Caleb at 9 months

"Caleb!" Daddy called. Caleb looked up and asked, "What?"

Emberley with a giggle and grin, " Mommy,make your crinkles. I want to touch your crinkles!"

At Christmas Uncle Kyle walked through the door. Emberley looked at him and declared, "Uncle Kyle, I want to kill you!"
Aunt Genni, over hearing her said, "Emberley! Is that what you are supposed to say???"
Emberley in a sweet tone of voice."No, I am supposed to say it nicely, Uncle Kyle I want to kill you..." ( Sigh.... Not quite getting it)

9 Months old.

9 Months in....

9 Months out...

What you should know about Caleb at 8 months.

What you should know about 8 month old Caleb.

1. He can stand and balance all by himself! He's still a bit nervous but he can do it.
2. Cruising now consists of anything that will move he will push.

3. Clapping hands makes him very happy.

4. Waving for sure now.

5. He give great squeezing melt your heart hugs.

6. He LOVES the cats. They tolerate the mauling amazingly. I found him yesterday holding the kitten up by one ear and he didn't get scratched.

7. By far the most opinionated on food. He shrieks and screams if you don't feed him fast enough, he's out of food, he needs a drink, he wants what YOU have, or he's done. (Working on baby sign language to stop this screaming.)

8. He contentedly and happily self entertains for easily an hour. He will crawl to the far corners of the house happily. But wow be to me if I happen to walk away from where he is playing! He crawls after wailing.

9. He loves looking through books quickly turning pages.

10. He's tolerant. Emmy loves to wrestle him and he puts up with a lot before getting upset.

11. Favorite activities are to play in the bottom two drawers in the kitchen while I'm  working there or to pick plants out of Daddy's aquaponics system.

12. He is the only one who comes happily with a big grin each and every time he is called.

13. He's got a great mullet going. He's probably going to need it cut before he hits one.

14.Playing catch makes big smiles.

15. Stairs and climbing  are fun- especially when mom's not watching.

A side note from Emmy. Me, "Emmy are you a little firecrackers? NO! I am not a firecracker! I am an Emmy Pill!"

Cause I can climb now...

Emberley crying after poking herself with her toast, " The bread bited me!"

I Can Stand UP!

Caleb at 6 months

Whew, this little guy is in such a hurry to grow up. I still maintain that he acts 2-3 months older than his age.
This is what her learned to do in his 6th month.
- Commando crawled.
- Pulls to standing.
- Climbs up onto low things.
- Hands and knees crawls.
- Began to cruise.
-Say dada, ahma, and goo.
- Got his first tooth.
-Began solids.
- Pushes himself into sitting.


Emberleyism's

"I want to be squash ( bob) the tomato!"

Looking at crying Caleb, " He's having an outfit!"

A lesson learned.

Andy's, Best place to shop. But a story to go with this picture. My oldest 2 had bees in their bonnets to spend Abrianna's money on cans of soda. Well they asked another checker to change out some dollar bills for quarters while I was in line paying for my groceries. Then they disappeared. The younger 2 got some candy from our favorite checker. I mentioned to the checker that I wasn't sure where my oldest 2 had gone. She had seen them leave the store. Now, I was 100% sure I knew where they were and what they were doing. I was MAD that they didn't ask first. After loading everything in the van I took the younger three- the girls eating candy- over to the pop machines. Not only did they have root beer but they had diet root beer, and mountain dew. No way was I going to allow them to drink those. So a crying little girl took the cans inside to see if she could exchange them- which she couldn't. A hard lesson was learned about asking FIRST and then okaying the varieties selected before buying them.

So proud of her for turning her lemon into lemonade by gifting the mountain dew to her daddy.

I sneered

At Conner's Mr. Carpet, Emmy uncharacteristically hid behind me when one of the employees tried talking to her. After he left, she turned to me and said, "Mommy, I sneered at that man!" "Emmy, what do you mean you sneered at him?" I inquired thinking she didn't know what it meant. "Like this!" she said, contorting her little face into an ugly mean expression. "Ok,, I guess you do know what that means..."

Abby

WITHOUT ANY prompting, ask your child these questions and write down EXACTLY what they say. It is a great way to find out what they really think. When you re-post put your Child's age.
1. What is something mom always says to you? "..Do your chore.
2. What makes mom happy? "Cleaning up the living room and feeding the animals.."
3. What makes mom sad? "Not doing the living room animals or kitchen or bedroom."
4. How does your mom make you laugh? "Ummm By saying funny jokes.."
5. What was your mom like as a child? "A little baby. Like us as a child.*
6. How old is your mom? "65."
7. How tall is your mom? "Hmmm bigger, up to there*
8. What is her favorite thing to do? "To sleep and eat"
9. What does your mom do when you're not around? "You look for us and call us."
10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for? " That your a queen"
11. What is your mom really good at? Working
12. What is your mom not very good at? "Putting a fireplace in our house"
13. What does your mom do for a job? "Do the kitchen floor, the sink, and the dishwasher."
14.What is your mom's favorite food? " I don't know. Ummm Salad, mayonaise
15.What makes you proud of your mom? "That we get to go to legoland for my birthday"
16. If your mom were a character, who would she be? "A girl."
17. What do you and your mom do together? "Special days"
18. How are you and your mom the same? "I have a couple freckles and you have a lot.
19. How are you and your mom different?" That we have hair and yours is part red and part golden."
20. How do you know your mom loves you?" Because she thinks we are cute and precious"
21. What does your mom like most about your dad? "That he goes to work and works for you and talk to you"
22. Where is your mom's favorite place to go? "Shopping and to a restaurant."

