More Fall Fun

I begin this post with pictures of our front porch. A colleague of mine, Katie, has a flair for decorating. I asked her to make my porch look cute for fall. Seeing everyone with adorable scarecrows and mums and pumpkins on their porch made me feel like sprucing up our place, but as you can imagine, time to browse the aisles at the stores for cute, budget friendly decorations is not a luxury I have right now. Katie came to the rescue!! The kids lent a helping hand and within seconds, our porch looked really cute. I told her she should go into business.

As promised, here are pictures of Kylee's fall party at school. The first if of her whole class, and the second is, of course, of Hadley. I had her dressed in a "My Little Pumpkin" Halloween ensemble complete with a hat. It cracked me up. The last photo is of Kylee with the special pony she made to "ride" in between stations at the party, along with her cylinder for holding treats and prizes from each stop.

Can you tell these two are related?


The kids still love to hold Hadley. She is generally very tolerant, but sometimes, enough is ENOUGH. What I love about this picture is that Kylee was intent on me capturing this moment of her with baby sister, so she is still posing and leaning in to kiss Hadley despite the screaming.

Every morning when Brandon or I bring her downstairs, she is greated with a chorus of "Hi, Hadley!" when brother and sister see her. Watching our three children together is such a gift. Even in the moments where Hadley has had it. :)

Halloween Happenings

Last week was a fun week filled with lots of fall festivities!

Both kids had their fall parties at school and Hadley and I were able to attend both events...the pics from Kylee's party are on my phone (I will share those later), but here are a few shots of Connor's party:

Hanging with buddy Jalen:

Decorating a pumpkin:

Decorating (and then devouring) a cookie:

Connor and Kylee were SO excited for Halloween this year. As you can see, we had a Clone Trooper, Sleeping Beauty, and a little Pumpkin at our house. I think the older two (especially Kylee) were perhaps more excited about seeing Hadley dressed up then they were about their own costumes. :)

We hit two trunk or treats, trick-or-treated around the Square, and then did a little candy-hunting around the neighborhood. We had a blast and the weather was gorgeous! Here are our pre-trick-or-treating photos:

After collecting enough candy to fill two HUGE bowls, Connor and Kylee collapsed on the floor in sugar-induced comas. It was a great holiday!

Precious

Life As We Know It...

Kylee created this very special picture of her body (complete with lungs, heart, and intestines) at school. As a nurse, I have a true appreciation for this artwork (and, of course, the abnormally large head that houses her brain).

Connor tested for his orange belt at karate. He did a bow kata in addition to an open hand kata and did a great job! These are a couple pics of his last moments as a yellow belt right before his test. :)

A few weeks ago, Connor decided that he'd like to explore riding the bus to school. This was a huge relief to me because, as I've mentioned in a previous post, pick-up time from school coincides perfectly with Hadley's naptime. So, Kylee and I would listen to Hadley scream at the top of her lungs for 30 minutes in the car rider line while waiting for Connor. The bus is a great option. With the stop being about a block from our front door, Connor can easily walk to and from the bus. He still lets me walk him there in the morning, but walks home with the other neighborhood kids in the afternoon. Here he is waiting for the bus with our neighbor, Renae, and boarding the bus to head to school.

And we end with Miss Hadley, sitting in her stroller, looking adorable. I LOVE the blue flower. :)

Haddie Chat

Our baby girl turned 3 months old last week!

Hadley's latest trick is being quite conversational...she gets lots of encouragement for all of her cooing from big brother and sister (and, let's face it, Mommy and Daddy, too). Brandon caught a bit of it on tape, so we thought we'd let you all see first hand what she's up to:

What a joy our littlest blessing is! :)

Caden's Cubs Update

Hello!

It's been awhile since we've shared what's happening with Caden's Cubs, so I thought I would take a minute to update you all. We have been blessed by our friends and family with some generous donations recently, which allowed us to purchase our first sizable batch of Build-A-Bear giftcards. This is great because when we hear of a family that can utilize Caden's Cubs, we can now send them a giftcard from our batch on hand within a couple days rather than ordering the cards individually and having to wait several days for them to come in the mail.

In the last month, we have been able to provide giftcards for about 10 children. This is exciting, yet disheartening, for us. Each family's story touches our souls, and we are so grateful to be able to do something to let them know that even strangers are praying for them and their babies.

