Another picture of the belly

This is a picture Kaden took of me the other day. The date on the picture is wrong...I think we took it on 12-27. Believe it or not...the stretch marks are from Kaden...but goodness they just look wonderful!!! So far I think I have been pretty lucky with her, I don't think I have gotten any from her...yet. Oh, and I do have pants on : ), they are just hard to see!!!

Believe in Santa!!!

Kaden waiting patiently for his present !!!(Christmas eve)

Showing mommy what he got.
Christmas day...opening presents.

He actually had the hang of it...opening presents on his own!!!

Christmas eve was spent at nana's house, as always!!! The family gets together and opens presents from nana and nana opens hers from everyone. Afterwards, Nate, Kaden, my sister, nephew and I went around town looking at Christmas lights. We did not stay out too long because it was late and Kaden was a little on the fussy side. We did however see Rudolph's red nose in the sky!!! That made the boys pretty excited. When we returned home, Kaden put out the food he made for the reindeer and then we picked out some of the cookies he decorated earlier and left them out for Santa along with some milk. We read a few Christmas stories in bed and shortly after Kaden was out like a light.

When we woke up in the morning I told Kaden that I think I heard Santa last night in the living room. He got really excited and started pointing towards the bedroom door...like hurry up and get me out there. When we went into the living room he started signing Santa and pointing to the presents under the tree and then signing "book". After all, he did ask Santa for a book. I then showed him the plate we left with the cookies and he signed "daddy" and pointed to my phone. Nate was at work so we called daddy and Kaden signed "Santa" again and pointed to the tree and then signed "cookie, milk, all done." It was all too cute. It is so much more fun now that he understands a little better. What was even better, was that when Nate came home and we opened presents, Kaden did it on his own, we didn't need to help. At first he did seem a little disappointed when he opened a toy and not a book. As he was ripping the wrapping paper he would see a toy and push it off to the side and sign "book." After a few toys he decided it wasn't so bad getting the toys either. At least this year Santa didn't bring clothes!!! When we went to bed that night Kaden kept signing "Santa, cookies, milk" and pointing to the bedroom door. I had to explain to him that Santa only comes once a year because he is a very busy guy. I think he accepted that excuse. We had a wonderful Christmas, now we are just trying to get over colds. Kaden and I seem to be passing it back and forth to each other. Nate has been pretty lucky so far. He had a little something, but it passed fast. Again I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and that you all have a safe and happy new year!!!

Merry Christmas!!!

I hope everyone had a wonderful and safe Christmas!!! I will be posting more hopefully tomorrow when I find more time. About finding time....I have Christmas cards still sitting on a desk here at home...what a wonderful place for them to be since Christmas has come and gone. I do plan on sending them out, hey maybe even tomorrow. It is kind of crazy how time flies, especially as you get older. So sorry to all of you who will receive them late (maybe I can have them out before the New Year!!!). Well again...Merry, Merry Christmas.

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow

As you can see, we received a good amount of snow last night and this morning. Kaden has never really been out in the snow so Nate decided that the two of them would build a snowman. The snow was not wet enough to stick together and Kaden was quick to want to go back in. Who can blame him? I went out to snap some pictures and I almost froze my butt off. Nate bundled Kaden up pretty well though and for the gloves, well, we had some mittens that worked well, but the last time we went to Wal-Mart Kaden took them off before we had a chance and we lost one. I have another pair for him but they are too big and will not stay on. So we settled on two pairs of socks...I know, but what's a boy to do without something to keep his hands warm? I am on a mission to find him a good pair, though. You wouldn't think it would be that hard, but it seems like everyone is making the really thick pairs that do not have elastic tight enough around the wrist to keep them on. If anyone knows were I can find some please let me know.

So I woke up yesterday to a nasty cold. I am already so fed up with it. I have a stuffy nose and the worst pressure in my head and one of my ears. I slept on the couch last night, hoping that I could keep Nate and Kaden from catching it. However, Nate had to work today, so it was just Kaden and I. I felt kind of bad because I am sure Kaden felt a little neglected today, I tried to keep as much distance between us as possible. Don't get me wrong...he did make sure he got attention when he really wanted it...and it was really hard remembering not to kiss him, but all in all I think we made it through the day alright until daddy came home. Tonight he seemed a little whiny, I just hope that he hasn't already caught what I have. The past few days I have been giving him cold medicine because he has been coughing up a lot of "yuckies," but has still been in a pretty good mood. I know if he gets what I have, he probably won't be as happy. Well, I am done babbling for tonight. I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend and remember only 9 more days until Christmas (when am I ever going to get all of my shopping done???)!!!!!

