The Nomadic Koerbers

Oregon Trail & Scarlet Fever

2010-05-01T12:45:00.000-07:00

I think most people in my generation have very fond memories of playing Oregon Trail growing up. It was one of the few games that we were allowed to play in school because it was considered "educational." I know that I wasn't fooled by the "educational" label - the game was actually a lot of fun. Like most boys that played the game, my favorite part was seeing how many pounds of meat I could harvest during the hunting phase of the game. Though my family would barely make it out of Kansas before winter came - we'd at least have plenty of food to live on as we slowly succumbed to various illnesses.

I guess the game was somewhat educational in teaching you all the various diseases that could kill people back in those times. This past week, Sharon and I have realized how grateful we are for the advances in medicine since the days of the Oregon Trail. Caleb was diagnosed with Strep Throat on my birthday (April 27th) which developed into Scarlet Fever two days later. I'd actually not heard about Scarlet Fever outside of it being a common cause of death in the Oregon Trail game. Thankfully, we've been able to treat Caleb with some antibiotics that should kick the illness pretty quickly. Caleb has really been a trooper throughout and the main difference we see is that he is sleeping like a newborn again - which I have trouble seeing as too bad of a thing. When he is awake, he is just as energetic and cheery as usual and he has been free of a fever the last few days. We're hopeful that he'll be back to 100% soon and are very grateful for the fact that we're not on the Oregon Trail. Anyways, I know it has been a while since I updated our blog - so I've posted some pictures and videos of Caleb over the past few months.

Walking down the aisle at Sharon's brother's wedding

Caleb styling in his tux with his trusty Iphone at his side

Caleb getting some early golf lessons

Caleb rocking out on his guitar

Long Overdue

2010-01-30T14:26:00.000-08:00

So I haven't officially given up blogging even if my inactivity would lead you to believe so. Basically, the perfect storm of blogging neglect happened - in that I was super busy and I also lost our camera. Fortunately, my life is starting to get a little more sane (for now), and my mom was gracious enough to send our camera back to us after we realized we left it in Pennsylvania. Though it seems ages ago now, we did have a lovely - yet chaotic - Christmas season. Our travels started the week before Christmas when we flew up to Pittsburgh and spent two days with my brother and family. While there, I took Sharon to the Nutcracker Ballet for her birthday present and Caleb also got to go sledding for the first time.

After heading to Clearfield and spending Christmas morning with my parents and having the rest of the family join us later in the day, I had to leave Sharon and Caleb in Pennsylvania so I could head to the Urbana Missions Conference where I was representing TeachBeyond. Though it was hard to leave my family so quickly after Christmas, the conference itself was really great and our team connected with a bunch of individuals interested in serving with TeachBeyond. I was also really glad that Caleb and Sharon got to spend a few extra days with my family - and Caleb especially loved his quality cousin time.

After a super busy 6 days at Urbana, I flew home on New Year's Day, arriving two hours before the rehearsal dinner for Sharon's brother Brian. We do have some super cute pictures of Caleb in his tux as the ring bearer, but we'll have to work to find those since we were camera-less for the ceremony. For now - you'll just have to take our word that Caleb looked super cool. Since we bought the tux on ebay and it will fit for a few more months, Caleb did say that he would gladly serve as a ring bearer-for-hire in return for a modest contribution to his dad's mountain bike fund.

Since Caleb's 2nd birthday was the day after the wedding, we decided to postpone his celebration a week so that everybody had time to recover. Sharon also had more time to create super awesome train cake for his train-themed birthday party. Caleb and I have especially enjoyed our times playing "together" with his Ikea train track set - though I think I enjoy creating new and unique track routes more than he does. However, my creativity is getting a bit stunted by the number of track pieces we have - so I've already told Sharon what I want for my birthday this year. Maybe if Caleb is nice, I'll even share my tracks with him - but we'll have to wait and see about that. So...if anybody has any of those old Ikea train track sets lying around and they're not sure they know anybody who could use them - just let me know and I'd gladly take them off your hands.

Caleb celebrating Christmas in Atlanta before we flew to Pennsylvania

Caleb's first sledding experience

Caleb opening presents with mommy in Clearfield

Me in front of our booth at Urbana (notice the clothing that expertly matches our display)

The amazing choo-choo cake Sharon made for Caleb's b-day

Caleb (and Mommy) blowing out the candle

Frauzer's 30th

2009-12-12T11:24:00.000-08:00

As many of you know, one my many endearing nicknames is Frauzer - which is a loose derivative of the German word for wife. Well, yesterday was her 30th birthday, so I am now officially married to an old Frauzer. For the last 7 months, I've felt a little strange being a 30-something married to a 20-something woman, so I'm glad that we're once again in the same decade of life :) Though yesterday was Sharon's birthday, the major celebration we had for her was a surprise party the week before while her friend Julia (and her daughter Alyssa) was here visiting from Texas. It was a great time to celebrate her birthday with her family and close friends - and I was so grateful for those that made the surprise possible.

Anyways, I wanted to take this occasion to share just how thankful I am to have my Frauzer in my life. Though she loves to ask me if I've gotten bored with her yet - I honestly can say that she is not the type of person you can get bored with :) After five years of marriage and two years of parenthood - we still have a lot of fun together and are just as much rivals in board games as we were at the beginning. Though she still claims that I ALWAYS win every game we play, a tally of the results of the last few months would likely reveal otherwise.

In addition to being such a great mommy and homemaker - I have been so proud to see how she has gotten involved in the refugee community in Clarkston. As one of the primary volunteers with the Refugee Sewing Society (RSS), it has been amazing to see the impact that she has had on that ministry and the women involved over the past several months. The goal of the RSS is to use sewing as a tool to minister to the refugee women who have experienced all sorts of trauma while also allowing them to obtain some much-needed income through the sale of their products. The major project Sharon has been working with is getting the ladies to make cloth diapers that are in high demand both within and outside of the refugee community. In addition to the dramatic cost savings they allow - they are also much more environmentally friendly, which we all know is especially appealing nowadays. If you want to learn more about the RSS, you can read the blog of the organization's founder (http://palmermissions.blogspot.com/). Also, the first batch of diapers has been completed, so please contact us if you're interested in knowing how you can order some.

Finally, Sharon has also been involved a lot recently in helping out the Iraqi refugee family that we're sponsoring through World Relief - a Christian refugee resettlement organization. Though I've been involved primarily with driving the dad, Hasan, to and from doctor's appointments and the grocery store - Sharon has had a great impact on the mom, Enas, and their 2 year old daughter Fatima. It has been neat to see the bond that has developed between Sharon and Enas, and we feel blessed to be able to be a small part of this family's lives as they transition to the US.

Sharon and Durga trying to figure out what is wrong with her machine.

Rabha showing off her first diaper...she was so proud of it and it looked perfect!

Sharon and Enas at Thanksgiving

Sharon did quite a job with the turkey and other food when we had 12 people at our house for Thanksgiving.

This is Caleb's new favorite way to show us he wants food.

Home Again, Home Again

2009-11-04T18:53:00.000-08:00

For the handful of you who follow our blog and wondered if we fell off the face off the earth over the past month - we sort of did. More precisely, we were just in the midst of a road (or plane) trip that last from Oct. 7 until Nov. 1. In between those two dates, we spent 3 days in Texas, 14 days in Germany, and 9 days in Boston. The trip was primarily built around a set of meetings that I had for work in Germany as well as a missions conference in Boston - though we also had a layover in Texas on the way out. The greatest thing about the trip is that we cashed in our frequent fliers to get two round-trip tickets from Atlanta to Germany and the extended "layovers" in Texas and Boston did not cost any extra money or miles!

Though I could easily go on for several paragraphs about how wonderful it was to visit old friends and the two other places we've lived as a couple - I still couldn't do the trip justice. We truly enjoyed every moment of it, though we were also thrilled to finally make it home this past Sunday. As much of the time for me was dominated by work responsibilities, it was somewhat difficult to find as much time to connect with people as I would have liked. However, we were excited that Caleb was pretty happy and flexible throughout - apart from his desire to wake and play from 2-5 AM while in Germany :( Following are some pictures from our trip, and I promise that this next month of blogging will be better than the last.

During our whirlwind "Bridesmaid Tour" in Texas Sharon got to visit with 5 of her 7 bridesmaids, including Angela and Julia and their kids.

We were thrilled to have one sunny day in Germany to take Caleb to Sausenburg - the castle ruins where I proposed to Sharon.

Caleb and me beneath the tower where 68 months before I knelt to ask Sharon to be my wife - and she responded by falling to her knees as well while forgetting to even say yes

On top of the tower for the first time as a family

While in Germany, we also had time to relive some of our favorite times in the dorm - such as Saturday evening pizza prep.

In Boston, Sharon and our friend Dawn took Caleb to the aquarium...

Where he enjoyed the penguins...

But his favorite exhibit by far was the one that was empty except for the aquarium workers

On Halloween morning, we went to a local orchard where Caleb got a free apple cider donut for dressing up as "Farmer Bob"

After we got home, Caleb had his annual pumpkin-themed photo shoot...

And showed off his charm and toothy smiles

5-Year Anniversary Trip

2009-09-28T18:40:00.000-07:00

Sharon and I had talked about wanting to do a special trip to celebrate our 5-year anniversary, though I never really thought it was going to all come together. However, thanks to a lot of frequent flier miles and Sharon's parent's willingness to Caleb-sit, we were able to swing a 4-night trip to Puerto Rico. We truly had an incredible time, and we were definitely not ready to come home at the end of it - though we were excited to see Caleb. Caleb had a great time with his grandparents and didn't really seem to miss us at all, so maybe we should have stayed longer after all. Anyways, since I have so many pictures from our trip, I am going to intersperse the pictures with the description of our time in Puerto Rico. For those of you who could care less about our vacation and are really just interested in seeing recent pictures of Caleb, you can scroll to the end to see the one Caleb picture we threw in to keep you reading.

During our first full day we rented a car and drove out in the morning to hike in the rain forest - which is the only one found in the US. Below is a view from a window of an observation tower.

We also hiked up the mountain and got some great views of the island.

After that, we hiked down to La Mina falls - which is a great waterfall to swim in. If you look closely, you may notice that Sharon is the person standing behind the waterfall. Her husband was super impressed by her gutsyness to get back there :)

Below is a picture of hiking through the rain forest.

After our morning/early afternoon, we had a boat excursion to Vieques - a small island off the coast of the Puerto Rican mainland.

On the way over, we were treated to incredible views of the sunset and the clouds.

The main reason we went to the Island of Vieques was to swim in the bio-luminescent bay, which is a pretty amazing place that is hard to describe. Basically, you get the chance to swim in water that is filled with tiny creatures that light up when disturbed - creating the effect of swimming in glowing pixie dust. It can't really be captured on camera, but I encourage anybody to take in this experience if you're in Puerto Rico. Below is a picture that somebody with a very high-tech camera took, and you can read more at www.biobay.com

After our first full day on the island, we needed a vacation from our vacation. Our second day we spent just hanging out around our hotel on the beach. On the third day, we went into old San Juan where we go to see streets such as the one below.

In addition, we also visited El Morro - which is the impressive fort protecting San Juan Bay

Here is a picture of me in one of the lookout posts in the fort.

Here is an imposing cannon pointing out to sea.

Sharon also convinced me to take her on Bicardi factory tour. Though this may have been the first time she ever drank rum, she did really enjoy the science behind it and learning how they make it.

Our final evening in Puerto Rico was spent in Old San Juan enjoying the sunset and the views of the old city walls.

Finally, for those of you who persevered - following is a picture of Caleb showing his joy after successfully using his toddler potty. He is definitely getting better at potty-training himself and we're hopeful that he can keep up the good work.

Farewell to Summer(s)

2009-09-05T12:55:00.001-07:00

This summer brought the realization that summers as I've known them for the past 25 years have changed dramatically. For almost my entire life, summer has meant a change of pace from the routine of the rest of the year because my life was built around the school calendar. In my current job with TeachBeyond, summer actually brings an increased busy-ness rather than a slowed pace that I had grown to love. Though last year I was in the same job, the fact that we moved early in the summer served to signal the beginning of a new season.

Thus, it was with amazement and a bit of dismay that I noticed this year that summer was already over before I even realized that it began. Even so, we were able to have a lot of fun times this summer, and we so much enjoyed our family vacation in the middle of August. I also imagine that in a few years I will once again be in the typical summer mindset as Caleb begins school himself. In the meantime, it will take a bit of an adjustment to get used to being off of the school calendar mindset. Maybe I'll appreciate more that the true mark of summer is the weather rather than the change of pace I had become accustomed to over the past 25 years.

The annual Koerber family beach photo

Good luck trying to get 6 kids under 6 to look at the camera

If only Caleb was looking...

Feeling the love

Caleb loves his boxes...

his bagels...

his bath time...

and his mommy's undies.

Florida Pre-Vacation

2009-08-11T18:59:00.000-07:00

This past weekend, Sharon, Caleb, and I had a fun opportunity to head down to Florida and attend a wedding of one of our HBR "boys." Since we're leaving this Saturday for our family vacation in New Jersey, we were initially worried that it would be a little much since we'd be traveling a lot in a two week span. Though we did spend about 20 hours of the extended weekend in the car, it turned out to be a good warm-up for our family vacation that starts this Saturday.

After driving down to Orlando on Friday night, we got up on Saturday morning to head to Sarasota where the wedding was held. It still is pretty crazy thinking that one of the guys who was a high school sophomore the year Sharon and I met at HBR is now getting married himself. It was also a pretty unique wedding in that it was their third one. They had gotten married in her hometown in Korea and then they got married again by a justice of peace when they came back to the States. The wedding was a ton of fun - as it was the first opportunity for most of our HBR boys to meet and hang out with Caleb. They were super excited to see him, and it was really cool to see them bond by the end of our time together. After the wedding, all the BFA alumni headed to the nearby beach. It was also one of the few weddings where there wasn't any farewell to the bride and groom, since they ended up hanging out with their friends all night long.

Caleb was super excited to have some quality beach time both Saturday night and Sunday afternoon. He really had no fear of the water, and we are excited how he does with his cousins next week. He may be a little shocked to find out that the Jersey shore ocean water is a bit different than the Gulf Coast. As long as he doesn't expect to be able to see his feet or have the water feel like a hot tub, he shouldn't have too much trouble adjusting. Anyways, I hope to have some super fun pictures from our family vacation - but we also managed to get some good ones from this recent trip.

Our HBR "boy" and his bride

The HBR guys (and RAs) after the wedding

Caleb's first steps into the water

Learning that salt water isn't so tasty

Snuggling with mommy after a long, hard day of playing

Hanging out with Sharon's brother Tom on the way home

I Traded in My Mustang for a Minivan

2009-07-26T16:10:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite Andrew Peterson songs, "Family Man," starts out with these lyrics ("I Traded in My Mustang for a Minivan") to show how his life has changed since becoming a father. Well, I've never had a Mustang - and we still don't have a minivan, but I had a somewhat similar experience this past weekend. Though I'm definitely not a world-class mountain biker like my cousins, I still really enjoy getting out for a ride every once in a while. However, I also want to be able to take Caleb along with me on more leisurely rides - which meant attaching a child bike seat to the back of my bike. Since the seat we got at Goodwill isn't super easy to take off, this has effectively changed my "Mustang" bike into a minivan. Though I am excited to be able to take Caleb with me on bike rides now, it is undeniable that I am now the owner of a "daddy" bike.

As the "Family Man" song continues, he talks about the various ways his life has changed since becoming a father and some of the things that he has had to give up (including his Mustang). In the same way, I can see the numerous ways that having Caleb has changed our lives and made it a little more difficult to do some of the things we've enjoyed doing. With our five year anniversary coming up, it is definitely a lot more difficult to get away just the two of us. Last weekend, we did have the opportunity to take Caleb with us and return for the first time to the area where we spent our honeymoon nearly five years ago. Needless to say, it was a much different experience but it was also a lot of fun to hike a bit with Caleb while revisiting the memories we had of our time in the North Georgie Mountains. Though it is sometime easy to idealize the freedom and spontaneity of out lives before Caleb, I definitely feel that I can echo the conclusion of the song that though "this is not what I was headed for when I began, this was not my plan, It's so much better than." Anyways, I've included some recent pictures/videos below and you can go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIOczph6nQE if you want to listen to the song.

