Talking on the Phone

She doesn't speak a word but listens oh so quietly. And if she hears the familiar voice of one of her grandmas, a smile stretches across her face and sometimes even a little giggle leaks out.

So precious.

Crying

It's a milestone I still cherish.
~even when my mommy nerves are shot~

~In case you missed it, you can read about when Cayman achieved this milestone here.

~And for the record: Cayman has slept in her own room since late fall of '09. She now cries most mornings declaring loud and confidently, "I'm awake!!" My baby girl finally learned how to express herself and it's beautiful! The shrieking shrills of her crying still sing to my heart, even on the days when my ears are begging for silence.

A New Ride Coming Soon

It's nearing the time for Cayman to move up to a toddler car seat. She's barely got an inch left before she's completely outgrown her current seat, which thus far has been her only seat.

When it comes to picking out a car seat, I don't find it an easy decision to make. Brand and style may catch my eye but what's most important is finding the seat that best fits Cayman and will keep her safe. I've been through a terrible car accident myself once and I experienced first hand how vital proper seat belt safety is. It can make all the difference. Without it, I would have not survived. And if it's not used properly, it can do nearly the same damage too.

So I went on a search to find which seat is perfect for Cayman. I discovered there is an endless amount of data and material on this subject. I could easily read myself right through this year before I would reach the bottom of the information pile.

Rear-facing...Front-facing...Side-guards...no side-guards...Italian made...American made...etc., etc.

Overwhelmed by the many opinions out there, I decided to call on the people that have earned my highest respect, U of M Mott Buckle Up. After Cayman was born, they assisted us on finding the best infant car seat. They were a huge help with a thorough program in educating parents on car seat safety. And when I found myself overwhelmed by the decision of which toddler seat to choose, I phoned Mott Buckle Up for help and once again they did not disappoint me. They tracked down the exact toddler seats that I had researched and when we met in person, Cayman was able to try each seat out and we even put them in our vehicle to make sure that was a good fit too.

It's in Cayman's best interest to keep her rear-facing for probably another year. And since convertible seats are taller than infants seats, there was question about finding one that would accommodate Cayman rear facing while still allowing the front seat to be adjusted back at its furtherest setting. Mike has long legs and we have to keep him comfy and safe too.

With the help of Mott Buckle Up, I am confident to say that we have landed on a decision.

Graco My Ride 65

I was excited when I discovered it comes in pink and brown. So pretty. So modern.

But when I went back online to search for the best price, that's when my eyes feasted on this print...

The colors, the pattern, it caught my eye. I spent nearly an hour, phoning various of places trying to track down this particular print. Finally I called Graco and it turns out that this is their newest print. In fact it's so new that it has not even arrived in stores yet but should be getting there any day now, the sales rep tells me.

Oh boy am I excited!! Not only is it a seat that will keep my little Cayman safe but it's so girly and beautiful too!

Ah life is good when a girl can accessorize every area of it, am I right?

McDonald's Playground

Over the weekend, my in-law's house was quite full. Our nieces Sidney and CeCe were staying with them while their parents were off on a skiing escapade. So Grandma Sue called us up and asked if Cayman wanted to come play. We joined them at McDonald's on Saturday for a fun filled evening of food, energy, and may I say, lots and lots of noise!!

Let's Feed that Baby

I dedicate today's post to Grandma Sue (Mike's mom). I am certain this story will tickle her pink.

Sue has a special little attraction for that Gerber baby.

Starting way back with her own kids, every time a Gerber meal was served, she always held the spoon up to the picture of the Gerber baby on the label and said, "Let's feed that baby too." And she would alternate bites between the real baby and the pretend baby on the label.

Sue has continued this little meal time tradition with her grand kids, starting with Sidney, then CeCe, and now Cayman.

Oh the laughs and jokes we have made as we've teased Sue over how dorky this is. And the fantastic person that she is, she'd laugh right along with us and never stop making sure that that Gerber baby got fed too.

Well yesterday, Cayman was sitting on my lap as I fed her an afternoon snack of Gerber Pears. She's typically wiggly and doesn't sit still. So at first I didn't think anything much of it when she kept leaning and fidgeting on my lap. Then I began to notice she kept fixating her attention to the jar of baby food I was holding. More specifically, she continued to lean around to stare at the right side of the jar. When I looked down toward the direction of her gaze, I saw that Gerber baby.

