working mommy.

~playing in the rain.

We survived our first week of mommy going back to work, and kaden going to *school*. Actually, it was only three days, and had you seen my face at any point in the week, you may have thought I had a serious eye infection because my eyes were completely swollen from crying, but other than that, yeah...we survived.

They say that Mommies have a worse time with going back to work than the little ones do, but I beg to differ. Kaden had such an easier time when he started daycare at 5 months (maybe because he didn't know what the hell was going on) than he did at 21 months. I made sure to transition him a few times the week before to get him more comfortable with the situation, but it really didn't seem to matter. Daddy dropped him off the first day and kaden spent the majority of the day wandering around looking for him and calling his name. Just that visual alone makes me a little misty. The next day, I attempted to be strong mommy and drop him off. The moment we pulled up to the house, kaden started to scream holy hell, and screaming "mommy, mommy, mommy". Which of course, made me cry....which is something that you really DON'T want to do when you drop your child off at daycare. The family is wonderful and called me each day to let me know exactly when he had calmed down, which definitely gave me a sense of peace. And each day we have picked him up, he has been having a ball playing with the other children. If he could only remember the fun he had the day before in the mornings!

We went out to celebrate Thursday night and took Kaden to the Old Spaghetti Factory. Kaden loved the trolley and all the fun chandeliers, and it's an amazing what a bargain it is for mediocre italian food! Yay for free ice cream!


~kaden on the trolley with daddy

On Saturday, we ventured up to Heritage Square, which is kind of a little amusement park and Victorian village combined. Kaden loved checking everything out and hangin with the family! It was the first day that really started to feel like fall, after temps have been in the 80's all week.


~gettin a lift from *unk bah*


~serious about his pumpkins


~sharing a funnel cake with papaw


~showing mamaw how the train runs.


~I didn't think kaden was going to go through with the ride on the train, since every toher time I have taken him, he has had a meltdown. So all 6 of us rode the train to support him, and it worked! He loved every second of it.

Kaden also went on his first ride ever! We attempted a few other rides before he decided that the "Kilimanjaro" was gonna be the one!

the entertainer

I'm kinda thinking kaden should make a guest appearance on Glee with these amazing vocals and incredible dance moves.

ps.I am so grateful we decided to keep this couch...even though it is not the most appealing to the eye, I think it makes a fabulous *jumping* couch for the time being.

Happy 21 Months Kaden!

~playing in the pumpkin patch at the harvest festival


Dear Kaden,

Happy Birthday Kaden! Today you are 21 months! And as I'm writing this, I realize that the next time we celebrate this 21 number, we will be clinking glasses and saying cheers with a different kind of beverage inside! But let's take our time thinking about that...shall we?

Right now, you LOVE to laugh, and even more, you LOVE to make others laugh! The look on your face is ccompletely priceless when you realize you have made someone smile. Your vocabulary is blowing up...you are just like a tape recorder and repeat everything that is said to you! I used to think I loved hearing you say all of these sweet new words, but now I am amazed at how you put them together. There is a dramatic pause in between words...such as BIG.......TRAIN. It's ridiculous and makes my heart swoon. Lately you have started to understand the meaning behind "please" and it makes it impossible to say *no* to you when you use it. I can tell already I am in big trouble.

You absolutely love books, but you DESPISE storytime. For some reason, mommy is slightly evil and continues to try out different storytimes, thinking THIS will be the one that you will love. But each and everytime we sit down with all of your friends in a circle, you look around and take it all in, and then scream bloody murder. So, my promise to you this month is No.More.Storytimes. I promise.

I start back to work next week and I know it will be a hard transition for both of us. Although, it will probably be much tougher for me than you. We found you a wonderful and nurturing team of woman to watch you while i am work, and so far, the daycare consists of all boys. I think you will be in heaven with this arrangement, though mommy thinks we need to spend our days off together hangin with some girly girls to give you a nice balance. I have truly loved being a stay at home mommy with you for the past five months...we have had so many fabulous adventures, and I have loved being able to witness every little moment with you. I will truly miss it.

It's hard to believe that your birthday is right around the corner, and in a few months you will be turning your absolute favorite number. I am going to spend the next few monmths relishing the moments with you and savoring these last moments of you being ONE!

I love you!

Love,
your mommy






~intrigued with the trumpet section


~going to the grocery store is much less painful thanks to this fun little car cart.




~how excited are YOU about snow?


~you love to *hang* from just about anything. I love this shot of you and "unk brah" hangin at City Park.



there is a certain laugh of yours that I only hear when you are playing with daddy...it melts my heart everytime.

TT Jena.

~Rocky Mountain National Park

I have been holding back writing a post about Jena's visit because I wanted to have her incredible pics to post along with it! This is only a handful of my favorites from her *collection*. She is such a talented photographer and I love how she is able to capture a moment with a quick click of her camera. Having her here with us in our new home made it officially feel like *home*. It was so comforting to have her with us and kaden really fell head over heels for his TT.







~we have almost thrown this couch out to the curb at least a dozen times, but if we did, what would we use for slides and fort fun?






















~we had to take Jena to the Wahoos across the street. kaden's favorite restaurant!

































~big train fail #2....after he got so excited to go on, we waited in line, bought tix, got super excited, this was his expression upon sitting down on the train.





~Jam session with Unk Braw and Auntie Suzanne






~little naked butt doing *bumps* good nite.


~Jena always makes sure no one is left out. She photographed our little furry monsters just as much as she did kaden.







~the leaves were just starting to turn in the mountains. so pretty!




~I love this shot of the airport...I am so smitten with the design of this airport and gabeen captured it beautifully!