Casey at the Blog

A Weekend Getaway...at the BEACH!

2012-01-16T21:19:00.017-06:00

We had the amazing opportunity this past weekend to go to Florida for the long weekend. My parents, who are both retired now, decided to spend the month of January there and they flew us down for a weekend. We had such a wonderful time! We decided it was the perfect mix of beach, shopping, eating and relaxing! It was a great 3 1/2 days and we couldn't thank my parents enough for allowing us this opportunity.

When we arrived in Florida Friday afternoon, we dropped our stuff off at my parents rented duplex and headed straight to the beach. It was literally a block and a half down the street so we were able to walk there. We went to the beach in North Carolina when Hannah was six months old, but this was her first real experience. She took her sand toys and was off! She immediately loved digging, covering, looking for seashells and walking on the sand. Here is her first few moments at the beach.

We sat Cameron down in the softer sand and he immediately decided to try to eat the sand or whatever else he could put his hands on (this was a common recoccurance throughout the trip). Right before we left the beach that afternoon, we put him on the harder sand near the ocean and this is what happened...This is the first time he has ever crawled the correct way and headed straight for the ocean! He didn't seem to mind the sand or waves and had a good time crawling around. That evening, we went to a local fish place and had our first taste of fresh seafood. It was really yummy!

The next day was going to be cloudy and cooler so we decided to go to park that our friends told us about and then shopping at one of the two outlet malls. Here is Hannah playing on the huge playground the park had. She had a lot of fun swinging, sliding, climbing and moving.

Cameron had his first taste of a swing (since he was just a few months old) and loved it! I forsee many days at the park this spring and summer!

The rest of Saturday we shopped til we dropped at the outlet mall. There were a ton of great deals on both kids clothes and adult clothes. They already had a lot of winter stuff for sale which is great because it's still winter in Illinois. We were thankful that my mom and dad drove so they can bring the rest of the stuff home with them! It was a fun day and the kids did so great with shopping all day!

Sunday was going to be the pick weather day so we were going to spend the majority of it at the beach. We had a nice leisurely morning, ate a quick lunch, and headed down the street to the beach. It was warm enough for swimsuits this day and we took full advantage of getting some much needed Vitamin D! Our beach babe had a blast! She loved playing with Poppy in the sand and also walking along the edge of the water, even though it was a little chilly. She liked to jump over the "yittle waves" and find "kitty cat paw" seashells.

Cam spent most of his day trying to eat the sand, seashells, leaves, etc. that he could. Every time we would try to clean him off, he would look like this again...

It was a lost cause! He finally tuckered out and took a nice nap in the shade behind the chairs. This boy loves the outdoors! I think pool days this summer are going to be a ton of fun!

Tim wasn't with us on this day (he was at the tattoo parlor adding to one of his tattoos), but we did get one pic of the kids and I.

It was such a great day and overall a great weekend! We are doing a family vacation with my parents to South Carolina this summer and I know the kids will have so much fun at the beach and in the ocean. We are so thankful to my parents for sharing a weekend of their Florida trip with us. It is exactly what the Casey family needed!

A Fine Nine Months

2012-01-04T21:18:00.004-06:00

Our mister man is nine months old and getting bigger every day! At his nine month check up, he weighed in at 25 lbs. 3 oz. (97th percentile) and was 30.5" (96th percentile). That confirms our thoughts that he is our BIG BOY! So, he is only 6 pounds heavier and about 6 inchese shorter than Hannah, his big sister by over 2 years! If he were to stay close to these percentiles, the doctors say he will be around 6 ft. 5 in. or so! Other than that, Cam still continues to be a great baby! He is loving his daddy right now and wants to be around or with Tim whenever he can. He is also experiencing a little seperation anxiety when whoever is with him leaves the room, even for a moment. He is eating great -- takes 4-6 oz. bottles and eats all table food at meals. Like his big sister, he loves mac and cheese and applesauce, but eats anything we put in front of him. He continues to move all over the place, but still isn't officially crawling on his hands and knees. That doesn't stop him though! He gets wherever he wants...and pretty quickly! He also is starting to cruise around furniture so my gut says he will be walking by or close to his 1st birthday. He still sleeps well for him getting up around 6:30 to 7:00 each morning and going to bed between 7 and 8 each evening. He usually takes a short 45 minute morning nap and a longer 2-2 1/2 hour nap in the afternoon. My favorite thing about Cam is his happy personality and his smiles and laughter. When he gets going, especially if it's something that Hannah is doing, he just doesn't stop. He gets so excited and moves his legs and arms around like crazy! He also is working on doing "So big!" while raising his arms above is head! This has been such a fun month and I know it will just continue as we inch towards his 1st birthday!

Peech Dool!

2012-01-03T21:18:00.002-06:00

For those of you that don't speak Hannah language, that is "speech school" and today was her first official day. We have been talking about going for a few days and this morning, that is exactly what Hannah was yelling in excitement. Yes honey, and that is why you are going...because you call it "peech dool!" I know one of these days, she will say all her words correctly and this will be another memory of her growing up. She was so excited when she got to school and went straight to Mrs. Beer, her therapist, and walked down the hall. Such a big girl! Whatever happens next year with preschool, I think she will be ready! Here is our big girl with her new bookbag for speech school!

Hannah is Three!

2011-12-30T21:17:00.005-06:00

Our baby girl is three today! It is hard to imagine, but we are loving this next phase with our daughter. Well, most of the time! :-) Here are some highlights of Hannah's life right now.

Check-up: At Hannah's 3 year check up, she weighed in at 31 lbs. (60th percentile) and is 37 in. (40th percentile). She continues to be a healthy little girl who has rarely gotten sick.

Friends: We have really enjoyed watching Hannah interact with various friends in her life. Whether it's at the babysitter's house, gymnastics, church, small group, play groups and others, she loves hanging out with friends! Whenever we tell her that she has friends coming over or we are going somewhere to meet her friends, she always asks, "What friends names?" I love her caring personality and her openess with others. She is definitely learning how to be a good friend.

Eating: Hannah is still pretty good at eating a variety of food. She usually says, "Mommy, I like this" which is for both likes and doesn't like depending on what she is doing with her head. She does pretty good at eating meals, but also has developed a sense of snacking. She also continues to have a sweet tooth (like her Mommy) and is usually bargaining for a "treat" or "candy" either after a certain number of bites or after naptime. She seems to be growing well regardless!

Sleeping: Hannah is such a good sleeper still, even though her patterns have changed some. Most mornings, she is up around 5:30 or 6:00 and crawls in bed with us to watch "Tartoons." This isn't bad, except I wish she would figure out the difference between weekdays and weekends! :-) She still takes a nap that ranges from 2 1/2 hours to 3 hours each day. She can skip them if needed, but not for too many days in a row. She then heads to bed anywhere between 7:30 and 8:30 depending on that days events.

Speech: Well, for sometime my Mommy gut has told me that Hannah was not quite talking like I thought she should. After a few different evaluations, it's been determined that she has a slight delay in her expressive vocabulary and some articulation issues, some bigger and some smaller. She will start speech at Mascoutah Elementary School this coming week. She will have two 30 minute sessions a week in a small preschool group of three. I've heard that some speech issues are genetic, so she must take after her momma. We look forward to watching her progess in this area as she goes through speech therapy.

Independence: I know it comes with the terrority of being three, but we definitely have an independent daughter on our hands! We hear "By myself!" multiple times a day whether it's going to the bathroom (and now even the stall), putting on clothing items, reading her books, putting puzzles together and so much more! These are the times we love! Watching her grow and change in this way is so fun. Then there are times that stretch our patience and parenting. Again, while not as fun, it's something we are getting through and we make strides with each situation.

Fun Stuff: Hannah is just a fun, happy little girl! Yes, she has her moments where we are praying to God to help us parent her in the right way. But the majority of the time, things are going well. She is a great big sister to Cameron and we love watching them play together and interact (he LOVES his big sister!) She loves all things physical, especially gymnastics. She has recently moved up to the "big girl class" where she goes by herself and is doing great! Hannah likes to show off her moves at home any chance she gets! We have also loved watching her grow and learn at church each week. This fall, she officially started in the Awana program as a Cubbie and is doing so well! We read through her book and practice her memory verse and she is doing great! I love that every night we have to read a Bible story and she is starting to want to pray by herself. That makes this momma's heart smile! We love our spirited daughter and can't wait to see what the next year of life brings!

Meeska! Mouska! Minnie Mouse!

2011-12-27T08:41:00.002-06:00

Today, we celebrated Hannah's 3rd birthday with a day full of friends, family, food and fun! We started the day with Hannah's first friend birthday party. The theme was Minnie Mouse and it was so much fun to plan and host. Here is the birthday party girl with her Minnie Mouse birthday cake.

We had three of Hannah's friends over for the party. We started off by making Minnie Mouse bracelets out of buttons. They were super cute, but definitely more of a Mommy project than a 3 year old project. However, I think the Mommy's had fun making them!Then, we played "Pin the Flower on Minnie." We did blindfold the girls, but no spinning in this house. Most of the girls had fun and did a good job. The birthday girl didn't want to her close her eyes so her flower was the closest...stinker!

We ate some pizza, the girls played, then it was time for presents. Hannah got a lot of really cute things. The girls did a good job of watching Hannah, then they all wanted them opened so they could play with them. We gave Hannah a Minnie Mouse doll for her birthday party gift.It was then time for cake. Here are the girls waiting for me to cut the cake. This was my first time using a shaped pan. It didn't turn out too bad. I need to work on my icing -- I may need to make my own next year. Aunt NeeNee gets all the credit for the bow! It was our first time using gum paste and turned out pretty well.

After the party, it was time for Hannah to take a nap, even though she was pretty excited and didn't want to (then slept for almost 3 hours!) When she woke up, our families gave her a few more gifts. Tim and I bought her a new kitchen and everyone else bought various items to go with it -- food, pots & pans, dinnerware, etc. She was so excited when she came downstairs and saw her new kitchen!

We had such a fun day with our (almost) 3 year old! Our first friend party was a success and the day ended with all of our family around us to help us celebrate. Happy Minnie Mouse Birthday, Hannah!

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T22:22:00.014-06:00

Merry Christmas from the Caseys! We have had an absolutely fabulous day! Our morning started out by reading the Christmas story as a family in our bedroom. I hope that this tradition helps us to start our day with the right focus. When that was finished, Hannah couldn't wait to see if Santa had come last night (although she was very sad that Larry had to go back to the North Pole with Santa). She quickly discovered that Santa had come! He brought her and Cameron matching sleeping bags with their names on them, new books, a baby doll for Hannah (what she asked for) and a truck for Cam (what big sister asked for him). Also, stockings full of goodies!

Here they are checking out all their Santa stuff!

Then we moved onto opening presents from us. Each got three gifts from us symbolizing the gifts that the wisemen brought baby Jesus. Cam got a Scout, a singing soccer ball and a Lil Zoomers Construction toy.Hannah got a camera, puzzles and Candy Land -- which we have already played a few times!After a day of relaxing as a family, my mom and dad came over for Christmas dinner and more gifts. Dinner was delicious and we quickly finished because our almost three year old was ready for the gifts! We were able to snap a couple of quick pictures before we got started though!

Hannah had so much fun opening her gifts -- and helping Brubba, Mommy and Daddy open theirs!

Cam enjoyed crawling around, pulling up on whatever he could, playing with toys, and trying to eat paper!

They both got some really neat toys that I know they already love playing with! Hannah was the most excited about any sort of baby or doll and she especially loved getting matching jammies for her and her Bitty Baby -- they had to wear them tonight!

As I write this, I reflect on a perfect day. It was a mixture of honoring our Savior, experiencing Santa and gifts and most importantly our family. What a day!

Christmas Eve

2011-12-24T22:14:00.003-06:00

Today is Christmas Eve. We have spent most of the day preparing for upcoming meals with family and cleaning the house for visitors. But tonight, our Christmas begins. We met my parents for dinner at Olive Garden and then headed to church. Our church normally has a Saturday night service, and this year they are having identical services Saturday and Sunday. We decided to go tonight and be able to spend tomorrow morning together at home. The service was wonderful and was exactly the right way to begin our official Christmas. The sermon series has been entitled "Center Stage" and focused on how Jesus is the center of Christmas -- not just his birth, but his life and death as well. This Christmas, amongst the hustle and bustle of the season, we have tried to spend our free time as family, enjoying each other to the fullest. Yes, the magic of Larry our Elf and Santa has been so fun to watch, but the magic of Jesus far surpasses that. Every year, that is the true meaning and focus of Christmas and I hope we can continue to instill this in our children. What a great start to our Christmas festivities!

Wild Lights

2011-12-23T22:07:00.002-06:00

Our big activity for break today is to go check out some lights. Every year, the St. Louis Zoo has an incredible light display they call "Wild Lights." They also have the penguin exhibit open and activities for children throughout parts of the zoo as well. We haven't been in a few years, and decided to head on over to check it out this year. Although it was cold, it wasn't as bad as it could have been. We walked through the light display and hit up the penguins, but then decided to head on back home. Cam wasn't really feeling the stroller so Tim was holding him and Hannah was starting to get antsy. Even though, it was a great evening as a family experiencing something new. I think it is another must each Christmas season!

Christmas Treats

2011-12-22T21:52:00.002-06:00

On our first official day of break, our dear friends, the Kosters, came over for dinner. The fall has been super busy and we have not seen them in so long! We were so thankful to spend the evening with them catching up before everyone started their Christmas celebrations. When I was grocery shopping, I found this Rice Krispy Treat house kit to make and decorate and thought it would be a fun activity for Hannah and Talon to do. Talon didn't get into as much as Hannah, but I think they both had a good time decorating their houses (and eating them!) :-)

On our second day of break, Hannah and I worked on cookies for some of the helpful people in our life. We made peanut butter cookies, peanut butter and Hershey kiss cookies, and chocolate chip cookies. I also had some extra chocolate covered pretzels from when my students made them earlier in the week. We then made a little bag of goodies for our garbage man, the mail man and Hannah's gymnastic teachers. Hannah was so excited to work ond them and we watched all day for the garbage man so we could deliver them. It was such a fun experience and so nice to see the giving spirit begin in our precious daughter. I hope this is a tradition we can continue in the coming years!

Oh, and here is Cam hanging out in the kitchen while we work. I think he will be right in the action next year!

Larry the Elf

2011-12-13T21:46:00.004-06:00

We had a very special visitor this month -- Larry the Elf! Although Larry was up last year, Hannah wasn't old enough to really understand the concept. This year, she really got into it! She loved reading the story about our elf and she loved every morning getting up and looking to see where Larry was at. She would get so excited when she found him and yell, "Larry flew to Santa!" What fun to watch the magic of Christmas come alive in our daughter! This was such a fun tradtion and I can't wait until Larry comes back next year!

