Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! It has been a whirlwind two weeks, and honestly I am a little sad that it is coming to an end. I love this time of year and I love having two weeks off of school! I have had such a wonderful time with Heath and Cayden, and visiting with family and friends. Why can't the whole year be like this!? Brace yourself...there are a ton of pictures!

Every. Single. Year. I beg and plead with Heath to take me to see this lights on the square in Fayetteville. And every year he finds some way to weasel out of it! Not this year mister! I have a kid, and you have to do stuff like this...for this kids, of course! I was a little bummed because my camera was a little blurry, but we at least have two photos of our brief walk around the square. KNWA was filming the five o'clock news, and we stood and watched them for a few minutes.

Cayden and Camilla had a play date earlier this week. Camilla is very advanced, she can sit on her own for quite a spell. Cayden can sit for a few minutes, but usually falls over. In the top picture Camilla is demonstrating what this looks like!

I love these two! I can't wait to watch them grow up together! I know that when summer comes around Kristin and I will have our hands full!

During our two week vacation, Heath was also off of work. It was nice to just be a family together for longer than a weekend! Cayden loves his daddy!

He is such a happy baby! Although this week has been kind of hairy. We think he might be teething. His chewing is getting more intense, and he just acts like he might not feel the greatest! I'm not sure how I know this because most of the time he looks like the picture above!

Cutter and Cayden got to see each other on Christmas day! The last time they met, Cayden was just few days old!

Of course he had to pose in his Christmas gift! Our Christmas this year was a little crazy. We went to my mom's on Friday. We made a trip to Branson to see if there were any deals to be had. Cayden got some stuff, and Daddy got some stuff. Nothing at rock-bottom prices, but we managed to find some goodies. Each year we take a family photo. No one likes this practice, and generally we look a little haggard...but this year was pretty good. Aside from Cayden's homage to LL Cool J (with the sweat pant up one leg) I think our photo was nice. We had planned on spending two nights, but Cayden was not having it. He would not sleep in the pack in play, or even in the bed with us! UGH. So we left late Christmas Eve night, after all the festivities.

He was really good at opening gifts. And he LOVED all the new toys. I guess we've reached the age where he can actually start playing with stuff.

I took this picture because I kept thinking that I didn't have enough "Christmas" picture. At least in this one, the tree is lit up in the background. I guess because this was Cayden's first Christmas everyone was super excited to buy him stuff. He got a lot. I was going to take a picture of it all, but it was kind of obscene. Instead I took pictures of groups of stuff. The last post was about the hats, these next two pictures are about the books and stuffed animals!

Pictured with Cayden: Giant Frank, Brown Bear, a Polar Bear, the cast of Winnie the Pooh, and Mickey. Most of the Disney characters were purchased in Branson on Friday. They were our deal of the day!

Cayden is going to be a reader! Can you tell? He got several books, which we will definitely enjoy!

The Season of Hats - 5 Months!

I'm not sure if it is just the obsession with my new knitting hobby, but is everyone in the knitting spirit this year? Even Old Navy has a knitting commercial! Although it is not quite Christmas yet, Cayden has already received several gifts...including knitted hats! Three to be exact~
Since this is his first Christmas, I have to document everything! My best friend Julie sent her gifts last week, and Cayden's gift was just the right size to test out his unwrapping skills. Jennifer has been trying to prepare him for this task by letting him tear up magazines. He is getting quite good.

Here we are, unwrapping his very first gift... I wonder what it could be!

The evidence is in his little paw, that Yes, he can at least tear paper!

Voila! Out pops a Deer/Reindeer hat! Little did we know that this would be the first of three knitted hats...and something tells me that Santa/my mom has another hat for him at her house!

This cute Sock Monkey hat came courtesy of Aunt Debbie!

Woo Pig!!! Thanks Jennifer!

I have learned many things this year, about myself and about being a parent. I can tell that Christmas time is going to be a BIG deal in our future. Establishing traditions and keeping in mind what a gift God has given us, and trying not to focus on material gifts. However, one lesson that I have learned this year....Order. More. Christmas Cards. Period. When in doubt, order at least 10 more. Unfortunately this year, I only ordered 25. Apparently it should have been more like 50. I'm sorry to those who follow our blog, and were hoping for a card. We had to get cutthroat this year. Don't worry though, lesson learned. Next year will be better.

This shot is from one session of our Christmas card shoot. He is so flexible. Not as flexible as our friend Camilla, who is capable of putting her toes in her mouth.

Okay, let's move on to what Cayden has been accomplishing in the past month. We had been putting cereal in his bottle at night, so then we moved on to feeding him cereal. That went really well, so after a couple of weeks, we moved on to a fruit. His first time eating Apples was hilarious.
He looks so excited!

Not quite sure what we've done to him...

