My Two Year Old

So. Dang. Cute.

We finally took Cayden in for his two year check-up and he is still a huge kid! Here are his stats:

Weight: 36 lbs, 4 oz = 100+%
Height: 37.5" = 100+%
Head: 20" = 90%

Holy cow! This kid just keeps on growing! Though it does seem like he is finally starting to grow into his big head. :)

When we got to the Dr's office and checked in Cayden just sat in a chair waiting with a big scowl/grumpy face. I asked him what was wrong and he just kept scowling and looking grumpy. Clearly he didn't want to be there. When we got placed in a room he kept asking to 'go' and when the Dr walked in and asked him how he was doing he looked right at her and said 'bye.' I about died laughing (inside)! He only had to get one shot and took it like a champ. No screaming or crying this time, just a really upset looking face followed by 'ow' and lots of pointing to and kissing his new 'ow.'

Goodness. I sure love my not so little guy!

BIG Changes (Not So Big Too)

Where do I start? We've got lots of changes happening in the next month and we're pretty dang excited!

Chad is graduating with a Technology Management degree from UVU in about three weeks! There isn't any official ceremony, but he'll be done with classes and get his diploma early September. Yay! So. Excited. Like really. It's hard to believe that he will be done. I've been dreaming of the end of school for what seems like years and even after I graduated from school I still felt like I was going. A long anticipated dream is finally here and I don't know what to do with myself! I am so proud of him and all his hard work. It can't be easy balancing 50 hours of work a week on top of full time school/homework. Not to mention spending time with your family and church callings/activities. Despite how hard it has been I am so proud and grateful for all he has done for our family.

Grad school... Chad got accepted to one school, but decided it wasn't where he wanted to go. The other two schools wanted him to have post-degree work experience. So, Chad is going to work for a few years and get some experience and then go back and get his masters. At first we were somewhat disappointed, but I honestly think it has been a blessing in disguise. Chad is so burned out. He has had so much on his plate since we got married (so, almost five years) and needs a break. It will be nice for him to just work and not have to worry about anything else. When it is time for school again in a few years, Chad will be ready for it. Plus, there is always a chance that the company he works for will pay for him to go back to school. I know several people who have had this happen. We'll cross our fingers that it works out that way because it would sure be nice to not have to pay for it!

Chad put in his two weeks at Radio Shack last Monday. His last day is Friday, August 5th. He is just a little bit excited! While he learned some great things working there, he has been ready for quite some time to move on to something new and more challenging. So... on Monday, August 8th Chad is starting work as a Continuous Improvement Coordinator at a branch of JCPenney's corporate office in Salt Lake. I don't fully understand the lingo of what he does (if you want more details you'll have to ask him), but I do know that he is so excited! Not only because it's a 'real job' and pays more, but because it is directly in line with his career goals. His excitement makes me so happy! Officially getting this job was quite the adventure; if you want more details you'll have to ask in person. Let's just say that after seven months of job searching, lots of prayers, frustration, and almost giving up we finally have a job! What a huge blessing and answer to lots and lots of prayers.

With this job change we originally were going to move closer to Salt Lake - somewhere on the other point of the mountain. But honestly, I can't bring myself to leave our ward and friends. We love where we are living. We finally feel like we belong in this ward. We finally have good friends. So after much debate, we aren't moving. Not yet anyway. Chad's work provides him with a bus/TRAX pass and we have decided that he is going to ride the bus to work each day. This will save us a lot of money on gas as well as wear and tear on his older car. My friend's husband does the same thing (commutes to work in Salt Lake each day via the bus) and if they can do it so can we. I'm sure we'll get tired of it eventually, but for the next year or so that is our plan. In the meantime we'll enjoy our ward and friends a little while longer and we'll enjoy all the money we're putting in savings because our rent won't go up. (One of the reasons we decided against moving is that rent is much more expensive where we were looking to live. Commuting via the bus saves not only gas money, but also several hundred dollars in rent each month.)

There you have it. All the changes going on in our life currently summed up in a blog post. Yes, we are a little stressed with all the change, but we are just as excited. :)

And just because he is cute...
My little 'cheese'-er man!

Cayden Loves Animals!

This is our typical bedtime scene:

Cayden and a billion animals. I think there are seven animals in bed with him and yes, he is actually asleep (despite the fact that he has his eyes partially open).

Colorado Fun

While visiting my family in Colorado a few weeks ago we did lots of fun things. Chad celebrated his 28th birthday; I kidnapped him halfway through the day and took him to go see Transformers 3 and then out to dinner. (I totally recommend this movie by the way! The second one was, well, gross. But the third one almost rivals the first in how good it was. Seriously loved it.) We also spent a lot of time playing in the pool (by we I mean Cayden). Cayden now loves blowing bubbles in the water and really wishes that we had a bathtub he could stretch out and kick in! We also took a trip to the Denver Zoo and had a blast! I enjoyed it more than I thought I would and Cayden had way more fun than he did last year.

The birthday boy! P.S. It's totally not what you think in the VS bag.

Biting the yummy sucker from Auntie Rachelle. It was just about the size of his head.


Uncle Greg making it 'rain.' I love the fake laugh at the end. Hysterical!

Blowing bubbles.

Splashing! Watch Cayden's face in this video. About halfway through he starts making the best faces! We all about died laughing.

How does Cayden measure up to a monkey?

At the zoo there was this really cool place that you could go inside and feed birds. They birds are obviously really comfortable with people and had no problem climbing on your arm or you getting really close to them. This was by far one of Cayden's favorite parts. He loved feeding the birds. The hard part was trying to stop him from grabbing and petting them.

Trying to pet a birdie.

Helping Uncle Greg and mom feed the birdies.

A 'beer!' Cayden was so excited that the bear kept coming right up in front of the glass.

Passed out. With cookie crumbs on his face. To be honest, this is what I felt like doing too... except without the cookie crumbs. ;)

Happy Birthday Cayden!

On the 4th of July my little boy turned two! I can't believe he is a toddler! And yes, we have totally hit the terrible two's; in fact, we hit them a while ago. We were in Colorado this year for the 4th and had a blast celebrating Cayden's special day.

Cayden was a pro at opening presents this year. No explanation was necessary, he just dove right in! He was so excited over each present and stopped to awe over each one before he chucked it to the side to open another (though at first he seemed more interested in unwrapping presents than what was actually in them).

Lucky little boy got an Elmo cupcake cake this year. He knew exactly who it was! During the video you can hear Cayden say that the sparklers are 'coo coo' and asks for more when the last one burns out. He also points out that the cake is Elmo when asked. Elmo cake = SUCCESS! Not too bad for a first attempt at cake decorating. :)

We love you so much Cayden! Happy birthday! We are so glad you joined our family two years ago! I couldn't ask for a better handsome little man, even if you have a lot of "terrible two" moments. Love you bunches!

Rough Week

We've had a rough week around here. Last night Cayden fell off of some concrete stairs he was sitting on and scraped up his knuckle pretty good and now has a giant scrape from the bottom of his chin to his collar bone. Then tonight he fell off of a bench head first into a bookshelf. Now he also has a scratch on the side of his face and a big old goose egg on his forehead.

Poor boy. At least we're still smiling! :)