the garlands

Merry Christmas 2011

2011-12-12T13:10:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas from the Garlands! Sorry this is so long--we're making up for lost time!

We have had an eventful 2011! It has been very challenging and very rewarding, at times frustrating and at times exhilarating. We've leaned on the love of family and friends like never before, and we've collapsed at the feet of Jesus more than a few times. Through it all, we've never been alone.

The new year found us doing well, with a pregnant belly on Leah and lots of basketball games for Jerod. Cayla really began to love being at games, and she spent many nights in the gym. Jerod enjoyed moving to the high school this year and coaching girls' basketball and 9th grade baseball. Though the basketball season ended 3 points away from the state tournament, Jerod enjoyed coaching another great group of seniors. When spring break came, Jerod took his annual trip to the NCAA tournament with three buddies for a few days of basketball and fun. This year the boys went to Chicago and had a blast, waiting two hours for Chicago-style pizza, walking around the city, and zipping around on the trains.

Leah saw her job at Bethany Christian Services transition a bit, allowing for more family time and learning more about fundraising and family support. Although this change took her out of meeting with families regularly, the trade-off has been well worth it. She loves the opportunity to share her passion for the kids and families Bethany serves with the community and churches in Central Iowa. She was also able to plan her first big fundraiser throughout the summer, and it culminated in a great success last month. The dinner and dessert auction raised over $25,000, which will help Bethany support women, men, and children facing unplanned pregnancies.

In May we welcomed a new member to the family! Eliana Lynn was born in Pella and man, this one was a much easier process for Leah. As much as we love Cayla, there was a small part of us that was anxious about Ana being born with Down Syndrome and somewhat relieved that we wouldn't have the same challenges with our second child. We know there will still be challenges, but they will be different.

In regards to Cayla's adjustment, it has been like Jekyll and Hyde. At times she is incredibly sweet with her sister, wanting to kiss her and acting worried when she cries. At other times, it has been very difficult for her to deal with someone stealing some of our attention away. At her age, she doesn't really know how to handle these emotions--they just come out. Unfortunately, it usually comes out in the form of aggression. Let's just say Eliana may be the toughest 6-month old kid of all time. We're just glad she still has both eyes and hasn't needed any trips to the ER yet. The relationship is a work in progress. We're praying our daughters would one day have an incredible bond, laughing at each other and combing each other's hair. For now, though, there is a lot of pulling each other's hair instead.

One huge step for Cayla this fall has been successfully saying adios to diapers!!! Woo hoo!! We are so excited for her because it's yet one more thing she has conquered on her journey. She is so good about telling us "poop" when it's time to head in there. And she no longer needs M&Ms as a reward. She hasn't worn a diaper for 2 or 3 months!

In other big Cayla news, this fall we got her a

backpack, crayons, markers, glue, kleenexes, and scissors. Can you believe she started pre-k already?? I think it officially hit us in August while we were walking around Wal-Mart with the school list of ITEMS STUDENTS SHOULD HAVE. This is just weird, we thought. We're not ready for this. But sure enough, our spunky lil' girl started school at Madison this fall, just a few blocks from our

home. She goes in the afternoons and she loves her teacher Miss Amy, or, as Cayla calls her, "S'Amy." Cayla enjoys the kids in her class a lot, and can often be found trying to sit on their laps (when she's not pinching them or pulling their hair). She also loves going to gym class and running to the music, as well as Center Time when she gets to play with the dolls. Leah joined the class on a field trip to the Pumpkin Patch, and she enjoyed seeing Cayla interact with her classmates. She usually gets good reports from school, although she does bring home the occasional "mischievous" label. Sounds about

right. :)

Eliana has proven to be a wonderful baby girl! She is very content, a good eater, and usually happy. It's easy to get a smile out of her, which is something we didn't experience much with Cayla. She is sitting up very well and loves to play with toys. She gets very focused when she is looking for toys to play with. Ana is also good for pooping through her outfit at least once per day, which is a running joke with Joy, her daycare provider. She also loves her jumper, bouncing up and down so much we think she's going to get sick. Cayla can often be found trying to get Ana to stop jumping so she can give her a kiss.

Cayla continues to love music, and tries to get up to the stage after church to see the instruments up close. She has even started singing to Eliana, and it has been awesome. She is putting together 2-word phrases all the time, and even a few 3-word phrases. She knows most of the numbers from zero to ten. She loves the bassoon and can draw a figure 8. Much of this has come from the hard work her daycare provider Sonya puts into her during the day, as well as her continued development with school. Cayla continues to surprise us with her ability to comprehend things, and she seems to learn something new every day. It's so fun. The main areas still lagging behind are her ability to feed herself and speech development.

We want to close by thanking everyone for loving our family so well, especially over these past six months, which have been such a major adjustment for us. We hope to do a better job updating the blog in the future. We want to wish you all a Merry Christmas. May you be blessed richly in the coming year.

With love,

the Garlands

fall fun at the apple orchard

2011-10-08T19:56:00.000-07:00

We had the chance to head out for some fun fall activities with Gramama and Papa at the apple orchard (thanks to Respite Connection)! This was the first hayrack ride for the girls, and the first s'more for Cayla (with she loved)! It was fun spending time with the family in such beautiful weather! More pictures to come soon...

a night with CJ

2011-09-13T18:44:00.000-07:00

I cried on Cayla's pillow tonight. It surprised me. It's been a long time since I cried about anything. Probably too long. Jimmy Valvano once said that a human should laugh every day, think about life every day, and cry every day. He said if you do those things, you've lived.

We had a pretty good night tonight, Cayla and I. Leah and Eliana are in Des Moines until late, so I picked up Cayla after school and we got to hang out, just Dada and Lala. Just like the old days.

We played for a bit down stairs. She loves it down there. You know when Cayla wants to go downstairs because she points toward the floor a couple of times and says, "downce, downce" while looking at you hopefully. So we went downce.

Cayla loves going down her slide or sitting next to it and putting toys down it. She prefers you sit at the bottom of the slide and catch her. Or the toys. Legs must be spread in a "V" formation or she gets a bit cranky. Sometimes I try to sneak one by her and bend one of my legs inward. She notices right away, drops whatever is in her hands, and comes over to "help" me improve my position. This usually means tugging my foot. When the "V" formation is back in place, she returns to her toys happily.

Sometimes I get bored when she's picking out things to toss down. So I try to spin a plastic fruit at the bottom of the slide like a top. The pear works best. Followed closely by the smaller lemon. Still looking for a third fruit with balance. At times Cayla watches it spin and gives her assent by just ignoring it. Other times my spinning fruit messes with her and she says, "no, no." She wants a clean landing for the hot dog or french fries or zebra she's about to drop down. How can I argue with that?

After that we went upstairs and ate some supper. Beans (a definite "go-to" food), pizza rolls, and... hmm... I thought I did a better job than that... sorry Leah. Guess that was it. And milk. Cayla was fun. Her new thing is to point somewhere to make you look. Of course I look every time. I ham it up and act confused as if expecting something really important to be there, before eventually "realizing" I got scammed, smiling and saying, "Hey, you!" and tickling her. Repeat. Over. And over. She must think I'm the dumbest Dad in the world. I'll gladly take that title for all the giggles.

It was supposed to be bath night for her, although Leah gave me an out and said we could do it tomorrow night. She's sweet. But after Cayla spread some pizza roll sauce all over her neck and in her hair, I knew it had to be done. Points back for the horrible supper?

She finally started to get a bit crabby toward the end of the bath, but considering she went napless today, she did pretty well. A quick brush of the teeth and comb of the hair later and we were heading to her room. She was a very tired girl, so I just took her right to bed. We laid there together and I reminded her of all the great things in her day (the pinching of the poor girl at preschool notwithstanding). Sometimes when I talk to her at night I'll get done and she'll say, "more, more." That's when I go into Dora-story mode and make her a character with Dora in an adventure. (Move over, Boots). I try and use words she understands, so most of the "adventures" probably wouldn't be must-see TV. We go to the park and swing a bit with Dora. Sometimes we go through the forrest and hide from Swiper. By this time she's pretty much out and I usually have time for a quick prayer.

Tonight was different. She was out fast. I asked her if I could kiss her on my favorite place between her ear and her neck. She was so tired she barely nodded. So I buried a couple kisses and whispered "I love you." She gave a tired chuckle and closed her eyes. I started to pray for her. It was nice to have time to lay there with her and think.

I thought about how frustrating it has been to see her develop so slowly, yet how many things she had been learning lately. Her vocabulary is growing like crazy! And running. Walking in the grass with no fear. Climbing on things. Her sense of personality starting to come out: goofy and a bit rambunctious. I thought about how hard having Eliana enter her world has probably been on her. I felt guilty for the bitterness and even anger I've felt after seeing her grab or claw at her sister again. I thought about her throaty giggles and the way she says "Yeah!!" when excited. I thought about her trying SO HARD to go on the potty to make us happy, and how she loves seeing us cheer for her, whether it was just a few drops or the mother load.

I began to feel very humbled that the Lord of the universe has chosen Leah and I to get to be the people she sees first thing in the morning and before she goes to bed every day. I felt grateful for all the progress we're seeing. I prayed for her continued physical and intellectual development. I want her to understand who Jesus is some day and to know that he loves her more than we do.

And as I thought about her growing up and moving up in school, I thought about how kids won't always be nice to her. I think many will. But all it takes is one. I thought about some kid making fun of her at recess and saying mean things to her. And how much it might hurt her. And when I thought about her heart hurting, it was tough. I just wanted to go hug and comfort 7th-grade Cayla right now. I wanted to leave my class at the high school, have them find a sub for the rest of the day, and just go be with her and tell her how wonderful she is until her tears dried. I wanted to remind 7th-grade Cayla to listen to our words, not theirs. Shortly after, I reminded her that she was Dada's pretty girl, wiped my eyes, and left. It was a great moment that I know I needed.

This has already been long, so we'll get to preschool and Eliana in a future post. Cayla's almost 3 and Eliana is almost 4 months. Crazy!

the dog days of august

2011-09-01T19:21:00.000-07:00

Gonna be a short one! We have lots to share about our girls, but not lots of time to post it yet. Let's just say August was a tough month for us. We struggle with not wanting to write "downer" posts, but at the same time we know there are a few people with special needs kids of their own and we want to be completely honest about our experiences.

All that to say it has not been an easy road lately. Cayla has continued to struggle with some things. It's been pretty frustrating at times. And yet she can be so sweet, too. She often asks to hold Eliana and puts her hands out in a "holding" position. After about two seconds and a quick kiss, she is ready to give her up again. Cute.

Cayla has now started preschool!! Yep, that's right. Our little girl is spending a few hours in a classroom! More on this, including pictures, later. Cayla has also been perfecting the art of potty-training! Again, more later. Eliana is still a sweet little girl, smiling and cooing to us frequently. She is now "blowing raspberries" and has rolled over twice from tummy to back, while getting close to it from back to tummy. Exciting stuff! Okay, more later.

We'll leave you with a picture of our two girls from a few days ago.

cayla's sense of humor

2011-08-07T20:16:00.000-07:00

Cayla thinks it's really funny to put things in places where she probably knows they don't belong. She figured out how to open up the kitchen garbage a while ago. We are now missing a couple of plastic animal magnets. We've caught her putting them in the garbage before and told her "no." But she's snuck some in when we weren't looking. And yes, we fish them out if we can. So now we're down a few and waiting for her confession.

Cayla also loves to put things into the toilet, which is a great reminder for me to make sure I put the whole seat down. She has put things into hampers that weren't clothes. She has put items into her potty. She also things it's hilarious to throw things into the bathtub as we're filling it up for her bath. Usually, we catch her. But Cayla is getting sneakier. She will now hustle in, throw whatever she has into the bath (like a roll of toilet paper), and hustle back out before I can turn and say, "Cayla, no!" It's almost comical. Like a superhero that you only see the back of. Boom! Toy in the bathtub. I grab it, turn around, and see... a little blur go out of the room. She struck again!

Here's one from a couple of days ago. Apparently Cayla thought it would be fun to put a few rolls of TP onto the changing table. Which is taller than her, by the way. I guess this one is harmless, at least. We lost a roll into the bathtub water yesterday.

When it comes to Eliana, Cayla thinks it's funny to "help" Eliana do various hand motions. Sometimes it's clapping. Sometimes it's sign language. Cayla usually does a good job but at times can get a little too... helpful. But overall, CJ is doing better dealing with our 4th family member. She has her moments, but they are getting less frequent. She is mostly sweet to her sis, kissing her and wanting to hug her. A lot. We are praying that these two will have a special bond as they grow up together.

some pics!

2011-08-01T18:42:00.000-07:00

Our good friend Brooke Jarzombek came over to take some pictures a little while ago and we think they turned out great!

When we tell Cayla to smile, we get something like this! Not quite the real deal, but close.

Now this is the real deal.

the good, the bad, and the ugly

2011-06-27T19:52:00.000-07:00

"A smooth sea never made a skillful sailor." --anonymous

THE GOOD

It's hard to believe Eliana has been with us for almost five weeks now. She has been an incredible baby so far, sleeping well, giving a few smiles, and generally being fairly content. She is also developing a pretty tough jaw, to use boxing terms. More on that later.

Really, our only issue with Eliana is that she seems to think it's funny to poop again immediately after we have just changed her diaper. Last night, she went through four diapers before Leah could even get her off the changing table. I wouldn't be surprised if we hear her chuckling some time just as we button up her onesie after changing her. I can picture Leah and I looking at each other with defeated expressions as we wait for the inevitable and start reaching for another diaper.

THE BAD AND THE UGLY

Let's just say June has been a difficult month. I agree with those who believe going from 1 to 2 children is tougher than 0 to 1. Add to that an older sibling who is in the middle of the "Terrible Twos" and special needs and it is a perfect storm for a challenging time.

We suspected Cayla would have difficulty adapting to a family of four. She has been our princess without ever having to share the throne. She often struggles with how to handle her frustrations. Sometimes when she's angry she will hit herself in the face because she doesn't know what else to do at the moment. Unfortunately, this has turned into aggression towards Eliana.

Since Eliana entered the house, Cayla has experienced some changes:

*her sleeping pattern can be affected by Eliana.

*less attention for her. That means less book-reading. That means sometimes when she wants to be held we have to say no. That means other people are coming and loving on somebody else.

*more affection on somebody else. There is somebody else getting the focus of our sweet talk, somebody else who is also a "pretty girl," and somebody else who has priority over her when Eliana is hungry.

It's funny but sometimes we feel guilty when we speak lovingly to Eliana. I've often looked over my shoulder to see if Cayla was around before loving on her with sweet words.

It's fair to say that we have underestimated how tough it would be on Cayla. Her jealousy and frustrations have come out in ugly ways. Cayla has kicked, hit, slapped, and grabbed the face of Eliana far too many times to count. She can be so sweet at times, kissing Eliana and smiling, but then suddenly will grab her face, causing Eliana to scream bloody murder. Like I mentioned before, Eliana is getting to be a tough girl.

It doesn't seem like anything we do is working. We feel powerless to prevent her from doing it unless we keep them separated. We don't want to have to do that. We want to be able to have Eliana on the floor and trust Cayla to be around her. It's not fun walking on eggshells when Cayla is near her and waiting for the inevitable slap. All we can do is stay consistent and keep praying that Eliana would look less and less appealing as a punching bag.

Yet, we are believing that Cayla will grow out of it and be a great big sister. We remind ourselves that if the valleys are deep, we will appreciate the mountains that much more. When I get really frustrated and even resentful towards the way Cayla's Down Syndrome affects her with Eliana, I picture days in the future and it helps me cope.

I picture Cayla taking care of Eliana and loving on her. Feeding her. Holding her when she is crying. I picture the two of them hugging and laughing. Watching movies together. I picture them holding hands as they walk somewhere. I picture Eliana stopping to say hi to Cayla in high school. I can see them with ice cream mustaches together. I picture the two of them playing practical jokes on their parents. Or rolling their eyes together at one of my bad jokes. And it makes me smile. And there are times when I really need to smile right now.

Thank you so much for the people that have come to see Eliana for the first time and have made a special point to make sure you give lots of attention to Cayla, too. Our next post will have lots of pictures, I promise!

the day it happened, chapter 2

2011-05-26T19:32:00.000-07:00

May 25, 2011

We're assuming every labor and delivery experience is different. We're assuming this because it was true for us. And although we've only had two experiences to base this opinion off of, we're sticking by it. Anybody interested in chapter 1 (with Cayla) can find it here: http://littlegarland.blogspot.com/2008_10_01_archive.html and scroll down to the bottom. It's funny to read that again and realize how different this was time was. For example, we were freaked out when Leah's water broke with Cayla. This time, Dr. Vande Zande (from here on out known as DVZ) did it himself. Here is a timeline of the day it happened:

3:30 am: Leah wakes up with contractions. No biggie. This baby was due 5 days ago. She's been hitting, elbowing, punching, and head-butting Leah to get out for days, and those are just the legal moves. She was so tired of being in there she started jumping rope with the umbilical cord. She had been in there so long the organs were asking her to tell them stories about when she was young.

6:15 am: Unlike the first time (when we sped to the hospital around midnight, with adrenaline pumping and the giddiness of wondering COULD THIS BE THE NIGHT?), we casually loaded up our bags, strapped Cayla in, and drove the speed limit out to drop off Cayla at Carol's before heading to the hospital. Now, we were still excited. It's just that Leah was being induced so a little of the surprise and suddenness were gone. Remember, we were 5 days past. It was simply going to happen today, no matter what.

