Caleb Chronicles: 3 Months Old

Caleb is now 3 months old and getting cuter every week. He steals my heart and makes me laugh every day with his myriad of facial expressions and toothless grins. In the morning, he is just so happy to be awake that he might just turn me into a morning person yet. I seriously adore this kid.

This month, Caleb learned to giggle. He doesn't do it very often, but sometimes if you make faces at him, tickle his foot, or buzz your lips he will reward you with a couple chuckles. He also seems to like being surprised and smiles when he gets over the shock. It's very difficult, though, to get a reaction twice in a row with the same clap or loud noise.

Caleb is also growing bigger and stronger. At the doctor's, he weighed 17 lbs with his clothes on and is way ahead of schedule for nearly doubling his birth weight. He's developed a double chin and has big rolls on his neck and legs. Too cute! We are transitioning into 3-6 month and 6 month clothes already and several of his cloth diapers are too small. Caleb still can't balance enough to sit up on his own, but he's strong enough to support his full weight on his legs and move his head and neck freely. He's also getting coordinated enough to get his hand in his mouth to suck on the back of it. He never quite figured out how to suck on his thumb so he shoves his fist in his mouth and licks it instead.

Other "events of this month include Caleb's first and second 10 hour straight sleep, the first one occuring on New Year's Day after keeping him up until 1 am at a friend's house. (To be fair, we tried to get him to go to bed earlier!) We also tried giving Caleb his first taste of formula from a bottle in an attempt to gain some flexibility and the chance of leaving him with a babysitter for a feeding. However, Caleb would not suck from the bottle and made faces when he got any drops in his mouth. He also made a big show of gagging noises and sticking out his tongue like he does when you put the pacifier in a few too many times. (He still only takes a pacifier when he's really tired.) Oh well. At least he's the sort of baby that you can take places! He hasn't given us trouble in a restaurant yet (knock on wood)... Caleb also saw his first snow, a record 6 inches in our area of Seattle (he was not impressed, especially when a few flakes melted on his face). And we all suffered a bit through Caleb's first minor cold (eye boogers, runny nose, and some coughing/sneezing- sad day).

(Click collage to view larger)

Caleb Chronicles- First Two Months

My goal is to post on Caleb's milestones about once/month along with a few of the new pictures with his stuffed animals to see how he's grown. And boy has he grown! (You can click on the pictures to make them bigger...)

Caleb was born 8 lbs. 12.5 oz but lost the usual 10% in the first few days. At first, he slept most of the day and was only awake and not eating for about 1/2 hour or so. We had to wake him up for most of his feedings or he would just snooze away next to us in bed. As an added bonus, he cried only about 10-15 minutes total per day, so I'd say we had it pretty easy...



In the first month, Caleb quickly learned to hold up his head and even smiled at mommy around 3.5 weeks old. Boy, how that smile can melt a mom's heart and make it all worth it. Caleb also stuck out his tongue for the first time after getting his tongue frenulum (little flap of skin underneath) clipped so he wasn't tongue tied anymore. If he wasn't eating fast enough before, now the floodgates were opened! At 10 days old, Caleb settled happily into his first warm bath (he really likes baths!) and, at 1 month, slept his first night in his bassinet. Rather quickly, the bassinet moved from beside our bed to Caleb's new temporary sleeping quarters, Kayle's walk-in closet. Mommy just couldn't sleep with her super sonic hearing and Caleb's baby dreaming sighs and moans. Daddy, however, doesn't seem to have much trouble sleeping through the night feedings and changings! Even with him farther away, I can still hear him move and cry without a baby monitor, but at least it's not QUITE so sleep-depriving...




By 2 months old, Caleb was already 13.5 lbs and 25 inches long. His body was in the 95th percentile for weight, 90th percentile for height, but only 25th percentile for head size. Built like a linebacker! (although mommy doesn't want to think of her little baby playing football...ever.) He started sleeping through the night inconsistently, soon after mommy decided he was gaining plenty of weight not to be woken up to eat anymore. By the way, "sleeping through the night" usually means more like wake up at 4-5 am and 8-9 am, but at least there's a good 6-7 hour chunk in there somewhere. There is still no semblance of a regular schedule or daily naptimes, but I can hardly complain about that.

As for "talents", Caleb can now support his own weight standing and sitting (but not even close to balance), track objects and people with his eyes, and respond to voices. He is very strong for his age due to his small head and daily exercises with daddy, who rolls him on the exercise ball, hangs him by his arms and upside-down, has him stand and "jump," and holds him in a superman pose. Despite making mama nervous about baby torture, Caleb seems to enjoys playing with daddy and hardly ever cries. Of course, he could be concentrating too hard or just plain too stunned to cry...

