Quick Update

We went back to the Dr. today to see if Caysen has gained weight over the past month since he's been having trouble keeping his food down. He is up to 14 lbs. 2 oz. which means he only gained 3 oz. in a month and 10 oz. since we got home at the end of August. So, the Dr. has decided we should go ahead with a few different tests.

Over the next two weeks, Caysen will have an MRI, a series of X-Rays of his shunt and line, and a UGI Swallow study. We are hoping and praying that we get some answers soon so Caysen doesn't have to go through any more medical procedures.

Prayers would be greatly appreciated. Thank You!

Everybody Out of the Pool

We took Caysen swimming a few days ago. He loved it! We started out in the baby pool, then floated along the lazy river, and Caysen kicked and splashed the whole time. I would post pictures, but the old point and shoot isn't getting as much attention as the new camera, so we didn't realize the battery was dead until Lance tried to snap the first picture.

We were all having a lot of fun...and then Caysen puked! He does that a lot unfortunately :( The pool wasn't very crowded and we happened to be off in a corner where no one saw it, but I thought I should probably tell a life-guard rather than pretending that it didn't happen.

The life-guard made everyone get out of the pool, so Lance, Caysen and I tried to stay casual acting as if we had no idea what was going on. Then Lance said, "I think this is our cue to leave," and we headed for the showers.

So, if you live in our area, and wondered why you had to get out of the pool for over 30 minutes on Saturday afternoon, now you know. My apologies ;)

Sugar Plum Fairy

Lance's parents took us to see The Nutcracker Ballet a couple of weeks ago.

I would say it was Caysen's first ballet, but he slept through the whole thing so I don't know if it counts.
I think going to a ballet is one of those things the men (and baby boys) do to keep the ladies happy ;)

Caysen's First Snow

Sixteen.

Caysen, you are 16 months old!

-First of all, whatever you are doing, whether it be eating, playing, or snuggling with mama or daddy, you require music. This means that I spend a lot of my day singing. I think I have sung Jingle Bells, Silent Night, and Deck the Halls at least a thousand times each this Christmas season, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

-When Lance and I have both worn our voices out, you'll accept Itunes ;)

-You are really enjoying your Jumperoo lately.

-You want whatever Mama and Daddy are eating. As soon as we start to eat, you smack your little lips together and look up at us like a little baby bird.

-You are surprisingly uninterested in the Christmas tree. You think it's ok to look at, but you are not a fan of the texture of the needles.

-Your current favorite toy is not a toy at all; if we give you a water bottle, you'll be entertained for hours!

-You have started reaching for Daddy. You just love the special time you have together in the morning before he goes to work, and in the evening after he gets home :)

-You have tried shredded cheese, cream cheese, pizza sauce, pasta, and jelly...and you approve of all of them.

-You have tried mashed potatoes and you weren't a fan.

-You are still a GREAT sleeper! Eleven or twelve hours a night and two naps during the day, we can't complain.

-You are completely ok with just being laid down in your crib when it's time to go to sleep, but Mama has been rocking you to sleep which you are ok with too ;)

-You are constantly kicking your little legs; they only stop moving when you are asleep.

-You experienced snow for the first time yesterday, and you thought it was pretty fun :)

Our sweet Caysen, we love you so very much!! What a light you are in our lives! Every day is so so so sweet because we get to share it with you :)

Christmas Elf

We went to my brother and sister-in-law's last weekend for my SIL's baby shower and while we were there, we had a little pre-Christmas. Lance ended up having to work at the last minute, so it was just Caysen and I (and my parents).
Jen and I both got Kindles and we were so excited!!

Oh my, look at this adorable little elf! Could he be any cuter!?!

Baby Steps

I got a new camera a few weeks ago, a Canon Rebel T2i to be exact. It has lots of buttons and dials so to say it intimidated me when I pulled it out of the box would be an understatement. First off, I read the manual because I knew I would get nowhere without it. Then I started taking pictures ;I just shot in auto mode at first, to get a grasp on the basic functionality of the camera (and because I was too scared to try manual mode).

I put the camera down for a few days, not ready to dive into it any more. Then, I read this post and it gave me the courage to begin the journey that will be learning my camera. I realized two things that changed my perspective completely:

1. I should not compare myself to anyone but myself. Hopefully over time, I get better, but I should focus on developing my own personal style and not worry about what someone else is able to do.

2. I won't master photography overnight, but I have to start somewhere. If I just take it one thing at a time, eventually I might just be pretty good.

With my newfound courage and determination, I got the camera back out and decided to tackle my first learning project...blurring backgrounds.

Here are my first manual-mode, blurred background images:

There are probably a million and one things wrong with them, but look how blurry those backgrounds are ;)
I didn't edit these photos so you (and I) can see exactly what I was looking at through the camera lens.
I'm going to keep working on this background blurring business for a little while before I move on to the next step.

I think I'm off to a pretty good start :)

Broken Hearts

I often wonder if Caysen's birth family ever looks at this blog. I gave them the address, but I don't know if they look. I wonder if they think about Caysen, if they miss him, if they wish it could have been different...

I don't know the answers to these questions, but it still makes me feel just a little bit guilty. We love Caysen SOOOO much, and we get to act on that love every day with snuggles, smooches, and smiles. I guess it makes me feel guilty that we get to enjoy him so much while their hearts ache to be with him.

And it's not just Caysen's birth family, but there are families all over the world who have had to make the same difficult choice. I can't imagine how hard it must be for them. It is hard to accept that our joy comes at such a great cost to others.

