Caden's 1st Play!

November 8, 2008

For Caden's birthday, my Mom got him tickets to "Charlotte's Web." We took him and his cousins to see it. He did ok. They did not have an intermission so we had to get up and walk to the bathroom in the middle. I think the play would have been more fun if there had been music. Overall, Caden did well.

Afterwards we went frolicking in the park with the kids. They have statues that we always played on as kids. Caden, Kaileigh, Kiersten and Kyle enjoyed playing on the and mimicking the faces that they were making!

Caden turns 4!

November 5, 2008
Caden is now 4 years old! It is hard to believe how quickly time goes by. Four years ago, my baby was born in Bethesda, MD. He was so small, and we looked forward to the future. I remember wondering what he would look like as a little boy. I remembering wondering what sports he would like, what he would be like, who he would look like. And now, here we are. He is a big boy. He loves swimming, running, jumping, rhyming. He has the best sense of humor, and we love him so much!

Halloween!

October 31, 2008

Well our Halloween didn't go off as planned! The boys were both sick. Liam had a virus and Caden had a sinus infection. Mommy was sick too! :-( Still--the kids both looked cute as a peacock and a Dragon!

Caden, Braxton and Drew at the Halloween Party

In the morning, I took a few hours off of work and went to Caden's school for his Halloween party. I had volunteered to bring some food and to help out with the party. I was feeling sick though, and unfortunately I don't think I helped as much as the other Moms there, but I did have a good time seeing Caden's class! After the party, I took Caden to Rob (who had the day off with Liam), and he took him to the doctor. Caden had a runny nose for about a week, and we were pretty sure it was a sinus infection by that point!

Caden the Dragon--with Sinusitis!

We were going to go to Trunk-or-Treat at Caden's school, but we didn't want the baby to be out in the cold.

Liam, my little peacock!

I ended up staying in that night with Liam, and Caden and Daddy went Trick-Or-Treating for about an hour. Caden had a great time, although he didn't get that much candy! Oh well, less for Mommy to eat! :-0

Liam Update

Well the last month, Liam has just been sick. He has had an ear infection, a virus (he is still hanging onto the cough), and he has had pink eye. I either gave him the pink eye or got it from him. I'm not sure which. He has started sitting up. He eats rice cereal, and he eats all of the Organic Gerber's Size 1 and has started eating the Size 2 jars. He also started eating puffs recently. It is so funny to watch him gum them and try to chew them with his 2 little teeth!
Liam had his 6 month appointment on the 20th. He weighed 16 lbs 13 ounces which was in the 55th percentiled. He was 27 inches long--75th percentile. He had to get several shots, including the DTP and HIB boosters, as well as the flu shot. Poor baby! I am fairly sure that he picked up the virus while waiting in the Waiting Room to be seen. There were several coughing babies there, and Liam came down with the virus a few days later! All in all, a good month with a lot of growing for Liam!

GiGi's 95th Birthday

October 12, 2008

We went to Nashville for my Grandmother's 95th birthday. Her birthday isn't until October 22, but we felt like we would celebrate it early. Caden, Liam and I stayed with my sister Allison. Rob had to stay in Montgomery, because he had school on Monday.

My Dad's relatives came from all over. My cousins came from Kentucky, and we had people come to the party from Florida, Alabama (of course) and as far as Hawaii. On Saturday, Mom and I drove up with the boys. The trip wasn't bad, except for the last 30 minutes, Caden was just tired of being in the car.

We arrived at Aunt Susan's and had dinner, talked with relatives, and chased Caden around while he had a lot of chocolate and no substanial food! GiGi opened some cards and got a beautiful crown for her 95th birthday!

On Sunday, we had the actual party at the Clubhouse. We ate, of course, and we each told GiGi a story we remembered and loved about her. It was a lot of fun, and it was good to see all my relatives!

Andrea also met Liam for the first time!

Another Caden milestone...

Caden's hitting so many developmental milestones this year. A few days ago, he began to add on his hands. He can add numbers up to 10. He can also add and subtract objects in front of him. He can subtract on his hands as well. I was so surprised to hear him do this in the car the other day.

He has also memorized several sums. For example, he knows that 4+1 = 5 and that 2+2=4, 3+3=6 without having to count on his fingers! Its so amazing to me to see him picking up on things so quickly!

Play Time

October 3, 2008

Liam enjoyed some play time this weekend by himself and with his brother. Caden had fun pretending to be a baby. His imagination has just taken off! Here are a few new pics:

Liam's Baptism

September 28, 2008Liam was baptized this past Sunday at Grace Episcopal Church. My Mom bought him the beautiful antique Christening Gown that he wore for the baptism and the little French bonnet.

He did well through the church service. Rob's mom, Judy, came down and she enjoyed holding him. Another couple's son was baptized (the mother was too!) at the service. The church was packed, and the music was quite beautiful.

