Hey Gilligan!

Lately our afternoon routine is to wait for the sun to settle in behind the houses and let Cannon....aka Gilligan....enjoy walking and riding his car up and down the street.  Of course one of us has to be quick on our feet and follow him or he would be heading around the corner and out of the neighborhood!  We are enjoying these spring/summer days and can't wait until Cannon's baby sister gets to join him!!

On the Move

And just like that it happened........Cannon ditched crawling to get to his destination and decided he was going to WALK!!  At first we couldn't believe our eyes and hoped that he hadn't changed his mind before I ran to get the camera. 

These are the first pictures of our (not so baby) boy walking.

I think he felt more confident with the puzzle piece in his mouth!

And what would a walk be without his best pal Orie!

Dear Cannon-

I wanted to write and introduce myself.

You probably don't realize this but I have known about you for the past couple of months. I could actually hear your voice and I could hear mommy and daddy talking to you. I even felt you when you would sit on mommy's lap. From all I could tell was going on, you are a very happy boy who loves to laugh and giggle, play with lots of toys and loves to listen to music.

Please know that I will always look up to you, want to learn from you and will ALWAYS be critical of who you will be dating. :) And I hope you will always be my protector, my mentor, and a shoulder to lean on when needed; as well as my best friend forever.

I can't wait to grow up and mommy and daddy take us to the park to play, the zoo to see the animals and to church to learn about Jesus together.

You see Cannon, I love you very much and we will be in each others lives forever because I'm your baby sister and my name is Caroline.

ATTENTION EVERYONE!!!!

Cannon has an announcement.........

Caroline Rae was born

Monday, April 26, 2010 at 11:10pm,

8lbs & 8ozs and 20 inches long.

Heading to MUSC Hospital at 6:45am

After being induced at 7:00am for regular labor & delivery, minor complications with my body started setting in and a c-section was done starting around 10:45pm that night. At first Aaron wasn't going to be able to be in the room when Caroline was born but things changed and he was able to be there. Good thing because I was knocked out on the operating table and didn't wake up until after the doctors announced she was a girl. :)


As most of you might know, we were told at 20 weeks this baby had a small heart defect. By the grace of God and A LOT of prayers, this defect will not affect her life.


Daddy enjoying his baby girl!!


Sleeping Beauty!

Since I was having some minor health issues that the doctors were trying to get under control, I wasn't able to get out of bed until several days later. This is my first real moments with Caroline.

One of our very sweet nurses spruced up her knit cap!

Going home day and daddy couldn't have been more happy NOT to have to sleep on what was a very uncomfortable couch one more night. He was ready to show off his baby girl to the world!

To Caroline, we say this:

For nine months we didn't know you were Caroline, we just knew you were a miracle from God. Your tiny heart and life were prayed for daily by so many people and God heard every single one of those prayers. He gave us you as a beautiful and healthy baby girl and for that we are so very grateful! We love you and can't wait to introduce you to your big brother Cannon!

Before We Were a Family of Four

How bittersweet this picture will always be; however, we knew the next time a photo was taken of us it would include our newest addition to our family.

Will it be a girl or boy....only God has known (along with the ultrasound technicans, Julie & Trudy) and we can't wait for Him to bless our family with this baby.

April 25, 2010

The Wheat's-

aaron, kristi & cannon

Pass the Grapes Please!

It's always been easier for us to put Cannon's meal on the tray of the highchair. Let's face it, toddlers can make a huge mess at mealtime and the easier the cleanup, the better!

On this night we decided to try a plate. Granted, it was our everyday place settings and to have one get broken would send my OCD into panic mood since we don't have a Pottery Barn within two hours of us and not even sure if they still carry this pattern.

SO....we tested out Cannon anyway and he loved picking his grapes off the plate!!

UPDATE:

I went and bought "kid friendly" plates and now if he doesn't want anymore of his meal, he LOVES to take the entire plate and throw it on the floor to either frustrate us or to hear the loud noise it makes......nice!

A Seat with a View

On a sunny Sunday morning and afternoon, you might find Cannon enjoying his newest seat in the house....

in the toy basket, next to the window;

perfect for reading a book,

or just catching some rays!

Elmo Loves You Cannon

Abby gave Cannon his first Elmo for his birthday a couple of months ago. If you press Elmo's hand, he tells you just how much he loves you. If you press the flower he is holding, he tells you that he is red and Cookie Monster is blue, here is a flower just for you!

Love from Elmo is the best and I think it's safe to say that Cannon hearts Elmo too!!

Easter 2010

This Easter was a beautiful, sunny day in South Carolina! I LOVE Easter and all it stands for.......the Resurrection of Jesus! Of course we haven't made it to Easter church service in a couple of years but Aaron and I swore that will change next year.

We got up early and headed to the Snider's for brunch and an egg hunt. Cannon was a little taken back on why we kept pointing at these colored eggs and begging him to pick them up. He got the hang of it after daddy showed him what to do. Cannon was the youngest besides baby Bella who is just weeks old and was sleeping during the festivities. He didn't hang out at the table and open his eggs to see what was in them but after a couple of hours, he finally crawled over to his basket and started playing with the eggs....and trying to eat them.

