Happy 2nd Birthday Big Boy!

Miss Audrey LOVED her cake:)

And the Birthday boy went cake crazy too!

Baby Izzie was super cute in the Elmo hat!

Blowing out his birthday candle

Most of the kiddos at the party...interesting getting a group shot of 2 year olds!

Kayden and Tatum

Kayden and Tula (looks like she is pinching his booty..)

Riding his new scooter

On Saturday we celebrated your birthday with your close friends here in Arizona. You were so excited for your birthday party and woke up wanting to wear your Elmo hat. You loved your cake and balloons and daddy and I had to keep showing the cake to you so you could see Elmo, Dorthy and Mr. Noodle. When your first friends started arriving you did your happy feet dance and laughed and laughed. You had fun playing with your friends, eating Oregano's Pizza, eating your chocolate cake and opening presents. The cake eating with 6 toddlers was very interesting....lots of frosting and chocolate cake everywhere. You were the messiest eater out of all, guess it was your Birthday right to get messy:)
Sunday, on your real birthday daddy and I spent the day with you. We woke up and you opened your presents from mommy and daddy and then we walked to Starbucks b/c you love "Bobucks" on the weekends. You had your usual starbucks drink (ice water:) and you chose a sausage sandwich that day instead of your usual "Muffin man" choice. We walked home and stopped to see the ducks for a bit. I asked you if you wanted to go to the Children's Museum or swim for your birthday and you chose to go swimming. So we took your new fishies and fishing poles out that Tula gave you for your birthday and went swimming, you had a blast jumping in the pool, being thrown from mommy to daddy, going on piggy back swims and fishing for your fish. We decided to take you to a kid friendly lunch at Red Robin and after we were done eating the waiters came and sang to you and gave you a birthday sundae, you loved all the attention and had a big smile on your face and couldn't get enough of your ice cream. Then a waiter brought over $2 for you from a table near by...you thought that was so cool! On our way out we took you to thank the man and they told us that they were expecting a little boy next month and we told them how lucky they were to be having a little boy b/c you are the best Mr. Kayden! We spent the rest of the day at home playing with your new toys and reading books. It was a great day!

A little look back.....

Kayden it is so crazy to me that you are turning 2 tomorrow. I really feel like I just had you, like you were just a tiny little baby wrapped on my chest. I can't believe that you are now a running, jumping, talking, 2 year old. I hope I always remember your Birth-day as clearly as I do now because I can't imagine not having that video in my mind. Making spaghetti and having to leave it and go to the hospital, being sent home to labor more at home, staying awake all night as daddy slept, going back in and walking the halls at the hospital. The epidural only working on one side, Grandma waiting anxiously for mommy to dialate. Daddy stressing over the hugeness of everything going on. How scared I was when they started worrying about you being in distress. How badly I just wanted you out and safely in my arms. The doctors and nurses coming in and out of my room worried about how you were doing in my belly...them telling me they needed to get you out and me wanting them to do whatever they had to to make sure you were safe. Daddy telling me you were "Perfect, perfect in everyway" after you came out of my tummy. How you stopped screaming when daddy put you next to my face for my first touch and view of our little miracle. The pure joy I felt when they brought you to me to hold and nurse for the first time. The adrenaline I had running through me that wouldn't let me sleep that first night with you because I was so excited to be your mommy (and I had been up the last night too in labor)...actually when I think about it, I slept very little while we were in the hospital, I didn't really take my eyes off of you or put you down. Watching daddy change his first diaper EVER and all of us laughing as you kept going while he was in the middle of the diaper change:) Taking you home and sitting up all night holding you on my chest, dosing in and out of sleep but mostly just wanting to be with you. Daddy and I camping out on the couch with our new little bundle. Those first days with you were so amazing, I had wanted to be a mommy my whole life and you made my dreams come true on your Birthday. You were more than I could have ever dreamed of.

New "Dool"

We went to Ikea the other day and I had the grand idea that Kayden needed a taller stool so he could wash his hands independently. Well...the stool works for that. AND for getting into drawers he shouldn't, and climbing onto everything, and getting stuff out of the pantry, and turning the kitchen sink on...and the list goes on. He LOVES his "dool" and runs and gets it all the time to get into mischief. He also loves that it's the perfect height to reach the countertop to help me cook. Now lets see how long the "dool" lasts before mommy puts it in hiding! Aww...the things toddlers teach you!

