Carrying On

Well needless to say, the past month has been the roughest time of our lives.  We could have never prepared for what happened to our sweet boy, but God has plans of His own.  We are taking one day at a time and  continuously asking God for strength to carry on without Cade here with us.  It is definitely a roller coaster ride of emotions, but each day we find ourselves being a little more at peace with this situation.  Darrell has been my rock and a great comfort to me when we talk, when we pray, and when we laugh at the funny pictures and videos we have of Cade.  The memories we have with him are priceless and we think about them ALL of the time.  Addison is growing and learning new things every day and we love spending time playing and laughing with her.  We are getting glimpses of her personality and are looking forward to her first birthday.



At the rodeo

First time at the dentist

Playing with his monsters trucks with Addi

Trapped in the nets with his sister

The family, there's that smile!

At the Astros game...this is one of my favorites!!

At the Pasadena Rodeo with Dad...my two handsome boys!!


We can't thank our family and friends enough for all of the continued prayers, thoughts, kind words, and encouragement.  This has been a tremendous help in the healing process.  It is amazing what God's love has done and we know that we will see Cade again. 

Jacob and Rachel Addie

Jacob and Rachel, two of our very close friends, are expecting their first little bundle of joy mid-June.  We went to San Antonio for a shower for both of them and had a great time.  We don't get to see them very often, but when we do, we make the most of it.  The two of them are about to move to Arkansas.  Jacob is relocating with his company.  Darrell and I wanted to make sure we were able to see them before they made the move.

One of Jacob's parent's friends hosted a shower for the two of them at their home and we went and had a great time.  Cade absolutely loves Jacob, so needless to say a lot of wrestling took place.  I think Jacob also found a special place in his heart for Addi.  He asked to hold her while he and Rachel opened their gifts.  While they were opening the presents, he even managed to get her to go to sleep.  I think he's a natural!

The Four of Us

Rachel and Me

Jacob and Addi

Addi fell asleep!

Rachel and Jacob are going to be amazing parents are we are so excited to meet Aiden!

BONUS**Check out Addi's hair!

Crazy hair!

The Kiddos

As usual time is flying by and I'm realizing I'm doing an awful job keeping up with  my blog.  The sad part is when I go to check on what all of my friends are up to, I say to myself, "Man, I really need to update our blog."  Then before I know it more time has passed by and I still haven't updated it yet.

Addi turned nine months old on February 26th.  It's so amazing how many new things she does and how much she grows every day.  I look at old pictures and can't believe how much she is changing.  She smiles ALL the time and absolutely loves her brother.  It's crazy how funny she thinks he is.  I love watching the two of them together.  Of course, she already has figures out that Cade's toys are way cooler than hers and those are the ones she always wants to play with.  According to Cade, several of his toys are "too small" and "too dangerous" for her.  "Addi could choke on them" he likes to say (even about the toys are that are perfectly fine for her to play with).  She is crawling everywhere and is now pulling herself up onto things.  Every once in a while she gets stuck and can't figure out how to get back down to the floor (it's just so far away).  We just watch and eventually she figures it out.

Addi 9 Months

Cade has started his second season of soccer and they won their first game!  Hopefully this season he will have more of a winning record.  There are a couple of kids from his team last year on his team and his really good friend, Luke, is also is on his team.  He LOVES soccer and is always asking when practice is and when his next game is!  He has enjoys riding his scooter and we're still working on teaching him how to ride his bike without training wheels.

Bath Time Fun

I have to say that bath time at our house is VERY entertaining!  Cade loves to make Addi laugh and in the bath, for some reason, she thinks everything is funny.  At the end of EVERY bath Cade likes to have a "spit-off" with Addi.  He starts and then she goes, then he goes, then she goes, etc.  It's really funny.  She can even tell when he spits harder, so she'll spit harder too.  Gotta love having an older brother!

Before her bath



Cade wanted crazy hair too, but his is a tad short!



Too cute!



I think she looks like a kid from Whoville!

By the way, check out her hair.  Isn't it crazy!!  I can't get over how much it is growing.

After her bath, getting ready for bed.



Cookies

I've been wanting to learn how to make those "cookie bouquet" type cookies forever now.  My great friend Lindsey made them all the time when she was still here (she is quite the baker these days!!), and I just love them!  We had planned on getting together before she left so she could show me how to make them, but time slipped away from us.  The next best thing was to email her for the recipe and attempt to do it on my own.  She kindly sent me the recipes along with a few tips.  I have to admit that I was a little nervous about the project because I had heard from several people that it was quite a time consuming project.  But I was determined, so I did it last night.