6:30 am: Arrive at Room 1204, just one room down from where Cayla was born. It looked nice. Leah's contractions were sometimes as close as 5 minutes and as far apart at 15 minutes. We were starting to get pretty excited.

Note the bowl on table. More on that soon.

6:50 am: DVZ comes in to check on us. We find out he was called in at 11:30 pm last night to deliver another baby. He's been here ever since. I secretly hope he's not drowsy when it's time for us to deliver. "Okay, Leah, push!" I hear him say in my imagination, before dropping to the floor in exhaustion. I am left to deliver the baby.

6:51 am: I shake the dumb pessimistic thoughts from my head. DVZ is a gamer; he'll do whatever it takes to be ready for us. Still... I wonder if I could do it...

6:55 am: DVZ checks Leah and tells her she is already dilated at 5. Five! It took her forever to get from 1 to 2 with Cayla. She's pretty pumped about this. DVZ seems happy with progress and leaves to go home and shower. And drink a liter of Monster Energy Drink, I presume.

7:35 am: We continue to relax in the room, wondering what's going on. It almost seems too good to be true. She has had contractions consistently but nothing terrible. I decide to work on the page about current events now rather than at the peak of her pain (something I learned from previous experience).

8:24 am: I drive to Casey's to surprise Leah with a chocolate milk.

8:35 am: Shortly after arriving back, I'm told she can't drink it. I can tell by her look that she's impressed at the thought, though. Or thinking that I should have known that.

9:30 am: She is now close to a 6 or 7 and starting to wonder if she can do this without pain-reducing drugs. Says Leah to the nurse with gusto: "I think I can handle this!"

9:50 am: Leah throws up repeatedly into a bucket due to the pain. The nurse holds the bowl very professionally for her.

10:15 am: Starting to get a little bored.

10:32 am: We take our first and only walk. That's four less than with Cayla. We stick to the OB hallway. Contractions ramp up a bit, at times 3 or 4 minutes apart.

11:00 am: Leah's resolve has finally broken once again: the doctor with drugs arrives. One efficient shot to the back and Leah is feelin' alright.

11:50 am: Not much new happening and post-drug Leah is not as conversational as pre-drug Leah. I head to the cafeteria for lunch.

12:33 pm: Arrive back in the room to an increased sense of urgency in the room. I'm told Leah

is now measuring at 9 or 10. They are waiting for DVZ, who isn't expecting baby to arrive for a little while yet. A few minutes before, the nurse had said to Leah, "It might just be you or me for this one."

12:45 pm : DVZ comes into the room, pulling on gloves, ready to go. Thankfully, he seems refreshed. He checks Leah and comments that this could happen soon.

12:53 pm: Dad, assume the position. I take my treasured spot as the "right leg-hoister." For the remainder of this deal, my only jobs are to keep that leg back and reassure Leah that she's pushing beautifully.

12:55 pm: I tell Leah that she's pushing beautifully.

12:57 pm: DVZ tells me to look at the head. Hesitantly, I look, knowing that nothing has come out of Leah yet. What I see doesn't look like a head. It's a wrinkly, grey mass with some hairs on it.

12:58 pm: I guess it was a head, because out it comes; I get my first view of Eliana's face.

12:59 pm: Now the shoulders. Leah, you're pushing beautifully! Now the waist and arms. Great job, honey! DVZ swiftly sucks out the bad stuff from the baby's mouth and nostrils. At this point I have to say this: the man's quick. One more push, Leah! And now, just before 1 pm, DVZ is handing our baby to Leah. We are ecstatic and emotional. The baby... wants back in there. The baby is a girl, and we'll call her Eliana, which means "my God has answered."

Eliana at about two minutes of age.

1:01 pm: DVZ offers me the scissors for the ceremonial "cutting of the umbilical cord." It's weird to do something like that after witnessing the miracle of birth. You are amazed and emotional and happy and then you are handed scissors to cut this gross-looking cord. But I guess it officially calls this thing a done deal, so that's okay. I oblige. Successful.

1:30 pm: After what seems like forever, the three of us finally get a bit of time alone. It is a special moment. God has given us another beautiful girl. It's humbling. And so after only 7 hours at the hospital and mere five minutes of pushing, we say a prayer as we hold the fourth member of our little family. I mentioned the first name. The middle name, Lynn, we like because we each have a sister with that middle name. What a day. Leah was incredible! We can't wait to introduce you all to our newest member!

and then there were four

2011-05-25T19:59:00.001-07:00

Eliana Lynn Garland

born May 25, 2011, at 12:59 pm

7 pounds, 2 ounces; 20 inches long

mom and baby doing great

more to follow

we are blessed

the walls are going to change

2011-05-20T19:01:00.001-07:00

That was my thought after I came into the house yesterday.

The walls are going to change.

I shut the door behind me and turned around. On the wall to my left was a nice collection of Cayla's pictures. Some six-month pictures when we couldn't get a smile. A big smile we caught with her "Daddy's Little Monkey" shirt on. Cayla sitting in a cup with a cute headband thingy on her head. A one-year picture out in the leaves with a big ol' smile. One from the hospital the day she was born. And a picture from last fall when we took her to a park for some pictures. She is wearing pigtails with a goofy look on her face.

Right now, the wall is hers. There is only one Garland kid on that space for all to see. Only one Garland kid we've loved. And that's about to change.

To put it simply, Cayla has been our world for the past two and a half years. There was anger and disappointment initially. Leah remembers holding her after getting "the call" from the doctor confirming Downs and then crying many painful tears. I remember the phone call from Leah shortly after school asking me to come home as soon as possible. She was crying and I had a foreboding sense of why as I drove home. Neither of us will ever forget when I came home and we hugged and cried and slumped to the floor in the kitchen.

We remember the awkward visits as people met her for the first time, many of them unaware of her Down Syndrome. In the back of our minds we wondered if they could tell and weren't sure exactly what to say.

We remember mourning the loss of our own hopes and dreams for her. Praying that God would take away the longing for a "normal" child. And the jealousy that sometimes crept in as we began to notice her development coming much more slowly than for other kids. Looking back, many of these things reflected selfishness in our own hearts, but we were also saddened as we realized the challenges she would have to face in her life.

Yet every month that went by, God allowed our hearts to be transformed. Every rare smile captivated us. We saw her unique ability to make other people feel loved and happy. We thought less and less of her handicap and saw more and more of her personality and abilities.

Milestones seemed to take forever, but we felt such happiness when they came. Rolling over. Sitting up. Crawling in her own unique drag-one-leg way. Two steps in St. Louis. Finally overcoming her frequent spit-ups. And then figuring out how to walk at over two years of age.

And her deep, throaty giggles. Funny voices and antics. Reading her books loudly and playing with dolls. Dancing like crazy. Looking at us and asking for "mo, mo, mo" every time an American Idol song got over. Rewinding the DVR to play the same song again, making her very happy.

It's hard to put into words how much we care for Cayla. Despite our imperfections as people and parents, God has burned in our hearts such a love for our princess, as Leah loves to call her. What a gift we were given.

Now as we prepare to welcome Cayla's brother or sister, there's part of us that is mourning in a different way. We will never again have Cayla all to ourselves. No, I'm not saying we're sad about the new baby. We're very excited and can't wait to see Cayla as a big sis! But in a way, our lives with Cayla will never be the same. She'll never again have us all to herself. And vice versa. A phase of our lives is over.

And that's been a little sad to think about the past week. It's hard to think about loving another child when all we've loved is Cayla. Will we feel guilty about giving less to her? Will we short-change the new baby because Cayla demands more than the average child? Honestly, we're not sure exactly how to navigate the waters that are before us. And it's a little scary.

Yet we know this: we trust in a King. A King who gave us a Princess 32 months ago. And soon, we will be blessed with another child. Yep, Cayla will be sharing her wall. As well as our love and our time. But she will always be our Princess.

little miss personality

2011-04-19T19:04:00.000-07:00

First, the picture. Can we get you to buy that we just haven't taken our tree down yet? Okay, okay, so it's an old picture. But we think it's cute and we haven't posted it yet, so here she is, a few months ago, loving life.

Well, Cayla Joy is turning into quite the handful lately. Some nights she is absolutely crazy and can't seem to sit still. Tonight was a fun night. The following is a rough timeline of the events that occurred at our house.

6:25 pm: Cayla rushes into the living room after eating her fair share of Mama's spaghetti, which left her with a nice little hobo spaghetti sauce beard!

6:26 pm: Opens a book and sits down to read it. Begins reading (babbling) with flair and emotion. It must be really exciting.

6:30 pm: Folds up book. Throws it to the side. Stands up and heads to the toys.

6:31 pm: Looks around a bit. Doesn't see what she wants. Moves on.

6:35 pm: Finds "Baby" on the floor. Picks her up and pulls her close. Continues to hold her, occasionally patting her sweetly. Leah remarks, "She's so good with that baby!"

6:36 pm: Cayla flings Baby away from her viciously. She doesn't seem apologetic toward Baby. Leah looks at Jerod, shrugs and says, "Well, she was good with that baby."

6:40 pm: Cayla decided to go into "spin cycle," which is really just like it sounds. She stands up and starts taking little steps that spin her around. From time to time she'll glance at us with a smile to make sure we're watching. Inevitably, she ends up falling down.

6:41 pm: Get up. Repeat.

6:42 pm: Get up. Repeat.

6:43 pm: Gets bored. Climbs up to sit on the couch with us.

6:44 pm: Gets bored with us. Gets down and walks out of the living room.

6:47 pm: We hear noises coming from the stairwell. Cayla is taking part in one of her favorite solo pastimes: chucking our shoes down the steps to the basement.

And so on and so on. Cayla has been so much fun now that an ear infection or virus isn't slowing her down. She still gets frustrated when things don't go her way. And yes, she can be quite stubborn, but it's hard to imagine loving a child more than we love her. We hope this coming transition to sharing Mom and Dad isn't too hard on her!

growing girl

2011-04-16T19:50:00.000-07:00

Her fingernails are pink.

I swear it's true. I went in to check on her during her nap. She had gotten down from her bed and moved to the mattress we pull out in case she falls down. She was laying on her stomach, head turned toward me, while sucking on two fingers. Just like always, the pointer and middle finger of her right hand. Classic Cayla. Her patented sleep preference.

And as I looked down at her face, I noticed the pink nails of her other fingers. Now, I wasn't unaware that her nails had been painted last Wednesday. I guess I just didn't think about it too much at the time. And now, for some reason it made me think about her growing up so fast. Man! Her fingernails (and toenails, for that matter) are bright pink!

It looks really cute and kind of represents her personality lately. Cayla has been full of energy this week. Last weekend, she caught a virus. Not pretty. Like throw-away-pajamas-cuz-there's-no-way-we're-attempting-to-clean-that not pretty. Rough weekend. She didn't eat much, was lethargic, and overall pretty much miserable.

But since she turned the corner a few days ago, it has been hurricane Cayla. She's doing everything big. Appetite? Check. She's said "mo, mo, mo" so much it's hard to keep up with the demand. That's her "more" by the way.

Dancing? She's been tearing up the kitchen floor lately. Cayla's got the "spin-around" move perfected. This usually ends with her plopping on the floor after a few revolutions. The "hoe-down" is also fun. She basically picks a leg and keeps stomping it up and down for a while. The "random-hand-motion" is a crowd pleaser. You never know what her hands are going to do. Pretty funny stuff.

Leah is ready to give birth. She's been feeling less and less comfortable the last couple of weeks. The baby is very active. I can't believe Leah can fall asleep with all of that going on in there. We're struggling to settle on names. The great thing is that Cayla has transitioned well to her bed and new room. Now, transitioning to not being the center of attention will be another matter. I don't predict that's going to go as well!

big girl bed

2011-03-20T11:51:00.000-07:00

We know, we know, you're probably falling off of your chair right now, as we have not posted in sooo long, but yes, it really is us once again:) Life has been absolutely crazy busy for us, but we are now about 9 nine weeks away from being a family of four, and Jerod's first year of teaching at the high school will soon be complete! We are all looking forward to May, but with many things to get done before then... One of which just got crossed off the list, as Cayla is now in her big girl bed!!! Yesterday was just a girls' day with Daddy gone, so we spent about 45 minutes reading, singing, praying, etc. before Cayla was finally asleep for the first time in her bed... Doesn't she look so small in this big bed?!?!?!?

Although this was not an easy task, it all paid off, as she went down quite easily last night and is now peacefully sleeping away for her nap. She only awoke one time in the middle of the night - she was sitting up at the opposite end of the bed and looking very disoriented - but a little loving from Mama and a move back onto her pillow made for a sleep-filled night for all of us!

Here she is happy as can be this morning in her new room with a good decision to move the extra mattress down to the ground to make for a graceful fall (if/when it happens) - thanks Gramama - and a moved-down rail after she nearly fell out during her first time in it. Oh yes, and her new bedding:) And now just a few more details, such as paint on the walls and decorations, but we are now ready for the crib to be used for baby #2!

All ready for church this morning in her cute dress from Miss Carol!

Hopefully we won't make you wait this long ever again:)

Merry Christmas from the Garlands!

2010-12-19T19:22:00.000-08:00

It's definitely been harder to find time to keep up with the blog, but the best thing about telling people you'll have a Christmas letter up by a certain date... is that you have to do it. Either that or you've just lied to quite a few people. So apologies for the lack of blog entries the last couple of months. Probably a combination of basketball starting for Jerod and Leah making 2 or 3 trips to Des Moines every week. In any case, we're happy to have a chance to fill you in on our 2010.

CAYLA:

***It has been so fun for us to watch Cayla's personality start to emerge this year. She is turning out to have much more spunk than we ever thought. She is starting to realize when she "has the floor." Cayla has this silly voice she does (perhaps spurred on by her father) while pinching her fingers together and saying something close to "doobeedoobeedoobeedoobee" a few times. She watches to see if you noticed and smiles.

***Walking!!! The fall of '10 was the season 0f walking for CJ. She started putting 7 steps together a few months ago but seemed to stall there. We think she may have watched an old Rocky movie in November without us knowing because suddenly in November she got motivated and started putting steps together. December has been the month of "okay-I-guess-I'll-just-do-it-now" for her and she pretty much walks all the time now.

We've mentioned on here frequently that we don't take anything for granted with her, so I'm not exaggerating when I say it has been a HUGE blessing for us to get to watch this phase come. Her walking has been such a long road and it just puts a smile on our faces thinking about it. Another obstacle overcome on her journey. Just a few minutes ago Jerod started following her quietly while she walked from the kitchen down the hall, just checking things out. Nobody was in any of the rooms and none had lights on, so she headed back to the kitchen after taking a peek in a couple of the rooms. "All right, just checking folks... anybody reading any books in here?... Nope? How about this room?... anybody playing with toys in this room?... guess not... any cats in here?... nope? Okay, I'll just keep moving along..." We love it and can't wait to chase her around in the basement.

***The speech has been pretty slow in coming, but Cayla is making progress. She signs for many things: more, please, help, sorry (have to use this one more than we'd like :) ), milk, water, cereal, all done, ball, etc. "More" used to only refer to food, but she does it all the time whenever something happens that she likes. Throw her up in the air? More. Make a silly voice? More. Daddy fall down and hurt himself? More. Oh yeah, she also signs for "I love you." When she looks at you and does it without us prompting her, it is awesome.

She can say a few things, too. Buh-bye. Da-da. No. Hot. Up (sounds like "puh, puh, puh"). Ma-ma. Pa-pa. She turns "church" into a one syllable word.

Leah: Cayla, where are we going today?

Cayla: Ch. Ch.

***Cayla is sooooo friendly and will often give a hug to anyone. If she is in the mood, she will even give them a loving squeeze. Sometimes she doesn't want to come back to us right away, which makes us wonder if people think we never hold her or something.

Jerod: Cayla, time to go. Come see Dada. (holding out arms to get her)

Cayla: (shakes head and squeezes tighter on stranger)

Jerod: Okay, honey, it's time to go now. (Come on, Cayla, you're making us look bad!)

Cayla: No.

Jerod: Sorry, we need to get going. (plucks her away). Can Cayla wave bye-bye?

Cayla: (signs "I love you" sweetly to person she just met for the first time)

Jerod/Leah: I swear we give her plenty of affection!

***As fun as she has been, Cayla does have a very strong will at times. While this is commonly a characteristic of a child with Downs, Jerod claims this comes from Leah. ;) We are trying several things in regards to discipline, and she has her good days and bad days. Usually, being tired or hungry doesn't help the situation. Oh yeah, and she's two.

One of Jerod's favorite things to do with Cayla: Asking her if she's Da-da's pretty girl and seeing her nod. He hopes she will always remember the answer to this question. One of Leah's favorite things lately was when Cayla looked at her and signed "I love you" during lunch one day. Her heart was melted.

FAMILY:

We got to go down to St. Louis in July to visit Jerod's sister's family. It was so fun to spend time with that and Cayla loved it! We got to visit a children's play house, a splash park with water shooting everywhere, and she got to go to the zoo for the first time. It was awesome! Thanks Heefners!

Over the course of several months in 2010, we were able to finish our basement, adding a bathroom and a bigger living room/play room - we are loving the extra space! Jerod got to learn many new things from Leah's dad, who came several times and helped us out - Jerod's turning into quite a handyman around our house:) Thanks a TON to Bill/Dad/Grandpa for coming out and helping us in so many ways!!! We even enjoyed getting to know him better over the course of this project, which was incredible!

Leah continues to love her job at Bethany, helping orphans find their forever families. A huge joy for her was seeing one of the kids with special needs she visited in China last December get adopted into the Des Moines area!

