What We've Been Up To

These past few weeks have been pretty busy and hectic around the Sturm home. Summer break is now a thing of the past and we're back in full swing as two busy working parents with one very busy and energetic 17-month-old (wow...when did he get so old?!?). The end of summer was really great and we enjoyed the last moments of together time.

Helping with laundry...a favorite past time this summer.

Playing outside in the beautiful weather.

Hanging out with Nolan.

The first week of school was incredibly busy and tiring. Tyler had to work late several nights in a row, so the stress of it all definitely got the best of me. I ended up sick by the end of the week and spent the entire weekend feeling awful (without being able to take much besides Tylenol). Thankfully, I was well enough to be back at school so that I can save all those precious sick days for a maternity leave of 18 weeks that was just approved (yaaaaay...much better than the 8 I took with Caleb)! Anyhow, my class has been wonderful so far and it's helped make this week much easier considering I'm still not feeling 100% better. Unfortunately, Tyler now has just what I had. We're just crossing our fingers and praying that Caleb doesn't come down with this nasty cold too. He doesn't seem to be showing too many signs of illness considering the amount of energy he has each and every day.

He must play his little heart out with all the kids at Miss Linda's, because he was tired enough to fall asleep while eating tonight!

The final, and probably most exciting news of the recent weeks, is that we finally had our ultrasound for this increasingly active and ever-growing little baby #2! The ultrasound was great and everything looks just as healthy as can be (praise God). We're also excited to know that we are going to be blessed with a baby GIRL. We're both a little unsure of how we'll handle the ups and downs of "girlhood" and know that our little boy will probably be much easier to raise, but how can you not be excited about bows, dresses, tights, dolls, and the list goes on for miles!!!

A profile shot.

Looking at us and waving hello.

A view from above her head (she's pointing and letting us know she's #1).Another profile view with her arms and legs scrunched up.

Final Vacation of Summer

This past week, we took our last vacation before it's time to head back to school. This was a wonderful vacation because all three (and a half) of us were able to be there the whole time. We left for the Lake of the Ozarks on Sunday. On the way, we took a slight detour through St. Louis and stopped at the Budweiser factory for a tour. Tyler and I went last year, but we thought it would be fun to have my parents go this year. We were also lucky enough to have Tyler's family drive into St. Louis to join us for the afternoon. It was a great way to break up the long drive!

After our quick trip in St. Louis, we continued the long drive down to the lake. The weather was great for just about the entire week...hot, hot, hot, and perfect for swimming! We had fun relaxing and enjoying our time together as a family. Although I couldn't enjoy any of the motorized water sports, Tyler loved getting to go out on the wave runner and fishing boat. Caleb also enjoyed a few trips on the fishing boat as well. The biggest highlight was watching Caleb learn how to swim all on his own. This whole summer, we've kept him in floaties and worked a lot on kicking and blowing bubbles. We finally got brave enough to just let him loose and he is now a complete fish in the water!

Here is a video of Caleb's first moments swimming alone: