Better Late Than Never (part 2/2)

We went with several other kids from our stake to the pumpkin patch.

Caden cried on the blow-up toys and loved the rides, but his favorite part by far was the petting zoo. He chased those chickens around and around the pen, and even tried to pet the crazy sheep. I think he was excited to see real animals from the books we've read together. I could see him thinking, "So my mom wasn't lying--these sheep really do baa."





Caden and Angela

Better Late Than Never (part 1/2)

Caden was a turtle for Halloween. Thanks to his friend Colby for letting us borrow a costume. Colby and Caden went trick or treating at the Bass Pro Shop together. I think they were more excited about seeing the animals and the fish than getting 6 pieces of taffy.

Park Day

Caden and I look forward to Park Day when we both get to see all of our friends.

Another mom and I joked that we would never take away park day as a punishment because it'd be more punishing for us!

Don't you love this December weather? Come visit sunny Southern California anytime you'd like!

Manger

I was pretty low-key on Christmas decorations this year, since we won't be home for most of the holiday. Besides our tree, I only set up this homemade manger, which my sister brought me from Zambia.

Caden loves to play and rearrange the pieces.




He also carries baby Jesus with him all over the house, telling us to "Ssshhh!" for the baby.

Merry Christmas!

Testing week

Just today Chad finished his last final. Yea! We have a husband and a dad again. One morning this week, after Caden hadn't seen Chad at all the day before, he ran into our room and yelled, "Da, da, da, da" over and over. I lost count when he'd said it 60 times. We were laughing so hard at how excited he was.

Last October, Chad's testing week came during conference weekend. So on Saturday, while Chad was on campus, Caden and I were at home alone. Being alone with Caden for that long, I sort of run out of tricks and entertainment. I say this as a precursor to the fact that I let him play with a roll of ceran wrap for most of the afternoon. Judge me all you want--it kept him busy for a good 2 hours. And yes, those are his pajamas at 4:00 in the afternoon. A conference weekend/midterm week combo calls for all sorts of rule breaking.

Running Buddy

Every morning Caden and I go for a jog together. He loves seeing the dogs, the birds, and the kids on their way to school.

When we get home he always signs, "More, more, more" Yeah, if I was the one riding in the stroller, I'd want to go more, more, more, too!

Breakfast Buddies

One of my favorite new traditions around our house is Caden eating breakfast on Chad's lap. They have toast and cereal together. I love coming downstairs to see these two chowing down together.

Now we can send him to Scout camp

Ever since Caden was a little baby, we swaddled him to sleep. We liked it because it got him to sleep longer at a younger age. And he liked it, too, see:



When his first birthday rolled around and he started growing out of the size L SwaddleMe, Chad and I started asking each other questions such as, "Do they make these any size bigger?" and, "How is he going to expain this thing to his mission companion?" The biggest reason I kept swaddling him for so long is because I was the one who wasn't ready to give it up. Swaddling him meant I rocked him to sleep. Some times I would hold him his entire nap and we'd just snuggle and be together.


But, alas, the time came for both of us to grow up. My big boy no longer needed his mom as my baby had. Sometime between then and now, he talked me into just laying him down, blowing kisses, turning off the light and shutting the door. So now, instead of a swaddled little burrito, when I peak in on my best little buddy, I find something like this:


Yes, that is a huge pile of drool!

Caden

Do you think he is as cute as I think he is?

Thanks to my cousin Jenn for taking all these pictures!

Chad's White Coat Ceremony

August 2009

Someone once described the White Coat Ceremony to me as the opposite of graduation. The program was all about the importance of beginning a profession in the health care field. My favorite quote was something the Dean said, "You spent months convincing us how special and important you are in deserving to be here. Now we are going to hold you to that."

Schows

The Friday before Labor Day, my mother-in-law called to ask me if it was OK for her to bring us a surprise--new porch furniture! She knew Chad and I had been looking for awhile, and saw a set she really liked. This is how Cindy is: she actually checks to make sure it's OK to bring you new furniture.



It was the beginning of a weekend full of two IKEA runs, three trips to Home Depot, four loaves of sour dough bread, six gallons of paint, one late night dip in the hot tub, three hours to fix my toilet lid, a house full of clean windows, four artichokes at dinner, six new vegetable and herb plants, one delighted little boy to see his grandma and grandpa, and one delighted husband to see his mom and dad.








I tell you, the toilet lid was quite the trick:



Come back soon!

PS-Want to get in with this good family? You'd better act fast. Mark proposed to Chelsea (at sunset on the beach...romantic...who helped plan that one?!) while they were here. So only Casey is left on the market! They are now accepting applications.

