I have to brag a little...

I have to brag just a little on my little sister. Well, she's not really little anymore. May 23rd, Daisy turned 14. She's little compared to me, but I can't believe she's going to be a Freshman in high school!! I have to brag, because Daisy has always been one to march to the beat of her own drum. She doesn't really care what people think; she just does what she wants to do. Times are changing, and so are kids. A lot of kids don't enjoy the fun of being a kid anymore, they grow up too fast. Not Daisy though. Most teenagers her age are watching shows like "Pretty Little Liars" & "MTV." Not Daisy, she likes "Sponge Bob Square Pants" & "Looney Tunes." Most teenage girls like to hang out at the mall or get their nails done. Not Daisy, she's likes to hang out at her big sister's house (me), or she's perfectly content at home. And, for their birthdays, most teenage girls ask for new phones, iPods, or the latest gadget. Not Daisy, she asked for....

A water slide. That's what she wanted for her party. So, today at 10:00 in the morning, a water slide was delivered to my parent's house, and all day long kids (and adults) of all ages were sliding down the water slide. Then she requested grilled burgers & smores for dinner. That's it. That's what made Daisy's birthday a success!! My dad & I were laughing at how innocent & naive she is. But, at the same time, we're glad it's that way. I'm sure eventually she'll grow in to being a teenager. She'll probably be into boys, etc. But for now, we like that she's so sweet & innocent.

Kaden chillin in the backyard with all the girls.

Flipping on the water slide.

Smore time!!

Daddy's Day

Today we celebrated a very special day. It was especially significant this year. Micah & I are both very fortunate to have such great fathers. In a world where more and more kids are growing up fatherless, we were blessed with two loving fathers that raised us in Godly homes. Both of us had dad's who not only provided for our health and well-being, but provided for us with love. This father's day was even more special because it's the first year Micah was able to celebrate being a dad. He's only been at it for 6 weeks, but he's like a pro. He was made to be Kaden's daddy, and Kaden is one lucky kid to have such a great father. Micah loves our little boy. I can't wait to see both of them continue to grow closer in their relationship with each other. Thanks to the loving fathers we had, Micah & I are able to love and raise Kaden in a loving home. To our dad's: THANK YOU for loving us and being the best dad's in the world!!

Me & my dad at our rehearsal dinner. Father/Daughter Dance.

Me & dad on our wedding day

3 generations of McMahons. Micah with his dad, & Kaden with his daddy.

Brand new daddy already in love.

This will probably always be one of my favorite pictures of the two men in my life.

Happy Father's Day dad, Pops, & Micah! I love you all!

Bath Time

Kaden LOVES bath time!! I think it's his favorite time of the day! He'll sit in his little tub as long as I'll let him and look around and kick. It's one of my favorite times too, cause I can just talk to him and watch him while he looks around and smiles. I'm glad he enjoys his baths, and he doesn't scream and cry his way through them.

Hopefully he enjoys the pool as much as bath time!!

Updates

It's time to update our blog site. If you read our profile before, this is what is said...

"I'm a 20 something year old teacher that is happily married to my best friend, Micah. We were married March 14, 2009, so we're still "newly weds," and we're loving life. We live for Jesus and hope that all we do glorifies Him. We have no kids of our own (yet!). However, we're youth leaders at our church, so we have tons of "kids." We believe every day is a "happy day," and we try to live life to the fullest! Join us on our journey..."

A lot has changed, and this profile is no longer accurate! I'm still in my 20s, but I'm no longer a teacher. I have a new job...mommy! And, let me tell you, it is a job!! I'm still married to Micah and he's still my best friend, but I'm not sure how long you're considered a "newly wed." The biggest change though, is that we do have a child of our own now. We're still the youth leaders at church, but having a child of our very own has been such a blessing. He's our world, and we wouldn't change that for the world. So, our profile has been updated...and now it reads something like this...

