Caelyns new room

Who knew that a month could go so fast! Yet here we are and Aliyah is 1 month old and we are having the time of our lives with our precious little girls. It has been an exciting adventure with some changes and schedule adjustments but we are all enjoying our newest family addition.

Here is "Big Sister" Caelyn holding her "Sissy"

During the day we keep music playing in our house even during nap time. Most always it is on one of our favorite Christian radio stations. We went in to check on Aliyah and a worship song was playing and with her eyes closed she had peacefully raised a hand in worship.

Great-Great-Grandma Luvena made this apron for Cheryl (Jason's mom) when she was a little one and before Caleyn was born she gave it to us. Caelyn is just now getting big enough to wear it and she looks sooo adorable in it. She likes to pretend that she is cooking - which usually involves making drum noises with whatever she can find. As soon as she discovers the pocket I am sure there will be things put there regularly for safe keeping!

After going to look at some bunk beds I (Jason) decided I could build something that was exactly what we wanted. After finding a free plan online we picked up the materials and I was off to build a dream bed for Caleyns new room.

After getting the base finished I moved it into the room to get a look at it. Of course Penny was excited to get up onto the top bunk and take a nap.

Now I must admit - I knew that I could build it, but I was unsure what the finished product would look like as I was taking a basic plan and improvising for decorative features like bead-board. In the end I am very satisfied with the bed. In reality this bed was much cheaper to build than any of the beds we were looking at so if you aren't afraid to try, anything is possible! For obvious reasons the ladder to the top bunk will not be built and installed until a much later date! Angela was greatly impressed and said that I am her "Ty Pennington" Caelyn loves the colorful bed and I think that has made the transition so easy! Angela sewed the bed skirt with the matching fabric to the dresser really tying the whole room together!

This is the toy box / window seat that I built to match the bunk bed. Also Angela sewed these curtains for the room and they have a blackout lining behind them so it can be dark during nap time! The only downside is that Penny loves to sunbathe in this window (she thinks the window seat is hers) so she isn't excited when nap time comes because she is moved from her location!

Angela painted this phrase to be the focal point over the window.

Some birds flying through the air - also seen is the painted trim and clouds.

This is a look at the tree that greets you as you enter the room. Caelyn loves looking at the birds and especially the tree. Everywhere we go she likes to point out trees - so imagine how much more excited she is that there is one in her room! Also the numbers on the tree mark the height and a lady bug will be painted each year for the girls marking their growth.

Here is the safety bed rail that we got for Caleyn. She has really done great and even when she is up and ready to get out of bed she waits for us to come in and get her. She really does love her "big girl" bed!

We truly have been blessed with these precious little ones and we are trying to enjoy each day together. We have also been blessed with great family and friends who provided meals for us for over 3 weeks while we were getting adjusted to our new routine. God is good and we are so thankful for you all!

Some new pictures!

Here are some shots of our girls at the same age...different coloring but they do resemble each other!! I love their nose's!

Caelyn Elise - 2 days old

Aliyah Noelle - 5 days old

So it has been awhile since we updated the blog but it is busy taking care of two little ones! The adjustment is going really well! Caelyn has started sleeping in her big girl bunk bed that daddy built and she loves it. She has had no problems adjusting! We will post pictures of her amazing room (I promise Aunt Leah). This weekend Jason and his dad installed fans with lights in both the girls rooms and I am so excited about having overhead fans and light...no more lamps!

We (the girls and I) didn't make it to church today because Caelyn has been coughing and had a very runny nose...I don't think she is sick just cutting at least 3 maybe 4 teeth all at the same time! So my prayer is they would come in quickly. I am loving being home with them...when my patience is running thin it seems like Caelyn does something to make me laugh... God is good! Today at lunch she was mimicking me laugh and squinting her eyes and I could hardly contain myself it was so funny...and our laughter kept egging her on...she is our ham! I have learned she is a very social creature and thrives by getting out of the house and interacting with people, which has been a bit more difficult for me while daddy is at work. I have been able to go to the Women's Bible Study at church on wednesday mornings (which I usually can't go to because I am working) and it has been a HUGE blessing, I think Caelyn probably LOVES sundays and wednesdays since she gets to play with her friends at church in the nursery!!

Life is good in our home, we have had many wonderful friends bring us meals throughout the past 3 weeks. We are richly blessed!

Aliyah is one week old in this picture. Caelyn is a wonderful big sister! She always wants to know where the baby is and kiss her or hold her hand!!

sweet moment

Family shot at an open house/shower that Alyssa and Grandma Pam threw for Aliyah! She is 2 weeks old in this picture.

Uncle G and Aunt LuLu

Caelyn and her "kitty-kitty"...love that sweet smile

My precious baby Aliyah with her bright eyes

Sleeping in Daddy's arms today...3 weeks 1 day old! She likes to keep her hands up while she sleeps, she is an excellent baby...great nurser, wonderful sleeper...I feel so lucky!

Here are some videos of the girls for family who live far away! Aliyah has the hiccups but it is fun to see her for those who can't in person! And Caelyn has just started saying "Happy"...she just started saying it out of the blue...you ask her "Caelyn are you happy?" and she'll say "HAPPY!", it will melt your heart it is so precious. So I was trying to get her to say it while I was videotaping...but she was a little camera shy, maybe next time!

a look back at Christmas....

Christmas was a lot of fun getting to see friends from far away. We enjoyed spending some time with Clint & Rachel. Caelyn and Cora enjoyed running through the Roberts back yard. It will be fun once they are a little older and can be skype friends!