I burst out laughing and turned the Gerber baby toward Cayman so she could look straight on at it. She stared at it and then you won't believe what happened next...

I fed that baby.

Oh no, I have joined the ranks of the dorkiness.

Footie Jammies

When we met Tiffany last week, she came bearing a gift for little Cayman.

Footie jammies!

How perfect!

It made me laugh.

"Thank you Tiffany!"

To read Tiffany's rendition of our day together, click here.

Blogging Friends

High priority on my list after Cayman's diagnosis was finding other families traveling similar journeys. I wanted to soak in their wisdom, listen to their guiding knowledge, and feel the comfort of being understood.

Our Early Intervention service coordinator gave me a list of names and numbers, pages filled with families that I could call and connect with. But that list shifted its weight around our home. It first found a place pinned up on the bulletin board. Then it moved to the coffee table. Then it moved to the front of our refrigerator before it finally found itself permanently buried in a file folder.

That's right, I never called a single number. That is the hardest step for me. I'm not typically a phone person nor are new social endeavors my forte.

I could never come up with how to introduce myself or what to say. It felt entirely unnatural to bring myself to connect with a complete stranger on such personal ground. It made the weight of those buttons on my phone just too heavy for me to push. So I never could get past the intimidation of making that first, ice breaking phone call.

But lucky for me, I was still granted my heart's desire. When I started this blog I had no idea the avenue it would open up for me to meet other families like I hoped for. Now I have a blessed network of friends with blogs of their own too. I have found there to be great camaraderie in this blogging thing.

And yesterday was a beautiful, sunshiny day when I got to spend a few hours in person for the first time, with one of these dear blogging friends I just spoke of.

Meet Tiffany...

a bright, beautiful lady inside and out, that raises an amazing little girl (Olivia) that brought her to "Holland" nearly nine years ago.

Tiffany and I have a mutual friend (which is Mike's cousin, Allison) that we met through and found her house to be a great gathering place yesterday for our own little mommy play date.

Tiffany has more pictures on her camera, maybe I'll share those later.

But here's a few of mine...

Cayman and Matty (Tiffany's son)
See Cayman's hand up on Matt's head?
She has an obsession with touching heads and hair. Thankfully, Matt didn't seem to mind.

And here she is trying to touch Anderson's head (Allison's son).

Boring Blog

I fear this blog is headed in the direction of boredom. Not because of Cayman. She's always cute and fun whether in person or in picture form. But lately I am having trouble coming up with new blog posts. I like to keep each photo I post and each story a little different from each other. But lately, looking back through my pictures, I am seeing the same thing over and over...Oh look, there's another picture of Cayman playing on the floor with some toys. And another one. And here's another one. Oh but wait, this time she's got a different book! Hooray!

And to make the creative repetitiveness worse, Mike noticed that in most of the photos, Cayman is wearing the same footie jammies and with a grin on his ornery face, he teasingly asks me "Don't you ever change her clothes??" It's because of the socks situation ya know.

But I am here to confess, my creative picture taking flow is really stifling lately. Maybe you've noticed or maybe you haven't which is great because hopefully that means my effort to bring forth the best fruitful stories about the beautiful Cayman Cindy is working. But it's just not flowing from me with ease lately.

I blame it on the winter blues. We are stuck inside all day. By choice that is. If I don't have to go out in the cold, I don't. But that leaves me surrounded by the same things everyday, lacking variety that has resulted in a depletion of my creative sparks.

So I'm on a mission this week to find all sorts of new and interesting things for Cayman and I to do while we're inside, staying warm.

Wanna help us out? Tell me what kind of creative things you find appealing to do, indoors, while it's blustery cold outside? If you leave your examples, you just might find new pictures of Cayman and I doing your suggestions. :)

Stay warm.

Expanding Boundaries

All over the family room, Cayman will roll and roll, explore and play. But if she ever reaches the edge of the carpet where it meets the hardwood floor, it mise well be the edge of a cliff because to her that's as far as she will go.

One of Cayman's therapists once told us that it is very common for a child that has been hospitalized and under gone many medical procedures, for them to be very territorial and untrusting to anything new. Perhaps that explains why Cayman use to generally play with only toys that she was familiar with.

And now that she is more mobile, I am seeing another way that she is displaying distrust. She will not wander and explore outside of her known boundaries, the areas she already knows are safe such as our main hang out room, the family room.

