Helping Daddy

Cayson thought he'd help Daddy babyproof - Dusty put latches on some of the important cabinets and drawers to keep a nosey someone out of them.

Goodbye Christmas, Hello 2008

Today we put up our Christmas decorations. Boo! Our house looks so empty now! I guess there is now room for all of Cayson's toys. Cayson was very interested in all the totes and decorations... he wanted to help! Here's our helpful boy...As we say goodbye to 2007, we have contemplated all the amazing things God has done in our lives this past year. On the very top of our list is our wonderful son, Cayson. We are thankful to God for working out the timing in his arrival and giving me an easy labor and delivery and of course, a healthy little boy! We are also grateful that we were able to take a short vacation to Branson. It was such a fun experience! We have enjoyed every minute spent with Cayson and are looking forward to wonderful things in 2008! We hope everyone has a blessed 2008!

What's going on...

Thought I'd post a quick blog to just tell everyone what's been going on... not much. Dusty got two weeks vacation this month... he's been off since the 18th and goes back the night of the 30th. It's been nice to enjoy the Christmas season together without him having to go to work. He's grown a beard/goatee that he doesn't want to shave. I told him that he looks like he's homeless! Ha!

Yesterday marked Cayson's 8 months! Only 4 more months till his first birthday. I want to start planning his birthday party and Dusty thinks I am crazy. So, I'll secretly start planning it. :)

Dusty and Cayson have both been sick with colds. It started with Dusty - he was sick over Christmas and is still sick. Cayson came down with it on Thursday. He kept us up pretty much all night on Thursday - it was like having a newborn all over again. He is pretty stopped up and has a yucky runny nose. Poor boys.

We hope everyone has a great New Year's and stays safe! Dusty will be working a night shift New Year's Eve so he'll hopefully be catching all the drunk drivers.

Christmas with the Kitchens Clan

We did our last Christmas celebration the day after Christmas with my mom's family. My Uncle Jessie and Aunt Bonnie came up from Weatherford, Texas and they brought their youngest granddaughter, Amber. She was a doll. Here are a few pictures...

Cayson jumping on Grandaddy's lap

Cayson trying to get Amber

Cayson checking out Derek

Mom & Dad with their favorite grandson

Cayson with Great-Grandpa Kitchens

Cayson, Amber, & Great-Grandma

Checking out the presents.. he likes big boxes he climb over

Opening his presents

Baby's First Christmas!

We had a great Christmas together... Dusty and I talked about it and decided this was the best Christmas yet... with many more to come! Cayson wasn't exactly into the whole Christmas spirit, but we were!

We woke up Christmas morning and opened our gifts. Cayson got some clothes, a few toys, and some books. He got a big boy car seat which Dusty installed Christmas Eve. Dusty bought me a new camera, a Rachael Ray knife and cookbook, and a wool coat! Dusty got a DVD, iPod earphones, a photo book of him & Cayson, some pictures for his office, some clothes. We had breakfast and Cayson took his morning nap. Then we went to my parents for lunch. Mom made a big spread! Turkey, mashed pototaoes, rolls, sweet potato casserole, dressing, green beans, pies, etc. It was so delicious! After dinner, we headed to Carnegie to see Dusty's family.

We enjoyed our time with Dusty's family. It seems we don't get to see them much these days. We had a crowd down there for dinner - I think 28 counting Cayson! You can only imagine how many gifts were exchanged and opened. I'm sure Gary had a few loads of trash to haul off! Cayson got to play with his cousins... the girls enjoyed playing with Cayson's baby toys. It was pretty funny. They told me that they were going to teach Cayson how to play with them.

Merry Christmas Eve!!!

Merry Belated Christmas! We hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ! We had a great Christmas! I am going to post Christmas Eve pics today and will hopefully get the Christmas Day pictures up soon. We have one more Christmas get together tonight with my mom's family.

We went to the annual Christmas Eve party at my Uncle Everett & Aunt Pam's house. It is such a fun party! There is always a lot of great food - appetizers, dips, sandwiches, soups, stews, desserts, & more. Uncle Everett made some amazing brisket this year. Hhhmmmm.... so good!

We always play Dirty Santa - this year Dusty & I both ended up with what we brought. Dusty got a pound of his favorite beef jerky and I got a Yankee Candle and car fresheners.

There have also been 4 adorable boys born within a year's time. Ajay is the oldest at 1 1/2, Deegan is 1, and then Brayden and Cayson are 8 months old. We had to take some pictures of the four of them with their mommas... of course we couldn't get a "perfect" shot. Here are a few pictures from the evening...

Can you guess what this is?

My dad helped my mom out this year by wrapping all the Christmas presents! While my sister and I were handing out gifts, I picked this one up and just laughed and laughed. Can you guess what it is?

Goldmann Christmas

Last night we had our first family Christmas get together. We went to my parents' house for dinner and to exchange gifts. Mom made a delicious breakfast casserole and pull-a-part bread (my favorite Christmas morning breakfast item!) and Dad had smoked a ham.

Cayson ended up being pretty sleepy so he was not very interested in the present opening - I had fun though! He got lots of cute clothes, some fun new toys, and lots of books. Oh, and some diapers. He was thrilled about that. :) He got a Tickle Me Elmo from my parents. I was showing it to him this morning and playing with Elmo and Cayson kept giggling and talking to Elmo. Thanks Dad, Mom, Keith, Rebecca, & Grandpa for all the great gifts! We love all of them!