Caleb's first ride on daddy's bike

Hiking with Caleb is always an adventure - as he's not the most "linear" walker

On top of Fort Mountain in the North Georgia Mountains

Caleb expressing how much he loves hiking with his parents (especially when he gets a free ride on daddy's back)

Caleb having some bonding time with Grandma

Caleb showing off his pitching skills

Staycations and Fireworks

2009-07-12T19:54:00.000-07:00

With the current recession, it seems like taking a "staycation" is one of the hip things to do. Ideally, I think that it is a fiscally frugal way for families to save their money by spending their vacation time at home enjoying local attractions. Since staycations are in vogue, Sharon and I decided to have a mini-staycation of our own over the 4th of July. For us, it gave us the excuse to buy annual passes to Stone Mountain Park, which is only about ten minutes from our house. Since we've bought the passes a little over a week ago, we've already been three times - and are excited about trying some of the other things there. Sharon is especially excited about the unlimited use of the mini-golf course, and I'm looking forward to taking Caleb out on the pedal boats.

One of the things that Stone Mountain Park is most famous for is their laser-show, which we watched our first evening there. We were also pleasantly surprised to learn that Caleb doesn't have the aversion to fireworks that we feared he would have. The 4th of July fireworks show at Stone Mountain was pretty spectacular, and we really appreciated the fact that Caleb seemed to enjoy it as well. Although we had so many fun experiences that we could have photographed at Stone Mountain, Sharon and I have been pretty negligent in taking Caleb pictures. However - we did take a picture of Caleb during his first visit to CiCi's pizza - and his dad was really proud that he was able to get his money's worth at the all-you-can-eat buffet (which was pretty easy since he was free). Hopefully, there will be more pictures next time, as it is has been exciting to see him grow and learn new things every day.

Caleb cleaning his plate at CiCi's Pizza

Though this video doesn't quite show it - Caleb actually is pretty fascinated by our cuckoo clock

TeachBeyond Orientation

2009-06-26T18:59:00.000-07:00

The past three weeks have been really busy for me as I prepared for our misson's orientation that I facilitated. The orientation for our new missionaries was from June 13-20 in Minneapolis, and it was the first orientation that Sharon had not attended since 2005. This time, I was on my own as Sharon and Caleb stayed at home - though I am glad to say that the week went really well and that it was an encouraging and informative time for our the 20 new missionaries that attended. Our mission has been in a major time of transition the past year, and one of the biggest pieces of that is the name change from Janz Team Ministries to TeachBeyond. If you're interested in hearing more about the direction that our organization is moving, I encourage you to check out our new website at http://www.teachbeyond.org/. Though it is definitely exciting to be a part of the organization during this time, it is also a bit overwhelming thinking of all the changes that need to come alongside the changing of the name and sharpening of our focus.

While I was off in Minneapolis, Sharon and Caleb had a great time with our friend Cari who visited for a few days from Boston. I was especially excited to notice the projects around the house they had accomplished while I was away. Though I was a bit scared that Caleb would forget who I was after being away so long - I was pleasantly surprised to see that he actually did recognize me when I returned. Also while I was away, Sharon got to celebrate the engagement of her brother, who flew in from LA to propose to his fiance Emily, who lives in the Atlanta area. They've set a wedding date of January 2, and Sharon, Caleb, and I are all honored to be a part of the wedding party. Caleb was secretly hoping to be asked to be a groomsmen, but I think that he won't be too disappointed to be serving as the ring bearer instead. Anyways, following are a few pictures of Caleb as well as our recent orientation group.

Caleb's antidote to the Georgian heat

Always willing to help lick the spoon

Caleb's newest favorite perch on top of the hope chest

TeachBeyond New Staff Orientation 2009

Visit from Nama and Pap-pap

2009-06-06T12:15:00.000-07:00

This post is definitely long overdue, since my parents visited over memorial day weekend. However, things have been so busy since that I'm just now posting some pictures from their visit. The visit was definitely an exciting surprise as we just found out they would be coming the week before memorial day. Though we were very excited they were able to rent a minivan to bring a bunch of stuff for us down from Clearfield - the 12 hour drive convinced them that they will be looking into flying down for their next visit.

We really enjoyed the opportunity to show our new home off - and the pending arrival of my dad (AKA Mr. Project) really spurred us on to get moving once again. During their visit, they helped us tame our front yard as well as paint the ceiling in our formal dining/living room. Within a week of their departure, Sharon and I finished up the job - and you can see the final results below. We're super excited now that our family room and formal dining/living room are completely done. All that is remaining to finish in the kitchen is the refinishing of the cabinet doors (which may end up being a bigger project than we had hoped).

In addition to the weekend filled with projects, we also had time to have a memorial day cook-out with Sharon's parents, which was also the first that Caleb got to spend time with both sets of grandparents at the same time. Caleb was really excited to spend time with his Nama and Pap-pap, and it was really helpful that he had seen them less than a month before up in PA as well. Seeing Caleb interact with them gets us super excited about our family beach trip to Ocean City, NJ in August - as I know that Caleb will have so much fun there. We actually already bought our plane tickets to fly up for the beach, as my parents' trip down here was a good reminder of how long that drive would be. It is hard to believe that the Summer is in full swing already, as April and May just seemed to fly by. Before we know it, I imagine that August will be upon us and we'll be making final plans for Ocean City.

Nama and Pap-pap with Caleb outside of our house (with Sharon waving in the background)

Caleb with both sets of grandparents

Caleb enjoying the new dresser that Nama and Pap-pap brought down

Caleb modeling the overalls that Sharon used to wear when she was his age

The final product: our formal living/dining room

The paint color we put on the walls is actually called "brown sugar" - though there is a mysterious amount of green tint that comes out depending on the lighting

Caleb rocking out to Phil Collins

Caleb's Mother's Day Present

2009-05-21T16:32:00.000-07:00

So for this past Mother's Day, Caleb decided to give his mom a super special present. It wasn't flowers, it wasn't candy, it wasn't a nice dinner out. Rather Caleb decided to give his mommy break for Mother's Day and allow her to go to Destin, Florida for a weekend while he stayed with his grandma. Well...I guess I can't give Caleb all the credit for the idea, since the main reason we were going that weekend was to meet up with my college friend. Nevertheless, it was very considerate of Caleb to agree to be away from his mommy for that time, especially since we had yet to spend a night apart from him. The weekend ending up going fabulous, as we had a great time in Florida and Caleb barely even realized we were gone. When we came home, he was excited to see Sharon - though he looked at me with a puzzled expression as he tried to remember just who that strange guy was. All in all, I'm glad that we were able to take advantage of this opportunity and am especially thankful that my mother-in-law was so willing to Caleb-sit.

Apart from learning to be a bit more independent from his mom for a weekend, Caleb has also been developing some other neat skills. He has developed quite an attachment to the plastic golf clubs we found for him at a yard sale - and he is even learning to hit a ball with them rather than just using them to whack his mom or dad (or himself). Also, he has become quite the mimicker of his mom, as he is already quite meticulous about recycling and cleaning. Though we've been slackers in taking pictures, we do have the one video below showing Caleb's new-found housekeeping skills.

The Big 3-0

2009-05-03T16:53:00.001-07:00

I probably should have written this post last week, but I've found it difficult in my old age to even remember that I have a blog that I should be updating. The numerous aches and pains that I'm now encountering on a daily basis make it difficult to drag myself out of bed in the morning - let alone type on a keyboard. Also, my vision has gotten so bad that it is hard to read the words that I'm typing - and I've encountered some difficulty in remembering my password for the blog as well. I'm actually just getting to make this post now, as my failing hearing made it impossible to respond to Sharon's numerous requests to write a post about my 30th birthday. But now, here I am to let you all know that I still don't feel a day older than 29 (apart from the minor issues alluded to above).

For my birthday weekend, my good friend Lucas honored me by throwing a impressive party - complete with fabulous hors d'oeuvres, a gourmet meal, an extravagant cake, and lots of music and dancing for the roughly 200 guests. Although the party was technically a "wedding reception" for Lucas and his new bride Katie - it still was a fun way to spend my 30th birthday weekend. Another fun part of Lucas and Katie getting married on my birthday weekend was that the wedding was in the Philadelphia area - and we got to see many family and friends while there. It was a real privilege to serve as a groomsman in Lucas' wedding - as we have had many, many great adventures together over the years. I'm especially excited for him as he begins this new adventure of marriage with his lovely wife Katie. Following are two videos from the weekend, as I'll blame the lack of pictures on that ever-declining memory :)

Caleb really enjoyed his time with Jen, our good friend and co-RA from Black Forest Academy, who quickly developed a bond with Caleb by sharing her pizza.

Caleb's empathy over his dad now being officially over the hill was quickly eclipsed by his obvious enjoyment of the birthday lunch.

Easter Highlights

2009-04-13T15:51:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone...it is me...Sharon. I know I never get on, but I just wanted to pass on some fun Easter pics and say hi. (Well, Mike added the pictures for me!) We had a great time with my family yesterday and ate way more than we should have:) I hope that you all had a super Resurrection Sunday and a great time celebrating with family and friends.

This is my super cute son dressed like a little man. Thanks Nama for his sweet outfit:) To all who know our dear friend Seth; we think Caleb looks like a baby version in this outfit!

Caleb having a happy Easter with Grandma...she kept sneaking him whip cream!

Awh...the two precious men in my life.

Caleb having loads of fun with his Easter basket. He thoroughly enjoyed throwing the plastic eggs as if they were balls. This video reminds me of the little plastic aliens in the movie Toy Story:)

This video is dedicated to Nama. While on the phone with Mike's mom today Caleb kept running and jumping on the pillow pile and then laughing out loud so I tried to capture the experience for her and anyone else out there who loves jumping in pillow piles!

1-800-222-1222

2009-04-02T16:26:00.000-07:00

I'm sure most of you parents can guess what this blog entry is going to be about from seeing that phone number. Sharon and I had the "exciting" experience of calling it (the poison control hotline) for the first time this past week. As new homeowners, we've been spending lots of time painting various rooms in our house, and Caleb decided he wanted in on the action as well. As you can see from the video we've posted below, he was initially just content to "play" paint. However, the novelty of that soon wore off and he decided to move on to the real stuff. We've always been really careful at putting the lids back on the paint when Caleb is around - but we failed to take into account his ability to pry the lid off of the paint can with a big nylon cooking spoon that we let him play with. In the few moments that my back was turned to him - he was able to open the lid, dip his spoon in the can, and immediately smear the white paint all over his face and chest. Fortunately, we were able to catch him before he ingested too much of it, as we all know that he eats just about anything. Just to be safe we went ahead and called a guy at poison control. After a 30 second conversation where he made eating latex paint sound as safe as slurping down a cup of milk - we were both reassured that he was going to be alright. It is now four days later and he's seems to have had no ill effects, so we're considering we might as well let him paint with us from now on.

Other than that minor mishap with the paint, things have been moving steadily ahead with the house. We're just about done with the family room, and the kitchen is all completed except for the cabinet doors (which is a pretty big project). We're starting to get settled into the community as well and Sharon has already gotten to put her cleaning and organizing skills to good use by helping a local Burundi family. With March Madness winding down -I figure I should now admit that Sharon once again blew me out of the water in our bracket predictions for the third year in a row. At least I still have her number in Settlers of Catan. Also, we have been meaning to send a picture of Caleb into Grove City for the Alumni magazine - but keep forgetting to do it. When we finally got around to taking it, Caleb of course refused to sit still or give us a normal smile. We ended up with these three pictures, and would appreciate any opinions on which would be the best to share.

Caleb painting

Grove City Picture #1 (my favorite)

Picture #2 (Sharon's favorite)

Picture #3 (Caleb's favorite)

Ode to The Sippy Cup

2009-03-22T17:03:00.000-07:00

The sippy cup - what an amazing invention. So simple, yet so useful in preventing gallons of spilled milk and juice. So creative, yet so practical for little kiddos. Though the internet, the automobile, and electricity are pretty cool inventions - I think that the creation of a cup that could be turned upside down without spilling is right on up there. Caleb's preferred sippy cup is even more amazing in that it is a Nuby Sippy Cup with the straw, which means that he doesn't even have to exert the energy to lift the cup up at all in order to drink. I mean really - how did toddlers survive before the sippy cup?

Before I was a parent, I always thought how strange it was that parents can get so excited about the coolest and most convenient baby items. You will hear me get a bit excited when I talk about our cool, lime green stroller - but I must admit that in terms or my own personal benefit, nothing compares to the sippy cup. Some other baby items provide me the indirect benefit of Caleb's happiness or satisfaction leading to my own. Yet the sippy cup is one of the few things that really benefits me directly. At first, I was a little skeptical of drinking from one - until the day came when I was dying of thirst and all we had was Caleb's sippy cup with us. Since that moment when I first sucked that delicious watered-down apple juice thorough that plastic straw, there has been no going back. Juice just tastes better when it comes from a sippy cup. Even if the same perfect blend of 66.7% water and 33.3% juice is produced in a glass mug or regular standard cup, it just doesn't taste as good then if it came from a sippy cup. Although my new-found fondness for the sippy cup has been exciting for me, Caleb doesn't seem to see the benefit of having to share his drink with another. Maybe the time has come for me to just get my own, and with my birthday coming up next month - maybe I'll get lucky.

Not only are they so useful - they're also so stylish as well

Caleb learning valuable lessons about sharing

Caleb's First Shoes

2009-03-13T16:20:00.000-07:00

One day after I flew up to Philadelphia for work, Caleb had another landmark experience in his life: buying his first shoes (well actually I guess he wasn't technically the one doing the buying). I always thought that buying shoes for a baby would be a fairly simple process because it's not like he cares if they're stylish or anything and they only fit for a few months. However, after our first Target shoe-shopping trip for Caleb in mid-February, I realized that finding shoes for him would be a little trickier. You see, Caleb is "blessed" with what we refer to as very "meaty" feet. That is to say - they're not so much long and slender as they are just super fat and wide. We found that out the hard way as we tried to cram his feet into standard sized shoes at Target that we just assumed would fit based on the length of his feet. After 15 minutes of screaming and fussing every time we tried to find a good fit at Target - we gave up on the shoe idea for a few weeks.

However, as the weather started to improve, we realized that we would just have to bite the bullet and go the local Stride Rite store to find his custom-fit shoes. Sharon's parents were excited to buy Caleb's first shoes, so they had a fun trip to the mall the day after I left for Philadelphia. As you can see from the pictures' below, he really enjoyed wearing shoes once we were able to find his correct size, which is 5 EXTRA WIDE. It is fun to be able to have him walk around in stores now rather than always having to lug him around, yet now we also have to keep a closer eye on him since he has no qualms about running away from his parents.

The same day that Caleb got his first shoes, we also had a rare winter event: a snowstorm in Atlanta. Since I was in Philadelphia, I missed out on all the fun of watching southerners try to get around in the snow. To add insult to injury, as I was trying to figure out how much snow we were going to get in the Philly area - the weatherman would make a point of saying (with extreme excitement and amusement): "And it looks like they're going have some serious snow in Atlanta!" The one good thing about the storm was that we really did get a good six inches of snow up in Philly and I was able to go sled-riding with my nieces Ella and Catherine while there. Another highlight of the trip was the introduction by Ella (and my sister Megan) to the wonderful world of Webkinz. I also got my fill of Guitar Hero while there and enjoyed catching up with the Demos. As you can see - we still haven't changed the blog name. We've appreciated the suggestions so far, and we promise we'll have a new name by the time I turn 30 (which is coming all too soon!).

