The Drapeau Family

My Favorite Conversation.

2012-01-25T21:35:00.003-05:00

This is one of those moments that I don't want to forget, so I couldn't think of a better thing to do than to blog about it! I have always thought about when our kids will get old enough to really start understanding the foundations of Christianity that we are teaching them. Well, that time has come and it has been so fun to hear Caleb's questions and see from his perspective what he understands. The Bible says we are to have faith like a child, and what beautiful hearts children have in regard to believing. They think and see things with such an unadulterated view...it's really amazing.

So the other day on the way to taking Caleb to school he asked, "Mommy, if Jesus lives in my heart, then how come I can't see him right now?" And that led to such a sweet conversation with me getting to explain it all to him. It is the most rewarding feeling to see him grasp these concepts and begin to truly understand. Then he said, "Mommy, let's get on an airplane and fly right up to Jesus in heaven!" My heart just about melted. And then Rachel yells out, "Mommy Jesus is in my heart too!" Yep. Melted. :)

Growing up.

2010-09-07T15:34:00.005-04:00

So for some reason I am not able to post videos on blogger anymore from my MAC, so I can't show you what the kids are doing live, but I can at least share it on here since it's been a while. Caleb can now count to twenty and sing his ABC's (and other songs like Baa Baa Black Sheep and Jesus Loves Me and stuff like that). He is currently really into playing games on the computer (like Curious George games) and on the Ipod, and is still obsessed with throwing the baseball, tackling Daddy and catching the football and playing basketball after church at the gym with his friends. I think as soon as he is old enough to play t-ball, we're going to have to sign him up! He is fully potty trained during the day (we'll work on the night-time in the near future probably) and now sleeps in a big boy bed! Rachel has been walking for a few months now and is slowly attempting to run every now and then. Rachel's most recent milestones are coming in the form of language development. She is really starting to talk a lot more, saying duck, belly button, wa wa (water), ball, and a myriad of other things. Caleb was a late talker who didn't really start talking until 18 months or so, so it is interesting to us that Rachel is proving to be quite the gabber already! She also has really picked up on the sign language we have been teaching her. She can sign things like please, thank you, more, milk and all done. She of course is following Caleb everywhere he goes and really enjoys playing with her shopping cart/food, feeding her baby dolls and she really loves reading too. They are growing up SO fast! It's hard to believe that when Caleb was the age Rachel is right now (13 months), we were due to have a baby (Rachel) in 5 months. That would be like us having a baby at the end of January! Crazy! No baby no. 3 for us yet, but we're open to the possibility. Maybe sometime down the road, we'll have to see! Now, here are few recent pictures of the kiddos!

I love how much they adore each other!

Caleb showing off his "big boy pants"!

It will be interesting to see when Rachel potty trains. She is very interested the process. Caleb uses the adult potty (he never really used his froggy potty that we got him, he always wanted to do it the big boy way as he called it), so Rachel has tested out the froggy a time or two.

A pretty shot of Rachel after her last birthday party (thrown by her play group friends...it was her 4th celebration...what a blessed little girl)!

And a pic of Caleb right after I took the one of Rachel. Big smile!!!

An update!

2010-08-02T14:26:00.014-04:00

So I haven't posted in quite a while because I have been having issues posting videos. For some reason I just haven't been able to do so from our MAC and I have no idea why. As a result, it has made me less apt to post on here, for which I am sorry for those of you who have been wondering what has been going on. So here's a quick snapshot of the last 2 months to catch everybody up. Since Jason finished his school year it has been a non-stop summer filled with fun activities like going to baseball games (we're going to another Red Sox game this Thursday even!), trips to the beach, a vacation with my family in the Poconos and a few camping trips too. And that has all happened since the end of June. Also, Rachel turned 1 on July 24th and we had her birthday party this past Saturday. And the other big news items for each child...Caleb is potty training right now (like a champ I might add) and Rachel is walking like a champ too! Rachel started walking at 11 months and has really turned a corner in that regard. Caleb initiated his own potty training while we were on vacation in the Poconos, and 3 weeks in now I have to say, he is doing awesome! For those of you interested, here are Rachel's 1 year stats:

Weight: 19 lbs, 9 oz. (25 %)

Height: 29 1/2 inches (79 %)

So basically, Rachel continues to follow in Caleb's "body type" path. Like I posted before, at their respective 9 month appts. they weighed only a difference of 1 oz., and following that trend, Rachel weighs 5 oz more than he was at 1 yr (he was 19 lbs. 4oz.) and she is the same height (he too was 29 1/2 inches). Since birth through this first year, they have literally turned into the same exact body type within just a few ounces of each other. I am so fascinated by that! They are both little string beans, but very healthy so we are thankful! In lieu of posting a crazy amount of pics of each event, I'll try to do one or two of each to get caught up. Sorry about the videos as well, I am so bummed that I'm not able to post Rachel walking or signing (she does some baby sign language now), etc. Oh I almost forgot, Rachel is starting to talk too, her favorites words currently are ball, WOW, and belly button! Her first word was "mine", and she said it as she took a toy away from Caleb. Go figure! Ha ha! So the pictures are basically going to be backwards in terms of time, starting with the Pocono Vacation (I'll hopefully posts pics of Rachel's party and our recent camping trip to Maine sometime soon). Here we go!

A group shot!

Matt's new girlfriend Sara and her son Declan (Dex) came to the Poconos as well. Caleb and Rachel loved having another partner in crime to play with!!!

Grammy and Pops with the crazy kids!

One night Jason and I took the kids over to Nora's house for dinner with her family (Nora is one of my best friends and was one of my bridesmaids too)!

We celebrated Rachel's birthday on the trip so the fam could see her eat some cake! She was just a week and half shy of turning 1 at the time.

Proud of herself for blowing out the candle with Daddy!

First touch...

First taste...

She was a fan! Here she was sharing the cake love!

Can someone clean me up?

Uncle Matt, Sara and Dex got Rachel a shopping cart and food! It was a hit!

Some of our other favorite presents...PSU gear (especially Rachel's first cheerleader outfit from Grammy and Pops)!

My favorite pic of the trip of Uncle Matt and Caleb playing football!

Some other fun gifts: a super cute dress from Sara and Dex to Rachel above, and some cute clothes for the kids that Nora got them as well below!

Meme and Pepe made Rachel her very own chair like they had for Caleb too!

Before the Poconos trip, our good friend Todd (and Jason's college roommate) visited. The kids had a ball with him!

These two pics above and below were from the 4th of July. Rachel loved the fireworks (it was her first time!), she was dancing to the music and was quite mesmerized.

I did a fun baseball themed family night for Jason that included tickets for him and Caleb to see a Lowell Spinners game. As you can see, we made baseball cupcakes for Jason too, but Caleb dropped the plate so they were a little messy! It was definitely a fun surprise night for Jason. The game was a few weeks later, and they had front row seats on the 1st base line. Caleb had a blast!

All of the next round of pics were from our family's first time camping. We had so much fun! As you can see, we made a s'mores fan out of Caleb! And doesn't he look so grown up in the pic below? Crazy!

Rachel liked camping too!

Jason got a camp stove and some other things for camping as Father's Day gifts from us, and part of his gift was that I booked this campsite for Father's Day weekend.

I don't know why I took this pic of Caleb, but I just liked his little face in it!

Finally, at the beginning of the summer, Grammy and Pops visited and we took a tour of Fenway in Boston and then went to Hampton Beach on another day. Grandpa and Nana visited around that time too, but we didn't take any pics so unfortunately I have none to post. But we had a great time with everybody!

So that's a recap of the summer so far (with more pics than I planned on posting...thanks for sticking with me)! Like I said, I'll try to post some Rachel birthday party pics soon!

Valetine's Day video from my boys!

2010-06-09T15:57:00.003-04:00

I totally meant to post this before, but we were having trouble with the file size at the time and I had forgotten about getting it on here. I finally got it to work though! Yay! The quality isn't that great because we had to make it a really small file conversion from imovie, but it's definitely still viewable (and cute!). For Valentine's Day this year, we thought it would be sweet for each of us to have one of the kids as our valentine since we've got a boy and a girl now! This was part of the Valentine's Day surprises that the boys did for me. They're so sweet!

Rachel praying!

