Ok...mostly

Today Caden had his first dentist appointment!! He did great! I was very impressed. Last weekend Great Grandma cut his hair w/ clippers. He was in a highchair and Gma would put the hair she cut off on the tray and he would stuff in the bed of a toy truck.

Things are going well w/ us. Well...mostly. Trevor was let go from his job so we are looking around for a new job. We'll be ok though...just have to cut back on our spending.

BTW I updated Caden's shutterfly site. http://cadendayne.shutterfly.com/

w/o the rehash

Well there is so much to catch up on that I haven't been writing b/c I just didn't feel like rehashing it all so I'm just going to jump right in and forget the catch up.

Last night about 2am Caden woke up screaming. This was unusual so I got up right away. I went in to his room and he was curled up in a ball in the middle of his crib butt naked. He took off his PJs and his diaper at some point. Of course this didn't really work out for him when he had to pee. He was laying on top of his blankie so it was soaked. Lately he has gravitated towards one blankie...before I had 2 or 3 I could switch between. When I put him back to bed w/o he was very unhappy. So we had to listen to his cries of grief for 10 mins or so.

Well my days are spent throwing up or thinking I'm going to throw up. BTW I'm pregnant again. 9 weeks I think...I lost count already.

I'm Back

Well after 3 months our computer is up and working :o) So many things have happened since my last post including big milestones, happy news and sad news. I will write more soon.

Super mom

Laundry day...ick. Laundry is a thankless job but it is sneakier than most thankless jobs (ie dishes). I always relax a little too much when I get caught up on laundry. I never think I'm that far behind until I collect the pile in the bathroom...at the end of the stairs...behind the rocker in Caden's room...in the laundry room...Oh wait...there's a pile in the corner of our bedroom. Once that is done that WOW I've got a lot of laundry to do.

The other indicators that I'm behind I don't seem to pick up on very quickly either. This is classic "Honey...I'm out of t-shirts" this is always in the morning...when I can't do anything about it. Never do I get a warning when there are 2 or 3 t-shirts left...or even the day the last clean one was used.

There are many steps to get behind on too. I could get behind on collecting the laundry or sorting it...or forget to put it in the dryer (then I have to rewash them because they smell mildewy). Then there is the forgotten step that I kick myself for the most. I remember all the steps but forget them in the dryer. I did all the work but now they are a wrinkled heap because I ran to the grocery store while the dryer was going and in the chaos that following a trip to the store (cranky kid, groceries to carry in and put away ect) forgot all about them. Now I have to A) iron them (I don't iron) B) Rewash them(shhh don't tell anyone I do this) C) look bad when I wear them or D) hang it up but then never wear it because it is wrinkled

I'm reading a book called The Confessions of a Super Mom. It is about a woman that in a horrible swiffer accident becomes Super Mom. She had the ability to zap things clean, knows when things will be on sale (and can "feel" when there is a register error), knows when children are in danger, can super eavesdrop on children (she can even hear IMs) and whip children in to obedience with her merciless glare.

If you had a super mom power what would it be? I would be able to snap a wrinkled shirt in the air and the wrinkles would disappear, have the ability to know whats in my fridge at any moment and know what I can make with it. When I pour out ingredient I would be able to see exactly what measurement it is eliminating the need for measuring spoons and cups. Know by just looking at one of my family members if they have met their daily requirement of fruits, veggies, protein...ect. Of course I would love to beable to zap my dishes clean too.

The thing about being a stay at home mom is that I have very little negotiating power over the division of labor (until Caden can start helping more that is). If I was working I could pawn off some of the chores I hate to Trev part of the time and do the ones I like (cooking) but since I'm at home all those chores are mine by default. When it comes down to it I'm not a good house keeper. I have a friend (she knows who she is) that does have a flair for keeping things neat, organized and clean...but with her excluded I think most women don't think they are good house keepers. Even if they are. We tend to look and see the things we are not caught up with instead of all the things we have done or do a good job on.

Two quick videos

If it was only that easy!

Home Sweet Home

WE GOT THE HOUSE!! After one offer and 7 counter-offers from us and 7 counter offers from the seller...setting the First Weber Rhinelander record for # of counter-offers...we have an excepted offer :oD

Listing of our house.

