Snow Way Snow Day: TAKE II

TWO blog posts in ONE day! You're welcome grandparents and great-grandparents! :)

Well, you wouldn't believe it, but the snow kept falling in Round Rock throughout the day today! I just knew it would have to stop which is why I was so insistent on getting Caden out in it early in the day, but as it turns out we'd have plenty more opportunities for a little fun in the snow.

When Caden woke up from his morning nap I had some GOOD news, in fact the BEST news and I had some not so good news to share... 

BEST NEWS: Daddy's coming home! The office is closing down at noon in fear of the roads getting bad!! Whoo hoo!!!

NOT SO GOOD NEWS: It still looks like a blizzard outside! (If you saw our post from earlier today you'll remember that the snow was falling SO hard and fast that we were more wet than anything!!)

So we ate some lunch, said hi to Daddy and ran around the house catching up on some chores!

But, sweet Caden's little leg was giving out on him and it was time for a little break! He really wanted to go outside and kept pointing to the door, but I knew he wouldn't be up for it with his leg just then so I decided to bring the snow TO him!

Since Daddy was camped out on the kitchen table we set up shop in the entry way!

I stuck Caden by the window so he could watch Mommy head out into the yard and fill a cup up with freshly fallen snow!

Then I brought it inside and dumped it on his tray and gave him a Snowman cookie cutter to see if we could "build" a snowman!

He wasn't so sure at first! He didn't really know what the cookie cutter and the snow had to do with each other and he was even more unsure why I had dumped the really cold stuff on his tray!

After a few bites for Mommy to prove that it was safe, Caden tried a little bite for himself!

But, that didn't really go so well... he decided that snow is really meant to be thrown...

I decided that maybe the snow was a little plain and a little too much like our tray so I ran and grabbed our food coloring and we made some snow art!

And now we have a HIT! The color did the trick! He was all about it!

So we built a Caden-sized snowman and left it standing just long enough for Mommy to get a picture!

And boy was I lucky to get that picture because that poor little snowman had another thing comin'!

I'm gonna eat you, Mr. Tie-Died Snowman!!

He snapped his head right off... tie-die usually represents peace, Caden! I don't know what happened!

YUM! YUM!
By the time the snow art was over we were technicolor-ed and MESS-Y! BUT it was well-worth it! 

After we got all "cleaned-up" Caden headed for the door. His leg was obviously ready for some action, so I let him in on the fun! The snow had stopped falling as hard so it really was the perfect opportunity to play!

So we spent 10 minutes bundling up and headed out...

My lonely little eskimo!

Maybe having played with the snow in his highchair made him more amendable to cold, wet hands! :)

Although it wasn't but just a few minutes before he thought that this sittin' in the snow stuff was for the birds and off he went...

I thought he was headed for the door until he did a really quick 180 and bolted down the driveway!

And out into the street....

And then down the sidewalk...

And then Mommy caught up and went ahead a little ways to capture what a boy lovin' a stroll in the snow looks like...

HAPPY!

A very happy, satisfied, MESSY and eventually tired little boy!

And to wrap up our exciting Snow Way Snow Day I'll leave you with this sweet picture of my lil man's precious two footprints! Life is good!

Snow Way... He's Walking?!

YES WAY! He is...

If you had asked us Sunday morning if we thought we'd have a little boy who'd be toddling all over the house again by that afternoon we'd have told you...

SNOW WAY!!!

But, it seems that Caden had a big surprise on his hands! And thank the good Lord because Justin and I were really down about it. It was so hard seeing him in such obvious pain and discomfort. It seemed as though he was making no progress! It was hard not to be able to do ANYTHING for him. And it was also hard to remind ourselves that we had to trust our gut's, even if the doctor said that what we thought happened was wrong. We were the ones watching him 24/7 and we had to believe that Caden's situation was atypical and that he DID in fact sprain his ankle even if toddlers don't typically sprain things! Once we could wrap our minds around thatand do some research on the web that confirmed our suspicions we began to more easily accept the slower progress remembering our own experiences growing up with sprained ankles.

And since Sunday afternoon's HUGE improvement, Caden has continued to do well. He is still walking with a limp and has to sit down for a few breaks every now and then, but overall he is doing great and we are so thankful! 

In fact he is doing well enough that we adventured out into the beautiful white SNOW this morning! Snow in Round Rock... SNOW way?! All of you sweet North/West Texas friends of ours decided to finally share the love!

