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!

Date Night

Lucky for me, not only is Gary cute but fun to hang out with. Bonus huh?! He took me on a date night a while back without me having to plan one bit of it. We both agreed we should does these more often. It's fun to be on both ends of this-either 'surprising' the other one with the plans or being surprised, and just getting that one on one time together is so refreshing.

This night we went to Avivo, and he booked the whole restuarant for us!!! Okay, not true, but we were the only ones in there. (Benefits to going out to a non-sports bar while a huge football game is on)

Since there wasn't a wait with dinner we had some time to kill, so why not go to Orange Leaf? Gary had never been, and I hadn't been in a few years-it was yummy. They really should invest in smaller cups, it's way too easy to get more than you need...but man is it good.

Afterwards, we went to see the new Hunger Games. Finally. It was so good. It's always hard coming off reading a book then watching the movie because, as always, they can't fit everything into the movies-but it was still good. I am anxious to see the last two movies and sad that that adventure will be coming to a close.

 

This scarf is MIA. This is the last time I remember wearing it. It's one of my favorites that a friend gave me and now I cannot find it anywhere. If you know it's wearabouts please tell it to come home. I miss it, and I'm sure the feelings are mutual.

 

Gary and I have taken up reading together ever since we got married. We started with some owl book series, but eventually stopped mid-way. Picked up the Percy Jackson series, and that was good-the movie for it on the other hand was bad-but the books were entertaining. And since then we've been slowly working our way through the Hunger Games.

We go in and out of 'phases' of things to do between puzzling, reading, Netflix, video games, last summer/fall we spent a good amount of time outside with the chiminea-hoping that can happen again. I got Gary the LOTR lego video game for Christmas and it may have been the best lego video game yet. Did I just say that out loud?...but for real-good stuff, so we had been playing a lot of that-but that can only get you so far entertainment wise..especially when you are the best lego players out there..ha! But now with our Hunger Games books coming to an end and dominating the LOTR game we're going to have to find some new things to do. Hopefully the weather will just decide to be nicer so we can have more options.

Well, here's to you boo. Thank you for a wonderful date nigh-for being such a fun, loving and loyal husband. You are the best ever-can't wait to grow old with you. Love you so much. xoxo

Dear Booger,

 (This is an update/note to my babe so brace yourself. And son, I ramble. I know it, and it's not changing anytime soon so just sit tight lovebug and try to keep up.)

It's been odd not doing the monthly updates for Caden like I had for the first 12 months. He's constantly surprising us with how quick and how much he is learning and picking up new things. He's a chatter box, of course not all he says is comprehensible but he already has a wide vocabulary and is constantly trying to say new things. He's got the basics down-mommy, daddy, doggie, sissy (for MJ), no, mine (whoops), more, please...it goes on...all with a hint of a squeaky, adorable little baby voice. He's starting to mimic our counting, when he says 'love you' it only comes out as 'love me' (pretty one sided and selfish if you ask me, Mr. Caden) and with all this when he repeats he also repeats our tone. Maybe I'm biased, but it's just stinking adorable.
 

Along with finding his voice, he's found his will power. He knows what he wants, when he wants it and he is determined to say the least. That's a good thing, right?! To know what you want in life...only problem is when you're 17 months old and unfortunately for you, you just can't get/do everything you want. Boundaries are a good thing, someday when he's older he'll see the bigger picture but for now it's just time to test away. Besides what I'm going to consider a normal amount of fits-every parents right of passage?-he's easy going and has a great sense of humor. It's ridiculous how he is all little boy now. Within a blink of the eye he is total toddler. Lucky for me, Caden is still a lovable boy and gives me the cuddles my mommy heart desires.

Look at this cuteness. A gal at work gave me two big scraps of paper so we got them out and made them our new coloring pages. Coloring doesn't hold his attention as long as it did at first, but it's still something to do and for some reason, mainly that he's supposed to be swaddled and entirely fit within my arms still, I just can't get over how adorable he is to me while he colors.

The transformation, and the speed of it at that, from baby to boy makes my mommy heart want to curl up in a little ball and cry. Okay-maybe not that drastic, but close. Example-there's a song out there that I don't even know if I've actually heard, but KLOVE had a quick bit on it saying this artist on the surface wrote about her son, but deeper it's also about God. They went on to play some of the lyrics which were along the lines of no matter how I may disappoint you, you still love me. And the host spoke about how no matter how we may disappoint or let him down, he still stands there with open arms and loves us.

