Nothing But Caden

No clever captions or funny stories to go with these pics; just pure Caden!

Who Needs French Toys?!

Who needs French toys when you have French kitchen utensils? Caden has carried his interest of pulling things out of drawers and cabinets all the way to France. The three bottom drawers have become "Caden's drawers" leaving us with the top two. Why the top two? Because Caden can't reach those...yet. We have come to accept that our kitchen will be decorated with cooking utensils several days a week and we are all o.k. with this. If you'd like someone to redecorate your kitchen, just give Caden a call...he has great taste!

Big Boy Chair

Caden is sitting up all by himself in a big boy chair! The chair was left behind by the previous occupant of our apartment, and we recently fished it out of the closet to see if he would sit on it. At first he just liked to play with it, but this morning we sat him in it while he watched one of his "Praise Baby" DVD's, and he stayed there for a good 10-15 minutes while we got ready for school.He is looking so big! Some people talk about how their children grow up too fast, but we enjoy Caden to the fullest extent everyday of his precious life, and we think that he is growing up at just the right pace...

First Day of French Nursery

This past week Cade had his first day of being in the nursery. He stays there from about 8:30AM until 4:15PM on days we have school. This is quite a change for all of us, since April has always been home with Caden since the day he was born. Our little boy is loving the nursery, and he is going to be learning his first words in English and French over these next few months. What a wonderful opportunity for him! He's going to be bi-lingual by the time most babies are saying just "momma" or "dadda". He will be calling us "momma" and "dadda" as well as "mere" and "pere"! Here is Caden getting dropped off for his first day. He does very well, no crying or anything, because he knows he is loved by his mere and pere... So here he is with his mom. Caden LOVES his mom! There are lots of times when only a mom will do, and Caden knows his mom will always be there to take care of him. What a blessed responsibility to be entrusted with the care of this young life. Don't they look happy together?!?!?!

We'll Never Lose Our Son If Brett's Mom Has Anything to Say About It!!!

Brett's mom has an embroidery machine, and she always gives Caden cool presents with his name on them. Caden has been wearing this grey sweatsuit on a few of the colder days here in Albertviille, and he looks quite cute in it.This second picture is just funny because of his expression. Aren't you just dying to know what he's thinking? Try this one: "How is my car seat going to fit into the backseat of this tiny car?!?!?!" Post a comment with your own caption!!!

1 Car, 10 Hours, 3 Countries

Another great thing about living here in southeast France is the accessibility to other countries. From Albertville, you can be in Italy or Switzerland in about an hour, and several other countries are within just a few hours drive. Since we had some free time before school starts, we decided to rent a little Peugeot for the day and see what we could see.

We started off driving towards Italy for about and hour or so, and after passing through an enormous tunnel under Mont Blanc, we were there. Since Brett spent a semester of college in Italy, he very much enjoyed returning once again and speaking a little Italian.

Mont Blanc is quite a sight! At 4,808 meters, or 15,774 feet, it is the tallest mountain in Europe. It straddles the border between France and Italy, and it has a glacier that starts at the summit and descends several thousand feet down the French side. Here is a picture of Brett and Caden on the Italian side.We thought about taking a cable car up the side of the mountain, but they wanted 70 Euros for the ride, so we just got this picture instead Another interesting place we visited was called Gran Saint Bernard, which is known for only one thing: it is the place of origin of the famous Saint Bernard dog, rescue hero for thousands of alpine mountaineers! It is also the border between Italy and Switzerland, and we stopped and got yet another stamp in our passports from the border guard. One thing Gran Saint Bernard has in abundance is Saint Bernard’s – stuffed of course. Tourist traps are not just an American phenomenon, and we couldn’t resist buying Caden a little stuffed rescue dog. Turns out it’s one of his most favorite toys ever, and he loves to give it kisses and talk to it. A name is surely forthcoming, but for now, it’s just “puppy”. So this is the first of our many adventures while at language school! We have loved traveling Europe by rail in the past, but it looks like cars are the way to go if you actually live here. It’s more affordable for one, and on top of that, it allows the traveler to see more of Europe off the beaten path, or “through the back door” for all of you Rick Steves fans out there!

Also, if you haven’t seen the video tour of our apartment in France, head over to our Africa blog and check it out!

Bye Bye Door!!!

Bye Bye Door!!!
Uploaded by emersonstogo

Caden is fascinated with opening and closing doors, and he is starting to say "Bye!" These are exciting times!

Caden's New French Ball

Cadens_new_ball
Uploaded by emersonstogo

We took a leisurely walk around Albertville today. It was nice to just get out and enjoy the town without having a specific task to accomplish. Since we arrived this past Friday, we have been out on the town at least once each day, but we were always shopping for this or that, or trying to find out where something was. All that to say we stumbled upon a little Big Lots-type store in the downtown area, and we bought Caden a little yellow ball for 1 Euro 50 cents. He loves it! This video is of Caden and April playing with the new ball right after we returned home. What joy such a simple thing can bring...and that's the best thing about living in this little alpine town; things are just simpler here...

