Developing

I didn't like digital cameras when they first came out and I refused to get one. Why? I knew that if I had one, I wouldn't develop pictures. With a film camera, you have no choice. If you want to see the pics, you have to develop them. I'd been doing pretty good until recently. Yesterday, I finally went through and editied pictures back from April. Yup, its August. I am 4 months behind. I did develop Cadens 1 year pictures and his birthday party, but nothing before or after that. So now, I have 152 pictures I need developed. I suppose the good side of this is that Wal-mart usually has a deal if you get more than 100 pics done. Its usually 0.14. However, it almost seems a waste to get them at this point cause who's gonna look at them.
Oh well, I'll do it anyway, cause there sure are some cute ones. I gotta make a mental note to be more consistant with that.
On the flip side, I do love my digital cause I can take 100's of pics and not worry, which I do. I average about 250 pics a month of pretty much just caden. Also, the chances of getting a good shot are very good cause I take so many. Just click over and over and over.
Anyway, off to Wal-mart and then grocery shopping. We have a potluck supper with our group of friends tonight. I'll try and get some pics posted of that next week.

Help wanted/No T.V

Caden goes to a baby sitter 2 times a week, on the days that I work. However, his babysitter is pregnant, and due for Oct. 8. She told me today that she will continue taking Caden until the end of September. Which means I will be needing someone new after that. Does anyone know anybody who runs a small in home daycare, or someone who has kids, and would want 1 more twice a week? I don't want someone with no kids and preferably kids close to Cadens age. Yeah, I know I'm picky, but I have it so good with Teresa. Her son Brayden is 1 1/2 months older than Caden. Those boys play so well together and have become good little buddies. If I'm having Caden in day care, I want him to interact with a few other kids his age.

I also do not allow Caden to watch t.v., which is uncommon apparently. I have been asked, by several different people, what cartoons Caden likes to watch. Seriously??? He's 1!!! He does not now, nor will he for years to come, watch t.v. Come on. He plays outside, and with toys, and with pots and pans and toilet paper rolls, and he looks at books...etc. Why would I stick him in front of a t.v.?? It's important to me that he has an imagination, and kids who watch t.v all the time, lack that.

Anyway, back to the day care. I'd appreciate any feedback for options. Its a difficult thing trying to find a babysitter for your child. Hopefully someone will know of a good place so I can feel comfortable leaving my boy.

Dollarama = Danger

Oh boy do I love this store. I can't wait for Caden to be older so that I can buy stickers, and paintable puzzles, and finger paints and coloring books etc. I've also seen mothers in with their kids after, for example, passing swimming lessons. The mother says, 'you can pick any 2 things you want'. Kid replies, 'Anything???'. Mom 'Anything!!'
Its gonna cost her 2 bucks, no matter what her kids pick. How awesome. And the kid is so excited to be able to pick from a whole store full of goodies. He doesn't know why, he doesn't care either. What a great reward to use for kids.
I went to Dollarama yesterday, to buy hair clips for my hair. Thats all. I should have left, having spent $1.12. But did I??? Oh no. I had spent $8.86. I bought batteries, a bbq lighter, a book for Caden, a mini megnadoodle for Caden, a bucket to stick on the wall in my bathtub for shampoo and stuff, and a nail file. Oh and of course the hair clips I came in for in the first place. I just can't help myself. Its that mennonite in me that comes out when I know something is only $1. Granted, I needed batteries and a lighter, but the other stuff were just extras. Good thing I don't go very often.

New for this week

Caden can now point out his nose and eyes, on himself or on someone else. Add this to pulling up his shirt to show his tummy.
It we ask him, 'Caden what does a train do', he raises his arm beside him and pulls it down twice while we say 'woo woo'. (like a train)
Oh and he can say Hi, Hot, This, Bapa (grandpa) and makes the uh uh sound for no. (not sure I like that one ;-))So cute. Now, what else can I teach him. He learns things so fast. A little bag of tricks this boy is.

Pet Peeve #2

Dog crap, in my yard, when I don't have a dog. There's really not much more to say than that. The joys of living in the country, where certain people don't keep their dogs at home. What makes it especially gross is that they are huge dogs. I think you know what I mean. GRRRR!!!!!

Harvest Festival

My little engineer. He loves trains.
If only this slide were longer.
Caden made a little 'woo' sound after every little bump. Big smiles the whole way down
The horse and buggy. So much fun to ring the bells

The lady bugs. Like a mini roller coaster. He loved it.

