Bath Time

Caiden does not like to be naked. Bath time is no exception. Don't let the first two pictures fool you, he's a bath time screamer. Hopefully as time goes by he'll like it more! 

These top two pictures were taken at his first bath at home. He was two weeks old. We had to wait two weeks after his circ to give him a bath. It also happens to be the day of his first blowout poop (hence the bath). Our awesome friends Matt and Elise got us the cute little bathtub! Someday Caiden will hate that I posted these pictures.

This was Caiden's Easter bath. He needed to be spiffy for church. Like I said, he's a bath time screamer. He's almost six weeks in these pictures. I love this little guy!

Audience Participation Requested.

Tomorrow is the highly anticipated 6 week post-partum mark, which means I can officially start working out! I've already been walking on the treadmill with Caiden nestled in the baby bjorn, but I'm excited to get out on the road and start jogging. In fact, I've never been so excited to work out in my entire life! I've also never seen the scale climb quite so high (I know I know, I was pregnant. But still it was depressing. Healthy, but depressing). I'm training for a triathlon in July to motivate me to work off the baby weight and I'm ready to hit the pavement/pool. Miles bought me some new running shoes that I've started to break in and I am ready to get back to pre-pregnant Chelsey. I already lost 32lbs, I just have 15 pesky pounds left. And since I wanted to lose about 5lbs before I got pregnant, I figure if I can lose 15, I can lose 20. So that's my goal! So now all I need are some new tunes to go in on of these things...

But I need help! I haven't downloaded a new song in ages. I need some upbeat motivating songs that will push me when that extra mile seems impossible. Suggestions are more than pleasantly welcomed, they are encouraged. Please please please leave a comment with a few favorite work out tunes. New songs, throwbacks, anything! I'm open to all suggestions. 

Caiden's Blessing Day

Caiden August Heidorn was given a name and a blessing on March 27, 2011 in the BYU-Idaho 11th Ward. Family and friends from all over the country formed a circle around him as Miles delivered a beautiful blessing. The spirit was so strong as he spoke.  I'm so happy that we decided to bless him while both of our families were here. Samantha and Cassidy drove up and surprised us (and we got to meet our beyond adorable niece Bentley), Nikki and Robby were there, my parents, Miles mom and dad, and members of my extended family that live in the area all joined us to celebrate his blessing weekend. Caiden was able to meet his Great Grandma and Grandpa Dimick (my mom's parents). It was a family filled fun weekend. We missed Jen, Scott & the boys, Ariel, Justin, Paige & River, Noelle, Luke, Jax, Lani, & Sunny, but we feel so blessed to have had as much family as we did surrounding us. I was a little nervous blessing him just two weeks after he was born, but he did great. My mom had to alter his little blessing outfit because he was just too tiny. I made him the little blue bow tie. We sure love our little guy, he is such a blessing in our lives.

 How adorable is his blessing outfit! I just love it. He looks like such a little man in his white button up and slacks with a bow tie and a whole head of hair!

 The Heidorn family at home and at church.

 Left: Caiden, Miles and I with Grandma Sue! Right: Caiden, Miles and I with Grandpa Mike!

 Left: three generations of Heidorn men! Right: I sure love my little man in white!

 Left: the first picture of Caiden with his Grandpa Greer. My dad flew out the night before the blessing and left that afternoon. He was probably only there for 9 hours. I hated that he had to leave so quickly, but I was so happy he made it! Right: Caiden and I with my parents.

 what's an after party without Cocoa Bean Cupcakes?

this was the only picture taken with my family and it's all blurry :( I was kind of sad when I started looking through the pictures. I had to include it though.

My Baby is 1 Month!

I can't believe my baby boy is already a month old! Friday was his one month birthday! We celebrated together as a family by going to Friendly's for ice cream (for Miles and I) and searching far and wide for a Mets onesie in Caiden's size. We're taking him to his first game this Saturday!