2010-06-01T16:26:00.003-04:00

I couldn't help but post this video I took this morning. Rachel now instinctively brings her hands together every time we say to the kids, "It's time to pray!" That's my girl! :)

Sick :(

2010-05-21T10:24:00.006-04:00

So we have had a bout of sickness going through our family recently; Caleb was in the hospital for a few days earlier this week and ended up being diagnosed with a viral infection, and now Rachel seems to be having some feverish issues too. Hopefully she doesn't come down with something as well! Caleb had to go to the ER after his reaction to peanut butter about a year ago, but he didn't have to stay over night. This was his first hospital stay where they admitted him. He went in on Monday after a fever of 104.7 and an extremely elevated white blood cell count, and was discharged on Wednesday. The poor little guy had everything from a chest x-ray to a spinal tap to ensure it wasn't something extremely serious like pneumonia or viral meningitis. Thankfully it turned out to just be a viral infection, not something bacteria based. Praise God! We were relieved. So we're home now and Caleb is on the mend, but as I said, our new worry is trying to keep Rachel from getting sick. So now that we're home, I thought I would post a few pics from when Caleb was in the hospital, and then some fun recent videos of Rachel as well. She'll be 10 months old next week already!

Caleb having some tests done on Monday after they put in the IV.

Caleb in his hospital gown (in the hospital crib).

Caleb's dinner one night...not too bad! :)

A special "get well" surprise from Grammy and Pops...a new camera!

And here he was on Wednesday, back at home after being discharged. He was already throwing balls around and tackling Daddy, so we knew that the old Caleb was back!

The first video is of Rachel playing peekaboo.

This is a fun video of Rachel pretending she's a frog while we were killing time at the hospital (she has started doing this ever since she heard the "Jump, Jump" frog song at our library class). Too cute!

And finally, one of Rachel dancing during one of our worship nights (Caleb was dancing too of course)! She likes to bounce that's for sure!

Rachel's Labor and Delivery Story

2010-05-11T16:05:00.003-04:00

So the other day I finally got inspired to chronicle our children's birth stories (sad I know...it took me 9 months to do Rachel's, and Caleb's isn't even done yet), so I thought I would post Rachel's to start. Not all of the family who follows this blog has heard this story in detail, so I thought it might be a fun read for anyone who is interested. It's super long though so be warned! :) Caleb's story will hopefully be posted soon!

Rachel Joy Drapeau was due on July 19^th, 2009. We had a scheduled induction with Caleb because he was a week overdue, and we anticipated that Rachel might be the same way. Apparently our babies like to stay in the womb! On July 24^th, 2009 (5 days overdue) we prepared to meet our little girl as we had a scheduled induction for 7:00am at the Salem Hospital “Birthplace” that day (and we figured labor wouldn’t last all day, considering Caleb’s labor and delivery was only a total of 9 hours). Grammy and Pops were already in town all set to take care of Caleb, and we called the hospital around 6:30am to see if there was room to take us. The head nurse wasn’t sure so she told us she would call us back. While waiting for the call, we decided that we would head out for some breakfast at Dunkin Donuts to relax a little bit and enjoy the morning together to kill time while we waited. We also figured this would be best since Caleb was not awake yet, and it would be less traumatic for him to have to say an official goodbye. After eating breakfast, and the time being 8:30am with no phone call still, Jason drove us out to Winter Island and we both read for a little while to calm our nerves (again something to do as to not upset Caleb). It was raining and there was a nice peace about that time for us to center ourselves, read and pray a little. I (Val) was brushing up on some labor techniques in What To Expect When You’re Expecting, and Jason was reading something seminary related. Around 9am, after waiting over 2 hours and not hearing anything from the hospital, we decided to call ourselves to check back in. The head nurses were switching shifts, so they told us they would have the new head nurse call back shortly, and she did. They told us that they would be ready to take us at 11:00am. Since I barely slept the night before (typical for me when big events are happening) we decided to head back to the house and take a nap, even with the possibility that it would make things harder on Caleb. When we got there Caleb was eating breakfast with Grammy and Pops and was in a good mood. We slept from 9:15 to 10:30am or so, and then got ready to head out to the hospital to officially check in. Saying goodbye to Caleb was probably tougher for us than it was for him, because we knew that we would not see him for a few days (he didn’t know that, but we had planned for him not to come to the hospital, but rather meet Rachel and see us again when we came home for the first time). We arrived at the hospital at 11am and checked in. They took us to a room and the process finally began with Dr. Justine Gelinas (the same doctor who delivered Caleb happened to be on at the time) checking my cervix around 11:20am. I was 3cm. dilated and 80% effaced at this point. Over the next 2 hours the nurses commenced the in-room check-in questions and set-up of the heart monitors and such, and waited for the doctor’s approval to officially start the induction. At 1:50pm, Pitocin was administered. After about ½ hour of contractions, I asked if I could move to a rocking chair (on recommendation from my Pastor’s wife Dawn who said it worked wonders) and they allowed me to do so because they were still able to find Rachel’s heart rate there. With Caleb I wasn’t allowed to be on a birthing ball or pretty much labor anywhere because they couldn’t find his heartbeat unless I was lying down in the bed, so I was excited. While rocking we watched TLC’s “A Baby Story” (ironic I know, watching women labor while in labor). The contractions continued to get more intense and I was feeling some pain in my lower back (I had serious back labor with Caleb, and this pain felt the same). At 3:15pm my water broke on it’s own (gushing just like with Caleb!) and I asked for an epidural because the pain was getting intense, especially with the concentration of it being in my lower back, in the same area my back surgery was. At 3:20pm, Dr. Gelinas checked my cervix again, and I was only 4 cm. dilated at this time. We were a little shocked that things hadn’t moved along that much. At this point, I had moved back to the bed because first of all, the rocking chair was gross after my water breaking, and also so I could have my cervix checked as I said. I stayed in bed, laboring on my left side, squeezing Jason’s hand during the contractions while still watching some TLC during the break in contractions. After 20 or 30 minutes going by with me asking why it was taking the anesthesiologist so long, I started experiencing even more intense pain (little did I know what was about to happen!), and I started to feel nauseous. The anesthesiologist finally arrived about 35 minutes after asking for the epidural, which was around 3:50pm. They sat me up on the edge of the bed to prep my back for the numbing shots before the main epidural needle and administered those between contractions. While they were preparing to put the epidural needle in, I told them I felt very nauseous and they waited a minute to let that pass (as to not put the needle in when I might throw up and possibly injure me). When there was a break in the contractions/nausea they told me they were going to try to put the epidural needle in, and they were just about to do so when I threw my hand behind my back to stop them and said, “I think the baby’s coming!” I was feeling intense pain and a lot of pressure, so I was thinking it was Rachel’s head. You can imagine that everybody in the room thought I was crazy because only 40 minutes before they checked me and I was only 4 cm. dilated. The assisting nurse checked then and there, and could feel Rachel’s head while I was sitting. They turned me on my right side while they were getting ready to check my cervix again and I felt the strong urge to push (frankly, I wasn’t even trying, it was happening on it’s own…stopping a baby delivering naturally is like trying to stop a freight train!). All the while I was screaming, “Somebody help me!” and totally freaking out from the pain. So after another huge contraction, they had me turn to go back on my back to check me, and I was 10 cm. dilated, fully effaced and Rachel’s head was visible. She was definitely coming that’s for sure! The epidural procedure was ceased. I was not mentally prepared at all to have Rachel naturally, as we were expecting to have time to get an epidural like we did with Caleb. Jason asked a nurse near him if there was anything they could give me. They just quietly shook their head no and kind of gave the “she has to do this” look to him. Dr. Gelinas encouraged me by saying something like, “Valerie, I don’t think we’re going to be able to give you anything, so you’re going to have to do this on your own.” All of a sudden they were preparing for me to push, and Jason was on my left side coaching me as I pushed (Jason was holding one leg, and I think one of the nurses was holding my other leg at this time), and they all said, “Push!” It’s funny to say, but in that moment I was in so much pain and so all over the place mentally with everything happening so fast, I wasn’t even thinking, “Ok, time to push now” so I’m glad they said that. So I pushed 2 more times and Rachel’s head came out, and with one final push she fully delivered at 4:11pm. Dr. Justine Gelinas delivered Rachel just as she had Caleb. It’s crazy to think I went from 4cm. to 10cm. in a matter of 40 minutes, there were only four total pushes (including the one before they turned me on my back), and only 2 hours and 21 minutes of labor from when they began the Pitocin to when Rachel officially arrived. She weighed 8 lbs. 10 oz. (one ounce more than Caleb) and was 21 inches long (only ¼ of an inch shorter than Caleb…they were almost the exact same sized baby at birth). What a blessing she is to us!

