I'm a Mean Mom

The things moms do to their kids!!

Thanksgiving!!

We had a very eventful Thanksgiving this year! I don't quite know what Russ and I were thinking {we were optimistic that our angel child would sit still, look at books, and play quietly and happily for all 48 hours of travel time}, but we decided to fly to Atlanta, meet up with Ann and Conrad, and then drive to Louisiana to spend Thanksgiving with Russell's extended family. It was so much fun to see everyone... but no so much fun to have to travel to do it. Cade hated us by about hour 2 on the plane, but no one killed each other, and we made lots of good memories, so I'll call that a successful trip!

Cade lying on the disgusting airport carpet... poor guy had to wake up at 4:00 am to make the flight. He was sooo tired, he just wanted to lay down and roll his truck back and forth.
Thanksgiving day was spent with the Murphy clan, in a community center filled with lots of good food... most of it fried :)

After dinner, Cade walked up to Uncle Frank, and started building block towers in his hands. He sat still for a good 20 minutes totally entertained... that's got to be a record for him. I was stunned.

During the road trip, we took occasional breaks to let Cade let it all out... he LOVES to run... so we found a few good empty parking lots, and Cade just ran in circles while Conrad chased after him. This was definitely a favorite part of the trip for him.

Shannon and Michael were so sweet to let us stay in their pool house. Cade loves him some Abbey and Peyton!!! They wore each other out playing chase, and Cade thought it was soo funny when Abbey would take his blanket, hold it over her head, and say "Caaaade.... you can't get it..."

Cade loved all of the little rocking chairs!! Especially the ones that Peyton was sitting in!

And of course there was Nana and Papa... who made all of that sitting still time well worth it.

Cheryl and co. made the trek (with darling brand new baby Maddox) out to Loganville, and we were so glad that they did!! Thanks guys! It was so fun to see you!!!

We're so thankful for our wonderful families and friends!!

My Little Business Endeavor

I love to sew. I've been making gifts and a few custom projects for different people for a little while now, and I finally decided to make a little business out of it. It's still in the {very} early stages, but stay tuned for cute things!! Check out my blog at http://ohsewsavvy.blogspot.com.

Randomness

Here's a little slice of randomness over the past few weeks...

Cade sabotaged Sophia's bouncer... We went to Idaho to watch Court cheer at her last homegame. You rocked those chants Court!!

A very chilly Sunday drive...

Hangin' in there on a very hot Las Vegas Saturday while we shopped...

Can an 18 month old live off of cheese?

I guess we will find out! Cade literally throws up everytime I so much as show him any sort of food... except cheese.

Happy Halloween!

Halloween was so much fun this year. I made my first costume for Cade... he was going to be a tiger, but the fabric store didn't have any good fake fur with stripes... so he was a tiger with spots instead of stripes. It was darling, but Cade absolutely hated it.

We spent the night handing out candy. Marilee and Addison were our first trick or treaters. There were probably 3,000 more that came after them. Addison was the cutest bumble bee I've ever seen.

Cade LOVED Halloween. Not for the candy or costumes... but because all of the kids that kept coming up and ringing the doorbell! Whenever someone rang the bell, he would literally drop whatever he was doing, race to the door, throw open the blinds, and peek through the window to see who it was. It was so cute.

Here's the trick-or-treat bucket that Russ bought probably 6 months ago... he's been anxiously awaiting Halloween just so that he could see Cade use that LSU bucket.

The next few pictures are a recap of my 1000 attempts of trying to get a picture of Cade in the full costume.... jumpsuit, hood with ears, and mittens. As soon as I would get the hood and mittens on, he would tear them off. I never did get a good picture. All of that work into making his costume and I couldn't get one picture!!

We loaded Cade and his bucket up in the wagon and went trick or treating... (well we just went to the Packs and called it a night).

Cade was very happy to get out of his costume when we got home. He built a world record tower, so I had to get one more picture...

I think that my favorite part of Halloween was when we first put Cade's costume on. He looked down, saw his tail, and started walking in circles trying to chase it, just like a little puppy. Holidays are so fun with kids.

For the Grandmas

This one is for the grandmas, who have been patiently waiting for an update... here's what Cade has been up to lately.

Still loves to play with balls...We went to feed the ducks last week with a few friends. Cade liked eating the bread a lot more than he liked giving it to the ducks.

looking pretty cute getting ready for church....

Cade LOVES the new Halloween pillowcase that Nana sent.

Here's a new one. Cade will...

1. throw things into the oven drawer (I found my keys in there a few days ago) and

2. climb in the oven drawer to throw them back out again...

