The Best

Karter is the best Big Brother...next to my Big Brother of course! Earlier this week when Kaden wasn't feeling that great, Karter took it upon himself to read him books. Before he read each one, he would declare that each one was Kaden's favorite. They are so lucky to have each other!!

Wordless Wednesday

Poor Baby

Our poor little Kaden has been down right miserable for the past few days. It started last Friday with him just being fussy all day, then Saturday the nose started running and he would wake up groaning in pain. He has also had a fever for the past few days (which broke last night). We assume the it is just his teeth bothering him, since he is eating fine and other than chewing on things and drooling like crazy he is acting fine. It's tough watching him be so miserable, and other than give him pain relievers, there isn't much we can do to help him.

If there is an upside to all of this, this photo sums it up...all he wants to do is cuddle! Saturday afternoon I snuggled with him on the couch most of the afternoon and then Daddy got some snuggle time too. During the day snuggling is good, but waking up multiple times in the night to snuggle/soothe him back to sleep is wearing me down! Hopefully this phase passes soon and our baby gets some relief!

On the Move

Kaden definitely has his own style of crawling, but it works for him. Something clicked for him today and he has been crawling all around the living room. Sorry Gramaw T, that is a Rascal ball he is chasing!

What's for Breakfast?

This morning I was getting Kaden out of bed and changed, and I asked Karter what he wanted for breakfast. This is part of our morning routine and I still don't know what he is going to ask for, each day he wants something different for breakfast. Today he said he wanted cereal and then he ran out of the nursery. When Kaden and I caught up to him, this is what we found...

He had gotten all of the cereal boxes out and was trying to decide which one he wanted!

He is such a great helper than even after he made his decision (Apple Cinnamon Cheerios), he put all of the other boxes away!

Wordless Wednesday

Cute Videos

We take a lot of videos of the boys, but sometimes I forget what I have a video of until we put them on the computer. By that point they are a few weeks old and not that relevant. However, these three videos are just too cute not to post!!

This first one was taken over Labor Day in Kansas City. Kaden thinks its hilarious to hit daddy in the face and Karter decided to get in on the action too...and then Luna tried to hog the camera!!



Kaden is a jumper...he loves the johnny jumper and loves to jump when you are holding him. This next video doesn't show much jumping (because he is such a ham for the camera), but his smiles are just too precious not to share!



Kristoffer took this last video a few weeks ago. We had just started out for our nightly walk when it started to rain on us, by the time we got home the rain had stopped and we had the brightest rainbow. Karter loved watching the rainbow in the sky.

GO COLTS!

Wordless Wednesday

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Kaden Talking

Kristoffer is trying really hard to get Kaden to say "da-da". He takes great pride in the fact that Karter said his name first, and wants Kaden to do the same thing. Kaden isn't much of a babbler, but recently he has started saying a few things and actually did say "da-da" once. We took this short video of Kaden last week, it is so cute to watch his little mouth trying to say the words.

Work Out Time

Our morning routine consists of eating breakfast and then putting Kaden down for his morning nap. Once Kado is down, Karter and I go downstairs and I get on the elliptical while Karter watches Team Umizoomi or Dora...aka Karter shows. It is not the ideal situation, but if I want to work out, that is really the only time I have to get it done. It's not that I desperately want to work out, it's that I desperately need to work out! Karter enjoys this time too, because he loves both of those shows, and as cartoons go, they are pretty educational...they have really helped with his vocabulary and imagination.

The other night we were playing downstairs and the next thing we heard was "Karter use lical (elliptical)". Usually playing on the elliptical is a big no-no, but Daddy thought it would be fun to spin Karter....and so did Karter! He was spinning around and one time he fell off, he said "Do it again. I'm ok!" He's the cutest little work out buddy I've ever had (no offense Sherry!)!!

Weekend in KC

Saturday morning we loaded up the van at 3 am bound for Kansas City to visit Kamaron and Anique. This was our first trip to KC since last Labor Day, and we were excited to check out their new place and meet their puppy, Luna. The drive down was very smooth, the kids slept most of the way and we only had to stop twice...there is a big advantage to leaving at 3 int he morning!

We arrived at there place a little before lunch. We watched Luna and Rascal go crazy for awhile and then enjoyed a nice lunch before the boys took a nap. It was such a gorgeous day, so they had planned for us to walk around Shoal Creek, a park near their house.

Kristoffer thoroughly enjoyed looking at all of the old buildings, and Kaden enjoyed tagging along on Daddy's back!

Karter and Aunt Nique bonded while we were there!

Karter loved being able to walk around by himself and it was nice for him to burn off some energy! He is such a great listener and does what we ask when he walks by himself.

Of course, anything that makes noise is always a huge hit!

A fun afternoon enjoying the beautiful KC weather.

That night for dinner we headed to downtown Kansas City for some BBQ at the famous Arthur Bryant's.

Kristoffer and Kamaron went to order our food, and when they got back Kristoffer looked confused about what jsut happened and it took him a bit to recover. Arthur Bryant's is a no frills kind of place, but the food was amazing!