In other news, Caleb loves to smile, especially when he's "rescued" from his bassinet in the morning. Of course, he also has much more "fussy time" than in the beginning and does a hyperventilating, hysterical cry if he doesn't get what he wants/needs almost immediately (sin nature peeking out?). Caleb's pediatrician said the dry skin on his head and face (cradle cap) might be worsened by intolerances to mommy's diet and suggested I take breaks from eating/drinking milk, citrus, eggs, and chocolate (what else is there?!?!). I still haven't quite figured out which ones bother him for sure, since I haven't been terribly consistent, and he alternates between getting better and worse without it ever going away completely. Finally, Caleb enjoyed his first taste of real food at 2 months old as he happily licked off of mama's fruit popsicle with a big grin on his face.

2011 Calendar

Here is a link to the calendar I made on Shutterfly: http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=2QcMmbluxZu4g

2011 Christmas Letter

Dear Family and Friends,

This has been quite an eventful year for the Hinkle family! In lieu of regular blog posts this year, here is a monthly breakdown:

In January, we decided to use the Daily Bible, the NIV translation broken up into 365days and in chronological order, to read through the entire Bible this year. We haven’t been entirely great at staying caught up all the time, but it looks like both of us will finish one 2011 New Year’s resolution.

In February, we found out we were having a baby. We were beyond excited to think about raising a child together and having the first grandbaby and great-grandbaby all around. We enjoyed calling all of our family to share the good news as well as reading all the well wishes from friends on Facebook.

In March, we heard our little one’s heartbeat for the first time when he was just 6 ½ weeks along. It’s awe-inspiring how intricately and quickly God knits us together in our mother’s womb! Also in March, Kayle went on a Men’s Advance (since Mars Hill men don’t “retreat”) and learned about Biblical manhood.

In April, our church held its gigantic Easter service at Qwest field, the stadium where the Seattle Seahawks football team plays. Our church, Mars Hill, meets in multiple church locations under the preaching ministry of Pastor Mark Driscoll via video and other elders at each church campus. For Easter, we celebrated Christ’s resurrection in the drizzle with over 17,000 people in attendance and 682 baptisms. What a party! You can watch a video of the event at http://marshill.com/easter.

In May, Angie went on a women’s retreat where she studied how to become a Christ-centered woman, grace-filled helpmate, and missional disciple. We also found out that our baby was a boy and finished off the school year with a “babymoon” to Maui. We had been meaning to get to Hawaii at some point with all those direct flights from Seattle, so I guess with our impending parenthood we saw the window of opportunity closing rapidly! There, we swam, snorkeled, boogie-boarded, made smoothies, and read The Hunger Games in the sun. Thankfully, the morning sickness had worn off by then!

In June, Angie was blessed to have coffee with our missionary friend who is serving as a teacher in northern Sudan. The two of us always leave those meetings mutually encouraged by each other’s passion in ministry and God’s incredible providence and work. We were also overjoyed to spend a week with our family and friends in Michigan. We enjoyed two baby showers there: the first was a party with our high school friends, the highlight of which was decorating onesies for our son (they turned out surprisingly well!). The second was a large gathering of parents, grandparents, neighbors, former teachers, youth group leaders, and family friends. We were overwhelmed by outpouring of love from so many people! The flight back to our Seattle home was also on our anniversary, so we celebrated 3 years of marriage with a day of traveling (and a nice dinner later in the week).

July marked the beginning of the third trimester (so soon!?!) and a sudden rush of motivation to get everything ready for baby boy’s arrival. The summer was also busy with BBQs (both), youth group events (Angie), teaching summer school (Angie), and continuing work at Microsoft (Kayle).

In August, Angie helped lead at the big youth group retreat at a summer camp in Paulsbo, WA. Now, very pregnant and waddling, I enjoyed spending some extra time with my teenage girls, who I’ve been mentoring and teaching through the Bible for a few years now. I also had several girls over to my condo for a sleepover and pool party, so you know I was just trying to tire myself out completely! Also in August, Kayle and I visited Vancouver, BC to see my college roommate, Claire. It was a delight to catch up with her, since we hadn’t seen her since Angie was a bridesmaid in her wedding last year. Finally, Angie worked her last day as a high school math teacher at Educational Advancement Academy (EA2) to rest up for labor and delivery and become a stay-at-home mom.

September was the beginning of baby shower mania. We enjoyed two baby showers for Angie, one with some youth group families and friends in a nearby park and another with my large church family of community group ladies. Within our circle of CG friends, four other women were also pregnant and all were due in October, November, or December. I’m happy to report that we all now have healthy little babies and two more friends are expecting next year! Kayle and I also took a six week childbirth class with a delightful British midwife and former Microsoftie during this time. It helped us both immensely with getting mentally prepared for giving birth, how Kayle could support as a husband, and knowing more facts about various interventions and the general progression of labor itself. We both also laughed through the book, Baby Catcher, about an American midwife delivering babies in homes over the course of 40 years. We also made a last minute switch from an OB-assisted birth in a hospital to one with midwives at a nearby birth center.