Old Fashioned Christmas

2011-12-10T21:34:00.002-06:00

I have always loved going to the Historic St. Charles to window shop and walk around. I knew they did a Old Fashioned Christmas throughout December, so today we loaded up and headed over for the morning. First of all, the decorations are beautiful with real garland all over the place. Then, they have about 30 different characters that walk around passing out their "trading cards" for the children to collect. At first, Hannah wasn't so sure, but soon she warmed up to the idea. They also have groups of carolers throughout the streets singing. We only stayed about an hour, but we will definitely be going back next year! What a great morning as a family spending time together!

Here are the first people we see -- Father Christmas from England and Pere Noel from France.
Then we also saw Mrs. Claus! Hannah was really excited about meeting her!

Our Great Eight Month Old

2011-12-04T21:09:00.003-06:00

This picture is so perfect because Cam is ALWAYS on the move!

Today, Cameron is eight months old! Wow! This was such a great month. One of the biggest highlights was that we finalized Cameron's adoption this month! We are so blessed that everything in the last seven months have gone smoothly and enabled us to officially call him a Casey. We also had a great time celebrating Thanksgiving with Tim's family and can't wait for Cam's first Christmas at the end of the month. Cameron continues to be our mighty boy who never ceases to amaze us with his strength. Although he still isn't crawling the "official" way, he gets himself all over the house in no time flat by moving around. He kind of looks like he is always doing the worm! He also is pulling up wherever and whenever possible. He doesn't know how to get down, so that results in falling a lot of times, but it doesn't even phase him! He just gets up and does it again. Although the time change was a little rough, he still sleeps great at night going to bed between 7:30-8 and getting up between 6:30-7:00. Naps are still hit and miss. He usually takes about a one hour nap in the morning and 2-2 1/2 hour nap in the afternoon. He still loves to eat -- which isn't a big surprise! He loves his bottle and gets so excited when he sees it! We are also pretty much done with puree food and doing table food whenever possible. We are also starting to introduce a sippy cup and trying to find which one will work the best for Cam. Cameron is also babbling up a storm and we love to hear his voice when he is "talking" to us. I can't wait to watch his words get more and more prevalent and hear his little voice come through. Overall, it was another fabulous month! Cameron Casey, thank you for being our sweet, fun loving, happy boy! We love you!

Girls Morning Out

2011-12-03T21:29:00.009-06:00

My mom treated Hannah and I to another year at the Big Bear Brunch today! As much fun as we had last year, this year was even better! We sat with some of our good family friends and enjoyed a morning of eating, playing, seeing characters and just having fun. Hannah seemed to enjoy the different stations and had fun decorating a cookie, making a picture holder, coloring and making a key chain with a bear charm on it. Most of all, Hannah LOVED seeing the characters this year, especially Elmo! Although she never did get a picture with him, every time she went to see him, she got closer and more excited. By the end, she even touched his nose and eyes! I think we have heard that every day since the Big Bear Brunch! We had such a fun morning and want to thank Nonnie for giving us this really special treat. What a great kick-off to the Christmas season!

Hannah and her new Build-a-Bear from the brunch.

Hannah with two of the princesses (the one in pink is a family friend we've known since she was born!)

Nonnie and Hannah

Mommy and Hannah

We are Grateful

2011-11-27T20:53:00.002-06:00

We had such a fabulous Thanksgiving and the days surrounding it. Tuesday evening we headed up to Kyle and Nikki's in Lake Mills, WI for 4 1/2 days of fun with Tim's family. As previously mentioned, we were super excited to meet our nephew, Jordan, for the first time! But we were also excited for some low key family days, watching the Pack on Thanksgiving, Black Friday shopping and seeing Tim's extended family. It was such a great few days and we made some great memories with Tim's family. Here is my favorite picture of the trip -- the whole Casey family ready to watch the Green Bay Packers.

The St. Louis Casey's have so much to be thankful for this year. We have a wonderful marriage that continues to get stronger every day. We can truly say that we are married to our best friend and love spending every day together. We have two beautiful, healthy, loving kids that make us more and more proud everyday. We are continually amazed that God has blessed us as their parents. We have family that continue to support us in all our decisions and love us despite our flaws. We have friends who are always there for us when needed, celebrate with us when good things happen, and share a love for God that keeps our bonds strong. We have jobs that not only provide for our family but that allow us to share God's love with those around us. There is so much more, so I will end in saying that simply, we are grateful. Happy Thanksgiving!

Uncle Tim & Aunt Liz

2011-11-23T20:46:00.003-06:00

Tim and I were so excited when we got the news that Tim's sister, Nikki and her husband were about to have their baby on November 11, 2011...yes, that is 11-11-11! We were even more excited when we got the text that Jordan Timothy Berg was born at 9:27 am, weighed 7 lb. 12 oz. and was 20.5 in. long. We loved seeing his precious picture on our phones and could not wait to get our hands on him during Thanksgiving! Kyle and Nikki graciously hosted Thanksgiving for Tim's immediate family so we spent lots of time with our new nephew, Jordan. We are so proud of Kyle and Nikki and thrilled that Hannah and Cameron have a new cousin.

Pull Ups

2011-11-21T20:41:00.005-06:00

So, it shouldn't really surprise me that our Mister Man decided to start pulling up at 7 1/2 months, even though Hannah was 9-10 months old when she did it. It just proves once again how stinkin' strong Cameron is! We are going to have a walker on our hands in no time! So crazy! Here is Cam standing in his crib -- right before we lowered it! :-)

Our Adoption Day

2011-11-19T19:52:00.002-06:00

Today is our Casey family adoption day! This morning, we headed to St. Louis for Cameron's finalization hearing and to make him an "official" member of the Casey family! We have been under the supervision of Bethany Christian Services for the last six months and that all ended today. It is also National Adoption Day so that makes our day extra special. One Saturday a year, St. Louis County opens up for Adoption Saturday for the sole purpose of adoption finalizations. They have three or four courtrooms open and that's all they do! Today, they did about 40! How awesome that so many families chose adoption for their families. This process has been so incredible for our family and clearly God's plan for us. We are so blessed that God chose Cameron to be our son and it feels great to have the whole process completed. We can't wait to see if God has more adoptions in store for our future. In the meantime, we love being the Casey family of four!

Bath Time for All!

2011-11-09T22:06:00.007-06:00

Up to this point, Cameron has basically tolerated getting cleaned at bath time. It usually consists of us dunking him in the tub long enough to clean him off while Hannah plays next to him. However, now that he is able to sit up better, tonight's bath time was much more fun. Cameron sat right next to Hannah and played the whole tim he was in the tub. Hannah quickly ga ve him a rubber ducky to chew on and he was set! I hope this is just the beginning of fun bath times between Hannah and Cam!

Oh, and of course our clean little ones all snuggled up in their towels. How cute is that?!?

The Big 3-0!

2011-11-05T21:59:00.002-05:00

Tim entered a new decade and turned 30 today! The original plan was to celebrate with some of our small group from church at one of Tim's favorite STL eateries as a surprise, however those plans changed when I needed my appendix out earlier in the week. Bummer! Instead, Hannah and I made yellow cupcakes with chocolate filling and chocolate icing and topped them off with a 3-0 candle. As soon as Hannah saw the set up, she couldn't wait for her Daddy to get home! She kept saying "Happy Birthday to Daddy" and "Surprise for Daddy" until Tim walked through the door. While it wasn't extravagant, we had a great family night at home celebrating Tim.

I am so thankful that Tim is in my life and beyond blessed to call him my husband. Our 20s were spent falling in love and beginning our family together. I can't wait to see what will come in our 30s! Tim, We love you so much!

Seven Months of Strength

2011-11-04T21:46:00.002-05:00

I feel like every month creeps up quicker than the last with our baby boy. And it seems like the constant theme with Cameron is his size and strength. We went to the doctor this week and our not-so-little guy weighs in at 23 lb. and 28 3/4" -- that is over the 90th percentile for both weight and height! Wow! He is going to pass up his big sister in no time! The doctor says that everything looks great and Cam is one healthy and happy boy. He also continues to amaze us with his strength and mobility. He sits unassisted all the time and very rarely falls over. He can even gracefully slide to his belly to start moving when ready. Speaking of moving, Cameron is everywhere! Although he still doesn't crawl the correct way, he scoots and drags himself all over the place without any problem at all. We have also had our first taste at sibling disagreements because Cameron is so active. He could have a plethera of his own toys, but nevertheless, he wants to play with Hannah's. Sometimes, this is not a problem, but at other times, it starts a small meltdown with his big sis. I think this is the first of many experiences we will encounter. Other than that, things are about the same. Cameron loves to eat his food and especially drink his bottle. He also babbles all the time and continues to be one loud baby! It will be fun to see how this continues in the coming months. It's been another great month and we look forward to the next!

There Once was a Princess and a Dragon

2011-10-31T21:36:00.004-05:00

I was really excited for Halloween this year becuase I thought it would be really fun to find some sort of "matching" costumes for the kids. While at a Carter's outlet one day, I saw some cute princess stuff on sale and decided we would have our very own fairy tale story of the princess and the dragon. I then found a super cute dragon costume at Gymboree (which I had a gift card for) and we were set! Our day started out with my parents bringing the kids to my school for the parade and my class party. Hannah and Cameron were the hit of the party and my 6th graders loved them! The weather was nice for the parade in which the kids peacfully rode along in the stroller. Then we headed upstairs to my classroom. Hannah got a plate full of goodies, and Cameron got passed around almost the whole time. They had a blast!

After naptime, some playing, and a Jack-O-Latern pizza, we were off to Trick-or-Treat. Again, we just did the short part of our culd-e-sac, but that was plenty for our fairy tale characters. Once we got home, Hannah enjoyed handing out candy about as much as getting it. It was a fun night and I think it will just get more and more fun every year!

I also have to add these two pictures of our "Adoraboo" son and "Little Pumpkin" daughter! Man...they both look so big!!!

The Quest for 11

2011-10-30T21:22:00.003-05:00

Our St. Louis Cardinals had quite the season this year and for us fans it was full of ups and downs. In August, our post-season hopes were slim and most fans were talking about next season. However, the Cards made a historic run and came from 10.5 games back and squeaked into the post-season as the Wild Card team. And it wasn't over there. The Cardinals continued to win each series and became the National League champions. Onto the World Series! It was an exciting series, especially game 6 which will live on in baseball history. After winning their 11th World Series, Cardinal Nation came out in full force for a celebratory parade. My parents and I went to this in 2006 and we decided it was a must for our family. This afternoon, we all made the trip downtown for the parade. My parents scoped out the beginning of the parade route, or actually the "pre-parade" route and it was a perfect spot for our family. He had a great time cheering on our Redbirds and seeing them with their families.

Six Month Stud

2011-10-04T21:08:00.003-05:00

Six months -- half a year -- I truly can't believe it! Cameron is starting to really come into his own personality. And it is one that we just love! For the most part, he is one happy, smiley, fun-loving boy. While he still gets fussy when he's over tired or ready to eat,. the rest of the time he is happy. What makes his personality really show are his expressions. He has the most expressive eyes that shine when he is happy! Cam is still our big boy! We don't go to the doctor until next month, but he is pushing just over 20 lbs. according to our estimate. Our son doesn't miss too many meals! Right now, he can squeeze into some 6-9 month clothes, but 12 month definitely fit better. He takes 4 bottles a day and each have 7 oz. for a total of 28/day. He also eats three meals a day including cereal for breakfast, and both a veggie and fruit for both lunch and dinner. He continues to sleep great at night going to bed around 7:30-8:00 and is up between 7:00-7:30 the next morning. Naps still aren't super consistent, but we get by with a short one in the morning and a longer one in the afternoon. Cameron also continues to amaze us with his strength. He is sitting up pretty well unassisted and only topples over when he is getting tired. He has also now figured out how to scoot himself across the floor to get where he wants go and what he wants in his hands. He will lift himself up into a push up position and propel his body forward to move. I don't think it really matters that he isn't "officially crawling" because I think he is going to start going fast here soon. We continue to be amazed at our beautiful baby boy and feel blessed to call him our son!

Football Fever

2011-10-01T20:40:00.005-05:00

We are sports family, no doubt, and it is always exciting when the football season begins, especially for Tim. While I will be the first to admit that I am ready for it to be over in February, I too enjoy the new seasons. Our favorite teams to cheer on are the Wisconsin Badgers, the Green Bay Packers and of course our alma mater, the WIU Leathernecks. Within the first few weeks, we had celebrated each of these teams.

Early in the Badger season, we headed up to Kyle & Nikki's so the four of us could go to Camp Randall and cheer on Wisconsin. Tim became friends with a season ticket holder after going to the Rose Bowl in January and she hooked us up with some tickets. It was a warm day in Madison, but we had tons of fun! Here are the four of us cheering "On Wisconsin!"

We also, of course, root for the Green Bay Packers. We didn't get a chance to cheer them on in person, but got a nice family picture of Tim, Hannah & Cameron all sporting their green and gold.

Finally, we made our annual trip to Macomb to meet up with our great college friends for WIU Homecoming. What a great weekend as always! This year, we stayed out at the Christian camp that some of our friends grew up at and stayed up way too late talking! The next day, our celebration continued with the homecoming parade, the football game, and eating at two of our favorite places. Here we are with some of our favorite people!

My Brubba!

2011-09-19T21:01:00.002-05:00

As Cameron continues to develop his little personality and gets a little older, it has been really fun watching Hannah interact with him. When he first started being able to sit up and "play" with her she exclamied, "Mommy, my brubba play with me!" While I know this excitement won't last forever, especially as Cameron playing means wanting Hannah's toys, I love watching my baby girl become a great big sister and completely love on her "brubba."

Apple's for All

2011-09-05T20:58:00.008-05:00

Today, we all had the day off! Tim has recently gotten a new job and will have to work some weekends. But, since it's Labor Day, we are all home. And, the weather has finally broken! So what better to do on a day off with perfect weather than to go to our local orchard, Eckert's. As soon as we told Hannah that we were going apple picking, she just kept saying, "Mommy, apples!" When we got to Eckert's, we started with a trip to the orchard to pick our own apples. As we were walking toward the tractor, we had the added bonus of running into my cousin, Liz, and her family from Harrisburg! It was so fun to visit for a bit while we were picking apples. Hannah had so much fun, even though she dropped a few while trying to reach for them. We even had a couple while we were walking around. Cam, on the other hand, enjoyed hanging out in the sling and walking around with Mommy. He was super content all day and loved being outside in the beautiful weather! After picking, we bought some apple goodies from the Country Store. I am so excited to have fresh apple crisp this week, some red hot stewed apples and fresh apple cider -- my favorite fall foods! After shopping, we had lunch at the cafe. It was delicious! It was truly the most perfect fall, family day. We are looking forward to more fall activites over the next few months!

Hannah ready for Mommy to put the apples in her bag -- Cam hanging out!

"Apples, myself, Mommy!"

Yummy apples!

