Ringing in the New Year! Happy 2012

As I look back at 2011 it is bittersweet! We had some up and downs but our joy is our precious baby boy Kaden. He arrived 4 weeks early which took us by surprise but he was healthy and strong and ready to join us. March 8th will always hold a special place in my heart, God blessed us with a beautiful boy! We learned to adapt to our growing boy, and loving each and everyday. He is our pride and joy which is a direct reflection of who he is. His loving character, funny little laugh, and a contagious smile are just a few characteristics that I love about Kaden. He is growing leaps and bounds and he has taught me how to just take things slow and soak everything in. I am a fanatic about photos and it is not a shock that I have not begun his scrapbook. So, for 2012 I will work on Kaden's scrapbook!

I can write out a long list of things that I want to accomplish in 2012 but here are two main goals:
1. Daily quiet time with God. Solid & peaceful time to soak in what God wants for me & my family. I love to pray but I need to be more meaningful with reading His word. The bible in one year is what I would love to do! So far Matt & I have begun reading a daily devotional together. We usually read out of our bibles separately but we have realized that our marriage grows when we do a devotional as a team.
2. Eating healthier! A local farm puts together a crate of seasonal fruits & veggies and delivers them to your doorstep weekly or bi weekly. I have been growing tomatoes, chilies, red bell peppers, cilantro, and basil (watermelon died early December). In strongly think that we can benefit from this! By establishing healthy eating habits Kaden will grow up knowing only foods that are healthy. This is a step in the right direction!!!

In 2011 I turned the big 3-0! Shocking, I know!! I refuse to believe it so I still say that I am 25 and nobody ever questions. Actually, there has been no need to tell anyone my age recently, so when I'm asked in the near future I will simply say I am 25 :) Looking forward to what God has in store for us in 2012. Kaden will be turning one, which means I must come up his birthday party, NOW!!!! Can't wait to post pictures of ideas that I have for this fun filled day. Have a blessed 2012

All I wanted for Christmas was my two front teeth!

I am so happy to report that Kaden has his first teeth!! He has been teething so much these past two weeks. We can finally see one bottom tooth and we can spot another pearly white tooth next to it. Hooray for teeth, finally! He is getting big too fast!! I guess we need to start planning his first birthday party.

I get excited to find out how much he has grown in a month, so at his 9 month well baby check up (on 12/15/11) these are the stats:
Weight: 18 pounds 10 ounces {20%}
Height: 29 inches {60%}
Woohoo!! He practically doubles in percentile every month. There is no need to take him back to his pediatrician until he is 12 months old. So, his growth and progress will be a surprise for me when he is a year old. I can't believe he will be one soon.

Kaden keeps us very active. He loves to climb over everything, pull himself up, crawl everywhere! I call him my little algae eater, he scours the floor to find little things to consume. I'm sure he will be walking very soon!

Time to start thinking about resolutions

For the past few years I have made resolutions for the new year. Some I kept but 80% of them did not last beyond two months. For 2012 I am thinking of taking steps towards life changes. We all want to eat healthier, don't get me wrong we do not eat fast food everyday. I saw an advertisement for a local farm that will deliver a crate of veggies and fruit to your door weekly or bi weekly! The cost is very reasonable and I am sure we will enjoy everything. There are no pesticides and no need to go to the grocery store. Having fresh veggies & fruit without any hassles makes me so happy.

I need to find a group of mommies with babies that meet up for walks or runs. Having a group would help to stay motivated. Any ideas on good motivators? I could always post a blog about my progress...

Christmas Eve at home

This is our first Christmas with our handsome little boy! We are so excited to spend this holiday with him. Poor thing he either is teething severely or has a cold. So, we are at home relaxing! I just had to post his picture with Santa. I took him really early so that we could beat the crowds and so thankful I did. He cried at the end but I got the cutest shot of the two. After his photo a little boy saw him and said..."LOOK mom it's a baby Santa!!!" Our son will not be happy with us when he gets older. I'm sure he will say "what were you thinking???" Have a Merry Christmas Eve!

It is all about Christ!

In the hustle and bustle in these past few weeks I had some much needed R&R. I have come to seeing CHRISTmas in a whole new way. It's not about finding the perfect gift for family or creating a lavish gathering. I do love giving gifts but this year we did a little bit more. Friends of ours experienced a tragedy in their home. We gave them our old couch, new rug, & some clothing for their new baby boy. It felt wonderful to give to others in this capacity. We may not give gifts to all of our friends but every little bit counts. Another friend is experiencing a rough time this holiday season so I helped her by wrapping presents for her family. She was inspired to get her Christmas cards sent out too! It gave me such great joy that I helped her out too. We enjoyed each others company for a few hours. We laughed & had lunch, I call that "fun times." I think Christ is happy that we are blessing others, we are beyond blessed so in turn I too wanted to bless others.

Our adorable Kaden is getting so big and we want to teach him that CHRISTmas is not what the world portrays and that gathering with family and friends is one of the most important things during this season. I love seeing Kaden's facial expressions when I tell him about baby Jesus in the manger. This year is going to be extra special! We are a family of three now so Christmas morning we will gather around the tree open our gifts and check our stockings. But, first we will read all about our Savior, who came to this earth to be our perfect gift!!!

A White Christmas

The Christmas spirit is in full swing in the Staudt Home. I am very blessed to have a hubby that has a passion for decorating for the holidays. We have two themes in our home! Since our formal living room and formal dining are separate from the kitchen, bedrooms, family room, etc... we were able to pull off the two themes.

I love the white theme with accents of Tiffany blue(my favorite) and splashes of silver and brown. I loved decorating this tree!

Our fireplace cannot be complete without our Pottery Barn stockings! Kaden's stocking is so big that this year I won't be filling it up. Matt loves to find treats in the stocking so I have purchased red licorice, gummy bears, socks, and a shirt. I know he won't be reading this so I am free to write this!

In the formal dining I choose to use my silver chargers along with white napkins trimmed with silver, the little Christmas trees are silver and actually are place cards holders. To add color I added red berry napkin rings and red candles.

Tomorrow I will post pictures of our Nativity scene along with tree #2! 

Sailing the High Seas

Matt and I have been talking about taking a vacation. We have not jumped on a plane since September 2010 (that is a very long time for us)! Now that we have our little cutie we are not sure where we should go. Our first pick was going on another cruise. We loved our cruise, sailing through the Mediterranean was amazing and we would love to go again but taking the little guy might be difficult (the time change is brutal for us). If we choose a cruise we would sail out of Florida and head to the Bahamas or even Cozumel, Belize and Key West. NCL has superb deals and it might be the best cruise line for Kaden because he only needs to pay taxes. The choices would be picture window cabin, balcony cabin or our favorite the Penthouse Suite??? Scratching off the penthouse would be wise for us.

So to get a head start we took his passport photo. Kaden choose not to smile and to be quite honest he looks mad.  He will have his passport ready and we are off.... We also talked about going to Cancun which is a great option because it is all inclusive if we choose that option, no sailing, and the tropical weather will be perfect for Kaden.

 

We have stayed at this resort in 2008 and we can navigate through Cancun very well. That is option 2 and onto option 3..... a local vacation. The travel bug has not left us which is good in a way since we have so many countries that we want to see and explore. We are not quite sure how Kaden will handle a plane ride so maybe we will head to San Francisco and see the Golden Gate Bridge. Any suggestions or travel tips for a mommy & daddy with a little boy?