Rachel's Baby Dedication

2010-04-26T14:59:00.006-04:00

This past Sunday we had Rachel dedicated at church (a baby dedication is essentially when the parents acknowledge that the child is God's and commit to raising them with Jesus Christ as the foundation in their home). This is a commitment we made with Caleb, and one that we similarly wanted to do with Rachel. Grammy and Pops bought her a special little outfit for her special day! Unfortunately they were not able to make it up to MA this weekend because of Mom's (Grammy's) car accident this past Wednesday when she broke her ankle. Poor Grammy! We knew that all of the grandparents were with us in spirit though!

Rachel didn't cry at all, she just "talked" a bit throughout the event. :)

Pastor Troy praying over Rachel.

Our friends the Modaff's had their little girl Kaitlin dedicated as well. Kaitlin was born one week before Rachel, and it's been a fun journey with the Modaff's being pregnant together, having the kids around the same time and of course having them dedicated on the same day too.

Some family shots!

Playing around when we got home. Doesn't it look like Jason and Rachel are ballroom dancing? So cute!

Kisses from Caleb!

And finally the kids climbing Daddy!

A Few Videos

2010-04-25T16:31:00.004-04:00

I thought I would throw a few videos on the blog since I just took one of Rachel climbing the stairs the other day (it's not the most thrilling video, but fun for the grandparents to see nonetheless). She is 9 months old now, and the last couple of months have been filled with crawling, pulling up and working on walking with her walker (and moving while holding onto tables, the couch, pretty much anything she can get her hands on)!

This is a video from about 3 months ago that I totally forgot to post before. It is Caleb making Rachel laugh with a toy, which is so cute to watch and hear their giggles. Rachel seriously thinks Caleb is hilarious, and she becomes more and more infatuated with him everyday!

Finally, here's a video of Caleb doing an ABC game on one of our computers. We don't let him do a ton on here yet, but it's amazing how technologically sound he is showing himself to be! :) He really likes to repeat the animal sounds as they are said, as you'll see!

Up to speed!

2010-04-21T16:25:00.008-04:00

As a result of being, let's see, about 3 months behind in posting stuff on here, I decided that I would do one monster post with a small snapshot of each event leading up to now (I even have a pic from Monday on here...amazing right?) ha ha! But I really will try to get better at posting a little here and there instead of waiting so long to post so much. Caleb is almost 2 1/2 and Rachel will be 9 months old in a few days. It is so crazy! She just had her 9 month appt. and we think this is so interesting. Caleb, when born, was 8 lbs. 9 oz., Rachel was 8 lbs. 10oz. (and they were almost the same length). We looked up Caleb's 9 month stats and it was cool to see, Rachel just weighed in at 17 lbs. 5 oz. at her appt., and when Caleb was 9 months, he weighed in at 17 lbs. 6 oz. (again...only an ounce apart)! Now, Caleb was 2 inches longer than Rachel is right now, but we just thought it was funny that they are growing at the same rate pretty much. They both started as round little babies, and once Caleb started moving he really started to thin out to be the string bean he is today. It's so crazy to us that Rachel is starting to show the same pattern! Rachel is crawling, walking with her walker, etc. now, so I'm sure it won't be long before she officially walks. Caleb walked at 10 months, so we'll have to see! So here are some pics over the last 3 months or so of some of the things that have been going on!

Daddy went to a Red Sox game the other day and brought home Caleb a special present, a hat just like his! Don't worry he went out and bought Rachel a special new book too!

I just thought this was funny. I took this of Rachel after coming home from a friend's birthday party last week. She looked so cute in her dress; I was just trying to get a nice picture. She is normally a really chill baby, but that day she didn't want anything to do with having her picture taken!

They fell asleep together and were just the sweetest.

Just the other week Caleb used the potty for the first time!

Here are the kids and their Easter baskets from Grammy and Pops that they opened up Easter night.

Earlier in the day, we were all dressed up for church!

Caleb got a t-ball set from us for Easter and here he is showing us his stuff. Check out the video below, it was his first day playing with Daddy. He LOVES baseball!

Here was our first time taking the kids to the park in their new wagon from Grammy and Pops (that they got at Christmas) and Rachel's first time on the baby swings.

Here's a pic on St. Patrick's Day with Rachel in her outfit from Aunt Sue. Caleb wasn't interested in being photographed that day!

A few weeks before St. Patrick's Day, the kids and I went to York to celebrate Matt's 30th birthday. We got to see some family while in town at a lunch outing at the Olive Garden (there were others there, I just really liked this pic of Rachel and Aunt Ann so I thought I would post it!), and we went out one night for a special birthday dinner for Matt at Outback.

Here's just a cute pic of Rachel and Jason. Love this one!

This was our favorite Valentine's Day family photo.

Here are some pics from when Grammy and Pops visited in late January to celebrate Christmas (since we were in FL and MN over the actual holiday). One of Caleb's big gifts was a "My 1st Craftsman Tool Bench"!

Lots of presents!

Pops helping to set up the airport Uncle Matt got Caleb for his birthday.

Rachel loves her Grammy!

Caleb turned 2 in early January and his favorite gift from us was his first baseball glove. He had so much fun opening presents this year! We also took him to Chuck E Cheese to celebrate (and he had a party with his friends too around on another day). We also made cupcakes at home and helped decorate them (he also helped eat them too of course)!

I just had to throw in a few other cute Rachel shots from around that time! She's growing up so fast!

And last but not least, I think this was the last snowfall of the season. Caleb looks so cute in his snow pants and boots! He really loved pretending to shovel too.

And there you have it, the last 3 months or so in a quick re-cap!

Happy Pi Day!

2010-03-14T21:43:00.001-04:00

Happy Pi Day, everyone!

Out of Order!

2010-02-26T15:50:00.008-05:00

So in order to finally get some stuff posted on here, I am going to be adding stuff way out of order. I am SO behind organizing pics and videos these days. Here are a few recent videos to get me started...

Rachel pulling up for the first time...happened to get it on camera!

Rachel "army" crawling. This has been going on for a few weeks now, and just this past week she has started to get up on her knees. I'm sure I'll be posting pics of her crawling for real soon! She also can feed herself snacks/cheerios, use a sippy cup and she already has two teeth (they're hard to see, but the teeth are in the pic below). I can't believe she's already 7 months old!

Caleb is so grown up to me these days. For example, he goes up and down the stairs by himself now. Crazy! But he is still a kid for sure (he's totally silly sometimes) and he always makes us laugh like below!

A Quick Christmas Re-cap

2010-02-11T14:38:00.009-05:00

In my continued attempts to "catch-up" on missed posts over the last few months, here is a quick snap shot of what our Christmas vacation looked like:

On Christmas Eve we celebrated as a family and did gifts with our kids since we were going to be traveling on Christmas day to FL. Rachel wore the same outfit I wore on my 1st Christmas!

A couple of gift highlights below...Caleb got his first trike! And Rachel got some fun toys too; her fav was probably the crawling ball and the doll baby from Uncle Matt. It totally looks like her too!

Then on Christmas day, we flew down to Miami, and then drove the rest of the way to Islamorada to meet up with Jason's Dad, Stepmom, and siblings for a vacation in the Keys.

This was Rachel's first time on a plane! Here she is waiting at the airport.

And most significantly on this trip, the kids got to meet Uncle Andrew (Jason's bro) for the first time. He had just finished a tour in Iraq this past October. He was the sweetest with the kids!

Here is a pic of Betty (Nana) with Rachel (she took Rachel into the ocean for the first time on the first day too)!

And a pic of Rachel and Grandpa as well!

Caleb certainly took the time to relax.

It was a beautiful place and a wonderful trip with family.

Then for the second half of our vacation, we flew to Minneapolis to visit Jason's Mom (Grandma). Here was a pic taken at Red Lobster. Notice Caleb's poor little face...he came down with quite a cold on the MN part of the trip. I guess that's what will happen when you go from 75 degree weather to like 10 degree weather in a few days!

Hanging at Grandma's place!

Finally, this picture was taken when we got home. Caleb was so sick and was in total cuddle mode, and Rachel knew just how to comfort him, by staying right by his side. They are so sweet together!

Blog dump!

2009-11-13T14:47:00.016-05:00

I can't believe it's been over 2 months since I posted something on here...my cousin Alexandra warned me of this, that now that I'm on FB, it's easy to just post pics on there and get lax on the blog. My apologies to those who check this often (especially Grandma, Meme and Pepe and my Aunts) for the long delay. So I am officially going to start "blog dumping" as Alexandra and John call it. These are some pics and videos from October and November (and a few from early December when Rachel started rice cereal). I promise to post pics from Christmas and beyond sometime soon!

