An Early Christmas Gift

I (Alycia) took Caden to get his picture made in a "Santa's Little Helper" suit the other day. It was so fun and I had a hard time choosing just a few poses to purchase. Here are two of the ones I bought - we will save the last one for later!

Being parents is teaching us so much about God and his love for us. We now have a better understanding of how God feels about us - how he ADORES us- since we are HIS children. We also understand a little more how he loves us, laughs with us, celebrates with us and cries with us. We feel a little of the pride God feels when he looks at us - we know that each experience with Caden will teach us more about God and his love for us.

One thing the pictures remind us of is how Caden is a special gift from God. We think this everyday but especially around this time of year it is nice to be reminded. Pretty soon we will be giving thanks for all God has given us, and then we will celebrate the birth of His son, Jesus Christ. I have a feeling that this Christmas we will understand even more how exciting the birth of a precious baby - the birth of our savior - was and is!

Playful Boy

I have so much I would like to write but don't have the time at the moment...so here is a short video that I took with my cell phone the other day. We were waiting for tires to be put on the car, so we went over to Wendy's. I got this carousel in my kids meal and Caden just watched it and smiled and laughed for a long time!

Caden's first month of life

This is a video that I edited this past week of Caden's first month of life. I tried to capture the sights and sounds of our little guy.

Hope you enjoy him as much as we do.

Hello!

Caden's 1st photo shoot...

Caden is growing so fast. At one month he weighed 9 lbs 2 oz and measured 21 inches! He will be 5 weeks old tomorrow. When he was 3 1/2 weeks old our friends Dusty and Kelly Parrish came over and did a photo shoot of Caden - who was the perfect model.

Here are some of the pics:

Our little Packers Fan...


to see more pics visit Alycia's website: http://www.allyabts.blogspot.com/

Watch Me Grow....

Caden is getting bigger each day! Last Monday he measured 20.5 inches and weighed over 8 pounds. He is also growing in ability. Just this weekend he started trying to hold his head up, plus he can turn it over when he is on his tummy! This morning he started reaching for the lion that hangs on his bouncer and actually hit it once. Some of my (Alycia) favorite times are when he is eating as he makes the most adorable - and often humorous - faces! He is such a sweet boy!

I am doing well. My recovery from the c-section has gone better than planned. I was able to resume regular activities (including driving) after 2 weeks. I still can't lift heavy things - with the exception of Caden in his car seat - but overall I am doing great. We seem to be getting into a routine and our house has definitely become "baby central". Toby is a great daddy - he loves to spend time with Caden and doesn't even mind diaper duty - or helping with the midnight feeding. So far this parenting thing, although challenging at times, is a lot of fun and very rewarding - especially when we see Caden's precious smile!

Welcome home Abts Family welcome home

The docters during the time of this picture is already on her way into Alycia busting out Caden from his dark den within his mom.

Caden's very first photo after his birth on August 30th, 2007 at 5:50 pm.

Proud PAPA holding our very content little boy.

Our bare chested little boy.

On his way home from the Hospital on Sunday afternoon around 3:30 pm.

As Ty Pennington would always say to the family coming home to their creation on Extreme Home Makeover "Welcome home Abts family welcome home".

Mom and Baby are doing great by the way.

Thank you again for your many prayers and your continued prayers.