Looking out from the ferris wheel. No fear of heights at all.
Admiring a chicken in the petting zoo
A tractor tricycle by the kids play area. He was so mad when I took him off.
Down the slide with Uncle Rick
My handsome man all by himself on the train

Mmm, curly fries with Grandpa
Sliding with Auntie Amy
Going down the slide with Grandpa. Looks like Grandpa is having just as much fun as Caden
The airplane was a huge hit. He loved being up high and having to look down at us

It was a great weekend. Very different with a one year old. But so much fun. Caden absolutely loved all of the rides. I think he went on more than 20 rides, and probably would have done more. I'm pretty sure I could have taken him on adult rides and he would have done fine. But I sure wouldn't have been. I unfortunately get sick on rides.

We did also take in the parade on Saturday morning. Very disappointing I must say. What happened to having floats in a parade. All we saw were people slapping their name onto a vehicle. Although, I have to say the candy was exceptional this year. We got alot.

Then there were the fire works Sunday night. Also left something to be desired. We did manage to keep Caden up till then, thanks to a late nap until 7:00. At first he was terrified, but then he was totally mesmerized by them. As far as I'm concerned, fire works are a waste of money. But if your gonna do them, do them good.

Anyway, thats just a little recap of our weekend. Enjoy the pics.

New toys

My Mom put an ad on pv online for toys. A lady called her. We went out on Tuesday to look at what she had. My mom bought tons of toys. Slides, trucks, a teeter totter and much more. Including this car. Caden loves it.

Lovin his new car
No big deal, just relaxing.
And this one I just thought was so cute, so I had to post it.

Kisses

Up until about 3 weeks ago, kisses were very hard to come by. Now we get one every time we ask for one. I love it. Yes, it does look like he is eating my face, but hey, I'll take it :-)

Teeth and Talking

Alright, so molar #3 has now popped its way out. One more to go, and I'm pretty sure it might be soon. This poor boys gums are so super swollen. I wouldn't be surprised if the eye teeth were quick to follow. He's handled teething pretty well for the most part. Although I do look forward to him having all 16 teeth :-)
And we are learning new words. What can he say? Dad, Mom, Dog, Keys, Bye, Banana, Yes, and just today when I asked him if he wanted to visit Grandpa, he said 'bapa' a few times. There are a few other words, I just can't think of them. Its so cool how easily we can teach him new things. Tuesday he learnt to blow kisses. Yesterday I started teaching him how to be like a monkey. (tickling his underarms). He thought it was hilarious. If I ask him where his tummy is, he lifts up his shirt to show me. If I give him a wrapper from something, and tell him to go throw it in the garbage, he heads off to throw it away. Finally, my slave has arrived...hehe.
I did stop teaching him sign language. He has known 'more' since he was 8 months, and 'please' since he was a year. He also made up his own version of 'all done'. With both hands beside his head he waves his hands with palm up. So cute. But I figured since its time to start talking, I should stop with the signing.
Anyway, thats enough bragging for me today.

August Rush

I need a push. I have no desire to do anything. My garden has so much ready. I need to make pickles. I need to can beans. I need to finish weeding. And I don't want to. Until August, I love my garden. It seems as it comes nearer, I start slacking. I'd rather do anything than be outside in my garden. I get lazy. It sucks. July seemed to go by so fast because I was so busy every week and weekend. I don't want summer to end, and yet I'm excited for winter because it means I have no worries about outdoor stuff. Can you believe I'm saying that. I HATE winter. But I get like this every year. Ahhhh!!!
On a happier note. I am sooooo excited for the Harvest Festival this weekend. Its usually a highlight of my summer. I could spend all day every day there. I love seeing people that I only see at the festival each year. But this year especially, I'm excited to take Caden. To the parade, the petting zoo, and on rides. I can hardly wait for Saturday. I have a little bit of a predicament though. The parade starts at 10. Caden has his nap at 10. What to do, what to do. I may just have to wake him up early, so he naps early...lol. Can't believe I just said that, seeing as how he finally got out of his crazy getting up at 6am phase. But my mom is also in the parade with the fire department, and she wanted to take him with for a bit of the parade. Luckily the parade never starts on time.
Well, tomorrow I'm hoping to finally make it to the pool with C. I know he really wants to go...lol. We'll see how the weather turns out.

