Happy Halloween!

So this will be a photo/video heavy entry :). We began halloween weekend by taking Cason to a pumpkin patch for a little photo session. He was not in a particularly happy mood that morning... although Saturday night we found out why (explain later). None the less here are some pics from our patch outing:

After, this we ran in to Kerrville to make the rounds. We started off at Popie and DiDis and then headed over to see Shelly and cousin(s) Malie and Logan. Here is a SUPER cute pic of Cason and Logan and then one of the two babies and Malie:

Then we went to see Mimi and PoPo Jack, we didn't get pics there but we had fun :)

We landed in Mountain home to see Tutti and Pappy as well as a quick trip to see Mamaw. Curt, Julie and Ellie were there too so we got to see sweet Ellie in what might have been the single cutest halloween outfiit in the history of time! Here are a few more pics: (Cousin Ellie wasn't really in the mood for photos, but she still looks cute)

And, Cason's life... a chronicle in video:

Laughing at 5 months:

Laughing at 6 months:

Laughing at 7 months:

And here is the noise a baby Cason will make if you don't feed him fast enough :)

In other update news, Cason has Croup so we are trying to love that out of him. The house is coming along slowly... I recognize that I still haven't posted pics of the house but I will try to do so soon. Work is going well for both Chris and I and we are looking forward to a time when we aren't both working becuase the 1 car commute is really tough! We go through about a quarter of a tank of gas every day. We have recently taken to reading aloud in the car since we are so tired at the end of the day that reading is more of a sleeping pill than something to unwind with :). We had one other photo shoot with Cason to try and get pics for his christening invitation and I will post those when I post the house pics. I hope everyone had a fantastic halloween and is excitedly gearing up for my favorite holiday- Thanksgiving!

Chris's First Fathers Day

Okay, I am a TERRIBLE blogger! I haven't posted anything since Mother's day and frankly some of you are getting a little fussy about it :) I don't blame you! Here is part 1 of the catch up....

Let's start with Chris's first Father's Day! We went to visit cousin Logan and spent the day with Josh, Shelly and my Dad. Cason got Chris a new watch and a Dad-a-ration t-shirt. I got Chris an organizer for his bed side table (though I admit that gift might have been more for me to get his side organized). We had a wonderful day celebrating the wonderful Papa bear that Chris has turned out to be. Here are a few pictures from that:

In other big news, the youngest ideration of the Storey family has found a new home! We will closed on our new abode on September 25th I will post more pics soon but here is a front view.

It is a little 3 bed 2 bath home on the Northside of San Antonio just off I-I0 about a mile from UTSA. In related news I turned in my letter of resignation at Trinity in late August and will have my last day at work on December 22st.

Cason had his last day at Primrose and has now complted a full week at his new in-home daycare. Laura (new babysitter) is a really sweet women and despite being on the exact opposite side of SA from us he seems to be really happy with her there. Below is a pictures from Cason's last day at Primrose. The woman is Ms. Jaime who was his primary teacher. Cason started solids about a month ago, here is a pic before his first time:

for the Grandmas here are some other pictures a of our baby boy:

Just a little playtime-

From the first cold front-

A special gift from Popie-First dress up at a company halloween party at Chris's work.

We are going to take pictures in a pumpkin patch (Hopefully) tomorrow or Friday and we will be sending out invitations to Cason's christening early next week. His christening will be December 5th and I am SO excited that the mother of a friend of ours has agreed to make the outfit out of my wedding dress! Okay, that pretty much catches us up. I will post one more 'catch up' post tomorrow with just pics and videos for those of you who have been asking. I also have to take a moment to show you the most exciting concert ever- James Taylor! After that, I will post at least on the last day of every month :)

First Mothers Day

Since the last post so much has happened! I think life is crazier and busier without going to work everyday than it is when I do! First, we had our first mothers day! We had tons of fun and "Cason" got me the mothers love necklace from James Avery which I love very much. We went to Kerville to spend the rest of the day with our families. We had a wonderful time at Curt and Julie's along with Chris's Mom and Dad. Ellie has gotten so big and I think her cuteness grows expenentially. Here is a little video from when Chris and Cason gave me my first mothers day gift.

I also finished had my graduation ceremony and have officially finished my masters degree! It is nice to have finished it because now I can focus my attention on just Cason for the remainder of maternity leave. Here are a few pics from graduation.

Just me

My entire cohort
Me with the dept. chair (famous in the student affairs world



In much less exciting news we lost my grandmother last week and had a lovely service for her. I am so thankful that she and Cason got to meet before she went home.


