Three Things Thursday

Three routines that I love:

1. Caden adores playing the Wii with Ben. Everyday at about 4:45pm, Caden realizes that Dad should be home soon and continuously chants "eee, eee, eee" (his way of saying Wii) until Ben comes home to play with Caden. Caden loves playing Mario Kart with Ben. Everytime Ben chooses Bowser, Caden gets scared and cuddles up close to Ben. Bowser is kind of a scary character if you think about it! When Ben chooses Donkey Kong, Caden says "eee, eee, eee" but this time it doesn't mean Wii, it means monkey. Lately Ben has been choosing Yoshi, and when Yoshi does his little coo sound, Caden giggles. I love that Caden and Ben have those "wii little moments" that Caden looks forward to every day!!

2. I love bedtime with Caden. It helps that he is sleeping through the night now! He signs sleep every night, lays down and gives Ben and I a big hug. I love it. Lately though, he has been getting distracted by the light fixture on our roof, so our hugs are being cut short. The last few weeks we have started singing "You Are My Sunshine" to Caden during his bedtime routine. If Ben doesn't sing along, Caden says "ah ah ah" directly towards Ben until he starts singing. Then as we both sing to him, he lays on the bed with the biggest smile underneath his soother. When we are done brushing his teeth (which he will only let me do if Ben lets Caden brush his teeth at the same time!) Caden swaddles himself. Of course we have to do it again for him, but it is really cute to see him try. 

3. Caden used to HATE baths, he wouldn't even sit down without me coming in with him. But thankfully, the last few months he has fallen in love with taking baths. He asks for bath about thirty times each day and when I say yes his face lights up and he RUNS as fast as he can to the bathtub. He even tries to climb into the bath while the water is running and he is fully clothed. He loves to play with toys in the bath and has learned how to put his face into the water and blow bubbles.

 

I love the routines that Caden has brought to our little family!

Long Weekend

We had a really fun weekend. I have been looking forward to this long weekend for the longest time. I always count down the days until Ben has a day off work, Caden and I love having him home!

On Friday night we headed down to the temple. It was so nice to be able to be there and do some temple work. It is always really hard to make the trip down with Caden but I am always so glad that we did. Caden was a really good traveller this time. I think it helped that Uncle David was there to entertain him and that I sat next to him. He didn't complain at all the entire drive. He really is such a good little boy. It was great to see Grandma and Grandpa. I love them more and more each time we go down to Cardston. I am so grateful to have such awesome grandparents on both sides. 

We came back Saturday afternoon so that we would have time to celebrate Valentines Day. We ordered in food (Tony Romas' ribs!!!) and had a candle light dinner. It was so much fun! We even had some Spice Girls and Backstreet Boys playing in the background... life doesn't get much better than that!! Ben and I each ate an entire slab of ribs. We were SO full, but it was worth it! I haven't had ribs in over a year and I was really craving them!

Speaking of cravings... a few weeks ago I was having a HUGE craving for a bran muffin but since it was 10pm I didn't get one (although Ben kept offering to go and buy me one!) So in celebration of Valentines day, Ben and Caden woke me up (after letting me SLEEP IN until 9am!!) on Monday morning with TWO BRAN MUFFINS with blueberries! It was heavenly! I am so grateful for a husband who remembers those little things and always makes me feel special. 

We had a really fun Family Day! I went to see Confessions of a Shopoholic with Mom, Kati Anne and Becca Boo. I have been reading the books and so I was really looking forward to seeing the movie, and I LOVED it. Then for FHE we went to eat at Montanas with the family. I am so grateful to live close to home and to be able to spend time with the family! It was a really fun day and an awesome weekend! 

Three Things Thursday

Three pictures that bring back some really good memories:

Update

We have an enrichment activity tonight. It's a valentines day activity, but all about loving yourself and taking time for yourself. It's kind of funny because the last few days have just been so crazy trying to get ready for tonight that I have not taken any time for myself! So, I am doing that right now by blogging. Tonight we are making homemade spa products (bathsalts, lipbalm, etc.), decorating cookies and hearing from a few sisters in our ward on how they've learned to take time for themselves. We had 20 sisters sign up, but we'll see how many actually come. I hope it goes well.

