First Haircut

   In addition to getting a Christmas tree, we also took Caden to get his first haircut a week and a half ago! The owner of Casey's barbershop who cut Casey's hair back when he was a boy offered to give Caden his first haircut for free, which was super nice!    I debated for a long time when the was the right time to do this.  Parts of Caden's hair needed it and other parts were fine.  Finally, the front part just got too much for me, so to the barber we went.  Per the barber, Caden did pretty well.  He had to sit in his Daddy's lap, which we expected.  The barber gave him a sucker, which gave a few seconds of entertainment/distraction and slightly blue lips.  Back of his head went well, he was just curious at what was going on back there.  Front of the head was another story.  Little guy did not like being forced to sit still, so that's when the fussing started.  Thankfully, when you don't have much hair, the cuts don't take long either!  Wow, how clipping off some hairs makes a child look so much more grown up!  My baby boy looks like this little person (sniff, sniff).
   Once the final product was complete, I realized how badly this kid needed a trim.  No craziness in the front or back and no hair over the ears anymore.  The barber was sweet enough to give Caden a certificate too (of course saved a few hairs for the baby book as well! 

BEFORE shot,
Crazy hair of various lengths

Sweet Mr. Larry cutting Caden's hair

 

And he's off!  His hair looks so much better!

Another after shot!  Love this boy!

 

"Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men."

1 Corinthians 1:25

Christmas Tree 2014

   Better late than never on this post! Between Caden and I being sick and the craziness of this holiday season, there has not been time to write.  Almost 2 weekends ago, we got our Christmas tree.  Our family tradition is to have a real tree (I love the smell, nothing like it!) and we go to a tree farm to chop it down.  Before we went, Casey and I discussed how big of a tree we were going to get and where it would go in our house.  We both agreed that our child would not be able to handle the temptation of a tree (fully decorated or not) or presents out in the open, and rather than have to endure constant policing and chastising when a wrong is done, we opted to put it out of direct contact of little hands.   So that way everyone could still enjoy it, it made more sense to do a smaller tree that could go on top off an end table this year.
   What a difference experience this was last year.  Caden was a couple weeks old last year and Casey and I would take turns staying with him in his car seat while the other went in search for the "perfect" tree.  This year, Caden was mobile and loved exploring the farm!  He particularly enjoyed playing with broken tree branches or the yard stick given to measure the tree.  With a little one, time is of the essence, so after just a few minutes of searching we found our tree for 2014!



Dec.2013



Dec. 2014



Taking his role of "helper" seriously

  

Finished product!

 

 

 

"He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light."  John 1:8

 

 

Thanksgiving 2014

   This Thanksgiving took us out of town to visit Casey's side of the family.  We traveled to Marble Falls on Wednesday to stay with Casey's grandfather.  On Thursday we drove to Kerrville to spend Thanksgiving with his aunts, uncles, and cousins and then back to Marble Falls.  On Friday, we drove back to Houston.  While the food and family time were wonderful, the not so wonderful was having a sick baby through it all.  Of course, this would happen when we are out of town and when the pediatricians office was closed.  Caden had been experiencing a runny nose for a couple days, but nothing too terrible so we attributed it to allergies since so many others were having the sniffles too. 
   When we arrived to Marble Falls,  Casey noticed that he felt warm and you could tell that his overall demeanor was that of one who did not feel well.  Our poor baby's temp got us to 104.5 that night (scary!)  We did Tylenol, wet cloths on his back, cool baths, and as much liquids as he would drink.  Lots of prayers too!  So thankful for having a 24 hr. nurse line through our pediatrician to answer our questions and give us suggestions on how to help our little guy!  Sleep was of course rough (which I knew wouldn't be great since we were out of town, but being sick added a whole nother element)  By morning he seemed better both on the fever and attitude, so since he only had a cold we decided to still travel to Kerrville to have Thanksgiving.  It went pretty well for having a child that didn't feel well.  Let's just say that the sweet family portrait I was hoping to get didn't happen.  With a rough nights sleep for all 3 of us combined with a sick kiddo, that was not something I wanted to remember with a picture down the road.
   Thanksgiving evening brought back his fever even with giving him Tylenol every 4 hours, but it only went to 103.5 that night, so at least we seemed to be heading in the right direction.  Friday we headed back home.  We hated to leave our happy place, but were anxious to get our baby back to his home and in his own bed.  Caden's fever seemed to be gone and he seemed to be feeling better though he was still congested.  Colds are no fun, but I think they're way worse for babies since the only medicine you can really give them is Tylenol.  Little pooper is a fighter and beat this cold after a few days.  Our Thanksgiving was not what we had planned, but we are still very blessed!
   While there are many things our family is thankful for, we are very thankful for God healing our sweet child.  Hope your Thanksgiving made you reflect on the abundant blessings in your life!