October was the month we’d been eagerly (and maybe a bit nervously) anticipating all year. Angie waited for labor by going to the pumpkin patch with friends, working on our wedding album, watching Notre Dame and Michigan football, and leading a few last weekly youth group gatherings. Ready or not, Caleb Christopher Hinkle was born on 10/18 at 10:18 pm after 11 hours of unmedicated labor, 8 lbs-12.5 oz and 21 inches long. Kayle excelled as a supportive husband alongside our friends, Nicole and Jenny, and midwife and assistants, Val, Brooke, and Sarah. Kayle stayed home with us a week before going back to work, and we were aided by many friends visiting Caleb and bringing meals. Our church also moved into a beautiful new building in downtown Bellevue, which we’ve been praying about for 2 years now.

In November, we were blessed with visits from all Caleb’s grandparents and his Oskamp great-grandma too. They ooh-ed and ahh-ed at Caleb’s amazing napping ability and little “fussing” (then only about 10 minutes per day). He captivated them with yawns, facial expressions, and opening his bright blue eyes. Oh, and Caleb really knows how to settle happily into a warm bath.

In December, Caleb grew to be over 14 lbs and 25 inches long. He is quite the round, little chunker now! Caleb is now able to stand with someone balancing him, smile broadly, and poop five feet through the air if you don’t change his diaper fast enough. Aunt Dani visited with her boyfriend, Kevin, and we’ve enjoyed many holiday parties and dinners with our CG friends. We will be rounding out the year with our first Seattle Christmas and a visit from Aunt Kristen and her fiancé, Nick.

We miss everyone in Michigan very much and are looking forward to a month-long visit in May and June with 3 weddings in a row (cousin Mieke and siblings Cody and Kristen). We wish you all a merry Christmas and a very happy New Year!

With lots of love,
Kayle, Angie, and baby Caleb Hinkle



P.S. For tons of photos of our family and friends, visit https://picasaweb.google.com/Angie.Hinkle.
Someday, I hope to restart updating our blog too: www.angelaandkayle.blogspot.com.

Caleb's Birth Story

I'm going to try to post at least monthly to keep everyone updated on Caleb's milestones. I'll also be posting tons of pictures to Picasa, so let me know if you want to be included in the "share album" e-mails (or just subscribe to my profile on
Picasa).

Caleb’s Birth Story

My water broke at about 10:30 am on Monday, Oct. 17, 2011. For a full 24 hours, I had random, weak contractions but certainly wasn't in progressive labor. The risk of infection steadily increases after your water breaks, so we were excited that our baby would arrive soon and a little nervous about possibly needed to be induced the next day. I spent the day doing “birth projects” like working on my wedding album, adding last minute food/supplies to our birth bag, and trying to rest up for labor. Meanwhile, Kayle went to work, and I went for a well-timed massage appointment. (I told the massage therapist that I would give her a big tip if she put me into labor!) Tami Hagglund also came over that morning to see me and hang out a bit.

Around 10:30 am on Tuesday (Oct. 18), I went for a check at Puget Sound Birth Center and still was not in active labor. Since mama and baby looked and sounded good and my cervix was soft and dilated 2 cm, Val gave me a lemon verbena/castor oil shake to kick-start labor. I needed to be pretty far along by 9:30 that night or I would have to give birth in the hospital due to the high risk of infection. Well, that concoction did its job and within an hour or two I had regular, pretty intense contractions that were 2-3 minutes apart. Kayle and I went out to a last lunch date at CoHo Cafe, but we didn't talk much (I was decently distracted and spacey). I think I spooked the waitress a little by being in labor at the restaurant. I wasn’t making noise or anything, but I was clearly very pregnant and breathing harder than normal while staring out the window a lot. By the time, Kayle and I got home, I had a few more contractions and was ready to go to the birth center. Kayle wanted me to take a walk around the block or maybe try breathing through a few more contractions at home, but they were coming fast and getting hard for me to handle without female support, so I insisted that we leave RIGHT AWAY!

At the birth center, labor progressed quickly. I had a lot of wonderful help from Kayle, my midwife (Val), student midwives (Sarah and Brooke) and two friends (Jenny Almasy and Nicole Drewry) who came to witness and help. It was especially exciting for Nicole and Jenny since this was their first birth and both were in their first trimester of their own pregnancies. I felt very loved and supported by everyone, although, as labor progressed, I became less aware of exactly who was sitting next to me all the time, giving me water to sip, and breathing along to keep my rhythm. Kayle stayed with me the entire labor except for a brief break to eat dinner (I made him go away then- I couldn’t stand the smell of his pasta). He reminded me to breathe slowly and steadily, sat behind me in the Jacuzzi, and told me I was doing a good job. From the pictures, I can see that he (and everyone else) was also grinning ear-to-ear nearly the entire time.

