Caleb's pictures

Caleb was constantly asking to take pictures with my camera so for Christmas we got him his own (kid proof) camera.  I was deleting about 400 pictures from his camera today and I found some cute pictures that Caleb had taken.  Most of the pictures were of his foot or the floor but I found a few that I thought I would share.

 He lined up his cars and took a picture.

Benjamin

Picture of Daddy

And Mommy

The camera was definitely a good idea.  It is very kid friendly and so simple to use.  The picture quality isn't great of course but Caleb doesn't care.  He just loves taking pictures!

Caleb walking

 I know I post videos of Caleb walking all the time but I just can't get enough of it.  I am blown away by how well he is doing and by his desire to walk.  He actually wants to put on his braces and walk.  I am just so proud of this little booger and how hard he works.  He is an amazing kid. 

Christmas 2009

Christmas is so fun when you have kids.  I found myself getting more and more excited as Christmas Day approached.

The news said that it has been 80 years since Texas has had a "White Christmas".  When we came out of church on Christmas Eve it looked like a blizzard!  Caleb was so excited about the snow so of course we had to let him play in it.  Who knows, it could be another 80 years before we have snow on Christmas.

Caleb on Christmas morning.  He was so interested in the snow and making sure it hadn't melted yet that he didn't even see the gifts under the tree.  But once he saw them he was ready to tear into them!

Caleb likes to "help" Benjamin open his gifts.  Sometimes I think Caleb is more interested in Benjamin's toys than his own, and vice versa.  Benjamin wants to play with whatever Caleb has and Caleb wants to play with whatever Benjamin has.

  He's so stinkin' cute!  This is like his first real Christmas.  Last year he was only 4 days old and in the NICU.  This Christmas is much more fun.

By mid-morning the snow was rapidly melting so we had to get Caleb out there before it was gone.

After our Christmas at home, we went to Gammy and Grandpa Al's house.  The boys had a lot of fun over there.

Benjamin and Caleb with Aunt Rachel, Grandpa Al, and Gammy.

It was certainly a good Christmas in the McLelland house.  We hope that all of you had a very Merry Christmas.

Our Christmas Card

Since it is impossible for me to send a Christmas card to everyone...I thought I would just post it on the blog.  I just wanted to say "Merry Christmas" to all of you.  I so appreciate the fact that there are so many people that take the time to visit this blog.  Those of you with SB kiddos are like family to me...even if I've never met you.  I love sharing pictures and stories with all of you (friends and family) and it means so much to me that you take an interest in my family.  I hope that all of you have a very Merry Christmas.  May 2010 be filled with many blessings.

"But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.  Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord."

-Luke 2:10-11

Happy Birthday Jesus!

Benjamin's Birth

I lost 2 babies in the fall of 2007 and when I got pregnant again in 2008 I was excited and scared to death.  The 2 losses the year before were devastating and I was terrified that I would lose this baby as well.  Because of Caleb's Spina Bifida I was considered "high-risk" so I had tons of sonograms.  We learned early on that I had Placenta Previa which is when the placenta is covering the cervix.  Most of the time the placenta will move up during the pregnancy and there is no reason for concern.  So we hoped and prayed that my placenta would be cooperative and move off the cervix.  Well it never did.  At 31 weeks and 5 days I woke up in the middle of the night, around 3 am, because something just didn't feel right.  I got out of bed and quickly realized that I was bleeding...quite a bit...not a good sign!  So Glenn rushes me to the hospital.  I really appreciated that we have a hospital about a block from our house.  I was so scared, I just remember shaking from head to toe because I didn't know what was going to happen.  The plan was to put me on hospital bed rest for as long as possible to give the baby more time to grow.  I was transferred to another hospital and I prepared for a nice long stay.  Well, my placenta had other plans and things just went downhill fast.  I started hemorrhaging a few hours later and it quickly became an emergency situation.  Glenn and Caleb were in the room with me when it started and I was trying so hard to keep it together so that Caleb wouldn't be scared.  But I knew that something was very wrong so it was a struggle to not completely freak out.  It's very unnerving when there are several nurses and doctors rushing around you, especially when even they seem a little freaked out!  I had to have an emergency c-section, there wasn't time for a spinal block so I was put to sleep for the surgery.  When I woke up I was told that my son was doing well at 4 pounds 7 ounces. One of the first things I remember was Glenn telling me that the baby's name was Benjamin David (we hadn't decided on a name-we thought we had more time to decide).  Benjamin David was the name that I wanted so I was thrilled to hear that Glenn had decided on that name.  

I was also told that the doctor had no choice but to do a hysterectomy.  It  appears that the placenta went absolutely crazy and had grown outside of the uterus and had attached itself to the abdominal wall and my bladder.  My uterus was so badly damaged that they had no choice but to remove it completely.  There was some damage done to my bladder as well so I had to wear a catheter for 10 days (that is no fun, I don't recommend it.)  I also had a blood transfusion because I lost so much blood.  Despite all of that, our baby boy was doing well.  He did have to have some oxygen for a few days just to give him a little help but other than that he was healthy.  He looked so tiny to me.  Benjamin spent 5 weeks in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.  

 Look at that sweet face.

 This is one of my favorite pictures of Benjamin while he was in the NICU.  He did a lot of sleeping during those 5 weeks.

 So that is the story of Benjamin's arrival into the world.  Pretty exciting stuff, right?  In some ways those days with him in the NICU seem like they were just last week, and sometimes it feels like we have always had Benjamin with us.  It's hard to picture our family without him.  I may not be able to have any more babies but I feel super blessed to have the 2 wonderful boys that I have.

