Updates galore!

Look familiar? No- I have not put Caden into a dress- this is me!! Also my proof that little man may have resembled daddy according to EVERYONE at the hospital- but now that my family genes are setting in- he is getting much more "mommy" in him!

Grandpa was left alone with the baby for a little too long, and I suppose it is no surprise that this appeared in my phone. I don't know who is happier Caden or Grandpa!! I think what makes me chuckle about this picture most is how much my parents have changed in the past years. Growing up we never heard curse words, never were exposed to cigarettes or alcohol and lived in the city! In high school- my mother moved out to the middle of no where... really- we went from living five minutes from any store you could imagine to being twenty minutes to the nearest GAS STATION! This brought on a new side of my mom- we like to refer to it as the "death to the mom jeans" stage. You could call it a mid-life crisis, though at barely thirty I don't think that is quite what it was.

She got some new friends that took her out drinking, she took up a side job as a bar tender, had some less than pleasant reputations brew and joined the local jolly volly fire department! Went through a few unsavory relationships- too many for me to recount, but enough that I know it was too many! We had a slight falling out and then I went almost a year without hearing from her! As for my father- we grew up in his childhood house- the one that all ten (1-0 yes TEN) of his siblings were raised in. It wasn't "city" but we had enough land for a small section of forest and a genuine log cabin in the back yard (that being said the cabin was a dream of my fathers and was "complete" at three feet tall so we often sat on the make-shift roof rather than risk the exposure to the spiders that lurked inside!). I stayed there until my junior year of high school- quite possibly the most tumultuous year of my life.

So why all this explanation? Well, now both my parents curse with no regard to my poor innocent little ears- both have a drink or three at dinner- my father is some big hunter and asks for things like a muzzle loader and a bow for Christmas and my mother has made yet another revolution back to the city and thirty seconds from the nearest mall. It makes me wonder how I will change over the years and what Caden will remember... how will what I do with my life determine what he does with his? I am not shy about the fact that I get most of my parenting ideas from my parents- I live by the rule of "everything they did I am doing the opposite!" I have had one incredibly random and confusing childhood- but I have learned through it all that I am who I am BECAUSE of what I have gone through- it has taken a good many years to appreciate it all, but I think I am finally coming to peace....

These two little hams are cousins! This is baby Charlie and Caden- as you can see Charlotte is easily bigger than Caden, and she is TWO MONTHS younger!! She looks so much like my brother it is crazy! I hope that they can grow up with one another and get to do all the fun things I did with my cousins... we would have camp outs at my grandparents that inevitably ended up with grandma telling us at three am to go to bed- we fished at the "lake" in my grandfathers back yard and help talent shows for our poor parents at Christmas... I am big on tradition, and my large (50 cousins total on just one side) family is where it all comes from. So here is to irresponsibility Mr. Jacob!!!

This is my little man passed out at his first Fire Department Good Friday Fish Fry. This is my fire gear... I have yet to officially resign and am still walking the fine line of keeping as inactive as possible and trying to keep the hubby happy with not giving it up all together. It is rough because I truly do LOVE being on the department... but I love this little guy and my time with him even more....

Vienna Pup is officially ONE YEAR OLD! What a year it has been- from teh very beginning both my babies have been handfuls. I remember the day Vienna was born- I was at my little brothr Linus' First Communion and she was the last of the litter to arrive. She was so tiny that she needed some extra care and my dad warned me to pick out a back-up pup just in case she didn't make it through the night... he was betting against her. She made it and even though she is still the runt of the litter- my father tells me every day that I am starving her and he sneaks her steak and McDonalds every chance he gets! She loves Caden- this is one of the first times she really tried to "play" with him- there is a whole series of her sniffing him first when he wasn't looking, then she licked him and got his attention then allowed him to grab her for a while- then he sneezed and she freaked out and ran so fast she tripped over herself and took the moose toy with her! It was adorable. Since then they have been pretty close- if he is playing on the floor, she will bring a toy and lay near him, or if he is sitting up she will play with his feet. I know watching the two of them grow up together will be fun and I am glad that I was able to crack the hard shell of my husband and get him to agree to our first baby experiment!

This is the start of the drooling I want everything in my mouth phase... and I love it. I go in for a "kiss" and he opens his mouth to eat my cheek... such a ham!!

One of my other baby brothers is engaged!! First one in the family aside from me! We have known about his plans for a while now and were very excited that it is official!! I also cannot wait to see Caden and Charlotte in the wedding together... I hope Caden has better wedding etiquette than I did... I was notorious for not making it down the aisle. I would pick a pew and stop and there was no getting me up! I did that at several weddings... in my defense- I was KNOWN for doing this and yet I was still cast as a flower girl!

Caden is an outdoor kid... he loves it outside... LOVES IT! He loves grass, and sun and the wind- I don't know if it is a little boy thing or what- but the kid is just in Heaven outside! We spend as much time as we can out there and I have no intention of ever letting him overcome this love! I am ready for swimming pools, baseball games, soccer tournaments, hey if I have to invest in ski equipment I am even ok with that- he will not graduate with top honors in COD!!! Maybe he can teach dad a few things about wanting to play outside instead of nap on Saturday afternoons...

Our food expeditions... One week and three days and we will finally have some more answers as to whether the high chair will be a bigger part of our lives anyday soon!! He has good and bad days with food... this was an OK day... he ate some rice for me, some bananas, apples, prunes and green beans- he does NOT like sweet potatoes and he really likes the apples & prunes. At this point it is all about the experience and NOT the nutrition- we keep at it while he is happy and we stop when it is not fun.

This can make for very frustrating meals- he seems to eat best in the middle of the day, which unfortunately means that he doesn't try food most days because I get leery about other people feeding him. I haven't let the MIL try at all- haven't even suggested that he eats food, and my dad likes to feed him- but as.... we'll say "seasoned" of a parent as he is- it makes me nervous that he isn't near as careful as he should be and goes by his own feelings on what he should and shouldn't be eating or trying (see my five month old holding a gun above for a prime example!) So for now we take it one day at a time and I try to find solace in knowing that like everything else in life- he will do things when he is ready- and if he isn't ready until he is twelve then it is fine with me and I support him 100%