During active labor, I changed positions often (jacuzzi, toilet, birthstool, bed...), and, nearly 5-6 hours in, I suddenly felt very scared and overwhelmed. An epidural sounded very tempting, and I wasn’t sure I could make it unmedicated if I still had a long way to go. The midwives asked to check my progress for the first time (risk of infection) and Sarah announced I was 5 cm with a very soft cervix. That felt like a crushing blow, because labor felt much harder than that and I couldn’t imagine it getting worse. Fortunately, Val checked me again about 5 minutes later and said I was 8 cm. I recognized transition from the description in my birth class (threw up a popsicle, felt scared/overwhelmed) and was very relieved to hear I was right about getting close to pushing. Just checking me gave me the boost and a couple extra centimeters. One funny example was how the midwives were excellent at reframing: when I threw up my popsicle, they gladly celebrated the extra “1/2 centimeter.”

I went back in the Jacuzzi for the rest of transition and started feeling the urge to push there. The midwives told me to put my finger inside to feel the progress his head was making. It felt so squishy, but I was relieved to figure out how to move him closer to the world. Caleb's head was also quite big, so I ended up having to push hard for about 3 hours, first in the tub, then on the birth stool and bed. It was encouraging to see him crowning in the mirror, and labor still felt manageable until the very end. During this time, the phrase from my birth class that kept popping into my head was “rest and be thankful.” Apparently, some moms experience an extended break between transition and pushing during which they fall asleep for a few hours. That didn’t happen for me, but the contractions started coming further apart and I was able to lean back against Kayle, close my eyes, and rest between efforts. I tried to let myself go and just “rest and be thankful,” without worrying about what pain might come next or how much longer everything was going to take. However, Caleb having spent several hours in the birth canal, things were eventually getting rather urgent. I moved once again to the birth stool and Val started coaching me to get him out quicker. She mentioned an episiotomy might be necessary if Caleb didn’t arrive soon since his heartbeat indicated some distress and his head was clearly bruised and swollen. Everyone, including me, prayed for strength to deliver him soon and healthy. This was the second time in my labor that it really felt hard, but the urgency of the moment left me no time to dwell in self-pity or fear. I just abandoned myself in trust that God would give me strength for the moment.

After 5 solid pushes in a row with just a breath or two in between, Caleb Christopher Hinkle was born on October 18 at 10:18 pm weighing 8 lbs. 12.5 oz. and 21 inches long. The midwives jumped into action as he lay on the floor on a towel while we gazed at our new son. Kayle was supporting me from behind on the birth stool when he was born. At first, the baby was a little blue and gave only the slightest cry and kick. We found out later his Apgar score was initially only 4 out of 10. However, in 5 minutes, with some rubbing and encouragement, Caleb started breathing better, pinked up, and moved a bit more, now scoring an 8 out of 10. He was then placed in my arms, still attached by the umbilical cord and gunky, but the most beautiful baby I’d ever seen. Kayle and I held him together, our little family of 3.

My favorite song I listened to leading up to and during part of labor was “Stronger” by Mandisa. The chorus was so fitting and encouraging for me:

“When the waves are taking you under,
Hold on just a little bit longer.
I know that this is gonna make you stronger, stronger.
The pain ain’t gonna last forever,
And things will only get better
Believe me, this is gonna make you stronger.”

I felt and still feel so much stronger as a woman and proud of myself for hanging on until the end and giving birth with no pain medication. How sweet to lean into God and my husband while pushing and find the courage to persevere!

Later, Kayle was able to cut the umbilical cord between the clips and I delivered the placenta with barely a grunt while Caleb was still in my arms. A shot of Pitocin helped to slow the bleeding, but I didn’t care just then what happened to me. I was so relieved the labor was over and that our baby was finally here.
Both mama and baby were a little worse for wear after that long pushing ordeal. Caleb's head was very cone-shaped and tender. Mama was exhausted, fainted on the toilet, and required stitches for a 2nd and minor 3rd degree tear (which they were able to do at the birth center). Because of my fear of needles and very rattled and exhausted nerves, the stitches almost felt worse to me than the labor itself, even though Kayle and Jenny held my hands, Val was gentle and careful, and the numbing agent worked like a charm. I also needed a catheter to drain my bladder that first time. With a low fever and another fainting spell, they kept us at the birth center overnight and we were able to go home (gingerly) in the morning.

There were some more sweet moments in the birth center, despite the tough recovery. We blew out candles on Caleb’s 0th birthday dirt cake and enjoyed pizza as our first meal celebration. Tami came to see the baby and take Jenny and Nicole home in the middle of the night. The midwives checked on us often and marveled at how “tough” mama was (even though I didn’t feel so tough).

Perhaps the hardest thing for me was feeling a bit numb in my heart at first from being so physically exhausted. I expected to experience a rush of love and warm, fuzzy affection at the very beginning, but it took me a few days to heal up enough to switch out of survival mode and into full-time mommy mode. We also dealt with painful engorgement, crazy hormones, and difficulty breastfeeding (which we found out later was from Caleb being severely tongue-tied). Thankfully, Caleb never lost too much weight and quickly started growing into a strong boy. At 3 weeks, he already weighed almost 10 lbs.