Liam did not cry when Father David put the water on his head and then the oil for the cross. He just looked around curiously.

Perhaps the most memorable event of the Baptism was the other girl's father passing out! During the last few minutes of the Service, my mother-in-law noticed that the man needed medical attention. She called it to my Dad's attention, and he ran over to help. He had no pulse, but it quickly returned. Someone called 911, and they came within minutes. They took him to the hospital, and we heard that he is doing much better today.

Silly Glasses!

September 2008
Allison gave us some green glasses at Rowan's birthday party. The lenses fell out, and now the whole family likes to wear them without the lenses. Here are a few pics. Sorry guys--I refused to put them on! ;-)

Football and Fun!

The last few weeks have been busy at work and busy at home. Liam is growing well, and he is getting his front bottom two teeth. The one on the left is partially in. You can't really see it in the pictures yet, but I'm sure as it comes up more you all will be able to sneak a peek!

We went to the Homecoming Football game (Saint James vs. MA) on Friday, September 26. It was our 2nd game of the season. We had hot dogs, popcorn, and a lot of fun! Caden enjoys playing with his friends, Gibson and Drew, while Rob and I try to keep them from falling off the bleachers. It is a lot of fun to hang out with the other parents at the football game, and Rob and I enjoy taking Caden to them. Liam went for the first time this week. He cried at first, but then decided it wasn't all that bad. He just looked at everything and took it all in! He loved when Drew, Gibson and Caden were doing silly things and laughed out loud every time he would see them!

We don't know who won the game, because we had to leave at Half Time because Caden was exhausted!

S-T-O-P

September 17, 2008

"S-T-O-P, spells Stop Mommy," Caden said while we were driving home from Big Mommy's house. "How do you spell STORE?"

"Sound it out," I said.

"Sssss, Tah, O...S-T-O..."

I had to help him with the rest. Caden can now spell stop, the and go. He recognizes the word STOP on the STOP signs, and every time we read he recognizes the word "the." We started putting the sight words on the fridge, thanks to my sister Kelsey's recommendation, and he has really taken off! It is amazing to see their little minds start to expand!

We have also started reading Chapter Books. We read one chapter a night before bed. Last week we read "Catwings," and this week we're going to read "Superfudge."

Caden is Growing Up!

September 12, 2008

It is amazing to me how quickly kids develop. Last year, Caden didn't know his alphabets or all his numbers, and now he knows them all. I came into the kitchen the other day and Caden had lined up all the letters from A-Z on the fridge. He then told me what each letter was.



At Caden's school they do a new letter and sound each week, and it really has resonated with him. When he sees an "S" he tells me what it sounds like. He can also tell me what a lot of words start with just by hearing it said. Next step is Sight Books!!!



Cute story: Yesterday, we were driving home from Big Mommy's house, and Caden said, "Look Mommy--the sun is setting! I love it when the sky looks orange when the sun starts going down!"



He is becoming such a big boy! It amazes me every day how much he knows.

Liam tries solid food!

Liam trying cereal for the first time-sorry for the fuzziness!

September 6 -- September 13, 2008


Well I decided to give Liam solid foods this weekend. He has been intently watching us eat, and he seemed ready. He absolutely HATED the rice cereal and screamed on Saturday. I was going to wait and feed him some more next week, but I decided on Sunday that I would try it mixed with pears. He LOVED it!
Since Sunday, we have introduced peas too. He has a mixed reaction about those. He sort of looks like he will throw up at first when I put it in his mouth, but then he swallows it. He opens his mouth very wide for food and gets excited when I get it out!

Do they have swim team for 3 year olds?

Caden is such a swimmer. Now at 3, almost 4, he jumps into the pool, swims in the deep in, can swim all the way down to the bottom of the shallow end, andgenerally loves swimming. The other day I was watching him swim, and he was doing the side stroke. I hadn't even showed him how to do it. The kid just loves to swim.

I really cannot wait to get Caden into some kind of sport, because he just is so energetic and seems very athletic to me.

Rowan's Birthday Party

This is the sight of a 1 year old having his first bite of refined sugar! We went up to Nashville for Rowan's first birthday this weekend. He had a wonderful time eating the cake. He didn't blink when everyone there (about 35 people) sang him "Happy Birthday," either.

Liam enjoyed himself. My Mom had cataracts surgery on Thursday, and she hadn't seen Liam for a few days, so she held him a lot at Allison's house. I think she was going through withdrawls. He is such a good traveler. He slept fine in the tiny hotel we stayed in. He stayed on his schedule the whole time. I have said it before, and I will say it again, that he is the easiest baby! I just hope it stays that way!