This has its advantages. I can set her down with some toys in her room and go take a shower worry free that she has not wondered away and is getting into trouble. But the thought of her independently exploring just thrills me. If she would ever wander out of her room to come find me, oh that would make my heart soar.

So, I'm on a mission. I am trying to teach Cayman how to expand those boundaries of hers. I want her to realize she can go places and accomplish much.

And I realize this mission just might bite me later if I ever find the confidently wandering Cayman exploring the kitchen cupboards and dumping their contents all over. (lol) I hear that toddler do such things as that.

It's hard for me to imagine Cayman exploring on her own right now but it tickles me just thinking of it.

So I have this plotted mission broken into steps...

Step number one was to play with Cayman on the hardwood floors, the forbidden spot to her. I set up her toys on the hardwood floors just next to the line where the carpet begins with the idea that the "safe zone" would remain in sight to her.



On the first day, Cayman cried. She did not want to sit on the hardwood floors at all. So I moved onto plan B. I set Cayman on my lap, while still remaining on the hardwood floors. We played with her toys from there until she became comfortable and I sat her back down on the floor and she was not disturbed. Alright, progress!!

And each day after, we have played with various toys on the hardwood floors, moving further and further away from the family room.




She has not yet wandered out of the family room on her own, BUT, she is way more comfortable with the idea of being on the hardwood floors. Remember, I said on "day one" she cried. Well after consistent days of being placed on the hardwood floors, she has gained much confidence to move about on them....

In fact, take a look at a recent video I shot of her, and make sure not to miss her adorable backward scooting on her bottom (she came up with that move all on her own!)....

Living in the Moment

As a mother, rarely does my mind think outside of each day. My mind does not wonder into the years ahead, trying to think or plan what life will be like. Cayman’s diagnosis does not really make the predictability of the future all too easy. There are so many things that are so uncertain yet.

My heart went through many areas of grief after receiving her diagnosis. One of those areas was the loss in the ability to dream.

One dear friend of mine, made a fun-loving joke after the news of Cayman’s diagnosis when I was 5 months pregnant, “this is just the beginning of your child making you worry. Just wait until she gets her drivers license.”

We laughed.

Then my heart sank.

I could not even dream of that anymore as well as so many other things. It was a deprivation that angered me. Thinking of the upcoming years only brought me worry and anxiety over the many unknowns. I longed to dream and imagine my little girl climbing on the monkey bars at the park, playing sports in school, having sleep over’s. But instead, thoughts of her future only left unanswered questions…

Will Cayman ever walk?

What if she's in a wheel chair? Will we have to move to a house that can accommodate one? Will we be able to afford that?

Will Cayman ever learn to talk and have conversations someday? Will she have friends?

How many more surgeries, planned or unplanned, will Cayman go through yet? The older she gets, the harder it becomes to hand her over to the O.R. team. How will I handle it if she reaches her hands out to me? What if she cries for me? How do I comfort her while they carry her away?

Will I someday experience the dark day of losing her on this side of Heaven?

And on and on my mind would go (if I let it).

All those questions, thoughts, and fears so quickly give way to worry which is a rotten spot to experience because that kind of worry robs the joy in the present moments.

That was the very spot I found myself in back when Cayman was just four months old. She was in the hospital for her third shunt revision. We had taken her to the E.R. every single month since we brought her home from the NICU. Her shunts kept failing.

Mike asked the doctor the question, “Is this going to keep continuing for Cayman, her shunt failing all the time?”

The doctor responded tenderly and with honesty, “We hope not. Generally children will outgrow it but I cannot tell you when that will occur for Cayman. We just have to wait and see.”

Ah, wait and see. Those are some very familiar and yucky terms to all families that have been in medical situations. And it sucks!!

After the doctor had left, Mike turned to me, laying a hand upon my mine, he asked, “how ya handling it?”

I shook my head in almost disbelief that this was still our reality, still wishing that we would wake up one day and find it all different. With tear filled eyes, staring through the large picture window in front of us, I said, “If this is how it’s going to be, I wish there was a fast forward button on this journey, and I could move us into three years from now. Then hopefully we’d be past all these constant surgeries and we’d know more of how things are going to turn out for Cayman.”

Mike replied, “Yeah, I know what you mean.” He paused for a moment, quietly thinking and then continued, “But I suppose if we could move ourselves into the future, we would only want to keep moving more and more into the future, always wondering and never settling on the present moment and we would miss out on the parts of what is fun about Cayman’s age right now. We need to live in the moment.”

