Thanks Lindsay!

Our friend Lindsey just started a photography business here in Dallas and we were so excited for her to take some pictures of Cason.  We LOVE how the pictures turned out! Thank you so much Lindsay for capturing our little cutie on film! To learn more about Lindsay's new business and see some great photos, just click on the link below for her blog:

Rosie Toes Photography

She also has a Facebook page

Here are just a few....

Spiderman

Since our little cutie has learned to stand up in his crib---that is ALL he wants to do. Usually for naps he would lay right down and go to sleep but NOT anymore. As soon as I put him down he gets right back up. The problem with that is that he doesn't know how to get down on his own yet. So he walks all around the crib and laughs and enjoys himself for a few minutes (I watch him on the monitor) and then he gets mad because he can't get down. Every time I go in and put him down he gets right back up and starts screaming again. I do leave him in there for a while to see if he will figure it out on his own but I am so scared he is going to fall and hit his head. He even gets stuck standing in front of the headboard----he ventures out on it and then realizes he has nothing to hang on to and then the screaming really starts. We have played this game for almost an hour every nap time since he started performing his new trick. At night, I put him in a sleep sack so he can't do this--thank goodness or we'd never get any sleep. Here are a couple of pictures of him from today (if only you could see his pitiful face)--I think he looks like Spiderman!

His poor crib has been stripped down to nothing! His cute bumper has been replaced with a breathable bumper that he can't climb on. We took the bedskirt off because the mattress is so low now that you couldn't even see it and the mobile had to go because he was pulling it off. Oh well :)

He also loves to stand and look out the window...

He is crawling all over the place now and gets faster every day! He especially loves crawling places he shouldn't be--I can't turn my back for a second! He pulls up to stand on everything, even just the wall--LOL. I feel like all I do is chase him around all day---but I sure do love it!!!

Happy Birthday Lolli---we all hope you had a great day and we love you!!!

What a morning!

I went to put Cason down for his nap this morning just like usual and started getting ready for the day. Cason usually rolls around in his crib for a few minutes until he can find the perfect spot to go to sleep and I could hear him doing this on the monitor---it got quiet so I checked the monitor to see if he was asleep and this is what I found.....

He was so proud of himself when I walked in....




We've already lowered his crib once and he hasn't pulled up since then but now it is time to drop it to the lowest level. He was so proud of himself that he refused to lay down and take a nap. Every time I put him down he would get mad and stand right back up. Scott wasn't home and I didn't know how to lower the crib and I was too paranoid to just let him hang out standing up. I was convinced that he could somehow fall out of the crib--LOL. I tried rocking him for a LONG time thinking I could just put him down in the crib asleep and that would take care of the problem---nope, he wasn't having any part of that---he just wanted to stand up in his crib.

So then I thought I would just get out the pack n play because I didn't care if he stood up in that--it was safer. However, I couldn't get the silly thing put up!!!! One of the arms would just NOT lock. I was so mad at that pack in play I wanted to throw it out the window. I'm so glad that no one could see me except for Cason and he was just standing there smiling and laughing at his silly mommy. This went on for at least 30 more minutes and he was still awake. So then I tried rocking him again thinking surely he was so sleepy by now that he would definitely go to sleep. He did eventually go to sleep so I put him back in his crib and up he went again.

Back to the pack n play I went and finally got it put together!!!! Come to find out you can't lock all the arms if the bottom portion is already pushed out flat---I wish I had known this earlier but I will definitely not forget it next time. Then I finally put him in the pack n play to take a nap----he put up a fight for another 30 minutes and finally went to sleep!!!


Here he is practicing his waving skills....





Here he is practicing his crawling skills---he is annoyed because I keep moving his toy out of reach every time he gets close to it---ha!

He loves playing on his bouncy seat...

He especially loves eating the straps...

He looks so cute in his little baseball hat...

Seriously???

I just thought I would share a funny story with you. I have to upload my videos of Cason to youtube to post them on this blog. This morning I got an email that someone had commented on one of my videos on youtube---I figured it was someone I knew because who else would be looking at videos of Cason??? Anyway, the comment was "cute, but boring". 

Well sure it's boring if you don't even know who the baby is!!! I don't know why they felt the need to take the time to comment on the video and I sure don't care if they thought it was boring. Do they not know the golden rule---If you don't have something nice to say, then don't say anything at all. I just thought it was hilarious. I guess that's what I get for posting his videos to a site that can be viewed by anyone and everyone---ha!

Happy Early Valentine's Day

Growing so fast!

Here is Cason trying to chase Autumn once again...

Here is a video of him trying dad's lime popsicle....yuck!

When we were at play group last week, he LOVED this toy Madi had so we got him one of his very own :)

Here is a video of him doing his form of crawling (not on all fours). Scott thinks he looks like he is doing the worm--LOL. And yes, we do put pants on our child. It's just that it is so much easier for him to wiggle around on the floor with just a shirt on :)

Watching the Cowboy game with dad...

