6 Months-ish Ago...

Almost 6 months ago I was doing ANYTHING I could to keep myself occupied. I was nearly 9 months pregnant to the day and I was ready to have my baby boy! So I did what any large and in charge preggo would do... spent lots of time...

COOKING!!!

AND EATING!!!!

AND when that got old... I had a few library books I was READING!!!!

Real page turners...

In just a few hours the Cade-man will be 6 months old! I can hardly believe it! 

I Heart Photos!

I took LOTS of photos today! 81 to be exact. I thought I'd share a few of my favorites. Practice makes perfect, right? Or at least practice makes better and better is what I'm after, so snap on my friends!

Watch Out for the COXARAZZI...

That's right... watch out because I am now armed with a brand new camera! Last Wednesday the Cox Family headed down to San Antonio to spend sometime with KK and Albi. Justin had to go for work so we thought we'd make an extra long weekend out of it. Upon our arrival on Wednesday night I noticed my mom (KK) and Justin making eyes at each other, each of them getting a very mischievous smile on their face... 

Then KK left the room and returned with a HUGE bag that had birthday balloons on it, and I thought to myself, oh how sweet of KK she got Justin a surprise birthday present (another one... and it was a month late... whatever). Then she handed the bag to me?? My birthday isn't until August, what the heck??

My VERY sneaky husband had been scheming with KK about this very special gift he wanted to get for me... when I opened the bag I found this...

They wanted to give me the camera a little early so I could use it on our upcoming summer travels! So needless to say I was beyond surprised and WAY BEYOND excited! I have been playing with it pretty much nonstop! I love it! 

So for better and for worse I have become everyone else's worst nightmare while learning how to use my new camera! I realize I am NO where close to talented, I'm not sure I have an eye for photography, but it sure is fun snapping pics and learning about shutter speed and aperture... who knew photography was all about light... okay maybe everyone did... but not me!

Here's the reel from my first days on the job as a member of the Coxarazzi!

We are working with Caden on the sippy cup... doesn't like the bottle, so we're going for the cup!

Sweet KK making Caden laugh!!

Peas and carrots... YUMMO!

Peek-a-boo!
Dressed and ready for dinner! Thanks for my snazzy new outfit Nana!

The Albi-nator and the Cade-man! Pimpin' it before dinner!

Molli...the sweetest dog EVER!

Seriously Mom?! I'm done!

Look who is LOVIN' his passy... Caden's working on some serious bottom teeth right now and all of the sudden has decided that his passy is the greatest thing... along with the usuals suspects: toes, fingers, and those THUMBS!!

Thanks KK and Albi! We had another great time in San Antonio! 

Wormy Wednesday

Today, Caden and I discovered the HILARITY of our Cater-speller... the official name for a LONG, bright-colored stuffed squirmy worm! It is one of two HUGE worms that we have in this house... we LOVE worms... because they remind us of our own little Squirmy Worm... I called Caden this from the first time I could feel him move inside of me, and now the worm has become quite a hit and yet another fun thing to add to our afternoon activity list (ways to keep Caden happy and entertained). And that was one VERY LONG sentence, apparently to honor the LONG-ness of the worm... geez! No points for great sentence structure today! 

Enjoy the video of my lil squealer... his shrieks of delight make me laugh!! What a funny lil guy!

Here's to a Wormy Wednesday!

"Daddy, Someone Stole My Sugars!!"

AND it's Father's Day...ONLY you are supposed to steal MY sugars today!!

Nursery trip #2 went much better than trip #1... when we arrived NO ONE called him a girl and the ladies "wo-manning" the nursery remembered us (of course!) and had the Kleenexes near by... just in case Caden's mommy had another meltdown.

Are you doing better today?

Ha, yes thank you. I feel much more stable today!

Later, when we picked Caden up from the nursery I immediately noticed a big red mark on his head...is that blood? A strange birthmark that appeared almost 6 months later? Worst yet, did some lil punk bonk my baby on the head? Okay... no need to freak out... let's check out the context clues... DING, DING, DING!! We have a winner... BRIGHT RED LIPSTICK at 3 o'clock! 

