Oh boy! What a Summer!!

Today I am 36 weeks pregnant... you know what that means... last post until 2012! Just kidding, but with the way I update the blog I wouldn't be surprised. Nolan's due date (scheduled c-section on 9/9/11) is approaching so quickly. We are doing our best to get everything accomplished on our "to do" list. It's overwhelming and exciting all at the same time. We can't wait to add Nolan to our family and see what Cade thinks of being a big brother. He is such a sweet boy that I can't imagine that he wouldn't be great at the roll.

I still plan on posting some pics of our "new" home and the projects we have been working on, but for now I thought I would do a little recap of some of our summer adventures. Since we just bought a home there were no summer vacations for us! We have instead filled our weekends with home updates and trips around town. I have been really tired with this pregnancy, so I can't say we have done as much as I would have liked, but I think Cade has had some fun none-the-less :)

We welcomed Cooper John Poladian into the family early in the morning on June 18, 2011. It was an exciting couple of days since Jenny had to work out 30 hours of labor. She was a real trooper and strong mama! Cooper has been such a joy to snuggle! Cade and I have made couple trips down south to visit and Cooper has made some surprise visits up to us too. We are taking in as much as we can since they seem to grow so quickly at this stage. We love you Cooper!

July 24, 2011 was a beautiful day in Camarillo at the Bella Victorian Vineyard as we were part of an intimate group who were honored to witness our friends Tanya and Jere become man and wife. It was a bit of a date for Eric and I to be in this beautiful setting, enjoying wonderful friends! I even wore the shoes I wore on my wedding day. The first time since the wedding, so we had to take a picture to commemorate the special day :). I am 33 weeks pregnant in the pictures and still managed to wear those heels all night long! After leaving the wedding Eric surprised me and took me to this little gelato and chocolate shop (it was a treat since I couldn't eat the wedding cake!). We had the most wonderful salted caramel gelato and chocolate peanut butter chocolates shaped like an oyster shell with a macadamia nut as its pearl! Such a fun night!

Our friends the Tahmisian's are faithful missionaries in Russia. We usually get to seem them in the summer when they are home for their yearly trip to the US. The student visa they are currently allowed requires them to come back to the US once a year, and while we are grateful for their visits, we pray they will be receiving a more permanent way to stay in Russia in the near future. The weekend they planned their Russia update and family/friend gathering was also the weekend of the 405 closure. We were grateful to be on the "right end" of the closure so we could enjoy their company! Many people were on the West side and couldn't make it. We pretended to be sad (kidding of course), but were so excited to have a lot of one-on-one time with this special family. Our boys, who are just 5 months apart, played so well together. They even managed to pose for a picture as long as they had their brushes. The dads were so proud. HA HA.

Finally, our stay-at-home summer has given us the opportunity to create some homemade fun. Grammie and Gramps surprised Cade with this great little outdoor play table that holds sand and water. For now it just holds water, but Cade loves it. I got him all decked out in his swim trunks and we played in the hose. He giggled so much. It was really cute to watch.

We have also enjoyed the "little red wagon" at Grammie and Gramps house. Cade doesn't care if he's being pulled around the backyard or on a walk, just as long as he gets a ride! It's funny to watch him kick back in the wagon and take it all in. This particular ride we put a margarita in daddy's hands and Lucy even joined in on the fun (Lucy had just had eye surgery to remove a cataract hence the cone.).

Oak Park has it's very own splash pad that is free for the kiddos to play in all day long! It is really a fun place and lots of kids show up to cool off. Cade wasn't so sure at first, but eventually found his way over to some smaller fountains and soon enough he was jumping, laughing and splashing around.

I know I am missing some of the fun things we have done this summer, but looking through our pictures this was all I came up with! We have enjoyed lots of indoor time and movies. It is usually the first thing Cade asks for when he wakes up. He sits through them, but I'm not so sure it is the best thing for him! When you're 9 months pregnant you kind of let it slide for a bit. LOL!
Just this last week though our little bug was really sick with a 103 temp and a very sore throat from hand, foot and mouth disease. Sounds a little scarier than it is, but I am grateful even at such a young age the Lord gives our children the ability to let us know that something is really wrong. After a day or two of fever and Cade tugging at his ears we went to the doctor who immediately found "the culprit" as he put it. So it was stay-at-home a little more for us this past week and enjoy soft foods. Cade was a trooper, but daddy and I had a rough time! We aren't use to being up all hours of the night with a crying baby... uh oh, guess we better get use to that again. Nolan is just 3 weeks away and counting!


We hope you all have had a wonderful summer with all your adventures whether they be at home or off to some vacation spot! We look forward to catching up with you soon.
XoXo,
MmM

Happy Birthday Little Man

One week ago Cade turned the big ONE! We had a little party to celebrate a week earlier and had a ton of fun. It was a beautiful December day, much like the day he was born. Much warmer than a typical day in December, but we were grateful because we were able to host the kiddos outdoors!