He kept going for it, and after a couple of bites...he was a fan! We have also introduced Sweet Potatoes which he LOVES. Bananas will take some getting used to. Jennifer feeds him cereal at lunch time, and then at night he gets cereal and some fruits and veggies. The food really seems to keep him regulated, but I believe is also a strong contributor to what I like to call, "Diaper Explosions!" We've had several of those lately. Up the back. Out the legs. On the socks. That sink the laundry room has been very handy. If it weren't gross, I would post a picture. But maybe that is a little too "real life."

Cayden has also mastered rolling both directions. He really likes to be on his tummy playing with his toys. Anytime we put him on his pillow under his play gym, within a few minutes he is on his stomach.

He has a new fascination with faces. He wants to touch and scratch at, pull hair, and stick fingers in your mouth. Speaking of mouth, no words yet. Although some members of my family swear he said HI at lunch the other day. I'm skeptical.

He has officially moved to the crib, and has been there for awhile. He is an okay sleeper. He has his good and bad days. In a typical night he goes down around 7:30, up at 11:30 and 4:00. I can't complain too much because he wakes to eat and is back down pretty quickly. He does have some of those nights where he is up every two hours, like last night...but I think its because he has been off schedule. For the past three nights we have either been somewhere different, or Jennifer has stayed with him.

He is still in size 2 diapers. Clothing is a different matter. Gap is still okay width wise in the 3-6, however in length; too short. Carters he is moving into the 9 month category for the same reason. We think he is weighing in around 18 pounds, and trust me, after holding him in the Santa line for an hour, I believe it!

Dear Cayden~

It's almost time for your first Christmas. There are so many things that we are looking forward to during the holidays in the years to come. We hope that you will know that He is the reason for the season first, and that gifts come second. You are such a happy baby. As always my favorite part about you is your smile. I almost wish you wouldn't get teeth because I love your toothless grin so much! I hope that someday you know how much you are loved by everyone. I can't imagine loving anything more, and you have been such a blessing to us. I just hope that we can be good role models for you as you grow up!

Love~

Mom and Dad

Tis The Season

There is always so much going on during the Christmas season, and then you add a baby to the mix, and I am beginning to feel overwhelmed! We have officially bought ONE present. It's December 11th, and I am that far behind. Have we ordered our Christmas cards yet? Nope. Nothing like a little holiday pressure to put that panicky feeling into your heart! The good thing is we have Cayden. It is extremely hard for me to not want to go ahead and start some Christmas traditions now. I see the Elf of the Shelf pictures and I want to do that! I know he has no clue what it is, but still. It's been a miracle that I haven't bought the book yet. I am going to buy 'Twas the Night Before Christmas...

I don't want to put too much into this blog because Cayden will be FIVE months old on Wednesday and I will update then. It makes me kind of sad to look back at pictures of when he was first born. He was soo little...sniff.

He is really into electronics: Phones, remotes.... He wants it! Any time he sees a phone he lunges for it...he could be in the middle of a fussy, crying fit...pull out the phone. Good to go!
Side note: A lot of pictures I take of Cayden are in what I call his "Cayden Chair." Basically it my crossed leg that he sits in the crook of. I know he will be too big for that soon, so we bought him an actual Cayden Chair. This is his Christmas present this year. Since he has no concept of Christmas, I went ahead and put it together, and gave it a test run. He loves it. The funny part is that anytime you put him in it, he always has his arm slung over the side. It is so cute!


I know he will get good use out of this for a long time! My mom has gone a little present happy for him this year, so I think our only other gift for him may be a toy remote or cell phone!

This being Cayden's first Christmas there were a few things I thought we had to do. Special Christmas onesie...Check. Cayden's First Stocking...Check. Visit to see Santa...Check.
I knew that completing this last task could be stressful. We've all seen the pictures. Jolly old Saint Nick and a screaming red faced baby! This is what I was expecting. I was fully prepared for my child to be THAT child. Cayden and I loaded up and headed to the mall. We walk in the door, and the line is long, really long, but I am determined. I had left Cayden's car seat in the car because he hates it, so I was holding him, and the diaper bag. 15 minutes tick by.....30 minutes...and Santa's helper comes by to hand out price fliers, and to dish some picture taking advice.

"Oh, your baby is cute. If I were you, I would wait until the photographer is ready, and then walk your baby with his back towards Santa, and then get out quickly."
Great. 45 minutes go by....Cayden is doing well. No crying, just staring at people, and smiling at the guy behind us. Finally it is almost our turn, and my kid is asleep. I wake him up, and do as the helper instructed. Cayden was GREAT! Everyone watching thought he was so sweet when he smiled. He just sat there and let Santa hold him like it was no big deal.

Next year I will be even more prepared for a meltdown! Merry Christmas!