First, I got out all of the ingredients I needed, as well as my handy dandy new mixer that my parents got me for Christmas.  Then I went to work.

I think the clean up was the hardest part. 

The mess...flour was everywhere!

I do need some work with making colors and using a steady hand when I'm "piping" (a new term I learned).  And...I didn't have any cookie cutters either (I wanted to see if I enjoyed making the cookies before I invested in some cookie cutters).  But, practice makes perfect.  I loved making them and I have to say, it might be a new addiction. 

Cookies before decorating

The finished cookies!!

As 2010 Comes to an End....

It is truly amazing how fast time goes by.  It's hard to believe that another year has come and gone.  This year has been wonderful for our family, especially with a new addition that joined us in May.  We are looking forward to another great year with many new exciting things to come.  Cade will start kindergarten next year (oh my gosh--talk about an emotional day that will be), Addi will turn one, and Darrell and I will celebrate our 7th anniversary.

I wanted to share some pictures of Thanksgiving and Christmas before the new year starts.  We celebrated both holidays with both sets of parents.  We are lucky enough to have both of them close to us, so we can celebrate with each of them every year.

Thanksgiving 

Cade helping get the potatoes ready!

I love this picture of Addi and her PaCade!!

Christmas

How cute is this!

Addi with her Uncle Mike (too sweet!)

The boys during a friendly game of "Don't Break the Ice"

Me, Aunt Brandi, and a worn out Addi

Addi with one of her new hats and PawPaw (nice face)

We had a great Christmas this year, as it is every year.  Cade really got into the Christmas spirit with our elf, Russell.  He was sad to learn that Russell would be leaving on Christmas Eve and not returning until next year.  On Christmas Eve he opened his gifts, and then, of course, had to help everyone else open theirs.  He especially enjoyed opening Addi's.  They both got a ton of stuff and enjoyed every minute. 

Cade got a scooter thing (I don't know the official name) that he absolutely loves and rides all the time and he also got a new bike with NO training wheels.  We've been working with him on how to ride it and I don't think it will take too long before he is gone.  He's ridden it a little with no help, but he's getting closer!!  (I have to admit that it was a little emotional for me--I can't believe he's old enough to ride a bike by himself).

Cade on the scooter (there are even bars that make it bigger, so we can ride...super fun!)

Darrell starting to help Cade



Cade riding a little on his own!!


So, like I said before we have been truly blessed this year.  We are surrounded by family and friends who we love so much and are looking forward to another great year in 2011!!  Happy New Year!

Oma and Opa

We just got back from Alabama from visiting my grandparents, Oma and Opa.  We haven't seen them in a while and Oma is not doing so well.  The past few weeks we have been getting updates from my Aunt Lynn and each time she talked to my mom she said things were getting worse.  Needless to say, I wanted to see them, but I was really nervous and anxious about what to expect.  Oma has what they think is the beginning stages of dementia.

When we got to Alabama...my aunt Lynn informed us that Oma was doing so much better.  She told us that she just knew we were going to say that she was lying.  On Sunday morning we went to their house and saw Opa for a little bit and then we went up to the hospital.  Oma looked great (as great as you can look laying in a hospital bed).  She knew who we all were and was even cracking jokes.  It was so good to see her and she was SOOO excited to see Cade and Addi.  She couldn't get over her bow!  We took a few pictures and visited for a while.  I finally got to get my four generations picture!!  Overall it was a great visit.  They ended up moving her from the hospital to a rehabilitation place.  Oma needs to work on getting her strength back so that she can walk again and then go home.  This is going to be tough for her, but she really needs to do it so that she can be where she wants to be--at home, in her chair, watching the birds in her backyard.

Four Generations

Oma wanted to hold Addi on the way down to the car

Opa and his buddy

I absolutely love this picture!

We also got to see my cousin Kenny and his girlfriend.  He is such a kid at heart, let's just say that Cade had a ball with him!  It was great!

I have to say it was an emotional trip...both good and bad.  Of course it was hard to see my Oma in that condition, but it was so nice to just sit and talk with her like old times (we used to take a trip to Starbucks, just her and I, when she would come to visit, and talk).  I think the hardest thing for me was watching my Opa with her.  I can't explain how strong his love is for her!  You could just look at the two of them and see it.  It was hard because I know that he knows that his time with her is slowly coming to an end.  He is being so strong for Oma, his kids, and his grand kids.  They have been married for 57 years and have never left each other's side.  I can only hope that one day people look at Darrell and I and see what I see with the two of them.

Me and my Opa