Nikki's Maternity Portraits.

Nikki and Robby came to for a quick little visit last weekend. And though it left me wishing they were closer, I'm so glad they came. While they were here I took a few maternity pictures for them, and in return Nikki shot some family portraits for us. For having only taken a basic photography class, my sister's got skills. She's actually taken almost all of our family portraits. I will post them later. 
Nikki was 28 weeks in these photos. Her little belly is so cute. I kept looking at her all weekend because a part of me still can't believe my baby sister is pregnant! I'm so happy for her and Robby. 

The Boy is 6 Months!

I can't believe my son is already 6 months old. Why is it that pregnancy dragged on and on and yet the last 6 months have flown by in an instant?


-The boy has officially mastered sitting up on his own, and loves to scoot while sitting if you hold his back. He hasn't started crawling, but against my wishes he's really trying. I want my baby to stay immobile for a while. He's growing too fast!
-He got his first two stamps in his passport on our family vacation to Barbados. He loved swimming in the five pools at the resort and even swam in the ocean off the back of a sailboat.
-The boy got his first haircut! We even used an electric razor and he didn't even flinch. It was about time too, he was starting to develop a mullet.
-Caiden has two teeth! They are adorable.
-Caiden started rice cereal and little Gerber puffs. He even learned how to feed the puffs to himself. In the morning he jumps in his jumper while I eat breakfast and I put puffs in his tray and he just sits and feeds himself.
-When the boy starts crying really hard or when he's yelling out of excitement he says "mama" and though I'm fairly certain he has no idea what he's saying, it still warms my heart.
-Whenever you clap your hands and say "yay baby good job" he gets the biggest smile on his face. He loves to be praised, and it motivates him to keep doing whatever he has learned.
-The boy's 6 month appointment isn't until next week so I don't have his height and weight yet, however we had to bring him to Community Care to be sure he didn't have an ear infection a few days ago and they had to weigh him so he weighs 18lbs 14oz. He's getting so big it's ridiculous!
-Now that he's starting to eat little foods Nixon has become his best buddy. He sits and waits for puffs to drop and when he's all finished eating Caiden extends his hands out to Nixon to lick them up. I have to wash Caiden's hands 50 times a day.
-There are 6 things that will always cheer the boy up: boobies, his own toes, singing Take Me Out to the Ball Game, and saying "chicka chicka boom boom," receiving kisses, and looking at himself in a mirror.
-Miles and I love this boy more and more each day. We love trying to see things through his eyes because everything is new and exciting. I wish I could freeze time and have him stay little, but I love each new stage.

Caiden's First Post

 I was getting ready to post Caiden's 6 month post and he got ahold of the keyboard. It was just too cute I couldn't erase his first blog post! So here it is.


     4rcv gtgsresccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccc6t  c            b                   b   h y     yh                bb vb fvfddddc  ssxzzzsaxqzwwwzqwqaw gszqwoea w edssaa xw 4rr 44 xc edxx Q 'khj


That is the sweet typing of a 6 month old boy! I'll have to post his 6 month stats & portraits another time because I can hear him waking up from his nap. I will leave you with pictures from his 6 month celebration! Jen and the boys were here visiting and we went to Snoasis. I let Caiden try a few bites of mine. It came as no surprise that he absolutely loved it and was begging for more after each bite. He would look at me and huff and puff until I put the spoon back in his mouth. I created a monster.

Find Me Over Here, Here, and Here, oh and Here!

About a month ago I received a message to my etsy shop asking if I'd be willing to sponsor a giveaway prize as a part of these four blog authors' united Celebration of the Family. I was flattered and excited, but more importantly I wanted to help celebrate families because I sure love mine! I happily obliged. 

So check out the following four blogs and follow the celebration for a chance to win a lot of great prizes, including my customizable Family Proclamation print. I'm today's sponsor. My giveaway is open for three days. If you don't win you can use my coupon code for 15% off any item in my shop (celebratefamily), which will be active for the next two weeks!

Click the links to check it out!

www.chocolateonmycranium.blogspot.com

www.beinglds.blogspot.com

www.rovinroberts.blogspot.com

www.theredheadedhostess.com

The Boy is Five Months

I know that this post is LONG overdue. This is the first month that I put off taking Caiden's pictures close to the 15th of the month. I really wanted to take his pictures in Barbados with his cute little fedora hat on the beach, so I waited a week and a half and took them our first day of vacation. Month 5 was a big milestone month for Caiden. We didn't do a whole lot of exciting things, but he sure had an exciting month of growth! 


-The boy started sitting up on his own, and boy oh boy was he proud of himself. You could see the pride written all over his face and smile. He's still a bit shaky, but he's getting stronger!
-He started getting his bottom two front teeth. The right one has officially poked through, and I think to stay (crossing fingers) but the left tooth is still playing the miserable up/down game.
-Caiden had a stare off with a milk cow at a farm we went and visited. His eyes got really big as the cow got closer to his face. He didn't blink, he didn't cry; he was just staring. 
-He got to play with paint for the first time. It got everywhere. He looked like a smurf. He loved sitting in his bumbo in the sink to rinse off though!
-He watched his momma and daddy run in the Warrior Dash in the Catskill Mountains in upstate New York.
- Caiden tried rice cereal. It lasted 5 days before we decided his digestive system wasn't quite ready (aka no poops for 5 days). We'll try again in a month or two. I'm not in any particular rush to have stinky baby poops so nursing it is for a while.
-The boy loves to kiss. He even gives kisses to his stuffed giraffe. I personally love the slobber kisses. I get one every time he wakes up in the morning and after each nap and periodically throughout the day. He's also big on hugs. He loves to wrap his little arms around your neck and climb up your body with his legs while nuzzling his nose in to your neck. He also flirts with just about every pretty lady at church. Ladies man.
-Caiden loves to watch Elmo. I'll put him in his Jeep walker and turn on Sesame Street at 7am while I eat breakfast. He doesn't care about the rest of the show, but when Elmo comes on he is glued to the TV.
-He still absolutely LOVES his bouncer.
-The boy is officially allowed to travel abroad- he received his first passport in the mail this month! 

The Boy Goes to the Zoo

I recently experienced a rather unfortunate mother moment... Caiden has very loud toots. He sounds like a grown adult, and he obviously isn't embarrassed by it. I'm not sure he even knows that he's doing it. Miles and I always get nervous that he'll let one go when they're passing the sacrament at church and everything is quite and people will think it's one of us. In June we took Caiden for his first trip to the Beardsley Zoo. I had Caiden strapped in the baby bjorn and he was starting to get restless, so I walked away from the rest of our little group. As I was walking he let one rip, and it was loud. A little boy was behind us and said loudly in my face "ew lady" and gave me the worst look. I said "it was my baby, I swear" and truthfully it was! (I would not be telling the story otherwise). He just laughed at me and started telling his friend about that lady that tooted. Great. Other than that, the zoo was perfect! What is it about peacock's that is so mesmerizing? I had never seen one spread it's feather's like that! Oh, and can you tell we had fun measuring our wingspan?

1,095 of the GREATEST days.

Today is day 1,095 of the greatest three years of my life. I have never made a better decision in my life than marrying my very best friend. Miles- you are my everything. Thank you for loving me, supporting me, taking the morning shift with Caiden, working so hard to support our family, always making me smile and laugh, cuddling me to sleep at night, for doing the laundry, for always cheering me on and encouraging me, and for giving me the greatest gifts in the world: your love, your friendship, our beautiful son, and the greatest three years of my life. I love you.