One Year Ago

One year ago this is what our family looked like. In many ways, this seems like forever ago. But on Sunday January 31, 2010, we were scheduled to go into the hospital at 3 pm to be induced and welcome our baby boy into the world. We went about our normal Sunday routine and went to church. On the way to church I started to go into labor on my own, and we weren't sure I would make it through church. After a very uncomfortable church service we went home and waited. Around 2 pm we grabbed our bags and went to the hospital, unaware of all that that night would hold for us.

A lot has changed since this picture was taken last year, and we are so blessed to have had Kaden in our lives for the past (almost) year!!

Taking Over

When Kim and Terry graciously opened up their home to us 3 1/2 months ago, there were several places around the house that the four of us took over. Naturally, the upstairs bedrooms were quickly filled with our things, one of the kitchen cabinets became the new home to sippy cups and plastic plates, and the living room floor instantly become cluttered with toys.

After Christmas, and the population of toys more than doubled in our house, the toys were just too much in the living room. Terry used to have a quiet computer room where she could go and quietly edit photos...or just escape for a bit! But to clear up the living room a bit, the computer room has been taken over and is now the "toy room".

The boys love to have this room to go and play together. Most mornings you can hear them laughing and playing TOGETHER!! I love hearing them, it instantly puts a smile on my face.

I don't think Gramaw T minds sharing her space with Karter and Kaden...I mean, who wouldn't want to share with this cute boy!?

Who knew...all it took to get the boys to play together and not fight (too much) over the same toy was to give them a new room to play in!

Bubble Bath

Daddy gives the best baths!!

Wordless Wednesday

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Twosome Tuesday

Life with these two cute boys is hectic, noisy and involves a lot of nose wiping...but you know what, I wouldn't change it for the world!!! Everyday they each do something that makes me laugh, and also makes me so proud to be their mama! They are both growing up so quickly, Karter is smart as a whip and has an impeccable memory, our baby boy Kaden will be one in one week and is becoming his own independent (opinionated) self. In a rare moment last week they were both sitting still on the couch watching a "Karter show", and I just couldn't resist capturing a photo of my babies!

One of the things I find so precious about our boys is their ability to make each other laugh. When Karter was under the weather, Kaden kept trying to cheer him up. I am so glad I was able to catch them on video...

For the past few days it has been Kaden that has been sick, he is getting his top two teeth on top of having a nasty cold. Karter doesn't like to see Kaden upset, so one day last week he did his best to cheer him up...

I love these two!!

Wordless Wednesday

Swim Champ

Last Saturday Karter and I started a six-week series of swim lessons at our YMCA. He is a natural!! I had such a great time watching him having a blast in the water. He was eating up everything the teacher was saying and was very eager to do everything she said. We are both pretty excited about going back this week!!

A New Challenge

It is no secret that Kaden loves to eat...and enjoys getting messy in the process. One of his favorite snacks are what we call "puffies" around here...just little puffs that dissolve easily in his mouth...but sometimes he gets more all over the floor than he does in his mouth. For Christmas he got a snack cup, so to help during snack time I got it out last week.

He was so cute trying so hard to get the puffs out! At first he was frustrated, because he doesn't like anything to get in the way of his food, but he finally accepted the challenge...

...and had success!!

It was such a simple thing (having a snack), but I just couldn't get over how stinkin' cute he looked...I mean, just look at his little feet!!

He finally got the hang of getting the puffs out, but then we discovered a new problem...

...Rascal! If Kaden dropped one on the floor, Rascal was quick to come in and eat it. Of course, Kaden thought this was funny, and eventually it turned into one-for-Kaden and one-for-Rascal!!

Under the Weather

Our poor little Karterman isn't feeling very well today. All he has wanted to do is lay on the couch with Mr. Elephant....totally not the usual Karter. Please pray for him to feel better...and that the rest of our household can stay healthy!!

Wordless Wednesday

A Little Help from Big Brother

Karter is such a great big brother! Earlier this week he saw Kristoffer and I helping Kaden practice walking, and the next day he decided he wants Kaden to walk to him. To help cheer Kaden on Karter grabbed two toys to use as "cymbals"! I used our little tripod, so that he why towards the end you can't see Karter's face. It is so sweet to watch these two!!

11 Months

Kaden turned 11 months on 1-1-11!! We can't believe how big he has gotten, and that he is almost 1!
Our little boy is the happiest little thing and almost always has a smile on his face, the only time he doesn't is when he is too busy demanding food! He is changing everyday, but here are some of the things he is up to...