Stroller Technology

So yesterday April and I borrowed one of the schools community strollers, and it was an interesting experience. By interesting, we mean that the stroller was a piece of junk. The wheels didn't turn, the restraint system was about as safe as putting Caden in a room full of venemous snakes, and on top of all that, it was just plain ugly. We have no problem saying that if this is the finest stroller French manufacturers have to offer, then the U.S. is light years ahead of them in stroller technology. We love you Graco!
Hey, the French gave us the Statue of Liberty; what more could you ask for?

Yesterday Hiking, Today Biking

We will never run out of things to do during our 4 months here in Albertville. Yesterday we strapped Caden onto Brett's back and walked several kilometers around town. Today Brett borrowed a bike from another guy at the language school and took Caden for a ride around town. Caden loved the journey, making lots of happy sounds all throughout the trip. Next up: rock climbing, with Caden tied to Brett's belt!

We Gave Birth to a Monkey

Not really, but Caden sure does love to climb. He's not walking just yet, but he is VERY close! These pics were taken right before we moved out of our apartment. Caden was into everything, including the fridge! Hopefully being in France will be so stimulating to him that he will be walking soon. He just turned 10 months yesterday, but we'd love to have an early walker!

Travel Weary

Well, we made it to France! Travel was uneventful, and Caden had fun sleeping through most of both flights. Oh wait, that was US who had fun with Caden sleeping through both flights!

Despite all of the sleep, little Cade was still tuckered out. Here he is crashed at our hotel room in Paris, sprawled on the bed like he just passed out from a long night of drinking.

We are now in Albertville, where our language school is. We would love to describe how beautiful it is here, nestled in a valley of the French Alps, but we will instead post some pictures tomorrow and let them do the talking. Words are useless to describe this portion of God's creation!

Big Helpers

Well, we're all moved out of our apartment, and there is a definite sense of finality to things these days. The last week was full of craziness, packing, laughing, crying, and wondering what in the world we are doing. Good thing we had big helpers like our nephews Owen and Dawson to help us out. You can see curly headed Dawson carrying a curtain rod in this pic, and his older brother in the background helping out with a tube of plastic wrap. We couldn't have done it without them!

Caden helped us out by carrying this straw around in his mouth. It's the little things that add up to make a big difference...

Cousin Nate

Caden sure is gonna miss playing with his cousin Nate! Nate (Nathaniel) is Brett's sisters first born son. He will be three soon, and he is definitely becoming a fun and rambunctious little guy. This weekend we'll be taking a pic of all the cousins together, so watch for it on the blog next week!

It's true...

Caden has hair!

After catching a few raindrops, we were able to spike Caden's hair just to show you that he does indeed have hair. Although it is Emerson tradition to not have hair until after your first birthday, we thought the rest of the world should get to appreciate the few tufts Caden has for now.

Caden Loves Mallory!

While we were in Franklin last week, Caden got to spend some time with his newest cousin, Mallory Joy Baynes. Truth be told, Caden is fascinated with every baby or toddler he sees, but for the sake of a good post, he was particularly enamored by Mallory. She is the closest in age to Caden, so even though they are different genders, they will surely have some good times together in the future.

On a side note, if you look closely and you can stop staring at his eyes or his smile, you will see that Caden's nose is quite an orangish color. This is due to the fact that he is in love with orange vegetables. Squash, carrots, sweet potatoes; you name it, he scarfs it down. Now if we could only get him to eat his green beans and peas, we'd be all set :)

Raiding the Pantry

With us packing up the apartment, Caden is finding new and exciting things to get himself into. Here he is raiding the food on our shelf in the laundry room. Let's hope he can't get the lid off that Wesson oil; that would make a very interesting diaper!!!

On a side note, thanks to everyone who prayed about Caden's heart doctor visit today. He is perfectly healthy, and the doc said we have nothing to be concerned about. He just has an innocent heart murmur that some babies and even grown people have and live normally with. Thank God for the blessing of a happy, healthy, and beautiful little boy!!!

Gatlinburg Adventures

Gatlinburg was a much needed break. We had a great time with friends from our days at Harding University. Caden was a trooper through all the travels. He even rode in his hiking backpack for the first time and didn't cry once! Here's a picture of us at the waterfall we hiked to at Cade's Cove (no, the husky bald gentleman is not in our party).

Caden also strummed his first guitar...thanks Erik.

We haven't posted a picture without Caden since...well, I'm not sure if we ever have...so here's a great shot for ya. ;)

Back Home...For Now

Well, we're done with traveling until we move to France, a nice window of...less than 2 weeks. We'll be blogging alot leading up to our departure, and here's a late night post just to tide everyone over until tomorrow. It looks like Caden is ready to get one step closer to his new home...