A pic of Rachel at about 4 months old...she will be 6 months old this Sunday!

The classic moments of trying cereal for the first time (these are the most recent things on here, taken about a month ago).

I feel like she is growing up so fast!

These were all taken Thanksgiving Day. We put up the tree and had a yummy dinner of course. Above is Caleb's first slice of pumpkin pie and him enjoying it below!

I just like this picture above, he seems so grown up eating his eggs, sausage and toast. :)

And of course I had to put the rolling videos of Rachel on here! Here was the first time I got each direction on video.

And over the course of a few months, here are a few throwing and catching videos of Caleb. This is his absolute favorite thing to do...he loves balls and playing sports already!

Finally, this video was taken a few months ago, but it is kind of cute to hear Caleb practice counting/say his ABC's. He was actually pretty un-cooperative in this video, but I haven't gotten around to getting him saying these on camera since, so maybe I'll do that soon so you all can see how he's progressed!

Halloween 2009

2009-11-13T14:02:00.006-05:00

This was Caleb's first year trick or treating, last year we took him out on Halloween night, but just saw some neighbors and checked out the sites around town. This year we actually took him out to try out the whole trick or treat experience. He went (as you can see) as a Celtics basketball player (which was a total hit I might add...Boston fans are die hard with their teams so people loved it!) and Rachel was a pumpkin of course. You have to do the baby pumpkin you know? We went to a Halloween party a week or so before too, so Caleb was able to wear shorts and no shirt making him look more authentic that day. On Halloween night of course though, we bundled him up...don't worry! He had a blast, and got to eat his first piece of candy ever, which he was thrilled about as you will see!

The kids at the party!

It was impossible to get all of the kids to look at the camera, so this was the best we could do!

I didn't take any pics of Rachel on Halloween night for some reason, so this is a cute one of her at the party above.

Here is Jason taking Caleb to the houses on Halloween night.

We only did one street total, but I think he was pooped by the end.

So as you all know from before, Caleb has a peanut allergy, so his choices for his first piece of candy were all non-chocolate...but he didn't seem to mind. He picked Mike and Ike's.

And then he did his candy dance...

Finally, Caleb got some tattoo's from someone, and he and Daddy decided to show off their "guns" another evening with their tats. Ha ha! :) All in all, it was a fun time!

A Last Minute Trip to the Poconos

2009-11-06T14:55:00.006-05:00

So as I posted earlier, I (Val) took a trip to the Poconos with the kids to see the family a few weeks ago in the middle of October. Mom, Dad and Matt were already planning on going, but since I had just recently gotten back from the trip to York, I hadn't planned on it. But the night before the family was leaving to go up to Lake Naomi, I decided at the last minute to join them. Unfortunately Jason couldn't go on this trip either because of work, but he did get some more seminary done in our absence. We had a great time seeing everyone again!

Here is the house we stayed in.

It was definitely cold in the Poconos. I had to bring out some of the kid's fleece outfits for the first time. It actually snowed like 5 inches or something like that the first few days we were there. It was crazy, but seriously beautiful!

Rachel hanging out with Roxy and Rowdy.

The first night we went to the country club of the Lake Naomi property and had a fun dinner overlooking the lake. It was the most gorgeous background for dinner with all of the new fallen snow.

Over the time that we were there, we took Caleb swimming in the indoor pool a few times. He had a blast!

Rachel came to the pool too, but she didn't go into the water just yet!

A group shot another night out for dinner.

After dinner out, we had a movie night, and Caleb and Pops didn't make it very long before falling asleep on the couch together. Caleb was so cute...he looked a little bit deceased actually (not to be morbid)! Ha ha!

Nora came to visit on the last day the kids and I were there (she lives like 20 minutes from where we were). We had a great time catching up and it was great that she got to meet Rachel!

One last pic with Grammy and Pops before heading to bed on the last night.

Mom and Dad snapped this one...we always have to take a picture of a deer while in the Poconos of course! :)

Rachel is almost 3 months!

2009-10-19T15:45:00.005-04:00

This has been a busy month of traveling for the kids and I, as we have taken two trips to PA in the span of three weeks or so (I spontaneously went to visit my family on their vacation in the Pocono's just this past week...I'll post pics of that trip soon!). I meant to post Rachel's 2 month stats before all of these trips, but didn't get around to it. I can't believe that she will be 3 months old this upcoming Saturday! She is definitely growing and being as cute as ever! She started giggling right after she turned 2 months old, (there's a cute video of that below) and she has found her fingers just like Caleb too. Although it looks like she is going to be partial to her thumb! Here were her 2 month old stats:

12.6 lbs (76th percentile)
24 inches long (90th percentile)

Topsfield Fair

2009-10-19T14:26:00.006-04:00

Two weekends ago we went to the Topsfield Fair for the first time. It is the oldest fair in the country apparently and it was definitely fun all around with animals, rides and of course great food! I think I am still partial to the York Fair and Jason to the Minnesota State Fair though (since we grew up with those). But we still had a fun family outing at this one!

Caleb loved pretending to drive the tractor!

This was Caleb's first time on a carousel. He liked it a lot!

Rachel had a good time too!

Checking out the goats.

This was the 1,400 some odd pound winning pumpkin this year!

One more time on the carousel before we headed home.

Look alikes!

2009-10-08T15:12:00.007-04:00

When Rachel was first born, we often remarked how much we thought she looked like Caleb. Now that she is just over two months old, she is starting to develop her own little look, less and less like Caleb everyday. So we might have missed our opportunity to take the "look-alike" photos (we were going to dress her up in some of his clothes for the comparison). But we still have a few shots that show some of their similarities. I would have you guess who is who, but they are wearing clothes that give it away, so I'll just tell you!

Caleb above and Rachel below, each at about 1 1/2 months old.

Again, Caleb above and Rachel below, each at about 2 months old.

We even think they have some similar sounds. The top video is Caleb's famous farting video (he was just under two months old when this was taken), and below is a video Grammy took this past week (Rachel is just over two months old now).

This one we tried to stage in the same outfit, but it is hard to see with the different angles of their faces. But their nose and mouth areas look similar to us anyhow!

Trip to York

2009-10-07T16:55:00.011-04:00

After Caleb was born, we took a trip to PA to visit family, friends and neighbors so everyone could meet him. Mom and Dad hosted a little "get to know Caleb" drop-in party then too, and we took pictures of all of the people who visited Caleb. Well, just last week, the kids and I (along with Grammy, who came to Salem first in order to come with us on the drive to PA), took a trip down to York to do the same kind of thing. We saw lots of family and friends and we had a great time! It was a bummer Jason had to stay back because of work and seminary, but at least he got a lot of school work done in our absence. Here are some pics of the trip!

Our first stop on the way to York was to Uncle Matt's place in NJ to visit for a few hours and have lunch.

The next day after arriving, we had a lunch date with some family members at Marino's. Here's Aunt Ann (Val's god-mother) with Rachel below.

And this is Val's other god-mother, Aunt Sue, with Rachel too!

Caleb was entertaining himself (and all of us) during lunch with his crayon cup!

A cute shot of Grammy and her grandson :)

A group shot with the Aunts and with Flossie (she's on the far left).

Pops was at lunch too, but he had to go back to work before we could get any pics of him. Here he was with the li'l lady that night.

The next day I had a lunch date with some of my friends from PSU. The shot above was taken right before I left for lunch (it's the first picture I've ever taken holding both kids...I need to do that more often)!

We all met up at Isaac's for lunch. That's Charlotte, Jamie's daughter above.

Here's Kim holding Rachel.

This is Abigail, Carolyn's daughter above. She and Charlotte are a few months older than Caleb.

A group shot minus Caleb. He stayed back with Grammy because he had a little runny nose (I didn't want to get anyone sick of course) and also because I would have had my hands full with the two of them at lunch! Ha ha!

Checking out the ducks after lunch.

While I was out with Rachel, Grammy took Caleb to the park. He always has so much fun on swings and slides! What a cool Grammy he has!

That night, everyone was tired from a long day of fun!

On Friday we took the kids shopping at Park City Mall. This was a sleepy Caleb still waking up at breakfast before we left. I just think this picture is funny!

On our last day in York, Grammy and Pops hosted a "get to know Rachel" drop-in party like they did for Caleb, and a lot of family and neighbors got to meet her. Here she is cooing with Grammy before people arrived.

Her party cake!

On the Debes side there are two cousins of mine that have children. One family couldn't come because Sue Ann was sick with pneumonia (we missed you guys!), but we did get to see John, Alexandra and their daughter Katrina. Katrina is 3 1/2, and John and Alexandra are expecting another little one in late February. It was so fun seeing Katrina with Rachel...a picture of things to come! :)

Cousin John with Rachel.

