Last weekend we headed to Nashville, TN for JDRF’s ride for a cure. Trey and I began our journey with the ride for a cure the year after I was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. If you know me and my family well, you know that Type 1 is our struggle. My father and his brother both passed away from complications related to the disease. My brother lives with Type 1 and has since he was a little boy. Most recently, my step-brother’s little girl was diagnosed at the age of three. It’s a disease that there is no cure. And no, you don’t get it from eating too much sugar, despite popular belief (that might be a huge pet peeve of mine). My journey with Type 1 has been one of many ups and downs and I am hopeful that one day a cure will be found. I truly believe that it will happen through organizations like JDRF. It’s hard to imagine a day in which I won’t have to check my blood sugar, take insulin, and monitor every piece of food I put in my mouth – but it’s coming.

With little man’s arrival in the spring, we decided that Aunt AJ would ride with Trey this year. I knew that between being a mom and trying to finish school and work, it would be nearly impossible to train for 100 miles on a bike. Cade and I became cheerleaders for the event and I think we did a pretty amazing job. The real super stars; however, are Aunt AJ and Trey. They rode 100 miles in the freezing cold on a very difficult course. We couldn’t have been prouder!

Pre-ride sign making with Aunt Amy and mommy. Cade personalized his signs with his signature and a little drool.

Getting our photo op in before the race started.

Rest stop 1 – 12 miles in. Aunt AJ displays her favorite picture face.

Mile 23 – The silent mile in honor and memory of all those who have Type 1

Pulling out of rest stop 2 – 28 miles in. They were looking and feeling pretty good despite the weather  

After rest stop 2, we followed them for a bit and snagged these awesome shots. The course was absolutely beautiful.

Aunt Amy, John, Cade, and I volunteered at rest stop 4, which was the halfway (50 miles)/turn around point. Cade did great for the most part, but we did have to spend some time in the car warming up. Everyone who came through said that he was the best little cheerleader there. How could you not smile and that cute guy bundled up in his bear suit and tiger hat? He was very excited to see Aunt AJ and Trey when they got there for a little encouragement!

They decided to plow through rest stop 5 and head straight to 6. Amy, Cade, and I had volunteered to take some food all the way to the last rest stop and were going to come back and meet them at 6. When we passed them on the road, Amy and I both looked at Trey and thought “oh dear.” He looked pretty rough. We ended up pulling into rest stop 6 as they were pulling out…and that was a good  thing. Trey said if I had been there he would have gotten in the car. This ride was the hardest thing he has ever done. He got back on the bike and we saw them again at rest stop 7. At mile 88 this is the last stop before the finish line. At this point, they were so ready to be done, but still had smiles on their faces.

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Waiting at the finish line. Cade actually did really well with holding his sign. Precious.

And done! 100 miles conquered. It was an emotional finish for all involved. When I asked Trey how he finished and why he didn’t quit, he said “I just kept thinking about you. You can’t quit. You have to live with type 1.” Those words meant so much to me. I am so thankful for Trey and AJ and all the people who are fighting to make type 1 type none.

Looking back on my childhood I have tons of memories of time spent on the farm. Particularly during cotton season. One of my favorite things as a kid was to ride in the cotton wagon when it was full of cotton. We could have played for hours in there if dad had let us. Naturally, the farm is something that I want Cade to know and grow to love. Farm life is so far from the norm of living in Atlanta that I think it will bring something special to his childhood if he too is able to share in those memories.

When my brother took over the family farm we sort of began this tradition where every year I go and take pictures of his cotton crop. It’s become a special thing that I get to do for him and a way for us to connect. It also is pretty funny, because every year for Christmas he gets a collage of his cotton crop from the fall. He is starting to run out of places to put them, so I may need to rethink the display of the pictures. Now this year in particular was crazy timing. The cotton was ready for only a time window of about two weeks, which of course fell during the time that I was in Arizona for a conference and over the weekend that we were moving. Nevertheless, Munchkin and I made the trip. Uncle Rob ended up being out of town when we were able to go, which was very sad. Particularly as I had a planned photo shoot of he and Cade. In Rob’s words, I “dressed Cade like him.” Yes, I did that on purpose. Flannel shirt and overalls. Overwhelming cuteness.

Cade and Grandma

The outtake – He was not a fan initially of sitting in the field

Mommy making it better with a little superman action

The first of many trips that Cade will take to the farm. Next time we will work on his first tractor ride!

I got a little teary eyed when Cade brought his first piece of art work home from school. Yes, it’s on the fridge for display. Yes, it’s the best thing I’ve ever seen.