Father's Day

The project completed

Kayden taking daddy his present

Kayden, Tatum and Audrey "resting" while we finished up
Daddy celebrated his 2nd Father's Day this Sunday...and his last Father's Day as a daddy to 1! Next year he'll have 2 little boys wishing him happy Father's day! On Friday Jaclyn, Sara and I did a "project" for the daddies for Father's day. It was interesting trying to glue, paint, cut photos, etc with 3 toddlers running around. But we did get it done! The kiddos had fun in Tatum's bounce house, playing on the deck and watching Barney and Elmo. The project took most of the morning and afternoon but it ended up super cute and I hope I get to make one for someone else soon!
On Father's Day Kayden and I got up early and went and got daddy's gift and card. Kayden was very excited to give daddy his present and the NEMO card he had picked out for daddy all by himself. We went for a walk that morning to Starbucks and sat in the shade by the lake and watched the ducks for a long time and then went home to hang out, went out for lunch and while Kayden took a nap daddy and I watched a movie together (something that doesn't happen often these days!). Happy Father's day babe! You are such a great dad to our little boy, he is so lucky to have you!

WooHoo!!

Tatum and Kayden "crawling" around, sure got their wiggles out!

Audrey and Kayden

Of course, have to have a cheeseball pic!

Kayden doing his "hard work"
We have had about 15 days under 100 degrees lately!! That is VERY strange for AZ in the summer. So last night we decided to enjoy the great weather with some friends at Joe's Farmhouse grill. The kiddos loved being able to run around in the grass and the parents loved to get to chat without worrying about LOs crying as they were stuck in a highchair. Now if it only could stay this nice all summer:-) It was even cloudy and said it was 85 degrees as we drove there, unheard of around here!
As we were leaving Kayden decided to help pull Baby Izzie in the wagon. He pulled her all the way from the tables to Preston and Sara's car. He thought he was big stuff doing such "hard work" and then Preston decided to "pay" him for his hard work. He gave Kayden a $1 and made his night. He was so proud of himself for his "hard work" and has been carrying around his "meme" all day. I think it's funny that even at 2 he understands that $$ has value and is something you should like:-)

Bodywash

Makes a great bubble bath was one of Kayden's discoveries this week. He loves bubbles but mommy & daddy haven't gotten into the "bubblebath" phase yet b/c his skin is so sensitive we didn't think soaking in a bunch of soap would be too good for it. Well the other night Kyle was out of the bathroom for a second and Kayden foudn the Bodywash by the bathtub. He decided he wanted a bubble bath and the next time Kyle looked in the bathtub was FULL of bubbles. Kayden had a huge smile on his face and loved his bubble bath. The next time we were at Target he insisted we buy him bubble bath...I tried to get the most sensitive organic bubble bath I could find, so hopefully his idea of a bubble bath doesn't result in an eczema break out!

Baby #2.....

Is a very healthy baby boy! He is measuring a week ahead of schedule so he is probably going to be a big boy just like his brother was at birth. He was moving around like crazy in my belly while she was taking pictures, and when she was showing us his face it looked like he was playing peek-a-boo with us bobbing his head back and forth towards us, so cute already! Everytime we asked Kayden if I was having a girl or a boy he said girl. So the morning of the ultrasound we asked him again and he said "my girl" like he always did. Then we told him he was going to see the baby on tv that morning and he was very excited and anxious to go to the "baby doctor". He picked out his "Big Bro" shirt to wear that day to the baby doctor visit! He was in awe as we showed him the baby's feet, head, tummy, hands, legs, etc on the screen. The ultrasound tech asked us before she started if we wanted to know and we said yes. Mommy saw that it was a baby boy while the tech was measuring other stuff, so I'm glad I wanted to know b/c the surprise would have been ruined. Right before she "showed" us the goods she asked again and we said yes. Then we told Kayden it was a boy that he was having a baby brother and he seemed to get it. So Kayden's guess was off but I guess he is only 2! Not sure why he was so insistent it was a girl but he seems happy that it is a boy. When I asked him what we should name his baby brother he said "Jake, Baby Jake" and he pointed to my belly and said it again "Jake, Baby Jake". Now if someone asks him what the name is he tells them it is Jake......too bad we aren't letting him name baby! It would make our decision so much easier:-) Too funny though that he wants to name his baby brother after his womb buddy Jake! At first I thought baby was a girl like Kayden but around 10 weeks or so I started feeling boy and that feeling never left. I am very excited to have 2 little boys so close in age and so happy for Kayden to have a baby brother! They will have so much fun together throwing footballs, playing swords and wrestling around on the floor! And they can burn off some energy with e/o, even better for mommy! We are so excited to have you apart of our family baby boy!! You are one loved little man already!!
*I'd post pics but I'll have to have Kyle scan them in, my OB doesn't give you a disc w/ them like my previous doctor did so I can't post them yet.