Caden's time in Nashville consisted of chasing after Rowan, arguing like an old married couple with Jeff's niece Ryan, and salivating over birthday cake whilst Rowan was being sung too. It is hard for a 3 year old to wait patiently for birthday cake! Caden did well though. He was very good on the trip, and he said he had fun eating the chocolate cake and ice cream and couldn't wait for his birthday! He also serenaded Rob and I at a restaurant with "Happy Birthday to Rowan," in preparations for that evening's festivities. How funny!

We also were able to see my grandmother, Gigi, when we were there which was great. She met Liam for the first time. She held him for a few minutes. She will be 95 in October, so we were glad she was able to see Liam. She enjoyed the birthday party, and as always it was good to see her!

One half week of school...

and Caden gets sick. Yes, that is right, Caden came down with strep throat on Tuesday. I actually think he was getting it over the weekend, because he was so tired all weekend long.

On Monday after school, Caden was eating at my Mom's house when we picked Liam up, and I felt his head and noticed he was hot. I took his temp and it was 100.3 (just low-grade), but he never has a fever. I told my Mom I thought he was coming down with something.

Well, Tuesday morning he woke up crying and upset. He said he didn't feel well and that his head hurt. Of course, I think the worse thing. To me Fever+Headache=Meningitis. Well he was miserable all day at my Mom's house. I have no sick time, so I wasn't able to take time off. :-(
Rob called and made a doctor's appt for him at 1:15, and they did a quick strep test that came back negative.

Well Wednesday he woke up in a much better mood, but it quickly faded. I got the call from the doctor's office around 11 AM that his lab work had come back and he did have strep. Thank goodness for antibiotics though, because after just one dose he was running around like the wildman he is!!!

He is all better now, and he went back to school today. They only have to be on the meds for 24 hours, and then they aren't contagious. I think he was happy to be back in his routine, and he actually got 3 stickers at school today, and he only has to get 2 more to get a surprise out of the Treasure Chest!!! How exciting!

Liam is 4 months old!

August 18, 2008

Well Liam had his 4 month appointment today. I can't believe he is 4 months old already. Crazy how fast time flies.

Here are his stats:

Height: 25.5 inches (75th percentile) -- Caden was 25 inches at 4 months.

Weight: 15 lbs 4 oz (62nd percentile) -- Caden was 14 lbs 7 oz at 4 months.

Head: 16 inches (don't know the percent but I'm betting it is around 25th or so)

He laughed when the doctor listened to his heartbeat, and he absolutely LOVED the mirror right next to the table he had to lie on. He smiled and giggled at the baby in the mirror, not knowing it was himself of course. Then they gave him 3 shots which was so horrible. He screamed a lot. Afterwards, I had to go back to work, but my Mom said he went to sleep and he slept the rest of the day! I know his little legs are sore, but he is doing ok now.

As for solids...I told the doctor we were going to hold off until five-six months and he was fine with that. I don't think Liam is that interested in food yet, so I don't think this will be a problem.

Liam at birth (2 days old)

Liam at 4 months

Montgomery Zoo

August 16, 2008

We went to the zoo this weekend, and we had a wonderful time. We left early on Saturday, mostly because we thought it was going to rain, but also because if you get to the zoo early most of the animals are up and out.

The first stop was the snake house. Caden wasn't wasting any time getting there either. He sprinted past the Spectacled Bear (Mommy's favorite), the monkeys, the alligator, and the Maned Wolves. Daddy and Mommy made Caden wait a few minutes by the maned wolves as we watched one of the wolves take a drink, and then a fight ensued. It was neat!

Caden loves the snakes, lizards, frogs and dragons in the snake house. His eyes light up when he sees them. He knows that he cannot touch a snake unless a knowledgable adult tells him it is ok. He is still looking forward to seeing the snake at his new school, as they did not go to the Science Lab this week.

After the snakes we made our way around to the Llama. He stuck his head out and looked right at us. About this time, a zoo employee came up to us and told us not to get too close b/c the llama spits. We backed up, butI got a few good pics of him in the meantime.

Then we decided to go ahead and take the train ride. Caden was already getting tired and was a little moody. He enjoyed the train ride though, and Liam had his first ever ride on the train. I have to say he wasn't too enthusiastic about it, but he didn't cry!

We decided we would go see the Elephants next. We stopped to look at the big open area where the Zebras, Bantangs and other animals roam. I Batang came right up to the area where we were standing and began eating the leaves. Caden was amazed by it, as were we. It was so neat!!!

After that, we stopped by the playground. Caden and Daddy played for awhile while Liam snoozed in his carseat. Check out the pics of my three kids!

Our last stop was the otters. Caden absolutely loved these guys. They came right up to the water and basically smiled at you. They were so neat!!! It was a fun day, and we came home for a nice long nap. Caden ended up not falling asleep until 3 in the afternoon, but then he was down for the night! I think after his week of changes he needed to rest and catch up on a little sleep!!!

Caden tuckered out at the end of the day.

Caden's First Day of School!

