Busy week!

I know, its been a week again. But it was a busy one.

Tuesday-girls night girls supper for Shar’s birthday. Her birthday was in April, but the person planning it didn’t plan it until now. The way we work birthday among the 10 of us is whoever’s birthday was last is in charge of planning the birthday lunch/supper for the next birthday. We started doing this in January of last year. It’s just a good way to make sure we go out and celebrate everyones birthday. Plus it’s an excuse to get together again.

Wednesday-re-discovered my hatred for painting. I took on the task of painting my bathroom. What a stupid idea. I began at 8:45am with sanding. My bathroom had purple stripes on it so those had to be sanded down before I could repaint. Then I washed the walls. This all took maybe 45 minutes.
Painting a bathroom is not fun. So very much edging to do. Plus, I have a very large bathroom, because it’s also our laundry room. I did forget to take a before picture, but I’ll look through some old pics to find one to show you, along with the after. I don’t love it, but its definitely better than the purple. I bought a new shower curtain, because the one I had is 7 years old. Yup, I bought it when I lived in my apartment. Anyway, at 4:30, I had hung the shower curtain and walked out of the bathroom. Its done.

Thursday-cleaned my house like a mad woman, tilled the garden and made 40 hamburgers…why??? Because we were hosting our care group bbq at our house. We don’t ever have care group at our house because our house is just too small. But our yard is huge and we have a lot of stuff for kids to do.
Thanks to my mom helping, it all got done with time to spare. We had a great evening, even though we were in the rain for part of it.

Ahhh, the weekend-Spent time outside on Friday, in between the rain. I was hoping to go see a movie in the theatres, but nothing good was playing. I’m waiting for ‘The proposal’ to come out.
Saturday, I had plans to paint my shed. Went to town to go grocery shopping. Of course Caden wanted Grandma to come with so we stopped in there. She decides she wants to go to wpg, so off we go. Caden, me, my mom and sil Amy. I was along for the ride, yet I managed to spend the most money. Found 2 pairs of maternity capris which I paid $100 for. That hurts a bit since I’m used to paying maybe $30-$40 for pants. But I justify it because I have been buying normal shirts and not the expensive maternity shirts. I found 3 tank tops and 2 dresses as well
I also found 3 bras. I was so excited. Normally I pay up to $50 for my bras. I found these for $10. And they are wonderful. I bought black, blue and pink.
We were back home by 6:30, making wings and wedges for supper. So delicious. I ended up staying at my parents house till almost 12:00.
Sunday off to church in the morning, then enjoying an unbelievable day outside. I lay on the trampoline and napped while Caden was inside with Rob napping. Painted a little bit of my shed, went for a 4 wheeler ride with Caden and Rob and made steak for supper. My brother Randy and his g/f Michelle came over for the evening. It was a relaxing end to a great weekend.
This week is going to be busy. Working today, doing paperwork for Rob tomorrow, getting ready for our girls night mother/daughter bbq at my moms house on Wednesday, working Thursday, and then off to Cavalier for church camping on the weekend. Not sure how I’ll get everything done, but it’ll happen.Enough of my rambling. I’ll try and post some pics soon. Have a great week!

18 weeks

How far along? 18 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: 4 lbs gain

Maternity clothes? Not yetStretch marks? Uh uhS

leep: Pretty much normal
Best moment this week: Really starting to feel the baby move
Movement: Yup. Its awesome

Food cravings: Licorice
Gender: Dunno

Labor Signs: Oh no

Belly Button in or out? Still in
What I miss: only needing to go to the bathroom a few times a day

What I am looking forward to: When others can feel baby move
Weekly Wisdom: Feeling thankful that I’m still able to sleep on my stomach
Milestones: Well, I was 4 months on Sunday

Bye Bye suckies

We did it. Monday evening I decided it was time to get rid of the suckies. And wow was it easier than I expected. He didn't cry. He asked where they were and I told him they were gone. It did take him 1 1/2 hours to fall asleep. He just couldn't settle down. He slept through the night, although he was up at 5:50.

Tuesday, he went down for his nap without trouble. Tuesday night took him about 10 minutes to fall asleep.

Then, Wednesday morning, I was lying on the couch and I hear him say 'Sucky'. He comes over to me and says 'Mommy, sucky'. My eyes popped open as I remembered the suckie that fell behind the couch a few days ago. I figured we were in for trouble. I got it out from behind the couch and gave it to him. He put it in his mouth. I told him, 'Caden we're all done with suckies right? You should go put it in the garbage.' Well, he walked over the the garbage, with the suckie in his mouth. He sucked it a few more times, then opened the lid and chucked it in. I was so proud. I did expect him to ask for that particular suckie at nap time but he didn't. He went right to sleep.

I am so glad this went so smoothly. I was a week late from my deadline of getting rid of it. (I wanted it gone by age 2) but we're close.

Next up...night time potty training. I'm a little scared to put him in gitch for night. For some reason getting up at 2 am to clean a pee soaked bed doesn't really get me excited. Any hints from anyone as to how to make it simple...and clean?

Part 2 of Caden 2 years

Just a few more of my favorites.

2 year photo shoot

On Saturday afternoon my mom and I went to the railroad tracks with Caden to take his 2 year pictures. I am so happy with how they turned out. Here are a few of my favorites. I'll also post the card I made, once I've had a change to give it out to a few more people.
This first ones my favorite. It will soon be an 8 x 10 in my living room. Hope you like the pics.

Cadens 2nd birthday

The invitation
The cake which I spent hours on. Its not as good as anything Amanda makes, but I was pretty happy with it.

The birthday boy, helping carry his presents

Opening up the coolest present. A t-ball set with a bat and ball. I'm excited for him to learn to play. Thanks Uncle Rick & Auntie Amy. He also got a tractor from Uncle Randy, and sand box toys from Sarah.

I'll hopefully have more pics eventually. My mom did most of the picture taking so I have to get her pics.

16 weeks

How far along? 16 weeks
Total weight gain/loss: 3 lb gain
Maternity clothes? Not yet. Almost wore a maternity shirt the other day but I stopped myself.
Stretch marks? Nope
Sleep: not needed as much. I don’t feel the need to nap all the time. Movement: Yup. I know I felt if. I wasn’t believing myself just because it felt to early. But I know for sure I’ve been feeling baby. Food cravings: salad…lots of salad. With tomatoes, cucumbers and either creamy cucumber or raspberry vinaigrette dressing. Gender: not a clue
Labor Signs: heck no
Belly Button in or out? It won’t be long till its out. Contemplating taking out my belly ring already. What I miss: going for a walk around the village without feeling winded…lol
What I am looking forward to: Being pregnant with my friend, Jodi. Weekly Wisdom: There’s something so special about hearing the heartbeat for the first time. Makes it feel so real. Milestones: Put away 1 pair of jeans that are a little tight. The others still fit.

And here's a pic of my baby, being just like Mommy

Craziness

I've been busy. Overwhelmingly busy. Catered the last 2 weekends. Plus I had to get ready for Cadens birthday party which was yesterday (I'll write about that and post pics on Wednesday), and trying to get yard work done, and clean my house. We've really been enjoying the outdoors. Caden loves loves loves it outside, and is happy to be out there, playing by himself, or with Maddy, for hours. Its great. It allows me to get the laundry hung, or rake leaves, or trim raspberry bushes, etc. I'm glad I have a pretty independent kid.
Pregnancy wise, I'm doing really good. No nausea anymore which I'm so thankful for. Slowly growing. I had my first appointment on Friday. Got to hear the babes heartbeat. Wow, that just makes it feel so real. I love it. My bp was good.
That'll be all for now. Come back Wednesday to read and see all of Cadens 2nd birthday. (Can't believe he's 2)

14 weeks

Excuse the quality of the picture. My camera wasn't liking the idea of focusing.

13 weeks

Got this from Kalle. Gonna try and do it every few weeks.

How far along? 13 weeks
Total weight gain/loss: 1 lb gain
Maternity clothes? Not yet, although I’m excited to start cause I got a bunch of new ones
Stretch marks? nope
Sleep: yes please
Movement: I don’t think so. I’m feeling something, but pretty sure its just indigestion
Food cravings: Apple juice, ice cream, freezies
Gender: not a clue
Labor Signs: heck no
Belly Button in or out? Still in, but its working its way out
What I miss: nothing
What I am looking forward to: Growing bigger. I love a pregnant belly
Weekly Wisdom: Why spend all the extra money on maternity clothes, when you can shop from the regular section. I love it that long shirts are in right now.
Milestones: Bought summer maternity clothes

Busy Busy

Once again, I have to apologize to you for not being a loyal blogger. What I usually do is write my posts at home, then save it to my USB stick and take that to work to post it to my blog. I’ve haven’t been finding or taking the time to do that lately.

I am 3 months preggers today. 13.5 weeks. Feeling pretty good for the most part other than the odd day where I’m nauseous. Can’t believe how much quicker I’m showing this time around. With Caden, you could barely tell at 4 months. I’m only 3, but look bigger than last time at 4. It’s crazy. My tiredness is also not as severe. Up until 2 weeks ago, I could nap both times with Caden, and then sometimes when Rob got home, he’d take Caden and I’d nod off for a few minutes. It was ridiculous. Now the only reason I’m tired is because I can’t get my son to sleep past 6:15am. I don’t know what to do. Nothing helps. His room is dark, he goes to bed late or he goes to bed early. He has 1 nap. He has 2 naps. No difference. I had a minor break down yesterday morning. Doesn’t help that I’ve been extra emotional these last few months. Poor boy didn’t know what to do with a crying Mommy. But I got over it. And it actually felt good to let it out.

This past weekend I went to Grand Forks with my Mom and Sil. We had so much fun. I found all but 1 thing on my list. Came home with 2 pairs of maternity capris, (the sexy kind where the top comes up and over your tummy) 1 pair of maternity shorts, 1 dress, 8 tops (2 which are maternity), 3 pairs of earrings and 2 pairs of shoes. Caden got 10 shirts, 5 pairs of shorts, trunks, 2 pairs of sandals, a backpack and gitch. It was definitely a productive, and expensive, weekend. We enjoyed our time at the hotel, had great food, and had a date with Matthew McCoughnahey. Mmm, Mmm good. That is one delicious man.

Other than that, we’ve been busy playing outside. Caden could literally live outside. He’s been playing so well with Maddy, the neighbour girl. (My friend Joders oldest daughter) It’s so cute to watch them. They don’t fight, they just play. Even helping each other out if need be. But, throw the younger girl in the mix and all goes down hill. She doesn’t play well with them, and Caden doesn’t like her being around. She’s only 6 months younger than Caden, where as Maddy is 1 ½ years older, but I think he likes playing with someone older.

I can hardly wait to get my garden going. I’ve been doing a lot of raking and burning leaves, which believe it or not, I actually enjoy. If only I had more time. I’ve been considering the option of only working 1 day a week, instead of the 2 I do now, for summer. It’s so hard coming to work when I know it’s going to be a beautiful day. I want to be outside at home, working on my yard. We’ll see what my dad thinks of that option. Not sure it’ll go over too well…lol.

Well, I think that pretty much catches you all up on things. Oh, next week Tuesday I have Cadens specialist appointment in Winnipeg. Hopefully we’ll figure out what to do about Cadens feet. And I pray it won’t be something too serious.
I will post a Prego pic soon, I promise.

Advice please

The time is nearing when I am going to have to get rid of Cadens suckies. Its just another one of those things that to me, needs to happen before a child is 2. Along with sleeping in a bed and potty training. But, I need your help. How did you get rid of your childrens suckies? Is there a quick, less painful way of doing it? I've got a little head start because when Caden was around 1, I started allowing him to have the suckies for nap time and bed time only. Other than that, they sit on a shelf in his room, waiting for the next 'sleep' period to come around. He's also very attached to it. He gets really excited about being able to have his suckie for nap time and bed time. It gets him to his bed without problem. On the other hand, I've also shot myself in the foot. You see, Caden was never really attached to a blanket or stuffed animal. He needs to have a second suckie, that he holds in his hand. So not only am I getting rid of the one in his mouth, I'm also taking away his comfort item. Ahhhhh!!!! Please, I'll take any advice I can.

