Two and a half...already!!!

My oh my where does the time go???

Kade, today you are 2 1/2 years old. You are one of Gods most amazing creations! I cannot get enough of you. I miss you when we are not together. And while you can test my patience at times, there is not a second that goes by that I do not thank God for allowing me to be your mom!

You say some of the funniest things these days! You always want to know where everyone went:

"Where Daddy went?"

"Where Trav went?"

"Where Papa went?"

You are definitely a "mans" child! You love nothing more than to be outside working on something with your Daddy, Uncle Trav, Trent, Papa, Pa Pa, Zack! You could almost live outside. I think I could count on one hand the amount of times you have asked to go inside (and I would probably have a few fingers left over)! You have a John Deere tractor with a trailer that you will ride throughout our yard. When the battery dies, you get off and push the tractor to the garage and then proceed to take the screws out of the hood so you can charge the battery. I'm pretty sure 2 1/2 year olds are not supposed to be this smart. You are amazing.

You love to play with other kids. I think it is amazing that you get to grow up so closely to your older cousin Trent (now if we could just keep him from teaching you bad things it will be even better). But you also love babies. Anytime we see a baby you want to see them and talk to them and touch them. You also call every baby we see (even in books and magazines) "baby Colton." Its very cute so we don't always correct you.

You are so bright and do not miss a thing that goes on around you. The other night when I got home from work you and your daddy were playing with trucks in the living room floor. I knelt down and told you to give me a kiss! You responded with "Go play on facebook, mommy!" It was the funniest darn thing.

You can count to 10 and sing most of the ABCs...when you want to! You love to sing. You're two favorite songs are probably "Happy Birthday...to Abby" (even when its not Abby's birthday you still say her name) and "Old McDonald had it at a farm." I love to hear you sing!

Ra Ra...can't forget about your love for Ra Ra! Aside from all the men in your life, Ra Ra has pretty much hung the moon! I think you may believe that she walks on water. When we leave the drive way you point to her house and say "Ra Ra's house that way, my go to Ra Ra's house," even though we are headed to town. You go to her house 2-3 mornings a week when your dad and I have to go to work early. You rarely cry when we leave you with her or Uncle Trav.

Some of you most favorite things right now are: backhoes, mac n' cheese, dirt, Abby, bulldozers, chicken, singing, big trucks, reading books, sucker balls (ring pops), heehaws (horses), riding your John Deere tractor, helping Daddy work on things, shooting the deer huntins (deer) with your shoot gun, melmo juices, brushing your teeth, fruit snacks, baseball games, Pluto, strawberries, peeing outside, and track hoes!

Somewhere deep inside all this "boy stuff" I know that you are also a Mommies Boy! And I couldn't be more blessed and proud for you to call me Mommy! You are definitely my sunshine and you put a smile on my face from the moment you wake up each day until I lay your head down on your bed at night. There are nights that your dad and I lay in bed and laugh at the silly things you have done during the day. Or while we are driving down the road we sometimes laugh so hard at the silly things you say! You are definitely one of a kind and Mommy loves you so very much!

I love you to the moon and back,

MOMMY

(This post was started on 5/25/11 but I just now had time to finish)

Outdoors Boy

Last week Dustin and his Dad helped Dustin's grandpa cut some dead trees down that were in their front yard. Kade went with Dustin and "helped" them. My sister got Kade this little craftsman chain saw for Christmas and he knows exactly what to do with it. He was trying to use it on that big tree behind him. He also knows this is how you get wood to build a fire. Such a smart lil man and a one hard worker too:)

There is absolutely no place this child would rather be than outside! He loves anything and everything that involves being outside. Its a crying, screaming, kicking fit (yes this angel boy has these fits) every night when we have to come inside to take a bath and go to bed.

It rained quite a bit on Saturday but that did not stop us from playing outside. We played in the garage the whole time it rained and as soon as it stopped outside we went. If there is a water hole, he will find it! Unfortunately, today he found the mud hole! And down he went...face first! My mom picked him up and asked if he wanted her to carry him to the house to change his clothes and he said "No, Gambe, My all wet!" So cute!