Cade's 1st birthday party (a month late)

(Yes, this should have been posted in July! I didn't have a blog then, remember?)

June 13, 2009 was technically the day Caden turned one. Chad, being sick with the Swine Flu, watched the "celebration" over video-chat, while Caden and I took residence at my parents. The party consisted of me going to get a flu test myself and later, Caden eating a doughnut while his Uncle Chris and I ate nachos for dinner, watching him make a powdery mess.

Less than ideal and not at all fun.

Luckily, my sister-in-law Deanna, who is way more on the ball than I, invited Cade to join his cousin Grace in celebrating a joint birthday three weeks later. We partied at Mutual Dale. (Oh, how I miss you, American Fork Canyon!)










Both sets of Cade's grandparents were there. Neither Chad nor I ever knew all four of our grandparents. Caden is one lucky boy.

Victoria Gardens

"What do you want to do today?" Chad asked me last Saturday morning. Knowing the temperature would be at least 90 degrees, I suggested Victoria Gardens. I explained to Chad that there are fountains, water, kids, running, playing--try as he might, he could only picture the fountain at University Mall--the one you throw a penny into and make a wish.

When I grabbed Cade's swim suit, he seriously doubted, "Won't people look at us funny if our kid is in the fountain?"





I love that Cade is up to his armpit in doritos.

Mr. T

T as in Trouble.

Whenever I hear quiet for a long time...I'm sure to be greeted by a face like this:



I'm pretty sure this chocolate he found is from 2003, which is the last time I used the scripture bag that he found it in.


Caden loves my toothbrush. Never mind that he has 11 of his own (including ones he stole from an uncle and a cousin). He is now tall enough that if he holds on to the bathroom counter and goes on his very tiptoes...he can reach it.

Life On Arrow Road

What does Life On Arrow Road look like you might wonder? Come on in, let me give you a tour.

When you first walk in the door, you enter our living room.



I love the openness of this room. And the fireplace that we hide behind the couch (who needs a fire place in So. Cal?)

Here is the view when I am sitting on the stairs, looking down.


Off of our front room, we have a mud/coat area with two closests and this bathroom. I post this picture so you will see that the toilet lid fits on the toilet tank. It didn't when we first moved in. Chad and his dad invested a good amount of elbow grease to make it the way it is now. Be grateful for the little things in life, I learned, like a toilet tank lid.



A huge improvement to our lives has come in the form of the garage. Chad said I shouldn't post this picture, since the garage is messy. I had to show our brand new washer and dryer. We got such a great deal on them, considering they retail for 2500 (if you want to know how much, call me. Or, call my sister cause she got the same set!)thanks to Jon at RC Willey. Go see him, and tell him you're my friend.



Going upstairs, you'll see Cade's bathroom (not shown) and his bedroom.



If you come to stay with us, you'll probably sleep in the craft/guest/library/storage/toy room. After uploading the pictures, I realized I should have cleared off my craft desk. I was in the middle of a project this day. Oh well. You wanted to see life in it's true form here, right?



This is the master bathroom (with Cade playing in the toilet.) Notice the double sink. It creates problems because Chad wants to assign "his" and "her" (i.e. yours and mine) sides, but I prefer to use whichever is closest, clear, clean or convenient. We've bought the paint for this bathroom to be a sage green. I can't wait.



Here is our bedroom. I took a picture of our walk in closet, but decided to bypass it since my running clothes were on the floor, and Chad's pajamas on the shelf. Use your imagination for the closet. It's nice.





Standing at the foot of my bed, off of our bedroom is an extra room. (You can see our bathroom down the hall, as well as the door to the hallway and the door to our closet on the left. It's like our own little suite up there.)



Chad's loft is where he spends most of his time studying. It has a huge whiteboard for him to diagram animals, and posters of dog breeds on the wall.


We're almost done with the tour. Here is our kitchen. I didn't take a picture of our "dining area" off our our kithen. I love everything about my kitchen: the countertops, the wood floor, the sink, the dishwasher (it's greatly improved my quality of life), the tree outside, the large window, and the glass cabinets that will one day show off my fine china. Right now, they show off matching Target dishes and a selection of my favorite cookbooks. I couldn't be happier.





And by the way, does anyone know where to take Blogger lessons? I want to enroll Chad. I asked him to upload some pictures of our house, so I could edit and caption them (wasn't that enjoyable), and by the time I caught him, he'd posted several different posts with 1 picture each. The titles started out as "garage" and "nice kitchen" but evolved into "Chad is the best" and "Chad loves Michelle". I have to agree about both statements.