I think I'll go take a nap...

We switched Kalli to a forward facing car seat this week and she loves it! Yes its a few weeks early but she's over 2o lbs and I just couldn't take the infant carrier anymore! A friend gave us a forward facing seat they weren't using anymore but it was a little big for Kalli. Luckily for us, Kaiden wanted the brown one anyway so we did the old switcharoo. Both kids are happy (even though it doesn't show in the picture!) and there's a lot more room in the front passenger seat now.

MARDI GRAS MAMBO!

Last weekend we went to the Denham Springs Mardi Gras Parade and had so much fun. The weather was cold and wet from Friday's rain but we still had a great time. For those of you unfamiliar with the area this was a very CLEAN parade. New Orleans is where you get all of the X rated surroundings and usually just at night but always on Bourbon. There are a few good parades you can go to during the day that are clean and fun but I'm not sure if we'll make the long drive down and back this year. Anyway, Kaiden loved seeing all the floats get ready while we were waiting for some friends and even got to see a helicopter up close. Once the parade was about to begin all of the police cars and bikes turned their sirens on and started driving by. Kaiden was so stunned and excited he didn't know what to do or think. He was overwhelmed in a sense, but loved every minute of it. Then the floats started driving by throwing beads, footballs, cups, candy and stuffed animals. It took a minute or two for Kaiden to get in the swing of things and then he was all about the beads and especially the candy. Kalli just sat in her stroller and watched all the excitement. We were lucky enough that none of the beads hit Kalli but a few got Kaiden on his fingers, which really hurt! But we all had a good time and now I have to find a place for all of this Mardi Gras Madness!

Kaiden jumping up and down all excited about the sirens

Throw me something mister!

Philip & Tyler and Me & Kal

Look at all of those beads! And we still had twice as many on the stroller!

All the boys- Joe, Kaiden, Tyler, Phe, & Dustin

Later that night (after a long nap!) we went to Katie and Phe's to play-what else but Uno! The boys stayed up pretty late watching Cars. Kaiden wouldn't go to sleep and since me and Joe were getting our butts kicked we headed home. These are just a few cute pics of Kaiden and Tyler sharing Tyler's Thomas couch glued to the TV.

Does this towel make me look fat?

Just wanted to post a few more pics of Kalli after bath time. She's growing so much and I finally got a good picture of her 2nd tooth. Yes she's almost a year and only has 2 teeth! All the other kiddies her age and younger have at least 3 or 4 more. But it obviously doesn't keep her from eating. She wants table food so bad and will eat anything (even her baby food) if it’s with mom's fork or off mom's plate. I just wish her other teethies will come in soon so she can start eating more table food. Kalli is also a full time walker now. On Sunday she was able to go from sitting to standing without having to pull up on anything. Once a kid does that there's no turning back! She even tries to do a little run after me or Kaiden at times but she's not quite stable enough to do it very long before she falls. But Kaiden loves having her walking around and following him. He has his moments but he's becoming a great big bro!

Happy Birthday Katie!

Just wanted to do a quick post to wish Katie a Happy Birthday! She's getting closer to 3o every day!! We've been friends for years now and we still love each other, how about that. We have so much fun just hanging out and playing Uno, along with our hubbies. It's great that we live so close so we can hang out and let the kids play. This picture isn't the best of either (long hot day at the Air Balloon Festival) of us but its the first one I found of just the 2 of us. I love Katie and hope you have a great day!

Pres. Hinckley

I just wanted to do a quick post after hearing the news about Pres. Hinckley. Pres. Gordon B Hinckley died at age 97, Sunday night around 7 pm. He's my Prophet and I have grown to love him tremendously. I have been honored to be in the Conference Center on several occasions and felt the spirit that he brings just by walking into the room. How can you not admire him and all the work he as done for the church and people all over the world. After hearing the news I was talking to my sister-in-law and said "Its just so sad." Joe overheard me and said, "No it's not it's happy." And yes he's right it is happy, happy that he can finally be with his sweet Marjorie Pay and happy that he is where he is meant to be. But oh, how I'll miss him and all of his wonderful counsel. And there's no doubt in my mind where he is now finishing the work that needs to be done. I'm sure my thoughts and prayers will go along with millions to his dear family whom he left behind. We love and miss you Pres. Hinckley!

Chubba Chubba & 1st Black Eye

Last night after Kalli's bath I had Joe take a few pictures of her big pot belly. I just can't get over what a porker she is! She's so much bigger than what Kaiden was at her age. She weighed the same at her 9 month apt as Kaiden did at his 1 year apt! And it doesn't look like this belly is going anywhere anytime soon!

Notice her finger pointing in the 2nd picture. She's been pointing for a while but just recently started the fake gun point. It's so funny and she's constantly doing 'hold ups'.