Just a tad bit muddy. But as soon as we changed his clothes, he went right back to the water and mud holes. Thank goodness for OxyClean! I think he wore 3 different outfits before noon on Saturday!

This is my sisters rat terrier, Pistol! Kade loves Pistol...I'm just not sure the feelings are mutual.

I am so thankful we have a wonderful home with a great yard! This boy is going to have many wonderful memories of playing "outdoor!" I am so incredibly blessed to be his mother:)

Kristie

Last Week...Yes I'm that far behind!

Last weekend Dustin, Kade, and I went to Tulsa to the Home and Garden Show. We had a really good time just walking around and looking at everything AND Kade was exceptionally good in the stroller. He even got out and walked for a bit. I think we are getting past that stage where we couldn't go anywhere with out having meltdowns about riding in the stroller. FINALLY!

After the Home and Garden Show, we went to Red Lobster! Yes, I have actually learned to eat/like some fish! I know, I am really going out on a limb here!

While we were waiting the hostess scooped a lobster out of the tank and let Kade touch it! He called it an alligator:)

So throughout the rest of our dinner, he kept asking to go see the alligators! He is always talking about alligators right now. I am not sure where this came from. His imagination is really starting to grow and I just love for him to tell me the things he is thinking of. The other night it was bedtime and he was not wanting to go to sleep. He asks a million questions and has to pee at least 10 times before he could go to sleep. But he kept telling me that there was an alligator behind the recliner. He kept saying "See it, see it mommy?" Its so stinkin cute. I just have to play along! Bedtime could last for hours at our house some nights:)

Feeding his animals! Such a good little farmer.

This is another one of those things he does that just makes me wonder where he learns everything he does! He did all of this by himself. He then puts the hay in the back of his truck and opens the fence and says "Gotta feed my HeHaw and Moo Cow!" He has been feeding the cows with my Papa and feeding pigs with Poppa, and feeding the goats with Grandpa Larry. He loves animals and loves being outdoors with all of the men in his life!

Muuuaaaahhhh!

On Sunday me and Kade, Brandy and Levi, Jamie and Ashtyn, Lynard and Leighton all went to see Sesame Street Live at the BOK. The kids had lots of fun! Kade and I had been once before about a year ago and I think he enjoyed seeing "Melmo" much more this time. The show might have been just a tad bit long for him though because he and Levi played on the floor using their twirlly Melmo toys as swords for the last 10-15 min of the show. Oh well, I think a good time was had by all.

After we left Sesame Street Live, we met my whole family in Owasso to eat for Montereys for my Papa's 70th birthday! We had a very good time and enjoyed seeing everyone.

On Saturday March 12th, I ran my first 5K race ever! I am not going to lie, it was very difficult! But it also felt great to accomplish that! I guess if I had a bucket list I could cross that off of it! Haha! My friend Jamie also did this with me! We have plans to run in another one but I think I should get a little bit more training before I attempt my next race.

I finished 96 out of 240 (or somewhere close to that) racers! I was pretty impressed with myself!

Kristie

Busy Busy Week!

We have been one busy family this past week! Somedays I need about 12 more hours to accomplish everything on my to do list. Oh wait, I don't make to do list because I never get anything done! I recently downloaded an app on my phone that counts down the days until I graduate! I only look at it...100 times per day! I am so ready for things to slow down a bit! What do normal people do in their spare time????

This week was the County Live Stock Show! My mom and step-dad have raised these pigs. This is Rosie. (They also name all of their pigs.) She is not really Kade's favorite but Roxie (really Roxanne but he renamed her), his favorite, would not cooperate for him to get in the pen with her. He would put the shavings on her belly and then brush them off...over and over again! She looks like he was really bothering her, huh?

You have to be 9 years old to show pigs in 4-H. Maybe I should add that to my countdown list! Ha! I'm sure that Kade will be showing pigs when he turns 9...following in his daddy's footsteps! I have never showed an animal but Dustin showed pigs all through HS.

