Caden and God

We were driving in the car and the kids both had Tootsie Pops. As I look in my rearview mirror and like any good mom it's adjusted so I can see the kids not out the back.... I capture the following conversation.

Caden (looking out his window and up into the sky): "God, I need your help, can you please make me stronger so I can bite into this sucker."

With a look of confidence and determination Caden puts the sucker back in his mouth between his molars and bites down. Next thing I hear from the back

"YEEESSSS!!!! Thank you!"

Oh to have the faith of a child.

Busy

Caden: Mom, what are we doing tonight?

Me: Nothing, we're just staying home.

Caden: You mean, Dad isn't going to work or to poker? And you're not going to work either??

Me: Nope.

Caden: We'll be home as a family, all of us????

Me: That's right!

Caden... much dancing and yelling of "YES!!!" ensued.

Can you tell we've been pretty busy.

Dancing

My sister Caitlin and her husband Sam came over for a visit yesterday. Caitlin is a dance instructor and a member of Storling Company. She taught the kids some ballet moves yesterday and they have not stopped talking about it.

We went to the library this morning and made a stop at the bathroom. Aliyah is currently being potty trained so I was focusing my attention on her. Caden decided to use the restroom and went into the stall next to Aliyah and I. Here is the converstion that ensued:

Caden: MOM! I can't do it, this potty is too tall.

Me: Okay, hang on one sec let me finish up with your sister.

Caden: I can't, I have to go.

I began to hear noises one might hear as someone relives themselves. I quickly finished up with Aliyah and walked into the next stall.

Caden: Mom, I've got it. I just did relevé like Aunt KK taught me and I got it.

Glad he's a quick learner. Thanks Aunt KK.

Espanol??

The other evening our family was dining at Wendy's. We were enjoying our meal and conversation when Caden points to a father and son sitting at a table close by...

Caden: Mom, those guys are Spanish.

Me: Really, how do you know that.

Caden: I just do.

Me: Were they talking in Spanish?

Caden: Yep, that's how I know they are Spanish.

Aliyah pipes in... (remember she's two, so I'm writing how she speaks)

Aliyah: Dose guys Spanish.

Me: Yes, they are.

Aliyah: I go talk them?

Me: No, stay here... they are eating their dinner and we won't want to bother them.

Aliyah: No I talk them.

Me: Please obey Mommy and stay in your chair.

Aliyah: I go tell them...

Me: What do you want to tell them.

Aliyah: CINCO!!!!!

Marriage

Daniel: You know why I like you so much?

Gretchen: Ummmm, no? why?

Daniel: I think when I beat Mario I won't want to play it again.

Gretchen: Okkkay.... I guess you can trade it in if you want. But, what in the world does that have to do with why you like me so much?

Daniel: Well, cuz I can't ever beat you. You're my "game" but I won't ever be able to beat it. It makes life interestingly great. I won't ever get bored.

Gretchen: Phew, well I'm glad you won't be trading me in.

Love you babe!

You Just Gotta Laugh

So Daniel is out of town for three days. I know that's not extremely long... but for us... it's long. The kids must have something built in to their systems that tell them to start acting up as soon as Dad walks out the door for a trip. It's only been 3 hours since he left and it's been CRAZY! Case and point... Aliyah doesn't want to walk from the car to the house by herself. It's 3 degrees outside, I get it... but my hands are full of grocery bags and I can't hold her. So instead of moving quickly to get inside because she's freezing, she stand outside in the driveway screaming and crying. Wonderful. Aliyah ends up in time out. A few minutes later I ask her to take her shoes to the shoe basket. For some unknown reason this proves to big a huge insurmountable task, much crying and fussing ensues. She gets warned that if she doesn't make a good choice to obey she will get disciplined. With extreme amounts of crying she turns to pick up her shoes banging her head on the wall then turning around to come to me and bangs the other side of her head on the door. SERIOUSLY! I just started laughing... I couldn't help it. I scooped her up and we decided to do the shoes together. I walk out of Aliyah's room to hear Caden yelling.... "MOMMMMM, MOMMMMM, MOMMMM." (extreme panic in his voice) I round the corner to see him peeing all over the top of the toilet seat. WHAT! He has never ever done that before. He told me he had to go so bad and just forgot to lift the lid. Once again, I just start laughing. What can you do. As I'm cleaning up the accident, Caden just keep repeating, "I'm so sorry mom, I'm so so sorry. It won't happen again. I'm so sorry mom." Oh motherhood.

Every Milestone Should be Celebrated

Caden has been potty trained since 22 months. He is now almost 3 1/2 years old. We have yet to conquer staying dry at night. I know this is often something kids struggle with for a long time. We've been chatting with Caden for weeks now about how he needs to stop using a diaper cuz he's a big boy. Last night as I was putting him to bed, I mentioned again how he needed to stop using a diaper and just get out of bed to use the bathroom whenever he needed to. I really didn't think anything of it.

