1st Day of School

   This week began another milestone for our little guy, starting school!  It's 2 days a week (Tuesday and Thursday), which I think is perfect for starting off when you're this young.  Casey and I decided that the best place for our family was at the Mother's Day Out program at the church where Casey grew up going called Little Champs.  Being almost 22 months old, Caden was ready for school.  He needed the social interaction and the chance to learn so many fun, exciting things (and Mommy needed a little time to herself to clean the house and go to doctor appointments before Miss Molly arrives).
   Even though I tried to get as much ready the night before, I still felt like I was rushing around trying to get out of the house on time.  Since it was such a special occasion, I figured a special breakfast should be in order, so off to Chick fil a we went for a Mommy/Son date.  While I was looking forward to a few free hours, I found myself wishing we could put this off one more day.  So of course, there were some tears from me on the way there (pretty much a guarantee when you're 6 months pregnant so I wasn't surprised by their presence).  Once we got to school, I felt like everything went by so fast.  I would have loved to slow it down a bit, but I wanted to make a smooth, easy transition for Caden and his teachers.  Quickly after walking him into his classroom, I snuck out while he was distracted.
 

I think he ate more bread than
anything else, but that's okay this time!

This not impressed look is courtesy of his father!
(Thank you Casey Hixon!)

He looks too grown up here!  I'm impressed I even got a little smile!

Puzzles and snacks right when he walked in!

When I went to pick him up, he was all smiles and excited to see me (though the first words out of his mouth were Da-da).  His teachers said he did good and even gave me some artwork of his handprints they had made (a Mommy's dream!)  I would based on his artwork that his teachers got a good grasp of our kiddo.  He is 100% boy and has quite the arm already.  I'm slightly curious what the other kids in his classroom hands were made for, but Caden's definitely made me giggle.  His first artwork from school is a definite keepsake and is proudly displayed on our refrigerator.

Such true words for our son!

   Just like that, we made it through our first week!  Caden did great!  I was able do go to Ladies Bible Class at church, do some cleaning, and go to the dentist, so I feel accomplished!  We are excited to see Caden grow and how we are going to be blessed by Little Champs!

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit."  Romans 15:13

Family Photos

   Like with my blog posts, I'm really slow with updating my pictures.  The picture on this blog is from Caden's newborn photos, ha!  My profile and cover photos are old too!  Part of my slowness in changing them is that I love looking at them and remembering Caden as this tiny, little one forever.  Then there's the decision of what picture(s) to replace these things with, which also takes me longer than it should.  And finally, there's the whole time factor that I never seem to have enough of.  Back in April (yes I wrote April) we had some family photos done.  My original plan was to get these done when Caden turned a year old, and we see how long it took me to finally get that done.
   Oh well, such is life.  Instead, Caden is 17 months old and I was pregnant with Molly (though no one knew at that point, which was also another reason I delayed in posting these pics).  A sweet friend from church that is also a very talented photographer took them for us and she did an amazing job.  I'm so glad I got some great pictures of my little guy (and little girl too!) that I can treasure forever!  Here are just a few:

I love seeing my sweet boy putting his
hands together to pray

Caden showing his "muscles"

"You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you." 
Isaiah 26:3

Sweet Molly Elizabeth!

I've been a bad blogger yet again!  So sorry!  Baby Hixon #2 is a GIRL!!  