We got Kade his very first baseball glove this weekend! I was going to wait until the weather was a little bit nicer but we were at Hibbets and I was afraid that if I didn't get it now I might not be able to find one in a couple of months. So of course we had to come home and play with it...right in front of the TV! Did you notice which hand he is wearing the glove on??? I have not forced this on him at all! He does everything with his left hand. So when we went to buy the glove Dustin first put a right handed glove on him. He immediately took it off and put it on the other hand. I am thankful that we were able to find a small enough left handed glove for him.

If he does grow to play baseball, he will definitely be sharing his momma's passion! I loved playing softball when I was younger. I played on a competitive team for 8 years. I have so many good memories from playing softball and I sure do hope Kade loves baseball too! I am sure we will spend many hours at the baseball fields this summer watching Trent play! Kade will have to wait until next year to play so we will get that glove good and broke in before then!

I bought Kade some new underwear today and his dad decided he need to wear them as a hat! And he was ok with that:)

We have been almost 3 weeks without diapers (still wearing pull-ups at night)! We are so proud of him and how well he is doing with this!

Silly boy in the bath tub. Dustin can talk him into putting his face all the way under water. It does not seem to bother him at all. He is a FISH! I can't wait until it gets warmer so we can put our pool up.

Your eyes are not seeing things! This is what it cost me to get diesel in Dustin's truck. This was on 03-04-2011! Its completely crazy! And it wasn't even full! This is at a QT and you can only get $100 at a time but that is better that at Phillips 66 where you can only get $75 at a time. I am not sure if I want to know exactly how much it cost to fill the truck completely up!

New Bike

Kade got a new bike! After taking him to the store and putting him on all the bikes and still not finding one that he was able to ride, I finally decided on the My Strider Balance Bike! And I'm glad I did:)

He loves this! We have been bringing it inside at night so that he can ride it in the house!

Helping Daddy put the bike together was most of the fun!

He talks a lot about his new bike now and shows everyone that comes to the house. Now I just need to get a helmet so that when he takes off down our driveway I won't worry so much.

I know this is a horrible pic but I had to post it. Saturday night some friends came down and Kade decided that he needed to wear his hard hat with the light on it while riding a bike! He is such a character. He also insisted on wearing his Buzz Lightyear jacket in the house. Silly boy.

Our friends Bubba and Tracy just had their second baby, Colton, who is also Abby's little brother. Kade loves Abby and her daddy so I'm sure he is going to be a big fan of Baby Colton as well.

Kristie

Potty at Daycare

We have tackled 2 big obstacles so far this week! 1) Kade went potty at daycare! 2) Kade wore underwear without fighting us everyday this week! Monday was the first day Kade actually went potty at daycare! We were so excited. My sister, Robin, was off work on Monday so she stayed at daycare with him for about an hour to make sure he went. She took him in his big boy underwear and he wore them until nap time! At nap time they put a pull-up on him and then after nap time was over he was not wanting to put his underwear back on! So we tried again on Tuesday.

Tuesday and Wednesday he has worn the same pair of underwear ALL day at daycare. This is so bitter sweet for me. I am so excited for my lil man but at the same time I am so sad that he is growing up so fast.

Tuesday morning we were headed out the door to go to daycare and as we got to the door Kade says "My need to poop, my need to poop!" So we run back to the bathroom and I set him down on the potty. He then tells me "Go away, go cook dinner mommy!" He obviously needs some privacy while going to the bathroom:) I just love him!!!

Weekend

Kade and his best buddy Abby!

Kade loves playing with Abby. Abby turned 3 on 12/27/10. About 2-3 weeks before her birthday we started singing Happy Birthday to Abby! Well, we are still singing it in February! Abby is now about to have a baby brother in the next few days and we have a gift for him (and one for Abby too) so we are still singing Happy Birthday to Abby! Oh yea, Kade is also a major fan of Abby's daddy, Bubba! He always wants to go to Bubba's house instead of where ever it is that we are going. All we ever hear about at home is Abby and Bubba. He is so funny!

