Happenings

Here's what's been happening around our household...

 

 Caden was so helpful in putting together his new swing set. Little handy man, handing us pieces of wood when we 'needed' them, helping set the boards down...luckily, both grandparents helped in occupying Caden so we could get some good time in on finishing this fun addition. And he is loving it. He loves slides and loves to swing-it's been fun to see him play on it. Now, just need to add some cousins out there to run around with him!

 

 
 

And look. Bonus for me for being such an awesome carpenter! Yummies...

 

Cute little cousins sharing a chair at Bethany's dance recital. She was adorable and Caden did great hanging out through it all. (he may have taken a short cat nap in the middle..)

 

Zoo time with friends. Caysen and Caden are less than a week apart and it's so fun to see them interact. This is the whole 'learning to share/play nice' stage, so why not learn along side someone else in the same boat?! Love these two boys!

 

Caden and daddy time. He's such a mooch. Always getting bites from us when we are eating something. Love these two. Gary's a great dad-it's so cute and fun to see these two together.

 

 

This poor guy got an ear infection and both eyes infected this week. Oral and eye drop antibiotics...and the eye drop once are not cool, people. Not cool at all. The first picture just cracked me up. He stood there like that for so long...too funny. I know he's a boy, and it's typical stuff, but man, sometimes I just can't help but think he is ALL boy. and I love it.

 

So glad he's getting better, back to his old self AND just in time for the weekend! Yahoo! Family time this weekend for Mother's Day and a bonus of my dad cooking wings---cannot wait!! Enjoy the weekend all! Happy Mother's Day to all you moms out there!

 

xoxo

 
 

My Boys

I had all good intentions of making this post a little over a month ago...but staying true to my recent catch phrase...'you can't win 'em all.' So, let em show off the cute men in my life.

 

This year for Gary's birthday we celebrated with a small group of close friends. Two close friends have birthdays just a week after Gary, so we made it a celebration for all the boys! We had a cookout at our house, watched some WSU basketball and then showed Wichita what legit bowlers look like....that last one may be a stretch. Good times had by all!!

And now for some bonus cuteness.

This is sometimes the reaction I get when I ask for him to 'say cheese!'

 

 

'Uncle' Drew, one of Gary's best friends, playing trucks with Caden. Caden is all boy. Trucks, trains, dirt, climbing, crashing...all the typical boy things are coming out more and more as he plays and it's so cute to watch and see his imagination go.

 

 This is 'box head'. We sing 'box head, box head!' to a silly tune when he puts it on, he waves and says 'bye!' and wears it around. It's silly but harmless so whatever...

 The first of the following was a fake fit. He 'styled' his hair with yogurt and didn't want to say cheese to show it off so he bustd out the whine, closed eyes and pouty lip. Don't let this fool you. He's quick to pull this sad face and then off and running the next minute. Crazy boy.

Easter

Let's see, how can we sum up our Easter weekend... 

A visit tot he Easter Bunny. Caden wasn't impressed. He wouldn't sit on his lap, so I had to quickly squat down next to the bunny while the zoo lady took our picture. We got some good time in at the zoo afterwards which was really nice. A simple slow paced zoo trip hitting up the monkeys and petting area trumped the scary bunny.

 

After the zoo we met up with my family at my sisters for some lunch and egg dying. Caden was 100% more interested in eating chips and dancing to the happy song than dying eggs. Great time as always with these folks. Caden's getting to the age where he can hold his own with his cousins more-so cool to see and watch them playing together.

 

Sunday morning after waking Caden up we got him to hunt down his basket. He was a bit hesitant/confused at what we were trying to get him to do, but once he saw Curious George, Elmo and Mickey Mouse goodies it was fair game. He even sported an entire page of stickers on his shirt later that day after church!

Speaking of church...this is the first time Caden has gone with us to service since he was a baby. The minute we got him out of the car he rested his head on my shoulder. All the way in and while we were waiting to check him in he just laid there. My heart couldn't bear making my tired boy go into playtime when he wanted snuggles...so, he went to church with us and fell asleep right after praise and worship. I got awesome cuddles, he got a nap in, it was a win/win....right? Not totally..the cuddles were a win/win--the short nap compared to his 'typical' 2-3 hour one after lunch didn't play out to well later on, but oh well.

And just now realizing we didn't get any pictures of our Easter egg hunt and dinner with the in-laws. But, of course, yummy food and good times were had. Overall-a great weekend with family and an always needed reminder and praise of the sacrifice that Jesus made for us. So easy to get caught up in the Easter traditions and forget that this is to celebrate Jesus rising from the grave.

It's overwhelming to think about all that having one son. To let him die for others-especially when so many of those people wouldn't even care, and those that do would still slip up SO much...yikes. Hurts my heart-but I think it's a good check-up and need to continue to have those. So, let me change what I said before....overall-Thank.You.God.

Little Road Trip

About a month ago we went on our first adventure as a family. Kind of crazy that we waited this long, but it's just how it played out. We talked about getting away on our next three day weekend and before we knew it we had a three day weekend ahead of us, so with some last minute planning, we were off to a short trip to Kansas City.

We left Sunday morning and arrived for our first stop to Gary's aunt and uncles house to have brunch with them, Gary's two cousins and their two little boys that we had yet to meet. It was a good time, always good to catch up to them and it was great to be able to meet the second cousins! Caden got a good nap in at their house and shortly after we were off to the aquarium. It was so fun to see Caden's excitement throughout the aquarium. He was so excited to see all the fish-kept yelling 'ish!!!' and squealing in excitement. Once we hit an area that had some stairs going over to look a tank we were instantly stuck for quite a while. This boy and stairs-he loves them. I'm guessing if we would have some in our house, it wouldn't but such an infatuation. But we don't, so it is.

