North Dakota 2009

In the nick of time, before all the Christmas buzz begins, I wanted to write a quick memoir of our first trip as a family to North Dakota which we took the weekend after Thanksgiving. My sweet mom-in-law, Helene, grew up in the chilly state of North Dakota. She came from a large family with 7 children, several of which still live there, Jason's precious Grandma, Bernice included. Here are some of the sweet people we spent time with there and the stories I don't want to forget.

(From left to right and clockwise) Grandma Bernice, Jason, me and Caden, Great Aunt Bernie, Helene, Great Uncle Ray and Robert.


Caden's first time in a high chair, complete with clanging measuring spoons! Grandma bought it at a garage sale and we loved it! Caden was unfortunately/fortunately fighting off a bad cough while we were there. The fortunately part was because literally every time he coughed without fail he let out this unique and LOUD gutteral Aaarrruummmm!!! It seemed a bit of his way of communicating to us and keeping us entertained. This is his 'warrior' face... bad coughs BEWARE!


Aunt Bridget and Uncle Alan... I didn't realize before, but Bridget, one of the youngest of the 7 siblings, had some hysterical stories of torture inflicted on her by her older siblings, namely Glenn and Helene. You could still see hints of poor Bridget's past pains with certain distrustful expressions and reluctance to go along with something 'fishy'. Don't worry though, she can hold her own.


Cousin Erin and her husband Devon... they got married just a couple weeks before us. The heat was on them from all questioning them about when they are going to have babies... sorry guys!


Uncle Glenn, Aunt Diana and Diana's dad Louis. Glenn and Robert hunted pheasant a day or so before we arrived and Diana cooked up an incredible pheasant 'stew' creation, it literally melted in your mouth... And although we were all the way up north, we still managed to enjoy a lil' Southern Comfort. We topped off the evening with a specially brewed coffee complete with a lil' whip and baileys-- quite possibly one of the best cups of coffee Ive ever had, at the least, memorable!

Glenn and Diana both ride in motorcycle rallys-- Diana told us about a crazy trip they took through Black Hills South Dakota where a buffalo almost got the best of her.


Almost everybody... Clockwise from me, Grandma Bernice, Aunt Yvonne, cousins Erin and Devon, Uncle Glenn, Louis, Aunt Diana, Aunt Bridget and Uncle Alan, Robert, Helene, Jason and Caden.


Aunt Diana and Aunt Bridget kissin' the cheeky monkey.


Aunt Yvonne "Vonny" made Caden the most adorable sweater that fit him to a T! Caden loved it and was very thankful for how warm he was wearing it!


Our flight home and Caden displaying his masterful flying skills as a not quite 4 month old. He made it easy on us, for sure! :)


It seemed to come to close all too soon, especially since I didn't quite get to see any of the snow I had hoped to see (it snowed the day after we left). We look forward to coming back again soon! Thanks for all your warmth, love and laughter... We had a wonderful time!

One Little Monkey's...

First Halloween! I think Caden had fun dressing up in his very first Halloween costume... It fit him so cute and when the monkey face fell over his eyes he didn't even seem to mind. We took our little monkey boy to this year's Annual First Fest where he got reacquainted with his long time friend Noah (aka Pastor Gregg). Between all the games, rides, food, kids and costumes, our littlest trick or treater got pooped and fell fast asleep in the blanket of his warm monkey suit.

My Punkin' in the Pumpkin Patch

On his pumpkin throne





















Backstroking in a sea of pumpkins















And pumpkin gazing :)

Bubbies Turns 2 months Old!

So, I started calling Caden "Bubbies" "Bubs" "Bubba"... it's fun to say it, but I'm not sure I think he looks like a Bubba... he's much too handsome! Anyhow, I am simply amazed at how much my little boy has changed in such a short amount of time. It is such a joy to see him sweetly but discretely lock eyes with me now and he smiles SO BIG I'm not sure his glowing little face can radiate all the happiness he feels inside! Things have become a bit more predictable schedule-wise lately... he seems to be pretty stout through the day... not much for napping, at least not as much as I expected him to. Anywhere from 8:30 to 9:30, things begin to wind down, he gets his last meal in and we rock together in the chair next to his crib until he falls asleep. He's been sleeping much longer too... mostly in the 5 hour range at night, but we did hit a rock star total of 7 straight hours of sleep in the last week! Glorious as it was, I must admit I look forward to his waking up early still and I sleepily make my way over to his crib, pick his warm little body up and hug him all the way back to Mommy and Daddy's bed where we sleep the remaining hours of the night all snuggly warm. That's the only reason I'm looking forward to the cold weather ;) Many times Jason and I are both awake before Caden is and we snicker about our little Prince Caden fast asleep in his KING SIZE bed ;)

Caden 1 Month Old

So we bought a new camera to photograph our new baby :)



















The End!