Caden with me right before school

Caden with his new teacher

Caden started Pre-K today at Saint James! We were so excited. I decided to get up early and drive him to school. This meant a finely tuned orchestration of driving one kid to Big Mommy's and then promptly jumping back in the car to drive to Caden's school. But, it all worked out!

They only had class until 10:30, so I walked Caden in, put his bookbag in the bookbag box, showed him his cubby, and then found his name on the table. He was a little clingy, but finally he sat at the table and began looking at a number book (he is really into numbers right now!). I kissed the palms of his hands (as instructed by the teacher) and left. Apparently they read a story about a child who was told to kiss the palms of their hands when they missed their Mommy and Daddy. So cute.



Caden also has to wear a uniform this year. He looks so cute in it. He is one of the smallest in the class, and I think the uniform makes him look so tiny! He walked right into the classroom wearing his Lightning McQueen bookbag though.



When I picked him up he was so excited to see me, and he told me that "Mrs. Browning was nice!" She also gave him Smarties, so he was very pleased with the candy aspect of it all. They took a tour of the school, introduced each other, and read books today!



We will see how he does tomorrow, because he will be there all day not until just 10:30!

Caden meets his Pre-K 3 Teacher!

August 8, 2008
Well, Caden is starting a new chapter in his life: School! After having some problems with his daycare this summer, we decided to go ahead and enroll him in a local private school. They have a Pre-K3 program, complete with after-school care, so he will be able to be there all day. The greatest part about it is that 4 kids from his daycare are going to attend there, and one of the kids is in his class! I know he will like that.

On Thursday, we went to meet his new teacher, Mrs. Browning. Caden calls her "Mrs. Brownie." The Pre-K3 classrooms are all centered around a "pod," which is basically a big playroom. Caden walked in and made a bee-line for the Thomas the Train table which is located in the pod. I literally had to pry him away from the table so we could make it to his classroom to meet "Mrs. Brownie."

We walked into the classroom and there were 2 other children and parents there. The children were clinging to their parents. Well, Caden, with his little outgoing self, walked right in started looking at the books, found the blocks, and began playing.

Mrs. Brownie came up to us and said "What is your name?"

He looked at her and said, as easy as you please, "Caden Stanley Greene!"

I was so proud of him for not being shy. He felt right at home there.

Then Mrs. Brownie said, "Well tell me a little bit about yourself. What do you like to eat?"

He looked at her with a big smile and said "McDonald's and candy!"

I was a tad embarrassed, but I had to laugh, because those are his favorite foods besides peanut butter and jelly sandwiches!

Well Mrs. Brownie said "My girls love McDonald's. Would you like to take us there sometime?"

Caden looked at her and said "Um...maybe I'll take you there next year."

It was so funny. He really felt comfortable there. I'm glad he will start there this year and have a structured academic environment. I do think that Mrs. Brownie will have a lot of trouble pulling him away from that train track though!

Our Trip to St. George Island

July 19-26, 2008

After going back to work for three weeks it was time for a vacation! My whole family, Mom, Dad, Kelsey, Allison, Chris, husbands, wives and kids all decided to go down to the beach! Mom and Dad rented Pieces of Eight, which we used to own. Mom was excited to go back there, as she has missed the house since she sold it. The problem is it only had 4 bedrooms and 3 baths, and 19 people were going to be staying there! Yikes!

When we got to the beach on Saturday, the weather was beautiful. Mom cried when she saw the house and the view from the front porch. But, things had changed and the new owners had not kept the house up as well as Mom and Dad had. After throwing our suitcases in our room (we got the twin bedroom), we opened it up and quickly found our bathing suits. Caden got dressed up in his swimsuit, his swimshirt, swim shoes, sunglasses, hat and life jackets. Fully dressed--perfect for that hot Florida sun. I put Liam in his swimsuit and swimshirt, and I lotioned both of them up.

When we went in October, Caden had refused to get in the ocean, because he was scared of the water. This time, he jumped right into the ocean. The waves did bother him some. He would say "Those waves are mean and keep knocking me down." The life jacket helped with that some, because even though Caden can swim well, we were worried about him getting swept away.

The baby enjoyed his quick dip in the water. He only went down one other time during the week. I was too worried about him getting sunburnt!

It was a wonderful week, connecting with my sisters and brother again. All the kids played, sometimes well together, other times not. Rowan was a doll and is getting so big! Unfortunately, my camera broke while we were there, so I have absolutely no pictures of the sand, ocean, and two little boys out there! I was able to get a few pics of the kids inside the house. I think the camera problem has something to do with the light sensor, as every picture taken outside was completely washed out!

All in all, we had a great time, and Caden behaved so well. On Friday I came down with a stomach bug which was unfortunate. It took me 5 days to get over, but now I'm feeling better. The kids never came down with it, thank goodness!