All is Wells

Finger Paints and Oh My!

2011-06-07T22:36:00.000-07:00

The kids got to make the wrapping paper for Daddy's birthday present.

I forgot to take a picture of the present though... We put a poem about walking in Daddy's footsteps in a 10x13 frame and they each got to put a footprint on it too. They loved getting to do that, so I got out the finger paints that I got them for Easter and hadn't let them use yet. Basically because I'm lazy and didn't feel like cleaning up afterwards. But for Daddy's birthday I decided to go for it. They had so much fun and the paper turned out great. In fact after wrapping the frame up it looked like a modern art canvas instead of a wrapped present. So now I have a fun idea of making a collage of 'canvases' to hang in my kitchen. This week is way to busy to attempt that though, so that will be coming later, and I will try to get pictures up as soon as we do it.

Kaden really enjoyed the finger paints and he worked and worked at his pictures, drawing lines and 'round' aka circles.

Kindi didn't really get that she was supposed to put the paint on the paper. She really enjoyed playing with it and wiping it on her legs, or sticking her feet in it though. She started to get more into it when I started painting her hands and having her hit the paper instead. She is a touch on the violent side!

And just in case you are having a bad day and need something to laugh at:

I stepped outside and didn't see Kaden anywhere until I looked in the corner under a tree and saw this.

At least he didn't potty his pants!

Kindi's Professional Cake Smash

2011-06-02T23:00:00.000-07:00

Look at my cutie pie! She looks just like a little dolly! A local photographer, Brandi Varnell, was looking for some 1 year old volunteers to come and destroy a cake in her studio so she could add some cake smash pictures to her portfolio. (I have been watching for them, but so far I don't see any of the 3 cake smashes she did that weekend on her website.) I of course hmmm'd and hawed and debated for all of 1/2 a second before I spouted out, Kindi will be one in a couple of weeks! We'll do it! Gotta love FaceBook and the unique opportunities it gives us. I had never met Brandi, but she did some family pictures for a family I know and love so I 'liked' her on FB so I could see the pictures. She is so creative. I love all the fun contests that she does and her photography is always beautiful and touching. Being the poor family that we are (okay, we aren't really poor, but with only one income we have to be careful how we spend our money) we have never been able to afford to get our pictures done by an established professional before. We have been so blessed to have Heather come and take pictures for us with Kindi and she does a terrific job, but it isn't quite the same.

Such a regal looking princess!

I had so much fun 'working' with Brandi, because if you have ever tried to take pictures of children you know it takes more than one person to be very successful. Especially if they are not your kids. I do fine by myself with my kids, but if I wasn't there to help Brandi, Kindi would have just been a hysterical disaster crying in the corner. Brandi has some really cute props, I would love to have the pink chair in my stash! She had a sweet little princess crown and an adorable green (The coolest color ever.) tutu with a matching hair clip.

The cake was from the new bakery here in town, 4 Sisters Bakery, Brandi even sent them a picture of Kindi taking her cake eating very seriously on facebook. It was a beautiful cake! It was even strawberry flavored so that it was pink! There was too much frosting for my taste, but then I don't really like more then a thin layer on the top. So any cake, even ones I make, that are decorated all pretty, has too much frosting for me.

Kindi started off by gently poking her finger into the cake and licking the frosting off, but you can see that that didn't last! She was cracking me up though. She would take a bite then wipe her face with her hand, pretending that she didn't like to get dirty! Most of you don't see Kindi as she usually is because I typically change her 2 seconds before walking out the door, and put a bib on her in the car which I rip off as I get her out. But if you were to show up to my house unexpectedly you would likely catch her with some sort of food running down her shirt, mixed with the drool ring that goes to her belly button. Residue of something sticky that she found and shoved into her mouth on her hands and face, and hair either in her eyes or sticking up like she had been electrocuted! Oh man, now my secret is out!

There is something special about baby feet!

