<div><a href='http://www.houzz.com/photos/3790058/Brentwood-Traditional-1-traditional-hall-los-angeles'><img src='http://st.houzz.com/simgs/72a1884001843d93_8-2273/traditional-hall.jpg' border=0 width='500' height='332' /></a></div><div style='color:#444;'><small><a style='text-decoration:none;color:#444;' href='http://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional/hall'>Traditional Hall</a> by <a style='text-decoration:none;color:#444;' href='http://www.houzz.com/professionals/architect/c/Newport-Beach--CA'>Newport Beach Architects & Building Designers</a> <a style='text-decoration:none;color:#444;' href='http://www.houzz.com/pro/karenputman/p2-design'>P2 Design</a></small></div>

Photos from the past couple weeks

Last week, while eating lunch, Cason thought it would be a great idea to attempt drinking his food out of the jar. He quickly discovered that it didn't work out so well. However, he was pretty resourceful and used his hands to scoop the food and then shovel it into his mouth. He may have made a mess, but he ate it and that's what matters to me!

This Tuesday, we spent time playing outside. It was in the mid 80's! Cason has always LOVED playing in the water. He thought it was hilarious that Kona tried to bite the water. They both played for a long time and were both soaking wet and covered in grass by the end.

   

 Cason has started to really enjoy sitting in his big chair that he got for Christmas. He also loves eating granola bars while watching cartoons. The boy has become very interested in cartoons. In fact, I've started turning the tv off for a couple hours at a time.

 This was from the other morning. No big story behind it ... I just think it's super cute!

Now, this one cracks me up. Each morning when I'm getting ready, he plays with toys. On this day, he brought in one of his blankets and proceeded to lay down on the floor and pretend that he was going night night. Then he started putting it over his head. He's definitely learning how to be silly!

Here he's finishing off my Strawberries and Cream Frappuccino.

Cason's 1st Haircut

Cason had his first hair cut on January 25. We went to Sharkey's Cuts for Kids in Frisco. He sat in Lightning McQueen, the red car from the movie The Cars. He had a great time turning the steering wheel and pushing the buttons on it. Each button made a different noise. Cason wanted nothing to do with the apron cover that you wear at a salon. I anticipated this, because he won't wear a smock when we do art projects at home. Thinking this might happen, I took a big Rangers t-shirt for him to wear instead. To add to the fun, we let him eat jelly beans while having his hair cut. This helped him to sit pretty still. He did a GREAT job! The lady was able to get a small lock of hair for us to keep. It wasn't as long as I had wanted it to be. I almost cut the lock of hair at home, but was a afraid I would somehow mess up the way his hair cut would look.

After his hair cut, we went to the grocery store to get some stuff to grill. The weather was very nice, so we sat outside for over an hour once we got home. Cason played with his balloon until it popped on the  dried out grass in the backyard. Then he played in Kona's water bowl and scooped water into a container and began watering the plants. 

Signing in. Check out how long his hair is in the back. 

Glad we brought this t-shirt!

Yummy!!! Jelly Beans!

Vroom ... Vroom ... Vroom

Hair cut ... check!  Balloon ... check!

Happy 17 Month B-Day Cay-Way! (a little early)

Cason will be 17 months old Monday, January 20 (the day after my birthday).  It was on my birthday, 2 years ago, that we heard his heartbeat for the first time.  I don't think that birthday gift will ever be beat!

Here's a list of words he knows.  I'll have to measure and weigh him tomorrow and update later.

Mama
Mommy
Dada
Daddy
bye-bye
night-night
puppy
Kona (nona)
Pop (paw)
Nanell (nana)
John (don)
bath (baa)
poo poo
yogurt (gogur)
cheese
banana (na nana)
this (dis)
wow
baby
ball
ducky
neigh
moo
hoot (who)
quack
shoe (sue)
sock (saw)
coptor - AJ has an remote control helicopter that Cason LOVES.
bzzz - the noise of the helicopter
rock (raw) -

Highlights from Last Week

Last week was Cason's first week back to Mother's Day Out.  I was a little sad when I dropped him off, but was also excited to have my Tuesdays back.  While he's at "school" I get so much done here at the house.  It helps me have more time when Cason is home to actually play and have fun without worrying about all the cleaning and other things that need to be done around the house.  When I picked him up from school we went to the library for a little while.  There were two kiddos about 3.5 years old that were playing with the puppets and included Cason.  He loved it!

On Friday, Cason and I went to a new trampoline park called Urban Air Trampoline.  We met Christina and Riley there.  I was pleasantly surprised to see how large it was inside and how many different jumping areas they have.  Not once was I worried that Cason would be knocked over by an older kiddo.  He had SO MUCH fun!! I think this will be something we do a couple times of month.    

