almost 8 weeks

Caleb is almost 8 weeks old! Oh my gosh, how has this happened? I can't handle it- STOP time! Stop it right now and let Caleb stay a teeny tiny baby forever.
I still feel like he just got here AND that we've never not had him in our family at the same time. I'm also still surprised most of the time when I realize that I'm a parent. We are parents. It's never going to be just Jason and I ever again. Caleb is in our lives forever. Awesome!

our Polack baby ;)

Anywhooo, on to Caleb and his great developments!

• He's been sleeping well at night. It's difficult to get him down to bed but once he's asleep he'll only wake once before 6:30 or 7:30 in the morning, it's glorious! 
• He's weighing in around 12.5-13 lbs these days, nice and chunky, just the way we like him :) 
• During tummy time Caleb is rocking the head and neck control. 
• He's also becoming very talkative with his noises and expressions, it seems like he's always got something to say (or grunt)! 
• I think that Caleb's favorite time is bath time with daddy, a close second being his dance marathons with mom during the day. He's really got some moves!!
• His lower body seems to be getting stronger and stronger, we're just waiting for his arms to catch up so that he can start strengthening the muscles he'll use to roll over.

One of our favorite things to do with Caleb is to put him in various outfits: the office worker, the baseball player, the rockstar, the boatman, etc...

but the best just snuggling with him on the couch

We think he likes it too because this little baby man is all smiles!!

The last week or so we've really taken strides learning how to live together:

• Caleb has gone to gym with Jason and I a few times and seems to be lulled to sleep by the sounds of people getting their sweat on because he's slept soundly in his carrier in the lobby every time. 
• I've also learned the joy of slowing down by staying home all day with our son. I'll do very little but look at him and drink it in some days, but it feels completely fulfilling and I'm so grateful for the blessing of being a stay-at-home mom.
• We're figuring out how to grocery shop, cook, clean, and be social with a newborn. Slowly but surely things from our life before parenthood are trickling back into existence, they just look a little bit differently these days.

On Friday we're leaving for our first extended trip as a family. We're going to Garmish, Germany to enjoy some mountain views and the first weekend of Christmas Markets for the season. The trip will be about 5-6 hours by car so we're just praying Caleb is as up for the adventure as we are.

There is an American military base near where we'll be staying too, so I am not-so-secretly hoping to catch a viewing of "Catching Fire" this weekend as well since it doesn't come out until Thanksgiving here! 

That's all the update I've got for now. Hopefully more to come soon!

it's been a long, long year that FLEW BY

So it's almost been a year since our last post, whoops! We never claimed to be good at keeping up with this blogging thing. We do have a slightly greater motivation these days- our baby CALEB! That's right, within the last year we got pregnant and had a little boy. We came here with 3 and are now a family of 4. Yes our furry Autumn baby is of course counted as part of our integral family unit.

So in an attempt to update our family and friends back home a bit more about precious baby Caleb and how we are coping with the transition into parenthood, I'm going to try a bit harder to update this blog for everyone. Also, it is a nice way for me to keep record of my own thoughts and feelings about all the things we're experiencing here, we're learning as new parents, and we're being taught through the Holy Spirit and God's incredible grace.

First up, a thought I'd like to have written somewhere so I can look back some day and smile fondly at the naïvety. From Facebook:

It's dawning on me that I can now claim the title "stay at home mom".My mom always seemed such a wise & put together woman but I still kind of feel like a kid and fairly clueless.
I guess I'll just have to grow into this mom thing.