We worked and worked with Kindi getting her to smile (eating cake is serious business you know) and play a little. We jumped up and down, danced and sang. She had a great time until Brandi told her to try to pick up the cake. Oh man did she get mad when she couldn't do it!!! The session ended after that. My Kindi girl has developed a fiery temper!
It was so hard to narrow down the 30 or so pictures and pick my favorite 5. Since we came to help Brandi out she gave us a disc for free with 5 pictures of our choice. We could pay for more if we wanted, but we stuck with the 5.

Our bonus picture! Kindi's classic froggy pose.

But when Brandi showed up at my door with our CD (so sweet of her to surprise me and hand deliver it), she had put one extra picture on it as a bonus. I was so excited because this picture was the last one I had eliminated and I had agonized over it!
After the session while I was getting Kindi cleaned up and dressed, Brandi was so sweet to share lots of photography tips with me. She even invited me to come and be a second shooter at some weddings this summer! I had told her that I've been asked to do 3 weddings but chickened out each time and begged them to find someone else. So she offered to let me come and get some experience. It would be a great ice breaker for me. A chance to get some wedding photography in and if I totally blew it at least they would have all the beautiful pictures that Brandi took! I think that would really help me to relax. I'm hoping that I do get an opportunity to go help her out. How fun!

Dress Up

2011-05-26T07:55:00.000-07:00

My best friend, Julie, told me about some pictures that a friend of hers did with her little girl. I fell in love with the idea and decided that I just had to steal it!

She put her little girl in her wedding dress! And the plan is to take a picture of Kindi in my dress every year. It will measure how much she grows as well as just be stinkin adorable! She wasn't terribly impressed with the idea this first year, but I hope that as she gets older she will enjoy it and look forward to it too. I debated about doing this with my wedding dress. What if it gets ruined? Then I thought, What IF it gets ruined? It isn't like I am ever going to wear it again and Kindi is going to want to pick her own wedding dress (Ugh... I can't think about THAT yet!). Even if I wanted to put it on again it will never fit me. Having nursed two babies... if I did ever manage to get my waist that small again I certainly wouldn't be comfortable going out in public spilling out the top! With those thoughts in mind I was also brave enough to cut out the built in bra. It made it much easier to take pictures that didn't look completely ridiculous on Kindi. Having cups sticking out of her belly button was just not working for me!

We couldn't leave Kaden out of this little dress up episode, but obviously I couldn't put him in my dress too! Okay, I suppose that isn't entirely true. He is young enough right now that he doesn't know that boys don't wear dresses. He would have done it and loved it, but Jeremy wouldn't have been to thrilled and there is no way I am going to talk a 13 year old boy into putting my wedding dress on for his yearly picture! So we went with Daddy's suit coat instead. Jeremy rented his tux for the wedding so I don't have that, but he does own a very nice suit that will work just as well. Kaden loved it! He giggled and begged me to put it back on him when it fell off time and time again. When he started getting a little bit wild and I put the coat away, it devestated him! He cried and threw himself on his bed begging to have Daddy's coat back, please, please, pleeeeassse. So I don't think it will be a problem to get him to put it back on next year!

Kindi was way more impressed with my veil than with my dress!

This picture of Kaden is so great! He was having such a blast dancing and being a man just like Daddy.

This was one of the first pictures I took of Kindi, before I took the scissors to my dress. It still turned out very sweet though.

I sure do have beautiful children! What a wonderful blessing they have been in our lives. We had a rough road getting them here, but no pain or sorrow compares with the joy that they bring to us every day. God is good!

Why do they have to grow up?

2011-05-25T21:35:00.000-07:00

Alright, so I know why they have to grow up, and honestly I don't think I want her to stay one forever. She talks a lot for her age, but she can't articulate her wants and needs unless they are 'milk' or 'eat' etc. I do wish time wouldn't move by so fast though. I can't believe that we have owned our house a year and a half, and my BABY is over a year old. Let alone that Kaden is 2 1/2. I must admit that they are getting to be so much fun though. Kindi is really starting to get into playing with her babies. She carries them around by the head, full open mouth kisses them and, my favorite, hugs them close and pats their backs! So precious!