Caleb with his mom and grandpa while trying on shoes.

The best way to know that Caleb really likes his shoes: he tries to eat them.

Isn't this what you picture when you think of Atlanta?

"Let me out mom! I want to play in the snow!"

The family on top of nearby Arabia "Mountain" (which is more like a glorified speed bump). This is just days after our snow storm:)

Caleb and Daddy

On The Road Again

2009-02-27T18:54:00.000-08:00

The past month or so has been really crazy with travelling - as I have been on the road for work more than I have been home. I had just about gotten fully caught up and settled in following the trip to Colorado when I had to once again prepare to leave for the Philadelphia area where I will be until next Thursday. The Colorado trip went well for me, except for the fact that I received my very first speeding ticket while driving my friend's car :( Needless to say - that ended up making the trip a whole lot more expensive than I had planned on it being. While I was away in Colorado - Sharon had the opportunity to visit with many friends and family in Texas. Since I still haven't gotten all the details on that trip, I'm going to let Sharon make one of our rare writing appearances on our blog. Before I hand over the keyboard - I did have one last question for those of you who may read our blog from time to time. As you probably noticed - our blog name is still "The Nomadic Koerbers", even though we closed on our house in December. The reason for not changing the name yet is primarily the lack of idea for a new name (and the lack of time to think of one). So...if anybody has any good suggestions for our new blog name - please fire them our way. If not - we'll probably just keep this name until we end up moving again in a few years. Now that your anticipation and excitement has been piqued, here's Sharon:

Well, I just thought we are still "The Nomadic Koerbers" since we have still been living out of our suitcases?!? Anyway, I too would love to hear name suggestions! Our first adventure to Texas went great. Caleb traveled well and other than waking at 4:30 am on Sunday morning (I guess he was just really excited to hear Tom Pennington preach) he slept pretty well too. It was a bit of a whirl-wind so if we missed you while we were there I am really sorry. Honestly I think the best way to describe the trip is with pictures and captions; please see below. Thank you to everyone who allowed us to stay with them and who made time to meet with us and our crazy schedule. Love you all!!!

Caleb really excited to borrow the Ramos Family car...thanks Rick for the keys! We had a great breakfast with the Ramos' and Caleb loved Kim's quiche.

Caleb also very excited to meet Aunt Donna...we drove to College Station to meet for dinner with my Aunt Donna, cousin Deb and her boys Sam and Luke. Caleb loved Luke and his Oreo Madness!

Caleb with his mommy at Chisholm Park. This is the park that my mommy and daddy would take me to as a little girl. Caleb was more excited by the slide then feeding the ducks...he wanted to eat the bread himself:)

Caleb getting a big squeeze from his new buddy Caed. Caed is the son of Courtney (and Jesse), one of my dear roommates from Master's College. We had a great play date in Ft. Worth.

Caleb cuddling with Miss Alyssa Bennett. Caleb and I stayed most of the time with Julia and Andrew and had a great time there. In case you don't know Julia and I our best of buds from childhood and roommates in college. We tried (unsuccessfully) at setting up our siblings so that we could be related...we are now on to our kids:) Andrew has already talked to Caleb about his intentions!

Caleb and his mommy with her Aunt Marge and Uncle Lou at our Waco lunch date. During our stay with Erin and Shane we met up for lunch...Caleb loved Aunt Marge...I think it is because she sends him so many Hallmark cards:)

Caleb laughing with his daddy (not a Texas video). Mike was just trying to give him low fives instead of high fives:)

An Important "First" for Caleb (and his parents)

2009-02-14T12:33:00.000-08:00

The big moment finally arrived after 1 year, 1 month, and 10 days (but it's not like I was counting or anything). Yesterday was - drum roll, please - the first time that Caleb's parents went out before he went to sleep. Yes, it was a little hard for us to believe as well - but it was something that just wasn't feasible as long as Caleb was nursing. There had been many times that Sharon and I have gone out for a dinner and movie after Caleb had gone to sleep for the night. However, yesterday evening was the first time that we went away and let somebody else put him down for the night. Caleb did a great job - as he didn't even miss a beat after Sharon and I left around 6:00 PM for our dinner and movie Valentine's Day date. Aunt Hilary had the honors of putting him to bed an hour and a half later - and the little guy went right to sleep without even asking where mommy and daddy where. All in all - the evening was a huge success, and we are looking forward to repeating this experience in the near future now that we know how easy it is (for now).

The main reason that Sharon and I went out for Valentine's Day a day early (other than to avoid the crowds) was because we are flying separate directions today. In a few hours, I will be flying to Colorado for a conference for work, and Sharon will be flying to Texas with Caleb to visit all her friends and family there. Though we're obviously going to be sad to be apart for the next five days, I am excited that Sharon gets to visit everybody in Texas, as our plans to go as a family just never seemed to work out. Following we have just a few Caleb pictures, as our camera had been misplaced for the last week or so. Hopefully, Sharon will have a lot more fun pictures of Caleb with his new friends in Texas to share with you next week.

Caleb and daddy decked out for the Super Bowl

This is Caleb trying to "help" change the locks on the door

Our Headbanging Baby

2009-01-28T16:11:00.000-08:00

Over the past two weeks, it has been incredible to see how much more Caleb likes to walk instead of crawling - which is mostly a good thing. I say mostly a good thing because he definitely hasn't mastered that whole balance thing quite yet. Sharon says that he reminds her a little bit of E.T. when he got drunk while Elliot was away at school (and I don't know how she still remembers that scene). His walking style reminds me a bit of Frankenstein, which I guess isn't so much of a complimentary comparison either. I know that babies heads are supposed to be pretty sturdy - but after bonking his head 4 or 5 times today, I'm seriously considering making him wear his bike helmet all day. I am pretty impressed that he doesn't seem to have developed any sort of negative association with walking and the frequently resulting banging of his head off the ground, furniture, or both. I'm hoping that this persistence on the walking front means he will soon be running and out on the soccer field by spring.

As far as our house, we're still painting slowly but surely. I've included a picture of Caleb's bedroom as it was a huge victory to get at least one room done. We're inching closer to having the kitchen almost completely finished - though the cabinets may be another few months since we are removing and repainting all the doors. It has been nice to be able to host people at our house already - as a Bible study at our new church has started meeting here every week. It's been a good way to start getting connected with the community and the ministry going on here - though we're trying not to get too involved until we are a little more settled into our house. In response to our last blog post - we already have had two ~~painters~~ visitors take us up our offer to escape the frozen north for some good old Georgia sunshine. Our seminary friends Bill and Alice drove down from Pennsylvania and we had a great two and a half days of painting, playing games, and enjoying the southern weather. As I write that sentence - I realize I've already turned into one of those obnoxious people who always gloats about their weather. Remind me of that in July and August when I can't leave the air conditioning before nightfall for fear that I will get instantaneous heat stroke. Well, since Sharon is currently painting by herself, I guess I should end this post and commence dribbling paint all over our new kitchen hardwood floor.

Caleb and Mommy putting on their game faces before the AFC Championship

Caleb's bedroom (and the only completely done room in the house)

Just like his daddy, Caleb can even be tickled by "remote control"

Here's some video of our drunk E.T./Frankenstein walking

Look Who's Walking!

2009-01-15T16:07:00.000-08:00

There's so much that's gone on in the past couple of weeks that I don't really know where to begin. As you can see by the title - Caleb has officially hit the authentic walking stage. I always thought that we would get a great video of Caleb's first steps, but I honestly don't even know when that would be since he has been taking a step or two for the last several weeks. After taking about ten steps on his own several times this evening - I'm ready to classify Caleb as a bona fide toddler. The video below shows some of his baby steps from two nights ago - but it is amazing how much more confident he has gotten on his feet in just the last two days. It's also great to see how much hair he grew during his time up north over the holidays. Although he has yet to be mistaken for Sasquatch, it was a great achievement for him when he was able to experience the first bed-head of his life a few weeks ago.

In addition to walking and growing hair, Caleb really enjoys exploring his new home. He loves crawling and toddling around the house and finding new things around every corner. We're just a little paranoid that some of those new things may be rusty nails that the contractor left behind - so we still have to keep a real close eye on him. However, Sharon loves the fact that she can be cooking dinner while watching him play in the family room - something that I appreciate as well since it means meal prep is much less stressful :)

As far as the work on the house - it still seems to me like an endless mountain of painting and moving that we still have to climb. However, it was exciting to finish painting our pantry so we at least have a place to store food now. We're on the verge of finishing painting Caleb's room so it will be really nice to have at least one room in the house completely finished. However, if anybody has a real love for painting, we still have plenty of work left to do and really would love to have ~~free labor~~ visitors. Especially for those of you suffering in the frigid Northeast and Midwest - why not take a vacation down to Georgia and enjoy our balmy above-freezing (barely) temperatures. To show you our appreciation for the ~~free labor~~ visit, we would even offer free room and board! Anyways, I hope you enjoy the following long-overdue pictures and I'll try not to let all the work on the house completely steal away my blogging time.

Caleb acting calm while in his high chair...a very rare sight.

Caleb's first Christmas present (which was bought by Grandma and Grandpa Maynard when Caleb was all of two days old)

As you can see, it took Caleb a while to get used to sharing the spotlight with his cousins...

Though we finally got him to pose with his cousin Nora

Caleb's first birthday cake made by his mommy

As you probably guessed, he really enjoyed it.

His Nama thankfully got him a winter hat to protect his bald head fom the Pennsylvania weather

Caleb had a blast riding with his cousin Isaac on the way to the airport

Caleb is definitely a vocal little guy

Some of Caleb's first steps

Christmas Highlights

2009-01-04T17:02:00.000-08:00

As usual, the Christmas season just seemed to fly right by this year. We were so focused on closing and moving into our new home that we never really felt like we had the time to prepare for Christmas. Before we knew it, it was Christmas eve and we were scrambling to get everything ready for our Christmas day flight to Pennsylvania. We did enjoy our time with Sharon's family on Christmas morning and were also excited to have one of our boys from BFA join us as well for a few days. On Christmas afternoon we flew up to Pittsburgh and then drove one of my brother's car over to Clearfield.

We arrived in Clearfield late Christmas night and had a few days with the entire family. Caleb was a bit overwhelmed by all the kids running around, but he was starting to feel a little more comfortable after a day or two. Just as much of the family was leaving and things were starting to quiet down at my parents' house, the stomach flu decided to pay me a visit. I had one of the most miserable nights of my life on Monday night - but I will spare you the gory details of that experience :) In true Christmas spirit, I shared this "gift" with Caleb so that he got to experience his first sickness of this type. The only upside of it all is that I now feel like a real parent after going through the experience of having my son puke on me. Sharon also got the illness - but she handled it much than me of course. We actually have all sorts of fun pictures from the last few weeks (though thankfully none of the illnesses), but we unfortunately left our camera connector cord in Atlanta, so we can't get them posted. All the more to post next time...

New House Pictures

2008-12-12T18:07:00.000-08:00

So I don't know who's idea it was to buy and renovate a house in the weeks before Christmas - but I definitely would not recommend this experience to anybody else. We had hoped to be able to close on our house before Thanksgiving, but our closing date unfortunately got pushed back two weeks into December. Initially, I didn't think that would be a really big deal - though it seems like our move-in date keeps getting pushed back as well. At this rate, we're hoping to get into our house in time for Christmas - only to have to leave for our two week visit to Pennsylvania the next day. However, it will be really nice to have a home to return to when we fly back from Pennsylvania. We'll still have some work to do in painting, refacing cabinets, etc. - I am a little worried that we have a long road ahead of us. My brother-in-law was quick to increase those fears with a resounding "welcome to the money pit!" after hearing that we finally closed on the house. As a person who has an acute case of "project phobia" - I'm trying hard to not get overwhelmed with all of the changes that we could make. As you can see from the pictures, it is far from a "fixer-up," so we can definitely take it one step at a time.

For those of us who could care less about our house - but are wanting more Caleb pictures - I've also included some pictures of him from the last few weeks. He really seemed to enjoy Thanksgiving - as any celebration that involves lots of food is alright in his book. He still is just on the verge of walking, as he stands longer on his own and has really improved his balance. We're still hoping that his first steps will come in time for Christmas, but I guess you can never tell for sure. We promise we'll focus on Caleb more once we get settled in our house, and then this blog will once again regain its rightful focus.

In front of our new home

A little free advertising for the seller's realtor

The family room with fireplace

The formal living/dining room that is shrinking as we expand the kitchen

Our deck (which will be great for eating outside)

Our little angel (yeah right)

Practicing his politician skills

"Let me at...I can eat the whole drumstick"

Thankful for so much!!!

2008-12-02T20:04:00.001-08:00

Hello everyone, this is Sharon! I just wanted to say hi and let you all know that I am still here:) Actually I am here all by myself, because Mike is away for the week at the CrossGlobal Link Conference (formally IFMA). I just wanted to share a few things real quick.
First of all I just wanted to share that we had a great Thanksgiving and Caleb loved his first taste of turkey. He definitely lived up to his little piglet status.
I also wanted to pass on my dad's blog site; http://www.maynardsonmission.blogspot.com/. God is doing some great things (no surprise there) and we are particularly thankful that he returned safely from his last trip!
We are also thankful this week for our new home...we closed on Monday and it went so well. On our way down to closing we were listening to some Bebo when one of my favorites came on...you know the wedding song he wrote for his brother. Well he speaks of the God's grace falling like rain and that is definitely how I feel...God is so good to us.
Hope you all are having a great day...we miss you all...you can come and visit now:)

Caleb the Oinker

2008-11-22T14:01:00.000-08:00

I always thought that one of the greatest trials in parenthood is getting your child to eat well. Now I know that stage may come later with Caleb - but I can honestly say that we have yet to have that sort of problem with our little oinker. Our issue is more of how to get him to stop eating - as he'll eat everything that we prepare for him and then have the nerve to try to eat off of his parents' plates as well. He has yet to meet a food that that he hasn't liked - as he eats everything from fruits to vegetables to meats to breads. If he wasn't so darn active crawling around all the time, I'd be seriously worried about an ultra-early onset of childhood obesity. Overall, he's a pretty happy baby - but his most demanding and impatient behavior surfaces if Sharon or I dare take a second too long in between bites when we're feeding him. He also hasn't quite learned the distinction between Caleb's food and his parents' food - as he'll go nuts if we don't give him at least a morsel of whatever we're trying to eat. Though I do appreciate his good eating habits, I'm secretly a little disappointed that I don't get to do the "airplane spoon" trick to interest him in eating. The one time I tried that trick just for fun - he shot me a disgusted "why are you messing around - GET THAT FOOD IN MY MOUTH!" look that revealed that he knows that food is for eating and not for playing.

Some of you may also be wondering what the latest on our house is since we were supposed to be closing this past week. The homeowner was willing to fix some of the issues that came out in the inspection, but unfortunately that also pushed our closing date back to December 1. We just found out that our loan was also officially approved so we will be homeowners in exactly 9 days from now - barring anything unforseen from arising. It's definitely exciting, but also a little scary and overwhelming for me as we're immediately undertaking the kitchen remodel project. I never thought I'd actually enjoy going to Home Depot or Lowes - but I have a feeling that we'll be making many trips there in the next few months so I better start liking it. That's all for now as our next blog entry will hopefully be as proud, new homeowners.

What is it about a cardboard box that brings hours of sheer bliss?

Unfortunately, Caleb still relies on his calculator for more complex multiplication problems.