Here are some random pictures we took of him today because we just thought he looked so big and grown up. He is growing too fast!

He's leaning so far forward because he wants to practice walking with dad. He loves holding our hands and practicing his walking skills around the house. It is so hard to get a picture these days---he constantly wants to be on the move....

This is the only sitting picture we could get before he was on the move again...

8 Months Old!

I can't believe Cason is already 8 moths old! Here is what he has been up to lately...

*Army Crawling---he's getting faster and faster and getting into everything

*Pulling up

*He LOVES to stand and walk holding onto our fingers

*He's a great eater---he cries when the jar of baby food is empty

*He's becoming a pro at feeding himself finger foods--mostly Puffs

*He cut his two bottom teeth and is drooling more than ever

*He says ba, ga, and ma and a bunch of jibberish---he hasn't said mama yet but I hope it will be soon

*He's wearing size 4 diapers and 9 and 12 month clothes.

*He loves to chase toy balls and our poor little cat Autumn around the living room.

Here he is chasing Autumn under the dining table. He LOVES to chase her and he wants more than anything to get a big handful of her pretty long hair.

Big brown eyes just like his daddy and great-grandmother

4 weeks old...

8 months old...

I fear that this outfit will not fit all the way up until he is 12 months old--look at those cubby thighs---ha!

Dear Mimi and Gunk,

Thank you sooooooo much for my play yard. My mom is so happy that she can actually get some things done around the house without worrying what I am getting into. It keeps me safe and that makes everyone happy. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Love, Cason

Here are a couple of pictures of Cason in his new play yard, Yes, our living room has been taken over by toys---oh well :)

The photograph contest is still going until January 16th. You can vote for us once a day---we appreciate any and all votes....see post below for details.

Vote

Hello everyone! Our VERY WONDERFUL maternity/newborn photographer is having a contest on her blog right now. She picked some of her favorite pictures from 2009 and we were lucky enough to be included in that list. It is a picture of Scott, Cason, and I right after Cason was born. She called it "Happy New Family" on the voting form. If you have a chance, we would love for you to stop by her blog and vote for us (I've added the link below). Have a great day!!! 

Here is the link to vote:

http://www.betsymar iephotography. com/blog/ archives/ 2807

Remember these cute photos...

If you are looking for a children's/maternity photographer in the Dallas/Fort Worth area---she is AMAZING! You can check out her website from the link below...

http://www.betsymariephotography.com/

Happy New Year

Here is a picture of Cason going to bed at 7:31 on New Year's Eve---he is not happy about it. I think he was hoping he could stay up until 12:00.  Just kidding, he is crying because he is SO tired and ready for bed but his mom wanted to take a couple of pictures first and he was not having it! Happy first New Year's Cason!

He has been getting faster and faster at his little army crawl and I think he is about the get the hang of crawling on all fours. Who knows though, he could do this army crawl business for a while. As you can see in the pictures, he doesn't need to crawl on all fours to get where he wants to go---his little army crawl works just as good. I took a video of him chasing Autumn under the dining room table this morning--or thought I took a video of it---I guess I didn't press record :(

He loves to chase her though so I'm sure I'll get another opportunity to catch them on video. Most of the time though, he just chases me---he won't let me get out of his sight!

He also got his second bottom tooth this past week. They have both broken through the gums but they are just barely showing for now. They are SHARP little things and I'm worried about them growing in all the way---it could be very PAINFUL for mom!

2009--The Best Year Ever!

This was the best year ever because we welcomed our precious baby boy Cason of course :)

Here is a quick look at 2009 for the Ray Family...

January

22 Weeks Pregnant with Cason

February

25 Weeks Pregnant

March

32 Weeks Pregnant. Here are a few maternity pictures we had taken this month (www.betsymariephotography.com)

April

37 1/2 Weeks Pregnant and VERY big!!!!

Note to self....next time you are pregnant do NOT under any circumstances cut your hair off at the end of your pregnancy because you think it would be easier!!!

May (the best month)

3 days before Cason was born

May 11th--- Cason Scott Ray arrived at 5:08 p.m. He weighed 8 pounds 1 ounce and was 20 1/2 inches long. Thank goodness it was a very short labor. They induced me by 11:00 and he was born by 5: 08 that afternoon. I am very thankful for whoever invented the epidural!!! Oh and I turned 29---the last time to celebrate my birthday. From now it is just needs to be ignored :)

June

1 month old

July

2 1/2 months old

August

3 months old

September

4 months old

October

5 1/2 months old and his first Halloween

November

Cason  was 6 months old and daddy turned 32 :)

December

7 months old and his first Christmas

What a great year! We have been so blessed and are very excited to see what 2010 has in store for our family!!!