Caden's First Professional Haircut

Wednesday we took Caden to get his first professional haircut. This was actually his third haircut, his first two haircuts were done by us at home. Since he's so young he sat in Daddy's lap while the barber cut his hair. At first he was smiling and seemed to think it was pretty neat. However, his laughter and joy didn't last long. Before it was over he was in tears. I'm not sure if was the giant comb, scissors, clippers, or the barber that scared him the most. Overall I think he did really well. I miss his longer hair but his new haircut looks super cute! Also his hair is much blonder now. I was born with dark hair and it turned blond during my childhood so maybe that is what Caden's hair is doing too.

Here are some pictures of his first barber haircut. I forgot my camera so these aren't the best pictures since they were taken with Collin's cell phone.

Caden happily sitting with his Daddy

I have a cape on, so cool!

Hmmm...who is this guy and what is he doing?

Is that comb a toy?

Amost done and I have had enough! Do you like my blond hair?

New Beginnings

Caden is growing so much everyday! Two weeks ago (Feb. 4th) he started going from flat on his stomach to sitting up as well as from being on his hands and knees to sitting up. He also learned how to pull himself up on his crib! He has been doing a lot more pre-crawling, he loves going from sitting to on his hands and knees, sometimes all the way to his stomach depending on what he's trying to reach to sitting up. He still is moving backwards and he scoots around on his bottom. It's so cute to watch him. It seems like any day he'll realize he can crawl forward, of course then we'll be in trouble. Haha. As we'll have to keep an even closer eye on him. Collin has now installed baby gates on two of our staircases. On the first floor where our living room, dinning room, and kitchen are, and on our top floor where our office and a HUGE loft is. We have another baby gate coming to us in the mail for our second floor where our bedrooms are. One of my biggest fears is Caden falling down the stairs!

As Caden continues to grow and learn I'm discovering more about myself as well. Yesterday was Valentine's Day, also the 16th anniversary of my mother's death. It is always a sad day for me and now that I have a child of my own there are days when I miss my own mother even more. However, this year I decided to try and be more cheerful and rather than mope around and try and avoid the whole day like I do most of the time, I decided to make a Valentine's Day card to Collin from Caden and I bought him one from me. I also bought Collin a watch. I NEVER buy gifts on this day except for maybe a card.

This year I thought I'd be different and try and let my mother's spirit live through me. Why should I weep? She's in Heaven. What greater joy than for her to be with God? There is none. Her days on earth have ended. She no longer makes history on this earth, but I do. She would not want me to stop living because she isn't here living with me. She'll always live in my heart but that doesn't mean I should deny myself joy and happiness. I talked with Collin a lot about this last night. For many years I have closed people out. I've been scared of making close friends and have not been honest and completely true with the ones I have. I love Collin's boldness and bravery in how he is able to be real with people even if it puts him in a bad light and shows he's not 100% strong in an area. I on the other hand tend to avoid the whole situation and not welcome the closeness and bonds of friendship by not being open. I think part of this has to do with losing my mom when I was 11. I was not taught how to be open and became scared of losing friends so I purposely limited the depth of friendships. It is such a shame that I have been living like this.

Friendships are some of God's greatest gifts! One of my friends in middle school asked me how I could really be loved if I didn't let people in. She was right. I can't. So not only is Caden going through new beginnings so am I. I am going to try to be more open, honest, and vulnerable. I'm going to try not to worry about what people think of me. This is really hard. I have always wanted to be liked but it comes with a price. If someone doesn't like me for me then I am going to be okay with that. I want to teach Caden the value of friendships and relationships. I want him to know it's okay to be real with people and open and honest. Life is short and I believe we will have a much better life having a few really close friends than a lot of acquaintances.

I wanted to share my thoughts with the few people who read my blog and ask you to be in prayer for me during this time. I appreciate you and value you. I normally avoid writing really personal thoughts publicly but felt the need to share this here. I feel like I have been trapped for 16 years not able to fully express myself and I want to be free from that. I want to enjoy life and live life to the fullest. Don't get me wrong, I know I have a really good life but I want to let people in and be more open and honest. May you all have a wonderful and beautiful day. Thank you for taking the time to read this really long post.

Great Marriage Retreat

This past weekend we went to a marriage retreat in Heppenheim, Germany. We stayed two nights at the hotel the retreat was located. It was really nice. The retreat was sponsored by the unit Collin works for. There were around 30 couples there. The retreat started Friday night, during Caden's bedtime. They offered childcare but we decided Friday night to just let him stay with us. Saturday morning we let him go to the childcare and after about 20 minutes I heard a child screaming and crying. So I left and walked next door. Caden was fine and happy but there was one child crying in a corner and another one throwing up! I took Caden from one of the caregivers and told her I'd watch him (I didn't want her cleaning up the throw up with my baby in her arms). I also didn't want him to get sick! Needless to say he stayed with us through the rest of the sessions. He's an easy going baby and everyone there was impressed with him and commented on how happy he is. He has yet to meet a stranger and is always smiling and laughing!

Saturday night I left the session early to put Caden in bed. He was getting pretty tired and it was past his bedtime. Sunday morning was the last session and it was great. The retreat was on Understanding the Love of Your Life and was created by Walk Thru The Bible Ministries. Friday night we all took a personality test. Saturday the sessions were about understanding our mates personalities, and Sunday was combining our personalities together to form a stronger and happier marriage. Collin's personality type is IC and mine is ID. So our highest score was the same.

Saturday afternoon we took a short day trip to Worms, Germany, and did a driving tour of the town. It was snowing and very cold outside so we decided not to join the tour group. Caden took a nap in the car and Collin and I got to talk. Worms is known for several things, the first complete translation of the Bible in modern English was printed there in 1521 and Martin Luther was declared an outlaw after refusing to recant his religious beliefs. Worms is a cute town and we hope to go back when the weather is nice.

We had a wonderful weekend. We probably got the biggest snowfall of the year this past weekend and the road conditions for our area were red, meaning don't drive unless you have to. We had to drive home and we just took it slow. Thankfully not many people were out driving. Unfortunately, I got sick at the conference. Several people were sick and I tried to wash my hands frequently like I always do and avoid people coughing but I somehow still caught something. Other than that we are glad we went and hope to go again next year.

One more thing, Caden's 4th tooth broke through Saturday. He now has four teeth. Two on top and two on bottom. Here are a some pictures from this past weekend.

Collin and Caden at the restaurant Saturday night - Caden fell asleep during dinner

The band playing at the restaurant

Some of Collin's co-workers and their families that were at the retreat

Martin Luther statue in Worms

Church in Worms

Caden smiling at McDonalds, you can see one of his front teeth

Heppenheim, Germany

Lots of snow in Heppenheim

Marisa standing outside the square in Heppenheim

Pretty snow, Heppenheim

Hungry for red cabbage?

I started craving German red cabbage after our joint German-American church service. At the pot luck I tried some of the BEST red cabbage I have ever had. So I decided to make it myself. We have been cooking a lot since we moved to Germany. Not only does it get really expensive to eat out but we also miss "American" food. Or shall we say, "Southern" food, like Mexican food, roasts, and briskets. With all of that in mind I thought I'd share this yummy recipe with you. It's cheap, easy, and very good! The only downside is it takes some time to cook. So feel free to eat it with any main dish you want. Or you can even eat it by itself, it's that good! We ate this with Texas brisket the first night and ham the second. We mixed a little German with a little Texan and it was great...just like our time in Germany.

GERMAN RED CABBAGE

(you can also use white cabbage)

1 med. red cabbage
3-4 apples
1/3 c. shortening or lard
2 Tbs. vinegar
1 c. water
1 c. sugar

Quarter apples and remove core. Saute apples in shortening, shred cabbage, add to apple and shortening. Bring vinegar, water, and 1/2 cup sugar to a boil. Once the sugar is dissolved, add to cabbage. Cook for 1 hour or until cabbage is done. Stir every 5-10 minutes making sure all the cabbage has a chance to cook.

7 months old

Caden is seven months old today! I still can hardly believe how fast he is growing. Many people have told me to enjoy everyday because babies grow up really fast. I can see that is true!

