Halloween part 2

This huge and disgusting spider chose to spin his web right by our front door. People thought it was a prop, but it was unfortunatley very real.

Caden, Jenilee and Jazmin before trick or treating began.

Sweet Caden at 4 months old!

Brothers!

"Trunk or Treat"

Colton's school had a Trunk or Treat last Sunday evening. Colton threw one of the biggest fits we've ever seen as we tried to put on his costume. We finally got it on and he was fine once he saw the trunkfuls of candy. However; he refused to wear the hood part of his lion costume. Oh well. He did have the "roaring" part down. So, tonight when we went trick or treating he was pretty confused. He kept going up to the doors saying, "Trunk or treat". It was pretty cute. He insisted on putting the candy in the pumpkin himself :) We went to about 10-15 houses when he declared, "That's enough, I go to Colton's house." So we took him home and dropped him off with Daddy, while Javi, Jazmin, Jenilee and I went down 1 more street. It was so fun to see our sweet friends again at Halloween. I think this is our 4th year to spend Halloween together. Our new neigborhood has a ton of trick or treaters. Jack was busy handing out candy in between watching the TX vs OSU game. Caden decided to stay in with Daddy. He's a budding football enthusiast plus he was pretty sleepy and I just couldn't justify making him wear his almost too tight costume just for Mommy's pictures :)

Telling me about the scary pumpkin. Colton enjoyed the jack-o-lanterns the most. He kept pointing out those that were scary or happy. When we went up to a house with something a little scary, he would just say over and over to himself, "It's ok, it's ok..." The nice thing about a 2 year old trick or treater is that they really don't remember how much candy they got, so Mom and Dad have enjoyed a few pieces of Colton's stash :)

Caden in his cute little pumpkin outfit.

Tinkerbell, Jenny and Jason 2009

Happy Birthday, Jack!

Today is a very special day! A certain someone in our family is having a certain milestone birthday today! My battery was dead on the camera so these are from my phone! Another certain someone was not thrilled to sit for a picture even if it did end with birthday cake :)

We love you, Jack!  I'm so blessed to be your wife - you are an amazing husband to me and a wonderful father to our boys! And just remember - you're not getting old - you're just chronologically gifted!

Caden - Week 3

(Yes, I realize this is 9 weeks late...but I wanted to get it recorded - I'll move it back to the right date later.)



Caden turned 3 weeks old on August 13. He's such an easy baby. He seems to have his days and nights figured out and can barely stay awake past 8 pm. The dilemma has been whether or not to wake him up between 10-11 to feed him a dream feed or just let him wake up on his own. The problem is that he wakes up anywhere from 12-3 and if Mommy doesn't go to sleep when he does; it makes for a short night. During the day he eats every 3 hours - sometimes every 2.



Caden doing his tummy time.

It's such hard work!

I love when he stretches so big. Is this the beginning of the sweet chubby cheeks?

3 Week pictures with Mr. Bear

Big yawn! By the way, Mommy's sweet friend and former college roomie, Jordan, made this beautiful quilt for Caden. I'll have to take a close-up so you can see all the fun patterns. She also made a cowboy themed quilt for Colton when he was born!

Sweet brothers.

Caden loves to watch his big brother.

Little did I know there really was water at the bottom of the ice chest...oops!

This summer began Colton's love of the trash truck! While we were staying at Bunny's house he looked forward to Monday "trash" day all week! Here he is watching the truck drive away. I wonder what the sanitation workers think when they see little kids in awe of their jobs :)

Week 3 also brought a very special visit from Mommy's good friend Stephanie (another former college roomie) and her sweet boy Lincoln! It was so great to see you

Real Time Update...Finally!

I've just been working on a post for Weeks 3 and 4 but since sweet Caden is actually 12 weeks old this week; I thought you might want to see what he really looks like :) He is the best baby! I feel so blessed to be his mommy. He brings us such joy and I'm so thankful God added him to our family! His last check up was at 2 months (about 5 weeks ago) and he had some pretty impressive stats: Weight = 13.8 lbs (90%); Height = 24.8 inches (97%); Head = 15.8 (70%)... I have to assume he's close to 15 pounds now. We love every ounce of our roly poly little boy!

What we've been up to: I started back to work full-time last week... It's been a roller coaster of emotions. It's getting somewhat easier and we're starting to get into a routine...but I cannot wait to see my boys after work each day! Caden started sleeping through the night around 8-9 weeks. He goes to bed around 7:30-8 and usally makes it until 5 am. One night he slept 7:30 pm -6:30 am straight! It's amazing what a full uninterrupted night's sleep will do for a mommy! The boys are doing good in day care. Naps are not what I'd like them to be, but hopefully they will get better. Colton moved up to the 2's class so I think that's been an adjustment, too.

This picture captures Caden's personality so well! He is so laid back and easygoing! He loves to smile and giggle. He loves looking at his hands and has started grabbing and holding his toys. He kicks and wiggles when he is excited. And his sweet little voice. He likes to coo and squeal - It's so precious!

More of our handsome boy at 12 weeks!

