Mother's Day

Sunday was my very first Mother's Day! It's funny how the holiday takes on a whole new meaning when you're actually a mom. We were lucky enough to be able to celebrate the day with both of our families. Tyler's family came in town on Saturday and stayed overnight. It was so fun to see them interacting with their grandson! Caleb has changed so much since they last saw him when he was a week old. We were especially grateful for Caleb's wonderful grandma Sue who allowed us to sleep all night while she took all of the feedings, diaper changes, etc.!

Mother's Day morning was especially memorable because Caleb had his infant dedication at church. In our church, we don't have baptisms for babies because they pretty much have no idea what the significance of a baptism is. Instead, a simple baby dedication is done where the parents pledge to raise their child to know about and love Jesus and the pastor prays for the child. It was wonderful to have our entire family there to share in the special moment. We can't wait for the day when we can all come together again to celebrate Caleb's baptism. Hopefully he will come to know and understand the concept of salvation and commit himself to living a Christian life very early on...and then make the choice to be baptized. For now, we just contine to pray for our little guy and anticipate the day when he puts Jesus first in his life!

Well, there isn't much else to update everyone on. We've been having so much fun watching our little darling grow one day at a time. He has SO much personality and loves to smile and coo. We've also been busy homeowners over the past few weeks. Tyler has torn out just about every piece of the old landscaping and we are anxiously awaiting the day when our new landscaping is done. In addition to landscaping, we'll be putting in a fence in a few weeks. We can't wait to be able to just open the door and let Chesney run free in the yard. We also had a not so happy moment when we decided to peel away and repaint our bay window in the front of our house. We never finished the project because we realized the window is completely rotted and now need to spend quite a bit to replace it...yuck! We're hoping we don't have any unpleasant surprises as we begin to tackle the next outdoor project: the pool. We're hoping it's in good shape so that we can spend plenty of time hanging out in it during the upcoming summer months. Speaking of which, summer break will be here shortly...but not until I head back to work for the final two weeks of the year. I have very mixed emotions about the whole back-to-work process. Although I miss my students like crazy, I'm going to be very sad to leave Caleb. He'll be in good hands though with his grandma! For now, I'm just enjoying the last few days I have as a true stay-at-home mom: a job that is quite possibly harder than any job I've ever had!

Okay, so I can't post this without putting some more pictures of the little cutie...ENJOY!

Caleb's visit to Grand Prairie:

All bundled up after a walk:

Hanging out with Chesney:
Spending some quality time with grandpa Ron:

Rainbows

On Friday night, we had a big rainstorm that seemed to come out of nowhere and was gone in less than an hour. We were left with patches of dark clouds mixed in with rays of sunshine. Needless to say, we knew there had to be a rainbow somewhere! As we looked out from our back porch we saw the most beautiful rainbow I have ever seen. It made a complete semi-circle and the colors were incredibly vivid. There were actually two rainbows side by side as you can tell from the pictures.



We immediately grabbed the camera to document Caleb's first rainbow (which he slept through). We figured someday we'll be able to tell him all about how awesome the first rainbow of his lifetime looked and show him proof in pictures. At the same time we'll be sure to explain to him what a rainbow means...something we were pleasantly reminded of on Friday night: God will always hold true to his promises. It was even more meaningful to be reminded of that exactly six weeks after Caleb was born. There were many moments during those first tough six weeks when the only thing I had left was to rely on my faith in God. I kept reading and hearing about how the first six weeks would be the hardest...and they certainly were not easy! Thankfully we have an awesome God who somehow makes everything work out just like it should. He blessed me with a wonderful husband and family who gave more than enough help and support. And at the moments when I thought I just couldn't go with another sleepness night or deal with one more minute of a fussy baby, God gave me that extra boost of energy and patience!



So, here we are six weeks later and we have so much to look forward to. Praise God for getting us to this point and providing a little reminder on Friday night that He is here, He's always here, and He's never going to let us down!



On that note, we'd really appreciate your prayers as we are dealing with Caleb's first fever/cold/cough. He woke up Saturday night feeling really icky and has been slowly getting worse over the past two days. His fever has gotten a little higher and he's just not a happy and comfortable baby right now. We're hoping it is just a cold and he'll fight through it without anything major happening. So for now, keep him (and his tired parents) in your prayers!

One Month Later

It's hard to believe our little guy is already one month old! The picture to the left is the most updated (taken the night before Caleb's official one month birthday...he's a real party animal). I've never known a month that can feel so long, yet go by so quick. Parenthood has certainly been an experience like no other. The first week was a "honeymoon" as I've heard it called. Caleb was really a peaceful, content little guy and did a lot of sleeping. After that first week, we've seen many different sides to our bundle of joy.