Motivation 101:

I need help. I have no motivation. How do you find it? It’s not because I’m pregnant, cause this has been an issue for much longer than that. I am just the kind of person who can sit and do nothing for hours, and not really even feel bad. What I’m speaking of mainly, is cleaning my house, and doing paper work for Rob’s business. I hate cleaning my house and I put it off and off until I know it has to be done. It never takes me very long to vacuum, or clean the bathroom, or mop the floor, but why do I dread it so much. I’ll make up any excuse I can to not do it and I really don’t care either. Most people I know clean their house once a week. Not me. If my floor hasn’t been vacuumed in 2 weeks…oh well. I’ll get to it eventually. I didn’t grow up this way either. My mom has always kept a very clean house. As a kid, we always had our Saturday chores that we had to do, in addition to doing the dishes, keeping our rooms clean (which I didn’t), and other things. Its not that I don’t want a clean house, cause I do. I know a part of it is that my house is pretty small, and very full. I hate clutter and yet there is always something, everywhere. For example, we built a shelf for our microwave to get it off the dishwasher so that I would have that space for cooking etc. Well, since the day it was moved, there has been nothing but a collection of papers on it, among other things. I’ve already gotten rid of any piece of furniture I can to make more room where I can. I’m also a big pack rat, which I have worked on big time in the last few years. I barely keep anything anymore because I know I don’t have room for it. I go through my kitchen cupboards and if I haven’t used it for a few months, it gets moved out. I’ve stopped being in the mind frame that ‘someday I might need it, and then I’ll be glad I have it’. My new motto is ‘if and when I need it, I’ll buy it’.
I have it in the back of my head that once we build our new house, it’ll all be different. I’ll have more space and I’ll want to keep my new house clean. I really truly believe this to be true. I just really don’t like the house I live in now, and therefore don’t really care how it looks. It’s horrible. How can I fix this?
Rob started his own business a few months ago. I need to get the books in order, to make it easier when it comes time to do the GST and PST returns every month. But I haven’t done it. And I know that the longer I wait, the messier it’ll be and the longer it’ll take me. It would be so much simpler if I had it all at home to work on when I wanted. But it’s all in his office, which means I need to find a sitter for Caden, and go there just to do that. I’m gonna have to get in gear. With summer coming, I know I’ll want to spend as little time as possible doing paper work. But where’s the motivation. Grrrr. Does anyone else have a problem like I do? I would just so much rather do nothing. In the last few weeks I will nap during one of Cadens nap because I’ve been exhausted. Then during the other one I like to read, or watch t.v. or do anything but clean the house. I need to give myself a kick in the pants and get on it.
Oh to have a maid and a secretary for my husband.

This and that

Wow, it sure has been awhile. First of all, I want to thank everyone for the well wishes on my last post. We are very excited. I'm feeling ok for the most part, other than being nauseous most of the time. But, its getting better. With Caden, once I was 2 1/2 months, it stopped. It seems to be heading in that direction again this time. I'm very thankful for that.
We've been keeping pretty busy. We had a great Easter weekend. Spending time with both our families was nice.
My cousin Ann Peters passed away on Saturday. Her funeral was yesterday. She's been battling cancer for the last 5 years so for her its a blessing to finally be home with Jesus. However, her husband and 3 kids will have a hard time seeing that I think. She was only 38, leaving behind an 8, 10 and 12 year old. My heart hurts for those kids. I can't imagine what they will go through in the next while.
Been enjoying the gorgeous weather. Caden can't get enough of being outside. I'm itchin to do yard work. I may change my mind once I get into it.
I'll leave you with some pictures

This is the infection on Cadens finger. Super gross, I know. But its almost all healed up now. He had his last treatment last Thursday evening. So glad thats over.
His little hand with the iv and splint

He's re-discovered my red high heels. Don't they go so well with pjs, socks and a toque?

No big deal, just reading up on 4 wheelers while on the toilet. Can you guess where he gets this from :-)

So excited!!!

Where have I been???

In the hospital, thats where. Here's the story.
Saturday morning, I noticed Cadens middle finger was super swollen and had tons of little blisters on it. Looked like a giant cold sore. So, I phone health links, and they suggest I take him in. Off to the ER we go. Doctor says its a skin infection, probably caused by a tiny cut on his finger getting infected. He prescribes ammoxicilan. Home we go.
Well, Monday morning, this little finger was so gross, and his hand was so swollen and red. Off to urgent care. Doctor takes a look, asks me what kinda meds he's. He then told me they were the wrong ones. They never would have helped, cause ammoxicilan isn't meant for skin infections. Thanks alot Dr. Jackson. Dr. Van Niekerk prescribes Cloxicilan. And drew a black line around the red on Cadens hand. Told me if it spread at all, to come right back in.
Tuesday morning, redness has spread. Back to urgent care where Dr. Basson sends us right to the ER for intravenous antibiotics. After waiting for an hour, they took Caden in (with me waiting in the waiting room) to put in his needle/iv. Then they called me back in to sit with him while he was hooked up to the drugs. Took about a half hour. They tell me I need to come back every 8 hours.
So, back at 6:30pm and again at 2:30am. The night nurse tells me I'm ridiculous for agreeing to bring my 2 year old in to the hospital in the middle of the night. That she has a 2 year old and there is no way she'd come in the middle of the night. She changes the schedule. Oh and I should mention that even though Caden was up for 2 hours in the middle of the night, he was still up at 6:50 in the morning ready for the day. Ahhhhh, I was so exhausted.
Wednesday in at 9:00am, 3:00pm and 11:00pm. Spent an hour waiting at the 3:00 one. Can't you have it ready for us??? You know we're coming. Then the treatment took an hour also. All with a tired, hungry, bored 2 year old.
Had a great nurse at 11. Sped things up. We were in and out in 45 minutes. The finger is getting better, although the growth is still pretty huge. I asked to see a doctor. Not once, until the 6th treatment had a nurse or doctor so much as looked at his finger to see the progress. Dr. Persson comes in. Suggests that we come at 8:00am and 3:00pm the next day and then have a doctor look at it again.
Oh and did I mention that on average, we are at the hospital for at least 1 1/2 hours. The treatment takes anywhere from 25minutes to 45 minutes, depending on how the nurse sets it.
This morning, in for treatment #7. Great nurse. Set it pretty quick again. In and out in an hour. Dropped Caden off at the sitters. I'm at work till 3:00 when I pick him up for what will hopefully be the last one. WOW AM I TIRED!!!! I've met almost all the nurses the ER can possibly have I think. After 7 treatments, not once have I had the same nurse, and sometimes 2 in one sitting. Crazy.
I'll post a pick of his hand soon.
Poor guy has the needle in his left hand, wrapped up in a splint. But wow has he been amazing. Plays, sleeps, eats all like normal. Anyway, any prayers for this little guy would be greatly appreciated. We're in the home stretch now (I hope).

Welcome Jude Alexander

Well, 1 week late, Jude Alexander Boschmann made his grand entrance. Born on March 30, weighing 7lbs 14oz. Congrats Erin and Gabe on a beautiful baby boy.

Gitchy boy

Told ya his little bum in gitch was super cute

Mmm Mmm good

Can it get any better than this? Alphagetti's with garlic toast for lunch. Unfortunately Caden literally gags when he eats it, but hey, more for me.

