Love Grows Love

So evidently my wife is not the super blogger that I thought she was, and I am the one having to do all the make-up work. It's been since before Christmas since you've heard from us, and obviously lots of things have changed with us and Caedmon. Since I would have to write a book to go into detail about all of the new milestones and fun things happening with our family, I will just post some really cute pictures of my daughter, because if you are like me, you don't care about reading anything when there is an adorable little girl around. So if I were you, I would just look to the right side of your screen. There you will see a scrolling bar with an up arrow and a down arrow. Click the down arrow for a few seconds until you see some color. Then you may stop and smile, because that's what Caedmon is best at, making us all smile.

For all of you boring people out there that actually like to read (Whatever that is. I think it has something to do with words and not babies. Doesn't sound very appealing...), here are some milestones and cool stuff that has happened in the Burnett house.

- Caedmon lifts her head and and props herself up on her arms from her belly. She has rolled over a couple of times, but has since decided to stop. We're not sure why. I guess she thought to herself, "Every time I roll over, these weird people put me back on my belly and want me to do it again. But if I just stay on my belly, they leave me alone."

-Probably the third best night of my life. Caedmon saw her first snow and saw Alabama win the national championship on the same day. School was also canceled the next day. So needless to say I went to bed a happy man.

- We are "attempting" to feed Caedmon cereal. As you will see in the pictures, she doesn't quite understand the whole "swallowing" concept. She is so sweet when she does it though. As soon as we feed it to her she gives it right back to us. She's so generous...

- My wife, it turns out, is an excellent cook. She made homemade apple butter and bread that were both delicious. She keeps the house (almost) perfectly clean. She feeds me, Caedmon, and Storm (and none of us eat the same thing...). She takes care of our daughter every second that she is awake. She designs crafts, reads books, does schoolwork for me, and looks like she never breaks a sweat. She must somehow have more hours in her day than the rest of us. Quit making me look bad Dixi...

- Caedmon stayed with her grandmom (Kim) without Dixi and I for a few hours. This was her first real time being kept by someone else for a significant amount of time. She still doesn't take a bottle consistently (or hardly at all) so we had to come feed her when she got hungry.*

- My grandmother, Mer, bought Dixi and I an amazing fence. It's a shadow box wooden privacy fence (installed by Lowe's if anyone needs one; we definitely recommend them). Getting a privacy fence has been a goal of ours, and lately it has seemed a little out of reach, especially for the next couple of years. Mer graciously offered to buy it after she came and visited Caedmon a couple of months ago. Storm loves it because she doesn't have to be on a cable. I can't wait for Caedmon to be able to go play in what seems like our nice, new backyard.

- Last but not least, we celebrated our first Christmas as a family of three. If you are reading this and do not have kids, and you love Christmas, I have some advice for you. You probably think that Christmas couldn't be any better, but you are wrong. My advice to you is this: go out and have a baby (preferably not out of wedlock, but hey, drastic times call for drastic measures), adopt one, borrow one, steal one (Not from me though. Please. Maybe from Octomom, she'll never notice. Or maybe even Brangelina...), or at least buy one of those lifelike ones from Wal-Mart. Then take it home. Keep it until Christmas morning. Wake up. Go pick up your child from his/her crib. Celebrate Christmas with your family. You'll thank me later.

The boring stuff, AKA, not Caedmon related.

- Dixi and I (as if you care...) are doing great. Dixi is still beautiful and loves staying at home with Caedmon. She does lots of mommy things and lots of wifey things. My job is still amazing. I love the people I work with. Most of you probably know this, but I work in an EBD (Emotional Behavior Disorders) classroom. Needless to say, it can get very, very stressful. I am a pretty laid back and patient person by nature, but it would be almost impossible for me not to get stressed out sometimes. My coworkers are so helpful and encouraging it's ridiculous. I can't tell you how many things I have screwed up, forgotten about, written incorrectly, used bad judgment about, and flat out done wrong. But I have not gotten so much as a hint of negative criticism. My administration and coworkers are absolutely the best people I have ever worked with.

Anyway, on to the pictures. There's no particular order, and I only captioned some. The others are just fun to look at.

