Playtime Pictures!

One of Cayden's favorite toys to play with is this Dino, which has holes that light up and play music when he places the balls into them. There are four holes to choose from, each with it's own route for the ball to end up. Cayden LOVES to watch the balls travel through the Dino after he puts them into each hole. His coordination just amazes me! He's so smart, and picks things up so quickly!

Okay Mama and Daddy, I'm ready! You watching?!

Hmmm...which hole should I choose?!
I think I'll go with this one!
"ROAR!!" I did it!! (Literally "roar-ing!") Ha!

Next Cayden moves to his toy/diaper chest. We're learning to identify the animals on the front and sides of the box. We have learned the Monkey (of course) and the Elephant so far. If I ask him where each animal is, he's able to point to it! He makes me so proud! And he gets such a kick out of it too - who knew learning could be so much fun?!

After all of that playing, the Booty needs a bath!

Check out this 'do' Mama! :-)

Tired, Sleepy Eyes!

Goodnight Everyone!

Well, it's about that time...

It's UPDATE time again!

First, I'd like to take a minute to say...Oh my goodness, I can't believe my baby is going to be a ONE YEAR OLD

in just one week!! He's growing like a weed, and there's no turning back now! He's well on his way to "boyhood" and moving farther each day from the "baby stage." His constant love of learning, trying new things, and amazing improvements in coordination blow my mind EVERY day. He is like a little sponge...you show him something one time, and he'll do it every day for the next week, over and over. His latest favorites are the "high five," lots of kisses, and "walking" while holding Mama or Daddy's fingers. And the look on his face after he accomplishes such feats is priceless...every time. He melts my heart (I could brag for hours but I'm sure you're saying to yourself "get on with the pictures already!"). So here they are!!

We spent July 4th weekend at the Lake, and had a Blast! Cayden and Mama spent some relaxation time in the hammock...such a good Cuddle Buddy!

Check out these "guilty" and very tired eyes! Cayden figured out the cabinets and had some "Tupperware Play Time!"

"Beep. Beep!" Look out! Wild man on the loose!

Look at this face! How can you even resist it?!

We made a genius purchase for the dock...this great umbrella! We can place it anywhere we'd like for great protection from "Mr. Sun!" Yes, Cayden's raft is tied to the pole, and yes, we were hanging out on the dock enjoying certain adult beverages...but HONESTLY...he was safe! We were a simple few feet away, and never left his side :-) He was completely captivated by the passing boats and other children playing!

Aunt Joy made some delicious appetizers one night for "Cocktail Hour" and Cayden particularly enjoyed the Rye bread toast! This was his first toast experience...and I must say...what a cheap, delicious treat!

Look at my big boy! Standing up against the ottoman, diligently sorting cheerios and remote controls :-)

(Under the watchful eye of his favorite friend, Dozer!)

Okay, so I realize these next two are not of the cute boy, and I'm boring you now with pictures of his parents...BUT...Mama learned something new this weekend too! "The Daddy" taught me how to clean a fish! (Yes, I know...I never thought I'd do it, but I did). The boys caught a lot of fish over the weekend, so we decided to keep a few and they (not me) ate them for dinner!

ps - notice the wimpie little pinky finger up in the air. What a GIRL!

And don't make fun...they weren't all this small! They just let me butcher the smallest one so I wouldn't ruin the bigger ones!

I hope you had just as much fun over the Holiday as we did!!

My little piece of Heaven...

From his little button nose, and sweet little lips...

His chubby little hands....

And feet, "perfect" in every way...

To his eyes, so big and blue, reflective and true...

He IS my Little Piece of Heaven.

Grandma's Visit!

This weekend we had a short, but sweet visit from Grandma! She, Jess and Amanda flew in from Arkansas to spend some time with family. Aunt Joy brought them to visit us on Sunday morning, and Cayden's face just lit up when he saw the four of them! We spent the day playing and catching up (basically consisting of using Cayden as our main entertainment!)  He is SUCH A HAM!  He spent the entire day hamming it up, and looking around to make sure everyone was watching him! He's got such a personality! He pulled everything...from his fake coughing spells that we've come to love, to his fake giggling, and even snorting like a pig!  And can I just tell you...even as entertaining as that was, even more funny was watching 5 grown adults acting like fools to get his attention (ie: making odd noises, funny faces, and using baby jabber!)! Needless to say, we had a great time. Unfortunately, I was enjoying watching all of this and never pulled out my camera to get pictures. :-( We'll have to take a whole bunch in a few short weeks when we all meet again for Aunt Joy's wedding!!  

Thanks for coming guys!  We'll see you soon!

Father's Day...

I just wanted to write a quick post as a tribute to the man I love, the father of my precious son. This father's day is his official FIRST (though I was pregnant at this time last year). It's been a wonderful year. I am so glad everyday that I chose this man.

If you've read our story from the beginning, or are near and dear to our family, you'll know that our lives haven't always been easy and happy since we found out we were having a baby (with all of the potential and actual diagnoses that have existed). But Cayden is my perfect angel, and I must admit, those tough times were made easier because of Cyle (and the support of so many others!). He has absolutely been my rock. And now that Cayden's been around for nearly a year and is thriving, I'm able to look back and really realize what a great dad Cyle has been to him. When I see these two boys together my heart melts. I know that Cyle is in love with this little man, and I am absolutely POSITIVE that Cayden adores his big daddy!

Thank you, Cyle for being the man of our lives. You amaze me everyday, and our love for you grows with each passing moment!

Always safe in Daddy's arms...from the very beginning

September

October

I'll be adding more pictures from throughout the year, so check back! Here's a few shots from this fabulous Father's Day!

Daddy and his little man swimming in Meme's pool - my child just adores his daddy!

A Quick Update!

These past few weeks have been busy ones for us!

Summer is coming, and that means lake season! We've made it there once already, but there will undoubtedly be many more visits, and that means many more pictures! We can't wait!

Here's a little update on what we (and when I say we, I mainly mean Cayden) have been up to lately:

• Cayden continues to army crawl all over the world!

• He is working really hard on the "walking" motion when hanging onto our hands.
  
• He is teething again...so hopefully soon he will have more than just two little chompers!

• His vocabulary consists of: Dada, Mama, Papa, Baba and BLAH BLAH BLAH! Literally - he sticks out his tongue and blah blah blah! Kinda funny!
  
• He's so smart! He just learned that when asked "Cayden, what does a doggy say?!" He actually responds (about 80% of the time) with his little dog barking sound! :-) Okay, so this may seem like a small feat to most of you, but as a Mama, I think that's so smart!
  
• This boy eats everything under the sun! So far he didn't inherit my extremely picky taste palate - so that's VERY exciting (okay, he is a little weird with textures so that has me a little worried, but hopefully that will pass?!)!
  
• Overall, he's just so fun to watch grow up! He changes everyday, and every little change makes us smile. :-)

Enjoy a few new pictures!

Here's a good one of Uncle Dan corrupting Cayden's "well-balanced" diet with a nice big slice of pizza! Cayden's eyes got SO big!

Then PaPa decided to chime in and decided Cayden needed something to wash the pizza down...His choice...BEER. Naturally. Too funny!Here's one of Cayden and the big Daddy. Daddy had just gotten home from work (hence the "tired" look), but Cayden just gets SO excited to see him everytime he walks through the door!

Cayden got this new fun toy and he loves to ride it! Hopefully it will help him in the "learn to walk" phase! Here he is having a blast! (Watching Word World of course, and dancing like a maniac to it's intro song!) He's just so animated! :-)