Caleb's maiden voyage up the steps (I love how Sharon asks "Oh my gosh, he's standing!" like he's juggling flaming swords or something)

"Dadda" or random babble? - you be the judge

Housing Update #2

2008-11-03T17:05:00.000-08:00

Well, a lot has changed in our housing search over the past two weeks. We did make an offer on a house about two weeks ago and have been under contract since then. Last Monday, we had the inspection done - and it definitely raised some concerns about how much money we would need to put into it right away. I am definitely not a "project guy" so the thought of having to redo some stuff on our own is a little intimidating to say the least. The most immediate area of concern is the tiny kitchen (pictured below), but we do have the option of pushing a wall back to give us more space there. Over the next two days, we'll be negotiating with the seller concerning some of the items we would like to have taken care of before we would move in. We also need to get a quote from a contractor to see if we could afford to move the wall in the kitchen as we had planned. As I am admittedly an over-analyzer, Sharon and I have gotten to the point that we're feeling a bit of "analysis paralysis," but we're going to need to make a decision for sure by Thursday at the very latest.

On the Caleb front - he has recently become more of a babbler on the verge of his first really word. I really think that he is already starting to say "da-da" and I think it will be just a few days before he's saying Polamalu - in reference to his favorite Steeler. He definitely is quite the extrovert (just like his dad) as he was having a bit of a fussy day on Sunday and we were really concerned to take him on the scheduled nursing home visit with our church small group. Once he got there - he turned in to a veritable prince charming as he smiled and flirted with all the old ladies (and some of the old men as well). One other thing we've noticed recently is his development of those irrational fears. Caleb loves the sound of white noise and the looks of electronics - but if you put these two items together into a hair dryer and a vacuum cleaner, it induces shear terror in our little guy. If Caleb sees a vacuum, hairdryer, or space heater - he instantly goes into freak out mode even if they aren't turned on. Hopefully this is something he will grow out of soon as I was hoping to have him vacuuming our house as soon as he learned how to walk.

The front of our potential new home

The tiny kitchen that we would want to expand somehow

Caleb loves his tongue!

Happy Baby!

Is this a Theo face?

Who needs a crib when you have a laundry basket?

Home Search Update

2008-10-16T16:27:00.000-07:00

So the REAL reason that I haven't updated our blog recently is not laziness or busyness - but that we were going to wait until we had a home under contract so that we can share the news. So I am finally blogging to share the news...that we don't quite have a home under contract yet. However, we have narrowed it down to one or two options and are hoping to make an offer tomorrow or early next week. As far as the area where we are now looking to buy - that has been a pretty interesting story. In July we had pretty much settled on a home in Flowery Branch (wouldn't have that been a masculine hometown for Caleb to grow up in!) but our reasonable offer was barely considered despite the down market. In the meantime, we had started going to a church in that area we expected to live in, and while there - we found out about a community just east of Atlanta called Clarkston. Clarkston is a pretty unique small town of about 8,000 people whose residents hail from 50 different countries. It has been designated as a major refugee resettlement area by the US government so there are refugees from Iraq, Afghanistan, Burma, Bhutan, Somalia, Ethiopia, Liberia, Kenya, etc. coming through Clarkston regularly.

To make a long story short, over a few weeks in August and September, we found out a lot more about the area and the really exciting ministry opportunities there. So the home that we're planning to put an offer in is in a small neighborhood within a mile of a mosque, Hindu temple, and a Buddhist temple. The amount of diversity there is pretty incredible, and I'm especially looking forward to getting involved in some great pick-up soccer games :)

Well, that is the home search update for now, and just to keep you all interested in reading the blog I'll post a video of a giggling/teetering Caleb as well as a montage of the many faces of Caleb. Just this evening he learned how to feed himself -and we haven't quite decided whether or not that is a good thing. He also just got over his first real cold - which he (or maybe his mom) had the nerve to pass on to me. Other than that - he is still a really happy, energetic baby, and we're so thankful to have him.

The giggler trying to stand on his own

The many faces of Caleb:

Thoughtful Caleb...

Determined/pooping Caleb...

Stoned Caleb (just kidding, he didn't inhale)...

And finally our favorite: Laughing Caleb.

Caleb's (not so exciting) new tricks

2008-09-29T18:02:00.000-07:00

Since the last post was dedicated to that new skill Caleb learned which we got so excited about it (crawling), I figure I would devote this to some of the things he has learned recently which haven't made his mom and dad quite as excited. The first thing that Caleb learned this past week was to pull himself up - yet he doesn't just pull himself up on furniture or on people. No - our son decided it would be really fun to start pulling himself up on the toilet. Fortunately he isn't tall enough yet to lap up any water - but I'm sure that he would try it if he could reach.

We discovered another one of his newest tricks yesterday after his morning nap. Sharon's mom called down to us "We have a problem!" when she went to check up on Caleb while he was napping. When Sharon sprinted up to check on Caleb, she found him lying on his back, naked from the waist down - happy as a clam. It seems he has now learned how to take his diaper off - which is quite problematic since he is a typical boy that loves being naked :)

The third new trick he learned recently is how to pull himself up in his pack and play. Although this is not as humorous as the first two - it is something that we've been dreading the past few weeks. I've heard the horror stories of how babies will pull themselves up on their cribs in the middle of the nights and not be able to get back down unless a parent comes in and rescues them. I don't want to sound insensitive to the dilemma - but I can't figure out why Caleb just can't let himself fall down on his butt. We all know he has plenty of padding - even if he has already managed to pull his diaper off in the night. I just have this image of coming into his room in the morning and just seeing him there clinging to the rail of his pack and play with his muscles quivering and sweat pouring from his brow after 8 hours of holding on tight. I know I find it mildly amusing now - but I'm sure that will change when he wakes up tonight with his hysterical crying. Anyways, to show that we still are enjoying the new things Caleb is learning - I'm posting some pics of his recent "swim lessons" with mom and me at the pool.

Caleb wasn't quite sure about the water at first...

but he soon began to really enjoy himself in the water...

on dad's shoulder...

and playing with one of his favorite "toys" - the Dasani bottle

After twenty minutes in the water - he was glad to snuggle with mom.

Doesn't he look a little like a future Jedi warrior here for some reason?

Crawling at last!

2008-09-17T15:27:00.000-07:00

After two months of making us think that he was on the verge of crawling, Caleb finally has broken through and started crawling. Although his crawling is definitely not a thing of grace and beauty, it usually gets him where he needs (or thinks he needs) to go. It definitely has placed us in a new level of awareness about childproofing the house and not keeping him away from stairs, but it has also made our lives a little more fun as well. We actually don't know how long he will be just crawling because he has started pulling himself up on things (and people) and he really enjoys standing up. Also, if I didn't want to jinx us, I could tell you that he has done a much better job of sleeping through the night and getting regular naps recently. So hypothetically, if I was going to say something like that, I would say how proud I would be of our son. However, rest assured - I've learned my lesson and I would never talk about these seemingly positive steps - so maybe this hypothetical baby will keep it up :)

On the home search, we definitely have had a big shift in focus recently concerning where we are looking. Some of you already know what the plan is, but I think we wanted to wait to share where we're looking to move until it is a done deal. All that to say, we are really excited about some of the ministry possibilities in the area where we are looking to move now and we'll soon have more to say about that. Until then, enjoy the pics and videos of Caleb...

Two short clips of Caleb crawling

Caleb and his stylish soccer outfit...

although he seems to gravitate more towards the goalie position

Caleb's First Hike

2008-09-08T16:29:00.000-07:00

Last Monday, Labor Day, Sharon and I finally decided that Caleb was ready for his first real hike with mom and dad. Well, when I say decided, I mean that it just so worked out that Caleb and his hiking backpack were in the same location for the first time this summer - so we actually could go hiking with him. We were a little nervous to see how much he would like his backpack (which was another one of our wonderful Seminary freebies...thanks Sara Just), but he ended up loving it more than we could have hoped. He spent most of the 2-3 mile hike up Sawnee Mountain (more of a glorified hill) smiling from cheek to cheek and checking out everything around him. The only problem was that the backpack wasn't designed great for sleeping in, and by the end of the excursion that was all he wanted to do. He eventually fell asleep so that his entire face was mashed up against the side of the backpack in a very uncomfortable looking manner. Fortunately for Caleb, Sharon had mercy on him and decided to carry him in her arms the last 10 minutes of the hike. Overall, it was a great introduction to hiking for Caleb and resparked my dream of hiking the Appalachain Trail with him in a few (or maybe twenty) years.

In other news, Caleb was also excited about the start of the football season. As you can see in the picture below, his "Steeler" face needs a bit of work - but at least his outfit is top-notch. We didn't quite think he was ready to join Koerber World Fantasy Football this year - as we thought it would be better for him to wait a year or two before embarrassing his family. For the time being, he is rooting hard for the Steelers when not napping during the games. Caleb has also started to crawl/scoot around the house, and we'll share some fun videos of that in the next post.

Caleb enjoyed holding on to the straps just like his dad

Unfortunately, the hat that kept the bugs away also blocked his vision a bit

Enjoying the view with Daddy

I love hiking!

Our family at the top of "rugged" Sawnee Mountain

Still a momma's boy

Sleeping in the backpack = not too comfortable :(

Sleeping on mommy = much better :)

I asked him to make an "intimidating" Steeler face and this was the best he could do?

Ocean City Photo Extravaganza

2008-08-30T15:26:00.000-07:00

Well, since I haven't blogged in about three weeks, I figure I would make up for it by having a "super-entry" today. Rather than taking the time to bore you with all of the details of our vacation - I'll just summarize it to say that it was a great time and we have so many great photos of Caleb and his cousins. It was actually really hard to narrow them down to these dozen or so, but if you want to see more of our Ocean City pictures, you can check out our picassa web site (http://picasaweb.google.com/sharonkoerber) where you can see all of them. Here are some of our favorite pictures of Caleb from the week and I hope that you enjoy them as much as we do. As far as a brief update for us - we are now back in Georgia after arriving this morning at 3:00 AM after a long night of driving from Pennsylvania. We'll keep you posted on the house hunt as we hope to have more news this week. Enjoy the pictures!

Mike

Caleb's first Ocean City beach experience

Unfortunately, he wasn't big enough to enjoy the rides with his cousins

But he did enjoy cuddling with cousin Isaac

and we loved the photo ops with his cousin Nora

Hanging on the beach with Nora on our final evening at Ocean City

Nap time on the beach...much rarer than we would have liked

Caleb loved playing in his inflatable pool

"I'm a hunka, hunka burning love!"

Check out my sweet goggles!

Family photo on the beach

The family in front of one of the famous lifeguard chairs

Nama and Pap-pap with their six grandkids

Back to Boston

2008-08-10T18:46:00.000-07:00

So travelling with a baby does change some things...but not everything. Last Saturday, we were flying back up to Boston and were planning on leaving at 12:00 PM from the Atlanta area. As part of our ever-present quest to get as much free/discounted stuff as possible, Sharon and I almost always try to get bumped off overbooked flights so that we can get the free flights the airlines give as compensation. So this past Saturday we took advantage of one of those opportunities and got bumped off our original flight from Atlanta to Boston. Although the extra two hour wait was a little more difficult with Caleb's nap schedule, it was definitely worth it since we got $400 worth of flight vouchers that we'll use over Christmastime. All in all, it was exciting for me to realize that one of my favorite travel pastimes is still very much a possibility in this new era of parenthood.

Since we got up here to Boston last Saturday, we've been pretty busy catching up with people and staying current with Janz Team work. We've also been excited to have a couple photo shoots with our friend Cari McCormick and you can see some of those pictures below. Caleb's first tooth finally has made it through, but he is still really bothered by the second one that is making its way through. Even though he is teething, he is still a pretty happy baby and is becoming a lot of fun to play with. He is also quite interested in scooting backwards but he hasn't quite figured out how to go forward yet. Although we're excited for him to learn how to crawl, we're still a little nervous about how much extra attention we'll have to pay to him then. I have a feeling that our next blog post will have a video of him crawling, but he has also been showing signs of skipping crawling altogether and starting to walk instead. We'll keep you updated...

Caleb telling "secrets"

Showing off his new tooth

One of his favorite teething poses

Such a kissable baby

Working on his crawling

North Carolina Trip

2008-07-29T11:33:00.000-07:00

This past weekend, we had the chance to take a last-minute trip to North Carolina to visit with our friends Bill and Alice as well as my relatives. Since our car is still up in Boston, we went ahead and got a rental car for the two-day trip. In addition to the better gas mileage that this Toyota Corolla got us, it was also nice to be able to have a car to show Caleb how to drive (see picture below). We left early Friday morning for Pisgah Forest, NC - where we met up with Bill and Alice and spent the day catching up and enjoying the surroundings. We got to see some cool waterfalls, go down natural rock slides (unfortunately Sharon wouldn't let me take Caleb), and drive the legendary Blue Ridge Parkway. After Bill and Alice returned to their brother's house in Tennessee, Sharon and I drove up to my Uncle Bob's house where we had dinner and a fun evening of fellowship.

As far as Caleb's development, in addition to learning how to drive, he also had his first teeth make its way through his gums. Although we will definitely miss the gummy smile - I think that the single toothed smile will soon be just as fun. This Saturday, we will be flying back to Boston where we will spend some time with our friends up there and also pick up our car. After our family vacation from Aug. 16-23, we will be making our way back down to the Atlanta area. Today's exciting news is that we put our first offer in on a house, so we may even be driving down to close on our first home. We'll keep you posted, but we're very excited about the possibility if the seller accepts our offer.

Bill, Alice, Sharon, and Caleb in front of Looking Glass Falls

In front of one of the beautiful views off the Blue Ridge Parkway (Look at Caleb's great skill in photography!)

Caleb practicing his driving before we returned the rental car

Projectile vomiting: one of the greatest joys of motherhood (as the "shrapnel" reached all the way down to her legs)

Me on the natural rock waterslide

House Hunting

2008-07-20T13:53:00.000-07:00

I have a confession to make. Though I once mocked my wives obsession with HGTV (that is Home and Garden TV for those who are out of the loop) - I have now become the first person to turn to that station and see what show is on. Although my favorite show is obviously House Hunters - I've found myself intrigued with every show dealing with real estate now that we're looking for our own home. Needless to say the whole home search process is a bit overwhelming, but we're starting to narrow down possible options. Our situation is even a little more complex because we would want to find a place that could resell quickly since there is a good chance that we would only be in the area for 2 or 3 years. The good thing is that it is definitely a buyer's market now and that we have a good deal of options. We'll keep you posted on the search as we hope to have a home closed on by the end of August.

As far as how things are going with Caleb, we feel that he has finally adjusted to his new surroundings - which means that it is time for us to leave again :) He also had his 6 month checkup not too long ago and he came in at the 95th percentile for weight again and his length and head size is increasing in percentile also. He still seems like he is on the verge of crawling - but I have a feeling that he may be that way for a while. We're still hoping that he's able to crawl by the time we leave for the beach on August 16 - but I fear we may regret that when we're trying to keep tabs on him all over the beach house. He is such an active guy now so it is a little scary to think what it will be like when he starts crawling.

Finally, we wanted to use this post to pay a tribute to our favorite fast-food restaurant: Chick-Fil-A. During our time at Seminary, Sharon and I took advantage almost every week of the special "buy one meal, get one free offer" that they had for Seminary and college students. It was a fun and cheap date night for us and also was one less dinner that we had to worry about planning each week. Now, we're super excited to be living in the birthplace of Chick-Fil-A. Just last week, Chick-Fil-A had their "Cow Appreciation Day" festivities where they gave free value meals to everyone that dressed up as cows. Needless to say - Sharon and I couldn't miss it and we have pictures of our home-made cow "costume" below. I know it was a little weak, but I was pretty impressed with what Sharon came up with at the last minute.

Logan hugging/strangling :) his cousin Caleb

Close-up photo of the cousins - as Logan took to referring to Caleb as "my baby Caleb" during his visit

We LOVE Chick-Fil-A

Georgia on My Mind

2008-07-06T15:26:00.000-07:00

Just in case you didn't realize it, "Georgia on My Mind" is the official state song of the great state of Georgia. Many of you may also have not realized it yet, but this is also the official song of the new home state for Sharon, Caleb, and I. Yes, after many months of wondering where we would end up - we found out last week that we have been given the opportunity to live in one of the last places that we expected: the Atlanta area. It turns out that Janz Team will be employing a decentralized office approach in the United States for the next few years and our supervisors suggested we look at setting up our home base in the Atlanta area. In addition to the possibilities for Janz Team to develop contacts in this area, we are also super excited to be so close to Sharon's family (and the free babysitting that comes along with that).