-Abby age 5.

3 Months and life.,..

This girl goes right for the heart. Why waste time on the outside? Just dig into the center.

"This tooth was bugging me! So I pulled it out!"

He can balance by himself for up to 15 seconds and he is just 3 months old.

He does the half push ups well.

3 1/2 months - spontaneously laughed.

Emberley

Emmy walks out into the living room clutching two wet q-tips she had been rubbing on her face,
 " Mommy, I am a painted lady!" she exclaimed.

We were blowing up balloons for a birthday. The orange one popped. "I have an idea," she shouted. Emmy raced over to the package pulling out another orange one pushed it into my hands to blow it up.

She walked up to me with her arms through her shirt and it bunched up on her back behind her head. "Mommy, I'm god." she announced" What?" I exclaimed. " I have wings so I'm god!"

12 weeks

The way his big brother loves him is a beautiful thing to watch.

He's long and chubby. 25 1/2 inches and 13lbs 13 oz born on the 13th. This week he learned to reach out and grasp things .Boy does he have a pinchy little grip! Still a happy contented little guy. A blessing to our home.

Month 2

10 weeks- Baby giggles from being tickled.

11- weeks Reaching out and grabbing with his hands.

Never trust a strange dog.

We arrived Friday evening to visit my in-laws in Goldendale to see their new property and explore the possibility of relocating there ourselves.
An older Australian Shepherd belonging to the neighbor was nosing around when we arrived. He seemed harmless enough, until... About a half an hour later Emmy walked by him. He lunged at her biting her head and knocking her to the ground. I heard my father-in-law shouting as he kicked the dog away.
I started yelling as I ran to scoop my screaming two year old off the ground to see how badly she was hurt.Blood streamed down the side of her face from a tooth puncture. Hollering for Rick, I ran into the mobile home and began to rinse out the wound.
Because it was deep we decided to take her into to ER ( it was after hours) for a tetanus shot and to report the incidence to the police.She had an odd pattern of swelling on her head from the dogs teeth scraping across her temple. A scratch ran along the top of her scalp. (Thank God the dog hadn't bitten down harder.)
Goldendale is a small community and I believe every employee in the ER came in to talk to her and ask questions.
The Sheriff and his deputy arrived and took a report. Emmy was so brave. The shot didn't even faze her. But she cried when the syringe was used to irrigate the wound. After antibiotic ointment was applied the doctor explained why he felt it was best to leave the wound open and uncovered. It continued to ooze blood and swell for the rest of the evening.
She was back to her normal self the next day other than guarding the area from bumps and pressure.
I am beyond grateful that it was no worse and she doesn't seem to be afraid of dogs after this.
Though I do believe that maybe she "gets it" why mommy is always insisting they not run up to strange dogs or put her face in theirs.

Sabbath at the Touchet River

Skipping rocks.

Emmy tripped. She couldn't seem to regain her footing and her face got into the water. Abby rescued her from "drowning."

Ready... Set... Go!

Birthday Girls

Abigayle's 5th Birthday. 

Abrianna's 7th Birthday.

8 weeks.

Rolling from tummy to back and can push his upper body up for short times.

Almost 13 lbs.

Gave herself a hair cut.

I heard Caleb waking from his nap ( that I had just put him down for...) and crying. I walked towards my bedroom noticing the door was closed. "That is strange", I thought. Opening the door, I notice a swatch of hair about 2 inches long next to him. "OH NO! Not again!" There sat Emmy on the floor surrounded by handfuls of hair, proudly chopping away. "Look mommy! Now I am bald like Uncle Reggie!"
I could've cried. That beautiful hair finally having regained its length from the hair cut Abby gave her almost exactly a year ago lay  on the floor.
I took her to the kitche, placing her on a bar stool. Grabbing the hair cutting equipment, I painfully cut a good 1 1/2- 2 inches off all the way around. But hair really will regrow, right???

7 week well baby check.

Caleb's well baby check went great! He is 12 lbs, and 24 inches. Very active and strong. According to my midwife he looks and acts more like a 3 month old instead of 7 weeks.

Found his toes.

Somebody forgot to tell him 6 week olds aren't supposed to know how to kick the toy bar with their feet.

6 weeks.

At 6 weeks old he is full of smiles and coos. Such a happy contented baby.

Birth he smiled awake from the get go- just like his ultrasound.

1 week old he found his voice and began to coo.

2 weeks old he started tracking people. Lucas was the first one.

