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!