Jerod moved to Pella High this year. He is still teaching social studies and coaching girls' basketball and freshman baseball. He loves teaching at Pella and has enjoyed meeting new staff this year.

And of course, we'll be expanding our little family next year. On May 20ish, Cayla will no longer be the only show in town. It's big sister time for her. We think it's going to rock her world. We know it's going to rock ours. Yet we are trusting God's timing is perfect. Since Cayla was born, God has given us strength when we've been weak (often), wisdom when we didn't understand (often), and grace when we've needed it (even more often). We always seem to land on this truth: we are ordinary people who are loved by an extraordinary God.

May you be blessed this Christmas,

Jerod, Leah, Cayla Joy, and Baby #2

go lady dutch

2010-12-17T10:54:00.000-08:00

Thanks for the adorable outfit, Miss Barb!

Cayla has been loving cheering on Daddy's team, and we look forward to a fun season! She is following in her mother's footsteps:) Go Dutch!

big sister in may

2010-11-27T20:11:00.000-08:00

and the princess turns 2

2010-10-18T18:36:00.000-07:00

It's hard for us to believe. Two years already? Really?

Really. A couple of weeks ago, we got to celebrate Cayla Joy's second birthday with a bunch of our family, some of whom drove over two hours to be with us. Thanks, Lisa! It was a great time to get together around this amazing girl. To be truthful, Cayla didn't really understand what all the fuss was about. But she had a great time anyway, and loved seeing some of her relatives she doesn't get to see very often.

Leah made an awesome cake in the shape of a butterfly. Cayla hasn't quite figured out how to blow out a candle yet, but there were enough people willing to help. We're hoping next year she can handle that all by herself. Here's a picture of Cayla checking out her cake. Notice me holding back her hands. I was a little bit late thinking of that.

When we think about the past two years, many things come to mind:

*hugging through tears in the kitchen after we got the call that confirmed what we already thought: she was born with Down Syndrome.

*trying so hard to get her to smile. And then: pure gold!

*the way so many strangers have smiled when seeing her.

*all of her many "firsts"; after so much work and many obstacles, to see her accomplish things makes all the struggles worth it.

*her belly-laughs, the ones that come from deep inside her.

*the real conversations and encouragement from the Van Gorps about life with a child with Downs.

*the support we've received from our family and friends, whether it's watching Cayla, being a sounding board, or praying for us.

*the struggles of parenting Cayla that have brought Leah and I closer.

*the ways God has shifted our hearts to embrace our role as parents of a child with special needs.

Back to the party. Leah bought a pinata for the kids and filled it full of candy. Cayla's cousins each took turns with a few whacks at the thing until it finally started to break. It seemed like all it took was seconds before the candy was off the floor and into their bags.

Sorry for the blurriness of this last picture, but we love it so we thought we'd throw it in.

We look forward to many more years with Cayla, although I don't really want her to grow. She is the perfect cuddling weight and still pretty easy to give a piggy-back ride to. We have some great pictures to post in the next few weeks, so keep posted.

september update #2

2010-09-15T17:35:00.000-07:00

Cayla doesn't always love it when we try to brush her hair after a bath. But she sure loves brushing her own hair. And, well, anything really. Ya gotta love the girl because she even brushes mine. Lord knows I don't have the heart to tell her it doesn't really need it. So I just say thank you and smile.

Cayla loves playing with any type of doll, which we name "Baby" no matter what it looks like. She cracks up when we treat Baby like her. The first time I put Baby on my shoulders to give her a ride Cayla laughed so hard. She also likes doing "Ring Around the Rosie" with Baby. Although sometimes she'll throw Baby when she's done with her so we may have to work on that if there is ever another little Garland. She also loves putting Baby into her cradle and taking her out again.

Cayla is loving making animal sounds lately. She does a great click-clock for a horse, a pretty good "moo" for the cow, and tries a funny nose for a pig. She puts her hand up to make a trunk for the elephant and makes a sound that is in the ballpark. Dog and cat noises are coming along but not ready for performance yet. Oh yeah, and she has a scary lion noise that she likes to surprise people with. I have to admit that it sounds very close to her fake burp sound, though. We'll probably claim the lion in public.

We think 7 steps is her new record for walking. She had a really nice walk tonight and was so excited for herself. And she goes "on the potty" about once every other day or so, usually right before her bath.

It's hard to believe she will be turning two soon!! Wow!

september update #1

2010-09-08T17:52:00.000-07:00

Hey everybody. For those of you who have been checking semi-regularly on our blog, first of all, thanks! Second of all, apologies for standing you up! We're going to try to do better this month!

*Cayla has been talking more lately! She loves to "read" to herself. She'll pull open a book in front of her and flip through the book while babbling away. She thinks she's reading it really well. Leah has claimed credit for this because of the way she reads to Cayla, with lots of voice inflections and funny voices.

*Cayla has also added some words to her repertoire. She has been saying, "Hot! Hot! Hot!" for awhile now, especially when we bring something out of the oven or microwave. She says, "Da Da" pretty well now, too, which is awesome. She is starting to get the 'mmmm" sound lately, so "Mama" is not far off. She says, "Papa" regularly. And this one is fun: she's been saying, "No" and shaking her head! It's hilarious because she doesn't always get the "n" and sometimes it sounds like, "Doh" instead. We're close to getting "bye bye" but right now it's just, "buh buh."

*She's been using her walker quite a bit downstairs, but has stalled when it comes to wanting to walk on her own. So I guess the dream of her walking at age 2 is not gonna happen. Bummer. But we'll get there. Our time table is not always going to be her time table. That we've learned.

*Cup throwing is going much better lately. She will go whole days without tossing it over the edge, which is sweet.

*Very few spit-ups lately. Yes!!!! A lot of times she'll catch it in her mouth and chew it down like cud. Thatta girl! That may have been too much information. Sorry.

*There is a new tooth. We think it's her 2-year molar, which is coming in before any of her eye teeth. Knowing that's there has made us feel better about her fussiness lately. Maybe there was a reason for it.

We'll think of some more things in the next couple of weeks. We hope you all are doing well!

a challenging july

2010-08-04T17:27:00.000-07:00

July is over and we are done with the toughest month we've ever had with Cayla. I guess it has helped us realize how good we've had it with her so far. This is a long one.

At one point early on I remember writing that we were happy that Cayla was throwing food off of her tray because it was her way of communicating with us that she didn't like something. Well, let's just say Cayla communicated much more than we'd like in July with regards to food preferences. She also had a phase where she really enjoyed throwing her cup after drinking it. (We switched to a regular open-lid cup to help decrease her spit-ups). The cup-throwing is annoying when it it's empty; frustrating when it still has milk in it. There were many meals she did both of these things. Sometimes repeatedly.

We've tried many things to keep her from doing these things. For example, we've tried flicking her hand and saying, "No throw food!" sternly. Well, turns out she is tougher than Rocky Balboa. Her pain tolerance is seriously through the roof. The finger flicks and slaps on the hand just haven't fazed her much. We do it to ourselves to see if we're being too wimpy with her and think, how can that not sting her? There have been times when one of us raised our voice and tried to explain what she did wrong only to find Cayla cracking up. Hmmm. Not exactly the response we were going for, Cayla. How about some remorse?

The really frustrating times have been when she repeats something immediately after we've just disciplined her for it. Example: Cayla throws cup. Milk goes everywhere. One of us tells her what she did wrong sternly and then flicks her wrist. We give her another chance and the first thing she does is throw it again. The worst night was when she did it four times. Yes, I'm probably an idiot for continuing to give her the opportunity, but I just kept thinking, how is it possible that this concept cannot get through to her? How can she continue to throw the cup?!?! For sure the next time she'd avoid tossing it and I could praise her. Nope. I remember sitting there with my head in my hands after the fourth time in complete frustration.

Some of you might be thinking, welcome to the "Terrible Twos." And you might be right. One of our challenges is knowing how much of her behavior is just normal toddler stuff and how much is due to her increased stubbornness from having Down Syndrome. I think the biggest frustration is just the feeling that she is incapable of learning right from wrong as quickly as we'd like.

Another frustration has been spit-ups. She continues to do this regularly. Which stinks. Literally. Our carpet is not good. I'm a firm believe in the 5-second rule but if I dropped a piece of my favorite pizza and I was starving I still wouldn't eat it off of our carpet. We can't wait to have our carpets deep-cleaned but it's going to have to wait until Cayla stops spitting up. We pretty much have a washcloth handy right after meals. We don't know the cause so there's nothing we can do. We've tried different milks, no milk, new cups, etc. The worst part is that I sometimes find myself getting frustrated with her when there's nothing she can do about it. Something isn't right in her stomach and it just comes out. She's just listening to her body. I have to remind myself that she's not doing it to spite us or because there are a couple spots on the carpet she hasn't "got to" yet.

Silver lining:

*she hasn't thrown her cup in almost a week!!! We are so pumped! People with young kids--don't take it for granted that your kid doesn't throw food or drinks! We don't know which aspect of discipline has helped her get over the hump, but we're so thankful!

*food tossing is getting better this past week. I don't think there were any today!

*she is sooooooo sweet and despite all the frustrations, she continues to steal our hearts. Her looks. Her actions. Her kisses. Her dancing. Her giggles. The trials are nothing compared to hearing her laugh. The frustrations are forgotten the moment she pets your face.

*when things get really hard, God provides the peace and perspective that sustains us. We are reminded that He chose us to raise this girl, and she has stolen His heart. We are humbled that the Creator of all things would let us have this responsibility. We are blessed, indeed.

fun news...

2010-07-25T19:11:00.000-07:00

First of all, sorry for taking such a long break. We'll fill you in soon on the fun things and challenges Cayla has given us lately, but tonight we want to make a quick entry about some exciting news.

Cayla is starting to take steps!!! For a few weeks now, she's been standing up all by herself for up to 10 seconds or so. When we were in St. Louis visiting my sister and the Heefner clan, she actually took her first step! She stood up and then put one foot forward before lunging at us. It was pretty cool.

Then a few days ago she put a couple steps together. But yesterday was awesome--she took FIVE CONSECUTIVE steps toward us! It was so exciting. Today she proved it wasn't a fluke and took about four steps again. Our dream has been that she can walk around with no problem by her second birthday. It looks like she is well on her way! We'll try and post a picture of it soon.

things that make cayla laugh

2010-06-23T18:03:00.000-07:00

I remember the days when getting a laugh from Cayla was like finding water in the desert. She just wouldn't laugh very much early on. We wanted to hear that sound so badly because it was so beautiful. I'd work and work for one. I mean, I worked hard. I'd bring out my best material, everything I have in my arsenal: my strangest faces, my most ridiculous voices, and even silly songs about her having pee-pee in her diapee. If she would finally giggle it was enough to bring tears to your eyes. We wanted to just bottle it up so we could open it whenever we wanted. I remember going back to watch clips of her laughing we'd caught on the video camera just to hear it again.

Well, times have changed. One of the things we've prayed for Cayla since before she was born was that she would bring joy and smiles to others. It's been so incredible to witness her personality coming out lately. She still has her moods, don't get me wrong. When she is tired, crankiness is soon to follow.

But Cayla also has these crazy moods where she'll laugh at basically anything. I have to say, it's a good boost for the ego. She makes you feel like you are the most hilarious person in the world. Say her name a little differently? Laughter. A tickle on the ribs? Big giggles. Tilt your head in a goofy way? She's chuckling like you're Jerry Seinfeld. Pretty soon you're nodding to yourself slowly, thinking, Yep, it's true. I am the funniest man on the face of the earth.

The fun thing is that even when she's not in complete-goof-mode, she will still laugh quite a bit. Here are some things that will usually get a smile or laugh:

*putting her on your back or shoulders and running

*reading a book to her with silly voices (this is Leah's specialty)

*making silly animal noises

*funny songs or faces

*when she makes her fake-burp noise after one of us really does burp (guess whose specialty that is). Sometimes she echoes it back to us within a second of hearing it. And then, of course, like all good entertainers she smiles and claps for herself.

Cayla Joy, we look forward to the times of laughter still ahead of us.

new stuff part 1: pigtails and standing up

2010-06-19T19:02:00.000-07:00

It's funny how the little things help you realize how fast your kids are growing up. You wouldn't think Cayla having her hair a bit different would be the trigger that would make me have one of those, man, she's starting to become a little girl moments. But it did. It make me realize she is moving into the toddler phase. It made me realize she has a lot of hair. Enough, apparently, to separate it into two different rubber-banded sections called pigtails. This dad just has one question: when did this all happen?

We snapped these two pictures from behind because she wasn't cooperating with a good front picture. That's okay, I think it's cute to see the part in her head.

Cayla has also been doing lots and lots of standing lately. For a while now, she has been able to pull herself up and stand against something, like the picture above. But now she is discovering that with a little bit of balance, she can just hang out up there without needing anything else to lean against.

It's really cool to see. She puts her butt up in the air first like she's going to do a somersault. When her butt is sufficiently in the air high enough, she starts to push her upper body up with her arms. Soon she is standing all the way up all by herself. It doesn't take long until her rookie legs start to give out and she is landing with a thud on her padded butt. But each day she is getting a little better. Her record is about 4 seconds or so, unofficially.

And Cayla knows when she has a good one, she will start clapping immediately at her good fortune and skill. It's not only hilarious, but extremely exciting for us as we are crossing over into new territory here. It's hard not to get ahead of ourselves and wonder how many more weeks it will be until she adds a few steps. (Oh yeah, and she is also climbing steps all by herself!). It's pretty exciting for us and it's hard to imagine the love we have for her. More new stuff in the next blog.

a little guitar with cayla

2010-05-26T19:12:00.000-07:00

It all started months ago. On those nights when I had Cayla alone and she was starting to get a little fussy, I'd pull out my guitar and play a bit. And almost every single time, she would stop fussing and perk up a little bit.

Now that she's older, I still like to play the guitar for her, but not to calm her down anymore. Now we just have fun. Sometimes she will bop and dance to the music.

Sometimes she just likes to listen and stare at the strings as I strum them.

Sometimes Cayla gets sick of watching and wants a turn. She grabs the neck of the guitar or sometimes down where I'm strumming. She really concentrates and believes she is playing some nice tunes.

And sometimes she just relaxes and lets me play for her.

I love these times.

folding clothes

2010-05-05T19:32:00.000-07:00

Cayla loves "helping" with the clothes. She will sit right by the basket and start to take out the items one by one. She grabs one piece out and then sets it somewhere on the floor. Then she'll go back for another piece. She keeps this up until the basket is empty. And then? Back in the basket they go, one at a time. She can do this for minutes at a time.

But sometimes, she finds a really interesting piece of clothing and has to mess with it a bit, as you can see here with Daddy's underwear. I guess it looked like a nice necklace?

ice cream in the grass

2010-04-25T19:42:00.001-07:00

One fine day recently, the Garland family decided to dip into the fine ice cream cuisine that our local McDonald's has to offer. Nothing fancy, just a couple of vanilla cones. Immediately, Cayla's interest was piqued in this towering white colossus. We had given her ice cream before, but never from a cone. Anyway, it was such a nice day that we just decided to plop her down right on the grass and let her at it. More on the grass later.

It was love at first taste. Mmmmm. And you didn't even have to chew it very much! Check out her hands in the pictures. You'll notice how they are pulled back with palms up. It's her "I am NOT touching that!" posture that she uses when she is uncomfortable or unsure about something. It was the grass. For some reason we are not aware of, Cayla hates sitting on grass.

It's probably a good thing, though. If not for this posture, she would've grabbed at the cone and ruined the whole cone experience. What's funny is that we just noticed that Cayla has her hands like that in every picture we took! The picture above is after her first couple of bites.

This is a few minutes later. I promise we didn't move the cone on purpose to get that sweet of an ice cream goatee on her. It just happened.

We love her eyes in this one. And the ice cream on her lip. And her shirt. She is pretty much in ice cream heaven in these pictures.

We did have to give Cayla a bath after the cone. But she thought it was well worth it. In fact, we got a cone at George's tonight and she watched Mom carry them around the car, turning her head around because she was strapped in to the car seat already.

Okay, once again, I promise we did not strategically place the cone to get this shot, because this is basically a professionally cut Fu Manchu, no? In fact, she looks a lot like the picture of the Hu-Hot guy if you've ever been there. Cayla: secret samurai.

Finally, a nice shot of her trying to avoid the grass. She would lift up her legs to get them off the grass. Then she would lose her balance and have to put one foot back down. Followed by picking up that foot because it was now on grass. Then losing her balance again and so on. It was a lot of fun on a great day.

happy easter

2010-04-04T18:53:00.000-07:00

Last Easter...

And today:)

3 years ago today...

2010-04-01T20:40:00.000-07:00

I drove 4+ hours to Minneapolis to surprise a girl I was dating named Leah DeBoef with a simple little (BIG!) question. She was meeting with some friends for the weekend and had recently given up hope that we would get married that summer--it was getting pretty late to plan a wedding.

I left at 7 am and arrived at an outdoor sculpture garden just after 11. I had heard about this place from somebody and decided it would be the place I'd propose. Strangely, I kept having a mental image of a certain part of the park in my head leading up to April 1. One of the cool things about that day was coming into the garden nervously, guitar in hand, and walking right by a part of the park that was exactly like I'd been picturing in my head.

Anyway, I found a bench, pulled out my guitar, and waited. Leah's friends Angie and Diane had convinced Leah they needed to walk through the park to pass the time before their lunch reservations. Leah had no idea! Meanwhile, I was dressed as close to a bum as I could possibly be. Old pants. Hat. Hooded sweatshirt pulled up over my head.

