Busy boys

Calvin is a little over a month old now and he continues to make us think that Worthy has just cloned himself. He's a precious little baby and we're enjoying (most) every minute of this little bundle.

Worthy has started violin lessons. He's really enjoying learning. During his practice sessions, I remind myself repeatedly that Joshua Bell's mom felt that way once too.

And some more recent pics of the kiddos.

Our splashy bathtub boy...

They leave us rather tuckered out by the end of the day.

Oh Mr. Sandman...

It's a good thing Calvin is cute, because he sure isn't a good sleeper. Those late night feedings are a drag, but looking at his sweet little face makes it hard to be too annoyed. We're really enjoying this new guy in our lives and we're slowly adjusting to three boys in the house. Here are some recent pics of little Calvin.

Worthy & Will are proving to be great big brothers

Calvin and his G
This was one of the rare times G got to hold Calvin because Will fiercely guards her. Will is crazy about his G and while he's willing to share me with Calvin, G is non-negotiable.

Coming Home

Heading Home - it was actually cold when we headed home

We came home this weekend from the hospital. It was lovely at the hospital to just have one child to oversee. But all good things must come to an end... and they get even better because we get to share the joy of this new little bundle. We came home to such a warm welcome:

Dan's parents were here to watch Worthy & Will. There help was invaluable. We're so grateful!

Worthy and Will are curious about Calvin and they love to check him out. There hasn't been much opportunity because he's still sleeping a ton.

Worthy wants to give him kisses

and Will's just looking for opportunities to steal his pacifier...

Unto Us A Son is Given

On December 31st at 9:46am,

we welcomed Calvin Sebastian Beilman into the world.

On Monday I went in for my normal check-up. Though the due date was two weeks away, the doctor said I was ready! So we set the date for December 31 and arrived at the hospital at 6:30am.

It was an eventful delivery (as all of them are...). They broke my water at 8am. The contractions came quickly after that. I received an epidural around 9:15am, which was unsuccessful. We're not sure why it didn't take, but it may be because it didn't have time to set. (It was so unsuccessful that the anesthesiologist isn't even going to charge us...) At 9:35am, I "asked" the nurse to "get the doctor, the baby is coming". Sure enough. In a moment, the doctor arrived - thankfully. After a few painful minutes of waiting for the doctor, room and bed to get hurriedly prepped, we (particularly I) rejoiced at the arrival of Calvin.

He weighed 6lbs. 11oz and was 20inches long.
Not too bad for 9 days early.

This was taken just after he was weighed. We hadn't officially named him yet, but had a pretty good idea. I really wanted to check him out and see him open his eyes. Finally, he complied and we got to see his big blue eyes. He also has a cute little cleft chin (just like his Uncle Chris). Incidentally, we've had some questions about him not having a "W" name. As much as we love the Reformer John Calvin, it is a bit more of an homage to Dan's lifelong man-crush on Cal Ripken Jr. And Sebastian is a great Austrian name of which belonged to my first ancestor to come to America - Sebastian Woofter.

Here's a couple more photos - not yet 1 day old
with Super Dad

He's such a great sleeper and eater. The apple doesn't fall too far from the tree...

Grandma & Grandpa visiting (Worthy & Will are much more interested in the hospital room buttons, so no picture of the brothers yet)

Checking out mommy

I love the snuggles - another little cuddler!

Yummy Christmas Treats

We had two particularly yummy Christmas treats this year. The first was Dan's tradition of making Coquito. It's an amazing Puerto Rican egg nog-ish concoction. I only wish I could drink more of it...

The other yummy treat was courtesy of Paula Dean. I had a ton of apples on hand and found this recipe for Apple Cake. It is over-the-top yummy and EASY! It will definitely go into my Fall Recipe Repertoire.

Christmas Morning

We had a wonderful (and VERY relaxing) Christmas. Dan's parents came up along with their dog, PJ, who is always a big hit with Worthy & William.

We went to Christmas Eve service at church, which was just beautiful and nostalgic. The last song is Silent Night and we all hold up candles. Worthy was able participate this year and thankfully the only battle scar was a bit of candle wax on his arm. The building is still standing. After the services were all over, the boys got to open up their Christmas stockings which consist of a pair of pajamas and an ornament (and also a toothbrush this year...).
Worthy got a soccer ball and Will got a sock ornament. I think it was created with the intent to resemble a Christmas Stocking, but to me it looked more like a sock - which is exactly what I was looking for to represent his Sock Fetish this past year.

On Christmas morning, we had some yummy Breakfast casserole,

read about the birth of Jesus from the Jesus Storybook Bible and then started on presents!

In classic 5-year old style, Worthy zipped through opening his gifts. He was inundated with Legos and thrilled! Worthy enjoyed Building & Playing ALL DAY on Christmas
and Will was still obsessed with the Tree...
Hope you had a Merry Christmas and enjoyed the wonderful love of our Savior, Immanuel!

Our Nephew

This Christmas Season has been a real joy. One of those joys came in the form of our 9 year old nephew, Henry, really embracing the true meaning of Christmas. Here is an article from the Akron Beacon Journal that mentions his great gift. It's about halfway down the page under the subtitle Warm Tidings.

Henry is the one in the cast in this picture.