Caden's First Full Day at Home

Caden had a busy first day at home. After a fairly successful night of feeding about every two hours or so, he took a couple good naps throughout the day and even got his first bath at home. Tomorrow marks a trip to the doctor for his first checkup outside of the hospital. We are enjoying him and love to be able to watch his first days and know that it will continue for years to come. Enjoy some photos of Caden!


Aunt Marcia and Caden

Caden Michael Lefler

We'd like to take this opportunity to introduce you to our little miracle, Caden Michael Lefler. Caden was born on Tuesday, July 20 at 7:42 pm. He weighed in at a hefty 8 lbs, 8 oz and 21 1/2 inches long. A big boy for coming a day before his due date!

We are both just beside ourselves with joy! We are so very in love with our little man that I have no idea what we did with our lives before Tuesday!!! He's got big hands and feet but the overall consensus is that he's just a cutie.

Caden received his first bath at 2am on the 21st and has been a pretty content baby to this point. Just a little fussing here and there. He's been a really good eater feeding every three hours last night and, today, eating five times between 11am and 9pm. Caden got to meet all four of his grandparents Wednesday in the hospital and is already being spoiled. He also got to see Aunt Marcia and Uncle Casey for the first time, as well.

We got to bring our bundle of joy home this afternoon at around 3:30 pm. He fussed when he first got strapped in the car seat but seemed to like the ride home. He even withstood a stop at Walgreens for some medicine for Mommy.

We'll keep everyone updated on what's going on with Caden and all of us. Thanks to all of those who sent best wishes. We are truly blessed to have such wonderful friends and family and, now, a wonderful son to share with all of you.


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15 Days....

Here we are in the homestretch...late in the fourth quarter...in the bottom of the ninth...okay, enough with the sports analogies. We're close to adding one more to our clan. More specifically, tomorrow we'll be just 15 days away from that due date. In honor of the final 15 days, I'd like to present the top 15 things I'm looking forward to most about being a dad.

15. Watching cartoons again

14. Spending Christmas Day putting together toys while he/she plays with the box

13. Seeing all his/her "firsts". First crawl, first words, first steps, first time he/she beats Dad at golf

12. Long walks with the stroller and watching him/her take in all his/her surroundings

11. Putting him/her on my shoulders the first time I bring them to Memorial Stadium for a Husker game

10. Family vacations to Fairmont, Lucan and all over the world

9. 3am feedings (that's right, I'm can't wait)

8. Ganging up and playing jokes on Mom

7. Watching him/her play with all his/her cousins and friends

6. Each morning, getting to make him/her the most stylish kid at daycare with his/her massive wardrobe

5. Getting to answer the 1000s of questions he/she has for us. The tough one's and the easy one's too

4. Playing catch in the back yard

3. Teaching him/her the difference between right and wrong and how to be respectful of others

2. Getting to know our child's personality no matter how happy, sad, angry or cranky he/she might be

1. The first time I get to hold him/her and every other minute I get to spend raising our special gift and watching him/her grow














As for us, we're not letting 8 1/2 months pregnant slow us down too much. Last weekend, we even made a day trip down to Kansas City to watch the Cardinals and Royals. This weekend, we were able to have a very relaxing time celebrating the Fourth of July with steaks on the grill and watching fireworks in the neighborhood. It was actually quite a good show.

We are both feeling such excitement for this baby to arrive that it pretty much consumes our free time. The hard work getting ready for a baby seems to be paying off. Just recently, we both looked at each other and said, "we're ready". As a matter of fact, both our bags are packed and we've got the video camera, camera and laptop by the door and ready to head to BryanLGH East at the drop of a hat.

If this is the last post before the baby, we'll be posting pictures after he/she arrives. Wish us luck!!!!

Banned to the Couch

My feet are swollen to the size of the "hams" tonight, so my husband has banned me to the couch. I guess it gives me the opportunity to update the blog and post a few pictures from the baby shower with the Lefler relatives. We received some wonderful gifts! Won't be long and we'll be putting these items to good use.



Our doctor appointment on Tuesday resulted in measurements of between 37 and 38 weeks, although we're really only 36 weeks. Baby's head is down...well, below the baby's butt...but not techicially "dropped" to the point in which one might think (or wish) that this baby is considering an early arrival. Based on the growth of my belly in the past two weeks, Mike and I suspected a 5 to 7 pound weight gain, but to our total surprise, only a half pound - whew. Heartbeat was in the 130's...so according to the old wives' tale, this supports the suspicions of all those who voted BOY on our poll.

