Caden loves his Mia

Wordless Wednesday

Our Memorial Weekend

We had a beautiful and fun filled Memorial weekend. Between hanging out at home, the park, the zoo and grandma and papa's we were busy little bees. I've been writing more than posting pictures, so I'll keep this one short!

I just love this picture (minus all the pee spots from our dog, which we are currently trying to restore the grass).

My friend brought over her nephew (who will be 2 in August, to play with Caden

Snack time at the park


Ryan and I met our friends Ali, Shane and their son, Brennan, at the zoo. Brennan is just two days older than Caden.

I'm still obsessed with giraffes ever since putting together Caden's nursery

Tuckered out from the zoo, but still looking cute as ever


Play time with Mommy!

Reason I love being a mom....

Of course there are more than five reasons I love being a mom. I’m just narrowing it down to five. I thought this blog topic was a GREAT idea after reading my friend Kel’s post on her blog. I probably will not be able to convey this as well as Kel did, but I will surely do my best.

My favorite moment with Caden that l look forward to EVERY day is after Caden’s night time bottle. After he drinks his bottle he cuddles into me while rocking in the glider. He has been doing this since I believe 6-7 months old. Now he is a little bigger, so I have to lift his butt up on my arm while he lays his head on my shoulder for our night time cuddle. It takes all I have to lay him down in his crib. I wish I could crawl in there with him and fall asleep. All the troubles from the day just fade away.

His contagious laugh brings just pure joy to everyone around. He has the most beautiful smile I’ve ever seen. I could never have imagined how much joy your child could bring to your life. I could not say it better than the quote Kel mentioned in her post: We are supposed to teach children about life, but they teach us what life is really about. Ironically this quote is in my header made by my friend Christa!

The excitement I see in Caden’s face when I pick him up after work makes my heart just melt. There are some days I swear he is going to pee his pants when I walk in the door. The last few days he starts chanting “Doggy, Doggy, Doggy”, and I have to remind him that I’m ma-ma and not the doggy. (Cracks me up every time.)

Watching him discover new things is another favorite. I remember a few months ago when he was learning about spatial objects. We gave Caden a sports bottle to play with. He would put his plastic balls in there and then pull the bottle close up to his eye. He almost looked confused wondering how on earth those balls could fall into the bottle and then stay in there. Then of course he would cry because he wanted the balls out.

I love how Caden and all babies, for that matter, are so blissfully unaware of the world. I wish at times I could be in his state of mind; to be so unaware and untouched. He is innocent and has committed no sins. He is so pure and still in his natural state of being. If we could only be in our natural state of being for our entire earthy life...

I love being a mom for SO many reasons. I would not change it for the world. THIS is the BEST chapter of my life - being a wife and a mother.

Our "love fern"

Have you ever seen that movie "How to Loose a Guy in 10 days" with Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey? Kate (I cannot remember her screen name) is writing an article in a magazine how what women do wrong that send the men they are dating running. At some point in the movie she brings all of her belongings including a plant in which she calls their "love fern".

During the first month Ryan and I were dating I flew down to visit my parents for Christmas. Every visit my mom always takes to me a local flea market where I buy a new bamboo plant. That year was my first bamboo. I do not have many any plants other than my bamboos since I cannot seem to keep them alive for the life of me.

The bamboo plant you see in the picture below has been alive for almost 7 1/2 years! Not only has it been alive that long it is turning into the giant's beanstalk! It used to be only a little taller than the smaller bamboo that is also in the vase. Ryan just went out today to buy the second stake to hold it up (or else it just plops right over). It has to be almost 4 feet tall. Needless to say, I call this special bamboo our "love fern".

How tall could this "love fern" possibly grow? We do have a 15 foot cathedral ceiling in our living room, so I suppose it has some room to grow.

On another note, Caden turned 13 months old today. This last month seem to go by a little slower than all the rest of his months leading up to the big one. Can you believe I did not take any pictures today? I will make up for it this week. We had a nice productive yet lazy weekend. Caden stayed in his jammies all day Saturday and Sunday and so did I.

The nest is built!