Baby Ava's Better News Than The Weather

Here are some of the sonogram pictures of baby Ava that we received today. She sure does like keeping her hands by her face and boy, what a mover. The sonotech commented on the amount of strength she has because she continously tried to kick the probe off of my stomach. She was claiming her domain!!! We received pretty good news. I pretty much have no worries when it comes to the Turner Syndrome. Our main focus right now is her heart. However, the doctor did say that they did not see any fluid around her heart, unlike past history, great news!! We were able to see her lungs working and her diaphragm moving. The doctor said that was really good news...she is making her lungs stronger by working them out now. All her measurements were excellent...she is actually measuring at 33 wks 1 day...a whole week more than I actually am. She is about 4lbs 9oz at this time. The doctor said that as of now everything (besides the heart defect) is looking good. He did remind us that things will be hard for her after she is born...but for some reason I am not too worried. My babies are unbelievably strong (they must get that from mom, ha ha). I have all my faith in God and Ava at this point. I am so excited to meet her and can not wait to see who she looks like...mommy or daddy. I still haven't determined who Kaden resembles, I have heard both. Lately I am hearing that he has my eyes...but that really doesn't say much!!!! We are continuing to get Kaden use to the idea of having a baby sister and being a big brother. I think he has mixed emotions : ). He is really good with babies, saying that I have really only seen him with my cousins newborn, but he loves to hold him and kiss him. This little book lover even shares his books with the my cousin's baby. Lately he has been picking out books for us to read to Ava and he even shows her the pictures!!! I think that he is going to be great (I hope)!!!!

Now to the weather...ice, ice and more ice. Lucky for us it started melting today, however we are expecting snow tomorrow, 2-3 inches. We lost power for about 30 hours (Tues morning - Wed evening). My parents had a generator that we used to keep Kaden's vent and other supplies going. I was so stressed before the generator because it didn't work, being that my dad is mister fix it he got it going for us. We have many friends who unfortunately are still out of power and basically all we know is "who knows how long it will take, it could be until the 22nd." I just hope for everyones sake (and sanity) that power is restored to all FAST!!! I hope all is going great for everyone and I want to thank you all for reading and leaving awesome comments. Thanks, it helps make my day!!!

Promised Pictures

Here are some pictures I promised of the Christmas parade and of the belly!!!!!

Kaden with his cousin Kolton, enjoying the parade.

Nate's brother James and the boys.

My sister Melanie with Miles.

Kaden and the belly.

Aunt Melanie and Kaden braving the cold weather.

Kaden, mommy and daddy all bundled at the parade.

On the Road to Diaper Freedom!!!!

Kaden is finally getting the whole potty idea. While I was at work Thursday, Nate put Kaden on his "big boy potty" and he actually went pee-pee!!! Nate and Kaden's nurse Cristen made it a big deal for him, and he surely enjoyed the attention. I talked to him on the phone and when I came home for lunch, he was very eager to show me the pee daddy and him saved in the potty for me to see. That night we took him to Wal-Mart to get a book for being such a big boy. On Friday, when I came home for lunch he signed potty to me. So I put him on the potty and he did it again. This morning he signed potty and pointed over to his DVD's (he has an Elmo potty video). I asked him if he wanted to watch Elmo go potty and he signed yes (which looks very much like potty). I then asked him if he needed to go "pee-pee," he again signed yes. I sat him on his potty and within 5 to 7 minutes he went "pee-pee" again!!! Yea, I hope he picks this up quickly so we can get rid of the diapers before Ava comes. He is so proud of himself. When he arrived to school on Thursday he signed potty to his teacher first thing, telling her that he used his big boy potty. We even bought him big boy underwear. I know it seems kind of fast, but Nate thought it would be a good idea to let him see how it feels to wear those instead of a diaper. He loved them. Nate put them on him just for awhile and he couldn't leave them alone. I am so excited for him. It's crazy to think of how proud we feel as parents just because of a little pee in the potty.