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Friday, August 24, 2012

First Day of "School" 2012

This is Caeden's second year to be in a Mother's Day Out program, and he started up this past Wednesday. Last year, he cried every week through December, so I was really praying this would not happen again!  We checked out lots of books about starting school, and had many conversations about this topic in the weeks leading up to the big day!  He went the day before to Open House and met his teacher, Ms. Beth.  Mommy absolutely loves her and thinks she will be perfect for Caeden!  He was quickly drawn to all the toys in the room and didn't want to leave.

The next morning was the big day!  As hard as I tried, I did not get a good "first day" picture from him.  It took everything just to get him to stand by the fireplace for me....so this is our "First Day" picture for this year!

First Day MDO 2012
Couldn't look any happier! :)


First Day MDO 2011
This was his picture from last year
Look how much he's grown!

When we got to school, he was running inside and said, "Mommy, I want to go to my room first so I can play with all the things.  Then you can take Ella to her room."  Sure enough, he walked right in, and didn't even say good-bye!  Ella did just as great - no tears from either one!!!

Once I picked them up from school, we went to get some ice cream so I could hear all about their day!  



Caeden had such a great memory, telling me they learned about colors and the farm (which is actually what the learned about). He said Ms. Beth read him a book..and they painted. He told me that he said, "Ms. Beth, I'm done!" when he was done! I asked him if they sang songs...He said, "Ms. Beth sing songs.  I just listen."  Ha! :)  He told me how he played on the playground and got wood chips in his sandals - so we'll make sure to wear tennis shoes next week!  He said that he had fun and liked Ms. Beth.  So, I said "Well, good!  We'll have to go back another day!"  Now, I'm just praying each week hereafter is just as great - I hope the excitement doesn't wear off soon and he decides he doesn't want to go anymore.

After our ice cream - we spent lots of time playing in Chick-fil-a.  Since all the big kids were still in school, we had the place to ourselves for a long time!  




I think it was a great start to his year, and I pray it goes this smoothly from here on out!!

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Caeden: 36 months old!!!!

I've said it so many times, but it's hard to believe that my
first baby is now three years old!!!  I think that means he's technically
not a "toddler" anymore - maybe considered a "preschooler?????"

3 YR STATS

  • After visiting the doctor today, Caeden officially weighs 28 lbs (10th percentile) and is 36 inches tall (25th percentile)!
  • He wears 24 mos shorts, 2T shirts, and is in a size 9 shoe!  In jeans, he'll probably be in a 2T.
EATING
Caeden's eating has been much better this month.  He is mostly eating whatever we feed him - without arguing.  This has caused his eating to be a little more healthy too.  His favorite foods are macaroni & cheese (still), hot dogs (still), yogurt, carrots with ranch, applesauce, and goldfish.  Caeden loves ranch.  He will dip anything in ranch - even his fruit, if there is ranch on is plate at the same time!

SLEEPING
Caeden's sleeping habits are pretty good.  His bedtime has gotten stretched a little later over the summer.  He's usually asleep between 8:30-9:00.  And he wakes up between 7:30-8:00.....about 11 hrs of sleep at night.  He then sleeps about 1.5 hrs for his nap each day.  During this month, Caeden moved to a twin bed, and has done a great job!  He still stays in his bed from the time we lay him down until we go get him.  He will sometimes lay in bed for up to 30 minutes, awake, without getting up!  He still sleeps with his 2 Marvins (his sock monkeys), and his blankie.  He does not like to be covered up with his new sheet - just his blankie.  And he will sometimes add various stuffed animals to his bed to sleep with at night.

PLAYING
Caeden has discovered Dora & Diego this month, and they are his new favorite!!  It's amazing to us his comprehension and memory of various episodes.  One day he was trying to get out of the car, and he said, "Help! Help! Ayudame! Ayudame!"  We cracked up, and thought, "He's seriously learning Spanish from that show???"  Caeden is absolutely LOVING to pretend lately.  He plays in his kitchen a lot, and is very creative with the meals he makes. :)  He will get out his doctor kit and help make us feel better.  He will get out a baby doll, and pretend to take care of her. He loves to play dress-up and be different characters.  Aside from pretending, he is also loving cars & trucks.  

LANGUAGE
Caeden seems to be doing great on his language.  One thing that exploded this month was his amount of talking - sometimes he talks non-stop.  There was one day, he had a 10 minute conversation with himself in the back of the car - talking non-stop for 10 minutes.  I think he was talking to us, but we seriously did not have one chance to interject and comment on what he was saying.  This has happened a lot lately!  If someone talks to him at a store, he will start talking and won't stop - we have to pull him away. :)  A lot of people comment on how clear his speech is, so I guess that's good.