One of Jeremy's co-workers gave us two little rocking chairs that used to belong to her kids. Kaden and Kindi were so impressed with them. Kindi loves to get her baby and rock in her chair, or snuggle in with her blankie and bink. So when I wanted to take her picture and get her to be still I just had to pull out the chair! Her little tutu outfit was also a gift from another lady that Jeremy works with.

Kaden's latest thing is 'I did it myself.' He is having a hard time understanding that just because he CAN do something himself, doesn't mean that he GETS to do it. I am always having to tell him that he doesn't get to spank Kindi. He will tap her hands and then tell me, 'I di i mysels'. It's hard not to smile when he does it.

So life may be going by too fast, but we sure are having a lot of fun!

Kindi is ONE.

2011-05-04T10:23:00.000-07:00

Is it possible? Can she really be one already? My 'baby' is not a baby any more. She is getting to be more and more fun, but I can't help but be a little bit sad. She is going to grow up way to fast, she is already pushing hard to keep up with Kaden. She started walking before 10 months, and starting trying to talk about the same time. Her first word was stickers believe it or not. We were potty training Kaden and using stickers as an incentive. So we spent a lot of time looking at and talking about stickers. Of course if she said it to anybody but me you would think she was just babbling. But it was very consistently the same sound every time. :) She is so much braver than Kaden when it comes to talking. She tries new words all the time. He used to look at us and grin with a mischievous look on his face. He is really trying to talk now, but it is still pretty jumbled. Kindi is also doing her best to follow in Kaden's monkey foot prints. I hate this stage! She is always managing to climb up on something and then standing up like she is the queen of the world. She hasn't taken any really bad spills off of anything yet, but it sure makes me nervous and jumpy! Thankfully she seems to have MUCH better balance and coordination than her brother! It's a good thing too because although she is getting tougher, she is still quite the wimp. I will have some more 1 year pictures that I'm pretty excited about, but for now... here is how Kindi's birthday went.

Since I decided to make Kindi's first birthday cake myself she got to enjoy her first beater! Kaden showed her how and she dove right in leaving evidence of her treat all over her face and shirt.

The day after Kindi's birthday I hosted a double baby shower and decided to make the cakes for that too. I enlisted the help of a friend to make pretty fondant flowers for the shower and she made me a bunch of extras. They were so pretty and girly that I used them to decorate Kindi's cake too, it made it so quick and easy to throw together a pretty cake.

I made a small cake for Kindi to destroy out of two extra large cupcakes. It had been so long since I had made frosting by myself that I got it a little bit too soft at first, so it was kind of running down the sides of her cake. It firmed right up in the fridge though. I figured it didn't matter too much, she was just going to make a mess out of it anyways. So, did you notice there are two candle on it? Oops! I bought those cute curly candles so that I could use two of them as antennae for the butterfly cake I made for the shower. So I didn't even think about it and grabbed two of each color and put them on the cakes. I suppose it didn't look odd to me because I did two on Kaden's a few months ago. It wasn't until Mom pointed it out that I realized my mistake. We only lit one! I also made a round cake for the rest of us to enjoy, cause who really wants to eat a cake that as been demolished by an excited one year old?

Kindi did a pretty good job with her presents. She had a lot of kids itching to help her.

My sister's kids' had wanted to play with the Vtech puppy they had gotten for her since they day they picked it out. So they were pretty excited when she opened it.

Daddy picked out a couple of really cute pink purse books. Kindi loves to bring us books to read.

I think Kindi was a little bit overwhelmed by all of the attention she was getting, and all of the eager hands reaching out to help her. She did good with it though.

I finished her quilt in time for her birthday! Yay for me.

Grandma made up little treat bags full of party favors for all of the kids. Kaden tried and tried and tried to blow his punching balloon up by himself. He would give it to me and let me get it started then want to take it back to finish it. It was pretty funny. He never did succeed, but he had a blast!

After presents we brought out the cake. She was mesmerized. I had high hopes that she would be able to blow her candle out by herself, but she doesn't really know how to aim her blowing yet. She did try awfully hard to blow it out though. I ended up blowing it out for her right before she tried to take a bite out of the flame.

After we took the hot candle away she decided to blow the extra one out too. What a cutie!