Caedmon's first time being sick. How pitiful.

Uncle Jody made Caedmon this rocking horse. Thanks so much Jody.

This is probably my favorite picture ever taken of her.

A snowball from Caedmon's first snow.

Our other baby: Storm.

First time pushing up from her belly. Mommy caught it on camera.

Dixi's delicious homemade bread and apple butter.

First time eating cereal. She has beautiful eyes. (In other news, rain is wet.)

First Christmas.

Our niece and nephew, Ema and Tobey, during Christmas in Zebulon.

Two thirds of the Burnett family.

Malachi and Addison thinking about what mischievous things they will get into with Caedmon one day.

Malachi and Caedmon in what will soon be all of the grandparents' computer backgrounds, printed out to show everyone at work, and smiled at for hours on end.

Here's what I now know. Sometimes sleep can wait. Sometimes you'll just have to put the laundry off until tomorrow. Sometimes you'll just have to watch Lost on the ABC.com the next day. I am the worst about wanting to get as many things done during the day as I can and not waste time. But what I know now is even though the house may be a wreck and you have a million things on your list, holding, kissing, singing to, rocking, playing peek-a-boo with, and loving your child always, always, always take precedence over these things. This sounds so cliche, but man oh man, it's real. You have to trust me on this.


*"We" didn't actually have to come feed her, Dixi did. I just happened to be with Dixi. I can't exactly feed her. As you dads to be will soon find out, when your child is breast fed, you're pretty useless at feeding time.


Up Next: The (Entire) Family

We are the parents of a 4 month old? Really?

Per my last post, the new "take the time" motto has been applied to taking time to be with my baby, (who is growing up WAY too fast...) enjoy my husband, celebrate Thanksgiving with family and friends, and get ready for Caedmon's first christmas... obviously, I haven't taken the time to update the blog in the last month, but in 10 years, I don't want to say, "Man, I wish I had been able to blog more often, and not held my baby girl so much." Cause that would make me retarded. I am quickly learning that all of this new baby stuff goes by in the blink of an eye, and I don't want to waste a single second with Caedmon.

With that said, I have laid her down to sleep, and should be doing something else around the house like sleeping cause it's 2 am... or cleaning up for some out of town guests that are coming to stay with us tomorrow (that I am super excited about!) , but I will get to all that cleaning stuff later...

So, two days ago Caedmon celebrated her 4 month birthday with a trip to the doctor to get three shots in her leg. I think she thought it was a wonderful birthday present... haha or maybe those screams weren't screams of delight... oh well... She is now 24 3/4 inches long (75th%) and weighs 12 lbs 11.2oz which means she gained less than half a pound in TWO MONTHS! WHAT? That can't be! She went from being in the 80th % to the 40th % for her age... The doctor didn't seem concerned, so we won't be concerned. She is kind of starting to look a little thinner... or maybe she just lost most of her second chin, okay nevermind, the second chin is still there! oh well, she is still as beautiful as ever... See for yourself.


(This picture is from her 3 month birthday! We dressed up for an amateur photo shoot. Didn't turn out so good, holding the camera, propping up the baby on a chair with a broken armrest, all while trying to get her to smile... next time I will wait until daddy gets home to help! But I did like this picture cause it is like she is saying "hey, look at my pretty dress!")

Now, back to business. We have LOTS to catch this blog up on!

First of all, Caedmon is officially a thumb sucker. See below.


I swear she might love her thumb more than she loves her mommy, which is saying a lot, cause she stinkin' loves her mommy!



(and she loves her daddy too... but mommy is writing the blog... haha)


Anyways, here are all her "milestones" as of one month ago (a lot happens in just one month!)

She laughed for the first time on the 12th of November (one tiny little weak one, but it was still adorable!) I don't know why I didn't put that in the blog for her 3 month birthday, probably because I wasn't sure if it was a really real laugh at the time, but over the course of this month she has laughed more and more, so I know now it WAS her laugh! We haven't captured it on video yet, but when we do, we will post it for the world to see.

She babbles and talks like CRAZY! She has really been doing this for awhile now, but she does it SO much now that I have to make mention of it!

