Christmastime!

We have been busy getting ready for Christmas. Here are some of the things we've been doing:

Decorating our tree

Drinking hot chocolate and eating candy canes

Making cookies

Going to look at christmas light in our jamas

Reading stories with uncle Lane

Early Christmas Presents

It may be silly - but this is one of my very favorite christmas gifts. Every couple of years my parents give us year's supply for christmas. We make a HUGE trip to costco all together and make a day of it. Some may think it is a boring gift - but I love it. This isn't even everything we got - because it wouldn't all fit fit into our coat closet turned pantry. Anyway - we have been enjoying our early christmas present!

A Kaden Moment

Last night when I was putting Kaden to bed we had one of those moments that is just so precious and makes me glad that I'm a mom. The conversation started out somewhat like this:

Kaden: Mom, did you get married to me?
Me: No, I'm married to Dad.
Kaden: Then who am I married to?
Me: Well, you're not married.
Kaden: Why not? (very worried look on his face)
Me: You'll get married when you are older like Dad.
Kaden: But who will I marry?
Me: You will marry a girl that you really love.
Kaden (very sad): But I want to be in THIS family!

Talk about melting my heart! So the conversation turned into a discussion about getting married in the temple and being sealed together. Kaden kept asking what sealed means and how do you explain that to a 4-year-old? So after a few explanations that didn't make sense to him - we finally settled on "It means our family can't be broken". When I said that he got a huge grin on his face and said "You mean never? We will always be together? Bailey too?" It was so sweet. This simple sentence seemed to give him so much joy and sense of security.

And then . . . . Kaden seems to be thinking hard for a few seconds and I am anticipating another deep question and he says "What about the other kind of seal. You know the animal? What color are seals?" What a Kaden comment! And just like that we were onto another subject! This kid never ceases to amaze me.

I'm always grateful for these moments with my kids. All the hard work, worry, and everything else we go through as moms - it makes it all worth it!

What a nightmare!

So we took the kids to get their pictures taken a couple of weeks ago. I try to do one every year near their birthday. Since Kaden's and Bailey's are only a couple days apart - we have to do a double session. Honestly, it's something that I look forward to (because I love getting new pictures) and it's something I absolutely dread. You just never can predict how the kids are going to cooperate. So after rescheduling like 3 times - I finally had a day that we had plenty of time and Matt wasn't working so he could go with me. I would never attempt to take both kids by myself. Anyway - I was kinda expecting Bailey to be difficult (she is 2 after all). But of course, true to typical Kaden fashion, he gave us way more trouble. Bailey did pretty well - but Kaden was a nightmare! And that's an understatement. He was screaming, kicking, trying to rip his clothes off, etc. I have no idea what his problem was. But thank goodness we got a few good shots. We didn't get many shots of the two kids together - which is what I really wanted to send in the christmas cards. But we got one that is ok:

Honestly the only reason we got any shots is because our photographer was so workable. She didn't get impatient or flustered (even though matt and I were about to lose it!) She was trying everything to get Kaden to cooperate. Being a typical boy, the only thing he laughed or smiled at were the words "poop" or "boogers". By the end the photographer was repeating "Kaden - poop and boogers! Poop and boogers!" It was pretty dang funny. I really like the place I go - it's called Portrait Innovations. Just south of the Chandler mall - by the target. Every time I have been - the photographers are very patient and understanding! Anyway - here's some pictures that tell the true story of how our session went:

Thank goodness we don't have to do it again for a whole year!

Interesting

I hardly ever look at blogs other than my friends'. But I came across this blog and it is so interesting to me. I am a compulsive list maker and just thought this blog was fascinating. It makes me want to buy the book! This was the funniest part:

4. 50% admitted to writing down tasks they have already done, then triumphantly crossing them off. That way, they have a more complete picture of everything they’ve done, plus another opportunity to cross something off. It’s sort of insane how much we love crossing things off, huh?

I so do that! It's just nice to know that I'm not the only one. Anyway - go check it out!

http://www.todolistblog.com/

Better Late Than Never

Ok - so halloween was over a month ago. But I still had to post some pictures of my cute Tinkerbell and Buzzlightyear. We just went over to the church and did the trunk-or-treat. It was fun (minus Kaden throwing a gigantic fit and not really trick-or-treating). Bailey did awesome and had no problem leaving big brother behind since he wasn't cooperating. All in all it was a fun night and here's the pics. Better late than never, I guess!