LOVE this pic! What a great dad he is!

We were trying to get the kids to pose....good thing Katrina knew what to do. She did a great job trying to keep Caleb in place!

Alexandra with Rachel.

This is kind of hard to see, but the kids were throwing balls around with John and this is the two of them in mid-throw. These kids both have some good arms!

Uncle John and Aunt Joanne with Rachel.

Neighbor Mrs. Craven with Rachel.

Neighbor Rachel with Rachel :)

Neighbor's Mrs. Freer (above) and Mr. Freer (below) with Rachel.

Neighbor Mrs. Pomeroy with Rachel.

We saw some other neighbors too but didn't get pics of everyone unfortunately. The last people to stop over for the night were Aunt Sue and Uncle Roge. That's Uncle Roge below with Rachel.

One last shot with Grammy and Pops to end the night.

During Caleb's snack time right before bed, Rachel totally feel asleep in the bumbo. She had such a fun, but long day.

And this was on Sunday on our way back to Salem with Grammy. I think Caleb was really thinking about giving Rachel a french toast stick! We had a fantastic trip. It was so great seeing everyone!

A Night of Make Believe

2009-10-07T13:10:00.005-04:00

A few weeks ago I set up a fun family date for a Friday night after Jason got home from work. I just thought I would share some of the pics from that night because there are a few of Caleb in particular that are cute. It was a "Night of Make Believe" and we did activities from playing dress up to pretending to be airplanes and farm animals, to painting and pretending to be brilliant artists. We ended the night watching Madagascar 2 (because talking animals is make believe too of course)!

You can't really read anything on here, but here is the table set up of the activities for the evening.

Caleb chose to play dress up first, so he got to dress up in Daddy's clothes! He loved wearing Jason's soccer jersey.

Of course he stopped the fun to give Rachel kisses as per usual! The day before we actually tried her out in the bumbo, and she seemed to like it. Here's a cute pic of her in it below we took that night.

Hmmmm maybe Caleb will follow in Daddy's footsteps and teach math someday!

Big shoes to fill.

The next activity was to teach Caleb how to pretend he is an airplane, how to bicycle his legs and how to pretend to swim.

Bicycling above....turned into wrestling and tickles below!

Then we pretended as I said above to be brilliant artists and to paint a masterpiece. This was actually Caleb's first time painting with a brush. He did a great job!

And after all of the activities, we had our movie night and just snuggled together on the couch. It was a blast! So I know it's kind of a silly thing to share on the blog, but I hope you enjoyed at least seeing some fun pictures of the kids!

Pics Galore!

2009-09-22T15:58:00.015-04:00

I am finally going through my pictures from the last month since we were computer-less for a little while there, and I have a bunch to post. They are all sorts of random shots from silly moments to cutie kid pics. Enjoy!

We're finally getting some good smiles on camera!

Just a fun shot to capture that cute sprig of hair she has on the top of her head.

You know your little boy is growing up when he can eat corn on the cob all by himself!

We thought this was funny...Caleb was picking up the milk jugs when we got home from the store one day. It's funny because a gallon of milk weighs around 11.5 lbs or something like that, and Caleb only weighs 23! It's pretty awesome that he can lift half his body weight! Ha ha!

First home hair cut done by Daddy. Jason did a great job! Below is the finished product, with Caleb's silly face!

I was trying to get a picture of him smiling, but he kept sticking his tongue out. Ahhh to be one and a half! But I finally got a cute one. Look at all of those teeth!

This outfit from Grammy and Pops with the adorable shoes from Aunt Sue make Rachel look like she belongs in Boca Raton don't you think? :)

Here is the first time Jason gave Rachel a bottle above, and the first time I gave her one below (it's expressed milk in case anyone is wondering...nursing is still going great)! As you can see, Caleb was interested in the process the first time...I think he wanted some milk!

I just liked this sleeping pic of the little peanut.

Rachel's first real bath above.

This was Caleb eating a roll after we got home from the grocery store. I was putting groceries away and turned around to find that he had opened the bag and was munching on one!

Rachel was a trooper after getting her immunizations at her 1st month check-up! You can see the little band-aid on her left leg.

Wearing Daddy's boots :)

Rachel has pretty strong head and body control for her age, above is her in tummy time a few weeks ago, and below she is standing pretty steady.

A fun video of the kids playing together above, and another video of Daddy playing with the kids below.

I wish I could know what she is thinking here...

Doesn't she look so happy? Smiling in her sleep with her little belly hanging out. What a life!

I think Caleb wanted to try to feed her!

So this was the picture I took right after she rolled over the other week (she was not too happy about rolling off the blanket onto the hard floor)! I only wish I would have had time to record it.

And finally, here are a few pics from a play date that I took the kids to this morning. We went to a fun park that has barn yard animals and a great playground for the kids. That is Caleb sitting next to Reese (Mia's in the back) above, and all of the kids in the group that were there this morning below. I am so blessed to be a part of such a great group of Moms, with awesome kiddos for Caleb and Rachel to play with!

Some of Rachel's Visitors

2009-09-14T12:15:00.010-04:00

So we put all of these pics on Facebook too, but for those of you not on there, I thought I would do a quick post of some of the people who came to visit Rachel in the first few weeks after she was born.

Above are our friends Sean and Nicole who came over one night to see the kids (they are friends from church). Caleb LOVES these two by the way. They are some of his favorite people :)

This is Dawn (our Pastor's wife) and her awesome kids!

The top pic is of Jess and her daughter Kaitlin, and the guy with Jason is Matt (Jess's husband) with Kaitlin (Jason has Rachel of course). Kaitlin was born 1 week earlier than Rachel almost to the hour. We had so much fun being pregnant at the that same time as the Modaff's. They are also some of Caleb's favorite people too! At church, Caleb likes to say, "Matt!" when he sees Mr. Matt...and then he likes to go give him a high five!

These three ladies are just a few of the Moms from my Mom's group who made us meals and came to visit (there were a bunch of others, but we didn't get pics of those ladies unfortunately)! They are Julie, Caitlin and Beth above.

Then Val's Mom (Grammy) and Uncle Matt (Val's bro) came for a few days when Rachel was a couple of weeks old. We even took Rachel to the beach for the first time (I'll post a few pics of that another time) when they were in town.

And finally, Jason's Dad (Grandpa) and Step-Mom (Nana) were in the area to see Jason's Grandma, so we went to CT to meet up with them all, so they could meet Rachel too! Look how Rachel is just checking Grandma Lee out. She just kept staring into her eyes. So sweet!

We're back up and running!

2009-09-10T15:18:00.014-04:00

We're sorry for the hiatus in posting the last couple of weeks. Our laptop died and our old PC would just take too long to upload a video! But we are back up and running now. Rachel has changed so much just in the last few weeks. She is now 6 weeks old and is doing just great! We had her 1 month appt. last week (it was scheduled a little late since our pedi was on vacation), and Rachel is totally thriving in the growth department. Her are her current stats for those of you who are interested:

11.2 lbs - 80th percentile

22 inches - 72nd percentile

The doctor was very happy with her growth and her head control too! In other news, Rachel smiled for the first time on August 24th (when she turned exactly one month old), and the coolest part was, Caleb was leaning over her, (and was giving her some love and kisses as per usual), and she smiled at him! It's so sweet that Caleb received the first social smile. Here's a video we took the other week of her smiling for the camera.

Caleb has been doing great with Rachel too. He has really transitioned well to having her around, and it has been fun to see him show her off to people. He is so proud to be a big brother! Here's a cute video of him giving her a tummy kiss (we call it a "zerbert").

He just loves to hold her.

Check out those adorable shoes from Aunt Sue!

Look at that big smooch!

Caleb loves to lay right next to Rachel any chance he gets.

He even pretends to read to her. It is so adorable!

And possibly our favorite picture of them all...Caleb teaching Rachel the ropes on how to master the two fingers sucking technique. Too funny! :)

A little bit of Caleb, a little bit of Rachel

2009-08-16T17:48:00.005-04:00

Here are two fun videos to post. The first is of Caleb dancing during our weekly worship times (every Monday night we devote some time to sing worship/praise songs as a family, and we always do a kid friendly song for Caleb to dance to as well), and the other is of Rachel doing some tummy time. Two things to note, on Caleb's video, I (Val) was singing along and I sound terrible, so I apologize that you all have to listen to that! (Ha ha!) And secondly, on Rachel's video, Jason said accidentally that she was 3 weeks and 4 days old at the time, when she was actually only 2 weeks old and 4 days. The time frame doesn't really matter of course, but in case any of you are keeping track date wise, she is actually 3 weeks and 2 days old today as I post this, so I didn't want anyone to be confused! Enjoy!

