Bringing in the New Year...

We are having a fun family day today. Lance and I are both off work through the weekend. ( I am NOT at ALL looking forward to going back to work Monday morning....Uuuuggghhh!!! It will be a LONG time until Spring Break!) Lance and Kaden are taking a nap right now and I am trying to get caught up on a few things while they sleep! Then, we are going over to Lance's parents and cooking deer steak for his family! That's right, Lance FINALLY got a deer and he and I have 'worked up' the back strap into steaks! Yum-o! (If your not a venison eater, I apologize, actually, no I don't because it's GOOD!) We LOVE chicken fried deer steak around here! And, we should be stocked for several months.
What's Kaden up to? He is standing for LONG seconds at a time all by himself and not even realizing it! He is taking a couple steps at a time. and really could care less about the whole thing. He doesn't even notice that he is walking! He is PUSHING his toy table and walking behind it! He will be walking VERY soon ya'll! I can't BELIEVE my baby will be walking around soon. CRAZINESS! He is changing and growing up SO fast!
Just in case you wonder, Piper and Sadie, our dogs are STILL here and LOVING Kaden these days. Kaden thinks it is hilarious to feed Sadie his puff snacks and she LOVES them, so they may become great friends after all. Kaden LOVES Piper, he laughs uncontrollably when Piper goes to catch her dinosaur toy. He Loves to play with her. He is even trying to say Piper. He'll say "Pu." "Pu."
It is TOO cute! Here's my nine year old Piper in her new Christmas bed, this bed was actually bought for Sadie, but Sadie wasn't interested in it, Piper took it over and loves it.



And, here's Sadie refusing to sleep in her new bed...



Kaden stands at the door when Lance leaves to go anywhere and crys!




He LOVES his Daddy, and he is starting to TRY to open the front door. (Thank goodness he isn't strong enough!)





He also LOOKS out with the dogs, especially when Lance is in the yard.



He wants to be with his Daddy ALL the time. He throws a fit and wraps himself around Lance's legs until he picks him up! (He does the same to me when he wants to be held) (Makes it hard to cook! Ha!)

Speaking of cooking, Kaden L-O-V-E-S to be in the kitchen HELPING me. Like this, HE got on the dishwasher door ALL by himself!



Here he is having a bath while spending the night with Nana and Grandpa!



Kaden spent his first two nights away from mom and dad with my mom. Lance and I went to a concert in Dallas and got home WAY to late, then I had to do a GIRLS NIGHT out with Hilary before her wedding and we all stayed in a hotel. He did great!

Kaden's Nana and Grandpa bought him a drum for Christmas, among many other things...


We think he may have an interest in music when he grow up, he seems to be a natural with all instruments. We'll see... Here I am playing backup for him...Ha!



Are ya'll ready for 2010? A new year begins tomorrow. 2009 has been a wonderful year for Lance and I with the birth of Kaden, a year I will never forget and will always treasure the memories we have made with our baby boy. But, 2009 has been a hard year for our extended families and we are hoping for a new year of hope, joy, peace and new love for their lives. More on that tomorrow! Happy New year All!

Kaden wishes you all a happy and safe New Year's Eve tonight!

Kaden's First Christmas Rewind!

Kaden's first Christmas officially kicked off on Wednesday night at his J.J. and Grand Daddy Mabe's Christmas party.























Christmas Party number one was a success! He helped open his packages and he LOVED the toys inside! Thank you Grand Daddy, J.J., Eric, and Vicki for the gifts!

Then, Thursday morning (Christmas Eve Morning) we went to our second Christmas party at my Dad and Cay's house. We had breakfast with them, then opened gifts. Kaden enjoyed himself there as well. He wasn't interested in opening packages this time, but very interested in what everyone else got.



This is my brother, Lenny...


This is my brother, Jamie...


This is Jamies son, Jacob, on the left; and Lenny's son Dustin on the right...


This is Lenny's son Dakota...


And, this is Jamie's daughter, Emily...


It is hard for me to believe that all my nephews and niece are so grown up already!











One of my favorite traditions is to attend church on Christmas Eve night. I LOVE the Methodist church for their Candlelight Services. Kaden and I attended, and I plan to always attend with Kaden and I hope he will want to make this a tradition with his family one day. My Daddy and Cay have always taken me to this service, and I just love it. We sing carols and read all the scriptures of the birth of Christ. It's a wonderful service each Christmas Eve.

Lance took these pics of Kaden and I when we returned from Church, he had been hunting!













Then, we TRIED to get in bed! We went to bed fairly early. We wanted to be able to wake up early for Santa presents with Kaden. Lance, kaden and I awoke about 7:30 for our first Christmas as a family of three. It was wonderful. Kaden had his breakfast bottle, and I read him the story of Christmas from the Bible. I read Luke 2:1-21. Then, we opened his Santa gifts! He wasn't very interested in the unwrapping process, but he LOVED his toys!



Kaden is fasinated with Balloons right now! We got these at our Honda dealership for Kaden.
























That didn't even wrap up our Christmas Day, we then went back to Lance's parents for the Mabe family Christmas. Kaden got some fun farm books from his Aunt Chrysteen. Then, we went to spend some time with my Granny Fisher. WHEW! What a day, it was a very BIG day for Kaden, he was majorly over-stimulated! He slept well last night.

Today, (Saturday) we have one more Christmas party at my Mom's! We will post about it soon! Also, my step sister, Tonya, is flying home from Arizona today! Yip-he! Can't wait to see her and hug her neck! She has had a TUFF year with the loss of her husband and brother. She, her Mom, and little Lewis (her son) are coming. Can't wait!

We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!