Nickels Family Fun

On Saturday the crazy Nickels side of the family got together for a yummy dinner. Matt was sick so he stayed home and missed all the shenanigans. Mom (a.k.a. Grandma Nickels) cooked an excellent dinner and fun was had by all.


Grandpa, Grandma, and Caelan

You think he adores his grandson?

Matthew, Caelan, and Ryan

Mommy loves Caelan and Caelan loves Mommy!

The neighbors came over to see Caelan. This is Emma, Nathan, and Will. When they moved in, Nathan was born the next day!

Caelan really like Nathan and vice versa!

Here we go..4,5,6!

Today Caelan is 6 months old! I cannot believe how fast the last 6 months have gone. Some days were so long (especially in the first 3 months), but the months themselves went really fast. How does that happen?

Caelan is a joy. I often feel like the luckiest mommy in the world when he smiles at me. How did I end up with the cutest baby ever? Then again, I am pretty biased.

Since I never posted his 4 or 5 month pics, here they are with the 6 month. It's more fun that way anyway so you can see how much he's grown!

Caelan's first date

Last weekend, Caelan went on his first date with Clara Franklin. Obviously, it didn't go so well. Although there were flirty smiles passed back and forth, Clara pretty much ignored Caelan and took more interest in her food and strangers walking past. I'm sure that Caelan's habit of eating his bib coupled with his obsession of the ceiling fans in the restaurant did not help win Clara's heart. Or perhaps, Clara's just not into younger men!

New things we've learned about our son...

1) Caelan loves prunes!
2) Caelan laughs when he has his "teeth brushed"
3) Caelan looks a lot like Winnie the Pooh

Some pictures for your enjoyment:


This boy has some seriously long eyelashes!

Caelan versus Winnie the Pooh
"...and in this corner..."

Mommy's fun with photoshop!

Caelan's First Redskins Game

Okay...so he only got to watch the kick off and a couple of plays, but the Skins played so horribly that he really didn't miss much. Matt really hopes that Caelan will be a Skins fan. Then again, I'm not sure that I can take two emotionally charged men for an entire season....

Watching intently...



Caelan's yelling at Eli Manning...

New Milestones

I just wanted to post a couple pictures and a video of Caelan's growth. He is now sitting up unassisted (sometimes toppling over) and as of today he is a babbling machine. We're not really sure what he's saying, but it's pretty funny. We'll try to get even better video of it to put on the blog.

Culpeper Sprint

So this is about a month overdue. We've been busy :).

About a month ago, I, along with our friends Marco, Michelle, and Mike (Michelle's brother) participated in the Culpeper Sprint triathlon. My mom, Laura's parents, and Caelan (and of course Laura) came to support my effort to finish.

We were worried it was going to be too hot for Caelan, but it turned out to be a beautiful morning. Everyone finished before it hit the mid-80s. I didn't do as well as I had hoped, but I met my goals I set for myself, so I was satisfied. I blame not being ready when my wave started. I had just gotten at the entry point of the swim when my wave started. So I was a little flustered.

As always, the race was well organized (wish I could say the same for myself that morning) with plenty of positive encouragement/enthusiasm from the crowd and participants.