Caleb's time with Grammy and Pops!

2009-08-11T11:51:00.026-04:00

So as you all know, Rachel came along on July 24th, and during our time at the hospital, my (Val's) parents took care of Caleb for us. Here are some pics and fun videos of his time with them. He did SO great, Grammy and Pops reported that he was a good boy the whole time! Thanks so much again Mom and Dad for helping us out in this way. We love you guys!

This is a video that was taken at Hammond Castle the day before we went to the hospital. I couldn't help but post it, it's so funny watching Caleb run. He swings his arms back and forth and looks totally cute as he motors along!

Here's a fun video of Caleb and Pops stacking blocks.

They took Caleb to a place called Monkey Joe's on the day Rachel was born, which is an inflatable mecca for kids basically. He had a blast! Above is our favorite video of Caleb going down the slide...face first!

Here they are playing basketball and swinging at the park on another day.

Caleb was all tuckered out after an afternoon at Nahant Beach!

This was a sweet video Mom took of Caleb seeing Jason for the first time before we brought Rachel in (we specifically each came in to see Caleb first before having him meet Rachel for the first time once we got home).

On their last day here, Grammy and Pops took Caleb to Hampton Beach to give Jason and me a much needed day of rest at home with just Rachel. They had a full day of fun! Look at the adorable sunglasses they bought him too!

One last picture with the grandkids before they had to leave!

Welcome To Our World

2009-07-26T16:26:00.031-04:00

Our sweet baby girl is finally here! Rachel Joy Drapeau arrived at 4:11pm on Friday, July 24th. Here is one picture of our sweetie, before we chronicle her arrival story!

The phrase is usually "to make a long story short," however with Rachel, though we waited a long time for her in pregnancy, her arrival story is nothing but short. VERY short...and very quick. So, we'll tell the whole story.

We anticipated having Valerie induced at 7am on July 24th. Here's Val's final photo at the house before we left for the hospital.

The hospital was apparently slammed the night before/morning of, so they postponed our labor induction until 11am. Here's Val prepped and in the hospital shortly thereafter.

The induction began at approximately 1:50pm. At that time, Val was 3cm dilated already. Here's what that looks like!

The laboring began, and the intensity of contractions gradually built until approximately 3:20pm, when Val's water broke. Unfortunately, we don't have any pictures of that...further, those who would desire pictures of that event have something wrong with themselves (that's nasty, guys...seriously)! At around the same time, the doctor examined Valerie, and found that she was still only 4cm dilated. Due to the increasing pain of the contractions, Val asked for an epidural (which never came...more on that below!).

The epidural preparation took a little while, as the medical staff was being located to perform this procedure. Right as the epidural needle was being inserted, Valerie felt Rachel's head begin to arrive. To almost all medical personnel present, this was deemed improbable, since not even 1 hour earlier Val was only 4cm dilated. However, Valerie was right, the epidural preparation was ceased, and after approximately 4 or 5 pushes and more pain than she had ever experienced in her entire life, Rachel arrived! Valerie was quite simply AMAZING in persevering through much more than she anticipated, and God is inexplicably merciful in allowing for the entire process to be short and endurable. We all praise Him for this remarkable day!

So, the VERY short of the already short story is this: Total Labor Time = 2 hr. 21 min.; Total Pushing Time = less than 5 min.; Statistic of the Day = 4cm to baby in less than 1 hour. Yeah...if we are planning on having any future children, we're going to have to go from early labor to the hospital faster than Uncle Ben's minute rice!

Enough of the story...here are some more pictures of our sweetheart!

Caleb is simply fascinated by her. He has seen other babies before, but for some reason he seemed to know that this one was different from the beginning.

He is still learning how to act around her, but one thing he has absolutely no problem doing...giving her kisses!

We thank you all for your consistent prayer and encouragement during our time carrying and delivering Rachel. Please continue to pray for us as we adjust to being an unbelievably blessed family of 4!

Tri-Family Finito!

2009-07-23T21:33:00.012-04:00

If Rachel were a book, we'd owe approximately $1.25 in overdue library fines. Nonetheless, since she is not yet here, we have been blessed with opportunities to enjoy some final time spent as a three-person family doing all kinds of fun things. Below, you will see some of our fun family activities as we have been patiently waiting for Rachel's arrival!

Caleb and I (Jason) at the beach.

Check out this guy's sweet flip-flops!

He sure is quite the adventurer!

Find any gold, Caleb? Nope...just some cool lookin' rocks!

Here is a photo of our visit to Hammond Castle in Gloucester, MA.

Caleb (and all of us) loved the beautiful ocean view.

Hey, this coat of armor is just my size!

Beautiful atrium...

...and grand organ room.

Here's Valerie and Grammy, the soon-to-be Mother
and excited Grandmother per duo!

Grammy, Caleb, and Pops...they will be Caleb's
champions this weekend, while Valerie and I will be
welcoming Rachel in the hospital.

Even though Caleb will soon be one of two, he will
always be our lion king!

One final photo of the three of us. If God wills it,
we will welcome Rachel to our world tomorrow.
We love you, Sissy, and can't wait to meet you!

Crammin' it all in!

2009-07-10T14:31:00.032-04:00

So we are just over a week away from our due date with Rachel, and although we feel like she is going to come late, she really could come at any time! Jason finished teaching at the end of June, so the last two weeks we have had some awesome family time with just the three of us. We have been trying to squeeze in some special Caleb activities as well, before Rachel joins us and things get crazier around here! :) So here are a ton of pics of some of the recent stuff our family has been up to, from seeing some fireworks on the 4th of July to going to the Boston Children's Museum, and even going to a Red Sox game a few nights ago. We're actually headed to the beach this afternoon...as I said...we're really trying to cram it all in!

This picture was taken this past Sunday when I was 38 weeks.

Caleb loved seeing the fireworks this year, he was pointing at them and saying, "Wow!"

As you'll see, he loved pretty much everything about the Children's Museum. He actually got upset each time we left an exhibit, he just wanted to keep doing whatever fun thing he was doing at the time. It was so cute!

This was the Red Sox game we went to this past Wednesday night. Caleb was so good the entire game, we only had to leave our seats for one diaper change! :) Big Papi hit a 3 run homer and the Red Sox won 5-4. This was Caleb's second game, and I think he's a big fan! Check out the videos at the end of us singing "Sweet Caroline" (a tradition at Fenway) and of course, "Take Me Out to the Ballgame!"

Father's Day Fun

2009-06-22T14:33:00.007-04:00

I thought I would post some pictures of what we did for Father's Day this year. I can't say it enough, Jason is simply amazing in how he is working so hard to support our family while attending seminary at the same time. And he seriously does it all (including coming home every day with the most genuine and sweet desire to spend time with Caleb and me) with such an incredible attitude. We are so blessed to have him as a husband/father! So we decided what he could use best was just a fun afternoon doing something he loves that he rarely gets to do these days because of lack of time...playing basketball!

So Caleb and I made him some basketball cupcakes and a cute note asking him to come play with us! I also got Caleb a mini basketball (in the pic above) so he could take his own ball to the court with Daddy! Jason's present was an ipod, which he has enjoyed playing with...you know men and their toys! Haha!

My boys are so cute!

We also took some sidewalk chalk to the court that we just bought Caleb (it was his first time trying it)! He had a blast, and as you can tell, he marked his territory too! It was so funny, he colored a big circle around himself. We had a ton of fun celebrating Jason and are looking forward to us both finishing work in about a week and half so we can have a few weeks of the summer to relax as a three-some before Rachel comes!

Feelin' Great and Potty Update

2009-06-01T21:39:00.007-04:00

Recently a bunch of you through comments on the blog or just in general have asked me how I am feeling pregnancy wise. So I thought I would post a pic (taken yesterday) of what I look like now at 33 weeks, and let you all know that I am doing great! This pregnancy has been very similar to Caleb's, it has been overall a pretty easy time. I have been blessed not to have many common pregnancy ailments like backache, heartburn, nausea, etc. I am even carrying similar to how I carried Caleb...Rachel is pretty much popping out like a basketball! :) Thank you all for thinking of me and for praying for the health of Rachel (and me) in this pregnancy!

