Pages

Friday, May 28, 2010

Fun Friday!

This has been a fun Friday! Caeden and I got to spend the day together with just us! Ella was sick, so she was not here today. It's hard to remember the days when it was just he and I...even though it was just a few months ago. So easily we forget...

Well since it's just us, and it's easier to get one baby out than two, we made it a fun day! This morning, after eating breakfast together, we went on a run...the weather was great! Then we got cleaned up and ran some errands that we haven't had time to do. The rest of the day we played at the park and took our two naps (well, his - not mine). This was a great start to our Memorial Day weekend and I enjoyed having a "Caeden and Mommy Day."

Like I wrote in one of my past posts, Caeden has really taken to pushing his little push toy around the house. He has recently learned how to turn it around when he gets stuck. It's so funny how he'll contentedly push it around the house forever! Here's a quick video for you to enjoy:


This weekend we are going camping with my family. My parents have a camper and we usually go several times during the summer...so we're hoping Caeden enjoys it! :) But he LOVES being outside when we're home so I think our chances are good. Wish us luck and we'll post some pictures when we get back!

Monday, May 24, 2010

Water Play




As we all know, it was steaming hot today. After going on a short walk and realizing it was way too hot, we decided to sit on some blankets in the shady garage and play with some toys. This evening, when daddy got home, we opened Caeden's new pool/sprinkler/waterfall toy. He loved to stick his hands in the water. And as he was standing in the pool, he would sometimes sit down, and then quickly scramble to stand up. I think the water was still a little cold since it had just come out of the hose. :) Our next door neighbor, Lucas, who's 5 months older than Caeden came over to play for a little bit too. Although Caeden's not a little fish yet, I don't think it will take long, basing it on his love of bathtime.

Sunday, May 23, 2010

Wonderful weekend


So this has been a great weekend! Saturday we drove to Fort Smith to attend an Engagement Party for one of Reid's best friends. Saw lots of old friends, so that was great! It was fun for many of them to meet Caeden for the first time.



And today, we went to our first Naturals game as a family. I remember last year going to several games in June and July being 8-9 months pregnant. My belly was HUGE and I was always imagining us coming THIS year with Caeden. And we finally did today. He took a short 7 minute nap as we walked to the stadium and another quick 15 min nap on the way home. Woo...Talk about no afternoon naps today! But considering he got little sleep, he did great! And loved watching all the people. Having just learned how to wave recently, I think his favorite part was waving to random people as they walked by in the aisle. :)

We're home now, in our air-conditioned house, and he's fast asleep. So I think I'll go rest up for another busy week!

Friday, May 21, 2010

Caeden's new way to get around...

Caeden, Ella, and I got to go to play group today. This hasn't happened in several weeks because their naps were right in the middle of play group, which kept us from going. But TODAY they both woke up in time for us to go...YAY! Mommy was probably more excited than they were! This is always my one day a week that I can get out of the house, in a laidback setting, and socialize with other moms. I was so happy to be able to go today!


This morning, I noticed that Caeden has found a new mode of transportation. Forget crawling...and who even needs walking? He can push his way around the house! He has a little push cart that he normally pushes across the living room. Well, today he realized that he can use that as a tool to get to where he "needs" to go. I saw him push his way over to his musical table. Then he cautiously transferred his hands to his musical table and played. When he was done with that, he went back to the push cart and pushed/walked his way to the fireplace. There he stayed to look at some books for a few minutes. He continued to push his way around the room to whichever toy he wanted to play with. Of course, mommy was glad because this meant I wasn't the one walking him everhwhere. But it also meant he was able to "walk" himself to the TV and explore the cabinets underneath! HA! As content as he was with pushing his way around the room, he may never be walking! But that's okay....As long as he's moving him self, I'm happy! :)

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

The cough...

Tonight when Reid was getting Caeden ready for bed, he coughed. This led to Caeden imitating his daddy's cough. So Reid proceeded to intentionally cough again...leading to Caeden coughing again. This game went on for several minutes! I got a few seconds of it on video for you to enjoy! :)



Also, today was a nice out-of-the-ordinary day. Reid took the day off because Caeden had a doctor's appointment. This means we got to spend some extra "family time" together. And THEN, Reid and I got to enjoy a nice home-cooked meal AFTER Caeden went to bed...which means we had a nice conversation without having to worry about entertaining a baby while we ate. It was a very good finish to a great day!

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

.random thoughts.

