The Easleys

backyard

2010-05-28T13:46:00.001-05:00

Look who turned two!!

2010-01-19T09:13:00.002-06:00

So we're about a week late but here are some pictures of the birthday girl. She has developed her own little attitude that can be seen in the last few pictures. But as our families can attest, she has really come out of her shell in the past few months. God is TRULY amazing!!!

Christmas Cheer

2009-12-21T08:56:00.003-06:00

Here is a clip from our girls to you! Merry Christmas!!!

Happy Birthday Caroline!!!

2009-11-06T15:36:00.000-06:00

The different faces of Stella!!

2009-10-09T14:55:00.000-05:00

Fall is in the air!

2009-10-01T12:58:00.003-05:00

Better Late then never right?!?!

2009-09-24T13:34:00.003-05:00

Well it's been two weeks since it was Caroline's first day of school but we're just NOW putting something on the blog. But better late then never right?? So here are a few pictures from her first day!

Vacation in Wisconsin

2009-07-23T12:44:00.006-05:00

There is nothing like reliving some of your best childhood memories all over again with your own children. Perfect.

Wisconsin Vacation

2009-07-23T12:36:00.006-05:00

Dinner time with Stella

2009-07-10T08:33:00.002-05:00

Sometimes...this is what we have to "deal" with during supper time. In the middle you'll see Stella looking around thinking that I'm playing peekaboo with her. When in reality I had to leave the room because we were trying to be stern with her and I couldn't hold back my smile. This is one video where you have to listen rather carefully to Erin and I to get the full affect of Stella's reactions.

Hey look...a new post!!!

2009-06-01T10:56:00.004-05:00

Well, with limited camera use comes limited updates. The girls are loving the beautiful weather we've been having (although, not as much as Erin has been). It's been amazingly crazy watching them grow as girls and as sisters. Caroline, the ever loving one (for the most part), can make Stella laugh more then anyone, but can also make her show her "attitude" more then anyone else. Stella is getting more "conversational" these days (something she picked up from her sister), although you can only make out a few words as she talks to you. They are SO much fun!!
As any parent can attest, when you see brand new babies and look at your own children, it is NUTS to realize how much they've changed and grown. Yet it also hard to picture them a few years from now. I believe the ol' saying "Time flies when you're having fun" was first spoken by a parent looking at their grown child. Because it is never more true then when you watch your children play, grow and learn. The Lord is GOOD!!!

Happy Easter!!

2009-04-13T08:24:00.002-05:00

lately

2009-03-05T09:13:00.002-06:00

Happy Birthday Stella!!

2009-01-15T10:51:00.004-06:00

That's right folks...it's already been a year!!! Doesn't seem like that long ago Erin and were wondering what type of personality Stella would have. Now we look at newborns (especially Olivia Engstrom) and are amazed that our "big" girl used to be that small!! This past month has brought some of the biggest changes for Stella. All at once she decided that she could walk and was motoring around the house like it was nobodies business. Then came the teeth. Caroline got her first teeth around 4 1\2 months...so comparably Stella was a late bloomer. But once they started coming...they REALLY came. In the past month she's had to deal with 8 popping through. She's also learning to do more things. She can give kisses now so if you see her coming at you with mouth wide open and saying "AHHHHHH!" that's what she's doing. And just in the past few days she's started giving hugs!
Before Stella was born, Erin and I wondered (like many parents who are expecting their second child do I'm sure) how the heck we could love another child like we did Caroline...but once Stella came there was never doubt that we did. God has truly blessed us with these girls!!!

Pancakes anyone?!

2009-01-09T13:28:00.006-06:00

As Erin took this picture of Stella she realized that we gave Caroline pancakes for the first time around the same age. So we dug up an ol' picture for a little comparison. They're for sure sisters...but the also look pretty different!!

Typical Day

2008-12-16T09:44:00.005-06:00

Hey Caroline...how old are you????

2008-10-11T00:15:00.001-05:00

That's right folks....our big girl is now 3!!!! Crazy how time flies. Doesn't seem that long ago that Erin and I became parent's (and in the scheme of things it wasn't THAT long ago). But at 12:15 on Oct. 11th 2005 Caroline Olivia was born. The Lord has blessed us in so many ways through this girl...so much joy. And as Milton Vincent said "I deserve wrath, yet instead God gives me them. Wow!" Amen to that!!

Happy Birthday Sunshine!!

A fish called Caroline and Stella's gets some teeth in!

