2013 {in pictures}

We have been so blessed with a wonderful year. I'm sad to say goodbye but I know the best is yet to come!

Here are some of my favorite pictures from the year!

Bring on 2014!

Salt Dough Ornaments

Are you all getting ready for Christmas?

Our house is decorated and stockings are hung, but that's about it. Good thing Cade is spending extra time with the grandparents this weekend so I can help Santa out a little :)

To share a little Christmas cheer, we decided to give Cade's presents to them a little early. We went out like little elves and hand delivered his gifts Wednesday night.

Each box contained a handprint and footprint ornament that were hand-painted, as well as a few prints from his 9-month session.

The ornaments turned out perfect (thanks to my awesome painting skills, I know). Cody actually said "Those look good, I thought they were going to look like a kindergarten art project." 

Anyway, I totally Pinterest-ed the idea. There are lots of cute Christmas crafts for kids, but Cade is a little small to do a lot with paint other than eat it. And since both grandmothers LOVE ornaments, we thought it would be perfect.

I actually had to try twice to make these happen. The first day I tried Cade would absolutely NOT cooperate. He kept squishing his fingers and toes into the dough where I couldn't get a good imprint. I had almost given up and decided last week I would give it a try. He must have known I was desperate because he did perfect!

Cade had the easy job, because then the ornaments had to be baked (be prepared, it takes forever), cooled, and painted. I baked one evening, painted hands the next, and the feet after that.

If you're interested in making them, they're super easy just time-consuming.

You'll need:

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup salt

1/2 cup water

(this is easy to double, which you'll need to do if you plan on making more than about 4 ornaments)

Roll out dough on wax paper, but leave about 1/2 inch thick to get a good impression.

Cut around impression with knife and place on baking pan.

(Don't forget to make a hole for hanging at this point, you won't be able to do it later)

Bake at 200 degrees for 3-3.5 hours.

I used acrylic paint to finish these. I bought red, black, white, and orange. You can mix white with a drop of red to make Santa's pink face, and the black and orange will make brown for your Snowman arms.

These are perfect gifts for family or just something sweet to have for yourself!

Cade {10 months}

Cade used to do so well with our weekly pictures.

Do you know how hard it is to get a 10 month old to sit still for even 2 seconds?? Especially when all he wants is the camera I'm holding in my hand!

We went for an ear re-check at the doctor yesterday (our month long ear infection is finally gone) and Cade weighed in at 20 pounds 13 ounces. He's wearing 6-12 month tops and bottoms, but 12 or 12-18 month jams now. His big feet are quickly outgrowing size 3 shoes :(

What's New

Pretty much everything! I feel like I have a totally different kid this month. Cade is still pulling up on everything, and will now let go and stand on his own for a moment before sitting down. He says "mama" "dada" and "aye-aye" (which I assume is bye-bye). And I swear he's said "cat" more than a few times now. He waves hello, goodbye, and claps. Cade also will throw a fit now when you take something away from him or remove him from where he's not supposed to be (like our trash can, which is his favorite thing in our whole house). He's also discovered he can throw things. Yay.

We really started more solid foods these last few weeks, because what better time than the holidays?! He doesn't care much for baby solids like yogurt bites or cereal puffs, but does great with our food. He loves green beans and macaroni and cheese. So much that when I tried to feed him baby food the other night he literally cried until I shared my food with him. I'm thinking fairly soon we'll be on all solids.

Still not much luck on the sippy cup. Cade just wants to chew on it instead of drink out of it, especially since he has 4 molars coming in right now. He does great drinking out of a regular cup. Too bad he's not coordinated enough not to sling it all over the floor.

Thanksgiving was so much fun! Cade got to meet all of his cousins from Alabama. Now we are definitely in the Christmas spirit. The house is decorated (he hasn't ripped a single ornament off the trees) and all of our presents are bought. I've got a pile of presents in the office waiting to be wrapped, but I'm just not motivated right now. I feel like he will decide to tackle those once they're under the tree.