Earlier I was playing with Caden and I put a blanket over my head so he could pull it off (we play this game often). I hear him come up to me and feel him grab the blanket and I was expecting him to pull it off ("where's mommy?") but instead he put it over his head too so we were both under the blanket. We had a nice little conversation under there.

Caden: Bee doo da de do!
Me: Really? Bee doo da de do?
Caden: Eshh.
Me: Wow!
Caden: HI!
Me: Hi!

We put our forehead together and our noses together. Then I tickled him. It was so sweet! After that he pretended to wash my hair. He had an empty shampoo bottle and "dumped" it on my head and made a "fshh fshh fshh" noise. He rode around a bit on my back then it was nap time.

Water

Here is a video of Caden drinking out of a glass all by himself for the first time (well...w/o dumping the contents all over). He's being so sweet. After being sick he is cuddlier!

We are still trying to get an offer accepted on the home we're looking at. It's been over a month since our first offer and we've set the record at our real estate office for most counter-offers. I just want to know if it's ours or not. That way I can get excited! So hopefully my next post will be w/ news that we are going to be home owners :oD

Great Big Universe

As promised!

Not Feeling Good

I've been lonely these past couple of days. Caden is sick and he just wants to sleep and sleep. I get him up to feed him (he won't eat though) and try to get some fluids in him. But he is so miserable when he's awake it's I don't blame him for wanting to sleep. I've started putting protein powder in his milk (the only thing he'll take). So it's just me here doing laundry passing time. I didn't realize how much company he really is.

I'm going to edit some of our videos we took this past weekend. Coming up is a montage of Caden putting on daddy's shoes, Caden eating peas off the floor like a puppy and Caden babbling :oD Oh...and Trevor going down his sledding run he made in the back yard.

Bewildered

No new pictures so here is an old one. He was 3 1/2 months old.

Caden is doing all kinds of cute things. Today we played "Wake Up!"...basically I cuddle up w/ his blanket on the floor and snore...if he touches me in any way I wake up and say "OHHH you woke me up!!!" He would gently push me back down so I would go to sleep again. He would rub my head to wake me up, or climb on me. It was great fun until he wacked me on the back w/ a hard plastic toy. It startled me so much I yelled "OWW" and told him "don't hit mommy...be gentle." but he was already upset from my yelling and he laid down on the floor and cried w/ this face that was just miserable. At least he didn't laugh when I said "ow" like he usually does...maybe he caught on that it hurt me.

Another thing he gets a kick out of is to play the messages on the answer machine. He can climb on to the stool at the island so fast...that is how he gets to the phone. Well...I deleted the messages and then it would say "No messages." He started say "Nooooo?" back to it so I decided record a message for him. Then Trevor did...then Grandma & Papa. He loves it! So if you want to leave a message for Caden you are welcome to.

I put Caden in the daycare at the YMCA...I had a few minutes to spare so I watched him through the window. He walked over by this other tottler that was probably younger and much smaller (he was walking good). This tot pushed him over and Caden landed on his behind. I thought Caden might cry but he just looked at this boy with eyes full of confusion. Then the boy took his fingers out of his mouth and grabbed a handful of Cadens hair...his hair was then sticking up...still he didn't cry but his face was even more bewildered! I guess Caden still didn't do what this little guy wanted so he poked him in the eye. Maybe Caden make a noise of some sort because this is when the babysitter took notice. I was laughing because it didn't even occur to Caden to hit him back...he was much bigger than the other kid. He really is a sweetie under his activeness. He looked so cute sitting on the floor with his hair sticking up and that face! I wish I had gotten a picture. It's good for Caden to be around other children.

Waiting

Well we did it! We put in an offer on an home. Now I jump every time the phone rings :oD Trevor was so excited last night that at about 4am he woke me up and was talking about everything he wanted to do to the house. At first I just let him talk because I thought if he got it out of his system he would go back to sleep. After a while I mention I was trying to sleep. He said he was trying to talk in that voice that puts me to sleep but his excitement was coming through. So he stopped talking about it and I would almost be asleep and he would say something else. Finally he got out of bed and went to work early. So we just have to wait.