The newest things Caden can do is get up on all 4s. He doesn't go anywhere when he is on his hands and knees but he's able to hold his body up which is great! He scoots backwards and in a circle when his knees are behind him. We are trying to teach him to go forward. One of his favorite things to do, however, is stand. He loves standing and holding onto things, whether that is our hands or a sturdy object. He can pull himself up from the ground to a standing position now. He doesn't do this unless we are right behind him or in front of him. We have started baby proofing more, Collin put up a gate on our top floor in front of the stairs, we still need two more gates for the stairs on our other two floors. It is hard to find baby gates that work well for spiral staircases. Not even the Germans know where we can buy them. We bought one from Amazon and will probably order the other ones from there as well. Collin will probably build something to make the other gates work.

I decided to attend my ladies' Bible study this spring which started back up a few weeks ago. I finally left Caden alone in the nursery there. It was really hard to leave him! He has done pretty well. He loves watching other kids and babies but would rather me be with him. He can go for 20 minutes without me now. So I go back and forth and keep him with me some of the time and then let him go back to the nursery. The first time he took a 40 minute nap so that was nice. I am also back in MOPS and we are still doing infant massage classes, which he loves!

Caden also now has 3 teeth! He has both bottom front teeth and his upper left front tooth. He is still drooling a lot but at least we have a few teeth now. We just just started feeding him solids twice a day and am I still only breastfeeding him the rest of his meals. He sleeps 10-12 hours at night, takes 2-3 naps a day, and is a very happy baby and so much fun to be with. We love playing games, playing with his toys, and reading books. He loves laughing and babbling. He smiles at everyone he meets and is very social. He is so cute and we feel very blessed. We could not have asked for a better child! Other than that, we are enjoying life and trying to stay warm during this cold winter in Germany.

Here are a few pictures.

Caden on all 4s!

He loves taking the numbers from his mat a part and chewing on them

Playing with his new "toy" - I gave him a spatula to play with when I cook and he loves it!

Sledding!

This evening after Collin got home from work we took Caden sledding for the first time. Over the weekend we got a lot of snow. Caden's German grandmother at church gave him a sled a few weeks ago. We took him sledding in front of our house and he had a lot of fun. We even built a little snow man. The weather is cold but the snow is beautiful! Here are some pictures.

Caden having a great time!

Caden was smiling and laughing

Building the snow man

Lots of fun in the snow!

6th Wedding Anniversary and Caden has a tooth!

Last Monday, we celebrated six wonderful years of marriage. Collin took off work so we had an extra long weekend to celebrate. This year was extra special because Caden was with us. We spent most of the day at home except for making a shopping trip out to look at baby carriers and going to dinner. We bought an Ergo Baby. We have a Baby Bjorn and Moby Wrap, both are great, but Caden is getting heavier and we needed something that could distribute his weight better that was quick and easy to use. We decided the Ergo Baby fit the bill nicely and will be very beneficial on our upcoming cruise.

Collin is the best husband in the world. I really could not ask to be married to a better man. Not only is he a wonderful Christian who tries to honor God in all he does, he makes life so much fun! He is also a great dad. I am truly blessed to be his wife. He was so sweet this year, he made whole wheat chocolate chip pancakes for me for breakfast, steak nachos for lunch, and took me to our favorite Greek restaurant for dinner. He also bought me a wooden picture frame box since the 6th wedding anniversary gift is wood. It has our names carved on it and a sweet message.

These past six years have been amazing! We moved overseas, have visited 19 countries, and 9 states in the U.S. We have gone on one mission trip together, joined several small groups, bought our first house, got a dog, gave the dog away when we moved, and had our first child! We have had a lot of good times. However, with all the travel and activities we have done, having Caden is by far the best part of our marriage. He is truly a gift from God.

I noticed today that Caden is finally cutting his first tooth! He's cutting a front bottom tooth. He is growing up so fast.

Here are a some pictures from the past six years.

6th wedding anniversary - 2010

5th wedding anniversary - 2009

4th wedding anniversary - 2008

3rd wedding anniversary - 2007

2nd wedding anniversary - 2006

1st wedding anniversary - 2005

Our wedding, January 4, 2004