Although Sharon and I had known about this possibility since the end of May, we didn't dare mention a word of it to her family until it was a certainty. So, when we arrived in the Atlanta airport after orientation two weeks ago, we let them know about the turn of events. As they had expected that we would be moving to the Midwest, they were shocked and overjoyed (to say the least) about our new plans. We are also very excited because the Atlanta housing market actually gives us the possibility of owning our first home, and we are already in the midst of some pretty intense real estate research.

As far as Caleb, he is still continuing to grow and develop super quickly. He just had his 1/2 year birthday last Thursday and we feel he is on the verge of crawling - as he really is trying hard to do it recently. Over the past two weeks he has become even better at eating solid foods - and he sometimes even gets some of it in his mouth. His favorite so far is sweet potatoes, but he has also taken a liking to green beans - which he definitely didn't inherit from his father. Overall, he has been a pretty happy baby recently, which I somewhat hesitate to write since he hasn't really slept nearly as well after I blogged about him being a "super sleeper." If he starts being grumpy again, I'll have to cut off all positive compliments about him on the blog. Anyways, here are some pics showing our happy baby and his enthusiasm for eating.

Here is the big toothless grin we all love

Caleb also LOVES his carrots

A well-rested Caleb is a happy Caleb

Janz Team Orientation

2008-06-28T15:56:00.001-07:00

In the last two weeks, we've had a whole lot of things going on in our lives, but it seems like things are finally starting to settle down for us. After finishing packing the POD and cleaning our apartment (which was much more work than what we thought it would be) on June 14 we then left for Janz Team Ministries' Orientation in Winnipeg the next morning. The week at Janz Team Orientation went really well - as it was great to be able to meet the 27 new Janz Team missionaries who will be heading overseas this fall. We really had an amazing group of people at orientation and it was a lot of fun to be able to meet them in person after having so many phone and email conversations with them over the past few months. It also reconfirmed my excitement about moving into my current position with Janz Team Ministries as Mobilization Coordinator - as it really is a blessing to be able to serve these new missionaries as they respond to the Lord's call on their lives.

After a very busy and tiring week in Winnipeg, we headed to the Atlanta area (where we will be the rest of the summer) on June 22. Overall Caleb did fairly well with the traveling and the new situations he has been in over the past weeks - although the teething pain he experienced on the flight to Atlanta sent him over the edge a bit. We were packed into one of those "mini-jets" that was completely full with high-strung passengers when Caleb decided about halfway through the flight that he was going to have a complete meltdown. I'm sure those of you who have flown with kids can relate - but Sharon and I experienced a profound moment of sheer panic where we doubted whether Caleb would stop wailing at any point before we arrived in Atlanta. Thankfully, we were able to calm him down by changing his "ultra blow-out diaper" and giving him some Tylenol for his teeth. After the past few weeks of craziness we were super excited to be able to set up camp at Sharon's parents and count on being in one place for a while. We are also looking forward to the July 4th weekend as Sharon's brothers Mark and Tom are bringing their kids so that all three Smith-Maynard grandkids will be together for the first time. Knowing Sharon's mom, I can guarantee that we will have tons of pictures from that time, so hopefully that will excuse our negligence in taking photos over the past two weeks.

Janz Team New Staff Orientation 2008

A VERY sleepy Caleb waving good-bye

Changes, Changes, Changes!

2008-06-12T11:10:00.001-07:00

Since our life is defined by changes right now, I figured that our blog should also be receiving a makeover as well. I could probably try to make some deep spiritual metaphor about why we chose the lighthouse theme, but it really was just because I thought it looked cool. We still can't believe that we'll be moving out in two days, but the POD now parked outside of our apartment has helped make that deadline even more concrete in our minds. Caleb (well maybe Caleb's daddy also) was really excited to see the POD arrive on Wednesday morning but we're also a little sad as that is such a strong symbol that we really are moving after all. Over the past week or two, we've tried to say as many good-byes as possible while also packing as we go. It has been somewhat easier to know that we will be returning in August to pick up our car and say some more good-byes, but it also makes it hard because we don't' know for sure who will be around when we come back then.

As far as really important things (Caleb), things have been going pretty well. He is continuing to grow like a weed, as he should be passing the 20 pound mark in the next day or two. He is also starting to eat some rice cereal - but we don't really know what he thinks about that yet. Just recently, Caleb has started to roll over occasionally and he has also started to almost be able to sit-up on his own. We were hoping that he would be able to crawl by the time of the family vacation in August, but he still doesn't like to be on his tummy - so that might be a problem.

Yesterday, Caleb and his parents had a special treat as my parents were able to meet up with us on their way back from their trip to Ireland. They had a 5.5 hour layover in Boston, so we got a chance to pick them up at the airport, have some fun at a nearby park/beach, and have dinner together at Wendy's. It was great to see them again and hear about their trip to Ireland, as we may not be with them again until the beach in August.

As far as our summer plans, our POD will be completely loaded up by Saturday and then on Sunday we will be flying to Winnipeg for Janz Team Orientation. After that, we will be flying back to Atlanta, where we will be spending most of the summer with Sharon's parents. I officially started full-time with Janz Team as the Mobilization Coordinator, so I will be working at of an office that Sharon's parents are going to set up for me in their house. Then we're looking at returning to Massachusetts in the first week of August to pick up our car and say some more good-byes before driving down to New Jersey for Koerber family vacation. It will be great to be with family for the summer, but it will also be a little challenging to be living out of suitcases for the summer - especially since babies require so much stuff!

Caleb is looking quite stylish in his first cap.

Caleb and daddy make a mean bocci ball team...

...but he's a momma's boy at heart.

Wednesday was a busy day with the POD being delivered...

...and a short but sweet visit with Nama and Papap

Caleb's first experience with solids - although that mush doesn't look very "solid" to me

Graduation and Such

2008-05-25T11:33:00.000-07:00

Well, you wouldn't know it from following our blog, but yes I did finally graduate two weeks ago on May 10. It was a great, yet very busy, time as my parents were able to make it up from Pennsylvania for the festivities. It was quite an honor to be able to have them with us for Mother's Day also, as we're starting to feel spoiled because they were also up here for Easter just a month before that. It may be that they're just really excited to spend some final time in the Boston area before we leave next month, but I also get the sense that they enjoy being around Caleb :) They also had a special treat as we had a last minute baby dedication for Caleb scheduled so that they could be there for it as well. We had wanted to have Caleb dedicated at Cape Ann, and we were so grateful that our pastor was willing to do the dedication on only one day's notice.

This graduation reminded me of the fact that this time is officially called commencement, as graduation marked a time of even greater busyness with Janz Team work. Although it is great that we have had so many applicants heading overseas this fall, it has also made things especially busy for me trying to keep up with them and have them move as quickly as possible through the application process. Coupled with the fact that we're also starting to pack up our stuff, these last few weeks are sure to be a whirlwind.

On the moving front, we are so excited to say that we did put down our order for a POD to be delivered on June 10th to our apartment, so that we can have it all packed and ready to be picked up by June 15th when we move out. Those of you who have yet to experience the wonder of the POD moving system should definitely check out their web site - as it is a quite ingenious way of doing things. It is especially convenient for us, since we don't know for sure where we will be going after here - so we can leave our stuff stored in the POD rather than having to unpack it at a storage center and then repack it when we move for good. Although it is a bit more expensive, it will save us the hassle of moving an extra time and having to drive a moving truck from Boston to wherever we end up. It is hard to believe we're already in the last few weeks of our time here, but we are looking forward to the future - and it will be especially good to spend a large chunk of the summer in Atlanta with Sharon's family. Since this may be one of our last blogs as the Boston Koerbers, we also realize that we will be shopping for a new blog title (maybe the nomadic Koerbers for now).

Caleb hanging out with Aunt Dawn during graduation

After graduation with my parents

After graduation with our Seminary friends Bill and Alice (and baby Knechtel)

Not only did I end up with a degree after three years - I also am leaving with a new baby!

Since Sharon carried me through seminary as my "Sugar Momma" I figured I should return the favor

Caleb at his dedication on Mother's Day

Mother's Day Preview

2008-05-04T11:58:00.000-07:00

With graduation coming up this week, I'm wanting to make sure that Sharon's first Mother's Day as a mom doesn't get overlooked. With that in mind, I wanted to post a few pics and a video of Caleb with his mommy. Hopefully, Caleb will realize how blessed he is to have such a great mommy, as I'm hoping he buys her something really nice for her. Maybe that's a little too much to hope for, as I think Sharon would be pleased if he showed his appreciation by abstaining from spitting up on her on Mother's Day. I have yet to talk to Caleb to plan what we'll do for Mother's Day, but I'm really counting on something big from him.

Anyways, things have been going pretty good for me since I finished my last Seminary class on April 25th. I haven't had too much time to enjoy being done, as I've been quite busy working a part time job for a local scholarship foundation. After graduation on May 10th, I think that I'll start to shift into packing mode, as we will be moving out of our apartment on June 15th. It's so hard to believe that we're moving already; it seems like just yesterday when we were moving in. I guess we'll be leaving with a M. Div. degree and a baby, so once our job is finalized, we'll have achieved the Seminarian triple crown. Things with our job are becoming more certain and we should know in a week or two exactly where we will be. We're excited about what is next after Seminary, but we are also a little sad to be saying goodbye to a place and time of our lives that we both have really enjoyed.

If you have seen Sharon's baby pictures, you'll definitely spot the resemblance in this picture

Caleb is mesmerized by the camera

Caleb hugging his mommy

Caleb and mommy play time

Super Sleeper!

2008-04-22T18:55:00.000-07:00

I almost feel like I'm going to jinx ourselves by writing this, but both Sharon and I have been amazed at how well Caleb has been sleeping at night lately. Over the last four or five days, he has gone for at least eight hours during the main stretch of the night, and he even went for over ten hours one night. Sharon is especially loving it as she got 7 hours of uninterrupted sleep for the first time in over six months. He is such a happier baby when he awakes in the morning after having such a good night of sleep and it has been so fun to hear him continue to babble on and on. He's really taken to making the high pitch squeals, and he even seems to try to imitate our words sometimes (or at least we delude ourselves into thinking he is doing that). He's also been growing like crazy, as he already weighs 17.2 pounds and is in the 95th percentile of weight for his age. Now if we could only get him to nap well, we'd be the happiest parents ever :) However, we're definitely glad that he is struggling with naps rather than night sleep, as it gives us (I mean Sharon) the patience to make it through the day and those crabby periods.

As far as a brief non-Caleb update, it is hard to believe, but I finish my last Seminary class this Friday afternoon. Our time has seemed to fly by here and we know that we will miss so many people when we leave. We definitely feel blessed to have this season in our lives and it has been awesome to look back and see how things with Sharon's jobs have worked at so well and we were able to stay involved in the missions world without going flat broke. Although we're excited about what God has next, I'm definitely feeling nostalgic already as I walk across campus and realize that I'm doing specific things for the last time. It's been a great three years, and I know that we will always look back on this time in our lives with fondness.

Look how BIG that guy is getting!

Caleb seems to be enjoying this book about as much as I did.

This is just a preview of one of the pictures from the photo shoot that our friend did of Caleb. Hopefully we'll have more pictures posted within a week when we get the CD of the pics from her.

Caleb's April Birthday greetings!

2008-04-16T10:38:00.000-07:00

So, I finally caught Caleb talking and singing Happy Birthday yesterday to all you April Birthdays!!! (Especially in time for his Grandma's Birthday today!) However, Mike and I fought with the video for several hours before realizing that the video hates our blog and refuses to be posted. So I just put it on YouTube and you all can follow the link below to see Caleb's singing debut. We decided that he is going to be a talkative child like his father was as a boy. Hope you enjoy the video as much as we did!
http://www.youtube.com/v/45wODUZtn6M

Caleb's video montage

2008-04-07T15:19:00.000-07:00

Since Caleb is not the most photogenic babies (actually he hates the camera) we've started taking more and more video clips of him. The good thing is that we actually see smiles from him now and it's also a more fun way to capture his personality and what he is learning. Anyways, following are a few brief video clips of the things that Caleb likes and dislikes.

The first thing that Caleb likes is...

"Boxing" with his ball that hangs from the "ocean wonders" playtime mat that his nama and papa bought for him. He can be entertained by this thing for long stretches and never grows tired of playing with his ball.

However, below is one thing Caleb does NOT like...

Shopping with the girls :( This video is a tribute to Grandpa (Sharon's dad) who would often fall asleep in the car while waiting on the girls to shop. Caleb has quickly learned that it is just better take a nap during shopping trips:)

The thing that Caleb likes to do most of all (as if he had any choice in the matter)...

...is play soccer! Yes our little prodigy is already starting on his foot skills as you can see below.

Easter and other events

2008-04-03T10:34:00.000-07:00

Since it has been a little while since we last blogged, we have a good amount of pictures and videos to share. Sharon and Caleb had a great visit in Atlanta with her family, and we were also excited to have my parents come up for Easter weekend. We were so glad that Sharon and Caleb were able to make it down to Atlanta for the week before Easter, and I hope that they didn't mind having Caleb around all week. We were also excited that we got Caleb's passport picture taken, and we just sent in his passport application as well. Since we will be going to Canada in June, we wanted to make sure he had just in case he decided he didn't want to stay home by himself.

I'm sure everybody was wondering, but Sharon once again humiliated her husband (for the third year in a row) on her NCAA bracket projections. As a prize, I had to make her chocolate chip cookies, but I didn't mind too much since I ate one or two (or maybe twenty) myself. Caleb was really bummed that Davidson lost to Kansas in the Elite Eight, and has had some trouble sleeping ever since, but I think he'll snap out of soon. He is starting to get into a pretty good routine of going to bed around 8:00 PM, which we really appreciate since it gives us time to ourselves. We're starting to get Caleb into more of a routine, but I think that we'll probably wait until four months until we start a more regular schedule with him. He has definitely become much more entertaining and interactive recently, so that has made our time with him even more fun. However, he is still quite the cuddler, which we also enjoy - although we wonder how much longer that will last.

Caleb "discovering his hands"

What scares uncle John more? The tears or the other "end"

Caleb with his Grandma and Grandpa

Caleb just LOVED getting his passport picture

Quality time with Grandma

Back to Bachelorhood

2008-03-18T17:12:00.001-07:00

Sharon is off with her family this week in Atlanta to show off Caleb, so I'm back to the lonely life of a bachelor until Saturday. It is so strange how quiet this house is without Sharon and (especially) Caleb. Fortunately, Sharon picked a great time to leave me by myself - as March Madness starts this week and she spared me from the many guilty feelings I would experience concerning becoming completely immersed in College Basketball for two days. I do feel a little bad that Caleb will not get to experience it with me as much this year, but by next year, we'll have him filling out his own bracket. I think Sharon has beaten me in our bracket competition the last two years, but I'm hoping that her "baby brain" will give me the edge that I need to restore my supremacy.

As far as Sharon and Caleb, we were pleasantly surprised that Caleb did very well on his flight down to Atlanta on Sunday night. No screaming at all - which would have been somewhat difficult to do since he pretty much nursed the entire time. Caleb's been having a great time with his grandparents and uncle and aunt - and he is even starting to adjust to the pack and play that he's been sleeping in. Sharon will give you updates about the trip and maybe post some of the thousands of pictures of Caleb that have undoubtedly been taken this week. I'm sure that most of you reading this already know, but Sharon and I are so excited to have another niece, Norah Grace Koerber that was born to my sister-in-law Chrissie and brother Matt on March 11. Norah came just in time to restore the balance of genders for my parents grandkids as there will be three little granddaughters and three little grandsons at the beach this summer. If you are interested in seeing pictures (as well as reading my brother's creative account of the whole experience) you can check out their blog at http://mattchrissie.blogspot.com/. Below are a few pictures of Caleb that we took before he left.