Since Jason did a post of his Daddy/Son weekend, I thought I would post a cute shot from my girl's weekend in PA. It was an amazing, refreshing and encouraging time, catching up with Kim, Diana and Nora (all friends of mine from PSU) over the weekend. I had the opportunity to relax and have some "me-time," which was definitely great timing as we are preparing for Rachel's arrival.

And finally, although we do not think he is ready yet to be potty trained, we bought Caleb a potty this past weekend to give him a chance to get acclimated to it (and so that we would be prepared when he is ready to try it as well). He was really excited about it!

The one and only time he will be allowed to put the potty insert on his head. Haha!

Boys Weekend and a Baseball Game!

2009-05-24T22:29:00.015-04:00

Hi, everybody! This is Caleb. (Well, really this is Daddy writing vicariously through Caleb, but you get the idea!) Mommy (and Rachel) went away this weekend to spend some time with her girl friends in Pennsylvania. So, Daddy and I hung out together and had an awesome "Boys Weekend." My favorite part was when Daddy took me to see my first Red Sox game at Fenway Park!

Yay! I'm going to see a baseball game!

Fenway Park is really fun. There is so much to do and see there!

Daddy and I liked watching the game together. Go Sox!

We had really great seats, so I could see all the action on the field.

Look! There's the Green Monster!

I love it here! I sure hope Daddy and Mommy take me again!

Daddy said that I was being very good during the game.

There were just so many interesting things going on the whole time!

Yep, Daddy and I had a really fun time together...

...you can tell by how tuckered I was afterwards!

Now, I wonder what Mommy and Rachel are up to...

those two are inseparable these days!

Growing Up

2009-05-21T13:10:00.008-04:00

So lately it has been super apparent to us that Caleb is really growing up. I know kids grow like weeds at this stage in their lives, but I feel like I am really seeing my baby turn into a little boy from his looks to his development and habits. Here are just a few examples with pictures of Caleb eating a ham and cheese sandwich and a video of him drinking out of a cup for real (with no sippy spout or straw)!

A Shower for Rachel!

2009-04-28T14:43:00.031-04:00

About two weeks ago, Jason, Caleb and I went to PA for a visit with my parents. While we were there, our family threw a baby shower for us! This was a "pink shower", as we are all getting excited about the arrival of our little girl Rachel. Here are some pics from the party and some from just hanging out with Grammy and Pops during our time in York.

The shower was thrown at Red Lobster and just included our family (with one exception...my Mom's best friend Mrs. Bride came too)!

The two masterminds behind the shower with my parents, my Godmothers Aunt Sue and Aunt Ann (Aunt Ann is the one holding Caleb). They are always so sweet to their Goddaughter! :)

Here's a cute shot...Aunt Sue, my cousin Sue Ann and my Mom all together.

Some other family pictures above and below. Most of the Debes family was able to attend, but we missed those of you who couldn't be there!

Here's Uncle Matt with Mrs. Bride above.

And of course, Caleb got spoiled at this shower too. He got a balloon, a new truck, books, stuffed animals and more from several of the family members to keep him entertained all party long!

We were blessed with so many cute gifts, especially with lots of clothes, which we definitely needed! The adorable dress above was from John, Alexandra and Katrina who couldn't be there. Thanks guys!

Aunt Sue and Uncle Roge put together a clothes line of onesies with cute/funny sayings on them. We are totally set with colored onesies now as you can imagine!

This dress above was from Uncle Matt. I can't wait to see Rachel in it!

As the outfit says, Jason is berry sweet!

We got two first dolls for Rachel too (you can never start too early with those). This one was from Grammy and Pops!

Here's Pops and his twin (Val's Uncle Harry). Can you tell which one is Pops? He is actually the one on the right. Uncle Harry was carrying Caleb around for a while, and we were all wondering if Caleb thought he was with Pops!

Here's a sweet shot with Val's Nana. We were so glad to get to see her at the shower!

Finally, here's Uncle Matt and Caleb playing as the party was ending. Thank you so much to the whole family for throwing us such a great shower! What a blessing everything is to our family! We love you all!

Later in the weekend we went to Val's old elementary school to play on their playgrounds. Caleb was especially taken with this orange truck above.

Pops and Caleb riding a spaceship!

Sliding with Daddy above and Grammy below.

It didn't take Caleb long to get re-acquainted with the pups (he saw them at Christmas time). He really enjoyed petting Rowdy and Roxy!

Pops and Grammy also took Caleb on a walk one day.

Finally, right before we left on Monday, Jason and I ran out to do a few errands, so Grammy watched Caleb and they did some coloring together with his new giant coloring book and markers. He looks super cute in that smock doesn't he?

First trip to the ER :(

2009-04-28T14:16:00.009-04:00

I am going to post some pics from our trip to PA two weekends ago soon, but before I do that, I wanted to post our most recent happenings with Caleb. This Sunday we gave Caleb peanut butter for the first time (with the pediatrician's consent to try it of course) and he had a pretty severe allergic reaction to it. His eyes swelled up, he got hives on his cheeks and even one in his eye, and he had blotchiness around his mouth. It was so sad! So we called the doctor as this reaction was progressing and they told us to head to the ER. Once we got there Caleb was administered benadryl and was monitored for a few hours, and the swelling and such went down. No worries, he if fine now, but our next step is to see an allergist to determine what level of peanut allergy this is (as well as to see if he has any other allergies to tree nuts, etc.) But it was definitely an eventful day! We are so thankful that he was ok and that the reaction didn't spread to his throat (he never had trouble breathing and they checked his lungs at the hospital and confirmed that there was no respiratory reaction...praise God)! We are also really thankful that now we know that Caleb has this allergy so we can be prepared and prevent future reactions, and that this reaction happened when we were ready for the possibility of it. God is so good to us protecting our little man!

Here is Caleb's arm band from the hospital above.

We also have to carry an Epi Pen Jr. now!

Caleb says, "Bad peanuts!"

After we got home we were all exhausted, especially Caleb from the medicine. Here are the boys taking a snooze.

Monday, Jason took the day off and we kept Caleb inside to monitor him as he continued the benadryl doses he needed to take up until 3pm yesterday to ensure another reaction didn't flare up. He stayed in pj's all day!

And as I said, he is doing much better now. I took this picture this morning on our way out to a 1st birthday party for one of Caleb's friends. He's back to his normal little self!

Fingers and Forks

2009-04-04T17:20:00.011-04:00

I thought I would post a few shots of Caleb eating some rigatoni recently. It was pretty cute, he would slide the pasta onto his finger and only then eat it. He kind of reminds me of what I think Uncle Matt would have looked like as a kid eating pasta from the stories I've heard. Haha!

Here's a fun video of Caleb using a fork to eat. It's not the most thrilling stuff, but fun for the grandparents to see anyway!

After those messy shots, I feel compelled to post something cute and clean. Here are my boys looking sweet together!

Hanging out with Grammy and Pops

2009-03-18T12:27:00.028-04:00

Grammy and Pops came to visit last weekend and Caleb was so excited! They brought him some fun new surprises, but they also brought him the horse they got him at Christmas time that we couldn't fit in the car on the way home. He has definitely enjoyed reuniting with his horse! We also did some fun sightseeing while they were in town. Check out the pics below!

This was actually a present for Caleb from Val's Aunt Sue and Uncle Roge. They are stacking blocks and he cannot get enough of them now. He was learning how to stack them here with Pops.

Then he got a special dog, "Li'l Snoopy" from Grammy and Pops.

On the second day they were here, we spent the day checking out York and Kittery, Maine. In York, we drove around the coast area and saw the beautiful beaches, and then drove out to the Nubble Lighthouse. It was a gorgeous day, and seeing the beaches made me super excited for the summer!

Here are a couple of views of the lighthouse. It is actually only accessible by sea craft, the picture with Pops below is the closest people can get. After that, we went to the outlets in Kittery (which is what Kittery is known for) and had a good time shopping.

On the last day of their visit, we went into Boston. Before we left, Grammy and Caleb played for a bit on his horse and with his talking Elmo below (another gift from Aunt Sue and Uncle Roge).

Then, Jason and Pops went to the Larz Anderson Auto Museum in the morning. Pop's favorite car was the yellow ferrari, and Jason's favorite was the formula 1 racing car (driven by Michael Shumacher). That's about all I know about it, so I'll just let you all enjoy the pics.

Grammy, Val and Caleb then met up with the guys for lunch, and then we all went to the Sam Adams Museum in Boston. Here are the boys walking to the entrance.

Finally, one last good-bye picture before Grammy and Pops had to leave (they left right after the tour...don't worry...Grammy started out driving since Pops sampled some Sam Adams at the end)! :)

What a great visit it was!