Those words penetrated deep into my heart. He was right.

But living in the moment is easy during special times in your life: Weddings, birthdays, vacations, etc. However, on days when there is so many heavy, weighted decisions, faced with scary uncertainties, living in the moment takes a lot of work and sometimes seems utterly impossible. But I knew that if I never learned how to live in the moment, worry, fear, and other distractions would rob my happiness in this life God had chosen for me.

Over those next months it was a process learning how to keep that worry in its rightful place.

It was a journey in which I spent much of it on my knees…

a pen pressed in my hand…

page after page of scribbled thoughts and feelings journaled…

Until slowly, my reflections began to change.

Instead of focusing on what caused me pain, I began to focus on what was bringing me joy. And when I finally let go of requiring that the future be a certain way…Poof!...Suddenly I became content with what I had now. It was a divine shift in my paradigm.

I found myself living in the moment, totally immersed in the everyday experiences, soaking them in with every cell of my body. Feeling happiness like I did not even know was possible after the news of Cayman’s diagnosis.

I began to see the gift in living only in each day and not getting caught up in the worry over the years ahead. Turns out, it is a treasured place. It's a place where keeping the bliss in each day is easy. To realize that the present, right now, is great. That has been tremendously freeing. It has led me to a gratitude and surge of energy and strength in my days.

My camera, this blog, my personal journal; are all modalities I use to capture and write everyday about the moments that surround me. Every week I review my writings and pictures. In doing this, my mind concentrates on what I am doing and thinking each day. In keeping this up, living in the moment has become a habit that adds happiness, enthusiasm, and vitality to my days.

Am I still deprived to dream of the future?

Yeah, maybe.

But it's in those things where there is sacrifice, greater gain is accomplished.

I may not be able to dream. I may not be able to plan what our future will be like raising Cayman, but my gain is a greater joy in each day because my mind now knows how to rest on the now moments and bask in their full, rich value.

And when my mind is still tempted to get lost in it that wayward journey of worry, I am reminded that God knew exactly what it would mean when He made Cayman just like she is. He knew all that it would entail. He chose us for this life and I choose to trust His plans.

Moments

Recognize each moment for what it is; Special
For each moment happens only once
No moment, good or bad, will be exactly like the one before it or the one after it
So breathe deep every breath
Examine closely with fully open eyes
Feel each and every experience with every cell of your body
For then and only then will you truly be living
And isn’t living what this life is all about?

Madison and Cayman

My heart melts watching these two play together. It is divinely adorable.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Mike's Valentine's Day List

In lieu of Valentine's Day, it was a goal of mine to write Mike a list of 100 things that I love about him. Creating such a list like this is a sure proof way to make certain that even the little things are appreciated and remembered. Mike is an easy guy to adore and I wish for him to always know how much I value him. So this list is my way of reflecting on just some of the many things that I treasure in this amazing man.

So here are 90 of those things (the other ten are just for us).

1. He can always, no matter what the situation we are in, make me giggle. Like the time when Cayman was in the NICU and I was still in the hospital. Mike came out from the bathroom modeling a hospital gown. It cracked me up and then I forgave him for making me laugh when I was only a couple days post-surgery. :)

2. When he snuggles me close, he rubs my head.

3. He is almost thirty years old and still genuinely loves video games. I can clearly imagine him as an 80 year old man standing in line at midnight waiting for the latest NCAA football game to be released.

4. He winks at me. Even after 6 years of marriage that gesture still makes me weak at the knees.

5. I love listening to him pray aloud. He leads us in the best prayers, so genuine and heartfelt.

2002 in Cleveland.
Our first year dating.

6. His parents are two of his most favorite people.

7. The way his voice sounds when he is really excited about sharing something with me.

8. The way he cooks...boy, can he cook!

9. He tears up right along with me each time we watch the videos of our brand new baby Cayman. She is so lucky to have a dad that loves her so much.

10. He’s an excellent, safe driver and drives us everywhere we go.

11. He sings to Cayman his special songs he put his own lyrics to.

12. He is selfless, dedicating himself with hard work to take care of our family.

13. His dimples.

14. The way he hugs and snuggles Cayman and looks adoringly at her. It makes me melt. There is nothing I find more attractive about my husband than when he is being daddy.

