Thanksgiving Point Farm

We went on a picnic to the Thanksgiving Point farm today. Cade loves animals, and REALLY loves tractors, so I think he had a pretty good time. His favorite part though was playing chase with some other kids in and out of the little wild west village. My favorite part was coming home to a popsicle and air conditioning... these 90 degree days and my humongous preggo belly are taking their toll on me!!

Look Out NYC

My sister Michelle went into the MTC on Wednesday. She's going to be serving in the New York City South mission. I am so excited for her, but sad for me that she will be gone for 18 months. Michelle has been at BYU for the last little while, and it has been a blast having her so close. I am going to miss her like crazy, but she really is going to be an awesome missionary.

Of course Michelle, who thinks of and is prepared for everything, got Cade his Christmas present before she left... a "Cars" hammock... that he loves to pieces. What a cute aunt.

Splash Pad

One of the things that we love about living in Utah is that there is some sort of free, kid-friendly activity around every corner. There are about 5 different splash parks within just a few minutes of our house, so today we took Cade to one of them for the first time. I really don't think that he has ever had so much fun. As soon as we got him out of his carseat and he saw what was going on, he started laughing... then he started crying hysterically... I think he thought that we weren't going to let him play. He was really timid around the water at first.. that lasted for about 30 seconds. He watched the other kids running and playing in it, and then he of course wanted to be a part of the action. He was laughing, ssquealing, and running the whole time that we were there. I thought that getting him to leave would be a huge fight, but he was so tired (and probably border-line hypothermic) he left without one tear, and then took a 3 1/2 hour nap when we got home.

Weighin' In...

Cade had his 2 yr. checkup yesterday. He weighed in at 29.4 lbs (70th percentile) and measured 33.5 inches (30th percentile). Other things that he has been up to...

- Loves to run, throw, kick, climb, wrestle, sword fight... and every other physical activity.
- His favorite place to be is outside.
- Pickiest eater on the planet... lives off of grilled cheese, corn dogs, bread, pb&j, instant breakfast (because he throws up the vitamins), and baby food fruits/veggies (the only way they stay down).
- Loves kids... tries to make friends with every little boy or girl we pass in Walmart, and gets mad if they don't pay any attention to him. He is a very friendly little boy. Whenever someone knocks on the door, he runs to it laughing and excited to see who came to visit. Whenever we are going on a walk or in the front yard, he runs up to whatever front door he can find and starts knocking on it.
- Is a man of very few words.. mama, ball, and "DAT!!!". We can occasionally also get him to say daddy, keys, cheese, and truck.
- Knows all of his letters (can't say them, but he can point to them when asked), and is pretty good at his colors, numbers, and shapes.
- Loves to be the loudest kid in Sacrament Meeting.

Cade-o is 2!!

This year for Cade's birthday, we decided to just have a fun day with the three of us. I went to the grocery store early that morning, and picked up some doughnuts (Cade's favorite food) and a Lightning McQueen balloon bouquet (Cade's other favorite things). I put the balloons in the living room, and when he woke up and found them, he just started laughing. He wouldn't put the balloons down all day... even during his bath. I don't think that Cade knows what a birthday is yet, but he definitely knew that something was different, and that it was fun and exciting! He was bouncing off of the walls all day long. When it came time for his nap, I put him down, and he just ran around his room squealing and laughing for almost 45 minutes by the time I gave up and just let him come out and play.

Russ was able to take 1/2 of the day off, so when he came home, we all went to the zoo. It was Cade's first time. He was interested in the monkeys, but didn't really care for the rest of the animals. He LOVED the carousel though. He was really mad at us that we didn't let him ride it all day.

I thought that Cade would love his cake, but he really didn't care. He looked at it interested for a second, and then wanted to move on to the next thing. I thought it turned out pretty cute though.

I tried to teach Cade how to blow out his birthday candles, but it didn't really work out... he would take a big breath in, like we told him, but then he didn't know what to do from there and would hold his breath...

Cade had a lot of fun opening his presents. He was upset at first when we would take one toy away from him so that he could open the next... but he got the hang of it pretty quick.

Cade was really excited about this tool set... he stuck his little tongue out of the corner of his mouth and grinned just like this while Russ took it out of the package.

Then he was back to holding the balloons...

After presents, we cut the cake and tried to get Cade to eat some of it. Of course being the picky eater that he is, he gagged and pushed it out of the way. He never did take one bite. He did like poking the candles in the cake though. He also kept taking big breaths in like he was going to blow them out again... even though they weren't lit.

We had such a fun day. Cade is quite the character... we love this little guy so much. He keeps us laughing... running and laughing.

The Best Part of My Mother's Day...

... is that I'm their mom.

Aunt "Ort-Eee"

A few weeks ago, Courtney and my dad came over to visit my grandma while she was sick at the University Hospital. They got here late one night, after Cade was already in bed. Court just camped out on an air mattress in the living room. The next morning, Cade got out of bed and saw Courtney asleep in the living room. He went up to her really quietly, moved her hair out of her face and saw who it was, and then he started laughing and cuddled up next to her. He laid next to her while she slept for almost an hour... I was amazed... he never holds still let alone CUDDLES with someone for an hour. He LOVES his Aunt Court.

Hurricane Cade

This is what happens if I leave Cade alone in a clean room for 5 minutes...

The Big Guy Turns the Big 50

Happy Birthday (yesterday) dad!! I'd say it's time to start acting your age!! No more bare-foot skiing... and maybe you should try to keep all wheels on the ground when driving motorized vehicles... oh ya, and no more drag racing snowmobiles across lakes that are NOT frozen.

I really look up to you dad. Thanks for being such an awesome dad/grandpa. Love ya.

Boutique Tonight!!

Here is just a taste of what's going to be going on at my neighborhood clubhouse from 7-9 tonight!! If you don't know where that is, email me at chelseadmurphy@gmail.com.
It's going to be awesome, we'll have tons of jeans from True Religion, Sevens, Miss Chic and more, lots of fun baby stuff, purses galore, and the cutest jewelry you've ever seen.... so you need to be there. Seriously.

Come See Me!

I've been sewing up a storm for the past couple of weeks getting ready for these shows!!! There will be tons of cute things and lots of vendors... stop by if you have a chance!

It's A...

BOY!!! It's a boy! I was completely convinced that it was a girl since this pregnancy has been completely different than my pregnancy with Cade... but I was wrong (not surprising!) I am so happy that Cade will have a little buddy.... and like my mom said.... this baby needed to be a boy to have a better chance of surviving his big brother's wrestling matches. Our house is going to be ROCKING!!!

Happy Birthday Russ

Happy Birthday to my loving, generous, witty, charming, handsome, fun, crazy-LSU-fan of a husband. I love you so much... and hope that you still love me after I post some of these pictures. They say that a picture is worth 1000 words, so I thought I would post a few that remind me of some of the things that I love so much about you.

Me, Cade, and this player-to-be-named later are so lucky to have you. I hope you have a wonderful birthday.

LSU's Greatest Super Hero