For brothers birthday we celebrated with a lion theme! It was fun to celebrate his first year! Hard to believe that it has been a year and yet it feels like so much longer all at the same time. He is so much fun and his little personality is starting to shine! He was pretty fired up about the cupcake! I made a little mini cupcake to give him (not a fan of huge messes) and he proceeded to cram the whole cupcake in his mouth! Amazing! It took him a while to chew it up well but he was one happy camper!

We dance a lot at our house so when I stumbled upon this it hit deep! I had to pass it along. There is a music video and then a little clip of him (Steven Curtis Chapman) explaining the story behind the song. Grab a box of Kleenex on your way to the website! Happy Dancing!!!

http://www.stevencurtischapman.com/cinderella.htm

I wish that I could show you proof that Cai is cutting his first tooth but alas the camera has gone on a holiday to Cannon for a little fix (it decided that it constantly needed new batteries even when it had fresh new ones). I could use Brad’s camera but then I would have to wait for him to pull the pictures off his camera as he is the only one who has the software on his computer (I am not a patient person). Take my word though there is a terrible tooth protruding and it is causing some serious pain and some intense crying in the evening hours.

Cai had his first little playgroup this week! We had two friends over Cana who is a week younger than Cai and Noah who is a month younger than Cai. The babies had a great time just being themselves paying no attention whatsoever to each other. Cai even slept through most of it. We laid them all side by side to take some pictures and he just continued to snooze away. He is a funny guy and quite use to sleeping through whatever party his sister is throwing at the time. Cana and Noah were very awake and just gazing around. It was sweet to be with friends and chat a little. Charis did a wonderful job! I had wondered how the time would go but really wanted her to be apart and start learning about how she can have friends as well as Cai. She was a great big sister and played well alongside the babies.

Within the last week I have begun feeding Cai Rice Cereal. It is always such a huge deal as the food begins it signals so much! He is growing out of babyhood and these are the first official steps of weaning. Not just weaning but weaning him from his over protective mommy to be an adult, to be his own little self. Oh parenthood! I know…a little deep! It doesn’t help though that the first week of Rice Cereal he has decided to go longer in between feedings as well. My mommy heart! He is still figuring out the whole swallow the food thing and he is a mighty big fan of blahing it out (especially just when you think that he has swallowed and you are most unprepared to catch the stream that flows). Charis has greatly enjoyed this week and really loves helping Cai eat his cereal (there is usually spoon jabbing involved but she is getting there). You forget all the little things as they grow so quickly. Many times as I am feeding Cai I have a flashback to feeding Charis. Why do they grow so quickly. Alas!

He did it! Cai took his first roll this past week from his back to his tummy! The kiddos and I were playing in Charis’s room and Cai had been rockin’ a bit and I thought that he was getting pretty close. The next time I looked up he was on his side and Charis ran across the room to stop him! Yep, that is right she caught him in mid roll and pulled him back onto his back. I was so sad! The poor guy had worked so hard to get to his side only to have his ever so helpful sister pull him back. I had a little chat with Charis and explained that he was learning to roll and that it was a good thing. Charis and I continued playing and the next thing I knew Cai was at it again and he did it this time (as I held big sis back)! I was so excited for him. It is sad as he is growing but exciting that soon he will be able to stand his ground with big sister! After all my excitement Charis looked at me and said, “Mama, I can roll to!”

Cute little outfits huh? You will never guess where they are from (well, I would not of anyway)! Nope they are not from a boutique or even Gap Kids they are from Wal-mart! Can you believe it? They are by George and they are fully organic as well. Wild huh! There was also a cute little gorilla for boys and the tags say that there is a whale outfit which I am sad that our store did not have. There is also a girls line which I only saw the elephant but I am sure that there are some other cute animals for the girls as well. They also had Wal-mart prices at just under $6 a piece. They were just to fun to pass up!

It is amazing to me how fast and yet how slow this first month has past! Cai is such a huge blessing to our family and we are enjoying getting to know the incredible wonderful him. Charis seems to be adjusting as now she loves to check on him, give him his passey and she will even love on him a bit. It has definitely been an adjustment but such a precious gift. I am definitely growing and learning so much about me and the members of our little family. These little ones just seem to grow so fast which makes me not want to blink in fear that I might miss something!

Our house is slowly but surely turning blue! We have been a pink household for so long but with the time of Cai’s arrival approaching and the grandmothers in full swing things are definitely turning to blue. The sweet ladies in my circle at church had a small shower for us which was a blessing this week! It is fun to see the little boy clothes and try to imagine Cai in them. Then there is all the wonderful practical items that they have come out with since Charis’s birth.

Charis is starting to understand a little bit more about Cai. She loves seeing my growing belly and touching it while saying, “Cai” over and over again. She will even give him kisses every now and then. The other day she pointed to her tummy and said, “Cai” so we had a chat about how Cai is just in Mama’s tummy. I added the bumpers to Cai’s bed as well over the weekend which had come off of Charis’s bed when she out grew them. She seemed excited even though they were once her bumpers. I explained to her that they would keep Cai safe while sleeping so that he would not bump his head. Now she talks about, “Cai’s bumpers, no bump head!”. It is neat to see her catching on little by little.

I am very anxious for his arrival even though Brad reminds me that we still have a good wait ahead of us. I am just ready for him to be here and us all to live life together. I am just excited to see what that will look like. I know that the Lord will carry us through all the transitions but I am just ready to live it. I am learning to live these days to the fullest not wishing them away though. My time with Charis is very sweet and I cannot believe that we are quickly approaching birthday number two! Wow! Maybe the pink will win out yet. I am very thankful for both of the kiddos and even though blue is not my most favorite color it is sweet to see glimpses of it around the house now!

I love burp cloths! We used tons with Charis as there is always something coming out or leaking somewhere. Personalized burp cloths are the best so I have been busy making some for Cai. You can do so much with just a simple white cloth…who knew! Here are just a few of the personalized ones that I have done so far and I am hoping to make some cute little critters as well. I will keep you updated as long as I do not get distracted from this project as well! Oh, check out the black at the bottom of the picture and that is Cai stretching to get in the shot of his burp cloths!