Cayden's 1st Birthday!

On Sunday, April 13th, Cayden turned the big ONE! We had a party with family the night before! It was a construction themed party! We actually had it at our stake center, because the Clubhouse was literally under construction due to a pipe that burst! Here's a glimpse of the fun we had!

THE CAKE

Grandma Sheri made this awesome dump truck cake! It turned out so great! She is so creative and talented!

This little birthday dude was just a bit eager to start 'diggin' in!

THE CONSTRUCTION TREATS

This was so fun!! We had 7 different treats/snacks that represented construction items/parts!

Licorice=rope.    sugar wafers=lumber.    pretzels=sticks.

   

jelly beans= pebbles. chex mix=nuts & bolts.  cheese balls=wrecking balls. 
chocolate donuts=truck tires.

THE DECORATIONS

Richard made all the signs!

These were the tablecloths we used!

DINNER

We served a yummy dinner!  

Pasta with a choice of chilighetti or spaghetti sauce, green salad, fruit salad, and garlic bread! (Cayden loves chilighetti!)

PRESENTS

Kinzie thought he needed help opening presents ;)

He loves this book that plays music! 

He must be well loved and definitely spoiled! He got lots of fun toys, books, trucks/cars, clothes, and snacks!

Trying out his new alphabet train with cousin Taytem!

CAKE SMASH

I made just a little simple cake for him to smash and enjoy! 

He immediately went for the truck, but in the process his thumb got frosting on it. He didn't like that and just stared at his thumb like "ewww". He'd then try for the truck again and would again get frosting on it. He did this over and over. It was funny to watch, but frustrating for him ;)

Finally he decided to try it!

Obviously he wasn't going to dig in much with his hands, so after awhile we gave him a fork and he went to town with it!

He finally made a mess!

Love this big-blue-eyed, blonde haired, long eye-lashed birthday boy!

HIS BIRTHDAY

His actual birthday day was pretty chill. We went to church, had leftover pasta, and let him "blow" out his candle!

Kinzie showed him the right way to blow out a candle:)

Cayden was impressed!!

And she helped him eat his cake too!

Can't imagine life without this cute, fun, energetic boy! So glad he's part of my family!

Thanks to everyone who helped with his party, attended, and/or spoiled him with love & presents!! 

Happy 1st Birthday Caydo! We Love You!!

V-day and Green day

VALENTINE'S DAY!

Richard picked out a balloon for each of the kids!

 After Richard got home from work, we all got to open our gifts!

Richard got a bunch of different bulk candy and some drinks!
I got the Frozen soundtrack and a Sobe!

Kinzie got fruit snacks, juices, learning cards/games, and glow sticks

Cayden got Jake and the Never Land Pirates maracas, little puffs, and baby juice! 

That evening, my mom watched the kiddos while we went out to dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings:)

 ST. PATRICK'S DAY!

Grandma Sheri bought them these cute shirts!

Kinzie totally understood the concept of St. Patrick's Day this year. For the few days before it, she'd ask every morning, "mommy, is today when we where green or we get pinched?" She was excited when it really was "the day"! I played volleyball that morning and knew there'd be other kids there, so I had to remind her that morning that if we saw other kids/people not wearing green, we weren't going to really pinch them, but maybe just poke them:)  Luckily she didn't have to pinch or poke anyone!

Cayden's monthly photos! (10-12)

10 months old!

-Loves to give open-mouthed kisses on your cheek!
-loves to climb up the stairs
-has 8 teeth (4 top, 4 bottom)
-loves to give high fives!
-says mama and Kinzie (he LOVES Kinzie)
-in the last month, he had an ear infection one week, bronchitis the next week, and the next week a fever that got up to 102--it was a rough month:(

He is totally all boy! He loves trucks, cars, and balls!

11 months old!

-still just the 8 teeth
-he's not eating much baby food anymore, but eats just about anything and everything when it comes to real food (except olives!)
-new words: what's this, dada, ball, hat, thanks

He's a book worm! Loves to read/play with books!

