School's Starting = Ella's Back!!

So school is officially starting tomorrow!  I have to say, this has been the shortest summer we have ever had...literally!  Reid did not get out of school until June 11 and went back August 9!  So sad...But we definitely cherished every moment together!  Caeden loved having his daddy home...and so did I!  Reid and I took turns sleeping in so that was my favorite part!  And I love that Reid got to be home for so many "firsts" for Caeden....including crawling, starting to point, clapping to music, saying "dada," using a spoon, pulling up on objects, learning to drink from a straw, WALKING, and celebrating his first birthday!  It was definitely a special time for Reid to be home with us each day!

Teacher meetings actually started last week.  And I was dreading the day Reid was going to go back to work.  Not only was I going to LOSE a "helper" (who changed half the diapers, helped with half the meals, etc.) but I was going to GAIN another baby, since Ella was coming back.  I figured this actually quadrupled my workload!  I was really nervous...how I, Caeden, AND Ella would handle this sudden transition. 

But I'm glad to say it's gone great!!  Ella only cried the first few days when her mom dropped her off....Now she happily comes in to play when she first arrives.  Caeden LOVES having a friend around.  He always wakes up from naptime first (b/c he takes short naps) so when Ella finally wakes up to play with him, he runs into her room smiling the whole way (no joke), and sometimes greets her with clapping or a hug!!  They love to play together!  And it's actually been very fun for me to have two babies here!  It's more entertaining for me AND for Caeden! 

They are both at this pre-toddler stage that is so fun!  It's like they're ending their "babyhood" but not yet a full-fledged "toddler."  This means they still come to me crying and wanting help if something is wrong, but they love to interact with each other, laugh, and play games!  I've already had so much fun with them this past week and am looking forward to this school year I get to spend with both of them.  Here are a few fun pictures to end my blog for now.  I took these this past week of them playing together:


WE GO OUTSIDE TO PLAY EVERY MORNING AFTER BREAKFAST.  THEY'RE FAVORITE THING TO DO IS PLAY ON THE PLAYSET/CLUBHOUSE!!
(Sometimes, I think that in their mind they're playing house....HA!)

THESE ARE SOME CUTE PICTURES OF THEM PUTTING A PUZZLE TOGETHER
(or attempting to put it together). :)

THIS WAS A FUN GAME THEY DISCOVERED A FEW DAYS AGO.  THEY LIKE TO SIT IN THE LAUNDRY BASKET AND TAKE TURNS PUSHING EACH OTHER AROUND ON THE TILE FLOOR!  SO FUNNY!! 
(You'll notice in the second picture that Caeden is frustrated that the basket won't move...Little does he realize that he's pushing it against the couch...)  :)

CAEDEN'S BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So I will now continue my labor & delivery story from yesterday!  On this day last year, they started giving me Pitocin at 6:00am...contractions definitely got worse!  They were awful!  I remember rolling side-to-side in bed, crying tears, and moaning...forget the breathing!!  I was in too much pain!  At 7:30am they took me off the Pitocin because they said I was progressing fine without it.

I immediately requested an epidural and was feeling great by 8:30am!!  I decided that the epidural was the greatest invention ever!!  At first it didn't work on my left side but after about 20-30 min, it was working perfectly!  They told me I could push the little button to re-dose every 15 minutes, so you betcha I did!  I even had Reid set his stopwatch to go off every 15 minutes so I knew I could push it again!  HA!!  That's how bad the pain was - cannot describe it in words!

So the next several hours were spent in peace, visiting with family and sleeping.  At 11:30am the doctor came in to check me and said I was at 5.5 cm.  Thinking I still had awhile to go, I fell asleep and took a small nap.  They woke me up at 12:30pm (1 hour later) to check me again and I was at 10cm!!!  Crazy!!!  

I started pushing at 12:58pm, hoping that it would be a quick 20 minute thing.  Boy was I wrong!!  An hour and a half later, at 2:31pm, Caeden made his arrival!  When he decide to finally join us, he actually never crowned.  He came out so fast that the doctor didn't even have his scrubs on and the medical team was not in the room.  It was just the nurse, the doctor, and Reid.  So within 1 minute, a whole bunch of people were in the room tending to Caeden.  I was crying tears of relief that he was "finally here!"  Unfortunately, with my 3rd degree tears, I did not get to hold Caeden for 1.5 hours, while they stitched me up.  I then got to feed him and see the rest of my family..

