18 Months Old

Isaac is 18 months old today.  That doesn't even seem possible yet.  He is growing like a weed.  He is becoming a mimic - trying to pronounce so many new words everyday.  He favorite phrases right now are:  "What's that?" and "I help."  He can say Luke very clearly and attempts Dominic.  He is learning his body parts and loves his knees and elbows.  He is trying to learn colors but he calls everything "blue" because I think it is the easiest to say.  He loves to look at book and point out the animals and make their sounds.  Isaac loves to bring me the kindle fire or ipad and demands, "DRAW" - he loves the doodling apps.

Isaac now has a very strong attachment to his minky dinosaur blanket.  I have to sneak it away from him to wash it.  The other night he needed to go to bed but the blanket was in the dryer.  He cried and cried for it so much that I got him up and let him play until it was dry.  Once "blanket" was in his arms he announced it was time for "night night".

We are proud to announce that Isaac is still in cloth diapers.  It will be a change when we have 2 kids in diapers for a while but that is my mission while on maternity leave...get Isaac potty trained.  I just hope it is his mission too!  He knows already when he is wetting his diaper because he lets everyone know.  He wants to sit on the toilet but doesn't do anything yet.  So he is beginning to get the correlation.

We were planning a trip this summer to see Isaac's birth family.  With the due date of the latest Cahalan in July, we will be moving that trip up to May or June.  We are all excited for that trip.

Amazing....

A little over 2 years ago, I posted that life is funny sometimes.  You just never know what to expect....especially when you least expect it.  Well it has happened once again in the Cahalan Clan.

That's right....I'm pregnant!  Who would have ever guessed?  Not me that's for sure.  What a miracle we have been blessed with in our lives.  This was completely unexpected.  So 2013 is going to be a busy one in our family.  New house, new baby.....

This is the reveal video we showed to family and friends:

To update my pregnancy so far, I'm now about 12 weeks along.  I have had pretty bad morning sickness but  it is starting to fad some - thank goodness.  I'm not showing yet and have not felt any flutters which is all normal to this point.  I will be having a repeat c-section around July 16-17, 2013.  Dominic and Luke want a sister so bad they can hardly stand it.  We have told them we have no control over the gender of the baby - personally I think it is a boy.  When I ask Isaac, "Where's the baby?"  He runs and points to my belly and says, "Rit ther" and blows kisses.  We never thought he would be a big brother and I think he is going to be an awesome one!

We have already been discussing names.  Again, the girl name is easy - same one for the past 3 boys - Delaney Nicole.  We have been throwing out boy name suggestions and the current leader is Jude Andrew.

Mark is insisting we stay team green (which means waiting for a surprise in gender until delivery) but Dominic, Luke and, I want to find out.  I want to know so I can start going to garage sales, etc., since we have nothing left from Isaac that he isn't currently using.

Isaac is still rooming in with us at the moment.  But all that will change soon when the big boys get their bunk beds in a few weeks.  The plan is for Dominic and Luke to share a room until June or so.  Then Dominic will move downstairs to his own room and Isaac will move in with Luke.  That makes room for the baby to have a room and the crib.

In the new house, Dominic will start off with his own room (being the oldest has advantages!), Luke and Isaac will share for a a few years, and the baby will have his/her own room.  If the baby is a boy, we told Luke that when the baby is 2-3 years old, then Isaac and the baby can share and he can have a room by himself again.  By that point though, Dominic will probably want to move into the guest bedroom that will be downstairs.

Here's to a very exciting and busy 2013!

First Lost Tooth

I thought this post deserved its own spot.  Luke lost his first tooth on Wed, Jan 2.  He was very proud of himself and so excited for the tooth fairy to visit.

We were glad he lost it before the wrestling meet.  I was good mom and took a picture right away.  Then a bad mom when I accidentally deleted it.  So I made sure I took another one a few days later!

Jan 2013 Update

Apparently this once a month update is going to become the norm for me.  I just can't keep up with all the social media sites and, frankly, facebook is easier at this point.  But I want to continue to try to keep up with our family blog so the kids have something to look back on when they are older.

So here goes the updating since lots of happened in the Cahalan house since Christmas!

Christmas 2012:

Our Christmas was amazing this year.  The boys were showered in love and gifts.  I love seeing their faces on Christmas morning.  Isaac was so funny running from his things, to Dominic's things, to Luke's things...all the while being told to go back to his things!  None of the kids were afraid of Santa at Grandma's house either!  Here are a few pictures:

We celebrated Grammy's 70th birthday on New Year's Day with a trip to Honey Creek Resort at Rathbun Lake, IA.  We had a great time celebrating with Grammy at the water park, eating tons of food, and playing games in our cabin.

Truth be told, I hope I look as good as my mother when I'm 70!  I think chasing after all these grandsons keeps her young!

Wrestling season is in full swing these days.  Both boys are working extremely hard in practice and the hard work is showing itself in the meets.  Dominic and Luke both placed 2nd in the last meet.  Both had 2 pins for wins and one loss.

The boys have another meet in 2 more weeks and we are looking forward to even more improvements in their performance.