12 months old!

weight: 16 lbs, 14 oz. (5%)
height: 30 inches (55%)
-has 10 teeth (4 bottom, 6 top)
-obviously he's as baffled as I am that he's already ONE!

such a happy-chill-easy going kid! love him:)

Look at ME! I'm ONE!!

So grateful that I've been blessed with the opportunity to be this kid's mommy and to have him in our home and family! He means the world to me and melts my heart with his cuddliness and cuteness! 

Bring on the Toddler Years!

Cayden's monthly photos! (6-9)

So I was pretty good about taking these every month, but not very good about blogging them every month...so I'm playing catch-up!

6 months old!

Height: 27 inches (75%)
Weight: 14 lbs, 5 oz. (6%)
Head: 16 inches (0%)

7 months old!

-has 6 teeth! 2 on bottom and 4 on top.
-He still likes to be swaddled at night. (odd, I know). When he's not swaddled, his newest favorite sleeping position is on his tummy.
-He loves his veggies but is not a huge fan of fruit.
-He likes to roll around everywhere and grab everything in sight! He is almost crawling....he gets on all fours and rocks back and forth--but then gives up and collapses!!

Already practicing his touchdown moves!

8 months old!

-Has been crawling since the end of November (7 1/2 months) and has started pulling himself up.
-Just under 16 lbs and about 27.5 inches long!
-Loves his Big Sis! They are so cute when they play and laugh together! He loves to chase her. They both just giggle and squeal. so cute:)
-He loves to eat crackers, bread, mashed potatoes, squash, and sweet potatoes.

"helping" mommy wrap presents!

9 months old!

Weight: 15 lbs, 15 oz (1%)
Height: 28 3/4 inches (70%)
Head: 17 inches (5%)

-Has 7, almost 8 teeth.
-loves mac & cheese and soup.
-Waves bye bye!
-crawls the normal way (on hands and knees) and the stinkbug way (on hands and feet with bum in air--so cute)!
-Climbs stairs. pulls himself up. walks along the couch. keeps mommy on her toes!!

This kid loves to eat. He already out-eats Kinzie almost every meal!

A couple days after he hit 9 months, he weaned himself from breastfeeding. Richard was gone out of town for the week for work, and I wonder if that maybe had something to do with it. But on a Wed night, I fed him before bed just like always. He woke up during the night, but didn't want to eat like he usually does. He went back to sleep just fine, so I figured he just wasn't hungry or was too tired. I didn't mind! But then morning came, and again he wouldn't eat. I thought (hoped) maybe he was on a 24-hour strike like Kinzie had done a time or two. I kept offering, and he kept refusing. In fact, he would cry and scream and wriggle if I even tried putting him on my lap or in the feeding position. It made me cry. I wasn't ready to be done...I hadn't prepared myself mentally or emotionally to be done. 
I began pumping. He never had/would drink from a bottle, but we had recently started giving him water and such in a sippy, so that's what I had to feed him pumped milk in. It was a struggle, cuz he still hadn't mastered it real well. After a couple days, he would let me put him in the feeding position and he would play around for a bit, but never actually suck. He acted almost like it hurt him or he was scared to latch on and suck. For weeks and weeks, I kept offering and trying every tip I could find, and he kept refusing. He was done for good. He mastered the sippy pretty quick thankfully. Luckily, I had some pumped milk stored/frozen from when he was younger, which was good because my milk supply was shorting out. Once he got close to 11 months, we had to start supplementing a little bit with formula til he turned 1. 
Glad that obstacle is behind us now. It was stressful, heartbreaking, and upsetting. Like I mentioned before...I just wasn't prepared for it. But I survived, and so did he! I'm grateful that I got to breastfeed him for as long as I did and that he didn't wean himself sooner. I'm grateful that he's healthy and growing! I'm grateful that he's mine! I love him!