More 1st Birthday Partying!

We celebrated Cade again this weekend with a Birthday party here at home! A lot of our friends have kids 2 and under so it was really fun to get all the little ones together and watch them interact and play.

We used the same dino theme and party decor for this party because it is just so darn cute! (and I didn't have it in my to do a whole second theme!) Decorating for the party was really easy this time around since we figured it all out last weekend and just repeated this time.

Sweet friends!

(Kenlee. Carson, Jadyn, Cade, McKensley, Carlee, Peyton and Lilly)

We had such a great time with all our friends! Cade is one lucky boy to be loved my so many people! Thanks to everyone who came to help us celebrate!

Happy Birthday Sweet Boy!!!

Cade turned ONE on November 5! We spent the weekend in Lubbock with our families celebrating this precious boy and all the joy that he has brought into our lives over the last year! Cade and I drove to Lubbock Thursday afternoon and then Gregg flew in Saturday morning. We all 3 ended up sick and Gregg's Mom also ended up sick and hospitalized which all made for an interesting weekend but we still had a fun.

Saturday morning we took Cade to have his one year old pictures made. It was really windy and chilly that morning and that combined with Cade not feeling well led to a short photo shoot. I had all these cute outfits picked out and plans to get pictures to use on our Christmas card but none of that happened! :( Below are the sneak peak pictures our wonderful photographer Lynette Reeves posted. We can't wait to see the rest!

We spent the afternoon hanging out around my parents house working on last minute projects for Cade's birthday party. Gregg and Cade made a trip to the hospital to visit MiMi while my Mom and I worked.

Saturday evening our immediate family got together to eat pizza and cookies and have a mini party for Cade! Despite not feeling the best Cade was a trooper and had lot of fun opening presents, playing with Landry and showing off for the family.

We continued to celebrate Cade on Sunday with a Birthday party with all our family and friends that live in Lubbock. Cade was pretty clingy but enjoyed all the extra attention and cake! Planning for these parties have been so much fun for me and a total family effort. My Mom made the precious "Happy Birthday Cade" banner below, Cade's adorable Dino birthday shirt, and the dinosaur luggage tags and magnet bookmarks that we gave out as party favors. Gregg's Mom mad the cute pants that Cade wore and also the dinosaur table runners that we used. Gregg and I did all the paper items and Mom, Dad and I made the snacks and cakeballs that we served. Everything turned out even better than I imagined and made the party so special!

After the party was over Cody and Misti took Landry and Cade outside to try and get a couple of pictures of them together. Trying to capture an 18 month old and 12 month old together in a good picture is quite a challenge!

We had an amazing weekend in Lubbock celebrating Cade's First Birthday! We feel so blessed to have been able to share the weekend with our family and friends and thank everyone for helping us making the weekend so special!

12 Months Old

1 year, 12 months, 365 days... WOW! Where has the time gone and when did my tiny baby change into a little boy? This last year has been amazing and we have had more fun than we ever imagined possible!

Here are a few things about Cade from this month:

- He has started walking! He is still cruising around the furniture barely holding on but took his first couple of solo steps on October 22 while we were in Decatur with my parents. Now he is up to taking about 10 steps on his own before falling down!

- He is still nursing and eating every 5-6 hours. I only feed him in the early morning, before I go to work, and 1 or 2 times in the evenings (depending on when I get home) and he takes a breast milk bottle the other times during the day. Side Note: I am so proud of our family for breastfeeding for 1 entire year and LOVE being able to say that Cade never got even 1 drop of formula!!! This was something that was very important to both Gregg and I before we had Cade and we have had to work very hard over the last year to get to this point. (Gregg was an amazing support person and bottle/ pump part washer during the times that I was so exhausted I couldn't see straight!) I will be giving up pumping at work now that he is one (Praise the Lord!) but will still continue to breastfeed in the morning and at night for a while longer!

- He has 4 teeth now and is getting so much better at eating "real" food. We have introduced quesidillas, chicken nuggets, pasta, pancakes, mandarin oranges, goldfish and graham crackers over the last month and he is doing great with them! We have also switched him over from the sippy cup with handles to a sippy cup without handles and haven't had any problems. (Here is to hoping that starting whole milk next week goes as smoothly!)

- He is primarily wearing size 3 diapers and size 12 month clothes.

- He is no longer crying in the mornings when I drop him off at daycare! He will now go straight to his teacher or onto the ground to play. He is interacting with the other kids a lot more now and is becoming much more outgoing and talkative. He has learned how to scream at daycare and now loves to do that if Gregg or I are not paying him enough attention!

- He is still loving all his cars and trucks and anything else that lights up and makes noise. He has become very fascinated with climbing over the last month and will climb up onto or over anything that he can. (He seems to have no fear while doing this which is a little frightening for this Mama!!!)

- He LOVES giving kisses- BIG, sloppy, slobbery kisses! The kind that just make you giggle to get them and then he just gives more because he enjoys the giggles! They are the best things in the world and just make my day!!!

Cade, We love you so much sweet boy and have enjoyed watching you grow and change over the last year. You have been an amazing blessing for us and have brought so much joy and light into our lives. I know that God has many great things in store for you and I promise that your Daddy and I will be right there beside you every step of the way cheering you on!

Halloween Fun!

We had such a fun Halloween evening! Our downtown area has "Boo on Ballard" every year where all the store owners set up a booth and pass out candy. They have a "Trunk or Treat" section, food vendors, music, and LOTS of candy. We haven't ever been before but decided that it would be a fun thing to do this year since Cade isn't quite able to Trick or Treat yet.

Our precious Little Monster

We went with some of our other neighbors that have young kids which made the evening more entertaining! Both of the other little girls are a little older than Cade and already walking/ running. Chasing them around was a lot of fun!

Attempting to get Cade and Kenlee to hold hands

Cade, Lina, and Kenlee

We had such a great evening with our neighbors celebrating Cade's 1st Halloween! I LOVE Halloween and look forward to many more fun nights full of dressing up and Trick or Treating!!!