Learning to Live on Little Sleep

I have found myself getting out of bed in the very early hours - yes, even on the weekends when I don't 'have to'. Take this morning for example.

Cade woke up at 4am wanting to eat. I fed him and then took a minute to think. I could either:
A.) Go back to bed, or
B) Get up and have a few hours of quiet, "me" time.

This was a no-brainer. The "me" time sounded oh so nice. It's not too often that I can have this precious alone time - no interruptions whatsoever. This is how I spent my time:

-Went on a 10 mile run (sorry Mom - I know you say not to run in the dark, but it was so nice to have the road to me, myself, and my ipod. Don't worry I had my mace.)
-Did laundry (I know, not fun but still nice to do without a little one on my hip)
-Unloaded the dishwasher
- Showered (he's still not awake!?)
- Did my hair (really... asleep still?!)
- Did my make-up (seriously still snoozing!?)
- Got dressed (I'm in Heaven)
- Checked my email.... then I heard that sweet cry.

I had the best morning. By the time Cade woke up, I had accomplished so much and felt ready for the day. I was able to give Cade 100% of my attention. (Many times I am trying to do 10 things at once and I feel that I am taking away from him.) I am a bit tired, but it was SO worth it.

All that to say, I am learning to live on little sleep. I mean really, sleep is overrated, dontcha think? Who needs sleep when there is so much else to get done.

Cherished Weekends

I live for the weekends! Now that I am working, the weekends are cherished more than ever. It is such a special time to spend with my Little Monkey.
Yesterday, I put Cade in his jumper while I was drying my hair. It seemed oddly quiet so I walked out to check on him. This is what I found.... so sad, huh? The little guy was so tired that he fell asleep mid-jump! I picked him up, took him to bed, and waited for him to wake up. After his nap, we did a little bit of this. Check out what a good 'sitter' he is. That's ma' boy:)

Then we headed over to my parents' house to celebrate my dad's birthday. Happy Birthday Dad! Cade was so excited to spend Poppy's birthday with him:)

The girls went on a little walk while Dad and Brad stayed in to watch golf. Nat was in charge of pushing Cade. She did an excellent job. Caders loves his Nanners!

Tori put her rollerblades to work during our walk. That's my mom behind her.

Here's the man of the hour. Well, actually the birthday boy was the man of the hour.... but still. They can share:)

Nat & I mid walk....
Waiting on dinner... Nat in action with her buddy.

It's cake time! Judging by the number of candles, Dad must be 3:) He liked that.

I love this picture. Dad and Cade are smiling SO big at one another.

Blew all the candles out! Not hard when there's only 3, right?!

One last pic to leave you with. My boys sawing logs. Aren't they just so cute?! I am so blessed.

Just Because...

Sadly, now that I am back at work, there are a lot less "adventures" for my sidekick and I. Therefore, the blog has been (and will continue to be) suffering. So sad, don't you think?

So while I don't have anything major to post, I thought I'd at least show a few pictures of my baby boy:) Just in case you were wanting a new picture of him:)

Here are my Hurley boys at lunch...And when The Cade Man is not smiling & posing for pictures, he is sleeping. This is his nightly sleep position. He ALWAYS hugs the bumper. It is so darn cute. I think it is his "security blanket".My all-time favorite part of the day with Cade is greeting him in the morning. I just LOVE going into his room to pick him up once he has woken up. My heart literally melts. I walk in, he sees me and the biggest grin ever spreads across his face. One second later, his little chubby legs start kicking like crazy. He is so excited that he cannot control himself - those little legs start dancing around like nobody's business. I need to try and get it on video. I need to capture it so I can savor this moment. That is by far, my favorite part of the day:) I am dreading the day this stops.... when does this adorable greeting stop? and when do I start to hear, "Moooommm, get out of my room!" I don't even want to think about it. For now, I will just take all of the morning dances I can get.:)

Permanent Smile On My Face

Cade was sick for a few days last week and I didn't want Gina's little girl, Lizzie, to catch it. Therefore, I did not have her watch Cade last week. Instead he hung out with his Grammer one day & his Mimi the other day. Lucky boy, eh?

Now that he is all better, today was his 1st day with Gina (& Lizzie who is 4 weeks his senior).

Gina sent me this text this morning:

Gina: Do you want pictures and updates throughout the day?

Me: Yes and yes! I would love them both! (How sweet of her!)

