Mat and Jamie Holt family: Eight years ago... :)

It's the eve of Caleb's 8th birthday. Eight years ago today the Dr. told me that I would have my baby boy that night. So I went walking! I had already walked a couple of miles (including walking up and down Foremaster Ridge) to get to the Dr.'s office but I was determined. I took Bailey in the stroller and walked from Winchester Hills into town and then around town by my parents house. I figured I walked a total of 15 mile that day. Now, Caleb wasn't due for 3 more weeks but in my mind he was a week late. Mat and I figured logically that he would have had to be conceived the month prior to when the dates showed to have even conceived to begin with. At 9:00 pm we gave up walking. I was exhausted and wanted a hot bath and a good nights sleep. The Dr. said that he would come that night and I trusted him so I figured I needed some rest. My sister had premature twins 4 months prior and a few weeks before lost one of her baby boys. It was a hard time for our family and we all just wanted to experience a healthy baby. My sister called and chewed me out for lying around. She couldn't understand that if all I needed to do was walk around to have the baby why would I be resting. After a long phone argument with her I went to lay down. I slept for 8 hours in complete deep sleep until 6:00am. I woke up with sharp, LABOR PAINS! Mat was worried to see me in pain and I calmly told him that it was just time. It was funny to see him digest that it really was. Bailey had spent the night at her aunt Sandi's so off we went. After 4 hours of getting hooked up and having 2 epidurals (since the first one didn't work) We delivered a healthy baby boy! Caleb was 8lbs 5oz.! I knew there was no way he could be 3 weeks early. We had a tough time deciding on a name. I had even forgot that we had told various people various names until the following Christmas when his great-grandmother addressed his gift to a "Gavin". Apparently she relys on the computer to help remember grand kids names. When it came down to it Mat and I never actually called him any other name than Caleb and couldn't. Mat's brother had passed away the previous year as well and we wanted to honor him somehow so Caleb Mathew Holt shares the initials of his uncle Corey Merlin Holt. That was the only way I could get Mat to name Caleb after him. It all just felt right. We have enjoyed having Caleb be a part of our family. He is such an incredible kid. He plays the piano really well and loves sports. We used to tease him that he must be deaf because he never seemed to listen to us. Well... parents of the year officially will never belong to us. In first grade he was tested 3 times and found that he could hardly hear in his left ear. He even pointed to his ear and told his teacher he can't hear out of it. Hmmm, great parents we are! Caleb is very bright. He LOVES drawing. He can sit for hours and concentrate on one thing. This is something I could never do! He is truly such a blessing to our family! We love you Caleb!!!