Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!

We are just about to begin our marathon of hosting family, visiting family, opening too many gifts, taking too many pictures, eating too much food and having too much fun making memories. We are so excited about our first Christmas with our boy and can't wait to experience it all!



So, from our family to yours...

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

See you next year!!

First Visit to Santa!

Caden did great with his first visit to Santa. We didn't get a smile, but he was pretty sleepy...he fell asleep briefly in line and I had to wake him up.

Jack, on the other, could have done without the Santa visit. He was not too pleased (and also sleepy). Caden was contemplating some sympathy crying. Poor Santa!

Go Elf Yourself

Okay, we gave in to the peer pressure...we elfed ourselves! Watch us here.

And I couldn't help it...sorry JRR...I Scrooged you!

How he sleeps...

A poop pondering clarification...

There seems to be some confusion at my house about my excitement over bodily functions and I feel the need to clarify what I mean when I say that I am excited about poop, burps, and toots. The reason I am excited is either a) this means that the baby will not be screaming because of gas pains or b) I can stop trying to get him to burp and move on with the rest of my day. This does NOT mean that I enjoy the sounds and smells related to bodily functions and it does NOT give permission for others in my household...ahem, the husband...to freely express any trapped air. Additionally, this does not mean that I want to see any poop other than my baby's...I do not examine it for fun and it does not make abstract shapes like you would see in the clouds. And even if it did I don't want to see it.

So to sum up my point, I have not become "one of the guys" who will be sitting around passing gas and laughing my head off...I am still 100% girl.

But I do have a confession...I giggle every time Caden toots while stretching, coughing or sneezing...it is just funny.

Poop pondering....

This morning Caden stopped eating about halfway through his bottle so I sat him up to get him to burp. (The kid burps like a sailor!) And after he burped I started in on my usual "Yea! That was a good burp! Good job buddy!!" ...and I realized that I was actually excited about my kid loudly expelling gas from his mouth.

...excited...actually excited

Just when did I start to get excited about burps, toots and poops? I started thinking about it all and realized that I carefully scrutinize poopy diapers, check the color of snot and judge burps on a scale of "not-so-good-needs-to-burp-again" to "ohhhh-good-one-we're-done-here". Isn't it interesting how your whole outlook changes? Life will never be the same.

Chubby Cheeks

He's just too big...

I didn't realize that it had been so long since I had posted anything! Working full-time and then trying to squeeze the rest of my life into the 5 hours after work that I am conscious isn't as easy as I thought it would be. But these are the things going on in our lives at the moment:

Caden is working on holding his head up and steady. Sometimes he looks like he is doing an impression of Stevie Wonder! Anyway, we broke out the Megasaucer to help in his attempt to hold up his head. He likes it for about 5 minutes...by then his head has slowly sunk down to rest on the tray!

Also, big news on the baby front...Caden has decided to try his hand at rolling over. This is how he looks when I go to get him in the mornings...I spanked him...maybe he will stop trying now!

This is how Caden feels about the cold weather...he doesn't like hoodies!

Happy Halloween!

For Caden's first Halloween he helped hand out candy at Trunk-or-Treat at the church. He was a big hit, in fact I hardly saw him because all of my friends were passing him around to each other. We had a really good time, but we look forward to next year when he can really dress up and have fun! (He will probably be afraid of all the costumes though!)

I survived...

Well, I did it...I survived my first day back to work. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. When I dropped him off he cried because it was time to sleep but nothing was "normal" for him. The room was bright and noisy and nobody was familiar. But after a little while he fell asleep and made it through the rest of the day pretty easily. I got this note:

Hey Mom,

I had a good day. I sat up today

[in the Bumbo] and played on the floor.

I met a new friend named

Benjamin. I liked to watch him

play on the mat. I decided to

try and talk to him and he

talked back to me.

Caden

I did fine all day until I got a gift from a lady at the church. In it was a page on which she had typed "Pray Scripturally for Your Children". Then she went on to list short prayers and the scriptures that accompany them. But the sweet thing was that she inserted his name. For example:

...Help Caden to love righteousness and hate wickedness.

May Caden be joyful always...

After that I pretty much lost it. I am glad that there are several people in the daycare who really love on him. I know he won't be neglected. But I did miss him and counted down the minutes to 5:00 pm. Can't wait for Friday!

While they sleep...

I was watching Caden sleep last night...

There is really something so special about watching him sleep. I started wondering if I would always be that amazed at watching him. When he is four will I still be captivated by his sweet little face? When he is ten will I still check to make sure he is warm or if he needs a blanket? Will he still let me check on him when he is a teenager? Maybe not, I guess that would be weird. But I can't help, right now, to be so overwhelmed by this little person. I hope I always take the time to be amazed by him... grateful for him... even when he gets a smart mouth and learns how to roll his eyes.

Sick Day...

This is what you wear on a sick day if you are 9 weeks old.

Pitiful isn't it?

This is how you play on a sick day if you are 9 weeks old!

Even more pitiful!

Yesterday I was about ready to have a mental breakdown...with a sick baby and a dog that just had two teeth pulled and lays around whining all day...it was almost more than I could take! But today things are much better... at least for the boy... the dog is still playing the sympathy card!

Just another hurdle...

So this weekend was full of firsts for my little family.

The 1st first was that we took an overnight trip. AND not just one night...TWO FULL nights away from home! You see, I have been way too chicken to attempt this before. I would imagine the little guy screaming all night long... and keeping everyone awake... and us being kicked out... and asked to never return (regardless of where we were). But finally since Caden has done such a wonderful job of sleeping through the night... I decided to chance it.

