Happy Thanksgiving

I could tell from the moment Caden woke up this morning that he was not feeling good. Poor guy has had a rough time between his cold and his tooth coming through. He took a really good nap this morning and then headed to my parents house for lunch. We also tried baby food for the first time and he loved it!I'm new to all this so I have no idea how much I am supposed to feed him and someone said let him eat and he'll let you know when he is full, but this person obviously doesn't know my son. Evidently he loves to eat, or at least loves sweet potatoes!!
After lunch we headed home for another nap and then went to Matt's parents house for dinner. Matt had to work tonight but he came by on his way to work to get some goodies to get him through the night! We sure do miss him the nights he works!! Matt's grandma was also there so it was nice to get to spend some time with her.We have had a viral infection/cold going through our household for the past 2 weeks and unfortunately Hunie caught it too so she wasn't feeling too great tonight and didn't get to hug and love on Caden like she wanted. Hopefully she'll feel better soon so she can get her Caden fix!
And once Caden and I got home tonight we went back to my parents for some hot chocolate and I took some of the cutest pictures of my dad and Caden. I know I've said this before, but, I love watching the 2 of them interact!This little guy melts my heart!

5 months

These last 5 months have been the best and most trying months of my life. I have fallen in love in a way I never knew was possible. Caden is no longer a "newborn" but definitely all baby! His smile can light up a room and definitely melts my heart every single time I see it. I heard some lyrics in a song a few days ago that brought tears to my eyes, it said "minutes turn to days and I wish that I could slow it down." That is exactly how I feel. I want to cherish every single memory and moment! Caden is my "chunk of love" and absolutely the light of my life!Caden Andrew, at 5 months you are:

• In size 3 diapers (you just went up a size this week)
• Wearing some 3-6 month clothes but mainly 6-9 month
  
• Size 2-3 shoes
• about 19lbs- which is why you are my chunk of love!
  
• Taking naps in your crip & sleeping on your tummy!
• usually take 3 naps a day anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours
  
• Still sleeping in your bouncer at night
  
• No longer hating tummy time
• Almost rolling over but can't quite make it all the way on your own yet
• Breastfeeding and eating every 3 hours
• Still only drinking 4.5oz bottles when given
  
• Waking up once during the night
  
• Go to bed at 8:30 every night
  
• Just started baby food today, you ate sweet potatoes and loved it!
• Getting more and more interested in your exersaucer but your little legs barely touch the floor
• Have discovered your toys on your car seat and play with them wherever we go
• Still love music
  
• Very vocal, you talk and squeal to me all day long
• Your fingers are in your mouth all day long and you drool a lot!
  
• Cutting your first tooth & it has almost broke through!
• Give big wet open mouth kisses all the time!

My sweet Caden, When I rock you at night I watch you sleep and thank God for giving me you. I feel like the luckiest mommy ever to have such a sweet little boy. You give me the sweetest smiles at night when you wake up and it makes it impossible to not smile and want to scoop you up and hold you the rest of the night. We have survived your first cold and it broke my heart to know you weren't feeling good. But we cuddled and rocked more then ever. You are growing up so fast and I want to soak every single moment. I love you Caden Andrew. Thank you for bringing such joy to my life and for the big wet kisses and smiles that melt my heart every single day. I love you, XOXO, Mommy

Happy Anniversary

Matt and I celebrated our first anniversary on Sunday. It has been an amazing year and I am so thankful to have such an amazing husband. My mom offered to keep Caden all night so we could go out and not worry about needing to get home at any certain time. Matt and I went to Tyler to eat and do some shopping and Caden had a blast hanging out with Nana and Pop! I sure did miss him though! I almost called my mom at 3am to check on him because I couldn't sleep. But I am sure she is very thankful I decided to skip that phone call and go back to sleep!

We have also survived Caden's first cold... well almost. He seems to be feeling better today. But it has been a rough week around the Kerr household. I came down with a cold about a week and a half ago, then Matt got sick a few days later and then Caden. The poor thing was so stuffy. It's a miserable feeling. But we are all starting to get better. Now if only I can better at taking pictures on a regular basis!

Play date & bath tubs

Thursday evening my friend Cassie and her daughter came over to play with Caden and I. Caden hasn't been around too many kids so he didn't seem too impressed with his friend at first but I really think he did enjoy her being here. Paislee was so sweet to him and brought him his own Christmas sock monkey! We also decided to be creative and make Thanksgiving crafts.
We started out puttling gold paint on their hands and pressed their hands around a green Christmas ornament and made a "turkey". I can honestly say it is was easier said then done. By the time we got Caden's done both of his hands were covered in paint. It was on his face, arms, legs and in his hair! And it was all over me too!
Unfortunately I don't have a picture of the finished product yet but I will post that soon!
Caden has so much fun playing and being entertained the whole time that he passed out face first into his toys and thankfully his sock monkey was there to catch his fall. And he has NEVER fallen asleep playing before! Miss Paislee needs to come over to play more often!