I wanna be...

just like daddy! Kyle took his shirt off after work and Kayden thought he needed to wear it. When we had to go out he freaked out that we made him take it off and wear his own clothes!

Choo Choo!

Our creative little monkey made a train today using lots of his toys and had Jax be his co-engineer and he was the engineer of the train. Of course....typical toddler style he is a nekki train engineer! So fun to watch his little brain think of things!

Baby Bump

Here you are baby in my belly at 18 weeks and 4 days...
Your big brother is OBSESSED with you already. He is constantly kissing my belly, everytime he sees it he has to kiss baby "mama baby" is his way of asking to see my belly so he can kiss you. Yesterday he was chewing on ice and had to share some with you....made for a cold belly! Today when we were dancing he had to help you dance in my belly by holding my belly while he danced. He shares all of his new toys with you, he got a fishing pole puzzle and had to share the nemo with you. I am just so in love with the idea of you 2 having e/o already I can't imagine how great it will be to see you together outside of my tummy. You are one very loved baby and your only 18 weeks old in utero!

I looked away....

for one second this morning while I was getting ready and when I turned to see you again you had gotten into some lotion and were smearing it all over your face! It was some really greasy jelly like lotion too that I had boughten for your eczema so it was fun wiping it off of you and me! You thought it was pretty cool though:)

Right before the lotion incident you came into the bathroom dancing and told me "mama dance", I asked you if you wanted to dance and you said yeah and went and tried to turn on the music on the alarm in our room. I came to help you and found a song but it wasn't what you wanted so you started turning the dial (yes dial...this alarm has been daddy's since I met him:-) and searched for a song you liked and started dancing and made mommy and "baby" dance with you. I loved that you just got a wild hair to dance and made us all bust a move at 10am. You are just too fun for words little man and I am sooo happy that you bring so much joy to our house!

Travels!

Uncle Philly, Danny, Daddy and Kayden at Lazlo's for dinner

Cole and Kayden being pilots at the Lincoln Children's Museum

Kayden and Grandpa Gardening

Kayden and Grandma at Starbucks (is that bad that my almost 2 year old requests Starbucks??? I mean he just gets water but still!!)

Kayden using his cool Elmo potty Grandma got him, he loved giving Elmo a high five and hearing what Elmo would tell him for going potty

Omaha Henry Dorley Zoo-Uncle Kurt, Grandma, Kayden, Mark and Carrie

Daddy and Kayden hiding from mommy at Pioneer Park (daddy and I used to go there almost every day for a walk. This is where daddy proposed to mommy after my scavenger hunt)

Us with the Graduate! So proud of Hattie!

Kayden with his Elznic Cousins-Isreal, Zion, Corban and Shekinah

Grandma and Kayden sliding

Kayden made "Carkee" pet the baby goat too

Kayden eating his piece of birthday cake

Uncle Mark and Kayden at his birthday party....he was SO happy with the Thomas theme!

Fishing with Grandpa W

He touched the fish-ewww!

