Lazy Summer Sundays

Today was a beautiful summer day & we had a good time! After church, we had brunch & then went home & napped! Got to love those sunday afternoon naps!! This afternoon, we spent most of our time outside enjoying the weather.

Caden loves his new swing....

attached to the new swing set that is FINALY finished!!

We already love it & love that we have a big shady backyard to play in!

I fell in love with this huge oak tree the moment I saw it & still can't believe that I have a tree this big & beautiful in my backyard!

Daddy & Caden playing cars!
Caden is definitely an outside boy & has so much fun!

He is pushing it...trying to walk!

We watered flowers in the front yard & Caden enjoyed getting sprinkled by the hose too!

Getting wet & loving it!

He goes up & down these steps & has no fear at all!

Ok Mom- I'm ready to go in now!! (Look at that muddy bottom!)
Time for a bath!! Let's go swimming in mommy's big bathtub.

Who me? Dirty?

Splish- splash. Water Baby!

Caden LOVES bath time!! Can you tell?

I follow a blog that I love called Kelly's Corner. Every Friday she hosts a tour of a room in your house & this will be my first week to participate!! With my kitchen under construction, it leaves the rest of my rooms in a mess with dishes stacked every where!! Anyway...I love how my nursery turned out! It is in sweet shades of pale green & yellow. When we started getting the nursery ready, we already knew that our birth mom was expecting a boy but in the back of our minds, we wanted to stay neutral just in case God had another plan.

So... welcome to Caden's Nursery!!

The birth grandmother mailed us this print to hang on the wall before he was born. This print had special meaning to her & she wanted something from her to go in his room so he would always know he was loved by her. It is a guardian angel leading a little boy & girl over a worn bridge in a storm. She thought it reminded her of us & I think it is very special!

Here is the bookshelf that I ordered from Pottery Barn. I love it & it holds all of his books. The rocking chair below was replaced by a new light green chenille rocker/recliner that was a gift from my parents right before he was born. It is so comfy & there is a lot of rockin going on in that chair!

Our schnauzer, Shelby, had no idea what was coming!!

I got all of these balloon valances at Target & ironed on coordinating ribon detail to make them look a little more custom.

We painted the built in dresser to match the antique yellow furniture I had from when I was single. I also painted the changing table which was a Craig's List special!

This chandelier is so special. It hung in my parent's very first home & then over my grandmother's dining room table for years. When her house was being sold, I asked for it & knew that I wanted to save it for my baby's nursery someday. I added the green gingham shades.

The bedding is Yellow Froggy be Brandee Daniel & matches the room so well!

Look at this precious baby all snuggled up in his room!!! Sleeping soundly!!



Thanks for visiting!!!!

Busy Memorial Day Weekend

My Mom's Birthday was Friday & I decided to surprise her with a quick trip to the BIG "D"!! I am always looking for an excuse to go there & I scored an awesome hotel room on priceline for $35 & we were on the road.... Can you tell that I REALLY like traveling? Also, I think that we do it so much that Caden really likes it too! He came along- just the 3 of us!!

Once we arrived, our first stop was birthday lunch at our favorite Tea Room in Plano called Into My Garden Tea Room. It was so delicious & we had lots of fun shopping the downtown area. I got the best baby sling ever called a "Yummy Mummy Wrap." You can read more about it here: http://www.yummymummywraps.blogspot.com/ I had been looking for something that Caden couldn't flip out of & that he didn't mind & this was it!! It is so comfortable & he loves riding in & has already fallen asleep twice in it! This was great for shopping too!

Friday night we went to one of my favorite special occasion restaurants & had a great dinner at The Melting Pot. It is a fondue restaurant & we dipped away in our cheese, cooked our meats & veggies in a delicious broth & had all kinds of yummy stuff to dip in chocolate for dessert. Mom & I loved it & Caden had fun too!

The next morning we did more shopping & stopped by THE BEST tortilla factory ever called Luna's for some fresh homemade tortillas to go. These are so great & there is a lady there that hand rolls these!! YUM & David was so excited to get these as a little souvenir!

