More and More Progress

We left for Iowa...and when we came back, this is what we found!

Kale's New Cousin

We were sure we would get to meet Aaron and Melissa's little one over our visit to Iowa, but apparently the baby had other plans. Melissa's due date was the 19th, but the baby was a stubborn one and the doctor finally decided to induce Melissa on the 28th. We didn't get to spend Christmas with Aaron and Melissa. They stayed in Des Moines in order to be close to the hospital in case Melissa should go into labor. We did stop by their house on our drive home.

Jersery insisted on being a part of the picture.

Scarlett Sophia Helling FINALLY arrived the day after we left. She was born at 1:20 p.m. and weighed 8 lbs. 1 oz and was 21 inches long. Not too big considering she was 9 days overdue.

Aaron and Melissa didn't find out the gender, so it was a real treat to find out she was a little girl. I am so excited to have a girl to shop for!!!

Sledding

Kale got a snow suit from my grandmother for Christmas. Since we were in Iowa and there was at least a foot of snow, we decided to take advantage and take Kale sledding.

I sat on the sled with Kale and Kris pulled us up the neighbor's driveway (it was a very small incline). Whenever we slid down Kale would smile and squeal. We did this several times, but it was pretty cold, so we didn't make it too long.

He looks a little like the kid from the movie, A Christmas Story. And believe me, he cried just like that little kid whenever I put all of his gear on him.

A Winter Wonderland....

Christmas in Iowa

For Christmas, Santa brought Kale a rocking horse (among other things). The rocking horse makes horse noises and moves it's head and tail. He loves it! I am not sure why he is naked in this picture...but it turned out so darn cute!

Kale ate "table food" for the first time over Christmas. He had company potatoes, "Iowa" corn, and a roll.

He is a pretty messy eater, but did somehow manage to get some of the food into his mouth via both his hands and his spoon.

We traveled 14 hours in the car to get to Iowa. Kale was off his schedule and wasn't sleeping as he normally does, but he was still such a good boy. He had plenty of smiles and laughs to give to everyone.

Kale got to meet Baby Brett. Brett. Brett is Luke's son (Kris' friend from preschool). Brett is 2 months younger than Kale, but they still enjoyed playing together. At one point Kale started to cry and I guess Brett felt sorry for him because he started bawling too!

It was neat to see Kris and Luke with their sons. Hopefully Kale and Brett will grow up to be great friends as well.

We went to church on Christmas Eve. Doesn't Kale look handsome?

Merry Christmas from the Helling family!

I think Kale and Kris look a little like twins...this wasn't intentional, but they both look nice.

Kale also got to meet his second counsin Nate. Nate was born in September and is a few months younger than Kale.

Kale also met his great-grandpa Brunsvold (Kris' maternal grandfather).

It's Time to Baby Proof

Kale is into everything!!

Day 4 of Presents

What better way to celebrate Christmas than eating the paper! I know that's my favorite thing to do.

Kale got a playskool ball machine. He puts the balls in the machine and they fly in the air. Then I have to run after them or he cries because he runs out of balls...I guess I will be in shape. Thanks, grandma Debbie!

Day 3 of Presents

One of the presents we got Kale for Christmas is a big boy carseat! When I first told him that he was getting a carseat, he started to cry (seriously). But from the looks of the pictures he really likes it. He is up so much higher and can see much better.

Cookie Monster

I have been baking up a storm and Kris has been enjoying the uncooked cookie dough (and the cookies as well).

Getting Around

It's a good thing Kale is strapped in! He manages to get around quite well these days. He definitely doesn't like to stay in one place for long. If I'm not willing to give him what he wants, he will just go get himself (or so he thinks)!

Little Monkey

Kale loves to hang upside down. Yesterday we put him in the swing for a nap and he kept jabbering. When Kris went in to check on him, he was hanging himself upside down over the side of the swing. I think it might be time to retire the swing...

In other news, Kale will be getting ear tubes on January 5th. He has had chronic ear infections since we have moved here. We are hopeful the tubes help.

Our New House

They have laided the foundation of our house this week. When we get back from Iowa all of our walls should be up. It looks so small right now...it's hard to believe it will be 3200 sq. feet when finished. That's alot of cleaning!

Round 2 of presents

This is Kale's second day of opening a present. He loves the paper.

My mom got him a leap frog table that plays music and has all sorts of lights and sounds. He wanted it before we could even get it out of th box.

The table has a stand, but we haven't put it together yet, as Kale is not standing on his own quite yet.

Our Early Christmas

We decided to go ahead and start letting Kale open some presents early. He has about 30 presents under the tree and I know he will tire if we expect him to open them all on Christmas day. Plus, we are driving to Iowa and thought we would have him open some of the bigger presents so he don't have to transport them.

Uncle David got Kale a 3 in 1 smart wheels. It is pretty cool and he loves it. It changes based upon the child's size and is adaptable for babies from 6-36 months. Right now, it just rocks back and forth and has a cool steering wheel (with a cell phone--his favorite thing!). As he gets older, he will be able to ride it by moving his feet and making the wheels go.

I was going to ride with him, but I guess he didn't like it. He started crying as soon as I sat down.

Fun Times

Notice that Kale does not have a shirt on...there is clearly a reason for that.

He is starting to talk back. It looks like he is crying in this picture, but he is really screaming at me. He knocked his baby food out of my hand and onto the ground. I said, "Kale Thomas Helling, that is enough of that ridiculous behavior." I said it in a gruff tone of voice. In reply, he looked at me with a big smile and then started yelling back at me!!! I couldn't help but laugh. Then I yelled, "Stop yelling at me, that's not nice." Then, he just yelled even more. It became a game. I would yell at him, then he would yell at me. I know I am probably not setting a good precedent for the future, but it was so darn funny, I couldn't resist!

The Aftermath...

Kale's favorite toy

As you can tell by the giant smile on his face, Kale LOVES playing with plastic hangers. I swear he could play with them for hours. Kris seriously wanted to buy him a pack for Christmas. Hangers bring him so much joy!

Dressed like Uncle David

Look at that pudgy tummy!

Fashion Show

I have always been a shopaholic, but now that I have Kale, I prefer to shop for him rather than for myself. I went into Children's Place for Christmas shoes...I came out with several other outfits. But isn't he always so cute? I love this little sweater. I can't believe how "grown up" he looks!

Kale's jeans are distressed, low rise, boot cute pants. Who knew they made such a thing for a baby.

This is one of Kale's many Christmas outfits. I bought him this little button up Polo at the Polo Outlet. He has on Gap Pants and a vest from Babies R Us. He already wears better brands than me!

He is always such a good sport when I am playing dress up with him. I guess he has gotten used to it over time...

More Progress...

This has happened since my last post (yesterday). Things are moving along quickly!