Busy weekend

My mom and I catered for the annual firemen's convention this weekend which consisted of a coffee break Friday night, as well as lunch on Saturday and 2 more coffee breaks. It sure felt like alot of work, especially with all the stairs we had to climb. Boy am I out of shape. Its pretty ridiculous :-)
Saturday night we went to Conrad and Diane Toew's for supper. Our church does this every year. You sign up to either host, or attend. You then get a paper in your mail box telling you where to go, and what to bring. You don't get to know anyone else who's going. The host doesn't know anyone who's coming. I had to bring a main dish. We had a delicious supper and great fellowship. Its great to get to know other people in the church a little better. I love being part of a church that plans these kinds of events.
Sunday I was at my parents for the day while Rob went 4 wheeling with some buddies. We ended up going to the curling rink in the afternoon to play a game. I've gotten a little better since 2 weeks ago at our church funspiel. I could really get into this game. Maybe next year. After my Dad took us all out for icecream. Something we haven't done in a really long time. Cherry sundae from DQ...mmm mmm good.
I love fun weekends, although it does seem to make them go by alot faster.

Wondering if anyone has ever had any trouble with their kids being slightly pigeon toed. Caden is in his left foot. We are going to see a specialist. I've asked my doctor about this at everyone of his appointments. We even had xrays done at 1 point. She kept saying it would correct itself. But he's almost 2 and still no change. So I made another appointment last week and she agreed to make a call to a specialist. We'll see how that goes. But, do you have any insight as to what worked for your kids, or did it eventually just go away?

Welcome Caleb Dayne

Congratulations to Chris and Shar Neisteter on your beautiful baby boy. Caleb was born on March 21 at 8:26am weighing 6lbs 12.5 oz. Mom and baby are doing great.

Spring is in the air

The weather is finally getting nicer. It just makes everything seem great. I love being able to run outside with out a jacket if I need to. Today I even noticed that my shrubs beside my house are no longer under snow. I can only hope that it stays this nice, although somehow I have my doubts.
Well, potty training is going fairly well. Monday Caden had his first pee accident in over a week. (Aside from when he’s at the babysitters) We’re still working on BM’s, put he’s pretty much got the pee down pat. Yesterday morning he was even dry in the morning. I still put a diaper on him for night, just because he is rarely dry. He’ll have to learn that one in time I guess. Anyway, just a little update on that.
I am eagerly awaiting the arrival of not one, but two babies from 2 of my dear friends. Erin is due on Mar 23 and Shar is due on Apr. 4. I am so excited for both of them as they enter in this new quest called motherhood. It’s so nice to be expanding in our little girls group. After these 2 have their babies, that makes half of us who have kids. Hopefully the other half will join in soon. (wink wink girls)
Lately I’ve been feeling like I need to get into something. I’m not exactly sure what I mean by that, other than I need a hobby. Its not that I find myself bored, as there is always something to do. Just not things that I want to do. I really really need to get started on Cadens scrapbook. He’s gonna be 2 in 2 months and I haven’t even begun his scrapbook. It was going to be my winter project, but that hasn’t happened. The main reason I haven’t started on it is the room. I have a pretty small house, in which I don’t have any extra space. I need a space where I can lay out all my scrapbook stuff, and go work at it whenever I have time for it. It takes so much time to lay everything out, that I don’t have a chance to get a page done, or even organized, before I have to clean everything up. Maybe someday.
I’m also contemplating ideas already for Cadens birthday party. Last year I made this train cake. This year, I’m thinking either a tractor, or a fire truck. Both seem a little daunting to me. The train was hard, but it was small pieces. A tractor or fire truck would be way bigger. And, how do make a true red, or a true green icing or fondant. Food coloring can only do so much. I’ll have to search for some strong dyes. Gotta love Google. I’m excited to have a birthday party for Caden again. Luckily, last year we were able to have a bbq outside. Although it did rain later on in the evening, we still had a great day. I’m hoping for similar, or better weather this year. Of course that’s still 2 months away. I’m looking forward to how he reacts to his birthday with being 2. At 1, he didn’t really understand what was happening, other than that tons of people were at his house, he got new toys, and he could stuff his face with cake. This year I think he’ll understand it a little better.
This weekend we’ll be participating in our church’s ‘guess who’s coming for dinner’. I’ll post more about that once it’s over.

Potty Training

I decided it was time. He is 21 months old. Slowly but surely he is getting the hang of things. Luckily, I've had very few messes to clean up. He's done great. For the first 2 days, he would sit on the potty for up to 1 1/2 hours before he would finally go. Now, he'll go every time he sits down and within a few minutes. He gets so excited. We flush, and wave by to the pee. Do a little dance. Its so cute. Progress right! He still doesn't tell me when he has to go, but as long as I take him every so often, he'll go. He's dry after naps. He was even dry in the morning one day. That has NEVER happened since the day he was born. I am so proud of this little boy. And wow does he ever look cute in his little gitch (i'll post a pic soon)
I'm glad I decided to do it earlier. I know alot of people say, kids are just not ready till after they're 2 or 3. Well, I call bull on that one. I really don't believe its the kids who are not ready, its the parents who are not ready to commit to it. I know we've got a road ahead of us with this yet, but I'm determined that it'll work. In most countries other than ours, kids are out of diapers way sooner. They find us to be disgusting, by how long we keep our kids in diapers. And if you really think about it, it is gross.
Anyway, just had to post about my baby, who is growing up in so many ways.

Caden

Well, I haven’t updated you on Caden for awhile, so I figured I’d dedicate this post to that.
He is now 21 months old, which is already getting me thinking about birthday party plans. He is getting to be quite the smart little guy. He repeats pretty much any word, although it’s not always understandable. He doesn’t talk too well yet, but says many, many words.
We’ve been working on learning how to count to 10, as well as the A B C’s. He’s doing really well with both. Even though he is no where near knowing either completely on his own, he’ll say the next one to me as we are going through them.
I’m also working on teaching him the ‘Come Lord Jesus’ prayer. Again, he usually just repeats each word after me, but he’s will say some of the words before I get to them. It makes me so proud.
We’ve been working on our animal sounds as well. He can do a lion, kitty, dog, monkey, sheep and a chicken. Next up is a cow and pig.
Learning to clean up was a big thing for Caden. I think he just figures it takes too much time. But lately, he’s doing such a great job. He’ll clean up one thing before he dumps another. It’s so cool to see him using the things that we teach him.
I am hoping to potty train in the next little while. He has gone on the potty a few times. Both pee and a BM. I need to devote a few days to staying at home with him to get it done. He likes to wear gitch already, and boy do I love to see his little bum in a pair of gitch. Makes me wanna pinch it even more.
Anyway, I suppose that’s all the update for now.