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Little man turned 7 months old last week and we celebrated with a trip to Grandma’s house! Month 7 has been a big one for Cade as he learned to do all kinds of new things! He is still sleeping like a champion at night and taking three naps a day. We are still struggling to take naps at daycare, but we are working on it. He loves to eat and has started to wave his arms up and down when he sees food coming his way. We are working with him on picking up food with his hands so hopefully we will get that skill soon. He is getting more and more mobile and is super busy when he is awake. He loves all things that he can put in his mouth and thinks that the basset hounds are hilarious. He still is just a joy to be around and is one of the happiest babies I know! As a family, we bought a house and we are excited to get settled in our new home where we will watch Cade grow into a little boy. More on the house to come later.

At 7 months, Cade’s favorite things are

Playing with the dogs

Eating

Any of this toys that make noise. For some reason he likes to turn this one upside down and bite it. 

Daddy is still a favorite as it turns out. Cade is super happy all the time, but no one can make him laugh quite like Trey can.

Jumping

Playing outside

Going to the grocery store – He loves to people watch. I think he is going to be social like his daddy.

At 7 months, Cade learned how to …

Sit up – He’s been working on this one slowly and is finally at the point where I will leave him sitting on the floor by himself without wondering if he is going to faceplant. This picture is from his official “I can sit up day” on October 9th.

Push to sit- Right after he learned to sit up, he figured out how to go from laying on his belly to sitting. This of course means that he know sits up in his crib when he doesn’t want to take a nap!

Scoot – He is never in the same place if I leave him in a room and then come back. So far, he has only learned to go backwards which typically means he backs himself up under furniture.

Rock – He’s rocking on his hands an knees like crazy! It won’t be long before he is crawling all over the place. He has figured out how to lunge himself forward for now which seems to satisfy his need to reach his toys.

Cade’s “first” activities for the month …

Swinging – I’m not sure why we waited so long to do this one. He was all smiles! So much so that we bought a swing to put up at our house.

Riding in the grocery cart – Another big hit!

Not pictured is Cade’s first tooth! He won’t let me get a good picture of it, but he had a bottom tooth poke it’s way through at 6.5 months and is working on his second one. Teething was a little rough, but for the most part, he handled it like a champ!

And now for some favorite pictures…

Welcome home, Cade! Mommy and daddy got you a house!

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It’s hard to believe that we have a 6 month old! He’s halfway to a year and that is just crazy. Time truly seems to be flying by and I need it to slow down. Trey and I both agree that being parents is the greatest thing that we have ever done. We are a little bias, but we think Cade is the coolest kid ever. At Cade’s 6 month checkup he weighed in at 16lb 1 oz and was 25 3/8 inches long. He is so close to sitting up, but for now he is happy to “tripod” or lay on his tummy to get his toys.

At six month’s Cade’s favorite things are…

Going for walks – For my 29th birthday I got myself a bob stroller. I’ve wanted one since I found out I was pregnant, but I’m cheap so I held off. Finally I decided that it was worth it, and it totally is! He’s so comfortable when we ride and he loves being able to face out and look at things.

Anything that makes noise. Seriously, any toy that lights up and makes noise is a hit.

Putting his toys in his mouth. Eventually he will start to play with his toys in another way.

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Jumping and listening to daddy play the guitar. He’s starting to figure out how to jump around in his jumper and he thinks it’s great. He also loves to watch the dogs run around the house from his jumper.

Cade’s “first” activities for the month included …

Eating solid food. At 5 1/2 months, Cade was starting to act hungry all the time, so we went ahead and started him on solid food. For his first food, we went with Avocado. Now he eats avocado, sweet potato, peas, and apples. Sweet potatoes seem to  be his favorite, but we have yet to try a food that he doesn’t like!

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Figuring out how to suck on his toes. It’s pretty hilarious to watch!

Learning how to “tripod.”

Cade’s first time in his jumper

Discovering his mobile…well I didn’t get a mobile for him until this month (custom orders from Etsy take a long time as it turns out). He thinks it’s pretty awesome.

Cade’s first sippy cup experiment. He simply chewed on it. We will try again in a few weeks!

Cade’s first time actually enjoying the pool. He loved hanging with daddy in the water and splashing around. Too bad it’s getting cold soon. Next summer we will have lots of pool time!

Cade’s first time inadvertently feeding the dogs. If you look closely, you can catch Bailey hanging out and waiting for food. It didn’t take her long to learn….

Now for some of my favorite pictures…

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Fun times outside with mommy!

Yes, he has a superman outfit. Yes, it has a cape.

Check out Cade’s awesome warrior shirt. Straight from France compliments of Leeman and Suzy.

I love this look – it’s like “hey, why can’t I have some of that”

Having a date with Ella!

Despite the loss to Georgia in the season opener, we had a great first weekend of football season! Cade sported his orange all weekend long and even got to watch some of the game.

Our tiger gear started on Thursday to officially kick off the season 🙂

Solid Orange Friday – Yes, Trey really did wear the overalls to work.