On Monday, we celebrated Memorial Day at my parent's house. My Dad grilled ribs & chicken & I was assigned a dessert. I have a HUGE love for cookbooks but often just end up making up recipes & don't use my cookbooks. But....I decided to pull out one & I found a great & easy recipe for a lemon pound cake. It was so so good & I also made homemade vanilla ice cream in our new Cuisinart ice cream maker I got at the garage sale for $5 last week.

Such a pretty pound cake!!

Look at that lemony goodness!!

Caden is eating everything in sight & he thoroughly enjoyed his meal & required a bath afterwards! He had baked beans in his hair & potato salad on his nose!

Caden enjoyed playing in his new ball pit!

Relaxing on the front porch!!

Hope everyone had a Happy Memorial Day!!

P.S. The Kitchen is ALMOST done!!! Pics to come!

My Kitchen Day 2

My kitchen is a wreck but I am starting to see progress!! Our other contractor couldn't finish & so now we have had to hire a new one. This picture is after Day 2. We started this project back in February so I am so so ready to have this completed!!! I am thinking of throwing a party just to celebrate the kitchen completion...if that day ever comes!!! I will keep updating!

My 8s- I have been tagged so I am keeping this going.

8 things I am looking forward to:
1. School being out next week
2. Florida vacation this summer
3. Caden turning 1 years old in July (a little sad too that he is getting so big so fast!)
4. Starting my new part time job at an outpatient rehab clinic in June
5. Getting to see my completely remodeled kitchen soon
6. Being able to relax & eat BBQ on Memorial day
7. Celebrating my mom's birthday tomorrow with a shopping trip
8. Adopting another baby someday

8 things I did yesterday
1. Ate breakfast (Honey Nut Cheerios)
2. Ate dinner at Chic Fil A with the family (BOGO with church bulletin on Wed nights!)
3. Went to girl's bible study at church
4. Went to a meeting at my new job
5. Shopped at Target & Walmart
6. Gave Caden a bath
7. Rocked Caden to sleep
8. Carpool

8 things I wish I could do
1. Go to Hawaii this year
2. Have an unlimited budget to do all the home improvement projects at once
3. Get pregnant
4. Know what the future holds for Jade
5. Eat whatever I want and still lose weight
6. Win the lottery (but I don't play...)
7. Have a full time personal assistant
8. Have more time in the day...

8 shows I watch
1. Grey's Anatomy- this is really the only show that I watch but I will list others that I occasionally see so I can do the 8 thing...
2. Private Practice
3. Survivor
4. An Adoption story-TLC
5. House Hunters
6. Paula Deen
7. House
8. Big Brother

8 people I tag:
1. Jen
2. Mary
3. Tina
4. Tricia
5. Lori
6. Kristen
7. Beth
8. Abby

Garage Sale Finds!!!

I have been loving the great garage sale weather that we have been having here. Not too hot, but pretty sunny days. I love love getting great bargains & LOVE going to garage sales! I thought that I would share some recent finds. I know it looks like I only shop for Caden, but I do buy other things too. Just this past weekend, I got some really cute curtains for my soon to be completed kitchen (the new contractor starts tomorrow- the old one who started the job in FEBRUARY is out of comission)!! Can we say PATIENCE?? I also got a brand new Cuisanart Ice Cream & Yogurt maker for $5- retails for $60!! I can't wait to make homemade strawberry Ice Cream on my porch this summer! Below is my cute model showing off his new Step 2 table & chairs for future snack time & art projects!!

Price? $5.00!!

I got a whole package (unopened) of Huggies Diapers in Caden's size for $1.00!!

This great Step 2 car costs $2.50 & looks like it has never been used!

