Happy Birthday Little Boy

Kyden turned 2 today--so I guess he's not little anymore!! Can you believe that it's been 2 years since that crazy story of a Baby Kyden born in the car was town news? It's hard for me to believe because it seems so unreal now--but it did happen! It will be a good story to tell Kyden someday!

Kyden had a nice day. The boys love cereal so for there birthdays they each got a sugary cereal (since they don't get that very often). Here they are eating Trix (why don't they make Trix shaped like fruit anymore? That was my favorite part of eating that cereal). Jason ate a bowl of Trix and when he was done, he said "Well, that didn't really hit the spot. Feels like I just ate a bowl of sugar." Isn't it funny how our tastes change as we get older?

For who knows what reason, Kyden wanted up in our closet. He's never done this before but today he wanted to lay up there. Don't you love the smile!
So the next 3 pictures are of the exact same things but I want you to look at his face in each of them. He started this new thing today with smiling and making funny faces for pictures. He would do this occasionally, but not for pictures! Goofy boy, we love you!

Lips sticking out!
Cheese!

Here is his awesome birthday cake that I slaved over forever! Ok, not really! I really wasn't up to spending hours in the kitchen making a cake for 8 people (4 grandparents and us) because I knew that most of it would be thrown away. Plus, I figured he wouldn't remember or even care what his birthday cake looked like at age 2! I'm probably just a bad mom for thinking that, but he absolutely loved this "cake" so that made me happy that I didn't slave in the kitchen all day. His new lawnmower that he loves from G&G P.
He wasn't too happy when he had to wait for Dad to get batteries for his new train from G&G S. He wanted his "choo, choo" right now! Oh and if you couldn't tell, he loves trains right now.
Driving his train fast.
Braden teaching Kyden how to play with his new book! Braden the little teacher!
Happy Birthday Kyden! You are such a blessing in our lives! We are so grateful you were born into our family. You bring so much joy to us every day. We love you and are so glad you had a good day.

Easter Weekend

I love Easter, but this year it just crept up on us too fast. We spent the weekend in Utah with family and friends. Jason had a mission reunion Friday night so we decided a couple weeks ago to make a weekend of it. My parents ended up getting tickets to conference so they decided to go, my sister lives in Salt Lake, and one of my brothers lives in Logan and came for a day so we all stayed together in the same hotel. It was a lot of fun. Friday we spent more than 3 hours in IKEA. I LOVE THAT STORE! I wish they had one in Idaho (but then I would probably spend more money). Now Jason understands how you can spend 3 hours in one store--it's huge! The boys were great and actually enjoyed it. We also ate lunch there which was fabulous. I think the price is great for the quality of food you get--at least with my meal.

I'm glad we went to Jason's mission reunion. It was fun to see some of the guys (and there wives) Jason went to Haiti with a couple weeks ago.

Before we left, Braden wrote a letter to the Easter Bunny telling him/her (???) that we were going to be in Utah and drew a map for him. He also asked him if he would come on Saturday instead of Sunday because that's when the Easter Bunny always came to me when I was a kid so that left Sunday to celebrate the true meaning of Easter. And he was one lucky boy because the Easter Bunny found him (and his brother I guess).


Rolling Easter eggs with there nose with Aunt Bec.

So, of all mornings, Kyden decided to get up at 6:45 Saturday morning to find Easter eggs. And what can you do with a little boy in a hotel room full of eggs filled with candy and sleeping people (since we were up until midnight the night before). Feed him chocolate!! He found an egg, tried opening it, gave it to me to open, I opened it, showed him what was inside, he looked at the chocolate eggs, licked his lips, and put all 3 Cadbury eggs in his mouth! Funny boy!

Swimming after egg hunting and breakfast. We had a blast! Probably the most fun I've had swimming in a long time and I don't like swimming much at all! Braden didn't want to get out and Kyden talks about it everyday since then.

Kyden and Grandpa in the hot tub.


Kyden sees G&G P's dogs fetch balls so he has started acting like them (luckily not all the time). He gets mad when he can't bite whatever he is trying to pick up and take somewhere. Here he is playing fetch!
And Kyden wearing my glasses! What a goof!

What a great weekend! Jason and I went to the Saturday afternoon session in the Conference Center. It is so wonderful to be in that huge building with so many people joined together in reverence and peace. There were so many wonderful messages shared throughout every session of conference. I will for sure have to listen to all the talks again because they were all so good--that's my goal for the next couple of months. It's funny how conference takes on a whole new meaning the older you get (at least that's how I feel). As a child, I was lucky if I could sit and listen (do both) only Sunday morning. Now, I want to listen to every session to hear what they will teach! It is always refreshing (and a bit overwhelming) to hear the things they say. I felt like they talked a lot about mothers and children. What a huge responsibility we have to care for these precious spirits, but what a wonderful opportunity. I am grateful for the gospel and for Christs love for me. I am truly blessed!!

4 Years...Can you believe it?

It's hard to believe that it's been 4 years since Braden entered our family! Braden turned 4 on Monday! We love him so much and don't know what life would be like without him. He is so smart (of course I think so anyway). He knows the alphabet (thanks to Leap Frog Letter Factory), loves to color and draw pictures, play with his brother, play games whether it's on dad or moms phone or the computer or just a real game he loves games. He amazes me everyday. The WHY?? questions have begun and I'm sure won't end soon with this kid. I have to remind myself regularly that things that seem so simple to me, he is just learning about and it's so interesting to him.

