Caden's 2nd Birthday!

It's hard to believe that we have a 2 year old in the house now. Jacob and I kept remembering how I was in the hospital two years ago after Christmas. So much has happened since then and now we're going to be adding to our family come April. Monday night we had a family birthday party for Caden. He loved seeing all of his cousins, aunts & uncles and of course his grandparents and GG. I made Tastee's for supper, which was delicious! Then of course cake and ice cream to follow later.  Caden was so excited to open his presents, he didn't really care what was inside it was the fact of ripping the paper and tossing out tissue paper from sacks. He got some great gifts! Clothes, a dump truck, some puzzles & a puzzle box to put them in, a horsey and some dishes for his kitchen and so on.

After presents it was cake time! I made a vanilla/chocolate swirl cake and decorated it by putting his two favorite things on it, his little puppy or "pup-pup" as he calls it and a picture of a box of apple juice.

What a fun party it was for Caden and for us. I think everyone had a good time! : )

The Christmas Spirit is around us.

Last night I made chicken enchilladas for supper, but all afternoon all I could think about was El Sitio's chips and salsa, so when Caden woke from nap we left to go pick some up. When we got there, the guy said don't worry about paying, it's on me. I said what? He said that he was having such a good day that he would like to treat us to them. Wow, yay! We said plenty of thank-you's and left. I couldn't wait to devour them. And they were delicious with our supper.
Moving on to this morning, Caden and I went to get donuts and our favorite place, Conroy's Bakery. I got 2 twists and 2 cinnamon rolls and went to pay and realized I left my cash in the car, I told the guy that I would be right back to go get it and he said don't worry about it and Merry Christmas. Really? It's just in the car. He said, how about you just come back next week and get some more donuts. I told him I think that we could do that. What a great two days it has been. It's made me think more and more about what Christmas is truly about and all the blessings that God has given us.

Like our Mr. Man here and the Baby Boy that growing inside me.

Our Wonderful Family.

Window clings

Last week we got out some window clings and put them up. Everyday since then they have been rearranged, taken down, moved and put back up again. What great entertainment the snowflakes and snowmen have brought us.

Decisions, decisions for supper.....

Lately it's been so hard for me to think of what to make for supper. Nothing seems to sound good to me. I've looked through my cookbooks and online recipes and nothing seems to capture my attention. I usually ask Jacob what sounds good for supper and usually end up just making something and just eating it. I think the main problem is that i'm not hungry until an exact moment. I know that it's got to be that i'm preggers, but I was never this way before. It really just started within the last 2 weeks. Hopefully this phase will end soon and I'm sure Jacob is wishing this too, because there has been a couple times that he has come home and has had to make him and Caden supper because I haven't made up my mind on what to make. For lunch I've been making Caden something and then later on eventually making me something to eat. Ahh....here's to praying that I'll get back to normal soon! : )

Last year at this time....

It's hard to believe that this will be Cade's 2nd Thanksgiving. Time is just going by so fast. I don't quite see how big he is until I look back at pictures. This was last years thanksgiving celebration down and Jacob's parents house. It might of been a week before, but we were still celebrating Thanksgiving. I remember Caden loved playing with the leaves and kept wanting to crawl off the blanket, onto the damp slimy ground. I should have known then that my little boy would become a digger of dirt and really of all things. : ) So this was then....
   
                           
and here is now...Can you see the difference? Brings back memories of what he was like then huh.

We are looking forward to this years thanksgiving and creating more memories. Seeing him at the table as a big boy and not a baby is going to be so much fun. He is going to love being able to play with all of his cousins. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Just gettin' the sillies out!

Caden being Caden. Just getting those sillies out. : )

Halloween Pics!

What a fun Halloween we had, Caden got to spend the day with his cousins and as well as being able to go trick or treating with one of them. He loved his frog costume and still does, everytime he sees it he wants to put it on. : )

He couldn't wait to get out the door!

It took him a couple houses to realize that they give you candy and that you don't have to give them yours. What can you say, he likes to share.

Trying to keep the candy in his bag. He didn't really have that much, he just only wanted to hold one of the handles of his bag, so it kept tipping and falling out.

Caden got to have a taste of his first sucker, it was a chocolate tootsie pop. Mmm.

All the cousins together, showing off their costumes.

It's Pumpkin Patch Time!

Wednesday morning we headed to Sunwest Farms to pick out a few pumpkins. They have a little store there that is too cute and filled with neat things. But our mission from Caden was clear, Pumpkins!! And of course a hayrack ride. : ) This was the perfect place to take Caden to get his pumpkins, they are totally geared for smaller children and so friendly.

We first went on the hayrack ride, in which he loved, especially sinced it was being pulled by a tractor. Then it stopped for a little bit for us to pick out the pumpkins that we wanted and then we hopped back on. After we bought the pumpkins we walked back out to the field and walked to the multiple piles of pumpkins and had fun peeking through the little cut out signs that they had. 

As we walked around the store and barn, we saw that they had ducks, so of course we went and said hi. There little town was called quackerville. ; ) What fun we had. Caden loved every minute of it and Jacob and I had such a great time seeing him have fun and just being silly and free to run around. What great memories we made from this day.

Fun times at the playground.

We love this little neighborhood park, it's the perfect size for Caden. It helps give him confidence and the safety that he needs in a play structure. We are so excited to have a playground just down the street, it's getting built very slowly, but there is progress every week. : ) I just hope that we'll be able to use it before winter!

Climbing up the stairs.