Knowing Caden

Suddenly the little stranger within me for the last 9 months is in the world and here he is... Pure, precious, innocent. He can sleep so soundly and peacefully or at times wiggle, kick an arm or leg into the air, grunt, or dream, sigh... suckle. He stirs as he wakens and blinks his sweet bright eyes and then realizes the hunger. As I draw him near his sparkling eyes widen and his perfect little lips soften into the sweetest 'O'. After three weeks, I sense he knows me now and is comforted being near me. He curls himself around me as he sleeps on my chest with that soft, round little head, resting heavily in the nape of my neck which gives me the prime opportunity to giggle at the dark hair on his ears and shoulders. He has long arms, long legs, long fingers and toes. Sometimes he sleeps with those long legs drawn into the 'froggy', others with them draped loosely to the sides. He doesn't like his feet covered very often which I learned from his kicking the bottom out of his swaddle, so now I leave his feet out most of the time. I started taking naps with him everyday and we sleep next to one another keeping warm. Waking up I get to watch him arch his back and stretch his little fists up and behind his head while his face turns red ;)

I'm learning to lay down my own agenda, to literally stop what I'm doing right in my tracks, and spend time with him. In those moments I get the privilege of discovering some new smile or expression of his that I hadn't yet seen, or maybe that he hadn't even had before and I know I will never forget them... and in those moments I am so thankful to have been given the cue from God to soak in something memorable while I have the chance.

Meeting Our Caden

With great joy, I'd like to announce that Caden James McCorvey is here :D He arrived into the world on August 8, 2009 weighing in at 8lbs. 8oz. and 19.5 inches long. Here's our story...

So, the day I turned 39 weeks, we went for our checkup. My doctor walked into the exam room and asked how I was doing and I started to cry... It was pretty obvious to her that I was very uncomfortable and so she suggested my being induced. We weighed it for a few minutes together... I was already dilated to 4cm and 90% effaced on my own so she felt with that kind of natural progress an induction had an 85% chance or so of resulting in a vaginal delivery. So, together we agreed that August 8th would be the day! My doctor wasn't scheduled to be working that weekend, but she wanted to deliver our baby, so she said she would be there for us that day;) sooo special of her to do that for us! Sooo, Jason and I left our appointment feeling excited, relieved and bewildered. We immediately came home and made of list of to-do's and went about cleaning and doing laundry and packing and making sure everything was in tip top shape before we brought our son home for the first time. Jason took Friday off from work to help with the final touches and it gave us one last day of being together before the big day.

On August 8th, I woke up at 2 am in anticipation of going to the hospital and my mind was racing with excitement and nervousness... I woke Jason up at around 2:45 anxious to talk and start getting ready as we were due at the hospital at 5:15am.

So, once at the hospital, I was connected to the contraction monitor and the nurse, Pooran, noticed I was having contractions already. She suggested I might be able to help her have a hot lunch by delivering quickly ;)





She also informed me that my doc, Dr. Vyas, was now covering for a co-worker who had fallen ill, but that she would be checking on my progress via telephone and she would be there to deliver our baby. So, the night resident started the induction around 7am which helped make my contractions more intense and helped prepare my cervix for delivery; at that point, I was grateful to not be having any pain. I was checked again at 930am by Dr. Rosenbaum (the self proclaimed "babysitter" doc that filled in until Dr. Vyas was able to make it to the hospital) and at that time I was at 5cm and almost completely effaced, still no pain. They decided to break my water at 1030 am. In the meantime, our parents showed up and helped keep us entertained with my mom singing songs she made up for Caden and Jason's mom showing us card tricks until time to break my water. Up until that point, as I said, I hadn't been having any pain with my contractions, though Pooran reassured me I would ;). Once my water was broken, PAIN, oh my GOSH the pain. I called for my epidural and Dr. Diaz, the chief of anesthesiology, was about to have to do a c-section and I was afraid I would have to wait... luckily, he came to help me out just before the c-section began. God BLESS him! Ok, so at 1130am, Dr. Lam, the day resident came to check my progress... To all of our surprise, I went from 5cm to 8cm in that one hour and all the family (behind the curtain of course) cheered! My dad cheered along with them but then shook his hands in the air and asked what does that mean? Ha. He's cute. So, at that point, Dr. Rosenbaum called Dr. Vyas and she made her way over to the hospital to push with me. By the time she arrived an hour and half later, I was a full 10cm and 100% effaced and ready to push. At that point, Jason and I were left to the business of delivering our baby. Jason was a wonderful coach, very nurturing and supportive. He was so excited watching the progress that it helped keep me motivated and excited too. After one hour of pushing, our sweet Caden was born. Here's the scene that followed...








And last, but not least... Baby Caden's Glamour Shots just a few hours before leaving the hospital.