Whimsical Walde's

Chunky Monkey is 10 months old!~My Pretty Princess

2012-02-17T14:11:00.001-05:00

Caiden turned 10 months old on February 10, 2012! I know I say this every month but I really can't believe that he is 10 months old. It seems like time has flown by, but at the same time it seems like he's always been with us.

My little chunky monkey continues to delight us with his antics and his happy personality. I don't have any official stats this month but when he went to the doctor last week for an ear infection :( they weighed him with clothes on and his weight was 20 lbs. 14 oz. He's still a little shrimp, my friends little boy who is six months old is longer than him; but that's okay, there's not much chance he'll be tall.

Just last week he started pulling up to stand on things. We pulled a leap frog activity table out of storage for him and he loves it. I figured he would. He's so smart he realizes that this is his toy and he grunts at Ayla when she moves in on his territory and tries to play with his toy. Anyway, a day after bringing the activity table home he was crawling around on the floor and kept reaching his little fingers up to play with the table while I was watching Jeopardy. I wasn't looking at him for a minute or so and when I turned back to him he was standing up at the table playing with it, he had the biggest grin on his face; just waiting for me to notice him. It was so cute; but I was a little upset that I missed the first time he pulled up to stand. He now does it on just about anything he can. He also figured out how to go from a crawling position to a sitting position, and open cupboards and drawers. We have some diapers and wipes in a bin in one of the cupboards of our entertainment center. One of Caiden's favorite activities as of late is to open this cupboard, pull out the bin, spread the diapers all over the room and pull out wipes one by one. He laughs hysterically while doing this. Guess I'll have to put a lock on the cupboard.

He is a very good eater and has eaten everything I've ever given to him. I gave him taco meat last week and he ate that but then cried a few minutes later and I felt so horrible. I didn't think it would be too spicy for him but I guess it was. His favorites are applesauce, bananas, cheerios, ground up spaghetti with meat sauce, avacado, and noodles. I rarely give him baby food anymore unless we are out and about. It has become pretty hard and (trying of my patience) to try to feed him with a spoon. He continually grabs the spoon out of my hand (or tries) over and over and when he doesn't get the spoon he gets irritated and spits food all over; so I try to let him eat things he can pick up with his fingers. He does pretty well and feels like a big boy so he's happier. I just have to watch him because he tends to try and shove whole handfuls of things in his mouth and I've had to dig out five or six cheerios from his mouth a few times. He continues to spit up after eating a bottle, and not just once but numerous times. I'm not sure what it is. I've tried different formulas it doesn't seem to matter. I just recently found a kind of formula specifically for spit up and he has been drinking that for a few days now. The spit up has continued but definitely decreased. So maybe this formula is helping; but of course it's expensive and there is no generic version of it. Ayla used to spit up too but when we switched her to soy formula it stopped, Caiden continues to spit up. Hopefully when he turns one and I can start giving him milk or soy milk he'll stop.

I wanted to add some thoughts on Ayla as well, I feel like every post lately has been about Caiden. She continues to grow in every way. She is in size 4 shirts and size 3 pants. Long torso and short legs, this is a Forsythe (Lucas's mom's family) trait. She also contiues to learn more and more. She cracks me up on a daily basis with what she says. She has become enthralled with princesses and princess movies. We watched Beauty and the Beast the other day and after she got over her fear of the Beast when he was "mean" she loved it. Since then she has decided that she wants to have fireworks at her wedding (apparently Belle does in the movie?) and she talks about getting married in the temple which is as "beautiful as any castle". (I helped her decide that one :)) The other day we had the missionaries over for dinner and they were asking her all kinds of questions. She started talking about getting married like Mommy and Daddy did and they asked her what colors she wanted at her wedding; without missing a beat Ayla piped up "White with blue stripes!" We all died laughing. I have no idea where she got that from. She also seems to have some sort of seperation anxiety going on lately. She gets very upset when I have to leave to go anywhere without her and she asks me over and over "You're coming back right?" "You would never leave me?" I'm not sure where this is coming from or why it started. She even asks this when we take her to primary on Sundays. I am just trying to reassure her in every way I can and hoping that she'll get over it soon. She also has developed a fear of robots. From what you ask? I'm not sure, I suspect that one day when I was tutoring Daddy watched Transformers and she saw some of it. He insists that this didn't happen; I'm not too sure. So anyway, now she has nightmares about robots and comes into my room in the middle of the night crying about a robot in her closet. We read a book about a kid who kept getting out of his bed and what his parents did and that seems to be helping. She continues to love singing. She sings all the time and asks to listen to music quite a bit. She listens to music while she's eating her lunch; and we sing together every night before bed. Her current favorites are "Twinkle twinkle little star", "Book of Mormon Stories", "The Other Day I Met a Bear", "Going on a Bear Hunt" and for a quiet song before bed "I Am a Child of God."

I love both of my children so much! They are my world. I am so grateful that Heavenly Father blessed me with them and gave me the opportunity to be their Mom.

Here's some pictures of my beautiful kids!

Since it is so hard getting Caiden to sit still while taking his picture, and even harder when there's a paper involved; I thought that it would work well and be cute if he stood at the gate while the sign was taped to it.

Uh oh, he noticed the paper. This photo session is just about over.

Playing with his new favorite toy!

"Ugh, this slider on my toy is really hard to pull!"

My beautiful little princess

Babylicious Bathtime Boy!

2012-02-06T23:15:00.000-05:00

Last night Caiden got the rare opportunity to take a bath by himself. Normally I bathe them together but Ayla had showered earlier in the day. Anyway, he was loving it and lookin so cute while he had a grand old time that I had to take pictures. He can sit perfectly well on his own but in order to have my hands free to take the pictures I put him in the baby bathtub. This provides him with a little more stability when he's bouncing, splashing, and kicking. When he sits in the bottom of the tub on his own he tends to slide all over the place because he moves so much and occasionally he slips so I need to be right there so he doesn't go under. Putting him in the baby bathtub solves the problem. He can move all over the place, and he would really have to work to get himself to slip under. Yes I know I put my baby boy in a pink bathtub, but I think he's comfortable enough in his masculinity to get over it and forgive me. Enjoy the pictures of my beautiful babylicious boy!

Good view of his new tooth!

This one totally reminds me of the e trade baby commercial where the guy gets mad when he doesn't win on his scratch off ticket and the baby says: "let me show you my surprised face;"...this was the surprised face.

Splashing

All dried off

"Alright enough Mom, I've been looking at that camera for awhile...now I wanna play with it!"

My Birthday

2012-02-03T13:12:00.000-05:00

Another year...another birthday. They just aren't that exciting anymore. Especially when you are closer to 40 than you are to 30. Yes folks, I am getting old! My wonderful husband did a good job of trying to make the most of the day for me. And he did do a wonderful job. First when I got home from tutoring he had the house clean and kids all ready for bed, he just kept them up so I could cuddle a little. That alone would have been enough but then he put them to bed and pulled out a dinner that he had prepared for me. He set up Ayla's little table with candles so that we could have a nice romantic diner for two. The next day we celebrated with some cake and Ayla helped me to blow out the candles. It was a very nice day despite the fact that I apparently aged somewhere along the way. Here's some pictures:

Our nice romantic dinner for two

My birthday ice cream cake (YUM!) The candles are supposed to be in the shape of the age I was turning.

Ayla and I posing before we blew out the candles.

"Let's quick blow these things out before the house burns down!"

Heavenly Father Knows Best

2012-02-01T10:30:00.000-05:00

Most of you know that I was very apprehensive about giving up my teaching job and postponing my career for a few years. However Lucas and I prayed, went to the temple and pondered, and really thought on this decision for months before actually coming to the conclusion that yes resigning from my job was what I was supposed to do. We were both very nervous. My job was very stable, not based on the economy, and provided me with a feeling of fulfillment and the sense that I was helping others...but we both felt very strongly that I needed to stay home full time with my kids. We also know that the Lord answered our prayers with a very firm, "yes you do need to stay home." So we took a huge leap of faith and as of the end of last school year I was no longer employed. I spent hours and hours this summer and into the fall applying for all kinds of part time positions, going to job fairs, etc... looking for something I could do part time that would still allow me to be in the education field. I feel very strongly about my talent as a teacher and really love teaching. I also didn't want to just sit idly by and wait for years then try to get back into teaching after not keeping up with it for years. I was informed by several friends a few who are in the position to hire teachers that one of the things that they do not like is when someone has not been working in the field at all for years and then tries to come back.

With all of this in mind, and again after praying and feeling like I was being guided, I decided to start my own business. It's called Read With Ease Tutoring. I tutor kids in need of extra help. Reading is what I specialize in but I also provide homework help, organizational skills, and even (believe it or not) math help. I made a website which can be viewed at: www.readwitheasetutoring.com . Please be kind when viewing the website and remember I am doing it all on my own and it's still a work in progress and no-where near being completed. I also made up some flyers, and weatherproof signs that I've put up around the area. I also had some business cards made up. Because of my many contacts in the education field the business cards have been a huge success. I've given them out to guidance counselors, other teachers, and social workers. I have gotten numerous phone calls or emails from people who were referred to me through someone who knew me and gave them my business card. Because of this I am happy to report that my business is going strong. I have two clients every Mon, Tues, and Wed afternoon from 4-6. Lucas gets home at 3:30 Mon-Wed so he's home with the kids. I have one client who comes to my home Fri afternoon and two clients that come to my home Sat morning. This brings me to a total of nine clients! I actually just this week started a waiting list with some students who are in need and interested in my services but need to come at one of the times I already have scheduled. I LOVE it! It's perfect for me, it gives me a chance to continue doing what I love which is working with kids and teaching them. It gives me a chance to still feel like I'm making a difference and giving something back. Between the tutoring and subbing an average of four times per month we also have been able to bring in the extra income we need to supplement what Lucas is making. This has made it possible for us to still continue to pay bills, while paying off debt. We don't have much extra but with making sacrifices and I've learned to be a pretty good coupon clipper, we've been getting by just fine.

I am very happy and feel so blessed to be able to have the opportunity to stay at home with my children and really raise them the way I want them to be raised. I see the difference it is making with me being there with them everyday. Ayla is learning so much and I really feel that I'm able to give more time to Caiden than I was able to with Ayla when she was the same age. I am so glad that I listened to the Lord and took the leap of faith required of me to receive these blessings. I have such a strong testimony of prayer and the power of turning your life over to the Lord. When I finally decided to turn my life over to the Lord and live the way I knew I should the Lord has blessed me. Every time! First he led me to Virginia where I found the job I had been seeking for years in NY but was unable to find. Then he led me to the singles ward where I met my wonderful husband who truly does adore me. Then my two wonderful children joined our life and filled it with so much joy! Then I once again prayed and made a huge leap of faith when giving up my job and once again the Lord blessed me and provided for me. He has truly shown me that if I will do what he asks of me he will take care of me. I know the saying is "Father knows best" but in my life it's "Heavenly Father knows best".