Our Family at Eckert's -- September 2011

Five Months of Fun

2011-09-04T20:43:00.001-05:00

Our big boy is 5 months today! This has been another super fun month. Cameron's personality continues to come through. He is so laid back and go-with-the-flow and such a happy baby! He loves to laugh -- especially at his big sister. It is so fun to watch the continued interactions between the two. Once Hannah realizes she is making Cam laugh, she hams it up even more! Her favorite way to get him going is by jumping off of things -- and the higher the better. Cameron continues to be a great sleeper and is really settling into a good schedule with naps and nighttime sleep. He also LOVES to eat! His favorite foods right now are any fruits and orange veggies. He wasn't too keen on green veggies at first, but he slowly is getting better with them. Another new development this week is that he is rolling both ways now! He's been doing front to back for quite sometime, and just a couple of weeks ago figured out how to get all the way from his back to his tummy. We find him this way most mornings when we get him up. We also have a first-class drooler on our hands. I think he could cut teeth at any time, so we are just waiting to see when it will happen. We have had a great month with our son! Can't wait for the next one!

This is what happens....

2011-08-27T20:37:00.005-05:00

when Bruba is sleeping and Mommy is trying to clean!

As I was trying to pick up a little, Hannah got out her markers and coloring books and went to town. Then proceeded to give herself some "tattoos." I turn around and she yells, "Mommy....Wook!" Oh, boy! I love our artistic little girl!

Back to Reality

2011-08-15T22:00:00.000-05:00

After an extended summer break (I've been home since Cameron's court date), it's time to head back to school. We have had such a wonderful summer and I couldn't have asked it to be any better. For the last few weeks, I've been going up to school a couple of days to get my classroom ready and prepare myself for the year. The kids went to Ms. Sarah's so I could work without distraction. It was good for me and especially to start easing them back into the school routine. I always get excited to start a new year. Here our my own kids posing with mom as we start another year.

Mascoutah Homecoming

2011-08-07T21:39:00.001-05:00

Every year, Mascoutah has a Homecoming celebration which includes rides, foods, parades and so much more. Last year, we just stuck to the parades, but we decided to also try the rides this year. Since doing rides is much more fun with friends, we asked if my good friend, Melissa, and her son Jackson (Hannah and Jackson are the same age and go to the sitter together) to go with us. Here are the kids on a "date" to the Homecoming. It was extremely hot that afternoon and we didn't last too long, but the kids did get go on a few rides. Here are Hannah and Jackson driving some cars. Jackson wasn't super fond of the rides, but he did start to like this one a little.

That night we went up town to watch the parade. There were a lot of people, tractors, and candy! it didn't take Hannah too long to figure out how to get candy when people threw it. It was a fun evening and the Casey family enjoyed another Mascoutah Homecoming!

Our Fabulous Four Month Old!

2011-08-04T20:44:00.002-05:00

That's right, Cameron is already four months old! We can't believe it either! Cam continues to be our big boy! He is wearing 6-9 month clothes and some of those onesies are even getting a little snug. Cam is eating 4 times a day with each bottle being between 7-8 ounces. He has also started eating rice cereal and we are beginning to introduce fruits and vegetables. So far, he is loving his solid food! He also continues to be one strong little guy! He rolls from front to back and almost has himself going from back to front. He loves to be on his belly! He pulls himself right up to his forearms and wants to check everything out! Cameron continues to be a happy baby! His personality shines through more and more everyday. One thing that we hear the most from people is how attentive he is, especially with his facial expressions. We love watching his eyes! I know there are many more months ahead of watching that personality come alive! We have had an awesome four months with our man and continue to thank God every day for bringing Cameron to our family!

Update: I wrote this before I had Cam's 4 month stats. At the doctor, he weighed in at 19 lbs. 2.5 oz (96th percentile) and measured 26 1/2 inches (88th percentile). The doctor says he looks great and is doing really well! :-)

Our Little Gymnast

2011-08-03T21:11:00.001-05:00

Since our first round of gymnastics over the winter, we knew that Hannah loves it! After a break this spring, we decided to sign up again for the summer. We switched to a morning class which gave both of us something to look forward to each week. We were also able to go with some friends I teach with and their daughters. Hannah enjoyed seeing her friends each week at class. It was definitely one of our favorite days of the week! Hannah would wake up every Wednesday and start yelling "Na-Ni!" (her word for gymnastics). I have really enjoyed watching her get better every week. Not only are her skills improving, but she is also learning to listen to her teacher and follow directions. By this winter, she will be in the "big girl" class by herself. She wasn't being extremely photogenic on this day, but these were still good shots of our little gymnast.

One of her favorite things to do each week was climb and jump. Hannah loves going as high as possible and jumping off. She isn't scared one bit! This is one of the balance beams for the little ones. Hannah got pretty confident on them throughout the summer. She even started letting go the last little bit and walking by herself.

This was another big accomplishment that Hannah made this summer. Over the winter, she would only go up a couple of the rungs of this fireman's ladder. By the end of the summer, she made it to the top, over it (with some help from me) and down the other side. What a big girl!

We are already signed up for the next session. I can't wait to see the growth Hannah make over the next 10 weeks!

Santa Claus in July?!?

2011-07-25T14:32:00.000-05:00

Santa Claus, Indiana that is! We made one last trip of the summer and headed to Holiday World. I had heard about Holiday World last year and we decided to give it a try this summer. Then we asked our dear college friends, the Gorsch's, to join us for the weekend. Once they said they could, we started planning for our mini-weekend vacation.

We arrived at the Santa's Cottages cabins Saturday afternoon. We were in a 2-bedroom cabin that was really nice. It had a full kitchen, living area, 2 bathrooms, back patio with a grill and a fire pit. Once we were unloaded, the dads ran into town to get the last few groceries we needed and the moms took the kids to explore the grounds. Here are the five kiddos before we set off.

Cameron (4 mo.) & Hannah (2 1/2 yrs.) Casey, Sadie (4 yrs.), Kinnick (2 1/2 yrs.) & Macey (1 1/2 yrs.) Gorsch Our first stop was Elf Pond where the kids got to feed the fish.

Then we made it to the play area that was equipped with a HUGE sandbox and sand toys, a little play house, horse tire swings and a playground. Here is Hannah and Sadie sitting in front of the play house.

Hannah also liked swinging on the tire swings.

After playing, we came back to the cabin to have a cook out of hamburgers and hot dogs, cheesy potatoes and corn. Although it was really hot outside, Marc made us a fire so the big kids could make smores after bath time. Here is Hannah and I waiting to make our marshmallow.

We started off bright and early on Sunday to head to Holiday World. We decided to do the amusement park first, then come home for lunch, then back for the water park and finally finish up with whatever we had left of the amusement park. It was really, really hot and it took us a bit to get into a groove. But, we covered a large section in the morning before our lunch break.

Hannah and I on the carousal - a nice mild ride that Hannah loved.

Then, at Holidog Town, there was a little roller coaster that Hannah could ride with me. It was a little bumpy and faster than I expected, but I think Hannah enjoyed it.

We also rode the Eagle's Flight before we had our lunch break.

We headed home for lunch and air conditioning. We wanted to have the kids rest a bit since we were hoping to make it until the park closed at 8:30. After a couple of hours, we put on swim suits and headed to the water park!

Here are all the kids with Santa Claus!

And the Casey Family.

The water park was really awesome! We didn't quite get to experience the whole thing. There were a ton of areas for the kids to play in. All of us enjoyed the lazy river at one time and we also took turns taking the bigger kids down the slides they could go in. The daddys even got to go on a couple of big people slides while Kristina and I had the kids going down a new area of all little slides. We definitely could have spent a whole day just at the water park!

Here is a nice self-portrait of the Casey family hanging out at the water park.

After we dried off and changed clothes, we went back to the amusement park for a few more rides. We covered a lot of the parks, but probably could have spent a few more hours there. We came home, made homemade pizza, bathed the kids and put them to bed. It was a long day, but tons of fun! We enjoyed hanging out with Marc & Kristina after the kids went to bed. It was great to have adult time as well.

We are so blessed to have friends like the Gorsch's in our lives. Our friendships have grown over the past 10 years and continue to do so everytime we get to hang out. It's awesome that now our kids are growing up and getting to see each other every few months. Thank you, Gorsch's, for taking this vacation with us. We can't wait to do it again sometime!

We're Off to the Zoo!

2011-07-11T09:42:00.003-05:00

This past weekend we were able to spend some time with our dear friends Marc & Kristina, their kids and Marc's brother's family from Colorado. They were all on the way to spend some time wtih Marc & Nathan's parents and made a stop in St. Louis. We were glad to help out and open up Hotel Casey for a couple of nights. Saturday morning, we were up and ready to head to the zoo! It was a warm day, but the kids seemed to have fun. This is the whole crew! And the only shot of everyone all day. With seven kids seven and under, two strollers and a wagon, we didnt' take a ton of pictures becuase we were all helping out with the kids. It was a fun time, though, and we did see a lot of animals. When we were done, we went to Pujols 5 for a late lunch. Tim & I had never been there so we had a great time. We spent some time together during the evening and finished our weekend with a cook out on Sunday after church. It was a really great time to see Marc & Kristina and their kiddos and even more to get to know Nathan & Cori and their kids as well.

A Trip Up North

2011-07-05T09:17:00.014-05:00

We made a long weekend out of the Fourth of July and headed up to Minnesota/Wisconsin for some time with Tim's family. We decided to break up our trip and left Thursday afternoon for Marion, IA to stay with our dear friends Any & Lindsey Knopp and meet their adorable new son, Liam, who is a month old. It was too short of a visit, but absolutely great to see them and meet baby Liam.

Friday morning we were off for day 2 of traveling and made it to Minnesota by lunch time. After a quick lunch, we all went to the Plainview pool so Hannah could swim her little heart out (her favorite summer activity!). They have a great kids pool and she felt right at home. Kyle and Nikki arrived later that day and we went out to dinner. It was a great start to our time together.

Saturday was a low key day of playing and just being together. Hannah made breakfast with Nana in her new apron and chef hat from Nana. She is definitely our little cook and baker!
We went back to the pool that afternoon since Aunt Ni Ni wasn't there yesterday. We came back and grilled out and Hannah and Cameron played on Nana & Papa's swing set. Here is our little man swinging away.Sunday was a busy day -- so much that I didn't take a lot of pictures that day. We started out at church and then made our way to Wisconsin for a dual family get together. First, we had a baby shower for Nikki. Yes, our kids our going to have their first baby cousin born this November! We are all so excited for Nikki & Kyle. The family got together to shower Nikki with some wonderful baby gifts. After a short break, the men of the family joined in and we had a really nice barbecue to Meet & Greet baby Cameron. Ken & Delaine did a great job putting it together and we were so thankful to get to visit with a lot of family that live in the area!

We decided to leave the afternoon of the fourth and head to Kyle & Nikki's to help break up our return trip home. So that left us with the morning to have some more fun with Nana & Papa. They took us to this great toy store near them. There was a nice little bench to take some photos of us. Here is our family ready for the Fourth of July!

Next up was Nana & Papa with the grandkids.

Then Aunt Ni Ni with her niece and nephew (Uncle Kyle was playing softball during the day.)

There were tons of toys and one whole room of handmade wooden toys. Hannah got to pick out one toy and she chose a metal Elmo lunch box. Cam got a wooden truck to zoom around when he gets a bit bigger. There was also this amazing carousal that was all handmade from wood. It took them nine years to make it. Hannah went with Nana and had a blast!
We went back to Ken & Delaine's for lunch then took off for the first leg of our return trip. We were very gracious that Kyle & Nikki let us stay with them. At this phase of our lives, taking the trip in two days is a great option! We made it back home on Tuesday to rest from our busy weekend. We had a wonderful time with Tim's family and are so thankful for our time with them!

Three Months and Growing!

2011-07-04T09:11:00.003-05:00

It seems like the theme for this month is growing! I mentioned Cam's stats at 10 weeks in a previous post. Around that same time, we switched him to 3-6 month clothes. Over the next three weeks, he is now in 6-9 month clothes and possibly somewhere around 17-18 lbs (according to our home scale)! Holy moly! We have a big boy on our hands!

Cameron is eating 6 times a day and is sleeping from about 9 pm - 7 am each night. We finally dropped the middle of the night feeding which feels wonderful for our sleep! I'm hoping that once we start some cereal and then food in the next month or so we cand drop another feeding and extend his night a little more. He is doing really well with falling asleep at night on his own with only a little crying each night. Naps are getting better every day as well. Some he goes down great with no crying and others just a little crying. We are still swaddling him, but if he wakes early we will unswaddle him and flip him on his belly. He absolutely loves sleeping on his belly!

Of course one of my favorite parts of the past month have been watching him smile and laugh. He will now smile witout prompting and we have gotten him to laugh a little as well. Such a fun part of this age! He loves to lay under his play mat a reach and grab for the toys that hang above. Cameron does great on his tummy and can hold himself up on his arms for a good amount of time. He also has found his hands a loves to chew on them.

Cameron continues to be a joy in our lives and we thank God for him all the time! We are blessed to call him our son and we are excited to see what new things happen in the next month!

Hannah's 2 1/2 Year Update

2011-06-30T09:06:00.003-05:00

Our baby girl is 2 1/2 years old! Time is just flying by and we are loving watching Hannah grow and explore. First, I have to comment that Hannah is a fabulous big sister. She loves helping out with Cameron -- whether it's giving me a diaper for him, helping burp him, giving him his bobber or just laying with him. She adores him! One of my favorite thing is in the morning, when she first sees him, she gets really excited and says "Hi, Cameron!" with a huge smile on her face. I can't wait to see how their relationship changes over the next several months.

Because of her new status as big sister, she also seems to be playing with her dolls a whole lot more. It is one of the few toys that she plays with at some point every day. Along with dolls, she still loves to put puzzles together and loves to sit and read with us. She is starting to pick out more and more in her books that she recognizes which is really cool to watch. She loves to be outside on her swing set and loves going to pool! She also had a few games on my iPad and knows exactly how to get to them and how to play them.

Hannah is picking up more and more words and starting to string some together, but still isn't a huge talker. Her words are sometimes her own little language so we are going to have her evaluated for speech at the end of the summer. This former speech therapy graduate just wants to make sure all is well. :-)

Hannah does try to test the limits that any 2 year old does. We are working very hard at following directions the first time and being a good listener. She is also doing great with the potty. Our goal by the end of the summer is to be in undies at nap and when we go out. We are very close!

Hannah is a great sleeper and still sleeps 2-3 hours during the day for a nap and about 11 hours at night. Thankfully, she doesn't wake up when Cam does either time so we are grateful for that! She has the very typical toddler appetite where she will eat a ton one meal and then pick around for the next. This girl LOVES applesauce -- she is her mother's daughter! The two of us could probably eat a jar every couple meals! She also has my sweet tooth and doesn't seem to mind a little something sweet at the end of the meal.

Hannah is turning more and more into a little preschooler every day! I have so enjoyed being home since the end of April and spending some extra time with her this summer. She is a joy to be around and we can't wait to see what the next six months brings in her life!

Our Growing Boy

2011-06-16T13:54:00.000-05:00

We went to the doctor today for Cameron's two month check up, although he is already 10 weeks. He weighed in at a whopping 14 lb. 4 oz. (89th percentile) and is 24 1/2 in. long (87th percentile)! Wow!!! We knew he was growing, but I wasn't expecting that at all! He is going to be one big boy! I love seeing the differences between our two kids. Hannah has always been on the small side finally reaching the 40th percentile at her 2 year appointment. I was looking in her baby book and she was 16 lb. at 9 months! I don't think it will be long before he passes up his big sister. Here is a cute shot of our little stud.

