From this.... to that!

We hung these frames up behind the couch in my family room not long after we moved in Last March. They've always been a mess of pictures and nothing ever looked good or matched. As you can see, there were even spots that were blank....after a whole year and a couple months!!! It was really a sad wall to look at! Well TA-DAAA!! I made it my weekend project to find good pictures, switch them over to black and white, and send them off to get printed. It really only took an hour (while Caydin napped) to do. I'm very ashamed of myself for putting such a simple project off for soooooo long! So, the left side is all pictures of Caydin in water - since he is a huge fan of water right now (though only water in our backyard/tub as we went to the Splash Zone at the zoo today and Caydin hated it!) In the middle is family pictures - (shout out to my dad for taking the great family pic in the middle!!!) Caydin loves to point out his mama and dada in pictures so this is right down his alley!

And on the right is favorite pictures from Easter and Spring Break! I LOVE LOVE LOVE the picture of him on the bench whining and covering his eyes. He was totally done with pictures that day. Hahah! It reminds me of those calendars filled with pictures of kids with little pink cheeks and the little girls kissing all the little boys.

Hope your Memorial Day was great!

Pacifier Update 2!

Well, Caydin didn't make it a 3rd night in a row without his pacifier. He melted down at bedtime and cried and cried and cried. I held him for a couple minutes, calmed him down, and put him back in bed - but no such luck. He got his pacifier! We'll start again tomorrow!He did, however, drink his milk from a cup and didn't get a bottle at bedtime! Score!

He also got a frog potty seat today and sat on it a couple times (with diaper and shorts on).

We also built a tunnel with a bedsheet and the back of the couch and Caydin ran back and forth for a very long time! A couple months ago, he was afraid to go in the tent he got for Christmas and didn't touch the tunnels and tents at music class. But he thought the tunnel was GREAT FUN today!!!

No work tomorrow! And only 7 school days left! YAY!

Pacifier Update!

Last night, Caydin did great with no pacifier. He didn't make any noise after this Tad music went off and didn't wake up at all during the night (he usually doesn't anyways). So night 1 was a big success. I'm beginning to think it's all about me... not wanting to give up the "baby stuff" because Caydin really doesn't care if he has the pacifiers/bottles or not. (Now, if he sees them - he does want them!!!) He did get his pacifier for alittle while before naptime but it ended up on the floor behind his crib like it usually does so I guess he really DIDN'T miss it. Like the "Home Alone" face??? He does it much better - I just don't have a great picture of it!

Caydin knows that after bath is bottle time and will usually start asking for his bobble as soon as he gets on the changing table. He wasn't bothered at all that I put it in a cup (he LOVES these cups) but that could of been because we were watching cartoons! He was one HAPPY CAMPER!

So now he is in bed with no pacifier and is passed out! He didn't make a sound once Tad was off so I'm guessing he went straight to bed! Day 2 of no pacifier at bedtime - SUCCESS!!! My mom reminded me that Caydin takes change very well and has never made a big stink about anything different - moving to the new house, new room, eating food for the first time, changing sippy cups, etc. He is just an easy-going kid with a strong, loud personality I suppose!

I guess with pacifier and bottle out of the way.... we'll have plenty of time to work on potty-training this summer :) JOY!

Random Thoughts

**** I picked out Caydin's birthday party invites tonight! Now I just need to get a good picture of him (hopefully wearing his "2" tee-shirt) and send all the details to the lady making his invites!

***I put Caydin to bed with no pacifier tonight and he didn't make a peep. He's not super attached to them as I'm pretty sure Caydin's daddy doesn't put him down for naps with his pacifier all the time. We keep them up high during the day so he doesn't need them at all when he's awake. I'm cool with him going to kindergarten with a pacifier in his pocket so we aren't giving his pacifiers to any baby ducks anytime soon. But its on my list of things to accomplish this summer... the list is long... maybe I should head over to the yogurt place, get some yummy yogurt, and write the "list" down! Pshhh!

***I've been researching potties tonight too. So far, the green frog chair has good reviews and is pretty cheap. I'm hoping to get one this weekend so he can start sitting on it.

***Caydin has the best Home Alone face that he did many times at Target today. It makes me laugh everytime I see him do it!

Caydin's first chore!

Aren't thesethe greatest

pictures that you have

ever seen?!?!?!

Caydin takes his chore VERY SERIOUSLY!

...and I think that is just great!

Wordless Wednesday (Almost)

Flowers for my birthday from Caydin (with the help of Grandma and Grandpa!)

birthday weekend

We had such a great weekend! My brother Jay, surprised me big time when he walked through my kitchen door Friday afternoon! He had been texting me all day, wishing me a happy birthday and asking how the day was going so I was in total shock when he walked in the house! The funny part is that everyone besides Rob and I knew so Katie was playing it up big time right before he walked in the door by jokingly saying "He is such a loser for not calling you on your birthday." It was such a good surprise! Caydin was alittle crazy all weekend but loved all the attention. Over the weekend, I definitely would NOT find my child playing with a screwdriver and go grab my camera... Afterall, he was attempting to use the screwdriver in the right way and I was totally impressed! (Grandpa changed the battery on the remote earlier in the day, Caydin watched, and definitely copied him - so funny!)

On Saturday, we went down to the pool with Daddy, Uncle Jay, and Auntie Jen. Caydin loves to play in the water but didn't really enjoy the turtle float like he did last year. He only stayed in it for about 5 minutes... then insisted on saying "bye bye tr-tr" over and over and over.

Saturday night, we headed to Kobe Steakhouse for dinner. Caydin didn't want to sit in the highchair AT ALL (kind of annoying) but luckily, we had 7 adults around to entertain him. He did spend a couple minutes watching the guy cook the food but got freaked out when the guy stacked the onion rings and set it on fire like a volcano. Go figure. We all thought it was funny that he enjoyed dipping his chopsticks in the salad dressing!

On Sunday morning, Daddy and Grandpa played a very fun game of monkey-in-the-middle with Caydin and his lovey.

Then we grilled and played out on the backporch for a long time! Caydin will occasionally want his picture taken (just so he can look at it on the camera screen) so here he is taking a picture with Grandma!

Hope your weekend was great!

22 months!

Just 2 short months away from turning 2!

Happy 22 months Caydin Michael!

Success!!!

We have a toothbrusher again!!!! He won't let any of us near him with a toothbrush but loves to brush his own teeth (sometimes 2-3 times a day!) This is a great improvement over the hold-him-down-and-brush-his-teeth-while-screaming-and-kicking episodes that we had a couple weeks ago! I try to sneak in and give each side a brush or two just to make sure... but that doesn't always happen and I'm ok with it :)

love

What more....

...can I ask for on the day before my 26th birthday?!?!

22 students all in chairs, not arguing, not fighting, and WORKING!!!! Oh!!! I've waited almost a year for this!!! - Kidding of course - they do this all the time. But it is rare that they are all in their seats at the same time (usually someone is always in the bathroom, at the sink, or on a computer)!!! I really have enjoyed this group of kids and they are all so smart and sweet, if only they didn't talk so much ;) This sweet boy with a hot mess of tantrums and giggles today. I think he was blind from my new flash for my camera!

And a special thanks to Rob for getting my this AWESOME flash one day early! I will be sure to take a million and 2 pictures this weekend!!!!