Nine Months Old!

2012-01-20T23:31:00.000-05:00

I can't believe that my little chunk monkey is nine months old! He is sure growing and changing so fast. It seems as if he progresses a little each day, sometimes even each hour! We went to the doctor for his nine month checkup and of course she commented on how healthy he is and how social he is. (Surprise, surprise my children like to talk!) Here are his stats:

Height : 26 1/4 inches (3%) (Shouldn't be too surprised that he's on the short side), Weight: 19 lbs. 12 oz. (45%) Head Circumference: 45 1/2 cm. (50%)

Caiden is still very happy most of the time. He does however have a bit of a temper. Recently he has started throwing fits when I change his diaper, try to get him dressed, clean him up after eating, or when Ayla takes a toy or some other object away from him. When he gets mad he literally makes a fist and shakes it at you. I think he picked it up from Ayla because that's what she does when she's being overly dramatic. But it's so funny when Caiden does it. If I can get a picture of it I'll post it. It looks like he should be saying "Why I oughta..." with a Brooklyn accent.

He recently got his first tooth, a bottom one. (January 14) He also crawls now. He doesn't crawl on his knees. He more does a belly flop. He pushes up with his arms, then pushes off the floor with the toes on his left foot, gets up and then flops back down on his belly. It sounds painful but it's effective for him and he's really quick. Just in the last couple of days he has started to get up on his knees and move around more that way, so I'm sure he'll be crawling in a more normal fashion any day. He LOVES tooling around in his walker. He also LOVES being in his jumper ( the type that hangs from the door frame.) I have to be careful when he goes in it though because he really gets jumping and then he starts to swing back and forth and one time he ran himself into the door frame. He can stand against something now, and will hold onto something and take a few steps. He hasn't yet tried to pull himself up to a standing position but I'm sure that's not too far away. He just recently discovered that doors on cupboards open. This is his new favorite game. He will crawl over to a cupboard pull it open an inch or two and then let it fall back into place with a loud bang. He thinks it's so funny. He hasn't quite figured out yet, that in order to get the door to open all the way he has to back up so it doesn't bump into him. I'm sure that skill will be acquired anytime now. He also is super curious and will investigate anything that's new, interesting, or different. In church he will crawl over to any bags that he can get to and attempt to stick his little hands inside to see what's in there. He's also fascinated with the child proof locks I have all over everything in the house and plays with those. I'm sure the fascination is going to lead to figuring out how they work and being able to open everything before too long. He says Mama and Dada and I think he says Hi. When I come home after being gone for a couple hours I always greet him with a big smile and say "Hi!" He answers me and says "Ha!" I swear he's saying "Hi". When he's hungry he says "Mmmm Mama, Mmmm". He continues to love eating and was recently introduced to table food. He took to it like a Duck to water. He LOVES table food. He gets a little irritated with me when I try to feed him baby food now, so I usually make something that can be cut into tiny enough pieces for him to eat with his fingers. He gets so excited when I put him in the high chair and put food on his tray. His little hands and feet start waving in the air. I have to really watch him because he grabs huge handfuls and tries to cram a ton of food into his mouth at one time. It's funny how each kid is so individual and different from his/her sibling. Caiden is so very different from Ayla in so many aspects; one of them being eating. Ayla was (is) so picky. When she was a baby she would only eat certain baby foods. She resisted eating table food for the longest time because she didn't like the texture. She is still picky and often goes a whole day with eating very little food. Luckily the things she does like are healthy choices for the most part. She loves fruits and vegetables. Caiden on the other hand loves all food, he has eaten everything I've tried to feed him and eats table food with gusto.
I love my little smusher, it's hard to believe that he is nine months old. It makes me happy and sad at the same time. Happy because of the independence that he's developing and sad because my little baby is getting bigger every day!

Here's some pictures of my smushy guy!

We put him in his Bumbo seat to keep him from crawling away while I was trying to take pictures...but he quickly grew irritated of being held in place and that didn't make for good pictures so we took him out and did our best.

If you look real close you can kind of see his little tooth sticking out right above his bottom lip.

Here's him crawling. The next few pictures are in succession I think they are a pretty good illustration of his unique crawling technique.

"Target acquired...place my hands"

"Push up with my arms and forward with my toes..."

"Belly flop into position"

"Ahh the sweet feeling of success!"

I was desperately trying to get a decent picture of his little tooth and these are what I ended up with...

"I am not going to open my mouth and you can't make me do it!"

"Oh the camera, I want to play with it!"

"No I don't want to open my mouth!"

New Year's Eve

2012-01-20T12:25:00.001-05:00

This year for New Year's Eve Lucas and I wanted to have a nice romantic night alone. HA! With two kids that was not quick to happen...but eventually we did get them settled and into bed and the two of us had a nice romantic dinner for two. Our dinner consisted of steak, lobster, brussel sprouts, (my favorite veggie!) and baked potatoes! It was DELICIOUS! We ate by candlelight, then watched a movie together while cuddling on the couch. It was great to spend the time alone together and reconnect. I'm so lucky to have such a wonderful husband. We really enjoyed our night.

It's so funny how ten years ago I would have spent my New Year's Eve celebrating in a whole different way, yet wouldn't have had nearly as much fun! I LOVE my life and I'm so thankful for the choices I've made and guidance I've received to lead me to the life I have now. As I started the year I spent some time reflecting on all of my blessings and it really hit me as to how lucky I am. I have much to be thankful for.

Christmas 2011

2012-01-15T23:59:00.000-05:00

This year Christmas was such a blast! Ayla is old enough to really get into it and look forward to it. We read all kinds of books about it together, and read the kids version of the new Testament so that she understood that it was Jesus's Birthday. She also helped us in almost every aspect of the holiday from decorating, to making ornaments, and baking the cookies. She even wrapped presents for Grandma and Grandpa. I LOVED it. Christmas is so much more fun when you can enjoy it through the eyes of your kids. I remember how magical it all was when I was a little kid and I really tried to recreate that experience for my kids. I have to admit it was nice also being able to warn her periodically throughout the day that Santa was watching. That really helped a lot with her behavior.

Here's the pictures of our magical day.

(On a side note I realize that I take a lot of pictures of my kids, probably more than many of my blog viewers wish to look at, please feel free to scroll quickly through and not look if that's what you wish. I want to document as many memories as I can and create a blog book with my posts to preserve these memories for my kids.)

Here's a picture of our tree and presents shortly after Santa put them under the tree.

Caiden and Daddy on Christmas morning.

Ayla was being really silly on Christmas morning. She was very nervous about coming out into the living room. She actually went and hid in the bathroom and I had to convince her to come out. Here she is apprehensively making her way into the living room. Why was she nervous? Because she was convinced that Santa was hiding somewhere in the living room and at any moment he was going to jump out at her. When I went to see what was taking her so long in the bathroom she kept asking "Is he out there?" I was really confused for a few minutes until I realized that she was talking about Santa. It took quite a few minutes for me to convince her that Santa was gone. Even after she came into the living room she was tense and looked behind things to make sure Santa wasn't there lying in wait. What's really funny about this is that last year she went into the living room and opened up a couple presents before Lucas and I knew she was up. So this year I built an "impenetrable fortress" between the hallway and the living room so that she wouldn't be able to get out to the gifts. Guess I didn't need it.

Caiden says I love this gift thing. I get to play with this crinkly paper and rip it without getting into trouble! This is great!

Here's the best present I got this year!

Nana and Grandpa Ray got Ayla this doll and a stroller to push her around in. They were big hits!

Probably Ayla's favorite present was her camera. It's a cute little kids digital camera that really takes pictures. It has a bunch of apps on it that allow the user to put funny hats on the people, or moustaches etc... It also has a couple games. She loves it, but to be honest I think Santa was a little over-reaching and she is still a little too young for it. She doesn't use it the right way at all. Oh well she enjoys it and runs around taking pictures of everything now.

She also really loved her pillow pet. She was so excited to see it because she had been worried that she wouldn't get it because she forgot to tell Santa about it when she saw him.

Caiden and Ayla both share the train set that Santa decided not to wrap but instead leave set up by the Christmas tree. Caiden gets a kick out of pressing the buttons on the track that make the noises.

Here's Daddy opening his present.

He was really excited when he saw what Santa got him. Santa was very generous and got him the box set of Band of Brothers and The Pacific. He has been wanting it for a long time, so Santa finally gave in. After all Lucas was a very good boy this year.

Another one of Ayla's favorite gifts she got was her boots. As soon as she opened them she had to put them on and wear them around the whole day. She even wore them to church.

My kids are not early risers for the most part so Christmas morning they didn't get up until eight. (I'm not complaining about this at all!) So because of that and because it took us hours to open presents ( Ayla would have to stop and play with everything for 10 minutes before she would open anything else), we didn't make it to church on time. Our ward was having a combined Sacrament meeting with the other wards that meet in our building at 11. We didn't make it, but Lucas's parents ward was meeting at 1 and Grandma is the choir director and had been working really hard on a special Christmas program, so we decided to drive out and surprise Grandma and Grandpa at their church on Christmas day. It was really nice and they were really surprised and happy to see us. Grandma leaned over and whispered "Thank you" in my ear at one point. It was a really nice treat for them, and for us. After church we all headed home and later Grandma and Grandpa came over to have dinner with us. I cooked a roast, mashed potatoes, vegetables, and a nice salad. It was delicious.

I wanted to get a few pictures of my kids under the tree. Here's the best of what I took. It's really hard getting good pics of forever moving objects that don't want to cooperate.

I love this picture! such a cute First Christmas picture! My cute little man!

I am so happy and lucky to have an awesome family. Both immediate and extended. We love our kids and really enjoy spending time with them especially at Christmas. We are so lucky to have been blessed and given the opportunity to raise them. Christmas is such a special time of year and I really want to remember how blessed I am and the true meaning of the season.

Tis the Season...

2012-01-14T23:31:00.000-05:00

Since I've been a stay at home Mom I've had a lot more time to investigate and find out what there is to do in this little city of mine. Well... there's quite a bit. Recently we attended both the Fredericksburg Annual Christmas Parade and the Fredericksburg Annual Tree Lighting Ceremony. Both were family oriented events. The parade was in downtown Fredericksburg, which (for those of you who've never been there) is very historical and filled with elegant old civil war era houses. It's very pretty. The parade draws floats and spectators from all over Virginia. There were literally thousands of people there. The parade started at 5:30 and we didn't arrive until 5:15. Now when I say arrive I mean in the general area of the parade. It was so packed that we had to park 1 mile away and walk to get to the parade area. Then when we got there the streets and corners were all lined with people three to four rows deep. People were extrememly nice and generous though which was very welcome. Everyone politely shuffled Ayla and I forward so that we could see because Ayla is a little kid and I am her Mom and very short. When all the shuffling was over Ayla and I had a pretty darn good spot. Ayla was actually right in the front. One of the floats that went by was shooting video of the crowd and they were broadcasting that video to a huge tv for everyone to see and there was Ayla marching along with the band and waving her little hands. Here's some pictures of a few of the floats and parade participants.