Caden is being so cute. Last night he was playing and Trev and I were sitting on the couch reading magazines and Caden would drag his blankies out of his room and shove them in to my lap and say "awww" so I would cuddle up to the blanket and say "awww" and then he would go his way. Then he would come back and lay his head in my lap and say "awww" until I would cuddle with the blanket again. He did this over and over again. Sometimes crawling into my lap and sucking his thumb and sometimes just running over, saying "awww" and then running back to what he was doing. He was sharing he blankie w/ me :oD

Another cool thing he did was put together his first phrase. That is not just repeating back something we said but taking two words he knows and putting them together...and that phrase is (drum roll please) "puppy shoes" referring to his slippers. He's so smart. That's all for now.


Later:

At the tax place Trev & I had our eyes off Caden for a second and he managed to unplug a power strip that powered two computers! OY! This is why I call this Adventures w/ Caden.

Cannot Focus

Caden fell asleep while Tiana and I were shopping at Target. I was suprised! I guess vacation does that to ya!

Here is the picture I said I would post of Caden in the tunnel...he is so tired!!

I haven't written in a while. Sorry! Things are really exciting around here lately. We are about to put in our first offer on a home. Eeek! I knew that this would be stressful but I didn't realize it would be so emotionally & mentally draining. Megan is going to watch Caden while we go see the realtor and that is soooo nice. Last time we were there it was hard to focus. So wish us luck!

Trevor's birthday was last week. 27 years old.

I can't really focus right now...too many things to think about and I'm ADD. I'll keep everyone updated on the house offer.

Stir crazy

I am trapped! My car won't start. Do you want to know why? Because it is so flippin cold that the battery won't hold a charge. I rushed to get out the door to go house hunting w/ a tottler in tow in temps that are not close to double digits unless it is negative. I'm not talking about at night...in the middle of the day with the sun shining it is so cold that the snow that got tracked in on the landing has not melted. If we go out side our fingers get slow and stiff w/ in seconds. I had to try to connect the "jump pack" to my car and I couldn't use my gloves because...well I guess I could but I don't work well with gloves. Now I am stuck here on this frozen joke of a city that names there businesses after imaginary monsters (hodag properties, hodag lanes, hodag blah blah blah) and high fashion is an oversized hoodie! I live on a road I could probably ice skate on. Two miles of blind turn after blind turn on ice. "Oh gee" Trevor says "it sure is pretty here" Big whoopie do! It's pretty in southern California, it's pretty in Florida, it's really pretty in Arizona. Do I really want to put down roots on this ice burg? I hate being cold! I hate not being able to go grocery shopping but I bet Trev will still want a home cooked meal tonight even if I couldn't go gro...ok enough trashing Trev he just drove home to rescue me!

Cuddle Puddle

We made it to Michigan. After a long day of traveling yesterday we are here :oD! Caden did great both in the car and then on the plane. He just wouldn't sit still. I'm glad that Mesaba (the airline my mom works for) make the employee fly w/ their buddy. That meant that my mom was with me. I'll post pictures of Caden in the tunnel @ the Detroit airport later.

Last night I stayed w/ my sister in her king size bed w/ all three of her dogs! Emmy cuddled up to me and layed her head on my shoulder, Sidney was by my feet and Piaza cuddled w/ Jessie but had her nose on my elbow. I had to go change Caden's diaper @ 5am and when I came back they all started barking at me. At 6:30 i thought Caden was awake so I went in his room and he was sleeping and I woke him up (oops). I just stayed on the bed in his room so the dogs wouldn't bark at me again.

Lots of exciting things to come I'm sure. I miss Trevor though. TREVOR if you read my blog I MISS YOU. I would rather cuddle w/ you than Emmy...your less hairy and don't lick yourself.

Baby? Puppy?

Caden either calls himself baby or puppy (but he also calls his puppy "puppy"). So here are two videos that demonstrate the difficulties of understanding a 16 month old.

There are certain words that just mean alot of different things. "Baba" means bottle, up up & bye bye.

Yesterday Caden & I went to story time at the library. That was fun and we got some books to take home too. I tried something this morning that I've been meaning to do for a long time. That is including Caden in on my "quite time." I managed to read about 12 verses in Mark (some out loud) before I gave up. The library books helped.