Caden's snuggle-buddy in the nursery was CAUGHT red-lipped! She had STOLEN a few of Caden's sugars and left behind evidence that made her case hard to plea! And I announced to the whole room (mainly Justin who was also eying the spot on his head) that in fact there was no room for alarm... Caden was simply the victim of theft... Red-Lipped Nancy had stolen his sugars!

As we were walking down the hallway out of church Justin turned and said...I was about to throw some 'bows in that room if that hadn't have been lipstick...

Ah... fatherly love!

It was much brighter in person... the picture doesn't quite do it justice!

Speaking of fatherly love... we have had the BEST day with Daddy! We actually did our Daddy-gifting last night since we would have limited time this morning and honestly Caden and I couldn't wait to share all of our surprises with Daddy!

Besides church and a quick trip to the store we have done a lot of nothing around our house today... and it has been GREAT! Well... we have been watching a lot of golf, but that's a given!

Just before Cade-man's nap this afternoon, when he was a the point of delirium he and his daddy were having the BEST time... check out the video!!

What a great day to celebrate our special Daddy and to be thankful for our own... Paps and Albi y'all are the best Dads any two kids could have ever asked for and GREAT grand-DADS for our little man! We love you both!!

Happy Father's Day!!

Separation Anxiety

Instead of what a weekend...

WHAT A MORNING! WHAT A MORNING!

So, we took Caden to the church nursery for the FIRST time this morning! YES I know tomorrow he will be 5.5 months old, and it was his first time in the nursery... don't judge me! :) I have been having pretty serious anxiety all week about it. I have been able to avoid the inevitable for the last few weeks with all of our travels, but today there would be no more excuses... I had to do it. It was time... another rite of passage and like any other rite of passage...puberty, marriage, pregnancy, parenthood... none of it is easy!

At 4:30am I was awakened by the melodious sound (extreme exaggeration) of my husband's snore and what was the first thing that popped into my brain? T-minus 5 hours until I would have to leave Caden with STRANGERS (stranger danger!!!) for the first time. Needless to say, I didn't get back to sleep before it was time to get up and at 'em!

Earlier in the week, Caden and I picked out the perfect outfit for his nursery debut... BUT it seems we may have made the wrong decision seeing as within the first 5 minutes we walked into the church doors, TWO, yes TWO different people (both men of course) called our little "he" a "SHE!" Alas... this was certainly not starting off well... should I have taken it as a sign? Was God trying to say... TURN AROUND DON'T DROWN... take him into the service with you!?

Who YOU callin' a girl??

When the man who checked us in said, "is SHE ready to go to her room?" I said, "HE!" in my Mommy-pounce voice... that was the second time... come on!! I feel bad that my voice decided to go up an octave at the poor man, but I was in a stressed state... 

Okay... back to it. Every day I find myself praying for wisdom... wisdom as a Mommy, as a wife, as a friend, daughter, you name it... this week I was specifically praying for wisdom in sharing my baby and learning how to let go! I had no doubt that this was the right decision, to put Caden in the nursery, but I knew from previous experience that just because it is God's will didn't mean it was going to be easy... and it wasn't...

Nursery A was where Caden was hanging out for the morning. As we walked back to the room the tears started rolling down my cheeks! Hold it together I kept saying... but the more I thought that the more tears came. I tried to hide behind Justin who had Caden. Everything is a blur... the ladies in the room were so sweet in greeting us, but I could just see their smiles... I could hear nothing coming out of their mouths, I was deafened by my tears! Then one said, "is Mommy okay?" and handed me a Kleenex. I'm fine! I'm fine! I nodded but didn't say!

I took out a diaper and his passy and put his diaper bag in cubby #8 and waved bye to my lil man who was already several feet away in someone else's arms... I walked out the door! More tears!

Justin was COMPLETELY embarrassed by me and was walking like an Olympic Speed-Walker through the hallway to the worship center. I was blotting my tears with a quickly deteriorating Kleenex. People were staring but I didn't care! They didn't know what I had just gone through... they'd be crying too! I finally caught up to him and asked him to slow down and he said... "I don't want people to know you're with me!"

THANKS HONEY! Thank you for being so supportive! HA!

