3 Months!

 This sweet boy is getting more playful everyday, grabbing and pulling at all the different toys that dangle in his face.

 

 

 There is nothing cuter than a baby in only a diaper.  He has a little bit of chub on him, but based on my other 2 babies, I thought he would have more rolls by now.  Like my friend Lauren said, it is all muscle. :)

  I'm slightly obsessed with taking closeups of his adorable round face with its dimpled chin!

 

 He is already such a drooler!  More than the girls ever were but thankfully there are no signs of teeth yet.

  He is definitely a cat napper during the day but sleeps 12 hours at night so I can't complain at all!

 His amazing nighttime sleep coincided with him being able to get his thumb to his mouth. Hallelujah!  I love thumbsuckers!  The price of braces is worth the sleep I am getting!

 

 He is happiest when he is in the middle of the action and in someone's arms.  One thing I love right now is that when he is crying and I pick him up, he immediately stops.  He melts my heart!

Bruce Family Thanksgiving

For Thanksgiving this year, we stayed with Brad's family in a house by Lake Whitney.  All 18 of us were under one roof for a few days.  The adults are now outnumbered by the kids!  I was just able to snap some phone pics and although they aren't the best quality, they show how much fun the cousins had making memories together.

 Grandy had Anna, Shanna and Nalani help her make rolls and Haven helped me "churn" the butter.

 Sweet girls.

 Silly girls!

 The youngest cousin looking up to the oldest one.

 

 

 

 

 

 

It is good to give thanks on Thanksgiving and every day of the year for all of the blessings we are surrounded by in our great country.  I read something I believe on Ann Voskamp's blog that really made an impression on me.  She asked her readers to go beyond just recognizing what they are thankful for and asked what they were doing with the blessings they have been given.  I'd like for our little family to keep that question before us all year long.

Ballet and Tap

Right when Caleb was born, the girls started a little ballet/tap class.  Let's be honest, there is nothing much cuter than a little girl in a ballet outfit.  It was the sweetest class of 2-4 year olds and adorable to watch.

I would peek in on the girls through the door and they were always together.  Anna was often helping Haven by getting on her shoes or learning the steps.  I signed them up for it because they could be in the class together and it was an activity that was only once a week.  I was glad to see these unprompted moments of sister love and affection. 

 After their first month of classes, they had a cute little performance at the Burleson Founder's Day festival.  They danced to Oo-De-Lally and wore Robinhood hats.  As they were going on stage Haven burst into tears because she got separated from Anna.  Anna quickly came and got her hand, and the show went on.  

 

Their sweet teacher praying with them before they went on stage.

As sweet as dance class was, they liked it but did not love it.  They would drag their feet to get ready for it and sometimes hesitated to participate in class.  After one semester, I decided it was not worth it to continue.  They didn't miss it at all, but we will see if they ask to do dance again in the future.     

Caleb's Baby Dedication

We dedicated our precious boy to the Lord at our church on December 1st.  I look forward to my children's baby dedications more than I do their first birthdays!  It is good to take time to focus on and dream about what God has planned for our children and the role we will plan in that.  We were thankful that so many of our family members were there to agree with us as we raise Caleb in this way.

He looked so handsome in his bowtie!

Our children's pastor gave the parents the opportunity to write a blessing to be prayed over their child during the ceremony.  It was very meaningful for each family and I really appreciated this.

She read something that Brad wrote when he was praying for Caleb before he was born and we were deciding on his name:

One of our prayers for Caleb is that his name would give him identity.  His first name means faithful, whole-hearted devotion so we pray that above all else, he would be fully committed and faithful to God all the days of his life.  Henry means ruler of the home, so we pray that after God, his family and home life would be his next priority.  There are many stories about perseverance associated with the last name Bruce, so we pray that he values perseverance in his work and in all other areas in his life.

When I was pregnant with Caleb and specifically praying for him when we were on vacation in May, I was lead to read the book of Proverbs.  It is a book about wisdom for living.  Several sentences begin with "My Son..." and "Hear, my son...".  Although I have read through Proverbs before, I read it in a new way as I saw the word son repeated over and over and thought about raising my own.

Proverbs 3:1-6 especially reflects the desire of my heart for Caleb.

3 My son, do not forget my teaching,
But let your heart keep my commandments;
² For length of days and years of life
And peace they will add to you.
³ Do not let kindness and truth leave you;
Bind them around your neck,
Write them on the tablet of your heart.
⁴ So you will find favor and good repute
In the sight of God and man.
⁵ Trust in the Lord with all your heart
And do not lean on your own understanding.
⁶ In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He will make your paths straight.

 

Grandy has a tradition of writing a song for each of her grandchildren and this time Happy wrote it with her.  They sang it with my mom for everyone in our family to hear.  It is based on the words that Brad wrote about Caleb and is very meaningful.

This was such a good photo op of the 3 generations of Bruce men, but by the time I grabbed my camera, Caleb started to fuss! 

Me and my mama.  She had two girls then a baby boy just like me.

These THREE!

These girls really LOVE their brother and having around. 

 

 Sometimes too much.  I am constantly reminding them to give him some space. 

 

 He does really light up when they get in his face though.  Sometimes when he is fussing and I am in the middle of something, Anna is very helpful and entertains him to calm him down.   They sing and read to him and are already teaching him is ABC's.

 From Day 1, Anna has been constantly saying "Mommy, isn't he ADORABLE!  He is the cutest baby in the world!".  We are trying to teach humility, but the girl is right!

 In the beginning, she asked to hold him all the time.

 Both girls have been very eager to "help" and fight over who can get me a burp rag, diaper, etc.  

For the most part, I have been surprised that they have not expressed much jealousy of Caleb.  As the story goes, shortly after my brother was born, I took him out to the curb on trash day so I was expecting some of that.  They have had a few moments.  Anna recently told me that she hasn't gotten to be with me as much and that I used to be more fun (it is hard to be as playful with a baby in my arms).  She also sometimes tell me to feed my girls first and then feed brother.

 The day we brough Caleb home, Haven said "I'm going to get my blankets!" and ran to her room to get them from her crib.  Then she ran to our room and I wondered what she was doing.  She came out and told us that she put them in Caleb's crib (the pack-n-play in our room).  Those blankets are her precious lovies that she sleeps with everynight.  She has such a generous spirit and she challenges me to try to give as freely as she does!

 She asks to hold him and then about five seconds later says "here mommy" and she is over it.  She also has had her moments and occasionally tells me to brother down and come with her.

 

 I'm just trying to enjoy all this love while it lasts because as soon as brother is mobile, we may have some issues!