TK + HC = True Love

2011-06-14T13:40:00.001-05:00

Our good friends, the Koster's, came over for dinner tonight and to hang out and catch up on life. Travis was one of Tim's roommates in college and him and his wife, Trissa, moved to this area shortly after they were married. We love getting together with them when we have time. They have one of the cutest little boys, Talon who is a year old. We joke that Talon and Hannah are going to get married one day, which would be fine with us! :-) Talon and Hannah loved playing on the swingset! Talon wanted to do the same thing that Hannah was doing while on the glider.After a lot of playing, Trissa and I decided to throw the kids into the tub together so they could both clean up and that would be one task done for the night. Of course, we took a couple of pictures for their wedding video. :-)

Bedtime Snuggles

2011-06-07T13:38:00.004-05:00

Last night, I was putting Hannah to bed and brought Cameron along with me. Immediately, Hannah wanted him to lay by her while we did our night time routine. I love how sweet Hannah is towards her baby brother! First, we prayed, in which Cameron needed to have his hands folded as well. Then it was time to sing our bedtime song while Cam just hung out and stared at me with a little almost-smile on his face. Then it was kisses and our little miss was off to sleep. Before we left, though, I did snap some precious pictures of the two of them. And of course a night-night kiss for baby Cam!

Our Two Month Old

2011-06-04T20:47:00.003-05:00

Cameron turned two months old today! I can't believe our little man is growing so quickly. I don't have any statistics because we don't go to the doctor until another week and a half. Here is what I can say about Cameron. Although we don't know any specifics, we definitely know he is growing lots! He is really chunking up some and loves his food! He is eating about 7 times a day, 5 oz in each bottle. Cam takes his last bottle around 8:30 or 9:00 and usually goes until anywhere from 3:30-5:00 am. His daytime naps are sometimes hit and miss. Hopefully, this will start to get better as we continue working. His evenings seem to be getting better. We have learned that he loves to be outside so we tend to do that often during those fussy times. One of my favorite things lately is that Cam is starting to smile a little and coo. I forgot how fun it is to watch all of these new things start with little ones. I am so thankful that summer is here so I can spend time with Tim and our kids.

A Visit from Nana & Papa

2011-05-08T20:13:00.029-05:00

Tim's mom and dad (Nana & Papa) came down this past week to meet their new grandson as well as hang out with Hannah and us. It was so great to have them here and we packed their visit with tons of fun stuff both big and small. Here is a quick look at our fun-filled time together.

I took advantage of having Delaine here to help me decorate Cameron's room. I always love how she puts things together!

While we were working on the room, Ken & Tim were hard at work outside on Hannah's new swing set! We decided since we'll have a newborn at home this summer, our trips out and about may not happen as much and we thought this would be a great way for Hannah to still play. It was finished just as she got up from nap and she couldn't wait to get out to play. She has been out every day since then. She loves it! Starting in the winter, Hannah was able to go to Awana on Wednesday nights in the 2 year old program, Puggles. I didn't know that she was going to be a part of the closing ceremonies, but we were very excited to find out she was! The whole fam, including my mom and dad, headed up to church to watch Hannah and it was so much fun! She did a great job on stage singing her song. Such a great opportunity for her to learn about Jesus as well as play with her church friends. We were so proud of her! While Ken & Delaine were here, the weather finally broke and we took total advantage of it! On Friday, we took a trip to Grant's Farm. Hannah loved it once again and Cameron did a great job of hanging out. Our highlights were feeding the goats, riding on the carousel, watching the animal shows and seeing the "BIG" horses (clysdales). It was a really great day!

Hannah sat long enough for Nana to double french braid her hair before going to Grant's Farm.
A family shot on the tram at Grant's Farm.

On Saturday, we all loaded up and headed to STL for a Cardinals v. Brewer's game. Even though Papa wore his Brewer's shirt, and the Brewer's beat our Cardinals, it was a great day at the ballpark. The weather was beautiful and both kids did a fantastic job! We can't wait to go back and celebrate a Cardinal victory later this year!We capped off our time together with a fabulous Mother's Day lunch at our house. My mom and dad joined us and it was a great time to celebrate all the mom's in our lives. Here is our little family on Mother's Day.

Cameron's First Month

2011-05-04T08:08:00.000-05:00

Cameron turned one month old today! It's hard to give a lot of details in this update because he wasn't with us full time for a lot of the month. He is changing every day though -- I forgot how fast that goes! We did visit the doctor and we definitely have a growing boy on our hands! He weighed in at 10 lbs. (that's over a 3 lb. gain!) and is 21 3/4" long (up an inch and 3/4). Both of these fall around the 50th percentile so we have a very healthy little guy! This seems really big to us because Hannah was so tiny for her age and still is only around the 40th percentile. He seems to be adjusting to our routine of eat/wake/sleep cycles. His evenings can be a little rough at times -- he has developed a little bit of a "witching hour" sometimes. However, once he gets a bottle between 10:00 and 10:30, he sleeps until 3:30 or 4:00. Then up at 7 for the start of the day. Not too bad! We are so in love with our little guy! Here is Cameron around 1 month old with his own bear for pictures.

Entrustment Ceremony

2011-05-03T14:49:00.008-05:00

We had another special part of our adoption today, the placement ceremony. Since Tim's parents were here to meet Cameron, we thought it was the perfect time to celebrate our adoption. Our social work arrived bright and early as well as my mom and dad for all of us to be together for this celebration. The ceremony was a time to honor the adoption triad of birthmom, adoptive family and baby. With each part of the triad, our social worker talked a little about the importance of the people involved as well as read scripture and poetry. At the end, we prayed for Cameron, his birthmom and our family as we go forward with this adoption. Afterward, we celebrated with cinnamin rolls for breakfast. It was a great morning to spend as a family. We are beyond blessed to have gone through this process and to see how God has shaped and formed our family.

Here we are with our social worker, Rachel, celebrating Cam's adoption into our family.

Sibling Love

2011-04-28T06:11:00.000-05:00

We have had this "big sister" shirt for quite some time and were very excited for Hannah to finally debut it! Here is the first of many sibling photo shoots we will have!

A Very Happy Easter!

2011-04-27T04:49:00.004-05:00

It was a non-traditional kind of Easter this year, but we loved every minute of it! Our Easter started on Saturday night when we went to our church's Easter service. It was the first time they did one on Saturday night and it was really nice. It really set the tone for how we were going to spend the rest of weekend.

One of the reasons we attended our church's Saturday night service was so we could spend the morning and early afternoon as a family of four with Cameron. When we got up Sunday morning, we had a not-so-good-feeling little girl. Hannah was running a little fever and was coughing like crazy, but we thought we would still give our day a try. We got to the interim house around 8:30 before the foster family went to their church. My mom came with us to celebrate the day. We were able to do Easter baskets with both kids before we left. We didn't get an egg hunt in this year because of the crazy rain we've been having, but I know the kids (Hannah especially) enjoyed opening their Easter baskets.

All the Easter goodies!
We had a few hours to kill before we could meet my dad for lunch, so we took off for the zoo. It was a lot of fun watching Hannah "watch" all the animals. She kept saying "Mommy...zoo!" over and over while we were there. We dodged yet another bout of rain and made it about three hours at the zoo. It was nice to spend the morning together, even if it was damp and a little cool.After the zoo, we met my dad downtown at one of our favorite resteraunts, Calico's. It is a great Italian place that we go to quite a bit. It wasn't ham and all the fixings, but it was really, really good! Hannah was about to her max so we took Cam back to his interim house and headed home. I'm really glad we were able to spend the day with Cameron! We finished our Easter evening by going to my dad's church. The choir was doing a special cantata and we went to celebrate with him.

Overall, our non-traditonal Easter was perfect for us. One thing that stayed the same was how incredibly in awe we are with what Jesus did for us. He paid the ultimate price for our sins allowing us to live forever. On this day, it doesn't go un-noticed. We are so blessed with our family and thank God daily for giving us Hannah and now Cameron. Thank you, Jesus, for what you did for each of us!

The First Few Weeks

2011-04-26T07:11:00.000-05:00

Once Cameron was here, we had some legal "red-tape" to get through before we could go to court to make him ours officially. Here is how the days and weeks went after Cameron was born.
April 5, 2011 - We spent most of the day at the hospital visiting Cameron and his birthmom. We were also able to have Hannah come up and meet Cam and his birthmom. It was a great time to bond with him as well as open up the possibility to have communication with his birthmom in the future. One of the most special parts of the day was when we were able to get some pictures of Cameron with his birthmom and with us. These are pictures that we will always cherish. Here is our first shot as a family of four!

April 6, 2011 - Cameron was discharged from the hospital and we were able to see him at the Bethany offices for a short time before he headed off to interim care. In this particular case, Cameron will be in interim care for about two weeks. At the office, we met his interim mom and she is really great. She has five kids -- three biological and two adopted. We set up a visitation schedule for the next couple of weeks. It worked out that we could go every other day or so.
He is so long and skinny!!!
April 8, 2011 - We headed over to the interim home that Cameron is staying at to spend the morning as a family of four. It was a beautiful morning so we started off at the park. We had so much fun! Big sis Hannah had tons of fun exploring a new park and Cam slept in my new sling from my fabulous college girlfriends. We ate lunch and did a little shopping before we dropped him off and headed back home. It gets harder to leave everytime but we know this is only temporary.

Daddy and Cam at the park -- this is the same day as this post. April 12 & 14 - I took a 1/2 day leave both of these days so Tim and I could head over to spend a couple hours with Cameron. Each day we hung at the interim home for some cuddle time as well as did a little window shopping and out to eat. I love taking Cam with us as we run errands. We get lots of compliments on how cute he is. We think so too...but we may be a little biased!

April 16 - We went to visit Cam today as a family. Unfortunatly the weather wasn't quite as nice as last week so we decided to go to one of the area malls instead. We walked around and ate lunch and enjoyed spending some time together. Hannah is getting more and more excited about her baby brother. She wanted to help a lot today with anything and everything. She even let Cam have her "puppy" when he was crying. For those of you that know her, you know this is her favorite thing so we thought it was really sweet that she was sharing it. She is going to be a GREAT big sister! April 20 - Today was my last day of school for the year! Spring break starts tomorrow and we will be going to court next week so it was a great time to end my school year. My students were so sweet and even through me a surprise baby shower today. It was a really nice last day. After school, we headed over to see Cameron and got to bring a special person with us. Aunt Nee-Nee (Tim's sister Nikki) i is visiting for a few days of her spring break so she was able to meet Cam today. We picked him up and went to dinner and did a little shopping. I'm glad she was here and able to snuggle with him some! April 21 - Today is my first offical day of spring break so what better way to spend it than with Cameron. And to make the day even better, Nikki and my mom went over with me! My mom got to see Cam in the hospital, but this was the first time she got to hold him. She was very excited! We picked Cam up and headed to Target for some last minute Easter goodies and some baby goodies as well. After lunch, it was time for Nikki to head back to Wisconsin. We are so thankful she was able to come down for a few days! My mom and I took Cameron back to his interim home and headed back to Illinois. We are getting very close to our court date and can't wait to have him home for good!

The Road to Cameron

2011-04-25T13:39:00.002-05:00

So, the Casey family has expanded! There have been lots of exciting parts of this journey that I wanted to wait and blog all together due to the nature of the situation. So, let me start from the beginning of this wonderful and amazing journey.

November 8, 2010 - After working very hard on all of our paperwork throughout the summer and fall, we recieved our official "welcome" from Bethany today as all of our paperwork was signed and sealed! Let the wait begin.

February 14, 2011 - We got "the call" today! A week or so ago we said yes to a birthmom situation for a mom due at the end of March. I knew we should be hearing something soon and today is the day. After school, I was with my mom getting ready for dinner when the phone rang. It was a little after 5 so I figured it was Tim letting me know he was on his way home. Instead, I looked down and it was our social worker! I knew they usually called with good news so immediately my stomach started fluttering. She said the words we had been dreaming of -- we were chosen by a birthmom! It was music to our ears! She said we would set up an appointment to meet soon and go from there. It will be a day neither of us will ever forget!

February 23, 2011 - Right after school, Tim and I headed over to the Bethany office to have our match meeting with our birthmom. We were super nervous but also really excited to be meeting our soon-to-be son or daughter's birthmom (she hadn't gotten an ultrasound yet). The birthmom is living with a relative that was also going to join us for the meeting. We were super nervous and wanted to make a good impression. The meeting went wonderfully! The birthmom is only 15 and she was really quiet and shy at the meeting. We both got a really good feeling from both the birthmom and her auntie. We knew that she was due sometime around the middle to end of March so now it was time to wait for baby to arrive!

February 27, 2011 - We got another exciting call from our social worker today! The birthmom did go to an ultrasound and found it that she is having a baby BOY!!! Oh my - what exciting news! We also found out that the baby is measuring closer to March 30. As of this point, we don't have a name for him but we are super excited to be welcoming at son into our family within the next month!

March 2011 - We did a lot of waiting this month. At each appointment, the birthmom wasn't making much progress. We hit the 30th with still no progress. We did find out they would not let her go more than 2 weeks past her due date so at least we will have an end soon. We are patiently waiting for God's perfect timing for this baby to join our family!

April 4, 2011 - Today our son was born! After a brief update last night saying that the birthmom had been to the hospital and was starting to dialate, but was sent home because she wasn't in active labor. Then we got a call at 8:00 this morning saying that he had arrived! Cameron Blake Casey was born this morning at 4:44 am and weighed in at 6 lb. 9 oz and was 20" long! Tim and I were able to head over to the hospital this afternoon around 2:30 and spent a few hours with him. We also spent a little time with the birthmom and Cameron. It was a very special time and we are so thankful that this little man will be joining our family!

April 25, 2011 - So today marks a very special day in our family. We went to court around 9 am this morning to make Cameron official. When we arrived at court, we overheard that the judge that squeezed us into her docket was out of town. We weren't sure what that meant, but once our lawyer arrived we found out that it was all still going to take place, we just didn't know when. The other judge was able to fit us in around 10 o'clock and everything went very smoothly! We went to the Bethany office and the interim mom brought Cam to us! It was a great morning! We now have to stay in Missouri until we are clearned to bring Cameron to Illinois which should all take place by the end of the week hopefully. Here is Cam hanging out on the bed at the hotel.

Stickermania

2011-04-16T20:38:00.005-05:00

Hannah is way into stickers right now! My mom brought her a sticker book back from Florida with her name on them -- she loves it! We usually let her have one or two a day so we don't run out too soon. Well, tonight Tim and I were both cleaning the house when I realized she was awfully quiet. When I came back into the room this is what I found... stickers, stickers everywhere! She had decorated herself and one of her baby dolls with tons of stickers! At least she was busy so Mommy & Daddy could clean the house! Just another reason why we love her.

These Little Piggys...

