My favorite!

One of my favorite times of day with you Kayden is our bedtime routine. Daddy does the bath and then I get you. You give Daddy and Fifi a kiss goodnight and we walk to your bedroom, we sit in our chair and you grab your prayer bear. We say our prayers together and you end with "Amen" (you even do this in church now when we say the Our Father and everyone loves hearing you say it!). After prayers we read "Goodnight Moon" and while we are reading it you say Goodnight to all the items in the book, the combs, the moon, etc. After our story we have to say goodnight to everyone, you say everyone's name with me "Night Night...." We go through our whole family (grandma and grandpa, Uncle Mark and Uncle Kurt, cousin Gabe, etc.) and then you say Night night to your friends, "Night Night Tula, Maverick, Tatum, Audrey and Baby Izzie, Camila and Jake" and after each persons name you ask "where" you ask this every night and every night I tell you they are at home sleeping with their mommies and daddies. After the night nights we sing our songs, it is always the same songs "Hush little baby, rock-a-bye-baby, twinkle twinkle little star, 5 little monkeys and the I love you song". When you were tiny I tried to switch up the songs and you would open your eyes wide as if to tell me I was doing it wrong, so these have been our songs since you were born. When we get to twinkle twinkle you do the star motion with your hand and if your still awake enough for 5 little monkeys you have to make the monkey noise and "bonk your head" at that point in the song. After our songs we snuggle, nurse and rock until you are asleep. I love this time with you, I love our routine, how I'm the only one that can do it and the snuggles after we are quiet. I love rocking you to sleep, I love that I have this special time with you because I know not long from now you'll be too big to be rocked and I will miss these days so much. XOXOXO my little man!! I love you so much!

Fun Sunday

He kept asking for "more" sand to be

poured on him

On Sunday we took a walk to Fulton ranch and decided to stop at a different park than we usually do b/c the normal one had a bday party at it and was super busy. The park we went to was empty so we had it all to ourselves. Kayden had so much fun playing with mommy and daddy and Fifi in the green grass and sand. I always thought once I was a stay-at-home mom that weekends wouldn't be as exciting as they were when I worked 5 days a week, b/c I'd have everyday off. But I still love weekends because we are all together as a family and I love seeing Kayden with his daddy!

Lunch Date

Last Monday Kayden and Tula had a lunch date, macNcheese, veggies and berries was the fancy course they dined on. They thought it was so fun to eat at the little table together and be big kids.

My Buddy

Playing airplanes with Jax

Jax went missing for awhile and Kayden was distraught over where he was, he looked for him everyday and daddy ended up finding him in the back of his bike trailor (I was just about to go to Build a bear and replace Jax!) Since the reunion, Jax has become Kayden's buddy, he takes him everywhere with him, reads him books, builds towers with him, dresses him in his clothes and wants me to put a diaper on him. He loves his monkey buddy sooo much! It is adorable to watch and melts my heart when he is showing Jax something and he puts Jax's stuffed hand on the object or picture and tells him about it. I don't know if he loves Jax b/c he made him with Grandma and Grandpa at Build-a-bear or b/c he is a monkey or what but he is his favorite stuffed animal and he can't get enough of him. Riding in his cozy coupe is another favorite for Jax and Kayden, as well as riding on his rocking horse together.

Shades!

We got Kayden some cool new shades on Saturday and he loves wearing them. Yesterday when we went to the park he had to put them on and wore them the whole time we were there. He thinks he is so cool with his shades on. He also is obsessed with the bubble blower G&G Westerbuhr sent him for Valentine's day, he has to take it to the park everytime we go and blows bubbles forever, he is pretty popular at the park with his cool bubble blower and his little doggie (who still has to come up on the equipment with him and goes down the slide with him:-)

Dancing Cuties!

Valentine's Party

Our mommy group-wow how the babies have grown!

Kayden giving Tula her playdough

Handing his sweetheart a flower

Loving baby Maverick as usual!

Playing at the party

Audrey after she pulled Kayden's breakfast over to her:-)

Kayden & Audrey eating breakfast together at

his little table! Such big kids already!

On Friday we had a pre-valentine's party at our friend's Jake and Samantha's house. That morning Audrey came to play bright and early at 7am and Kayden was still sleeping. Audrey's parents had an appointment so we got her all to ourselves for the morning. Kayden woke up to Audrey and I coming to get him and he instantly smiled to see his friend there. He got out of bed and went running towards his playroom with her. They played and ate breakfast together, Audrey is a big eater so after she was done with her breakfast she slid Kayden's plate over in front of her and had his for breakfast too (I couldn't stop laughing:-). We headed to the Valentine's party and the kiddos had lots of fun playing with Jake's fun toys and eating yummy snacks. They also had a little valentine exchange and it was funny watching them give treats to their friends. Kayden gave all the girls a flower and the girls and boys a doggie or kitty valentine with playdough, I was surprised at how well he did with giving his friends the valentine, he would find whatever friend I told him it was for and hand them the valentine:-)