The swans in our pond laid their eggs! The following day after I posted this post I saw one of the swans sitting on a next they built. I was so psyched! I get a little too excited over these swans every year. I remember last year I was so crushed when mom, dad and all the baby swans were gone. I thought maybe our association had a company come in and relocate them, but Ryan says they headed over to the big water across the street.

In a few short weeks I'll have pictures of the "ugly" ducklings!

Although the nest is built right up to the gate around the pond that butts up to the sidewalk, I tried not to get too close.

One keeping the babes warm....



and the other taking a leisurely swim....

Wordless Wednesday

Kayleigh Freeman

Please say a prayer for the Freemans and ask the Lord to give them strength. Their sweet little girl Kayleigh went to heaven yesterday evening. The Freeman's story will be on The Doctors on Wednesday, May 13th at 10:00am.

Happy Mother's Day!

I am so thankful for my son, Caden. He is truly amazing and I am so proud to be his mom. Thank you Lord for choosing me to be Caden's mother. I am forever grateful.

What a truly wonderful Mother's Day (actually, weekend) I had. Ryan and Caden were too good to me. I feel somewhat spoiled as my Mother's Day seemed to last all weekend. Not that I am complaining by any means!

Ryan made my favorite dinner on Saturday evening; homemade chicken pot pie! It's actually my dad's recipe that I made Ryan learn. Not that Ryan could not have figured it out as he is an excellent chef. He took over bath time last night too, which was a treat not to hurt my back bending over that tub. I did put Caden to bed though. I can't give that part of my evening up. It's my special time with him. We cuddle in the rocker and it takes everything I have to lay him down in his crib for the night. I never want to let go.

For Mother's Day Ryan bought me a gift card for Kohls. Just in time too! I need to buy some summer clothes before we leave for our vacation to Myrtle Beach next month. My mother-in-law also bought me a gift card to Kohls too! Thank you both so very much!

Caden bought me some oh so delicious chocolate strawberries. They are like a taste of heaven (next to Caden that is).



On behalf of my dog, Mia and cat, Belle, Ryan brought home some flowers. Something from everyone in the household. Ryan did well :)

After Caden took a glorious 3 1/2 hour nap that I woke him from he had a grilled cheese and some grapes.

Just getting ready to leave and visit Ryan's mom for Mother's Day

Playing with something he should NOT be touching! He has broken so many of our blinds and we only have one replacement left.

My sister-in-law is giving us this little bounce house that will fit in our basement! He doesn't know how to jump yet, but he seemed to warm up to it a little. Thanks, Cole!

I'm sad the weekend is over. It was just wonderful. Now to get through another week at work and we'll have the weekend back.

Happy Mother's Day to all you wonderful and beautiful mothers!

Beauty / Mia & Caden

Isn't he beautiful? (I think he is a he anyway). Every Spring two swans make it back to the pond in front of our complex. I'm not sure if they are the same swans from the previous year, but who cares! They are so beautiful and it's part of my morning walk with Caden and Mia that I look forward to. I'm not sure if they have laid any eggs yet, but I imagine they will if they have not done so already. Feeding them is so much fun. The little guys are so clueless and have no fear really. Watch out for mom and dad though - they can get pretty nasty with you. So far the dad hasn't raises his feathers, which leads me to believe his mate hasn't laid any eggs. Ah, it's the little things in life that amuse me :)

We live in suburb area, but across the street from us is the water side. There are huge beautiful homes on the water front and then across from them are smaller homes. The smaller homes remind me up north homes. They have camp fires and the owners are outside most of the day. It brings back fond memories of going up north with my family. On our walk today I heard a rooster doing his morning song of cock-a-doodle-doo. I couldn't believe my ears. I sorta chuckled at the thought of what *their* neighbors must think. I might brave it up one day and cross the street for a walk in that neighborhood. Of course not without Ryan. I'm too chicken to take adventures on my own. I'd be afraid to take Mia because of the loose dogs I see wandering about.

