Blogger Friends

It is amazing how people I have never met before can touch my life in some way or another. I've been following blogs of some of my mommy friends from a forum I joined, and from their blogs I find others and so on. I've come across some really heartbreaking blogs of little babies struggling for and some losing their life. It is absolutely heart wrenching.

From my earlier post I mentioned Nat. Unfortunately, her 3rd IVF cycle was not a go. It makes me so sad for her and her husband. I can only pray that they will be blessed with baby next year. Nat and her husband will be such great parents. They DESERVE to have and raise a baby.

Hope's daughter Ava struggles each day to breathe. She was born with severe laryngomalcia where parts of her larynx obstruct her airway when breathing. I cannot imagine going through what Hope has to experience every day. Her daughter is constantly hooked up to machines to monitor her breathing, hearing alarms going off telling you your baby has stopped breathing, and see your child turn blue. She is a very strong mother and I'm always thinking and praying for Ava.

I came across MckMama's blog from my Hope's blog. MckMama had her fourth baby, Stellan, who is now 8 weeks old. Stellan was diagnosed with heart failure in the womb, but his heart miraculously healed before he was born. I have been in awe of him since he was born. He has recently been admitted to the hospital for a severe case of RSV. He is fighting to breathe. He cannot be fed as they may need to intubate him. To read more, click here. I know I do not have that many readers, but please for those of you who do read this - pray for Stellan. Pray that he turns the corner.

Caden's 1st Christmas - and we are home!

We made it home after a long day of travel due to being delayed and the Detroit airport in general. It took us an hour to get off the plane, get our luggage and get to the car. We probably cut out 30 minutes by Ryan carrying Caden and me carrying the stroller up and down the escalators instead of using the elevators. The lines were too long to use the elevators with elderly men and women in their wheelchairs.

We were all really sad to come home and leave my parents. We had such a GREAT time and the weather was perfect. Ryan has the itch to move to South Carolina (more the Charleston area than Myrtle Beach). I would love to move, but we are pretty much grounded to our home until the economy takes a turn. We'll see if Ryan changes his mind by then - he always does!

Christmas was such a wonderful day - spending time with the family and having dinner together. It went by too fast as always. My aunt came over to help my Dad make a fried turkey. Let me tell you - it was delicious! Caden had turkey and sweet potatoes too! He was pretty cranky Christmas morning, so we let him open his gifts before his nap and then my parents, Ryan and I exchanged gifts after Caden fell asleep. Grandma and Grandpa bought him some really neat toys and some clothes. My mom also gave Caden some money to go towards something else he needs/wants. It's hard to buy big items when traveling. Did I mention Caden did good both flights? He cried as usual in the beginning, but he fell asleep by the time we were taking off. He was playing peek-a-boo with the people sitting behind us too. It was so precious.

Caden learned so many new things this week. I'm in shock! He can crawl as I mentioned in my last post - although he is still wobbly. He pulls himself up on things and me! He can get himself into a sitting position most of the time and he claps! He clapped on Thanksgiving Day, but now he'll watch you do it and then he'll clap. It's so darn cute!

Okay, as promised here are the pictures. There are more in Caden's Photobucket as well.

In Myrtle Beach for Christmas

We made it to Myrtle Beach safe and sound on Saturday afternoon. We were supposed to leave on Friday, but due to the horrible snow storm we had I changed our flight. I was too nervous about getting stranded or delayed at the airport with just Caden and me. Good thing because the flight was delayed a few hours.

My BIL graciously drove Caden and me to the airport Saturday morning. The roads were really icy once we hit Detroit, but we did make it. Go figures we ended up being delayed anyway due to a passenger discrepancy and then they had to de-ice the plane. Caden cried as usual (hysterically) while we sat waiting to take off. He did eventually collapse in my arms and slept until we started to descend. It's about an hour and a half flight, which isn't so bad. He was fascinated by looking out the window while we landed. My brave little boy!

Ryan flew in yesterday. Apparently MI got yet another dumping of snow! On Friday we must have received 6-8 inches, but Ryan said the drifts of snow were 2 feet high. I read on the weather that MI was expecting another 5-9 inches yesterday. Yikes! Although I love snow for Christmas, I'm glad we are missing it. I saw all the snow I needed to see on Friday before we left.

We will be spending Christmas at my parents house. The weather will be in the low 70's. :) My Aunt is coming over to cook a deep fried turkey on Christmas Day. I've never had a turkey cooked this way, so I'm pretty excited.

Caden has learned to crawl while down here in Myrtle Beach. He gets up on all fours and takes a few crawls forward then plops to his belly. It's so cute. I have some pictures that I'll post when I get back - in fact I have TONS of pictures. I've also decided to start video taping pretty much everything. I plan on burning them to CD's and saving them for Caden when he gets older. Maybe he'll apologize when he is older for giving his Mommy and Daddy such a hard time. LOL!!

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I met Nat in on of my Mommy forums when I was pregnant with Caden. After struggling several of infertility, her son Devin was born still on March 6th. I've been following her story and praying for her and her husband Den. My only Christmas wish this year is for Nat to receive her Christmas miracle. She is on her 3rd round of IVF and is planning to test Christmas night. Please say a prayer for Nat and Den that she receives her Christmas miracle.