All new

Well, I was tired of my old blog so decided to try this one out. All of you out there who have personalized blog pages, like Stacey, Kalle, Mel etc, where'd you get them? Or can I do it myself?

No T.V

Am I the crazy one? Ok, don't answer that. But do answer this. How much t.v do you allow your kids to watch/how much did they watch when they were under the age of 2???
Here's the issue:
We have never let Caden watch t.v. Its not that he asks for it or wants it, its just that we don't have our t.v on when Caden is awake so he really doesn't know what it is. I am so against parents who use a t.v as a babysitter. Caden is 21 months. Seriously, should I be offering him a cartoon, rather than a tractor, or blocks, or a crayon and paper?? I just can't take away his imagination to maybe get an hour of time without him bugging me. Its so not worth it.
I know people who let there kid(s) watch t.v./movies at all times during the day. Any time I go there, the t.v is on. What is this teaching them?
So, with that said, we were at my inlaws this weekend. They too, know that we don't allow t.v. But what do they do?? Buy Caden 2 movies. What am I suppose to do? How many times can I say it? CADEN DOES NOT WATCH T.V.!!!!! My mil thought we should just put the movie on to see what he would do. And let me tell you, boy was I proud of my boy. You know what he did? Paid absolutely NO attention what so ever to the t.v. He just continued playing with his toys. Even with my mil's encouraging, nothing. I wanted to hug him. Ha, I told you. Rob even told them that he won't be interested. It was just so nice to have him affirm what we've been saying.
Now, I'm not saying that we won't ever let C watch t.v, cause that's not the case at all. Once he's a little bit older, absolutely I'll let him watch some cartoons on treehouse or something. But why oh why would I introduce that to him already. He has way too many toys, books and things to do.
When I was growing up, we were very limited to t.v. We had a certain amount we could watch a day, so we had to choose wisely. Otherwise, we played outside, downstairs, in our rooms, with all of our many many toys. We had such an imagination. I played school, house, barbies, etc. We were farmers with our tractors in the dirt outside. We made amusement parks for apples in the sand box. Built forts and quinces in the winter. Who needed t.v.
Please, I want your input on this one. De-lurk yourself if you need to. How much do you let your kids watch t.v. and when did they start??

A couples survey

Stole this from Amy's blog
♥ Fill it out and let's learn about you and your better half!
♥ What are your middle names?Leigh Michelle and Jay Franklin
♥ How long have you been together?7 years (5 1/2 married)
♥ How long did you know each other before you started dating?not at all. A friend gave him my number and he called. I knew who he was cause he came to Twisters.
♥ Who asked who out? He asked me out, but only after he found out i was interested.
♥Who said I love you first? Rob did
♥ How old are each of you?I'm 25 Rob is 32
♥ Whose siblings do/did you see the most?Mine
♥ Do you have any children together?Yes. Caden.
♥ What about pets?One cat - Fred
♥ Did you go to the same schools?No
♥ Are you from the same hometown?No
♥ Who is the smartest? We are smart in our own areas
♥ Who is the most sensitive? Umm, we both have our moments
♥ Where do you eat out most as a couple? McDonalds probably
♥ Where is the furthest you two have traveled together as a couple? Jamaica
♥ Who has the craziest ex? Probably Rob.
♥ Who has the worst temper? For sure me.
♥ Who does the cooking? All me
♥Who is the most social? Definitely me
♥ Who is the neat-freak? Well, we both are not too neat-freaky.
♥ Who is the most stubborn? For sure me. I'm super stubborn.
♥ Who wakes up earlier? I do only cause of Caden. If i could, I'd sleep in everyday
♥ Where was your first date? At Twisters
♥Who has the bigger family? We both have 2 siblings. But Rob has 4 nephews. I don't have any
♥Do you get flowers often? No, I don't really have use for flowers in my house. I'd rather buy something else
♥ Who do you spend the holidays with?Everyone.
♥ Who is more jealous? We don't really have things to get jealous about
♥ Who sings better? Not too much of a singing couple.
♥Who does/did the laundry? Me, but Rob will if he needs something done.
♥ Who’s better with the computer? For sure me
♥ Who drives when you are together? Rob almost always
♥ Who picks where you go to dinner? I think we take turns. It doesn't happen very often.
♥ Who is the first one to admit when they’re wrong? I have a very hard time admitting when I'm wrong
♥ Who named your pet? Rob.
♥ Who wears the pants in the relationship? I'd say mostly me, although Rob has his things he's firm about.
♥ Who eats more sweets? No doubt its Rob
♥ Who cries more? No doubt its me.
♥ Are you still together? Oh course!

He's just not that into you

I finally went to see it, thanks to my friend Shar who also wanted to see it. Pretty good. The reviews I've heard were not good at all, so I was sceptical. But, I went anyway. And I'd see it again. Now as Joni stated in one of her posts, its not the most clean movie, what with the one married man having an affair and all, but other than that, its not too bad. Not too much swearing, which is always good.
Still patiently waiting for confessions of a shopaholic to come to Winkler. Hurry up.

Minor case of OCD

I'll admit it. There are definitely things in my life that would qualify me to have obsessive compulsive disorder. Here are a few:

All the shirts in Robs, Cadens and my closet must be facing left. There are no exceptions. If Rob ever hangs up his own clothes (which is rare so its not a big issue) I must go back and change them. If I'm lying in bed, thinking that there is a possibility that a shirt might be facing the wrong way, i have to get up and check, or I will not be able to sleep.

Whichever side I was lying on in bed when I wake up to get out of bed to, for example, go to the bathroom or check on a crying Caden, I have to lie on the opposite side when I get back into bed. I can feel it if I'm on the same side as I was and I can't do it. I've tried to forget; but my body remembers. Not sure why this is.

No other dishes are allowed to be in the first row from the left, of the top rack of my dishwasher, except cups. And those cups must be in between the row, not on a spoke. It drives me crazy when Rob puts his dishes in the dishwasher in no particular order. I always fix it.

I must fold my kleenex in half before I use it. No way can I use a crumpled kleenex. And if i pull out a kleenex that isn't whole, I will only use it if I can get all the pieces for it.

Anybody else have some OCD confessions??? Post em on your blog and let me know that you've done it.