Our goals over the next few months include getting ourselves set up with some notecards, address labels, and perhaps even some informational pamphlets to be sent out to the families we give cards to. Right now, we are using generic cards to send things out in, and we think it would be wonderful to be able to use cards and address labels with the Caden's Cubs logo on them when we mail giftcards. It is our hope that eventually, information about Caden's Cubs can be given to families in the hospital so that they can contact us if they are interested in making a bear in honor of their little one. That is a big vision. We'll see where the road takes us.

Some have asked how much money it takes to create one bear. Right now, the cost per child is about $25. Build-A-Bear has given us a discount, so we will be able to provide $30 giftcards for a cost of $25. This is, generally speaking, enough for a stuffed animal and an outfit at Build-A-Bear.

We continue to accept direct referrals. If you know of a family who could benefit from this experience, please let us know. All you need to do is provide us with the names of their children and their mailing address and we take care of the rest. Of course, we always love to hear a little of their own personal story...we feel a connection to all these families.

Before I sign off, I want to say a special thank you to Spencer and Steph. Your gift will be a true blessing to us and we thank you from the bottom of our hearts for helping us further our ministry. We are truly humbled.

To all of you that have contributed or will contribute in the future, we want you to know how blessed we feel by your generosity. Each giftcard we send is a piece of healing for us...and also brings healing and joy to a child who needs something to cuddle while remembering a precious angel.

Tooth Fairy Madness!

We're keeping the tooth fairy busy around here! Connor just lost his second front tooth. The tooth fairy left him $1.00 for his pearly white.

With Connor's first front tooth loss, he dutifully put the tooth under his pillow. The next morning, I came downstairs to find him sitting on the couch looking like a lost puppy dog. My heart dropped to my stomach when I saw that he had his tooth sitting beside him. He looked at me, quite sadly, and said, "Mommy, the tooth fairy didn't come!". If only he knew that the tooth fairy was trying to adjust to life with a newborn in the house!

I dialed Brandon and said "I just want you to know that we stink as parents". We brainstormed, and decided to try explaining that perhaps the tooth fairy was just too busy to stop by. I was ready to just confess that the whole thing was make-believe (I was also ready to give the kid $5.00 for his tooth because I felt so guilty. We dismissed this idea because of the dangerous precedent it would set.). Before we had offered an explanation, Connor said "Maybe the tooth fairy just didn't take my tooth because it was in an envelope instead of a napkin". We latched onto that one and decided that must have been the reason she didn't stop by.

The next night, we placed the tooth under Connor's pillow in a napkin. At 3:00 in the morning, as I was feeding Hadley, I had a moment of all out panic when I realized that once again, we had gone to bed without taking Connor's tooth. I woke Brandon out of a dead sleep. He looked at me, panicked, thinking something was really wrong. I said "Did you do something with the tooth?"

"Yes."

My heart slowed a bit.

The next morning, Connor was thrilled to see a note in the shape of a tooth under his pillow, along with an award of $2.00 for his patience.

Sleep deprivation can be quite costly, folks. :)

Haddie Lou

As I have mentioned before, Amanda came over and snapped some pictures of our family fairly soon after we brought Hadley home from the hospital. I believe Hadley was about 3 weeks old in these pictures. I had to share them with you....

This one is my absolute favorite, for many reasons. As you can see, my necklace has the names of all four kids on it. It means so much to me to be able to incorporate ALL our kiddos into one photo. I also love Hadley's face...pure, innocent...and a little chubby. Lastly, the word "blessed" was a perfect choice. We are so very blessed, not just by Hadley, but by Connor, Kylee, and Caden, too. We are amazed at God's goodness and how He has brought us through such a journey of pain and heartache, and is now restoring us daily with healing only He can provide. This photo, to me, symbolizes what is truly important in this world....and serves as a reminder that God is faithful...even in life's darkest times.

Hugs and kisses from Mom and Dad:

And, of course, brother and sister, too:

Tiny toes...

Precious...

Our girl is doing well. She had her two month appointment at the Pediatrician yesterday and weighed in at 10 lbs. 10 oz. I am not too proud to admit that was good affirmation for me after the hours and hours I have spent breastfeeding. :) Despite being a Nurse who has given MANY shots to other people's children, I still cried when Hadley got her shots. She has done well, though, and I am grateful to have one round down.

