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 :)

11 month update

Happy Easter from the Hancock's!  We had a great weekend. Friday we went to the Good Friday service at church where we took time to remember the sacrifice that was made for us.  Then went back to church on Easter morning to celebrate the Risen Savior! We gave Caden the book, "God Gave us Easter" by the same author as one of our favorite books, "God Gave us You!" After church we spent time with each of our families enjoying good food, fellowship and beautiful weather.

Well, it's the last month before we come to the big 1 year mark! How can that be?!? He continues to bring such joy to our lives.

Here are some 11 month stats...

• weight-21.8 on the wii

• height-30 inches ( I measured while he was napping this time) :) I just realized that he's about half as tall as I am!

• clothes-he's wearing 12 month clothes and 12-18 month pajamas

• diapers-size 3

• skills-he started climbing stairs at the end of March. He LOVES waving! He waves at people and things.  So friendly! It takes twice as long to get groceries because he has to smile and wave at all the people.  He knows the words clap, dance and wave and will do the actions when asked. He says lots of new sounds and continues to talk a lot. He stands for about 4-5 seconds before sitting down. He's started wanting to sleep on his belly. The only problem is, as soon as he rolls over, he goes right up on his hands and knees and starts crawling in his sleep! 

• hobbies-he's recently discovered daddy's leg hair and loves to pull it by the handful :) He like to crawl around the house with a toy in his hand. The shape sorting toys are a new favorite and he can get them in the right hole sometimes.

• feeding-Big changes here! He is doing much better with his digestive issues now that we're doing probiotics on a daily basis and Mirilax as needed.  So, he's been able to each much more than he had been. So thankful to have found something to help him! We've added chicken, turkey, beef, salmon, egg yolk, lentils, quinoa, apricots, kale &bbroth.

• sleeping-he's been back on the normal schedule for the most part this month.  He wakes up between 8:30 and 9 with an hour nap late morning then a 2 hour nap from 3-5 then back to bed between 8:30 and 9. He still likes to get up for the 3am feeding.

I love this picture of the 2 of us!

We got together for dinner with a group of friends when Rainwater's were in town.  There's a blurry, kid-in-motion in every picture :) It was chaos, but so fun!

Driving us to Iowa to meet up with Aunt Lesley for the weekend

Our friend, Alicia, bought this onesie for us years before Caden was born.  So, excited it fits him now! God really was showing off when He created him!

Handsome like daddy

I gave Caden some bites of avocado and banana on his tray.  He eats the banana and prefers to squish the avocado in his fist!

He likes salmon!

Making baby food pouches to take with us when we're out and about

Our first Easter! We had to coordinate :)

My handsome guys

Getting ready for the Easter Egg Hunt

Playing with his new toy he got for Easter from the Hancock grandparents

Reading his new Easter books from the Whitney grandparents

 Caden & Owen looking through their Easter buckets 

11 months old!!

Watching Daddy mow the grass