Happy #27 to my sweetheart!

Happy Birthday. I love you, I love you, I LOVE YOU!

We had such a fun day today. We went to the gym this morning, and after our workout, took Kaden to the pool. He was fearless and loving it so much! He wanted to swim on his own, obviously not realizing he sinks like a rock. He jumped off the edge about 15 times, and ran around the shallow end. He fell over enough times to get a few good gulps of yummy pool water...YUCK. He was SO happy though. When I held him he splashed and kicked and acted like he was trying to "swim". It was very entertaining for Matt and I. We didn't stay too long because it was quite tiring trying to keep a hold of a slippery, squirmy, littly fishy. We came home and had a nice little birthday lunch and Matt opened his presents. In the afternoon, my mom took Kaden and Matt and I met up with Matt and Andrea for a fun evening.


We ate dinner at "Mama's Boys", a nice little Italian restaurant. Then headed over to Baskin Robin's for 31 cent scoop night! YES!!!!!!


MMMMMM....loving that yummy ice cream.


But....I still taste way better!!!


Outside of Baskin Robin's there were firetrucks and all sorts of fun stuff going on. Kids were running around everwhere in little fireman hats, it was cute. Matt and Matt had to get a picture with "Sparky".

We make the fire engine look good! Well...at least we pretend that we do.

We came back to our house and watched a movie and ate popcorn. Kaden woke up and wanted to play and climb all over Matt and Andrea. He also fed them fruit loops and juice. He loves to share his food. We also ate some DELICIOUS cake that my mom made....serious the best cake ever. So....as anyone can tell, we have pretty much been eating ALL DAY...YAYAYAYAY, gotta love that! It was such an enjoyable day....and so much fun to celebrate my handsome man! Happy Birthday Babe!!!!!!

More than just a workout

Matt and I have been going to the gym regularly for about 6 months. It's been great for both of us. Matt is able to do his own workout without help from anyone. It's nice because I can go to the classes I love, they have fun kid-care for Kaden, and Matt can do his own thing. He will work out for up to 1 1/2 hours straight! He is motivated and enjoys recording and charting the things he does. One time I was in a class and he came to the door and said, "Babe (huffing and puffing), I've been on the stair-stepper for 30 minutes, can I be done now?" It was cute, but honestly, who does the stair-stepper for 30 minutes?!?!?! I sure don't.

We look forward to our gym time. It is a good outlet and definitely a mood lifter. I have had so many people come up to me and tell me how sweet Matt is, how he inspires them, and how much they enjoy seeing him there. Yesterday, I was especially touched. I was introduced to Deb, a woman who, two years ago, was in a serious motorcycle accident. She was in a drug-induced coma for about a week, and was on life support. She showed me the scars on her leg from the injury. Watching her walk was hard; I could almost feel her pain.

She wanted to meet me, to tell me how inspired she is by Matt. She said that she had had several conversations with him, and that he is the nicest most caring and friendly person she's met. She said that he is the reason she comes to the gym. She knows his story, and sees him on the bike, stair-climber, or whatever other machine, and she knows that if he can do it, then so can she. Deb said that he has motivated her more than anyone else and she looks forward to seeing him at the gym. She talked about how hard life is after something changes the way one's world used to be. Tasks that were once so simple are now near impossible. She thanked Matt and I for coming and for helping her realize she can do more than she knew she could.

It was a touching moment for me. I know that Matt inspires me, but it is so special when others are so touched by his life. He is touching more people that I am sure either of us are aware of, and I just wanted to share this story, to express my love for Matt, and to say that I am so proud of him.

It's very, VERY, hard being a 16 month-old...

Today we were wandering the mall, killing time before an appointment. We had already had a long day and Kaden was getting antsy. So, we let him get out of the stroller and run around a bit. He wanted to push and was loving it...until he ran the stroller right into a wall. So....Matt, in an effort to help, steered the stroller from the wall.....

Kaden misinterpreted the gesture and was sure the stroller was being taken away from him. He literally melted into the floor and had a conniption fit.... He rolled around and just cried and cried. He got even more upset when I started photographing him. I actually found it somewhat sad, somewhat humerous. Here come the days of the tantrum......