I then checked my phone every other minute hoping to get a picture and/or update. At 9:45am I got this via text:

Under the pic, she wrote, "I am on a walk Mommy... with my friend Lizzie."

This picture MADE MY DAY! I just love this pic. Both kiddos have huge smiles and they look like they are having a blast together. What a relief to be at work and know your little angel is having a great day. I must've looked at this text 30 times today. Thanks for sending it Gina!! And thanks for taking such good care of Cade Kenny:)

Toughest Job I Have Ever Had

I have been back to work for 2 weeks now. I now have 2 jobs.... job #1 is teaching math & job #2 is taking care of my Little Monkey. In all honesty, I think job #1 is easier. Who would've thought?

I was nervous about the morning (ie. trying to get Cade out of the house), but that part turns out to be the easy part. The hard/tiring part comes once I get home from job #1. Pre-Cade I came home, made dinner, and then sat on the couch with either the remote control or my favorite gossip mag. Boy how things have changed. Now my night looks like this:

feed Cade a bottle

play with Cade

bathe Cade

play some more

feed Cade his dinner of solid foods

unpack & repack Cade's daycare bag

unpack & repack by gym bag

unload dishwasher/reload dishwasher

put Cade to bed at 7:15pm

feed the dogs

make dinner for Brad & I

Finally sit on the couch for 30 minutes

Sleepwalk to bed....you get the picture.

Don't jump to conclusions here... I am not complaining. I am merely stating how tired I am at the end of the day. Seeing that little face smiling back at me makes it all worth it. If I am stressed/frustrated/etc. all I have to do is get one look at that little boy and my heart melts in 1.5 seconds:) I thank God daily for giving Brad & I the best gift ever.

Baby Ryan's 1st Birthday Party!

We were so excited to be invited to Ryan's 1st birthday party at My Gym! Brad & I work with Ryan's mommy, Rhonda. We had such a great time, as you will see in the pictures.

Here is Cade "takin' a load off" right when we got there. His buddy Taj is behind him in the yellow shirt. :) In the center is the birthday boy with his mommy & daddy. Rhonda is in pink and Carlos is in the white striped shirt.

We are sitting around the 'big, red circle' ready for the games to begin!

Can you find Cade??

Weeee!

It's puppet show time! So many puppets... how do we choose just one to play with!?

"Walking" around the circle... we are following Taj and his mommy Jana. :)

Cade loved to be bounced on the trampoline by daddy. I later laid him down on his back and jumped beside him making him bounce... he chuckled at that!Here was our attempt to get a shot of the boys. Rhonda, Jana & I all work together and we all had boys within the same year. It looks like Ryan and Cade are reaching out to Taj to try and get him to come back:)

We got 'em! Say 'cheese' boys!

Many people say that Jana & I look alike... and it's too funny b/c our boys look alike as well.

Here is a shot of all the kiddos. The Birthday Boy is in the center sitting in the sled.

If you wanna see Cade in action, click on the 2 videos above.... too cute!

Thanks for inviting us to share in Ryan's special day, Rhonnie. You did a great job on the party. We had a blast! Happy 1st Birthday Ryan!

Steph's Shower

I didn't get many pictures, but here are a few from my cousin Steph's baby shower.

Here is my grandma "Mimi" (in the middle) and her 4 daughters. From L to R: Pam (my mom), aunt Janet (Steph's mom), Mimi, aunt Beth, and aunt Nancy. My aunts are HUGE helps with Cade. They spoil him to pieces.Here is Mimi again with a few of her grand-daughters. From L to R: Kayla, me, Mimi, Natalie, and the Mommy-to-be, Steph:) Steph is not finding out whether she is having a girl or a boy... it is killing us! We can't wait to find out in just 3 short weeks!

Cade was getting fussy at the end b/c he was so tired. My aunt Jen (married to my mom's brother) was the Baby Whisperer and got him to sleep:) Thanks Jen!

P.S. Jen makes the BEST homemade red velvet cupcakes.... if you ever need some... give her a call:)

Told ya she is The Baby Whisperer:)

What a fun day! Bee, you did a great job, as always:) xoxo

Going Commando...

Too funny....

This morning was my 1st morning back to the gym. Alarm went off at 3:45am and I was out the door. Brad assured me last night that he "had the morning shift covered". He was fully confident that he could get Cade up and out of the house on his own. (Did I score an awesome hubby or what?)