It was very chilly so I made sure to really bundle my kids up. Poor Caiden had a hard time putting his arms down. I must really have gotten used to the temperate climate since living here, either that or I'm becoming a wuss in my old age because I was horrified when we drove by a thermometer later and it said 48 degrees. "Really!" I said aloud. To me it felt like it was in the 30's. When it's 48 in Buffalo, people pull out there shorts and flip flops and make preparations to go to the beach! :) Okay maybe I'm exaggerating a little, but it felt a lot colder to me!

Ayla and I had attended a cookie making party earlier in the day where we made many different kinds of cookies and brought quite a few home. Hence the chocolate on her face.

Christmas Eve

2012-01-13T23:27:00.000-05:00

This year we didn't go out of town for Christmas. While it was very hard on me, because I really miss my family a ton. It was also quite nice to be able to enjoy our time together as a family and not have to run all over the place. Lucas had off for a week and it was great to have him around. Caiden especially loved it. He is crazy about his Daddy. Christmas Eve my sister-in-law Emily had us over to their apartment for a little family get together. Grandma and Grandpa (Lucas's parents) and Uncle Leif were also there. I took about half of our cookies (that I had made the day before) and we spent some time decorating them while we were there. We also opened presents, and watched The Polar Express. It was a nice night to enjoy family! My in-laws are soooo good with my kids. And my kids really love them. Ayla has told me numerous times that Grandpa is her favorite person. Just lately she told me that Caiden is now her favorite person. (We'll see how long that lasts, hopefully it will!) Here's some pictures of our Christmas Eve.

Christmas Cookies

2012-01-11T23:14:00.000-05:00

One Friday afternoon I was in a baking mood and decided to make some Christmas cookies. Ayla really wanted to help, so she did and we had a lot of fun! It was messy, but worth it. We made Peanut Butter Chocolate Balls, Peanut Blossoms, and good old fashioned Christmas Sugar Cookies. When we were done I had made over 90 cookies! Yum! We took some to my in-laws house on Christmas Eve, shared some with friends, and enjoyed the rest ourselves. Here's some pictures. The sugar cookies some how didn't make it into the photos. I think because at the time I hadn't decorated them yet. Oh well... they were delicious!

Decorating Ornaments

2012-01-09T23:02:00.000-05:00

At one of our Mommy group play dates a couple of weeks ago we decorated ornaments with our kids. I liked the idea so much that I decided to do it on my own and decorate ornaments for Grandparents and Great-Grandparents for Christmas. Ayla and I spent a couple hours one afternoon decorating ornaments. I bought some unbreakable ornaments, some glitter paint, some puffy little balls, and a few other craft supplies. Ayla had a great time. I was happy with the end result. Here are a couple of the ornaments we made.

I used white paint to make the hand prints on the ornaments and then I used glitter paint to put the hats, eyes, nose, and mouth on the snowmen.

This is the only one with Caiden's hand print that turned out. It was very hard getting him to open his hand and press it on the ornament without smearing it. Because this is the only one with Caiden's hand print I kept this one. Ayla's all turned out very well and we were able to make enough that we gave lots out for presents and we still had a couple to keep.

Eight Months Old!

2012-01-08T22:12:00.006-05:00

I figured that I better add Caiden's eight month stats before he turns nine months old in just a couple days! Time really seems to have flown by, when it comes to this little guy. He turned eight months old on December 10, 2011. He continues to be my happy little (maybe not so little anymore) man! Except with a little edge to him. His personality really has started emerging and for the most part he is just easy going and laid back, but he does let you know when he's unhappy with you. Usually by grunting his displeasure. He's grunted since he was a couple of days old. It's pretty funny actually, if he is trying to do something and you somehow thwart or impede his progress, he grunts and kind of growls at you. When he's playing with something that Ayla takes away he gets mad and grunts at her. Maybe grunt isn't the right word I guess it's more like a guttural growl. It's pretty funny. He loves his Mommy and his Daddy pretty equally. This makes Daddy happy because Ayla always preferred me,Caiden is happy with either of us. He'll be perfectly happy with me, and then when Daddy gets home he gets really excited and starts reaching for him and laughing. Daddy loves it. I don't have any official stats, because he didn't have a doctor's appointment this month, but my guess is that he's somewhere between 19-20 lbs. He fits in 6-9 month clothes but they're pretty snug, 12 month clothes are much more comfortable on him. Unfortunately for him he has the short little legs that both of his parents have and most pants are too long on him. I just started putting him in size 4 diapers, size threes were way too tight. He is so close to crawling, but too be honest he gets around fine with a combination of rolling, turning himself in the right direction with his arms and then doing a kind of military crawl using his arms and a little pushing with his toes.It's really cute. Both of my kids have been late bloomers when it comes to crawling. Ayla didn't crawl until she was nine months old and then walked at ten months old. Looks like Caiden is going to follow suit. He LOVES tooling around in his walker. I try not to put him in it too much because now there's this research that says that it causes kids to walk later. I don't know, Ayla walked early. But anyway, it is a good place for me to put him when I'm busy and don't want to leave him in the living room at the mercy of Ayla. He does really well in the walker actually almost running in it. He always heads right for the fridge and plays with the magnets. He also loves his jumper. He LOVES jumping and won't just stand. If you hold his hand he will pull up to a standing position and stand there bouncing. He sometimes won't sit now, but tries really hard to stand. I sometimes lean him up against the couch and put some toys on the couch for him. I stay right behind him, but he'll stand there for awhile just playing with the toys. He still has yet to get his first tooth. Apparently my kids are late bloomers in that area too, Ayla didn't get her first tooth until she was 13 months old. I keep thinking that his first tooth is on the way because he's been drooling for months, but I guess he's just drooley. He says, Dada and Mama but we're unsure if he knows what he's saying. He claps his hands and gives kisses. (Which are more like a big drooley lick, but still cute!) He loves eating and I have yet to feed him anything that he won't eat. He doesn't really like green beans or peas but he'll eat them. He LOVES avocados and I often grind them up in my bullet and make a few meals for him out of a couple avocados. He loves cheerios and if I put some on his tray he will amuse himself for quite awhile pushing them around and actually getting some in his mouth. He LOVES the little tool bench that he got for Christmas. I showed him how to bang with the hammer and he has become an expert banger. He now bangs on anything and everything with that hammer, or anything that even slightly resembles his hammer. He also really likes Ayla's toys of course. It's funny how that happens. It seems sometimes like he plays with her toys more and she plays with his more. I guess the grass is always greener on the other side!

Here's some pictures of my happy little man. All these pictures were taken on Dec 10, when he actually turned eight months old. It's really hard to get him to pose now especially with a sign so I did the best I could. Judge for yourself...

"Hey what's this thing?"

"Ohh, it's crinkly, I LOVE crinkly things!"

"Hmm, I wonder how it tastes!"

"Pretty good..."

"Oh no, here comes Daddy, he's gonna take it away!"

"Urgghhh"

"No!" (lots of grunting)

"Wait one more crinkle noise before it goes"

"Oh darn, it's gone"

"So what's all this Mom?" "You want me to smile?"

"All right, I'll try..."

"Hey, where'd that cool crinkly paper go?"

"Ha, I see it!" "No to get to it..."

(Inch forward...inch forward...) Yea!

"Haha!" (crinkle, crinkle)

"Oh, Daddy's gonna stand me up!"

"Look at me, look at me!"

Lunch with Santa

2011-12-12T15:30:00.000-05:00

My friend Ann heard about a special lunch with Santa that one of the local bakery's was holding and thought it would be fun for her to take Ayla and I. Ann is such a good friend and has basically adopted my family as part of hers. She and her husband Paul look out for us and really love our kids. It's great to have them around. Anyway, Ann made the reservations awhile ago and last weekend was the big day. It was a really cute little bakery that is actually built in an old civil war era church. They had it all set up and decorated for Christmas and of course Santa was there. Ayla was excited to go out to lunch with just the girls. She thought that she was a big shot, especially when I let her drink out of a "big girl glass."

Watch her eyes in these first three pictures, you can tell what she's thinking. Here it's "What is this stuff, I'm not sure I'm gonna like it."

"Oh, hey, it's pretty good!"

"Wow, I do like it, in fact I think I LOVE it! It's delicious!"

She was even more excited when her apples filled with banana cream and topped with chocolate and whipped cream arrived!

Ayla and Ann

When it was our turn to go see Santa Ayla was more than a little bit apprehensive. I'm not sure why, a grown man in a red velvet suit, with a full beard, who likes to hold little kids on his lap, isn't creepy at all!

So... I had to sit next to Santa in order for her to even stand by him.

Here Ayla's thinking... "Ok I'll turn my face towards the camera but I'm not taking my eyes off that creepy guy with the beard!" "He better not try to touch me or I'll haul off and kick him in the shin like I did last year!"

Then Santa gave her a candy cane. She decided he must be okay after that and relaxed a little, but not much. She still wouldn't talk to him. (I'll have to have the talk with her about strangers and candy later on. But I need to get through another round of pictures with Santa and both kids first before I really freak her out.)

Finally she told him what she wanted for Christmas. Here's her list in this order: 1. Camera (Santa already knew that one) 2. Watch (this is a new request) 3. Dora video game (I think Santa might bring her a Sesame Street video game) 4. a new rug (Really!) (Hey, I think that's on my list too!)

After we finally let her walk away from Santa she was all smiles and so happy that she finally got to tell him what she wanted. Later on she told me "Oh no I forgot to tell Santa that I wanted a pillow pet!" ....Santa already knew

Thank you Ann for thinking of us, it was a great afternoon!

I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas...

2011-12-07T11:46:00.001-05:00

This last weekend we deiced to decorate our house for Christmas. I'm not one who hated Buffalo weather. Most people would say I'm crazy, but I actually kind of like the cold and snow. You get to wear nice cozy sweaters, and curl up on a snowy day with a good book and a cup of hot cocoa...So when the weather here was sunny and high sixties it didn't really make me feel like decorating for Christmas. However I do love the way the house looks during the holiday season so I figured we'd better get going. Unfortunately in order to make the house look nice first we had to mess it up by bringing in all the boxes and tubs of decorations from the shed.

Ayla found an ornament she liked. (Yes she dressed herself, as a matter of a fact she got up from nap with this on. Apparently instead of sleeping she decided to raid her closet.)

Ayla helped me out by dusting everything to make it clean before we put the decorations up.

Caiden helped by being his normal happy guy self and entertaining us with his jumping and giggling!

Lucas set up the tree

Then we all started decorating it. Ayla chose the first two ornaments that should go on the tree. I absolutely did not influence her at all. She happens to like football (at least football ornaments!) Here's a picture of the first two ornaments.