I instantly felt a tug at my heart and tears in my eyes. Yes-this is always an awesome message spiritually, but as a parent it also hits so deep. It's hard to not feel like you've doing something wrong almost daily as a parent. It's an amazing, fun road to navigate-but it's not a soft and smooth path and there's very little, if any, signs along the way. There's the books and friendly advice to help-but you can't foresee the mood your little one will be in, the random change in appetite, a fever or teething coming your way, an arch-your-back fit that can take up the little 20-30 minutes you have together in the morning or even the short 2 hours you get after work before bed time. You can't foresee the headache that comes on at work and doesn't go away yet it's the first time in five days your son is not irritable, full of fits and uncomfortable with teething pain or fever so over my dead body will I take a time-out from that limited evening window we get. (amen for excedrin)

Yet no matter what happens, no matter if I lose my patience too easily, give more of my attention to my phone than to him-no matter how I may fail, in his eyes or mine, he is still there. Still wants to play, to laugh, to cuddle and share his love with me. There will be one day where I will be chasing after him for that time. I think as parents we are overly hard on ourselves sometimes-how easy it is to be when the task of raising a child is so big and has so many different aspects to it that I couldn't even fathom. Luckily for us, as we are learning and making mistakes they are easy to forgive and love....at least while he's this young. Even more lucky for us God is no matter the age, time, or mistake.

Caden-I hope to grow old with your father, to be able to see all that you and future babies accomplish in your lives, to know your spouse and kids-but if for some reason Gods plan differs from mine (heaven forbid) this is one of many things I want to you to know. Caden, your father and I constantly pray for guidance in our parenting. We pray for help in knowing how to help you learn in the best way that works for you. We pray that we show the love, mercy, peace and kindness that is from God to you and to others that you may reflect that as well and show those attributes and share Gods love to the world. If it's in God's plan for you to have children of your own remember to turn to him for guidance. To not know God's plan may at times be one of the hardest things to accept, but have faith, have patience and lean not on your own understanding.

You are an amazing boy. I have high hopes for you. Whatever you grow up to be, put forth your best effort but also be okay with failure. You are not perfect, no one is, and that's the beauty of life. Do not put yourself above others, be humble and do not lose sight of God or the blessings that he gives you. Be quick to forgive and move on. There will be triumphs and losses-wear both well. Be open to learning, be open to making mistakes and growing from those. Challenge yourself, don't let yourself conform to this world but push yourself to stand out.

As I type this to you I feel like a hypocrite. It's easy to wish and hope so big for you but allow myself to fall short-so, in that-thank you for helping make us feel driven to be better people in parenting, for our marriage, friendships and personally. Okay, kiddo. I think you've gotten enough mommy rant to fill you for a while. My dream is that I will be able to coax you with lots of candy, or whatever gets your attention, and talk your head off personally.

New rule, for each month of pregnancy you get 5 hours to talk your head off-and in the last 3 that doubles. Yep, I like that new rule, and as a goal I hope to overly exceed this as well. Lucky, lucky you.

You have brought us so much joy, you have made us strong in so many ways-we are excited for all the adventures to come. We love you, Caden.

New Year thus far...

We had a great NYE this year. Spent our evening at my sisters house with her family and my parents. The kids played, and played, and played some more! We played their dance game on the x-box and Caden showed his true skills by continuing to dance and dance behind anyone playing. He loves a good beat and recently has picked up some sweet moves including a lot of 'happy feet' action. Kiddos went to bed, adults played a game shortly joined by Wesley who impressed us on-pretty sure he was better at the game than I was-some NYE cheers and smooches and back to home we went. Party animals-I know. Love a night in with great people, make them your awesome family...even better!

Gary and I were able to go to an awesome event called Hope for Haiti. It was very moving and inspirational-always have that tug at my heart for missions and wanting to do more. We had a good time with friends and made the decision to sponsor an amazing young boy-hoping this is just the start of being able to help others and step outside our comfort zone to do so. Putting your trust in God is hard, and selfishly it seems even harder when it comes to how to use our own finances. I'm always focused on just trying to work hard and overpay on debt so we can be free of those annoying imaginary chains they seem to have on us-yet I so often forget the bigger picture and how we are blessed to have any and all financial income that we do have. That God is the one who has provided that for us and that it's not for us to dwell in, or worry about for that matter-need to check and re-check myself on that and let go of any fears that may come with giving our money be it tithing, sponsoring, etc...anywho...back to showing off my cute date.

After this fun evening started a domino effect of odd sickness in our household-abdominal pains, followed by a cold that turned into pneumonia. Really? Annoying-but so glad the doctors finally found something and those antibiotics kicked that crud fever to the curb after a few days (a few days too many, but take what you can get). We're all getting back to normal. Poor Caden is breaking so many molars in at once he is NOT having it. Can't blame him...but having an irritable toddler on your hands is not totally a bundle of fun. Good thing they make children's pain meds, yummy ice-cream to sooth those gums and thank goodness for kids Netflix. Lots of Thomas the Train and other goodies going on in this house right now.


Onto bigger and better for 2014....I think we're ready for it!