I saw them arrive from across the garden and felt a little shot of adrenaline go through me. Deep breath. Don't screw it up. I had already checked on having the ring in my pocket about ten times, so no worries there. Just nerves.

They got closer and I started to strum the guitar and play a song I thought she would recognize. Long story short: for Valentine's Day, Leah got me a balloon that played the song, "Hey, I think I love you, so what am I so afraid of...?" every time you touched it. Subtle lyrics for someone who hadn't proposed yet, no?

Now only a few feet away, I kept at the "balloon" song and tried not to look up too much. Here she comes, and... She walked right past me.

I guess Leah was too caught up in conversation to notice me there. Plan B: thankfully, before I left I had grabbed the plastic part from the balloon that actually played the song. I quickly pushed that before she got too far away.

"Hey, I think I love you, so what am I so afraid of?"

That stopped her. Leah turned around to see some guy on the bench playing a guitar that kinda looked like me. She was a little confused at first, but once she realized it was me, she laughed and said, "What the heck? What the heck?" over and over. As she started walking toward me, I put my guitar down, pulled out an old rose (different story for another time), and reached into my hooded sweatshirt pocket. Yep, the ring was still there. I pulled it out. Yep, I dropped it. Smooth. Which Angie managed to photo, of course. Grrrrr.

I managed to pick it up and stumble out the words while Leah continued to scream, "What the heck? What the heck?" repeatedly. Eventually, reality hit, the shock subsided, and she agreed to become Mrs. Garland. And we planned a wedding in 3 1/2 months. And now, almost 1000 days later, here we are. Still in love. And parents to an amazing little 18-month-old baby girl. Cayla, some day Daddy will tell you about the day he drove 9 hours to ask your Mommy one question.

a smile from cayla

2010-03-31T20:37:00.000-07:00

cruisin' and open-mouthed kisses

2010-03-17T19:47:00.000-07:00

Got your attention, didn't I?

If any of you were thinking this post was about our first date (none of you were), I have to disappoint you. It's just an update on Cayla Joy and a couple of new things.

Cruisin'--We have found her many times standing up in her crib in the morning. Apparently, she wakes up and wants a better view to get her going. She'll pull herself up and just kind of hang out there talking to herself until we get her. She is able to pull herself up on our couches, too. Especially when we strategically place food there! We've been moving the food down the couch to encourage her to move her feet. We've had mixed success but she has taken a few steps. It's pretty exciting, although walking is still probably a ways off.

Kisses--We have been very affectionate with Cayla. It's pretty much impossible not to. When we come home we just want to hug and kiss her. As she's gotten older, Cayla has realized that she kinda likes that. In fact, she will often pat our shoulder and reach up for hugs. We've also been trying to get her to kiss us back. It's working! We'll say, "Cayla, give Momma a kiss," and when she is in the mood, she'll look up sweetly, open wide, and lean in. Sometimes she even sticks her tongue out. Yeah, so we're trying to get her to pucker up more, but it's really cute. Especially if she claps and smiles afterward!

cayla in the gym part II

2010-03-07T18:42:00.001-08:00

These four joined Cayla and Leah in the gym quite often. We appreciated the support from Jill, Tim, Tina, and Roger! And for letting the refs know they could do better, when needed.

My grandparents Theron and Doris Wilkerson helped Cayla get through some boring parts in the games.

This was our night watching the Iowa Energy and Aaron Schust concert with our friends Tony and Jill Roozeboom. That's Tony in the background.

Okay, so Cayla is not in this picture, but we just had to show how amazing the free tickets were that we got to the Iowa State women's game. Court side with Wade Van Vark.

Uncle Randy is always up for cuddling with Cayla. She loves to feel his goatee. Especially since Mommy won't let Daddy grow one. :(

Cayla spent lots of time in Papa Tim's arms during the season.

After tough losses, Cayla has a way of making me feel better. This is after our sub-state loss, with Grampa Pat on the left. One of Cayla's favorite pastimes is popping bubble-gum bubbles.

cayla in the gym part I

2010-02-20T12:41:00.000-08:00

Cayla has spent A LOT of time in different gyms this winter. If she's lucky, she has her cousin Josie to help her through the boring parts of games, as in the picture above. Or maybe cousin Seth, who helped her have so much fun recently.

Other times, Cayla manages to get along just fine! Big smiles in this one!

You can tell the gym was pretty warm in this picture--check out the hair!

Go Lady Dutch!

happy valentine's day 2010!!!

2010-02-14T19:11:00.000-08:00

Last year we propped up Cayla next to a rose on her first Valentine's Day and worked hard to get a couple grins out of her. A lot has changed in one year!

Cayla has been laughing and smiling so much the last few weeks that it was easy to get some good pictures. Either we are just very hilarious parents (my humble belief) or she is just very easily amused. In either case, we have really been cracking her up lately! And not just us. At our basketball game last Friday, she couldn't stop laughing at the Heefner clan! Seth, Gabe, and especially Josie had Cayla in stitches. Over and over she was chuckling despite the heat and noise of the gym. It was great! It has been so much fun to see a fun-loving personality start to emerge. We thank God for giving us such a fun little girl to hang out with.

Of course, we had to dress our sweetheart up in some proper holiday clothes! We like this one because her eyes are smiling, too.

Cayla got a sweet gift from Miss Julie at church this morning--a giant marshmallow lollipop! Little did Miss Julie know how much Cayla already looooooves marshmallows. No, we didn't let her eat the whole thing at once! We're saving the rest for later.

a new buddy!

2010-02-09T16:42:00.000-08:00

"Holy cow! I turn around and the next thing I know there is a bear looking at me!"

"Holy cow! Hey Mom! I turned around and the next thing I know there was this bear looking at me! Isn't that crazy?"

She loves the bear! On this occasion, to show her affection Cayla leaned down and head-butted the bear, which of course knocked it over.

She wasn't done yet! She couldn't seem to get close enough and ended up leaning down on the bear's chest. It kinda looks like a hug in this picture, doesn't it? Thanks for the bear, Miss Sandra!

Other new developments:

*Cayla will now sometimes pat our shoulders when we are hugging her!

*She's been standing up against the couch longer and longer. As long as there are raisins within reach, she will stay there for a few minutes. The next stage will be getting her to take a couple sideways steps to go get the other raisins.

*Lots more laughs and smiles--she's been in a great mood lately!

*She's been climbing up and over objects, including us. Especially when she wants to get to food. :)

*She's been babbling more and signing more.

It's really fun to see this progress! Even though we've known things would come slower, it has still been a test of our patience to see Cayla develop at the pace she has. So we truly treasure these things and look forward to her continued development!

new stuff

2010-02-03T19:39:00.001-08:00

As I type this, I'm sitting on the couch with my legs up. Leah is lying down fast asleep with her head on my stomach. I only mention this because Leah has a tendency to say really funny things when she wakes up suddenly and I promise I'll include them if she says another one. A few minutes ago she just popped her head up, looked at me closely and said, "Why are you still up?" Of course, by now I've learned to milk this for all it's worth so I ask her as many questions as I can before she stops answering. So I said, "Why are YOU still up?" She just shook her head and replied, "I don't get it." Pretty good, but not as funny as when she popped up in bed and said, "Where is Cayla?!" before looking under the covers down by our feet. Yeah, pretty sure she's not down there, sweetie.

Anyway, a couple new tidbits regarding Cayla Joy:

*she now has a bottom molar coming in. I think that would be number ten now. We're hoping she will start to chew stuff up better. She is still swallowing a lot of foods without chewing them up first.

*she was giggling like crazy tonight--it was awesome! I was lying on my back and she was kind of pouncing on my chest. So I'd grab her and roll over to my side with her and then blow kisses on her chin. She was laughing so hard. I'd put her back down and she just kept pouncing on me for more--it was heaven.

*she thinks it's really funny to put things in our mouths. Of course, you must accept whatever it is and hold it temporarily in your mouth to her satisfaction. Usually not a big deal. Although I am not such a fan of her dirty socks that she pulls off then chews on. Are we bad parents? She loves playing with her socks. And that includes putting them in her mouth. And then my mouth.

*she has started mimicking animal sounds. I do a monkey noise for her. Nothing too professional, just your basic "hoo hoo hoo ha ha ha ha!" stuff. Not to brag, but I'm actually pretty good at it. Anyway, she started trying to do the "ha ha ha ha!" part with her tongue sticking way out.

*she loves to read books with Mommy before bed. Points at the pictures with her non-sucking-on-fingers hand. Turns the pages. Sits there patiently. It's great.

*she has been loving turkey dogs a LOT lately. She had two the other day in one meal. It's kind of annoying putting all the condiments on that she likes. You know, the onions, mustard, tabasco sauce and all. But that's how she likes it. Joking aside, we just cut 'em up into little pieces and she goes to town.

*she is also getting a bit more... selective with her eating. There are some things that she just isn't interested in eating anymore. We still try to sneak a few in, but now she is watching to see which container the spoon goes into. Just to cover her bases, she also double-checks the spoon as it gets closer to her mouth. Here's what typically happens lately:

Dad: (sneaks a few peas onto the spoon with applesauce and reaches toward Cayla) Mmmmm! Applesauce!! Cayla loves applesauce!

Cayla: (looks at me slyly) You think this is my first rodeo, kid? (she then proceeds to take in the applesauce and spit out the peas into her trough-bib thingy (TBT), while still looking at me. And then she winks! Okay, she doesn't wink. But the rest is true!)

Dad: (not ready to give up yet. i.e., Leah told me to make sure she got some veggies so here goes again...) Cayla, but you love the applesauce, sweetheart!! Remember?? (as if this will somehow trigger some happy memory of pea-eating from her past)

Cayla: (watches my spoon take a quick swipe into the plastic peas container. Then looks back at me while the spoon gets closer and gives a "yeah, right" nod before opening up again, humoring me.) Ya know, I can do this all night, Pops. (again she takes in the applesauce and spits out the two well-hidden--at least I thought--peas into her TBT.)

Dad: (exasperated) Who wants marshmallows???

(Leah just woke up and said, "It's all right. It's all right." I asked her for specifics but she couldn't provide them.)

Okay, that's all for now. Blessings from the Garlands.

random pics

2010-01-24T15:19:00.001-08:00

Cayla has been clapping a lot lately--sometimes even at games after the other team scores. We're working on that. Here's our little girl dressed up in the China doll outfit Leah bought her at the Great Wall in Beijing.

Cayla stills enjoy her baths most of the time. She is fascinated with falling water and holds out her hands whenever we pour water. She still fights the ear plugs going in most of the time. I love to spike and sculpt her hair; Leah gets mad at me. So I thought this natural mohawk was pretty funny. Thankfully, we also caught a huge smile. (And she covered up so we can post it!)

Grammama Jill took this picture. We're not sure what Cayla is doing exactly, but it looks like fun. Maybe she's calling a charge on the other team! Or maybe she's just striking a pose.

Cayla is usually pretty happy when she knows she's going to eat, though she has been getting a lot more impatient when she doesn't think she's getting food fast enough. We're also noticing a little bit of a stubborn and strong-willed personality at times. This is noticeable when she refuses to use sign language ("more") during meals and just insists (Leah's word; mine was going to be "yells") that you feed her fast.

All in all, Cayla makes us laugh daily. She is getting a little more attached to us, and has been known to cry when we drop her off somewhere. Our hearts broke a couple of weeks ago when she was very sick. The fun part was that Cayla became very clingy and just wanted to be held, and there's nothing like your little girl feeling safe in your arms! The sad part was having to hear her cry because she felt terrible. Thankfully, it passed in a couple of days, and she's back to herself. In a few days she'll be 16 months old--wow!!! Hard to believe!

spaghetti and 5 o'clock shadows

2010-01-20T11:23:00.000-08:00

Call it an experiment in noodle-grabbing.

We normally don't encourage Cayla to get messy while she eats. But the other day Leah decided to throw cleanliness out the window. She put some spaghetti noodles down in front of Cayla and hoped for the best. She's had spaghetti before, but only from one of us feeding her. It had never been on her tray.

Thankfully, Cayla has a one-track mind when it comes to sitting in her high chair. View white tray. Grab items on white tray. Insert items on white tray into mouth. Chew while scanning white tray for more items. Grab more. Insert more. Chew. Breathe if necessary.

As expected, Cayla made quite the mess of the noodles. She grabbed them in big handfuls and crammed in as many as she could. Some made it into her mouth. Others didn't. Some noodles ended up hanging out of her mouth for a while, dangling there awkwardly. Cayla would try to slurp them in but didn't quite have the hang of that yet.

In the end, the spaghetti sauce on her face gave her a nice orange 5 o'clock shadow. If Halloween would have been that night, she would've gone as a Hobo and we would've saved money on a costume.

christmas, part II

2010-01-18T18:42:00.000-08:00

Here are a few more from our time with family over Christmas. You won't want to miss our next blog: Cayla as a spaghetti eatin' hobo!

All the cool toys and she loves the socks the most!!

Josie, Seth, and Gabe helped Jerod blow out his candles.

Cayla is so excited in her new tutu she can't help but scream. Thanks Aunt Becki!

Playing at the Lovells' with cousins Lily and Jakey

christmas, part I

2010-01-03T18:29:00.000-08:00

It was another whirlwind Christmas for us this year. In the span of three days, we celebrated with family in Marshalltown, Tama, Norwalk, and then back to Pella. It was a great few days and Cayla loved seeing everybody! She logged many miles in the ol' car seat and slept in two different homes, but as always, handled everything like a champ!

She loved all the interaction with her cousins, grandparents, and aunts and uncles. We did have to warn many of them how much Cayla enjoys playing with people's faces. This often includes grabbing your nose, shoving her fingers in your mouth, pinching your neck, pulling your hair, and/or any combination of the four. And if she feels like it, she'll give you the whole smorgasbord. Yep, Cayla will throw her whole menu at you. While you're saying "Ow!" under your breath, just remember it's because she loves you!

So here is part one, just a few of the pictures from the fun we had. We'll post a few more in a week. (FYI, one of our New Year's Resolutions is putting up at least 3 posts per month!)

Her patented "double-ear-pull" maneuver! Though Cousin Gabe is a good

sport, notice the hands stepping in before the ears are ripped completely off.

We love this picture with Cayla and Cousin Daniella!

As you can see, they had a lot fun playing together.

Gramama Jill teaching Cayla "Where is Thumbkin?"

Cayla loves to hear Aunt Codi sing! Cayla will just watch

her face and listen with contentment.

Grandpa Pat let us sleep in on Christmas morning while

he held Cayla in the chair. She was pretty cuddly!

garland christmas letter

2009-12-12T20:43:00.000-08:00

Christmas 2008

Greetings, family and friends! Well, Leah is 100% Dutch (read: frugal) and had a great idea to post our Christmas letter right here instead of sending out a letter, so consider this our 2009 letter.

The year began with snow on the ground and a little girl that was quickly melting our hearts. Cayla enjoyed watching her first Iowa Hawkeye Bowl Game at the Keegans. The Hawks won and she was happy about that. She was starting to respond to us more and give us little smiles here and there. I said this to Leah when she was four months old: "I hope she stays this age forever! She's so fun!" We even let her play in snow--she loved it!

By March, we were able to expand Cayla's food horizons. After the first couple attempts (which didn't go so well), she figured out how to slurp from the spoon, starting with cereal and progressing from there. Soon our cupboards were full of rice cereal, veggies, turkey and gravy, and lots of other mashed stuff in little jars. Where once was Hamburger Helper and Ramen Noodles (in my single days), now was watered-down broccoli. She loved it all! When Cayla was six months old, I said to Leah, "I hope she stays this age forever! She's so much fun!"

March is one of my favorite months because of March Madness--the culmination of the basketball season! After an exciting shot at the buzzer sent the Lady Dutch to the state tournament, the team thrilled fans again with another one point win to reach the semi-finals. The girls made Coach Vint's final season a truly memorable one. I also had the chance to watch two rounds of the NCAA tournament in Minneapolis with some friends. We even found our way to court-side seats, thanks to an usher one of the guys knew. It was amazing!

Spring means one thing in Pella: Tulip Time. We dressed up Cayla for her first Tulip Time parade. She stayed awake the whole time! She also tried to bite the stem of a tulip. Destroying a tulip is a $100 fine in Pella, so we had to stop her before somebody saw. For more on this incident, check the blog archives.

Before we knew it, school was finishing up and summer was here. I decided to coach freshman baseball for the first time and had a blast. With our games starting at 11, I had a sweet farmer's tan by the end of the season. Leah and I celebrated our second wedding anniversary with a trip back to our honeymoon location of Puerto Vallarta. It was the longest we'd been away from Cayla yet. While we missed her, it was definitely a great trip together. Leah even decided to go para-sailing! Check out this picture! Yep--that's my wife!

We also introduced Cayla to the water over the summer. Leah found a class that advertised swimming lessons for kids as young as six months old. We figured what the heck, and signed up Cayla expecting to see a bunch of kids her age. Nope. She was about the only kid under the age of two. We may have possibly had to hide a few of her spit-ups in the water, but otherwise she did great, even kicking her little legs at times. Didn't quite master closing her eyes when water was pouring down her face, but we're hoping that comes later.

The end of summer saw us taking Cayla camping for the first time. The three of us slept in a tent with Cousin Dylan for two nights in Minnesota at Sonshine Festival. Uh, it was a little colder than we thought. Okay, a LOT colder than we thought. We had to put Cayla between us to keep her warm the first night, but she managed to sleep much better than her parents. We also toted Cayla to Kansas City and St. Paul for weekend weddings, and she turned out to be quite the traveler.

