Ummmm... somehow I think I missed something.

So... Caden turned 15 months TODAY. Which means (in case you aren't the least bit observant) I have not blogged in FIVE months. F.I.V.E. Holy moly. Talk about having some catching up to do. I will tell you that catching up may (or may not) be in our future - but the only way I can do this without going CRAZY is to just start with where we are now. Sooooo... here we go.

Caden at 15 months is quite the handful. He is such a joy, and still such a loving child. In that way we are so blessed. But boy oh boy - has he ever got his mama's patience. (And by patience I mean lack there of...) when he wants something - he wants it yesterday. That is something we are working on. LoL. But it is quite the battle at times.

He is actively signing several phrases - as well as picking up new words every time we turn around. Signing has been a long journey for us. We started signing when he was really young - and just got to the point where we didn't think he was going to get it. Then a few days before Christmas he just caught on. SUCH a blessing! To have him be able to effectively communicate his wants/needs is SO wonderful. Some of the words/signs he is using are:

He signs:

• "more" - signs this regularly and also says mamamam (which sounds like Mama - but has nothing to do with me)
• "water"
• "eat"
• "milk"
  
• "all done"

He also understands:

• All of the signs listed above
• "NO" - though he doesn't always follow this directive

Words he can say:

• "Mama"
• "Mommy"
• "Dad" -which sounds like "Da..."
  
• "Ga-ma" - for Grandma
• "Ball"
• "Rash" - meaning "trash"
• "Bye bye"
• "Hey"
• "Ba ba" - for Bobby (who he LOVES)
• I am sure there are lots more - but currently that is all I can think of...

At 15 months he is wearing 18 month clothes (12 months are just too small/short at this point). We are still using cloth and are blessed to have a daycare that allows us to do so. He still LOOOOOOOOOOOOVES to eat - which is FABULOUS. Overall - we are blessed. He is great - even when he's not - if that makes sense. :)

Okay lovelies - I WILL update more soon. But for now, this mama is TIRED. Goodnight - and thanks for sticking with me.

TEN Months

On August 12th Caden was TEN months old. (We are now on the verge of ELEVEN months - so I wanted to at least post SOMETHING before that happened!) At 10 months Caden is such a joy. He is moving everywhere, into everything, crawling like a CHAMPION (he is like a little lightening bolt!) He can cruise all over the place using anything even somewhat sturdy and loves the ability to be mobile.

He also LOVES to eat. In fact, Grandfather jokes when we go out to Sunday night dinners that from the moment he sits down to the moment he leaves he is eating... which isn't quite true... I think it has more to do with the fact that since he is self feeding only about 50% of what he eats ACTUALLY makes it into his mouth - haha (waiters LOVE us)! His current favorite foods are green beans, broccoli, black eyed peas, bananas, baby Gerber cheetos, and of course, WATERMELON. He is wearing a few 9 month clothes and some 12 month clothes. We are still doing cloth and really still like it. Another new found form of entertainment during the 10th month has been the television. The only show that he will watch is one specific episode of Barney - Barney Sing and Dance - really only because he likes the music. He LOVES it.

He LOVES Chloe - though now that he is mobile she doesn't love him quite as much. Every morning when we get up we get good morning hugs and kisses (SO AMAZING) and then he wants to love on Chloe. This morning ritual is becomming a favorite of mine.

Also this month BATH TIME has become his and daddy's special time. Chris bathes him and they play and laugh, and mommy stays out of it - which is good for all involved. :)

He is honestly such a loving kid - we are amazingly blessed.

AMAZING and CRAZY July.

This month has been a whirlwind but an AMAZING whirlwind, I must say. We are blessed to have the summers off together, with Chris and I both working in education, it is without doubt one of the best parts of our jobs. We started off July going to Sevierville, TN (the Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge area) with my mom and our family for a week. We went out to eat, spent loads of time together as a family, and got to do some swimming. It was a really fun week.

Then we were home for a week and spent it resting and then left on Friday and had an amazing weekend with our AMAZING friends, Matt and Claire. We got to visit and had lots of fun playing and visiting with them. They are so so special to us.

We were really sad to leave them. But it was on to the next leg of our journey, which was Indian Harbor, Florida with my dad and Pat.

Now that we are home again, we are T-I-R-E-D. But loving home, and still, even in this whirlwind of July loving all of us being together. :)

EIGHT months!

Check out our BIG man. Holy moly. On June 12th Caden turned 8 months old. Now that he is 8 months there is SO much that he is doing. He is smiling, laughing, and talking (or ooohing and ahhing up a storm). He also said his VERY first word this month. We were at dinner and he dropped something and said "Uhhhh ohhh!" It was SO cute. He is also doing precious little things like playing peek-a-boo and saying "A booo". He is eating LOTS of different things. Baby yogurt in the mornings with oatmeal... fruits (like apples, bananas, pears, peaches, blueberries, etc) at lunch time. And meats and vegetables for dinner (like apples with chicken, turkey and rice, mixed vegetables, squash, carrots, etc). He LOVES them.
He sits completely on his own and is like THISCLOSE to standing up completely on his own. Just this week he has started to make a crawling movement - but the only problem is that we are going BACKWARDS. He has managed to get himself stuck in under the sofa and the china cabinet just this week. He is also SOOOOO smiley. As soon as the camera comes out he is all smiles - which makes photo ops a lot easier.