Hadley's new tricks include noticing the contrast between dark and light, and, just this week, she has started recognizing faces (big smiles for brother and sister...little smiles for Mom and Dad). She is a noisy one (Daddy has nicknamed her Hootie) and is constantly "hooting" as she eats and sleeps (someone remarked one time as I was feeding her under a blanket "It sounds like there's a flock of geese under there!"). At night, she will sleep for a 4-5 hour stretch, and continues to do well at settling back in after eating...so really, no complaints there.

She is pretty tolerant, as it is rare for her to get a full nap between all the drop offs and pick ups that we do for big brother and sister. Sometimes we do the drop-offs with her screaming at the top of her lungs...I can empathsize...I'm cranky, too, when my sleep gets interrupted. She's not a big fan of the carseat, which makes life pretty interesting. Connor and Kylee are great binky helpers as we're riding around. :) They continue to love having Hadley around and haven't yet requested that we send her back.

It is crazy to believe that just two months ago, she was in my belly. I still spend quite a bit of time just watching her...and being amazed that God has allowed us to have her as a part of our family.

Love you, Baby Girl!

We Have a 5 Year Old, Folks!

Miss Kylee J turned 5 on September 9th.

Kylee requested a "Pinkalicious Party" to celebrate her special day. She also really wanted to invite Cinderella, who she had met at a friend's birthday party. So, we had perhaps the world's first Pinkalicious Cinderella birthday. Kylee always has very original, yet very precise, ideas about her birthday parties. We have really come to love her creativity with event planning.

Kylee and her friends had a great time with Cinderella (who, when she isn't making social calls, is a teacher in the local school district).

Cinderella helped the party crowd make royal crowns. She and Kylee created one especially for Brandon.

Kylee and her party guests outside having bubble time with Cinderella. Notice the wardrobe theme?

Instead of a birthday cake, Kylee wanted cotton candy (pink, of course). So, the kids enjoyed cotton candy with their pink lemonade as a snack. Kylee very specifically requested that we NOT sing Happy Birthday to her. For some reason, it overwhelms her. So, we left that part out of the celebration.

Cinderella helped Kylee open a few presents before she had to leave:

It was a very special day for our little princess.

Kylee is such a blessing to us in so many ways. Her passion for life is contagious...and this girl's smile will light up a room like no one else's will. She works hard to succeed at everything that she does and is fiercely loyal to her family (she is the only one entitled to pick on her big brother). She lives life to its fullest and inspires us to do the same. We are blessed to have her with us.

Best wishes for many, many more, Miss J!

Back To School...

It's crazy that we are in the midst of our third week of school. Where does the time go (interesting how time takes on a whole new dimension when days and nights essentially mesh into one). :)

Connor and Kylee have really enjoyed school so far this year. They both have great teachers, Mrs. Hodge (Connor) and Ms. Pam (Kylee). We have heard great things about Mrs. Hodge, and Kylee was in Ms. Pam's class last year, so we are excited to be back with her. Kylee is now in the Pre-K class, which means she goes to school all day and even gets to "eat lunch and take a rest" before I pick her up. She is excited to be in the big leagues. Our big first grader, Connor, was a little less enthused about school starting, but has adjusted well to the routine.

The first day of school pictures have become tradition around our house. Both of the kids had new outfits from Grandma and Grandpa Carlson. They were excited to put on their new school gear, too...Princesses and GI Joe. I'm not sure what the wave is all about, but it was essential...whatever the purpose was.

Here are the kids outside their classrooms, and by their cubbies:

Both of the kids have several of their friends from last year in their class, which is great. They both settled right in as we prepared to say goodbye:

The first day of school this year went much more smoothly than it did last year. I remember walking away from dropping Connor off at his first day of kindergarten and being consumed with sadness because both of our kids were in school and I had no baby at home with me. I was supposed to be pushing a stroller down the sidewalk when I walked away....this year, walking away with a carseat in tow reminded me of God's faithfulness and goodness. Two kids in school, blessed to have good teachers and great friends...a wonderful summer filled with lots of fun...and a new little pink bundle to cuddle with.

Life is good.