I was stuck on the idea that we need to go to the TRex Cafe. There's a cute little restaurant near the aquarium that we were told about, and should have just gone to-it has trains that deliver your food-but I had the image of the cool TRex Cafe and Caden in his stage of 'rawring' if we ask him if he's a dinosaur being a win---well, it wasn't. It was another drive to get there, which he did fine on the drive--MAJOR props to my sister lending us her portable dvd player. That thing was a lifesaver in the car--but once we were there he was already over it. He liked seeing the big TRex, liked the other stuff but was over it before it begun. Over-priced, cruddy food with an irritable toddler doesn't really mix. Oh well, you have to live and learn, right?! Dang it.

Caden also chose this weekend to break through some more bottom molars. Felt bad for the poor guy, Tylenol/Advil helped some but he just wasn't himself and was more irritable all around--so that was a little hiccup amongst it all.

After the aquarium and TRex fail we made our way back to Gary's cousins house and stayed the night there. It was great getting to hang out with their adorable little guy more and get to talk with them. We were able to have a simple morning and not be too rushed before heading to the zoo and lunch with two of my aunts, cousins and second cousins before heading back.

It was a successful trip. Tiring at some points, it's a whole new world traveling with a kiddo, but it was good to get away and go and fun to do some different things with Caden. Glad we finally did it and got one under our belt!

Here, There, Everywhere

Man, I guess we've been busy. Looking back at pictures to put in here and share made me realize how much we've done recently! The weather is looking like it will really start to warm up and we cannot wait! Chiminea, zoo, outside playtime--we are ready!

So what's been our recent adventures...we went out with my parents, sister and her husband for a group date night. Cheddars and bowling--and ridiculous looking bowling shoes. Gary kept showing off and bowling strikes, Ben and dad did well, and us girls just tried to stay away from the gutters that magically sucked our balls in more often than not. It was fun, always a good time with family!

 funky shoes galore

 This guys smiling because he's handing out strikes--we, on the other hand, are stressed due to gutter balls.

The night after we had our family fun we celebrated my best friends birthday! She's the best. We always wish we could get more time in together, but that's easier said than done now with having kiddos. Luckily for us each time we get to meet up it's always a blast! Being able to be real and honest and laugh about lifes hiccups or vent about your stresses and then continue on with a great night...nothing better! We had some of our good friends come out that night, kind of as a 'surprise' to Katie, which is always fun. Love me some surprises! It was fun, such a great group of down-to-earth people. Loved it!

Look at this cuteness--working the pouty lip! My little nephew Alex is getting so big. He's crawling, climbing up their stairs-always on the go! I wish I could cuddle this little man, although I doubt he'd let me, but still. Missing the opportunity to see him personally, but so, so, so happy that we are able to keep connected so well via internet, phone, facetime, etc. He's adorable--love those big brown eyes.

Caden is a crazy man. He's so funny and then so determined/strong-willed all in one. He can be a hoot, but man if he wants something, yet can't have it--he'll be sure to let you know! He is completely and totally into Mickey Mouse and Thomas the Train. He says Thomas really well, and constantly asks 'I uhn icky' when we get in the car. That's what I get for playing him a youtube mickey in the car one time--it's come back to haunt me each morning. It's just him listening to the audio, he enjoys it and it gets his imagination going..right?! Just yesterday he continued to yell, not exaggerating, 'icky!! eh ur you?!' (mickey, where are you?!' throughout the toy isle in the store after he saw one Minnie Mouse toy. It was cute, and of course we left the store with some Mickey Mouse books. Dang it.

little man was laying over a swing on his belly playing and then crash-into the woodchips face first. all splotchy for a day and then luckily went away. all boy with his bumps and scratches.

 

 

He reminds me of my brother when he watched tv. He gets so close, SO close, and Jacob use to do that. He would position a pillow right under the tv and lay right there. It's cute, but we are constantly trying to get him to stop touching it and for goodness give his eyes a break and step back! He's been giving mommy some extra hugs and cuddles recently, which fills my mommy heart so much. It's been one of those weeks, as they happen often sometimes, where I just feel in a rut and continue to ask myself why I'm not the one raising him full time. I know why. I know our plans, and it's fine. He does great at daycare and our time together is that much more special, but still. Just hard.

Gary got strep this last week-it knocked him out pretty well. We both woke up with sore throats in and out, but we kept trucking. He went to the dr., got us both antibiotics and luckily mine didn't get as bad as his did. That slowed us down a bit, and luckily he's getting back to his old self and feeling much better now!

And last but not least, we went to Taste and See with a great group of friends. These two couples are awesome-we all get along really well. We're all different, but have good similarities and they are so real/down to earth that I feel like I can be honest in any area with them and always laugh at ourselves for being silly. Lots of good laughs, yummy food and a large baller bill to go with! ha, good thing their worth it. :) Now-the one thing is I am bad at peer pressure. It wasn't even much peer pressure just one or two 'try it!', so I did. Fig and Bacon martini. I would recommend to skip this one and go for the yummy pear one instead. I am already not a fan of figs, so not sure what I was thinking, and as I stated there...I like my bacon crispy and this was just a sad looking piece (had to remove it asap). Good to try new things--this one is definitely crossed off my list:)

unfortunately I can't get the cute group picture on here-but let me tell you, amongst a lot of laughter, we could not get a good picture of us girls to save our life. the cute orange sweater dress my sister was super kind enough to let me borrow was cute, but in pictures it made me look like a pumpkin-not cool!

 

That's all for now, folks. Enjoy the weekend!