Another Party

A couple days after the birthday party in Thatcher - Kaden got to have another party for all of his little friends. It was a very simple party - we had it at a nearby park. That is my favorite way to do it: I don't have to clean my house for guests, I don't have to plan games and activities because the kids just play at the park, and I don't have to clean up a big mess at my house afterward. I guess I'm just lazy. Anyway - Kaden chose to do a Lego party. Here is the cake that I attempted to do.

Of course it isn't nearly as cute at the picture that I copied, but Kaden thought it was pretty cool so I guess I will call it a success.

Kaden had lots of fun at his party, got lots of fun toys, and then got to choose where we went for dinner - chinese food of course. Here are some for pictures from the party.

Birthdays

Well, it has been FOREVER since I posted on here and I have lots of updates. Rather than do one long post - which I probably won't have time for - I'll just do several different posts.

Birthdays!

Kaden and Bailey's birthays are only two days apart. So we had many festivities. We went to Thatcher to celebrate their birthdays, since all my siblings were going to be there anyway (well, except for my world traveling sister, Monique). So we had a fun little party for the kids. My mom wanted to see their costumes - so they dressed up for the party. She dressed up in her witch's costume and made her witch's brew (homemade rootbeer) that bubbled and smoked with the dry ice. Kaden and Bailey were very enthralled with it. We also had a fun little treasure hunt, with treats at every stop. All of this was kinda funny, since my two were the only kids there. There aren't any other grandkids on my side yet - so it was a bunch of adults and them. They didn't seem to mind because they get so much attention! Here are some pics from that party.

Fall.....I love it!

I love this time of year - definitely my favorite! Especially here in Arizona when it FINALLY cools down. I love everything about fall - pumpkins, scarecrows, caramel apples, colorful leaves, halloween, thanksgiving, getting ready for christmas. . . . you get the idea. I just love it.

This year we went to Schnepf Farms for the first time. We all had a great time - kids and parents alike! It was so fun and my kiddos were so dang good - very uncharacteristic for them. No fits, no whining, no tears. These are all things that usually happen during family outings - but we lucked out this time. Kaden especially loved it and wanted to try everything. He is not usually that daring, but he jumped right in and wanted to try everything we saw - even the big huge tunnel slide. He informed us he wanted to do it all by himself - and he did! You never can tell with kids - as soon as you think you can predict how they will react - they surprise you! Anyway - here are some pictures from our adventure.

And we made caramel apples for the first time. I can't figure out why I have never done this before with my kids - I love caramel apples and they had a blast. Well, it will definitely be a tradition from now on!

We're having a . . . .

GIRL!!!! We had our ultrasound this morning - everything looks great! And we found out we are having a girl! I'm so excited to be having another girl! Kaden went with us to the appointment. He got to see the baby on the TV and hear the heartbeat - he was pretty excited. My due date stayed the same - so little Lexie (hopefully will be her name) should arrive the first week of March!

The pictures aren't fabulous - but the baby wasn't cooperating very well. Hopefully we will get some better ones at the next sonogram. I'm just excited to know what I am having - it makes it so much more real for me and easier to bond with the baby. Not to mention that now I can start planning and preparing - my favorite part!

Such a Good Mix

We were at the park earlier today and someone commented on how well Bailey was doing on her own. She was climbing up the jungle gym, going down the slide face first, digging in the sand, and pretty much keeping up with her big brother! It got me thinking about what a great mix she is. She loves to play outside and get dirty, hot, and sweaty:

But she is also such a girly girl. She loves phones, purses, shoes, dress up clothes, playing princess, and MAKEUP! Yep . . . . that is lipstick all over her face! I probably should have been mad - but it was so dang funny. Matt and I just about died laughing! She was so proud of herself!

I just think Bailey is such a great mix of being a girly girl and being able to play hard with the boys! Kaden on the other hand is pure boy through and through. Anything that could be considered feminine - Kaden says is either digusting or dangerous (that's his new favorite word). What a dork - but I love him!

Just a side note - the last time I stopped by the dollor store the kids got to pick out one toy. Bailey went straight for the crown and earings that she is wearing above. Kaden went straight for the pirate sword. Man, I love the dollor store! These toys have entertained them for hours!