Could that be a smile coming on - you be the judge

Caleb "playing" with his cars (the red one was given to him by Sharon's uncle and the unpainted one was given to Sharon by him when she was born many moons ago)

Caleb's not so sure what he's supposed to be doing.

Working on his GQ pose for his future modeling days.

The Many Adventures of Caleb and Mommy:)

2008-03-08T11:57:00.000-08:00

I know that you all have been waiting for me to make a blog entry. Since Mike has been so busy with JTM, school, and his own exciting things these past two weeks (going snowboarding and to a Penguins game) I figure I should share with you all about the many adventures of Caleb and me. This past week Caleb experienced more "firsts". On Thursday he attended his first woman's Bible Study with mommy and did pretty well until the end when we started to pray. I think he was a little nervous at first being the only guy, but soon realized that the odds worked in his favor:) Last Friday night I attempted to bake my first patch of cookies with Caleb...never to young to start baking together! Caleb hated it; I had him in the Bjorn, which he usually likes, but not this time. I was even just attempting cookie bars (Thanks Megan for the special recipe). Needless to say, I got as far as mixing the dry ingredients and then we had to call it an evening. I finished them after Caleb went to bed and they were super yummy! On Saturday daddy was gone all day snowboarding and we just hung around the house. We had a fun photo shoot...see pictures below and later had take out, games, and a movie with Auntie Dawn. All in all it was a pretty productive day; I even got a shower, Caleb got a bath, and we did a load of laundry. (It is the little things in life!) Sunday was fairly uneventful, but we very much enjoyed having daddy around.

Monday was a big day and Caleb went in for his 2 month check up. I knew he was going to be receiving a shot or two and I was a bit nervous, you see we have lots of experience with needles thanks to all the blood work from being so jaundice for so long. I was greeted by the nurse explaining that Caleb would be getting 5 vaccinations (in 3 shots) and the promise of baby Tylenol...I wanted drugs too! As soon as I would calm him down the nurse would be ready with the next injection; poor Caleb. The good news is that we also found out that his jaundice is now gone, he grew another 2 inches since his last visit (I guess he wants to take after the Smith side of the family) and he was up to 12 1/2 pounds. That's my boy! So he has now grown out of all his 0-3 month outfits and half of his 3 month clothes due to his length. We also learned that Caleb does not get fussy from vaccinations, but just sleeps A LOT. This led to a great surprise on Tuesday. Caleb learned that he can go three to four hours without eating and still live. So he is now eating more at one time and eating less frequent...PRAISE THE LORD! He has also figured out that he can go a little longer at night, but we are still up at least two times a night to eat and usually three. This is fine by me we are making baby steps; no pun intended.

On Wednesday I went back on antibiotics for my infection, but with this one I can still nurse. Please pray that it works this time to get rid of all the bacteria!!! Thursday was a bit of a blurr, but we enjoyed having friends over and I felt more like a real person being able to be mommy and still clean up and make dinner. We also had nice weather and took Caleb for a walk to pay rent and go to the Give and Take. He very much enjoyed it and you can see him below all bundled up and strapped in...he looks a little like he is in a straight jacket:) Well, that concludes the week; hope you enjoyed the update!

P.S. Daddy has been very busy these past weeks, but he is still very helpful and we love him much!!!

Pennsylvania Visit

2008-02-24T17:20:00.000-08:00

It's been a few weeks since we last updated you, and a lot has changed in that time. Caleb did a great job adjusting to the bottle that was necessary as Sharon was taking medication to fight off her Staph infection. Fortunately, Caleb also switched right back to breastfeeding a few days ago when Sharon's medicine was finished. We figured that he really doesn't care what form the food comes in - just as long as he gets it somehow. Throwing caution to the wind, we also decided to take Caleb on his first extended road trip, a week long visit to my family in Pennsylvania. Overall, Caleb did a great job in the car and with all the transition of sleeping in different places. He even tempted us with a six-hour stretch of sleep one night while we were away, but he has yet to repeat that much-desired feat.

Over the past week, Caleb has also become a lot more smiley and interactive with people. Although he has yet to grace us with a true smile when we try to take his picture, they're much more common in other situations, especially after he is fed. Caleb also had a lot of fun meeting his four cousins, and it seemed like the youngest two (Theo and Catherine) were the most intrigued with him. Catherine was especially distraught when my sister and brother-in-law left for church without Caleb - as she repeatedly and tearfully inquired: "Baby, where's baby?" Theo also got a kick out of just watching Caleb while he was in the swing, while also occasionally lovingly patting his head. All in all, it was a good trip, but we're glad to be settled back in at home once again.

Megan and Catherine with Caleb

Caleb isn't so sure what to think about this show of affection...

...but he seems to like this attention

Lots of love from his cousins Catherine and Ella

My mom with her two "baby boys" and their baby boys

Almost a smile...but not quite

Caleb enjoying some quality time with his papap

That's our beautiful boy

Sharon's Staph Infection

2008-02-09T20:15:00.000-08:00

With a title like that, who wouldn't want to read this thrilling blog entry. The promised blog entry by Sharon has not materialized (although she does contribute the caption to one of the pictures below) because the staph infection on her arm she got in December has taken a turn for the worse. She went to the doctor today for the second time this week and he was debating whether or not to admit her to the hospital before finally deciding to drain it himself. It was quite an unpleasant, gory procedure that I'll spare you all the details on - but she did say that the pain was more intense than any labor pains she had (although thankfully much shorter). The one positive is that we found out that Sharon's extreme tiredness over the last week was more than just "baby fatigue" and was really the infection attacking her body. Hopefully this means that she can expect to have a little more energy when she gets over the infection.

The bad news about the infection is that it is a rare form of staph that is resistant to normal antibiotics. The doctor who checked it out gave the official diagnosis of "this is really scary stuff!" - which of course is a very reassuring thing to here. The new medicine she is on has forced her to stop breastfeeding, so Caleb is now on a temporary formula diet for the next 10-14 days. The good thing for me is that I finally have the option of being involved in the feeding process - something that is exciting now but may get a little bit old at 4:00 in the morning. We're hoping he is able to sleep longer with the formula in his stomach - but I guess we'll know for sure in the next few days. That's all for now and we'll keep you updated as we learn more.

In a completely unrelated note - I can't tell how you wonderful it was to be a Steelers fan in Boston when the Patriots missed their chance at "perfection." It seemed like the general mood of people before the game up here was that the Super Bowl was a mere formality to showcase the greatest team in the history of sports (yes, I heard that argued). I actually have to admit that the Patriots losing was even more invigorating to me than when my Steelers won the Super Bowl two years ago. I guess I couldn't imagine having to put up with all the "perfection" talk if they won - which made the defeat oh so much sweeter. Although he missed much of the game, Caleb did come in to share in the celebration with me. At the time he didn't seem to appreciate being ripped away from his feeding to "watch" the last minute of the game, but I know he'll thank me someday.

Here is my first realization that before I know it, Caleb will be grown and driving. Well, maybe that's a bit extreme, but I was very sad to have Caleb outgrow his newborn size diapers and need to be in size 1 - even though I think they look way too big for my little baby. - Sharon

Daddy's first feeding (yes, that is a pink pillow I'm using and yes I'm really wearing shorts)

Caleb's One Month Checkup

2008-02-02T09:48:00.000-08:00

All right I admit it - I'm a bona fide blogging failure. Despite my best intentions to weekly update my blog, here I am thirteen days later, finally getting around to it. So much has happened in those past thirteen days that I don't quite know where to begin. On a positive note, we were able to move back into our apartment and we were so glad that my mom was here to help clean and reorganize our kitchen, bathroom, and living room while I was at classes. The timing of her visit was perfect, as I don't know what we would have done without her help.

As we were dropping my mom off at the airport, we then picked up Sharon's brother Brian for his visit last weekend. Brian had a great time here, and we even were brave enough to venture out to the JFK museum for Caleb's first museum visit. As you can tell by the picture below, he was obviously thrilled by the experience and is pondering registering to vote Democrat. Brian also included some more pictures of Caleb on his blog, so if you want to see them you can go to http://bmsmith.wordpress.com/. Last Sunday was also a day of firsts for Caleb, as he made his first trip to church with us that morning. Then in the afternoon, he made his first trip outside of Massachusetts when we drove Brian back to the Manchester, New Hampshire airport. That day was a bit of a stretch for him, but I really think it helped build some important character for him (or that's how we rationalize his obvious dislike of the long car trip).

Just as we were starting to marvel over Caleb's regular sleeping patterns, he decided in the middle of the week that he no longer liked sleeping in his bassinet. Fortunately, I also got my hands on the book On Becoming Babywise that proved to be a big help. Although we don't agree with everything in the book, we were reassured by its recommendation to let Caleb cry himself to sleep in the bassinet - something we've found is a lot harder to do with our own child. Thankfully, he's once again readjusted to sleeping in his bassinet and has been doing much better at night sleeping by himself. We also got some encouraging news from his one month checkup - in that his jaundice (which still is quite noticeable at times) isn't anything to worry about. We also were impressed to hear that our little porker gained a pound in the past week - so our self-dubbed milk cow (her words - don't shoot the messenger) must be doing a great job beefing up that boy. To make up for my tardiness in posting, I also included the first videos of Caleb - hope you enjoy it. That's all for now, stay tuned for the first entry from the new mommy in the near future.

Caleb all dressed up (thanks for the fun outfit, Lois) for his first stroll around the campus (which lasted all of 3 minutes due to the cold)

Caleb checking out his uncle Brian

Caleb expressing his excitement over the JFK museum

Caleb waving to the camera (anybody spot a resemblance to one of his cousins?)

Caleb just chilling after his one month checkup

Caleb when he's happy and awake (a somewhat rare occurence)

Caleb sleeping on my chest (if you listen close, you can hear him "purring")

Update on Caleb

2008-01-20T15:17:00.000-08:00

This past week has been a good chance for Sharon and I to settle in to our lives as new parents. After Sharon's parents left last Sunday, it was sort of weird to have Caleb entirely to ourselves. We had a few days to prove that we can do it on our own - but we were very excited when my parents came up this past weekend. My mom will be staying with us until Thursday, which is an especially great blessing since I have six hours of classes three days this week. Although we're now fairly confident taking care of Caleb on our own, we're definitely not going to complain whenever we have extra help. As far as Caleb's jaundice, he's still a little yellow, but the doctors aren't too worried about it for now even though they want to keep monitoring it. It's especially interesting when we put Caleb in yellow clothing, as you can't tell where his clothing ends and his skin begins. Either way, we're glad he looks good in yellow because it may be his color for the next few weeks.

On non-Caleb new, we had some sad and happy news this past week. On Thursday, we found out that my family dog Pokey was put down at the age of 15 after rapidly declining in health over the past year. For those of you who are interested and haven't read it yet, my sister wrote a touching eulogy for Pokey on her blog (www.mmdemontaigne.blogspot.com) that highlights the character of our beloved pet. On a much happier note, we found out on Friday that Sharon's brother Mark and his wife Adriene had their baby boy (Mark William Maynard) who weighed in at just under 8 pounds. The arrival of baby Mark means that Sharon's parents now have three grandchildren - all of which have the middle name William. Also, we're excited about the possibility that we may be moving back into our apartment this week as the final work on it is scheduled to be completed on Monday. Although we've been so thankful for the apartment we've been able to sublet in the interim, we're quite ready to finally settle into our own place.

Caleb deciding whether or not he really wants to take a nap

Sharon having some snuggle time with her baby (note her stylish new glasses)

Caleb's not so sure what he thinks about this situation

My grandma (Nama) with her newest grandbaby (for now)

A Day at the Beach for Caleb

2008-01-11T16:18:00.000-08:00

It's hard to believe, but Caleb turned one week old yesterday. He's had a very eventful first week, but thankfully he was oblivious to most of the drama that his parents had to deal with. This past Tuesday morning, we returned to our Pediatrician for a check-up and he had us get Caleb's jaundice level tested again. Unfortunately the results of the test required us to go back to the hospital for 24-48 hours of phototherapy. As much as we didn't want to take him back to the hospital so soon after we left it, we were glad to just get the jaundice taken care of so we didn't have to worry about it. Although we were a little worried about how Caleb would do under the lights, but he really loved his time there. We were hoping we could photoshop a palm tree and a beach umbrella into the picture and it would look like he was just out working on his tan. Thankfully after just over 24 hours under the lights, he was discharged and allowed to go home with us once again.

When we say home, we don't technically mean home because we are still flooded out of our apartment. We're hoping to be able to move back into our apartment next weekend, but until then we've made ourselves comfortable in a nearby apartment we've subletted from another student who will be returning on Jan. 24. Since having Caleb home, I've begun to experience some of the paranoia and fear of being a parent that I swore I would never let myself succumb to. Yes, I am one of those parents who has to look at my son in the middle of the night to make sure he's breathing and starting to worry about all the possible bad things that could happen. I've also begun to rejoice over three hour sleeping segments for Caleb and am already starting to forget what 8 hours of continuous sleep feels like. I can't even imagine how much more of a difficult transition it must be for Sharon, but I'm so impressed by her stamina and patience as a 24 hour buffet for our child. Her feeding definitely is paying off as he reattained his birth weight twice as fast as is expected. At this rate, it looks like he'll be full grown by the time he's in fifth grade.

It has been an incredible blessing this past week to have Sharon's parents up to help us out, and we're already beginning to dread the moment they leave. Thankfully we'll only have five days on our own before my parents come up and are with us for a few days while we move back into our apartment. The whole fatherhood thing is still a little surreal to me, but I think that it will sink in even more once we get into a regular schedule with Caleb and my schoolwork. We hope you enjoy some of these pictures and thanks for keeping up with our lives.
- Mike

Caleb working on his tan with those sweet shades (preparing for Ocean City)

Caleb sleeping on his mommy

"If I hold onto daddy's thumb, maybe he won't drop me"

I don't know what's going on with this pose - we'll take caption suggestions

This is what our apartment looks like now - notice stylish hole in ceiling

Bringing Baby (almost) Home

2008-01-06T20:38:00.000-08:00

The past four days have been a whirlwind of new everythings for Sharon and me, so I'm finally getting a chance to share some of the details. It all started around 7:30 AM on January 3rd when Sharon had the audacity to awaken me from a peaceful slumber to tell me that her water had broken. As exciting as that news was to me, I promptly decided to lay in bed for another thirty minutes while wondering if she was sure about this. After calling our doctor's office and finally waking up a bit more, we followed their instructions to immediately head to the hospital because Sharon had tested positive for GBS, which would present some risk if the baby wasn't born within 24 hours of her water breaking.

So after arriving in the hospital, they gave us a few hours to progress naturally before they put us on labor inducing drugs around 2:00 PM. Even with the ever-increasing dosage - these drugs had little effect on Sharon. However, when the drugs started working around 6:00, they really didn't mess around as her contractions went from barely noticeable to very intense and a few minutes apart. After an hour and a half of this, which we were told wouldn't even be considered active labor, Sharon and I agreed that an epidural was in order. After receiving the epidural, she amazingly went from 3-4 centimeters dilated to fully dilated in about an hour. by 9:00 in the evening we started pushing and the baby arrived at 9:42.

For the sake of Sharon and the weak stomached, I'll spare you some of the more squeamish details of the experience that I found fascinating and stick to the general stuff. When I first saw that our Kurbis was a Caleb, I was a little surprised but excited that we knew for sure what his name would be. We both really liked the name Caleb, and the William is in honor of my grandfather who will always have a special place in my heart. Although the rather quick labor was a blessing for Sharon, her parents and sister were a little disappointed that they didn't make if for the birth, as they arrived three hours late. Even though they just missed the birth, it was impressive that they were able to get plane tickets and travel from Atlanta to Boston in less than 16 hours after hearing Sharon's water broke.