The snow was coming down so hard that unfortunately it wasn't super enjoyable for Caden! We were wet really fast and Caden wasn't too much a fan of putting his hands in the cold, wet snow to push himself back up when he'd crash! Haha!

We're hoping it will stop snowing enough later that we can get out and play in it without having to worry about wet stuff falling from the sky! It doesn't snow often here so regardless of the conditions I knew we had to get out and play!

Maybe we'll have more pictures to share later today...

Until then... stay warm!

Keep Those Prayers Comin'

Update on lil' man...

The splint is off, but he is still not walking. We are going to watch him over the weekend and see if he improves. If not ,we'll go back on Tuesday morning and most likely get a cast! I have NO IDEA how he could have cracked a growth plate (which would be the reason for the cast) going down the slide and quite honestly the Doctor doesn't either, so for now we are chalking it up to a bruise and maybe even a little fear on Caden's part.

Regardless, it is super hard to watch him try to stand and not be able to! The pain and frustration on his face is so sad, it breaks my heart very literally! I know things could be so much worse and I am doing my best to treasure the infinite amount of GREAT in our lives! I am clinging on the incomparable power of God and His perfect timing! We are praying that Caden will GET UP and WALK soon! 

THANK you all for your sweet messages, emails and phone calls... they mean so much!

Spring Cleaning! Or Is It?

Well, before our little incident/accident with the piece of playground equipment that shall never be named, I started am ambitious spring cleaning project aka PURGE THE COX HOUSE OF ALL JUNK!

And while my project was derailed a teeny tiny bit by our Tuesday drama, I've still made some serious progress because let us not forget that the Cade-man is doin' a lot of this...

Okay so that picture has nothing to do with this post other than the fact that I KNEW y'all couldn't help but want to see it again. I hate to say it, but it may be one of my favorites of Mr. Plaster On My Pants. And just so we're clear he sat like that for all of 5 minutes! Ha!

Back to spring cleaning though...

So while Caden has been napping and a little while he's been up we've been doing some serious purging of closets, drawers, dressers... NOTHING, NO NOTHING in this house is safe when I'm in the mood to purge! But as these things tend to go the mess and junk get WAY worse before it can ever get better. 

So it is highly likely that when walking into every room you'll find one of these...

And after filtering through an obscenely large purse collection it is quite possible that you'll end up with an entirely new lip color collection, a package of kleenex (travel-size of course) and a lone ribbon from a bridesmaid's dress among MANY, MANY other things!

And then you'll move on to the next room and find yet another one of these...

Then you'll peak in the closet and GASP! What will you ever do with all of this?!!

And you'll begin pulling out the unsightly things that remind you of being pregnant and you remind yourself of how much you enjoy sleeping on your stomach and without the Great Wall of Preggo Pillow between you and your hubby and you move on...

And if you're doing a GOOD job at your spring purging, I mean cleaning, you should MOST DEFINITELY use an ENTIRE box of these... And I say this with the most green conscious, of course. Always try to use, reuse and recycle, but if you can't... call in HEFTY, HEFTY CINCH SACK!

But then if you are me and you live in my house you'll come across something that has NOTHING to do with spring cleaning and wasn't created after any type of purge. It is also something that most people would call a mess or MUCH WORSE, but no, not me... I call it a work of art...

It is hard to appreciate the masterpiece that is the Tower O' Cups that graces our bathroom counter tops and it is even harder to explain the magnitude of said tower after openly admitting that we spent only two days at home last week which if you do the math correctly, 2 cups every night (one for me, one for Justin) this little gem has been in the works for well-over 3 weeks. 

AND you'd be amazed to know that there are a few stragglers sitting by the tower, sad that they couldn't rise to the top like their peers. It seems as though the artists (Justin and I) became fearful of our works' integrity and decided that the tower should go no higher so a fortress around it we will build! 

I know so many of my dear friends and family members are cringing at the thought of having a similar piece of art in their own homes, and cringe if you must, but it seems as though in a very subconscious way this Tower of Plastic SWAG has found a tender place in the hearts of men. If it hadn't brought some sweet amount of pleasure and joy surely we would have found a free hand to deliver our counter from clutter MUCH sooner... surely we would have!

And now... 

As I type...

The Tower of Plastic SWAG is STILL standing tall, with unwavering determination in its final moments as bathroom counter top art, knowing full well that it's spring purging, I mean cleaning time and nothing, NO nothing is safe... 

Not even ART!

A Tuesday Trip to the ER

Well...

