Playtime!!

We have been having such a great summer with lots of time to play! I just thought I would share some of the pictures from the last month. My mom loves seeing cute pictures of Kaden on here (not Shane and I, just Kaden...haha), so I hope these are entertaining! :)

Do little boys get any cuter than this?!

At 10 1/2 months, Kaden is FINALLY teething!! He loves Otterpops on his poor, swollen gums.

This is Spot-Kaden's favorite toy. He got him as a baby shower gift (thanks Rosie!) and Spot is SO soft! Lately, Kaden literally won't leave his crib without his puppy. Spot has a mini tail and that is how Kaden carries him everywhere. It's dang cute!

Once again, Kaden getting into food he shouldn't! It's not his fault that by climbing on top of boxes and getting on his tippy toes, everything is so accessible! haha This is a pull-n-peel that he very much enjoyed and was very sticky afterwards. :)

Kaden hanging out with his girlfriend, Elizabeth. I love her different faces that she pulls and every time she saw my camera, this was the face she did. So cute!

This is Kaden's huge Tigger that Elizabeth claimed and let him know it when he would try to take over. That's my kinda girl! Here she is pushing him away (or trying to-she's so tiny!). :)

Blast from the past

I have hated school since the 1st grade. I am not exaggerating one bit when I say that I missed about 3/4 of my 3rd grade year due to "illness." I am a good little actress when needed and I was very good at acting sick. Why? I did NOT like my teacher. She was horrible! When my parents were cleaning out their home after their divorce a couple of years ago, my mom found my old report cards. I looked at my attendance from 3rd grade to 4th grade and was surprised at the difference a teacher makes. I am pretty sure I only missed 2 or 3 days tops in my fourth grade year. And those were the days I was deathly ill and my mom had to basically lock me in my room to keep from going. Miss Kathy Merrill was my fourth grade teacher. She is an amazing teacher and I was wowed by her from the start. My friend Olivia and I would even make up new words to Disney songs and sing them to her and her boyfriend, Clay, during recess. Looking back, it was embarrassing, but hey, I was only 8 years old. :) The point is, I was so impressed with Miss Merrill's teaching that when I heard a contest on the radio (write a one page essay on the teacher of the month for Utah) I knew I had to let the world know about her. I wrote in and totally forgot about it. One day Miss Merrill pulled me aside before recess and told me that she had won Teacher of the Month for Utah! I was surprised, but soooo happy. The state hosted a banquet dinner for the winners for the year and, since Clay was on a mission, Miss Merrill asked me to go with her. I was honored! For some reason, going that night didn't work out after all, but Miss Merrill made it up to me by taking me to the WSU duck pond where we ate delicious Tony's pizza (not the frozen kind, the real kind) and ice cream straight from the carton while the ducks "laughed" at us. Although Kathy is 16 years and one week older than me, we became fast friends. Over the past 15 years we have remained close friends. I was at her reception when she married Tyler "Tigger" Walker-a man so perfect for her, no one could have picked better. They now have two adorable girls, Tamison and Skyla, and live in Colorado. Tyler is a seminary principal there. We still try to get together at least once a year when they are in town to visit family. Kathy has become my big sister (people ask us all the time if we are sisters-we just say, "YES!"). Sound like a strange relationship? Maybe it is, but the look on peoples' faces is absolutely priceless when we tell them that Kathy was my 4th grade teacher! They were in town this last week so we were able to get together for some delicious Cafe Rio! Tamison loved entertaining Kaden and he loved laughing at her faces. :)

Skyla (in pink) and Tamison!
Tyler holding Kaden as he trys to eat Tamison's hair...lol
Kathy (Walker now, no more Merrill) with Skyla and the toothless Tamison!

Surprise!

