And now the REAL WORK begins...

So now that Kaden is 5 months old, it is time to get the rest of the baby weight off. I have been telling myself for a few months now that I need to get out and work it all off but when I come home from work that is the farthest thing from my mind. I only have a few hours to spend with Kaden before he goes to bed and I don't want to spend any of that time running. And then when he does go to bed it is way to dark to run outside, so we invested in a treadmill. I found a really good treadmill on a super discounted price from our new friend Pedro! Justin and I picked it up on Saturday (getting it in the tahoe was a little more challenging than I had anticipated) and tonight starts my first walk/run! My sister has started running and will soon be doing her very first 5k and half a marathon so I hope to be able to join her on a few of her new adventures. In the end though, my only goal is to be able to feel comfortable in a swimsuit! And swim lessons for Kaden start in 8 weeks so I have to be ready by then! Wish me luck!!

Speaking of Kaden, he turned 5 months old today! We are rolling over from our belly to our back and we are almost sitting up without any help! He is such a big boy and making us laugh each and every day.

Uncle Zack and Aunt Lindsey bought this outfit for me!

 

Visiting Papa Tom and Grandma Sara

It was time to head back to Carthage. My parents hadn't seen K-Man since Christmas and they both were starting to get a little ansy, so we loaded up on Friday afternoon and made te drive down 71 Hwy. Prior to deciding to take the trip I had told mom that I had only two requests, 1-Taco Town Cheese Dip and the second being Dried Beef Gravy. Easy enough, right? Well the it took my dad an hour sitting in line at Taco Town to get my cheese dip, but it was sooooooooo worth it! For those of you who know Taco Town, you will completely understand my fascination with it!

Friday night was family night, Jennifer brought the kids up after school, Zack and Lindsey came over and we even talked Papa Richard into coming out. Aunt Jennifer got to feed Kaden his oatmeal for the evening and Uncle Zack even gave holding Kaden another try but it ended with the same result-Kaden crying and Uncle Zack handing him back to momma. The highlight of the evening came when Aunt Jennifer decided to feed Kaden his FIRST bite of corn on the cob! You can be the judge on whether or not he liked it.

Do I have anything on my face??

Saturday was a very busy day for K-Man and yet another first was documented. He got to see his first basketball game. Cousin Brett played great defense but in the end his team ended up on the losing end. Brett plays in a church league and this church league is very positive and if you know anything about the Hartley family and sports then you know we are very competitive and we don't like to stay quiet during any type of game. Needless to say, my sister wouldn't even sit next to us!!

After leaving the game we headed to Jasper to see Great Grandma and Grandpa Earl and we got an extra bonus when we arrived, Uncle Harry was in town from New Jersey! Kaden was all smiles and they couldn't believe how big he had gotten.

Next up-church with mom and dad so they can show him off to all their friends. We are greeters and get to hand out bulletins so I am sure there will be a lot of cheek pinching! Then it is back to the house to load up and head back to KC for dinner at Grammy's. Busy, busy weekend but oh so much fun!

The Adventures of Mommy and Piggy

Is an idea that I had at 4:00 a.m. one morning. I was looking for a way to explain my travels to Kaden as he gets bigger so I have decided to take his stuffed pig with me on my overnight trips and take a picture of Piggy in each city. This will serve two purposes, it will keep me company and it will also show Kaden where I travel to. Piggy's first trip was to Scottsdale! Up next Orlando, San Fran and San Diego. Hopefully we can compile lots of pictures and make a short story some day.

OUCH! Something is poking through my GUMS!

I had been on an overnight business trip and when I returned, I noticed that there was something super sharp in Kaden's mouth so I went to investigate and sure enough it was a TOOTH!! So I got out his baby book and recorded yet another first, 4 1/2 months old when he got his FIRST tooth and the 2nd tooth isn't far behind because we can see the little white bump where it will be coming through very soon. On a side note, these "firsts" are happening too quickly! (tear, tear, sniff, sniff) I look at Brett and still can't believe he is 12, it was like he was just a baby and now whenever we get to see him, he takes care of Kaden!! But I am trying to do my best when it comes to documenting everything I can...

Grandma Sara bought this shirt for K-Man.