5:15am Caden's door opens. My body is startled awake and I think "No. Way. He is not getting up for the day."

5:16am Caden heads for the bathroom and uses the potty and head back to his room.

5:17am I'm so excited that HE DID IT, that I feel wide awake.

5:18am Caden steps on a matchbox car on his floor, slipping and falling right on top of a plastic saw.

5:19am I bolt from my bed as screams and cries come from Caden's room.

5:24am Caden is settled in bed.... and I am wide awake.

I did eventually fall back asleep and we celebrated at the more godly hour of 8am. This afternoon we went and bought Caden "big boy" nighttime underwear aka Pull-ups and a special surprise aka a airplane. He was so excited about his new big boy night time underwear that he's been asking to wear it all day. Right now he is sitting next to me asking to go to bed so he can wear it. I'm looking forward to another success. It's the little things, right?

Caden's First Snowman

On another note.... our daughter Aliyah is the sweetest little girl. Over the past couple of months we've dealt with a major case of the terrible twos. She's a very independent little girl and has no fear, this has lead to some very challenging situations. The past couple of days have been very rewarding. She has awakened every morning with a smile and a song. Throughout the day she has been very compliant with "Okay, mommy" and "Sure, mommy i do that." Her sweet spirit is starting to shine through and makes both Daniel and I so proud. She is growing up and already turning into an amazing little girl.

Our Amazing Little Princess

Superheroes

Conversation between my son and my nephew.

Caden: Isaac, who is your favorite... Batman or Spiderman.

Isaac: Ummmm, (long long pause) I think.... (long pause) I think I like gray.

Caden: No Isaac, that's not a choice. Batman or Spiderman

Isaac: But I want to choose gray, that's my favorite.

I guess Batman and Spiderman must be new Crayola colors.



Isaac and Caden

Snow Day

It's a blizzard, quite literally. I was a little skeptical with all the hoopla and school/business closings. This upstate New York girl grew up with lake effect snow, we didn't get snow days! Blizzard like conditions were the norm, or so I remember. But man, we got a lot of snow! Daniel stayed home despite the storm not starting till mid morning and I'm so glad. It changed very quickly to heavy snow that accumulated fast. Daniel very diligently worked upstairs in our office till about 4pm. I'm thankful for a husband that doesn't cheat the system and really did stay focused while working from home. I do wish at times he wouldn't be so focused and would come play with us... but I think I'll take a dedicated worker over a slacker. Way to go babe!

Memories from today:

• Caden woke up from his nap, looked out the window and said, "Mom! There is so much snow. It better stop or there will be no snow left for later days."
• We spent our snow day baking and playing. It was really nice not to try to get any household stuff done and just enjoy our day together.
• We made a lemon cake and jello jigglers.
• We had a movie night with VeggieTales
• Aliyah had her fingernails painted for the first time. She keep looking at them and smiling then asking all three of us to look at them. It was so sweet. She is getting so big! I love my little girl.
• Caden has a large chapped red spot on his cheek. I asked him what it was from and he said, "It's from my sleeve. I use it to wipe my nose and my cheek doesn't like it."

Yesterday during nap time, Caden decided not to sleep. He was very quiet for about and hour and half, but I have a rule with him that he has to stay in his bed for 2 hours. Excessive I know, but he's a clock watcher and a smart boy, and I want to give him plenty of opportunity to be able to fall asleep. I told him he could get up when the clock said 3,3,0. So he sat there for 30 min just watching the clock. When it finally turned to 3:30 he started yelling for me.

Sidenote: Caden doesn't get out of his bed. No matter how many times we tell him what time he can get up, it's very rare that he actually climbs out of bed. Instead, he just yells and yells and yells until someone comes into his room.

That day I decided to see how long the yelling would last. "MOMMMMYYYYYY!!!!", over and over and over again. Different voice inflections, different volumes, different pitches, and different variations of the word mom. Kinda of humorous... kind of. The clock was going on 8 minutes when I finally went upstairs. I walked in and stood in his doorway with my arms folded and a scowl on my face showing my displeasure with his yelling. As soon as he saw me he folded his arms across his chest and said, "Mom, I am very frustrated with you. You did not come when I called. I've been waiting and waiting and calling and calling and you did not come. I am very very frustrated." He had the cutest little pout on his face and was being so serious, I couldn't help it. I burst out laughing. I was laughing so hard I couldn't talk. He saw how "funny" he was and quickly got over his frustration... and helped me get over mine.

