4,5,6, and 7 Months

I totally saw this coming.  Taking care of a little one consumes my life and using the remaining time to try to clean up my house has taken away from time to write, so therefore months 4 thru 7 will be combined!  This does not forecast well when we just have one child now.  Our little man is growing up!  He has mastered rolling over and uses it to get him most places.  Within the past couple weeks, we are making progress in the crawling department.  He's pretty close now, so I don't expect it to be too much longer.  He gets up on all fours and will rock back and forth, but either one of his legs gets caught underneath him and he gets tired of working at it and sits up OR he just lunges forward and flattens out.  You can see he's there mentally, but he just hasn't quite figured out how to make his limbs move the right way.
     Caden started eating oatmeal at 5 months and now we are up to eating fruits and vegetables too!  Thankfully, he hasn't had any allergic reactions to anything, though I don't think he's as big of a fan of squash or peaches.  He's eaten everything though, even peas and green beans.  I've felt we've been teething for awhile now, just based on chewing everything we can grab our little hands now, though he hasn't really been drooling too much.  We also had an episode of diarrhea last week and some fussy episodes (definite fun times at the Hixon house), so all of this combined with some middle of the night wake up calls made so much more sense when I discovered our first tooth this past Friday!
     I know understand what parents mean when they groan about teething!  The teething demon is awful!  He just has a little part of one of his bottom teeth poking out, and we still have a whole mouth to go!  Oh my! Sunday was one of those days where someone desperately needed a nap (and I really wanted one too), but Caden was being stubborn (no idea where the kid got that from) and not going to sleep.  After crying for almost an hour, I had exhausted all of the usual options and decided to just put him in his crib and seeing if letting him cry it out would work.  Thank goodness for the invention of video baby monitors because from that I saw my child stand up in his crib for the first time!  Seriously kid?!  This could not be ignored so out of the crib he went and back to the recliner (that also rocks) we went.  Thankfully Casey came to my rescue and took over so I could take a nap.  He tried his best too, but the child would not fall asleep and played until finally about 4:45 he gave in to some slumber.  However, this gave only about maybe 30 minutes until we had to wake him up to get ready for church. Sigh.
     Little guy is finally putting on some good poundage.  He moved up to the 21% for weight at his 6 month check up which was a big jump from 10% at his last few appointments with the pediatrician.  He can still wear most 3 month clothing that we have, but I've started putting him in 6 month stuff just so this Momma can get a change of scenery in the wardrobe department.  Caden has unfortunately developed a habit of waking up during the middle of the night (usually around 3 or 4).  At first we thought he was hungry, but now we think it's because he's wet.  I've tried the special diapers for at night that. put his last bottle earlier in the evening and end with some oatmeal so maybe to not give him such a full bladder, and I've done a little rice in his last bottle in hopes that would get him through the night, but nothing has had great success yet.  I'm thinking the appearance of this new tooth maybe playing a role in not sleeping, but who knows.  Thankfully most times once his diaper is changed, its not usually too hard to get him to go back to sleep.  Perhaps once this tooth is 100% out, he'll sleep through the night consistently again.
    Even with waking up some nights, he still as cute as can be!  His dimples can make anyone melt in my opinion and will get him out of so much trouble I'm sure.  With each month and really each day, Caden continues to look like a Casey Jr. As I look at his monthly pictures, I'm starting to see more of this little toddler and less of a\baby, which is kinda sad. but also exciting to see him grow into this little young man!
               
         
              

"Whoever pursues righteousness and love finds life, prosperity, and honor," Proverbs 21:21

Like Father, Like Son

    The similarities between Caden and Casey just melts my heart!  I mean how wonderful is it when you love one person so much and then to see a little mini version of him!  Double the heart melt!!  From the moment we first saw Caden, it was obvious who he looked like the most and I'm totally good with that.  I can remember the first several months people would ask me who I think Caden looked like, me or Casey, and I think the reason they asked me is because they didn't want to hurt my feelings by saying Casey.  When I took Caden up to Casey's work for the first time and Casey introduced his son as his "Mini-Me".  Never a more true statement!
     Besides the outward appearance, Caden takes after his Daddy in several other ways too.  He's pretty laid back and chill most of the time.  The boy loves to play with cars, trucks, and trains.  Plus they both love me!  Here's a picture I snapped when a few weeks ago right when Caden was 6 months old, think they are related?

They even sleep the same way!

     Since Casey made Mother's Day so special for me, I wanted to make sure he got equal treatment.  We gave him part of his Father's Day present early because he needed it to fix up the garage, which was a 90 degree corner clamp. (Obviously a request from Casey, I didn't just choose a random tool at Sear's Hardware my self).  That wasn't enough for me, so Caden and I got him a "#1 Dad" T-shirt (a little cheesy I know, but I thought it'd be cute for the 1st Father's Day and at the least he can wear it to mow the lawn) and then some framed pictures of Caden in his hat supporting Daddy's school for him to have at work.

Caden had some assistance, but the little guy held the pen
while we wrote his Daddy's name on the card.

Little guy so excited to give his Daddy the rest of his presents

Here are the pictures we framed for Casey to have on his desk at work.  Caden and I had several photo shoots together so we could get only the best pictures for his Daddy.

Daddy's 3 Loves: His son, University of Houston, and Football

A baby in sunglasses is too cute.
Caden let me share this picture with him.

These cheeks!!

