When PBS Kids turns into regular PBS and there is an 80 year old man talking about real estate.

And just because she is so cute when she is sleeping…

Here are some, ok TONS of pictures from Caiden’s 1st birthday! We just had a little family bash on Sunday evening, it was so much fun!

Everyone was singing to him and look at that face…he was just LOVING it!

Are you sure about this Mom???

He loves feeding himself with a fork, and he sure enjoyed eating his cake that way too!

Messy Boy! We went straight to the bath, left him strapped into his chair, and everything got a much needed bath!

Licking off his fingers while Chloe cleans up the floor, gotta love other people’s dogs!

After his bath the kids opened up his presents while he carried around one of the bags. I couldn’t even get him to pose for pictures with his new stuff, TOO funny! Here is Eli showing him the cute shirts Aunt Ali made for him, it started with a “Look Caiden” and ended with both kids on the floor.

THE bag! Funny enough the next day it was Kayli’s bag full of her favorite treasures! Kids are so funny!

It was a fun night! Thanks everyone for coming and for all of Caiden’s presents!

I know I promised this post last week, but things got crazy. Caiden’s birthday was Thursday, my Dad’s was Friday and then my parents anniversary was Sunday. So things were busy busy. This week the kids have each had a few sick days so Ive been consumed with cranky children. But dont worry the wait is over!

This last year has flown by so fast! Time just seems to really fly by the second time around. Maybe because Im more busy, or maybe just because Caiden insists on doing everything much earlier then Id like him to, like walking before he was 10 months old. Whatever the reason it sure doesnt feel like its been a whole year since Caiden joined our family.

Caiden is such a fun little boy. It is a blast to watch him grow and learn. He is so curious about everything around him, and is constantly trying to figure things out. I often catch him putting lids on and off things, and bridling up Kayli’s toy horse and dragging it around the house behind him. One of my favorite things about him is that he LOVES to clean up toys. As long as they make a sound landing in the bucket and as long as he is being praised he will keep picking them up. Sometimes he will pick them all up, then dump the bucket out and start all over. He really thinks picking up is fun, and Im certainly not complaining.

He is such a happy boy, and is usually quite content to just play. He has gotten really vocal in the last few months, and when he doesnt like something you know it. Kayli has a horrible habit of saying “AHHH”loudly when Caiden takes a toy she is playing with or when he gives her love pats (more like hitting or scratching, but what do you tell a 1 year old?) and anything else that she doesnt like. Well now Caiden mimics her, and will make the nasty noise right back. He has even started to do it on his own when she takes something from him, it is crazy what kids will pick up on. Certainly not my favorite noise to hear, but hey he is communicating right?

The ONE thing I love most about Caiden is his smile, especially his excited “Im doing it, look at me” smile. I can’t help but smile when I see him so happy. He brings so much joy into our lives everyday and I can’t imagine life any differently. I love being Kayli and Caiden’s Mommy.

So neither of my kids are good “nappers”, probably my bad for not having a set schedule from birth, but that just isnt the way I do things. People always talk about the crazy places and positions their kids crash in during the day, while eating, while playing, etc… Well Kayli never had any of those pictures, but Caiden has had a few. He just goes and goes until he crashes!

We were at the farm a few weeks ago and we took the kids out to the back pasture to see the horses. Caiden was getting really cranky, and didnt want to be held and didnt want to be set down either. My Dad took him from me, put him up on his shoulders and we all started heading back to the house. When we got to the stalls (maybe 2 minutes later), my Dad realized Caiden was passed out. I was so glad I had my camera to capture my own crazy place and position nap time picture!

I finally found a good deal on a good used saddle on craigslist. Kayli is loving it, and Im sure the horses appreciate it as well! My Mom still has Patsy the pony, but she has gotten nasty in the last few months (which makes sense now that we are pretty sure she is pregnant and due within a few weeks, but we will see) so we really dont trust the kids on her right now. So they have all been riding Trouble. He is a GREAT horse and does really well with the kids. Here are some pictures of Kayli riding him for the first time using the saddle. She is such a natural!

She insists on holding onto the rope with one hand and the saddle horn with the other. She wants to do it all by herself, but I dont think so, not without some lessons and not without a riding helmet!

Picking up speed! Its hard to see, but when she started riding fast I told her to hold onto the horn with both hands. Well halfway through she switched to one hand on the horn and one hand on the back of a saddle…it really just comes natural to her!

We are all really enjoying the farm, and especially riding the horses. Oh and Caiden likes to ride the Goat! Hahaha

WOW! I cant believe its been a year already! Today was a busy busy day, but Caiden is waking up so more to come tomorrow…

The Circus was in town and Pete was able to get off early and take Kayli to see it for the first time. Uncle Tom, TJ, Eli, Grandpa, Uncle Ian, Aunt Sunny, and Kayla were also there! They all had a BLAST! Caiden and I had a quiet evening at home which was a BLAST for me!

Kayli’s favorite parts were the elephants and the tigers and of course all the elephants and tigers belonged to her.  She also loved an act where two people were upside down the entire time doing normal things like walking, watering plants etc… Kayli was just perplexed and kept asking “How do they do that Dad?”

Pete, Kayli, TJ, and Uncle Tom.

Kayli and Grandpa (She was loving TJ’s sword, and he was so nice to share)

So focused on the show

Kayli was asleep when they got home so I didnt get to talk to her about the Circus until the next morning. When she woke up she couldn’t stop talking about it all. At one point she and Caiden were both sitting on my lap and Kayli put her hands up on Caiden’s head and said “See Mom the elephants do this!” I of course knew what she meant, but she didnt think I understood so she found the camera and showed me this picture. She was just THRILLED about the elephants!

This was taken while she was mesmerized by the elephants…nice picture Pete!

I think its safe to say they had a GREAT time and she will be excited when the Circus is back in town. Maybe Caiden will be a little older and we can all go? I just didnt like the idea of chasing him up and down the bleachers all night! Party pooper I know!

Caiden LOVES to feed himself. This boy is so into food it’s crazy! He will practically eat anything…in fact today he was even trying to eat mud, YUMMY! Here are some pics of him eating a chocolate dipped granola bar. Id like to say it was his first taste of chocolate, but Im afraid that would be soo far from the truth!

I dont know where Kayli comes up with things sometimes! She loves to turn her Cozy Coupe on its side and spin the wheels as fast as she can to make ice cream! Each wheel is a different flavor even. I was asking my sister where does she come up with these things and she reminded me that when we were kids we would turn our Big Wheels upside down, put our hands on the pedals, spin as fast as we could and serve each other ice cream from the wheel. Too funny, I totally remember doing that as a kid…where it came from Im not sure!

Caiden had his first real exposure to Chuck E Cheese for Eli’s 3rd birthday. He thought it was GREAT! He loved the pizza, and couldnt get enough of the rides. Here are a few pics, I dont have many of Kayli because she was off having fun with her cousins playing all the games!

Mmmm…Pizza! Look at what a MESS he is, he LOVES to feed himself.

Riding with Chuck E

Who needs to sit in the car to drive? Where are his shoes? YUCK!

Playing on the slide with Kayli

And following Kayli UP the slide…

He’s pretty good…I dont remember Kayli even attempting this at his age!

One of my favorite pictures from the day! I guess he wanted to stand like Barney

CUTE!

Kayli playing a few games…

And a little Hokey Pokey with Chuck E