Uncle Leif stopped by and helped out a little. He mostly entertained Caiden and played with our new camera. ...oh I forgot to mention that we bought a new camera. We really needed one. Our old camera was six years old and had the slowest shutter speed. It was nearly impossible to get good pictures of my kids. We saved up some money and got a really good deal during the Black Friday sales. After doing some independent research and talking to my sister Annie and brother-in-law Brett when they were here visiting, I decided that a Canon Rebel would be the best camera for us. When the black friday sales were announced I found that HH Gregg had a good deal on a Canon EOS Rebel T3 which is what we got. I LOVE it. I'm still figuring it out and probably will be for months, but the pictures are soooo much better.

Here's Uncle Leif and Caiden putting the garland on the tree.

Ayla and I putting garland on the tree. Notice the Bills ornament and the little football ornament on the bottom of the tree, after Ayla hung those I made her stop to hang up the garland first.

Ayla hung all the ornaments she could reach to hang!

Caiden entertained himself by trying to climb on Ayla's big ball!

Lucas and I hung the ornaments higher on the tree.

After we set up the tree, Ayla and I put up our Nativity set and other random decorations. Ayla is very into the story of the First Christmas this year so she was allowed to place Baby Jesus in the Nativity set.

Later on that night Caiden decided that he didn't want to sleep so I brought him out into the living room. He was being so darn cute and I wanted to play with my new camera so I took some pics of him. He rolled his little butt all the way from the middle of the living room, around the chair, and over by the tree. Here he is happy that he made it to his desired destination!

He really wanted to play with the ornament that was hanging within his reach. I wanted some good pics so I watched him trying to get it and photographed his efforts.

"Victory!"

"Are you seriously going to let me chew on this glittery thing Mom?!"

I decided to continue playing with my camera and take some random pictures of our decorations on different camera settings to see how they turned out.

...and my all time favorite decoration (which stays out all year round), The Christus. This was given to me years ago by my sister Kari and brother-in-law Will as a Christmas present. At the time I was inactive in our church and remember thinking "Oh great another churchy thing!" Wow have my feelings changed. I treasure this statue. It means so much to me now. When the earthquake hit our house back in August I first grabbed by kids and second grabbed this statue! I'd be really upset if it broke. Yes I could replace it, but the fact that my sister bought it for me knowing how special it was before I knew how special it was, really means something to me. Kari and Will are a big part of the reason why I am the way I am today...but that's a story for another post.

As you look at this picture please remember the reason for the season!

Family Pictures 2011

2011-12-04T22:16:00.001-05:00

A couple of weeks ago my friend Alea took some pictures of our family. Alea is amazing, she is not only a great photographer but she is also one of the most patient people I've ever met. It wasn't easy taking pictures of us. Caiden was teething at the time so it was very hard to get him to smile. Ayla is stubborn and flat out refused to smile or even look at the camera half the time. We went to Chatham Manor for the photo shoot. That's where most of the pics were taken. Then because we didn't get that many good ones of the kids she came to my house last week to take a few more just of them. The ones of the kids at our house turned out fabulous! She really did such a great job! I love them all! I had such a hard time deciding which ones to put on our family Christmas card. Which ones did I choose you ask? Well I guess you'll have to wait until you get your card in the mail. :)

My beautiful family!

Kicking the leaves!

Twirling

My sweet boy!

Ummm...this leaf looks good!

Eternal Love!

Mommy and her smoosher

Here's a pretty flower for you!

Okay we're getting bored with this picture thing...

...until Mommy started doing silly dances to make us laugh!

Clap, clap, clap your hands!

Silly Mommy!

Oh I love my brother, I love him...

...I want to give him kisses!

WEEEE!

Hmmm. Let me see...

Say what?!

Happy guy!

Enjoying the Season

2011-12-02T23:35:00.000-05:00

We've had some gorgeous fall weather around here recently and I wanted to get my kids out to enjoy it. Here are some pictures of our fun afternoon at the park. It was Caiden's first time in a swing. He was so cute! He is still a bit too short so it looked like he was sitting in a bucket, but he loved it.

Ayla's Birthday Celebration!

2011-12-01T23:35:00.000-05:00

This year I really wanted to make Ayla's birthday special. It's the first year when she is really aware of what it is to have a birthday and realizes that it's a special day for her. She's been asking when November 10 is for months. Her birthday this year fell on a Thursday which isn't the best day for having a party so I decided to devote the day to having fun and letting Ayla do what she wanted. When I asked her what she wanted to do she said "Play playdoh!" So here she is building animals with play doh. I also spent the majority of my morning playing with play doh. After all it's not much fun building playdoh animals on your own and I wanted my girl to have a good time.

She's been a real stinker lately about smiling or even looking at the camera. (Let me tell you how much fun that was when we had our family pictures taken, which I'll post in a few days.) Anyway, because she won't smile when I ask her to I kept trying to get pictures of her smiling naturally. Thus you get a picture like the one below. My camera is not the best and has a delay of a second or two before it actually takes the picture so by the time the picture is taken usually the smile is over. I need to get a better camera.

"Mom look what I made!"

After we were tired of playing with the play doh we played with Ayla's stickers and she put them in her "journal". (A notebook that she "writes" in and mostly puts stickers in.)

After Caiden got up from nap I tried to have a combined photo session because Ayla's third birthday was also the day Caiden turned seven months old. You can judge for yourself how the photo session turned out.

After Daddy got home from work we decided to go out to dinner. Because I belong to Friday's "Stripes" club I get really good coupons. (I highly recommend joining if you aren't a member.) Anyway I had enough points to get a free entree and I had a coupon for a free kids meal. So to Friday's we went. Ayla had her birthday dinner and then we instructed the waiter that it was her birthday so that he would make a "big deal" out of her and sing to her. I told Ayla that they were going to sing to her but I really don't think she had any idea of what that meant. Suddenly there were about 10 waiters and waitresses surrounding our table; one had a little dish of ice cream with a lit candle in it and they were all singing the Friday's version of the "Happy birthday" song. They had Ayla stand up on her chair. Normally my little girl is a sucker for attention but she got real shy real quick. She quickly sat down and shrank against Daddy's arm as all the people sang to her. When they were done she blew out her candle and then watched greatfully as they all walked away.

Again Ayla would not smile for pictures. She is having a good time despite what her face looks like in these photos.

November 11 this year was a Friday and Lucas had off in celebration of Veteran's Day. I wanted to continue Ayla's birthday celebration so we went to a bounce house place called Kids N'Motion. I had bought 10 visits awhile back and had only used two so we had free passes for the day. Ayla, Caiden, and even Daddy had a great time playing on the equipment. Mommy had a good time watching.

Caiden loved the little toy section. I stood him up next to this toy and he stood there for about thirty seconds. Hmmm, guess it's time to pull some of our toys like this out from storage.

Ayla climbing the "wall".

This slide is literally thirty feet high. I've got to admit I was a little nervous watching her climb the first time, but she loved it so much and was so good at it I quickly got over my fear. Another parent there had a son who was older than Ayla who wouldn't try this slide. The Dad kept urging the son to try, finally he pointed out Ayla and said if that little girl can do it I'm sure you can to. Finally the kid tried. I had to laugh that the Dad used Ayla as an example to his kid.

Daddy had to get in on this slide action too!

The next day, Saturday, was Ayla's birthday party. She was really excited about it and had been thinking about it for days. I spent the morning preparing decorations and making the cake and cupcakes. Her party theme was ladybugs. So I made a ladybug cake and little baby bugs for cupcakes. (Use your imigination when looking at the cupcakes they didn't turn out as well as I hoped.)

I turned the balloons into colorful bugs as well and decorated the church gym. We had her party at the gym because our house is really small and I wasn't sure how many people (especially with three year olds) were coming. The gym happened to be available that night so I reserved it. It turned out really well.

We ended up having quite a good turnout for her party. Quite a few kids came. We started out by playing "Pin the Tail on the Donkey" which I don't have any pictures of, as I was too busy helping the kids. After that the kids decorated their goody bags and party hats. In between of course there was a lot of playing chase, and tag, and just plain old running around the gym. My friend Megan's two boys, Granger and Richard, are used to hanging out with Ayla because we see them quite often so they tease her a lot and treat her probably the way older brothers would. At one point Ayla let out a scream and everyone turned to see what was the matter. The boys had her blocked in against a bunch of chairs and she yelled out "Mommy help they're puting me in jail!" It was pretty funny.

"Baby Emily" as Ayla calls her just chillin by herself. Emily turned one just a few days after Ayla turned three.

Grandma getting her snuggles in with Caiden.

Ann and Paul came to join the fun. Their kids are in college so we let them "adopt" us. We enjoy having them come to our parties and doing fun things with us. Ann is taking Ayla and I to have a special brunch with Santa in a couple weeks.

Megan jut had baby boy number three, she's a very busy mom but still finds time to come and help me set up and clean up afterward. She's such a good friend!

Baby Andrew, he's just two months older than Caiden.

Baby Madsen, Caiden, and Richard. Richard loves Caiden and spends lots of time making funny faces at him and trying to get him to laugh. It's really cute!

Happy Birthday to Ayla!

Ayla got some really good presents. I'd have to say her favorites are her piano (which she annoys me with on a regular basis) her kitchen set (which Lucas and I bought for her along with all the "food" that comes with it.) But her absolute favorite thing was her "treasure chest" full of princess clothes! Great job Ann and Paul! Ayla loves being a princess and has been one every single day since her party.

Ayla showing off her favorite gifts!

Caiden enjoys playing with the piano too! (Oh joy!)

Seven Months Old!

2011-11-28T12:55:00.000-05:00

Caiden Lucas Walde turned seven months old November 10, 2011. My little chunky monkey is such a joy! He really is the cutest little baby boy I've ever seen! He sits quite well now, rolls around all over the place and even manages to get up on his knees a bit and do some sort of rocking, bouncing, dance trying to manuver himself around. I'm sure he'll be crawling before too long. Lately he and Ayla have been playing really well together. She's really started to look to him to play with her instead of me all the time. She'll get her piano and bring it over by him and then sit there and sing while he pounds on the keys. Or she'll bring over some of her princess clothes or jewelery and "dress" Caiden up in it. He LOVES Ayla. He watches her all the time. If I'm trying to nurse him I have to actually go in another room now because he won't nurse if Ayla is around because he can't see her. He doesn't have any official stats this month as there is no doctor's visit, however when I weighed him on our scale he was 19 lbs. 3 oz. He is wearing 6-9 month clothing and size 3 diapers. He is very happy. People comment to me all the time about how good he is and how content he is. I've had other mother's tell me they would have several if they could order them all like Caiden. I hope this is good news for me for the future and not just that he is saving up to be a terror for the next few years.

