7 Months Old

Oh my, I could just kiss this kid all day long! Look at that grin how could you not want to just squeeze him and kiss him forever!! This is what melts my heart like nothing else.


Look at those baby blue eyes!


This picture, I know is not very "attractive" but I had to put it in for a reference. We laugh and joke about how Cael's head is on a swivel! This kid looks at everything!! He is fascinated with ceiling fans, lights, people, noises, wheels, animals, birds..everything! He doesn't miss much. When we go places his head is "on a swivel". The funny thing about that is his Daddy is THE SAME WAY!! :)

Cael is such a busy body! What is he up to these days.
~rolling and rolling and rolling over!
~sitting up all by himself for long periods of time
~eating and loving baby food. Mostly fruits and veggies but have been trying meats.
~making NOISE..or we like to call it "whimpering". He does this ALL DAY long! I am not sure what he wants or what he is trying to communicate to me. He usually stops when I pick him up and walk around the house with him. :)
~giggles when he is being tickled.
~smiles with a sparkle in his eye when he sees mommy or daddy
~CAT NAPPER-Yes we are still only cat napping. This is..one word..EXHAUSTING! This kid has an internal clock that just wont quit. However he sleeps for 10-12 hours SOLID every night so we can't complain too much. I can't wait to have a post, some time soon, where I can report that these cat naps have ended and longer naps have been the replacement. :) I'm hopeful!
~loves music! I can't wait to see how music is going to affect this little guys life. He absolutely loves music! Pete and I both share a love for music as well. Pete is a very talented singer...me on the the other hand..not so much. I can only hope that Cael will take after his daddy in this category!
~enjoys seeing and being around other people! We have come to discover that he might be a bit of an extervert (again like his daddy).

Our sweet little guys has brought us so much joy (and gray hair) these past 7 months!! Each day I try so hard to take him all in and enjoy everything about this age. Each age and stage is going to have struggles and excitment and I don't want to miss a thing. The past seven months have been such a ride and we have loved every single soletary second of it, too!!

A Trip to Cancun

Now let me explain myself before I start bragging about sitting by the water soaking up the warm sun or before I give details about the beautiful palm trees and ice blue waters we experienced. As the sun hit my face and I looked out in the horizon to the endless sea or how....wait..oh I'm sorry I wasn't going to brag.

So let me back up.

Back in about October one of my (3) first cousins got engaged! We were so excited to hear this and were so thrilled that we were going to have another cousin in the family! My cousin currently lives in Charlotte, North Carolina, so we were anticipating a trip south. As their wedding planning progressed they shared that they desired a destination wedding and chose Cancun as their wedding site. When I heard the news, I'm not going to lie, but I gulped. I knew that this was going to be a really hard thing to pull off. I wanted to be there so bad, but with our single family income and tight school schedule, we knew it probably wasn't going to happen for us. We were soooo bummed. Around Thanksgiving, we were all sitting around after dinner. My grandpa started talking about the wedding in Cancun. He then said that he had done some thinking and was going to offer to help pay for anyone that wanted to go. "What?...Really?..I mean, are you serious?" He proceeded to share what he would help out with and then there was some others things that we needed to take care of. After Pete and I talked about it, we decided to take him up on this GIFT!!! HUMBLED..is all I can say! HUMBLED!!! He did not have to do that for any of us. We did not expect that nor did we anticipate any of that happening. We all were giddy with excitement and called to share the news that we might be coming to the wedding!

So last Thursday we all (13 of us) boarded a plane and headed to Cancun. The resort that they were married at was all inclusive..which was amazing!







Thursday night we walked about 2 miles to a catamaran boat that was reserved just for this wedding party. There was music and some entertainment as we rode out into the ocean.


This is my sister, Lisa, groom Jeff, cousin Amy, Me and my sister Kristin.



My dear sweet Aunt Mary! Who people say could be my mom! :)


The wedding was Friday evening right on the sandy beach with the ocean in the background. It was GORGEOUS! Amy looked absolutely beautiful. I kept thinking that this whole setting is exactly AMY! Sandy beach, ocean waves crashing in the background, warm weather with friends and family. I think that all in all the wedding was PERFECT!! Congrats Jeff and Amy!