I am not sure how much he weighs yet - I will have Christopher weigh him tomorrow and I'll give you an update. He is wearing some 6-9 month clothes, mainly 9 months, and some 12 months (just because they are cute and he'll have room to grow). It is crazy to see him standing beside of the rhino that he used to not be anywhere near as big as. He is also taking some steps while holding onto our hands and can EASILY pull himself to standing if he has you there to help him.

One of the very cutest relationships to watch develop has been the one between Caden and Chloe. He LOVES her. And she loves him.... most of the time. :) They are so cute together.

They sit in the floor and Caden pets her while Chloe licks him. SO precious. I sure do love them both.

Bye Bye Blanket (Swaddle Blanket – that is)

For any of you that know us well, you know that from day one, Caden was a swaddled baby. At first this was by force. He was jaundiced when he came home from the hospital (which was both sad and really scary) and because of that he had to be on a bili blanket for the first three days. In case you don’t know (like I didn’t) a bili blanket is a paddle that lights up and provides UV rays on a flexible paddle that wraps around the baby’s skin. This way they can get rid of the bilirubin in their skin and become unjaundiced. Because of the bili blanket – he had to be wrapped up like a little baby burrito ALL.OF.THE.TIME. He didn’t seem to mind it, but it made me so so sad. However, from that, it became that the only way Mr. Caden liked to sleep was in a swaddle.

For the first few months we would use the receiving blankets to swaddle him, like we had been shown in the hospital… and that worked well UNTIL he became able to flail his little arms around – and then we were constantly REswaddling him as the night went on. Then, when he was about two months old – we came across the BEST invention we had found so far – the SwaddleMe Blankets that are made JUST for swaddling. He loved it. We loved it. It was perfect. It was tight enough to make him feel secure but easy enough to use that any of our sitters could do it. We were hooked – and he would snooze away.

But it comes to a point where you start thinking… HOW long is my baby going to be swaddled?! You begin to panic and think – should I stop this? What if he doesn’t EVER want to stop being swaddled?! What if he is 19 and in his college dorm room asking his roommate to Velcro him in for the night (I know it sounds crazy – but I’d be lying if I told you I had never had the thought). So Chris and I decided, come summer, we were going to say BYE BYE to the swaddle. Even if it was hard. Even if he cried. Even if it took nights and nights without sleep – we were going to help him transition OUT OF THE SWADDLE.

So one day, during his nap, I put him down without his blanket – and he cried (oh man did he cry) for over an hour. And I just let him. I went back in and shhhhed him and comforted him. That night, when Chris put him down, he cried for about five minutes. And now, over two weeks later, he goes down every nap and every night without being swaddled and sleeps (blissfully) through the night. FABULOUS.

Happy Anniversary to one amazing man.

Now, this may be hard for some of you to believe - but there are times that I am NOT the easiest person to live with. In fact, if I had to live with me, there are many times that I would end up being REALLY frustrated (lol). However, today is a day that is all about giving praise to an AMAZING God whose plan (and sense of humor) is wonderful. Today, June 21st, is our anniversary.

God has (beyond) blessed me with a man who is loving, caring, patient, Godly, loyal, supportive, humble, strong, and perfect (or at least perfectly made for me). Though it has only been three years - and not all of it has been easy - Christopher has been there every step of the way.

From silly flirtation to meaningful conversations to knowing he is the one I want to talk to no matter how my day is going. He's been there.

From Appalachian to Western Carolina. From undergrad to graduate school. From rivalry to being our biggest fans. He's been there.


No matter where we are... From Hickory to Gastonia to Hickory again (and into my mom's house - where every newly married couple wants to live), to a house of our very own. He's been there.

From families of our own to a family of two to a family of 3 (chloe has to count) to our family of 4. He's been there.

He has been there. And I am thankful. Happy anniversary my love - here is to all of the years to come.

Epic fail. Seven months?

So... you are probably wondering where in the world I have been. With as crazy as our lives have been - there are times that I am left wondering the same thing. Though in the past I haven't been the most reliable blogger - I would at least pop in once a month and give you guys the update - HOWEVER, as you can see from looking at the last post, and looking at the ticker up above - we COMPLETELY missed the SEVEN month post! This makes me sad, because Caden is probably the most fun now that he has ever been! He is truly SUCH a delight (though at 5am I might be singing a slightly different tune). I can promise you that on June 12 we WILL be doing a 8 month update, so we will just switch that to a 7/8 combo and give you all of the goods. But for now, a few pictures to tide you over. :)

The 7th month has led to LOTS of smiles and LOTS of laughs. We love it.

I vividly remember when this thing looked HUGE beside of him. Holy cow.

Sweet Caden on an afternoon walk. SO much love.