15. He is wise and accepting. When I am afraid or broken, I look to him. When I was an emotional wreck over Cayman's diagnosis, he was a strong post for me to lean on and I never felt judged by him as I processed and worked through our grief.

16. I love how particularly attached he is to very specific pillows.

17. He speaks so tenderly to our little Cayman.

18. He's really good at creating new lyrics to an already existing tune.

19. He’s extremely intelligent. I think he is a techno-genius. To me, he speaks in a foreign language about computers and things. I can't understand it. But he will patiently teach me about html and other computer savvy stuff so I can carry out my creative touches.

20. He can get Cayman to giggle every time by playfully eating her baby rib meat.

2003 Chicago.
The summer we got engaged.

21. He is a practical spender. We have so many neat things because he knows how to be patient and diligently seek out a deal.

22. He also knows how to splurge appropriately.

23. He has beautiful eyes. I don't think it's fair that he has those long eyelashes but they sure do make him dreamy to look at.

24. He's not much of a dog person but he still takes me to the pet store just so I can hold and dote on all the cute little puppies because he knows I like it.

25. He dances with me...and now with Cayman too.

26. He enjoys reading a book with me, even though it's not particularly his favorite thing, but he makes it enjoyable because I like it.

27. He is loyal. I never have to wonder.

28. He puts up with all my blogging and actually loves me for it.

29. His trustworthiness. I trust him with my life and Cayman's.

30. He is a fantastic grocery shopper and I rarely have to run that errand because he enjoys doing it.

31. He’s excited when I buy something for myself because it makes me happy.

32. I love how he cannot get into an unmade bed anymore after my consistent bed making routine. It has transformed his view into one that realizes how a made bed is way more comfortable to sleep in than an unmade one with the covers all crooked and bunched up.

33. He helps around the house and sometimes I don't even have to ask first.

2003 Gingerbread House.

34. He honors me by not watching raunchy TV shows or movies.

35. I love the little things he does to make my life easier, such as the time he secretly slipped a note in the sleeve of my coat for me to find the next morning, reminding me to grab Cayman's records that I needed for an appointment I was taking her to. He had seen the note I made on the calendar but took extra measure to make sure I would not forget them because he knows how it bothers me when I feel unorganized.

2003 at a freezing cold Buckeye Football game.

36. He’s a homebody just like me.

37. He retucks me in bed every morning before he leaves for work.

38. I love that he can't sleep well without me.

39. He is very socially adept, and the shy person I am, is always proud (and grateful) to have him around in social situations.

2004 Spring. We were married.

40. He tells me I'm beautiful whether I have make up on or not, it makes no difference in the way he sees me.

41. He encourages me with all of the projects I take on (cooking, decorating, photography, Internet, etc.).

42. I love how attached to each other we are and rarely go places without the other one.

43. He does little things to remind me how much I am loved by him...like opening my car door or loading a ring tone onto my phone that he knows will make me smile.

44. I love that he is not intimidated by confrontation.

2004

45. He won’t relax if there’s anything wrong between us.

46. He lets me pick the movie or TV show we’ll watch.

47. He keeps in touch with me throughout the day.

48. He seeks to understand, even in the times when he doesn't and I feel frustrated by that, I do still see how much he cares for me.

49. He can fall asleep in 5 seconds no matter where he is.

50. He dishes me out the best bites from the ice cream carton, you know, the ones with all the yummy chunks.

51. He is decisive and can quickly make decisions if needed.

52. His strong, defined calves.

53. He carries my shopping bags.

2004 Summer.

54. He supports the right team. Go Bucks!

55. He holds my hand when we're in public.

56. He likes my legs even though they will never be shapely, toned, and pretty by any world's standard.

57. He doesn’t give compliments that he doesn’t mean, which makes them all the more valuable.

58. He always kisses me twice before bed since he did the math on how many extra kisses he would obtain over a lifetime by adding one extra kiss before we shut our eyes.

2006 at a Buckeye Football game.

59. He will ask for directions if he needs them, although he has a great sense of direction and rarely does.

60. He’s ticklish.

61. He’s very logical.

62. He protects me in countless different ways.

63. On occasions he talks in his sleep – it’s infinitely amusing!

64. He’s a hands-on father. The first time I saw this was when Cayman was just 2 days old. She had surgery the day prior and seemed so tiny and so fragile laying in her little incubator bed in the NICU. The nurse came over to change Cayman's diaper and Mike asked if he could do it. That was the first diaper Mike ever changed. I was amazed by that. By typical reputation, men run for the hills when it's diaper changing time. But even in a situation that was as intimidating as a medically fragile baby recovering from abdominal surgery and on a respirator, he was ready to take care of his little girl. And he was so perfectly gentle too.