September 30 came and we got to celebrate Cayla's first birthday! We couldn't believe our little baby was already one! She enjoyed the day and made a nice mess of her cupcake. Does every year go this fast??? I may have mentioned to Leah, "I hope she stays this age forever! I love this age!"

This fall, work took Leah to Grand Rapids for a two-day post-adoptive therapy training. I got to be Mr. Mom. The VERY detailed, printed out schedule was quite helpful! Recently, Leah received a wonderful opportunity through work. She was chosen to be part of a three-person team that traveled to China for a week. There she got to know nearly 80 orphans, and hopes to find families with a desire to give these kids a loving home. Hopefully by next Christmas, many of these children will be celebrating their first Christmas in the United States.

As we wrap up 2009, we consider ourselves blessed in so many ways. There have been many challenges along the way, but every time we get frustrated, Cayla has a way of making us smile and reminding us of the gift she is. Each of her little milestones mean so much to us. In fact, just last week she learned how to put her hands up when we say, "How big is Cayla? Soooo big!" (Thanks, Grandma Jill!) Her army-crawl is getting closer and closer to a real crawl and we often find her sitting up in her crib when we get her in the morning. We are so thankful God has chosen the two of us to love her and raise her.

We want to thank you all for your love and support over the past year--you mean a lot to us. May you be blessed this Christmas season and in 2010.

In His strength,

Jerod, Leah, and Cayla Joy

happy birthday, jer (a bit late)...

2009-12-12T02:46:00.000-08:00

On Thursday, the 10th, my wonderful husband turned the big 3-3! And just to let you catch a glimpse of what this incredible man is like, HE surprised ME on HIS birthday!!! He drove up on the nasty roads and and arrived at the airport to pick me up after my trip - it was wonderful! Then we enjoyed a nice meal at Hu Hot - very yummy!

Jerod loves people so well, but especially children! He always finds the time and energy to play hard with his nephews and nieces, even after a long hard day! He also has such a passion for teaching his students! He even tries to read some of the books that they are interested in, just to be able to relate better with them! It is fun to see how sad he is at the end of the school year, when he has to say good-bye to another group of students - it is obvious that he loves them well! And... he always has time for Cayla, which is so neat to see! He rarely misses a chance to be the first to greet Cayla in the morning, and he always looks for her and scoops her right up when he returns home each day - he loves her soooo well!!!

And Jerod is the most INCREDIBLE husband to me! He is loving, caring, gentle, patient, giving, understanding, fun, adventurous, and passionate... He always finds time to give me a big bear hug throughout the day, and he never struggles to find the right words to say! I have fun hearing about how he shares stories with his basketball girls about us - I know that he is setting the bar very high for these girls' future husbands!!! And most importantly, Jer strives to follow Christ in all he does, and he is a wonderful leader in our home! He shows me Christ's love each and every day...

How can you not LOVE this man after seeing what an amazing father he is?

Cayla is sooo blessed to have a daddy like Jerod!

Obviously, she is already looking up to him:)

We love you sooo much, honey! May this coming year bring you much happiness and joy!

we miss mommy!

2009-12-05T18:31:00.000-08:00

As I type this, I think Leah is touring the Forbidden City in China. She left for China on Thursday and will be checking out sights there for a couple days before heading to meet around 80 orphans. She'll bring back pictures and knowledge of these kids that are living without a family to love them. Her hope is that other families back here will want to bring them into their own family.

No calls and no facebook, so we are left with only emails to communicate for a week. Crazy how disconnected I feel. How did couples do it before cell phones and the Internet?? All I have is an email that the first couple of days went well and this picture of her visiting the Great Wall yesterday. Cayla and I miss her terribly!!

On the Cayla front, she loves knocking things down. We build up a stack of blocks and she will army-crawl over to it and knock it over. She is quite the showman, as she has to make sure you've seen it and properly cheered for her. She makes her "oh!" face and looks right at you--adorable. She is also smiling and giggling so much more in the past few weeks--so much fun!

Hope to have some great China photos in the next blog!

thanksgiving

2009-11-23T21:03:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Lynn for challenging me to come up with a list of some of the things I am thankful for! Of course I am nervous to do this, as I know that I will forget so many important things - but hey, I'll do my best! Here goes...

1 - First and foremost, for our Heavenly Father, who has showered me with His AMAZING love, forgiveness, grace, joy, and peace! He has blessed me incredibly, and I am sooo thankful!!!

2 - For INCREDIBLE family members, including the best grandpas and grandmas to Cayla in the entire world! We could not imagine being without any one of you - from our siblings to our extended family members. We are excited to see you all soon...

3 - For friends that have seen us through the thick and the thin! From those we have known for 30 years to those we have just met over the past couple of years, we are thankful for you!

4 - For jobs that we both LOVE! For a job that has just told me that I will likely be going to China next week, and a job that brings me so much joy and excitement each day! And for Jerod, a job in which he can enjoy influencing students everyday, and a coaching job that he is extremely thankful for! We love using and sharing our passions in our jobs! We are also thankful for basketball and a chance to kick the season off tomorrow night! Cayla says, "Go Daddy's Team!"

5 - For a warm house and financial security! In today's economy, we are so thankful for us both to still have jobs and a house - we are blessed!!! For good health. And for excess food and drink each day, as MANY go without every day and often go to bed hungry...

6 - For people that watch and influence Cayla everyday! From daycare to grandmas, grandpas, and aunts to friends to AEA to people that are going ahead of us in this new world of Downs, and the list could go on and on... Thank you!

7 - For a wonderful church family and a love and excitement to worship God each Sunday morning in a fabulous church! We are thankful for each of the people there!

8 - For the plethora of donations and gifts for Cayla from so many people! We have only bought her a few pieces of clothing, and the rest of the beautiful clothes have come from her older cousins and friends... We already have boxes of clothing and shoes until she is into 3T clothing - WOW! In addition, we have received so many toys, car seats, baby equipment, etc - we are truly blessed!

9 - Certainly not #9 in my mind, but I wanted to start strong and finish strong - for my INCREDIBLE husband and WONDERFUL marriage! I could not imagine spending the rest of my life with anyone but Jer! He is everything I could have hoped for in a husband - I love you, honey!!!

10 - And last but certainly not least - for Cayla Joy! She is our precious angel, and we are so blessed to call her daughter! We are thankful for her Downs - though some days are tough, we know that she is exactly as God made her to be... We are thankful that while her friends are going through temper tantrums and getting into everything around the house, Cayla is learning to smile more and learning to sit up on her own and turn in circles:) She has taught us so many things over this past year, and she has brought us so much JOY! We had no idea how perfect her middle name would be for her!

Well... to sum it up, we have soooo much to be thankful for, and we thank our Heavenly Father each and everyday for His incredible blessings in our lives!

Thanks for letting us share, and we challenge you to do the same:)

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

the big Three Oh!!

2009-11-11T21:03:00.001-08:00

My Queen turned 30 today!!! I'm so proud of who she is! She has a HUGE heart for people and for helping the hopeless find hope. It often baffles me the way she remembers things about others, but by now I know it's because she takes a genuine interest in them. She's pretty much awesome.

Trip to Orlando--had to go to Medieval Times!!

Now that's some originality!!! (see the point to the heart?!?)

Of course, I had to include one of my favorite pictures!!!

Happy Birthday, Leah!!! You are a great wife and mother! Keep shining!

beautiful

2009-11-05T01:22:00.000-08:00

Today my heart melted...

I was having a rough day, and I just so happened to be listening to the first song on our blog playlist - "Beautiful" by Shawn McDonald. This song has been very special to me since our dating days, but it now holds an even deeper place in my heart. As I was listening to this song, I was sitting right across from Cayla on the floor and belting out the words while looking into her eyes. I was tearing up just thinking about how these words mean so much more now that we have our little Cayla Joy...

Some of the lyrics are as follows:

What a beautiful God

And what am I, that I might be called Your child

What am I, what am I, that You might know me my King

Beautiful colors all around me, oh

Painted all over the sky

The same hands that created all of this

They created you and I

What a beautiful God

Yes, our little miracle from above is BEAUTIFUL and created JUST as God wanted her to be!!!

And as if this was not enough already, Cayla just looked at me and began clapping and did so several times throughout the song - with no prompting - it was as if she completely understood and was enjoying watching me begin to understand how God's plan is unfolding for her life, for all of our lives. She is our special little angel and touch of Heaven here on earth. God knows best, even when we begin to question him...

So... I am guessing Jer will not be changing the playlist for a while, so sorry to those of you who like change... But instead, turn up your volume and enjoy this beautiful song! And sorry that I am "stealing" this picture, Jer! I just thought it was perfect at this time in the season:) Thanks to Lorraine for this adorable cheerleading outfit!!!

And finally, thank you so much to all of you who read our blog and write comments or send us emails! We love to see how God is using our story...

birthday reflections (part II)

2009-11-01T18:19:00.000-08:00

Cayla sporting her new birthday coat from Julie!

First, let's all use our imaginations for a second. How about we pretend that you are reading this 3 weeks ago. Cool? Cool.

When we wrote part one just after her birthday party, we knew we wanted to have a second part that would explain some of the things we've been working through for the past year. Please know that we aren't writing these things for sympathy's sake. We just want to give an honest portrayal of our experience for those reading that might also have a child with special needs.

It's been interesting in so many ways. We honestly felt like we had finished our grieving process a while ago. Being in social work, Leah has learned a lot about the grieving process and truly believed that we had crossed that bridge. However, as Cayla has grown older, we have come to understand that the process will continue for us.

One of the things that has surprised us is the jealousy that can creep in now and again. Although we know Cayla will do everything in her own timing, it's sometimes hard to see her peers developing so much quicker than she is. Not only is she behind in fine and gross motor skills, but she also has what's called a flat affect, meaning she doesn't show much emotion.

It can be difficult to see people meet her and try to make her smile or laugh. Usually, she just stares at them or reaches for their face. Often, they don't know whether to try harder or give up. It can be somewhat awkward. Even people she knows well have to work really hard to get a smile from her. We find ourselves making excuses sometimes, explaining that she's probably tired.

We've gone weeks without getting a giggle from her, and it can get frustrating. But when she does laugh, it is one of the best feelings in the world! She has a pretty smile and adorable laugh, but not many people have gotten to hear it. One thing, though: when she is giggling, you do anything you can to keep that puppy going! Leah recently made a fool of herself at Wal-Mart because Cayla was laughing and she wanted to milk it for all it was worth!

Another of Leah's frustrations has been in buying Cayla certain foods. While she has no idea how Gerber could improve on their method, food labeling doesn't seem to be conducive to kids with developmental delays. For example, the Graduates Yogurt Melts are advertised for kids who are "crawlers." Thankfully, Cayla can't read yet, because she's been throwing them down for a few months and she won't be a crawler for a little while. Obviously, this is a little thing, but what might seem like no biggie can cause frustration.

Every little gain is monumental for us. While most parents are at the point where they are starting to discipline their kids for dropping their food from the high chair, we are cheering her on! Not only is she learning a new skill, but she's also communicating that she is finished with that food. Banana on the floor? That a girl!! Flinging Cocoa Puffs? Way to go, Cayla!! Today she did such a great job of grabbing Cheerios out of our hands at church and feeding herself with only a few misses. It was awesome!

Here's what we know:

*there's nothing like it when she leans her head on your shoulder.

*her laughs can seriously make your heart well no matter what else has happened that day.

*we are not alone. SO MANY people love our little girl!

All of Cayla's setbacks have made our marriage more challenging at times. Some things that bother Leah don't bother me, and vice versa. Yet we have a strong sense of being in this together, of fighting these challenges side by side, while holding on by faith to the God who purposes all things for His good. Before she was born, it was our prayer that God would use her in whatever ways He wants, and we are so glad to say that our prayer is being answered.

birthday reflections (part I)

2009-10-05T16:38:00.000-07:00

I didn't know if she was serious when she first said it. A few weeks ago, Leah mentioned that she thought we should host a birthday party for Cayla.

"Sure, it'll be nice. Just the three of us," I said, already knowing that Leah intended to invite our entire clans. She knew I knew and quickly dismissed my weak smoke screen. In fact, I don't even think it got a response. She was already into planning mode.

"We can have a fire out back we can grill we can have a pinata we can have a big birthday cake we can have ice cream lots of fun games..."

The happy birthday girl!!

I think she continued for a while but I'm not sure I caught it all the first time. It's not that we dread hanging out with our families. Not the case. In fact, we love our families dearly. It's just that our house isn't exactly large. So while the Leah-Brainstorm-Express was churning down the tracks, all I could see was 25 people--including eleven kids--in our house. It freaked me out.

Lining up to take a swing

After much discussion (I wasn't going to win), we decided to go ahead and go for it. We both have big families and once we committed, we went all out. 25? 30? Bring 'em all. We planned on letting the kids play outside, putting up the pinata in the garage, and grilling outside. We

were praying nobody would get any broken bones.

Did you think I was exaggerating??

Well... we survived. 24 of us came to celebrate Cayla's first birthday. And while the weather didn't cooperate (we ended up having pizza in the garage), the kids did a great job playing in the small living room and unfinished basement. It would have been nicer to have more space, but we made it work. Our families are amazing! The Heefner clan came all the way up from St. Louis! Our nephews Seth and Ethan even beat Uncle Dan and me in ping pong, although Seth may have made up some of his own rules... (39,000 points for hitting it off of an adult) :)

Leah made a sweet cake! Thanks to Becki for the tutorial!!

We were all here, eating pizza and swinging at a pinata, because the God of the universe wanted us to be the caretakers of a special girl named Cayla Joy. She is truly a gift. And the pain and frustrations that come sporadically don't compare to the joy she has brought into our lives. We look forward to many more years with her! Thanks to all who helped us celebrate her, and who continue to help us celebrate her.

I love sugar!!!

one year ago...

2009-09-29T20:40:00.000-07:00

... Leah was telling me that she thought her water had broken! There will be more thoughts to follow this week, but for now, here is a picture from almost a year ago, along with one Leah took recently.

through the seasons

2009-09-15T19:11:00.000-07:00

With Cayla's first birthday coming up soon (wow!), we thought it would be fun to take a quick look at Cayla through the seasons. If you've followed the blog for a long time, you will recognize most of these pictures. We can't believe how much she's changed! I remember thinking it took forever for her to get hair, and now she looks so different in these pictures without much hair! Without further delay, here is a little trip down memory lane!

Cayla's first outdoor picture last fall at one month old.

Two months later at Christmas.

Cayla's first time "playing" in the snow a month later.

Mid-February for Valentine's Day

Easter Sunday

Last spring, Cayla's first Tulip Time

boot scootin' boogie

2009-09-06T20:19:00.000-07:00

Hey again! Wow, time flies sometimes. Okay, we have two excuses for the lack of posts lately. But you probably don't want to hear excuses, do you? No problem. I won't tell you that our camera is broken and currently getting fixed or that school just started for Jerod and work has been very busy for Leah. Now that that's out of the way...

Things have been going pretty well the last couple of weeks. Tooth #3 has been on the cusp of breaking through lately, which Cayla hasn't enjoyed too much. Subsequently, neither have we. But it will be great once it's out. Changing gears now, we asked Cayla to predict who would win the Iowa-Iowa State game this Saturday. After thinking for a moment, she reached for a ring that was colored red. My heart skipped a beat. Then she violently flicked it away from her and grabbed a gold-colored ring instead. Whew! Cayla has never been wrong on picking this game before!

We posted some pictures a while back of the positions we've found Cayla in when we get her in the morning. Lately she has been loving her frog. Many times she'll be playing with Mr. Frog when we find her. One night before we went to bed, we checked on her one last time and found this. I guess she was having a little conversation with Mr. Frog when she fell asleep.

We have to admit that it has been difficult lately as we've become more aware of her delays. Even though we have known there would be delays, it has still been frustrating. Fine motor skills, gross motor skills, and speech are three of the areas that we haven't seen a whole lot of progress lately. By Cayla's age, most kids are walking or at least crawling by now. She isn't very close to walking and hasn't made a whole lot of progress with crawling yet. But last night she did decide to scoot backwards for us. Three scoots right in a row! It was amazing and we enjoyed it so much. We are realizing that we're going to cherish every little gain she makes. In our impatience, we are reminding ourselves to trust God's timing in EVERYTHING. Our journey with Cayla is going to be unique and filled with highs and lows, but God is good and it's nice to know that He loves Cayla so much more than either of us do. This picture has nothing to do with her scooting, but it's cute! We'll try not to go 2 weeks again! (Have we said that before?)

buddy walk

2009-08-22T18:56:00.000-07:00

Today we headed to the DMACC campus in Ankeny for the annual "Buddy Walk." This is an event that raises awareness for people with Down syndrome. It's basically a mile-long trek around a pond where families and their friends show unity for the person they are supporting. We were blown away. Not only were there thousands of people at the event, but we had over twenty people (including kids) come out to support Cayla!