Lastly, here are the updates about Cason now that he has passed the 2 month mark. He had his first round of shots (very sad, heart wrenching actually) and now weighs 9 lbs 14 ounces! His height and weight are in the 10th percentile (no surprise there). The doctor says that it puts him on track to be about 5'7 and 145 pounds when he graduates from high school. HIs head on the other hand is inthe 30th percentile... gotta fit that brain :). He has started rolling onto his side all the time and is cooing and giggling more frequently. Here are some pics of him:


Also, on the 2 month anniversary of Casons birth we welcomed a brand new nephew/cousin that was born on May 18th (2 months after Cason). His name is Logan and he was 6 pounds 8 ounces. I will post pictures when I get some. I just want to point out that Logan in the picture below Logan is the same weight and 1 inch longer than Cason at birth. I can't even believe Cason has grown so much!

Logan 6 days, Cason 2 months and 6 days

Moving along

So quite a bit has changed since the last post! Cason has started smiling (we haven't been able to catch it on film yet...) and even giggled as he was falling asleep once. He is eating 2 oz more per feeding and is now a nice plump 8 pounds. Last week I put is first batch of clothes into storage because they won't fit anymore... tear.

He is all about holding his head up, fighting sleep and when he does sleep it is the loudest sleep I have ever heard as he coos and grunts for a long time. We did watch the DVD "Happiest Baby on the Block" and have bored our family to tears by talking about the wonder that it contains! If you are a new parent or plan to have another baby it is an absolute must buy- it contains all the magical secrets of getting your baby calm and relaxed in the largest of cry-fests. At this point Cason never crys longer than about 1 minute- ever!

Here is a newer pictures of our big (or at least bigger) boy.

In other news, I have finished up graduate school and am just waiting for graduation which is amazing. We are about half way done with maternity leave so we are going to go to Primrose (Cason's daycare) so he can meet everyone and we can find out what their daily schedule is so I can use it at home to get him ready. So sad to even think about dropping him off with somone while I go to work. Chris is still working away and will have his first out of town trip since the baby was born this week. It is just in Houston so hopefully it wont be bad.

That is it for now. Until next time everyone stay way from the Swine flu!

Family Photos

So we have officially had our first set of family pictures done! I feel truly initiated as a parent now since an otherwise perfectly content, happy, sleeping Cason decided to initiate a countdown to meltdown the very second we stepped in front of the camera! We had to weed out a large number of the photos because he was either crying, about to cry or making a face like he was "doing business". The ones we have here are those that we tricked him with a little bit of food then snap, snap, snap. Anyway, the pictures are below.

For our family I have labeled these with letters (A, B, C...) so you can tell us which pics you want... if any. We have multiple sizes of each.

A
B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

KL

M

Introducing Cason Oliver Storey

Okay, I admit I was a terrible pregnancy blogger... but the moment came and went and we welcomed Cason Oliver Storey into the world on Wednesday, March 18th, 2009 at 4:59 p.m. He weighed 6 lbs 2 ounces and was 17.5 inches long. He has quite an adventure so far and we will take you on a little photo journey now.


I will spare you pictures just after delivery as only mom and dad (and maybe grandparents) can really love and appreciate those. So... here is baby's first bath given in the hospital. The hospital let Chris go in and do it. After that is another picture of Daddy holding his new son.




We stayed in the hospital Wednesday and Thursday because Cason had Jaundice and they needed to put him under these scary looking lights to help bring down the levels. It is pretty common in newborns and is why in his later pictures he has a slightly yellow tint to his face. That will go away in a few weeks. Below is the picture going home (take 1) and a video to prove that we weren't quite ready when Cason came along two weeks early...




Unfortunately, we were only home for a day and a half before we had to take Cason to the hospital. He was really sleepy and wouldn't eat for a few feedings so he got pretty dehydrated. They had to do all kinds of crazy tests on him- it was the worst day I have ever had. It was certianly the worst day he had ever had. So they admitted him to the hospital again. So here is going home (take 2) (see his little band aid where they FINALLY got the IV in his little hand... super sad)

Last Our first night home (for the second time) and all day today things have been going very well. Baby is eating, sleeping, playing and pooping just like any parent would hope for :). He got his first post hospital bath today. We thought it was needed given the number of band-aids and amount of goop they put on him. Also, I must admit that I needed to symbolically wash away the previous few days from his little body. No baby should have to go through 13 IV attempts, 15 shots/blood drawings, 3 spinal tap attempts and numerous other procedures in their first week of life... or ever for that matter. But I guess it was worth it because now we have a happy, healthy and very handsome little fella to love and call our very own. It is the single most amazing experience I can imagine- it feels like I am dreaming (although with a new baby clearly we don't get much time for dreaming). I digress... here are the pics from babys first bath at home. In the picture of his super cute little feet you can see the little marks where they pricked his heels to test for Jaundice (feel sorry for him it looks like it hurt).




cs+057.jpg" border=0>Lastly, the next pic is of Cason's Popeye face. I don't know why but pretty often he will open just the one eye and hang out like that for awhile. Funny... but super cute!

We are so blessed and thank all of the folks in our life who prayed, send kind words or just thought well wishes for us over the last few days. Perhaps we just had our first hiccup to get it out of the way so we can enjoy the rest of our lives with this tiny miracle. Speaking of hiccups...