We have a Christmas Eve party at my aunt & uncle's tomorrow night. Christmas morning we will do our Christmas at our home and then eat dinner with my parents and grandpa. Christmas afternoon, we will drive to Carnegie to spend the rest of the day with Dusty's family. I think we are doing Christmas with my mom's family the day after Christmas. It will be a whirlwind of activities, I'm sure! It's great that Dusty was able to take his vacation this week so he can participate in all the festivities and be a part of Cayson's first Christmas!

What's for dinner?

I have a friend who has a food blog and posts all the recipes that she tries or likes. I thought that might be kind of fun to do here. Since staying at home, I've become a recipe researcher. I'm always looking for something new to keep me out of the dinner rut. The recipes that we love, I usually share with my mom, sister, & Michelle. So, I thought I'd start posting them here too.

Last night I made one of our new favorites - Easy Mozzarella Honey Mustard Chicken

4 chicken breast halves
1/2 cup honey
3/4 cup Dijon mustard
1 T lemon juice
lemon pepper to taste
4 slice of bacon, cut in half
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 375. Mix the honey, mustard, & lemon juice in a bowl. Place breasts in a cooking dish and cover with the sauce. Sprinkle with lemon pepper. Bake chicken for 25 minutes in the preheated oven. Top each breast half with 2 bacon half slices and sprinkle evenly with the cheese. Continue baking 5 minutes, then turn the oven to broil for another 5 minutes or until juices run clear, bacon is crisp, and cheese is bubbly.
I serve this over a bed of rice and it is delish!

I'd love feedback from anyone on the recipe thing. If you like this idea to include, let me know and I'll continue to post some recipes every week.

Rave - Zappos.com

I love shoes so I love Zappos.com. They are a large Internet shoe source. I have been looking for snow boots for the past year and a half. I've ordered some, not liked them and returned them. So, I decided I needed snow boots for last week's snow "storm." I went online to Zappos to see what they had to offer - well, they had 100's of snow boots! I am very indecisive so I ended up ordering 3 pairs to try and decide between. They offer free next day shipping and free return shipping, so what's to lose? I ordered them at 9:30 pm Wednesday night and they were delivered at 9 am Thursday morning! I was expecting to get them Friday! Anyway, I just had to share this site. This is the second time I've ordered from them and I've received my shoes in a ridiculously short time both times. Here are the boots I decided on - I figured they'd be the best for sledding and snow romps with Cayson & Dusty.

I love raspberries!!!!!

Cayson has started blowing raspberries and sticking his tongue out. I think a lot of babies do this when they are a lot younger, but Cayson just now started. I think it is so cute even though it creates a lot of slobber! Here are a few pictures of him from today.

Missing this grin

This is the sweet face that I missed all day today. Every time I saw a cute baby (all babies are cute, by the way), I would just stare with a huge grin on my face. I know the mom's thought I was crazy, but I was missing my baby boy. Dusty said he was a good boy today - like I would expect any different? I was very happy to get home and see him!!! Oh, I did enjoy my shopping trip - it was so crazy to be able to do things quickly - no diaper changes, feedings, car seats, strollers, etc. It's a foreign concept to me to not have to deal with these things! Hope everyone has a great rest of the week - Christmas is only one week away!!!!!!!!!

Just some pics...

Just a few pictures of our Big Boy. He is spending tomorrow with his grandma and daddy. I am going to Oklahoma City for a dr. check-up and to finish our Christmas shopping. It will be the first full day for me to be away from Cayson! I know he will have fun with Grandma and Daddy but I will miss his adorable smile!

Duke of Hazard??? I think not!

Dusty apparently thinks his patrol car is a 4 wheel drive SUV or the General Lee. However, it is not! He got stuck in an alley the other night and had to be towed out! Here's the damage to his car... errr all the mud. His uniform and boots matched his car by the way.

You can buy anything on the Internet these days!

It's amazing...

I am amazed at what trouble a 7 month old can get into in only a matter of a few minutes - most of the time one minute. Yesterday he managed to screw up my laptop. I ran into the kitchen to get something out of the freezer. I heard him slap my laptop so I ran into the living room. He was standing at the love seat "playing" on the laptop. He used a unique combination of keys that flipped everything upside down. All of the screens, the toolbar, the mouse pointer were upside down. I called my sister and she was able to figure out via the Internet what keys he pressed and how to reverse it! Thanks sis!

Cayson has also gotten into the cat's food dish, unplugged the laptop, and more! Constant supervision is needed now!

Here is a cute picture of Mr. Cayson. I got out of bed for a minute and he took over my side of the bed!

Nothing is safe anymore!

Cayson is now pulling up and standing! He started Thursday, so now nothing is safe. We normally put things on the coffee table out of his reach - well, it's no longer out of his reach! He is constantly trying to get the laptop, remotes, & phone off the love seat. I feel like I tell Cayson no a million times a day and redirect him. He is crawling everywhere and likes to try to get the fireplace and electrical cords when he has plenty of toys to play with. He really doesn't pay any attention to the Christmas tree or presents though. That surprised me, but I am relieved!

Uh-Oh! Here comes Santa!

Cayson got to meet his first Santa at the City of Weatherford Christmas party Thursday evening. Lets just say they didn't leave on the best of terms. I consoled Cayson and told him Santa won't visit our house... that seemed to calm him down!

He wasn't so sure about the man in the white beard....

I think we need a close look at the sheer terror on that poor little face...

Funny story, growing up I was extremely scared of Santa... as in hysterical when I saw him. I remember once when he visited my aunt & uncle's and I just cried and tried to hide from him. My mom said everyone would tell me that Santa was going to visit our house and I would get all upset because I was so scared. So my parents just told me that he wasn't coming to our house. That made it better! Santa never visited our house growing up and I like to think I turned out okay. : )