Yes my child is wearing no pants or shoes in Home Depot. 
Don't judge.  After fussing in my arms, I was willing to try
anything to get him to stop crying.

Poor baby felt awful Wednesday night. 
He just laid on me still, which is not like him.

Enjoying Thanksgiving lunch.

My tiny waisted boy can't keep his pants up!

Family Fun outside!

One of my favorite pictures
with my sweet Caden! 
Watching the Aggies play LSU!



"Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name." Psalm 100:4 



THE BIG ONE!

   The past couple weeks have been busy, which has left little time for blogging.  On the plus, I have several ideas for posts, just need to make time to write them out.  So, our adorable blessing turned the big ONE on November 18th!  What a year it's been!  To see how his personality has developed in these 365 days is incredible!  This child is one that is always active and on the go!  He loves to climb anything, throw/kick balls, play with anything with wheels, and "reading" books (more of flipping through the pages quickly, but we are thrilled he is finally showing interest!).  His Daddy is still his favorite person, and he's a carbon copy of him in the looks department.
   We had Caden's birthday party with a few family and friends the weekend before his birthday (and before his 12 month appt at the pediatrician) and boy did this little guy make out like a bandit!  He got so many toys that he won't be getting hardly any at Christmas (downfall of having a birthday almost a month before Xmas).  It was so special to have so many people over at our house who love Caden so much!  We did a cars and trucks themed birthday party because this kid is obsessed with anything that has wheels (I feel this kid has it in his genes from both sides!)  We served BBQ to our guests and of course cake and ice cream!  Based on the tiny samples of sweets Caden has eaten and how he usually feeds himself, I knew he would be pretty excited about the cake.  Those that know Casey know that his favorite kind of cake is yellow cake with chocolate frosting, so I thought the perfect choice for his mini-me would be the same.  Like father, like son he LOVED his cake!  Our son was so sweet to feed both of his parents some cake too.
  His actual bday was a very chilly day.  Casey took the day off and we were able to spend the whole day together as a family, which was nice and I hope its a tradition we can continue until he starts school. We planned a trip to the zoo, but with the weather we opted to take Caden to the children's museum and then to a hibachi place for lunch.  My child loves fire (which makes this Momma nervous) so I figured he would really enjoy watching the chefs cook in front of him, and he did!  Overall it was a successful day that ended with some more cake!
  Thoughtful mom that I am scheduled his doctor appt for the day after his birthday.  Little guy got 4 shots and bloodwork, so that no is fun to do on your actual birthday!  Poor kiddo was pretty angry by the end of his appt!  Praise the Lord, everything went great!  Pediatrician said we were doing everything perfectly! (sweet music to my ears!!!) Here are Caden's stats:
Weight: 20 lbs, 9.6 oz. (38%) compared to 7 lbs. 7.5 oz. at birth
Height: 30 in. (57%)  compared to 20.25 inches at birth
Head Circumference: 18.54 in. (79%)

It's crazy to see how much he has grown into this little person in one year, that I'm excited to see what this next year holds!  Caden John we love you to pieces and are so glad God gave you to us!  More pictures to come, but here are a few to get started!

Love this kid!

The birthday boy!

Fascinated with fire! Oh my!

I'm honestly kinda thankful this is the last of
the monthly stickers.  Getting a good picture is so difficult!

Everyone needs to eat cake on their actual birthday too!

So mad that I let the nurse give him 4 shots
and then poke him again for blood work!



"I will give thanks to you, Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonderful deeds." Psalm 9:1

Happy Halloween!

