A Bunch of Randomness

It's the end of July and there are several pictures that I just haven't gotten around to posting. So here they are together, in one post about completely random and unrelated things. :)

Laura's first time on the trampoline. She loved it!

First time eating rice cereal. She actually really liked it despite how it looks otherwise in the first picture.

This cute girl absolutely loves baths! (As a side note, what color do you think her eyes are? My opinion changes all the time. Love those big, big eyes!)

Notice the tongue. This girl's tongue is always hanging out of her mouth and she does all sorts of nifty tricks with it.

Cayden convinced us to let him ride the carousel at the mall. Cute kid loved it and wanted to keep riding it again and again to try each animal.

 

Ready to play with colored vinegar and baking soda!

 

Love this cheeser face!

Concentrating hard. Cayden loved doing this and thought that the fizzing and foaming/bubbling was so neat. He loved this so much that we are now out of vinegar (a problem I never thought I'd have). Thanks for the awesome idea Nicki! (Next time I'm going to put a trash bag or some sort of plastic underneath him to save my table from the colored vinegar.)

Photo Dump

Cayden holding a baby chicken.

Talking to the chickens.

Holding/petting a snake our neighbor caught. I had no idea this was going on...

Showing off his Spiderman diaper. I think he looks like an old man. :)

Static hair!

Cayden and Laura riding in a toy bin at Papa's house.

Nice and clean out of the bath. Cute girl.

Cayden modeling his new church outfit. LOVE the squint and raised eyebrows. I have no idea how he does that.

Sparkler fun on the 24th of July!

My Little Grass Baby

While outside playing this week Laura rolled off of her blanket and was laying in the grass. I expected her to freak out (since that is what Cayden did), but she didn't. She kinda explored it and definitely tried to eat it and only got frustrated because 1) she was on her stomach and 2) when she tried to put her face down in the grass it poked her. She is such a cute and funny girl.

Grabbing and exploring the grass.

Eating herself and the grass. She actually got a few good licks in.

"Enough of this mom!" Oh my word adorable! LOVE that face!

"Awesome Cool" Train Tracks!

Cayden got a train track set for his birthday a few weeks ago. Since then he has played with his trains everyday and each night when Chad gets home from work Cayden asks him to help build an "awesome cool" train track. Here are a few of the recent ones Cayden and Chad have built (I love Cayden in each picture...).

Alex's New Shades

Alex got some window tinting done this week. We absolutely love it! Now hopefully the kids won't roast in the backseat. 

BEFORE:

AFTER:

My Cayden Boy

Let me tell you about this little boy. You will never meet such a mellow and sweet little boy as Cayden. He takes beatings from his little friends and the kids in nursery and rarely does he ever turn around to retaliate. He is so sensitive to others feelings and doesn't like to see others sad. He has a smile that melts my heart and the cutest laugh. Cayden is such a cheeser. He is so goofy and funny and makes me laugh daily.

Cayden has been such a rockstar since Laura was born. As crazy of a ride as it has been for me, it has been just as much of an adjustment for him too. I often feel so bad that I don't get to spend as much time with him as I used to. But Cayden never complains. He happily plays with his toys and waits patiently for me to finish taking care of Laura. Cayden loves his little sister and is such a good big brother. He often lays on the floor next to Laura while I'm cooking dinner or changing out the laundry and either talks and plays with her or tries to make her happy if she is crying. He tries to be so quiet during her naps, but is a total three year old and isn't very quiet. Just today he tripped on a toy and fell carrying a box of cars and it made a huge crash. This scared Laura who was sleeping and she started screaming. Rather than cry about his leg that hurt (and was bleeding) he turned to me and said he needed to say sorry to Laura because he made her cry. What a sweetheart! He has been so good about sharing his toys and room with Laura. Just this past weekend we moved Laura from the bassinet in our room to her crib in Cayden's room. When Laura wakes up during her nap crying or if I let her fuss for a little bit to allow her to put herself back to sleep, Cayden just lays quietly in bed. If Laura has gone down before Cayden, he makes sure he is super quiet when he gets in bed. And vice versa too. If Cayden gets up before Laura he doesn't make a peep and silently leaves the room.

Cayden is so loving and patient with me. I am not proud of the fact that I have had less patience with him and have yelled more since Laura has been born. But every night when Cayden goes to bed he wraps his little arms around my neck and whispers "I love you" in my ear no matter how mad I have gotten at him during the day. And every morning he greets me with a sleepy smile and a huge hug. Love him.