We watched the game with great friends (even some who happen to be Georgia fans).   Hopefully the little man will make it to an actual game in Death Valley this season!

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Little man is five months old today. He has officially moved from a little snuggly infant to a baby that wants to check out everything in his world. It’s so fun to watch him explore the world around him, which is mainly through putting everything in his mouth. He loves to play and is totally into his toys (which I have spent lots of time trying to find new things that he finds interesting). I always said that I didn’t want to be that parent that had tons of noisy toys where the songs get stuck in your head all day, but alas, that is what the boys loves so of course, that is what we play with. Cade’s super chill personality is sticking with him and I’m thinking that it is here to stay. As he develops more and more he has started to get frustrated when he can’t do something that he wants to. I’m pretty confident that the boy wants to crawl all over the room and can’t figure out why his legs won’t cooperate with this desire. He will get there soon enough. At five months, Cade is sleeping 11-12 hours at night and still takes four naps during the day. I’m so thankful that he is such a good sleeper, but I’m excited for the day when we can go out for adventures and he won’t fall asleep all the time!

At five months, Cade learned how to..

Use both of his hands at the same time – While he’s still got a was to go with his coordination, he has mastered the art of using both hands to hold an object.

Grab his feet – He finally found his feet and he thinks that they are just fantastic!

Blow some serious bubbles – This has become a new favorite skill. I’m not so sure how I feel about this one!

Sleep with his butt in the air. It’s awesome.

Not really a learned skill, but he’s starting to grow some hair back! Yay!

At five months, Cade’s favorite things are…

Playing in his exersaucer – Cade’s girlfriend Ella borrowed our exersaucer and we couldn’t for the life of us remember to get it back from them. We were up visiting my college roomate, Katherine and her family, and we put Cade in their exersaucer to see if he was big enough for it yet. He instantly started belly laughing and LOVED it! We got ours back from Ella and he loves to spin around in it and play with all of the toys. It’s definitely a hit!

Tummy time – Cade loves tummy time. Mainly because it is a great position to grab things and put them in your mouth. He will grab all the toys in front of him and try to shove them in his mouth at the same time. It’s pretty funny.

Being tickled – Cade is ticklish, which is super cute. He will laugh and talk and make all kinds of funny noises if someone lays with him and tickles his stomach.

The Farmer’s Market – One of our weekly adventures is going to the Farmer’s Market. I have several rules about the Farmer’s Market, one of which includes never getting a cart. As a result, Cade gets to ride in his Beco with mommy while we shop. He LOVES to look at all the people.

Going for walks – We had a small stint where it felt like Fall in Georgia this month. It was lovely, and Cade and I took full advantage of the weather. We walk and talk until he finally falls asleep taking it all in.

Listening to his daddy play the guitar – Cade loves it when Trey sits down with him and sings.

Bath time – Bath time is still a hit with little man. We had to transition from the kitchen sink to the bathroom as whoever was bathing him (and the floor) were getting soaked from his splashing.

Putting anything and everything in his mouth!

Cade’s first activities for the month included…

Cade had some fun and some hard first activities this month. Well, the hard activities were more about me than him. At Cade’s four month checkup, his pediatrician noticed that he was holding his neck in an odd position. Cade was diagnosed with something called torticollis, which basically is a muscle problem with the neck. We had to go for a physical therapy evaluation which actually turned out to be a really good experience. His case is very mild and we have to do stretches and exercises with him each day. We will continue to go to therapy for a while until it improves. All in all, we were very thankful that our doctor caught it and we can correct it before he gets too big.

I am so thankful that I had all the time I did at home with Cade. He was home with me full time for almost 5 months and every minute of that was precious. Alas, I have a job and really need to finish my Ph.D. so Cade started daycare last week. Again, this was much more traumatic for me than for Cade. He will be going three days a week. The great thing is that he is going to Trey’s school. Trey has strict assignments to go see him everyday at lunch and give me a picture and daily update. I secretly think that Trey is excited about the time he gets to spend with him while at work and their car rides in which he apparently is teaching Cade all about great 90’s music. So far, I am surviving and I think that with time it will get easier. The picture above is Cade and Trey in their Mount Vernon spirit shirts before school this morning. Too cute.

Cade’s first night away from mom and dad. Mom and Vance kept Cade one night while we were at the lake for AJ’s birthday. While we both missed him terribly, it was nice to sleep in and not worry about being quiet while he was sleeping! Mom of course had a blast having him stay at her house!

And now for some of my favorite pictures…

A year ago today we found out that we were pregnant. I had just gotten home from a week long New England roadtrip with AJ and Amy to celebrate AJ’s 30th birthday.