SO pitiful....

His little ear grabbing is a comfort thing he has done forever. I guess it's like thumb-sucking, which thankfully he never picked up on. I love how when he gets sad, tired, or is sick, he just grabs his ear and plays with it. (It gets tricky though, when he isn't feeling well, trying to figure out if he's got an ear infection.)

Usually Kaden is a big ball of smiles and sunshine, but I guess the day had just gotten too long. Naptime was well overdue, and well, it's just plain hard being a toddler. After a much needed rest, dinner, and a warm bath, he was back to his irresistable CUTE self.

He loves to climb up on this rocker, hold onto the dresser, and "surf". I was looking at photos on the computer and he was just standing behind me pointing and talking. He got the most excited seeing pictures of himself as a little baby. So sweet.

A beautiful, sunny day at Mesa Verde

Last week Traci and the boys came to visit for a few days for spring break. We met up at Mesa Verde national park, and had the best time. It was the warmest, prettiest day this year and I loved being outside. I have never been so excited for spring to come. Mesa Verde is a huge area full of different Pueblo Indian dwellings, dating back to 1200-1300 AD. They are spectacular and the architecture is amazing. We had a great time hiking around, taking tours, and seeing the sites. It was too bad that the rest of the time they were visiting it was cold, windy, and everyone was sick!


This is the "Cliff Palace". It is the most famous site and it's huge! It is incredible that people that long ago could make such an amazing structure, with their own handmade primitive tools. The blocks and walls are perfectly level, and the columns completely circular...AMAZING. The nearest water source was 8 miles from this spot....including a climb up the cliff. No wonder the people were only about 5' tall and 90 lbs!


At the lookout spot.

It was fun to have Gabe and Connor along...too bad Connor just wanted to sit in the car and read his book!

It was so fun to take a few little hikes through the beautiful sites. I was quite impressed how well Matt did with all of the hiking around. There were tall ladders to climb, and a few areas with really steep, narrow steps built into the rock, and he did great. I think he loved it too.

Matt with Gabe and his mom.

Climber man.

There is a dwelling across the canyon behind Gabe. It's a little hard to see. The whole plateau used to be covered with trees, but there have been a lot of tragic fires there over the last few years. The park is still beautiful though.

Matt with his mom at the lookout.

What a BEAUTIFUL day!

Our sweet little redhead...

Wow, we have had quite a busy and eventful week...but we're back! I'll update later, but here are just a couple of pictures that I love.

I love this picture....it's perfect. Kaden was sick for 5 days last week and it was so sad. He was so subdued and quiet. He just layed around, wanted to be held, was droopy and looked miserable. I hated seeing him feeling so bad. I am thrilled he is feeling better and back to his jabbering, giggling, energetic self.

I did it, I did it, I DID IT!

I finished Kaden's quilt and I am so proud! To my surprise it actually turned out really quite good! Plus, I had so much fun making it. YAY! I love all of the bright colors and cute fabric designs. It totally fits my little man...and me!




Kaden approved.....when I gave it to him he started rolling all over it, hugging it, squeezing, and wrestling with it. A good sign to be sure.

A closeup look at the cute fabric. I love the happy frogs and the jungle animals!

I didn't think it was going to be THIS big!

He's a lady's man....

Almost all my friend's kids Kaden's age are girls. He loves his friends. Last weekend Matt and I went to our friends Reese and Will's house. We had so much fun playing "Guitar Hero" and eating lots of pizza. Kaden and Danica ran around and played for hours. Kaden is a little social bug, and LOVES other kids. Danica is over a year older than he is, but he just loves her. When I would hold Kaden she would say, "hey, put Kaayyen down, he wants to pway with me." SO CUTE!




Look at those sopping wet pants and big belly hanging out. He's got pizza all over his face...and he's still the cutest boy ever.... Danica thinks so too :)

Kaden will not drink water from his cup, but if I have a water bottle he is in heaven. He was just guzzling away, gagging on it, his eyes watering, and spilling it everywhere. It was quite humerous, and I know he was loving not wearing his shirt. He loves to be naked. It really is quite liberating! The minute the clothes come off he is off and running.