Sigh....the rest was the beginning of something I could have never prepared myself for.  There have been some really hard days this past year...many spent in tears, frustration, and confusion.  But there have also been some extremely rewarding days....the time he smiled at me for the first time in his bedroom when no one else was home, the first time he started reaching for a toy, when we finally got down the "breastfeeding" thing, the first time he reached his arms out to me when he wanted me, and the first time he gave me an open-mouthed kiss on the cheek!  I feel so blessed that God gave him to us and I only pray I can do the best job I can at being the right kind of mother for him!  I pray that God reaches his heart, regardless of how well I do.  And I pray that he will have a desire to love the Lord with all his heart and will love the world as Jesus does.  I love you Caeden!!  Happy 1st Birthday!!!

Looking back...

So tomorrow is offically Caeden's birthday!  Today my mind has constantly been on what was going on this time last year.  This was the day my doctor decided to induce me.  My appointment was at 11:15 that morning.  I was so excited to know I would surely have Caeden in my arms by tomorrow night...but was also nervous about the unknown.  She told me not to eat anything after 3pm.  Sooo...Reid and I went to have a huge meal at McAlister's around 2:30pm.  :)  The rest of the afternoon was pretty laidback.  We just came back to the house, did a little more cleaning and packing up...and more waiting.

Finally, at 6:00 that evening we went to the hospital.  I was still very excited and anxious.  At 7:45pm they started the induction with Citotek (a cervix softener).  They decided not to give me a second dose since the first dose caused me to start progressing pretty easily.  I remember being up almost all night with contractions being pretty uncomfortable...I did lots of walking and breathing...and very little sleeping.  So far things were going great...I was just so excited to have Caeden finally here!  Today has been crazy remembering all the emotions I experienced on this day and mainly just how excited I was...and how I had no idea what was to come!!!  I'll finish the story tomorrow on his birthday.....!

Now...On a fun note!!  Yesterday Caeden got to move to his "big boy" car seat!!  He has ALWAYS hated his baby car seat...since the first car ride home.  90% of the rides we took in the car were spent listening to fussing, crying, and sometimes screaming!  So yesterday was an exciting day!!  We ran a short trip to Walmart just so we could try it out and so far he loves it!  He was really focused on the cars in front of us and the buildings we were passing on the side...I realized he was looking at a view he had never seen before!  I think he felt so big!  He didn't fuss at all!  Now...I realize this was only a 10 minute car ride so we'll see how he continues to do, but I'm praying he'll continue to like it more than his rear-facing car seat.  Here are some pictures below:

Helping Daddy read the Owner's Manual

Getting Buckled In!!

And off we go!!

Caeden's Birthday Party!

Caeden does not actually turn one year old until Thursday of this week (more of that to come...), but we celebrated his 1st Birthday party last Saturday.  We had so much fun!!  I cannot tell you how many years I've thought about planning my kids' birthday parties...and my dream came true last weekend.   (I'm going to post a few short videos as I go along and just so you know, my sister is the one narrating). :)

We had his party at a local city park with a "toddler" playground.  They have a nice pavilion where we had some fun foods, popsicles, and some nice cold drinks (we needed it in the 100 degree weather).  It was so fun seeing Caeden's other one-year-old friends show up for his party, carrying him a present and waving "hi" to him.  It's so cute how they're already friends!  We had several pools and water games set up for them to play in. 

When it came time to open presents, Caeden was getting a drink from his Papa's water bottle.  But as he saw Nana carrying the presents over, he took off walking straight towards her and immediately started pulling on the ribbons!!  HA!  Hilarious how he knew exactly what to do!  He did a great job staying in one spot to open all the presents...However, I don't think he liked the fact that just as he opened a present and started playing with a toy, we took it away to give him another present to open...

Then came the time for the cake!! I made the birthday cake and his own little smash cake.  They each had a small "pool" in the middle to go with the water theme. 

There were mini oreos around the bottom edge of the cake and at first, Caeden would just pick off the oreos and eat those.  Eventually, he dug into the cake and loved it too!  His face was a total mess!!!  So was his swimsuit and high chair...it was everywhere...but so fun!

Then after he finished the cake, he went off to walk around some more and play in the water.  It was such a great 1st Birthday and was absolutely perfect in my eyes!  Now...I know you want to see pictures...but the problem is...we hired a photographer friend to take pictures for us (which I'm SO glad we did)...and we'll get them back sometime next week.  Sooo...I do not have ONE SINGLE picture on my camera!  I can't wait to get the pictures back from her and you can bet I'll have them posted right away.  I can't believe my baby boy is turning ONE!!!!