Beautiful, right? We spent a week driving a lot, checking out beautiful places, and sleeping outside. A few days into the trip I thought that I might be pregnant for a host of reasons. One of these reasons was that everything smelled. Like a lot. Of course in my head, I wanted to attribute that to the lack of showers, very smelly shoes in the car, and the fact that we slept outside and smelled like campfire most of the trip. The thing that put me over the edge was when Amy bought a cherry car airfreshener to cover up the shoe funk and I literally couldn’t handle it. They both thought I was ridiculous, which I’m sure it seemed that way, but I seriously couldn’t handle it. Being on the roadtrip ruined two things for me for my whole pregnancy – coffee (we had some really bad instant stuff) and the smell of campfire, which much to Trey’s dismay included the smell of him grilling on his green egg. The green egg was pretty much banned from use (which is sad, because it was Trey’s fatherhood present) and I made Trey brew his coffee on the screen porch. Anyway, while I suspected I was pregnant a few days into the trip, I didn’t say anything to anyone about it. Mainly, because I didn’t want to take a test 1300 miles away from Trey. By the last day of the trip I was pretty confident that I was pregnant. We drove all the way from Vermont to Atlanta in one day and got home late at night. As Trey and I were standing in the kitchen, I mentioned to him that I thought I might be pregnant but didn’t make a big deal out of it as I knew if I took a test I wouldn’t be able to sleep and I was exhausted. Trey had started back to school the next morning so he wasn’t home when I woke up. I couldn’t wait any longer, so I took a test…and it was positive. So I took another test….and it was positive too.  Since Trey didn’t get home for another eight hours, I was forced to find things to keep myself occupied for the rest of the day. As soon as Trey got home, I hugged him and handed him the tests. He must not have taken me too seriously the night before, because he seemed shocked. Then he started to cry. It’s by far one of my sweetest memories with him. He waited so long to be a dad and was so overcome with joy in that moment. It was truly fantastic.

One of the reasons that we waited so long to have kids was a result of my Type 1 (the other being that I can’t seem to quit going to school). As a result, I had a lot of anxiety in the early weeks about pregnancy and how my body would handle being diabetic and pregnant. Despite that anxiety, the Lord truly blessed us and protected myself and Cade. Throughout most of my pregnancy, my A1C levels were in the “normal” range, which hasn’t happened since I was diagnosed. While I was considered “high-risk” and had a doctor’s appointment what seemed like every week, pregnancy and diabetes was easy for me and I couldn’t be more thankful.

The first several weeks after finding out we were pregnant were spent thinking about how we would tell our families. These are some of my favorite memories from being pregnant. Trey has a great friend, Sean McConnell, who wrote a short little song for us to use in our announcement. We captured several reactions on film…

My sister, AJ

Trey’s sisters

Trey’s parents – Trey turned the camera off before the best part of his parent’s reaction. Apparently Larry didn’t hear all the words to the song. Given that Lori was sobbing hysterically, he finally figured it out and said “Shit! Are y’all pregnant?” If you know Larry, you know that was a perfect reaction. We all died laughing.

My mom – I really wanted to tell my mom in person, but with school starting back I wasn’t sure when I would get to see her again and I knew we needed to tell her soon. Her birthday is August 14th, so I decided to send her a birthday card about becoming a grandmother. The card said that the best parents get promoted to grandparents. On the inside I wrote “your promotion coming April 11, 2014.” I had mom call Trey and I on facetime before she opened the card. Her reaction was pretty priceless…

As for the rest of the world, we took this sweet picture in Clemson with a onesie that we bought Cade. A year ago today, I don’t think I could have ever imagined how fantastic it would be to be a parent. It’s been the best year yet and just keeps getting better!

We took our first trip to Uncle Rob’s lake house last weekend to celebrate Aunt AJ and Uncle Rob’s birthdays. Some great friends made the trip with us and it was an amazingly relaxing weekend. Uncle Rob spent the whole weekend with us and even held Cade…until he started crying at least. He once again gave Cade his take on how real men don’t cry and surprisingly it worked. Cade just looked at him and stopped crying. It was pretty funny.

Grandma helped out with Cade so that Trey and I got to spend lots of time out on the boat. I’m not sure what Trey’s face is, but it was certainly relaxed!

Little man even had his first night away from us and spent the night with his grandparents. Grandma was thrilled about that little adventure!

Hanging out with Vance at his sleepover

Nana came over to visit during the day and spend time with Cade. I’m pretty sure that they had a blast.

Roadtrip selfie with dad in Chick-fil-a

Cade got to spend some time with my aunt and uncle and he got to meet my cousin Becca for the first time. I’ve never seen him snuggle with someone like he did Becca. She clearly has the touch!

Hanging out on the front porch

My favorite picture from the weekend

Fun on the dock! We can’t wait to go back and have more fun!