2011-04-10T19:57:00.004-05:00

got pretty and painted! Hannah's first set of painted toes and they even match Mommy's right now. Barefoot with pretty toes...such a wonderful sign of summer coming!

Swinging and Sliding and Playing Oh My!

2011-04-09T19:53:00.024-05:00

Well the St. Louis weather was at it again but this time in a much more pleasant manner. The high today was over 80* so we wanted to take full advantage of the day. We decided to head to a park this morning to enjoy the beautiful weather. Hannah had a blast! She alternated between swinging and sliding the whole time we were there. (I think a swing set for home is in our near future!) What a fun morning! I will take beautiful days and family time any day of the week!

Hannah loves to swing!

She also enjoyed the big play area -- climbing, crawling and sliding! We can't wait for more sunny & warm days to spend at the park!

Jump Around

2011-03-26T14:17:00.006-05:00

The crazy Midwest weather has hit again this weekend. Earlier this week it as 80* and today it is about 35* and snowing. Yes, I did say snowing and yes, it is March 26th. And not just a dusting -- up to 3 inches by the time it is over. I really hope this is Old Man Winter's last hurrah for this year. Needless to say, we were not going to be playing outside today. So we headed to Monkey Joe's instead this morning. Monkey Joe's is an indoor play area with a bunch of different inflatables. This was our first time going and Hannah did pretty well. She last just about an hour which is right about what we were thinking she would do. It was only $5 for her so we thought it was definitely worth the money. There were three areas that were designated for 3 year olds and under. She enjoyed going back and forth between them. She really wanted to do this super duper big slide. I snuck up with her because she wasn't quite strong enough to pull herself up the ladder. She loved going down it! We tried it again but I was caught. Bummer! Maybe next time! Overall it was a good experience and we will definitely be going back!

Going down the slide -- a favorite of the day!

Having fun jumpin' around!

Hannah's New Wheels

2011-03-22T18:55:00.000-05:00

Along with Hannah's Cozy Coupe car, she has another set of wheels. For her birthday, my mom got her a new tricycle. We decided not to get it at the time and wait until closer to spring. We have all spent a lot of time looking for the right one. At first, we were only finding ones with plastic wheels, even a lot of the Radio Flyer ones. We decided our best option was to look at the various farm and home stores. My aunt and uncle in Southern Illinois finally found one! Tim put it together this weekend and it is perfect! It has a metal frame and real rubber tires. It also has a really awesome retro look with streamers and a bell! Hannah was able to debut it this past weekend. She is still a little short and her feet don't quite reach the pedals, but I love that she can grow into it. It will be fun to watch her learn more about her trike throughout the spring and summer! Thank you, Nonnie, for this great birthday present!

Here is Hannah checking out the new trike for the first time!

Welcome Spring!

2011-03-20T18:54:00.009-05:00

It has been a very busy March so far for the Casey family. I had state testing at school for the first two weeks and it makes for long days at school. The good thing is that today is the first day of Spring -- and it couldn't have been more perfect! We spent some of our day outside and the rest letting the warm air and breeze flow through the house. What a wonderful day! Here are some signs of spring around the Casey house.

Yesterday I got these flowers at Aldi when I went grocery shopping. I love fresh flowers! Last year I realized that Aldi sold fresh flower bouquets at really good prices. It allows me to get flowers every week or so and it really makes the house feel like spring. I love the bright yellows and white in this arrangement.We had some fun outside today as well. We did a variety of fun things in the beautiful sunshine. Here is Hannah waiting for Daddy to throw the ball to her.We also had to get the bubbles out! This girl loves playing with bubbles! Even though this was the first time of the season, I can already see her getting better at it from last year. She was definitely getting the hang of blowing the bubbles. I can't wait to watch her master it throughout the spring and summer!It was a great first day of spring and we can't wait for many more days outside!

Our Own Lucky Charm

2011-03-17T19:12:00.002-05:00

Here is our littlest good luck charm!

Bathtime Fun

2011-02-25T20:33:00.005-06:00

Hannah is really enjoying her baths lately. I hope this means that the pool will be a big hit this summer! As the bath tub fills up, Hannah gets super excited and starts yelling "bubbles"! So, we fill the tub up with bubbles. Her favorite part of the bubbles is putting them all over her face and trying to eat them. I can't imagine that tastes very good, but she loves it! Here is the best shot of her bubble face:

Hannah has never fought the scrubby-scrub of bath time including having her hair washed and rinsed. I couldn't resist in capturing her with a head full of shampoo:
What a goofball! Hannah is getting so big and we are just cherishing every moment we have with her!

Spring Fever

2011-02-20T20:23:00.001-06:00

We had a few spring-like days around here and boy do I wish they would stay! At one point this week it even hit 70*! I know it won't last, but we will enjoy them while we can. I had to snap this picture this morning before church because it felt like spring and Hannah just looked too darn cute (and way too big!) I can't wait for the warmer weather to stay and we can spend our afternoon's and weekends playing outside! This Casey clan has caught Spring Fever!

Love is in the Air

2011-02-14T12:56:00.007-06:00

We had a fun couple of days celebrating Valentine's Day. I knew that Monday would be busy since it was a school night, so we started a few days early. On Saturday, we had a family date afternoon. I really loved focusing on our love for our family. I want to make this family date a tradition. We started by taking Hannah to Build-a-Bear so she could build her first bear herself. She had fun picking out the bear and her clothing. She named the bear Lucy (or Ooo-ee) from one of her favorite puppy dogs (it's actually our friend's the Windham's dog). Then we went to dinner at O'Charley's. When we got home, Tim and I watched "You Again" and enjoyed each others company. Here we are helping Hannah at Build-a-Bear.

Getting started...

Watching her bear get filled with stuffing and love! Giving her bear a bath.
Finally dressing her bear in a new Valentine's outift -- then it was off to naming her Lucy!
On Sunday, we worked together to make Valentine's Day cupcakes and write out Hannah's cards for her friends at the babysitters. Of course she is such a little baker and really enjoyed helping make her treats.

When today got here, we got ready to head off to Ms. Sarah's. I was able to get a picture of Hannah and Lucy before we left.

That evening, she had fun opening her cards from relatives and a few gifts from Nonnie, Gampy and a little bag of Elmo goodies from us. It was great spreading the love over a few days and really enjoying our time together!

Vroom Vroom

2011-01-30T12:39:00.000-06:00

The weather prediction isn't looking so good for this week. Lots of snow, ice, sleet and other yucky stuff is heading our way. However, today it is sunny and mid-forties. We wanted to take advantage of this so we bundled up and headed outside. We even had a new toy for Hannah to play with that she has been checking out in the garage since we got it. A couple of weeks ago, Tim called me and asked me about the Little Tikes Cozy Coupe that I had mentioned wanting to get Hannah. He was at a Goodwill store and it was marked for $30 and looked brand new. I looked it up online and it retailed for $50 so we both that it was worth the money. As Tim was checking out, the worker told him that it was brand new out of the box! What a deal!! Here is Hannah debuting her new car! And we're off...

After going down the driveway

Driving down the street
Towards the end, Hannah was really getting the hang of "pedaling" with her feet. I think this will be a fun toy to play with this spring and summer!

Picture Time!

2011-01-20T11:30:00.012-06:00

Last weekend, we were able to get Hannah's 2-year pictures taken and get some family shots as well. I heard through the grapevine at school that one of the school pyschologists aslo does some photography work on the side. I contacted her before Christmas and we set up a day in January to get some pictures taken. She works with natural light and since it was winter, she was able to get us into Dr. Jazz, a super cute soda fountain shop nearby, for our photo shoot. She did a FABULOUS job and were so thankful that we were able to capture this time in Hannah's life. Thanks again Nikki for the wonderful pictures!

Hannah - 2 Years Old

Lovin' the ice cream!

Our Little Family

A family shot with Nonnie

Bargains?!? Yes, Please!!

2011-01-17T20:09:00.003-06:00

So, I have to give one of my dearest friends Kristina all the credit on this blog. First of all, I totally copied her idea of posting my latest shopping trip on here. And second, I totally copied her idea to shop a year in advance! When I was first pregnant, Kristina told me how she likes to look a year in advance to buy clothes on the sale racks. It didn't take me long to jump on this bandwagon. There have been a few times that I didn't guess quite right on the size and the item didn't get worn. But really that has been few and far between. I love looking at the end of the season at super cute and super cheap clothes for next year. I tuck them away in Hannah's closet and get them out when it's time. I also then love getting them out the next year and being excited at all the cute stuff Hannah gets to wear! Usually, between buying in advance and getting hand-me-downs, we are set for the season. Here is today's loot:
We totally hit the jackpot! We started our shopping day at Kohl's. It definitely was the best stop of the day. I got about 20 diferent pieces of clothes for about $70! Amazing! Here we got lots of leggings, pants and tops for everyday wear. Next was Old Navy where everything on clearance was another 40% off. Our biggest scores here was a winter coat for $15 and a lightweight jacket for $10. We finished our day at the mall where we picked up some tops at Macy's, winter hat and gloves (to go with the new coat) at Children's place and next year's Christmas dress at JCPenny. Overall thought of the day=success! (A very special thanks to my wonderful mom who joined me on this fun day today!)

Ta-Da!

2011-01-11T19:46:00.007-06:00

One of Hannah's Christmas presents from "Nonnie" (my mom) was gymnastics class. I was really excited for this because it was not just more "stuff" to open, it would give Hannah a chance to burn off some energy this winter and it was something that I did almost my whole life. Plus, Hannah started doing somersaults a month or so ago and does them all the time at home -- even on the hard-wood floor! We looked at a few different places and decided on World Class Gymnastics which is one of the bigger gyms in the area. It is an eight-week Parent & Tot class that meets once a week for 45 minutes a class. Here she is before the first week:Let me just say, she LOVED it!!! We started with stretches and forward rolls down the wedge one at a time. Then the teachers put about 8-10 stations out for the kids to explore while they floated and helped at certain ones. It was so fun to watch her learn how to do the different stations. She also showed off her "Miss Independent" attitude by pushing the teachers away once she knew how to do something. After stations, we got back together to sing a song. Then each child went back to the wedge to do a backwards roll. At the very end of class, all the kids got a stamp for each hand. I think that was one of Hannah's favorite parts! Here are some pictures from class number 2! Some of them are a little blurry because they were "action" shots.

This is one of Hannah's favorite stations. There is a shark on the bar. Hannah holds onto the bar and kicks her feet up to push the shark off. Climbing up the ladder.
Getting to the top of the mini climbing wall before doing a forward roll down the wedge.

So, gymnastics is a hit! I don't think this will be the only session that Hannah will participate in. You can just see how much fun she has as she goes from station to station. I can't wait to see how much more she will develop over the next several weeks. And I have to admit that it does my little cheerleading heart good!

I am Two!

2011-01-07T21:26:00.010-06:00

So, I thought I would do a two year update of Hannah along with her two year old bear picture (I still can't believe I am typing that!)

Check Up: At Hannah's 2-year check up, she weighed in at 26 lbs and was 33.5" long. This put her around the 40th percentile for both weight and height which is the highest she has ever been! She is definitely caught up for being a pre-term newborn.

Sleeping: Hannah has always been a great sleeper and that is continuing. She usually goes to bed anywhere from 7:00-7:30 but can usually make it to 8:00ish if needed. During the week, we go get her from bed just before 7:00 am to get ready for the day. Usually on the weekends, as long as we are still in bed, it's closer to 8:00 (which Mommy & Daddy really enjoy!) Naps are usually anywhere from 2-3 hours depending on the day.

Eating: Hannah still loves to eat, however she has a very typical toddler appetite. Some days she scarfs down everything in front of her and wants seconds. Other days, she picks around and eats just a few bites. She is not a huge milk drinker so whatever she drinks, she drinks. We think she also may have inherited her Mommy's sweet tooth and loves yummy sweets and desserts.

Playing: With Christmas and birthday, Hannah has an abundance of new toys at her disposal. It is so much fun to watch her go from toy to toy learning and playing with everything. She still loves to put puzzles together and is already learning the few new ones she just received. She also loves to read! Lately, she won't lay down in bed unless she has a book with her (even though she can't see once the lights are out.)

Helper: Hannah is a wonderful helper in whatever she is asked to do. Between playing with

toys, we always ask her to clean up the one she is done with. She usually complies pretty quickly. She also continues to love to help me cook dinner and bake goodies. It is a typical part of our after school routine. Whether it is loading or unloading the dishwasher, sweeping the floor, picking up toys or whatever, Hannah is definitely a little helper.

Potty Training: We are making some huge strides with the potty training efforts! She had just two accidents at the baby sitters this week and none at home! By Thursday, she was telling Miss Sarah "pee-pee" while holding herself, and then would go. Yay! I feel like we are definitely on the right track! We are still wearing pull-ups when we go out and about because I still get a little nervous. We are so, so proud of Hannah and glad we tackled this hurdle when we did!

Happy Bee Day Hannah!

2010-12-30T20:35:00.001-06:00

Wow! I really can't believe Hannah turned 2 today! I'm sure it never changes, but I still vividly remember the whole night/morning that she was born. It has been an amazing two years and we know there is so much to look forward to still.

We started the day off with some yummy overnight cinnamon rolls (recipe from my good friend Lindsey Knopp). Hannah even put some sprinkles on hers for her birthday! After some playing in the park with both grandmas and two great-grandmas as well as a Happy Meal for lunch, it was nap time for the birthday girl. The rest of us were busy preparing the food and goodies for the party! Here is the dessert table. Nikki & I had such a fun time decorating the bumble bee cake! The cookies were decorated by Delaine and both great grandmas that were there. Once Hannah woke up, it was about time to get dressed in her special birthday outfit. I want to thank Miss Sadie for letting Hannah borrow her tutu and one of my co-workers, Monica, who made the "H" shirt for her to wear. It was so cute!!!

After a delicious meal of Italian beef, homemade mac & cheese, green beans, cole slaw and more, it was time to open some presents. Once again, Hannah was an old pro at unwrapping and had a great time tearing into her gifts.

After every present, she really wanted to stop and play with it right at that moment. It took a little coaxing sometimes to get her to open the next one. This was her big gift -- it was a joint effort with many family members and she already is loving it!
After presents it was time to dig into the cake! We sang and Hannah was anxiously waiting to eat her piece of cake. I think she liked it!I can't finish this blogpost without mentioning some very special visitors we had for this party. Ken & Delaine graciously brought both sets of their parents with them from Wisconsin so that they could be a part of Hannah's birthday. My grandparents were also up for the party. How awesome is it that all of Hannah's living great grandparents were here?!? It was a very special time that I know we will not forget! Here we are all together. There were many cameras going so we may not be all looking, but it at least it captures the moment.

The whole day was fabulous for all of us! It was great having so many family members here to help us celebrate this special day. We made many memories that we will be able to treasure for a long time. Happy 2nd Birthday, Hannah! We all love you so much and are blessed to have you in our life!