You would have thought that we were leaving on a 3 month vacation. I think we (and by that I mean me) packed up every baby item we owned. All except the thermometer and baby Tylenol.

This is where the 2nd first comes in...

So we got to Grandma & Pawcaw's just in time for Caden to catch his first COLD!! Yea!! So, basically my nightmare came true. Well, except for the being kicked out and asked never to return... that of course didn't happen.

We took him to the doctor today (which thankfully was an appointment that we already had scheduled...that worked out well). We found out that he now weighs 13 lbs (that explains a lot... I am not as weak as I thought). And he got 5 vaccinations (which really thrilled him... I have never seen a human turn that shade of red... and I tried really hard not to cry). So today he is congested... coughing... sore from shots... and pretty much all around miserable. Just another hurdle I guess.

My new perfume...

So the other night the boy and I were going to run to the store to pick up more of the many baby accessories that you have to have on a regular basis (and which I assume are what makes babies so darn expensive). I only have these small windows of time where I know he won't be hungry...and it was the last bit of time I had before he was down for the night. So I quickly grabbed him up, loaded him in his car seat, gathered the diaper bag (in case of unforeseen blowouts)...but as I headed to the door a little voice in my head reminded me that maybe I should look to see if I was decent enough to venture out of the house.

So I ran to the bathroom for a quick peek and decided I would do. But as I turned to leave I noticed something in the mirror...I backed up and looked again...yep...there it was...all over my black shirt...white caked on spit-up all down my back.

My new fragrance...Eau de Curdled Milk...it's really sexy!

Did I change shirts you ask? Pssh, I don't have time for such luxuries. I just wiped it with a damp rag to really bring out the smell!

HOOORAY!!!!!

And just for laughs...

Target Dollar Spot...7 weeks

I just couldn't help myself!!!!

The dad is not too thrilled!

Copeland

Sweet little Copeland passed away tonight...but please continue to pray for her family.

Pray for Copeland

I found this blog from another blog that I enjoy reading. They were asking for prayer for this family who was about to deliver a sweet baby girl. This sweet baby girl has Trisomy 18 (which, if you recall, is the disease that we thought Caden could possibly have). Copeland has lived, amazingly, for an entire week and has been free of all "tubes" throughout most of that time (feeding tube, oxygen, etc). Her parents are hanging in there, but of course this is not an easy time.

I have been completely engrossed in their story and I can't seem to get them off of my mind or out of my heart. I fall apart every time I read their updates and I pray and pray for them (although I hardly know what to pray). I am continually thankful that God has blessed us immensely with a healthy boy. The reality of this disease is so horrible, I can't imagine how they make it through each day. I also know how fragile a new mother's emotions are those first few weeks, so I have a huge respect for how this mother is holding it together. They seem to be an amazing family with tremendous faith in God's will for them.

If you are a praying person, please pray for this little family.

Are you kidding me...week 6

Serioulsy...how hard is it to get a picture of a smile??

Serious talk with dad.

Caden's opinion of "tummy time"!!

Snug as bug in a rug!

One Month...

Caden turned a month old on Saturday! We celebrated by sitting around the house and doing nothing (except laundry). It was great...I guess.

Here are some highlights of this week:

This week Caden has started smiling (which is really good because he has also decided to stop napping which doesn't make for the happiest baby or mommy - but when he smiles all the frustration is quickly forgotten). Getting a picture of it, however, is like getting a picture of Bigfoot! Here is a semi-smile.

First bath without crying!

Here he was attempting to look completely interested in dinner conversation with Grandma and Pawcaw - but he fell asleep.

Objects in picture appear larger than they really are. I swear he is not this huge, it was just a bad angle!

Hanging out in his fave chair...again!

You may notice that there is always a laundry basket in the background of his pictures. There are 2 reasons for this.

1) I am too lazy/busy/tired to Photoshop them out of EVERY photo.

2) It has become an ever-present fixture on my living room floor because nobody told me that we would have a load of baby laundry to do EVERY SINGLE DAY! I did NOT know these things pooped, peed and spit-up quite so much! And when you only have so many outfits that fit said baby at the time...you either have a naked baby or laundry every day!

Week Three...

Some highlights of week three...

He lost his cord...he is now a big baby!

(the raisin looking thing on his hip is the cord)

First real bath (since he lost his cord).

I think I might like this!

No. No I don't like this at all!

Eating is hard work!

Chillin' in the the bouncy seat.

Can I get an Amen?

That chin...

So we still haven't discovered where the chin came from...but at least it has a purpose! You can store your milk in it and save it for later when you need a snack!

By the way...we went to the doctor yesterday and he has gained back up to 7 lbs 9oz (he lost down to 6 lbs 9 oz) so things are going well. He is also 1/4" longer.

He is having a growth spurt right now so the past few days have been pretty hectic and mostly filled with him crying so I don't really have any other cute pics for now! But I am sure there are more to come!

Week One...

I can't believe that it has already been a week. But then again I have no idea what day it is because all time seems to run together...so I guess that may be why. Here are some of the events of the little guy's first week...

Coming home...

Meeting Chia...

Mimi (the great-grandmother)...



The Cousins (on my side)...

First Bath...


A gift for Dad...

Introducing....

Caden Ford C.

August 8, 2007

3:16 am

7 lbs 4 oz

20 1/4 inches long

The Events...

I was sent straight over to Labor & Delivery after my regular appointment. It made me a little nervous!

Didn't have much pain for most of the labor.R helping me breathe. At least he keeps things light!

Fresh out of the oven.

Waiting for his first bath.
...and the adventure begins...