One of those tough times of feeling discouraged as a new mom, I was listening to “My Jesus, I Love Thee.” One of the verses says:
“In mansions of glory and endless delight,
I’ll ever adore thee in Heaven so bright
I’ll sing with the glittering crown on my brow
If ever I loved thee, my Jesus, ‘tis now.”

I sensed in that moment that God was telling me that Caleb is one of the jewels on my heavenly crown. Somehow, that revelation made all the tears and pain of being his mom make a little more sense. Perhaps, God was using this difficulty to make me stronger too as I slowly learned to die to selfishness and sacrifice for him and others out of love.

At about 1 month, we have now enjoyed visits from the Maxey and Hinkle grandparents as well as Caleb’s Oskamp great-grandma. Kayle stayed home to take good care of me and Caleb for a week before I felt strong enough to brave the day alone while he went back to work. We made it to community group when Caleb was just 1 week old and missed only 1 week of church, because we were anxious to introduce him to our friends and see our community for prayer and friendship. Our church family has been providing us with all sorts of meals and support including Marilee’s late-night visit to a crying, hormonal basket-case (me, not Caleb). Kayle and I are also looking forward to visits from Dani and Kevin on Dec. 15 and Kristen and Nick on Dec. 24. Caleb got his tongue clipped recently, and the two of us are getting the hang of breastfeeding, sleeping when we can, and being together all day. I finally feel like a loving mom, but there’s still a lot of adjusting to do as I learn to take better and better care of him and myself.

Announcing Caleb Christopher Hinkle

Stationery card

View the entire collection of cards.

New Summer Pictures!

Here is a link to some pictures from Eastside Academy's graduation, Emily and Kira's (youth group girls) open house, CG, and a 4th of July BBQ at Jenny Almasy's house. There are several, too, to chronicle my growing (now 18-20 lb) belly...

https://picasaweb.google.com/Angie.Hinkle

Why we are naming our son “Caleb”

We’ve officially chosen a first name for our son: Caleb. This may be a surprise for some of you or maybe not if you’ve heard me musing since long before we knew we were having a boy. This name is special for a lot of reasons, but, most of all, it represents how we hope to shape our son’s character as his parents.

Over the past year, my youth group girls have been studying the books of Joshua and Judges in the Bible. Since we read the story of Caleb (multiple times), I just couldn’t get over how many admirable qualities that man possessed. Here are just a few of them (read his whole story in Numbers 13-14, Joshua 14:6-14, 15:13-19, 21:11-13, Judges 1:1-20, and 1 Chronicles 2:42-54):

• Caleb was highly respected by his tribe and chosen to represent them in “spying out” the promised land.

Numbers 13:1, 6: “The LORD said to Moses, “send some men to explore the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites. From each ancestral tribe send one of its leaders’… from the tribe of Judah, Caleb son of Jephunneh…”

• Caleb saw the goodness of God’s promises and believed that God would fulfill every single one. Caleb, with Moses and Joshua, stood up against the rest of Israel (talk about peer pressure!) when the rest of the nation was too afraid to fight for the land God had promised. He acknowledged that the task would involve great struggle against overwhelming odds, but he also trusted that they would be victorious with God’s help. Caleb’s courage came from the strong conviction that God would be with and fight for His people.

Numbers 13:30: “Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.”

Numbers 14: 6-10: Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had explored the land, tore their clothes and said to the entire Israelite assembly, “The land we passed through and explored is exceedingly good. If the LORD is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us. Only do not rebel against the LORD. And do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will devour them. Their protection is gone, but the LORD is with us. Do not be afraid of them.” But the whole assembly talked about stoning them.

• Caleb was one of two people in his generation allowed to enter the promised land after wandering in the desert for 40 years. Even Moses and Aaron disqualified themselves…

Numbers 14:24: But because my servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it.

• After 40 years of wandering in the desert and 5 years of fighting alongside the rest of Israel, (which puts Caleb at 85 years old!), Caleb was eager to lead his tribe into battle for the land given to him. He volunteered to clear out the land inhabited by the same giant people that made Israel want to turn back the first time.

Joshua 14:10-12: “Now then, just as the LORD promised, he has kept me alive for forty-five years since the time he said this to Moses, while Israel moved about in the wilderness. So here I am today, eighty-five years old! I am still as strong today as the day Moses sent me out; I’m just as vigorous to go out to battle now as I was then. Now give me this hill country that the LORD promised me that day. You yourself heard then that the Anakites were there and their cities were large and fortified, but, the LORD helping me, I will drive them out just as he said.”

Joshua 15:13-15: In accordance with the LORD’s command to him, Joshua gave to Caleb son of Jephunneh a portion in Judah—Kiriath Arba, that is, Hebron. (Arba was the forefather of Anak.) From Hebron, Caleb drove out the three Anakites—Sheshai, Ahiman and Talmai, the sons of Anak. From there he marched against the people living in Debir (formerly called Kiriath Sepher).

• Caleb married his daughter to a quality guy who showed as much courage and trust in God as himself. Othniel, the son-in-law, went on to be the 1st judge to rescue Israel from oppression in the book of Judges.