Caden had his 18 month check-up yesterday. He is super tall for his age. Usually at his age, babies are still measured by laying down on a table. Caden out-grew the table by his 12 month check-up and has to be measured against the wall. Ben and I made a list on Sunday of all of the words that Caden knows. It was a lot more than I realized. He can sign over 30 words, and he says about 25 words! I was amazed that it was that many. I'll type up the list for his baby book and post a copy on my blog so you can see how smart my little man is. 

Caden is growing up so much. It is so exciting to watch him, but sad to know that he'll just keep getting bigger and bigger. He has such a little personality, I love him so much. He loves to be hyper and get attention for it. He loves laughing. Last night during dinner Ben and I were laughing at something, and although Caden didn't know why we were laughing, he was trying so hard to laugh with us. I love his fake laugh almost as much as his real laugh! I am so grateful to be a stay-at-home mom!

Three Things Thursday

Three pictures that tell a story:

This is me ready to swing from a vine in the Amazon Jungle!

This is me right after I FELL from the vine. Brianne and Heidi said that seeing me fall was the funniest thing they've ever seen. It's just my luck that my video camera broke THAT MORNING! Or else I for sure would have won America's Funniest Home Videos. After my friends realized that I was actually hurt, they stopped laughing, ran down to me and took a picture. Great. I fell about 20 feet, landed on a tree stump and broke 2 ribs. We were deep in the Amazon jungle (we'd been on a day hike) and we had a 3 hour hike back to our camp. Hiking back down was some of the worst pain I've ever been in.

This is me with a bandage around my waist, just after the Amazon Medicine Man came to see me. He gave me a needle up my butt. See that window? After the needle... I looked up and saw four of our male tour guides watching everything. I don't know if it was my perfectly sculpted butt, or the fact that I was the first tourist to fall off the vine in the ten years they had been doing the tour... but my picture is still up at the site. I have a friend who recently went and saw it. So I may not have made it onto America's Funniest Home Videos... but I am still getting laughed at in the Amazon! 

3 Years!

Today Ben and I are celebrating our three year anniversary! I can't believe that it's already been that long! 

I am so lucky to have Ben as my husband. I really couldn't ask for a kinder, more patient husband. He is only truly happy when I am, and he always puts my needs first. Ben is an amazing father, Caden just adores him! I didn't realize just how lucky I was three years ago. Marrying him was the best choice that I have ever made. I absolutely love being married to him and falling in love with him over and over again!

Thanks for putting up with me, Sugar Daddy :) I love you!

 

 

Dinner with Caden

We have a really hard time getting Caden to sit still. Church is a joke, grocery shopping is like the death sentence, and meal time has become impossible! Caden has learned how to climb out of the straps in his high chair and right onto the table. Caden bows his head during the prayer every meal time, but as soon as it's time to eat, he refuses. He shakes his head and says "NONONONO!"  One thing that he does like to do is to put food into my cup. He tries almost every day, and I never let him. But today he hardly ate anything all day and was refusing to eat his dinner. SO... I let him put his food in my cup. I know, I know, I need to be consistent. But from what I learned tonight, to enforce the rules...

 

 

... sometimes you've gotta break the rules! He had the time of his life! He ate really well and laughed more hysterically than I've heard him in a long time, and we had a fun dinner. My water ended up having hamburger, bun and vegetable stir-fry mixed in, the table and floor was a mess, and the kitchen smelled like butt. BUT (haha), Caden ate and we had a good time! He is such a funny kid, he needs to be distracted in order to eat. If he is watching Signing Time, he'll eat his breakfast. If he is coloring, he'll eat his lunch. And apparently, if he is squishing his dinner into my cup of water, he will eat! 

In other news, Caden has started telling me when he is going to the bathroom. This is a big step! He made up a sign for it (he makes a pinching motion towards his you-know-what). He said phone the other day. Today he hugged three complete strangers at a play area, and enjoyed every minute of it (although the other babies didn't). He is such a smart fun, loving little guy!