Christmas is always my favorite time of year. I LOVE being able to give presents to everyone and the friendly spirit that comes with that time of year. Well, just in case I didn't love Christmastime enough already, we found out in May that we have even more of a reason to love Christmas Eve......that's my DUE DATE!!! AHHH!! Trust me, no one is as shocked by this news as I was. Having kids 15 months apart has been a bit of a scary thought, but my mom did it and survived so hopefully I follow in her footsteps with that. So, if any of you are interested, here is the story of how we found out: Early in May, I realized that I hadn't had any monthly womanly things happening for a while, but I just assumed that my body was still trying to get regular from having had Kaden. I didn't give it a second thought...until the first Sunday evening in May. I made taco soup for dinner and ate maybe 5 bites before saying I really didn't feel well. Shane said that it was probably something bad in the soup (although I am actually a pretty good cook and don't have spoiled ingredients in my recipes...plus Shane ate more than I did and he felt just fine...). Anyway, again, I didn't think anything of it. I woke up Monday feeling a little bit sick, but better than the night before. I just thought it was a sort of hangover from my Sunday sickness. But then ALL day Monday I was nauseous....I didn't throw up, but I wanted to. When Shane got home from work that night, I told him how sick I was. He, again, blamed it on the taco soup. You know what? I believed him!!! I think it was just major denial on my part. After spending all day Tuesday feeling really sick again, I called the all-knowing Kenzie and told her about how sick my taco soup had made me (haha). She asked me a few questions that you normally hear from your OB-GYN and then flipped out! It was actually quite funny. She told me to take a pregnancy test RIGHT AWAY. I said no, I would wait another week. She said that there is no point in that and I would need to start scheduling my doctor's appt. soon. Although I felt like she was jumping to conclusions, I went to Target and got a test. I waited to take it until Wednesday morning (morning pee is the best testing time....). I was so nervous that I woke up at 5:00 a.m. that Wednesday (May 7th) and took the test. When I came back to bed, I thought Shane was asleep, but when I lay down, he immediately said, "Did you take it?" I hesitatingly said, "Yes." He waited a minute, then said, "You're not saying it was negative." I said, "Nope." At which point I got up out of bed because I knew there was no way I could sleep now. He followed me into our living room and sat by me. He told me it would be just fine and everything would work out. It's not that I didn't want another kid, I just didn't think I was ready right then. Shane was very sweet about everything , though, and has really stepped up to the plate the last few months. I had my first appt. a couple of weeks later where I found out I was already 9 weeks along! I learned that with this second baby, as long as I ate every hour and a half, I wouldn't have any trouble with morning sickness! That was a huge blessing! So, now I am 18 weeks along and figured it was time to officially announce it on my blog. At my doctor's appt. last week, Kathy (my OB-GYN) said that she is 95% sure it is a girl!! We will be more sure at my next appointment in August. :) It has taken me about 2 months to get over the shock of it all, but I think I am finally to the point where I am not in denial and getting kind of excited about it. Especially where Kaden is growing up so fast now...cutting teeth (we think..?) and standing on his own and walking with support...I am losing my baby so it is comforting to know I will have another one soon enough. I am almost half way done! The 2nd kid goes by soooo much faster that the first one! :) Thanks to those of you who stuck with me through that whole big, fatty, long post! Here is a picture of me a couple of months ago. I have been avoiding the camera lately, but I will get a recent shot of my growing belly and post it soon. :)

New 'do

I got my hair cut yesterday by the fabulous Rosie! What do you think of it? Before
After
I notice that I tip my head to the side in pictures...I never noticed that I do that, but now it has me thinking why the heck would I do that all the time? Anyway, Kaden did NOT like the new haircut. When I got home afterwards, Kaden just stared at me for a couple of minutes and kept looking at Kelly like, "Who the heck is this? Please come save me!" Finally, he looked me straight in the eye and cuddled with my shoulder and started bawling! He sounded like someone just ran over his dog (if he had one...). It was the saddest thing I ever heard. He did that for about an hour afterwards....every time I looked at him he would burst into tears. I finally went and got some cinnamon twists from Taco Bell and let him try those. He forgave me after that and loves me again!!

Milestones

This past Sunday, July 13th, Kaden stood ALL by himself for at least 10 seconds!! We got a couple of videos of it, but by the time I grabbed the camera, he was tired of standing so he cries the whole time. We will get a video when he is happy and post it then. For now, just stare at the picture for about 10 seconds and then you will feel like you were there. :)

I know it looks like he is holding onto something that I photoshopped out, but trust me, he's not. I am not nearly that good with computers.
Catch me Daddy!!