We had a kids/cousin party Saturday before his birthday. The kids seemed to love it. We kept it simple--games, playing, pizza, brownies and ice cream. Oh ya, Braden does not like cake or frosting or balloons--your typical staples for a birthday party. But he loves brownies and ice cream (just like his dad) so that's what we did and boy was it easy to prepare. He's a funny boy! He makes me smile and laugh.
Practicing Pin the tail on the donkey before the kids arrived.

The birthday crew--Jason, Kyle, Miles, Braden, Jake, Luke, Avery, Abby, Kyden, Quincy, and Taylor. Thanks for coming! It was a lot of fun!
Playing pin the tail on the donkey with Grandpa.
Braden doesn't exactly like to be sang to either. I finally got it out of him that he doesn't like when people sing loud. He doesn't do well with lots of kids screaming--that's the reason he didn't like nursery.

We gave him a bike for his birthday. I love the look of pure joy on his face. He was pretty excited which made us happy. It's hard to put into words the joy you feel when you see your kids happy!

We did a family party at Blast Off which was fun. The boys loved it


Here's the crew all playing mini golf. Thanks to everyone who came and for the fun birthday presents! It was nice to have you there!
You might say that Kyden likes Braden's bike more than Braden. But since the weather has been junky, Braden hasn't been able to ride his bike outside yet so Kyden has taken over. It just gets rolled around our house. I don't know what we'll do when Kyden realizes he can't ride it.
We love Braden and are so proud of him. He is growing up so fast and teaching us so much every day. I think children are sent to us to teach us more than we teach them. Seriously! Love you Braden!! And we're glad that you had a wonderful birthday!

Handsome Boys

Braden asked me a while back as I was getting him ready for church "When is dad getting one of these?" Meaning a suit. Guess it's been a while since Jason wore his suit and Braden has worn one since he was 18 months old. So here's my handsome boys all dressed up. Love it!!
And this was the first Sunday Kyden got to wear a suit since we found a new one for Braden and passed Braden's down to him. I think they look so good all dressed up--like little missionaries.
Zonked right out after church at Grandpa and Grandma's house. He still has his binkie for nap and bedtime because I don't want to face getting rid of it yet. Fun!!

We love Sunshine

We are so excited to see some sunshine and play outside a bit! It helps the days pass by until we can play outside everyday without freezing our buns off! But I now have to lock the deadbolt, not to keep people out, but to keep Kyden from sneaking outside. I'm afraid he's the child that will always push his limit. He's already ran into the road a handful of times. Oh boy!
Kyden thought he was so cool under this laundry basket. One of his favorite things to do now is drag our laundry basket out to the front room, dump all the clothes out, spread them everywhere, and play with the basket. The boys love to make messes but they don't realize that I spend the majority of my day picking up after them. It's great! Guess some things have to give when you become a mom--dinner doesn't always get going on time, the house is hardly ever clean, some days go by and I wonder "What did I accomplish today?", pj days are a must, .... I have to remind myself that this stage of life will pass and to enjoy everyday the best I can. The days of taking care of children will be over before I know it and it will be a sad day. My boys test my patience, but I love them so much. I don't know what I would do without them. It's hard to think back to life before kids. It seems so weird.
Here doggie, here doggie! Kyden begged Jason for a bone from his ribs and thought he was so cool trying to eat it. He just didn't get that it was hard and he couldn't eat it. Although Jason does tell us about the Haitian people who would eat the bones. They love to suck the marrow out. Not my ideal food.
Braden and Kyden were invited to my cousin, Quincy, birthday party at Blast-Off. It was the first time they had been there and they loved it. Now that's where Braden wants to have his birthday party. We'll see about that one.

If you look close, you can see that Kyden is wearing some of Braden's boxer underwear over his pants. He put them on by himself and wore them all day. He thought he was pretty cool (well he always does). I think that Jason was a bit embarrassed because we took him dinner at work that night and I didn't want to fight with Kyden to take them off so I let him wear the underwear. Whatever--pick your battles!

I finally took on the adventure of making homemade bread. I think it turned out pretty well especially since I realized my Kitchen Aid wasn't big enough half way through so it was a mess. Oh well, good learning experience anyway.
Another pile of toys and books and stuff. The boys favorite thing to do. I don't get how that is a fort, but it sure it to them. The things they come up with! Quite the imagination.
I found Braden one night asleep in his bed just like this. I had to take a picture.

Our Boys

This is how we found the boys room the other night:
Yep, they pulled every single piece of clothing out of there dresser. Braden felt pretty bad because all he was trying to do was "Find that one shirt". Well, he didn't find it until I found it for him. We had a quick discussion on asking mom to help when you can't find something. It was funny until I had to fold all the clothes back up to put them in the dresser.

We are so proud of Dad! He is the best! We are just so glad to have him home spending time with us!
Man, this little boy is such a character. He makes me laugh everyday. He gets into everything, finds things he's not supposed to have, and has a little temper. But he sure is a cutie!
He figured out that he could roll the computer chair wherever he wants to get things he wants, but is not supposed to get. This time it was his binkie or "me me" as he calls it. He only gets it at nap and bedtime but wants it more often than that. It is going to be a monster of a time weening him from his binkie. I'm not looking forward to it!
Loves, loves, loves his pillow. I think he would rather have a pillow than a blanket. When I get him out of bed in the morning, he has to empty his crib in my arms which includes 2 blankets, a pillow, Pooh bear, and whatever else may have been left in there the night before and I have to carry it all plus him to the couch. He is so funny!
And this little guy LOVES puzzles. He is already smarter than me. He put this United States puzzle together all by himself. What a brain!! And he was proud of it--which he should be!
Ky with Braden's underwear on his head. He cracks me up all the time with things he comes up with.