Likes: Playing with Ayla, watching Ayla, listening to Ayla, when Daddy comes home, rolling around on the floor, cuddling up with his blanket, sleeping on his side (that's a new one), when Mommy's sings to him, cuddling in the morning or when he's tired, taking baths and splashing and kicking his feet in the water, riding in the car, going places where there's a lot of people ( he loves watching people he'll be entertained for a long time if he can just watch what people are doing), watching other little kids, being tickled, playing peekaboo, banging on things, shaking things, grabbing at things (this is new also he will now grab anything within reach I've had to remember to keep the shopping cart parked in the center of the aisle where he can't pull stuff off shelves).

Dislikes: when Ayla screams or cries, getting his diaper changed before being fed in the morning or middle of night, changing clothes, when he soaks through, being woken up, being left alone in a room for more than 30 seconds, when he falls over, when Ayla takes a toy from him, when Mommy tries to take a drink in between giving him bites (he grunts at me in displeasure), when Mommy tries to discreetly remove his blanket from him while he's sleeping (he wraps it around him and I get nervous it will go over his face).

He really is normally just a happy guy. I am so lucky to have the joy of raising this happy little man!

Stafford County Fair

2011-11-27T12:30:00.000-05:00

A couple weeks ago our county had the county fair. We decided to see what it was all about and went for a few hours. The county I grew up in is huge and so the Erie County Fair that I'm used to going to is much bigger than the little fair our county had. But it was fun and nice for little kids. I think it would have been too much to do a huge fair with two little kids. This one was small enough that we were able to see everything in just a couple of hours and Ayla was able to ride all of the kids rides. We bought arm bands for $10 which enabled us to ride all of the rides. Much better than paying for each ride as you go as each ride was about $3 per person! We really enjoyed ourselves and the weather was beautiful!

Ayla was a little nervous on the roller coaster. It was her first time ever on one! But she did really well.

View from the top of the ferris wheel.

The ferris wheel was a small one so you could only fit two people per seat. So Daddy and Caiden had to go in the seat next to us. Here's Daddy getting in his daily dose of snuggles!

Caiden couldn't hold out any longer.

Halloween

2011-11-23T17:03:00.000-05:00

This year for Halloween both of my kids were elephants. Why you ask? Because the costumes were free! I borrowed them from my sister. Caiden obviously doesn't care. Ayla didn't really have any idea of what she wanted and I suggested that she be the Mommy elephant and Caiden would be the baby elephant and she thought that was a great idea! Woo hoo for me! We had more of a Halloween weekend then just one day. It started with our church trunk or treat/costume parade/chili cookoff on Saturday night. It was really quite cool for our area so I was glad my kids had warm costumes. The church party was fun but it's also hard when you have little kids. The older kids get a little wild and crazy and literally start pushing the little kids out of the way to get to the candy quicker then they go around to the same cars over and over again. Poor Ayla ended up not having much by the time she got to certain cars. (It worked out though, really how much candy does she need.) Here's some pictures of my baby elephant and mommy elephant from the church party.

Umm this trunk looks tasty!

Grandpa (Lucas's Dad) ended up coming to the church party with us. That was nice. It worked out for us because then we had an extra helper. He carried Caiden around while I took Ayla to the cars, and Lucas stayed at our car to hand out candy. I think Grandpa really enjoyed himself too.

A few months ago I joined a group of stay at home mom's who all have kids around the same age. It's nice because we get together at least once a week and have play dates or picnics if the weather is nice. it gives me a chance to get my kids out to get some social interaction with other kids and gives me adult conversation. Anyway, this year for Halloween we went trick or treating with all the kids and adults from my Mommy's group. It was a lot of fun. We all met up at my friend Tara's house and had pizza for dinner with some hot apple cider, homemade Halloween cupcakes, and homemade Halloween cookies. The kids played for awhile then we get them into their costumes and headed out for some trick or treating around Tara's neighborhood. Kudos to Tara and Chris for having all of us over at their house. There was a ton of people I think about ten Mommy's, ten husbands, 10-15 kids, and a few grandparents mixed in as well. It was crazy but fun! Before we headed out to go trick or treating we completely lost our minds and tried to get a picture of the kids dressed in their costumes. We managed to get about 3/4 of them at one time. Here's some of the shots we got.

It was the first time that we ever took Ayla trick or treating. In the last two years we just did the trunk or treat at the church. I thought maybe she'd be a little apprehensive. Nope, not my girl she'd march right up to the door and say "Trick or treat!" Sometimes the people would put the candy in before she said anything and then I would ask her what do you say? Looking for her response to be "Thank you." She would usually then say "trick or treat" it was cute.

Excuse me sir the candy is only for the kids not the kids at heart!

Pumpkin Farm

2011-11-22T07:57:00.000-05:00

The week before Halloween my Mommy's group got together and we all took our kids to a little local pumpkin farm called Clark's Farm. There are lots of them in our area but most of them are pretty expensive. The little one that we went to was small, and cheap; only a few dollars. We had a really good time. Here's a few pictures of our day.

We got to paint our "baby" pumpkins; as Ayla calls them.

Caiden enjoyed watching the kids and animals run around.

Ayla bravely climbed straw mountain.

And then got up there and was a little disappointed. "Really I climbed up here for this!"

Ayla played on the little playground...

....and rode the straw horse.

Then Ayla got her face painted. She chose a spider in honor of Halloween. She did really well with holding still I was proud of her. Kudos to the lady who was doing the painting she must have painted one hundred faces or more that day. More and more kids kept coming and then field trips started showing up right as we were getting ready to leave.

My cute kids!

6 Months Old

2011-11-19T11:28:00.000-05:00

My little snuggler turned 6 months old October 10, 2011. He is sitting up, but not great, he looks a little wobbly but he doesn't fall for awhile and can catch his balance when he starts to fall. He readily grabs for things with his hands and stuffs everything in his mouth. He loves his sister and watches and laughs at her all the time. He sleeps through the night, usually going to bed around 8:30 or so and sleeps 12-13 hours. Sometimes he wakes up when I go to bed. He sleeps in the same room as me so I seriously think that he smells me (no I don't smell bad) and that's why he wakes up. He usually takes a 45 minute morning nap about an hour after he's been up and a 2-3 hour afternoon nap. I try so hard to get him and Ayla to take a nap at the same time but it just seems to never work out. Usually he is tired much earlier in the afternoon then Ayla normally goes down so I'll put him down and then by the time that Ayla goes down he's already been sleeping for more than an hour. Oh well I'm sure it'll get better as they get older. He is such a laid back happy guy. I'm very blessed in that aspect. He is quick to smile especially when he's tired. He gets goofy when he's tired it's really cute. He'll crack up at anything when he's tired which makes us want to keep him up longer and play with him.

Likes: He loves to eat, and he's a good eater. The only thing I've found that he doesn't like is peas and if I make the peas and grind them up in the bullet he loves them. Baby food peas I have to mix in with other foods and then he'll eat them. He also started snacking on little rice treats, they are very plain but they're shaped like a small ear of corn and they flake off and melt in his mouth. He loves to hold onto them and munch on them. I think he feels like a big boy. He loves rolling and he rolls everywhere. I will put him down in one location and find him in a completely different spot 30 seconds later. He will actually roll around furniture to get behind it to something he wants (usually Ayla's toys). He likes playing peek a boo and will actually cover his own face up sometimes and wait for me to say "Where's Caiden?" We were playing this one day and he kept doing it over and over and after a few times he would cover his face and then crack up with the anticipation of peeking out at me. It was so cute! He loves nursing but hates formula and unfortunately I'm just not producing enough milk for him anymore. I still try but I don't think he's getting a lot.

Dislikes: He hates teething and seems like he's been doing it since 4 months and still no teeth. Poor guy chews on his lower lip constantly. He doesn't like changing his clothes, especially having his arms forced into something really irritates him. He hates being poopy and will fuss until I change him. He gets bored after awhile of playing with the same toys and I have to get out more toys for him, unless Ayla is up and then he rolls around after her. He doesn't like drinking out of a cup, I tried it once and he immediately spit out everything that he got in his mouth.

Here's some pictures of my happy little guy!

"I must get that paper I must!"

The Ayla Show

2011-11-19T00:01:00.000-05:00

My little girl is an awful lot like her Momma. She loves putting on shows. She never misses an opportunity to grab a microphone and put on a show for anyone willing to watch. She frequently puts on her "princess skirt" and sings and dances for Caiden and I. We both love it. When Daddy comes home she will repeat her show for him. Here she is putting on one of her shows.

A Visit from Aunt Annie, Uncle Brett, Evie and Stanley

2011-11-18T11:01:00.000-05:00

Towards the end of September my sister Annie, her husband Brett, and their daughter Evangeline came to visit us. We hadn't seen them in quite some time because they were westcoasters. They lived in California for a few years then Utah for the past year, but in July they moved to Marietta, Georgia and we are so glad. This makes it much more possible for us to see them. Evie was born 11 days after Caiden so they are very close in age, size, and ability. It was cute to see them "play" together. The first day that they were with us we decided to head out and show them around our town. The first stop was Old Mill park which is right along the Rappahannock River. It was a beautiful day perfect weather and the view of the river was breathtaking. We packed a picnic lunch and sat at a table alongside of the river and ate our lunch. It was very soothing.

After our picnic lunch we headed over to Chatham Manor. Chatham is literally less than 5 minutes away from us, it is a mansion that was built in the 1770's and was a working plantation well into the 1800's. During the Civil War it was used as the headquarters for the Union Army. The owner of the plantation at the time had enlisted with the Confederate forces and was gone when the Union Army literally told the owner's wife to get out that they were going to be using the house as their headquarters. I can't imagine being in that position, but when you see the mansion you can understand why the Union forces wanted it. It is strategically placed overlooking the city and just beyond the river.

Fredericksburg around the time of the Civil War (Thank you Annie, I copied this from your blog.)

A similar view of Fredericksburg today. The church spires that you can see in the distance were there at the time of the Civil war and still stand today!

Chatham also served as a barracks for the soldiers as well as a hospital. Along the inside of the windows many of the soldiers carved their names, rank and division. This was left in place and can still be seen today. Many soldiers were brought to Chatham after being seriously injured. While there the doctors and nurses would try to help them often having to resort to chopping off arms and legs that were too seriously wounded to be saved. The limbs were then literally thrown out the window and piled up along the base of this tree which is still standing. This is the oldest tree in the county. Most of the other trees were cut down to be used for the war effort, so that's why this is the oldest one around.

Walt Whitman came to Chatham looking for his brother who was a Union soldier and upon seeing the tree and the carnage he wrote: "a heap of amputated feet, legs, arms, hands, etc.-about a load for a one-horse cart. Several dead bodies lie near," he added, "each covered with its brown woolen blanket." In all, more than 130 Union soldiers died at Chatham and were buried on the grounds.

Many other famous people have been visitors to Chatham including George Washington who grew up literally less than a mile away, Thomas Jefferson, and Clara Barton who served there as a nurse and later founded the American chapter of the Red Cross.

