Just ask one of the four guys (college interns) staying at our house and they will testify that Caden is, indeed, obsessed with his ABCs. Today I printed out a few color sheets from the Fisher-Price website (great site!) and he was so excited to color the letters. Look what I caught him doing....
I love this picture of my boys (yes, that includes Brett)! I was going to write this long post about why I love each them but thought it might be interesting to see what other people have to say. So go ahead, leave us a comment describing one of my boys, a special memory you have of them, or your favorite thing about them. I know I love them very much and I want them each to know how much they're loved by others as well. Thanks for helping me out on this special post. --April
4 months
5 months
6 months
Corban had never met his aunt and uncle, so this was a special time for him! He got lots of special treatment since we left his big brother back in Nashville with Brett's parents. We definitely enjoyed the week long break from having a 2 year old and enjoyed the relaxation that is so easy to find in Malibu. Taking Corban was a given because he is still nursing and is such an easy baby, but we had the added motivation or trying to get Allen and Sarah to catch the baby bug :)
Allen and Sarah are loving, tons of fun, committed, hard-working, Kingdom-minded and highly respected by everyone who knows them. We are honored to have you guys as family AND friends!
The first people to receive furlough love on our blog are none other than Marcus & Jessicca Moore. M & J have been huge in our lives for about 8 years now, and we were honored that they took the long drive down from NorCal to meet us in Malibu. We have truly never encountered more loving, caring, fun, upright and just generally outstanding people in our lives. M & J are going to be parents in about 7 months or so, and their kid will surely be one of our favorites as well!
Don't worry if your name is not M or J Moore; we plan to post pics from our entire furlough and the people we love that we were blessed to spend time with :)
We have this cool thing that straps a car seat to a carry on suitcase for easy transport through airport terminals. Caden just rolls through airports people-watching and enjoying the ride. I usually frown on people who put leashes on their children in airports and other public settings, but is this really that different??? Hmmmm...At least we don't have to wonder where Caden is all the time, and he seems to like it just fine. This gadget is appropriately named the "Tote-a-Tot".
Where would we be without our Bjorn?!?!? The Baby Bjorn is a Swedish-made contraption that makes hauling a baby through the airport much easier than it should be. Corban loves the view and we love the easiness of it. His times in the Bjorn are some of Corban's biggest opportunities to flirt with anyone and everyone he meets!
Waiting. Sitting. Reading. Snacking. Being flexible. We do alot of all of these things while hopping ponds between our two homes. Caden needs lots of distractions at his age, and thankfully airports are full of them! We don't have a picture of it, but you know those things that are like flat escalators that easily gain hurried travelers a good 7 seconds between gates while heading to gate 197? Yeah, Caden loves those. He and Brett have probably walked on those things enough to be the equivalent of walking from Detroit to Nashville a few dozen times, but hey, whatever works :)
This is always nice: a sleeping baby means a few minutes rest for either mommy or daddy while waiting for the next flight. Why EITHER mommy or daddy, and not both? Five letters: C-A-D-E-N!!!
You now how you board a plane, see some little kids, and pray that you're not near them? Normally this is justified, because small children are at the very bottom of the pantheon of good travelers. Not so with our two sweet boys; without fail, on every flight we take, somebody comments on our boys and how good they were on the long flight or how sweet they were to flash their handsome grins their way...
The cool thing about us not blogging for awhile is the reason: we were actually sharing our lives everyday in meaningful ways with the ones we love! Instead of just posting pictures and reading the comments, we were able to see so many of our friends and family in the flesh, hug them, laugh with them, watch ours boys enjoy them, and relish in the blessing of quality time that God gave us.
In case you are unfamiliar with our seasons here in Togo, there are two: wet and dry. Both are hot. The dry season is typically from September through May, with the hottest times being February-April. This week we received a special treat...a blessing, if you will, from God. RAIN! It began storming around 2 or 3 in the morning and didn't stop raining until 10 or so. Now in the States you often hear, "It's raining? Oh, how depressing." or something of the sort. Not so here...at least for me. It is party time! The rain brings in a refreshing coolness that can be achieved no other way. So even though I know the farmers and others working hard in the dry season were frustrated by this unexpected rain...I was doing a happy dance. We let Caden put on his rainboots and take his new umbrella outside to play in the rain. He loved it and was quite fascinated that he could stand under the umbrella and not get wet. Too much fun! Thank you God for the rain!
First, we'd like to apologize for the long time with no new pictures. It's been a busy week! April has had the little boys at home while Brett has been away for various reasons. The above picture was one where we were enjoying everyone being home together. Fun times!
Brett was taking advantage of the time at home to do some exercising. Corban would laugh every time Brett completed a sit-up and Caden didn't want to be left out of the fun so he decided to help Daddy out by "pushing" him up with his feet. It was too funny not to take a picture. (Yes, Caden is still running around naked...but potty training is going well.)
A few days while Brett was gone, April took the boys to the pool with our friends. It has been SO hot that the pool is the only cool place to be (other than the air-conditioned car ride to the pool). The rise in temperatures has been the other reason we've allowed Caden to run naked. Not to mention that it is pretty normal in this culture. It's going to be difficult to explain to our friends in Montgomery why our toddler refuses to wear clothes.
Corban is such a fun baby! He is very ticklish resulting in lots of smiles and laughs. He is weighing around 13-14 lbs. (we don't have a baby scale), is 25 1/4" long, and is wearing some 6 month clothing. He almost always smiles at Caden. He can spot his daddy from across the room and often smiles more for those two boys than he does his mommy. But I'm not jealous, he still prefers to be held by me and greets me each morning with the sweetest smile as I appear over the edge of the cradle :) We have also enjoyed comparing the similarities and differences between our two boys (and even their cousins) as they grow and develop personalities. They say that kids grow up too fast, but we are enjoying Corban thoroughly everyday and think that he is growing up just right!
Sorry Nicole!
Check out those dimples!
Three Sleepy Boys
I love this picture because you can see just how much he loves his Daddy already!
This would be Caden's finger pointing out Corban's nose...
(click to enlarge)
I'm sure Caden was trying to be very careful when he decided
Head
Video sent by emersonstogo
Don't look too closely, it's not perfect, but it will work.
Check it out! Corban has a passport and his birthplace says GHANA. I still can't believe he was born in Africa!