We have been very busy for the past 2 weeks, with our San Diego trip and then the next weekend Kayden & I flew out on Sunday morning to Nebraska. G&G W&Uncle Mark, Carrie and Uncle Kurt all came to Omaha to go to the zoo with us. Kayden was super excited to see the animals as always! What a lucky boy, he got to go to the #1 zoo in San Diego the weekend before and then that weekend he got to go to the #2 zoo! The highlight of his zoo visit in Omaha was the choo choo ride, he also liked the jungle with the monkeys and the desert....imagine that our desert boy likes the desert:-) We spent Sunday night through Friday morning in Kearney at my parent's house. You loved spending time with all of mommy's cousins and aunties, your uncles and Carkee (aka-Carrie) and of course G&G. We went swimming and cousin Rachelle was one of the lifeguards and you kept pointing at her and saying "mama lifeguard" like she was a famous person:-) After swimming you spotted the Trails and Rails museum across the street and made us all go over there in our swimsuits to see the choo choos...we thought we'd be there all day! You also got to go fishing and loved fishing and feeding the fish! Grandma's pond in front of her house was a favorite b/c of the "nemos" in the pond. You could have spent all day watching them and wanted everyone to watch them with you. Grandma spoiled you with lots of sweets and ice cream and made mommy cringe but I just sat back and tried to remember that was what Grandmas are for. We went to a petting zoo and Carkee and I both had to shower after b/c the animal poo was a bit too much for us (and the calf really liked Carrie for some reason:-)
Grandma and Grandpa also threw you an early 2nd birthday with a Thomas the train theme. When you saw the decor you were very excited and didn't want to leave the table! Sarah even made you a Train cake that you thought was super cool! You were spoiled on your pre-birthday and I loved that you were surrounded by family to celebrate your special "pre-day".
On Friday we left Kearney and headed to Lincoln, we met up with mommy's college roomates. Amity and her little boys- Cole and Carson met us at the Lincoln Children's Museum and you and Cole had so much fun playing together! And mommy was so happy I got to meet Carson-he is only 8 weeks old, you loved the tiny baby too. For lunch we headed over to Steph's house with Runzas to see her and the twins. Max and Cale were born at 32 weeks and they are now 6 months old and SO big! Max was weighing 19 pounds already!! And he felt like it. It was so fun to see the girls and have our 5 boys together. Crazy that 5 years ago we all lived together and now we have 5 kids b/t the 3 of us (almost 6!).
After lunch we went back to Milford and you woke up and were SO excited to see daddy! He flew in late Thursday night so you hadn't seen him for 5 days and you had clearly missed him. You kept saying "mama, dadda, mama dadda" over and over to make sure I realized daddy was there and your legs were kicking like crazy how they always do when your super excited. After that daddy couldn't go far from you or you'd get pretty upset, you wanted him w/in your vision for the next couple of days. Friday night we went back into Lincoln and hung out with daddy's best friend Uncle Philly and his other bff Danny and their SOs-Rawley and Kate. You loved being the center of 6 adults attention and actually did great at dinner for several hours! Danny won you over quickly by making a napkin tunnel for your trains and then Uncle Philly bribed you with chocolate to try and beat Danny. It's definetely a whole different ball game hanging out with "non" parents, I'm so used to all our mommy/daddy friends in AZ that I forget some ppl get to hang out at dinner for hours and talk about sports and work and vacations. And that some people have no idea you need a carseat and can't ride with others with out one and that a 2 year old isn't going to love waiting at the bar for a place to sit for dinner at 8pm.

The rest of the weekend was spent in Milford with Kyle's parents and his sisters and their families. We played at the park and all the daddy's (and grandpa) got tired chasing the kiddos in chase. It was cute watching you imitate your big cousin's, you climbed the rock wall like them, climbed up the slide like them (and gave your grandma and mommy a heart attack!), and joined in on chase with them. You also loved to just stand back and watch them, taking it all in. You had another birthday party with Shekinah at G&G Hingst's house b/c you are both June babies. You loved the ice cream cake and more presents, what could be better when your 2! On Sunday we went to Auntie Heather's house before the graduation to hang out and help prep and then you sat next to Gabe during the graduation, Gabe loves his "baby Kayden" and you love your Gabe. At the graduation party you had more cousin time and learned all about "attack", weapons, swords, light sabers, and of course you found Gabe's choo choos from when he was little. During the "attacks" you stayed back and watched with big eyes.

I always love going home and it's even better when there are thunderstorms and cloudy days, makes me really miss home. We were blessed with 65 degree weather and sprinkles most days and thunderstorms most nights! It's so nice to get a taste of that when I'm so used to the constant sun and heat of AZ. But the best part of going home is surrounding you with all of our family and friends, I love teaching you that your apart of something bigger and that you have tons of people that love you and that you will love.

Baby Kicks!

Daddy was able to feel you kick for the first time on Friday, June 5th. I have been able to feel you kicking or moving inside of me since my 13th week, way sooner than your big brother but daddy felt you for the first time on Friday. I didn't think it was late enough to feel you on the outside but you were kicking so hard I decided to put my hand on that spot and sure enough I was able to feel the kicks from the outside too so daddy put his hand there and got a big smile on his face. Feeling you from the outside just makes it all feel so real, now most of the time if I feel you on the inside I can put my hand on my belly and feel you on the outside too! In 1 week we have our big ultrasound where the doctor will check all your parts and we get to find out the big question of boy or girl! We can't wait to find out what the next member of our family will be! And we are just so excited to get a peak at you, mommy got a quick look when you were only 7 weeks old and looked like a little bean so this will be the first time daddy sees you!