New Years/Vacation in Orlando

Yay for time away from the everyday! We went on vacation to visit Jimmy's family in Orlando for 9 days over New Years. I wouldn't exactly call it restful, but the time away and time spent with family and friends was great. Even some of his family from Puerto Rico came to visit. Schedules were completely thrown out the window as we got together to do many new things (for Caden) and of course eat lots of food!

While we were there we saw a parade and did lots of shopping (mostly the window kind) :)  Caden went to a marionette puppet show and saw the Little Drummer Boy. We also went bowling and ice skating, which were both firsts for Caden. He loved all of these! When we went ice skating and he first tried walking to the ice rink, he could barely stand but before we left he was walking on them like a pro! I could not believe how fast he picked up on how to walk in them. Now ice skating itself was a different story. Daddy mainly just pushed him around the rink but he still had a blast! The night we went bowling, we were there til midnight and he was so excited to push the ball down the alley and then watch and wait for the ball to return! (He of course was running on overdrive with all the family and cousins there to pay attention to him and chase and tickle him).

New Year's Eve was spent with the family at Jose's house. We had a big dinner, played music and sang songs with Caden dancing all around and had roasted marshmellows in the bonfire. Noah was a trooper through everything. Probably got a little spoiled while we were there too with everybody wanting to hold him and constantly give him attention. Most naps were taken on top of somebody and any little noise he would make at night I would immediately get up and nurse him back to sleep so that he would rest and not wake Caden up since we were all in the same room.

While we were there, we got to meet up with my old college roommates. Heather drove down to meet up with Natalie and I at a park. We had so much fun meeting eachothers kids and catching up. The older kids, DJ, Grace and Caden quickly became friends and had so much fun playing on the playground. William and Noah kinda just hung out, maybe next time they will be ready to play too! We will have to get together again soon to meet the 2 new little ones that are on their way. Heather is due in March and Natalie is due in July! How exciting!

It had been a year since the last time Caden was on an airplane so he doesn't remember being n one. He was so excited about flying on one and ever since coming back, he has been playing "airport". He separates an area for his planes and lines all the cars up to go through a gate to get into the airport. I guess this is because we left our car at the airport. It is very cute to watch and see his imagination take off. Both boys did very well on the plane. Noah slept most of the way there.  Didn't do as well coming home but didn't scream the whole time either. :) So overall, I guess his first airplane experience went well. Caden played with his cars and his leappad and did great!

While vacations are fun and its great to be around the people we miss, it is nice to come back home to the everyday schedules and the normal 3 year old and 6 month old "quietness" of our house.

Christmas 2011

Christmas and everything leading up to it has been so fun this year with a 3 year old and 6 month old. Caden was so excited about getting the tree out and decorating (Mommy had to do a little redecorating since all of the ornaments I let Caden put on ended up on the bottom, front half of the tree). We made some ornaments with Nana, went shopping because Caden wanted to get his brother a gift then Mommy had to go shopping again to get a gift from Noah to Caden :) and started a new Christmas tradition of the advent calendar that Gigi made us this year. Caden loved doing this! Each morning he would get to choose a picture to hang on it, we would talk about what the picture was and why it was important in our Christmas story. (Of course he chose all of the animals first!)

First Christmas

Jeff and Sheena came up to visit the week before Christmas and my parents came over as well. While they were here, we went to Dollywood and Bristol Motor Speedway in Lights where we drove on the racetrack looking at the lights. (pictures at the end) They were leaving before Christmas day so we had our Christmas a little early, on Friday. Caden woke up on Friday morning and saw that Santa had come and eaten most of the reindeer sugar cookies he had left for him. He was eager to open the presents, but of course Mama had to get some pictures of him and Noah in their Christmas pajamas in front of the tree and presents first! Finally, the opening of presents began with much excitement! I think Caden opened all of  his and most of Noah's too! :) That's ok though, I don't think Noah minded this year! Next year may be a different story though! We ate ham strata after all the gifts were opened and then fixed Christmas dinner that evening.

 

Jeff and Sheena left that night to drive home over night. Nana and Papa stayed the weekend and ate yummy leftovers with us! Only problem was, we ate all the leftovers and never planned a meal for Sunday after church! Since we did Christmas early, Sunday didn't really feel like Christmas so we just figured we would go out to eat after church. Who knew that restaurants were not going to be open!?! We had never done Christmas early before so we had no idea since we don't typically go out on Christmas.  There were only 3 restaurants opened that day, Waffle House, IHOP and Shoneys. We went home had found some hamburgers in the freezer for lunch then went to IHOP for dinner before Nana and Papa left to go home.

Noah 5and 6 months

So it has been way too long since I have updated but I guess that is just because we have been busy. Noah is now 6 months old! Hard to believe it is his half birthday already!

At 5 months, you stopped sleeping through the night because you were teething. Right as you turned 5 months, you got your first tooth and a couple days later, your second. The only thing that I could do at night to soothe you from those nasty teeth was to nurse so that is what I did. Now to try and break you of that habbit!! You began to sit up a little by yourself but still needed lots of support. You can be extremely loud, which doesn't necessarily mean you are unhappy. You can get loud when playing (stuffing things into your mouth). Getting better in the car. You will play now or if you are tired you will actually fall asleep!! Once in a while you will still scream the whole trip but not every time, thank you Jesus!

