Monday, May 14, 2012

Mother's Day

I remember being little and asking my mom on Mother's day, "How come there isn't a kid's day?" Her response: "Every day is kids day!" I just thought there should be a day for kids to get presents, but now that I'm a mom, I feel the exact way my mom felt years ago. Every day is kid's day! My entire day revolves around Kayla and Caden. Most of it is good things like having Otter Pops with Makayla on the porch, rocking Caden to sleep at night, or taking them both to the park. Sometimes it is stressful things like wondering about Makayla's cough, or being awake at 3 am trying to get Caden to go to sleep, or changing 10 diapers a day. It is easy to focus on the exhausting moments of having two under two, but the good moments outweigh the bad. I L.O.V.E. being a mom to two happy, healthy kids who keep me laughing, busy, and proud. Tyler and I were having this conversation last night after Mother's day. I told him when I was growing up, all I ever wanted was to be a wife and a mother. Sure I wanted to be a teacher at some point, but that was secondary to being a mom. And that moment is here; I'm a mom and I love every day of my crazy, rewarding life.

 Mother's day was so perfect this year. I thought last year was great because it was my first Mother's day, but this year I have my handsome little man to make it even more special.
This was the best picture we could get of Makayla. I guess there were more interesting things to do than smile for the camera.

Tyler and Makayla made me breakfast that morning.


 And Caden had a surprise for me. He got me a necklace with his birthstone to match the one Makayla gave me last Valentine's day. I love it!
And Makayla gave me a gift card to Buckle. I felt like one special mom!

Later we had my family over for dinner. My grandma came so we took the chance to get  a four generation picture with the moms.

Speaking of mom's, I have some pretty special moms in my life. My mom is the best! I love living back in Salt Lake because we can do more things together now and she is always so willing to help me out whenever I need her. My  mom has always been such a good example to me and I just don't think I would be as good of a mom without her to guide me.

My Grandma is pretty special too. For being in her late 80's she still gets around pretty good and can always make us laugh. At our party she reminded us that without her none of us would be here, so we better be nice to her! My grandma is someone I really look up to. I remember how patient and loving she was with my grandpa as he struggled with Alzheimer's. I have never seen someone so devoted to their spouse. My Grandma is the epitome of enduring love.

And of course my mother-in-law Terry. Terry is the most thoughtful person you will ever meet. She is always thinking of us and ways she can help us. She is so cute with her grand kids and you can tell that they are always on her mind. Terry always makes sure to call us to just see how we're doing and I love that she has raised such a good son.

There's no better calling in the world than being a mom!

Monday, April 30, 2012

Kayla and Caden

Wow! Where has this last month gone? One month ago I was still pregnant and hoping I could make it a few more days before I went into labor. Now here we are... trying to adjust to life with two kids. I'm not going to lie... having two kids is an adjustment. But I would not trade this life for anything. Here's a few highlights from April

Kayla is going to hate me for these one day, but she is just too cute to not post pictures like this. Makayla loves her baths. We start filling up the tub then get her undressed. As soon as we put her down she's running to the bathroom and ready to hop in.
This little girl has grown up so much in the last month. She is turning into a little girl and has such a cute personality. One of her favorite things is to play on the stairs. She gets all her toys and sets them up. I call it organizing. After she sets up her toys on the stairs she will move them to the couch, then the drawer, then the rug... over and over again. She must think that is what we do all day is move things from one place to the other.

I just don't know what to do with Kayla's hair. It is in an awkward phase right now. There is nothing in the front, and it is getting too long in the back. If Makayla would keep her hair in piggies all day, it might look okay, but she pulls them out after a few minutes.
Hopefully her hair will start getting a little longer so I can do some fun things with it.
Who has two thumbs and loves salad? This girl! She really does take after her dad in every way.
We got a swing set last year and decided Makayla was old enough to play on it even though it said it was for kids 3 and older. But we feel like our child is really advanced for her age... the doctor even said she had great motor skills (inside joke... we do think Makayla is smart, but every parent thinks that about their kids, right?) Makayla helped Daddy set up the swing set. Every time he would hammer something in, she would grab another tool and hit the wood.