Our time with Caleb in the hospital was rather uneventful from a medical standpoint, as he has had no difficulties besides a slight case of jaundice and some breathing issues. One of the highlights of the hospital stay for him was watching (sleeping through) the Steelers game with his dad, which is the real reason he decided to come two weeks early. However, our idyllic hospital stay was interrupted early Saturday morning by a phone call from Sharon's parents telling us that our apartment (which they were staying in) was flooding. A pipe in the hallway broke in the middle of the night and water poured into our apartment and was up to an inch deep in places.

Thankfully, the flooding didn't destroy any of our property due to a quick response by my in-laws and the providential fact that most of our valuables were up off of the floor. However, our apartment is in sad shape and we won't be able to return to it for at least a week (if at all.) During that time, we will be subletting a nearby apartment and are very thankful to at least have a place to go for the time being. So although we are not really home yet, it is exciting to be together as a family and entering this crazy adventure of parenthood.

Look Mom, no neck!

Family bonding in the hospital

Caleb with our friend Dawn

As you can see, Caleb is really pumped up for the big game

Taking Caleb from the hospital to our (temporary) home

Caleb William Koerber

2008-01-04T13:25:00.000-08:00

Caleb William Koerber entered the world at 9:42 PM on Thursday, weighing 8 pounds and measuring 19 inches long. We will have more details later, but we wanted to post a few pictures from the first 24 hours.

Christmas in Clearfield

2007-12-30T17:35:00.000-08:00

After much thought and discussion, Sharon and I decided to take a minuscule risk by traveling back to my parent's house in Pennsylvania for Christmas this year. Although our doctor told us that he didn't have any real reservations about us traveling, we were a little concerned by the fact that our insurance may not have covered an out-of-state birth if Kürbis decided to shock everybody and come over three weeks early. Thankfully, he/she decided he really enjoys the warmth and comfort of mommy's belly and he won't be a 2007 tax deduction. Since our decision to go to Pennsylvania was a last-second one and we could only stay a few days, we made the trip with our friend Dawn who was going to a nearby area to see her family.

Our trip home was complicated a little by the fact that Dawn needed to leave on Friday to get home for her brother's college graduation, but I had already planned a two-day ski trip in Maine for Thursday and Friday. So after cutting my ski day a little short on Friday, I drove the four hours back to Boston so that we could leave for Pennsylvania at 8:00. Due to bad weather and frequent stops for the prego, we didn't actually make it to my parent's house until 5:00 AM. Since I had the privilege to be the driver for the last three hours, I was especially thankful to be able to stay awake while realizing that I won't be the dad that drives through the night if we can't find a hotel room.

Our time with my family was a lot of fun, and I eventually got to the point that I wasn't nervous that Sharon would go into unexpected labor. Nevertheless, it was a bit of relief when we made it back to Massachusetts and decided to hunker down into the baby comes. For New Year's Eve, we're planning on having a very small get together at our place and try as much as possible to stay out of the snow that is supposedly on the way. Below are some pictures from Christmas and a fun video of my niece Ella that reminded me of the wonder of Christmas morning for kids.

Sharon and me (and Kürbis) in front of our Christmas tree

My mom with the grandkids (Ella, Theo, Nancy, Catherin, Isaac from l-r)

Sharon and her fellow prego sister-in-law Chrissie

Sharon and me with my parents (and sister Megan and Chrissie)
My niece Ella on Christmas morning

Baby Showers and Such

2007-12-14T14:40:00.001-08:00

Last weekend, my parents came up to visit us from Pennsylvania and it was great to have some time with them. Sharon was under the impression that they were coming up so that my dad could go to the Steelers-Patriots game with me on Sunday - which was half right. The other reason that they were coming up was so my mom could go to the surprise baby shower for Sharon at our church on Saturday morning. Sharon's friends who were organizing the shower really wanted to keep it a surprise, but I was doubting that could happen - especially since we announced it in church one Sunday when Sharon was away. My biggest fear was that one of the kids in our church that goes to our Awana kids program would slip up and mention it to her sometime. However, they were either really good at keeping the secret or else they just proved one of our friends belief that kids don't ever pay attention in church anyways.

Regardless, it was a lot of fun to be able to surprise Sharon and it was amazing to see how far people traveled to be there. We had one of Sharon's best friends Alice make the trip with my parents and then sneak in a mutual friend's apartment on Friday night so that she could surprise her in the morning. The sight of so many friends brought tears to her eyes - which I guess is the mark of success. So last weekend we had a lot of fun looking at our new baby stuff (lots of diapers!) and also got to go out with my parents to pick out our Christmas tree. Even more exciting was the fact that my parents gave us a camera as an early Christmas present, so hopefully this means that I'll be much better about posting pics. By the time little Kürbis makes his appearance, I'll be a photo taking machine. As far as the Steelers-Patriots games that we went to - I don't want to dwell on it other than to say that it was a good experience and I was still glad that we went despite the less than optimal result.

Sharon's Baby Shower Cake

Kürbis trying on his new clothes

Sharon and I with my parents

Sharon with our new stroller

Da' belly

Third Time's a Charm

2007-12-06T20:51:00.000-08:00

As most of you know, Sharon and I are now on our third car in the last three months as we have quite a knack for killing cars. Since it looks like we'll be staying in the United States for a couple of years after Seminary, we decided to try and get a car that should last for a while. After much shopping around, we finally settled on a 2002 Mazda Protege that we bought off a private seller nearby. He was the original owner and has done an incredible job of maintaining it, so we think it should have close to another decade of life left in it. It's a really fun, somewhat sporty, car to drive and I can't resist from singing the Zoom, Zoom, Zoom little Mazda jingle when I'm in it. It's also exciting for me as this is the first car that I've owned that was made in the same century that I owned it (you may have to think long and hard about that one). We still haven't settled on a name for it yet, so let us know if you have any suggestions. Anyways, here are some pictures and hopefully we'll have some fun stuff to post after this weekend as my Mom and Dad are coming up from Clearfield so that Dad and I can go to the Steelers' - Patriots game this Sunday. If you're watching the game, keep your eyes peeled for a bunch of Steeler fans standing together amidst the angry mob of Pats fans.

Thanksgiving in Atlanta

2007-11-30T16:33:00.000-08:00

This past Thanksgiving, Sharon and I had the opportunity to spend the Holiday with her family in Atlanta courtesy of Delta Airlines Frequent Flyer miles. Although it was great to be able to fly on such a busy holiday time, the fact that we were using frequent flyer miles also meant that we had to have stopovers both ways and that we had to return the day after Thanksgiving. Since I had class the Monday before Thanksgiving, I was only able to spend three days in Georgia with Sharon's family, but Sharon was able to leave a few days early so that she had over a week with her family. It was a lot of fun for us to be able to see family especially since there is a decent chance we may be spending Christmas up in Boston because of difficulties with Sharon traveling so late in her pregnancy. We're not as concerned about Sharon giving birth three weeks early as we are that our insurance wouldn't cover the expenses in the rare case that Kürbis decided to make a dramatic appearance in Pennsylvania over Christmas.

The most memorable part of the Georgia trip for me was the Thanksgiving day touch football game that the family played shortly after the conclusion of the meal. I should have gotten a clue when I saw my brother-in-law John merely nibbling at the Thanksgiving feast, but I blindly continued to stuff myself until John proposed an after-dinner football game. Now I've heard of post-Thanksgiving meal football games, but I've always enjoyed them passively by watching on TV. Needless to say, the touch football game we played was a lot of fun, but also left me hurting the rest of the evening with some of the worst indigestion I've ever had (and that's saying a lot). For Sharon, the trip was a great time for her with her family where they could see Kürbis growing and feel him kicking about.

As far as Kürbis, everything is continuing to go well with him and both he and Sharon have been going through quite a growth spurt recently. The latest doctor's checkup this week was very encouraging and we are waiting to get his final opinion about the Christmas traveling possibility on our next visit on Dec. 12. Between now and Christmas, things are going to be crazy busy for me with tons of schoolwork, but I am looking forward to the chance to taking a break to go watch the Steelers upset the Patriots at Foxboro on December 9. We'll be among the many Steeler fans there that will have the opportunity to glory in the Steelers unlikely triumph.

On a sadder note, these past few weeks have been a little traumatic for Koerber possessions. First, our trusty toaster died. This was soon followed by the even more significant death of our car (that's two cars killed in 3 months in case you're counting) and capped off with the crashing of my laptop computer. Although the toaster and the car are in the process of being replaced, we're still trying to figure out what to do about my computer. This is especially a dilemma since I have a bunch of papers I need to be working on (although the hard drive was salvageable). Despite these minor setbacks, it is still comforting to remember that Kürbis is coming soon and these other problems are small in comparison to the excitement we're experiencing.

The Smith-Maynard family together at Thanksgiving

I've never been to Boston in the Fall...

2007-11-12T19:38:00.001-08:00

Well...actually I have been to Boston in the Fall. And we've actually lived in Boston in the Fall. But I thought it was a fun way to start this post rather than merely apologizing profusely for my blogging negligence. Thankfully, I finally have some pictures to post, and I figure I have a whole lot of updating to do as well. This Fall, our last Fall in Boston, has been quite a blur as we feel like we've been a little more busy than we would have liked. In the month of October, Sharon had two separate trips to Vermont to go leaf-peeping, plus she still has that baby inside of her sucking all her energy. It has been really fun for me to actually be able to have pushing matches with Kürbis when he feels the need to stretch or kick his body in some fashion. Being able to feel him moving and pushing against my arm has been an great, albeit a little odd, way to feel connected to him (or her, for those of you who may read a little bit too much into my usage of pronouns).

Over the last weekend in October, two of our RA friends from BFA came to visit us and experience the wonders of Boston in the Fall. It was a great time to catch up with Heather and Jen and reminisce about our time at BFA. Both Sharon and I are excited to be able to stay connected with BFA through Sharon's job and we are still waiting to see if the Lord may have something else in store for us with Janz Team and BFA after graduation. Within the next few weeks, we hope to have a little better of an idea of what we may or may not be doing next, so you'll have to stay tuned. It was also great to have Heather and Jen visit because they did something that Sharon and I always forget to do: actually take pictures. Our digital camera is rather outdated (it is, like, so 2001) and unreliable. We're hoping that Santa (or Broozer or Pokey) brings us a new digital camera, and we'd be interested to hear if anybody has any suggestions. This Thursday, Sharon is heading down to Georgia (I'll be joining her there next Monday) to visit her family for Thanksgiving. This weekend, I'll be flying solo, so if anybody wants to call me and catch up, I'll be at home twiddling my thumbs (or more likely, setting all sorts of spider solitaire records).

Jen, Sharon, and Heather (l-r) at the Manchester-by-the-Sea Harbor

Heather, Mike, and Sharon at Singing Beach

I've got me a wife, she's as big as a whale...* (* full spousal consent was received prior to the posting of this caption)

Steeler Nation

2007-10-10T18:21:00.000-07:00

So once Steelers football season starts every Fall, I always start to feel nostalgia for Pittsburgh, even though I've never lived there. Those of you who are lifelong Steelers fans will understand, but there is just something special about being a part of a worldwide community united by a common passion and heritage. (Since I'm in Seminary, I figure that I should bring in some comparison/contrast with the nature of the church, but I'll leave that up to you to decide on your own). Anyways, as I was watching the Steelers game in a Steelers bar in Boston with 80 other Steelers fans a week and a half ago, I found comfort in being surrounded by that unmistakable Pittsburgh accent. So when I saw this NFL films video on Steelers nation,
(see http://myspacetv.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=4328974)
I thought that this should be mandatory viewing for every native Pittsburgher or Steelers fan. Even if you are not a Steelers fan, it is a great insight into the impact of the steel industry on the city of Pittsburgh. After watching it, it made me even more proud to be a Steelers fan and encouraged me to stand strong in this hostile land.

Block Island Day Trip

2007-10-02T16:54:00.000-07:00

As the semester is now fully under way here at Gordon-Conwell, it is always nice to have times when you can escape the routine of classwork and such. So, this past Saturday, Sharon and I decided to take a day trip to Block Island in Rhode Island. Block Island is a small island that is located about halfway between Rhode Island and the tip of Long Island. It was such a cool place because they have done a great job in preserving green space and retaining Victorian type architecture that gives the place its charm. Those of you who know how much Sharon and I enjoy our sleep will be super impressed to hear that we were up at 5:30 AM on Saturday morning and on the road by 6:00. After taking the first ferry to the island at 9:00 AM, we spent the rest of the day biking around the island, walking the beaches, and visiting lighthouses. The weather was so nice that I even got to work on my tan and go swimming in the ocean. One of our many highlights of the day was hiking down from the top of the bluffs (first picture) to the rocky beach below. After walking along the beach, we also stumbled across the first nude beach that I've ever seen in the US. Thankfully, the one guy that was taking advantage of this unique opportunity had the decency to (mostly) retreat behind some nearby rocks when he saw us coming. The rest of the day was quite uneventful, yet very relaxing and enjoyable. All in all, it was an incredible day trip that I would highly reccommend to anybody living in or visiting the Boston area.

In other Boston Koerber news, Kürbis is continuing to grow and has grown quite fond of kicking and dancing on mommy's bladder. Hopefully you can see Sharon's ever-expanding belly in the pictures below, and we'll try to do a better job of posting recent prego pics in the upcoming months. As far as our future plans, we just found out that the recent possibility of working at an MK school in central Asia is no longer feasible, so we are once again in the dark about what is next after Seminary. No matter where we end up, I am trying to focus on what I'm learning now, trusting that the Lord will be using that for whatever he has us doing next - which is a lot easier said than actually done. That's all for now from us and possibly (although unlikely) by our next post we'll know more.

View from the top of the bluffs on Block Island

Sharon and I on the beach below the bluffs.

Sharon and I by one of the island's lighthouses

At the end of the day

Blogging Drought

2007-09-15T15:14:00.000-07:00

So over the past few weeks I discovered that blogging is a lot easier when you have interesting things to talk about. After a great and active summer, the last few weeks just sort of slid away from us between summer classwork, nannying (for Sharon, not me), and preparing for our Fall responsibilities. Now that I have started classes, we are back in the routine of Seminary life, yet it is hard to believe that we only have about 8 more months here before moving out. Our apartment building has been a little strange this year as we've had half of our residents move out over the summer, and it is sad to wander past the old apartments of friends who have moved on. I guess it is the nature of our rather unsettled life to have people moving into and out of your life somewhat rapidly, but our time at BFA still hasn't gotten us used to all the goodbyes and transition. As I've experienced the moving of a lot of our close friends here, it does make me realize why their is such a draw to really settling down somewhere and putting down your roots. However, I don't necessarily know that is something that either Sharon or I see happening anywhere in the near future. On the bright side, the fact that a lot of our friends have already left (or will be leaving with us next summer) will make it a good deal easier for us to leave this place. Although we have loved living here, we do realize that this was only a phase in our life and we are starting to prepare for whatever God has next (in addition to our new baby).

Kürbis' Photo Shoot

2007-08-23T18:51:00.000-07:00

This morning Sharon and I were so excited to get to have our first ultrasound of Kürbis. Sharon was feeling a little nervous going into it (the whole carrying another human life within your body thing is striking her as a big responsibility for some reason or another) but we were so thankful to be told that we had a practically perfect ultrasound. They told us that he/she weighs 10 ounces, is 60mm long, and the due date of Jan. 18 was confirmed. We've posted some fun pictures of Kürbis from the interior or exterior views, and if you look real closely you can see that he/she already has Sharon's nose. To the disappointment of many, we decided to stay with our decision not to find out the gender, but we're both thinking that it is a girl. To celebrate the ultrasound, we went to Target this evening to start our baby registry, which was a lot of fun but also a tad overwhelming. With all of baby stuff out there, it is a little tricky figuring out exactly what we need, especially since we don't even know what continent we will be on a year from now. Anyways, without any further ado, here is the star of our show; introducing Kürbis Koerber...