The Crew: Diane/Andrew, Tim/Jill, Naomi, Josh/Jessie/Michael/Sam,

Tait/Val/Claire/Ellie, Austin/Anne/Aren, Kyle/Gina/Abby/Caleb

Cayla crashes on Grandpa Tim yet again after the Walk

Thanks so much to everybody who came out to support us today! Cayla is blessed to be loved so well by all of you! We hope to invite even more Cayla supporters next year.

grandpa bill

2009-08-13T18:15:00.000-07:00

We had the chance last month to head out to the annual DeBoef campout at Lake Red Rock. It was pretty amazing, with close to 100 family members making it from Utah, Michigan, California, and many other states. Most people hadn't met Cayla yet, and she enjoyed meeting everybody. She especially enjoyed meeting her Grandpa Bill for the first time. She felt right at home with him immediately, and ended up falling asleep on him at the end of the night. And now that Cayla turned out to be such a pro at camping, we'll be sure to add our tent next summer.

brush 'em if ya got 'em!

2009-08-09T15:11:00.001-07:00

Man, oh man, our little girl is growing up fast! She is sitting up for minutes now without any help and now has a chore to do before going to bed at night. Yep, we have to brush her tooth. And there is another one on the way soon*. Here's Cayla sitting up and making a decent attempt at brushing.

*by the way, the "other one on the way soon" is a tooth, not a baby. :)

hangin' with the heefners

2009-07-29T20:32:00.000-07:00

Cayla enjoyed being Princess for a while

Cayla has had a fun couple of days hanging out with her Heefner cousins. Gabe, Seth, and Josie will be moving to St. Louis next week with my sister Codi and brother-in-law Nile. They are staying with Grandma and Grandpa Hoskins for a few days this week before heading south. Cayla has had a lot of fun with them! We think Cayla loves seeing them so much especially because of the stimulation and attention she gets from them. They love to hold her and give her hugs. It will be sad to see them move further away, but we hope to see them often. We want Cayla to see them lots as she grows up, and of course, I love my big sister so much! So though we are selfishly sad, we are excited for their future. Here are a couple pictures from the past couple of days, and we'll also post some to the side.

Cayla having lots of fun with Aunt Codi!!

sonshine fest (part III)

2009-07-25T13:01:00.001-07:00

One final sonshine post to put up. We caught Cayla in some very happy moods. She was loving having three people to play with, as Cousin Dylan did a great job with her all week! She is laughing quite a bit more lately, and her little giggles melt our heart.

Okay, I'm allowed to have one geeky fan moment, right? I saw Ben Kasica (Skillet's guitarist) one day in the civic center and told Leah I wanted to meet him. He was talking with somebody else and I didn't want to be the guy that interrupts, you know? So we waited for a few minutes until he was done and I said hey. He was very friendly and Wifey snapped this picture of us.

Besides music, sonshine has BMX bike ramps, magic/juggling shows, and other stuff to do like this rock climbing wall. This picture is of Dylan dominating the wall. We didn't have an official clock on him, but it was somewhere between 90 seconds and 2 minutes. Mt. Everest, here he comes!

And last but not least, this is the best picture we got of "the first tooth." It's definitely poking up a little bit now and is so fun to see! I've always been sentimental, but I'm realizing that there will never be a "first tooth" again. Slow down, time!!!

sonshine fest (part II)

2009-07-22T12:09:00.001-07:00

One thing about Cayla we noticed pretty early is that she likes music. We sing silly songs to her all the time and usually she loves it. For example, I sing these touching yet poignant lyrics to her almost daily: "Who's got some peepees in their diapeys? Hoot-hoot! Who's got some peepees in their diapeys? Hoot-hoot! Who's got some peepees in their diapeys? Hoot-hoot! (pause, the tension builds!) Cayla's got some peepees in her diapeys!" There are other songs we sing but I'll spare you the bad lyrics. The point is, she loves music. In fact, last week at church she decided to sing with us during worship. This involves breathing in while making a squealing sound. Very loudly. It was funny.

But loud, heavy guitars is a quite a bit different than our songs or music from her toys. We weren't sure what she would think. We brought earplugs just in case. And used them more than once. We didn't get too close to the stage. In fact, the above picture taken during the David Crowder Band show is the closest we got. Usually we were back a ways relaxing. The big screen set up by stage 1 helped quite a bit, so we mostly listened to the music while sitting in chairs or on the blanket. The picture of Switchfoot on the big screen below is about how close we were for most of the shows during the three days.

So how did Cayla do during the shows? Sometimes she enjoyed watching the action, as shown by these two pictures of her taken on Thursday at stage 2. She would watch for a bit and then get hungry or bored. Sometimes she crowd-surfed. Okay, okay, not even funny. She's not allowed to do that until she's at least 3 or 4.

And sometimes... she slept. Either like the picture below, your standard face-plant-in-blanket, or with someone (usually Leah) holding her. She was an equal opportunity sleeper. She didn't care if you were a no-name band or a headliner, or if your music was lighter or loud and heavy. More than once I looked at Leah and said, "I CAN'T BELIEVE SHE IS SLEEPING!" Leah then usually asked, "WHAT?" to which I replied, "NEVERMIND!" Cayla might be the only person on earth that can sleep during a Skillet concert.

Part III with tooth #1 coming later this week!

sonshine fest (part I)

2009-07-19T12:45:00.000-07:00

We can now add camping and concerts to the list of Cayla's firsts. Last week, the three of us and Leah's nephew Dylan drove up to Willmar, Minnesota, for an outdoor Christian music festival called Sonshine. I had been to Sonshine a couple of times when I was younger and was excited to take the family there, although we were a little hesitant about the drive (about 6 1/2 hours) and how Cayla would do sleeping in a tent. Crying in her room at home and crying outside surrounded by a bunch of people trying to sleep are two different things. Once again, Cayla knocked it out of the park and left us shaking our heads at this incredible little girl. Here we are after finally arriving and finding a spot to put up our tent--Cayla was pretty happy to get out of the car!

This tent was home from Wednesday night until we left just before midnight on Friday night. We couldn't believe how many tents were already there when we arrived, which was still a couple hours before the first show started. After driving around we finally found a spot to call home, a 10-minute walk from the showers and 5-minute walk from the main civic center. Overall, considering there were 20,000 people there, it was a good spot for us.

We realized a couple things. First, we LOVE to camp! Second, we are definitely inexperienced. We didn't pack many warm clothes and it was freezing at night. We also forgot to bring matches for our little gas grill and had to ask some people around us to give us a match. "One-time-a- year campers?" the guy said with a smile as he gave us a match. Uh, first time since we've been married actually. And we also forgot to bring the eggs, as Dylan reminded us a couple dozen times. So we had a Thursday breakfast of sausage patties, hashbrowns, and... chocolate donuts. Here is Chef Dylan at work.

We decided not to bring a stroller, and it was a good decision. We either carried Cayla or put her in the BabyBjorn, which she thought was a blast. How did Cayla like the music? Stay tuned for part II later. There will also be a great picture of her first tooth coming later this week.

random tidbits

2009-07-10T14:06:00.000-07:00

Our lives have been busy in this our first summer with Cayla. Here are some random tidbits:

*At the end of June, a few of my old Central friends got together for a grill out in Des Moines. Wow, it's very strange to write "old" before Central friends. Anyway, it was a great day, and Cayla (and Leah, for that matter) got to meet many of the people that played such a big role in my life. Not only did I live with many of these guys at Central (oh the stories...), but a lot of us were starting to follow Jesus for the first time and made big changes to our lives during those years. Life's taken us every which way, but it was awesome to reconnect ten years later. About 30 people came from Ohio, Colorado, California, and all over the state for a nice little potluck. Below are some Vance House guys, Wes Davis, Tim "Clog Dog" VanderWilt, Greg "Goose" Grylls, and David "D" Chen. Cayla made lots of friends.

*We recently got this sweet new ducktub from the Hopkins. The beak even quacks if you squeeze it. Nice. Cayla still loves splashing around during baths and this day was no different. She was loving it.

*One of the hard things for our family the past few months has been Uncle Floyd's passing away. He was one of the most generous guys I've ever known and left behind a legacy of making everybody feel welcome. You weren't a stranger long if you were around Floyd. At the beginning of the summer, Aunt Cindy organized a tree dedication event in their hometown of Garwin. As music was such a huge part of Floyd and Cindy's life, the afternoon was spent eating and enjoying lots of live music from the park's grandstand. Most of the family performed music in tribute to Floyd's life. A tree was also planted in Floyd's name at the park and will grow for years in the town he loved. Below is a picture of Cayla with her Aunt Lisa. We are so lucky to have so many family members who love her!

Finally, if you want to switch songs or turn the music off when you are reading the blog, go down to the bottom of the page to the jukebox.

time is flying by...

2009-07-07T20:15:00.000-07:00

From 9 months in mommy's tummy and two days out...

...to nine months out of the tummy - WOW!

The past nine months have absolutely flown by, and it is unbelievably amazing to see how blessed we are to have Cayla Joy in our lives! She is certainly our little joy!!!

ignoring an itch

2009-06-30T19:32:00.000-07:00

It wasn't the first time I'd held Cayla while she was sleeping, but something about this time felt extra special for some reason. Maybe it was because she is a little bigger now, I don't know.

She fell asleep on our bed while I was playing my guitar for her. This is what I do when Leah's gone if Cayla gets a little fussy and I don't know what else to do. Yeah, my bag of tricks is pretty limited. Bottle. Funny voices. Guitar. Anyway, she loves it, and often smiles and squeals when I start playing. This time, though, she was tired and went from happy to bored to suddenly out.

So I put the guitar down and laid down beside her. It wasn't quite good enough. I grabbed her and put her on my chest. Yep. Much better. The fan was blowing. There was no other sound. No schedules. It was one of those moments many of the parents reading this can relate to. Total peace. Her little head was right below my chin and she fit perfectly in my arms.

Leah came home a while later and put a blanket over Cayla (us). Even better. A few minutes later I got one of those really annoying itches on my cheek. I was going to reach up and get it but I thought, you know, we're just so comfy right now and what if I wake her up? I didn't want to risk it and lose the moment. I decided then to leave it. It would take a lot more than an itch to get me to move a muscle. I'm pretty sure it would've taken the National Guard to get me to do anything right then. Eventually, the itch got bored, shrugged its shoulders, said, "fine, be that way" and left. And eventually, Cayla woke up, got bored with me, and that time ended, too. But it was nice while it lasted.

cayla's trip to mercy hospital

2009-06-26T19:36:00.000-07:00

We made a road trip this week to Mercy Hospital in Des Moines as Cayla needed to get some tubes put in her ears. The surgery was scheduled for 7:30. They wanted her there at 6 am and she couldn't eat anything until after surgery. We left a little before 5, slightly blurry-eyed and anxious that everything would go well. As you can see, Cayla wasn't sweating it at all. Whether standing up in the hospital lobby picture above or checking out her cool yellow socks, she took it all in stride. (We got to keep the socks, too! Yeah! Free stuff!!)

So the funny thing about this operation is that they want you there an hour and a half early and the surgery itself takes only ten minutes. That left quite a bit of time for us to hang out in the pre-op room. They brought Cayla the socks and a cool blue robe, which made her look like a little karate student. I was half expecting Mr. Miyagi to come in and clap his hands together for her surgery. He didn't.

Mom got a little nervous when she heard a nurse shaving a man across the hall in preparation for his major surgery. It made her think Cayla's surgery was going to be more major than we had anticipated. But Cayla did such a great job waiting and made it easy on us. She only fussed a little when her normal breakfast wasn't being delivered. Meanwhile, a few doctors popped in and had us sign stuff for the anesthetic they were going to give her. It basically amounted to laughing gas and wasn't all that strong.

Finally they came in, whisked her away, and said, "Wish us luck!" Just kidding about the comment. They just told us it wouldn't be long and they'd have her back soon. A short while and bad cup of coffee later, they called us back and brought her out to us. You could tell she was still a little out of it from the look in her eyes, but otherwise she was doing fine. And hungry. I LOVE this picture of Mom feeding her shortly after the surgery.

on the wrong side of the bed

2009-06-22T15:17:00.001-07:00

We have been so blessed with Cayla's sleeping habits!!! We can't remember the last time she woke up during the night. We're thinking around last October/November. Yeah, it's been sweet. She didn't even wake up during the massive thunderstorm last week. If there is another little Garland, we're not expecting things to be this easy again! Though she sometimes wakes up on the wrong side of the bed, it's always with a cheerful spirit!

Cayla pretty much just waits for us to get her in the mornings. We'll get in there and find her with her eyes wide open just kind of hanging out. Lately we're not sure how we're going to find her. These are pictures of mornings where I guess she got a little bored waiting for us. These pictures are exactly like we found her when we went in to her room and made us laugh.

new things

2009-06-17T18:28:00.000-07:00

1. Cayla can now rip off almost all of her bibs if she feels like it. It's almost like Hulk Hogan ripping off that wimpy little yellow shirt he had with all the pre-cut holes that made it easier. She reaches down and grabs the bib and then pulls it hard. Usually it comes off on the first try. Then she flexes and slams it down. Okay, that last part isn't true. But it is pretty cool to see.

2. Cayla gave me a look today that I've never seen before. We are trying meats now and it's going pretty well. She loved the Turkey and Sweet Potatoes the other day. Today I tried straight turkey. Actually, it's called Turkey & Turkey Gravy. So I give her the first bite and right away she makes a face that makes it clear she didn't enjoy it. She sucked it down like a good girl, though. As I got the next spoonful ready and held it in front of her, it was then she realized I had a whole bunch of it for her and her options were limited. She looked up at me with an expression that said, "Really. This is the best stuff you got for me? Turkey & Turkey Gravy? And you feel okay about feeding me this? (sigh) Okay. Shove it in. But I'm not happy about this." The look made me smile and she really didn't enjoy the T & TG very much but did finish it.

3. Cayla has been raising her eyebrows quite a bit lately, too. We think it means she's excited and Leah thinks she is trying to tell us a story. Some day she'll be able to tell us all kinds of fun things and we can't wait.

4. Had a check-up today. She's almost 17 pounds and 16.5 inches now. Definitely growing. Her height and weight place her in the 21st percentile on non-adjusted charts. Children with Down syndrome are usually smaller, so there is a separate "adjusted" chart that compares them only with other kids with Downs. Her adjusted chart puts her in the 60th percentile for weight and 75th for length.

5. Gross poops from new solid foods. Enough said.

fun times at the pool!

2009-06-15T19:55:00.001-07:00

Tonight was Cayla's very first time in the pool! We were encouraged by the AEA (Area Education Agency) folks who work with Cayla to enroll her in swimming lessons. They said it would help improve her muscle tone, as children with Downs normally have low muscle tone. So we signed her up in a class that was for kids six months or older. We were expecting lots of other babies in the class, but it turns out the youngest besides Cayla is probably 2 or 3 years old. Cayla just takes everything in stride and didn't mind.

This was one of the best pictures I got. You have to click on this one for the bigger picture. Her expression is priceless! She was definitely loving it. And for forty minutes straight!

Here she is a little more focused, trying to master the back-float. She was doing a great job of kicking her little legs. Some of the exercises were a little out of her league, like jumping into the pool and blowing bubbles in the water. They think six month olds can do this stuff?

Cayla has her gear on in this one. We strapped a couple of yellow floaties on her butt. We made the "fun noodle" into a pretzel that helped her stay afloat. One of her favorite things was going up on the side and then "jumping" into the pool. Here she's already smiling in anticipation.

Overall, it was a blast and we're already looking forward to next Monday. Cayla Phelps???

swing away or bunt?

2009-06-14T19:42:00.000-07:00

In the sports world, summer means baseball. As I write this, the Boston Red Sox are coming off another sweep of the rival New York Yankees and hold a slight lead in the standings. Yes, all is right in the world.

In Cayla's world, things are becoming a lot more interesting to her lately. She is quite curious about things. She will now survey her surroundings in new places to check out things. She is able to make quicker movements and is getting closer to being able to crawl. She sat up by herself for a long time the other day and loves standing up (with guidance). It's been a lot of fun for us. Oh yeah, swimming lessons start tomorrow, too!! Yeah, I know, swimming lessons already??? That's what I thought. We're not worried, though. It seems like every bath lately ends up with lots of kicking and slapping of the water, grabbing of the rubber-ducky, and plenty of water flying everywhere in general. And that's just Leah. (Sorry, honey, couldn't resist.)

We've recently met with doctors to test a few things related to Down syndrome. Her ears have some fluid and she does have a slight hearing loss. We'll put tubes in soon that could stay there for around a year. Tests also revealed that she has hypothyroidism. This could delay her growth and she may need medication to control it as she grows up. Though these are setbacks, we are so thankful that her heart is strong and that she has been so healthy so far. We're expecting the road to have some rough spots but trust that God is in control.

Okay, so here are a couple pics we took with a little bat Cayla received as a gift when she was born. You can even see "Cayla Garland" on the barrel of the bat if you look close enough. Mom called a sacrifice bunt on the picture below. Great technique!

Cayla Runs the Klompen Klassic!

2009-06-13T07:09:00.000-07:00

**excerpt from Des Moines Register Sports Section**

(Pella, Iowa)--At just seven months old, not many people expected Cayla Garland to finish her first Klompen Klassic. However, finish she did, and finish well. Cayla defeated her father Jerod by almost a minute and edged her mother Leah by about a foot in a close finish. In fact, from the very beginning Cayla held a slight lead over her mother and managed to stay just ahead throughout the 3.1-mile course.

"Da da ba ba da," said the winded youngster after the race.

Leah had not run the Klompen since she ran as a member of the Tulip Court eleven years ago. She walked then, but this time had a different game plan. She smashed her goal of trying to break 30 minutes by over a minute. "I'm happy with the time, but it's a little bittersweet knowing Cayla beat me."

Five years ago, her father had run a 20-minute race, but he had no illusions of duplicating that mark this time around. What has changed? "Well, five years ago I was a bachelor and eating mac & cheese or whatever cheap stuff I could find. Now that I'm married, let's just say I'm eating a lot better."