Christmas Celebrations

2010-12-29T19:38:00.001-06:00

We had multiple Christmases again this year. In a way, I really enjoy doing it this way. Then it doesn't seem so overwhelming all crunched in a day or two. First off, we celebrated with my dad (12/21). He came over and we ordered dinner in then opened our gifts. We didn't want to go too far since we were on day two of potty training (which is why Hannah is opening all her presents in only a shirt and undies!) This was Hannah's first present experience for quite some time so she was very intrigued and made sure she helped everyone open their gifts! It was a nice relaxing evening!

Here is Gampy & Hannah looking at the calendar we made about our year.Hannah got a new outfit for her Bitty Baby doll. She was excited to dress her right away!

Then we had a little break until Christmas Eve and Day. On Christmas Eve, we went out to dinner and then to Christmas Eve service at church. This is something I didn't do growing up and I have really enjoyed that being our focus on Christmas Eve. We came home, put Hannah to bed and waited for Santa. Tim and I then watched "White Christmas" which is my all-time favorite Christmas movie!

Christmas morning we got Hannah up and read through the Christmas Story before heading out to see what Santa brought. She loves her new Anywhere Chair and used it all day long! She even "christened" it within thirty minutes so it also has had it's first washing! Oh the joys of potty training! We enjoyed a lazy day of pancakes for breakfast, playing in the snow, watching TV and relaxing!

Hannah was pretty excited to see her gifts from Santa and from us! Hannah enjoyed opening the rest of her gifts in her new chair.
Hannah's big present from us was a new puzzle step stool with her name on it for her new big girl bed! She loved taking the pieces off to do the puzzle and climbing and jumping off the stool.
My mom got back from her family's mid-afternoon and we started getting ready for dinner. We had just sat down to eat and had accident #2 for the day. It was a rough potty training day, but we cleaned up and continued with dinner. After cleaning up, we opened gifts from my extended family and Mom. It was a great night to just hang out together.

By the time we got to this Christmas, Hannah was a pro-unwrapper! Again, she had to open all her presents in her new chair. We also made sure to get a 3-generation picture after we opened gifts.
Tim's family arrived this week and we were onto our final Christmas. Wednesday afternoon (12/29) we opened gifts with Tim's family as well as the ones from his grandparents. That was followed by a wonderful Wisconsin dinner that one of Tim's grandmas prepared. It was very yummy! We had some time before bed for Hannah to play with her new toys.

Hannah getting ready for the final round of Christmas.

Hannah's big gift from Papa & Nana Casey was a Little People House - she has loved it!

Once she did go to bed, it was a mad dash to de-Christmasize our house so we could gear up for the big 2nd birthday and party the next day. Our Christmas was spread out but each and every one was very special and we are so thankful for such wonderful family!

Let the Potty Training Begin!

2010-12-26T07:18:00.001-06:00

This fall, I decided to give potty training a try (or should I say start) during the first week of my Christmas break. I figured it was probably one of the only times I could stay at home for an extended period before summer and before another member joined our family. With the help of my more experienced Mommy friends (thanks Kristina!) and some tips from books, I got some good ideas and off we went!

Sunday afternoon, we made a trip to Target for some new undies as well as some treats. Here is a shot of Hannah's treats and her bear that we used to help with the process. Then after nap on Sunday, Bear got to try to go potty. First, she was dry so she got some M&M's. Then she went on the potty and got to have a sucker. Hannah was pretty excited that Bear shared the sucker with her.

Monday morning we were off! Here is a shot of Hannah and Bear right after we put big girl undies on. Then she had the first accident of the day. One good thing is that she HATED peeing on herself. She started crying "Mommy" (in a real whiny voice). I thought that was at least hopeful. The rest of the day went okay. She had 3 more accidents and 2 successes including waking up dry from her nap and going right after. I felt good enough to keep trudging the next day. Here is Hannah hanging out watching some TV in between potty trips.
So, onto Tuesday. We started the day with two accidents. Bummer! The first was after she had been awake for almost an hour & a half and we kept trying but she did not want to go. She got off the potty and went like two minutes later. Then since she had just gone I set the timer for 30 minutes and within 15 she was going again. Definitely frustrating! But, not too much longer I saw the poop face coming and rushed her into the bathroom and she went on the potty! She then went pee two more times before lunch! After nap time, she tried and didn't go. Not long after that, we were reading a book and eating snack and she lifted her shirt and pointed to her undies. I asked if she needed to go potty and she nodded yes. We headed into the bathroom and had success! I was hoping that was a mini-breakthrough. We went the rest of the night with no accidents but no successes either. Moving to day three...

Wednesday we started the day pretty slow. She was out of her diaper by 8ish and did nothing until 11 am! We keep trying ever so often, but sometimes I think she is starting to lose interest. I was beginning to get concerned because she hadn't done anything. She ended up having an accident. I thought maybe it wasn't a bad thing because I want her to remember she doesn't like the feeling. We headed to nap time with no more accidents or successes. After nap time, we had one success and then another accident around dinner time. I decided to keep going.

Thursday was our most successful day! We had a sucess fairly early in the morning and another one in the afternoon and NO ACCIDENTS!!! She did have a wet diaper at nap time but I thought a day with no accidents was great! Friday was the same. No accidents and two successes! We did put her in a Pull-Up to go to dinner and Christmas Eve service and it was not dry when we got home. So far so good! Onto the next week!

Merry White Christmas!

2010-12-25T14:55:00.008-06:00

What a wonderful Christmas at home! I'll wait and do a full Christmas celebration post after we are done with all of our Christmases, but I did want to write about Hannah's first real playing in the snow! Yes, it snowed here all day yesterday and a little into the night so we had our first white Christmas in many years. After Santa, presents & pancakes, we bundled up and headed outside. Here is Hannah ready to go!Once we got outside, it took a little coaxing to get Hannah in the snow. But eventually Daddy got her there. They tried to start a snowman, but it wasn't working great so instead they just made snowballs and enjoyed "eating" the snow.

No matter how much we tried to get Hannah to go out and play, she just kept asking to do this...
her favorite outside, front porch activity! After we were done, we went inside for some hot chocolate and got back just in time to watch the Disney Parks Christmas Day Parade! What a fun first on Christmas!

The Big Bear Brunch

2010-12-04T23:01:00.012-06:00

My mom, Hannah & I had a very special Christmas outing this year. Courtesy of Gwannie (my mom), the three of us headed over to the Ritz-Carlton for the Wings in the City fundraiser "The Big Bear Brunch." This organization is a St. Louis based non-profit group that supports children with terminally ill and life-long diseases and their families. We have a long time family friend whose daughter is a part of the Wings organization and were invited to join them at this years brunch. It was so much fun! The morning started off with registration and some activities and then we went into the ballroom to be served brunch. Since this is an event designed for children, brunch included hot chocolate with marshmallows and sprinkles for the pancakes (I think these were Hannah's favorite part of the meal!) After we ate, there were tons of arts & crafts tables around the ballroom for the kids to participate in. A few that we took part in were the sugar cookie decorating table, the coloring table and the bear magnet table. After some playing and lots of sugar, we loaded up the car and headed home. It was a wonderful morning and we can't thank Gwannie enough for taking us. We can't wait to make this a yearly event!

Mommy & Hannah before heading out for our special morning.

Gwannie & Hannah at the hotel.Hannah enjoying her breakfast of eggs, pancakes & chocolate sprinkles!

Next we headed to the cookie table to decorate a sugar cookie. Here is Hannah admiring her finished project.
Then we were off to the balloon clowns for a special balloon animal. Hannah got this super cute Rudolph balloon. After a brief break for some hot chocolate and cookie, we made our to decorate a bear magnet to remember our fun day.
And our last activity of the day was coloring a picture frame. This was by far Hananh's favorite thing to do (she LOVES to color!) I literally had to drag her away because she wanted to color some more.
We had such a fun day! Thank you Gwannie for this wonderful Christmas outing!

Much to be Thankful For

2010-11-28T10:31:00.009-06:00

We had a great break over Thanksgiving filled with family, friends and lots of fun. For the first time, we were able to fly to Wisconsin/Minnesota which we were very thankful for. Earlier in the fall, Southwest Airlines was offering amazing deals on flights and we jumped on it. We were very excited that we would not spending 16-20 total hours in the car. We left on Wednesday afternoon for the airport. The weather wasn't great, and our flight was a little delayed, but we made it through security with out any hassle and got ready for our very first plane ride as a family of three. Here is Hannah getting ready to take off for her first flight.We were able to have some relaxing family time once we got to Tim's mom and dad's house Wednesday evening. It was nice to just be able to hang out and spend some time together. Thursday morning, we hung out and watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade before heading to visit the extended family. We had a fabulous Thanksgiving dinner with Tim's dad's side of the family. We also had an early birthday party for Hannah since we were all together. Aunt Nikki made Hannah a special birthday cake and she got a few new puzzles to play with.
Friday, some of us (not Hannah and I) were up bright an early (as in 2:30am) to start Black Friday shopping. This is a Casey family tradition and it didn't disappoint this year. Those that started off early got some great deals! Hannah and I made it there around 8:30 to join the festivities. We met the rest of the extended family of shoppers at Coney Island (Tim's favorite hot dog place in LaCrosse) for an early lunch and then continued our shopping. As crazy as it can be, it is one of my favorite things to do with Tim's family.

After resting in the afternoon, we headed over for Thanksgiving with Tim's mom's side of the family. We ate some more yummy food and had a nice time hanging out. There were three of the four great grandkids there and they all had fun playing and reading together.
Saturday morning, we headed back to the Twin Cities to catch our return flight home. Once again, security was a breeze and our flight was good as well. We were home by early evening to enjoy a nice relaxing Saturday evening. Unfortunatly, we all came home with a little bit of a cold so it was nice to just get to hang out at home.

Overall, it was a great Thanksgiving and really nice break from work. We had some fabulous family time and are really looking forward to more of it over Christmas break in a few short weeks.

Family Movie Night

2010-11-06T17:01:00.002-05:00

We attempted to do our first family movie night in our basement. While we were all excited, it didn't last very long as a family of three. We rented Toy Story 3 because Tim and I hadn't seen it yet and we thought maybe it would keep Hannah's attention. Also, since it was the night before day light savings time, we thought this was perfect to keep Hannah up a little longer but in a quiet kind of setting. Well, Hannah was more excited to jump up and down and climb on us and the couch instead of laying down and watching the movie. We even had her new bumble bee pillow downstairs hoping that would intice her. After about thirty minutes, we decided to take her to bed. Oh well -- we'll try again another time. Tim and I did finish the movie and it was really good.

A New Room!

2010-11-03T19:27:00.005-05:00

This past weekend, Hannah officially got her BIG GIRL room! Tim & I painted last weekend and set up her new bed. Then this weekend Delaine and Nikki helped pick out and decorate her very pink room. It was so much fun making a girly room since we did a neutral nursery. Here are a couple of pictures of her new space.

Here is one side of the room. We painted the wall behind her bed bright pink to accent her bed and the quilt we bought for it. Hannah moved into a twin size day bed that we found on Craigslist last year. We also got the two dressers at the same time. So far she loves being in her new bed!

Here is the other side of the room. We bought the pink cube stoarge piece at Target this weekend and thought it was perfect for books and other goodies. The big pictures are from her first year of pictures from the photographer that we used.

The Next Generation

2010-11-01T19:23:00.002-05:00

Hannah has really started to love "coloring." We didn't have a table yet, but my mom saved the day! She brought over the table and chair set that she had as a little girl for Hannah to use. We set it up this past weekend and she has already enjoyed using it. Such a fun family heirloom!

Trick or Treat!

2010-10-31T19:13:00.007-05:00

We had tons of fun this year for Halloween! Since Delaine came down for the weekend, she was able to bring Hannah up to school for my parade and Halloween party. It was a beautiful day for a parade and my students had a lot of fun at the party. It was a great kick off to Halloween.

Mommy & Hannah before the parade.Nana & Gwannie giving Hannah a special Halloween cupcake with green icing.

Then, tonight we went on Hannah's first official trick or treating where she could really participate. We decided to just do part of our block. She did so good! She loved walking down the street and going up to the houses. I was so proud of our little bumble bee! Once we got home, she helped hand out candy to the boys and girls who came by the house. Overall it was a super fun night!

She took right off down the street and buzzed right down to the first house!

The Great Pumpkin

2010-10-30T17:40:00.006-05:00

We made another trip to Eckert's this weekend for some pumpkin picking. We decided to wait until today because Nana and Aunt Nikki were here for the weekend. We met my mom there in the morning and started our outing with a wagon ride. We headed out to the patch so Hannah could pick her own pumpkin. Because it was a little late in the season, there wasn't tons of options, but plenty for us. We settled on a smaller one then got back on the wagon and went back to the country store. We had a great time and once again enjoyed visiting our local orchard for some fall fun.

Hannah finds a pretty good pumpkin in the patch -- just her size! Hannah's favorite part of the pumpkin patch was finding "bigger" pumpkins and sitting on them. Here we are with our pumpkin out in the patch.

Back at the country store, Hannah found this cute bike/flower pot to pose at.

Fun with Fall

2010-10-26T21:01:00.009-05:00

Fall is probably my favorite season! This year has had some crazy weather and it hasn't felt much like fall lately. However, it's still my favorite time of the year! While I was working on dinner tonight, Tim and Hannah took the boys outside. When I looked out, I couldn't help but snap some super cute pictures of Hannah playing in the leaves. Once again, we see just how much Hannah LOVES being outside!

Halloween Treats

2010-10-25T21:37:00.012-05:00

Something new that I've been able to do with Hannah lately is cook and bake. As soon as we get home from school, we usually start working on dinner for the night. Lately, at least once a week we have also baked something yummy to satisfy our sweet tooth (yes, our whole family has developed this!). Tonight, we made some Halloween Funfetti cupcakes for Hannah to take to her friends at the sitter's house (and I guess we can help take care of the rest). I decided to document our cupcake making adventure!

Here we are at the beginning - cake mix is dumped in and we are ready to go!

After some help from Mommy putting the water, oil and eggs in the bowl, Hannah wanted to mix the batter. It was a little tough, but she did a great job!

Hannah's favorite job of the whole thing was putting the Halloween paper cups in the cupcake tin. Even while I was pouring the batter in, she kept taking them in and out.

Of course, while we were waiting for the cupcakes to bake, Hannah helped me lick the spoon (she learns quickly the best part of baking!)

After they were baked and cooled, Hannah helped me put on some festive orange icing.

Before heading to bed, Hannah wanted to taste-test her creations -- I think we all agreed they were fabulous!

Before heading to Miss Sarah's for the day, we got a quick snapshot Hannah with her finished project!

Half a Decade

2010-10-15T20:22:00.001-05:00

Tim & I celebrated our 5th anniversary today! This picture was taken last weekend in Chicago on our date night Saturday. What an amazing five years it has been. Although our life has been full of ups and downs, I wouldn't ask for anything to be different. It has been a great time to reflect on our time together (eight years!) as well as what our future goals are. We are in such an exciting time right now being able to be parents to our wonderful daughter Hannah as well as waiting for God to bring another blessing to our family. I love how we have grown as seperate people as well as in our marriage. I truly feel like our marriage is stronger than it's ever been and we have so much to look forward to.