She started out pretty slow, poking at the cake and pulling the flower off. Lillie was a little confused, "Why doesn't she eat it with her face?!" If you have ever seen pictures of Lillie's first birthday you will really appreciate that comment. (She bent over and stuck her face in it.) As Kindi got a taste of the frosting and realized that it was REALLY yummy, so got more into it. She would grab at it then try to shove her whole hand into her mouth to suck it off.

You would expect a smile or two from a child who is devouring a chocolate cake, but she was quite serious about her task.

So we got Aunt Jeni down on the floor to tickle her and get her to smile. Once she started smiling they started pouring out of her. She had so much fun.

This was a warm up cake smash. On Saturday Kindi is going to be a model for a local photographer who needed some cake smash photos for her portfolio. I am pretty excited to go do this. I've been following Brandi Varnell Photography on facebook for awhile and really like what she does and her personality. Plus because she requested to have 1 year old come destroy a cake in her studio, we get to do it for free! And she is even going to give us some of the pictures on a disc. I will have to post those when I get them too.

Look Alike Contest (part 2)

2011-05-04T07:58:00.000-07:00

So I had every intention of posting this 4 months ago... obviously that didn't happen. I don't remember if I have told you that I have a screen saver on my computer that rotates through a folder of pictures. I put all of my favorites in that folder and get to enjoy them all day long... well as long as I'm not wasting all of my time sitting at the computer. I love to compare pictures of my kids at the same age. So enjoy.

11 Months

2011-05-03T22:09:00.000-07:00

I know, I know! I'm kinda behind, seeing as how Kindi actually turned 1 on the 16th of APRIL... Hopefully I will get to that soon, but for now here are her 11 month pictures.

There is a house for sale just up the block from us that had beautiful bright yellow daffodils in it's front yard. So Kindi and I 'borrowed' them for a photo shoot. This new dress that mom bought for her while we were Easter dress shopping (that is a different dress which hopefully you will get to see soon too) just begged to be posed with those sunny daffodils.

What a beauty she is!

I have been enjoying playing with Photoshop Elements lately. Thanks to Julie who gave it to me when she upgraded!

Cute Baby Photo Contest

2011-03-26T09:40:00.000-07:00

We entered Kaden in winkflash.com 's Cute Baby Photo Contest. :) So... if you would vote for him that would be awesome! We could win $100 gift card for winkflash. I use them all the time, so that would be awesome. Here is the link:
http://www.winkflash.com/contest/winkflash/browse.aspx?idce=52664

This is the picture we entered. I am going to register Jeremy too so we can enter Kindi... if it will let me. :)

This is what Kaden has been up to lately.

His favorite thing to do is build with his blocks. He either builds 'sowers' (aka towers) or in this case he is building a 'choo choo'. :) He will build a tower then come running out of his room yelling, "SHOW ME SHOW ME" Then he grabs our hands and drags us in to see his latest creation. It's adorable and he is getting really good at it.

I'm working on Kindi's 11 month pictures so I will hopefully be posting those soon too.

Kindi is 10 Months Old

2011-02-22T14:00:00.000-08:00

So I'm sure there are some of you out there wondering if All is Still Wells. Well let me put your minds at ease. Yes we are still here. And everyone is doing well, for the most part. We all went through this nasty bug that's been roaming around. Kaden got it first and I spent most of the night up with him while he threw up. Poor little man. Is there anything worse than watching your babies suffer, when they want so desperately for you to fix it and there is nothing you can do? Kindi had it a few days later. She only spit up hard a couple of times one morning, but then she developed a nasty nighttime cough that kept us up most of the night for several days. I got it next and had to miss church to make an appointment with my toilet. Yuck! Gosh I hate being sick, and the whole day I felt like I had terrible morning sickness only I'm not pregnant. It stinks to feel that way even when it is for a good cause, but when it's for nothing... GRRRR Jeremy had the most mild version I think, but his also lasted the longest. Today though I think we are all better, maybe a lingering cough or two here and there, but the kids have been doing a great job playing together in their rooms most of day without the excessive whining that had been permeating my home. Ahhhh I even had time to get Kindi's pictures posted. WOW!