Colton is 26 months old. He seems to be going through a little "conflicted" stage lately. He will tell me, "I don't want my shoes on, Mommy.." and then a few seconds later, "I DO want my shoes on, Mommy." Or, I don't want a cookie followed quickly by a frantic I do want a cookie... It's very confusing. Today we solved on of the dilemmas by having one shoe on and one shoe off. Could this be the beginning of the terriffic twos???? :) Colton still sleeps well at night, but he has started protesting and stalling more and more before bed. This picture is him riding Mommy's back on his way to bed. Usually, Daddy gets the honors but he was out of town. After a quick piggyback "run" through the house, he then requests a drink of water, his medicine, a vitamin, "Mommy sing" followed by a "I don't like THAT song, Mommy!" Finally we pray, turn out the lights and leave the room. Then Colton takes about 30 minutes to fall asleep. He doesn't fuss but he talks to himself and seems to process his day. Lovey is a very good listener. Last night we heard him tell Lovey to clean up and tell his blanket not to bother him :) Fun times in Colton land!

That's all for now... My 5 0'clock wake up call comes early...but he's oh so cute and cuddly! I love this age!

Week 2 - Caden

It's 2:30 - they have both been napping for an hour and a half - woohoo! I hear Colton stirring so I'm going to make this quick. I love being a mom to these 2 boys! It's the hardest thing I've ever done, but also the most fulfilling and joyous endeavor ever! Could it be my heart is swelling with love after looking at the pictures below WHILE the 2 rugrats are sleeping peacefully :) Ha! Life is definitely "full speed ahead" when they are both awake! Well, I digress and the nap clock is ticking...

** I will post this today and then eventually change the date so it's around his actual 2 week date = July 6. 2 weeks down, only 7 more til we're up to date... **


Colton and Caden - Watch out Colton - Caden will catch to you in length soon!

Mommy & Daddy's sweet friends, Dana and Laine brought dinner over during Caden's 2nd week and Colton loved playing with Jackson!

Caden all swaddled up...

This picture of Caden is eerily similar to one we have of Colton - I'll have to find and post later.

Caden's first full bath! Not too thrilled about it, but loves them now!

The "Little Slugger" doing his tummy time.

2 week pictures

I love this face - he often sucks on his lower lip and wrinkles up his face - we call it his "old man" look.

Just chillin' on the Fourth of July. We celebrated with my dad, Karen and Brooke at their house.

He seems to be a pretty relaxed little boy! Life is good when you're little and cute :)

Big Brother holding Caden.

I think Caden likes his big brother!

This is from Papaw's house on the Fourth. Colton really enjoyed the pool once he got in. He spent a lot of time exploring the waterfall and playing water balloons with Uncle Zach and Aunt April...

25 months

Wow! Two posts in one week :) Just had to jot a couple things down that I don't want to forget. Colton is at a very sweet, precocious, curious and the beginnings of a slight rebellious stage. He keeps me on my toes! This morning he woke up happy and I heard him jabbering in his crib. Usually he is calling out "I wanna get out! I wanna get out!"... But this morning he was yelling, "I want french fr-ies! I want french fr-ies!" It made me laugh - he must have dreamed about them or something. Then as I walked in to greet him good morning, he also informed me that he would like a corny dog, too! He has begun saying too after every sentence... Example: I want milk, too. I want to play with cars, too. Mommy play too.

He says his fair share of no, but just in the last few months has begun sweetly saying, Ye-s (I don't know how to write it with the way he draws it out - but it's a combination of Texas twang and a sing-songy lilt). Beginning to be a bit manipulative at nap time - stalling and asking for more water, a song, books, medicine, you name it. For some reason since he turned two, it has also taken him longer to fall asleep at night. Thankfully he is still sleeping 11-12 hours at night and takes a blessed 2-3 hour nap during the day!!! Before the summer he was 1.5 hours or less. I guess we've been wearing him out.

He's got quite a sense of humor and loves to talk in a "Cookie Monster" voice taught to him by Bunny. He says "I like cookies, I'm a cookie monster" all day long and changes the object to fit the context... Ex: "I like chicken, I'm a chicken monster!" Too funny. He also loves to fill in the blank with "Who stole the cookie from the cookie jar?" and often blames Uncle Zach. Loves to ask "Where are we going?" in the car, "What happened?" when he hears a loud noise, and "What's that called?" all day long! It's really fun to carry on a conversation with him. He remembers a lot and will often bring up a subject that we talked about yesterday or even a few weeks ago.


I'm sure there's a ton more but that's all I can remember for now. Stay tuned for posts about our recent ranch vacation, Caden Weeks 2-8 (yikes I'm behind), Uncle Zach and Aunt April's beautiful wedding (Colton was the ring bearer), summer favorites and reflections on being a mom the second time around...Caden is growing up way too fast!

Colton at 10 weeks...

Caden at 7 weeks (at 8 weeks he can barely fit in his 3 month clothes). I thought it was cute that they almost have their arms in the same position wearing the surfer shirt. Caden looks like a baldy compared to Colton :)

Sweet Caden at 7 weeks sleeping in his Daddy's arms...

Colton loves to help me "make something" - his words for cooking with Mommy. Here he is licking the muffin batter off the spatula - hopefully it won't hurt him - he loves it for some reason!