We wanted to have a party that was fun and kid friendly all at the same time. My mom and I thought of having a grilled cheese bar with lots of fancy fixings (for the adults of course) and a yummy bowtie pasta salad to keep with the little man theme. A BBQ never looked so beautiful ;). We grilled the grilled cheese sandwiches on the BBQ using cast iron griddles.

Fancy fixings!

I had fun playing around with "little man" things for the centerpieces, which ended up being a mason jar filled with buttons and a tie, mustache cut-outs that made for fun pictures and white mums. Loved the mix of soft flowers with the masculine tie!

The ties also served as a backdrop that we attached pictures to with tiny clothes pins. The photos were from his first year of life :)

My mom and I had a fun mother/daughter moment making Cade's cake. I baked some sheet cakes and cut them out in the shape of a tie and she helped me frost them. They were very homemade with a lot of love (and even some tears...I'm such a perfectionist!)

Cade's friend Peyton and her parents Ryan and Leslie

Ford and Cade are just 6 weeks a part and already buddies!

Cade and Grampa. Can you tell Cade is a Matthews???!!!

One of my favorites from the dad ~ Eric and his Dad

Our dear friends the Gutierrez family. Now a family of 4!

Cade's birthday buddy Zoe. Born 1 day apart, they met in the hospital :). Zoe's dad and I went to high school together and have become good friends of ours as we go through parenting together!

Great Mimi, Great Uncle Tom and Melanie. They are too young to be "great," but we think they are pretty GREAT anyway!

The Sutherlands! We are SO glad they are back from Florida and here to celebrate.Cade had a mid party outfit change gearing up for the cake! I couldn't resist the little onesie with a tie on it. Too cute!

First taste and he was hooked!

The most classic shot of the day! He just went all in and stuck his face in the cake. What a kid!

Auntie Jenny and Uncle Matt having fun with the mustache lollipops. Thank you Auntie Jenny for taking beautiful pictures that captured this event in such a special way! Gammie and Gramps. Thank you for hosting this special event!

Cousins and Cade with his mustache lollipop!

You can see finger and teeth marks. Love it!

You'll notice Cade isn't in this picture, but the big kids loved opening his presents for him!

Thank you to all who celebrated with us. What an incredible year this has been. We are constantly reminded what a special child we are blessed with. Though it seems like just moments ago Eric and I were looking at Cade on his changing table just after we had brought him home from the hospital and saying to each other "Wow! we have a son. Now what?!!" Ha ha. We learned to love each in sleep deprived moments and celebrate Cade's milestones big and small as proud parents would.

Our greatest prayer for him is not that he would grow up to achieve huge success, become a powerful business man or a respected teacher. We pray for his salvation. That he would become a man of God with a heart for serving his church. God will honor that, direct his life accordingly and bless him abundantly for following his will for Cade's life. It isn't the typical prayer of most parent's, but one we know honors God and that is our greatest joy!

We love you Cade!

xo,

Mommy and Daddy

5months, 6 months...boy I'm getting BIG!

Our little munchie is just the sweetest baby boy. He is now 6 months old and getting bigger by the minute. To me it seems like every time I turn around he is doing something new or growing another inch! We had our 6 month doctor appointment and Cade is 15lbs 14 oz and 25 1/2 inches. The doctor says he is just perfect!

Some of his new tricks include rolling over from tummy to back and just recently from back to tummy. He has 2 bottom teeth, which he decided to cut at the same time. Poor kiddo had double the trouble with those teeth, but handled it like a champ. We were gone for the weekend and you never would have known his gums were bothering him! Cade has also begun to master sitting up (with a little assistance). He can manage to sit upright and not fall over for a good couple of minutes or until I see him start to lean so far forward that he has practically folded himself in half :). Cade has made some friends too! He loves to touch the other babies, which at this point is very sweet. We will have to teach him about personal space soon enough!We have ventured into the land of solid foods with adventures in rice cereal and oatmeal. He prefers the rice cereal and makes some very funny faces with the oatmeal. Mom just needs to master the art of getting the food in when the mouth opens. I've misfired a couple of times just about the exact timeCade sneezes and food ends up all over the place. It's actually pretty comical.Cade is such a joy in our lives. He smiles constantly and loves to "tell us stories". I continue to thank God for the gift of this child. He definitely brightens our days, but I get more joy out of watching him make other people smile and tell me that a little dose of this child has made their day better. Isn't that what we should all being doing? Serving each other in a way that when we leave someone's company they feel like their load has been lightened and have a renewed sense of joy. This is the way Christ serves us when we are in fellowship with him and what a privilege it is to serve others in the same way. I pray often that Eric and I would teach Cade these valuable lessons so that he would grow into an incredible Christ-like servant too.

A little side note, I captured a hilarious series of Cade in his Tonka truck at 5 months. I haven't taken Cade's 6 month Tonka truck pictures yet, but will post them as soon as I do :) ENJOY!

These last two are my favorite. He finally realized mom had put him IN the truck!