I love Laura to pieces, but it breaks my heart that we don't have much "Cayden-Mommy" time anymore. Some of my favorite parts of the day are when Laura has gone down for a nap and Cayden crawls into my lap and we read story after story after story or when I wake Cayden up from a nap and crawl into bed with him and snuggle (even though Laura is still sleeping in the room).

I could not have asked for a better son. I love him to death and pray that he knows how much mommy loves him even though I yell and get angry way more than I should and even though I get really busy with Laura.

 And just to prove how precious this boy is...

We were headed to the Dr last week and I asked Cayden to go put on his shoes. I came out from the bedroom to find that not only had he put on his shoes, but his bike helmet too. Cute, cute, cute. :)

Her First Time

Two nights ago Laura slept in her crib for the first time! The first morning when I went to get her I found this... (Keep in mind that she started out on her back and swaddled.)

She did so good for her first time in the crib and only woke up twice, each time when she rolled over. Lucky for me she went right back to sleep when I went in and flipped her onto her back. Since I didn't want to play that game every night I needed to find a way to keep her on her back. After talking to my mom I decided to place a tightly rolled up blanket on the side Laura always rolls on to prevent her from rolling.

Last night we tried the rolled up blanket trick. Since she could no longer roll I found her like this today... (And like the night before, she started out on her back, at the top of her bed, swaddled.)

It looks like we have a little tornado on our hands. But, at least she didn't roll over and wake herself up! I am one happy mommy! Oh, and it is also SO nice to have my bedroom back after being held hostage for 4 months. :)

Cayden Quotes & Laura Pictures

Cayden says the funniest things! Here are some of my recent favorites that I don't want to forget...

(In the car.)

To roll down his window: "Roll up my window down."
To roll up his window: "Roll down my window up."

***

(We've been talking about the Holy Ghost during our scripture reading the past week. To simplify it for Cayden we told him that the Holy Ghost is our friend and can help us make good decisions.)

Cayden: (with a blanket on his head and in a scary ghost voice) "Ooooooo! My the Holy Ghost!"
Me: "What are you doing Cayden?"
Cayden: "My the Holy Ghost and you'll do what my tell you!"

This really shouldn't have been as funny as it was. We want Cayden to be respectful of religious things, but it was hilarious! I seriously couldn't help but laugh!

***

(In trying to convince Cayden that he needs to go in the big boy potty instead of a diaper we compared his poo to Laura's... Laura has baby poop and Cayden has man poop. Babies go in diapers, big boys go in the potty.)

Cayden during every poopy diaper change: (said in the most enthusiastic, but disgusted voice) "My has man poop!"

*** *** ***

And since I can't have a post without pictures, here are some recent pictures of Laura for Grandma. :)

Listening to some sweet music! Love the finger in her mouth.

"Back off buddy! It's mine." At church with Cayden's cup. She is starting to grab and lick everything.

Cayden's 3rd Birthday!

This past week we celebrated Cayden's third birthday! The lucky little guy got totally spoiled and had so much fun. Here are some pictures of the highlights...

Birthday boy with his presents. We asked him to hold up how old he was and we got crossed arms?!

Unwrapping action! Cayden is totally a pro at opening presents now.

Modeling some clothes.

Unwrapping the best present ever! Thank you Gma & Gpa Bird for the "awesome cool" train tracks! I should have planned better and made Cayden open this present last as he immediately wanted to open it and after each present he opened afterwards he turned to me and said, "Ok, let's play with the train tracks now." This little boy absolutely loves his train set.

Cute little Laura during the present action.

Totally love the sequence of Cayden's faces in the above pictures. Cayden was completely convinced that something horrible and awful was under the sheet. Someone had to pull the sheet off for him and as it was coming off he was freaking out. Once the sheet came completely off he realized it was a bike and was super excited. :)

Here is a video of him opening his bike. Love it! My favorite part is when he says, "It's not scary. The bicycle's not scary." Nutty little guy.

Splashing in Grandma's and Papa's pool.

Playing with Daddy, Uncle Steven, and Papa.

Cayden found a new friend. He absolutely LOVES Colton!

We forgot to bring up swim diapers. The result... a very full diaper and a little boy totally willing to do a soggy bottom dance for everyone.

After a full day of swimming and playing we sat down to have yummy grilled pizza for dinner. Cayden was exhausted and didn't last very long. And yes, he did fall asleep with a mouthful of pizza.

My sweet cake creation! Cayden talked about his train cake all week and how mommy made it just for him. Made me feel loved.

After a little nap and seeing three new trains Cayden was a much happier camper! Love this little man! I can't believe he is three!