I have a ONE YEAR OLD?!?!

(Okay, okay...before you started yelling at me about what a slacker I am, I KNOW! I'll admit it. I take full responsibility and have absolutely NO excuse!)

So now onto the good stuff...

as of July 19, 2009, I officially have a one year old!

I cannot believe it! It just sounds so weird! He's no longer a certain number of months old, which I had really gotten used to. He's ONE! It just feels so different! (Is this normal?! - for all of you mothers out there?)

Anyway, we had a great celebration on his birthday at our lake house in Indiana. Grandpa was there of course, Aunt Joy and Uncle Michael came, Meme, Papa, Uncle Dan and Dagmara made the trek for the celebration. It was so nice and I just know that Cayden had a great time! I'm sure it was just another day for him, but extra special because he got to have fun with all of those great people and tear wrapping paper off of boxes (his favorite)!! We started with presents and boat rides! And finished off the day with a cookout and CAKE! Cayden was not a big cake fan. But he got through it!

Thanks for coming, guys! We had a great time! Hopefully we can get everyone out to the lake again soon! Here are some of the pictures I snapped throughout the day!

Cayden opening his first birthday present from Sarah and Molly, Aunt Beckie and Uncle Donny! We were sad they had to leave the day before the party but LOVED spending the week with them!

Next came this great gift from Uncle Dan and Dagmara! First Cayden was excited to rip the paper off!

It looked like so much fun he decided to climb on top of the box!

Once he got it all opened up he really had fun! The balls shoot out of the top of this thing - it NUTS! Now I find these balls all over my house! (Thanks Dan!)

We then took a nice leisurely boat cruise, with cocktails!

Then Papa showed off his youth and agility with some skiing! This guy's good! :-)

Cake time! He just didn't quite know what to think!

He grabbed at it, and took a few little tastes...but that was it!
After all was said and done, I had one big, tired boy!

My big boy is so special in so many ways...I wouldn't change him for the world. Every year will bring new blessings and different struggles, I know. All he goes through makes him stronger, and I'd say I've got one tough cookie! :-)

At 7:15pm I held my baby boy close and whispered in his ear, "Happy Birthday!" It was such a great moment...and a perfect ending to wonderful year.

Happy Birthday Booty!! My big one year old!!

Our Little Lake Vacation

Two weeks ago (okay, I know I've been a slacker and should have written this post a while ago, but better late than never...right?!) we spent a nice week-long vacation at the lake. It was filled with so many fun memories and time shared with lots of people we love! Cayden and The Mama headed to the lake Tuesday morning and spent the day together playing in the sun and having fun. Cayden went to bed early enough for The Mama to relax in a nice quiet house, reading and listening to the nighttime sounds of the lake. I needed that! Wednesday afternoon, The Daddy and Grandpa showed up to join us! And we had a few very special "first-time visitors" to the lake Wednesday night....Aunt Beckie, Sarah and Molly came to play for a few days!! The kids had a blast playing in the lake, with the sand and finding shells! It was so nice for them to have a few days to play together somewhere different from home and make new memories...and I'd have to say it was nice to hang out with the good 'ol sis for a few days too!! :-) Thanks for coming!! Here are a few shots of the fun!

Just one of the daily kisses shared between these cousins-They're all so nice to each other, I love it!

Sarah working hard- finding shells, filling buckets and having fun, while all her little buddies watched!
Sarah riding "her dolphin" through the waves!
Sarah and Molly soaking up the sun and having fun!

The boat ride! Sarah absolutely loved it, she kept yelling "Faster, Uncle Cyle! FASTER!!"The Booty: such a little water bug! So content in the water, splashing and just taking it all in.After a few days of fun, laughs and lots of snacking, all of our friends had to leave. The Daddy and Grandpa headed to Van Wert on Friday to prepare for Aunt Joy's Wedding at the rehearsal dinner! Saturday morning, Aunt Beckie and the girlies headed home to await their Daddy, who was coming home for a nice visit!! Cayden and I then got ourselves all dressed up and headed to Van Wert to celebrate with Aunt Joy and the new Uncle Michael!!

The Wedding

The wedding was so nice! They were married on a beautiful golf course and we got to see lots of family and friends! Here are a few pictures of everyone all dressed to impress!

A nice Family Picture

Three generations: TCW's - Grandpa, Cyle and Cayden

Grandpa and Cayden just hanging out before the big event!

Grandma and Cayden! Looking so nice!

Cayden stealing The Daddy's glasses...as usual! Such a funny game!

The Newlyweds! Mr. and Mrs. Plumley!

The Booty, after hours and hours of dancing and visiting (and long past bedtime) finally poops out in his stroller. We were just having too much fun to sleep!

After the festivities, I drove Grandpa, Daddy and Cayden back to the lake...The parties were NOT over! Sunday, July 19th, 2009 was about to be another VERY BIG DAY!! :-)

Check back for the next post! Lots of Pictures and Memories!!

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!