I hope it brings Caysen's family at least a little joy to see how loved he is, and maybe just maybe, the pain will lessen in time.

Tech

Our trip to Texas was full of firsts for Caysen, including his first college football game. It was chilly, and it was bed time, so he might not actually know he went anywhere, but it was a lot of fun!!

Here we are at the game. Caysen is somewhere in the mound of blankets in front of me ;)

The Red Raiders were able to hold off the Cougars; it's always more fun when the home team wins!!

On My Mind

The day after Thanksgiving, Christmas preparations began. We were trying to make these Martha Stewart ribbon stars:

As you can see, it wasn't working out so well:

I gave up pretty quickly and my mind went somewhere else:

He's always on my mind...

Maybe it's because he makes faces like this:

And this:

And this:
And this:

All within about six seconds ;)

Thankful.

We have been so incredibly blessed this year. God picked the perfect little boy for our family and we are so thankful!!

We are thankful always, but here are some pictures from the day dedicated to giving thanks:

The Hostess

Working Hard

Team Effort.

Let's Eat!

Caysen's first Thanksgiving meal.

No turkey or stuffing; how about one of his favorites, apple-cinnamon oatmeal :)



"Family"

Aunt Lori

This year for Thanksgiving, we went to Lance's sister's house.

Lori and Caysen finally got to meet; and it was love at first sight ;)

Caysen got to meet another one of his cousins too! If you haven't noticed, he has lots!!!

15

Caysen, you are 15 months old! Where has the time gone? We continue to love you more and more every day; who knew two people could love one little boy so much!?! As usual, you have changed so much over the last month (in most areas at least). Here's what you're up to:

You weigh 13 lbs 15 oz, yes, that's exactly what you weighed a month ago! We're working hard to help you eat and drink enough without puking so hopefully you'll start gaining again soon.

You are 26 inches long!

You love to scoot around the floor like a little inch-worm; cutest. thing. ever.

You love to eat apples, pears, and yogurt. We've given up on making you eat your veggies for now; we just want you to eat without puking up the entire contents of your stomach :(

We are getting you to laugh more and more, also the cutest thing ever!

You have TWO teeth! Your two bottom front teeth have come in over the past few weeks and uncle John thinks you'll be ready for steak soon ;)

You are much less interested in your hands these days, but you do like to hold them clasped, which is, you guessed it, the cutest thing ever!

When you are sitting in your high chair, you bob your head up and down and think it's hilarious. It makes it challenging to get any food in your mouth, but we think it's hilarious too, so we let it slide ;)

You wear 6-9 month clothes.

You are tough! When you get your shots, you cry for all of 10 seconds and then it's like it never happened. Or when you are scooting around and hit your head on a piece of furniture, you barely even whimper! I think we're going to have to watch out; you might be a little bit fearless ;)

You say da-da-da, and ba-ba-ba, and mmmmm (when we're feeding you). Lot's of jabbering, no actual words. We love hearing you talk in your sweet baby language :)

You still sleep all night in your own bed. Lately, you've started scooting around your crib when you wake up, so we never know where we might find you!

You love the Baby Bjorn, we put you in there and you just start kicking your legs and flapping your arms like crazy, grinning from ear to ear (as Aunt Trena says, smiling with your whole face and body too)!

You are starting to mimic us. If we clap, you clap. If we shake our heads, you shake your head. Monkey see, monkey do ;)

Loving you doesn't get old. Snuggling you doesn't get old. Staring into your sweet little eyes as you stare back definitely doesn't get old. We continue to be so thankful that we get to have you in our lives. Love you sweet boy :)

Haircut- Round 1

Here is a picture of Caysen a couple of weeks ago when he was really starting to need a haircut:

He really needed a haircut, it was actually in his eyes by the time I got around to cutting it this week.

Where did Caysen go? This is a teenager, not the little baby boy from the picture above: Thanks to my hair cutting skills, the poor guy also has a little bit of a "Dumb and Dumber" look going on ;) Especially when he makes this face:
I will be touching up his haircut, but it's not his favorite thing to endure, so I just did enough to make it look sort of normal and I'll touch it up once he gets over the trauma from the first round.
A. His hair really does grow to one side so it's partially an optical illusion that it's longer on one side.
B. It's only partially an optical illusion that his hair is longer on one side.
C. His hair is too thick to just trim around the edges anymore; it gives him the bowl cut/Dumb and Dumber look mentioned above.
D. I will no longer be giving Caysen haircuts ;)
E. He is still the cutest teenage Dumb and Dumber precious sweet baby boy ever!
F. The End.

Baltimore Family

We went to Baltimore last week to see my sister and her family. We got to check out a really fun place called Storyville, we went to my sister's toddler group, we went shopping, shopping, shopping, and we ate at a yummy Taiwanese restaurant! It was a busy week and we were worn out by the time it was over, but we had a really good time.

Here are some pictures from Storyville:

Roqaya

Karim

Caysen licked the floor...in public...and I didn't stop him! I don't know what's happening to me ;)


Super Baby!!!



We tried out my sister's Baby Bjorn, then we went out and bought one the next day. I don't know how I lived without one!!

Then we saw a sign that showed us how far we were from China:
It made us miss Taiwan...so we went to a Taiwanese restaurant and got noodles and bubble tea:
It made us feel a little bit better ;)
On the way home, the seat next to us was empty so Caysen got to use it as a bed. He slept for 2 hours of the 3 1/2 hour flight...it was GLORIOUS! Actually, Caysen is an awesome traveller, but it was still nice that he napped for a good chunk of our long flight.

We had a great time in Baltimore, but it always feels good to be home :)