2008-10-03T13:27:00.001-05:00

Giggiling Girls

2008-09-25T14:10:00.003-05:00

Ol' Truck

2008-09-09T09:03:00.002-05:00

We made our now annual trip to the apple orchard this past weekend. We decided to stay a bit more local then last year and went to one just outside of Morton. The girls are getting bigger all the time...especially Stella. She's speeding around on her hands and knees and is trying hard to get herself to stand up. The fall season unofficially starts this week in Morton with the Pumpkin Festival. For those of you who may not know...Morton is the "Pumpkin Capital of the World." So of course we have to have a festival to celebrate.
We hope this finds you all doing well. Maybe we'll actually try to post on a more regular basis.....we'll see :)

Stella gets the giggles

2008-09-04T09:36:00.002-05:00

The Girls!!!

2008-06-03T08:57:00.003-05:00

Messin' around

2008-05-07T08:17:00.002-05:00

starting the week off right

2008-04-14T11:41:00.002-05:00

a weekend outside

2008-04-06T14:48:00.003-05:00

Our trumpet player

2008-04-03T12:14:00.004-05:00

So let me explain the title. As many of you know Caroline loves the show Little Einsteins. In that show, Quincy plays the trumpet and sometimes asks the kids watching to "play" their trumpet. Well Stella has this thing where she puts her hands together and pulls them up to her mouth and as Caroline pointed out one day "plays her trumpet."
Stella got her first shots yesterday...and daddy had to watch for the first time....not cool!!! She is in the 95% for weight and 90% for height!!! Caroline was always tall but relatively skinny....not this one!

spring training

2008-04-02T19:20:00.002-05:00

buds

2008-03-27T13:55:00.004-05:00

2008-03-24T12:26:00.003-05:00

Spring break

2008-03-20T09:56:00.002-05:00

2008-03-11T09:12:00.005-05:00

morning

2008-02-20T14:15:00.006-06:00

2008-02-13T09:42:00.004-06:00

warm inside

2008-02-06T15:48:00.000-06:00

Caroline meets Stella

2008-01-25T09:00:00.000-06:00

already they conspire

2008-01-19T14:45:00.001-06:00

Our strong little girl!!!

2008-01-16T19:22:00.000-06:00

So after we had our "fancy" dinner the hospital had provided for us Tuesday night, we woke Stella up and tried to get some new pics of her to put up. Much to our surprise, she held her head up for more then a few seconds!! And this wasn't a wimpy second this was a steady 5 seconds or so without any help. This girl is STRONG. Of course later that night she showed her temper\impatience with her "angry"cry that would break anybody's heart...until the nurses bring her in at 2 A.M. because of that cry and not even eating would really get rid of it. I guess even then it breaks your heart.....but there is much more frustration mixed in when NOBODY is getting any sleep.
Caroline LOVES her baby sister. Erin and I had talked about the possibility of people calling her Janie and were fine with that. Never really talking it through with Caroline. Well low behold that is what Caroline calls Stella....no matter how many times we "correct" her or make it a point to call her Stella in front of her. Ah well....it's pretty cute that she's got that nickname already for her sister. We'll hopefully be able to put up the video of Caroline first seeing Stella by next week. So until then....thank you all so much for your calls\prayers\emails over the past few days.....they were much needed and appreciated. We'll post again soon.....

Love
Cam, Erin, Caroline and Stella "Janie"

The long day is over

2008-01-14T20:44:00.001-06:00

2007-12-03T13:15:00.000-06:00

Nevermind that I did find that perfect place for my new bench I got for Christmas. No matter how many times a day I set it at its post under the coat rack, Caroline finds a way to get it back as close to the tree as she can so she can gaze at her reflection in the silver balls or out the window. Think it might have a new perfect place...at least for this month.

We taught her a new way to swing. Dont think she'll ever go back...

2007-10-29T08:33:00.001-05:00

Faces

2007-10-24T22:02:00.001-05:00

She's Two

2007-10-21T21:51:00.001-05:00

a saturday...finally

2007-09-24T09:06:00.000-05:00

Woke up to Caroline talking softly in her crib, not the alarm today. Got some coffee from Eli's (Caroline just got a few sugar packets) and sat on the front porch for awhile. The only place that doesn't cry out for demolition or restoration of some degree. We put in a good 5 hrs of work and then headed to the apple orchard, hoping it would all be done when we got home. Here's to many more cups of coffee, mornings on the porch, and hrs spent making this place ours.