Happy 8 Months!!

8 Months?! Are you kidding me? I can't believe in just 4 short months we'll be planning Caden's first year birthday party. I know I say this all the time, but why is parenthood going so fast? It's crazy! The newest thing Caden is working on and is almost there is getting into the sitting position on his own. He just needs to build up some arm strength for one last push and he'll be there.

Caden has been doing great minus the teething. He's had a rough week and I just feel so bad. The only thing we can do is try to comfort him with frozen fruit, teething tablets, Tylenol, ect. His whine is a little different these days. He almost sounds like a puppy whining, which can get on your nerves sometimes. LOL!

My teething man

We have continued signing with Caden since he was 4 months old. We do eat, all done, milk, Mommy and Daddy. We've also started waving hi and bye. Well, today when he was eating I was signing Mommy - sometimes when he gets fussy in the high chair I'll sign and he will focus more on eating. Take a look at this picture - he is not actually doing the sign for Mommy (which is placing your thumb on the side of your chin and then opening and closing your fingers - almost like you are saying hello). Well he kept raising his hand up like he was attempting the sign. What do you think? The second one is Caden watching Ryan do the sign for Daddy, which is very similar to Mommy but your thumb goes on your temple.

Excuse all the turkey on this face :)

High 5 Mom!

Last weekend I took him to see my friend Jodi's little girl, Aubree. Check out this video of Aubree dancing for Caden. It was too cute! She will be one years old in January. She is a Capricorn like me :) Aubree was feeding Caden puffs, and he was just sitting there with his mouth open eating them no problem. I wish Jodi lived closer so we could hang out more often!

Caden and I are leaving on Friday for our flight out to Myrtle Beach. Please say a prayer that we do not get the 6+ inches of snow they are expecting. That will be one loonnngggg drive to the airport and I'll be having anxiety attacks on the way.

I almost forgot - here are a few pictures from today.

Playing with snow that was tracked in - he was facinated by it.

8 Month Milestones

Most babies should be able to . . .

Start crawling - he can army crawl

Sit without support - Yes

Pass object from one hand to the other - Yes

Respond to own name - most of the time

Mouth and chew on objects - Yes

Reach for spoon when being fed - Yes

Turn away when finished eating - Oh Yes!

Say mama and dada to both parents (usually isn’t specific) - Nope :( He always looks at us when we say it, but as it stands right now he has no other interest in saying it

Some babies will probably be able to . . .

Stand while holding on to something - only once on Thanksgiving (he was showing off I guess)Crawl well - he army crawls all over the place

Pull up to standing position from sitting - No

Walk holding onto furniture - No where near this

Clap and bang objects together - Yes

Separation and stranger anxiety may begin - Mildly

Some babies could possibly be able to . . .

Indicate wants with different gestures - No

Use thumb and finger pincer grasp to pick things up - No, still raking

Stand alone momentarily - No

Wave goodbye - No

Understand the word no (but usually doesn’t obey it) - haha! Sometimes and then he cries

Sleep is a wonderful thing

It's been a while since I've posted.. I know. I was sick all week - yes I was sick AGAIN. I dislike this time of year so very much. Thankfully Caden did not catch it this time around and I am feeling much better.

I can't believe in 2 weeks Caden and I will be in Myrtle Beach. It's coming up so quickly. I'm very excited, but so not ready. I have lots of packing and I still need to get my Christmas shopping done. Ryan and I actually took Caden to see Santa yesterday. He didn't cry at all. I don't think he really cared about the big guy in the red suit and white beard holding him. He was more interested in all the lights and decor around him. Santa was in the mall, so that also made it Caden's first trip to Lakeside Mall. He was awe when we first strolled him through. He pulled himself upright in his stroller and little head was swiveling back and forth. It was super cute!

Caden is doing really well. He is still fighting to learn to crawl. He is SO close. He can throw himself up on his knees so quickly. He can even move one knee and one hand forward, but just not together. He is almost getting himself from his belly to the sitting position too. I don't exactly think he realizes what he is doing but just one push up with his arm and he would be sitting up. It's so amazing watching him build up his strength and discover new things.

Did I mention Caden has 4 teeth now? He cut another tooth a couple days after Thanksgiving. You can't see them when he smiles yet, but they are coming through rather quickly.

On a GREAT note for Mommy (and hopefully I don't jinx myself) - Caden is sleeping through the night!!! We are on a record for 4 nights in a row sleeping through. In fact, he is never slept through the night 2 nights in a row or in the same week so we are definitely on to something. The stretches of straight sleep have been ranging from 7 1/2 - 10 1/2 hours. If he wakes up before 10 hours, he'll eat and go back to sleep until 6:30am. He has been pretty consistent about waking up at 6:30am every morning. (Well, except for right now... It's almost 7am, but I'm sure he'll be up soon). Yay for sleep!!

I'll edit with the picture of Caden and Santa later. I have to ask Ryan how to scan it. Last time I tried I almost broke the scanner.

Here is one from my phone to hold you over until then.