This week is a very tiring week. I was EXHAUSTED last night! Reid has started his next graduate class this week, plus he's mowing lawns after school, and is attending a family graduation tonight....which means I feel like a single mom. Reid is very good about trying to spend every free minute with Caeden and waiting until after he goes to bed to work on school work. But when he's mowing lawns and such, I often have Caeden from 7am-7:30pm, which is a really long day with a baby....especially a baby who can't move on his own yet and gets bored playing with the same toys in the same spot everyday. And then after Caeden went to bed last night, there was a trip to Walmart that had to be made (no food in the house) and lots of housework to be done...neverending. I had intended on updating our blog last night. But needless to say, I had no energy to even type. And then starts today...Another long day, one of which Reid will only be home for an hour this afternoon. It's just one of those weeks. So all that to say....I'm worn out!! Nothing could have prepared me for what it was like to be a mommy. While it is full of laughs and joys....there are also some days where I simply try to survive. :)

It's interesting the spiritual lessons you'll learn from having a child as well. As a Christian, I have always known that we are born with a sinful nature. But I think I always thought, "Well, there's a part of a child that is born innocent too." I mean....Think of a 2 year old who sees their friend crying and gives them a toy to make them feel better...What empathy! But as I have seen Caeden grow, I have seen that he truly does not know right from wrong. He will take toys from other kids and see nothing wrong with it, demand that all attention be on him, scream when he doesn't get his way, and refuse to do things he needs to do. None of this was taught to him!! He was born with these characteristics! And the only way of healing is through Jesus. So, as Reid and I pray daily for Caeden, our number one prayer is that He will come to a point in his life where he realizes he IS a sinner by nature, and chooses to surrender his life to Christ. It's just been interesting seeing how we as humans (starting from a baby), truly are born a sinner....

Now to finish with a cute picture from this morning. Caeden was in his walker and I watched him turn to walk down our hallway. He saw the guest bedroom door open and he has NEVER been in this room, since it's rarely in use and the door stays closed. He walked in and it got real quiet. So I peeked in at him, watching him stare at the room in awe. A few minutes later, Ella (the little girl I babysit) walked in to join him. Lo and Behold....They saw a huge basket of toys they had never played with in the corner..."Jackpot!" A few minutes later I walk in to see Ella handing Caeden toys to play with on his walker and they are both squealing with glee. :)

Friday, May 14, 2010

Cuteness

Here are two fun videos we took of Caeden yesterday that just show how darn cute he is. :) The first one is of him playing with his lips, a new trick he has learned!



The second one is him playing peek-a-boo, which is a game Reid and I often play with him. I had been covering my face and playing with him right before this video was taken. This was the first time he covered his own face to play.

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Waving, walking, and whining (A.K.A throwing fits)

So for those of you that haven't seen yet, Caeden has learned to wave "bye-bye" this week! The funny thing is he waves side-to-side like we, as adults, do. When we were teaching him to wave, we moved his hand up and down. So I'm not sure what made him decide to start waving side-to-side but we think it's oh-so-cute! :) Here's a video of him waving:



It is very tiring being his mommy right now because he wants us to walk him everywhere! He can scoot on his tummy but doesn't like to...we're still working on the crawling. So his only mode of transportation is us walking him around. I think he'll definitely be walking early. But right now, I get very tired after lots of bending over to walk him.

And one more thing he's learned this week: how to throw a fit. He threw 4-5 on Monday but as I walked out of the room and ignored him, it's gotten less each day. There were only 2 yesterday. Ha! He mainly just gets mad if he can't have something he wants...and man, does he scream!! Tears and all! But if I walk out and let him vent a little, he's usually done within two minutes and happily playing again. Hopefully he'll continue to learn pretty quick that his screaming will not get him what he wants. I don't even know who he learned this from!! I've heard of "terrible twos" but never "naughty nine months!" So if you think of us throughout the day, say a little prayer that this stage ends quickly! Although, I'm not getting my hopes up!

The sun is coming out now so we will probably go play outside when he wakes up from his nap!! Have a wonderful Thursday!

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Ready or not, here we come...

As much as I enjoy reading other people's blogs, I thought maybe we would have some interesting things to share with the world. Whether it's updating everyone of Caeden's miletstones or my emotional roller coaster as a mom, I think I'll have plenty to write about on our new blog. The main purpose is to keep our family and friends updated on what's happening in our little world. Caeden definitely keeps us busy and we have experienced many surprises in the last 9 months, as new parents. There will be days when I (Ashley) write and days when Reid decides to write. But hopefully you will enjoy taking this journey with us!