3 weeks old he started smiling with recognition. This was also the first time he went on a trip. We went to CA for a week and a half driven down by Grandma 'Tine for Great Grandpa Joe's 80th birthday celebration. Grandpa Jeff and Grandma 'Tine brought us home and stayed for a couple of days to fix the kitchen door, extend some closet shelves and replace some electrical sockets.

5 weeks old, He started putting his hands into his mouth to self-soothe.

6 weeks old, He kicks the toy bar with his feet. Carefully watching his hands.

7 weeks old. Rolls from tummy to back. 12 lbs 24 inches.

8 weeks old. Rolls from back to tummy.

With Abby

2 weeks old.

1 week old

Already smiling. 

9 1/2 lbs.

4 days old

"Baby" Emmy put herself to sleep.

Chubby kissable cheeks. 

What an interesting hand...

Little boy blue.

Big Yawn...

Add caption

Caleb Jeffrey March 13, 2015.

"Just remember to keep your face relaxed and loose" 

"He's here!"

"Welcome Son!" 

8 lbs 14 oz, 21 1/2 inches long. 

Newborn exam.

Inhaling the essence of you.

Caleb Jeffrey Drake
March 13th,
9:15 PM
8 lbs 14 oz.
21 1/2 inches.

Anytime I had a braxton-hick I heard, "Maybe you are in labor! Baby Caleb is on the way!" my kids would excitedly exclaim. Irritated, I would reply,"No, its not!. " "How do you know?" they demanded.
 Contractions started on the 11th, "This is it! I'm going to have my baby!"I thought.
 A walk strengthened the contractions bringing them closer together. "Am I going to make it home?" I wondered. Reaching the house, I crawled into a warm bath. Labor immediately stopped. "What????"
The next morning I begged my friends to pray for me. I was seething with anger at my body turning "lemon."

On March 13th ( 6 days late) his midwife, Shannon Bennett, decided eviction day had arrived. The kids and I cleaned like Tigger on steroids. Next, we stocked up on groceries at Costco. Rick met us at Shannon's house to pick up the kids. 
Shannon stripped my membranes a little after 4 (4 cm and 80% effaced) and started  a homeopathic about every 15 min for the next two hours. We supplemented this with some strong prep tea. Visiting over supper, we decided she would come on over and we'd do more stripping if necessary to get labor to kick in. 
I had been having contractions all day, but nothing hard or strong. While Shannon dropped her son off at a friends house I determinedly trudged up and down her stairs.  I noticed my belly looked lower. Upon examination I was now 90% effaced and 5 cm. Progress!!!
Throwing a birth kit in her car "just in case." We drove to pick up her birth assistant who  in turn drove my car with Shannon following me back home. 10 min out I felt labor was starting.
..
Arriving home at 7:10, I was at 7 cm! I called Amber to tell her to hurry. Awwww... relief as  I sank into the warm water of the tub. 

My water spontaneously, broke squirting oddly to the side. (Caleb was descending crookedly into the birth canal.) My body voluntarily began pushing. Shannon tried holding an anterior lip it out of the way while I pushed through the pain.  The Seering pain pushed me to the point of panic.Rick joined us at that time having put the kids into bed. He and Amber prayed, Shannon administered a homeopathic, I screwed my body into a cock-eyed angle and the pain dramatically improved.
The background birth affirmations cd's phrase, "I listen to my body and follow its lead." took on a whole new meaning.  My brain needed to get out of the way of my body so could do what was needed. 
 Caleb straightened around and was born within a half an hour.
The sheer size of this boy, made pushing seem to take a lot longer with a whole lot more effort. 3 pushes per contraction. No big heave or two to birth this big guy. The stretch/burn of his head emerging. Then another burn/stretch for his shoulder and body. In the past, I have only felt the stretch of my babies heads. His head and chest measured 36 cm. 
At 9:15 pm,"Rachel, reach down, I'm going to pass him through your legs and you can pick him up." stated Shannon. I reached down  pulling him up onto my chest  tears of relief and joy rolling down my cheeks, "Thank you Jesus! He's here! Thank you Jesus!" This poor little guy's short thick cord made it difficult to keep his face out of the water without pulling it. He cried from the discomfort of the pulling.
"Rick, would you go and see if the kids are awake so they can meet him?" I asked. They were asleep.
About 20 min or so later, the umbilical cord was cut and he was on his own! Daddy cuddled him close, while Shannon and I dealt with the placenta and blood loss. Wrapping up in a warm towel I was helped onto the bed. Daddy diapered him and I nursed him. Newborn check: His initial Apgar was 9 and 5 min was 10. Great tone. Great color. Great responsiveness. 
Daddy weighed him in at 8 lbs 14 oz and 21 1/2 inches long. What a big boy! I tried to dress him in the newborn outfit I'd picked out. Well....He was too big.  Daddy went out to the garage for the next size up in clothes. 
We had him to ourselves all night long. About 8 the next morning, the kids discovered him. What a wonderful Sabbath present.
. ( Thank you to Lucas for taking the pictures)

Proud big sisters.

She was so excited to be the diaper runner.