He was a little hesitant in the foam pit because he couldn't walk very well.

Out of all the colors, he kept picking the red balls.  Looks like he has a favorite color!

Over the weekend, we spent some time at our land.  Cason was in heaven because the neighbor's dog was in the backyard and barked at him the whole time.  He'd stare at the "puppy", point, and say woof woof.  It was pretty cute!

Hello 2014

Hello 2014!  Well, another year has gone by.  It's crazy how quickly each year seems to pass.  It seems like the older I get, the quicker each year goes by.

We had a great holiday season.  This year I was determined to make it less stressful and more enjoyable.  We limited our commitments, did lots of online shopping, and had the shopping done about a week before Christmas.  It was a nice change.  Since having Cason, I've learned to start putting more value on our weekends as a family and have been more protective of them.  I can get overwhelmed when we over commit and end up with little "at home" time during the weekends.  This was by far the best holiday season!  While it may look like we were crazy busy, we still had a lot of down time.

- Thanksgiving -

• We spent 4 days and 3 nights with my family in Waco.  Spending time with everyone was so much fun.  My brother was there the whole time too, so that was really great too!  We took Cason to the Mayborn Museum at Baylor.  Cason had fun looking at the animals in some of the exhibits and Uncle John had fun in the Children's area. 

- Christmas & NYE Season -

• Cason's "Happy Birthday Jesus" Party at CLC - This was held at the end of the day at 1:30.  All of the parents got to join their kiddo in the classroom for treats and playtime.  Cason's teachers had set up the food and drinks during nap time.  When we got there, Cason kept signing "more" to us and walking over to treats to point up at the cookies.  His teachers said he'd been doing that since he woke up! hahaha ... This boy LOVES a good cookie just like his Mama!  AJ and I loved watching Cason interact with his school friends.  It was really fun getting a peak into what he does and getting to see the other kids.  They have all grown up so much since August.

• The Edward Jones Christmas Party - Cason went over to Kellis and David's house while we went out.  He loves playing with his cousin Zach (2.5 years).  We are so thankful to them for giving us a night out together.  Before the party, I took AJ out to Artin's Grill at The Shops at Legacy to celebrate an achievement in his career. After dinner, we headed over to the party, which was held in the bar area of the A Loft hotel in Plano.  I had a really fun time getting to catch up with some friends.  I'm so thankful for the wonderful friends I've made through Jones. 

• Christmas in North Carolina - We spent 5 days/nights with AJ's family in Durham, NC. Cason had so much fun with his Oma, Opa, and Aunt Holly.  The stairs at their house were a big hit!  AJ's mom got up with Cason every morning so that AJ and I could sleep a little longer.  That's one of my favorite things about visiting family ... the extra sleep.  It is such a nice and appreciated break for me.  We all took Cason to a Children's Museum in Raleigh.  It was AMAZING!!!  It was two levels of countless different themed areas for kids to play in.  Cason loves animals, so he of course fell in love with the veterinary area here.  This will have to be an outing we take every time we go there!  AJ and I also got a night out while we were there.  We sent to see Hunger Games 2! We flew home early on the morning of Christmas Eve.  Cason did an awesome job on both flights!

• Christmas Eve and Christmas Morning -  We got home from North Carolina around 1:00 in the afternoon.  We quickly unpacked everything and put it all away ... and then repacked our bags for Waco the next day.  Later that day we made Christmas cookies.  I was hesitant to even take this on after our long day of traveling, but I wanted to start the tradition and be able to say we have done this since Cason was old enough to help.  He wore the apron that my Auntie Linda made me when I was little and I wore an apron from my Grandmommie.  We took it very easy on Christmas morning.  I made breakfast, we sat around watching tv for a little bit, got ready, and then opened gifts.  Cason had a blast opening gifts this year. 

• Christmas in Waco - We drove down to Waco on the afternoon of Christmas. We spent a couple days there and really enjoyed our time with family.  There was tons of good food and my dad made a fire every night! John asked for a game called "Cards of Humanity" for Christmas, so we got it for him.  OMG it was hilarious!  We were rolling with laughter. 

• NYE - Went went over to the Puentes house with a bunch of our other great friends.  All of the kids had a blast and Cason loved playing tag with his friend Cade (4 years).  Cade would slowly come up to Cason and Cason would reach out to tap him on the face.  Cade made a silly noise when Cason touched him and then they both cracked up.  Cason kept running after Cade for more.

NOTE: too tired to finish this tonight ... will complete another day. :)