Sunday we had Gary, Sue, Megan & Brook over for lunch and they stayed until dinner (I love it when that happens). That was a ton of fun. We played Life and there was more than just me getting after Trevor for his slightly annoying game playing ways...that was nice :oD. They wouldn't let Trev read the squares ahead of him and try to spin a certain number to land on the one he wants to. Sue won. She was a doctor. Gary got Caden up from his nap and Caden cuddled w/ him for a while. It was cute.

The bad news in my adventure w/ Caden is that he has diaper rash. I have to cut out citrus again. Too bad he loves it. Note to parents w/ kids in diapers: Bordeaux's Butt Paste is the best. It clears up the rash just as well or better than anything on the market (that I've found anyway) but the bonus is that it spreads easy (nice on tender skin) and it wipes off your hands easy (nice when you have to finish putting on the diaper). I think I get some for Alyssa as part of a shower gift.

BY THE WAY: I changed the settings so anyone can comment, not just those w/ a google account. So comment away!

I'm OLD!!

Last night Trev and I were talking about right after Caden was born. They took Caden away from me b/c of meconium (his first poo) in the amniotic fluid. They had to suction out his lungs. I couldn't get up b/c of the epidural. So anyway, Trev went over to Caden and (this is the part I have never heard before last night) petted his head b/c it was the out of the way of the nurses and blocked light from his eyes. At was then that Trev bonded w/ Caden and it really sunk in that he was our to love and take care of (tears welling up here). He still likes he head petted.

I took the "real age" test to see if I'm killing myself slowly or not (http://www.realage.com/). Well I guess I am b/c it says my real age is 28! I don't smoke or drink. My family history is good...my BMI is dandy! But since I don't exercise weekly (they didn't ask monthly so I had to put 0 for weekly) and I drive a little fast I'm tacking years on to my life! Oh and they only ask if I eat fish...I said no, but they didn't ask about any other sources of omega-3s. I take a flax seed oil pill every day. The stress of the move has aged me apparently but my "...social support network (family, friends, religious and group participation) however is excellent." So thank you every one for not bumping my "real age" in to the thirties. On that note...I did some yoga today and made some whole wheat/lowfat phyllo dough to put on my pot pie for dinner (w/ red meat for the second time this week so just start digging my grave now).

Caden is getting better at knowing body parts. He knows how to locate and say nose, ears, belly, belly button (tho he doesn't say it often) and kneeeeee. He helped me w/ my phyllo dough today. I gave him a little ball of dough and he got a kick out of that. At lunch today when I opened my eyes from giving thanks, Caden was holding his hands babbling. Trev and I hold hands while we give thanks so he was imitating us. So I grabbed his hand and held it while I gave another quick prayer...he babbled along w/ me. :oD

We (I) sing a song together to the tune of "Where is Thumbkin". Walking walking hop hop hop run run run run run run run run run run run run turn a round (clap) turn a round (clap). Of course we do this while going around the ottoman and so far he'll do the running and the turning around w/ me. One time he turned right in to the mirror that we have leaning against the wall. He saw himself and said "BABY" and gave himself a kiss. That kept him occupied for a while.

Later:

I took the "real age" test that just focused on food (very detailed) and I am 23.2 years :oD I may of been a bit optimistic on it though...maybe I should keep a food journal...I probably won't knowing me...I'm gonna go upstairs and have some low fat yogurt w/ muesli!

Later still:

The phyllo dough didn't quite turn out but wasn't a flop either. I don't think I got the dough thin enough...maybe I should try w/ white flour to get the hang of it.

Cubby Cheeks

I don't have a new picture today so here is a old one. The was taken about a year ago. Caden was at his chubbiest stage ever!

Oy! Holidays are over so it back to just me & Caden at home. Not that I'm complaining. This is a privilege. I heard some where that a having burden can be a privilege. That's a stay at home mom for ya! I needed to go to town today and by time I got around to taking a shower Caden was awake. So the only way to get ready and take care of Caden is to take him w/ me every where. So we took a shower together than brushed our teeth together. We did our hair together (not really needed for Caden but it makes him feel that he gets to do what mommy does). Even swiped his under arms w/ the deodorant (with the cap on) and put some chap stick on him lips (he tried to lick it).

We met Trevor for lunch and the best Pastie shop ever. The owners share my belief that pasties are a great vehicle for all kinds of flavors...not just beef, potato and rutabaga (tho they had those too). Trev got a bacon cheese burger and I got a chicken,potato, peas and carrots w/ whole wheat crust. They sell them frozen too. I got a southwest chicken that I'm looking forward too. http://www.ilovepasties.com/ You can have them shipped nation wide in the winter and to the some areas year round...if you are hankering for a pastie.