During Caleb's second week, we had Tyler's family in for the weekend. It was great to have them here to meet their new grandson! We enjoyed watching all of the grandparents together with our darling little boy. It was a very busy weekend, and Caleb was very tired by the time everyone left. He began to show us what sleepness nights mean in the days that followed their visit. It turns out that our baby who slept so much during the first week is really not a big fan of sleeping (during the day or night). We learned very early on that he has a very hard time falling asleep and often gets overtired to the point where it's nearly impossible to get him to settle down and fall asleep! As you can tell by the picture, Tyler has had a hard time keeping up with the sleepless nights. It wasn't such a big deal when he wasn't having to wake up for work, but since he's gone back, he's been a big fan of napping in the evenings when he gets home. I have also grown very tired of the tiresome nights, but am learning to catch up on my sleep during the day when and if Caleb settles down for a nap. Fortunately for us both, we worked out a better nighttime feeding plan where we both took on one feeding each. Since then, we've both gotten a little bit more rest!

Although we've had our moments of complete frustration with so little sleep, we have also learned to find so much joy in the times when Caleb shows his sweeter side. We love how serious he is about sucking his thumb (or sometimes his whole fist). We love how much he enjoys bath time (which has gotten so much better since that icky cord fell off in the middle of week three). Caleb rarely cries during his bath and makes us laugh as he tries so hard to get as much soap on his hand and into his mouth before we can wipe it off. We also love the moments when Caleb shows us his relaxed and laid back side. When he is calm and content, he is absolutely adorable. We sometimes just sit and watch him as he sleeps and makes some of the cutest noises we've ever heard. In the middle of sleeping he is also great at making funny faces and showing us spontaneous smiles. We can't wait until that smile actually shows up when he's awake! Caleb also loves to "talk" to us. He discovered his voice early on and has been cooing up a storm ever since. His favorite place to get all worked up and talk is when he's getting his diaper changed. As soon as he is put down on his back, his lips start moving a mile a minute and all sorts of cute cooing noises come out! I'm certain that once this little guy starts talking with real words, he'll be hard to keep quiet!

A few of the other highlights of this past month include watching our dog Chesney and her increasing interest in her new baby brother. At first, she had no interest in him and rarely even noticed he was around. Now, she is very attentive to him and often comes running when he starts to cry. We're hoping she continues to realize that he's part of this family and learns to like him before he becomes mobile!

In addition to that, we also enjoyed the visit from some of my dad's family. Caleb got to meet his first great grandparent...my Grandma Jane. The moment was very bittersweet. It was wonderful to see my grandma holding our baby. At the same time, it also brought about a bit of sadness in knowing that Caleb missed out on meeting and knowing several of his other great grandparents. Within the past year, Tyler and I have lost three grandpa's. All of them were so special to us and we certainly wish they could still be here to meet their great grandson. We know how much it would have meant to each of them to have him here.

It's not easy to wrap up an entire month into just a few paragraphs or pictures. So much has changed and happened in the past four weeks and I'm pretty sure I could already write a book about the ups and downs we've had. Overall, we know that this is just the beginning of an awesome and challenging experience. We are constantly reminded that God only gives us as much as we can handle and no part of this parenting experience will be too hard with His love and guidance. Caleb is a blessing from God and we are so thankful to have him here!

He's HERE!

Wow! So much has happened in one week!

It all started with my last day of teaching last Thursday. I had planned to work up until Spring Break and then start my maternity leave, which I will take until mid-May. After wrapping things up at school and leaving some very sad little kiddos, I headed to the doctor for what was going to be my last visit. When I was talking with the doctor, I explained how I was finally done with work and now had begun my maternity leave. Fortunately, this first week of the leave is Spring Break so I don't have to use any sick or unpaid days. Needless to say, I wanted to make the most of this week and have my baby with me...rather than just sitting around waiting for him to come! Being that she is such an awesome doctor she said right away that she'd be fine with inducing labor. The idea sounded great, but reality had also set in that I was soon going to be a mommy. After some back-and-forth decision making, Tyler and I said we'd go ahead and set our induction for Friday morning. That gave me just one afternoon to finish getting everything ready at home and one night of good sleep before the big arrival!

Well, much to my surprise, God and little Caleb had other plans. After laying my head down and finally falling asleep (which is very hard to do when you're nervously waiting for the morning to come), my water broke! I woke up and instantly yelled downstairs to Tyler. After about a half hour of crazy emotions and running around getting stuff together, we headed to the hospital. We checked in at about 11:30 and the long night began. My contractions were not regular enough, so they began to give me pitocin, which speeds up the process and forces the body to have regular contractions. Unfortunately, pitocin is also very strong and makes for some intense contractions, so I was ready for the epidural as soon as they could give it. The epidural took quite awhile to kick in because the doctor had some issues with giving me just the right dosage. So, for about an hour out of the 7 hour labor process, I felt some relief. By a little after 5:00 I was ready to start pushing and at 5:57am little Caleb was here! He weighed in at 6 pounds 15 ounces and was 20 inches long.

