Pre-K Christmas Program

We came home from Kansas City to see Little Man's last Christmas program with Victory Children's Center. It's hard for this momma to believe her sweet boy will be in kindergarten next year at this time. Camden was super cute as usual. Grandma always makes sure he decked out with new clothes. He looked pretty spiffy in his vest. He cracked us up by keeping his hands in his pockets the whole time. He was also pretty interested in the scenery behind him(but who wouldn't want to look at dancing babies with stars on their heads?)

Santa's Lap(or not)

Todd was in charge of taking Camden to see Santa at my school this year since Mommy was in Kansas City with Jaden. And I must say, Daddy did a great job! Camden even took a list he and Daddy had worked on and some cookies for Santa. I got pictures from Regina right afterwards and then talked to Camden on the phone, so it was almost as good as being there.

Camden sometimes pulls on his ears when he is nervous. :) 

He didn't want to sit on his lap but instead stood by him. Good enough for me! 

Meeting Grandma

I am so thankful Mom was able to be in Kansas City with me while Todd kept Camden at home. The NICU was a new experience and she was the calming influence I needed at times. We also made good roomies. Our time together brought back lots of memories of our 2 weeks in Minnesota when Camden was born. Here is Grandma's first pictures with Jaden:

A crash course in babies...

After our whirlwind trip to meet Jaden in Kansas City, we came home this weekend to tell Camden he was going to be a big brother! He has wanted a brother, and even has an imaginary one, Harsky. So, he was excited. Mary Bates(via Renee) had given us the idea to explain Jaden's size to Camden using a football. Since Todd is a football coach, this was perfect and, of course, we just happened to have one laying around.

Todd brought in all the newborn totes and Camden helped me wash the clothes. He was particularly interested in the bottles. We wrapped up Baby Jaden Moose(he renamed him that) in a swaddle sack and we practiced feeding him. We showed him how to burp and of course, he needed his rocking chair. It was so much fun. I am so excited about Camden being a big brother. He will be a pro!

 Of course, then we got silly and Mommy pretended to feed Camden like he was a baby. He said rock me like you did when I was a baby, so since I never get to anymore-I loved it.  He will aways be my first baby! Like the book says, I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always, As long as I'm living, my baby you'll be.

One call

One fifteen minute phone call on Tuesday night changed our lives forever. We had been chosen by a birth mom! That in itself was super exciting. Then, we were told that our baby had already been born and could we possible be in Kansas City by noon the next day? Talk about mind boggling! So, we packed furiously while trying to wrap our brains around this new development. I don't think I really slept at all that night. The next morning, we took Camden to school and told him he would be staying with Grandma and Papa and we headed to Kansas City. 

Jaden Joseph Gage Medley was born on December 1, 2013 at 5:04 p.m. He weighed 6 lbs 13 oz and was 18 and 3/4 inches long. He was born 4 weeks early and therefore, has been in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) since he was born. When we arrived in Kansas City, we had a quick meeting with Lori, the social worker from Love Basket. Then, we had an impromptu matching meeting in our birthmom's hospital room. Wendy had chosen us but before a matching meeting could be scheduled-she went into labor. We hit it off right away. She is an amazing person and we just clicked. The conversation just flowed. We then went down to meet our new son. Here is the first picture I took of our sweet Jaden. 

So, our little family of three has grown to family of four. Here is our first official picture as Jaden's Mommy and Daddy.

Gingerbread House

Culver's had free make and take gingerbread houses last night. You loved it and I loved the fact that Culver's had it super organized. So glad Aunt Beth invited us!

Christmas Parade

Crazy cousins with candy canes

Todd's facial expression crack me up! 

Mommy's little snugglebug

I think Todd knows everybody-I hope he isn't going to be a politician!

Starting to get tired...

And then, I look down and see this. 

Waving to Santa