After touring Chatham Manor we visited the Fredericksburg battlefield. The battle of Fredericksburg was fought on two fronts. Chatham being where the Union soldiers were stationed and Marye's Heights being where the Confederate soldiers were. Marye's Heights is pretty much right across from Chatham on the other side of the river.The Union forces were planning on taking over the city of Feredericksburg but couldn't get over the Rappahannock until barges were delivered. The barges were delayed getting to Chatham and upon their arrival the Confederate forces had already secured a stronghold within the city forcing the Union soldiers to attack. It was a terrible defeat for the Union. The Confederate troops were all lined up along the wall in the picture below and when the Union soldiers tried to get close they would be struck down. The tour guide that was talking with us another time we were there said that no Union soldier got within 100 feet of the wall, they were all shot down before they could get there. General Burnside kept sending more and more troops up to the front line only to have them struck down as well. In all over 12,000 Union soldiers died at the battle of Fredericksburg. This picture is of the wall along the Sunken road at the base of Marye's Heights that the Confederate troops were lined up along. Most sections of the wall have since been rebuilt, only a small original section still stands.

Picture of the Sunken Road shortly after the battle of Fredericksburg. Yes that is actual bodies of soldiers lying in the trenches along the wall.

Day two of Annie and Brett's visit we headed up to Washington DC. Annie and Brett left earlier than us and went to Mount Vernon and The Holocaust Museum. To read about their adventures check out Annie's blog at:

http://abmurdock.blogspot.com/2011/10/virginia-sweep-new-jersey-part-i.html

We met up with Annie and Brett at the American History Museum. This was the second time I was there and I still have probably only seen 1/3 of it. There is so much history there. Of particular interest to me was the Civil Rights exhibit. During my teaching days I taught a unit on a novel called The Watson's Go To Birmingham-1963, which deals with a black family who travels to Birmingham, Alabama in 1963 during the height of the Civil Rights movement. I taught a ton of background information about the movement to my students therefore it is something close to my heart that has always interested me. We arrived at the museum fairly late in the afternoon and the museum closes at 5:30 so I did not get to see as much as I wanted. After that we headed over to the mall where all the memorials are located.

This is the Washington Monument. It was damaged during the recent earthquake that we had here in Virginia. Cracks have been found all along the top so it has been closed for repairs since the earthquake.

WW II Memorial, I hadn't been there in years.

This is the Reflecting Pool, :( they are apparently remodeling it so it was a muddy mess and closed to tourists.

Here's the Lincoln Memorial, we had walked so far because there is no parking anywhere close to the mall in DC so our cars were literally miles away, then we had to walk from the museum to the mall. Anyway we were very tired and our lazy butts didn't want to carry our kids up the steps into the memorial. At the time there was no way I was going to do it, but we could have taken the elevator because we had strollers and now looking back I wish we would have.

Annie and Evie

Lucas, Ayla, Amber, and Caiden

After the Lincoln Memorial we were determined to see the brand new Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial. It was just dedicated a couple of weeks ago.

After the MLK Memorial we were plumb tuckered out and just wanted to go home. I can't imagine how tired Annie and Brett had to have been considering they had left at the crack of dawn and gone all day without eating. As I said our cars were parked literally miles away and we figured it would be faster to send the husbands to get the cars while we waited with the kids. We figured wrong. It took hours. Annie and I and the kids waited at an outdoor cafe type place while the boys went to get the cars. Poor Annie was mutilated by chiggers and Ayla got quite a few bites as well. Mercifully Evie, Caiden, and I were spared. We got home after 10 and were starving, luckily I had dinner cooking in the crockpot all day so we sat down and enjoyed a meal together after getting the kiddos to bed.

Before they left I made sure to get some pics of Caiden and Evie together because they are so close in age. Here are a few of them. You can definitely see the resemblance and tell that they are related. They even have matching drool spots on their shirts! Shortly after they left Caiden started rolling all over the place. I think Evie inspired him. He figured he couldn't let his girl cousin who's younger than him show him up. :)

Evie is the happiest kid I ever did see. She is so darn cute, always smiling. Even if she's not smiling, as soon as you look at her she turns it on and gets the biggest smile on her face. It's so cute.

Annie and Brett we loved having you, even Stanley :) Now that you're closer let's do it more often. Maybe next time we'll come to you.

Ripley's Aquarium in Myrtle Beach

2011-11-16T17:29:00.001-05:00

One of the days that we were in Myrtle Beach Lucas and I decided to take the kids, primarily Ayla to Ripley's Aquarium. It was a really cool aquarium! Probably the best I've ever been to but I haven't been to that many. Ayla had a really good time. She still talks about it.

Ayla was petrified of this statue of a Great White Shark. It was only the head but it moved and came up out of the floor and scared her. She wouldn't go into the room after that.

This is the other side of the white shark statue. It shows how the inside of a shark head looks. I thought it was pretty cool.

Lucas stuck his head inside the shark tank! Just kidding, there was a little bubble that you could put your heads in to make you feel like you were in the tank.

Lobsters without claws.

There was a touch tank and we were able to pet the stingrays. They were actually pretty cute, if there is such a thing as a cute stingray. They would wave their little sides and come right up out of the water to touch your hand. They liked being petted!

Ayla thought the lady in the tank feeding the fish was really cool!

There was a HUGE tank that held numerous fish including several large sharks, a huge turtle, moray eels and many other kinds of fish. Around the tank is a moving sidewalk, you just stand on the sidewalk and watch as the fish swim literally all around you.

The tank is on both sides and above your head so it's really cool to watch. This shark is a sand tiger shark. It was probably 7 feet or so. Big enough!

Nurse shark

Saw-toothed shark

Moray Eel

There were a few Eels in the tank and one was right at the beginning of the moving walk. Behind us on the walkway was a family with two little girls probably about 2 and 4 years old. They were standing with their little faces pressed right up against the glass when a huge Moray Eel jumped right out at them. It looked just like this one but was larger and right in their face. They lost it and started screaming. The screaming continued the entire time they were on the moving sidewalk, literally about 10 minutes. Every time a shark would swim overhead they would scream louder. I was feeling sorry for the parents, but at the same time it was funny because the Dad had a shirt on that said WHINING with a big line through it. I was going to tell him "Guess you wore the wrong shirt today" but I didn't think that he would see the humor at the time.

There is a mermaid show at the aquarium so of course we had to see that. The girls who play the mermaids really are talented. They hold their breath for long periods of time and they have to swim like a mermaid because their feet and legs are inside the fin. It really must take a lot of effort. They must be strong swimmers. After the show they come up out of the tank to get pictures with audience members. Here's Ayla with one of the mermaids.

The aquarium is right along a little boardwalk where they have a few kids rides and some food and stuff like that. We told Ayla she could ride two rides. She chose the teacups.....

...and the cars. I was proud of my little punkin. So little but she did it all herself and was able to spin the teacup by herself and everything.

My Baby Girl Turns 3!

2011-11-14T00:11:00.001-05:00

Ayla Celeste Walde turned 3 on November 10, 2011. In many ways it seems like the time has flown by. Sometimes it seems like she's always been with me. Other times it seems like it hasn't been three years.

I don't have any official stats yet, her doctor's appoinment is in a couple weeks but according to our scale she weighs 38 lbs. She is tall for her age! (I know I have a hard time believing it too!) She wears size 3T in most clothes but 4T shirts fit her well also. She wears a size 7 shoe. She is a mini me in many ways. She has my need and desire to be the center of attention, she talks to anyone about anything, she sings all the time, she is not shy and of course she is very smart. She can count to 17, she knows how to sing her A,B, C's. We are currently working on learning letters. We just started so far she has learned A and B. I told her B has two bumps so now anywhere we are if she sees a B or sometimes an 8 she yells out "Look Mommy it's a B see it has two bumps!" It's really cute and funny to see the reactions of people around her. She is very stubborn (of course this was inherited exclusively from Lucas's side :)). She is also very independent. She attempts to do most things while yelling "No I'll do it!".

Her likes: She loves watching certain TV shows, Dora, Sesame Street, Max and Ruby, Caillou, and Olivia. She loves coloring, playing play doh, painting, and just about anything crafty. She loves stickers and has numerous books that she calls her "paperwork" that she fills with stickers. She loves to doodle and "write" and has a notebook that she calls her "journal" that she "writes" in. She LOVES reading books, this is probably her favorite thing. As a lover of reading myself plus an English teacher I am very thankful that she loves reading so much. Her current favorite book is Dooby, Dooby, Moo, it's about farm animals who want to win a trampoline so they enter a talent show at a fair. It's pretty funny. Other favorite books are Are You My Mother, No David, The Cat in the Hat, Green Eggs and Ham, and If You Give a Pig a Party. She also loves to sing!...And she'll sing anywhere she's not shy about it. Current favorite song is "I'm Bringing Home a Baby Bumblebee". Other favorites are "I'm a Child of God", "Popcorn Popping", Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam", "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star", "Wheels on the Bus", and "Itsy Bitsy Spider". She will sing any song including commercial jingles or anything she thinks is catchy. For those of you who live in our area I'm sure that you've seen the Empire carpet commercials, well the other day she was walking around singing 800 588 2300 EMPIRE! She loves dressing up and all things girly like wearing her church dresses around the house or pretending to put makeup on. But she also likes rough and tumble play. She loves to "wrestle" with Daddy and loves playing chase. She also loves playing hide and seek but she never stays in her hiding place long enough. She loves her baby brother. It's really cute. Recently they have started "playing" together. She always makes sure that he has a toy. In the morning he usually sleeps in later than her so by the time that Caiden gets up she and I have already been up for awhile. She will hear him first and go running into the room, and by the time I get there she has crawled into the crib with him. It's really cute! I let them play in there together for a few minutes before I let Caiden see me. As soon as he sees me the play time is over it's feeding time! She loves cuddling when it's bedtime or when she has just gotten up from nap. She also loves having her back or arms rubbed. (Mommy does too!) Every night at bedtime after prayers I lay next to her on her bed and rub her back or her arm while we sing songs. We usually start with a few funny ones then move on to quieter ones before I leave. She loves this and it's our special time and helps her calm down so she can go to sleep. She is very funny and always says things that make me laugh. Be sure to check the side of our blog where I have a list called "Funny Girl" which is different funny things that she says and does. She loves to put on "shows" where she will sing or dance or do somersaults, or some other type of entertainment. Her favorite foods currently are: Peanut Butter and Jelly ( she eats it everyday for lunch) cheeseburgers, pizza, fruit (all kinds), green beans, fruit snacks, pretzels, cheese, and yogurt.

Her dislikes: She does not like bedtime (what kid does). She doesn't like it when Mommy watches the news. She doesn't like sitting still for long periods of time. She doesn't like bugs and has an irrational fear of them often not going outside if she sees a bug out there. I've literally had to make her go out the door because there will be a bug within her sight. She doesn't like when Daddy plays his games (Wii). There really isn't much that she doesn't like.