On Saturday we had a day to do nothing. That is just what the women did, nothing! Most of the men boarded a boat and went deep sea fishing and had a BALL! Wow! Pete took 168 pictures on this 6 hour fishing trip. I think that describes the experience just by hearing that number! When the guys came to shore they all were just beaming bearing their catches. This will be something that they talk about for years to come.
This is called Dolphin however when fileted it is Mahi Mahi. They actually did catch 4 of these fish. Isn't that cool?! :)

Here are all of the guys that went on the fishing trip. Uncle Dudley, Cousin Tom, Brother in Law Tony, Dad Steve, Uncle Mark and Pete.
The "smaller" fish is called Bonita. When this is fileted and cooked it is a kind of Tuna fish. They ended up catching 4 of those. This is the type of fish that Pete actually caught. If you look closely, Pete is holding a bag of the rest of the fish that are fileted. We were able to take them to one of the seven restaurants and they cooked it for our family! The two fish that they are holding up were sent back with the tour guides to either sell or to feed their family.



Sunday we boarded the plane to come home. By this time in the trip, we were really missing out little boy! However, I have to admit that it was super nice to sleep in and not have to worry about a schedule. I think that we enjoyed ourselves, immensely! We have already started saving our pennies for the next all inclusive vacation that we will take. Where we will go..no one knows...but when we do it will be amazing!

What a special event that was for all of us. I feel so blessed that we were able to be a part of this special occasion. I love the fact that, when we are old, we will be able to look back and talk about this memorable trip as a family! Thank you so much Grandpa for your precious gift!
Here is a picture of my Grandfather that helped make this whole trip possible.

Busy-NESS

We have just been all over the place, it seems. So I will do my best to update what is new with us!

My first "official" (btw last year he was in my belly:0) Mother's Day happened!

This was one of those days that filled up quickly and at the time I didn't spend much time reflecting. We made an early start to the day by going to a local buffet for breakfast with my side of the family. It was delicious! Then we headed off to Sunday school and church. The afternoon was filled with 3 High School graduation receptions of kids from our youth group. Then the evening was filled with time with Pete's side of the family. It was a whirlwind kind of a day. When we went to bed that night, Pete and I started talking about how 2 short years ago this day had a much different "feel" than it did today. Two years ago,on this "special" day, we recieved a call from the doctor that our first attempt with IVF had failed! A day that was supposed to be a joyous day of celebrating MOTHERHOOD, was slapping me in the face with a false reality that it may not happen for me! Oh how my heart is filled with so much more joy on THIS mother's day. We will forever remember that dreaded day we heard the news from the doctor but we hope to never forget the FAITHFULNESS of our God through all of that!

SITTING UP!
Cael decided that one day he wanted to sit up all by himself! This literally happened over night. My mom was watching him on a Monday and he wasn't able to do it independently. The very next day, I decided to try and give him something to look at while he sat up and this is what he did for me!

YAY! Success! Way to go little boy!
Pardon the dropping of the camera at the end of the video. It was hard to be within grabbing distance and get a video!

WALKING!
In his walker! Wow this kid is all over the place when it comes to using this thing. We have so much fun watching him speed around in the house and the garage. Cael loves to be outside so I decided one day I would take him in his beloved walker to the garage to let him get some exercise and fresh air. He had a ball!

You should see him chase after his 3 year old cousin in this thing! It is quite comical!

We have loved every mintue of this little guy and what he has brought to our family. His beeming smile warms my heart like nothing else. His silly faces and noises make us laugh, daily. What a joy it is to be called his MOM! I pray daily for wisdom and knowledge to be the MOTHER he needs me to be. I can't wait to see what the future Mother's Day will hold!

Easter

I love this kid!!!!

I know and believe that Easter is about far more than bunnies and easter eggs but every lil boy needs an easter basket!



BECAUSE HE LIVES, I CAN FACE TOMORROW.
BECAUSE HE LIVES, ALL FEAR IS GONE.
AND I KNOW, HE HOLDS THE FUTURE.
LIFE IS WORTH THE LIVING
JUST BECAUSE HE LIVES.

Baby Dedication

Here is a photo that was taken during a service where Pete and I dedicated Cael to the Lord. This was a time where we were charged as parents to raise Cael to know and love the Lord. It was a time where our pastor encouraged us to teach Cael to know Jesus as his Lord and Savior. We had a large portion of our family in attendance at this service. I couldn't help but get teary eyed to look out and see the support from our family! To think that they have all been along side of us through this journey of Cael's arrival. Now they sit to support us once again in this blessed event.

Our prayers have already started, that God would give us WISDOM and KNOWLEDGE to take on the task of rasing him to love Jesus.


Here is a photo I get chills at when I see it. This photo is special because the other couple that stands next to us on this same day has been blessed beyond measure as well. These dear friends of ours have had their own struggle with infertility and have been down a very familiar road of heartache. However today they stand there next to us with two precious little boys from Korea! . The oldest one came about 2 years ago and the littlest one came just months ago. We stand together as families that have seen God move in mighty ways to bring these precious boys to our lives. We can't help but devote our life to the one the brought them to us.
Thank you Lord Jesus for these blessings.