Sometimes, I still can't believe it!  I seriously had this feeling after having Caden that we were going to have all boys and I was good with that!  Overall, Caden was/is an easy baby (don't get me wrong, we have our challenges, but I know it could be way worse).  Given that this second pregnancy was so different from Caden's in the fact that I was way more nauseated amongst other not so fun symptoms, we suspected this little one might be a girl.    We really were good whether it was a boy or girl.Each pregnancy is different, so in actuality there's really no way to really know.  Casey and I were both fully confident that God would give us what we needed, we just prayed for a healthy little one. When we had an ultrasound, the tech was able to tell us right off the bat that we were having a girl!  It was so incredible to watch her move around and to see how much she had grown from the last ultrasound.  Everything looked great and progressing as it should be!
   So how did we arrive at the name Molly Elizabeth?  This is actually the girl name we had picked out if Caden was a girl too (I just had to talk Casey into it again)!  With Caden and Molly's pregnancies, both Casey and I spent a lot of time looking at baby name books trying to find the perfect name for our little ones!!  One day when I was pregnant with Caden I was looking through girl names, I came across Molly and I really liked it.  The book I was reading also had details in it like what the name meant, if it was the form of another name, and a variety of spellings.  Then I saw that Molly was a form of Mary and I fell so in love with the name and knew if I ever had a daughter, that's what I wanted her name to be!  Both Casey and I had grandmothers that we were very close to growing up that were named Mary.  They were beautiful, amazing Christian ladies that we both loved deeply, admired for so many reasons, and aspired to be like.  I can remember one day driving home from work and just crying at how much I loved this name!  When I told Casey about the tears, his initial reaction was that he laughed at me (ah the joys of pregnancy hormones)!  But then when I asked him what kind of person he would want his daughter to be like and that I would want her to be like them, he totally agreed!  Both of our grandmothers are living the good life in heaven now, which makes me a little sad they can't be here to hold our sweet girl and meet their namesake, but we'll all be together one day, so it's just a delayed reunion.  I'm sure they're both looking down on us and just in love with their great granddaughter.  Okay first name down, now what is her middle name?  Elizabeth is again special to both of us!  Casey's grandmother (same one named Mary) had the middle name Elizabeth and then my very first best friend Laura that I only had to thankfully spend 10 days without on this earth has the same middle name.  I think it just fits perfect with Molly too!!

Casey's Grandmother Mawmaw

My grandmother Mur with all but one of her grandchildren
(I would be the front and center)

   It's so nice to no longer call this baby an "it" and that she has a name!  I'm hoping this will help Caden better understand that he has a little sister coming in a few months.  Right now, if you ask him where his baby is, he lifts up his shirt and points to his belly button!  Pretty typical, but very cute!  If you ask him where Mommy's baby is, he'll lift up my shirt and either point to my belly button or if we're sitting down he'll hug my belly.  We're making progress (I hope) on the being gentle.  We bought a baby doll to help Caden start the transition of not being the only child and how we need to be sweet to the baby, which I think is helping him a lot.  Bring on the bows and pretty dresses!

20 wks. with Caden

20 wks. with Molly

"Children are a heritage from the Lord, offspring a reward from him."  Psalm 127:3

4th of July Fun!

Little late to be posting about our Independence Day weekend, but I think we all know by now that I usually operate a few weeks behind schedule!!  With another baby on the way, I don't see that improving either!!  It was so nice to have the 4th on Saturday, which meant Casey had Friday off. That also happened to be my Mom's birthday, so we had my family over to our house for dinner and dessert.  Then on Saturday, we went over to our next door neighbor's house for their party.  Caden got to go swimming with Casey for the first time and let me say this child was a completely different child from the one I've taken to the pool this summer.
   He let him hold as they moved around the pool and didn't really squirm or fuss at all.  When I've taken him, he wants out of my arms after a few seconds and is constantly hopping in and out of the pool.  Needless to say, Caden was in heaven with his Daddy (aka his best buddy) in the water!  He had the biggest smile on his face pretty much the entire time!  Needless to say, Caden and I might stick to splash pads for the rest of the summer, but we'll see.  Thankfully after swimming for an hour, it was no problem at all putting him to bed and he slept through all the fireworks that went off right outside our house, which impressed everyone!!  Thank goodness for video baby monitors, which allowed Casey and I to go outside to watch the fireworks while still keeping an eye on our little guy.
   A late night for Casey and I, but overall a fun, family weekend together!!!

This baby loves the water!!

