Almost a month since I last blogged...

I cannot believe it's been nearly a month since I had time to sit down and add to this blog. And I just figured out how to read comments if people want to respond to an individual blog entry. I am bit slow on figuring this thing out! Sorry I have not responded to those of you who have left comments. I just don't know how! Obviously a lot has happened in the past month! Caleb, Kevin and I went up to Seattle mid-December to get a picture with Santa at Nordstrom with Grandma Judy, Grandpa Larry, Russ, Sheila, Eric and Emily. The line was LONG but thankfully Uncle Rusty got their early and saved us a place. Thanks Russ! Kevin had two weeks off at Christmastime and watched Caleb most of the break while I got to hang out with the sweet Doyle girls. He did get some down time as Grandma Judy took a week off and Caleb spent a lot of time at the Rus house.

Dara and Addison came to visit during Dara's break from teaching. The babies had fun rolling into each other. Caleb sure is one lucky boy... his first girlfriend is SUCH a cutie!! Poppy, Grammy, Uncle Barry, Auntie Kelly, Seth, Ezra, Uncle Rick and Auntie JJ spent Christmas and the days preceding it at our place. Caleb loved all the commotion... so did I! It was wonderful not to travel this year. We enjoyed having everyone over to our place and look forward to doing it again next year (we hope!!) Christmas afternoon my family all headed home and we went over to Larry and Judy's to celebrate Christmas #1 with Aunt Connie, Dylan, Uncle Aaron, Grandma Judy and Grandpa Larry. The Fode's arrived on the 26th and we celebrated Christmas #2. The all-time favorite gift was ROCK BAND and surprisingly the biggest kid of the bunch (Uncle Aaron of course!) was the one to get it! We all had a blast playing it but I don't think we will be forming a band anytime soon... especially if they leave lead vocals to me! Scary!! We celebrated New Year's Eve with Scott and Jenn Collins, our good friends from college. We were pretty low key this year considering Caleb was sleeping in the next room and Jenn is 7 months pregnant. We did stay up until after midnight though!! Kevin, Caleb and I joined a new bible study with 5 other couples (and too many kids to count!) in November. We have enjoyed having the group over to our house several times already and look forward to hosting many more events in 2008. We had a missionary couple from Tibet over last week and had an amazing time learning about the "roof of the world" and the needs of that poverty stricken area. Oh, and the Hawks won their first playoff game. All is right with the world! Next weekend, bring on the Packers!!! We are counting our blessings! 2007 was a stellar year for all of us and we are looking forward to more fun in 2008!

Christmas Eve

Here are some pics of Kelly and Jamie making Christmas Eve dinner... which was awesome! Poppy feeding Caleb dinner. The last few pics are of all of us putting reindeer food out for Rudolph and his buddies - made by Seth and Ezra with oatmeal, sequins and marshmallows... YUMMY!!

Christmas Eve pictures

Seth, Ezra and Caleb each opened one present on Christmas Eve. Auntie JJ tried on Ezra's police glasses. Silly!

Oh Christmas Tree!

We found the perfect tree for Caleb's first Christmas on Saturday. It was a beautiful sunny day...a great day for getting a tree with a 7 month old!

Snowing in Olympia

Caleb cut tooth #2 Saturday.

Saturday evening we headed over to Grandpa and Grandma Rus' house for their 18th annual Christmas party. Caleb was a hit! Grandma and Grandpa were more than happy to show him off.

On Sunday Caleb had his picture taken with Santa at the downtown Oly fire station, visited with both sets of grandparents, ate spinach (YUM!) for the first time and watched the Hawks win again!! It also snowed here today for most of the morning.

7 months old!

Today Caleb turns 7 months old! He typically wakes one time per night - usually between 4:30 and 6:30. He still sleeps for about 12 hours each night! Love it!! :)

First Tooth and Christmas in Yakima

This weekend we celebrated Christmas in Yakima at Aunt Barbara and Uncle Dean's house. We left Saturday morning with Grandpa Larry and Grandma Judy and had snow from the moment we entered Yakima to the moment we left on Sunday morning. Of course Caleb didn't realize it was something new but it sure was beautiful!

Caleb also finally cut his first tooth. It is barely visible but very sharp! Poor little guy!

Here he is in the store window of Uncle Dean's shop, Studio D.

GO HAWKS!!!!

Caleb just may grow up to be a Seahawks fan!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We had a wonderful poker-filled Thanksgiving with Kevin's family on Thursday. And of course we ate too much (turkey, ham potatoes, grandma judy's chocolate cake and apple pie) - you name it we ate it!! Uncle Tom, Aunt Shelley and Nicole came over from the Tri Cities. Uncle Rusty, Aunt Sheila, Eric and Emily also braved the traffic on their way here from Wenatchee on Wednesday. Aunt Connie came and brought delicious sweet potatoes and one of her AMAZING salads!! We missed Dylan as he was in California playing soccer with his team. Uncle Aaron came for dinner and poker and to hold his favorite nephew. Larry and Judy's house was full and we all had a wonderful time! We made lots of fun memories as we always do when we get together. Needless to say, Caleb enjoyed his very first Thanksgiving!

Ready for Christmas

Caleb and the (ex) Mariner's

Caleb, Uncle Aaron and Kevin went to visit our brand new Cabela's this past weekend. While they were there Caleb had his M's jersey signed by Jay Buhner and Norm Charleton!