I thought I was the only accident-prone member of the Cox Family, but Caden proved otherwise this morning. ACTUALLY, if truth be told it was MY fault that it happened so maybe it really is me that is the klutz, but unfortunately it was Caden who took the hurt this time! UG! I would have rather had it happen to me one-hundred times over that to my lil man! Lord, bless him, please!

What started as innocent fun at the neighborhood playground with our friends Gina and Ava, ended with a crying little boy who refused to put any pressure on his leg. He wouldn't walk, he wimpered when he wiggled his foot, he cried big tears! I could tell that something was pretty wrong when he refused to get back down and play after he stopped crying, so we packed it up and I called the doctor on the way home... YES I BROKE THE NO PHONE ZONE TODAY! I used speakerphone and I ended up being on hold the entire way home so thankfully we averted any disasters!

I couldn't get anyone at the doctor's office to answer the nurses line so I called Doctor KK who affirmed my decision to go ahead and take Caden to the ER. It was right about lunch time so I grabbed the bag of Teddy Grahams out of the pantry and his sippy cup and off we went. I called Justin as I was loading up Caden and off he came to meet us without me even having to ask. He just said I'm coming and that was that! Thank you, Justin!!

In between the incident and the arrival to the ER I TOO cried some BIG tears! I felt awful! He was sitting on my lap going down the slide, a slide which I am too big for I might add. I was chatting away and not paying enough attention obviously when Caden put his foot on the side of the slide. With my momentum we kept going and his leg got bent behind him. I pulled it forward as soon as I realized what was happening, only seconds! And the tears came... and came... and came...

So disheveled, red-faced and smelling like the park, Caden and I traipsed into the ER and filled out our paperwork, meanwhile a flood of people came in... we had gotten there just in time! Had I waited even 5 minutes I am sure our wait would have been MUCH longer!

After maybe 15 minutes, back we went to get the Cade-man checked out. They took his vitals and all was good. Then they took us to our room and we waited for the doctor. The Dr. was awesome and so nice... and because we are never without a good story, it just so happens that the doctor lives in one of Justin's company's homes. Coincidentally, before Justin took over purchasing they used a particular electrician that didn't do such a good job, Justin has since gotten rid of the company, but the doctor wanted to be sure and let Justin know the issues he had. So after talking "house" for a few minutes, we finally got back to Caden! :) He was super nice about it and said how much he really did love his Jimmy Jacobs Home and so I took it upon myself to go ahead and throw Justin under the bus and told the doctor that something will be done to fix his issues.  Haha! :) And now back to Caden...

The doctor thought everything from the outside looked normal, so he ordered some x-rays, got us some bottled water and we waited. Meanwhile, Caden hadn't had lunch we he proceeded to put down some serious Teddy Grahams!

Luckily, my handy, dandy catch-all of a diaper bag had a few trinkets for Caden to play with. 

I decided that we better make the best of this trip and take a few pics. All I had was my phone so they aren't quite quality!

Daddy was doin' a little bidness while we waited.

We were visited by what seemed like every nurse in the ER, one of them was one of the people from our child-birthing class so it was good to see a familiar face! We didn't have to wait too much longer for the x-rays and BOY was it a chore!

It was such a chore that I laid on the top half of Caden's body and the technician laid on the bottom half and Justin got to push the button!! Haha! Poor little guy, he was in some serious pain when the tech was twisting and turning his leg to get the right angle! It was so sad!

The x-rays came back normal. Nothing that the doctor could see that signaled a red flag, but he heard the screams coming from our room during the x-rays and thought it would be best to put him in a splint to be safe! So we met yet another friend in the ER...Mario the cast-man... I am sure he has a technical title, but I don't know what it is. He was great with Caden and that process wasn't near as bad as I thought it would be. He was fast!

So my little man has a cast from his toes to his knee. It is plaster in the back to set his leg and foot in place and then two ace bandages around that. He'll bathe with a trash bag secured with special tape around his leg and have to see a Orthopaedist in a few days for a follow-up. We're praying for complete healing and that no further cast/splint or anything else will be required! We're praying and believing that Caden will be better real soon!

For now Caden is going to be watching a lot of Praise Baby and trying to stay still, which might be impossible. Mommy is going to have to pull out all of her creative cards to ensure that the Cade-man has plenty to occupy his time while he sits. Today he isn't going to be able to walk, but maybe tomorrow he'll learn how to maneuver around with that heavy cast on his leg.

He is napping now and seems to be comfortable. He only fusses when he turns over, for obvious reasons. I'm glad he is able to rest because I know after the day he has had he needs it! We all do! :)

Here are a few pics of my brave lil man and his cast!

