ONE YEAR

HAPPY ONE YEAR LITTLE MAN!!! It brings tears to my eyes and joy to my heart when I think about how quick this last year has gone.

-You have progressed quickly in the world of walking. It's adorable and strange to see sometimes, our little baby isn't supposed to be able to walk already!
-You are such an explorer. Always climbing onto anything you can, so curious as to the sounds around you and anything new that catches your eye.
-You have an adorable ornery smile. You know what is off limits in the house (trash can, toilet, dog bowl, laptop, tv stand and dvd rack-which is going away soon) but you still test the boundaries while looking right at us and shooting us the 'are you going to say no??' smile.
-You are a mocker. More recently with laughing. Not something I think we can catch on camera due to it being sporadic, but man would I love to. It's pretty funny-a sarcastic little three chuckles right back at someone when they laugh.
-You LOVE to eat. Mostly taking just nighttime bottles, but sometimes a few for naps-and all together not sure how long any of the bottles will last. You drink your milk and water great (most days), but you for sure can put away some food. Seems like you're always up for a snack and some good mooching if it's not your official breakfast/lunch/dinner time.
-You play pretty well on your own, always on the go now. Throwing your Grover remote, playing around and on your little kid 'house', blocks, balls, books-you name it, you like it.
 

You are a fun little guy. We are humbled when people complement on how cute and personable you are. You are a little timid to strangers, but not much more than the normal new surroundings shy. You easily adjust to new situations, surroundings and/or people. It has been such a wonderful last year. I'm proud to be able to say that your dad and I have been able to let God into our lives more than ever, grow stronger in our relationship through God and are so blessed to have to opportunity to become parents together.

Throughout this last year we have learned how to navigate this new life of less sleep and less 'selfish' time. It hasn't been purely cloud nine-but I wouldn't hesitate to say it hasn't been close. Through your getting sick, the typical over-thinking new parents do and in general figuring out a good balance of our new daily routines we have become closer than I could have wished for.

When I was younger I heard a friend say you choose to love someone-rather than relying on just feelings. I pray that God continues to bless you with the loving and kind heart you have. That you move mountains-and remember that whether or not it looks like a mountain in your eyes does not mean it isn't one in another persons. You don't need to be on the cover of any magazine to change the world, God can work through you more than you'll ever imagine, keep an open and willing heart and be willing to stand out against the crowd. Don't settle for the things of this world. Find a strong, loving and faith-driven woman that you choose to love each day despite our natural sins and selfishness that sometimes slips through. Be willing to apologize if you sin against each other, no matter how big or small, and always be quick to forgive.

Continue to take each day as it comes and be thankful for the days you are given. Don't underestimate 'live, laugh, love.' especially laugh-always find the humor in things, take everything with a grain of salt.

I'm sure once you're older and wanting to leave my side more and more it'll be harder to say that due to a bit of mom-jealousy, but I hope that's not the case and God helps this momma with smooth transitions for you and any future kiddos. We will always pray long and hard over you, Caden. You are precious and we are so thankful for this first year with you-and continue to pray for guidance, patience, health and happiness in the years to come.

Love you, Caden. Thank you for giving us a wonderful first year as parents. XoXoXo

Catch All

ONE walking baby still crawling for the most part once he falls, but majority of walking first and getting better and better at balance and distances. This was the your first big brave moment...looking like you have a bum leg and all adorable. it's crazy. makes me want to clap and cry all in one!

TWO concrete pours added on a sweet little addition to the back patio. HUGE thanks to Stan the Man for all his help. Uncle Gary and Uncle Dave got dragged in a bit too-such handy men and helpers in our lives, feeling blessed.

 THREE days of fever about two weeks ago Caden ran a fever of 101.5 for three days. varied a little but consistently hung around that temp. lethargic, not much interest in food or drink, thought too high for teething and just a random little bug but who knows-definitely not us. Little man didn't even notice the cheerio I placed on his nose one bit. Baby Animals is like the twilight zone-just sucks ya in.

FOURth tooth working it's way in...sssllloooowwwwly.

FIVE work days down-TGIF
SIX hours of date night last Saturday cut short to dinner and rented movie due to Gary's horrible bursitis. not a fun time for him to say the least :/

SEVEN weeks old nephew Toby and Denai welcomed Huckleberry Joseph Lee on June 22nd. He is adorable. feast your eyes and be jealous. the last making it look as if I'm giving him a head lock (not the case). He's adorable and his big sisters are wearing their title with pride

EIGHT days until Caden is 12 months old. less of a sting if you put it in months....are you flipping kidding me. 1st Birthday?! Sign me up for the cry session please. add my good aunt flo to that, a box of kleenex and P.S. I love you-I could get a years worth of crying out.

NINE hours of high temp yesterday. like, drop everything I was doing at work and go get him high. woke up with 101.5, advil helped that go down to 99 for daycare, yet a few short hours after spiked up to 103. dropped a degree after some advil and was able to get into the east location for Cadens doctors office. hand, foot and mouth diagnosis and outlook of '5 days with fever' later we were home with a whimpering 104.3 temp baby. had over an hour until another dose could be given, at the earliest, so a lukewarm bath was given which helped soothe and led to sleepy cuddles until we could give some milk and more advil before bed (104.7 at that point-insert freakout face here.)

TEN hours of sleep and woke up to see God truly blessing Caden through much needed healing. was a high 99, low 100 all day. Ate and drank and even played some-great day with daddy in our eyes-didn't expect such a positive turn around with the night before being so grim. God.is.good. 

 one, two, skip a few, ninety-nine, one hundred.

FIFTEEN day old nephew oceans away my brother and his wife had baby Alexander on Friday, July 26th. He is precious. I long to hold him, snuggle and kiss his tiny self, to hug them in congratulations and to laugh together-sleep deprived and all.  they are already great parents-couldn't be more proud of and excited for them. Alex has the cutest expressions. He's a handsome little fella-love him so much.

KC Trip

Last weekend my mom, sister and I ventured out to KC for the weekend. After an ample amount of laughs, good food and drinks-it's a no-brainer this will become a yearly tradition.

We got in late Friday, walked over to the Melting Pot and chatted and laughed over some chocolate and wine then walked back to chat and laugh some more while doing our nails. I think the theme of this trip was 'chatting and laughing'...lucky us:)

Saturday we slept in a bit. Erin and I hit the streets for a beautiful run-nothing better than a good run somewhere different and unique. Freshened up a bit so the hotel restaurant would let us in and enjoyed a yummy breakfast there. It wasn't laying by the pool weather like we had planned, but it was perfect weather for shopping and walking around the Plaza. After an amazing fancy shmancy dinner at The Capitol Grille we were off to enjoy the Starlight outdoor theater showing of The Little Mermaid. All of the above was great.

One last hoorah at an Irish Pub where, whether it was what we expect or not, we had a blast. That being said-you could put us in a boring hole in the wall and we would have a blast. Especially if that hole in the wall serves cake vodka...just saying.

We got a little bonus morning breakfast at the hotel with Josh and Jayne and then off we were homeward bound. I can't even believe we haven't done something like this before. Shame on us. Lesson learned and that mistake will never be repeated again.

I love these two so much. They make me so happy. They're brutally honest, stupid silly, have great humor and love strong. Can't get much better than that.

 

How'd this adorable-growing-up-way-too-fast cutie get in here? This is the cuteness I got to come home too, aside from Gary:) Teething stinks, and Caden looking that big also stinks. Gah!