New cousin!!

Congrats to Ryan, Liz and Elle for their new addition to the family! Brooks Price Brewer made her debut on May 28th at 4:30pm. Everyone is doing great! We cannot wait to meet her, although it probably won't be until July:(

This is the only pic I have...I will post a new one up soon! She is so cute!

7 lbs 1 ounce

20 1/2inches long

Caden at 42 weeks

It has become more difficult to take these weekly pictures...the little bugger is so active that I can barely get him to sit still on the chair for 10 seconds! Almost a two person job! Here are a few pics of me trying to take the weekly pic!

(Mark thought he looked like me when I was little)

Trying an orange for the first time! He absolutely loved it and got mad when I took it away from him!

Gnawing on a carrot to make my gums feel better!

Congrats Tony and Jessi!

Jessi and Tony Bergman welcomed their second baby into the world on Friday, May 22nd.
Grant Anthony Bergman
7lbs 13ounces
20 1/2 inches long

meeting Grant

Mark keeping Caden busy in the hospital room.

The family is now home from the hospital and are all doing great!

Congrats Tony, Jessi and Josie!

And a few random shots from the weekend. Here is Nia wanting to get outside and attack the two Mallard ducks in our yard.

On Saturday we went to Russia (OH) for a highschool graduation party for Derek Francis. Congrats Derek! It was great to see a lot of the Francis clan there. Here is Caden with his cousin Hazel Francis...she was born on Aug 5th, one day before Caden. Caden had fun crawling around with her and the other little ones, but this is the only pic that I captured.

41 Weeks and a first tooth!

Caden and the first time on his swing in our yard! Thanks Grandpa Joe for putting it up for me!

Nia scratching her back on the hammock.

Caden swinging on the hammock with his stick.

Caden playing with a stick...and then there was Nia.

At Ward Park in Versailles with Amy, Rob, Andrew and Isaac Winner.

Saying hi to his buddy

After 9 1/2 months, Caden's first tooth popped through yesterday and I can feel it today. I thought he was crawling a little more taller today...he is so proud of his new tooth! I will try and post a picture of the new pearly white, but no promises...he will not let me even touch his tooth with my finger. We will see who will win here! Turns out Caden wins! It is near impossible to try and get a look at the that tooth. This is my first attempt...maybe I will wait until it is a little more noticeable.

Here is Caden for his 41 week picture.

THE GARDEN

I am done planting the garden for the sseason. It is a bittersweet time of year, because I can sometimes dread preparing the garden and seeds/plants...but then I love to wait and watch everything grow. It is so much fun to see what will succeed and then figure out what to cook/make with our produce! So much fun. My gardening love is definitely something my parents instilled in me since I was little. At our old house in Hudson, my parents had a great garden that we were lucky enough to help out with. We would help pick asparagus, carrots and tomatoes among other things. If you get the chance and can grow some veggies in a garden or even just a pot, it is so much fun for kids to watch the little plants grow. I can remember helping mom pick the veggies when they were ready...nothing tastes better that a tomato right off the vine that is warmed by the sun. So ever since then, I have always loved growing vegetables. This is our 4th garden at this house and we are hoping that it is the best one yet! We planted tomatoes, banana peppers, jalepeno peppers, red peppers, cucumbers, zucchini, eggplant, green beans, lettuce, garlic, snap peas, asparagus and blueberry bushes. The garlic has been the easiest so far, we planted it in October last year and just wait and watch them grow. I almost forgot, mom also helped me plant lavendar, sage, basil, chives, dill, rosemary, thyme and mint (regular and apple)on the side of the house. So now the hard but fun part is waiting to eat the fruits (or veggies) of our labor. Another new thing with the garden this year is that we put newspaper and grass clippings down on the entire garden to A)keep the garden more moist and most importantly B)keep me from weeding all summer! Weeding is my least favorite task outdoors. So we look forward to delicious veggies this summer and fall and sharing them with all of you!

Dad and Caden swinging at Duke Park in Troy before Dad's game. I cannot wait until he enjoys going down the slides. He went down by himself, but I think the static freaked him out a little bit. After he got to the bottom, I think he realized that he had fun!

Lunch on the patio with mom. Yesterday a chunk of granny smith apple was his favorite thing!

40 Weeks

40 Weeks old!

Caden had a big week this last week! Grandma Ginny and Grandpa Joe came into town on Friday for a visit. We enjoyed lunch on our patio and then walked around the neighborhood to check out the garage sales. FYI: if you come to Shenandoah (our hood) for garage sale weekend, watch out! People apparently forget how to drive and abide by no traffic laws! It was fun and we picked up a few good finds. After that, Caden laid down for a nap and Mom, Dad and I relaxed and waited for Mark to get home. Grandma and Grandpa watched Caden for the evening while Mark and I went to Lindsay and Hemo's rehearsal and dinner and of course out to play late night Golden Tee! The boys had to give Hemo a last night of Golden Tee as a bachelor...or something of that nature.

Saturday we worked in the yard, and when I say "we" it is mostly my mom and dad. They mowed grass which I wish I had a video of. Let me paint the picture for you...we used to live on 5 acres of land and were comfortable cutting grass on a John Deere mower. So it has been two plus years since my dad cut grass on a riding mower and he decided to give ours a go. Boy was that funny! Talk about America's funniest videos and $1 million dollars, if only we had a video we would have won that show. It looked like my dad was drunk and driving the mower! Absolutely hilarious! The mower lilnes were all over the place not to mention the barrier rocks from our beds that were knocked all over the place and one stuck under the mower. Unbelieveable!