Random Stuff to Share

2009-03-11T16:26:00.019-04:00

I thought I would post some other cute pictures of things Caleb has been up to lately since I am finally caught up picture wise. Since there has still been snow here in MA on and off, we have mostly been in-doors, but we have taken him out a few times in the snow. Also, it has given us the chance to go to fun places like Bonkers (an indoor play place for kids that I mentioned in the last post), Gymboree gym classes, and even make silly obstacle courses at home. We definitely can't wait for Spring, but the winter hasn't been so bad after all.

I thought I should start of the pictures with the one of him pointing at the giraffe at Bonkers that I mentioned in the MN post. I know you can't really see the statue, but it's on the left through the gate. Once we get there, he always takes a few minutes to point it out to me before he goes and plays!

Looking through the bubble.

King of the foam ramp!

Just chillin' with his friend Owen above.

Another friend Reese after going down the slide.

What a smile from Kaelyn!

Navigating through the foam mountain.

I just thought this was precious...Caleb is looking through the exit gate at the big kids play area. I imagine he's thinking, "One day, I will conquer that!"

Here are just a couple of silly shots of the obstacle course we built one family fun night. Caleb liked going through the tunnel!

And last but not least, here are the pictures from his first time playing in the snow a few weeks ago! It was still snowing when we went outside, so we didn't take too many pictures, but you get the idea. I can't believe spring is already next Friday!

Our Trip to Minnesota

2009-03-07T16:12:00.024-05:00

I am really behind in posting, mostly because I just now had the chance to go through the pictures from our trip. We visited Jason's family in MN in mid February for about a week, and we had a wonderful time. We did so many fun things (most of which we didn't catch on camera), but a few we did, so here are some pics below of our time visiting.

This was a few days into the trip (when we finally started taking pictures), when we went over to visit Auntie Vienna's new house with Don and Betty (Grandpa and Nana). What a cute pic of mom and daughter (Auntie Vienna and Nana with Caleb) this was!

Along with a new house, Vienna also got a new cat, Dodge. Caleb was very fascinated by him and was searching in all the rooms to try to find him during our visit.

That same day we went to the St. Paul Como Conservatory and Zoo. It was such a breath of fresh air, literally, to be in a tropical climate in the middle of winter, surrounded by beautiful flowers, plants and trees. Above was a tree from the Palm Dome, one of the rooms in the conservatory. We also went into the Fern Room, the Tropical Encounters area, the North Garden, and the Sunken Garden (which was my personal favorite).

Inside the Sunken Garden, Caleb enjoyed checking out the exotic flowers with Daddy.

Here are two different views of the garden (above and below). Doesn't this just get you excited for spring?

Here's Grandpa taking Caleb for ride (can you tell that Caleb had a great time here)? :)

Beautiful flowers in the North Garden.

Finally, here's Caleb and Grandpa checking out the goldfish in the mini pond in the middle of the garden. I know you can't see the pond or the fish, I just thought this was a sweet picture!

Then it was onto the zoo. This was Caleb's first time visiting a zoo, so of course we took a TON of pictures. Here are two of my favorites. Above in the Gorilla area, we caught a pic of this gorilla's fierce roar. Ok, ok...so the truth is it was actually a yawn, but it does look pretty scary right?

Caleb is a big fan of giraffes. We attend play dates at a place called Bonkers here at home, where there is a huge giraffe statue amongst all of the climbing areas and slides, and he is constantly pointing at it and making sure that he shows it to me. So it was really fun to show him the real thing!

Back at Grandpa and Nana's on different evenings, we got to hang out with Uncle Tyrone and Uncle Shea and catch up with them over dinner. Tyrone is studying his way through law school, and Shea is looking into teaching english as a second language in Japan starting this upcoming May (he is currently instructing in the States). Here's Uncle Tyrone and Caleb!

Here's Caleb and Uncle Shea on another night above.

I just thought this was a cute shot. Jason was playing some piano during some down time that we had, and Caleb decided to join in.

These are pictures from the last day of the trip, even though we had spent time with Lora (Grandma) before that as well. These were just some of my favorites! A little group shot above.

A great three generations pic!

And finally, Caleb and Grandma doing some flash cards and just hanging out at her house. We really enjoyed spending time with everyone. The only family member we missed was Uncle Andrew, so here's a little shout out...we love you Andrew! We can't wait until you come home!

It's a girl!

2009-02-20T21:54:00.004-05:00

We just had our 18 week ultrasound this morning, and we found out that we are having a girl! Her name will be Rachel Joy Drapeau, and we are excited to welcome her in July! She will be here before we know it :) Below are a few pics (sorry they are a little blurry).

New Things

2009-02-04T19:08:00.015-05:00

So I thought I would do a real quick post of a few new things Caleb has experienced recently.

We have officially moved into the "big boy" car seat!

Here are some pics from his first hair cut. We'll just call his before look above, "Shaggy".

Checking himself out in the mirror!

This place was awesome, during the hair cut they have bubbles, lollipops, animal crackers, videos, even a prize at the end for the kids.

We should have asked her to leave it like that. Haha!

The finished product.

We even got a certificate and his little lock of hair to remember the day!

Onto our first finger painting adventure the other night. Caleb was a little unsure about having the paint on his hands, but I'm sure he'll come around to liking being messy in no time!

That's Caleb's finger painting job on the left, and Jason's on the right (he was showing Caleb how to do it when we got started)! And on a final note, here's a quick shout out to cousin Katrina who just turned 3 the other day! Happy Birthday Katrina!

What a difference two weeks makes!

2009-01-31T18:45:00.006-05:00

So we have had two ultrasounds already, our 12 week one, and then another one two weeks later when we were about 14 weeks. They needed an updated ultrasound to match some blood work, so basically the second one was just a fun opportunity for us to see the baby a second time. What was amazing though was to see how much God has grown our baby in just over two weeks. You can definitely see a more formed head, body and limbs in the second picture. Funny enough though, this baby likes to wave...his or her little hand is up in both pics! Our 18 week ultrasound where we find out the sex of the baby is at the end of February, so we will be sure to share the results!

12 weeks.

14 weeks.

Last one - Party #3!

2009-01-29T13:36:00.024-05:00

After a busy few weeks, I am finally getting around to posting the pics from Caleb's 3rd and final birthday party thrown by some Moms from the Moms group I am a part of. This kid has no idea how blessed he's been! :) The weekend after this party, our whole family got sick though, so we were out of commission for a while. That's why we are finally getting around to posting. Soon to come are pics of the two ultrasounds we've had, and of Caleb's first haircut!

Here's the birthday boy, sporting his 1st birthday shirt for the last time (with socks in hand looking at me like, "It's my party Mom and I will take my socks off if I want too!)

Here are some of the other kids at the party, there's Tyler and Kaelyn trying to hug above.

There's Mia being a ham!

Reese showing Connor how to play with the starfish.

And Caleb and Liam playing together at the musical table. It is so cute when the kids play together and share!

Now onto the cake! Caitlin (Reese's Mom) was the host, and she made Caleb an awesome turtle cake (and a special no-food coloring cupcake for the actual eating part!)

And she made a turtle cookie cake for the adults too!

Caleb and Mommy blowing out the candle.

Trying some cupcake :)

Then of course it was on to the presents!

I couldn't resist :)

All of the cool stuff he got above.

Finally, one of the gifts was some tadoodles and a sketch pad, and here is Caleb doing his first scribbling! Grandma also got him some tadoodles too. We'll be all set for his first coloring experiences I guess!

Party #2 (as promised!)

2009-01-20T15:30:00.027-05:00

Here are some pictures of Caleb's actual birthday, January 4th, when we threw his birthday party after church. This was party #2 of 3, so I'll be sure to post the final party pics soon!

The sleeping birthday boy above!

After Dad woke him up.

We held the party at the clubhouse of the Mom's group I am a part of, and it turned out to be the perfect space for the event.

One of Caleb's favorite church friends Kaitlyn (above) striking a pose with him.

I couldn't help but post this...here's Caleb hanging out with Joshua (he's about a month old). This is what life will be like in July! I can't believe it!

Some party attendee pictures!

We made cupcakes for this party, there is Li'l C's cupcake above!

Taking a taste...

Helping to open his presents!

Last giggles with Daddy before going to bed!

And finally, I couldn't help but post this pic either...this was one of Caleb's gifts from the party (from Stacey, an old co-worker of Val's from the hotel). Isn't this the cutest towel ever? She of course got him a sailboat one, since that's what part of our logo was at the Salem Waterfront Hotel :)