Our Christmas

The kids opened their Christmas presents from us before we make our road trip to Indiana.  They opened each gift with a lot of excitement...they really made us feel good.   View Album for more pictures.

Gingerbread House (A Beautiful Mess)

This morning we went to Donnie's school to decorate a gingerbread house.  The house was already put together, and all we had to do was add frosting and candy.  We had no plan, we just started frosting and sticking as much candy on as we could.  We only had one hour...we showed up late...so we just went for it.  It was perfect!  No set up...no clean up...just fun.  The director's daughter held Damon the whole time which was a huge help.  View Album for more pictures.

6 Month Pics

Cadynce

Donnie

Colbie

Damon

Damon's Half Birthday

We made half a cake for Damon's half birthday.  I can't believe he is already 6 months old...he's growing up fast.  View Album for more pictures.

Handsome Boy

I need to do a better job of taking pictures of Damon without his hat on.  He looks and feels smaller when it's off, and his hair is getting a little crazy.  Daddy pulled out his helmet too...Damon wasn't too sure what to think of it.  View Album for more pictures.

Random

9 Years

Our anniversary was the 27 of November, while we were in Fort Worth.  We got a sitter when we got home and went to a nice dinner with live music.

 When you get pooped on in our family, we like to take a picture of it.  Cadynce was the lucky one.









Damon is sitting now...where is time going?

Getting Ready...

We are all ready for Christmas around here.  Once again, we enjoyed picking out our tree and decorating in our 70 degree weather...I love it!  View Album for more pictures.

Happy Thanksgiving

We spent our Thanksgiving at an indoor water park and the zoo 4 1/2 hours north, in Fort Worth.  Tuesday and Wednesday we spent at the water park, and Thursday we spent at the zoo before driving home.  We ate at a restaurant near our house around 9pm...we were the only ones in there.
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Update

I took Damon for his first follow up appointment.  The doctor was really happy with his helmet positioning, and said his head has already moved a millimeter after measuring him.  I was feeling pretty good about myself, and I can't believe there was a difference after only a few days of wearing it for 23 hours.  She also loved Don's masterpiece.  She'd never seen one like his before.

Zoo Trip

I took Colbie and Damon to the zoo this morning.  It was fun to see Colbie react to the animals without the influence of big sister and brother.  She is talking up a storm now, and each animal was better than the last.  We did get to watch them catch a little gator to give it a shot.  When they let it go he went crazy and ran into the water.  Colbie talked about the "alligator jump" the rest of the time....what a show! ( I even captured it on video on my phone).  View Album for more pictures.

Full Time Hat

Cutest little boy with a helmet

Damon has completed his first "full time" day with his hat on.  He's sleeping really well and adjusting to life with a "hat".  He found a sleeping position that he likes best, but sometimes I can hear his hat clanking against the crib through the monitor.  We're trying to find a routine that works best.  Right now we are going to give him 30 minutes in the morning and 30 minutes at night so we can clean his hat and his head.

I snuck in to take this pic.

Last Game

It was a hot and sunny day, and the last baseball game of the season.  It was a lot of fun (mostly because of the coach), and I learned two things....1) Not only is Don great at coaching our kids, he is also great at coaching a team of 5 & 6 year old (I think he was more exhausted after the game than the kids) and 2) Cadynce likes sporty clothes more than she likes sports.  On our drive home I asked Cadynce and Donnie what their favorite part of the season was:  Cadynce said "nothing" and Donnie said "the trophy".  Can't wait to sign Cadynce up for the next sport:)

Day 4

Damon moved up to 8 hours on and one hour off today.  His head was a little sweaty this time, and the "hat" needed to be cleaned.  Don got home today from a trip so they watched a little football together.

1st Nap...

Here he is sound asleep.  It was his first nap in the helmet, and I had to wake him up to pick up Cadynce from school.  It's going very well. Today is 4 hours on...1 hour off.  He naps and goes to bed it the helmet today.

It's On...