She reached out to touch something for the first time like the day after her 3 month birthday, it was a silver Nilla Wafer bag (like the sealed inner bag that comes in the box...) I was just holding Caedmon in my lap & snacking away when all of a sudden I felt another hand going for my nilla wafers! Then we pulled out the video camera to capture the moment. She was focused hard on that bag! My favorite part is that she is so gentle with her little fingers, not really harsh about touching it, just sweet and lady like... haha, i love it. just watch.



After reaching out to touch things, she quickly learned to hold things in her hands, sometimes she isn't aware she is still holding something after awhile, but she holds it none the less! This picture was from the first time she actually hung on to something (some little plastic keys) and she held them long enough to fall asleep (after sticking her thumb in her mouth of course...)


She LOVES taking baths (well... sometimes! I swear we have to catch her in just the right mood, otherwise she lets us know she doesn't want to take a bath.) Here is a bath in just the right mood:



She celebrated her first Thanksgiving with lots of family! Unfortunately she didn't get to eat all that much... there is always next year!







We went on our first vacation with her to Gatlinburg, TN the weekend after Thanksgiving. We went with several of our friends and their babies. And had SUCH a great time just hanging out for the weekend.


And just as a little side note about this vacation... I was so nervous about how she would be during the trip, being away from home and normal things, but Caedmon was absolutely perfect the WHOLE time! I don't know why i was so worried, cause it turns out that I was the proudest mother in the world! I love that feeling.

She moved up to a size 2 diaper about 3 weeks ago, but I think we could probably move back down to a size one, cause I think she hit the peak of a really big growth spurt and then she thinned back down a little...

We decorated the house for Christmas and she likes to stare at the christmas lights!
(Obviously she isn't staring at the tree in this picture, but there are christmas lights up on top of some cabinets too, and that is actually what she was looking at in this picture... just wanted to clarify so i didn't sound like an idiot...)


We put her in the church nursery for the first time 2 weeks ago. I got to church that Sunday and she was wide awake, and so I was nervous that she would just babble and squeal during church, and then found that our favorite friend Kelly was in the nursery that Sunday, so we left her! While i was filling out her little nursery name sticker I told Russ, that was the first time I felt like a "real" parent... i loved that moment.

And not really a milestone for Caedmon, but more of a milestone for mommy. I made her some leggings out of women's socks! I got the idea off of another blog and just tried it while i was still sitting at the computer! I love them! and they are so warm! (BUT no more sewing by hand cause I am getting a sewing machine for Christmas! Now maybe we will be able to have more cute pictures of new homemade clothes/ideas to post in the next few months!)



Along with all the exciting parts about Caedmon growing and getting bigger comes the hard parts too. Our hard part so far: teething. My poor baby was miserable for the whole week last week. Crying, screaming, wiggling, squirming, chewing on fingers, not sleeping, etc, etc, etc the list goes on. It was a super hard week cause I have been so ridiculously spoiled with such a great baby who only "cries" when she is sleepy and hungry and by "cries" I don't mean the CRY CRY. Teething makes her CRY CRY. Are you following me here? "Cries" is a like a little yell of dissatisfaction telling me that she kinda needs something... that is what we have been used to. the CRY CRY is the piercing scream and falling tears where she is unconsolable for a few minutes... we never really heard the CRY CRY till this past week. But fortunately, she returned to her normal sweet self after 4 or 5 days. She is still chewing on her fingers a lot, and has the occasional whine here and there, but she is nowhere near as bad as she was last week. I am so thankful. (I am pretty sure that during that week the CRY CRY could be heard from Mommy too... it was a tough, tough week.) no pictures to go with this one... not until she actually gets some teeth to come through her gums... then we will all see what she (we) worked so hard to achieve... haha

So, I think that just about catches us up. One more thing before I wrap up... remember that iPod i talked about so lovingly on my November 12th post...

...Luckily i can easily jot down these "things i love" on my ipod touch so i am still keeping up with those (more on how much i love the ipod touch later... i am working on a list that i will post on or around Thanksgiving, of the things i am thankful for as a new mother...)