It is so super sad, isn't it?! He is such a trooper who is still smiling and giving his Mommy all sorts of love, even thought she is to blame! If there is one thing we've learned in the last few weeks it is that accidents happen! And I must say I'll take this type of accident over so many other types out there! I know we are blessed beyond measure!

We'll keep y'all posted on the latest in our world! In the meantime we'd love for you to join us in prayer as we ask God to heal up Caden's leg and give him the strength to be back running around this house again very soon! I'm going to miss the pitter, patter of little feet! 

Happy Tuesday!

To Waco We'll A Go

To Waco We'll A Go, To Waco We'll A Go!!

We had a fabulously fun weekend in Waco celebrating a few VERY special birthdays on the Cox-side of the Family. Nana and Paps once again, hosted the Cox Circus for two-nights and YES once again, I am pretty sure their house/yard will never be the same! Thanks Nana and Paps for letting our crew come and plant for a few days!

While we were celebrating birthdays (Happy Birthday Paps and Great Poppa!) we made some time from one of our favorite pastimes... Baylor Basketball! It was the Cade-man's second game now... and BOTH we won! I think he might be a good luck charm?! Good thing we'll be heading back north in a few weeks to watch our Bears take on the Longhorns again! Go Baylor Go! 

The game was great... Caden was awesome... a bundle full of energy and GREAT birth control for his aunt and uncle, but still a happy little boy who was SO excited to be at the game!

Before the game we had to fuel up... the big kids ate pizza and Caden mashed on some brown rice and chicken fed to him by his Great Poppa! When Great Poppa is in town, he and Caden always have some serious talkin' to do... this trip it was over lunch!

After we were FULL-up on fuel, we headed to the Ferrell Center for the action! Caden was being passed off between the few, the proud, the Cox marines throughout the game! He was having LOTS of fun after a quick snack break with his Aunt Cori! After snack time was over it was BACK to the ramps... up and down and out the door, and back in the door and up and down! Catch me if you can!!

Here is a line-up of the entire crew... Justin was on the other side of me so he missed out on the family pic at the game!

After the game, Paps and Caden made sure to play a little victory ballad for the rest of us. "I Dropped My Dolly In the Dirt" was their song of choice... and boy did they play it their very, very bestest! Caden loves the piano... a very fun treat when we go visit Nana and Paps!

Sunday was a VERY special day because we got to meet our newest little friend... FALLIN KATE!! She isn't so new anymore... she's already a TWO MONTH OLD! AND boy was she the cutest little thing you've EVER seen! I was in love! She looks like her Momma... tall and skinny with the prettiest eyes and cutest little nose! We had such a great time hanging out with Em and Bryce and getting to find out how parenthood was treating them! Looks like they are old pros already!!

Caden was PASSED it by this point... MOMMY, why are you holding that baby?! I'm tired and ready to nap and go back to the Rock!!

Okay, okay... let's go!

And so we did! 

We are so loving our Monday at home and had a very special trip to meet ANOTHER special friend today... and in fact our TRUE NEWEST friend. Little 4-week old Cooper Lea! I got to snuggle with him for almost 45 minutes... he fell asleep in my arms... SO sweet! And of course I got to see little long-haired, all grown up Madyson!! It is amazing how quick you forget that newborn stage... it is fun to have little ones to love on until the Cox Family of three gets ready to expand... :)

Hope everyone had a wonderful Valentine's Day! Happy Monday!!

In the Last Five Days...

...The boys and I went for a family hair cut! 

Each of us had an appointment to get our hairs did, and for each of us it was a necessity... we were all victim of a little too much party in the back! 

But all of God's good and great gifts require a little patience don't they? Fine with the Cox boys... they've always got some business to tend to. And Mommy is always up for a photo-op... we were quite fine waitin' our turn!

Justin, Caden... I'm ready for ya! 

The boys decided that chivalry is SUPER overrated... so the DUDES went first on Saturday!

Cade-man was up first! Snip, snip... buzz, buzz...

This was Justin's first time to experience a Caden haircut... and Caden wasn't too thrilled by the time we were finished... no matter how many tricks Mommy had up her sleeve!

Poor little teary, snotty, passy-fied boy! :)

...We traveled to San Antonio!