Cade loves to 'talk' on the phone!

Cade's 1st Haircut

I hate it that kids grow so fast!! I've been delaying cutting Cade's hair because I feel like that's a "toddler" thing... and Cade is still a baby... right?? right?!?!? So the poor little guy had a mullet for awhile... but now it's gone. He was pretty good.... he got to play with the toothbrushes while I cut it, and he pretty much held still.

I guess that he likes it!!....

Here's 16 month's worth of hair growth.... a whole 6 hairs.

TOU/2

Woohoo. I made it. Top of Utah 1/2 8.29.09. 2 hrs 15 minutes.

When I'm desperate, I pull out the chocolate, and... we're all happy.

How Cade Feels About Getting Out of Church Clothes...

15 Months!

I can't believe that Cade is a toddler!! He is so full of life and always has a smile on his face. He definitely keeps us on our toes.... he loves to explore things, which includes climbing up, over, and around it, throwing it, and attempting to break it.

Cade weighs 22 lbs 14 oz, and is 30 inches (25th percentile), and his head is in the 95th percentile! He now has 14 teeth and 2 more on the way. He loves his milk, and anything with cheese on it, and hates all other foods.

Favorites:

Object: blue/brown blankie.... still tries to eat it, and squeels with delight whenever he sees it.

Food: cheesy tortilla (I now take these to church and break them out during RS... it buys me about 15 minutes)

Toy: empty cereal box, plastic cups, blocks, anything with buttons, or whatever you have

Word: "baba" for bottle or ball

Activity: jumping in his johnny jumper, anything to do with THROWING (throwing things down the stairs, throwing balls, throwing food off of his high chair, throwing all of the pillows off of the couch), stacking things, pulling things out of the dishwasher, or walking while everyone claps!

Person: himself. He could really care less whoever else is around. No stranger anxiety whatsoever.

What he's up to lately...

- Walking. He is gaining confidence in walking, and is getting better at it every day. He walks all around the house with a big smile on his face.

- Climbing. He LOVES to climb. Scares me to death.

- Talking. He only says a couple of words (baba and ookie for 'cookie'), but is starting to babble a lot more. I think he's usually too busy looking for the next thing he can climb to worry about much more than that!

Cade is really something else. He's a one-of-a-kind little ray of sunshine, and we couldn't love him more!

Ziti Man

I made baked ziti for dinner tonight... it was a hit. There is now an orange ring around my bathtub.

Back At It

I ran in my first post-baby race this morning! I ran the Deseret News 10K, and it was SO fun. I had forgotten how much I love it.

I used to run all of the time before I had Cade, but I quit while I was pregnant. I tried a few times to get into it again after Cade was born, but I was so out of shape I would get frustrated and give up on it. I finally made up my mind on Cade's birthday that I wouldn't give up this time, so this race was a huge accomplishment for me. I feel like I'm finally back in the saddle! I'm thinking 1/2 marathon by October!

I have to give a big thanks to my amazing husband who woke up at 5:00 am on a holiday, drove downtown in crazy July 24th parade traffic and walked a mile with a 1 year old because there was no parking just to be there at the finish line for me. Love ya babe!

Cade Walks!! Cade Walks!!

Cade took his first steps yesterday! He figured out that it makes everyone excited, so now he will stand up, put his hands up like "look ma, no hands!" and smile and look around at everyone until we're all clapping for him.

We're So Proud of You Dallin!!!

My little (not so little anymore) brother, Dallin, left yesterday to Afghanistan with the Air Force. He is a member of the reserves, and didn't have to go, but he volunteered to serve his country. It was a very somber experience seeing him off from Hill Air Force Base yesterday. I have so much respect for every member of the military, and for their families. It was heartbreaking watching dads kiss their babies goodbye, and husbands wiping tears from their wives faces. These men are making more of a sacrifice than we can even understand, and I hope that we can all somehow show them how grateful we are for them.

Dallin, we love you so much. We're so proud of you. You are an amazing kid, a great brother/brother-in-law, a wonderful uncle, and an honorable American. You better never forget that we'll always be here praying for you.

Well Balanced

Cade loves stacking blocks... he would play with them all day if I let him. The other day, I was cleaning the house while he was playing with his blocks in his room. I went in to check on him, and I found that he had taken the doughnuts off of his ring-stacker-thing, and stacked two of his blocks on top of it. He was just sitting there looking at it like he was so proud of himself. I was pretty impressed! I tried recreating it later, and it was hard for me to get it to balance like that! I told Russ about it and he said "Wow, maybe he'll be an architect." I was thinking more like the circus... one of the two.