Girls night

I know I always talk about it, so I figured its time i explained it. Every Wednesday, for the past 8 years, we get together. Who are we? Here goes. Shar Neisteter, Sarah Klassen, Tiff Peters, Joder Wiebe, Pam Rempel, Jodi Giesbrecht, Erin Boschmann, Candace Toews, and Karla Kuhl. We've been friends since grade 9, some of us longer. We started this shortly before high school was over and amazingly enough, its still going. We alternate among all of our houses and at 8:00 every Wednesday, we meet. Not everyone shows up every time, obviously, and some are more loyal than others.
What do we do? Absolutely nothing but sit, talk and eat. What more does a group of girls need right? Our husbands often ask what we do when we are together, and they can't believe that we could just sit and talk for hours. Just another example of how guys don't understand girls.
We also do fun events a few times a year. Every summer we go camping as a group. We have a Christmas weekend away, usually to the states, and then throughout the rest of the year, we plan potlucks as a group, including husbands. Oh and sometimes we go see movies as well.
I look forward to Wednesdays every week. Husbands stay home with the kids, and us girls get to unwind and relax in the middle of the week. I value these friendships so much. I am closer with a few of the girls, just because we get together other than on girls night, and some of us also get together as couples. Also, 4 of us go to the same church. Its such an awesome thing we have and I feel so blessed to be a part of it. We've been through 9 of us getting married, and are about to have the 4th and 5th girls become mothers. That'll make 6 kids among us. How exciting.
Anyway, now you know all about it. Do any of you have groups like this?

Work work work

When Caden was born, I obviously had mat leave, and therefore stopped working 1 1/2 weeks before he was born. Once he was a few months old, where I could leave him somewhere for a day and not have extremely sore boobs by the end, I started coming in to work a day here and there. Starting in January of 2008, I was coming in once a week and when my mat leave ended in June, I started coming twice a week. I used to always say that once I had kids, I wouldn't be working anymore. I wanted to stay home. But I've discovered that I need to work. I love my son, and he is a very easy boy to take care of, but I found that I need the adult interaction, and I need to do other work than just house stuff. I'm not saying that when I don't work, I'm always at home, stuck in my house. We go out alot. Visiting, shopping, etc. But I take pride in my job at PVC. I am secretly happy that both of the girls hired to take over my job couldn't do it. It makes me feel important; and that no one else knows what I know.
For the month of February, I am working 3 days a week, because the other lady in the office is gone, and I have a much bigger work load. (doing invoices and payroll etc, not normally a part of my job). Not to mention that for this week and next, my Dad is also not in the office. It feels good. I like knowing all thats going on.
Now, with that said, I am not planning on ever coming back full time. I do not want my son to be at day care 5 days a week. I know I could never do that. I'm just pondering the option of coming 3 days a week. The extra money is always nice, and I have so much work to do always. I've been back 2 days a week now for 7 months and have only just recently caught up on work.
I also know that once we have another kid, working will not be a very practical option. Once you put 2 kids in day care, the take home pay drops alot. Is it worth it?
Anyway, just my thoughts while I sit here enjoying my coffee break.

Not so sporty spice

Although I am not a huge sports fan, curling is one sport that I could watch for hours. This weekend I got to watch my dad curl in the annual mens bonspiel. I love it. I could literally spend all day at the rink watching. It makes me sad and disappointed that my brother Randy doesn't curl anymore, cause he was good. Plus it was another person to watch.
Last year, my family had the chance to go Grand Forks for a curling game. It was such a great game, and fun to watch a different caliber of curlers. I'm looking forward to the scott tournament of hearts. I don't usually watch too many games, but when I can, I steal a few minutes/hours.
I, however, hate the other ice sport. You know which one. Hockey. Seriously can't stand the sport. I can't even describe to you how much i hate it. It makes me mad when it consumes peoples lives. When you have company over, turn off the t.v. When plans come up, skip a hockey game. Hockey fans are among the most loyal and it makes me mad. Get a life.

Happy Valentines Day

Not much for big plans for us today. Robs been working all day, and I've been watching my dad curl. We debated going to Winnipeg or Grand Forks for the weekend, but since we just got back from a trip, decided we showed save money. We are, however, going to see a movie tonight which for me, is super exciting. For some reason, I just love going to the theater to watch movies. Plus the popcorn is a big bonus. What are your v-day plans?

Random photo challenge

I'm copying this idea from kalle's blog, who gets it off of others blogs. Name of the game is to actually post the picture from that folder in your Pictures. This week it is picture folder January 2007 or your 13th picture folders 3rd picture.

Well, this picture is obviously of Caden, cause what other pictures would I have in my folders. He's almost 8 months old here, and we were trying to weigh him.

Wordless Wednesday-Hmm, what should I wear today?

Ice Ice baby

Yes, these people really are skating on the street in Osterwick. How crazy is that. Later in the day I saw 2 kids with hockey sticks and a puck. Gotta love Manitoba winter

First born

A different kind of survey (copied from facebook) all about your first born. I tag everyone who reads. And let me know that you've done it so I can read it

1. WAS YOUR FIRST PREGNANCY PLANNED? Yes
2. WERE YOU MARRIED AT THE TIME? Yes almost 4 years
3. WHAT WERE YOUR REACTIONS? So very excited. It was a long time coming
4. WAS ABORTION AN OPTION FOR YOU? Never no way not a chance
5. HOW OLD WERE YOU? 24
6. HOW DID YOU FIND OUT YOU WERE PREGNANT? I felt like I might be and I was 4 weeks late (which isn't abnormal for me) But I went to the clinic and had a test.
7. WHO DID YOU TELL FIRST? My husband
8. DID YOU WANT TO FIND OUT THE SEX? No
9. DUE DATE? May 31 2007
10. DID YOU HAVE MORNING SICKNESS? A little
11. WHAT DID YOU CRAVE? Icecream, tomatoes and pasta
12. WHO/WHAT IRRITATED YOU THE MOST? I can't really remember so it can't have been too severe
13. WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST CHILD'S SEX? A Boy
14. DID YOU WISH YOU HAD THE OPPOSITE SEX OF WHAT YOU WERE GETTING? no
15. HOW MANY POUNDS DID YOU GAIN? 34 lbs.
16. DID YOU HAVE A BABY SHOWER? yes 3
17. WAS THE SHOWER A SURPRISE OR DID YOU KNOW? I knew about 2 of them. The other was a surprise
18.DID YOU HAVE ANY COMPLICATIONS DURING YOUR PREGNANCY? None
19. WHERE DID YOU GIVE BIRTH? BTHC
20. HOW MANY HOURS WERE YOU IN LABOR? 24 from start to finish, although only 8.5 of hard stuff
21. WHO DROVE YOU TO THE HOSPITAL? My husband
22. WHO WATCHED YOU GIVE BIRTH? my doctor, a doctor in training, 3 nurses and my husband
23. WAS IT NATURAL OR C-SECTION? natural
24. DID YOU TAKE MEDICINE TO EASE THE PAIN? Not a drop. It was my goal and I was so very proud of myself for doing it.
25. HOW MUCH DID YOUR CHILD WEIGH? 9lbs 10oz
26. WHEN WAS YOUR CHILD ACTUALLY BORN? May 24, 2007
27. WHAT DID YOU NAME YOUR CHILD? Caden Alexander Jay Suderman
28. HOW OLD IS YOUR FIRST BORN TODAY? 20.5 months

My Van Gogh

Our first time finger painting. I helped with the first one, but the second one he did all by himself.