Also, since Caden was born we have swaddled him (which if I have another baby I am not sure I will do that again) and Caden wouldn't sleep any other way. He had to be swaddled or be held. That was it. But over the past few days he has slowly started taking longer and longer naps on his tummy. Praise Jesus!! I was really beginning to think he was going to be swaddled until he was 10!

He has also fallen in love... with his pacifier. And it is bittersweet for me. It is nice to have to calm him down and help him go to sleep but I don't like being dependent on it, which is happening very fast!I just love his overalls in the above pictures so I thought I'd throw them in! The day we found out I was having a boy my dad bought Caden 2 outfits and this was one of them. Pop was actually the first to buy Caden clothes!
And finally... we got Caden a new bath tub and he loves it!! He splashed and squealed the whole time! Who wouldn't love to take a bath in a big inflatable duck?!?!

Tongue & Toes!

I love all the new things Caden has started doing. He recently discovered his tongue. And I can promise you that it is out of his mouth 75% of our day. And every time I try to get a picture of him sticking it out he puts it right back in and smiles! That little stinker! He has also discovered his feet and if he is laying on his back then he is holding on to his feet. I am just waiting for the day that his feet will be in his mouth but as of now I think his belly is a little too big to let that happen!

We have also decreased the amount of time we sleep. By a lot! Caden and I have regular conversations about the importance of 8-10 hours a sleep at night plus 2 good naps during the day but Caden just doesn't seen this as a priority like I do!

I feel so blessed to be able to only work part time and stay home with Caden some during the week. I love my days at home with him. I love having him by my side throughout the day whether I am cooking or folding laundry or cleaning. We just bring his play mat from room to room and we talk and giggle all day! And he is the best shopping buddy at wal-mart! He has been fussier then normal lately but I think he may have a tooth trying to come through. Poor little guy! He drools so much and all the time. When we got to wal-mart yesterday he had fallen asleep on the way and had drool coming out of his mouth onto his shirt onto the car seat strap. That is some goooood sleep!

I took a lot of pictures yesterday but I don't have my camera with me to upload them but hopefully I will make the time this weekend to update on our latest adventures!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!!

It was an interesting weekend. For some reason, Caden woke up every 3 hours during the night 4 nights in a row, and would not take good naps during the day. Needless to say, I had a very fussy and cranky boy on my hands. And to be completely honest, this mama was pretty cranky also. I was exhausted and feeling completely overwhelmed because Matt was working so it was just me 24 hours a day trying to maintain my household and my sanity. And while I am being honest, I will admit to a minor little break down Monday evening once Matt got home. Poor Matt. But he was a trooper and let me cry and helped me out as much as he could.But with that being said, I did not work on Monday so that gave Caden and I some extra time together. We got up that morning and went grocery shopping. I got freaked out by a man (probably in his late 50's) that came up to us while we were picking out apples and started talking to Caden. Then he asked me if he could kiss him. Hello? Umm... no. I practically ran to check out so I could get the heck out of there!

After my meltdown we headed to FBC Elkhart for the Great Pumpkin Party, and how fitting it was to take my sweet little pumpkin, oh and Caden came too! Matt and I had so much fun getting him dressed for his 1st Halloween outing. I am not a big fan of Halloween, I never really dressed up as a child, but we thought it would be fun to take Caden and show him off. Pop gave red wagon rides to the kids but Caden wasn't quite big enough so he got a front seat ride in Pop's lap! He really enjoyed the first 10 seconds... then that face of complete horror came and he started wailing! It was actually pretty funny and I thoroughly enjoyed getting to cuddle with him while he calmed down!

Today has been a great day. I don't know about other mom's but there are days when I feel like I am a frazzled mess and other days I feel like super mom & wife. Today is one of those days. Caden slept all night and after feeding him at 6am went back to sleep until 9:30. I even got to sleep until 9 and then Matt made breakfast for us before he went to sleep for the day. I have gotten 4 loads of laundry done, folded and put up, ran some errands and went to visit Pop at work, came home and made chicken spaghetti and have it cooking in the crock pot and Caden is sleeping. Whew. And amazingly enough, I still have some energy!I love days like this when I feel accomplished! Caden and I have also been working on tummy time and he is doing better! He is so close to rolling over! We'll keep practicing! And he is the biggest helper with laundry! All the fresh and clean laundry goes straight to his mouth and is covered in drool! I hope Matt doesn't mind those drool stains all over his clothes!