"I'm a 20 something year old mommy that is happily married to my best friend, Micah. Our lives just changed forever with the birth of our first child. He's our world, and we're loving every minute with him!! We live for Jesus and hope that all we do glorifies Him. We're also youth leaders at our church, so we have tons of "kids." We believe every day is a "happy day," and we try to live life to the fullest! Whether your friends or family following from afar, or friends/family we "do life with," we'd love for you to join us on our journey..."

Photo Shoot

I put up a post a few days ago about Kaden's first photo shoot. Here are some pictures from the other photographer Mrs. Susie Lee. She too recently started a photography business, and has some great work!! You can check her out on Facebook at "LoveLee Moments Photography" or www.loveleemoments.com. Here's just a few of the photos she took.

1 Month Old

Today Mr. Kaden turned 1 month old. I can't believe it!! Where has the time gone? The 9 months I was pregnant dragged by, but the first month with Kaden has flown by. It's crazy how much we've fallen in love!! Here's a little update on Kaden so far:

Stats: 7lbs, 11oz & 19in (at his 2 week appt.) We weighed him at home (which is not as accurate as the dr), and he was just over 9 lbs. He's a growing little porker, and he loves to eat!! We don't go back to the dr for 4 weeks, so we'll update stats on his 2 month post.

Sleeping Habits? He's doing pretty good. He usually goes 3 to 4 hours at night. Sometimes, I get lucky and he sleeps for 5 hours at night. Those are good nights!! During the day, he still sleeps quite a bit, but he's starting to be more alert and awake for longer amounts of time. He's usually up for a good stretch between 9 am & noon, and then again between 6 and 11. He'll take small naps during these times, but he's up more.

Eating Habits? For a while he was doing really well. He was like clock work, every 3 hours. I think the past week he's hit a little growth spurt or something. He's getting hungry and eating more often. Sometimes, I feel like he's permanently latched on. Usually the late morning hours, and the early evening hours, he eats a lot. Each feeding can last 30-45 min. So, you can imagine how I feel like he's always attached. I'm strictly nursing, so it's hard to tell how much he's eating, but when I pump or the few times I've had to use formula, he'll take 3 to 4 ounces each feeding. No wonder he's growing so well.

New tricks? He's only a month, so tricks are limited. However, I think he actually smiled at me for the first time today. He smiles a lot in his sleep, but today he looked right at me and smiled. Not quite sure I'm convinced it was a conscious decision, but I'd like to think so. We'll see if it happens again in the following days. He's been much more alert and looking around. I think he's starting to recognize familiar faces (mommy & daddy). He'll also turn his head if he hears me or Micah talk. He's getting better at pulling his head up and trying to hold it. At this point, it's hard to tell what's just reaction and what is a "new trick". I have a feeling next month we'll have more tricks.

Doctor Visits? We haven't been since his two week appt. ( Thank the Lord!) At the beginning we were going a lot, and having lots of test and heal pricks, so I'm glad we haven't had to go back. Last time we were there, Dr said he was right in the normal range for height (he had grown 2 inches since birth), and he was slightly under for weight, but Dr said babies these days are just bigger (kinda like adults), so he was perfectly ok with Kaden's weight. Since had had gained 10 oz in one week, he knew he was eating well and growing at a good rate.

General Observations?Everyone says he's a momma's boy. Hello...what do you expect when he's with me ALL DAY LONG, and 80% of it, he's nursing. I've been trying to let dad take over when he gets home in the evenings, that way they can bond too. We like to take walks. We've gone during the day, but it's even more enjoyable (and cooler) to go at night when Micah can go with us. He's happy in the car seat and stroller as long as it's moving. He cracks me up in the car, cause he'll be perfectly content as long as the car is moving and the radio is on. If the music stops, or we stop at a red light, he'll let us know he's unhappy. But, once we begin moving or the song resumes, he's a happy boy. He loves music. We keep it on (in some form...mobile, swing, radio, tv music channel, computer, etc.) in our house all day long. He'll be napping in his swing, and as soon as the music stops, he'll fuss. I push reset, and he's happy again. Night time is the only time he sleeps in quiet...thank goodness for that since he's still in our room! He's a fun kid. We're just starting to see parts of his little personality, and we can't wait to see more of it come out as he grows up. Here's our little love bug at 1 month...

