2 months old!

Today is Silas' 2 month birthday!! We celebrated as a family by going to Van Dee's, a little mom & pop ice cream parlor near our house. Silas had a wee little taste of ice cream. I was hesitant to give him too much. He kinda made a face and pushed it back out with his tongue. Oh well, I tried. :)

Not much else to say other than HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SWEET SILAS!

Ben Ricketts

Many of you heard about or read about the 22-month old, Ben Ricketts, that accidentally got a cord wrapped around his neck. It was all over facebook - pleas for prayer, people following the story, prayer chains going around, etc. The story sucked me in immediately and I prayed along with 48,000 others for 10 long days as Ben clung to his precious life. After 10 days, Ben went home to be with Jesus. It was devastating news for his family and the many people that had joined together on facebook to pray for him. It leaves many of us asking "why?". Why did God choose to take the life of a vibrant little boy? We may never know the answer.

It amazes me that even after this little boy's life ended, thousands more "joined" the request for prayer - the number is now over 50,000 people that are/were praying for Ben. I hope that you will join Jake and I in praying for Ben's family. Ben has two older brothers and new baby sister. His parents, Dave and Stephanie, are not only grieving the loss of Ben, but are now trying to continue moving on with their other children and will be facing many medical bills in the future.

If you'd like to make a contribution to Ben's family and/or read his story, please go to: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/benjaminricketts

I think of Ben's family when I read 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 which says, "Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." As you read his Dad's journal, you'll see that he continually prays for God's Will to be done. He knows early on that if Ben dies, he will go to be with Jesus and takes comfort in that. We have so much to learn from Ben's father, Dave. As he mourns the loss of his son, he gives thanks even though he may not understand the "why". That really challenges me. I've never experienced the loss of a child, but even in the daily trials I face, do I give always give thanks? Do I pray continually? Am I joyful always? The answer is no.


Matthew 5:4
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

Happy birthday to MY Daddy!

HAPPY 55th BIRTHDAY, DAD!!! Gosh, it doesn't seem like it was that long ago that we were celebrating Dad's birthday and he was in his 30's! Time flies! Dad turned 55 today (sorry for posting your age, Dad). I thought when you turned 55 you started getting senior citizen discounts. Evidently not. Huh. Anyway, gives him something to look forward to when he turns 62...or 65, whatever the age is.

Anyway, we celebrated by taking Dad to an ICubs game last night. It was a great {hot} evening for a game. The ICubs won and Silas did pretty well. Once Dad finally got to hold Silas, I'm not sure what he watched more - Silas or the game. :) It was fun to get out all together and enjoy the warmer weather!

Jake and I got a little bit of a baby break while my family passed Silas around. It's nice to have a picture of us as a couple again. :)






Kellee and Silas talking out in the deck. Isn't this cute? I love it!



I LOVE LOVE LOVE this picture! My Mom looks SO gorgeous!!


Silas recognizes me finally and smiles! Here we are just have a great time laughing at each other!

7 weeks

Silas is 7 weeks old today!! It's so hard to believe. Everyone has told me that time flies and it is SO true! Silas is growing so much. He is SOOO chubby - we're talking bicep, forearm, and wrist rolls, folks. His sweet cheeks are so kissable and squishy and I love them!!

He is so smiley...who doesn't love a big, toothless grin? :) He is especially smiley first thing in the morning and right after I nurse him. He loves to flirt with his mommy! Silas also is starting to use his voice more and more (and I'm not just talking about crying!). We sometimes get a little (almost) giggle, sometimes a grunt, sometimes a little squeal of delight. I just love his noises and watching him smile. It is truly joyful!!





Silas got his first onsie cut off today. :( I brought him home from the gym and picked him up from the car seat only to realize he had poop up to his shoulder blades. There was no way to get it off him without smearing poop up and over his head so I did the paramedic cut and cut him out of it. Bummer...it was a cute one too that said "My Mom Rocks". Oh well. We have plenty of clothes. I really am in awe of the velocity at which poop comes shooting out of his bum and the speed at which it hits things....the wall....the diaper....me....the cat (just kidding).

Jake's brother, sister-in-law, and nieces came to visit us last week. Their girls are SO stinkin' cute and make me so excited for Silas to be more interactive. Here's a picture of them with Silas.



In other news - our besties, Chris and Marcie Ward had a baby girl yesterday!!! They had a girl named Vivian Iris Ward, weighing exactly a pound less than Silas did. This is huge news, friends... this is Silas' future bride here. We had an agreement with Chris and Marcie - either we'd have boys and they'd be best friends, or they'd have a girl and we'd work out an arranged marriage. :) Guess we'll be hearing wedding bells in our future! CONGRATS CHRIS AND MARCIE! We're totally excited for them and can't wait for future Disney trips!

That's all for now! I'll be sure to update you with the next big poop story! :)

3am feeding

Silas woke up this morning around 3:15am for a feeding and was bright-eyed and bushy tailed until about 4:45-5am. Wow. That has never happened before where we couldn't get him back to sleep because he was wide awake in the middle of the night...and I definitely hope it doesn't happen again (but really...it's bound to happen again at some point). Anyway, as I was trying to quietly and gently rock him back into a sleepy state, he began giving me HUGE grins and a "HUH" like a little laugh. It gave me the giggles which seemed to make him do it again and again. How could I be frustrated or irritated at all hours of the night when I was this beautiful boy grinning and giving me an [almost] laugh? It was pretty cute.