Movin' on up...to the East side

2007-09-12T10:08:00.000-05:00

As of this past Monday, this is the new home of the Cameron Easley fam. We're very excited about this move, for a few reasons. One, we're moving to Morton which is closer to friends and church and not any further from the fam (actually closer to the Kennelly's and IWU :). But also because of the situation that God worked out. We were really looking for a house to rent while we tried to save up for a down payment whenever we are able to buy one, and we knew we were really wanting Morton. But as time went on it was looking more and more like we couldn't afford to rent a house in Morton. But the Lord does provide. Not only did we find a house we could afford, but we also found a house that we were going to be able to do a little fixin' up. The Village of Morton actually owns the house and were very open to our desire to do a little work to the house. Since then we have found the work to be more then we anticipated, but it will all be worth it when it's done. The house is in a great location, with both a coffee shop right across the street and the library less then a block away.
Anywho, thanks to all who have helped so far...we couldn't have done it without you. When we're all done fixing things up we'll put the before and after pics up....and boy you will want to see them!!!

Hair cut #2

2007-08-29T11:35:00.000-05:00

The Before

And the after

Easley Party of 4

2007-07-31T09:49:00.000-05:00

Is going to be a

In January 2008

2007-07-24T15:40:00.000-05:00

Caroline LOVED the porch swing....probably her favorite spot at the cabin

For most of the trip Caroline insisted everybody wear a "bib"

2007-06-28T15:12:00.000-05:00

Just a few pictures from Erin and Caroline's visit to Wisconsin last week. Sounds like everybody had a blast while they were up there. They got to pick some strawberries, mess around at a water park, and take a ride in the grocery store ( we liked this picture 'cause it looks like she's backing up)

Going to Wild Life Prairie Park with Annabelle and Vi

2007-06-13T13:30:00.000-05:00

FINALLY new pics

2007-06-01T13:21:00.000-05:00

I know it's been a while since we've updated this thing so...sorry for those of you who check on a regular basis and kept seeing the same ol' pics up there.
This past weekend we went down to St. Louis to help Erin's parents move into their new house. Great house in a gorgeous setting. Caroline is starting to take after her mother by taking up "colors" She teases us every time she picks up a crayon. She does just as good\bad with either hand so we can't figure out if she's a lefty or if she'll be the odd ball in the family.
Anywho...enjoy the new pics. If you want more you'll have to bug Erin since she's the photographer!

Another First!!!!

2007-04-27T14:09:00.000-05:00

Well Caroline had her first hair cut yesterday. We're still working on getting a more up to date pic of her..showing the new do. It does make her look older...something that can stop happening anytime now. She did really well though. She scared us for a bit at the beginning since she was running around like crazy as we were waiting. But once she got into the seat she calmed right down. Anywho...we'll try to get better pics up soon. Until then...enjoy!!!

Visit from Vi and other stuff

2007-04-10T10:47:00.000-05:00

Caroline LOVES spending time with her cousins (she's still waiting for her first cousin on the Zeller side) Vi came to visit last week and the two got to play for a few hours. Later Caroline enjoyed playing in her blankets.

Spring!!!!

2007-03-20T09:10:00.000-05:00

Well Caroline got her first real chance to swing a few days ago. She LOVED it....a little to much really to the point where she put up a fuss when it game time to leave. She's also ready for baseball season to start. She's got her Cardinal's hat (that is actually a newborn so we've to to get her a new one that actually fits) and her baseball book that is her new found love:) She IS a daddy's girl:D

Aunt Anna visits

2007-03-03T16:51:00.000-06:00

Thanks for coming all the way to Peoria. For providing the oreos for breakfast, playing in the snow for 3 min, and putting Carolines hair in its first ponytail. Come back soon.

2007-02-20T16:29:00.000-06:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY UNCLE BEN

2007-02-10T15:40:00.000-06:00

Wish we could share some cake. Love you and miss you.

Watching TV

2007-01-18T13:21:00.000-06:00

Caroline has found the recliner as a perfect spot to watch some TV

Patty Cake

2007-01-18T11:48:00.000-06:00

BIG girl

2007-01-10T09:59:00.000-06:00

Well....here is our big girl. It's amazing to come home everyday and see all the new things that Caroline learns while at home with mommy. This is one of the newer "moves" showing us all how big she is:) Lately we've been trying to work on her "amen" after we get done praying at dinner. Of course she has no idea what she's saying, she just enjoys watching mommy and daddy flip out everytime she actually says it:)
Well hope you all had a great Christmas season and are having a happy new year so far. Hope to see you all sooner rather then later.

Love you all

Cam, Erin, Caroline

Merry Christmas

2006-12-21T09:49:00.000-06:00

Well Caroline has been in the Christmas Spirit!!!! She loved getting her hands on the Christmas tree and the ornaments....or as she likes to call them "baws." With Christmas only a few days away we cannot WAIT too see our families. Hopefully we'll get to see most of you in the coming week and a half or so. If not....MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!
LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!