A Sunday

I love Sundays. I love Sundays because they usually involve sports and a nap. Somehow Sunday naps are different then any other nap during the week, or even on a Saturday. They seem cozier, sweeter and just more restful. I was really looking forward to my Sunday afternoon nap today. Daniel lead worship this weekend, which makes for a very busy morning. There are three services at our church, which means Daniel is up and out of the house by 6:30. Directly after church Daniel had a basketball game, so we ran out to grab some lunch and rushed back for the basketball game. I love to watch my husband play basketball. But watching basketball with two very active toddlers is not really that much fun. I can't relax... I worry about Caden throwing a ball onto the court during play, or Aliyah dancing her way to center court completly oblivious to the players running around her, or one of them tripping on the bleachers and falling to their death. See... can't relax. Needless to say because of this I missed THE ACCIDENT. I heard a collective gasp and I look over to see my husband laying on the floor very slow to get up. He was touching is mouth very tentatively, I thought he had chipped a tooth. Then I saw blood, lots and lots of blood. He was quickly helped into the restroom and the team followed him in. I sat in the stands wondering if I should run like a very concerned wife right into the restroom, or calmly wait for a team member to come get me. I wisely choose the latter. Here's what had happened... Daniel was scrambling for a loose ball and fell onto the floor as a very large opposing team member fell on top of him slamming his face into the court. An old scar on Daniel's chin was reopened by the force of the blow. So... my beautiful Sunday afternoon nap... yeah, didn't happen. Instead we spent two 1/2 hours in urgent care. But I choose to see the positive and enjoy the fact that I got to spend a few hours with my husband without kids and very little interruption. It was as pleasant as an urgent care experience could have been. Six stitches later, we came home. Thank goodness for parents who live close and could take the kids home for nap time. It wasn't my ideal Sunday... but it was a good one nonetheless. It's been a Sunday of being thankful for the little things and realizing how much I am blessed with.

A memory I want to remember:

• When I came home from getting my hair cut, a cut that included bangs... Aliyah just kept staring at me. Then she walked up and said, "Haircut Mommy?" "Yes, mommy got her haircut." She slowly climbed up on my lap still looking at me very inquisitively, then reached up and pushed all my bangs away from my forehead and said "OH, hi mommy." Such a sweet baby girl. I love her with all of my heart.

An Update

It's my goal this year to blog more. I don't always have lots to say, but writing memories down is important. So, that's my plan.

Our household has gone through big changes over these last six months. I started working part time. It's been wonderful! I work for a pregnancy resource center. I wasn't looking for a job it just kind of fell into my lap. I am the event coordinator. It's the perfect blending of a my skills and a passion for saving the lives of babies. Not only is it my job, it's my ministry. The kids have adjusted amazingly well. I only work out of the house two days a week and the rest I do from home. It's perfect. The kids spend one full day with Nonnie and one half day with a friend of mine. It's a perfect set up. I am so blessed to be working for such a great ministry and to have amazing friends (AMY) and family support that allows me to follow my heart.

A little update on the kids...
Caden is one amazing little kid. He is so inquisitive and so smart. He loves everything boy...army guys, wrestling, exploring, superheroes and sports. He loves to read and learn. He is so ready for preschool, but he just turned three. So I've been teaching him a little at home and trying to stay ahead of him. He has an amazing memory. If we're going grocery shopping I give him a few things to remember and he always reminds me. Helps this mommy brain out alot!

Yesterday I told him that the snow was a perfect consistency to go make a snowman. We've had a lot of snow, but it was the fluffy kind, not good for packing. Now that it's melted a little it's perfect for packing. So I said, "Caden, the snow is perfect now for making a snow man. Let's get our snow stuff on and then "WE" can go outside." He ran around the room screaming with excitement. I left the family room to go gather up the snow stuff. When I walked back in Caden was sitting in front of the television pulling the WII off the shelf. I asked him what in the world he was doing and he said, "I'm taking WII outside!" WHAT?? "Mom, you said you'll get our snow stuff on and WII can go outside, I'm taking him with us." I couldn't stop laughing. He hears everything!!!!

Aliyah is Miss Independent. She is so active, rarely sitting still. She is all girl. Loves to dress up like a princess and play with her babies. She had grown up so fast. Sleeping in a big girl bed now. She loves to sing and she loves to talk. She gets overpowered alot by her very social and talkative brother, but she's starting to hold her own. She can be quite the cuddle bug at times and I love it. She loves to ride her bike. She also loved to wrestle with her dad and play chase. One of my favorite sounds, her laughter. Makes me smile just thinking about it.

I think that completes my update. I'd update about the hubs... but there really isn't anything new to say. He enjoys his job and he's still a completely amazing and wonderful husband and father. :-)