Here are a few little one month Caiden facts:
- he still loves to sing while he's sleeping and feeding.
- he has an insatiable appetite. He eats every hour (which is cut back from every half hour!)
- he sleeps for 4 hours at night, then eats, sleeps for 2 hours, then eats, and then is up every hour until 9am when he's pretty much up for the day with a few naps mingled in.
- he has such a strong neck and he's so alert! He loves to look around at everything (even though his eyes can't focus on very much). He also has really strong legs. He pushes himself up to stand while you're holding him.
- he smiles A LOT.
- he recognizes his mommy!
- he has gained 3lbs! He now weighs 11lbs.
- his nicknames include: gasman, fussbucket, Caid, C, and baby bundle.
- he LOVES to be swaddled.
- he loves his hands. He likes them moving and in his face constantly. He also loves his tongue!
- his eyes are lightening to a beautiful blue-grey. I love it!
- he still wears newborn diapers. Everyone told us he'd be out of them in 2 weeks max. He also wears newborn onesies but he's got some LONG legs and a TINY waist so currently no pants really fit him. My sister has to take in the waist on his 0-3 month pants!
- he has already moved and has flown on an airplane! And he did extremely well might I add. Not a single tear.
- his cousin Matthew absolutely adores him and wants to be around him and holding him constantly!
- he was blessed on March 27th (post to come).
- he loves to be held, constantly. And he's so snuggly! I love to sit in the rocker and just snuggle him.
- he is the biggest blessing in Miles and my life. We love our little man so much!

I made him that little 1 month onesie. I want to have a picture of him every month to see how much he's growing. He already seems so much bigger than he was when he was born!

Caiden's Newborn Portraits

After two attempts I finally got some portraits done of Caiden. The first attempt was a nightmare! I tried doing it on my own while Miles was in class. Our son is an exhibitionist.. he wanted his little peepee out for the world to see. I would try to cross his legs and then snap quickly, it didn't work. He pee'd on his blanket twice, pooped twice, and spit up every where (all in a 25 minute span of time!) So the next time I attempted his pictures I called for backup. My sister Nikki came over to help me keep Caiden warm with an area heater, cross his legs, and pat his back to keep him soothed. I think they turned out great, but it helps that my son is the cutest baby in the world.  My friend Chelsea made the crochet cocoon for Caiden. Check out her etsy here. She makes the cutest scarves! The three beanies were made by my brother in law Robby. He's starting an etsy shop soon!

Nixon wanted to join in on the action. He started posing for the camera!

A Tour of the Nursery

Here's a little picture tour of Caiden's nursery.

My unbelievably talented sister Jen made the quilt for Caiden's room. Isn't it just about the cutest thing you have ever seen? I LOVE IT. She designed it perfectly.

These are some of my favorite squares. I love the detail of the Van's shoe and the giraffe.  

 Left: Caiden's makeshift dresser. We bought a book shelf for $10 at Target and transformed it into a dresser. The fabric cubes are also from Target, 2 for $8. I made the ABC art work that is framed and printed it at Alphagraphics for cheap and reused my BFA frames. Right: an up close of the giraffe our nephew Matthew drew. I had to frame it for Caiden, it's so cute!

Left: we used one of Miles old skateboards as a shelf and put Caiden's giraffe sound machine on it to fit with the theme of the room. Since it was inspired by an LRG shirt Miles put one of his LRG hats on the shelf too. Right: the bear that our nephews Matthew and Michael gave to Caiden. They recorded little messages to him that make me tear up every time I listen to it. Also the monkey that his Grandma Sue gave him. 

Left: Caiden's crib with the yarn balls I made dangling over them. I just used yarn that I had from crocheting so it cost me nothing! Right: Caiden's changing table and some more art work that I made for Caiden's room. It's the giraffe's that inspired the room.

Not pictured is the last piece of art work that I created for his nursery, his "family tree." I made the tree in Illustrator without any leaves and wrote his name on the bottom. Then as we have family members come visit we have them put their finger print on the tree as a leaf to the family tree. I forgot to have family members put their finger prints on while they were here visiting last week. Bummer! And that completes the tour of Caiden's nursery!

Introducing Caiden August Heidorn

*** BEWARE: there will be a lot of pictures. A ton of pictures. But what do you expect from a first time mommy that also happens to be a photographer? After things died down the day that Caiden was born I sat at the laptop in my hospital room and wrote out his birth story so that I wouldn't forget the details, so here it is!