• Eating! Kado is still a big eater and will eat just about anything that we put in front of him. Thankfully he isn't very picky, but his favorite foods are definitely any type of fruit. He is eating 3 meals a day with 1-2 snacks, and about 2 weeks ago he decided he was done nursing, so he is completely transitioned to whole milk.
• Kaden is always "talking"! He likes to point to things and say "da" and want to touch it and know what it is. But there are 2 words that he definitely knows, "duck" and "drink". Terry has quite the collection of ducks around the house and Kaden is very good at pointing them out! In our house you cannot sit and enjoy something to eat or drink without Mr. Kaden begging for some. Whenever he sees someone with something he crawls as fast as he can and starts gleefully saying "drink". It is pretty cute, but sometimes it would be nice to have a drink without having so much backwash!
• Walking is just around the corner for Kaden. He is really good at cruising the furniture and walking with his walker or while holding our hands, but Daddy has decided we are going to spend this weekend teaching him to walk! We have been practicing having him walk between the two of us and he has taken 4-5 steps on his own before he sits down or leans into us. Karter is a great big brother and loves to have him walk to him too!
• Kaden is a drooling machine! It goes in spurts, but more often than not Kaden is soaked from his chin to his diaper. For a long time we were associating it with teething, but he still just has the two bottom teeth.
• Kaden is all boy, and loves to get on the floor and wrestle with anyone or anything. Rascal has gotten to the point where when he sees Kado coming he gets out of the way! Kaden's favorite thing to wrestle are the pillows. When he sees one on the floor he will squeal and crawl full force into it. Him and Karter have a lot of fun with the pillows.
• Just like his big brother, Kaden loves music and clapping. Just about every toy the boys got for Christmas makes noise music, and Kaden loves to turn them on just to listen to the music and dance. He gets pretty proud of himself and claps!
• Bath time is definitely a favorite time of day in our house (for everyone!), but Kaden especially loves it because he gets to crawl up the stairs. Not only does he get to go on the forbidden stairs, but most nights he usually just has a diaper on (if that) and this boy loves to be naked!
• He is turning into a pretty good sleeper. He goes to bed around 8:15 and on most nights we don't hear from him again until 6:30am. Up until this past week he had been taking two naps a day, but this week we dropped his morning nap, to free up sometime for us to leave the house and run errands. So far he is adjusting very well, and doesn't seem anymore cranky at bedtime.
• I just can't believe that he will be one in less than a month! We are in the process of finding a new pediatrition, so next month we will have some official weight/height updates! He is a big boy wearing 12-18 month clothes, size 4 diapers during the day and size 5 at night, and we can't find any regular shoes to fit his chunky little feet! He's perfect :)

Even though we are a week late...Happy 11 months to our precious baby boy!!

Wordless Wednesday - Playing Angry Birds

Christmas with The Miller's

The Sunday after Christmas, we loaded up the van (and Tracker) and headed to the other side of the state to spend sometime with my Mom. We worshiped at my hometown church in Perrysville, and then went back to Mom's where Jake, Jos and family met up with us.

Karter and Jonah had a great time passing out the gifts.

And tearing into them!

Grandma Vicky had given Jonah his birthday present right before we opened Christmas gifts, and he was pretty content with the train he got. Grandma convinced him to open his gifts, with her help.

Again, Kaden showed little interest in opening his own gifts, just playing in the wrapping paper!

After the older boys had opened all their gifts, it was baby Olivia's turn. Karter and Jonah were very eager to "help" her open her gifts too!

Joscelynn won the family "Quick Tater" prize!

Kristoffer was very pleased with his electric razor.

This year we all went in together and got mom a Kindle. She was very surprised and happy with her gift...she acted like a little kid, and couldn't wait to get it out of the box to play with!

We spent the rest of the afternoon trying to get the kids to nap, because we were all so exhausted. All of them, except for Jonah, napped, but of course not at the same time! I didn't mind hanging out with my beautiful niece!

Poor Olivia was bullied by Kaden most of the day. He kept sticking his fingers in her mouth and eyes, she tolerated most of it pretty well...

...until he tried to kiss/eat her!

I love these two so much!!

That evening we went over to my grandparents house for dinner. Grandma made an amazing dinner and we were all so full afterwards! We had a little bit of time before my cousin, Ryan, could make it after work, so Grandma went to the attic and brought down some old books.

Jonah was really starting to feel the effects of not napping!

So was Livi.

Kristoffer wrestled the boys for awhile. I just love Kaden's expression (and hair)!

When Jake was younger, Grandma and Grandpa had gotten him some personalized books, and Jonah and Karter enjoyed having them read to them.

When Ryan got there, Karter quickly took up his role as the Christmas Elf and passed the gifts out.

Sleepy baby!

All of us went in together and got Grandma and Grandpa a new TV...I think they were pretty surprised!

Before we left we changed everyone into their pjs, and when we got back to Mom's, we all went straight to bed!

It was a fun, but exhausting, day spent with our family!