Thanks for letting us watch your baby Auntie Sara and Uncle Preston, we loved having her and she is welcome anytime!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's day today my little love. Today we had a perfect day together, you and daddy brought me breakfast in bed and then you dropped me off for a surprise massage. After my massage we went for our usual Starbucks walk, sat and chatted and drank some coffee and then went for a walk to see the ducks. You love watching the ducks and could just sit and watch them for hours if we let you. We spent the afternoon at home just the 3 of us. Mommy and daddy gave you a train card that makes a choo choo sound and you loved it, you also got a kite and had to go fly it that minute. Too bad we live in AZ and never have wind. That meant mommy or daddy had to run through the park holding you while you held the kite so that your kite would fly........a pretty funny site by others I'm sure (videos and pics of this adventure to come soon:-). We went midday for our Valentine's meal (wanted to avoid the craziness!) and you had tortellini and loved it, you ate every last bite! After we ate we headed to SanTan mall to walk around and get some ice cream. We decided to stop in at Dick's and you loved all the balls that were there, the boats were also a big hit. At one point you made daddy and I climb in a tent with you and we pretended we were camping, you had the biggest smile on your face when all 3 of us were sitting in that tent. I bet everyone else in the store thought we were crazy but we didn't care b/c it made your day. On our walk to ice cream you found some flowers and insisted all 3 of us get down close to them and sniff them b/c you thought they smelled so good:-) It was a perfect Valentine's day with my 2 favorite men! I'm so lucky to have you both as mine and love you both so much! XOXOXOXO Happy Love day sweetie! Love~Mommy

Movies??

Yesterday we lunched with some friends and then the kiddos played around outside. Tula and Kayden were holding hands and walking around. He'd stop and look at something and "show it to her" and she'd look and act interested...so funny watching them. Then they started walking towards the movie theater and it looked like they were on a date headed for the movies. They must have decided to skip the movies b/c then they started playing hide-n-seek. Kayden was behind a pole and he'd peek around and go "hi" and Tula would laugh and laugh, they went on like this for sometime and I couldn't stop from watching them with a big smile on my face! They are just tooo cute for words at this stage!

One for Bear, One for me

Daddy and I got Kayden a table and chairs this weekend b/c he loves sitting at them at his friend's houses and he was soooo happy to have his own table and chairs. He sat one of his bears across from him and ate his breakfast there on Monday, he would eat some cereal and then give some to his bear. It was soo stinkin cute to watch, I just am so in love with my little boy! He also loves to color at his table, play with his play dough and do puzzles. He is so good at all his puzzles, he matches like a pro and can give me each puzzle piece I ask for, he does the 2+ puzzles like a champ. (he doesn't get these puzzle skills from me at all, I hated puzzles growing up, but daddy likes them and so does grandma W so it must be from them:-)

Sprinkles!!

On Monday Kayden and I enjoyed the chilly weather by making some Valentine's cupcakes (chocolate cake with white frosting...Kyle & I's fav cake!). He is such a big helper and loved putting sprinkles on the cupcakes, the more color the better!

Rainy Day

Eating his masterpiece

Putting the pepperonis on

Sprinkling the cheese, wanted it all in one spot

Helping mommy

Kayden excited to make a pizza (sitting in the pizza pan:-)

Yay! Sunday brought a bit of a variation to the weather here in sunny AZ. We had a somewhat rainy day. We started our day with church and then went out to breakfast at Wildflower, on the way home we decided to stop at Fresh & Easy b/c Kyle hasn't been there yet and got some stuff to make homemade pizza. Since Kayden is obsessed with pizza these days, I figured he'd have fun making his own and then mommy would know what was in his pizza. They even had nitrite/nitrate free pepperonis, so he got to have some of those on his pizza! He loved making the pizza, spreading the sauce, sprinkling the cheese, putting the pepperonis on, and watching it bake in the oven. He was so proud when we took it out of the oven and made a big deal out of eating the pizza Kayden made for us. He is so much fun right now, soaks up the world so much everyday and loves exploring things in everyway! He is our little helper these days and loves helping anyway possible.

A Reunion

Being a cheeseball for Auntie Christa
Hugs goodbye
Tula & Kayden "playing" with Mav
Kisses while they "played house"

On Friday Kayden had a reunion with his friend Tula. We were out of town for a week and then Miss Tula and Baby Mav both got a bad cold so we hadn't seen them since we had gotten home. Kayden obviously missed Tula b/c they gave lots of hugs and kisses while they were playing. Kayden loved Tula's fun new, kid friendly backyard and of course was obsessed w/ baby Mav. The temps were perfect that day for sitting outside and watching the kiddos play...nothing like AZ's february weather!

Pee Pee in the POTTY!!!!