Timmy-I love you so much and thank God daily for allowing me to be your wife! Here's to many more!!

Hello Chicago!

2010-10-11T20:03:00.004-05:00

We decided to spend our long weekend in Chicago quite some time ago. Last spring, Tim decided to register for the Chicago Marathon on 10-10-10. He was very excited with this being his first full marathon after completing two half marathons. The whole fam (my mom, Ken & Delaine, Kyle & Nikki) decided to make it a weekend in Chicago. Spring turned into summer and Tim's training wasn't going quite the way he planned (or really not at all). Tim finally decided that it would be best to not run this year because of the lack of training. Since everyone was already booked for the trip, we stuck with our original plans and all ventured to the city!

We all got in Friday night and were able to hang out some after Hannah went to bed. It was nice to catch up with each other for a few hours. Saturday morning we were up bright and early and ready to hit the city! My college roommate (and wonderful friend), Tif, met us at our hotel with her darling little one, Jacob, and her momma since they were going to join us for the morning. We left the 'burbs and made it to our first stop, Shedd Aquarium. It was a great morning! Here are some fun pictures of our time together.

My wonderful college roommate (all four years!) and our very sleepy children. What a great time we had catching up!
Our little family after spending a few hours at Shedd Aquarium.

After visiting Shedd, we said good-bye to Tif, Jacob & Sandi and went to the downtown Portillo's to feast on some fabulous Chicago food. We then made our way to the one and only Michigan Ave. for some shopping. Our shopping trip included Hannah getting her very first American Girl doll - a Bitty Baby. She absolutely loves it!

Here is Hannah inspecting her new baby. It's been so fun watching her take care of her baby! I know she will be such an awesome big sister one day!

When we were all tuckered out, Hannah went back to the 'burbs with the family and Tim and I checked into our downtown hotel for the night. This was our hotel all along when thinking about going to the marathon, so we decided we'd keep it and celebrate our anniversary a weekend early. We got ready and ate dinner at the Chicago Chophouse. The food was outstanding and we had a nice anniversary dinner. (I'll post pictures in the next post). What a fun night!

Since Sunday was the marathon, we made plans to go to the outlet mall in Aurora for some shopping. There were tons of good deals! We were able to get some Christmas shopping done as well as some stuff for us. We ate lunch and then made the trek home. I didn't have school on Monday, so it was nice to rest and recouperate after a busy time in the city. We had a fabulous weekend and loved spending the time with our family!

Let's Go 'Necks!

2010-09-25T23:02:00.003-05:00

Yes, that's another football cheer which means another football weekend for the Casey's. This weekend, we traveled again, but this time to Macomb for WIU Homecoming. Last year, we went to a WIU football game and met some of our college friends for the day. We decided we liked it so much we would make it an annual tradition. This time, we left our kiddos at home and had some adult time. It was such a great day!

Friday after school, we made our way to Macomb to meet the Windham's. Sarah hooked us up to stay at the local Christian camp (that we had many retreats at) for the night at the low, low cost of FREE! Not only was that a huge perk, it was great to relax and hang out with the Windham's and we all got to sleep in the next day because we didn't have kids.

Saturday morning, we drove back to Macomb to meet the Gorsch's and the Knopp's for a fun-filled WIU day. It was homecoming, so our day started off with the parade. It was quite comical at times and there were many laughs already happening. After the parade, we went to one of the yummy local eateries (Rocky's) for lunch. We had a great time and as we were leaving, Luke said something about hoping it wasn't cold and rainy out. Well, that must have jinxed us because that was exactly what was going on. Bummer! And I thought it would be nice to pre-order tickets so we were all a little hesitant to watch some football.

Before heading to the game, we hit up the bookstore for some new Leatherneck gear and made our way (in the rain) down to the stadium. Needless to say, we didn't make it the whole game. The girls made it just over a quarter before we retreated to the Union to chit-chat. The guys stayed through the half and then came and picked us up. Even though it was early, we went to our FAVORITE pizza place, Auerilo's, for some dinner. We sat and visited and ate lots of yummy food before deciding it was time to get going. We went back to the campus house to get our cars and said our good byes.

The only group picture is on another camera, but here is Hannah sporting her new Leatherneck T-Shirt: This is definitely something that will be a yearly tradition with our amazing college friends. We love you all so much and are so thankful to be a part of your lives! Let's go 'Necks!

Go Pack Go!

2010-09-19T21:02:00.003-05:00

What an exciting day for the Casey's! Today, Tim and I had the awesome opportunity to go the Lambeau Field for a Green Bay Packer's game! This was my first time to experience this and it was really fun! Let me back up a bit...

Last winter, Tim bought tickets online for a Green Bay game and went with his dad, brother-in-law Kyle and Kyle's brother Ryan. It was a very cold, Monday night game in December. Tim made a whirlwind trip up and back which included overnight transportation and some long days. But, it was all worth it for him to experience his first-ever Packer game.

Fast forward a bit...this summer, a family at church offered Tim two tickets to a game as a thank you for working with their daughter the last few years (she was a varsity basketball player at OTHS). Tim was so stoked and wanted us both to go if possible. I told him I would love to go but preferably a game when it wasn't super cold. We gave the guy a few options and he gave us this game. We've been looking forward to it for quite sometime. Here we are at the game:
We took advantage of our trip up north to spend some time with family too. We left Friday after school and drove to Nikki & Kyle's where Ken & Delaine were already there. We had a lot of fun spending time as a family on Saturday. That night after Hannah went to bed, we watched a movie (the first in a long time for us). Sunday morning, Tim & I got up early to get ready to head to Green Bay (it's about two hours from Lake Mills). Uncle Kyle & Aunt Nikki loved spending the day with Hannah while we were at the game. After the Packer's won, we headed back to pick up Hannah and then made the long trek back to Illinois.

It was a wild and crazy weekend, but worth every minute of it! Hopefully this won't be our only Packer game!

A is for Apple

2010-09-12T19:39:00.000-05:00

After church, we met some friends (and our former neighbors) the Scaiefe's at a local orchard, Eckert's. Apple picking is in it's prime and we wanted to take advantage of a beautiful day to be outside. We decided to do the whole she-bang and pick our own apples. Before we headed out, we got a few shots of Hannah and Liam. They were pretty cute sitting on this bench together.We started on a tractor ride out to where we were picking that day. Here is Tim & Hannah on our way out to the apples.Hannah had a fun time with all the apples she found. She preferred to pick them off of the ground, but we were able to coax her into trying to pull a couple off of the tree.

We each had an apple out in the orchard and we tried to give Hannah some bites too. She wasn't too interested in eating the fresh, yummy apples, however she did eat a bite or two.We also got a family shot before we left the apple orchard.

We had a lot of fun with John, Kelli & Liam at Eckert's! We can't wait to take Hannah back next month to go pumpkin picking!

Our BIG Girl

2010-09-08T13:32:00.000-05:00

Lately, it seems like everything Hannah does reminds me more and more of what a big girl she is getting to be! We are just a few months shy of planning and celebrating Hannah's 2nd birthday. Here are some highlights of some of Hannah's latest "big girl" accomplishments:

*We've been practicing using the potty before bathtime each night. We've had a few successful attempts, but most of the time we just sit and practice. I think Hannah is getting more and more aware of what may be going on so I think we may give it a real go over Christmas break.

Hannah LOVES to be outside! Every day after school we play outside until dinner and then usually go back out until it's time for a bath. One of Hannah's favorite things to do outside is to walk the dogs. Sometimes her little legs have to move pretty quickly to keep up with the "boys" but rarely will she stop walking them!
*Speaking of outside, when we were at the park recently Hannah really enjoyed swinging on the big swing by herself. She has always enjoyed swinging, but she seemed so big on the big girl swing!*Sometimes it's the little things that make her look so big. A few weeks ago we got Hannah her first pair of Crocs. Also, her hair is getting so long. When we put it up in pig tails our little toddler looks pretty big!
*This weekend, we also started transitioning her to a "big girl" bed. We converted her crib to a toddler bed and she has done so great! Both Saturday morning and when her Saturday nap ended, she got up on her own. However, we told her she needed to stay in bed until we came and got her and she has stayed there until that time ever since. We are going to keep working on her room and get it completed with a big girl twin bed, new paint and new bedding when Nana visits in October.

Playing in the Park

2010-09-07T09:20:00.000-05:00

We took in some of the beautiful weather over the Labor Day weekend. Sunday evening, we took a family bike ride to the local park. Hannah loves the bike trailer and really loved playing in the park. When we were finished playing, we took the long way home to extend our bike ride. It was such a beautiful evening and we really enjoyed spending the time together as a family. Swinging with Daddy Climbing up the slide... going back down... and up one more time. It was definitely a highlight of the trip to the park!

A New Journey

2010-09-05T13:33:00.002-05:00

(Our current family of three!)

We want to share with our friends & family some exciting news -- we have decided to expand our family through adoption! Adoption is something that Tim has always thought about doing and he started talking about it early in our marriage. While trying to conceive Hannah, I came to terms with possibly not having a child of my own and knowing that adoption would be a wonderful way to have children. Shortly after that conversation with myself and God, we got pregnant with Hannah. I feel so blessed that I was able to have a biological child. Hannah is such a joy and we love being her parents.

After what we went through to be able to conceive her, I always told myself if we couldn't do it naturally the next time, we'd look into adoption. Last winter, we decided to give it another chance and started the same fertility treatment again this past spring in hopes to be able to conceive again. This summer, we went through the very hard experience of an ectopic pregnancy and losing the baby we were so hopeful for. It didn't take long to know that I did not want to go through that again. I knew from talking to my doctor that you can get pregnant again with one fallopian tube, however, Tim and I had set our limits as to far we would go with fertility treatments and I vaguely knew what would potentially need to happen to conceive on our own again. It did not sound appealing at all.

During this healing, I knew without a doubt that we should start looking into adoption. When I first told Tim, I think he was worried that I was "giving up" too soon, but as we talked through this, I told him I had this indescribable peace about the whole situation. At that point, I was 100% sure that I was fine if I was never pregnant again or carried my own child. God had brought me through the hardship of the ectopic pregnancy every step of the way and in my heart I know this is what He wants for our family. I felt like what we went through this summer was a big sign from God saying "This is how I want you to add to your family." I can't explain it exactly, but I felt like the weight of the world had been lifted off my shoulders. The peace I've felt from the time I found out about the ectopic until we made this decision is truly life-changing. God has been in control through this whole thing.

So, we started working right away. It is amazing to see the door's God has opened for us along the way confirming that this is exactly what He has in His plan for our family! We first decided on domestic infant adoption and contacted a national agency called Bethany Christian Services. In July, we went to an informational meeting about adoption in general and felt right at home with this agency. We filled out our formal application and got the process started. At the beginning of August, we went to a mandatory all day training that had to be completed before we could complete our homestudy. They only offer it once every three months so we are so thankful to be able to complete it when we did. At the same time, we got our homestudy packet and have been working on it ever since. Currently, we are just a few documents away from sending in the last of our paperwork. Once that is done, we will have a few visits with our social worker and then our homestudy will be complete! At that time, the official waiting begins.

We are so excited about this journey we are on! God continues to bless our little family and we know there is a baby out there for us. We can't wait to have him or her in our family! Please pray for us as we continue on this path. We have the most fabulous friends and family who have always supported us. Thank you for your continued interest and support in our lives and for the prayers that will be lifted up during this exciting time in our life! We will keep everyone posted as we continue.

I want to ride my bicycle...

2010-08-29T20:04:00.000-05:00

This is long overdue! For my birthday, my mom and dad got me a gift card to get a new bicycle. I was so excited! Mascoutah is the perfect town to do some biking and I knew I would get a lot of use out of a new bike. Then, they gave Tim a gift card also so we could both have new bikes. Once the craziness of school got over, we went to the store and were fitted and ordered new bikes. It took a week or so for them to come in, but by early June we had them. We also wanted to get a trailer for Hannah so we can take family bike rides. Unfortunately, the craziness then the heat of summer got the best of us and we haven't used them yet...until tonight! I knew I wanted to get the rest of what we needed soon since the weather is starting to cool off. We went last night to get a trailer, put it together today and took all of it for a test drive after dinner! We had a nice time and can't wait for more family rides this fall!
I promise Hannah is in there too! She smiled and laughed the whole way!!

School's in Session

2010-08-16T19:49:00.000-05:00

Well, summer is offically coming to a close. We have had a summer that wasn't always what we expected, but when I look back it was so fabulous. Once again, we loved watching Hannah grow and change over the last few months. There are so many things she accomplished during the summer and she really is getting to be such a big girl. We had lots of family time and friend time and made many great memories. But all good things must come to an end. I headed back to school today and as we start a new year, I am always excited and anxious to get a new year going. I remember always taking a picture on my first day of school so I thought I'd take one with Hannah today. Happy Back-to-School!

A Grandmother's Love

2010-08-13T21:55:00.000-05:00

I just wanted to take a moment and honor Hannah's grandmas. I think that Hannah has the best grandma's ever! Don't get me wrong, grandpa's are pretty special too, but there is just something extra special about a grandma--especially to a little girl. Both of our mom's are wonderful mom's and have already turned into even more wonderful grandmas. They each love Hannah unconditionally & I know they have so much they want to show, teach and do with Hannah as she grows older. What an awesome relationship God blesses through grandmas!

Gwannie & Nana - I love you very much!

A Summer Blessing

2010-08-09T15:56:00.000-05:00

One of the highlights of our summer has been spending time with amazing college friends on a variety of occasions. Last night & today has been no exception to that! After going to the Mascoutah homecoming parade, Hannah and I took off to Dwight to stay the night with the Windham's. Once again, Sarah and I stayed up late visiting. Today, the main event occurred. Our dear friend Erin and her beautiful daughter Elle, who live in North Carolina, were back home (Rockford, IL) for the weekend and came down to visit for a few hours. Kristina also joined us and we had a fantastic time catching up with each other's lives as well as refereeing our kids (5 there that day). It was awesome! This group of girls has been a part of my life from the very beginning of college, when Kristina & I met in biology to the bond we made through all of us being a part of CSC, to road trips (Alabama, baby!) to graduating, getting married and having kids (a total of 6 between us). What awesome relationships God has given us. I love these girls so much and am so thankful that we have maintained such strong bonds over the last nine (yes, nine!) years. Praise Him for girlfriends who share my beliefs and values and who have been there with me through so much. Although we all live away from each other, when we talk on the phone or get together it's like nothing has changed. There have been many times when I wished to "re-create" these relationships with other people in other circumstances. I've come to realize that the friendships I have with these girls are irereplacable, and that is exactly the way I want it! I have amazing friends at school where I work, in my neighborhood and through church, but no one will replace what I have with these girls. I know that no matter what happens, we will always be able to lean on each other and no matter how often or little we can visit or talk, nothing will change what we have with each other. Thank you, girls, for being such an integral part of my life. I love you all!The kids (minus Sadie) -- Elle, Macey, Kinnick, Hannah & Whittaker.The moms -- Kristina, Erin, Sarah and me.
The kids & the moms (not an easy shot - but the best we could do...on a timer by the way!)