At 6 months, for your Dr. visit, you weighed 19lbs 7.8 oz and were 29 3/4 in. long. You had to get 2 shots and your blood drawn. You did not cry at all when the nurse did your blood and only cried for a quick second with the shots. Caden was very worried about you getting shots. He told me he did not want anyone to hurt his brother. You are now sitting a lot better. You still fall over once in awhile but getting stronger every day. You love to eat! You polish off a jar of baby food like it was nothing! You do not like the green beans or carrots but so far everything else has been good, especially the fruits! You won't eat the baby cereal anymore either even when I try to mix it with fruit. You give me this look like you're saying "You can't fool me, I know what you are doing and I want the good stuff!" You love to eat mashed potatoes from mommy or daddy's plate! You roll around everywhere on the floor, trying to get anything you can reach. That includes the Christmas tree!  You are now wearing 12 month clothes! You are thinning out a little because you have stretched out a lot so you don't look quite as chunky as you used to. Changing your diaper can be quite the task now too because you love to stick your toes in your mouth or try to play with the giraffe that is on your changing table. You also love to play peek-a-boo and you are getting good at pulling off whatever we put over your face. We love all your little antics and your sweet, sweet smile!

Caden's 3rd Birthday

Caden's birthday was Monday, November 7, so to celebrate we went as a family to Chuck E Cheese for lunch. He had a blast playing games, eating pizza and getting to meet Chuck E Cheese.

 

On school on Tuesday, we took some M&M cookies in for his class to eat at lunch time. I think they liked them because I did not get any leftovers back!! :)

 On Saturday, we had his birthday party! It was a Diego animal party! Nana, Papa, Gigi and a bunch of friends came over to celebrate! We had cake, ice cream, played an animal rescue game and opened presents! We had so much fun!!  

3 years old!

 

Looking for his baby elephant's mommy

We rescued the animals!

Cake and ice cream

 Presents!

 Things to remember as you turn 3!!

At your 3yr Dr. appointment, you were 31.6 lbs (50%) and 39 1/4 in. (90%)

You always tell us that you are getting bigger so that you can drive a race car (I am going to be a nervous wreck in 13 years when you turn 16!) you also occasionally tell us you want to drive tractors

We listen to "your" music a lot in the car but you have recently started singing to some songs on the radio (so thankful for Christian music) that we didn't even know you knew

Love to eat at Chick-fil-A and McDonalds

Still need a nap in the afternoon although you don't always get one

Your favorite colors right now are yellow and red

When I play cars with you, I am only allowed to be the girl cars (never Lightning McQueen or Mater etc. only Flo) (good thing for me, you are getting Holly Shiftwell for Christmas so I will have 2 choices)  :-)

Happy 50th

Ok, so the reason why we did not make it to fall festival on October 31 is because my mom's birthday is the next day November 1st (and she was having a BIG birthday this year) She turned 50 !! Happy Birthday Mom!! (side note...we didn't go on her bday because Tuesdays are school/work days) I planned with Dad to have him take her out for breakfast so that we could get in and put up a few decorations for the surprise.  She was surprised but the funny thing is so were we! As we were finishing decorating, Jimmy turned around and saw them unlocking the door so I quickly grabbed Caden and ducked down behind the couch so we could pop up and yell surprise! :)  Later, we found out Dad had texted me to see if we were ready but I did not get the text until an hour and a half later! We had fun playing games, eating cake, opening presents and going out to eat.

I thought this game was hilarious!

gag gift....can you guess what it is??

adult diaper! :)

one year later...

One year and 114 job applications later and still no fulltime job, yet somehow, someway we are still making it. (Not really somehow, someway...I know how...it has been all God) He has provided for us in every way. So far I have been able to pay the bills every month. I am so thankful for the part-time work that we do have. My job with Mother's Day Out that I can take my boys with me while I work and for the part-time work that our wonderful church has provided for Jimmy. However, it can still be very hard not knowing what is going to happen or how long this phase of life will be, but in the end, we know God sees the big picture and can trust that he is holding on to us.

Oh, I love the way you hold me, by my side you'll always be
You take each and every day, make it special in some way
I love the way you hold me, in your arms I'll always be
You take each and every day, make it special in some way

I love you more than the words in my brain can express
I can't imagine even loving you less

Lord, I love the way you hold me

I guess for now the next phase while we try to wait patiently for a fulltime job will be school for Jimmy. He has been taking one class this semester at SEBTS and has completed his application to start as a full time student in the spring.  Seminary is not something he had previously thought about doing, but it seems to be where God wants him right now...

Fall Festival

Our church did two fall festivals this year. The first one, was just for the church preschoolers. It was about a week before halloween. It included games in the gym, hot dogs and funnel cakes. Not many people came, but we still had a good time (even though Jimmy and the boys were the only ones dressed up)!! The second one was on halloween for everyone in the community and it usually includes games, horse rides, hay rides and food but we did not make it to this one this year because of another reason (more on that later).

Cat in the Hat, Thing 1 and Thing 2

 

Thing 2 snoozed on Ms Dianne while Mommy and the Cat in the Hat played games with Thing 1!

Puppets

Taking turns putting on a puppet show with Julia Ruth (Juju)