Numbers 15:16-17: And Caleb said, “I will give my daughter Aksah in marriage to the man who attacks and captures Kiriath Sepher.” 17 Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb’s brother, took it; so Caleb gave his daughter Aksah to him in marriage.

Judges 3:9-11: “But when [Israel] cried out to the LORD, he raised up for them a deliverer, Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother, who saved them. The Spirit of the LORD came on him, so that he became Israel’s judge and went to war. The LORD gave Cushan-Rishathaim king of Aram into the hands of Othniel, who overpowered him. So the land had peace for forty years, until Othniel son of Kenaz died.”

• Caleb seems to have loved his daughter tenderly. He gifted to her the best land along with very valuable springs of water, just for asking.

Numbers 15:18-19: One day when [Aksah] came to Othniel, she urged him to ask her father for a field. When she got off her donkey, Caleb asked her, “What can I do for you?” She replied, “Do me a special favor. Since you have given me land in the Negev, give me also springs of water.” So Caleb gave her the upper and lower springs.

• Caleb’s town, Horeb, is later named both a “city of refuge” and “Levitical town,” making it a center of both justice and worship. Joshua 21:11-13

Most of all, Numbers 14:24, Numbers 32: 12, Deuteronomy 1:26, and Joshua 14:14 all emphasize that Caleb “followed the Lord wholeheartedly.” More than anything else, this is what we pray for concerning our son, that he would know the joy and satisfaction of loving and serving his King. We also hope to instill in him the virtues of a godly man: one who is tough in protecting his family yet tender in caring for them, courageous in speaking truth to both enemies and friends, and serious about investing in the Kingdom to produce a long legacy of love for Jesus.

Of course, it is convenient that this name is also very close to his daddy’s name, who decided not to continue the tradition to make our son Kayle Keith Hinkle IV (as the numbers get higher, they start to sound a little too much like European kings or popes). We also like that it has a hard “k” sound, like the rest of the Hinkle biological siblings (Cody, Kristen, and Casey) and a Maxey family middle name (Christopher/Krista).

Since everyone has been asking, and I was dying to officially share, this is the first name for our little boy. It will be a relief to start calling him Caleb full-time, since I am not keen on keeping secrets! Please pray for our son whenever you think of him. This mama is now entering her 3rd trimester, so it feels much more like we will meet him face-to-face SOON!

Angie and Kayle

P.S. We are still undecided on Caleb’s middle name…

Home Sweet Michigan!

Kayle and I had a fantastic time visiting our family and friends in Michigan and celebrating almost non-stop with 4 parties in 4 days (and 2 concerts too). We felt so blessed to have been surrounded by people who share our joy about baby Hinkle and who showered us with innumerable cute and useful gifts. It was a trick, but we did manage to get everything home by checking just one bag and carrying on an extra diaper bag (baby’s carry-on if anyone asks!). Once we got back to Seattle, packages continued to come for days on end. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU to everyone!!!


We arrived in Grand Rapids on Wednesday afternoon after two short layovers in Denver and Milwaukee. After waking up bright and early at 3:30 Seattle-time to catch our 1st flight at 6:15am, we landed on time, with no delays whatsoever, at 4:15pm Michigan time. That evening was spent saying “hi” to both families, visiting my mom at work, eating dinner with my dad, and going over to Hinkle’s twice.

On Thursday, we kicked off party weekend with Aaron’s open house. Both the youngest (biological) siblings graduated from high school this year, which is still hard for us oldests to fully believe. Living away for so long can make it seem like everyone back in Michigan is frozen in time/age- how jarring that the siblings decided to grow up while we were gone! Well, congratulations to both of them and best of luck at GVSU (Aaron) and Calvin College (Casey)!!

I spent most of Thursday morning and afternoon preparing a Maxey tradition for Aaron, affectionately called “the shrine.” Dad put up a giant board (read: wall) to arrange pictures, trophies, certificates, and mementos from Aaron’s life and school career. In true Angie fashion, it turned out “above and beyond” normal expectations and was meticulous to the last detail. I had a lot of fun sorting through a giant bin of family pictures, reliving many memories I had previously forgotten, and selecting just the right photos to show our open house guests. Meanwhile, everyone else ran around dipping strawberries in chocolate, putting up a tent (and tables and chairs), and setting up badminton. A party at the Maxey’s is quite an operation and, despite a little stress, everything came together just before the 1st guests arrived. Aaron had a lot of friends and neighbors visit, and Kayle and I received our first baby gift from the Pontious family. We managed to avert disaster after I accidentally set the tissue paper from the present on fire with one of the citronella candles- Kayle quickly scooped it off the table and put it out on the grass…