She is and always will be my punky. I call her that because she's my punkin and she's spunky. I love her more than she will ever know. I couldn't imagine loving someone or something as much as I love her until she came along. I'm so thankful that the Lord gave me the opportunity to be her Mom and to raise her. Sometimes it's challenging but it's also fun, moving, and rewarding.

Here are some pictures of Ayla on her birthdays present and past:

First picture ever, literally her birthday!

Newborn Ayla

First birthday

Second Birthday

Third Birthday

Check back in a few days for a post on the events of her actual birthday and birthday party!

Myrtle Beach Trip

2011-11-10T00:31:00.000-05:00

This September we took a trip to Myrtle Beach with my in-laws. My brother-in-law Ike is friends with a family who owns a condo down there and they gave us a really good deal. We only had to pay the cleaning fee and when we split it amongst the three families, it was really cheap. So the kids and I headed down on Wednesday morning with Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Em and Uncle Ike. Lucas and Uncle Leif had to work so they came down for the weekend. It was a FANTASTIC trip. Seriously probably the best vacation I have had in years. It was truly relaxing. Every time I have gone somewhere in the last five years it has been to visit family. I'm not saying I don't have fun visiting my family, I love them and love seeing them. But it is always filled with running from place to place and I usually wind up needing a vacation from my vacation. This time we didn't have to go anywhere. The beach was literally five minutes away and was gorgeous, the best beach I've ever been to. The weather was perfect not too hot but still warm enough for the beach. We hung out during the day, either went to the beach or the boardwalk. At night we would just enjoy spending time together talking or playing games. My in-laws are all really, really good with my kids. Ayla would get up in the morning and go crawl in bed with Grandma and Grandpa and they loved it as much as her. Leif is really good with Ayla as well. He plays with her all the time and is a constant source of entertainment for her. I think that Leif might have taken over the top spot of "favorite person" from Grandpa in Ayla's eyes. Uncle Ike and Aunt Em are expecting a baby so they were really into Caiden. I think they were practicing and they did a really good job with him. It was fun to watch them with Caiden. They would really get a kick out of him. It was very nice for me to have a week with all of these other adults around to help take care of my kids. Not that I don't love my kids and relish my time with them. I do, but it was nice to be able to share them with others who enjoyed them as much as me. To be honest it was also really nice to have a little time to myself. I actually was able to read two whole books in the time that we were there! While we were there Caiden mastered rolling over all the way and Ayla got her fair share of beach and swimming time. Here are some pictures of our fabulous vacation.

Ayla was Leif's little buddy and followed him around wherever he went. It was really cute! Leif seemed to enjoy it as well.

This pier was really cool. It went out pretty far into the ocean probably 1/4 mile, you can't really tell from the picture. People were set up all along it fishing. We watched one person reel in a fish and it was a little kid. It was also a little fish though.

Caiden was sleeping in his stroller otherwise we would have had him in our impromptu family photo.

The beach was just a little way away from our condo. It was a public beach right behind a series of hotels. Maybe it was because we went in September which is not the height of the tourist season or maybe it was the location of the particular section of the beach we went to, but it was perfect. We literally could drive right up to the beach and park. It was free, you could bring coolers, food, drinks, whatever you wanted onto the beach. There were hardly any tourists, I mean a few but it wasn't crowded at all. Best of all it was gorgeous, pristine sand, the water was warm and clear. In the mornings the water would actually be warmer than the air! We all loved it!

The brothers had a great time body surfing and wave jumping. They were out there for hours!

Even Em got into the wave jumping action. No bun in the oven is going to slow her down.

Aunt Em getting her snuggles in

Ayla and Grandpa had fun building a sand castle and flying a kite. I really think that Grandpa had more fun flying the kite than Ayla did.

Mommy and Caiden

" Mommy, look what I found!"

Uncle Ike and Aunt Em

One morning Uncle Ike, Aunt Em, and Grandpa took Ayla to the beach while Grandma, Caiden and I went grocery shopping. Ayla had a great time. They came across this huge sandcastle and Ayla talked about it for days.

It was a really great trip. So great that I told Ike to be sure that he told his friends we wanted it next year. Coincidentally I found out later that the people who own the condo are actually the parents of a couple that are in our ward. I was telling my friend about the trip one day and telling her how great it was and she said that it was her in laws condo. Funny that I didn't even know. Good thing I was talking it up. She said that they are always looking to rent it out so hopefully we'll make this a yearly thing.

Eating Solid Food

2011-11-09T00:44:00.001-05:00

I thought that 5 months was a pretty good age to start feeding my little man some solid foods. He didn't seem to be getting as filled up from breast-milk as he used to so I started some rice cereal with him. We went to Grandma's house for dinner on September 11 so I thought that I would feed him some solid food for the first time with Grandma and Grandpa there to watch. He took to it pretty quickly and it became an everyday thing. The first picture is literally the first bite of solid food that he ever
had.

I might look like I'm not enjoying this but I am!

								" Oh I am so full!" After dinner Caiden got in a special snuggle time with Daddy.... ...and Ayla made a special hat with Aunt Emily! GG Forsythe and Aunt Gina were there visiting it was good to see them. They hadn't seen Caiden since he was a couple weeks old. Family Pic minus Uncle Cody who's on a mission.

5 Months Old

2011-11-08T22:08:00.000-05:00

September 10, 2011 my little happy guy turned 5 months old. No official stats this month as he didn't have a doctor's appointment, however I weighed him on our scale and he was about 17.5 lbs. He is such a happy, laid back baby. I'm very lucky as I have had two children that were good when they were babies.

Caiden's likes: he still loves nursing, rolling around on the floor, chewing on his toys and fingers, playing with anything crinkly sounding, riding in the car, sleeping with a blanket while chewing on it (which makes Mommy very nervous), chewing on his sisters things (much to Ayla's dismay).

Caiden's dislikes: being overtired, being woken up, getting stuck laying on his belly, putting shirts on or taking them off, being restrained in any way, teething (which he seems to have been doing since he was 4 months old).

Lucas's Birthday

2011-11-07T22:48:00.000-05:00

September 1 is Lucas's birthday. This year we had a small celebration with his parents, his brother Leif, and sister Emily in attendance. Ayla and I made a cake, we had a nice dinner, followed by some cake and ice cream.

After dinner my kids cuddled up with Grandpa who read them some books. It's so nice having Lucas's family close. My kids love their Grandma and Grandpa and I love seeing them together.

New Jersey trip

2011-11-06T21:44:00.000-05:00

After we left Buffalo we headed over the Summit, New Jersey to visit my sister Tina and her family. It was great to see them especially because Tina had just had a baby girl. Her third, Penelope Eve. My sister Sherri was also there she has a daughter too, Addy, who is two years old. So there were three two year old girls Ayla, Camila, and Addy. Raquel who is the "big" girl at four. And two babies Caiden 4 months and Penelope 1 month. We had our hands full but it was so much fun to be together and watch our kids have fun and play together. Saturday we went to the Jersey Shore. I kept my eye out for Snookie and The Situation but failed to see them. No actually we went to Point Pleasant beach which is the Jersey shore but not the same beach where they film the TV show. It was a great beach, not very crowded and the water was nice. Ayla had a fantastic time. She loves the beach and we don't have any nice ones close to us so we don't go all that often.

Here she is enjoying herself filling up her bucket and watering her "plants".

My cute little niece Addison Faye (Addy). I think you can see the resemblance there between her and Ayla they both have the blond curls.

My handsome little boy Caiden who I was trying to keep out of the sun.

The cousins having lunch. (Thanks Sherri I stole this from your blog, along with a few others).

Baby Penny

I took Caiden into the ocean and put his feet in the water. I wanted him to be able to say that he was in the Atlantic ocean before he was a year old. Here is his look of terror as I walked out there, almost as if he knew what was coming. In case your wondering, No, he didn't like it. He gasped in surprise and then screamed. It was a quick dip.

One of the main reasons for the whole trip was because baby Penelope was going to be blessed. A baby blessing in our church is when the baby's father lays his hands on the baby's head and gives a special blessing to the baby from the Lord. It is similar to a baby baptism in the way that it is a big special event however it is not a baptism. One of the things that is different in our religion in comparison to others is that we do not believe that people are held accountable for Adam's sin. We believe that people will only be held accountable for their own sins. Therefore there is no reason to baptize a baby because a baby is pure and has not committed any sin therefore does not need to be baptized. We believe that children should be baptized when they are old enought to be held accountable for their own sins, which is not until they've reached eight years old.

Felipe (Tina's husband) gave Penny her baby blessing the Sunday that we were there in church. It was a good blessing and a moving experience. Afterwards we attempted to take some family pictures. I say attempted because when you have six children who are four and under it doesn't always work out the way you planned.

Here is a pictutre of Tina's family. Camila would not smile. She was being a little stinker because normally she is very smily, but of course because we wanted her to smile pretty for the pictures she wouldn't.

Group shot attempt #1

Group shot attempt # six or maybe seven and they were all looking so this is the best one we got.

Cousins and friends! AWWW!

My pretty sister and her pretty baby

Little Mila

The cousins started playing "ring around the rosie" (or "ring around the romy" as Ayla calls it) and it got out of hand pretty quick. But they had a great time.

Caiden was a big hit with his older girl cousins. They always wanted to hold him or talk to him. Addy especially was really cute with him. She spent quite awhile sitting by him and talking to him at the beach. He loved it, he thought she was hilarious and laughed and smiled everytime she came around.

Here is Raquel holding Caiden. Raquel is such a big girl now, it hadn't been that long since I'd seen her but it seemed to me that she had really grown. She seems so much more mature and grown up now. She's such a good girl and so pretty.

The cousins sitting together minus Penelope. From the left Caiden being held by Addy, Camila, Raquel and Ayla.

The girls really loved playing together. Ayla still talks about her cousins and wants to go see them. She asks at least once a week if we can go to "Mila and Quel's house". I was so glad that Sherri was there and that we got to see eachother's kids. It had been way too long since I'd seen Addy and she had grown up so much. Still the same cute little face but she talks now and is more interactive with people. It really was great to see my sisters and spend time together it happens way too infrequently. But, alas I don't see that changing anytime soon as we live so far apart.

Niagara Falls

2011-11-03T14:01:00.006-04:00

While we were in Buffalo we decided to take a day just for ourselves and we went to Niagara Falls. It was a gorgeous day. Beautiful weather around 75, sunny, just perfect. We packed a picnic lunch and had our meal in the park along side the river. Then we made our way to the falls. I've been to the falls many times before but have never done the touristy things, like the Maid of the Mist and the trolley. This time we did those things. We were thinking about doing the Cave of the Winds but that was not recommended with children. So when they're bigger we'll hit that.

Ayla was really excited. We had been talking about the falls and read a book where the family visits it so she had an idea, but when she actually saw it she said "Whoa, that's cool!"

I dressed Caiden in the Bills outfit that he has. I figured it would be appropriate.

When you go on the Maid of the Mist you wear these blue plastic raincoats. It is a very wet ride. It's not called Maid of the Mist for nothing. Caiden kept trying to lick his coat it was cute.