Most of the time she ate dirt.
Or climbed.
Tyler was so patient with her. I'm sure he could have been done faster without his "helper" but he wanted Makayla to help with her swing set.
So after two weeks, here is the swing set! Pretty cute, huh?
Not only is Makayla a good helper to Daddy, she also helps me around the house. She was helping me with the dishes the other day.
Although she doesn't do it that often anymore, we sure love it when Makayla will snuggle with us.
The other day she came out of the pantry holding this... She's a little too young for soda, but don't tell Makayla that. She threw a little fit when I tried to take it away.

Ever since Caden was born, Makayla has really been a Daddy's girl. Here they are dancing.

Here are some other things about our little Missy:

  • She is getting two more teeth. That makes 6 total and counting.
  • Makayla loves to dance. When she hears music she starts going in circles and waving her arms.
  • She understands us and is starting to talk. Some of her words are Da-da, uh-oh, and "was tha". She can also understand little commands, like "waive bye-bye" and "give kiss". She makes cute little sound effects too. When she eats she goes, "Mmmmm" with every bite, and when she gives kisses, she goes, "Mmm-ahh".
  • Makayla has been a little jealous of Caden, but only when I'm feeding him. Most of the time she is a really good helper. The other day Caden was crying and she went and got his blankie for him. Another time he was crying and she was holding a tube of toothpaste. She tried to give him the toothpaste and when he didn't grab it, she made him hold it.
  • She is not shy at all. She loves it when there are little kids she can play with or when people come over to visit. Makayla loves to show off and will pause to make sure you are watching her.
  • She has learned how to climb things: the stairs, her toys, her high chair just to name a few.
  • Makayla loves to watch Sesame Street... especially Elmo's world.

As far as this little man goes, he is doing so good at almost one month old. He sleeps almost all day long. So here's a few pictures of our little man sleeping.


Why is it bad to have an older sister? You have to use all of her pink hand-me-downs like the bouncer. Luckily he doesn't mind... yet. Maybe when he gets older.
Caden can sleep anywhere... even with Grandpa.
But his favorite thing is to hang out with Daddy. I love my boys!!
We have taken pictures of Caden doing other things besides sleeping. Here's his first bath at home.
I don't think he loved it judging from this picture.
But he was better once he got all wrapped up.
The thing I love the most about Caden is his hair. I love to style it in a Mohawk. Caden's cousins even named him "Mini Mohawk Man"... pretty fitting.
Caden got upgraded to the big tub. Here's his second bath at home in the big tub.
He did have to share with Makayla. I think Makayla was more annoyed that he took up half of her playing space.


So far Caden is a really good baby. He doesn't cry that often and is content as long as he has his binkie. He sleeps pretty good during the night and maybe gets up once or twice a night. Even though it is really hard to get up at 3 am, I love being able to spend time alone with my buddy. I love it when he looks up at me with his wide eyes, or when he drifts off to sleep in my arms. We couldn't ask for a better baby!

And how are me and Tyler doing? Well, we are adjusting to life with two kids. We have turned into those parents who go out to dinner to Arctic Cirlce on a Friday night because it is kid friendly, we go to bed every night at 9:00, and we spend our day chasing after Kayla and going in cirlces cleaning up messes.
But we also get to spend every day with our two adorable kids reading books, playing on the swing set, and laughing at the cute things they do.  
 And we do this a lot.. change diapers. We have tried to keep track of how many diapers we go through a day, but we lose count every time. I do know the other day I was up to 9 diapers before noon. This is the pile of diapers after one night.
But you know what? We love it! We have the best life with our family of four and feel so lucky!

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Stats


We took these two cuties to the doctor for their checkups. Here's the stats on our cute kids.

At two weeks Caden weighs 9 pounds 14 ounces and is 21.6 inches long.

At 15 months, Makayla weighs 24.5 pounds (85%) and is 32.5 inches long (97%).




Caden's Newborn Pictures

We had this handsome little man's newborn pictures taken. They all turned out so cute! He was bound and determined not to miss out on any of the action and decided to stay awake for the majority of the pictures.  Doesn't he just melt your heart?


I love his little finger in this picture.
And his tiny little toes!
It looks like he is adjusting his own tie in this picture
 The pictures in the Tonka truck are probably my favorite!

 We're hoping our little man likes sports

 About this time in the pictures Caden decided to fall asleep.

 Chillin in the hammock... what a life!

We just can't get enough of our little fella!