In retrospect, I'd say Caden's 1st Halloween was great!  He visited a pumpkin patch, went to the church's Fall Festival, and even went trick or treating!  Being the kiddo's first Halloween, there was much debate discussion about what his costume should be.  My search started early because I wanted to be proactive and have as many options as possible, so I went to about 6 different stores to see what was out there and this is what I found out:  there really aren't too many options for babies.  Like with clothes, bedding, and most other baby-related items, there are way options for girls than boys.   Since Caden is fully mobile, he had to have a costume he could walk in.  I know there is a small window in which we as parents get to choose his costume before voicing his own wants, and I have a strong feeling he is not going to want to be a cute puppy dog at age 8.  It will probably be some super hero, which is totally fine, but I think the sweet little animal or pumpkin costumes are absolutely adorable and I wanted that moment as a sappy mother.
     Casey and I went back and forth on what he should be based on the options we had and neither one of us could agree with the other's suggestions.  Finally, we came to a compromise, a lion (masculine but still cute)!  I took Caden with me back to one of the Halloween stores to make the purchase!  Thankfully they let you try on the costumes, which is wonderful since most places are an "all sales final" kind of place.  Looking back I probably shouldn't have done this so close to nap time, but some days it just doesn't work out that way.  Anywho, we are in the store and I am trying to put this costume on Caden to see what size he needs, when he has a meltdown.  After exhausting both of us getting the body of this animal costume on him, I next try for the mane that velcros around his face.  Not happening!  This child did not want anything touching his face and if it was, he was ripping it off.  With that new revelation, that wiped out nearly all the costumes that now existed for babies.  Thankfully, the also had these cotton superhero costumes in the store as well.  Casey had suggested those earlier, but I turned those down because I wanted one of those super cute animals.  There was only one costume that didn't require anything on his face and that was Superman!  With the hairs in the middle of his head being longer, this costume turned out to be the perfect fit for him!  Plus, it was cotton so he wouldn't be baking in it at our Fall Festival at church!  So after all that debating, it turned out to be for nothing, which makes me laugh now.  Our Superman was absolutely adorable and now we have a costume that doubles as pajamas (which he totally slept in Halloween night).
     We have not added candy to Caden's diet at this point, but we wanted to take him for a little trick or treating on his first Halloween.  So we stayed close and just went to a few neighbor's houses who we knew would want to see Caden dressed up and then passed out candy at our house.  One of our neighbors (a preschool teacher) was sweet enough to make a special bag of goodies for Caden with food he could actually eat! So thoughtful!  The rest will just have to be taken care of by his Mommy and Daddy!  Seems pretty fair after my 4:30 and 5:00 wake up calls we've had going on here lately!

Superman at the MCOC Fall Festival

 

Enjoying his glow stick from the neighbors

Caden's first house to go trick or treating at!

No candy in there yet!

Silly boy!

Helping Daddy at work

Both of these Hixon boys dressed up for Halloween

 

"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith- and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God- not by works, so that no one can boast." Ephesians 2:8-9

Baby Shower for Our Niece, Sophia Elizabeth!

That's right, Casey and I are expecting a niece ANY DAY NOW!  We were hoping she would follow in her cousin Caden's footsteps and come a little early, but per Casey girls are always late and this little lady is no exception!   God has his perfect timing for her to make her entrance into the world, and I can't wait to meet her and hold a newborn baby again!
     It's hard to believe that over a month ago we hosted a baby shower at our house in honor of Sophia's upcoming arrival!  Caden and I went on so many errands, which was nice because it gave us a bunch to do, but preparation for this event definitely took longer with a little one in tow who was always wanting his Mommy!  Such a sweet helper! 
     We ended up having around 20-25 people, so it was a full party!  It was so much fun though and Sophia got so many things!  Playing hostess (with the most-est of course!) I slacked on taking pictures, plus some of them were saved on my old phone (so they are gone), but I was able to get a hold of these pics.   Look for more pictures when Sophia Elizabeth Hixon arrives!!!

Our house has never seen so much pink!

 

Clothes line of baby clothes for Sophia along with pictures of
her Mommy and Daddy as kids (This girl is going to be BEAUTIFUL!)

Some of the wonderful family/friends that came

Sophia's presents, girl did GOOD!

More  guests and decorations!

 

So true!!!