Now for the black eye. Tonight during our family scripture reading Kalli was walking around the coffee table and slipped. She hit the corner right by her eye. She didn't cry long but when I looked down at her I couldn't believe how fast her eye had swollen and was already purple. It's a good thing me and Joe were around to see it b/c if we weren't poor Kaiden might of gotten blamed for it. Also notice her little nose. I'm not sure how she got this owie. We were at a group FHE on Monday night and she came home w/ it. I'm not sure if she fell on the gym floor and got a strawberry or what. I did see our friends' little girls, Allison and Kailey, wanting to poke Kalli's eyes several time that night. They might of missed her eye and scratched her nose instead. No big deal b/c its only payback for what Kaiden has done to them! :)

Happy Birthday Kaiden!

Kaiden's Birthday was last Tuesday on Jan 15. I can't believe my little guy is 3 years old! We had a lot of fun on Tuesday; my visiting teacher, Suzanne, has a niece with a horse at a local stable. So she took us along with her boy Jay and Tara and Peyton, and let the boys go horseback riding. The boys absolutely loved it. Kaiden and Peyton are best buds and only 2 days apart in age. They had so much fun feeding all the horses in the stable and then they were able to ride Snowball. Suzanne was so nice to guide Snowball around the arena over and over. Kaiden and Peyton tried riding together at first but Peyton got a little nervous so Kaiden took over. He loved it and even let Snowball do a brisk walk. It was great time and Kaiden took such a good nap later! Once Joe came home we headed over to Chuck-E-Cheese for pizza and games. Both kids really enjoyed themselves and I always love a game or two of skee ball. And then to make a long day even longer we headed over to my parents for a bonfire. My dad had built a huge one for their youth activity and Kaiden loved running around some more! All in all it was a great day and Kaiden had a blast.

Well this Saturday was Kaiden's actual Birthday Party. I had planned on having it at my mom's house and letting all the kids run and play outside. I bought these big bubbles for each kid and lots of balls for them to kick around. But with our luck the weather finally decides to turn cold. It was freezing and then it rained all Friday night and most of Saturday morning. My parents had the idea of having the party at the church. It's only 5 minutes away and there's lots of room for all the kids to run and play. What a great idea! I called to check if it was available and we were in luck. Kaiden had the best time running up and down the gym kicking balls and chasing his Uncle Aaron. I wish I would of got video of my brother playing with all the kiddies. it was the funniest thing. He's running down the court with line of kids all chasing after him. Or it was him chasing after all the kids while throwing balls in their faces! Kaiden was so excited for his cake and as you can tell he thoroughly enjoyed it. Since Christmas he's been wanting to open more presents and boy did he get his chance! He loved every minute of it. And unlike Christmas he didn't stop to play with the toys he was ready for another present to unwrap! He got a lot of great gifts and has enjoyed playing with ALL of them. Thanks to everyone who came we had a lot of fun!

Kute Kal

My little Kalli Girl is getting so big! She'll be a year next month, on Valentine's Day, and we just love having her as part of our family. Kalli took her first step on Dec 14 and has been walking more and more since then. Just recently she's really starting to get the hang of it. Now when she's standing she'll just walk instead of crawl, that is until she falls down. It's so cute b/c you can tell how proud she is of herself. Kaiden still does the occasional push and shove but for the most part they're starting to play pretty well together. He loves having her crawl after him and once she's caught him he lets her crawl all over him. It worries me sometimes b/c she'll be hanging onto him and he'll just take off causing Kalli to fall down. Or since she was crawling on him he wants a turn to crawl on her! But she's tough and doesn't seem to mind. It's been real fun to see how excited Kaiden gets when Kalli stands on her own or takes steps.

I love how she's totally striking a pose in this picture

Kaiden has also found that he can get Kalli to put away his toys as long as he hands them to her. She thinks its so fun to dump something out and then put it back. She had a field day yesterday going through my cupboards and emptying out everything...again! She enjoyed taking my granola bars out of their box and putting them in the pop tart box and then back in the granola box. It's a wonder why we even buy kids toys sometimes! I've taken some cute videos of Kalli the last few days of helping Kaiden pick up his blocks and of her walking. My favorite part is Kalli's jibberish and cute smile b/c you how proud of herself she is. I also love when Kaiden is telling her,"Good job Kalli" and "Good girl" just like mom. See he is a great big brother...when he wants to be! As you can see in the last video she is quite the multi-tasker, she's walking and clapping at the same time. Before you know it she'll be chewing gum too! Why not, she doesn't have any hair for it to get tangled up in. :)

And yea for me b/c I'm all caught up on my blogging!!

Happy New Year!

So we're 1/2 way into the month of January but I'm on a role trying to catch up on all my holiday blogging. On New Year's my mom watched the kids while Joe and I went to a party with some friends from church. Kalli went to bed super early but Kaiden was quite the night owl. Him and my mom went to one of the neighbors and watched them light some firecrackers and they gave him some snappers and sparklers. Joe and I left the party a little early to ring in the new year w/ Kaiden and my parents. We didn't get any fireworks but enjoyed watching everyone elses. Kaiden loved seeing all the bright lights in the sky from all directions. He was so funny. Joe was holding him and they kept turning around to try and see all of fireworks at once. it was a good night and what better way to ring in the new year w/ the ones I loved. I wish Kalli was awake to watch w/ us but I wasn't about to disturb her b/c then it would of taken forever for her to fall back asleep. It was the first night she slept away from home and spent the night at with my parents. it was weird going home that night and having Kalli's door wide open but she did fine. She woke up a little earlier than I would of liked and go figure by the time she was ready for a nap Kaiden was just waking up so no nap for me!