Cayla's secret is in her elaborate stretching routine, as shown below. She's become incredibly flexible, and there are many theories abounding about where she learned her exercises. Did she travel overseas to learn them? Natural instinct? When asked about it, she paused, spit up on the reporter, smiled, and said, "Da da ba ba da."

Pics!

2009-05-26T18:29:00.000-07:00

Shortly after Cayla turned six months we took her in for some pictures! Our friend Heather does a wonderful job, so we brought Cayla over one afternoon. Unfortunately, Cayla wasn't giving out many real smiles that day. I say "real" because Cayla is in a phase where she often gives "fake" smiles. You know, the ones where her heart is really not in it and it looks like she's either in pain or dealing with severe constipation? Those smiles.

It was evident during the session that Cayla was being very stingy with real smiles. Thankfully, with a lot of help from Heather we were able to get a couple smiles. My favorite is the one with her hand partially covering her mouth. When Cayla really smiles, you can see it in her eyes. Thanks a bunch, Heather!

the death of a flower in three acts

2009-05-09T10:14:00.000-07:00

ACT ONE: THEY MEET

Cayla: Hmmm. This flower looks pretty. I wonder if it would fit in my mouth!

Flower: Back off, little girl. You don't want to mess with me. Got $100 on ya? Didn't think so.

Cayla: Are you kiddin' me? My Dad's a teacher and my Mom's a social worker. We got plenty of money to spare.

Flower: I don't like that crazy look in your eye!

ACT TWO: THE CONFLICT

Cayla: Maybe I'll just try and grab you... there! Just. Like. That.

Flower: (struggling) Let me go! Don't you know who I am???

ACT THREE: RESOLUTION

Cayla: Ah!! Just as fun as I thought!!

Flower: Stop! I'm not made for teething!!!

Cayla: Hey, if I have to wear this silly thing on my head, I'm gonna at least have fun.

Flower: Fair enough. (sigh) Go ahead.

Tulip Time!!!

2009-05-07T18:49:00.000-07:00

Our beautiful little Dutch girl!

Cayla grabs her first tulip.

No hands!!!

What a lady!

Early May means Tulip Time for those of us living in Pella. You can love it or grumble about the crowds, but it ain't going away. Growing up here, Leah has many fond memories of these three days. She rattled off these four: wearing wooden shoes, marching in parades, being on the Tulip Court, and playing Spin-the-Bottle at somebody's house in junior high after a parade. She "claims" she doesn't remember the boy she kissed. Yeah, right.

My memories start with Central College my sophomore year, working the basketball stand and selling countless brats. Now I love watching the parades to find my students!

Of course, this Tulip Time is very special to us because it is Cayla's first Tulip Time! On Wednesday, she ran with Leah at the Klompen Classic, which we'll post about soon. But she also got to dress Cayla up in a beautiful dress we borrowed from Wade and Hillary Van Vark (Wade is my assistant coach for those not in Pella). Then Leah took Cayla out for some pictures with the tulips. She snapped some good pictures with a little help from Gramma Jill and Grampa Tim. Cayla was a little tired, but did manage to break a tulip. Oops!

We'll put up some more pictures soon!

just some pics

2009-04-27T18:42:00.001-07:00

Cayla relaxing before church a few weeks ago.

Angie helping Cayla work on her rock-hard abs.

Cayla's senior pose.

now it's gonna get messy!

2009-04-19T18:51:00.000-07:00

That noise you heard last week was the sound of every bib we own giving a collective scream. Yep, things were about to get A LOT messier for them--we introduced Cayla to cereal. And, well, the first few times did not go so smoothly! Most of it ended up dripping from her face, or on her bib, or possibly on one of our arms. Maybe even on the carpet.

As the spoon came in, Cayla knew it was good. She knew she wanted it. She just wasn't sure what to do with her tongue once she opened her mouth. That meant she pushed a lot of it back out. And any of you that have been around her lately know she is in a stick-out-my-tongue-and-make-spitting-noises-phase at the moment. Yeah, not a good combination for learning how to eat cereal. That's when it ended up somewhere in front of her.

However, there has been much improvement the last few times. Cayla's starting to get the hang of it, and now makes sure her tongue is low to allow the spoon easy access. She even leans in toward the spoon as it's coming and keeps it in her mouth. Well, most of it. As you can see from the picture below, a nice cup of cereal can really take it out of her. She was so full she even reached down and unsnapped her onesie after a meal yesterday.

six months later

2009-04-16T19:43:00.000-07:00

Wow--it's been awhile! Thanks to my lovely wife for posting the last couple of blogs for us. It's amazing how time flies by.

A couple of weeks ago, we had a chance to reflect as Cayla turned a half-year old! It was fun to think about our journey as parents and the emotional highs and lows we've experienced together. We often think about something that happened at church a couple of months before Cayla was born, something I don't think we've told anybody.

Toward the end of the service, Leah suddenly began feeling very anxious about the pregnancy. It really wasn't like her and she mentioned to me that she wanted us to receive prayer. On this particular morning, there were people available to pray with anybody who wanted it, so Leah and I made our way over to two women on the prayer team. As Leah explained her feelings, I could sense she was very unsettled. Suzanne Vogel began to pray for us, and after a couple of minutes, she asked Leah if any pictures came into her mind. Leah said she had pictured herself rocking Cayla to sleep. Suzanne then shared that during the prayer, she felt pretty clearly that the Lord was saying to us, "I chose you." We really didn't think too much about this at the time, but Leah had a sense of peace after the prayer.

It was about six months ago when we received the news that our girl had Down syndrome, and we've often thought about that day at church and those words from Suzanne. A lot has happened in six months with Cayla. We had two or three really tough days early on. Really tough. Yet when I think back, I'm amazed at how quickly we moved from those feelings of disappointment to acceptance and even excitement. I truly believe God was with us in a special way those first weeks. I really don't know how else to explain going from where we were at emotionally that first night to where we were just a few days later.

I don't want to give the wrong idea--there are still tough days. The night we found out six months ago, we knelt in the living room and prayed through tears that we'd be able to let go of our own desires for who she would be and accept whatever came. The truth is, we've actually prayed that same prayer two or three other times since then, too. The hard days are when we see her delays in growth. It's hard when she's not giving out smiles to the many well-meaning people that talk to her. It's hard thinking about her being in 7th grade. It's hard not knowing who to tell when we meet someone for the first time. "This is our daughter Cayla. She has Down syndrome," doesn't seem right. We're learning as we go.

But God has been faithful to us. He has given us hearts that love this little girl so much! She has brought so much laughter to our lives and we can't imagine not having her. The odds were 1 in 1000 that our daughter would have Down syndrome. That's a .1% chance. But after just over six months with her, we know one thing--chance had nothing to do with it. We were chosen to raise this little girl. The One who formed her chose us. And we are loving it.

And the next coach is...

2009-03-30T15:36:00.000-07:00

...DADDY!!! He has just been named the head girls' varsity coach for next year, filling in the big shoes of Coach Vint! We are all very excited for Jerod, and Cayla is pumped to be their cheerleader for many years! As you can see, she is VERY HAPPY about this news!!! Congratulations, honey!

While Jer is gone...

2009-03-22T13:18:00.001-07:00

...to the NCAA 1st and 2nd rounds in Minneapolis, I thought I would surprise him by making my first blog entry - yeah! I must admit that I have already made several mistakes, so I will keep this short:) Although Cayla is an easy baby, we are both VERY excited to soon have Jer/Daddy home again!!! I constantly wonder how single parents do it...

Well... I wanted to share with you how similar these pics are. The first one is obviously of Jerod and Cayla, and the second one is of Jerod and his dad... Like father, like son! Quite cute:) Thanks for sharing these with us, Jill!

Thanks to all of you who view our blog! Jerod really enjoys doing it, and we love to read or hear people's comments about it! Take care and enjoy the games!

Spring Break!!!!! Yeah!!!

2009-03-14T12:40:00.001-07:00

That's all.

Busted!!

2009-03-08T18:47:00.000-07:00

Well, well, well... seems that our little girl was recently caught using Daddy's computer unsupervised. We checked the computer "History" and found these sites:

*webmd.com/diaper-rash-prevention/

*eharmony4babies.com/matches

*mozart-sheetmusic.com/pianoconcertonumber24inCminor/

*facebook.com/caylajoygarland

*ebay.com/puppyauction

*redsox.com

*ask.com/should.I.worry.about.getting.too.many.kisses.from.my.parents

By the way, Leah only let me add the eharmony one if I admitted that I "met" a few girls on eharmony before meeting her. Thanks, hon. Also, amazingly, we did not set this picture up! No, she didn't climb up onto the couch and get the computer. But she did squirm her way over from the corner of the couch.

On a side note, Cayla took Pella's loss pretty hard last Thursday. The Lady Dutch fell in the state semi-finals to Sioux City Heelan. Overall, Cayla thought the girls had a great season and was proud of them, but she's glad to be getting Dad home a little more.

Cayla experiences March Madness!

2009-03-04T05:26:00.001-08:00

Cayla has certainly gotten her share of basketball this winter. In fact, she has been at almost every game with Mom! When she's not getting passed around to different people, she is leading cheers for the Lady Dutch. Well, okay... she is sleeping through most of the action, but that's okay. Below is a picture from last night, before she left to go to Wells-Fargo Arena to watch the Dutch squeak out a 52-51 win at State. The top picture was taken during the game. 2,000 people screaming and Cayla is totally at peace!

Last Tuesday, she went to Grinnell for our substate game against Knoxville. It was an exciting game with an incredible finish (copy and paste the link to see the final shot!), and it was awesome to get to share it with my family! Here is a picture from after the game.

http://kcci.highschoolplaybook.com/sidelinereport/FeaturedBlogs.do?jc=c9b9d2c8adad08c664fa846fcdfc980f

Happy Valentine's Day!!!!

2009-02-14T06:42:00.000-08:00

The Force

2009-02-08T19:04:00.000-08:00

We got to spend some time a couple weeks ago with our good friends, the DeJongs. We were already friends before our wives got pregnant, but it has been fun going through this experience at the same time--their son Roan was born a week after Cayla. And yes, David and I even braved the breathing exercises together during pre-natal class. And by "braving," I mean looking at each other and trying not to laugh while our wives did the whole "he-he-he-hoo" routine with all their hearts.

So we finally found a night to get together, and it was a blast watching Roan and Cayla "play" together. Right now, playing together consists of grabbing hands and some synchronized drooling, but even that was still fun to watch.

On the home front, we think Cayla has been sneaking into the living room for some late-night reruns of old Star Wars movies. She has taken to putting out one hand in front of her, as if attempting to use the "Force" like a young Jedi. (Leah thinks I'm a nerd for liking Star Wars.) Almost daily, we'll see her suddenly put out the hand and concentrate. Is she trying to move something? Get us to give her candy? We don't know. At this point, we wouldn't be too surprised if one day her bottle ends up in her mouth without anything to hold it there.

So here's a picture of Cayla and Roan that captures them playing as well as Cayla attempting to use the Force. What is she saying? Here's what Leah thinks: "Daddy, you will take a picture now."

If you are willing, caption this picture in the comment section.

our unhappy little snow angel

2009-01-31T17:25:00.000-08:00

Well, it has been one rough winter here in the heartland. Some of our readers from the East Coast might not know about the -20 degree temperatures, ice, and truckloads of snow we've dealt with, but it hasn't been very fun. Leah just told me about her North Carolina co-workers freaking out when a few tiny flurries were falling to the ground, and everybody felt the need to hurry home and stay safe.

We didn't want Cayla to miss out on the wonders of winter, so Mommy bundled her up today as the weather shot all the way up to 40 this afternoon! Leah MAY have helped her with the snow angel. As you can see, the fun times in the snow are going to have to wait until next year.

Next post: Cayla using the "force."

Happy New Year!

2009-01-04T19:10:00.001-08:00

It was a great holiday season for the Garlands! We enjoyed seeing family at five different Christmas celebrations. Many of you got the chance to hold Cayla, and we thank you for loving on her so well! Even the nieces and nephews did a great job with her, kissing her head and holding her gently. It was a very fun time for us and Cayla was a trooper as always. We are finding out that she just rolls with the punches. We often worry about things only to find that she makes it easy for us. Passing me around again, huh? Okay, okay. Taking me into the gym so you two can work out? No biggie. Putting this hat over my eyes again? (sigh) I guess. More time in Wal-Mart? I can make it work.

We got to hang out with my sister Brittany and her hubby John during break. We went to see "Triple Espresso" in Des Moines. It's a very funny show, and we all laughed a lot. Afterwards, we ate at Centro and enjoyed catching up with them. It was also the longest we've been away from Cayla yet--seven hours!!--at one time. I guess she was in the back of our minds because we kind of left in a hurry. I didn't realize just how quickly until Leah pointed out that we left before John had a chance to finish his drink. If you're reading, guys, we didn't mean to be rude! Thanks for the fun evening! And a big thanks to Lorraine and the Westras for watching our girl!

We spent New Year's Eve with good friends. Leah went to Kyle and Allison's, and Jerod went to Jake and Val's. Cayla and Leah joined me later at the Keegan house. Amazingly, Cayla was awake just in time to see the ball drop. Earlier in the evening, she had enjoyed meeting so many new people that she slept through her last feeding time. However, this led to the poor girl scarfing down her meal too fast later and spitting up on Mommy shortly before the end of 2008.

New Year's Day arrived and Cayla let us sleep in a little before we geared up for the Iowa bowl game. Cayla was excited to wear her Hawkeye outfit! We wanted to catch her in a smile, so Jake told her that Iowa State was going to play in a bowl game next year. That cracked her up and we had a great picture! The Garland lingo for the month is "Houdini gas." I don't know how many times she has smelled like she has a serious blowout in the old diaper. I mean, we are convinced. I start to take off her diaper and then--poof!--there's nothing there! What? Where did it go?!?! There's no way something could smell that bad and not be a dirty diaper! I check her back to see if it defied gravity. Nothing. Alas, Houdini gas.

As we reflect on 2008, we are amazed at the blessings God has given us. We got to celebrate our first year of marriage together--it has been amazing! We have a great family. We love our friends and jobs. We are simple, ordinary people serving an extraordinary God, and for some reason He has chosen to bless us in so many ways, especially with this little girl we have fallen for so quickly.

To close, I'm reading a book called "Crazy Love" by Francis Chan. Today I read these words: "God has allowed hard things in your life so you can show the world that your God is great and that knowing Him brings peace and joy, even when life is hard." These are great words.

P.S. On a side note (bad pun intended), we decided to put some new pictures up on the left. So for those of you who didn't like the picture we had of you, you are now off the hook. For those of you who will miss seeing yourselves, you better visit so we can take another one to put up. :)

first christmas

2008-12-21T20:42:00.001-08:00

We put Cayla in her first Christmas outfit today! Leah's friend Eunice picked out this adorable dress, and as you can see, she loves it! It's amazing that every time Cayla sees us holding the camera, she forgets what she was smiling about and focuses on the camera. But the top and bottom pictures were pretty close. We think she got bored with us in the middle picture. She tried "unwrapping" her dress. :) Merry Christmas everybody!

a couple new pics!!

2008-12-11T17:47:00.000-08:00

Wow, it's amazing how fast time flies when you are running to practices, games, and meeting with families! It seems like we sometimes run on fumes here at 121 E. 12th, but in the midst of it all we still find time to love Cayla. She makes it very easy! From her wonderful smiles and happy coos, the last couple of weeks have brought us so much happiness! We continue to thank God for her and consider ourselves lucky! This month's Garland lingo:

"rolling out the white carpet"=to put the burp cloth out in front of her after feeding... you know, just in case.

Here is a great picture of Cayla with her Heefner cousins!!! She had so much fun hanging out with them over Thanksgiving! They were so cute with her! That's Gabe, Seth, and Josie!

a day in the life of cayla joy

2008-11-23T14:26:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the delay, faithful readers! We promise (fingers crossed!) to never go two weeks between posts ever again! At least not this year. In our world, basketball started for me, so things have gotten quite a bit busier. Leah started working again almost two weeks ago and is loving it. Thankfully, she is able to do quite a bit of work from home and gets to stay with Cayla most of the week. CJ started daycare last week, going across the street to Miss Amanda's house. Yes, it was hard for Mom to leave without her, but it helps knowing she is well taken care of!

As for Cayla, well, we thought we'd let her tell you about a typical day! CJ, take it away!

Thanks, Daddy, and hi, everybody! Okay, I'll start at the beginning! A few weeks ago I used to get up during the night to see if I could get some more grub. But you know, I got a little sick of that, so I just decided to sleep all the way through. It seems to make all of us a little happier and Dad doesn't complain about Mom falling asleep at 8:30 anymore. But I knew if I was going to go easy on them, I should get a little something in return, ya know? So here's a picture of me in my new bed! Sweet, huh?? Plenty of room to spread out!

After Dad heads in to work (he's been going to work later since I came around!), it's just me and Mom for a while. She is usually working hard, so it's up to me to take care of things around the house. Dishes? I got your Cascade for ya. Dusting? They call me "Pledge" Garland. Clothes? All over that, too. Check out this picture of me after I finished folding another load.

I don't like being cooped up at 121 E. 12th all day long. I like to get outside some. In fact, today Mom took me on a trip to Hy-Vee. It was a tad bit chilly so they bundled me up in a big pink winter coat. It must have been funny, because they laughed at me and took a picture. I'm not sure why they were laughing. Hey, don't worry about me guys, I'm just along for the ride.