Caelyn loves her kitty cat xylophone / piano. Her favorite thing to do is to bring it to you to have you play a song on it so she can dance around.

A family photo on Christmas day

Animal Crackers...... my Favorite!!

Christmas with Grandma and Grandpa Buss and Great Grandma

Christmas with Grammy Pammy, Grandpa, Uncle Greg, and Aunt Alyssa

Aliyah Noelle is here!

Aliyah Noelle was born January 8th at 1:02pm.

She weighed 7 lbs 10 oz, and measured 19 inches long.

This is a great shot of Caleyn sitting with Angela in bed. Greg and Alyssa had come over to stay with Caleyn while we went to the hospital. They brought Jason lunch and Caleyn was excited to see us. I think she wondered where we had gone - but she was happy to have her aunt and uncle to hang out with. Just moments after this picture was taken Angela's water broke. Greg and Alyssa decided that was a good time to take Caleyn home for her nap since it looked like Aliyah was on her way. Little did they know how quickly she would get there - 21 minutes to be exact!!

Here we are holding our precious little one - it looks like she is singing!

beautiful mother daughter shot

Thank goodness Uncle Greg and Aunt Alyssa were able to come over and stay with Caleyn. Here they are spending time with their nieces.

Caleyn is doing very well adjusting to the new addition in our home. She loves to give Aliyah kisses and always want's to know where the baby (or sissy) is, and what she is doing. The only thing that has been rough on Caleyn is getting in 3 teeth all at the same time. This has disturbed her nap time and she hasn't felt that well. Today was a good day so maybe we are getting past them.

After getting a sponge bath

They say it and you know what - it is true. Ever since we brought Aliyah home Caleyn is looking bigger and bigger. On top of the fact that she weighs at least 3 times what Aliyah weighs. It is funny how time flies and how children grow but we are loving every moment. In the past week Caleyn has started something new. When we put her in her high chair to eat she starts chanting "pray" "pray" and holds out her hands. Then she takes 1 finger from each of us in her hands and we pray for the food. She doesn't close her eyes but rather is fascinated that we are and continually glances back and forth at each of us. So sweet and we are enjoying every minute of it!

Now to our faithful blog followers. You may have noticed that we missed Christmas. Well not really but we missed putting pictures on the blog. Jason took some time off and we worked on projects around the house in anticipation of Aliyah's arrival. Jason started building a bunk bed and a window seat and Angela worked on sewing curtains with blackout fabric. We have also been finishing the decorative painting in Caleyn's new room as well. Needless to say we spent many nights working late into the evening as we like to do and didn't take time to update the blog. But have no fear - we have plenty of Christmas pictures and adventures to share with you so watch for them in the next week or so.

A fun weekend in our home...the celebration has begun!

Caelyn in her Christmas dress...checking out the poinsettia. She was really excited to put on her dress and sparkly red shoes for church!!

my baby girls

...trying to get a family picture but Caelyn was in a goofy mood!!

Mommy did Grandma toes for her birthday and Caelyn got her first pedicure too!

We celebrated Christmas with Jason's mom's side of the family this weekend. Fun times!

I sewed Jack and Kate hats for Christmas that I had found on a blog I like to follow...and Jack modeled his hat for us.

Caelyn really likes to watch the Singoff with dad...if she is still awake by the time it comes on. It is sweet to see them snuggle on the couch and clap for all the groups!

Caelyn has been doing really good being soft with Penny. Lately she wants to give Penny kisses too, I was trying to capture it on video...which you know how that goes (it never happens when you are ready with the camera) but it is still fun to watch her in action!

Another Project Finished!!

This is our latest project that we have been working on. We are working to get Caelyn's new room finished and part of that was going to be to redo the dresser we had in that room. As you can see we had painted it a light cream color and that really wasn't going to match all the painting I have been doing in her room. The piece on top was a find we made on the side of the road. Someone had decided it wasn't worth keeping and tossed it out - maybe because the mirror was broken in pieces. I saw it on my way home for lunch one day and mentioned to Angela that there was a cool piece with lots of potential on the side of the road. We checked it out and carried it back to our house.

Here are the two pieces together for a before shot.

This is our find from the side of the road - below you see the poor condition it was in.

After sanding them down and applying a light pink paint we decided to use a product recommended to us by a good friend of ours, who had recently refinished her own find from the side of the road. So we added a glaze to "antique" the two pieces. Then we went to F&M Fabrics in search of some nice fabric for a good price. Angela was sure I was going to fast and wasn't 100% sure how she felt about the fabrics all going together...but in the end we are extremely satisfied with how the piece turned out. We used padding on the drawers and then wrapped them with fabric.

Next we painted little wooden knobs to go on top of the fabric. We also used padded fabric where the mirror would normally go. Angela thought it would be nice to add ribbon so Caelyn can display pictures and cards and such.

We also added little hooks where the ribbon meets so that Caelyn can hang her necklaces on it...sometime in the future when she has necklaces!

Just last night it was the cutest thing to see as Angela picked up Penny (out of Angela's chair) and brought her to me. She was so relaxed and was purring and even closing her eyes. Penny is a great cat and very good with Caelyn but she is only snugly when she wants to be.

And sadly we have been having difficulty with our fridge. Supposedly they have ordered a part and are waiting for it to get in. Our fridge is set on 45 degrees and most of time is actually below freezing. We have been dealing with frozen eggs and juice although it helps bread not to mold! We ended up having to take out some shelves to see where water was coming from and a plastic piece that takes water to the dispenser had cracked from being frozen!! Luckily our ice maker water comes from a different area but for now - no getting water out of the fridge without making a pool in the bottom!