Also on Sunday, Kelly (Colton) gave us some of her world famous homemade Oreo cookies. She gave us a smaller one for Kaden, although I told her that he can't have chocolate until he is one year old. So, I put it on the table to save for Shane and I until later. Well, Shane and I were watching some really funny videos on youtube when all of a sudden, we look at Kaden and see him covered in the Oreo cookie! He had managed to get it from the middle of the table and was VERY much enjoying himself. I figured the damage was done as far as the "no chocolate" rule, so I grabbed the camera! Shane spilled a glass of water in his haste to get the cookie away from Kaden so that is what Kaden is looking at. It was a really funny moment. :)

Lovin' summer!

July has been busy for us, but so much fun! My Aunt Karen (whom I haven't seen in many years) came to visit! Jessica, one of her two daughters, came as well and brought the adorable Sophia (Jessica's little 20 month old girl). They were only here a few days, but we got to see them every day! Sophia was so loving and wanted to hug and kiss Kaden all the time (he didn't mind at first, but then he would push her away-practicing for when he gets older, I guess...). It was so cute. This past weekend, we got to go to the aviary in Salt Lake with our good friends, the Hurtado's! That was enjoyable, although I don't know how much Kaden cared about the birds-he just likes watching people. :) Sunday we went to the Weber State fireworks with the Colton's (well, we tagged along with them and their friends) and, much to my surprise, Kaden LOVED the fireworks. I was worried he would freak out, but he enjoyed the light show and staying up WAY past his bedtime. :) Sorry about sooo many pictures...it's so hard to choose just one.

Aunt Karen, cousin Jessica, and little Sophia
Sophia hugging Kaden (one of the many times..)
At the aviary-Halle feeding the ducks while Kaden watches Halle and Jared.
Halle chasing down a goose to make sure it gets food, too.
We call Emily the bird whisperer Halle being brave and feeding the birds!
Shane and Kaden at the fireworks. We had so much fun! What a great summer so far!

Happy 4th of July!!

Kaden's first 4th of July was so much fun! We went to the parade in West Point (Shane's hometown) in the morning. I think Kaden liked the cars going by before it started more than anything...lol. Then we went to my mom's house, played games and ate a delicious dinner! We were going to go to the fireworks, but decided against it because Kaden was having a rough day already and we didn't want to push it. Saturday, we went to the Clearfield pool with some good friends of ours and had a blast. It is indoors and semi-heated, but Kaden still shivered and turned blue the entire time. He didn't care that he was so cold, he just wanted to play. Silly boy! Overall, it was a great 4th of July weekend! Kaden and Daddy waiting for the parade to start.
Kaden's 4th of July outfit!
He was trying to figure out how to get the Otterpop open that people were handing out. He LOVES Otterpops!
Such a sad face! This was after the firetrucks had come by. He hated the loud horns, even though I had his ears covered the whole time.
This was Kaden's favorite part: the horses!

Lagoon Day!

Shane's work had a Lagoon day for it's employees June 13th and because I am a slacker, I am just now blogging about it. :D We went to Lagoon-A-Beach for a while, but couldn't stay because the water was SOOO cold. Adults' bodies can adjust to the temperature pretty well, but not a 9 month old's! Don't get me wrong, Kaden didn't mind the cold water one bit and would have played in it all day if we let him, but once he started turning BLUE.....I decided it was best to pull him out. The rest of the day, we met up with Shane's friends from work and played with them. It worked out well because the boys all got to go on the big manly rides while the women took the kids on the smaller rides. We would switch, though, and make the boys watch the kids while we went on some good rides (they can't have all the fun).
We honestly tried really hard to get Kaden to look at Shane and/or the camera for a picture, but he was enthralled with the lion and the strap.
My men...aren't they adorable?!

New background

Ok, so I got really bored with our background...especially when I look at everyone else's blogs and see how cute they are. I did some research and found this one that I really like, but this is how a phone conversation with Shane went about the blog background:
Me: Hi hon, so I was thinking about changing our blog background and I wanted to make sure it's ok with you if the new one has a bit of, um, well, pink..in it?
Shane: What?! No! Pink???!! (imagine the word pink being said as if poo were in his mouth...)
Me: Well, why do you even care? You never even look at our blog!
Shane: No, but other people do!
I thought the whole thing was rather funny. So, I turn this to you: our blog readers. How do you like the new background? :) I decided that in a house of boys, the blog is MINE and I like a splash of pink! :D