9 month update

-9 months, 1 week, 1 day
-29" long
-17 lbs. 2.6 oz.
-crawling professionally
-pulling up on everything
-babbling non-stop
-happiest baby on earth

priceless!

Listen Up People! I've Got Something to Say...

Caden Gabbing
Video sent by emersonstogo

Let's Go!

Check me out! Thanks to Gamma I'm ready to go!

I've got my own backpack for the plane ride and

the two pieces of luggage they'll allow me to check.

I wonder if I can fit all my toys in here.

__________________________________________

Are you sure I can't fly to France in my new suitcase?

I'll Take the Stairs

I'll Take the Stairs
Video sent by emersonstogo

If you happen to see Caden in a hotel lobby and the elevator is about to close, there is no need to hold the door for him. He'll just take the stairs...

Piano Man

We're in Texas right now, visiting friends and family and doing some fundraising, and Caden is having a blast. We'll be posting several pictures and videos in a row of our time here, starting with Caden's new love: the piano! He will just sit there and pound on the keys all day, and Granny Dot is of course more than happy to help him out.

Caden is clearly a budding musician. Just leave your tips in the jar by the door...

Climbing Caden

I was checking my email while I
thought Caden was playing with his toys. Next thing I knew, a little head was peeking over the edge of the computer table. Now you need to know that Caden is not tall enough to peek over the edge of the table...unless he is standing on something. It was in that brief moment I realized that our son had figured out how to climb on the file box in order to reach the papers on the computer table. I snapped a few pictures and then put him safely back on the floor. To my surprise, he did it again (although, why should I be surprised?!) I captured the action on video for your viewing pleasure.

Warning: Caden slips at the end of this video. The video will end abruptly...but have no fear, Caden did not fall.

Climbing Caden
Video sent by emersonstogo

The Babies

Caden and Mallory (Ed & Amy) are the two babies in the family...at least until Cullen (Chad & Betsy's) is born. These two are only seven months apart. Right now, they are very different. But give them a year or two and they'll be running around together not knowing they weren't born the same year.


As you can see in this picture, Caden is quite interested in baby Mallory. I think Caden just wanted to give her a kiss...but Aunt Amy stepped in and stopped the madness. Don't worry Mallory, we promise to not let your cousin slobber you with too many kisses. I'm sure you two will be best of friends as soon as you can say each other's name.

A Globetrotter in the Making

Well we finally got Caden's passport back from Uncle Sam. It's really funny to us that 5 years from now, when his passport has to be renewed, he will still have the same 8 month old picture that will look almost nothing like his nearly 6 year old face. Oh well, it wasn't our idea, and we're not running the government of this or any other country, so what can you do???

It's cool to think that by the time he's 5 or so, he will have traveled more than most people do in their entire lives. Of course it's not of his doing; we just kind of kept on with our lives after he was born, and little Cade had to fit himself into our plans. He's already been to Tennessee, Georgia, Arkansas, and California; next week it's Texas, and then next month he'll be living in the French Alps, but he probably doesn't appreciate all of these great traveling experiences just yet...maybe one day when he's on safari in some random West African country, it will just hit him: having a passport and using it is AWESOME!!!

Gran'Pa and the Workshop

Gran'Pa has been very anxious to get little Caden out to the workshop with him. The day finally came when the two of them went exploring among the tools.

Don't worry, Gran'Pa was quite careful to have the proper eye protection for Caden while working on the lathe.

Gran'Pa and Caden make quite the cute pair in their matching red shirts and overalls...don't ya think?!

Tupperware and a Spatula

Caden loves it when we put tupperware on his head. Add that to a spatula that feels great to chew on, and you've got a very happy baby boy! With Cade crawling like crazy and pulling up on everything, he seems to think that every single household item was put there for him to play with. Life changes drastically with a crawler!

Obligatory 4th Pictures

Caden in his USA outfit from Gamma.
















Caden right before he went to sleep on Gamma.
















Caden with two of his cousins Nathaniel and Mallory.


















Caden and Papa relax and enjoy a little staring contest.

Two Very Special People

Today we went to visit with April's grandparents on her dad's side, Granny and Daddy Dick. This will be the last time we see them before we leave next month, and we wanted them to see how much Caden has been changing and growing. Caden was a total showoff all day as usual. He was smiling, crawling, pulling up, laughing, babbling...basically pulling all of his tricks out of his hat to make sure that Granny and Daddy Dick know just how special he is. We had a good visit, and we had the chance to snap this picture of 4 generations on the Gillespie side. We thank God for the blessing that Granny and Daddy Dick have been to us over the years. They are truly amazing and special people to us; we cherish their love and support, and we know that they pray for our family everyday.

We love you Granny and Daddy Dick!















Caden being silly with his great-grandfather...

Did We Mention We Are Moving?

There are lots of things you can use a packing box for...here's one of them. This is also a great way to keep your baby busy and out of things while you are trying to pack.