Above is Sharon's favorite shot of Kürbis as you can make out his nose and other facial features.

Here is the stereotypical "Oh no! Our baby is really an alien!" ultrasound photo that I've always thought is a little creepy when I've looked at other people's babies. Although I'm obviously biased, I think that this is one of the least alienish looking ultrasound faceshots I've seen - so much that I'm still holding out hope he'll grow into a human after all.

Here is Sharon and I posing with Kürbis after the ultrasound. It was a memorable day for both of us and we are still thanking the Lord for the encouraging results. It is a little strange thinking that this will likely be the last that we will see of Kürbis until we meet him face to face in 5 months - and I'm sure he'll look a lot different in color.
- Mike

Family Vacation and Manny

2007-08-22T08:37:00.000-07:00

This past Saturday, Sharon and I sadly had to return from a great week at the beach in Ocean City, NJ with my entire immediate family. This is one of the highlights of the summer for all of us and we were blessed with nearly perfect weather and an awesome place to stay. The only bad thing about the week was that the stomach flu showed up at our beach house as an uninvited and unwanted guest that especially struck fear into the hearts of those with young children. Although my brother told me that dealing with puking, sick kids is what makes you a real parent, I was not excited to spend my vacation witnessing that type of authentic parenting. Fortunately, my four nieces and nephews were spared the worst of the sickness and I didn't come down with the bug until after we returned home to Massachusetts. In spite of that minor setback, we all enjoyed the opportunity to hang out with family and enjoy the beauty of the ocean. I could have lots of fun pictures to share with you all, except I've gotten accustomed to relying on others to take pictures for us - something that we'll probably have to remedy after our kiddo is born.

For those of you who were dying to know what the name of our new car would be, we will no longer make you wait in unbearable agony. After numerous minutes of intense discussion and debate, Sharon and I settled on the name of Manny. We derived the name Manny from the word Manna because just as Manna was the Lord's provision for the Israelites in the dessert, this car was God's unexpected blessing for us just when we needed it. Wow, that Seminary education is already coming in handy for the monumental things in life such as naming a car. At the beach, we also found out the reason my brother and sister-in-law were looking to upgrade to a minivan. Chrissie is three months pregnant with their third child so Sharon and I ended up being the ultimate beneficiaries of the fact that three car seats don't fit in an Escort wagon. However, Manny will definitely be a great vehicle for us and our one car seat that will, Lord willing, be bringing home Kurbis from the hospital this January.

Parting Is Such Sweet Sorrow

2007-08-10T12:51:00.000-07:00

This week, Sharon and I were forced to say goodbye forever to a very significant part of our family - our 1995 Mercury Sable which we had (sometimes) affectionately referred to as Puck (as a loose acronym for Piece of Crap). We had driven it back to Pennsylvania wondering whether or not it would pass inspection due to the numerous problems it has been having recently. However, as we left the Boston area, it seemed like it was trying to tell us that it still had some fight left in it. Shortly after leaving Massachusetts, the brake light which had come on the past week abruptly went off. Then as soon as we entered Pennsylvania, the ABS warning light also went off and I began to think that the Sable just may actually make it for another year.

When I first got the car in 2001, I foolishly declared that I wanted this to be the car in which I would drive my first child home from the hospital. This was a foolish statement because: #1 - I had no clue even who I was going to marry or when that would happen (if ever) and #2 - I didn't know at the time that 1995 Sables were one of the more unreliable used cars according to info I later got from Consumer Reports. This proclamation of mine seemed to turn into a bit of a curse as the Sable refused to be sold (in spite of numerous efforts on my part) when I went to Germany for three years. Then last year, it passed the state inspection with very little trouble. So when I found out that Sharon was due this January, I was certain that Puck could at least hold out until then. However, the state inspection revealed the need for extensive repairs, signalling the end for our Sable as we were forced to sell him for a mere $100 for scrap. Although Puck didn't quite make it until January, I do think that it is a significant victory that he did get to transport the unborn Kürbis around numerous times over the past couple of months.

The news that we needed a new vehicle didn't come as a huge surprise, but we ended up getting a new (to us) vehicle from an unexpected source. When I asked my sister-in-law Chrissie to put her family on the lookout for a good used car (due to their auto expertise), she floated the possibility that they would give us their 1997 Ford Escort Wagon. They were already looking to buy a used minivan so they would have more room for their two boys, so the timing was good for them to bless us with the generosity of a car. So after a rushed (and eventful) title transfer and state inspection, our new car is all packed up and ready to take us to the Ocean City, NJ for our first trip with it. We have yet to come up with a name, but we are excited to have a car that should last us for at least a year until we decide what we're doing next. Although it is somewhat sad that Puck will not be able to take Kürbis home from the hospital, we are grateful for the numerous good memories that we have with him (especially as our trusty transportation for our honeymoon). We are even more thankful for the generosity of Matt and Chrissie in blessing us with their car that we are looking forward to having for at least another year or two.

-Mike

Out with the old...

In with the new (to us)

Treasuring the Moment

2007-08-08T19:13:00.000-07:00

This past weekend, Sharon and I finally had the opportunity to return to the Boston Harbor Islands (www.bostonislands.com) a camping trip with our good friends Bill and Alice. My brother and sister-in-law introduced us to this unique camping experience during our first (and their last) week in the Boston area in August of 2005. We've been talking about a return trip for the last two years, but we weren't able to make it actually happen until this past weekend. The island that we camped on (Lovells) is so unique because it is located a few miles out in the Boston Harbor with breathtaking views of the city in the distance. However, the other side of the island reveals a view of open ocean as far as the eye can see with amazingly clear water for swimming. I wish I had some photos to show just how spectacular the location is, but I guess their absence means you will have to check it out for yourself (and invite us to join you, of course).

As the four of us sat by the fire on the rocky beach on Friday night, we reminisced a little bit about our time at Seminary because Bill and Alice will be finishing school and moving out next week. As we discussed some of the ups and downs over the past two years, it really made me appreciate how much we have enjoyed our time at Gordon Conwell and been blessed with great friendships. On the other hand, I feel like I have sometimes taking these (and other) good times for granted because I'm always so focused on the future. As I prepare for fatherhood, I want to learn to really appreciate moments in life while they're happening rather than only enjoying them through later nostalgic reflections. Especially since I've heard from parents how quickly kids grow up, I want to be able to savor the special moments in our son's or daughter's life as they happen. This is something that will not come naturally to a planner/future-focused person such as myself. If any of you parents have any suggestions in ways to slow down and truly appreciate time with your children, I would love to hear your advice. On the other hand, I know I still have five months until the baby is born, so maybe I should practice by appreciating this time of preparation instead of focusing on the future :)
- Mike

3rd Anniversary Celebration

2007-07-31T12:56:00.000-07:00

This past weekend Sharon and I celebrated our third anniversary by heading into Boston and spending a night at the Hilton. We got a pretty good deal through priceline on the room and the Hilton was generous enough to upgrade us to a suite when we got there and told them it was our anniversary. Friday evening, we went out for dinner and spent some time just hanging out around the waterfront area. On Saturday, we went on a free whale watch (courtesy of a Shaw's supermarket promotion - we love those deals :) where we were treated to some very close encounters with three humpback whales. It was a great weekend and it was a little strange thinking that this will be the last anniversary for just the two of us with Kürbis set to make his grand entrance in January. With Kürbis on the way, I find that I am trying to think of all the things I would like to do that will be more difficult to do with kids. I know that may be a pessimistic way of looking at things, so I'm also challenging myself to think about all the things that will be so much fun to do with a baby/infant/toddler/child/teenager/etc. Maybe those of you who have kids can spur me on in that way as well.

Speaking of Kürbis, we also celebrated our anniversary by finding and putting together a crib for him. One of our neighbors was leaving and getting rid of this crib, so we rescued it from the dumpster (don't worry moms, it wasn't literally IN the dumpster, just beside it when we claimed it) and assembled it after church on Sunday. I sort of felt a little bit like Jack Bristow (those of you who have seen that Alias episode will understand) in the care, concern, and mild incompetence that was involved in putting it together. It still could use a little bit of structural reinforcement, so we may have to convince my dad to come up and repair it (or else create an inferno in our backyard with it if he deems it a lost cause). As far as the recent outcry over not finding out the baby's gender, our will has been bent but not broken on our decision to wait until birth. However, financial incentives could push us over the edge in case any one is really set on finding out during the Ultrasound.

Today is the actual date of our anniversary, but since we had a big celebration over the weekend, we're going to maintain our weekly tradition of going to Chick-Fil-A for their buy one-get-one free value meal special on Tuesday nights. It is not necessarily the most romantic dinner date, but it is very cost effective and we enjoy the company of all our seminarian friends who will join us. In conclusion as I reflect on the past three years of marriage to my wonderful wife, I thank the Lord for bringing us together. Although I will miss the numerous times of just the two of us together, I am also excited about the journey of parenthood that lies before us.
-Mike

P.S. I finally got around to posting pictures from our Germany missions trip. If anybody is interested in seeing them, they are posted under the original blog entry.

Sharon and Kürbis in the new crib

Kürbis' First Doctor Visit

2007-07-26T15:31:00.000-07:00

As all of those reading this blog should know, Sharon is over three months pregnant and her due date is January 18. In order to have a fun way to refer to our baby while he/she is in the womb, we decided to use the German word for pumpkin (Kürbis) since it is a little, growing Koerber. The German teens we were working with last week got a great kick out of it and would ask questions about our Kürbis throughout the camp. We are still debating whether Kürbis can refer to any child in Sharon's womb, or if we'll have to think of a new name for our next child. The good thing is that we should have a lot of time to think about that.

Anyways, yesterday was Kürbis' first time to see Dr. Steece, who will be overseeing the pregnancy. We had seen a midwife before who was great, but were excited to be able to meet Dr. Steece and get to know him a little bit. It was very interesting to discover that he is the exact age that Sharon's biological father would have been and began practicing the same year that Sharon's dad did. Like Sharon's dad, he also was a Pastor's Kid who decided to go into the medical field. Both Sharon and I really liked him and his experience and warmth were very encouraging to us. The check-up with Kürbis went very well and we got to hear a strong, healthy heartbeat. The ultrasound is scheduled for August 23rd and we are currently planning on not finding out the gender (but that still might change). We've included some pictures below to show you how the pregnancy is going and how hard I (Mike) am trying to really empathize with Sharon through this time.

- Mike

Germany Missions Trip

2007-07-23T13:37:00.000-07:00

Yesterday night, Sharon and I returned from our two week missions trip to Germany. I had planned on trying to update the blog while we were there, but it was hard to find enough time to sleep, let alone get on the internet. So I will now try to sum up the highlights and lowlights of our two week trip as best as possible and I've included a few pictures from the camp.

We arrived in Germany on July 8 after a rather uneventful flight and were very pleased that all of our luggage made it. We had a few busy days of orientation/preparation where Sharon and I realized how much we felt over our heads in trying to direct an English camp, when we hadn't even worked at one previously. Originally Sharon was to be the head cook and I was to be a counselor, but we were asked to lead the camp a few weeks before the camps began. Our experience living in Germany and working in the dorms was helpful (especially since the camp took place at one of the BFA dorms) but we were definitely learning the ropes on the fly. I feel like our staff appreciated our leadership for the most part, although we both wished we would have had more experience with the camps before having to direct one. The pressure of being in charge of the entire camp also took a toll on both Sharon and I, so that we were definitely ready to not have to make any more decisions by the end of camp.

The camp itself seemed to be a success, and the majority of the campers had very positive experiences. This was our first experience working with German teens, and we were suprised to find out that our group was the loudest, most rambunctious group of Germans that I had every encountered during my three years living in the country. Throughout the 10 day camp we struggled with trying to provide structure and get them to be respectful (which never happened) without being too strict or legalistic. Most of the campers were returners, which meant that the primary reasons for coming were to reunite with old friends rather than learn English or grow in their faith. This also made it a little difficult to connect with the campers as they were not particularly interested in getting to know us very well. However, it was still encouraging to see that out of the 28 campers, 6 rededicated their lives to Christ, and 1 made a first-time committment. Although Sharon and I (as well of the rest of the staff) may have experienced some frustrations with the campers, it was rewarding to see that kind of response from campers.

In addition to our struggles with campers, I also had the additional drama of losing our passports while I was hiking in the woods with the campers. Miraculously, I was able to go back the next day and find them in the woods so that we wouldn't be stranded in Germany. All in all, the trip was a good one and it was a lot of fun to be back in the country that still feels like our home and where we have so many great memories. I am feeling less certain that we will be going back there immediately after seminary, but we still don't know what God has in store for us.
- Mike

Entire Camp Photo

My Team ("The Frogs") for camp activities/competitions

Sharon serving dinner to the campers

Janz Team and the AT

2007-07-02T08:43:00.000-07:00

I'm just on a tear with my first foray into blogging, so I might as well keep it up. Sharon and I have been pretty busy these past few weeks. Sharon was in Canada helping lead Janz Team Orientation from July 17-24. Orientation went very well, and there is a great group of candidates that will be heading over to Germany in the next month or so to work as Teachers, Dorm Parents, and RAs at BFA. Although it was a good week, she was exhausted when returning from having to burn the candles at both ends and feeling pretty worn down in addition to that.

While she was gone, I headed out for ten days with two Seminary friends (Bill and Seth) to hike the 90-mile long section of the Appalachian Trail that runs through Massachusetts. We started in Connecticut on Sunday July 17 and reached our destination in Vermont on Tuesday July 26. There is so much to talk about concerning the trip, but all three of us that went were amazed at how those hiking in the Appalachian Trail live in their own world and subculture. On the trail, everybody picks up trail names such as Bird, Toothfairy, Retro, Applesauce, A.C., Strider, Leader of the Pack, etc (I went by Gumby - long story). We also learned a little bit about the lifestyle of thru-hikers (those that hike the entire trail in one summer). The demographics of thru-hikers is rather distinct, as almost all of them are either in the early-mid 20s or recently retired. We were also introduced to the wonders of trail magic (goodies that kind locals leave by the trail or give to hikers) and trail angels (those people that leave trail magic and/or take hikers into their homes, drive them places, or help them out in any other way). Our group had some trials and tribulations throughout the trip (I knew one day was not going to go well when Seth decided to open the day by reading from Lamentations) but we persevered and accomplished our goal one day earlier than planned. We really enjoyed getting to know many different thru-hikers and it felt neat to really be a part of the Appalachian trail culture. I've posted a few pictures below from our trip, but there are a whole lot more interesting details that I'm looking forward to sharing with family at the beach.

This Saturday, Sharon and I are leaving with our team of six others to head off to Germany for two weeks to serve at the English camp that Janz Team runs there. We're both looking forward to it, but we know it will be a lot of hard work and it will also be a learning experience for us in relating to German teenagers (as opposed to the American teens we worked with at BFA). Hope everybody reading this is doing well and not getting too bored by my endless blogging.
- Mike

Seth and I at the junction where we started the AT in Conn.

Me studying the map as we entered Massachusetts

Toothfairy, Bird, and Retro (three of our favorite thru-hikers)

Atop Mt. Greylock, the highest point in Mass.

The Mass./Vermont border - our final destination

First Blog Entry

2007-07-02T08:26:00.001-07:00

Well, here it is - my first entry into the world of blogging. I figure it is just about time since Sharon and I hope to be having a lot of fun pictures to share in the next year or so. Also, I'm a bit shamed by how much we can keep up with my siblings through their blogs and my youngest child competitive nature has been awakened. Sharon is out nannying all day today, so I figured I would suprise her with the gift of her own blog when she returns. I don't know how often she'll update, so I may be the primary Koerber blogger (especially since I'm the one with the most free time this summer). That's all for now, as I'll give you more updates about what's been going on with us in my next post. - Mike