Merry Christmas!

Yup, this is the last and final Christmas post! We started Christmas off by having dinner Christmas Eve at my brother and sister-in-law's house. Lisa had her family over as well and she made a delicious ham. We had a lot of fun just visiting and the kids even got to open a few presents from Lisa's mom. Once we got home Kaiden and I left out our first plate of cookies for Santa. Later that night I went into the kids rooms w/ the video camera (like my parents always did) to record my sweet little angels sleeping...only it didn't work out so smoothly. Kaiden woke up a little but he was so out of it he just layed his head back down. I wasn't so lucky with Kalli. She will sleep through about anything even all of the noise Kaiden makes, but the second you open her door and start to walk in she's wide awake and screaming. I thought it was worth the risk but boy was I wrong. She cried for awhile and I just couldn't take it anymore. (We have a rule where we don't pick up Kalli in the middle of the night (unless something is wrong of course) b/c it encourages her to wake up each night for no reason). Joe is much more strict on our rule than I am, but its a lot easier for him since he doesn't hear her 1/2 of the time. I give in more than I probably should but I felt I owed it to poor, little Kal since I am the reason she woke up. But thanks to that interruption of sleep both kids slept in a little bit which was nice. So Christmas morning we fed the kids in bed so they couldn't see what Santa brought. Poor Joe woke up feeling really achy and had the chills. He toughed it out while the kids opened gifts but then he was back in bed while me and Kaiden played and Kal took her nap.

Kal with her glow worm from Santa

The beloved Car Garage

Scripture readers from Grandma and Grandpa (Kaiden & Joe were reading them tonight)

I love this picture of them sitting back to back. Kal is pulling all the paper out of the trash while Kaiden is opening more presents.


Favorite toy of the day by both Kaiden and Kalli (and still ranking #1) was Kaiden's car garage w/ a ramp. This was the cheapest Christmas we will probably ever have. All of Kaiden's gifts were given to us by a neighbor. She was getting rid of her grandson's toys and all Joe and I had to do was clean them up real good. Of course we bought a few things for Kalli too but she really just liked all of Kaiden's toys more.

Joe's parent's called and it was great to talk to them on Christmas. They said that at midnight on Christmas Eve it's crazy. Most people in Argentina spend a lot of money on fireworks to pop on the night before Christmas. They said at midnight its so loud you can hardly hear anything but fireworks. Which is kind of funny b/c I know how much mom and dad would just rather be in bed but there's no way they can sleep through that kind of noise. So they stayed up and even went to a party...what party animals!

I was very excited to go to my mom's and talk to my sister Autumn that's on a mission in New York. It's been so long since I've spoken to her and it was just great to hear her voice and know that she's doing good. We were able to talk for about 40 minutes, but time just flew by. We kept it on speaker phone and all just loved hearing her experiences instead of just reading about them. Joe couldn't quite make it out of bed so she got off easy and didn't get made fun of too much. (Update on Joe: after about 2 weeks he's finally better. He missed several days of work and was going to bed the same time as the kids. I knew he was really sick b/c he even missed a lot of the bowl games, which is so unlike him! He still has a lingering cough that won't go away making his side is really sore. But he's doing better and back to staying up late, playing X-Box 360, and watching football.)

Uncle Greg doing his yearly turkey carving

Lisa & Abby

Carmen w/ her new flat iron

My baby sister, Nana

After talking to Autumn my Aunt and Uncle showed up and it was time to eat! We had lots of good food and I ate WAY too much. Joe made it for dinner and but wasn't up to eating too much. then it was time for Christmas all over again. Kaiden got a lot of games to play, a train set, and a tricycle. He's really enjoyed riding it and I've been very impressed how well he's done w/ peddling. Oh and he also got a Little Mermaid doll from my brother Aaron. Yea, me and Joe were just thrilled about it. He looked at it for a minute and then it was on to the next present. The next day he agreed to give Ariel to Kalli since she didn't get as many presents as he did. I know sweet, huh? As for Kalli she slept through most of the present opening but enjoys her new toys and first dollie that my mom got.

Kaiden's 1st doll

And Joe's reaction

Uncle Greg and Aunt Linda with Kalli

My favorite big brother

Joe has a beat up Maryland shirt w/ holes all in it so Lisa got him a new one. Now if only that old one got thrown away somehow...

I made my mom a calender from Snapfish w/ all of our family photos. It was a big hit.

During the day my brother had worked on fixing our old go-cart. He finally got it running so we all enjoyed riding around the pond. This was a present to us as kids from Santa years ago. So it was fun to reminisce and think about all the things that have changed over the years. I just love this time of year where being with family means so much and its a time to really reflect on our Savior. I've been so blessed in my life and I'm truly thankful for all that I have especially my family.