Stop to smell the roses. (Alright so she is really eating it, but it's still precious.)

How did my baby get into the double digits already?! Look at her looking like a big girl.

Kindi Kae is totally getting into giving kisses these days. The only problem is that there really isn't anything pleasant about them. If you have spent anytime around Kindi you would see that she is always drooling. Not just a little bit, but a constant stream, maybe even a waterfall, is running down her face at all times. Now pair that with the classic wide mouth baby kiss... Yeah, it's kinda nasty. And she not only kisses she is practicing her french techniques. She plants a big slobbery one on me (I try to deflect her to my cheek, but she prefers my lips) and then waggles her tongue around too. When she is done I need a bath towel to wipe up the slime! And yet even in the midst of all that unpleasantness... I love each and everyone of those kisses!

She has enough hair for a ponytail! Isn't it stinkin' adorable!

Kindi is walking. I have mixed emotions about this. It's so exciting to see her reach that milestone (2-3 weeks ahead of Kaden) but she is my last baby and she is growing up so fast. She definitely isn't proficient in the walking department, averaging 4 steps or so, but she is getting there and on occasion can walk all the way across a room. Most of the time she finds crawling to be more efficient still though.

My children adore each other! They are the best of friends. If one wakes up before the other they anxiously wait for the other. Kaden begs for 'My sissy.' And Kindi points and stares at Kaden's door with anticipatory squeals. You can just hear her begging him to wake up.

We've had our ups and downs just like any other normal family, but let me tell you...

I wouldn't trade this crazy, busy life I have for anything in the world.

Kindi is 9 Months Old

2011-01-23T21:03:00.000-08:00

Our Kindi is 9 months old and straining to be a big girl. She spends most of her days pulling herself up and then letting go so she can stand in the middle of the room without anyone helping her. Just like her big brother. The last couple of days she has figured out that she can also walk around a little bit if she holds on to something. I expect she will be running before we know it.

It has been so nice now that she is crawling like a pro. It is like she is a completely different child. She is happy most of the day now, she doesn't need to be held all the time and she spends lots of time either chasing Kaden around or even playing by herself. Now she has learned the art of climbing stairs though. Oh does she ever get angry when we put the gate up at Mom's house. She crawls up the two steps allowed her, holds onto the gate and cries her little heart out. Completely devastated. Hopefully she will learn how to safely come down the stairs soon too.

She is getting so pretty!

Kaden is 2 Years Old

2010-12-30T22:52:00.000-08:00

Somebody help! I think I am in shock!

How in the world do I have a 2 year old already?

Granted he is the cutest 2 year old I've ever seen, of course I'm probably a bit biased!

This is his 'Hmm' face. He says that when I ask him where something is in one of his books. It cracks me up!

I was trying to get him to hook his thumbs in his vest... He didn't quite get it.

My beautiful son brings so much light and laughter to us. He is always coming up with something new. He loves to 'eat' random objects. He 'grabs' something, pretends to put it in his mouth, then while he chews it he puffs out his cheeks, and waggles his head while stomping and swaying side to side. You have to see it to fully appreciate it. He is talking now. Most of it is still pretty illegible to people outside these four walls, but it is getting clearer and clearer. We are even 'playing' potty training. Neither one of us is quite ready to get serious about it yet I think. Maybe now that Kindi is starting to crawl I will feel like I can give it the amount of attention it needs to be successful.

Kindi is 8 Months Old

2010-12-30T21:38:00.000-08:00

Well I'm only half a month behind this time...

My Kindi girl is 8 months old. And she crawls!!!

She just started crawling the day after Christmas. She is still pretty slow and adorably deliberate with every placement of her hands. She also still has a tendency to forget to move her hands... She doesn't tolerate the face plants very well.

I am so excited about her new ability. I always suspected that she was extra cranky because she so intensely desired to follow her brother around and play with the toys on the other side of the room. Turns out I was right! Yesterday, while I worked on the computer and Jeremy and Kaden had a date, Kindi roamed around playing in Kaden's room (where most of the toys are) for at least half of an hour! All by herself!!! If you haven't spent much time with Kindi you won't realize what a miracle this is, but for this often haggard mommy it was a slice of heaven!