Solid Food Update: We have moved on from rice cereal, it didn't seem to be getting the job done and Kaden sure wasn't liking it, I don't think it had much taste so we are now eating OATMEAL and he gets so excited for it each time he sees it. His little feet just go crazy for it. I might be wrong but I think the oatmeal is also helping him sleep through the night better, we have had multiple nights in a row where he is sleeping from 8:30 to 4:30 and mommy and daddy couldn't be happier!

Speaking of documenting, the other night I laid the little man down and he started doing his nightly "Don't fall asleep yet, I'm still awake" dance and I had to get it down on video. By the time I came back upstairs with the flip (best gift ever!) he had  already fallen asleep but I woke the little monkey up so that he would start the process all over again. Mean? Yes. But well worth having it documented. I will try to figure out how to upload the video on here but in the meantime please feel free to visit my facebook page to see it or click on the link below incase you don't have facebook. (And if you don't have facebook, you should really sign up because Mom, Grandma Earl, and a bunch of family are on it and it is a great way to keep intouch and share pictures!)

http://www.facebook.com/kayla.south?v=app_2392950137&ref=profile#/video/video.php?v=1327969047073

What a TERRIBLE Godmother I am!!

Another huge highlight in 2009 was the birth of Kaden's OLDER and WISER cousin Colton. Colton is also Justin and I's godson. I forgot to mention his arrival in our 2009 highlights and I feel very bad about it, he and Kaden share the top spot for the most amazing days of the year. Adam and Becky had been waiting a very long time for this little miracle to join the South family and on May 11th, 2009 he entered the world and has been making all of us smile every day since. He and Kaden are only 4 months apart and we can already tell what great buddies they are going to be. I am sure all the trouble the get in will be Colton's fault!! Here are a few pictures of the BEST godson in the WORLD! (sorry little buddy-I didn't mean to leave you out, we will never forget the smiles/tears you brought to us on that lovely Monday in May.)

HaPpY nEw YeAr!

So life has been very busy at the South household the last month and a half, hence I haven't been blogging! I went back to work, Kaden started at Ms. Melissa's (which is going fantastic), we celebrated 3 of Kaden's firsts-Thanksgiving, Christmas and now New Years.  Each time I think about his first Thanksgiving or his first Christmas, I get a little teary eyed because I know there will never be another "baby's first Christmas". However, Justin and I were very blessed in 2009 and had a lot of things to celebrate. Kaden's arrival, a new sister-in-law joining the family, friends getting married and friends announcing their pending arrivals. Kaden will have such great playmates! We certainly believe that 2010 will only bring bigger and better things to us and our family and friends.

Kaden is now 4 months old, my how time flies, he weighs a little over 15lbs and is over 26 inches long which is in the 85th percentile for height. We still aren't sleeping through the night but I think we are getting a lot closer. We are slowly introducing rice cereal into his diet and the first attempt didn't go so well because he was sooooooooooo hungry but the next few attempts went much better and you could see the excitement on his face each time a bite came towards him. He is loving his Baby Einstien jumper and is really enjoying watching mommy and daddy playing Super Mario on the Wii. (He loves the sounds and the bright colors.) He is getting so close to rolling over but hating belly time certainly isn't helping him any. Not too be surprised by the little monkey was spoiled during Christmas, he got so many toys and some of them we haven't even opened becuase we have NO ROOM. Which brings us to our next exciting news.....

We have decided to put our first home up for sale. This was a decision which we have been thinking about for a very long time, we love our home, we love our neighborhood and it is so close to work for both of us. However, we need more room, maybe not right now but certainly over the next few years we hope to grow our family more and thuse we will need more space. So we thought why not list it and see if it sells, it will make someone a perfect first time home. As for the new house, we are hoping to stay in the same area if it all works out but chances are we might be moving to Olathe or Lees Summit to get more house for our money. Wish us luck!!

We certainly don't want to forget about the dogs, Stoli and Brodi are still doing fantastic with Kaden. They love to lick his toes and fingers and Kaden giggles each time they do. The doggies have been a little depressed lately since they haven't been able to run like they normally do because of the amount of snow we have been getting. I believe we have received over 15 inches so far and while I am sitting in sunny Scottsdale, KC is getting hit again with another 5 inches or so.

Here are a few pictures from the last few months. We wish everyone the best in the upcoming year! Here is to 2010!!