And of course, I have to admit they also make me smile, too. Whether it's silly songs, goofy faces, or just their own smiles, I can't help but return a few grins. And while I am really good at knowing exactly when to stop just before the picture is taken, sometimes they'll snap a partial smile like in this one.

Okay, now for some quick things. I have an appointment at the swing and I might be wet.

*I guess sometimes I confuse Mommy. She often asks Daddy, "Was that you or her?"

*I don't know what "beautiful" means, but they call me that a lot.

*They like to close their eyes and say prayers over me--I like that!

That's all for now. Come see me!!!

making friends! (and a story about Wes)

2008-11-09T19:05:00.000-08:00

Cayla got to make some friends recently! She's been bugging us lately about letting her meet some people "a little younger than you" so we went and found some people her age.

Roan DeJong stopped over (with dad David in the picture) to hang out. The DeJongs are good friends of ours despite the fact that their dog Wes once left turds all over my old duplex. WARNING!! WARNING!! THIS STORY CONTAINS DOG POOP!! The DeJongs were leaving for a night and needed somebody to take care of Wes. David spoke highly of the dog and assured me that I would have "no problems with him." Stupidly, I agreed. I remember thinking it was strange that Wes never went poop when I walked him that Friday night. I was more surprised when the same thing happened the next morning. But the REAL surprise came a couple of days later when I found all the "presents" Wes left for me in various places around the house, including on my bed. We decided not to tell Cayla this story so her view of Roan and the DeJongs (and Wes for that matter) wouldn't be tainted. Also, if you know the DeJongs and they ever ask you to watch Wes... well, don't say I didn't warn you. We look forward to seeing Roan (one week younger) in the upcoming years!

In the other picture, CJ is playing with her second cousin Brynn, who is two months older. Brynn visited on Saturday with her mom Kami, Leah's cousin and lifetime friend. Cayla and Brynn enjoyed hanging out together under the baby gym, probably discussing the taste of milk or how funny it is to pee when Mommy and Daddy aren't expecting it. We hope the two girls have as much fun as their moms did growing up. Ironically, Cayla lives on the same street that Leah and Kami used to play on as kids! It's cool to think that even then,

God knew the crazy young girls playing in the puddles on East 12th would one day have their own little girls that would also play on the same street!

Roan coming over to visit got us thinking. Of the people in our wedding party, four of the five guys will have had a baby within about a year time span, beginning with Corey (last October) and ending with Mike (December). And Jake, the guy who didn't, just got married last summer. So expect one next summer for them. Right Val? We even have some babies on the girls' side, with Diane expecting a baby any day and Becki due in the spring. Crazy. All this to say, Cayla will have many friends close to her age to play with, which makes us very happy! :D

cayla's first halloween

2008-11-01T16:48:00.000-07:00

As Halloween approached, we knew Cayla had some hefty shoes to fill. After all, her Mom once won $1000 with two other friends for their "Roller Coaster Girls" costume. It's true--I've seen the pictures and they looked amazing. The three girls were basically standing in a cardboard box--complete with fake legs dangling over the front of the box--that was decorated to look like a roller coaster. And Cayla's Dad once dressed as "The Microwave Man." I was there for that. And it wasn't amazing. Consider yourself spared of the details.

Anyway, we decided to alleviate the pressure from her and not get her an outfit. Leah spent 50 cents on a little shirt that said "I Love Mummy!" and Naomi and family got her some "Hokus Pocus!" socks. But on Halloween morning, a surprise package arrived in the mail from Leah's wonderful former supervisor in North Carolina. It was an adorable Halloween pumpkin outfit! Bright orange pants, orange booties, and a choice of two cute shirts. Cayla was to make her first appearance at Pella Middle School in just an hour, so Leah rushed downstairs to wash the outfit. Though it was still a bit damp when the girls left for the school, the sight was well worth it!

Here is a picture we took later. Cayla wanted to sit up on the pumpkin for this one. Check out the sweet pants!

my wife is not a liar

2008-10-26T18:45:00.000-07:00

Thursday, October 23rd. Field Trip day. I'm at the Neil Smith Wildlife Refuge outside Prairie City getting ready to hear a buffalo presentation with a bunch of 13-year-olds. My phone vibrates--it's Wifey.

Leah's excitement is evident immediately. "She turned over! I had her on her stomach and turned around to get something and when I turned around again she was on her back and--"

"Are you sure?"

"Yes! I promise!"

Leah then shared the news with a few people, as well as googling, "at which age do babies turn over?"

When I got home, she told me that after finishing her calls, she put Cayla back on her stomach to see what would happen. Again she turned over, this time the other way.

As you can imagine, I wanted to see the phenomenon for myself. So we tried on Friday. Nothing. And again Saturday. Not even close. By this time I was starting to wonder if Mommy was telling stories. I mean, CJ didn't even act like she knew how to shift her weight at all.

Well, tonight Cayla decided to leave me no doubt. Not once or twice, but four times in the span of about five minutes, she rolled over from tummy to back, two times each direction.

So...I guess my wife is not a liar. Here is some evidence...

hits and misses

2008-10-22T17:24:00.000-07:00

Thankfully, our little girl has been pretty easy on us so far. She's given no demands for a larger crib or higher allowance. She's expressed no disappointment in her room color or complained about the tightness of her diapers. She hasn't even asked for a wider food selection! And yet, there are a couple things we thing we've pinpointed that Cayla isn't too crazy about:

1. burping. Though we encourage her with pats to the back, she just doesn't like to let out big belches. Perhaps she considers it unladylike. Someday she'll probably pay us back for all the "backpats" by burping the alphabet.

2. her bouncy seat. We tried it one day thinking she would sleep peacefully within its confines. She was awake within seconds and crying. We tried the vibration option. Yeah, not havin' it.

3. the snotsucker. Unfortunately, there are times when we need to put that rubber thing in one of her nostrils. This will almost guarantee a scrunched-up face along with a grunt. If you ignore these warnings and try again, crying will soon follow.

Now for a couple of things we think Cayla loves:

1. being held. We have a girl who loves to be cuddled. Many of you have already found this to be true!

2. her bath. When she first starts to get wet, there is a moment of uncertainty. What is this? she seems to think. But she quickly adjusts (see pictures below!) and even enjoys putting her right foot all the way in the water. We love to dry her off--she's always in a good mood afterwards.

3. voices. Whether it's singing or just conversation, Cayla loves to hear voices!

We're thankful that what she likes far outweighs what she doesn't like! She has made things so easy on her parents so far and we continue to love her more and more every day!

Two Weeks Later

2008-10-14T18:39:00.000-07:00

"Maybe she will look like you, talk like you, smile like you... maybe she'll sing, paint, or dance like you... but she'll dream her very own dreams. You cannot give her her dreams for those will be hers alone."

We read these words on a card from our Uncle Tom and Aunt Jana recently. When they picked out the card, they couldn't have known just how true those words would be. You cannot give her her dreams for those will be hers alone.

For nine months we waited to meet our little girl. I wrote a few weeks ago that it was like waiting for Christmas to arrive. We knew we had a gift, we just didn't know exactly what it (she) would look like. Two weeks ago we welcomed Cayla into our family. One week ago we found out how special our gift is when she was diagnosed with Down Syndrome.

She'll dream her very own dreams.

Last Tuesday was a tough day. When I walked in the door Leah met me in the kitchen. I knew she'd been crying and I knew what she was about to tell me. A week before, nurses had noticed certain characteristics about Cayla and had mentioned these concerns to our doctor. He encouraged us to have a blood test done. It would take a week for the results to come back. In the mean time, we spent the first few days welcoming family and friends while wondering if she had Downs or not. By the weekend, we had convinced ourselves that she did not have it. At the end of the day last Tuesday, Leah called me at school and said she really needed me to come home soon. I told myself maybe it was for another reason until I walked in the door.

We shared some long hugs and quite a few tears Tuesday. We grieved a few things that night, mainly the loss of our dreams for her. We realized she would not be able to do some of the things we'd imagined. We realized that we could not give her our own dreams (for those will be hers alone).

Yet even in our tears, we thanked God for giving Cayla to us. We prayed that we'd be good parents for her. That we'd love her well. We prayed that she would be a source of Joy for us and for others. We prayed for strength.

Cayla's been with us for two weeks now. We can't believe how much we've come to love her already! It's hard for us to put her down and even her stinky gas is adorable. We love her little noises. We can't wait for the first laugh, the first steps, the first day of school. God is already answering our prayers (her heart is strong!) and getting us excited for the journey ahead. Our family and friends have been amazing and we know how fortunate we are! We look forward to sharing her with you as she grows up!

"But the Voice of Truth tells me a different story

The Voice of Truth says do not be afraid

The Voice of Truth says this is for my glory

Out of all the voices calling out to me

I will choose to listen and believe the Voice of Truth."

--Voice of Truth, Casting Crowns

*this song was important to me those first few days of struggling to accept it.

Bath time!

2008-10-09T15:58:00.000-07:00

We think Cayla actually enjoys her baths! She's not sure at first but then gets warmed up and relaxes! We love to dry her off when she is all wet!!

Photos!

2008-10-02T11:42:00.000-07:00

Here are some pics. We'll be posting more as the days go by. Cayla was visited by so many family members and friends.

The Day it Happened

2008-10-02T09:11:00.000-07:00

Monday, September 29

10:58 pm. Just as my head hits the pillow to sleep, I hear Leah call out from the bathroom, "Whoa. I think my water is breaking." My eyes go wide as I yell, "What!?!" I get to the bathroom as she mumbles something about "not being able to control it."

11:00. Leah is told over the phone by a nurse that YES YOU NEED TO COME IN NOW.

11:01. We rush around the house, trying to get everything ready to go, occasionally calling out things like: "Are you serious!?!", "Are you sure your water is breaking?", and "Do you need to wear a diaper?"

11:05. We realize we can't locate the camera (people who really know me are nodding their heads right now). Slight panic breaks out. However, we resolve to not leave the house until we find the camera.

11:09. Still looking.

11:11. I accuse Leah of having the camera last.

11:12. I find the camera in my school bag.

11:13. We back out of the driveway, realizing it could be the final time as a two-person family.

11:20. We try to enter through the back entrance of the hospital. It is locked. 12 hours of pre-natal classes and we never asked which way to enter when in labor.

11:22. Enter through the front and after a few quick tests are told, "Yeah, you are here for the long haul."

11:32. Leah feels the first contractions. At this time she is considering an all-natural delivery. She is still feeling tough and describes the pain as a "1 or 2 out of 10."

Tuesday, September 30

12:05 am. Midnight creeps past with only a few slight contractions. Leah mentions a friend who recently gave birth without any drugs, so it's still in the back of her mind. She is measuring "1".

12:38. Our first walk around the hospital. Leah is moving fast and is full of energy as usual. She leads us all over, even surging up and down stairs. At this point I was half-expecting her to break out a Shawn Johnson floor exercise routine down the hall. I could even hear John Tesh. "Oh! And she bumped into the gurney at the end of that flip! That will be a deduction!"

1:23. The walks are paying off--she is now dilated at 2 centimeters.

2:22. Contractions come with a little more power now. Leah mentions, "Yeah, I guess I can see why people use drugs for this." Her armor is cracking.

3:03. Another walk. We feel rebellious and venture into parts unknown. We are kindly told that we can't walk down a certain hallway.

3:04. Leah feels nauseous. Thankfully, a restroom is a few feet away.

4:05. We fall asleep.

4:30. That was short.

5:11. Leah has now been nauseous a few more times. She is convinced it is because of the pain. I decide not to ask if she still wants to try without drugs. Instead, we take another walk.

6:03. Contractions are getting nastier now. I try to help by starting conversations. In this case, I was working on our baby book. Specifically, the page that asks you to write down what events are happening in the world on your baby's birth day, such as how much gas costs, what bands are popular, etc. Leah is hit with some serious contractions. Stupidly, I ask, "Honey, what are some popular movies and actors right now?" Leah mentions (I couldn't tell if her teeth were clenched) fairly firmly that she doesn't care about that and not to ask her that stuff again.

6:55. Dr. VandeZande stops in. Leah is now measuring a "tight 4" and grimacing frequently.

8:00. Contractions are now up to a "5 or 6" out of 10 Leah's toughness scale.

9:12. We take our 5th and final walk. This one is painful. Leah has to stop every fifteen feet or so to close her eyes and deal with the pain. We only travel up and down the hall once but it takes us quite a while.

9:30. Dr. VandeZande checks in. Leah is now measuring at 5. They agree that it is time for the intrathecal shot, which will be coming soon.

9:55. The anesthesiologist arrives with the goods. Says Leah after the shot: "I feel like a queen." Somehow I don't think she is talking about my wonderful support.

10:45. The doctor returns and checks Leah again. "Whoa!" he says. "Go get the table. She could go any time."

11:15. Leah starts to push for 10 seconds at a time, 3 times with each contraction. I'm soon asked to hoist her leg because it will help with pushing. I figure it's the least I can do.

11:21. On Round 4 of pushing, Cayla Joy's head emerges into the world. Quickly, the doctor sucks at the gooberish stuff from her mouth and nose and tells Leah to push some more.

11:24. Finally, Leah sends out the rest of Cayla. Seconds later, I grab the scissors and cut the umbilical cord. It's all over. Leah is exhausted and happy. Cayla is measured and weighed. And Dr. VandeZande is giving me the handshake I've been waiting a long time for.

11:49. The room has cleared but for the three of us. Cayla is on Mommy's lap. Tears fall as happy parents thank the Almighty One.

Produce, anyone?

2008-09-19T21:44:00.000-07:00

So Leah was checking out some websites when we found out we were pregnant a while back. She came across a website called BabyCenter which offers a free weekly e-mail that tells you about what's happening with the baby inside. These emails come every Wednesday under the title "Your Pregnancy at x Weeks". There is some good information in these updates, no doubt.

However, in order to give soon-to-be parents a visual of what's happening inside Mom, the email compares the size of the baby to...a fruit or vegetable. At first it was okay. At Week 4 she was the size of a poppy seed, Week 6 moved up to a lentil bean, and by Week 8 our little girl was the size of a kidney bean. Okay, not bad so far. By Week 12 she was about the size of a lime and moved up to a lemon two weeks later. That wasn't bad. You know, nice, colorful fruits, right?

However, Week 16 had her compared to an avocado and Week 19 was a "large heirloom tomato." Hmm. Now we were starting to not like the comparisons so much. There was a spaghetti squash a few weeks later and then this: "she is the size of an average rutabaga". WHAT??? I don't even know what a "rutabaga" is, let alone an "average" rutabaga. I thought that was a smaller type of Winnebago or something. It kept getting worse, though.

Week 27: the head of a cauliflower. A week later she was a Chinese cabbage. A Chinese cabbage? Can we at least get an American cabbage?? Yet strangely enough, by this point we started looking forward to the comparisons strictly for the laugh. It was a Catch-22: trying not to picture a cabbage inside Leah but also wanting to see if the next week could top the previous.

So every Wednesday, there we have been, logging into Leah's email account to read over the weekly message and prepare ourselves for the veggie that would be in our imaginations for the next few days. Week 32 didn't let us down: a "large jicama". Okay, seriously. What is a jicama? I honestly have no idea. Was there really nothing comparable to a jicama they could've used? Two weeks later she was an average cantaloupe. Now that I can picture.

Another curveball came at Week 37 when we discovered our girl was now comparable to a "stalk of swiss chard." I'm not making this up. What is a swiss chard? And does it really come on stalks? And, of course, two days ago, we received the exciting news that our baby has graduated up to another level: she is now a leek. I thought that's what might happen during feeding, I didn't know it was actually a fruit or veggie. By the way, I think BabyCenter gets some sort of commission from the Hy-Vee produce department.

So now with only one or two more emails coming, I have to admit that we're going to miss them. However, I am a little scared of the birth: I'm half-expecting Leah to shoot out a head of lettuce or Swedish watermelon.

So now...we wait?

2008-09-07T19:29:00.000-07:00

The crib is up, complete with butterfly bedding. The walls have received a fresh coat (koi pond green) of paint. The pre-natal classes are done--we passed!!! A recliner sits in the corner, ready to be used. Diapers and clothes await a little body to cling to. All that's missing? A sweet little girl for Mommy and Daddy to hold and love!

It's kind of like the week before Christmas when you're a kid. The presents are there--right there in front of your eyes! And yet, you're told to wait for just a little longer. You can feel the present in your hands! All that separates you from the gift is a thin layer of wrapping paper. Sigh. And so the anticipation builds...

So here we sit on the coach, watching our gift inside Mommy's tummy. And waiting. All that separates us from her is a thin layer of skin. What exactly is inside there? How big is it? And why does she enjoy kicking and punching Mommy?

Soon, we'll get to hold her. And rock her in the chair. And watch her wake up in a crib on butterfly bedding. And wrap her little limbs in diapers and clothing. But...all we can do now is pray. And wait for Christmas morning.

What's in a name...?

2008-08-27T19:53:00.000-07:00

Well, the wifey and I are just sitting here thinking maybe it's time to share our little girl's name with the world. Many have been asking, some more persistent than others (Mom). I guess you could say the pressure is starting to get to us. Our walls of strength are starting to crumble. To put it simply, we just can't contain it any longer. So, with a mixture of relief and excitement, and without further ado, the name of the first (of many?) little Garland girl is...oh shoot, the battery power is almost out!! I'm down to 2% power and, of course, I've misplaced the charger! I guess we'll have to sign off for now!!!!! _ _ _ _ _ says good night!!!