"The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold." Psalm 18:2

11 Months

     Sorry for the long delay in posts, but the laptop was in the shop for a few days getting fixed, so I couldn't write anything even when I did find a few, brief free moments.  Our sweet little guy is now 11 months old!!  Well we have now said goodbye to crawling and hello to walking everywhere!!  He can walk with pretty good speed these days so I'm sure running is just around the corner.  I'm going to miss the days when he doesn't have to hold his hands out to stay balanced as he walks.  With this increased mobility means this kid can get away from me fast and walk off.  This includes taking your Mommy's cell phone and putting it in the toilet because the bathroom is pretty much one of your favorite places!).  Sadly, my phone could not be brought back to life, but we were able to get a replacement phone in a couple days thanks to having insurance.
     This past month also marked another milestone I thought would take longer to reach, saying goodbye to the bottle!  At your 6 month pediatrician appt, the doctor told us we could start introducing sippy cups to you with some water in them.  We had a couple different kinds, but quite frankly Caden could have cared less about them.  He was more interested in using them as a chew toy than getting liquid from them.  I even put formula in them instead, and while that went somewhat better, he would take a couple tries and be done.  I kept trying here and there, but after many failed attempts, I took a break.  Fast forward to his 9 month check up, where the doctor says by 12 months he needs to be done with bottles. Okay great, now its time to get serious because I felt this was going to be a long battle. 
     I saw other kids his age and even younger using sippy cups without any problems, so now I start to feel like a Mom failture in this department. I tried another brand of sippy cups (Munchkin brand) and got one with the really soft nipples like his bottle (I'm certainly not going to buy more than one until I see that it works even if it is a pain to clean and reuse so often).  At first it seemed like before and this was going to be a bitter battle, but then one day he started using his new sippy cup with no problem.  Once he did a couple feedings back to back, I just kept using that same bottle and never looked back.  It's just another way of Caden telling me, I will do it, but on my time, so don't worry Mom!
     Caden's up to 6 teeth now!  This latest one was a bit of a doozie with someone having some super cranky moments, but like the previous ones, we are surviving this one!  The days of just sporting a diaper around the house are pretty much over as our little guy has figured out how to take it off himself and streak around the house!  While it's a cute sight to see this little bottom walking around the house, it's also way dangerous!  To preserve our furniture and floors, the kiddo must be diapered and clothed at all times!
     He's finally started to say "Ma-ma" and not have a meltdown at the same time.  Of course "Da-da" is still his favorite word and this kid could not be any more of a Daddy's boy!  I know he loves his Mommy, but his Daddy is his best friend that he lights up to see and laughs so much more when he is around.  The other day this week I asked Caden if he wanted his "Da-da" to come home and he replied "Ya".  So sweet!
    This little guy is our world and blesses our lives infinitely with each new day!  He loves playing with balls, playing hide and seek with the pillows on our bed, and going outside.  Can't believe next month will be your first birthday!  While I'm a little sad to see it come, I also can't wait to celebrate our sweet Caden!!

These monthly pictures are nearly impossible! 
I'll be in honest in that I'm glad there's only 1 more month of these.

Walking free around the house after ripping his diaper off

Best $3 spent!  We love throwing and kicking the ball!

Teething torture!

Who would have known that hours later you'd be in tears and super fussy
because of your new tooth that is coming in?!

Just chilling in his crib and playing with the monitor

"But I will sing of your strength, in the morning I will sing of your love; for you are my fortress, my refuge in times of trouble."  Psalm 59:16

Pumpkin Patch Fun!

     This past Saturday was another first for our sweet Caden, his first trip to a pumpkin patch!  With a mid November birthday, this little guy just barely missed Halloween and visiting pumpkin patches.  What a difference a year makes!  From inside my tummy to walking all over everywhere, this kid is growing up fast!
Caden loved the pumpkin patch!  We went with my cousin who has a son about 5 months older than Caden and her family, so it was a blast!  We visited a place not too far from our house called Halter Inc.  The rest of the year this place operates as somewhere children can come enjoy the benefits of therapeutic horses and other farm animals, but this time of year they also have a pumpkin patch with tons of fun activities for kiddos!  There's a petting zoo, pony rides, etc. for super cheap!  Kids under 2 are free (Sweet!) as well as adults (Sweetness again!) and the kids over 2 are $5 each.
     Caden liked getting to explore and touch all the pumpkins, and one of his favorite things was sitting on a tractor (future farmer?, Perhaps, I mean this child looks absolutely adorable in his overalls!)  He fed some goats, pigs, and a llama.  He even stole some of their food for himself (sad to admit he actually did this twice!).  At our neighborhood's National Night Out they had a couple of police officers with horses there, and Caden was a little scared of these large animals (in his defense there is a substantial size difference), so I wasn't sure how the pony ride would go, but he did GREAT!  He loved sitting in the saddle and didn't cry once.
     Such a neat place to visit!  A few little showers didn't stop us from having a wonderful time!!

Our little pumpkin with one BIG pumpkin

Caden loved getting to touch all the pumpkins

Sweet cousins and friends

Such a Casey face who does not want to take another picture

Me and My little guy!

To say he LOVED the tractor is an understatement

Daddy with his Mini-me!

Loves being in the driver's seat!

Feeding the goat!  Apparently their food looked appetizing
to Caden because he took a few samples for himself.

Our first pony ride!

Taking the pony on a walk thru an obstacle course with cousin Cheryl!

Fascinated with this pumpkin

My sweet baby looking so grown up!

Picking out his own pumpkin with his Daddy

Caden and Spencer with their pumpkins!

The result of too much fun at the pumpkin patch!

"My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever."  Psalm 73:26