SICKNESS
Caeden had gone several months without being sick, and almost a year with no ear infections!  But that changed this month!  2 days before we left for Florida, he got Croup - which was very scary!  There were several times in the middle of the night he couldn't breathe! :/  He then quickly got a cold with lots of congestion. Two days after arriving to Florida, we took a trip to Urgent Care where he was diagnosed with having an ear infection.  And three days after returning home - another trip to his doctor for a separate ear infection! I'm praying all this sickness is done for awhile!!!!

VACATION
This was the month we went to Florida for 6 days, and thoroughly enjoyed our first trip together as a small family!!  Caeden did awesome adjusting to the time change, and being flexible while traveling.  You can read more about our vacation here.  

SURGERY #3
On August 9th (just 4 days after Caeden's birthday), Caeden had his third surgery.  When he was a newborn and had his circumcision done, the pediatrician at the hospital who did it left a lot of extra skin.  Up until this point, it had just been a cosmetic issue - not a big health issue.  But recently, some of the skin started to grow back together, and would soon be causing him pain.  Thus, it was no longer cosmetic - it was something that needed to be fixed.  So this third surgery was a "circumcision repair."  I'm sure he will not enjoy me posting about this!  But it was still a big deal.  Honestly, it has been the worst of the 3 surgeries.  He has done GREAT with it, but we are still recovering.  We are praying this is the last surgery this little guy has to undergo!!!!

BIRTHDAY PARTY
Caeden had his 3rd birthday party at the Bentonville splash pad.  It was a pirate theme, which he was so excited about!  He still tells people, "I had a pirate birthday party!!!"  More details and pictures here.  

OUR SCHEDULE
This was our approximate schedule for the month:

7:30/8:00 - Wake up, Watch a short movie to wake up, eat breakfast
Morning - We did lots of different things each day since Daddy was home for summer.  But mainly playtime with mommy and/or daddy.
11:30 - Lunch
1:30/2:00 - Nap
3:30 - Watch a short movie to wake up
*Sometimes he would eat a snack, but most days he does not ask for a snack anymore.
5:30 - Dinner
6:00 - Play outside!!
7:45 - Inside for bath & bedtime
8:45ish - Asleep!!!


Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Pregnancy Update: 7th Month!

Yay!  I have just finished my 7th month of pregnancy with baby Callie!  Honestly, this month was pretty uneventful....pregnancy-speaking.  But I'm thankful for that!  And it still went by fast!  Only two short months left!

I honestly didn't have a bunch of "symptoms" this past month, besides simply being "uncomfortable!"  It's bad when I'm already this uncomfortable and I still have two months left!  I had occasional crampiness, lots of backaches, and stretchy pains in my stomach.  It's just harder to do simple things - harder to get in & out of the car, harder to lift Caeden, harder to bend over, and much harder to get down & up off the floor.  My belly just gets in the way a lot...

I also have several Braxton-Hicks contractions a day - some pretty painful. There was also one particular day my feet were really swollen.  It was a little weird that it happened so sudden.  But I read that too much caffeine can do that - and sure enough, I had 3 caffeinated drinks the day before.  That's a lot for someone who never drinks caffeine.  With 24 hours of drinking lots of water, and elevating my feet - they were back to normal in no time!

Callie was still a very active baby this month.  There isn't one particular day where she's the most active - just all throughout the day. However, she will move a lot anytime I lay on my back.  She still kicks, but I've felt many more movements across my belly and her pushing against me.  She hiccups almost daily, and Reid was finally able to feel her hiccup toward the end of the month!

My appetite has been pretty normal.  No weird cravings - just sweets - more than normal.  I'm trying to say "no" sometimes though. I haven't had any heartburn or been terribly forgetful as many women talk about.  Probably the most embarrassing thing is that so many people comment on how I'm probably due any time, or how they act shocked when I tell them I'm not due until October.  I know my belly is big people - I can't help it that I have such a short torso!!  However, I have only gained 13 lbs....so although I have a big belly - I feel better knowing I haven't gained a bunch of weight!

I'm still working out 4 days a week, and am so proud of myself!  I'm hoping to continue this until she's here - and then pick it back up quickly once she's arrived!