'

So happy to be with his Daddy

Caden's 1st Shaved Ice!  He liked it, but was more
interested in exploring his surroundings

"Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name." Psalm 103:1

My Ode to Baby Wipes

For the end of April, the entire month of May, and first half of June our sweet little boy has been battling a bad yeast infection.  Most of this time Caden hasn't seemed bothered by it, which is good. Treatment for it is to put a prescription cream (Nyastatin) on him 4 times a day.   Doesn't sound that bad right?!  Wait for the kicker, you can't use baby wipes!  Ugh!!!  Apparently, there is something in the baby wipes that won't kill the yeast, so you have to use wet paper towels.  Caden has had a couple of these in the past (seems after a round of antibiotics, yeast infections are not uncommon), but after maybe a couple days use of the Nyastatin, it clears right up.  For some reason, this time around has taken way longer.
     You can't just leave your bag of wipes in the diaper bag, but have to make sure that you pack a bag of wet paper towels, which aren't as easy to pull out as wipes.  With pregnancy brain, having something else to remember is not ideal either.  Having said all this, I have come to appreciate the baby wipe, so here is my ode I have written:

Yeast o yeast, you are a beast!
I don't like dealing with you in the least.
Baby wipes you are the best.
Having to use wet paper towels for the past month I do detest.
So whenever you see a baby wipe please be in awe
For they truly are one of the many gifts from God.

I look forward to the day when I can actually use the baby wipes in my diaper bag, but I'm honestly somewhat hesitant because I don't want to start this saga all over again.  There are worse problems though, so we'll keep on trucking!

"The end of a matter is better than its beginning, and patience is better than pride."  Ecclesiastes 7:8

A Weekend At The Lake

This past weekend we decided to take a last minute trip to visit Casey's grandfather in Marble Falls.  We love going up there, and wish we got to do it more often, but the craziness of life and a 4 hour car trip for a toddler get in the way.  Not only did Caden get to see his Pawpaw Ben, but Casey's youngest brother Joel (who we call Uncle Jo-jo, but for Caden it comes out "Sho-sho" at this point), his cousin Brandy and her son Corwin were also there!  Our little guy got to ride Pawpaw Ben's "tractor", play in the sprinkler, and spend lots of time outside (his favorite!)
   In the past Caden has slept awful when we go here, but in his defense the past couple times he's either gotten sick while there or was about to be.  Both nights this time around, he slept great in his pack and play! Only time he didn't do well sleep wise was the 20 minute nap on the way home Sunday afternoon!  Ugh!  I purposefully kept him awake so he would sleep on the drive home, but Caden decided otherwise.  We made it there and back thankfully without too much crying/screaming and crankiness.  Thank goodness for Veggie Tales and DVD players in cars!
   We all loved getting away and seeing family we don't get to see that often!

Caden LOVED playing on Pawpaw Ben's tractor

Caden and his Daddy driving the tractor together!

A boy and his bat

Caden and his "Sho-sho" playing on the bed

Tuckered out from a long, fun weekend!

"Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me.  The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them."  John 14:21

18 Months Already!

I can't believe a month ago today exactly, our little boy turned a year and a half!  Two is less than six months away now! Craziness!!  He is still super active and sitting still is not high on his priority list, but that's okay.  His little personality is definitely developing and it's fun (and at times challenging) to watch. Here's a little snapshot of where our sweet boy is at this age:

Weight: 24 lbs. (48%)
Height: 32.75 in. (63%)
Head Circumference:19.13 in. (82%)
Teeth: 12!
Favorite Words to Say: Uh-oh, no-no-no, si (which is his version of "outside", but said with the most southern drawl ever!), bi-ba ("bible")
Favorite Activities: playing outside (he'd be there 24 hours a day if he could!), using my Bible for Kids app on my phone, watching golf on TV (sounds odd I know, but this kid SERIOUSLY LOVES to watch the "ball" on TV, I've watched more with him than my almost 30 years of life before he came combined!), saying his animal sounds (the elephant and pig are my favs), playing on the bed
Other Random Fun Facts:
         -Caden's favorite number is 2!  I always start by saying 1,2,3 to help him learn his numbers, but
          if you ask him to count, he'll just say 2.
         -Almost always if he sees anything orange, he'll hold up his hand and say "Ssss"because orange
          is the color of fire and we don't touch fire.  Right now we're just rolling with it so he won't
          want to touch the stove or oven.
         -Caden is becoming quite the sweet little helper when we're at the store by handing me things out of the cart to               put on the belt at the registers.  Love seeing his servant heart already.
         -When you ask him to say "Caden" he always replies "Daddy" or "Da-da".  Since he's so much
          like his father, this makes total sense to me!  Definitely still a daddy's boy, but "Ma-ma" now
          exists too and occasionally preferred (mainly at bedtime).

