1 month old

To my baby boy:
I can't believe you are already one month old! You have blessed your daddy and I beyond belief in the short time you have been in our world. I stare at you all the time in awe of what a little miracle you are. I still can't believe that we created you and you are all ours! You have forever changed our lives and we thank God everyday for you.

Here are a few things about you at one month old:
You love to eat. You are a little milk monster. When we take away your bottle, you make the funniest grunting noises. You don't like to have your diaper changed but you are getting better about it. You have the cutest little nose and the most beautiful lips. You love to cuddle with mommy on her chest. You are wearing newborn sizes but a lot of the stuff is still a little too big on you. You love when mommy rubs your forehead. Your favorite way to sleep is with your hands by your face. You are really strong and can hold your head up when you want to. You look a lot like your daddy. You like your bouncer seat and your swing. You are really gassy and make the funniest faces when you poop. You usually don't cry unless you are hungry. You don't like getting into your car seat but you love riding in the car. You are a pretty good sleeper and take the best naps. We are crazy in love with you and can't get enough.

We love you baby boy!
Love,
Mommy & Daddy

{beautiful photos courtesy of Candice Brooke Photography}

Caden James Arrives

On Tuesday morning, July 5th, I woke up at about 1 am with cramps. I decided to go back to sleep thinking they would just go away. About 5:45am, I woke up realizing that these cramps had started to feel like contractions and I was feeling them about every 10 minutes or so. I woke up Andrew and told him that I had been feeling these cramps now since 1 am. I had a Dr's appointment scheduled for that morning at 8:45 so I thought maybe we could just wait until we saw the Dr. to tell her about my pains. About 10 minutes later, I noticed they were getting more and more intense. I was definitely in labor. We scrambled to pack our hospital bag (it wasn't packed because I didn't think he would come a week early) and get our stuff together. I called my Dad right away because I knew he was about to step on a plane for a week long business trip. Sure enough, when I called, he was boarding the plane. He didn't know what to do since he thought maybe I was having false labor pains (my mom had them with me). I told him to go ahead and go to Seattle and to call us when he landed and we would update him as to what was going on. Since its a short flight, we figured he could jump on the next flight back home if I was in fact going into labor.

Andrew and I jumped in the car and headed to the hospital and arrived at about 7:45am. I was getting more and more uncomfortable as the contractions got closer together and became more and more painful. When we got to the hospital, they were about 4 minutes apart. We checked into our room and the nurse came in to see if I was dialated at all. I was at 5cm already!! I couldn't believe it. I was definitely in labor and going to meet our little man sooner than later. Around 9:45am, I decided to go ahead and have the epidural before the contractions got any more painful. It wasn't the most enjoyable experience but definitely worth it - as soon as the medicine started flowing, I felt a 100 times better. Poor Andrew almost fainted while watching me get the epidural - those needles are so long! After some crackers and water, he felt much better! In the meantime, my mom, brother Jason, Cristina and Andrew's mom arrived at the hospital to see how I was doing. We waited another couple of hours and around 2pm, the nurse said I was dialated to 10cm and could start pushing in about an hour. My dad called Andrew when he landed in Seattle to see how it was going. When he found out I was definitely in labor, he said he would do everything he could to jump on the next plane back to try to get to the hospital before Caden was born.

At 3pm, everyone cleared the room except for the nurse and Andrew and I started pushing. Through all the contractions and pushing, Andrew was amazing. He helped me to relax and kept telling me how great I was doing. I pushed for about 1 hour 45 minutes when the baby's head started to crown. The nurse called my Dr., who thankfully was across the street. As soon as she got there, I pushed a few more times and at 5:35 pm Caden made his entrance into the word. He weighed 6 lbs, 4 ounces and measured 19 inches long. They immediately cleaned him off and laid him on my chest. I can't even describe the feeling I had when I saw him for the first time. He was perfect! We got to enjoy the first 45 minutes with just the three of us - our new family. Andrew and I were overwhelmed with the love we felt for our little guy. After 9 months of patiently waiting, we couldn't have more blessed! We are so thankful that Caden was born healthy and that I didn't experience any complications during the delivery.