     Caden it seems was so excited about Father's Day that he woke up at 1:30 and 5:00 in the morning.  Though his sentiment was sweet, we are going to have to work on containing this excitment until later in the morning.  Casey loved his gifts, so mission accomplished there.  We went to church early for Casey's first Donuts with Dad and then celebrated Dad day with my Daddio for lunch.  Given the early morning wake up calls Caden was a little cranky (Sunday mornings are always hard because Bible class coincides with one of his naps) and add a little constipation for this want to be pooper, he was definite more on the grumpy side. By mid afternoon he had taken a nap and a poop, so our usual happy guy was back!  Church again for our family and then a quick dinner, and the day was done!

     Happy Father's Day Casey!! You are the best Daddy to our little boy!  I LOVE to watch his face light up when you come home.  You can make him laugh like no other and the prayers you pray for him touch my heart!

   

Caden's 1st Sleepover

Two Friday's ago marked another milestone event for our family, Caden's 1st Sleepover, which meant my first night away from the little guy.  Thankfully, Casey's Mom agreed to watch Caden for us (it is so WONDERFUL to have family so close to watch our baby boy!).We were invited to a wedding Friday night that was a little bit outside of town, but by the time we would have made it back to our side of town it would have been around 10:30-11 at the earliest.  Since I try to put him to sleep around 9, I just hated to wake him up when we picked him up and to make Casey's Mom stay up so late for us, so she graciously agreed to host Caden for his first sleepover at their house.
  I'm not going to lie in that I was pretty excited to have a full night off.  I love being a mommy, but getting a break every once and awhile is a must for this mama.  Caden usually sleeps until 6 am if I put him down at 9, but lately he has been waking up anywhere between 3 or 4 in the morning.  Not cool kiddo!  This little mister has decided that he does not want to go all night with a wet diaper.  Hopefully, it's just a phase, but luckily it's not too difficult most of the time to get him to go back to sleep.  I had hoped he would be kind to his Grandma and let her get some sleep, and boy did he EVER!
    Caden slept 12 hours for her!! He has never done that for me!  He slept from 6pm Friday night (which is an unheard of time for him to go down for the night at) to 6am Saturday morning!  Then she gave him his bottle, and he went back to sleep again!!!!  I'm grateful he was so good for his grandma, but wow!!  I told her he might be sleeping at her house from here on out if he slept that well!  We slept in on Saturday morning till the glorious hour of 8:00, though I did wake up around 3:30 (I knew that kiddo would get my body used to waking up during the middle of the night).  The wedding was beautiful and it was lovely to have an evening with just Casey and not worry about if I would get spit up on my dress or get up multiple times to go change a diaper.
    Since Caden was with his Grandma, I didn't worry about him at all.  I mean, the woman successfully raised 3 boys, so she definitely knows what she is doing.  Perhaps one day my sweet son will sleep 12 hours at our house for me...

Ready for a night of fun with Grandma!

The face of a child that has slept 12 hours!

Takes a bottle and back to sleep he goes!

"...And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith."  Hebrews 12: 1, 2 

Promotion Monday!

     This Monday was extra special at the Hixon house.  Casey got a promotion at work and Monday was his first day!!  Same company (which we ABSOLUTELY LOVE!), but he switched departments.  Casey was previously in the Sales department, but is now in Engineering.  From a non-engineering person, the way I understood his old job (which was an Application Engineer) was that though he was in the Sales group, he acted as a liaison between the Engineering and Sales groups and answered engineering related questions for the Sales dept. and customer so the Engineering group could do what they needed to do.    He enjoyed the people he worked with and most of the responsibilities of his position, which in my book is overall a positive situation (after all, we all have at least one thing we don't like about our job), so he wasn't looking at the moment to change since he'd been at this company about a year and a half.
     One day things changed when he was approached by the VP of Engineering and told that they had an open position in their group and his name was the first person they thought of to fill it (Major Compliment #1!).  How awesome is that?!  Out of all the people there, Casey was their top pick!!!  Casey's response to being asked was why they thought he was the right man for the job. (What a great question to find out why they wanted him and what made them decide he was the guy!)  He was given several reasons, like his work ethic and the way he approached solving problems.  Like I said in the last paragraph, Casey was content with where he was, but willing to consider a move.
    Shortly after this offer, the President of the company called him into his office and told him that he was an asset to the company (Major Compliment #2) and that he could go back to Sales in the future if he took this position with Engineering and if he passed on this offer that it would not hurt his career or never be considered by Engineering or another department for another position.  How wonderful of this guy to be honest with him and look out for Casey's interest and make sure he is happy wherever he is!  Casey getting this job at this company almost 2 years ago has been one of the best blessings for us!  He went from a night and day difference in job satisfaction/happiness.  The commute is longer, but I have a MUCH happier husband, so it is well worth the extra drive!
     Back to the whole possible job switching thing.  After Casey came home and told me, I really tried to emphasize a) how proud of him I was b) you haven't been there even 2 years and you are being recognized for the awesome job you are doing!  We talked about the different options, prayed about it together, and made sure that he went with what he thought would make him happy and be the most fulfilling for him.  If he wasn't happy, then that would not be good for our family.  While he was sad to leave the Sales group, we decided that this opportunity with the Engineering dept. was one worth pursuing.  As of Monday, Casey is now a Product Engineer.  Thank you Lord for blessing our family with such a great workplace for Casey, reminding us that you will always provide for our family, and for the management at Mogas Industries for seeing what a great catch Casey is!
     Since everyone posts pictures of their kid's first days of school, here is my husband's first day at his new job!  Way to go Casey!!  Caden and I are so proud of you!!!

"And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him."  Colossians 3:17