...well. we lost it. (by we, I mean: I am not placing blame because I should have helped keep up with it, but this person knows who he is... i love you babe) it happened during our trip to Gatlinburg. it's gone now, along with my most recent things i love lists, my new mother thankful list I was going to post after Thanksgiving, all my contacts & info, my games, my music, my easily accessible internet/email, and everything else i loved about that iPod. gone. i won't shed a tear over a piece of electronic equipment, but if i did, this would be the piece of equipment I would shed a tear for. oh well. life goes on. maybe it will turn up again. I will hope for that day.

So without the "convenience" of this magical little tool I haven't kept up with my things i love... i know, call me lazy. Why is it so hard to just go get a piece of paper and a pencil... seriously though. I will have to start back up with it, and just fill in a few for the weeks I missed... So sorry Caedmon!

Thanks for reading!

three months & counting...

well. it is officially caedmon's three month birthday today and I don't know how it is possible, but I love her more today than I did the first day I saw her. my heart got bigger somehow. I can't even imagine my life without her now! Seriously three months of having her here with us has been beyond amazing. though i have to admit that watching her grow out of that newborn baby stage isn't so fun cause I know she will never be that teeny tiny ever again and I already miss it... but I have to remind myself to continue to look ahead and be excited about the next stage for her, and just be grateful for the experiences in the past!

I am starting to realize why people always say they want another baby when they hold someone else's newborn baby. cause it just feels soo special and it just doesn't last long enough for any parent.

but like I said, I just have to remind myself to focus more on what is in store for her next and not just dwell on three months that have already gone by. listen to me, haha I sound like a crazy person! like she just turned 18 or 40 or something and she is just three months old... haha.

so anyways, if you've got a minute please wish her a happy three month birthday! she obviously can't read yet, but i'll read it to her, and one day she'll be able to read it... and she would be so happy to know how much she was loved right know!

and I just wanted to share a small revelation the lord gave to me this week... it might be my new motto, maybe even our new blog name... it is "take the time." it applies to so much for me right now, and in so many areas of my life! so much so that I am thinking of making a weekly blogpost about how God is directing me to "take the time" to do something. maybe "take the time tuesdays."

that is it for now... thanks for following our little family!

p.s. things I love: week thirteen to come later today! so come back by!

Caedmon > Football

Dear Caedmon,

This is your dad. You don't know my name yet, and I'm not sure that you even recognize my face, but I know you, and I have some things I wanted to tell you. I actually told you most of these a couple of nights ago, but I'm assuming that since you just stared at me like I was an idiot that you didn't really understand. So maybe the Mayans won't give the whole world the deadly eastern european chicken pox and kill us all in 2012 and you will be able to read this someday.
First of all, I am so happy to be your father. Me and your mom love you so much. But we have told you that a million times so that's not why I'm writing this. I was thinking other day about what a big responsibility it is to be a parent, and how much the way I raise you will affect you. That's great and all, but it's also a little scary. It's scary because I am imperfect, flawed, irresponsible, forgetful, lazy and sinful. As much as I think I could and would do anything in the world for you, I can't. I would like to think that no one else can love you like I do, but I'm wrong. You see, I am your earthly father, and I am here to "train you up in the way you should go", according the the Proverbs. But you have another father, (cue the Jerry Springer "ooooos and ahhhhs"), one that loves you for no reason except that He chooses to. I have loved you since the minute you were conceived, and He loved you long before that. Only He can provide what you really need, and the funny thing is, He is all you really need. Caedmon, I would die for you without blinking an eye, but He already has. There is a void in you that I cannot fill, and I pray that one day God will turn your heart of stone to a heart of flesh.
You are so great, and will no doubt be a great woman. You will do great things, and you can do whatever you want, but I was thinking a couple of nights ago, "What is Caedmon going to be like?" There are lots of things that I want you to be, so here's what I've already decided for you (I hope that's okay with you...). I want you be creative like your mom. I want you to be funny like Mike and be confident like Drew. I want you to cook like your grandmom and smart like your grandad. I want you to be artistic like Erin and have cute kids like Jeri. I want you to laugh like Emily and be athletic like Matt. I want you to work hard like your other grandad and make things like your other grandmom. I want you to care for people like Dusty and smile a lot like Rachel. Your kids will thank you if you buy them candy like Kelley. I want you to love kids like Amy and read like Malachi. Lord help us all if you run like Addison, but to tell you the truth, I hope you do. It would be nice around the house if you were handy like Jimmy. Please be like Heather and don't waste your words. The world will be a better place if you are jolly like Michael and down to earth like Kelly. I hope that you serve people like Brad and make people feel good about themselves like Michelle. If you look like the Joslin girls that would be fine with me. Please don't look anything like Brack, but please do sing like his wife. Wow, there are lots of things that I want you to be. I won't be disappointed if you aren't all these things, but I wouldn't mind either. But please, do me one favor. You may look like me, have eyelashes like me and lord knows you're probably going to be short like me. But whatever you do, don't be like me. Be like Him.