On Friday, we switched gears to prepare for party #2, a baby shower with my high school group of friends. We spent the day at the Hinkle’s, seeing Kristen and Cody who both came in from out of town (Chicago and Maryland) to see us. In the afternoon, Dani , Emily J, and Emily N-M arrived after work to feverishly set up for the shower at night. We were busy for a few hours cutting up fruits and veggies, making “taco soup,” arranging favors, decorating, microwaving diapers (after a quick internet search as to the feasibility of that), and numbering baby food containers. Thanks to all the planning efforts of our 3 lovely hostesses, the baby shower was fun, memorable, and delicious! For food, we enjoyed a baby bottle-shaped cake (courtesy of Em N-M), chocolate strawberries, a veggie tray, fresh fruit, and taco soup. We played an ABC diaper bag game (come up with a diaper bag item for every letter of the alphabet!), guess-that-baby food (thankfully no tasting involved!), and the old melted candy bar in the diaper game (surprisingly realistic and disgusting!). All of them were so fun, although the boys ran away upstairs to play Euchre at the first hint of a “girly activity”. We did, however, get them to come back downstairs for cake, presents, and onesie decorating. The onesies, of all sizes, turned out surprisingly well thanks to the foresight of having some animal coloring book pages to trace and lots of fabric markers and paint. In addition to completely necessary Notre Dame and Michigan onesies (Em J “sold her soul” to make that “Go Blue” for Kayle), we received ones with pirates, animals, space, sports, video games, and clever sayings. We took the extras to the Hinkle and Maxey siblings and parents to decorate too. How special for our baby to wear the handiwork of our loved ones for the 1st year of his life!






Saturday was the 2nd baby shower, this one more traditionally all the female family members, neighbors, and even some teachers and youth leaders from middle and high school. The format of the shower was much the same, except, having already played the games the night before, I could move around and take lots of pictures. It turns out, by the way, that experienced moms are MUCH BETTER at guessing what could come out of a diaper bag! The high score on that game was 38 points versus my winning 23 points of the night before. Some other highlights of the shower were opening TONS of gifts, holding baby Joel (the newest Archer boy), and just talking with many beloved women I haven’t seen in a long time. It was a special, special event.
That evening, Kayle and I met up with more Hinkle relatives for Casey’s “Strike” percussion concert. It was very impressive how they integrated so many types of drums, marimbas, cymbals, pots and pans, clapping, brooms, and piano into creative songs. As a senior, Casey played a different instrument in nearly every number, and baby Hinkle could certainly hear the big bass booms. He was kicking me like crazy as he danced in there! After the show, I was delighted to run into Claire Timmer, a young lady I used to babysit starting at age 5. She is now a junior in high school!






Sunday was our last party day, this time an open house for Casey. Kayle spent the baby shower hours the day before helping to set up, so things would be all ready for an afternoon party after church. My family attended Peace Church in the morning and heard our youth pastor preach a good sermon on the doctrine of Scripture. We also saw our college age leaders (the Schmids), some friends from youth group (Steve and Sarah), and many other familiar faces who congratulated us on our pregnancy. After church, we enjoyed a very busy open house at the Hinkle’s. To give you an idea, I believe the party consumed a full 40 pizzas, an entire Costco cake, every chocolate chip cookie, and several big bowls of fruit salad. Kayle and I mostly took the opportunity to relax, visit with family, talk to a high school friend (Conall), throw the Frisbee for Cooper, and play some tennis.





After the open house, Kayle and I dropped by for a couple hours to say “hi” to the Jacobson family with whom I spent many sleepovers throughout middle and high school. It was great to see a trio of very tall Jacobson brothers, meet the eldest brother’s wife and daughter, and visit with Emily and her parents. We talked a lot about Mr. Jacobson’s new job in Saudi Arabia and the culture and politics of the Middle East right now. Finally, we rounded out the day with a London Broil dinner (personal request!) and a game of dominoes at the Maxey house. We were privileged this time to meet Dani’s boyfriend, Kevin, and spend some time with our Oskamp grandma. I hit it off well with Kevin, who is a HUGE Notre Dame fan, and even won the game of dominoes (and it was COMPETITIVE as always).






Our last day in Michigan was spent just hanging out at the Hinkle household. Kayle played many games of tennis with Siang, Cody, dad, and Esther Khim. I enjoyed just talking with Cody and Thim and overseeing some onesie decorating. I even had time to read a book and take a nap! In the evening, Kayle went with his family to Casey’s piano recital while I drove to the “new mall” to go shopping with Dani. We both had Groupons for Old Navy and perused the maternity section. I came away with a cute striped skirt, long dress, shorts, and jeans thanks to my fashion-expert sister. I pretty much take her clothes shopping with me every chance I get. (I NEED HELP!) We celebrated our purchases with dinner at Olga’s before Dani had to drive back to Allendale and get to sleep for work the next morning.