Christmas at Granny and Paw-Paw's

We had Christmas at Granny and Paw-Paw's house yesterday. There was a lot of family there, I think we counted 33 people! Caleb was so excited to go because he got to see his cousins. There was plenty of good food and, of course, presents.

Caleb sitting at the "kids table" with all of his cousins.

Here is Benjamin pulling up on some presents, he was after a shiny red bow.

Benjamin got a cute ball popper train.

Caleb got a really cool remote control car. He absolutely loves it and played with it the entire time. You can see that cousin Marshall also wanted to play with it.

Benjamin playing with Andrew and Marshall.

Benjamin can either ride on this toy or it converts into a push toy that he can eventually walk behind.

Season for Giving

Christmas is supposed to be a season for giving and I witnessed some giving in my house today. If you know Caleb at all, you know that he does not like to share food. Period. He likes to eat his snack on the couch so that Benjamin can't take it from him. Well now that Benjamin is pulling up Caleb's snack is no longer safe, even on the couch. Caleb was feeling very generous today and was giving Benjamin his Cheerios. This was just too sweet, so I had to take a couple of pictures. I had to have a permanent record of this act of giving because I'm not sure when/if it will happen again. :)

School Christmas Party

Caleb's class had their Christmas Party today. I always enjoy getting the chance to watch him at school, although he acts totally different when I am there.

The kids did this really cute art project using tissue paper, baby food jars, and modge podge.

Caleb decorating his cookie with icing and sprinkles.

Caleb and Jacob.

Jacob was in Caleb's class last year too. Both boys have made a lot of progress. Jacob wasn't saying much this time last year but that is not true today. Jacob was singing all the songs today during circle time, I was quite impressed!

Benjamin taking a nap during all the fun! Poor baby was so tired, he fell asleep in Ms. Cheryl's arms.

The best part of waking up....

It looks like we have a future coffee drinker. At least it is Half-Caff. He was so excited to get a chance to look in the fridge and he got most upset when I shut the door. Benjamin is pulling up on EVERYTHING and it is really stressing me out! He is constantly falling over, I never realized how many corners our house has! He gets to standing and can't figure out how to get down so I have to rescue him several times a day. He is keeping me very busy these days, I don't know what I am going to do when he starts walking! Yikes.

Benjamin's 1st Birthday Party

Benjamin's 1st Birthday isn't until the 21st but we had his birthday party today. We tried to keep it small with just the Grandparents and Great-Grandparents but even then we had a house full of people. We are blessed to have such a big family. Of course Benjamin had no idea what was going on but Caleb was VERY excited about the party and had been asking about it all week.

Here is our birthday boy munching on a few tiny bites of pizza. He has taken a serious interest to big people food and is less and less interested in baby food.

Present Time!! I don't think Benjamin got to open any of his gifts...Caleb sorta beat him to it. I think Caleb thought it was his birthday instead of Benjamin's!

Benjamin with cousin Andrew. These boys were so cute together, it's like they know that they are both babies. Andrew is about 7 months old. They were climbing all over each other and grabbing at each others faces. Super cute!

Benjamin's baseball cake.

Benjamin's first taste of cake. He didn't quite no what to do at first but once he figured it out there was no stopping him (you have to watch the video).

Sucking his thumb in between bites.

"Why bother using my hands when I can just put my mouth right on it!?"

Christmas Banquet

Every December Glenn's work has an Employee Appreciation Banquet. Here are a few pictures from last night's banquet.Caleb enjoying the yummy food! There were hershey kisses all over the table and after Caleb had about 3 of them I told him that he couldn't have anymore. Well he's pretty smart and he asked daddy instead, Glenn gave him more kisses without knowing I had already told Caleb no!

Garrett (Glenn's bosses son) brought his Nintendo and Caleb had more fun watching him play football on it. Caleb kept asking Garrett: "Did you get a touchdown yet?" It was so cute.

The boys playing football together.

Glenn trying to keep Benjamin happy as the night went on.

Gingerbread house...it looks prettier on the box

I bought a Gingerbread house kit the other day, Caleb was so excited and couldn't wait to put it together. Well mostly he just wanted to eat it, he didn't understand why we were building this yummy gingerbread house but we weren't going to eat it. I think he would have tried to eat the entire thing if we had let him.

Getting the walls in place....

Caleb can barely contain himself! He kept sneaking bites of icing when he thought no one was looking.

Our finished house...it didn't exactly turn out as pretty as the picture on the box. By the time we were done Caleb had icing all over his face, in his hair and on his glasses! Not to mention he was a little hyper from all the sugar!

This is our house about 5 minutes after we were done. The wall caved in and the roof collapsed! Oh well, Caleb had fun putting it together anyway.

Caleb's knock-knock joke

Caleb walking with his AFO's and telling a knock-knock joke! So talented!

Benjamin saying "mama"

How stinkin' cute is this?

Spina Bifida Association Christmas Party

We went to the annual Spina Bifida Association Christmas Party today. This was our third year to go and it was the best one yet. Caleb had so much fun. Here are a few pictures:

They had this guy come, I think he called himself "Critterman", and he brought all these different animals for the kids to see. Caleb volunteered to help him out with the hedgehog.

Caleb got to pet the hedgehog. "Critterman" also brought a prairie dog, an alligator, a snake, and a spider. The kids loved it!

Of course, Caleb's buddy Bryce was there.

And we had to get our face painted!