To walk off dinner and make room for some ice cream, we walked around the Power & Light distract. It is a beautiful part of the city full of trendy/upscale restaurants.

Sunday morning we went to church, where for the first time in over 2 years Kristoffer and I were able to participate in a church service without entertaining anyone! Their church has an amazing childcare system and we were able to leave both boys. The volunteers said that both of them had a great time.

After church we came back home and had lunch. Kaden decided that he didn't need to take a nap, so we had some snuggling time on the couch.

Kristoffer and Kamaron battled it out on the Wii.

Aunt Nique even enjoyed a little snuggle time!

After Karter woke up we ventured out to Weston Bend State Park to do a little hiking.

Kaden rode on Kristoffer's back while Karter hiked by himself. I have to say, it was much easier on me to hike without Kado strapped to my chest!

Our first trail took us to a gorgeous view of the Missouri River. (Sorry, Karter was not into having his picture taken!)

Not sure what Kamaron was up to!

Every stick Karter found turned into his walking stick, but they slowed him down, so thankfully he didn't use them too long!

After our hike we went on into Weston and walked around and enjoyed looking at the shops. Weston is a cool old town that at one time was Missouri's most populous states until the river shifted and it was no longer a river city.

All of the old buildings have been turned into cute little shops. Kristoffer insisted that we go into the candle store and of course he started talking shop with the worker. Karter enjoyed smelling all of the candles...his face might look like he doesn't like it, but that is just how he sniffs.

One of our favorite stores was the ice cream/fudge shop...where of course we all enjoyed a little treat!

That evening we dinned on the Big Italy from Pizza Hut and relaxed at home.

Monday morning we went out to Kamaron and Anique's favorite breakfast spot and ate a VERY hearty breakfast before packing up the van to head home. (Again, Karter did not want his picture taken!)

Our drive home didn't go as smoothly as the way down, but we made it home safe and sound. We are spending this week recovering and trying to get Mr. Kaden back on a better sleeping schedule.

Thank you to the KC Gray's for being such fabulous host's, we had a great time hanging out with you guys and are looking forward to seeing you both again soon!!!

Random August Memories

This summer has flown by, and by the temperature outside today you would think it was already the middle of October. I was organizing my pictures and realized there were a lot of fun things/cute smiles that didn't ever make it into a post. So please bare with me, this post is going to be all over the place!

Kaden got these pj's for Christmas last year (well, actually I got them, seeing as he wasn't born yet!), but sadly he was only able to wear them a couple of times...poor kid, he just keeps getting bigger growing!

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Karter got this bowling set for Christmas and has just now gotten really excited about it. We bowl just about every morning...

...and just like his daddy, he wants to make sure his baby brother is clapping for him!

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We started giving the boys baths together while we were on vacation and it completely changed our nightly routine. Karter and KAden love to play together in the tub and Karter likes to pretend he is in the ocean!

Kristoffer and I alternate who gives the boys a bath and the other one has to clean the kitchen. It is a pretty good deal, we both get some quality time with the kids and I don't get stuck cleaning the kitchen every morning!

I just love seeing Kristoffer with our babies!

And of course I enjoy my cuddle time with them reading a bedtime story!

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Kaden is all smiles, we both couldn't resist having our pictures taken with him!

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When it is Karter's idea, he is very willing to share his toys with Kaden. He will say "do you need this baby brother?" all the time. However, when it isn't his idea, we hear "no baby no!"

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It is so hard to get Karter to let me take a good picture of him, so I couldn't resist when he insisted I take his picture with my sunglasses on!

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Just another cute picture of our happy baby!!

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We are all about silly bands in our house. Karter has over twenty of them and is always sporting at least 2 of them. One day daddy thought it would be funny to put them all on Karter's arm!

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Could have been a Wordless Wednesday...you never know what Karter is going to do next!

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Karter is still a great helper in the kitchen, but he really just wants to eat whatever you are making...even if it is just salt!

He liked the salt much better than the carrots.

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2 seconds after this picture, he peed on the floor!

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Karter is really good at identifying capital letter of the alphabet and making their sounds, but is having a little trouble identifying lower case letters. He is getting much better, but to help I created a little matching game for him.

On little sticky notes we put capital letters on the TV and lower case letter on the coffee table and he had to match them up.

He had such a great time playing our game and got really proud of himself when he would make a match!

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I saved this one for last, because my pictures aren't that great...they were taken with our old little camera. A few weeks ago, the boys and I, along with my friend and her two boys were loaded up in her van and heading to the Dakota County Fair. About 2 minutes into the drive it starts pouring down ran. We knew we didn't want to go to the fair, but didn't want to go back home either. Luckily for us it was a Tuesday, and we could go to Toddle Tuesday at the Mall of America and the "big" boys could ride rides for $10. Hands down their favorite ride was the tower one that raises them up and bounces them around. (Our friend Ben is the other little boy in the pic...sorry I cut you off a little Ben!)

They loved it so much, they had to ride it twice!!

August was a great month for us, and I'm sure we will make a lot of great memories in September! Happy Labor Day weekend, we are off to visit the KC Gray's!!