On Tuesday morning, our trip was already over! Every visit to Michigan now seems far too short, but we consoled ourselves with assurances that many would visit when our son is born and we would be back again with him early next year. I could go on and on about how grateful we are for the love of all the people who went out of their way to see us, spend time with us, and bless us with their generosity. WE LOVE YOU ALL SO, SO MUCH!! I can’t wait to introduce our son to the gigantic, loving community that we enjoy in 2 states…






Angie and Kayle

To view all the pictures from our Michigan trip (and everything else we’re up to):
https://picasaweb.google.com/Angie.Hinkle

Hawaiian Babymoon

What a great trip! Our week in Maui was just perfect for relaxation, adventure, and a little romance before baby Hinkle arrives. Here are just a few highlights from our wonderful vacation:

-We rented a beautiful house in Kihei, on south Maui, very close to the best beaches on the island. Jonathan, who owns the house, was very nice and accomodating. He gave us dinner recommendations and answered many random questions, since he's been living on the island since before we were born. He said Hawaii was "discovered" by the tourist industry in the 70s and really picked up and commercialized in the 80s. The house itself had a beautiful kitchen where we cooked breakfast everyday, packed lunches for the beach, cut up pineapples, watermelons, and mangos, and made lots of fruit smoothies. We also had access to a master bedroom, lovely backyard with hottub, outdoor grill, and shed full of beach gear. I don't think Kayle could've picked a better place to stay on the island!






-Most of our free time was spent relaxing and swimming at the many pristine beaches in Maui. We especially enjoyed the beaches in Makena, the very southern end of the island. Kayle enjoyed some Kindle reading (Hunger Games and Robinson Crusoe) under various trees, keeping an eye on me as I swam and snorkeled near the shore. I also enjoyed several naps on the sand and beach picnics with cut fruit, beef jerky, and sandwiches. One day, we went boogie boarding on some small waves at Makena state park. We could sometimes manage to ride the wave all the way up on the beach with just an inch of water left underneath the board. And don't worry moms: both of us were careful not to burn in the sun, wearing sunscreen everyday and lathering on the aloe at night. We got a little red, on our shoulders, cheeks, and especially the top of Kayle's head, but no peeling for either of us!







-One of the most exciting days featured a 5-hour boat cruise and snorkeling tour. We left in the morning by 8:30 and were served breakfast and lunch on the boat. Our first snorkel stop was Molokini island, a federally protected marine reserve with a brilliant coral reef, tons of colorful fish of all shapes and sizes, and visibility underwater up to 150 feet. Kayle and I swam around together for an hour, admiring almost every kind of fish in Finding Nemo and more. It was like swimming in a giant aquarium! The second snorkeling site was off Makena beach and aptly nicknamed "Turtle Town" for all the giant green sea turtles that live there. We saw 3-4 different turtles of varying sizes. One of them was definitely bigger than me (they can grow up to 5 feet long and 450 lbs). I almost swam right into him as he surfaced since I was looking the wrong direction while kicking with my flippers. It was so awe-inspiring to see the turtles swimming along at a leisurely pace only a few feet beneath us. It all made me think about how wondrously creative God is with all the creatures he has made. If this earth is so magnificent, I wonder how much more awesome the new earth will be with all its splendor and no sin, death, crying, or pain! Revelation 21-22 is one of my favorite passages in the Bible.










-Kayle and I spent one day walking around the historic town of Lahaina, which is now filled with art booths and tourist shops. We loved the giant Banyan tree that spread out to shade an entire park by having aerial roots that drop down to form trunks to support an ever-expanding canopy. We walked down the street, ate some flavored "shaved ice", visited some little shops, and stopped in an antique home owned by the first missionary family to Hawaii (they landed on the island after a 6 month voyage around South America in 1823). My favorite store was a greenhouse and bird store that sold bonsai trees, plumeria plants, and all sorts of parrots. I was delighted to hold two of the birds and exchange some short phrases with a talkative cockatoo (who got very jealous and squawked when I left to go hold another parrot for a while- parrots are a lot like toddlers, it seems). The store also featured a pair of mini potbelly piglets that had a whopping $2000 pricetag (each!). Here we also bought my favorite souvenir, a baby board book of tropical animals with English and Hawaiian names. In the evening, we ate a small dinner at the Sheraton hotel before watching a torch-lighting and cliff diving ceremony on the beach at sunset.












-On our last night in Maui, Kayle took me to a nice beachside restaurant called the Waterfront. The luaus we wanted to attend were sold out, so we decided to splurge on a fancy dinner at sunset instead. The food was incredible with a stunning view of the harbor as the sun went down. We enjoyed a baked brie appetizer, prime rib and machong (a mild ocean white fish) for entrees, and a brownie sundae for dessert. A wonderful end to a very memorable vacation!





All in all, we enjoyed our little slice of paradise but were ready to return home to prepare for our next trip to Michigan. In Hawaii, people kept asking us whether we were on our honeymoon- I guess we looked so young and happy to them just smiling ear to ear and holding hands all the time. I just turned sideways to show them my growing baby bump and said we were expecting our first baby in October. Oh...and baby Hinkle enjoyed himself in Hawaii too. I feel a little more distinct and frequent kicking now as he rolls around in my belly!

We love you all!
Angie and Kayle

For more pictures from our Hawaii trip: https://picasaweb.google.com/Angie.Hinkle/MauiBabymoon2011#