Ayla on the boat

Right at the base of the falls. It was very wet and very loud. It was also very cool. If you've never been I highly recommend it.

Our group coming off the boat after the ride.

After the boat ride we went to a platform that overlooks the falls. I think it was 100 feet high. The next few pictures are from the top. It was a windy day and you could actually feel the platform swaying. You can see one of the Maid of the Mist boats down at the base of the falls. So you get an idea of how close the boats get.

Buffalo Trip

2011-11-01T15:56:00.000-04:00

In August of this year we took a vacation and went to visit my family our first stop was Buffalo. My Dad, my sister Caity, my step-brother Andy, and my Grandma along with my aunts, uncles and cousins live there so our major priority was to spend time with family. My Grandma hadn't yet seen Caiden and hadn't seen Ayla in almost two years. It was great to be there for a few days and see my family. My Grandma is a marvel of Heavenly Father's engineering. She is 85 years old and in great condition! She could probably outrun me if we were to have a foot race. I hope I inherit those genes. Here are some pictures of my kids with Grandma or Gi Gi as she had requested that they call her. Since Lucas's Grandma is also Gi Gi we now have Gi Gi Meyer (my Grandma) and Gi Gi Forsythe (Lucas's Grandma).

We stayed with my Dad and were very comfortable. My Dad has a finished basement where we put an air mattress, and another room with a TV and living room furniture so we almost had our own little apartment. The kids were fantastic. I really couldn't have asked for them to be any better. Ayla went almost the entire week without getting a nap and she was always happy and polite and on her best behavior. Here is a picture of my Dad and my kids.

My Dad's dog Riley loved Caiden. It was really cute. I've heard that dog's get really protective of babies and I saw it first hand with Riley. If the baby was around Riley was always right there next to him. He wanted to sit by him and watched him to make sure that he was alright. If Caiden cried Riley would get a little upset. On the other hand I don't think Riley was too crazy about Ayla. The first day or so Ayla was a little apprehensive about having a dog around. But after she warmed up to him she wouldn't leave him alone. The poor dog, if Ayla was around she was constantly trying to play with him. She would chase him around and around the house. After awhile he would hide when he saw her coming. She also liked to play with his toys. He has a toybox full of doggie toys and she decided that she would play with them more then the kid toys that she had.

My step brother Andy is 18 and a senior this year. He is really a good kid and we enjoyed spending time with him. He and Lucas became good buddies swimming together and playing video games almost every night. My kids also loved him. Here is Ayla with Uncle Andy.

My Dad has a pool in his backyard and we spent a couple afternoons swimming. Ayla had a great time. Lucas and Andy also had a great time making waves and having Ayla "surf" them on the innertube.

One of my favorite things about Buffalo is the food. It's sooooo good! Not necessarily good for you, but DELICIOUS! The first night we were there we ordered Bozanna's pizza and Duff's chicken wings! Ummmm!

One of the things I miss about Buffalo is the parks that they have with swimming areas for kids. While we were there we went to Amherst rec center and let the kids have fun in the water park. It's a really cool little water park perfect for little kids. Ayla loved it and we spent most of the day there.

We spent an evening visiting with my Aunt Lorrie, ( my mom's sister)my Uncle Gary and my cousin Danielle. We spent another evening with my Aunt Cheryl (my dad's sister). The next morning we went to visit with my Uncle Mark and my cousin Ashley none of them had seen Ayla for years and hadn't seen Caiden at all so it was great to visit them and spend time catching up. I miss all of my relatives and wish we lived closer. Hopefully we can get together more often. It was the first time I'd been to Buffalo in two years and also the first time since my sister Kari and her family moved. It was weird for me to be there and not see Kari and her family. I miss them a ton! It was so nice though to be with my family in my hometown. I like living in Virginia and I love being close to Lucas's family but I really miss Buffalo and my family. I'll always be a Buffalonian at heart.

GO BILLS!

4 Months Old

2011-10-30T15:00:00.006-04:00

August 10, 2011 my baby boy turned 4 months old!
Highlights of this month: He's starting to try to roll over. He no longer has to take the Zantac as his acid reflux has gone away. He is much more aware of his surroundings and loves being around people.
Here's his statistics:
Height:23 1/4 inches-10% (Sorry Caiden looks like you inherited the shrimpy genes)
Weight: 15 lbs. 3 oz- 50%
Head Circumference: 41cm -25%

Swimming

2011-08-07T23:04:00.000-04:00

Last weekend we decided to have a family day together at the pool. So we headed to Curtis Park which in my opinion has the nicest pool in the area. We packed a picnic lunch, grabbed the floaties, and slathered on the sunscreen. We had a great day! Ayla is not afraid to swim in the deep water (4 ft.) with Mommy or Daddy but does seem afraid to do it herself (which is a good thing in my opinion, she's way too daring to attempt it yet). We spent most of the day at the kiddie pool which is 0-12 inches deep. But we also spent awhile at the adult pool. It was a very fun day. We can't wait to do it again. Here's some pictures of our great day.

Like Father, Like Son

2011-07-29T23:24:00.000-04:00

Do my two boys look alike or what? Especially when they're sleeping. They both make the same face. So cute!

Ayla sings to Caiden

2011-07-28T23:04:00.000-04:00

"Little Momma" doing her thing!

3 Months Old!

2011-07-26T23:30:00.000-04:00

Caiden turned three months old on July 10, 2011. He is truly a delight! He is almost always a very happy baby. He can stand holding up his weight, with help of course, for 15-30 seconds or so. He can sit in a bumbo seat. He smiles at everyone who looks at him especially if they talk to him. He laughs, his laugh is like a long grunt, it's really cute! I don't have any official stats because he doesn't have a three month doctor's appointment, however according to my scale he weighs 14.7 lbs! Yes, he is a chunker! He does not want for food! He eats every 2-3 hours during the day. He takes a short cat nap about an hour after waking up in morning then he's awake for a long while. Then he goes down for a nap when Ayla does and sleeps for 3-5 hours depending on how tired he was. He pigs out at night I seriously can't produce enough to satisfy him at night, so I pump at other times during the day in preparation for it. He eats and eats at night, then crashes and sleeps all night. 10 hours without waking up! I usually change his diaper at some point during the night because I'm afraid he'll soak through and he doesn't usually wake up when I change him. If he does he nurses for 2 minutes or less and then goes right back to sleep. It's been great! I hope I don't jinx it by writing about it, but I think this is his normal schedule now he's been doing this for the last few weeks. It's great! He still gets comments all the time about his cheeks. We were at the park last week and there was this little boy there. The little boy appeared to be alone. I'm sure his parents were somewhere in the park but not right there at the playground with him. Anyway because of this he kept asking me for help with things. "Hey lady can you help me climb up onto the top of this?" or "Hey lady watch I'm gonna do a flip!" The kid made me a nervous wreck. Anyway at one point he says"Hey lady is that your baby in the stroller?" I said "yes" to which he responded, "Boy he's got some sho nuff cheeks!" I cracked up, that's the best comment I've had yet. And Caiden does have some sho nuff cheeks. I hope he doesn't have people pinch them. That used to happen to me. I hated it when we would go to my Mom's family reunion and her Uncle Carl would always pinch my cheeks, he was a nice enough guy but I would avoid him because of that. Anyway check out the cheeks.

Likes: Be jostled around, or bounced, or swung, or vibrated
When Ayla or Mommy sings to him
Watching Ayla, he laughs at her a lot
Being held
Falling asleep in someones arms
Watching his mobile on his swing or in his crib
When people notice him and talk baby talk to him
Laying and kicking his feet
Sucking on his fist or fingers
Baths or showers
Riding in the car
Nursing

Dislikes: Sweating (which he does a lot lately, he inherited that from Daddy who also sweats)
When he wakes up and no-one gets to him quickly
Pooping out the back of his diaper (not a favorite of Mommy's either)
When the car stops
Being sat down when he's in the mood to be cuddled
When Mommy changes him before feeding him
When someone talks loudly around him
When Mommy cuts his fingernails or washes his hands
Tummy time
Being left alone in a room for a long period of time when he's awake
When he needs to burp and can't get it out
When he's gassy

Ayla wanted to have her picture taken in the little area I set up for Caiden. I didn't want her to feel left out so I took a couple of her too.

4th of July

2011-07-23T16:38:00.000-04:00

This year our family celebrated our nation's independence twice. On Sat, July 2, 2011 we went to watch fireworks with Lucas's parents down by Spotsylvania courthouse. I have to say the firework show was spectacular probably the best one I've ever seen. It went on for 40 minutes and had so many exciting moments that I thought that it was the finale several times before the actual finale. It was a lot of fun and we really enjoyed our picnic dinner with Grandpa and Grandma. Ayla was all dressed up in her patriotic garb and apparently looked so cute that people couldn't resist giving her things. We were walking and a group of older ladies asked if they could give her some glow in the dark bracelets. Then literally a few feet later another group of people asked if she could have a little light up flag. Who am I to deny free gifts to my child. (Actually I hate her having those glow in the dark bracelets because she bites them and then they leak, but I wasn't going to say no to the nice ladies.)

Monday, July 4, 2011 we went to Dahlgren Naval Base (where Lucas works) because they had a big family oriented fair and fireworks show there. They had two big bounce houses so of course Ayla headed over to those right away.

As the night progressed it got more and more humid. You can tell how humid it is in the pictures because of the curliness in Ayla's hair. The curlier her hair is the more humid it is. It ended up being like little corkscrews by the end of the night.

One of the bounce houses had a 27 ft. slide. Would my little girl be scared of it? Nope not my Ayla. She scrambled up the ladder and slid down over and over again. One mom came up and was asking the ride operator if there was an age limit on it, she said she didn't think her 4 year old should go on it because she was too little. I pointed out Ayla and told her she was only 2. Granted I do not have a normal two year old, I have a Walde. The stories of Walde children scared me before, and during my pregnancy with Ayla. Well, now I have a Walde child and I see for myself what my mother-in-law was talking about. Here is a picture of Ayla climbing up the huge slide.

"I want to go again Mommy!"

We met up with my good friend Ann Lusher and her husband Paul who watched the fireworks show with us.

My cute little patriotic boy!

Ayla sporting her patriotic stars headband. Once again a freebie. It was sweltering so we brought our mister fan and Ayla was misting all of our feet and legs. It was actually quite nice.

Paul cuddling with Caiden. No doubt remembering his own two boys when they were as little as Caiden. Ann and Paul have two sons, Daniel who just graduated from college and is off to grad school in San Diego. Brian is 20 and goes to Virgina Tech he is in the group "Fighting Gravity" who appeared in the final three on America's Got Talent last year. I'm pretty sure that Paul doesn't get to hold them on his lap and cuddle with them very often so he was loving the time he got to spend with Caiden.

Mommy and Ayla wearing our matching patriotic shirts

Ayla watching the fireworks. Notice how curly her hair is.