65. He's not afraid to try new things and encourages me to as well. (I would like to take this moment to thank him for introducing me to sushi.)

66. He never says anything negative about me to other people. He always praises me.

67. Taking family vacations are high priority to him.

2006. On the field of the Horseshoe.

68. His fetish for hats and watches.

69. He's always working and willing to improve on the things that he's not good at that bugs me, like his selective listening.

70. He always helps me when climbing down from gym bleachers or stairs without railings because he knows it's one of the things that is very difficult for me do because of my injuries.

71. He pushes me out of my comfort zone when I won’t do it for myself.

72. He’s sensitive without sacrificing his masculinity.

2007 Venice Beach, California.

73. He knew he was going to marry me even before we were officially dating.

74. He is proud to be married, and doesn’t miss single life at all.

75. He always comes to me first with any thoughts, fears, happiness, struggles, good news, etc.

76. Just having him home makes any day perfect.

2007 in L.A. eating at In and Out Burger.

77. He and I grow together. We become stronger in our marriage with each year and I can’t picture the rest of my life without him!

78. He never gets upset if I don't have lunch or supper made. On the contrary, when he gets home and sees nothing is made he'll just jump right in and start cooking.

79. He can throw together the most delicious meals without ever planning them out first. He creates as he goes.

80. He has adapted to my great ability to communicate well at night even though he's really tired and naturally prefers to go to bed early.

81. He brings me little treats or gifts that he knows I’ll like.

82. He can name my favorite flower.

2007 Beverly Hills.
Meeting Wolf Gang Puck at his famous restaurant Spago.

83. He makes sure our vehicles are in good shape before we go on a road trip.

84. He always so bravely kills the spiders in our house and never makes fun of me for my ridiculous and excessively blown-out of proportion phobia of them.

85. He doesn't stress easily.

86. He forgives me over and over when I do something wrong.

87. I love knowing that if I died today, I will see him again in Heaven. He's knows Christ as his Savior.

88. His warm body, especially because I'm always cold!

89. He is my best friend and that is not a cliche line...it is the truth.

90. I love him for being my husband. I am truly, madly, deeply in love with him and all that he brings to our marriage. I am so honored to be called "Mike's wife."

2008 We became parents.

A Booster Seat

This was from about a month ago, but it is so absolutely adorable, it has to be included in Cayman's very detailed baby book blog I've got going on here.

It's pictures of Cayman's first time sitting in a booster seat at the restaurant Applebee's.

1-17-10

Keepers

Even when blurry, there are just some pictures that will never be worthy of the Recycle Bin.

Rough Night?

Cayman's morning hair.

Accentuated by a silly face.

Or is it the other way around?

Rockin' on Hands and Knees

Rocking on her hands and knees is a move that Cayman's physical therapist showed her many months back. It teaches Cayman how to shift her weight between her hands and knees, balancing and supporting herself in a crawling stance, which is an important step for Cayman to learn in the ability to crawl.

We have continued to do this exercise with her at home but usually with lots of resistance from Cayman's end of it. Until recently when she propped herself up on her hands and knees all by herself and began to rock with no help.



It's got me thinking, perhaps Cayman will crawl someday instead of just rolling everywhere.

She is a pretty cute roller though.

The Morning Mommy Slept In and Daddy was in Charge

Saturday morning, I awoke to find Mike and Cayman in the kitchen. They had been up for hours already.

After an exhausting week of broken up sleep for me by a terribly sad and crying Cayman every single night, I was in much need of some extra REM's. So my dear husband got up with Cayman on Saturday and let me sleep in.

A big gold star for him.

Actually make that two gold stars because when I finally did wake up, I came out to find Mike cleaning the kitchen.

With such a big chivalrous start to his day on making my day easier, I was feeling quite rested and well loved that I didn't even mind when I found little Cayman ending her breakfast with a very blue, a very sticky, and a very sugary sucker that Daddy gave her.

Mike needed something to keep the crabby Cayman occupied and happy while he tidied up the kitchen. Turns out, she loves suckers!