I also started my doctor's appointments every 2 weeks this past month, so that's fun!  My glucose screening test was done this month, and it came back normal!  However, it did show very low levels of Iron.  So, I'm now taking an Iron supplement every day, instead of just every other day. I started having ligament pain on my left side, but after buying a maternity support belt, this has greatly improved!  My doctor also said I'm starting to have Diastis Recti.  This is when your abdominal muscles split in pregnancy.  I had this with Caeden, but not until the last month.  It just means I need to be careful when I'm working out, and wear my support belt every day - which I'm already doing.  It doesn't pose any danger to Callie - just uncomfortable for me.

Some exciting things that happened this month:

  • This was the month we went to Florida - a little harder with a big belly, but I made it!
  • We bought a minivan!  Since I will have Caeden, Callie & Ella, we can't fit all 3 car seats in our CR-V, so we had to buy something with 3 rows.  My choice?  A minivan!  And I love it!!
Here is a picture of me when I was in my 7th month with Caeden....and then with Callie.


What Callie is up to at the time of this post:

  • She weighs approximately 3 lbs and is around 16 inches long.
  • Her eyes are no longer fused shut, so she opens & closes them during sleep & wake times.
  • She is still putting on the fat, so she'll be nice and plump by the time she arrives!
  • Her brain is starting to form wrinkles and take on new jobs - like regulating her own temperature.  This means she is now shedding the "lanugo" hair that has been on her body. 

We are so excited for Callie to get here!  I pray that she and Caeden will have a special bond as siblings!  I know we're getting so close!  The next two months will fly by!

PS - Caeden is still so excited.  He recently asked me, "HOW will the doctor take Callie out?"  When I said, "Well, she'll just take her out of my belly,"  he replied with, "But, HOW?"  Uhhh....I think I just quickly changed the subject.  

Monday, August 13, 2012

S'more Please!

A few nights ago, we had our neighbor friends over to roast S'mores in our firepit.  It was one of our "cooler" evenings, so the weather ended up being pretty nice!  Caeden loved eating his s'more, then playing in the backyard until bedtime!  This was one of the last things on our "bucket list" before Reid 
started back to school.  Fun memories!


Caeden with his good friend, Darby!


Darby's older sister - Brooke!

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Happy (3rd) Birthday to You!!!

Although Caeden's party was Saturday, his actual birthday was the following day.  We woke up and started out our day pretty normally, by going to church.  We explained to Caeden on the way there that he was actually three today!  His response was, "I get blue gum now!!"  For the last few years, when he has asked for gum, we've told him he had to be 3 to chew gum.  Well, he remembered!

We didn't have any in the car, and he honestly forgot after that - so we're not going to bring it up again until he remembers!!  ;)

All morning at church people were telling him "Happy Birthday," to which he replied "Happy Birthday!"

Once we got home, we ate lunch, and celebrated with another cupcake - but THIS time with LIT candles!!! (See previous post). 







We basically spent the rest of the day slowly opening his birthday gifts and taking time to play with each one.   At the end of the day, we had only opened about one-third of them because he was so content to play with each one for awhile.  We ended the day by putting together his scooter and letting him ride it for a long while outside!  He picked it up quickly and absolutely loves it!




Reid and I spent part of the day reflecting on what all has happened these last 3 years. While Caeden is at such a FUN FUN age right now (and my favorite so far)  ;)  it's still a little sad in our heart to see how he's growing up.  We thank God for blessing us with our Caeden, and for giving us these three years with him!

Monday, August 6, 2012

Ahoy There Mateys!!


For Caeden's THIRD birthday party, we had a big bash at the Bentonville Splash Pad and did a PIRATE theme!  We found some cute invitations that had "pirate-y" talk, and mailed those out to all his buddies!






There was some yummy food...






Some refreshing drinks...



And some fun decorations!






And of course, you can't have a party without cake!

The cupcake toppers are Swiss Cake Rolls
that I made into treasure chests!


And this is the cake I made! 


As kids arrived, they got the shindig started by making some splashes in the water!







We then gathered everyone up for some yummy cake (even though it was 102 degrees, and no one felt like eating cake...)!!


The candles wouldn't light...
Wind was too strong...

This was his facial expression the whole
time everyone was singing to him!



Caeden's BFF - Ella!

Titus!

And Xander & Zoe!


We then got some fun pics of some of the kids behind our photo prop board!  Miniature Pirates!

Hannah!!


Taylor!!


Zoe!!


And then it was Caeden's favorite time....present-opening time!




We finished the party by sending home some LOOT for all of our little pirates!



Although Mommy & Daddy were really busy throughout the party, (and came home exhausted), I think all the kiddos had fun, and Caeden is still telling people about his pirate party!


Happy 3rd Birthday to 
our most favorite pirate of all!