So Brad did just that... he got Cade up and drove him over to Mimi's house. I was planning to meet them there at 7am, right after my work out. That way I could hang with our Peanut for a half hour before heading to work. I got there, Brad headed off to work, and I hung around for my pre-planned half hour. I then smooched my little boy and was work-bound.

Not even 5 minutes later I get a call from Mimi. Here are her exact words:
"I picked Cade up after you left and he was soaked. So soaked that even my shirt soaked through just from holding him. So I laid him down to change him.... when I unzipped his pajamas to change his diaper, I saw that he wasn't even wearing a diaper!"

Hee hee.... I got a good chuckle out of that one. I went into work, found Brad in the copy room - along with many other teachers - and had to tell the story. Needless to say, it spread like wildfire amongst the staff and poor Brad was teased about it most of the day.

Too cute.... I still stand by my thought that Brad gets the "Father of the Year" award. He amazes me everyday... he is so good with Cade and I absolutely LOVE to watch him interact with his son. I can only hope that Cade turns out just like his Daddy:)

An Apple a Day....

...doesn't keep the doctor away!

Poor Cade Kenny... he was up ALL night last night... as were we (ok, so Brad was up more than me).... but still:)
The poor munchkin has his 1st illness - a stubborn cold. The poor guy was miserable today. He can't breathe out of his nose, which means he can't have his binky... and his binky is his sense of comfort. So sad.
Brad stayed home with him and took him to see the Doc. To make matters worse, he had to get his 6 month shots today on top of already feeling crummy.

Here is a picture of my boys as I was heading out to work. The only way Cade could sleep was sitting up on Daddy's lap. If you can't tell from this picture, let me just tell you what a great Daddy Brad is. Brad does so much to help with Cade. For those of you that know Brad, you know that he LOVES his sleep... yet, he is usually the 1st one up during the night when Cade wakes up. I am so grateful to have such a helpful, involved husband. He does diapers, feeding, you name it. Need I say more? I love my boys! Here they are... Brad & Brad Junior:)

6 Whole Months!

Today is Cade's half birthday...aka his 'un-birthday'. Can you believe it? We can't!
He had a Doc appt a few days ago and we got his stats:
Height: 27.5 inches (86.43 percentile)
Weight: 15 lbs 12.7 oz (21.53 percentile) His birthday sweet treats...

Along with turning 6 months, we have had some 'firsts'. He can now ride is his stroller without his car seat! He loves it since he can now look around, but I miss seeing his little face looking back at me.

He is now eating his baby food fruits & veggies 3x per day.

And.... his crib has been lowered. It now looks like a 'big boy bed'.

Happy 6 month birthday, Buddy! I can't believe how much you have grown already, and what a big boy you are. Your little personality is blooming and I absolutely ADORE the little man you have become. You are such a blast and I cherish every moment I get to spend with you. I have to go back to work tomorrow and I am very sad (yet grateful for the 6 months I DID get with you at home). I am going to miss our daily adventures together. Just promise me one thing.... you will not forget your Mommy while I am away at work. I love you SO MUCH, Monkey. I can't wait to rush over to pick you up tomorrow as soon as the bell rings. Know I will be thinking about you every single second.

Love,

Mommy

6 Month Portraits

And now presenting.....Here is our star :) And a few family shots....

We still can't believe our little boy will be 6 whole months in just 3 days!!

Mouseketeer-In-Training

We took the Cade Man back to The Happiest Place On Earth yesterday. Brad & I have so much fun seeing everything through his eyes:)

Brad had fun taking part in the activities. Here he is drawing a 'flip book' type of picture. He is drawing the Mickey heads you see on the table. Once done, you put the paper in a circular spinner and watch as the balloon looks like it's floating up and down. Cade & I as we were waiting for Brad to finish his masterpiece:) Drum roll please.....

Tah Dahhh.....!

We got the last picture with Pluto before he had to go in for dinner:)

Goofy was very excited to pose with our Monkey!

Wheeee! Cade was indifferent about the carousel.... I guess he wasn't too impressed:) I stand corrected:)

We worked up an appetite and headed to The Rainforest Cafe afterwards to refuel. Notice the highchair!? We are very excited about this:) Such a big boy!

Click here to see Cade in action while riding the carousel with Daddy!