80 Years Strong

2010-08-02T16:36:00.000-05:00

This past weekend we headed up for a quick trip to the northwoods to celebrate Tim's grandpa's 80th birthday! It was also Delaine's birthday so it was really nice that we got to celebrate both. We got in on Friday and settled in for the night. Saturday morning we went to help get the house ready as well as visit the other set of grandparents for the afternoon. Even though it was a short time at each place, it was really great for all the grandparent's to get to spend a little time with Hannah.

When we left, we stopped about halfway to Ken & Delaine's for Godfather's pizza to celebrate Delaine's birthday. I won't go into the details, but we shared a lot of laughs over our two hour....yes, I said TWO HOUR adventure of eating pizza. It was quite the memorable experience! :-)

Sunday after church we stopped briefly at the big party to take a family picture since everyone was in town. It's a great shot of the whole family!

Although it was a short weekend, it was so nice to be around to visit with family and especially to help celebrate the birthdays. Happy Birthday Grandpa Hoff & Delaine!

We Heart Visitors!

2010-07-30T16:00:00.000-05:00

We have been so blessed to have friends come to visit two weeks in a row! Both sets of friends are some of our WIU/CSC friends. What awesome people God put in our lives while we were in college. The thought that these are life-long friends makes my heart smile! It's so awesome that we are still in touch and get to see each other a few times a year.

A few weekends ago, the Windham's ended their mini-vacation with a couple days at our house Friday, we headed off early to the zoo to beat the heat. We had a great time! One of the highlights was seeing the stingray exhibit. It is very hands-on and really cool! Even Hannah was able to reach in and got a chance to feel the stingrays. We got around most of the zoo before lunch, ate a picnic lunch and finished the last section before the real heat set in. Here is a picture of Luke, Sarah, Whit & Hannah at Caribbean Cove and the stingrays!After the zoo and a much needed naptime, we grilled out, and had a fun evening hanging out and visiting. What fabulous friends the Windham's are to us! We were so glad to have them in Mascoutah for a few days!

The end of this past week brought another set of visitors. Kristina came down with her kids for a night. We started the visit with a short naptime then headed to the pool for an hour or so of water fun. All four kids seemed to have a blast swimming! We came back to homeade pizza ready to eat. The kiddos got baths, headed off to sleepy land and the grown-ups got a chance to visit and catch up. We all headed our seperate ways the next day. Even though it was a short trip, it so refreshing to have Kristina here for a night! Before we all left, we tried to get a picture of the kids (minus Macey who was sleeping). Here is one of the better shots.Sadie was so good during the picture session! She just kept smiling so we could focus on getting Hannah and Kinnick to smile...or at least look our way. After we got the kids, we tried to get a couple with the mom's and kids. We didn't look at any of the pictures right away, so later in the car I started flipping through and came across this photo...

I thought it was hiliarious! I think this shot truly captures the current state of our lives! Hey - at least the mommy's are looking great! :-)

We are so glad that we had the opportunity to visit with some of our college friends over the summer! We are already trying to set up a visit to WIU this fall for a football game! We love all of you guys!!!

Baseball Heaven

2010-07-17T19:32:00.000-05:00

We are big baseball fans around here and one of our favorite things to do is watch the Cardinals. Mom, Tim & I headed to Busch Stadium today for a game. We are always excited for baseball, but a little hesitant today because it was extremely hot outside. Earlier this morning, Tim had the opportunity to listen to Tony Dungey speak to a group of coaches. The event was sponsered by FCA and it was Christian Day at the ball park. He said it was amazing and he had a really good time. Mom and I met him at one of our favorite pre/post-game eatery's, Calico's, for a late lunch before the game started. As we got to the satdium, we realized it was way hotter than we thought. Our seats were in the sun, so we hung out in the concourse where there was some sort of breeze for the pre-game festivities. We then attempted our seats for a total of maybe 5 minutes. It was beyond hot! We went back to our spot on the concourse and ended up watching the game from there -- in the shade and with whatever breeze was there at the time. During the 4th inning, we decided to take off. It is the first time EVER that we left that early in the game. Both Tim & Mom were not feeling great and it was so unbearably hot. We're going to try again before the season is over...but this time in the evening!

This is where we ended up watching what little of the game we stayed for. Oh well -- always an adventure!

Fourth of July

2010-07-04T09:44:00.000-05:00

We had a pretty low-key kind of day around here celebrating the 4th. It was a pretty typical Sunday with church, lunch with Mom, naptime, etc. In the evening, we went to a couple of different neighborhood get-togethers, but were home in time for Hannah's bath and bedtime. We are so fortunate that Mascoutah has a really great fireworks show that we can see by sitting in our backyard. It was a great way to cap off the night! Maybe next year Hannah will be awake long enough for the fireworks! Happy Birthday, America!

A Perfect Summer Day

2010-07-03T17:24:00.000-05:00

After a long and draining couple of weeks, we had free Saturday to spend as a family (one of the awesome perks of Tim's new job!). We left at the beginning of naptime and headed down to southern Illinois to window shop, eat dinner and go to a Miners game. We went to Carbondale first and walked around the mall then headed to Marion to do the same thing. Even though we didn't buy anything, it was fun to just walk around and window shop. After shopping, we ate at a local So Il BBQ spot (Triple E) and it was very yummy! We felt like it was a "real" vacation because we love trying local eating establishments when we go somewhere else. When we were finished, we headed over to Rent One Park to watch the Southern Illinois Miners. They are an independent miner league baseball team that is in the same league that the Gateway Grizzlies are in. We always like going to baseball games and it was a great night for one. We got lawn seats, spread our blanket out and enjoyed 5 innings of baseball. It is a great atmosphere for a little one because we had some more space to roam around. I was impressed that we made it as long as we did because it was later than usual for Hannah. It wasn't much, but we had a fabulous day as a family! Hannah and Mommy before the game started.Hannah and Daddy about halfway through -- not quite as happy as noted by the crazy hair!

Hannah's 1/2 Birthday

2010-06-30T17:09:00.000-05:00

Hannah is 18 months old and is doing so much! As you can see, getting a picture with her bear is getting harder all the time! I am so thankful to be home this summer and at this time in Hannah's life. She is so much fun and is learning new things all the time. What a joy to be called her Mommy & Daddy! Here are some highlights of what Hannah's up to right now:

*Hannah is getting more coordinated all the time. When she gets really excited she starts running somewhere. It is really cute watching her shuffle along to get a toy or book, chase after the dogs or catch up to us.

*In the midst of everything crazy the last two weeks, she had a case of Hand, Foot & Mouth. Who knows where she got it from, but luckily it only affected her for a couple of days.

*Our slow teether is starting to catch up! Within the last few weeks, all four molars have broken through and her other bottom two teeth finally are coming in as well. Between the H, F & M and her teeth, no wonder she hasn't felt good at times.

*Hannah still isn't a big talker, but she signs "please"-"milk"-"more" & "all done."

*She can point to her belly, nose, mouth, eyes, feet, hands and hair.

*Hannah has recently really started playing with puzzles. She can put her farm puzzle pieces to the right place and sometimes shift them to make them fit.

*She still loves looking at books! She especially loves peek-a-boo/lift-a-flap books and touch-and-feel books.

It is so fun to see her learning new things all the time! It's amazing how quickly she learns something. One minute she is doing something new occasionally and then the next she does it all the time. I can't wait to see what the rest of the summer holds for us.

Update -- Still in God's Hands

2010-06-29T11:25:00.000-05:00

Kind of a silly title because we are always in His hands but that's the best I could come up with for the time being. :-) I wanted to write a quick update about what has happened since our intial finding out about the ectopic and treating it with the Methotrexate.

Yesterday, I had a repeat ultrasound and bloodwork drawn to see how things were progressing from the medicine. The doctor who read the ultrasound said that the pregnancy had not gotten any smaller, but couldn't quite tell if it had gotten bigger. He also saw some fluid in my pelvis. When speaking with my doctor later in the day, she said it looked okay but that they were still waiting for the hcg levels because both were needed to know what to do next. She called back a bit later and had some not-so-good news -- my levels actually had gone up instead of going down. We discussed our options (another shot or surgery to remove it) and I decided on going with my gut instinct of surgery. Even though at the time she felt confident another round of medicine would work, I was ready to be done with everything. I hated having to wait after the drug was administered to see if it worked all the while having some slight pain and discomfort. So, since I hadn't eaten much that day, my doctor said to come on over and we'd do the surgery.

Once I was checked in at Barnes, we went right into pre-op and got started right away. The surgery took about an hour and a half then I was back among the living (kind of) after about 30 minutes of recovery. The doctor told me the surgery went very! I talked to my doctor some more this morning and got additional information. I did have some bleeding in my abdomen and the pregnancy was just beginning to rupture so we definitely made the right decision. She did have to remove my left fallopian tube because it had been damaged by the near-rupture. Other than that, things went really well. I stayed over night and am hoping to be discharged sometime today.

Once again, I praise God for giving me some good gut feelings. When I talked with my doctor yesterday my gut was to do the surgery and be able to be done with everything instead of waiting for another treatment to see if it would work. After talking to the doctor this morning, we both knew it was the best decision. There is a good chance that it would have ruptured last night and the surgery would have been a bit more "emergency." I know without a doubt that God gave me that instinct to go ahead and do the surgery from the beginning. I praise Him for being with us and watching over us throughout this whole process. I have no idea God's plan for the Casey family because this certainatly wasn't how we planned this, but I have complete faith that it is something amazing. I am so glad that He is in charge of our lives and not us!

Thank you God for protecting my family and me over the last few weeks. We praise you for all of the little signs and gut feelings that made this situation much safer for me. Thank you for being with the doctors and giving them the knowledge and tools to do what needed to be done. I especially thank you for the people you have put in our lives -- both family and friends. Thank you for always being in control and loving us continually!

In God's Hands

2010-06-24T19:39:00.000-05:00

This isn't going to be an exciting post, but since I use this blog as a journal of our family I want to make sure this is a part of it. We have had quite the experience over the last two days. Just about two weeks ago Tim & I found out we were pregnant based on a home pregnancy test. We really hadn't told a lot of people yet because it was very early. On Tuesday, I headed north to Kristina's house to have some college girl time with a few of my girlfriends. Yesterday morning I woke up with some pretty severe stomach pains/cramping. My gut told me that something wasn't right. I finally decided (with the advice of my friends) to have things checked out at the ER. From the beginning, the pain was more on one side than the other and I was worried that maybe it was an ectopic pregnancy. After some tests and ultrasound this was confirmed. At that point I knew that things could possibly get bad very quickly depending on what was going on. However, the good news was it had not burst and was very small. I was able to discuss my options with my OB in St. Louis and decided to come home right away and get treatment from Barnes and my regular OB. I am very grateful because it was very early and very small still. I was able to avoid surgery and get treated with a drug instead. My doctor was very confident that this was going to be the best option especially to be able to try having more children later.

One thing I want to say is how thankful I am for my awesome friends and family. One of my college friends not only stayed with me in the ER (while the other one was taking care of Hannah) but then drove me to St. Louis (without a car to go back home) so that I wouldn't be alone then proceeded to take Hannah home and take care of her while Tim, my mom and myself were at the hospital. I also had so many people offer to do whatever was needed and most importantly be praying for my family as we were figuring this out. Thank God for amazing friends and family that He has provided to me.

The biggest thing I want to remember through this experience is how much I have felt the peace of God. I know that God has been with us through this entire process. I know because God works for the good of those who believe that He has a greater plan than we do. For whatever reason, this was not our time to have another baby and I know it will happen in the right time. I praise God for small blessings even though this isn't the way we wanted things to happen. Because I was cramping so early we caught it very soon which helped in so many ways. I know that was God helping me see that something was wrong. God has walked us through this just as He has done before and always will. I know He has a great plan for our family and we can't wait to see what that is! I know that we are in God's hands.

Camp!

2010-06-18T19:16:00.000-05:00

This week we were able to volunteer as faculty for high school camp at Little Galilee Christian Assembly in Clinton, IL. From the time I can remember my uncle has been the dean at High School Main 1 week. I have great memories of being a "faculty kid" for a couple of years when I was young and my mom and dad were faculty at this week. Little Galilee has extra special meaning to me because during one of those weeks of camp I decided to give my life to Christ and was baptized in the old pool. Now my uncle is the camp manager and him and my aunt live at camp but he also still deans this week of camp. Last year, Hannah & I worked the week of camp but I was in and out a lot becuase Hannah was still nursing. This year we were able to all go work a week as a family and it was so much fun! We still stayed with my aunt & uncle at their house since Hannah is still pretty little but we were able to do a lot more. It was a fabulous week to get away from every day life and enjoy God's creation as well as be filled through worship and teaching. One of the sessions each day was going through the program "Walk Through the Bible" and it focused on the Old Testament. It was really awesome and I feel like I really learned a lot about the Old Testament. It was a really cool program. Overall, it was a great week of camp and I'm so glad we got to spend time as a family and introduce Hannah to Christian camping. I hope we are able to continue helping out.

Here is a picture of our camp "family."

Using Utensils

2010-06-12T16:26:00.000-05:00

Hannah has been working really hard this summer at learning how to use her fork and spoon. Sometimes she still gets frustrated and resorts to her fingers, but overall she is doing a fantastic job. One of the foods we have introduced this summer is cereal with milk in it. It is quickly becoming a breakfast favorite and a perfect opportunity to practice with her spoon.

She also got to practice with a bowl of ice cream. Yummy! A summer favorite!

Another Friday Family Outing

2010-06-11T16:14:00.000-05:00

We were able to enjoy one more Friday Family Outing before Tim starts his new job. We didn't want to spend a lot of money so we decided to go to Old Town St. Charles, Missouri to walk around and window shop. It was breezy and not to hot so it felt good to just be able to enjoy being together. Here is a family picture of us.

Originally, we were going to eat at one of the cute cafe's in Old Town, but the rain was coming in so we changed plans. We decided to head downtown and eat at the Old Spagetti Factory. This is one of my favorite places and it was the first time to take Hannah there. We had a lot of fun introducing her to a St. Louis favorite. Hannah and Daddy waiting for our food.

I think Hannah liked it -- you can see the spagetti mess left on her face and her digging into her spumoni ice cream!

Friday Family Outing

2010-06-04T20:05:00.001-05:00

Last summer, Tim, Hannah & I tried to go explore something on Friday's because Tim's job allowed him to take some time on Friday's. This summer is going to be a lot different because in two weeks, Tim starts a new job. While this is very exciting for our family, I will miss these Friday's. We still have today and next week and we couldn't wait to go do something today. We chose Grant's Farm -- one of St. Louis' best family attractions! Grant's Farm is the land where the Busch family once lived and is now a wild life perserve. It is not only beautiful but has tons of things to do and see. One of the favorites is feeding the goats. Here is Hannah trying her hand at it. The worst part was that the goats eat so quickly that Hannah wanted to keep doing it!Hannah also got to experience her very first carousel ride! I think she really liked it!Here is Hannah and Daddy riding the tram back to the entrance. We had such a great day hanging out as a family!