Remember that business Jusitn was tending to earlier? Well, that business took him to San Antonio this week, so Caden and I decided that we'd hop a ride and spend some time with KK and Albi. Not that we need an excuse to go visit, of course! :)

San Antonio was good to us... we had lots of fun, ate lots of good food (as always), saw all of our favorite Evans' (minus Aunt Emily) and even got to go to the BIGGEST and BEST rodeo in the nation! Not bad, eh?

BUT, of course, we wouldn't be the Coxes and I wouldn't be Katie without a little D-R-A-M-A! It's only right... and fair that all the fun gets evened up with a few not so fun things!

If you know me well at all you know that at times I can be a little clumsy... like the time when I fell running around the Baylor Football field my freshman year. Or that time that I slipped on the stairs coming out of Chapel. Or like the other time when I dumped over a lounge chair at the pool and landed in the bushes.

Or like the time when I broke a plate on Super Bowl Sunday 2010! Yep... crash and burn! That poor plate didn't even see it coming! 

Or like the time when I tried to mute the TV because I swore I heard Caden crying through the monitor and while trying to step off the treadmill to focus on my muting and the monitor I missed and ended up crashing onto the MOVING belt and then was thrust against the wall, forced to roll off of the MOVING treadmill sideways to escape it's wrath... 

Yah like that time...

That I fell of the treadmill...

Sobbed...

And ended up with a picture that looked like this...

And let me just say that the picture does not do the UGLINESS justice... not even close.

OUCH! Is. all. I. have. to. say! Oh my!! It was scary... like how in the world will I ever get off of this thing, scary! And poor, sweet KK... she thought the worst when she heard me bound down the stairs in SOBS! She was convinced that I had received a call... a bad call... like someone ahd an accident and was injured and hurt or worse...

And in fact someone HAD had an accident and WAS injured and worse, but it was just me and it was just a run-in with the treadmill and while the treadmill definitely got in some good shots, I think I still won?! I'm walking... I eventually stopped sobbing... and my treadmill burn has succumbed to the power of Dermaplast! And these things are certainly worthy of a victorious celebration!

...And we went to the San Antonio Rodeo!

With my bum-knee in tow, Caden, KK and I decided to brave the cold weather and visit the San Antonio Rodeo on Tuesday. The weather was actually quite lovely with more sunshine than we had seen in WEEKS so a little nip in the air surely wasn't going to spoil our fun! 

I must say that I have been to a few rodeos in my day, but the grounds of the San Antonio Rodeo are by FAR the nicest, cleanest, coolest grounds EVER! We had such a fun time. I was in awe of the culture of the rodeo. I so enjoyed seeing all of the kids and their families who set up camp outside the pins of their animals, waiting for their turns to show their stuff in the rings. 

I loved hearing a grandma tell her sweet grand daughter who couldn't have been older than 8 how well she showed her hog! "You showed that Hog! You showed him!" AND those were her words... I could never make up something so great! 

And can I just say that there is something about a man in wranglers with poop on his boots... honestly, there is! I've always been one who prefers a guy who drives a pick-em-up truck, but if he steps out in boots and wranglers... DONE! In fact, the night I first realized I liked Justin he was wearing his boots and wranglers and we were two-steppin' at Southern Junction! Whoo-whee!

But I've digressed...

Back to the rodeo...

We didn't actually get to go to the rodeo because that is WAY past Caden's bedtime. But we went and participated in all of the daytime fun like...

The petting zoo...

I was kind of freaked out (okay really freaked out) by this llama! She/he was a very intense creature of the wild... 

And Caden got to ride on the plastic horse!!

And see the HUGE horses... bigger than a Clydesdale! We even found one named Hank, just like Caden's horse!

We visited Elsie the cow... 

She started peeing as soon as Caden started petting her... and if you have never heard a cow pee... well it is LOUD!!

And we did a bunch of other fun things that are not pictured...

Ate a yummy snack, took a fun picture at the AT&T booth, watched the Swine Races (SO FUN), visited all of the booths, bought some lip enhancer lip gloss (courtesy of KK the sucker!) and RAN WILD!! Caden was TIRED and so were KK and I after it was all said and done!

What a day at the rodeo we had!!

Our trip to San Antonio ended with a pretty low-key day and a rainy trip back to the Rock! We are so glad to be back in our home, but not because we didn't LOVE every minute we spent in San Antonio. We just like home. 

A huge thanks are in order to KK and Albi though!! Thank you for rearranging your routine to host the Cox Circus! We appreciate the meals, the tender lovin' care and of course the fun! You two are still full-time parents... gotta love it!! We love you!!! 

Friday we hit the road again for Waco to celebrate Paps' birthday! .

Stay tuned!