Caden: List 1

Caden likes to:

• Play with cars, trucks, fire trucks, tractors, trains, airplanes, race cars and monster trucks
• Play with his trains and track
  
• Play with Legos
• Color in his Mickey Mouse, Thomas & Friends and Diego coloring books
• Read books (his current faves are several stories in a 5-in-1 Book of Berenstein Bears)
• Count to 15 (his favorite numbers are 14 and 5)
• Sing the "ABC's", "Twinkle, Twinkle" and "Row, Row, Row Your Boat"
  
• Say, "Hi, I'm Caden. I'm 2", "Come back", "Oh man", "I coming", "Sticky", "Down, down" (which really means "Up, Up" :)
  
• Point out the moon and/or the sun, planes, birds, clouds, rainbows, rain, snow and anything else in the sky
  
• Watch "Umi Zoomi", "Dora the Explorer", "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse" and his all-time favorite "Mighty Machines"
• Go to Church and see his friends
• Talk to people when we're at the store
• Talk your ear off (he's quite a good talker for just turning 2!)
• Eat: FRUIT (berries, mango, grapes, oranges, melon, bananas), Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches, cheese (especially Laughing Cow wedges and cheddar), spaghetti, bagels, hot dogs, ice cream, pizza, popcorn, juice, milk, bunny (Nesquick) milk, waffles, yogurt, cereal, sausage, bacon, french fries, any green vegetable (broccoli, green beans, lettuce, peas)
• Take "naps" (day or night) with his blanky (any of his soft, fleece blankets)
• Have his feet tickled
• Be outside
• Go for rides in the car
• Boss the dogs around
• Play with his uncles
• Take showers
• Listen to music really loud and dance
• "Watch" football and the Blazers on TV w/ Daddy
• Throw stuff (which is NOT a good thing - we're working on it...)
• Play with balloons
  

Caden doesn't like:

• BUGS
• Time out
• Dirty diapers
• Being without a diaper
• Haircuts
• Sun shining in his eyes
• Having dirty hands
  

I thought it would be fun to make these lists so we can remember what he likes as a 2-year old 10, 20, 30 years from now....I know that seems like a long ways from now but the last 2 years have seemed like only a few months.

Photo Shoot

Michael and I had an impromptu photo shoot with Caden yesterday. :) Such a cutie!

Decorating and Rearranging

So, the nursery is almost finished. The walls are painted, the furniture is setup, the curtains are hung, sheets, clothes and blankets are bought, the letters for her name are painted and waiting to be hung.....now all we're waiting for is our little girl to arrive. Today is the 16th which means she is due 2 months from now - 8.5 weeks to be exact. Pregnancy seems so much slower this time around....mostly because I'm like, "been there, done that" and I just want her to be here! I know I will have many sleepless nights and will be pushed beyond my limits with a 2-year old and a newborn at the same time...but I'm ready. Crazy, I know?!?! Also, I'd like to add that I passed my glucose test this time around with flying colors....praise the Lord! I know this isn't very exciting to whoever is reading this but I feel the need to document it :)

Just a few pictures of the nursery:

Picture frames, storage boxes, lamp and a blanket.

This is the teal wall with the tree decal before we put it up.


And here's the tree with the butterflies.


The crib with a blanket one of my co-workers made.

Here is a picture of Caden's new room with his big boy bed and his Thomas and Friends bedding.

Our house is in the process of getting rearranged....we moved the computer area into our room and are transforming the computer area into a kids/guest room. There's not a ton of space so we're trying to be creative!!!

2nd Birthday

Caden had his birthday at the beginning of April. We can't believe he's already 2!!! It's amazing how time goes by so much quicker when you have kids. We kept his birthday low-key this year...mostly just because the weather has been so awful and we weren't able to do anything outside. Boo to the rain!!! On his actual birthday we had spaghetti for dinner and cupcakes from St Cupcake (yummm!). He got Duplo Legos, Diego pictures for his viewer and a fire truck book.

Yum, peanut butter chocolate with banana!

We also had a small birthday party with Michael's family a few days after his birthday and he got a fun new Thomas Train set from Uncle Eric, a package of rubber balls from Uncle Gabe, a basketball hoop from Aunt Heather, Grandma and Grandpa and some coloring books, stickers and colored pencils from Mommy and Daddy. We had pizza and salad for dinner and ice cream sundaes w/ chocolate chip cupcakes for dessert.

Yay, Thomas!

Ohhh, a candle!

Here's Caden with his Thomas the train tattoo.

Caden,
We are so blessed to have you in our lives. You are such a sweet boy and we love watching you grow up. We can't wait to see what God has planned for your life and what kind of big brother you're going to be. We love it when you say, "Come back" and "Hi, I'm Caden" when we get you up in the morning and repeat everything we say :) We love your hugs, kisses and whispers...we love you sooo much and are excited for what the future holds!