Snow Day

2006-12-21T09:39:00.000-06:00

Dec 1st brought not only cold temps but also around 8 inches of snow!!! Need less to say when I went out to go to work the snow drifts were up to my knees. I looked down the way and saw a 4 X 4 stuck in the snow and realized.....there ain't no way I was getting out. Shortly after getting back inside I received a call saying the office was closed. So I had an unexpected extra day home and an extended weekend. Gotta love snow days!!!!

2006-11-03T12:20:00.000-06:00

Miss you all!!!! The holidays are right around the corner so hopefully we'll get to see most of you at that time!!!!

Love you all

Cam, Erin, Caroline

Happy Birthday Caroline

2006-10-10T18:50:00.000-05:00

One year ago tonight we were sitting at Panera eating what we fondly referred to as the "last supper" before being induced at midnight. For traditions sake we sit here at that same corner reminiscing and taking turns sharing our preciouse sourdough with our persistent baby girl. "moe? moe?" Thanks for taking it easy on us Caroline...heres to one year down and many more years of learning to go.

More pics

2006-10-06T15:16:00.000-05:00

Just a few more pics for your enjoyment. Don't think that we have a full picture of Caroline in her Cardinals outfit....but man was she adorable!!!!

Caroline's first game

2006-10-06T15:00:00.001-05:00

Well for right now this is as close as we're going to get to a picture of the three of us. This was Caroline's first Cardinal game and the last regular season game of the year. Eventhough they lost it was still a great day!!! Caroline did OK for being a little short on sleep and food, along with the fact that she couldn't really get down and walk around like she's used to. All together though we had a blast. I'll try to get a few other pics up soon.

Love you all

Pancakes anyone?!?!

2006-09-26T10:38:00.000-05:00

Well coming up on her first B-day we decided it was finally time for Caroline to try some pancakes. She can be quite the tease, offering you her pancake one minute, only to pull it back, stuff it in her mouth and give you that look like "I can't believe you fell for that AGAIN!!!" Needless to say she loved it:) Meanwhile Caroline will be making her first trip to a Cardinals game this weekend....hopefully Daddy, Grandpa, and Uncle Ben will behave themselves no matter what the outcome;) Hope this finds you all doing well. We'll try get another post up next week.

Love you all!!!

Cam, Erin, Caroline

Momma's girl

2006-09-06T11:10:00.000-05:00

Well this isn't the WHOLE family....but it is 2\3 of it. Caroline is walking around like crazy now. She's a very determined little girl. She knows she can walk which means she takes any chance she can get. For those of you with little kids.....time flies so quickly. Spend as much time as you can with them.
More to come.....hopefully sooner then later.

Return of the camera!!!!!

2006-09-01T16:34:00.000-05:00

Pictureless

2006-08-15T12:32:00.000-05:00

Well the posts will be picture less for a while. It seems like we've lost our digital camera while at the family reunion at the end of July. So I guess we'll just have to make do with written updates for a while:(
Caroline is on the verge of walking. You can see that she really wants to....until it actually comes time to DO it, she then gives up and falls down. She'll be there soon though:) She just turned 10 months a few days ago.....quickly approaching that 1 year mark. It's hard to believe that she's almost a year old already.
Anywho....that'll have to do for now. We'll try to figure something out to get some new pics up here.

Love you all

Cam, Erin, Caroline

Time really does fly by!!!

2006-08-01T15:52:00.000-05:00

OK so I've not done a good job right off the bat in regards to keeping this updated. However, I thought I warned you that that might be the case. Either way....here ya go.
I thought I would throw this out there to show just how much our little girl has changed. The first was taken on 11/29/05 and the other on 7/12/06.
Hope this finds you all keeping cool in this summer heat. It may be a while until we get a new pic up here. Seems as though we may have left our camera up in Wisconsin. We'll update it as we can.

Love you all

Cam, Erin, Caroline

The video clips have arrived!!!!!

2006-07-14T16:16:00.000-05:00

Without further ado here are the links to the much anticipated video clips. The first one, once again, is rather large so it will take some time to download. The second one some of you have seen but it's still a great clip. So here ya go....at last!!!!

Just copy and paste these sites to enjoy!!!!

http://www.aerialpunchcrew.com/downloads/easley/Caroline.avi

http://www.aerialpunchcrew.com/downloads/easley/Caroline2.avi

2006-07-14T14:35:00.000-05:00

Like father like daughter!!!

Lets get this started

2006-07-14T12:03:00.000-05:00

Here we go!!!!

We decided that it might be easier to get things to you guys via a blog, rather then trying to email say.....videio clips:) So here's our blog. We'll try to keep things updated so check back every once in a while. Feel free to leave comments and what not. Hopefully be the end of the day we'll have that long anticipated video clip on here. We'll see.

Anywho....hope you enjoy.

Love you all

Cam, Erin and Caroline