Oh slides, how we love going down slides!

And then there's the sand, how he loves to dig in the sand, he tries to use the diggers, but isn't quite old enough nor tall enough to use them. That's alright though, who needs those when you've got your hands?

Growing up way too fast!

So this little man isn't so little anymore. 20 months old already, he's almost 2! Man how time has flown. He's been saying new words left and right and trying to attempt to say new words. Like if we say, "can you say ..."   He'll try and say it. What a fast learner he has become. He has also been starting to notice things that are the same, such as he noticed the other day that he had jeans on and I did too. I had socks on and he did too, and as of yesterday he figured out that the neighbors had a mailbox like we had a mailbox, then he saw mailboxes across the street and further down our road and kept pointing to them, and then to ours.  It's been so much fun watching him learn these things.  What a big boy he has become. : )

What a bummer!

So today I was having a good friend over for lunch, so I decided to make a pot of chili and some cinnamon rolls. I got everything set out and ready to go, so that when she got here it would be ready to go. She only had an hour break. Caden had already ate and I was patiently waiting but Soo... starving and trying not to snitch bites. : ) My friend showed up only to have already ate! Ugh! I kept thinking, I could have already ate and why did I work so hard on lunch?  I know it's not a big deal, but I feel bummed, because I made a nice lunch for her knowing that she doesn't always eat good meals, and then she didn't eat it. : (  Looking now at it as a positive aspect, at least I don't have to make supper tonight and we have yummy homemade cinnamon rolls to go with it!

The future beach lover

Oh the beach, how this little man fell in love with the ocean. I can just see him being a beach bum when he is older. The love of the waves and the sand that is endless.

Oh the love of sand he developed, and then when he discovered the water that came up after he dug. He was so happy and kept saying water or "Wawer" as he would say.

Photo shots of Caden : )

Helping mommy make breakfast.

What you don't see is Max, the cat. Caden was laughing at him. He had fun watching Max run around the house.

Helping me water the flowers and plants at the Lucas's. He loved this little arch with the seats. He mainly hung out here while I walked around and watered.

Walking in Daddy's shoes

Caden has fun with shoes as you can see, but especially Daddy's sandals. He was so clumsy walking in them. It was so cute and funny.

Swimming in the summer

As most of you know we have a little water boy, he loves anything to do with water. Today we happened to stop at a garage sale and found the coolest little swimming pool. It's in a oval shape and it has a little palm tree and a slide. Part of it also has a little sprinkler that sprays up. I can't wait to fill it up and see Caden play in it. We have been so lucky this year with finding things at garage sales, it's been great. Here is what the pool looks like:

I would have loved to have this growing up! It's like a mini waterpark!

Plum Jam

So early this summer we found out that we had a plum tree in our back yard and they are finally ripe and ready to pick. For the past week I've been going out with a big bowl and picking plums. At first it seemed that we didn't have that many, but the more I picked it I realized that wow, our little tree is really loaded. Good thing we like plums! : ) Yesterday I made some cinnamon plum jam, 11 jars to be exact. I was starting to worry that it didn't turn out, because it wasn't setting, but today they look alright. The jam is looking like jam, more solid, rather than liquidy. I still have so many plums left that I think I'll make some plum applesauce next. Our garden is continuing to grow. I haven't been able to pick anything yet, but it won't be long!

Oh the swimming pool!

Caden loves, loves, loves water. His eyes lit up when we filled his little pool. He couldn't wait to play in it, he didn't care that it was cold, he just said Brr... He really got to play with it the next day when it was warmer, which is when we took these. 

Looks like we have a fun summer ahead of us.

I'm still here.

I know it's been forever since I've posted something or anything in that matter! I've just been caught up in having fun with my little man. We've been going on walks in the morning since it's cooler and playing outside. Caden's been a helping me water my garden and flowers in the morning as well. He likes to move the hose around and put his hand in the spraying water. This kiddo loves his water!! Bath, pool, or hose, it doesn't matter as long as it's wet. We have yet to get his elmo sprinkler out, but he has been in his little pool splashing away. I'll post pics of this later. We have also been taking trips to the library, they tend to be shorter trips, because Caden wants to get out of the stroller and check things out. But I know the minute he gets out, there is no hope in getting him back in. Happily anyways. So we'll wait a bit for storytimes, it won't be long till he's ready to be a little more still. I hope. He is such a busy little boy, go, go, go, is all he does. He plays so hard and constant. We went to Jacob's softball game last night and the head umpire was having fun watching Caden go everywhere, he couldn't believe how busy he was doing this and that. He gave me Kudos for keeping up with him. It was such a nice complement for him to say, it made me feel good. There are times when I get so tired of chasing him around and this was one of those nights. Caden doesn't get into trouble, he just walks everywhere and points to everything saying "uh, uh". He's so curious, I love that he's learning and loves to explore. Oh what a team we could be if I had his energy too!

Playing Outside

So this is Caden having fun with this baseball cap and sunglasses.

And this is what happens when I tell him we're going outside! : ) He gets so excited and dances his feet!

Caden's favorite thing to do right now is ride in his car, it's the first thing he gets out. He will play with other things like his little red car or lawn mower, but he always goes back to the wheely car. It doesn't matter to him that he has only figured out how to go backward, or that the horn doesn't work. It's the fact of sitting in it and checking things out from a different view. Thanks Grandma for letting us use the car here, it's definetly getting it's use. He loves it, Especially on beautiful warm days like yesterday!!