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!