Story time

He was being grumpy and bored, so I told him to go to his room and read some books. This is what he did.

25 things

I know this was meant to be done on facebook, but I thought I'd do it here too. 25 random things about me.

1. I chew on the ends of pens
2. I talk with my hands
3. I can’t stand still when I’m talking on the phone. I pace all over the house.
4. I hate cleaning my house
5. I love doing laundry. Especially in summer, when I can hang it outside to dry
6. I love to shop, for myself and for Caden
7. I can’t stand slow drivers. I get road rage, big time.
8. I love the crust from bread. I wish I could buy a loaf of crust.
9. I am blessed with wonderful friends, most of whom are friends from high school. We get together every Wednesday, almost religiously.
10. I am looking forward to building a new house in a few years. Sometimes I draw up house plans. Some realistic, some way not realistic.
11. I enjoy watching movies. At the theatre, or rented. And I have to have popcorn when I’m at the theatre.
12. I would love to be able to go south every winter. I have a need to travel.
13. I wish I had the creativity to scrapbook. Eventually, I will start a scrap book for Caden. I love buying scrap book stuff. Get me into a dollarama and I go crazy.
14. I hate painting, although I love a newly painted room
15. I feel lost without my cell phone. Honestly, I can’t stand to be without it.
16. I have always wanted to be a mom. Yet, I had no idea the affect this little man would have on me. He is my world.
17. I enjoy blogging, and wish I had internet so I could blog more often.
18. I love icecream. Blizzards, floats, or mixed in a bowl with strawberry jam.
19. My favourite actress is Julia Roberts. I own all of her movies. Although I also love Kate Hudson and Sandra Bullock.
20. In Junior High, I was in love with Jonathan Taylor Thomas. I had posters in my locker, and all over the walls in my room. I was gonna marry him.
21. Seeing little boot prints in fresh fallen snow makes me smile
22. I love fresh homemade salsa
23. I HATE winter. Can’t stand being cold. Don’t like having to start my vehicle. I hate wearing so many layers.
24. I miss high school. I loved being in high school. Looking back, I realize it was so simple then.
25. I’m actually looking forward to potty training Caden. I’m sure I’ll have a post once I’m actually doing it, but we’ll see.

Now, I tag everyone who reads my blog to do the same thing. Oh, and let me know that you've done it so I can come check it out.

Random babbles

Have I mentioned lately how much I love my little boy? He is such a joy. Yes, right now I don't really appreciate the fact that he's up around 6:30, no matter what time he goes to bed or how many naps he has, but when he's up, he's so much fun. He's growing so much. In height, (he's now 34'' tall) and in his mind. He'll attempt to repeat almost any word I tell him too. My favorite one is 'delicious'. It comes out sounding like 'sisicious', but he's got all 3 syllables. When I ask him how old he is, he'll answer 'one'. And he'll count to three. Of course after that he gets bored and I can't get him to say 4. He's becoming such a little boy. Interacting with him is feeling different, as I know he is picking up on everything I'm saying. I love it.
Monday evening, I went out to throw a diaper into the garage. Well, a bird flew into our house. Freaked me out. Rob was in the shower, so I ran into the bathroom to tell him what happened. He of course told me to go watch the bird so I knew where it was. Not a chance was that going to happen. Now, I'm not afraid of birds, but when they are in such a small area, flying around, I don't want to be around. I hid in the bathroom while he managed to get the bird to fly back outside. Caden was loving the whole ordeal. Since then, he has asked for that bird over and over again. That whole night, he'd walk to the door and ask for the bird. He's so sincere about it, it almost makes me want to go and get him a bird. Its the sweetest thing.
Anyway, I'm off to a movie with the girls night girls so, enjoy your hump day evening. I'll leave you with one of my new favorite pictures of Caden.

...and welcome to the terrible 2's

They’ve hit. My sweet little boy has entered into what they call the terrible two’s. Its unbelievable. We had a little situation on Wednesday. Here it is.
Caden is only allowed to have his soothers for nap time and bed time. Well, I picked him up from the sitters and he spotted his soothers in the bag. He cried and cried cause I wouldn’t let him have them. Once we got home, I told him if he stayed in his bed, he could have his suckie. He jumped into bed and I gave it to him. I then went to the kitchen to start supper. Well, about 2 minutes later, he peeked around his door with a suckie in his mouth and hand. I sent him back to his bed and he went right away. A couple minutes later, he was back at the door with the soothers. I told him to get back to his bad. He looked at me and said a very defiant ‘NO’. I again told him to get back to his bed, which was followed by another defiant ‘NO’. Well, that did it for me. I grabbed the soothers out of his mouth and hand and put them on a shelf. He lost it. He stomped his feet repeatedly on the floor, and then he SLAMMED HIS DOOR in my face. Yup, my 20 month old sweet little boy turned into a 12 year old girl at that moment. I marched into that room, grabbed him by the arm and led him to his bed for a very deserved time out. Continuing with the defiance, he didn’t stay in time out so I put a chair in the middle of his room and made him sit on that. It took a bit, but he calmed down and sat in time out.
I’ve know since he was quite little that he would have a temper on him, because he always wanted to do everything himself, and has had attitude. But I never imagined it would switch so fast. Oh well, I guess this is where my parenting will really get tested. I’m up for the task. I mean really, how long can you stay mad at this little face.

Big boy

My baby is in a big boy bed. He’s doing really well in it too. He’s only fallen out 2 times. I still have the crib in his room just in case although I’m gonna take it down and out next week so that I can clean up Cadens room. Its so full in there, with the crib, bed, change table, ball pit, laundry hamper and shelf that it seems like we can hardly walk around in there, let alone play.

