorable experience.

Hope you all had a nice Thanksgiving and are enjoying the ongoing holiday season! 

Evan Turns Four

We celebrated Evan's 4th Birthday all day long on December 1. 

[How can he be four already?]

First gift of the day!

Tummy Stuffer (an As Seen on TV product) from Mama & Dada

He insisted on the pink cat.

We spent E's special day at Surfari Joe's, a local indoor water park. Evan really enjoyed the water, but not the noise. Both he and Ryan covered their ears almost every time the huge elephant bucket tipped over, loudly pouring a lot of water on whomever may be standing below.

Upon arrival, Ryan literally tested the water.

Evan is adventurous enough to try the water slide. As you can see in this video, he went under despite Burke's best efforts to help him stay above water. We asked him a few times if he wanted to go down the slide again. He told us once was enough. He's not an independent swimmer yet and doesn't care for submerging. He handled this like a champ! [Burke & Evan splash down about 30 seconds into the video.]

Soaked after the slide.

Burke, Christine and Ryan lead our party guests through the lazy river sprinkler.

Lazy River Video

Time for pizza!

Evan chose a white cake with strawberry filling. It was yummy!

Blowing Out the Candles Video

Alpha-bots!

A popular gift with Evan, from Joey & Christine.

This Nerf basketball hoop may win MVP [Most Valuable Present]. It's gotten A LOT of use so far! Many thanks to Burke's colleague Rachel and her family. 

Awesome!

Toward the end of our time there, Burke helped the boys realize that it was not hard to get up on this play structure. Most entrances were blocked by some form of sprinkler, and they didn't want to get sprayed in the face. Once he got used to the structure, Evan had a blast on this tiny water slide. 

Birthday Boy's Big Brother

Mr. Sweet Face and his loot!
Wow! Thank you, everyone!

Evan didn't get a nap and the day was exhausting. He fell asleep as I was reading bedtime stories. He has never done that. It was a sweet reminder that even though he's getting so big, he's still my baby. 

We are so thankful that Nana & Lolo, Grandma & Grandpa, Steve, Joey, Christine & Caleb and a few of Burke's colleagues and their kiddos were able to join us at the water park. Also, many thanks to those of you who remembered Evan's day from afar by sending cards and gifts.

Dear Evie, 

You are smart, athletic and silly. 

You have a ton of energy and are always on the move.

Man, are you ticklish. We love your giggles so much.

You love puzzles, technology, sports and playing with your brother.

You are a very important part of our family, and we love you more than you can imagine.

Thank you for making us laugh and keeping us on our toes. 

Happy Birthday, Sweet Face.

love, 

Mama & Dada

Fabulous Fall

Before we are buried too deep in winter weather, I thought I should post some of our photo highlights from this fall. 

In mid-October, we went apple picking with some friends. One of the little boys in the family went to preschool with Ryan. He is now going to different elementary school in St. Joseph, so he and Ryan will meet up again in middle school. I'm trying to keep up that friendship for that reason. Also, they're a really nice family and fun to play with! 

Golden Delicious

Ryan and the little girl are great at playing "imagination" together. She is a year ahead of Ryan. Ryan's preschool classmate is in the yellow shirt. There is also another brother who is currently in preschool. He'll then be one year behind Ryan / one year ahead of Evan. The closeness in age makes them a fun group!

Me & my bugs in a festive fall photo!

A big apple and a hayride

Ryan loves owls.

Every year, we stop by DeVries Farm to play and get our pumpkins. 

Lokey boys on a play tractor.

 I love this picture!

Oh my goodness, I love this one too!

If you do a blog search for "pumpkin" or "DeVries", you will see this same picture from previous visits. Ryan makes the same face every time. I guess that's his go-to ghost face. I'm impressed with his consistency!

Ryan enjoyed a class trip to a local pumpkin farm, which is set up well for field trips and fun! Burke was lucky to attend as a chaperone.

Ryan being a climbing kitty.

Ryan riding the race track.

Ryan's teacher sent this excellent picture to us.

Ryan & Burke in a pumpkin patch - a classic fall photo.

Soon it will be Turkey Day!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Fall-Winter

On Saturday, November 9, Burke and the boys did a lot of work mowing and raking. 

Then 3 days later, this happened!

On Tuesday, November 12, Burke & Ryan had a snow day!

We got at least a foot of lake effect snow off Lake Michigan.

I can't remember a big snow like this in early-mid autumn. 

Our leaves have not completely fallen. 

There is currently a heavy layer of leaves on top of a foot of snow. 

It's kind of beautiful and strange.