By the time it was over, I was completely exhausted considering how little sleep I had gotten. I've never relied so much on adrenalin. Thankfully, my wonderful husband, mom, and sister gave me tons of support the whole night and were there to share in the joy of Caleb's arrival into the world. We all spent the first few hours just amazed at what an adorable and tiny miracle he was. My dad joined us a little while later and it was the best feeling to have my whole family together to celebrate such an awesome experience. By mid-morning, everyone left and it was the first time Tyler, Caleb, and myself were together as just our own, small family (minus our four-legged friend, who we missed a lot while at the hospital). There are no words to describe how cool that moment was!

Over the next few days, the stay at the hospital was amazing! The entire experience was great and we were so blessed to have such helpful and caring nurses. It was wonderful to just sit around, relax, and have other people help ease the transition into parenthood! We had several visitors stop by over the weekend and it was great to have their company. By Sunday, we were finally released from the hospital and were excited to head home. We spent Easter Sunday at home with my family and enjoyed the help we had from my mom, dad, and sister.

Since our arrival home, things have been getting better each day. Caleb is such a good baby and he is content 95% of the time. If he is fussy, it's pretty much because of the basic reasons: hunger, gas, or dirty diapers...so it isn't hard to calm him down. Feeding has been our biggest obstacle, but we're making progress day by day. I've wanted to throw in the towel several times with the whole breastfeeding process, but I know it's just something that takes time. Fortunately, Tyler and my mom are the most supportive and amazing people in the world. I couldn't have asked God for two better people to share these beginning ups and downs with. I love watching Tyler as a dad and seeing how much love he has for his little boy. It is also so cool to watch my mom as a grandma...something she has been waiting for patiently over the past few years. Grandpa Rob has seemed to slowly warm up to his new title. My dad isn't one to show much emotion, so I consider those moments quite special when he is holding Caleb and forming a special bond. It has also been awesome to see my sister take on a new role as Auntie Tracy (or T-T as she might end up being called). Although we have our share of disagreements and probably have one of the biggest love-hate relationships two sisters could ever have, this experience has brought a whole new meaning to our sisterhood. I just wish she could be closer and take a job up here rather than in Champaign. I don't want her to miss out on a single moment with her new little nephew.

That's about it for now! I know there will be plenty of blogs to come as we continue to experience new things with Caleb. I hope everyone reading this is doing well and enjoying the beginning signs of Spring. It will be so nice to finally have warmer weather and sunshine on a consistent basis!

Auntie Tracy

"Uncle" Dean Cousin Ben Daddy
Grandpa Rob

It's A Boy!!!

This is the first official picture of little baby Sturm! We found out this past week at our first ultrasound that we are having a boy. Tyler is super excited and has already begun to talk about all of the fun "boy" things that we have to look forward to. As a future mom, I'm not nearly as concerned about the gender...I'm just satisfied knowing that the baby is healthy and developing as it is supposed to. All in all, we're both psyched about parenthood and can't wait to meet our little boy!

Farewell to Our First Home

There is no doubt that the last month has been an incredibly busy one for the Sturm family. In early October, we got a very unexpected surprise when an offer was made on our house. We had really become pretty content with the thought that nobody was going to come along in the near future to buy our house, so this came as quite a shock! In the market today, especially with a townhouse in the Joliet/Shorewood area, it would have been silly not to accept the offer and just deal with the chaos that would come with packing and moving in a very short time period. Needless to say, we survived three weeks of packing each night after long days at work and spending our weekends house hunting. Fortunately, the packing was successful...unfortunately, the house hunting was not quite as successful. We are very blessed, however, to have a wonderful Mom and Dad Lamont who have taken us in for the time being as we continue the search for a new house. It's already been wonderful having a much shorter drive to work and having the company of my parents and their two dogs. Chesney is loving her stay here with her best pal Ginger and grandparents who spoil her with several walks a day.

So for now, we've left our first home behind and are excited about what the future holds. It was a very sad and emotional day when we said our goodbyes to 546 Meadow Lily, but we know that God has another perfect house for us. We were blessed with 2+ years of memories living in our former house and so many of our "firsts" as husband and wife happened in that home. Some of our favorite memories (since the two of us have been fairly reflective throughout this whole moving process) include painting every single wall, acquiring a house full of stuff after initially moving in with just a couch, bringing home our first "kid" Chesney to the house and being patient as she chewed up several things including a door, decorating for Christmas each year, our frequent egg throwing contests off the balcony into the open field to the side of our house, Tyler locking himself out on the balcony when he was home alone, and of course meeting our wonderful neighbors Justin and Suzanne. We thank God for those memories (and so many more) and will cherish them forever. It's exciting to know that so many more memories will come along as we move on into the next chapter of our lives in a new home. Regardless, we have really been reminded through all of this that it is not all of the walls and stuff inside that matter, but the people within the house who truly make it a home.