no posts for 3 weeks equals a really long "catch up" post

So, needless to say from the absence of posts in the past three weeks, I have been very preoccupied lately. I still have lots on my "to-do" list, seems like everything takes about 25 times longer than it should when you have an almost 3 month old baby! CAN YOU BELIEVE SHE WILL BE THREE MONTHS OLD IN FOUR DAYS!!?!? I think I am going to cry. Seriously, it is so bittersweet. She is doing so much "more" now. Talking, trying to hold her head up steady, pushing up just a little while she is on her tummy, consistently sleeping through the night, and smiling, smiling, smiling! But even though these things are so exciting, it is so sad to me that she isn't a teeny tiny newborn baby that i used to hold all day long while sitting on the couch, without anyone needing anything from me. I had no obligation to use the dishwasher, to wash the pile of laundry in the closet, to design anything for anyone on the computer, or get out of the house and run errands around town. Just laying on the bed or couch and cuddling with my brand new baby! That "honeymoon" period doesn't last long enough, cause life has to go on, but i sure do miss it...
Anyways, the good thing is, I am now taking the time out of all the things i have to do to catch up on some updates and 3 weeks worth of "things i love." Luckily i can easily jot down these "things i love" on my ipod touch so i am still keeping up with those (more on how much i love the ipod touch later... i am working on a list that i will post on or around Thanksgiving, of the things i am thankful for as a new mother...)

here are the things i love: week ten

#1
I love that you stared so intently at the pumpkins we carved after I lit the candles inside. you were so fascinated by the light and your eyes were so wide!

#2
I love that you will have a new aunt sometime soon! except that she will be taking your title as the newest family member... but that's okay, cause we like her! (congratulations mike & heather!)

#3
I love that you got bugs bunny bandaids when you had your shots for your two month appointment. and i am excited about the idea of buying character bandaids one day... but we will have to wait until our huge Sams Club box of regular bandaids runs out.

#4
I love that other people notice how great of a baby you are and it's not just me that thinks it! (Tha Berry says you have such a wonderful disposition... what a compliment from someone who has such a wonderful disposition herself!)

#5
I love that instead of cleaning regular old gray lint out of the dryer all the time, I get pink lint every other load now! I smile everytime I pull out the lint trap and find that it's pink, I know this is so strange but I truly love it. And i have been meaning to include this on the things I love list for quite some time now...

#6
I love when you sleep ALL night long! for your sake and for mine!! except sometimes I stay awake most of the night anyways cause I can't stop thinking about you... or getting things done that i couldn't get done during the day!

#7
I love when you try to "stand up" putting all your weight on those chunky little legs and pushing so hard!



and here are the things I love: week eleven

#1
how much you "talk" now! of course it isn't really "talking" but you can carry on a long conversation with lots and lots of oohss, ahhs, and grunt sounds! i love talking to you now!

#2
how intent you are on sucking your fist. so much so that you make "hickies" on your hand...

#3
that when you sneeze you almost always sneeze twice, and then i always say "bless you baby." after each one and it is just this normal routine we have now when you sneeze...

#4
that you have started clicking your tongue sometimes when you are hungry. it is really cute!

#5
okay I know this is a little on the gross side but I love how TEENY your boogers are!

#6
how your ears stick out a little just like russ's ears! and your right one sticks out just a little farther than your left one.