My lil Valentine

On Sunday we celebrated Valentine's Day since I have to work late on Monday (2/14). We went to Tulsa to eat and go to the mall. Our plan was to take Kade to Build-A-Bear. The mall was crazy packed! I think all the people had cabin fever from the snow storms and it was actually 55 degrees outside so everyone must have came to the mall. The line for Build-A-Bear was out of the store. Thankfully the Disney Store was just next door. We took Kade in there and let him walk around and look at everything. His expressions were so funny! He loves that place. I told Dustin that we could probably take him in there to look at everything and not buy anything and he would be perfectly happy! We ended up leaving there with a stuffed Mickey Mouse and Hot Diggity Dog (aka Pluto)! This was probably a better choice than Build-A-Bear anyways! We had a great time together. We finished up some shopping in the mall and then went out for lunch at Logan's Roadhouse.

Me and one of my Valentine's (not the best picture of the 2 of us but someone does not like the camera too much)!

Kade with Pappa's pigs

We went to my mom's after we left Tulsa. My little sister, Walker and Levi were there also. It is always so much fun to see Kade and Levi play together. Levi is exactly 2 months older than Kade. Just in the last few months they have started to play really well together. And they both LOVE Pappa's pigs. My step-dad raises show pigs. These 2 boys could just about live in the pig pens I think!

Cousins

This was October 1, 2010

Levi had just turned 2 on September 25 and Kade was almost 2.

My sister and I took the boys to Disney on Ice and they loved it! We strolled around the fair afterward and met up with my mom and step-dad in the petting barns! That may have been their favorite part of the whole day!

Feeding the animals!

What Kade's Been Up To Lately

For those of you who did know 2 year old are busy!

This is my mom pushing Kade in his wheel barrel on Christmas morning! He got this from his Gambe and Pappa (my mom and step-dad)!

We are potty training! It has definitely been an adventure. Kade showed an interest in using the potty last October. Miss Kim (Dustin's aunt who own's the daycare Kade attends) told me one morning that it was time to start. We tried for a few times and he did great while at home but would not go for anyone else. So we decided to let it slide for a bit and not push the issue.

This is what happens when Dustin starts potty training!

We just got home from our annual ski trip on Sunday. Kade went potty in the big potty several times while we were in Colorado. But since we have been home (and thanks to the massive amount of snowfall for keeping us home) Kade has used less than 5 diapers in the last 4 days! He is doing so well! Now getting him to wear underwear is a different story. He refuses to wear them almost always and when I can get a pair on him he stands in the bathroom and pees in them. He does not even try to pull them down. This is one of the many times I wish I knew what was happening in his brain and how he reasons (or do they reason at 2)!

On the way home from Colorado!

He rode in this car seat for almost 16 hours on Sunday. I think during that 16 hours he cried maybe twice from Breckenridge, CO to Bartlesville, OK! I should leave out that he screamed from Bartlesville to our house but I was almost at the point of screaming as well so we are not counting that. The first time he cried was because he wanted me to change his diaper. The second time was because he no longer wanted to watch "Toy Shory" but instead he want to watch "Clubhouse" (Mickey Mouse Clubhouse).

That's all the time I have for now,

Lots of love,

Kade's Momma

It's Been Some Time

So I started this blog while I was pregnant with the intention of keeping it to document the life of my precious little man. But as you can see I didn't make it very far at all! Its been over 2 years since my last post. You cannot begin to imagine what all has gone on in our lives in the last 2 years! The last pictures I have posted here are of the day that Kade was born! He is almost 27 months old now! He is the most unbelievably, precious gift God has ever given me! I am beyond blessed.

He is so full of life and such a joy to be around! I just almost want to cry because I have waited so long to start to document his life.

Isn't that smile just contagious???

(This pic was taken in May 2009 by a dear friend who is a great photographer)

These are my 2 all time favorite guys!

So my plan is....that from here on out I will start to write things as often as I can (more frequently than once every 2 years) to keep track of our lives. Recently, I have been inspired by a few avid bloggers who have nationally recognized blogs that I read on a daily basis but I am doing this more as a memory log than as with intentions of others reading it. But hey, if someone out there finds our lives interesting then read on! I'm going to try to post as many pictures from the past two years as I can but just a few at a time. After all, I am a full time mommy, full time wife, full time student (but only for about 10 more months) and I work 20-30 hours a week! So I have a pretty busy schedule. I am hoping that starting off I can make 2-3 posts each week.

I'll be back real soon!

Lots of love,

Kade's Momma