Working on Gig 'Em...he's a little confused!!

1st Photo Shoot

A friend of mine is starting to get into photography. Her and another friend, who has also started a photography business, came over when Kaden was 2 weeks to take some pics. He was not cooperative. He was 2 weeks old, you'd think he would've slept the whole time, which is what they wanted. That, however, was not the case. He woke up at 8:30 and was awake the whole time until they left at about 12:45. He would not sleep, until of course they packed up to leave. Then, he passed out. We would have tried again, but he had his 2 week appt we had to get to. So, they took some shots anyway, but we decided we'd have to do it again. Maybe next time he'll sleep. Here's some of her work:

You can also check her out at Blue Eyed Prospective Photography on Facebook.

Welcome Kaden!

If you read my blog, you know that I haven't bogged in a LONG time. Several months in fact. The last 6 months (yes, 6) of my pregnancy were miserable! And that's putting it nicely. During the course of those 6 months, I was in the hospital 4 times, had to wear a pump for 2 weeks that continuously pumped Zofran (for nausea and vomiting) into my stomach, got kidney stones and had to have surgery to put a stent in to unblock one of my kidneys, went on bed rest for the last 6 weeks of my pregnancy, and lost a lot of weight. When I delivered at 39 weeks, I was 7 pounds under my starting weight. So...needless to say, it was not the most pleasant of experiences. While working, my days consisted of working and then I was in bed as soon as I got home. Once I was on bed rest, I spent all my time either in bed or on the couch. Blogging was at the absolute bottom of my to-do list. Besides that, I didn't have much to blog about other than being sick all day.

Labor & delivery were almost as traumatic as the pregnancy. I spent 14 hours in labor at home while the on-call doctor insisted that I was NOT in labor, just constipated, which is how I felt. However, when the pain became too much to bear and I hadn't felt my baby move, we decided something else was wrong and sped (literally) to the hospital. Micah was smart enough to grab our hospital bag, but it was missing some key items...like toothbrushes. My phone was left, the camera was left, the car seat was left. At this point we were in such a panic, we were just trying to get to the hospital...alive. Both Micah & I were in tears and praying the whole way. I don't think either of us were thinking labor, we were thinking something was wrong. My due date was still a week away and we were schedule to be induce the upcoming week, so in our heads, the birth of Kaden was still a ways off. When we got to the hospital, the first thing they did was hook up a monitor to check for a heartbeat. We were so relieved to hear everything was ok with our boy. Next the nurse decided to check me. I don't think she thought I was in labor either, but decided to check just in case. Boy were we all wrong. At some point my water had broke, and I was 7 cm dilated. And Kaden was really low. My first thought...."can I have meds, or is it too late." She assured me once I was admitted and in the room, I would get my epidural. Yeah...that didn't happen. From that point on, I was in labor. We got to a room, and a flood of nurses came in. One stayed gloved and ready cause I was pushing, and the on-call dr was not there yet. Within about 30 minutes of getting to the hospital, Kaden was born. It was such a rush. The months of pain & misery. The hours of pain and labor. The 30 minutes of pushing and delivering with no meds, was all worth it. You hear all the time how much you fall in love once your baby is born, but you can't even explain it until you experience it yourself. Micah and I were both in tears and in love with our beautiful baby. What made it even more special was that he made his appearance on Mother's Day! Talk about the best gift ever!! He'll never be able to beat that!

So, you've read the story of his arrival, time to meet:

Kaden McMahon

Getting all cleaned up.

It's hard to read, but his weight was 7 lbs, 3 oz and he was 19 in long.

All snuggled up, our beautiful boy.

The day after he was born, the hospital photographer came and took some pics.

The months of pain and misery were so worth the blessing we received in the end. We're in love, and we look forward to watching him grow up!!