#7
when you are still awake, but so tired and so relaxed and i hold you up on my shoulder, you rest the back of your head on one side of my neck, and rest your little hand on the other side of my neck... like a sweet little hug. oh, this is truly one of my favorite things right now... cause you don't like to lay close for a long period of time anymore, so i love when you lay on me like that.

and just one more week to catch up on...

things i love: week twelve

#1
I love holding my lips against your head while I am holding you, your head is always so warm and your hair feels so soft!

#2
that you blow little spit bubbles on your lips now... they always end up on your shirt or my shirt but they are still pretty cute!

#3
when you move your hands around enough to catch your own attention and you concentrate SO hard on looking at them!

#4
how chunky your feet are that you have a crease at the base of all your toes that look like you can just pop them on and off

#5
when you hold your fists clenched tight in front of you like you are ready to fight!

#6
that the edges of your nostrils turn really white when you flare them out... which is a lot!

#7
how your hair curls up when it rains outside! I can't wait till you have long curls!


and a few more notable updates:
Caedmon celebrated her first official holiday so far... HALLOWEEN! We went to a fall festival at a friend's church on the Wednesday before Halloween, and had a great time.

Caedmon wore her cute pumpkin bib that Uncle Mike, and soon-to-be Aunt Heather gave her!

She even got to go on her first hayride (with mommy & daddy of course...)

Then we spent the Saturday of Halloween at Russ's brother's house in Cumming with some family & friends. We mostly just played with Malachi, and watched football all day, but on the way home we did stop by to "trick or treat" at the Hankins house and Russ's mom's house. Caedmon dressed up as a little ladybug! We borrowed the costume from a friend of ours, so it was free! And some other friends bought her the little treat bag as a thank you present, so that didn't cost us anything either! And since it was supposed to rain all day, before we left that morning i made an umbrella that looked like a ladybug! (so easy, i just bought two cheap umbrellas from the dollar store, one red, one black, then i just cut up the black one in circles, and mod podged the circles onto the red one!) so her whole costume/outfit only cost me $2.00! She was soo cute! I can't WAIT till next year when she can actually walk around (hopefully) and trick or treat, and actually enjoy it! This year, she was pretty overstimulated all day long (which was completely my fault for not making sure she napped enough, i am so sorry caedmon...) and she wasn't in a good mood at all. I don't think she really smiled one time all day long. BUT, she still made a pretty cute ladybug.

See for yourself...


And we also WON the fan photo contest we mentioned in the last post (thank you to everyone who "liked" our photo on the*reason's fan page!!!) So we happily spent our $50 credit on a christmas photo session with them on November 1st. I am so happy with our pictures, but you guys will have to wait until closer to christmas to see our pics, cause i am working on our christmas card! gosh i can't wait till christmas!

We are still taking lots of pictures of our sweet little baby, (trying to get at least one every day, but we miss a few days here and there sometimes...) and this post would suck if I didn't share some cute pictures with you. (We have some really cute videos too but I still need to upload them and then i will post those! you'll get to see her talk her head off!) but for now, enjoy these fun pictures.

i love watching her sleep, and fortunately she doesn't wake up when i take pictures of her sleeping!
this night was so precious! Storm slowly inched her way over to lay on caedmon. It was so cute. I think she thought we were going to get on to her for laying on caedmon's playmat, but instead we just quietly snapped some pictures!
her first time wearing overalls, i thought she looked so adorable!

In this next picture she was showing off how much weight she has gained! She weighed 12 pounds 4 ounces at her 2 month check up, and it has been a month since then so i am pretty sure she has to be 13 pounds by now! we are going to have to move up another diaper size pretty soon!
She just loves smiling. I love it too.
My precious baby. I just can't get enough of her.

Haha I wanted to play with her hair cause it is getting so much longer!
and i cheated a little in this next picture... there is a pillow holding her head up straighter! this is her first time sitting in her bumbo seat...
Well, thanks for reading this long long post. Hope it was worth the wait and that you won't be mad at us for not posting earlier!

Did anyone notice that we changed up the look of our blog just a little? Hope you like it!