Speaking of Mia, our crazy, hyper, likes to lick a lot, sweet, beautiful dog, who adapted so well to Caden. She really has. I remember everyone asking "so how do you think Mia will do with the baby?". I heard that question SO many times. I'm sure due to her breed; pit boxer. Yes, she is part pit bull and boxer. She carries more of the boxer personality traits, but looks more of a pit bull. Did you know that boxers are on the top 5 (I believe) list of good dogs with children? Mia used to be my baby. She was all I ever talked about. Ask anyone in my family or friends.

When we first brought Caden home she was not amused with all the crying. Especially at night. If Caden and I were downstairs, she would be upstairs in our room. If Caden and I slept in our bedroom, Mia slept on the couch. Mia likes to sleep. About a week after I was home I remember calling Ryan at 2am (he was working) crying my eyes out because all I wanted to do was cuddle with Mia. I felt so bad for her and of course my hormones were all over the place. It soon passed, and Mia started sleeping with me again.

Back to my point. I have so many pictures of the two of them together, but I thought I would share this video instead. I may post the pictures in another post at another time. I think Caden found the key to Mia's heart. Food!

I think all of Mia's clean up duty has put a couple extra pounds on her.

Make em' go boom!

I wanted to do a Wordless Wednesday post, but the pictures I want to share have a little story behind them.

Ryan has been teaching Caden how to stack his blocks shapes. It's not an easy task for Caden since they won't balance that well, but his Daddy is happy to help him out. (Caden does get very frustrated when he can't do it himself though). Once Ryan gets a nice tall stack (about 5-6 blocks shapes) he says "Make em' go boom!" And with that Caden smashes down the tower, with a HUGE smile (or cries because he wants them stacked again).

Caden was starting to fuss a little this evening, so I asked him if he wanted to play "Make em' go boom!" and he ran over to his blocks shapes and started stacking them! I was surprised that he remembered this and got me thinking.

He probably understands a LOT more than he leads on. Selective hearing. Isn't that what it is called?



Looking back all proud that he made a basket.

Looking cute as ever



I think we have a collector. This evening Caden was walking around the kitchen picking up everything in sight and putting it in his bucket. Including his sippy!

Hmm... What do I have in here?

Just. Beautiful.

Thank you, Christa!!!

Outside Fun!

This weekend brought some more outside fun, which is Caden's favorite thing these days. He could stay outside ALL day if I let him. We took our dog, Mia and Caden for a walk every day which was so nice. Our spoiled monkey has his choice of going in his stroller, wagon or this push car - the best way I can explain it (because I have yet to take pictures!) is a little car he sits in and it has a long handle so we can push him. He LOVES it and tries honking the horn.

For the first time in a VERY long time I got to have some me time on Friday. I went tanning and got a pedicure. My MIL bought me a gift certificate for my favorite salon for my birthday last January and I've been saving it for the Spring. Thanks, Mom! It felt great. The chairs that you sit in give you a massage while your feet are soaking. It was heaven. I even watched a bit of TV and read my book. It was heaven. Even Ryan commented how refreshed I seemed when I came home. I'm definitely going to be doing that more often.

Ryan and I also had some "us" time on Saturday night. We went to dinner and had a few drinks with some friends. Caden stayed with his grandma all night. I kicked Ryan's behind in darts! I believe it is the first time I have beat him at any game. It felt good :)

Caden and I played outside almost all afternoon today. It was the only thing that kept him from whining. He is getting two of his 1 year molars in, so I have a feeling that explains his crankiness. He is usually not this fussy. Poor baby.

Back to the working world tomorrow. *Sigh*

12 Month Appointment

Caden had his one year appointment today. He is 22lbs (he gained 2lbs in 3 months!) and is 30 inches long. His head circumference is 18 1/4 inches. I cannot believe how much he has grown. He was only 7lbs, 7 oz and 19.50 inches long at birth.

He did get one shot today; Prevnair. We delayed the chicken pox and MMR until we say so. (Although he'll have to get them before he starts school anyway.)

His doctor said he should be drinking no more than 16 oz of milk per day. We cover that in his morning and night time bottle. Now, if we could only get RID of the bottles. Caden refuses to drink milk from a sippy cup. It's going to be a rough transition, but I'm not going to stress over it. He'll move on when he is ready I guess.

Overall, a great visit and he goes back at 15 months.