Since lunch was so quick Trev stayed in the car while I ran in to Golden Harvest (natural food store that has the best bakery in it ever). I got a oat/flax loaf that was still warm. This is the BEST bread...yes even better than Grandma's home made bread. The texture and taste are perfect and they use all whole wheat flour. At $3 a loaf it's not worth it to make at home. Then to Aldi's. Caden drove the car (sat in the driver seat in the PARKED car) w/ Trevor while I went in. According to Trev they went to Mexico and back. This was so nice to do a quick shopping trip w/o Caden but not sacrifice family time on Saturday's.

I still had to do another errand w/ Caden so I still had to do some chasing. The worst tho is by time I get home he is CRANKY and I have to unload the car and him. I decided to let him run around outside while I carried things in. He picked up some snow with his bare hands and then looked at me with tears welling up in his eyes and his hands out in front of him as if to say "my hands are cold and I don't know why." So I dropped my bags and scooped him up. Then I made the mistake of trying to get the last load of groceries while carrying him. Things started to slip and a frozen pizza box corner hit him in his face. Well now I had to get him ready for his nap while he was sobbing. Get the coat and boots off (never mind by boots...too urgent...so snow is all over the place), scramble around for a blankie to calm him down, make a bottle, change his diaper and clothes (they got wet). Had to take the bottle away while I put a new shirt on and the crying starts up again. Finally I get him in bed and he is staring at his hands...I realize they are still cold so I try to rub them but I guess they were too cold for that and it hurt. So I hold them in my hands a blow hot breath on them...that made him giggle and hyped him up. I walked out and he started wailing. Trev gave him some tea over lunch w/o realizing it had caffeine in it so I was worried he wouldn't go to sleep but he settled down and I came down here to write this and relax after the mad dash.

My goal today is to get the dishes done. Our dishes system needs some tweaking! We take turns doing dishes. If one of us doesn't feel like doing them...fine...but then you have to do them the next day when there is twice as many (kind of incentive to get them done when there isn't many) Well...I do the dishes then it is Trevor's turn. They don't get done for a couple of days and i think "fine...if he wants to procrastinate he'll have to do more dishes." (we are both so stubborn) So on day 3 or 4 he says "Are the dishes piling up b/c it's my turn" Oops...he didn't even know it was his turn. The first time this happened I helped him w/ the dishes so it would go by faster. Then it was my turn again...seems a little unfair but oh well. I'm feeling bad now b/c I didn't learn my lesson and inform him that it was his turn and now they are a big pile again so I rented a DVD and am going to set up our DVD player on the window sill and take his turn for him. That's the only way I can do them w/o going crazy when we get this behind. So now it's me procrastinating.

Puppy Slippers

These are Caden's new puppy slippers. Trev put them on Mary (15 months) who is much smaller than Caden (we put there feet together and her feet are about 1 1/2 shorter than Caden's) She looked so cute w/ her stripped tights on and than puppy slippers. She's a new walker so the tottle with the big (looking) feet was adorable. She loved them so much that she slept in them.

We invited ourselves to Ruth & Rowe's for New Year's eve and I'm glad we did. It was so much fun! I bought alcohol free sparkling wine (bubbly as Ruth called it) and the kids got a kick out of the cork POP! Ruth made a nice dinner. Both babies went down really early (5:45) and Emily (3 years) requested to go to bed I think around 8 or 9. Only Jake (5 years) tried to stay up...most to watch the adults get goofy playing Phase 10. He made it to about 10pm. It was the longest Phase 10 game I've ever played. Even if we weren't planning on staying up until midnight the game took so long we would of anyway. Lot's of laughs. Trevor teased me that there was Vitamin Mean in my drink because of my ruthless use of the skip card and my refusal to use it on myself (no one else was). Phase 4, 5 & 6 are where you have to get a run of 7 than 8 than 9. When I made it to Phase 7 I said "I'm glad I'm done with the runs." Big laughs there and many many jokes to follow as we got giddier. I asked if we could stay the night because it was late and Caden was asleep. They are so welcoming.