Holiday

First of all, I want to apologize to all of my regular readers, if I still have any left. I’ve been really bad at blogging lately and I’m sorry. I don’t have internet at home and therefore can only write my posts when I’m at work, or if I go to my parents house. So, lets play catch up.
We had an awesome holiday. I booked the trip on Friday….we left Monday. I would have liked to have a little more time, but this is the way it worked out. See, we booked our trip using our Mastercard points. We pay for everything, and I mean everything with our mastercard. Therefore, we have a lot of points, which then transfer into travel money. It took me all week to finally get through to them. The only trip she could find within our price range was to Carabela resort in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. I checked online and the resort looked good. 4 star. Works for me.
So I began preparing to leave in 2 days. My Mom said she would take Caden for the week, so that was an easy thing. She has everything but enough clothes at her house for Caden. Sunday night we dropped him off at my parents. We had to be up at 2:30am, which meant that I really didn’t sleep at all because I was so excited. Our flight left at 7:00am. We arrived at 3:40 local time.
The weather was perfect when we got there. However, when we arrived at our resort, things did not go so well. We were shown to our room, which was such a disappointment to me. It was not clean, the air conditioning didn’t work, the bathtub was dirty, and the toilet didn’t stop running. The next morning we changed rooms to one that was much better.
Our resort does not have any food available between 5:00 and 7:00. We were hungry after a day of travel and couldn’t get food anywhere. Very frustrating. I was ready to pack up and go back home.
The grounds of the resort were not kept very clean at all.
NOBODY spoke English. And when I say nobody, I mean nobody. The staff all spoke Spanish, except for a couple of them who spoke broken English. And I’m not exaggerating when I say that 98% of the people at the resort didn’t speak English. Most of them were French, with a few germans, Italians, and other foreigners. The odd time we heard someone speak English we’d whip our heads around to see who it could be. This really got to me. I was hoping we’d be able to meet some people there that we could hang out with. But no. I was not happy about that.
The food was not good. Nothing was labelled, so we had no idea what we were eating. I ended up eating mainly pineapple and bread all week long. To top it all off, we both ended up getting food poisoning. We ate at the Mexican a la carte restaurant for supper on Thursday. During the night Rob got sick. In the morning I got sick. Throwing up and…well…you can imagine the rest. It was not fun. My bottom was so sore. We didn’t leave our room all day.
Now even though all of this really sucked. We still had a really great time. The weather couldn’t have been more perfect. We had rain only 1 day, and it only lasted for about 3 minutes, 2 times. Other than that, it rained at night. The ocean was beautiful. The sand was incredible. We really enjoyed our time together and had fun. I did really miss Caden though. It almost hurt how much I missed him. We picked him up from my parents at around 10:00pm. I woke him up from sleeping. He didn’t really even want to come to me. He just wanted my mom. Kind of sad for me, although I understand. But after he woke up completely, he snuggled with me. And didn’t want me to leave the room. Since then, he freaks out every time I leave, even if its just to run outside for something. Oh well. He did very well when I left him at the sitters on Wednesday and Thursday so that was great. He’ll be back to normal soon.
Now I’ll leave you with a few pictures from the trip.

and we're off

In 13 hours I will be on a plane to Punta Cana, Dominican Rebuplic. I am so excited. I will post all about it I'm home. Have a great week.

Thanks Auntie Amy

This is Cadens new way of eating things off the table. Taught to him by his Auntie Amy. (not really a big deal, I'm just kidding)

A weekend away

This past weekend we went to Grand Forks with my family. We stayed at the Lakeview Inns and Suites. Awesome hotel. I would definitely recommend it. The pool was almost bath water warm, so therefore Caden had a great time in it. The hot tub was not so hot, as it needed a replacement part, but overall it was a great hotel.
We did a lot of shopping. Came home with a new counter top, front door, tub surround and tub fixtures. I am so excited to re-do our house with all these new things. Everything is so cheap down there. I did buy myself a few shirts, although i was not in a shopping mood at all. Can't say that has happened to me very often. Caden got a bunch of new shirts, and I bought a bunch of baby gifts, as I have 2 friends expecting in the next 3 months. Its so nice to get away to a hotel for a weekend. I only wish we had spent a little more time at the hotel. You almost need to go for 3 nights to get all the shopping done, and spend time at the hotel. Maybe next year.

Caden has definitely overcome his fear of water. Although I don't think it was so much a fear of the actual water, just that its usually cold water. He jumped into the pool more times than I can count. Brave boy he is. I even put him completely under water a few times and he didn't care.

Doing Monkey ears with my brother

Rick could do this the best. Caden got some really good air.

Be Right Back

New post(s) coming soon. Been busy with New Years and a weekend in Grand Forks. Stay tuned.

Welcome Brody Reid Friesen

Congrats to Russ and Rachel on the birth of their beautiful baby boy on December 26th. He was 6lbs 4oz and 19'' long.

Its over, yet its just beginning.

We survived another Christmas. And had so much fun. I'm always so surprised at how fast it goes by. You wait for it, and wait for it and wait for it to come, and then its gone before you can even blink.
Caden was so much fun this year. It makes a big difference to be a year and 7 months, instead of just 7 months at Christmas. He enjoyed helping everyone else open their presents, as well as his own. And boy did he get awesome new toys. Mostly tractors and trucks which he's big into. Not to mention a gator, from my parents. He doesn't know about that one yet. Its technically not meant for just him, but for all the grandchildren, but since NO ONE ELSE is having kids....ahem...its Cadens. Can't wait for summer to put it together and go cruisin. Now, I just have to lose some weight so I'm not over the 130lb weight restriction...lol.
I got most things that I asked for. And when I got home and unpacked it all, I realized that all of it stayed in the kitchen. Except for the brown coat. I got cutlery, a 4 slice toaster, a mixer, cookie sheets, a calendar, and some other smaller things. Oh and a rabbit hat, which I need to exchange for a smaller size. So excited to have warm ears this winter.
With 4 gatherings down, and only 1 to go (on New years day) I'm feeling a little less overwhelmed. Oh wait, did I mention that tomorrow I'm going to the city to hopefully get my passport so that in a few weeks Rob and I can go away on a holiday. Oh and when we get back, I have to start working 3 days a week because the other woman at work is on holidays for 6 weeks. And on top of that, my parents are gone for 2 weeks during that time as well, which means its only me in the office at work....ahhhh. When will it end. I hope February is a little less stressful month.

Merry Christmas

Although I don't have a lot of time, I just had to wish everyone a Merry Christmas. We are spending the day at my in laws today and Rob, Caden and Papa left to do some shopping. That leaves me with some free time.
We'll open presents later this afternoon when Robs sister Marcy gets here with her hubby and 4 boys.
Then tonight, off to my parents for night, where we'll open presents tomorrow morning and basically spend the day in our p.j.s, eating, playing games and enjoying new toys and presents.
I do love Christmas.

Happy Birthday Rick

To an awesome uncle and brother on his magic 23rd birthday. Oh, and check out his awesome birthday cake over at Amandas.