Checking out what he left behind:-)

Whoo hooo!! Wednesday, February 4th Kayden went pee pee in his potty for the first time! We had him sit on his potty before bathtime like we always do and this time he went pee! We didn't realize it at first b/c I didn't have the bowl in right so he didn't get his truck sounds as the reward like we were expecting, but when I peeked in there was a good amount of potty in it and I adjusted the bowl and the truck revved up for him and he got super excited while we all clapped and freaked out about how big he was. He had a big smile of satisfaction on his face and was so proud of himself. We'll see if it continues or was a fluke but it made our night! For now we are just following our little guy and seeing when he is ready to make potty training the thing in our house, but maybe we are on our way??

Thank you

Thank you Lord for blessing me with the opportunity to stay home with my little boy. Thank you that on Tuesday I got to watch him wait at the front window for his friend to come over so we could go to the Children's museum. That I got to hold his sweet little hand in mine as we walked to the front door with anticipation. That I got to see his face light up when we walked inside. That I was the one watching him run gleefully doing "the Kayden" (where his hips swing side to side, his legs hop and his arms wave as he runs) towards the stairs to go to the fun rooms to play in. That we got to spend hours watching balls drop, "grocery shopping", eating pretend meals, racing cars, making pretend ice cream cones, painting, and going through tunnels and the noodle room. That I got to watch his little head drift off in a happy sleep on our way home from our fun day. Thank you so much for giving me this precious time with my son. I am forever in awe of the gift you have given us and so happy I get to spend my days with him, watching him discover this world we live in everyday.

I'm so in love!

with this photo!! Sunday Auntie Jac Jac had a superbowl party and while the daddies were busy cheering for the Cardinals the mommies spent alot of time chatting and playing with the toddlers & babies that were at the event. Tatum had her water table set up and Audrey and Kayden got all wet, so we stripped them down and they ran around in their diapers for awhile before we put new clothes on them. At one point they were both looking out at the doggies in their diapers and this is the site we saw! They look so innocent and adorable standing there in their little birthday suits! I think it is one of my favorite photos ever of Kayden with one of his friends.

Late night

Last night Kayden didn't want to go to sleep, maybe b/c the night before was superbowl night and his schedule was off, or maybe just because he was being a stinker. So after rocking for a long time and laying next to him, I finally gave up and walked out to the living room. He followed and wanted daddy to come sit next to us. He was being the cutest little thing ever and it made me so happy that he wasn't ready for bed yet. The 3 of us sat on the couch and laughed together for about 30 minutes, he was pulling out all the antics to try and avoid bed and they were working on his parents that are suckers for our cutie. He was blowing raspberries on our bellies and making us blow raspberries on e/os bellies and he was rolling with laughter which made us roll with laughter with him. He brought over his train book and was dancing to the train tunes and pulled our arms up and "helped" us imitate him and the 3 of us were dancing to train tunes with our arms waving "Kayden style" and the site was pretty funny to see. It was one of those nights you want to remember forever, our laughter filling the room and our innocent little boy the root of such happiness. Thanks my son for such a wonderful moment in time last night. You knew we needed that as a family and made sure we got it last night and I'm so glad I didn't "stick to the routine" and freak out that you wouldn't sleep!

"Sit here daddy"

Kayden has a new little technique, when he has decided his playtime with daddy is over he walks daddy to the office and demands he sit in the computer chair? Then he walks out, shuts the door and heads to find me. He has done this twice now and it makes daddy and I laugh so hard. The first time was earlier this week when he didn't want daddy to give him his bath. Daddy always does the bath so I'm not sure what was up. When asked if he wanted to take his bath, he walked daddy in, sat him the chair and came and found me and pulled me to the bathroom and started his water (and shut the door behind us in the bathroom!!!). Last night was the 2nd time, I had just gotten home from my night with my clients and was in the shower, he must have heard me and Kyle was trying to divert him so I could finish showering, but he put daddy in the computer chair and came and talked to me while I showered. We have no idea why he would do this, or why he thinks the office chair is where daddy should go but it is pretty funny:-) Everyday he thinks of something new!

Viola turned 1!

Bec, Viola, Sheila, Sydney, Kayden and I

Daddy, Kayden, The Birthday Girl and her mommy Bec

The big hill Kayden was so proud he climbed up!

The Taiko Drummers, so cool to watch!

Kayden following the iguana around, I loved how he would "squat" to look at it:-)

Our friend's Bec and Will's little girl Viola just turned 1 this weekend and we went to Steele Indian School park to help her celebrate the big day. Bec is such a fun friend to have, she lived in Japan for awhile, Australia and is such a free spirit, I love having her apart of our life and love the new fun things she brings to Kayden's life. Viola had an iguana and a taiko band at her 1st birthday! Kayden loved following the iguana around (it was 12 years old and the mom of the iguana wiped his booty when he went potty...talk about iguana love??!) and watching the cool drummers. Viola was a little ham at her party and loved all the attention. Happy first birthday Viola!