After filling our bellies with lots of good food, we headed home for a lazy Sunday. We all took afternoon naps and just hung out at the house.

This is our 4th Easter to spend with Ben & Danielle and the 3rd with Mike & Gina. These friends and tradition are just another wonderful blessing we are so thankful for in our lives.

Cannon's eggs he made at daycare.

Not sure why he looked so perplexed but he sure looked adorable in his Easter outfit! Thank you Robusto's for passing it down to Cannon!

Yeah...he found one in the tree with some help from his tall daddy!

He found another one!

Hope that's not a toxic Easter egg?

Addison was trying to give Cannon a hug but not sure Cannon was being a good recipient of it.

Sweet Boy!!

Nice "sneakers" Cannon....sorry mommy didn't make time to go buy you nice Sunday shoes.

Telling his brother/sister (in mommy's belly) all about the Easter egg hunt. Or he could be wondering if mommy ate too many Easter eggs??? Or even the Easter egg bunny from the size of that belly! :)

100% Boy!

It fascinates me that Cannon knows that a car goes zoom-zoom!! Are boys just born with that natural insist?

I was amazed too the other day when I had Cannon on the changing pad and gave him one of his toy cars to keep him occupied and he took it and started running it up and down the wall.

My first-time parent amazement just keeps happening and I'm not sure why it throws me off, I guess it's because I still think Cannon is a baby and a baby he is NOT!

Looks like cars will be the hottest new toys around here......bye-bye silly baby toys!

It Will Never Get Old!

From the first night Cannon was home from the hospital, I have gone to his crib and stood there in amazement. He is just too darn cute when he sleeps!!!!

His crib has a wide top on the front so my arms rest very well on it and I can stand there for what seems hours just looking at my sweet, sweet boy. Sometimes Aaron joins me too and we stand there and have conversations while Cannon is sleeping.

Our boy loves his sleep and we are SO grateful.....thank you BabyWise! It makes our lives a little more easier at night and at nap time. Cannon's teacher told Aaron that Cannon is the first to go down for nap time almost everyday. The kids all go down at the same time after lunch and she said sometimes he even starts falling asleep at the table.

Notice the hold Cannon has on his Orie!

It's ALWAYS better....

....to give than to receive!!!!

I received this thank you note from Bluffton Self Help on the donation of food made in honor of Cannon's 1st birthday.

My prayer is that Cannon and our other children will learn early in life that giving to others, even if it seems small, is and will always be better than receiving. It's a life lesson and value my family taught to me through their giving to others.

There is just something warm to the heart when you can help others unselfishly and I hope we have helped someone here in Bluffton have a meal they might not have had if it wasn't for our thoughtful friends that helped out with Cannon's birthday party donations.

Squeaky Clean!

We love our sweet, fresh, squeaky clean little boy!

On This Day....

March 16th........These two photos were taken on the same day, just one year apart from each other.

The 2009 photo was captured by accident when Cannon had gotten sick not once, but three times within hours of each other that day. I was going to take his picture with the blanket his Auntie M had sent and so I proceeded even though he was half naked. This picture couldn't have come out more perfect and capture how sweet I will always remember my baby boy.

And now, 2010.....how time has flown by!! Look how big Cannon is today but like I've always said, look at his daddy and the genes speak for themselves!

Perplexed?

Another first had arrived in our lives.......Cannon moving to the toddler room at daycare.

Really?? Could it be??? I remember the day I dropped him off for the first day in the baby room and thinking to myself that these people will never treat my baby the way I do as his mommy. Was I SO wrong!!! Ms. Charlene loved Cannon more than I could have ever imagined, it was like having his own nanny for 9 months. That lady loved our son so much and took the best care of him while we were at work. There were lots of tears cried when he left her room but he didn't go to far away, just the next room over so we still get to see Ms. Charlene everyday.

Now it's Ms. Liliam & Ms. Tameka's turn to love (and hopefully spoil) Cannon into his toddler years but on his first day of his new room he couldn't have looked more perplexed? It was like he was looking at aliens but they were almost all the kids he grew up with in the baby room, it had just been awhile since he had last seen them.

I quickly got Cannon settled and made a fast exit out the door before the first tear ran down my face. My girlfriend, Summer, just happened to be in the lobby when I got there and ensured me that Cannon was in good hands. My mind really does know that but my heart cries because I'm his mommy. I use to go to the daycare everyday on my lunch hour when Cannon was a baby and be able to hold him, now I stop by and look at him through the window in the hallway......but what I see is still a very happy child who is enjoying life and that makes my heart smile!

Where's Cannon.....

There he is!!!

It's become the hottest new game at our house and one that sometimes doesn't get old for what seems hours. Cannon is growing up and discovering that toys can be used in all kinds of different ways. Guess we are truly getting our money's worth huh?