So we sat down in "our" section and began to worship. Today, we partook in the Lord's Supper and while I was sitting there waiting for the plate to be passed I thought... even Jesus was separated from his father... and he too had separation anxiety, but without that separation, the ultimate separation in death would have never been conquered. Thankfully, I will NEVER have to be separated from the ones I love. On earth I might find myself separated for a period of 10, 20, 30, 50, even 100 years from ones I love but no amount of time on earth can compare to an eternity... I don't even know how to comprehend eternity and I get to spend THAT WHOLE TIME with my Cade-man! (When he becomes a believer... notice I said when... also an area I pray for wisdom about daily!)

After the service was over we walked back to Nursery A and I teared up again, but no where near as bad as the drop-off. We were reunited and all was right in the world! And I was able to prove to them that I, in fact, was not an overly-emotional mute, but instead a sappy new mommy who was not very good at letting go! Another milestone... and again another lesson in relinquishing control! I'm learning... 

To prove that Caden was no where NEAR as traumatized as his mommy, we chose a few pics from family time on the couch after his nap this afternoon! 

Thanks to those of you who said a special prayer for us this morning... we survived! :)

Happy Sunday!!

"It's Time to Make Your Tornado Preparations"

Jim Spencer, Mark Murray and anyone else who was interrupting LIVE TV to bring us this critical severe weather update said, "If you live in any of the following areas (Round Rock was included in this list) it is now time to make your tornado preparations..." Which in our house means... CLEAN OUT THE CLOSET... HURRY! GO!

Exercise ball out... extra diaper bag OUT...random comforter...out! Bunch of other crud that I stuffed in there last time we had company... OUT, OUT, OUT! Big, brown floor pillows... IN! Caden in his rocker... IN... Mommy... IN... remote control...phone...camera... IN, IN, IN!

What about Daddy?! He's out on the road... trying to get off the LAKE! What are you going to do when he gets home Mommy? Kick him OUT, OUT, OUT!

Just kidding... we let him in, but I wasn't too happy about his "cuttin' it close" way of making an entrance! We made it just fine through out first official Tornado Warning since having Caden! All I have to say is... next house, BASEMENT PLEASE! I hate storms... no matter how many times I do it... sit in a closet, a bath tub or in the hallway... it NEVER gets any easier. And now with Caden it is MUCH worse! Such precious cargo those tornadoes could carry away...

Praise God for our safety and that of our home and for a little laughter amidst the storm!

It's Finished... Caden's Special Gift!

KK has been working on this special gift for Caden for quite a while. She started before he was born in hopes of having it finished not long after, but you know... life gets in the way. It's much more fun to drive up to the Rock every week and see Caden than stay at home and work on a gift for him! Can you blame her?!

So last week we got the great news... IT IS FINISHED!! YAY! We are super excited to hang it in a very special place in Caden's room. He was very impressed with his KK's handiwork... now the pressure is on. I guess I'll have to learn how to stitch so the tradish can continue... I'll make them for my grandkids too! It might take me that long to learn how...

Thank you Mom/KK for making this for Caden! It's perfect! 

We love you KK!!

Carrots Are Wicked Cool

Yes, yes they are... carrots are WICKED cool! At least I hope Caden thinks so! I sent the picture below to Justin this afternoon and YUCK was the word he chose instead of WICKED! It will be Caden's first veggie, after three solid weeks of rice cereal, which let me just say is GREAT for a kid with an overactive colon! Caden went ONE WHOLE DAY (yesterday) without pooping! I didn't think it was possible! But it is! Draw back... rice cereal makes everything a little smelly but hey we'll take it!

So why all the WICKED talk?! Yesterday, my mom aka KK took my sister-in-law aka Aunt Emmie and I to Wicked in San Antonio! It was FABULOUS! WONDERFUL! WICKED COOL! No wonder it is so POP-U-LAR! It was so much fun... a treat for sure! Thanks Mom!

While the girls were away drinking Cham-pag-ne (I like to say it like it is spelled... it's funny) and watching a wonderfully Wicked musical, Cade-man was babysitting the boys! He had Albi and Molli under control in this shot!

Daddy was the official photographer of the afternoon, and Albi and Uncle Josh did the dirty work! Daddy said Caden was a GREAT babysitter! From the looks of it, I'd say he had everything pretty much under control!

More to come this week on our wicked cool carrots! Oh and speaking of Wicked... get excited for Jill and the gang tonight on the Bachelorette! 

Much love to you all! Happy Monday!!