We did not see much of Mark on Saturday as he was tending to the groom. Anyway, we went for a quick walk around the hood and then off to the wedding. The ceremony was very nice and the hall looked great! It was down at The Irish Club in Vandalia, nice little place. Caden enjoyed celery, well he didn't really chew it since he does not have any teeth yet. But he sure liked sucking on it! He loved seeing all the people and listening to the music at church and the reception. Grandma & Grandpa took Caden home while we (or Mark) enjoyed the evening and closed down the reception at midnight.

Congrats Hemo and Lindsay!

Sunday was a busy day as well. Grandpa put up Caden's swing in the tree and although it was chilly, he loved riding in his swing all bundled up! Mom & Dad dug a trench so that I could plant asaparagus and we also planted 2 blueberry bushes, lavendar, sage, rosemary, thyme, chives, dill and mint. We cannot wait to reap the benefits! Thank you mom & dad for all of your help this weekend, you are bionic and your energy amazes me! The trees look great and the birds are so happy they can see the feeders now that the trees are pruned. See you soon!

I had a checkup appointment yesterday with Dr Dilworth. The baby's heartbeat was 155 and everything looks good. Other than being tired, I have been feeling great. And the advice from my friends with 2+ kids...you do start showing earlier than with the first! Great! Except this time I gave in and put the maternity pants on asap...comfort wins this go round! And this weekend was the first time that I could feel the baby moving/kicking around in there! So exciting!

Here are some videos of Caden. Here he is ripping up my cooking magazine

Caden has taken an interest in Nia's tug/rope. The funny thing is that he doesn't try to put it in his mouth. He carries it around the house with him and trys to give it to Nia. At one point she tugged on the other end and he cracked up laughing! It is amazing to see that Caden is now understanding more and more every day. He is recognizing more words, is saying "ma-ma-ma-ma", climbing our stairs and trying to stand on his own without holding on. He is really starting to grow up in front of our eyes!

9 Months old!!

9 Month old little boy Our little Caden is growing into a big boy! He turned 9 months old last week and it is hard to believe that he will be one in no time. At the Dr's office Caden had a clean bill of health and the ear infection is all cleared up!

Caden's stats:

18 lbs 10 ounces

28 inches long

Many of you have asked how Caden and Nia get along...here is a video of them playing together kind of. Nia doesn't mind that he takes/touches her toys...I really think she is trying to prepare him for when he is older and can throw and tug on her toys.

The other day we were at Grandma Marge's house and they have 1 step down into the family room, Caden thought he was big stuff when he figured out how to get up and down that one stair. I wish I had it on video, but he would go up one side round the corner in the hallway and come down the step in the other entranceway. Too funny. So back at home I didn't think that he would be able to get up our stairs since they are kind of steep. But he surprised me!

And also...a belated Congrats to Mark and Jeff for finishing the Capital City 1/2 marathon in Columbus! They did great and we are so proud of them! Columbus put on a nice event and the weather turned out to be pretty nice. We stayed overnight downtown in the middle of the race at the Courtyard which worked out perfectly. My parents came down for a little visit. They had breakfast with Caden, Kyley, Addyson and I and then we all headed out the front door just in time to see Jeff run by and then not much behind him was Mark! Talk about timing! Afterwards we went to a great pizza place called Boston's Gourmet Pizza, and they had fantastic pizza! Then we went over to Roscoe's house for a little bit and then back to home sweet home. Thanks mom and dad for making the trip, we loved seeing you! And thank you Roscoe's for hosting us at your house spur of the moment and just days before little Madelyn arrived. Congrats to your family!

Rachel Knapke with Addyson at Boston's

Dad and Caden enjoying his new toy...an empty water bottle.

Happy Mother's Day

I had a great first Mother's day yesterday thanks to my hubby and little boy and of course all the wonderful phone calls and text messages. Thank you for thinking of me! Mark let me sleep in for a little bit and took care of Caden and then we enjoyed some family lounging around time in bed. Then Mark made banana/walnut pancakes for breakfast that were unbelieveable! Thanks honey! The rest of the day was spent getting the patio ready for spring/summer cookouts and finishing up planting the garden. My husband was a gem and push-mowed the whole lawn so that we could use the grass clippings as mulch in our garden, it took almost two hours to do the whole yard! The garden is about 75% planted with just a few things left to do. We had a first for lunch also, I decided to try pizza on the grill! It turned out great and was delicious with a crunchy crust. The three of us and Nia spent lunch outside on the patio, the weather was so nice! Caden even enjoyed crawling around in the grass and playing fetch with Nia. I wish we got a video of them playing together. Nia was trying to get Caden to throw the ball for her...a few more months maybe. After all that fresh air, we met up with Dave & Clarice, Scot & Amanda, Madison, Izzy, Peyton, Eric and Michelle at La Piazza in Troy. It was such a nice dinner and end to a wonderful Mother's Day! Happy Mother's day to all you hard working mothers out there! You are amazing and deserve a wonderful day!

(Here are a few pics from dinner, we didn't get one with everyone, unfortunately.)

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Happy Cinco de Mayo! Yesterday was my birthday and not just any old bday, but the 30th! We are getting old...er, that is for sure. I had a great day with Caden and Nia. And since our air conditioner/heat pump system is broken...happy birthday...we will be purchasing a new one of those. Better to realize it now then in July when my prego butt is complaining because it is so hot in the house!

Caden and I met Tricia for lunch at the Benchwood exit. Thanks for lunch! It was good to see her, although she didn't have Kristin with her, next time maybe. Then Mark and I said bye bye to Caden and Aisha (our babysitter) and went to dinner at Toone P Wiggins in Sidney. It was so nice outside that we sat on their patio...funny that we were the only ones out there and the first of the seaon to sit out there. Strange. The food was great and we returned home to a happy dog and a sleeping baby. Gotta love that! Thank you for all the bday wishes!