12 month update

We are the parents of a ONE YEAR OLD! How did this happen? We have had such a fun time celebrating and reflecting on the blessings of the past year.  On the Saturday before his birthday we had a big party at the park for friends and family.  It started out chilly, but ended up being a beautiful morning.  We served monkey bread, banana bread, chocolate chip banana muffins, monkey cakes and bananas. My sister made the monkey cakes. They turned out so cute. Then on his actual birthday, we went to the Deanna Rose Farmstead for a few hours in the morning.  Some of our family was able to join us there. Mitch recently read the book, The Blessing by John Trent and Gary Smalley.. He wrote a blessing for Caden,  which he read to him. It was a special time.  Then all our family came over for dinner.  We had a Chipotle style dinner followed by cake and banana ice cream.  He enjoyed his banana shaped smash cake at his birth time of 5:46pm. Both parties had a theme of monkeys and bananas :) He was then showered with much love in the way of presents.  He is very loved by his grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousin.  His Aunt Lesley even drove from Minnesota for the week to spend time celebrating with him.  After he went to sleep, Mitch and I watched the video from the day he was born.  On one hand, the year has flown by, but watching that video and seeing how much he's changed makes you realize how much has happened in the past year. He hasn't started walking yet, but he will before long.  His first tooth finally made an appearance on the first of May.  He's growing up and starting to look more like a little boy than a baby! We went to see Dr Holly the day after his birthday, so we were able to get updated measurements.  You'd never know that he was a preemie. What a blessing!

Here are some 12 month stats...

• weight-22 pounds 4oz (66%)
• height-30 1/2 inches (76%)
• diapers-size 3
• clothes-12-18 mos
• hobbies-he likes to knock on every surface, find 2 similar toys and bang them together, crawl around the kitchen floor chasing balls, spitting, he still loves waving and dancing, he loves being outside and taking walks
• skills-he can stand alone and his record is 18 seconds.  We've decided that this is his record, not because he can't stand longer, but because 18 seconds is as long as Caden can be still! He will walk along the couch and play yard, but has yet to let go and take steps. He can now say duck and "I did it!"
• eating-he continues to try new things and we haven't found any food that he doesn't like. We're hoping this continues! He still nurses about 5 times a day.  I'm pretty proud of the fact we made it to our one year mark of breastfeeding. 
• sleeping-he has learned how to successfully flip to his belly without crawling and this sure helps him sleep. He is doing better at napping and most days he still takes a shorter morning nap, then a 2 hour afternoon nap.  He's been going to bed around 8:30, wakes up to eat around 11:30 then sleeps about 8 hours straight.  I love it!

He loves banging on his Easter bucket, the louder the better!

Fun at Basehor Park

First time to go down a big slide!

"I finally have a tooth to brush!!"

Standing by himself

He's started holding on to the handle of this car seat whenever we put him in it

Still pretty excited about his toothbrush!

Being silly with Owen

All of Caden's family at his party at the park

 One of his cute  monkey cakes that Aunt Shannon made

 He loved the balloons

Blowing out the candle! It took all 3 of us :)

This is the chair we got him for his birthday.  He grabbed the remotes and sat down in it. Doesn't he just look ornery! He knows to point the remote at the tv.  We don't even watch tv when he's awake, so how does he know this!?

There's a little smile after being annoyed at me making him wear sunscreen and a hat to go to Deanna Rose

Checking out the animals with Papa, Grandma and Aunt Lesley

He preferred to look at the animals from a distance.  He did not like the big goats getting close to his stroller!

Riding the tractor

Looking at the flowers with GiGi

He barely still fits in the swing for a picture!

Love this look

He wasn't too sure about the smash cake. He ended up with some on his face, but he didn't get too messy

Thank you so much to our friends and family for helping to make Caden's birthday so special. We loved getting to celebrate with you. 

Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day! For many years this day brought me sadness as I longed to be a mommy. However, this Mother's Day, I am filled with such joy as I get to celebrate being Caden's mommy! I thank God every single day for the gift He has given me, but am especially grateful today. What an honor and privilege to be "mommy" to my sweet boy. I took some time to pray for my friends who are still waiting to be mommies.

Yesterday, I met my mom and sister's at Panzons for lunch then went across the street to my church for a Mother/Daughter Tea.  We had a great time doing both.
What a special day to celebrate and reflect on the blessings we enjoy. My mom has taught me so much about being a mommy and continues to come alongside me and help me.  She doesn't hesitate to drop what she's doing and come help me or go to a last minute doctor's appointment, or just text me words of encouragement.  Besides all that, she's a great GiGi! It was also sweet to celebrate with my sister, who is mommy to Owen and is due with a baby girl this summer.  It's been great to have little ones close in age!

Last night my boys took me to dinner and let me choose the place.  The weather was beautiful, so I chose the patio at Yard House.  I didn't cook a single meal yesterday or today! That's a gift in and of itself.  Then Mitch cleaned the whole kitchen today, which was a disaster :) They had the idea of getting me a locket for Mother's Day and I've been looking online to chose the one I like best.

Tonight we had dinner at Mitch's parent's house to celebrate with his mom.  She is also very supportive and willing to do whatever we need.  I am blessed to have Debbie as my mother-in-law, and Grandma to Caden. Michael and Aimee joined us and the guys grilled burgers for dinner.

I thought it would be fun to post some pictures from last year on Mother's Day, too!

Megan and I realized after the fact that the dress she's wearing this year is the dress I was wearing last year.  The capris I'm wearing this year, she was wearing last year.  We've traded places with due dates being 1 day apart :)