Lynden weekend

We spent Veteran's Day weekend in Lynden at Auntie JJ and Uncle Rick's house. It was fun and relaxing. Missy and Auntie JJ got in some quality shopping at the Macy's sale while Uncle Rick and Kevin played motorcross video games until their brains became mush! Caleb ate some prunes (trying to get things moving!), read his exciting new favorite book with Uncle Rick (see video below), played with kittens, watched the leaves blow (it was quite stormy), went for a few walks and met one of his all time biggest fans, Courtney. We all had a great time!

Welcome baby Jett!

Caleb has a new cousin! Baby Jett was born on November 1st in Michigan and is already a cutie!! Congrats Josh and Heather!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Watching daddy play the guitar!

Moses Lake weekend

This past weekend was spent in Moses Lake with Auntie Kelly, Uncle Barry, Seth, Ezra, Auntie JJ and Uncle Rick. We sure had A LOT of fun! Kelly and I volunteered in Seth's first grade classroom on Friday. The kids were making hypotheses about whether or not their pumpkins would float. They also weighed and measured the circumference of their pumpkins. It was a fun science day! On Saturday we played board games, did puzzles, played checkers, rode bikes, went to the music store (Seth wants to learn to play the electric guitar... he's already a rocker!!), went for a walk, opened a present for Ezra's belated 5th birthday (a really cool pirate ship!!) and ate pizza! On Sunday we hung out in the morning and then headed back to Oly. Caleb is fascinated by his always moving, always busy cousins!! He was worn out on the way home and slept the whole way! Once we got back to Oly we headed to Grandma Judy and Grandpa Larry's house so daddy and Caleb could get their hair cut. It was Caleb's first... so we took pictures, of course!

Diesel and the Seahawks

The Seahawks are BACK!! They won on Sunday! We enjoyed watching the game at Uncle Aaron's house. And Caleb got to play with one of Tucker's nine puppies, Diesel. NO we are not getting another dog!! Though Diesel is so cute!! Chunky and full of personality... kinda like Caleb!

Sitting up!!!

Caleb has mastered sitting up! He has been working at it for the last month and now can sit up with ease for as long as he likes!!

Mini Kevin???

Caleb seems to become more and more like his daddy every day. He baked a pie with Grandma Judy on Sunday (Kevin enjoys cooking and baking, I do NOT!). He also played the piano with Grammy while she was practicing during our last visit and he loves when daddy plays his guitar. Perhaps a rock star??? YIKES! I'm not sure how I feel about that. And of course Caleb is constantly in motion! His feet and hands and body move ALL the time. Just like his daddy. Of course, I do see a bit of me in there too. Caleb loves to sleep for 12 hours every night! That is a bit like me!! :) Okay, it is A LOT like me! He weighs 16 pounds now and seems to grow every day! And he is starting to eat rice cereal. We have his first attempt on video. What a mess! I think we'll try carrots this weekend...

Eating solids

Today Caleb tried rice cereal for the first time...what a MESS!!

Caleb turns 5 months!!

Caleb turned 5 months old on Wednesday, October 3rd!! Be sure to note the mohawk in the picture. That's natural. No joke. I just didn't brush it after his bath!! :)

Caleb with his HUGE pumpkin out of Grammy and Poppy's garden! Stay tuned for the carved version... coming soon!

BUSY weekend!

It sure was a busy weekend in the Rus house. Actually we were mostly AWAY from our house visiting with friends and family all weekend. We had a great turnout for Caleb's Dedication at The Church of Living Water on Saturday evening. Pastor Burt was in the middle of a several part sermon on the signs of the end of times. It was interesting mixing a baby dedication with a bit of fire and brimstone! And let me tell you it got folks talking! As we know God works in mysterious ways and I am sure he intended that particular message to be heard by those who attended. It was a great reminder that those of us who are saved should NOT let those we love be left behind when Jesus returns. The Dedication was beautiful and of course I was a bit teary as our pastor prayed for the potential of Caleb's life. Dinner afterwards was great too! On Sunday we spent the day doing more family activities (paintball, beading, shopping, eating and watching the Seahawks BEAT the 49er's!) before the Fode's needed to head back to Wenatchee and the Haveman's back to Michigan. All in all a great weekend... one that left Caleb exhausted... he slept until 10:45 this Monday morning!!

Well, I've decided to start a family blog so that our friends and family who are outside of Oly will have a chance to see Caleb grow and keep up with our family happenings. So, here we go... Kevin is teaching his second year of special ed at North Thurston High. The start of this school year was A LOT easier than last year! He feels more confident in himself which makes him a more relaxed teacher. He is also coaching JV girls soccer and has some hilarious stories to tell when he arrives home in the evenings! (High school girls can be SO obnoxious!!) I am still working for the Doyle family part time as their nanny. Margaret is seven and in second grade and Caroline is five and just started Kindergarten this year. The girls absolutely adore Caleb and he returns their feelings! They provide non-stop entertainment for him in the car, at their house, and whenever they are around. They love to sing and make funny faces and share all of their school work with him. He is fascinated! I think he REALLY enjoys having two "big sisters". And speaking of Caleb... we are just so blessed. For those of you who have had the chance to meet him you KNOW he is just so mellow, sweet, and HAPPY! A momma couldn't ask for a better combination! He is almost 5 months now. I can't believe how the time has flown! He will be sitting on his own anytime now. He loves to hear himself talk and being naked after baths. He sleeps like a champ at night too (just like me!). Usually 12 hours!! Like I said I am one blessed momma... :)

Rolling Over

Caleb rolled over today for the first time from his tummy onto his back!