Elephant Toy

I made this hanging toy for the carseat today. Cayden really doesn't have much interest in it right now, but eventually he'll like it when he figures out that he can do more with his hands then suck on them. :)


Here's the link to the pattern if you want to make one yourself. I decided to add the blue patches and stitch around the ears in blue. I think it turned out so cute!

Little Helper

Cayden decided to help me with the laundry today. For some reason he loves going for "rides" in the laundry basket. ;) I absolutely love this little boy!

Bad Mom?

Have you ever really had to go to the bathroom? Like where you are running to make it there so that you don't end up with wet pants? That happened to me today. I was playing with Cayden when I suddenly had to go to the bathroom NOW. I quickly sat Cayden down in his bouncer and ran. When I came back out (a minute later) this is what I found:


HA HA HA HA HA! I saw this and laughed so hard! Cayden was just laying on the floor, contently sucking on his arm. No squaking or whining. Lol. Apparently Cayden is now big enough to wiggle himself out of his bouncer; good thing it's only two or three inches from the floor. Next time I think I'm going to have to buckle him in no matter how bad I have to go to the bathroom. :)

Does this make me a bad mom?

Wooden Zoo

My mom's neighbor, Kate, had a yard sale a few months ago and didn't end up selling this little wooden zoo. Rather than donate it, she gave it to my mom to give to me for Cayden. All the animals were originally just wood like the cage, but I decided that they would be more appealing to a little kid if they were brightly colored. I went to a craft store (one of my favorite places!), bought some paint, and went to work. This was the result... I think they are absolutely adorable!

Cayden's Blessing

This past Sunday, August 16th, we blessed Cayden in church. All of my family was there (Dad, Mom, Jesseca and her husband Richard, Rachelle, Greg, Connor, and Colleen) and Chad's family as well (GPa and GMa Higgins, Dad, Mom, Steven, Krysta, Eric, and Brian). Chad gave such a sweet blessing and a lady in our ward actually wrote it down and is going to give us a copy of it - nice! I was glad to have so much family there that loves Cayden to help bless him. Thanks to everyone who came and helped out... you helped make it special!

Daddy and baby.

Our cute little family. Too bad we aren't looking at the right camera.

The man of the day. :)

Four generations of CDH's: Clifton Dale Higgins, Cory Dee Higgins, Chad Dale Higgins, Cayden Dale Higgins.

Cayden in his adorable blessing outfit!

Cayden Meets My Family

My family met Cayden for the first time last week (minus my mom). Everyone couldn't get enough of holding him and thought he was adorable. Cayden handled the attention really well and wasn't too fussy; we even got some really cute pictures. Enjoy!

Aunt Rachelle and Cayden.

I just love this little face!

Cayden taking a nap on Grandpa. :)

Cayden smiling for Aunt Colleen. This is the first smile I've managed to get a picture of. Too cute!

Graduation!

After 5+ years of school (granted, I did take a semester off and did two majors...) I finally graduated! My family came out from Colorado for it and Chad's parents came down; it was nice to feel so loved and supported. :) It feels great to be done - a little weird - and instead of putting my teaching license to use, it's going to sit on the shelf while I stay at home with my little boy.

Mr. Grumpy Pants

Cayden is generally a really happy baby, or at least I thought so until the last two weeks. The past two weeks have gone something like this... Cayden wakes up starving and eats, but falls asleep while eating. Ten to fifteen minutes later he wakes up starving and screams until he is fed. I cave in and feed Cayden even though I know he isn't hungry. He only eats a little and I burp him. As soon as he is done being burped he starts screaming. I go as long as I can without feeding him, but finally give in because I can't stand the screaming. Cayden again falls asleep while eating and wakes up soon afterward screaming. Eat, sleep, scream. Eat, sleep, scream. Eat, sleep, scream... I think you can see how the day continues. After about a week of dealing with a baby that demands to be held 24/7 (this led to many days without a shower - gross!) and screams unless he is eating, your nerves and sanity are pretty much shot. I knew Cayden's behavior wasn't normal, but had no idea what was wrong with him. After talking to many people and lots of experimenting I have come up with a few reasons for Cayden's screaming:

1) Vitamins - At his two week check the Dr said that most nursing babies end up vitamin D deficient and said I needed to get some liquid vitamins and start giving them to Cayden. I did it and a few days later the screaming started. I've heard that vitamins can be really hard on a baby's tummy and decided to quit giving them to Cayden.

2) Lack of milk - A few days ago I noticed that Cayden's diapers weren't very wet and that he wasn't going to the bathroom as often as he had been. After thinking about it I realized that I hadn't been drinking very much liquid and therefore probably wasn't producing enough milk for Cayden to eat. Solution... Drink a glass of water each time I feed Cayden and with every meal. For a while I felt like I was drowning myself. Within a day I had plenty of milk.

3) Spitting/Reflux - Along with the screaming came huge amounts of spitting. Now I know that babies spit a lot, but I don't think it is normal for a baby to empty their stomach of everything they just ate. After talking to a nurse on the phone she decided it sounded like Cayden had reflux. She talked to the Dr, who agreed, and called in a prescription for a liquid antacid. Within a day of giving Cayden the medicine he was back to spitting like a normal baby. :)

Finally, after two long weeks and five days of experimenting I am happy to report that I once again have a happy little boy! Whether it was a combination of the three things or only one I don't know, but I do know that I'm not going to give Cayden the vitamins again, I'll keep drinking a lot of water, and I'll continue to give him his medicine.

Nursing Cover

I just finished sewing the nursing cover I have been working on and I absolutely love it! It was really easy and not very expensive (I got everything I needed for $20 and you can definitely use much cheaper fabric than the stuff I picked out). I'm thinking this could be a really cute baby shower gift. If you want to make your own, here are the instructions to do so. Happy sewing!