After we had our bonding time with Caden, our family came into the room to meet him. The last person to enter the room was my dad. I was emotional when I saw him because I was so thankful he made it back in time to be there when he was born. It was so neat to watch everyone hold Caden and see him for the first time. We are so blessed to be surrounded by such amazing friends and family who love us and baby Caden so much. The rest of the stay in the hospital was pretty good. All the nurses were awesome and it helped that our room had an ocean view :) We got to go home on Thursday morning and we couldn't have been more excited to start our new life at home with Caden.

Caden is now a little over 2 weeks old and we love him so much! He has been such a great baby so far. We are just in awe of the miracle that God blessed us with and absolutely love being a mommy and daddy.

37 weeks

{Just a quick pic of my belly at 37 weeks. }

Oh and on a side note...today is my last Monday in the office for 3 months!!! Woo Hoo!!

Nursery Pics

So although Caden's nursery isn't completely done, I am posting a few pics of some of the elements we incorporated into our little man's room. Once it's finished (hopefully in the next few weeks) I will post some pics of the finished product. If anyone has any ideas on what else would go good with this stuff, please feel free to leave a comment! I can always appreciate some good decorating advice.

{I'm making roman shades similar to these}

{a print we ordered from Etsy - I adore it!}

{ Another print we ordered to go above the changing table - found here}

{A rug for in front of the crib - I found it online here}



{Caden's bedding - found here}

Our 2 Year Anniversary

Yesterday, the hubby and I celebrated our 2 year anniversary. I can't believe that we have been married 2 years already! We have been together now for a total of 8 years and it has been the best 8 years ever! On our wedding day, I didn't think I could love him any more than I did at that moment - I was wrong. The more time we spend together and the more of life's ups and downs we share, the more I fall in love with him. He is hard working, supportive, kind, loving, and of course, incredibly handsome. He makes me strive to be a better person. He is my best friend and I can't imagine what my life would be like without him.

As we our approaching the last 5 weeks of my pregnancy, we are getting so excited to call each other mommy and daddy to baby Caden. I can only imagine how it's going to change our lives and strengthen our bond as a married couple. We know we won't always have all the answers, but we know we can get through anything together.

God has truly blessed me with such an amazing man and I couldn't be more thankful and proud to call him my husband.

Ryan and Cristina's Engagement

A few weeks ago, my brother Ryan and his girlfriend Cristina got engaged! The four of us went to dinner and after we took a walk down by the funzone on Balboa. We walked out onto a dock, where Ryan got down on one knee and proposed. Cristina was totally surprised and since we were there, I captured some great pictures of the proposal on my camera. After, we surprised her again by bringing her back to our house where my family and a few friends were waiting with champagne and dessert.

We are sooo excited for the two of them and couldn't be happier to have Cristina officially join our family.

Mike & Kait get hitched

On Saturday, we got to witness some of our closest friends tie the knot! Mike and Kait got married and held their reception at the Tustin Hills Racquet Club. The ceremony was held outside, and although it was pretty windy, it was beautiful! We have known Mike and Kait since high school and it has been so fun watching their relationship grow over the past 7 years. A lot of the guests at the wedding are past co-workers (now close friends) of mine and Andrew’s through Chicks Sporting Goods. It is such a fun group of friends and we had a blast celebrating with all of them. It was also nice going to a wedding as a guest and not having to work for a change! Caden definitely enjoyed the music as I could feel him kicking and squirming while I was on the dance floor. We ended the night with sparklers as the bride and groom made their grand exit.

The photographer already posted some of the images from their wedding and they are stunning! I can’t wait to see the rest of them. Congratulations Mike and Kait – We are so excited for you guys and can’t wait to watch your relationship grow as husband and wife. We love you both! Welcome to the married club!

**On a side note – we had to drive separately to the wedding so we ended up leaving Andrew’s car overnight (since he had a few drinks). Andrew said by to me this morning on his way out the door to work. A few moments later, he walked back in the house and said “Ummm…we forgot to go pick up my car yesterday”. HA! I can’t believe the whole day went by without either one of us remembering to get his car. I guess we were so sidetracked with laying out by the pool and having a yummy dinner in Laguna that we totally forgot! Ooops!