Damon is destined to be a football player.  I'm thinking these pictures are going to be seen on ESPN some day when they're doing a story on Damon's football career:)

He will wear the helmet 23 hours a day, which gives us one hour to clean the helmet and bathe him.  The first four days he wears it for a few hours on and one hour off...day 5 is full time.  We'll be checking his growth weekly at the doctor, and eventually every other week for a few months.  Helmets are typically worn 3-5 months depending on the child and how fast their head grows.  The helmet just makes contact with the parts of his head that stick out so the other (flat) parts of his head will do the growing.

Don knew exactly what he wanted the helmet to look like, so when he went to the Air Force game, he picked up some helmet decals from the equipment manager...these are official Air Force helmet decals! View Album for more pictures.

Thankful Tree

We made our Thankful Tree again, and they were all really into this year.  Each year it's been different, and this year all I did was help Colbie and they did the rest.  Each morning we get out a leaf and write one thing we're thankful for and stick it to the tree.  View Album for more pictures.

Veteran's Day at School

This morning Cadynce's school had a really nice celebration for Veteran's Day.

Damon 5 Months

Look who's feeling better!  Damon has just about kicked this virus.  All that is left is his cough, and I can't wait for that to clear up.  We went to the doctor for a follow up on Thursday, and his lungs weren't completely clear yet, so we continued medication for another 2 days.  The first two days when he was feeling his worst, he would just fall asleep when he had his mask on.  Once he started feeling better, it was quite a struggle to keep the mask in front of his face so I used Cadynce and Donnie to entertain him.

Damon loves the jumper...and so does Colbie:)  There is just something about the jumper that makes Colbie want to spin and swing him...can't take my eyes off her.  Damon is rolling all over the place just like Cadynce did(in one direction), which can be frustrating when he runs into a wall or a couch.  Damon is so sweet, and we just can't get enough of him.

Memory Lane - Halloween -

2007 - Cadynce "Pumpkin"

2008 - Cadynce "Monkey"

2009 - Cadynce "Monkey"
Donnie "Pumpkin"

2010 - Cadynce "Pinkalicious"
Donnie - "Lion"

2011 - Cadynce "Ariel"
Donnie "Football Player"
Colbie "Hot Pepper"

2012 - Cadynce "Rapunzel"
Donnie "Popeye"
Colbie "Pumpkin"

2013 - Cadynce "Witch"
Donnie "Tin Man"
Colbie "Dorothy"
Damon "Lion"

My Sick Boy

RSV is a virus that most of us have had, but when it gets into a babies little body it's much worse.  That's what happened to Damon.  Saturday he started coughing with a runny nose, Sunday it was a little worse, and Monday morning he was wheezing a little.  We got to the doctor Monday morning where they gave him a breathing treatment, and confirmed he had RSV.  We continued the treatment at home for the next three days.  He's been so miserable, but he's finally starting to feel better.  He's a trooper during the breathing treatments (medication)...he falls asleep most of the time.

Trick or Treat

Scarecrow, Dorothy, Lion, Witch, Tin Man

We dressed up this year as the Wizard of Oz characters.  After Cadynce watched the movie for the first time, she decided she wanted to be the Wicked Witch for Halloween.  We decided to get the whole family involved.  They had a blast, and little Dorothy (Colbie) was unbelievably cute.  I can't even explain it, but I don't ever want to forget how funny she was this evening.  She ran to keep up with Cadynce and Donnie yelling "trick or treat" the whole night.  She told everyone "thank you" and "bye" and "see you later".  She also liked to linger after she was given a piece of candy and almost always got more.  Cadynce caught on to this very quickly and told me "Colbie's getting more candy than us because everyone thinks she's so cute."  Donnie loved his costume that Daddy put together for him, and loved getting his face painted silver.  Damon slept the whole time in the stroller, the weather was perfect...it was a great evening.  View Album for more pictures.

4 Month Tie Picture

I love doing the tie picture.  I think this is Damon's favorite photo shoot because every picture looks just like this one.  He is always so happy.... I think he likes to be naked.

Picture Day

It was picture day at baseball...here are the unofficial pictures:)

Colbie's Birthday

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Fall Fun

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More Damon Pics

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Love This

Cadynce

Donnie

Colbie

Damon