Home sweet home.

This was taken in the middle of the night when I really wanted to be sleeping and Emmett wouldn't settle down. I guess that's what happens when you sleep in peoples' arms all day long!

Uncle Colby was in town too! He was our first visitor on Monday morning.

This is the rose that was on the pulpit at church. It is so beautiful and it was taken from the garden at church...so perfect!

So, I got a little carried away with the camera, but look at that sweet face!

These two have been such good big brothers, always taking care of Emmett. When Erik and I got home on Monday, Jackson was sleeping. When he woke up my mom went and got him and said "guess who's here?" Jackson was so excited and practically screamed "EMMETT!"

Emmett Mecher Strom

Emmett greeted us at 9:33am on Sunday, September 20th
He weighed in at 7 pounds 11 ounces, 20 inches long and a full head of dark hair. Here he is with our wonderful Doctor.

I've got 3 little boys and one proud daddy!

Nana

Kat

Auntie Brook and Uncle Mike (baby number one due November 2!)

My mom stayed with the boys while we were in the hospital and brought them to meet Emmett after naptime on Sunday. I was not sure what to expect from Jackson, but he was so excited and all smiles. They immediately wanted to hold him and kiss him.

Our first family photo as a family of five!

The boys were real interested in his umbilical cord and his tiny feet and toes. We hear "he's so cute!" many many times.

Gramma

Snack time for the big boys. (I realize I have all boys now so I can't just call these two the boys anymore!)

Rachel

Linnea and Cam

Auntie Jenny and Uncle Kyle were in town. (They had to go back to camp on Monday...way to go Emmett!)

Ali and Jon

As you can see, we had a steady stream of visitors this first day (and some people aren't even pictured). This little baby is already so loved!

Courtney labors at the North Park soccer game!

We took our high school youth ministry to a North Park soccer game tonight. I drove in our van with the boys just in case anything happened or if I needed to take them home early. Well, as it turns out it was a good thing we did! On my drive into the city my contractions were every six minutes but not really getting any stronger. I continued to time them throughout the game and at one point we made the call that we weren't going home tonight. My parents came and took the boys back to our house, we called our doctor and stayed to finish the end of the game! It was kind of exciting to do it this way. Everyone around us knew I was in labor and I think they were shocked we were just sitting there! We knew we would just sit in the hospital - and it was so close anyway - so why not just be with friends? North Park didn't win, unfortunately, but we had another baby boy!

Calebs fourth birthday

We got Caleb a bunch of cars from the movie 'Cars.' He was such a good brother and let Jackson help open some of his presents.

DJ

What would Calebs birthday be without a "mater face" picture?

He celebrated his birthday at preschool with number 4 cookies and pirates booty.

After nap time we headed over to New Trier for a soccer game.

Then we came back home to decorate the cake.

We ended our evening with cake, cookies and a campfire.

These were taken the day before his birthday when we went to pick up the number cookies. Gramma and Poppa gave him some Thomas trains and Auntie Erin made him this cape!

1st day of preschool

This morning we all headed over for Caleb's first day of preschool. As you can see he was pretty excited about school starting up again. He got to see a lot of his friends from last year and has some really great teachers. This year he will go three mornings a week (we are so glad we live so much closer so that Erik can assist with drop-off and pick-up).

Sisters!

Brooke was wonderful enough to take the boys out for a fun evening while we hosted a young adult bbq at our house. I wanted to make sure to document our pregnancies together. I thought Brooke's belly looked so big, but I guess next to mine it is pretty small! In this picture I am 38.5 weeks and Brooke is 32.5 weeks. What do you think we are carrying, boys or girls?

four kids in a tub

What a cute picture right?!
We had the Johnsons over for dinner tonight and all the kids were so dirty. Although we weren't sure how much longer we can have our kids take baths together I was so excited to snap this picture of them totally enjoying themselves. I especially love how Sonja's hair is long enough to rest on her shoulder!

Our last days at the pool

We have loved having a membership to the pool this summer. The boys have become very comfortable in the water, both boys now hold their breath under water for a few seconds. We are sad that the pool season is coming to a close.