Baby Steps

Until today, Cade had shown no interest whatsoever in walking. He crawls faster than just about any baby I've ever seen -- it's like a sprint-crawl or something -- so why would he see any need to try walking as a mode of transportation when crawling seems to work so well?? Well, this afternoon while Cade was at Ima and Popsy's house (that's my mom and dad), he was standing up while holding onto Ima's pants while Kelsey and Derek were doing something on the computer. Derek decided to hold his hands out to Cade and beckon him. Cade let go of Ima's pants and WALKED (granted, just 2 steps, but WALKED!) to Derek! Totally unaided, all by himself! How cool is that? I am kinda surprised because he hasn't really shown interest in letting go before...I thought it would be a while, but today he has started the journey to walkinghood. So -- David and I didn't even get to see it! But I am so glad that it was Derek that Cade first walked to and that Kelsey was there, too, because I have a sneaking suspicion that they are going to miss Cade more than anybody when they leave for Japan. He's going to miss them too! Derek is his favorite shoulder ride and Kelsey is his favorite ... well ... pretty much just his favorite person overall. He squeals with delight when he sees Kelsey come into a room.

Tracey and Amber came over today for lunch with their precious babies -- Todd and Abbie, respectively. It is so nice to have Christian girlfriends that you can share your life and struggles and joys and tips with. They are such a blessing in my life. Today was just a great day!

...and the Floods Came Up

We had a relaxing lunch after church and then we ran an errand to Sams...all the while our house was slowly submerging beneath the treacherous, muddy waters. Luckily, Kelsey and D were here to help recreate our landscape to direct the waters elsewhere. Wow -- fun times in the land of home-owning. Don't worry -- Kelsey did find a few dry moments to take some snapshots of the wet event.

Major Yard Projects

Spring Break week was nutso on the yard project homefront. These pictures don't even do the work justice. Basically, we (meaning David, Dad and Derek) demolished a huge deck that was out back originally built around an above ground pool (which we never saw), so it had a huge hole in the middle of it and couldn't even be used really. We also dug out a huge plant bed in the front, relined and mulched so it's clean and ready for planting!! I got out all by myself with my handy dandy little loppers and cut down close to 100 small trees and other random saplings around our front yard area... basically I rocked. LOTS left to do to get a yard ready for Cade to play in this summer! Derek may look skinny, but his huge, manly muscles really pack a punch when he holds a mallet. :)

Aloha! Cade's Hawaiian Birthday Bash

We had so much fun at Cade's 1st birthday party! Everyone wore their Hawaiian shirts and we grilled some mighty fine kabobs on David's man-grill out in the yard. Cade had a great time eating his first birthday cake -- I think his piece was the biggest of the bunch. It was fun having Cade's little friends at the party -- Aiden and Abbie were there, and of course cousins Brennan and Breckan came to share in the festivities.

Cade @ The Zoo

So, I'm just starting this bloggy thing and I have no idea what I'm doing. But David and I wanted to have a place where friends and family could check out what's been going on in our lives and (of course) view the latest pics of Cade (my personal obsession and newly-turned 1-yr-old son)! I hope I do this right... Oh and Kelsey and Derek are moving to Japan for a freaking year...they leave on April 5th...and I'm pretty much depressed about it. We hope that Cade starts walking before they leave so that they can see him -- he gets closer everyday. He's started to randomly let go of the coffee table and stand there for like 10 seconds on his own without realizing what he's doing. Kinda cool. Hope you like the pics of the Fort Worth Zoo trip.