Although living in Lincoln has been much like I would imagine life in Seattle (rain, rain and more rain), we had a nice Father's Day weekend. Mike's sand volleyball team had a fun time in an American Cancer Society fundraising tournament, while my sister Ann and I had a great time shopping (so fun to have her with us for the weekend).

Enjoy some pictures of the dad-to-be with his Father's Day cake (the mom-to-be enjoyed it equally as much as the dad-to-be...maybe more) and some handy work while assembling the exersaucer.

The Lakers...

By the title of this post, you'd probably think that I was going to go on and on about playoff basketball and how blown calls cost the Lakers game two of the NBA finals. Not the case (although you'll read about some disputed rules and questionable outcomes in the text below). This weekend, we spent a fun-filled weekend at Lake Okoboji with Lisa's family.

Friday, we loaded up the suitcases and the coolers and drove four hours deep into the plains of Iowa. As we arrived and checked into our Jacuzzi Suite (don't get too excited), we found Addeson and Hadley already enjoying the pool at The Inn at Okoboji, our residence for the next two days. After the "pool time" had ended, Master Chef Kevin Baune located the grill and prepared a feast fit for a king. OK...it was hot dogs, brats and cheeseburgers but it also included baked beans, Snickers salad and the biggest brownies you'll ever find. Not to mention a late-night Smores feed including Ron's special "no graham cracker" Smores. If I were king, that's the feast I'd want every night!

Saturday, we woke up early after a late night of hanging out together in the jacuzzi tub. By together I mean Lisa since there wasn't room for three :) in the tub. Derrick cooked up some eggs and sausage (you can see a food theme starting to develop here) and we headed over to Cindy and Kevin's boat. By boat I mean a floating two bedroom apartment and living quarters that could fit five of my freshman dorm rooms. The weather held out for a little bit before the skies opened up and poured on us. Luckily, we had this wonderful enclosed vessel and most of us didn't even feel a drop. By the time we had all acquired our sea legs, we decided we'd had enough rain on the high seas (I'd seen The Perfect Storm one too many times) and it was time for us land lovers to head back to our rooms.

After getting back to The Inn, we took in more aquatics by the Jenniges girls while the rest of us played cards. Some new-fangled game made up by Ron. As the rules seemed to change throughout thanks to the game's creator, Ann completed a furious come-from-behind run to defeat me in the final hand (cheating is a certainty). This win is under appeal and will be reviewed by various entities (including former Governor Rod Blagojevich, Enron executives, the BCS and other authorities) to determine the legitimacy of the outcome. That night, Chef Kevin struck again with a delicious grilled chicken dish and, of course, more Smores.


Sunday we woke up to hit church and finished the trip with a delicious lunch and playground time at Barefoot Bar. After our goodbyes, we headed back to God's Country in Nebraska.

On the baby front, Lisa is feeling really well for being almost to her 35th week. As much as I'd like to make jokes about how big she's getting, I can't because she looks just so darn cute. She certainly has that pregnant glow about her. We go to another doctor appointment Tuesday and should know more about the baby's position. We're hoping he/she flipped to the proper spot but we kind of think he/she is still sideways. We'll keep you posted.

As we get into the final five weeks of this journey, I feel so blessed to have a wonderful wife, who will be the best mother in the world and a baby who is already so loved. I can't wait to meet our new little one and am looking forward to all of the great times we'll spend together as a family. In five weeks (or so) our lives will change forever...and I can't wait. ML

Baby Shower - compliments of Mike's co-workers

Diaper genie - check. Baby wipe warmer - check. Bumbo baby seat - check. Piggy bank - check. Diapers - check. Bibs - check. Car shade - check.

We received a lot of wonderful gifts from Mike's co-workers at the first official baby shower for Baby Lefler. It was a fun time! Here are a few pictures:

5 Round-trip Flights

One last flight before baby. At Week 31, I took a round-trip flight to St. Louis for work. Luckily, I didn't go into labor while I was there. Mike had bargained a deal that our first born would be named Albert Pujols (first baseman for the St. Louis Cardinals) if I delivered in St. Louis.

This pregancy has not been short on travel. Baby has been to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (en route through Chicago), Winter Park/Denver, Colorado, Phoenix, Arizona, San Diego, California, and finally, St. Louis, Missouri.

Will likely be awhile until I travel by air again!

We have added a 'baby poll' to the right-hand side-bar of our blogsite. Please be sure to vote whether you think this baby is a BOY or GIRL!