I was scheduled to go to Mountain View Hospital at 8:00pm on the 14^th of March. We had decided to use cervidil for the initial induction. I entered the hospital dilated to a 3 and after 12 long hours after the cervidil was inserted I was a little more than discouraged with my body because I had only dilated to a 3.5. So around 10:30am the nurse ran an IV line of patocin and around 11:00 Dr. Baker came in and broke my water. The contractions got very heavy and painful. I had been planning on trying to do this naturally and laboring in the water, but for those who have had babies before you’ll understand, I dilated to a 9 in that hour, that’s how heavy and painful my contractions were, and there was only 30 seconds of relief between each contraction. I dilated 5.5cm in 1 hour! I asked Miles a few times to switch positions with me because I didn’t think I could handle it anymore. At around noon I asked for the epidural. It took him 20 minutes to get there. My IV line stopped working just as the anesthesiologist was about to administer the epidural so they had to find a new vein and run a new IV which took them another 10 minutes. He had a really hard time finding a break in my spine, it took him another few minutes; meanwhile I was still having really hard and long (about a minute and a half) contractions with 30 seconds to rest in between. I couldn’t even feel him wiggling that big ole needle around in my back because I was battling each contraction, trying to keep myself relaxed. At around 1:00 they came back in and checked me, I was dilated to a 10. I pushed twice and the nurse decided that he wasn’t ready and had me wait another hour to an hour and a half before pushing again. I was really happy to have the epidural at this point because I was looking at my contraction monitor line and it looked like the Grand Tetons, there were no moments of rest between contractions. I could still feel the urges to push with each contraction. Once Dr. Baker got there I pushed for about 35-40 minutes. Caiden August Heidorn was born at 2:02pm on March 15, 2011. He was 8lbs 1oz and 21.5in long. He’s a big boy with a full head of dark brown hair! I can’t even begin to explain how it felt to have my beautiful, perfect baby boy placed in my arms. It was the closest I have ever felt to heaven. It was surreal and so deeply spiritual. My mom and sister, Nikki, were able to join Miles and I in the delivery room. I loved being able to share that moment with them.

He was quite the acrobat in the womb. I could feel him tumbling around, but he had tied a perfect knot in the umbilical cord, which could have been fatal by cutting off his air supply. Luckily I was very active (swimming, running when I could, and towards the end walking on the track and walking stairs) and I ate pretty healthy, so the cord was very healthy! Dr. Baker kept marveling over how healthy and thick the cord was and the perfect knot.

I only had to have 2 stitches because my doctor was amazing! He would tell me when to push hard, when to push softly, and when to allow the contractions to move Caiden out and stretch me out naturally. The epidural wore off quickly and I was able to get up and move around within an hour and take a bath while Miles went to give Caiden his first bath! When they came back from the nursery I was amazed at how much Caiden already looks like Miles! Looking at my sweet baby swells my heart with so much love, and somehow he has made me love Miles even more. I didn’t think that was possible. Miles is an amazing daddy! He’s happily changed every diaper, burps him when he’s done eating, and wants to hold him close all the time. I love watching them together and seeing Miles kiss Caiden’s head when he falls asleep. He was so anxious to get Caiden from the nursery this morning. He said he couldn’t sleep any longer, that he missed Caiden too much and that it was like Christmas morning.

Sitting and typing this while he’s sleeping in the bassinet next to me I miss him. He is so perfect and beautiful. It’s amazing that I could love someone so much in a single second. From the first hello, from the first moment he was placed in my arms and looked into my eyes he had my heart.

Left: us outside the house going to the hospital. Right: us in front of the hospital doors.

 Mountain View Hospital in Idaho Falls where I delivered.

The first time they placed Caiden in my arms.

He was so alert from the moment he was born, he kept gazing up in to my eyes. It was so amazing!

 My sister Nikki and my mom holding Caiden in the hospital. I'm so happy they were both in the room to witness Caiden's birth. 

 This was Miles first time changing a diaper. He is a pro! In Caiden's 10 days of life I have literally changed maybe 5 diapers, and that's because Miles was in class. He always volunteers.

Left: Caiden is so expressive with his hands and loves to have them right up by his face! Right: this what he wore home from the hospital. He was all bundled up to face the Idaho cold!