News!

So it has been FOREVER since I have posted on here. Life has been hectic! We have a lot going on and lots of news to share - so hopefully this post doesn't get too long!

Well, the first piece of news is that I am pregnant! We are expecting our third child on March 6th. We have known for awhile and were not going to tell anyone til I was 12 weeks - but I'm too much of a ditz and I kept accidently mentioning things about it. So I am about 18 weeks along and we are having an ultrasound on Friday and will hopefully find out what we are having. Kaden is thrilled to be having a baby! He keeps asking questions all about it - one of his first questions was if the baby could sleep in his room so he could take care of her (he insists it is a girl). And just today he asked "Mom, how did the baby get into your belly?" As I was stumbling, trying to think of an appropriate 3-year old answer he asks "Did you eat it? Is that how it got in your belly?" And then he was onto another subject - so luckily I avoided that conversation. We are all very excited to add a baby to our family. I am more excited now that I am feeling better and am over the first trimester of feeling tired and sick.

So our next piece of news is that we bought a new house! Here's a view of the model:

Ours will look almost exactly like this, since it is the same elevation and color scheme. We just went to the design center a few days ago and here are some of our options:

We are very excited about the new house. It will be nice to have more room - but that's not really the main reason for buying it. We could fit in this house for awhile still, but the time just seemed to be right. Matt and I actually looked at this house probably 2 years ago and fell in love with it - but it was no where near our price range. We weren't really even shopping for a new house - Matt was just looking up floor plans online (something we do fairly often) and happened to see this one again. The price was about $130 thousand less than it was two years ago (in the middle of the "boom"). So long story short . . . we went and looked at it again . . . still loved the house . . . thought about it for a few days . . . and signed on the house! It should be done somewhere between March - May of next year. Which is good because it gives us time to sell our house - but also bad because that is right when the baby is due!

So that is the next issue - trying to sell our house. We have had it on the market for about 6 weeks now, and have had a few people come look (one that seemed fairly interested) but the market right now is awful! It's a great time to buy a house, but a lousy time to sell. It is a lot of work and stress trying to keep a house clean all the time, just in case. I'm just hoping that we are able to sell this house - because if not - we are really screwed! But we are trying to be optimistic and Matt insists that we will sell it - it's just a matter of how much we will make on it. We're keeping our fingers crossed!

Here is our floorplan:

http://www.sheahomes.com/cfm/miscellaneous/floorplan.cfm?planid=1546

Ours has the extended laundry room and the 4th bed / 3rd bath upstairs.

Here's a virtual tour:

http://www.sheahomes.com/cfm/miscellaneous/virtualtour_set.cfm?planid=1546

Hopefully I did the links right and they work!

Well, that's what we have been up to. Hopefully I will be a little better at updating this (although I'm not sure anyone reads it anyway). I enjoy reading all of my friends blogs and they are so good about updating theirs - I figured I was long overdue! Here's some more random pictures of the model:

Happy Birthday Mom!

Just wanted to wish my mom a happy birthday! She is an amazing person. I can't even begin to list all that she does! We have a big close-knit family and I attribute most of it to her! I don't think you fully appreciate moms until you become one. I know that I appreciate and admire mine a whole lot more - now that I am a mom and I know how hard it is!

Anyway - Happy Birthday Mom! We love you!

My Poor Baby Girl

So, a couple days ago I took the kids to a birthday party. It was super hot, but I figured no big deal - since it was at the splash pad. The kids were having fun, playing in the water, and playing on the playground. I knew it had to be pretty hot - but figured they were ok because they were wet and because the equipment in supposedly plastic. Anyway - Bailey starts screaming, and I mean really screaming. I run over there and find Bailey with a huge blister. I guess she sat down to go on the slide and got burned! And then went down the slide so she could get down - and ripped the blister off! It looked awful - my poor baby!

So this is what it looked like the next day. It looks so painful! And there's only so much you can do for a 1-year-old who keeps ripping the bandages off. It's gonna hurt her for awhile - she is still limping a bit and sitting funny in her highchair, car seat, etc. It's in such an awkward spot! Anway - I hope it heals soon. I have been so mad about this whole thing - but really don't have anyone to blame - except myself. I definitely won't make this mistake again.