Silas and I hit up the farmer's market this morning for a couple hours which was so fun. I'd been looking forward to it all week. I so wish I had a picture of us, but it was just the two of us and I had him in his Baby Bjorn carrier so we didn't get a picture. He slept the whole time. There were many people oo-ing and ahh-ing over him. Many people stopped me to ask how old he was or simply just to get a closer look. I love showing off this little boy! We met up with a few people from the ER to say hi and made it home in time for his next feeding. We wanted Daddy to come with us, but he had to work. :( Maybe one of these days we'll kidnap him from work on a Saturday morning to go with us!

Jake is still doing well - adjusting to fatherhood and continuing to do well at work. We all hate the long hours he has to work, but he doesn't really have a choice. He is forever going over business plans for this or that, trying to find a way to make a lot of money but still be home more. :) I admire his work ethic and his desire to provide for our family. He really tried hard to squeeze in 9-18 holes of golf just about every week. Tomorrow morning he and a friend have a tee time of 6:30am...crazy guys. Guess we'll still be able to make it to church! :)

My 1st Mother's Day

"If one feels the need of something grand, something infinite, something that makes one feel aware of God, one need not go far to find it. I think that I see something deeper, more infinite, more eternal than the ocean in the expression of the eyes of a little baby when it wakes in the morning and coos or laughs because it sees the sun shining on its cradle". -Vincent van Gogh

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The moment a child is born, the mother is also born. She never existed before. The woman existed, but the mother, never. A mother is something absolutely new". ~Rajneesh

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Yesterday was my very first Mother's Day! It was such a great day - we went to church, ate at the Cheesecake Factory, took a little nap and then I was off to the gym for my first big workout since Silas had been born!! I ran 3 miles and lifted weights for about 30 minutes. Needless to say, I'm SO SORE today! But it felt amazing! Jake also picked up the house and Silas was in bed, asleep by 9:30 (he then woke up for a feeding at 10pm, but hey...it was success!). Whoo-hoo! We attempted to get a "nice" picture before church but it just didn't happen. So in an attempt to get a first Mother's Day picture with my boy, it had to be done after my run when he was happy and pleasant. So excuse the runner's hair, but I think the picture is perfect. It completely captures the perfection of the day - getting a run in and being with Silas (and Jake) -- so I love it. Jake and Silas (and the cats, of course!) got me a wonderful bouquet of tulips, a sweet card, and a beautiful necklace with Silas' name on it. Here is a picture of Silas and the cats with the flowers.
Silas decided this morning at 2am that he didn't need to be on his "good boy" behavior so as I was changing him, he began to poop. Of course I put a wipe up to his little tush to catch it...NOT smart - who blocks the poop from coming out? It then has no where to go except straight out both sides of the wipe. So there was poop on the wall, on the changing table, all over the changing pad, on Silas... we had to call Daddy in to help. :) What a way to end Mother's Day! Ha!

The rest of these pictures are some of my favorites from the past week, Silas at 5 weeks. He IS changing and growing so much. He's over 11 pounds now and smiling and making cooing noises. We're really starting to get a hang of this and it's made for such a happy baby. For the most part, Silas is pretty happy and pleasant which is such a blessing! It makes it so much more enjoyable for Jake and I when we can enjoy him and see him happy.








Happy boy!


Big Stretch



"Hey Ma!"




Talkin' with Daddy




"Peace" - look at the fingers!

Open house for Silas

What a WONDERFUL weekend!! Jake and I took Silas home to Iowa City for a long weekend where he got to spend lots of time with my parents and my grandparents and got to meet his Grandpa Brennan and Grandma Mary. It was so much fun to see Brennan and Mary's reaction and watch them love on him! I thought it was precious watching Mary with Silas. She was so good with him and even made an extra trip over to my parent's house Saturday to see him just because she had a 30 minute break from yard work! :) It seemed like she couldn't get enough of him and it melted my heart!!

Jake's parents and my parents hosted an open house for our Iowa City friends to meet Silas too this past weekend and it was SO MUCH FUN! So many of our friends stopped by to meet Silas and wish us well. It's so great to see friends loving on your baby and confirming how cute he is. Of course we think he's wonderful but like I've said before...it's nice to have a third party confirm. :) My Mom took some great pictures too so be sure to check those out below. Thank you to everyone who came out to meet Silas! Your efforts to meet him and/or see him again are so appreciated. We think of so many of you as extended family and love seeing you!

I really must say, I am reeeeeally growing fond of this little boy. I was telling someone at the open house how hard the few couple weeks were for me. No one tells you that the first couple weeks aren't very fun. I remember looking at Jake and saying, "Okay, I'm done playing house. This isn't fun." It's rough. Really rough. A shock to your entire system - your body, your emotions, your relationships with everyone {especially your hubby}, your home life, your social life, your EVERYthing. Like I said, no one tells you that you may question what in the world you were thinking when you wanted a baby. BUT it does get better, like many people have told me. I take so much joy in watching this little boy grow, learn, discover, smile, "talk", sleep, eat, swing.... He is my little buddy. As long as we're sticking somewhat close to his schedule, he is great to take shopping, to lunch, etc.

So without making you wait longer, here are pictures of my little man at 4.5 weeks {because really, I'm sure you just look at this to see the pictures!} :)