Caden with his "B"

Caden wanted to shave too before church on Sunday

Fell asleep at Grandpa and Grandma's house.
He slept for 4 hours!!!

Loves bath time, or as Caden calls it
"Splash, splash"

We are so blessed to have this little guy in our lives and I can't wait to see the awesome big brother he'll be!  Love you Caden John!

"Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments."  Deuteronomy 7:9

The Low Down on the Pregnancy with Hixon baby #2 So Far

4 wks. with Hixon Baby #2

12 wks. with Hixon Baby #2

When I was pregnant with Caden, I took pictures each month to see how both he and I were growing.  As a #2 child myself, I'm trying very hard to follow (as close as I can) the same things I did with my first pregnancy, so child #2 doesn't feel slighted.  So very sorry Hixon baby #2, but there is no picture at 8 weeks because from starting at about 5 weeks, I have felt AWFUL ALL DAY LONG AND EVERY DAY!  With Caden I experienced the tiredness and morning sickness/nausea periodically in the day (which didn't even start till about 8 wks.), but as long as I ate something, it went away and I was okay.  This time around is a completely different story!

   Right at 5 weeks, the nausea hit me like a ton of bricks and would pretty much last the entire day.  I was eating anything and everything to try to see what would help, which made that number on the scale go up faster than I wanted too.  One day it would seem like one thing would help,but the next day it would make me even more nauseated.  This did wonders for our grocery and eating out bills let me tell you!  Even when I ate sometimes, the nausea would not subside.  I couldn't figure out a way to win, which was frustrating.  I tried supplements (which didn't seem to help that much) and my sweet best friend sent me some Preggie Pops (those did help some while I had one in my mouth, but no really lasting effects).  Since there are all these ads on the TV these days about Zofran causing birth defects, my doctor didn't want to give me any prescription stuff since I was still eating and gaining weight, so it's been pretty much survival and endurance mode.  Casey was a saint I must say, cooking dinner when he came home, playing with Caden, and making sure I was taken care of too. It's been challenging this 1st trimester, but I feel like the past few days it seems to be getting better. Evenings are usually hard for me, but the mornings and afternoon aren't as bad as long as I eat ever so often.  I hope I didn't just jinx it by putting it in writing.  This brings me hope as I near the end of the 1st trimester, that this nausea is fading and will not last the whole pregnancy! Thank goodness!!!

   Since this pregnancy has been so different from Caden's so far, could Hixon baby #2 be a girl? Possibly.  Maybe it's another boy who wants me to make sure I know that he's his own person and not the same as his big brother.  Message received little one and don't worry, I will remember your pregnancy as well!  We'll have to wait about 7ish more weeks before we find out the gender, but I know God will give us what we need!

"And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus."  Philippians 4:19

Our Little Fisherman

A few weeks ago, Casey's work had a crawfish boil for the employees and their families.  While I'm not a fan of the mud bugs personally, it's always nice to visit Casey's work and enjoy some family fun together at a place my husband loves to work.  Right outside Casey's building where he works, there's a pond that they keep stocked with some fish that employees can feed.  Since we were coming up for the crawfish boil, Casey wanted to take Caden fishing at the pond.  Off to Academy we went a couple days before to get Caden his fishing pole.  Seriously I don't know who was more excited about the fishing, Casey or Caden!  Rarely does Casey ask me to take pictures of something (usually because I already am), but this was a big deal so it was a request I did not deny!  First, the boys fed the fish, which Caden enjoyed because he got to throw something and then watch the water splash!  Then when it came to the fishing he was equally enamored!  So serious and focused, like his Daddy!  He also wanted to get in the water with the fish, but that was really the only big issue.  Casey grew up fishing, and it's special to see the tradition being passed down another generation to continue for a long time!  I see many fishing trips in our future!

"Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." Matthew 4:19