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Caiden must be one crazy sleeper at night because each morning he wakes up with the cutest bed head. One of my favorite moments of each day is going in to his room in the morning to be greeted by one happy Mr. Bedhead. He'll be standing up, all smiles, and let's out squeals of delight when he sees me. It makes me feel like a million bucks!
We spent our Christmas holiday in Atlanta, GA visiting with Miles family. It was so nice to see Mike, Cindy, Maddie, and Halie and visit with Cindy's siblings and dad. We felt completely at home surrounded by our family. It was a great way to spend Caiden's first Christmas. We did lots of shopping, talking, eating, sleeping, and celebrating. It was low-key and exactly what we needed after a crazy month! We love our family and look forward to the next time we get to see them.
On December 19th we held our own little Christmas in Rexburg. We wanted Caiden to have the full experience. We put him to bed and got to wrapping. Thank goodness he has grandma's and grandpa's that helped spoil him because if he didn't he would have gotten 2 presents and a carseat. He's too young to notice anyway, so we rewrapped his old toys and toothbrush and let him have a blast opening the wrapping paper. It was so fun to watch! We had cinnamon rolls for breakfast per Miles request and enjoyed more scripture stories on the birth of our Savior and bonus* Christmas was on a Sunday so we were able to spend extra time reflecting on the reason for this season.
This year we decided to get a real live Christmas tree. What could be more live than a potted tree? We decided to get a potted baby tree and gift it to our landlady after the holidays to plant in the backyard. Unfortunately I forgot to put the memory card back in my camera when we went to pick out the tree, so all I have are iPhone photos. Rookie mistake (dumb dumb!) We had fun decorating together with the sounds of a Very She & Him Christmas and the Michael Buble Christmas album playing in the background and the smells of fresh pine and sugar cookies baking. Caiden helped make the cookies and got to sample his very first sugar cookie. It was a perfect night of Christmas magic.
How cute is my little man? I'm the luckiest momma on earth.
**I'll be doing a few backdated posts. This blog has become our family journal, one in which we go to at the close of each year and make memory books from. So while this is over a month late, I'm posting it for us.
Miles and my birthday's both fall in December, his the first day of the month (he turned 26) and mine the last (I turned 25). Miles had to work and go to school all day on his birthday (bummer!) but we still managed to get in a little celebration. We went out to dinner the night before while running errands in Idaho Falls. The next day I set up a wall with 26 reasons that we love him, a few love coupons, and some pictures as well as a little money to put toward his iPad savings. I made him his favorite dinner (lemon and artichoke chicken tortellini) and we got Cocoa Bean cupcakes. It was low-key and perfect. My birthday is New Years Eve. Miles dedicated the entire day to doing as I pleased. He let me sleep in, made me a french toast breakfast, and then we went and played in the snow. I wanted to build Caiden's first snowman, but there wasn't much snow. Miles made me the sweetest shadow box frame. He knows I'm a sucker for sweet and sentimental gifts. And he got me the Nixon Timeteller watch! I'm in love with it. It goes perfectly with every outfit. We had Pizza Pie Cafe for lunch, played deal or no deal at the Craze, ate sushi for dinner, and watched some Gossip Girl on netflix. We also made our own NYE Ball because we didn't have cable to watch it. We started doing it a few years ago and it's been a fun little tradition. Caiden loved it. It was the perfect way to end the greatest year of my life.
Last week the boy and I drove around scouting locations for an engagement session I shot this passed Saturday. We pulled off to the side of the road in Bridgewater and I hopped in the back seat and enjoyed this beautiful sunset with my baby boy. We nibbled on Stew's cinnamon ABC cookies and sipped on water. I love the simple things, my life is good.
This has been one busy month for the boy. So much has happened for our family, many first's for our little man.
- The boy now has 8 teeth, 4 on top and 4 on bottom.
- Caiden has a never ending pit for a tummy. He loves food. He'll eat 3 eggo waffles for breakfast. He'll eat 5 tyson chicken nuggets. At Christmas he ate a full adult portion of food. He still nurses 5 times a day and has an appetite for 3 full meals. He likes to try new things and even when he cringes and shakes he'll go back for seconds.
- He watched his daddy graduate from college and helped him celebrate his birthday.
- The boy picked out his very first Christmas tree and was obsessed with it.
- He loves mischief. He has a knack for finding just the knives in the dishwasher, climbing into the fire place, and finding anything conceivably dangerous.
- Loves to take baths with his little green boat.
- Caiden celebrated his first Christmas and got to meet his Grandma Cindy!
- He continues to loveeeeeee standing and is feeling more confident letting go and standing on his own.
- He celebrated his first New Years and his mommy's birthday.
- The boy was packed up and moved across the country with us to Connecticut.
- Caiden absolutely loves his doggy. He'll follow him around, begs at the door when Nixon does, stands up and begs for food next to the dog, and is always wanting to grab his collar or yank his fur (out of love of course).
- The boy has started to develop a little attitude. He'll throw little fits when he doesn't get his way but laughs at me when I say "no, no Caiden." Oh great.
- He has the cutest little smile and a darling little laugh, and lucky for us we hear it and see it all day long. He is such a happy baby.
My baby boy is growing much too fast. I want to slow down time and am enjoying each and every second while it lasts.
We survived:
- 6+ Rexburg winters.
- 4 summers of summer sales.
- 11 moves, 6 with a dog and 2 with a baby (with one more shortly after graduation).
- A combined 16 semesters of University (not double counting those that overlap).
We received:
- Friendships that will last a lifetime.
- A love that will last eternity.
- The cutest little doggy.
- A beautiful, perfect baby boy.
We will miss:
- All of our wonderful friends.
- Cocoa Bean cupcakes.
- Pizza Pie Cafe.
- Deal or No Deal dates at the Craze.
- Sammy's Pie Shakes.
- Bajio you will be forever missed.
- A week off for Thanksgiving, two+ weeks off for Christmas, 5 months off for summer.
- Student family wards.
- Seeing the temple every day.
Reflecting on all of the years spent in Rexburg, Idaho is bittersweet. And though we are on to bigger and better things, a very, very small part of me will miss it. I will be eternally grateful for the things that little town provided me, my husband, my baby, my education, some of our greatest friends, and a temporary home. Cheers to my hubalub who not only graduated with a 3.7 GPA but did it working 25 hours a week and still spent quality time with his wife and baby boy. I love you Miles and I'm so proud of you!