Finally, Caden's very favorite find is this train. My house is being overtaken by baby toys & I got this with the full intention of taking it to my parent's house so that he could play with it when he goes to visit. However, he LOVES this so it is parked in my living room. This plays music & honks & Winnie the Pooh even talks & Caden has started taking a few steps while pushing this around. This may be the toy that gets him walking. He waves to everyone on this & it is too cute!

Although I would say the cost of this is= Priceless- It costs me $5.00!!

I have learned, especially in this economy- Don't buy baby toys new just shop at garage sales & you can find almost anything & be proud of the great buy that you got!! One thing however, that we have bought new recently, is a Skyfort Cedar Play Set. It is being installed now & will hopefully be completed soon!! It should look like this when it is done!! I am really hoping it looks like this. These things come in about a million pieces!! Caden & Jade are looking forward to playing soon!! Now I have posted twice in one week! I am doing better!

May is rushing by...

It has been THREE weeks since my last post & the time has flown by! They say "time flies when you're having fun" and I guess it is so true!! Some days are more fun than others but I am trying to enjoy the moments. At the beginning of the month, David & I were able to get away by ourselves for the night & so went to a B & B in Jefferson, Tx. It was a nice getaway & we enjoyed relaxing, sleeping & spending some much needed quiet time together! We ate dinner at the Stillwater Inn which was so good & stayed at The Hale House B & B & it was good too.

Shopping In Downtown Jefferson. One thing that is making our lives so busy right now is Jade is playing softball & David is helping coach her team. It is a lot of fun but with two to three games per week, I feel like I am running a chauffeur service nonstop! David loves the coaching & is enjoying every minute of it & Jade, who has never been in any sports, is showing her natural talent & is doing so great!! I know that a lot of other people have multiple kids in many activities but since last year at this time it was just David & I & now we have a totally different lifestyle, I think it is a more drastic change to get used to. We are making it though!!

Jade & her favorite coach! Her biggest fans!
My brother Casey & his wife, Sarah & their sweet baby Kailey came in town for Mother's Day & we enjoyed getting to spend time with them! Caden & Kailey are getting to the age where they are starting to have more fun together & I think that they are going to have a lot of fun playing together pretty soon!
Aren't they sweet?? Casey & Sarah announced to everyone on Mother's Day that they were expecting #2 & just today we found out they had lost the baby. I know that this must be such a hard time so PLEASE lift them up in your prayers! I have not had to ever experience the heartbreak of a miscarriage but I know the empty feeling of wanting a child so badly & not fully understanding God's plans for me in that area. As I got the awesome opportunity to celebrate my FIRST Mother's Day this year, I can't help but think of the many years that the day brought sadness to me as I waited for God's plans to be revealed. I couldn't have asked for anything more as I see the beautiful smile on my sweet baby's face. I continue to pray for all "moms" in waiting as I know the wait is sometimes long & hard & I pray that God would reveal His plans that He has for you soon! I also think of our birth mom on this day & thank her for her unselfish decision. She recently told us that there were 3 girls in front of her in line at the abortion clinic & they were getting ready to start her IV when she changed her mind. Thank GOD she changed her mind, that God intervened because Our life would not be the same without our beautiful, sweet Caden! I pray that God will keep changing minds & protect those unborn babies! On a happier note, David did such a great job on Mother's Day & got me a dozen roses, a massage & had a sweet DVD made of Caden's life up to this point. It is such a keepsake! I am also so blessed & thankful for MY mother! Although, we have not always seen eye to eye- she is a loving & giving Mom & I am happy to be living so close to her again! Isn't He Adorable?? Finally, I am so blessed to be a part of a wonderful Sunday School Class at Broadmoor Baptist! It is such a great group of prayer warriors, encouragers, and friends!! The girls got together for a Girl's Night Out last week & we had a blast! We had dinner at Macaroni Grill & then went back to Mandi's for massages, pedicures, her grandma's "Better than sex cake" and girl talk! It was so fun!! My mom came over this past weekend & we got some great deals at garage sales!! This is my favorite Saturday pastime & this past Saturday did not disappoint! I will post more on that soon! Hope everyone has a great week!