Eczema

When Caden was about 6 months old, he had a small (like the size of a finger nail) dry spot on his back. I was never really concerned. Then, at about 7 months, it disappeared from his back, and reappeared, as the same size and shape, on his leg. It was a few months with only that 1 small spot on his leg. Around 11 months, he began to get more and more spots. And much larger than the first one. They were dry, and red and looked painful. I was pretty consistant with putting lotion on him. I put baby oil in every bath.
At his 1 year appointment, I asked his doctor. "Yup", she said, "it's eczema". She prescribed hydro cortizone cream for him. For 2 weeks, I applied the cream, twice a day, like it said. Really no change in the appearance of his legs, and by now its spread to the crease where his hand and arm meet, and under his arms, and occasionally his tummy and back. I then also read the pamphlet that came with the cream. Its really not good stuff. Risk of all kinds of bad things, ESPECIALLY IN CHILDREN. So why would she prescribe this for me? I mean, I'm not one to be anti drugs and only natural and all that, and I realize all prescriptions carry a risk. But isn't there some other way? So I decided to try, for awhile, my Mary Kay extra emollient night cream. (I sell Mary Kay so I had it on hand). It seemed to be working okay. The redness went down.
About 1 1/2 weeks ago I made a decision to change a few more things with Caden. I bought scent/dye free detergent. Aveeno sensitive bodywash/shampoo and Aveeno milk baths. (those things are expensive) So far we've done 2 milk baths, and I only today washed all his clothes, blankets, bedding and towels in the new detergent. We'll see how this works.
If anyone has any other ideas of things that I can do to get rid of this blasted eczema, please share.
Oh and I should mention, Caden has not been affected by it AT ALL!! Thankfully. He really doesn't notice it. I've never once seen him scratch or itch his legs. So I suppose that is one good thing. I know it could be alot worse.
(I will try to remember to post a pic next week when I'm at work. I can't do it at home cause of stupid dial up)

Comment Please

I see that I have a few more readers than I thought. If you're reading my blog, please let me know. I'm curious as to who all reads. I'd also love to add your blog to mine.

Girls camping

This past weekend, Tiff, Shar, Candace, Sarah and I headed out to St. Malo for girls camping. We found an awesome site in the overflow. What an amazing weekend we had. The weather could not have been more perfect. Saturday, Erin, Jodi, Pam and baby Peyton came out as well. I am so blessed to have such awesome friends. Thanks for a great weekend girls.

I see you baby, shakin that ass
3 girls and 1 baby came out for the day on Saturday
The five who spent the weekend together
Tiff and I
Sarah, Shar and Candace

Family Camping

From July 14th to July 20th Caden and I, along with my mom, 2 cousins and there kids, and 2 aunts went to Falcon Lake. Rick and Amy came on Wednesday, Randy on Thursday and my Dad and Rob on Friday. Its called 'Family Camping', cause it used to be about 50 people. My moms side of the family. Now its kinda died out, except for those of us who still go. It was a great week. Early early mornings, Caden was up between 5 and 6 each morning. But we had fun. Here's a few pics to show you what we did.

His very first boat ride. Not a huge hit, although it was ok

Eating chips with Auntie Amy
And with Uncle Rick


He loved and therefore stole Auntie Amys chair.

Caden really loved playing with Conor and Raina. He would also sit on Raina's lap and just stare at her. It was so cute.

Snuggling with his Mommy
Raina as a crab

Mmm, good sucker. Good place to eat it is in the bath tub
Hanging out on the boat

My poor boy

Monday evening, I noticed Cadens ear was swelling like crazy. It ended up about 3 times the size of normal. He was bit by something, both on his ear and his eye. We took him in to urgent care and got a prescription for Benadryl. We think it was an allergic reaction to misquito bites. He's been so good about it. It doesn't seem to bother him much at all. He does occasionally pull on his ear, but no complaining. My little trooper.

25th anniversary cake

On July 12th, we had a party. Oh boy did we have a party. My parents have now been married for 25 years. We had a tent set up, and had a huge dance. We were dancing until 2 in the morning. A bunch of my friends were there. There was an open bar...mmm hmm. Awesome food and great company. Way to go Mom and Dad for making it to 25 years. I can't wait to party again at 50. Oh but wait, that means I'll be 50...ahhhh!!!! This is the cake I made for my parents. I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out.

Dad, manning the bar
Doin the Macarena
Me and my friends, oh and my Dad, dancing
My brothers
Doin the Can-Can, with my Dad

Doing 'Jump on It' with my brothers
Mom and the boys
Mom and the girls

Caden eating a strawberry tart
The fruit bouquet, made by Tiff
The cake, made by me.

The first dance.