Today she was so sweet following her daddy into the kitchen. We were all in the living room and she was doing a great job playing with the books. Jeremy went to work in the kitchen and she took off (like a snail) to hunt him down, twice. Squealing with glee when she made it around the corner and there he was.

She is still Kindi though, don't worry. She still knows how to throw a fit, does not tolerate any kind of pain, and is a total Mama's girl. But life just got a little bit sweeter (and a lot less cranky) in the Wells' household.

7 Months Old

2010-12-16T16:26:00.000-08:00

So... since Kindi turned 8 months old today I figured I should post her 7 month pictures... :) Maybe I will get her 8 months up before she is 9 months. And while I'm at it, maybe I will start posting our daily activities again... maybe!

Saving His Pennies

2010-10-28T15:09:00.000-07:00

My Grandma Wilson got both of our kids piggy banks when they were born. It wasn't until recently that Kaden cared one whit about this, but now he loves it. I keep it up on his dresser so he can't play with it and break it, and I have made sure that he doesn't know that it opens! He did however figure out that if you turn it upside down and shake, then you can put the coins in again.

I had such a terrible time trying to keep Kaden from eating (although he just sucks on them) any coins that managed to escape us. So I started taking him to his room and getting his piggy bank down every time he found one. Now instead of putting it in his mouth he brings it to me so we can put it away! He shows me his coin, then we run to his room where he throws himself down on the floor while I grab the piggy. I never make him sit while he puts his money in, but that seems to be his preferred way. He has quite the array of faces for me to enjoy while he plays with his money.

I can't remember what was happening here... I think he was just starting to cheese for the camera.

Sucking in air in his favorite gasping sound.

Oooo

A Boy's Gotta Do...

2010-10-28T14:57:00.000-07:00

Kaden has such a helpful spirit. This is a good thing, and we hope he stays that way to balance out the stubborn side to his spirit! So even if it is less than helpful we try to be patient and let him do his thing.

Kaden loves to pick the tomatoes. He relished the afternoons when Daddy was home to take him out to the garden to bring in the tomatoes for me to can. He often came bursting into the kitchen carrying some new treasure that he (or Daddy) had picked to show me. Tomatoes, zucchini, cucumbers, squash, beans, they were all wonderfully exciting! Unfortunately it wasn't until the end of the season that he figured out you are only supposed to pick the red tomatoes. But maybe that was because the season was so stupid this year that we didn't have any ripe ones until the end of the season! Once he figured that out though, he could often be found wandering around the garden and yard with a big juicy tomato dripping from his fingers and mouth. Just like an apple!

We had an incredibly irritating problem with flies this year. After watching his Daddy successfully combat the nasty vermin, Kaden knew that he too was destined to be a fly killer. He cracked us up, he would hear or see a fly and whip his head around to follow it exclaiming, "Uh, oh!". If he could find a swatter within his reach he was quick to flail it around, accomplishing nothing but bringing a smile to our faces. Which is even better than killing flies!

Oops! I forgot to rotate this one. So tilt your head to the left for a moment!

We are having issues with the wiring in our 1950's house. It just wasn't made to handle two computers, including monitors, modems and speakers, two printers, and a phone. Go figure! So we were having problems with them all just randomly blinking off for a moment, kind of like a quick power flicker, but only in this one corner of the house. Then Jeremy heard the outlet sizzle, so we had to do some rearranging. Now we have extension cords running all around the room trying to spread out our power draw. I think Jeremy and Max are going to put in a new breaker and outlet just for the computers next time they make it down. As you can see, Kaden was a great helper as Daddy was crawling behind the desks trying to replace the fried socket and reroute things.

Whatcha doing Daddy? Need some help?

Our ever resourceful son. If you can't get in by climbing over Daddy's back there must be another way. Just climb under the desk instead!

More recently Jeremy has been tearing down the garden getting it all ready for the long cold winter months. He had some T posts in the ground that he needed to pull. They were stuck really good, so he called in his back up... Kaden Raymond to the rescue!

The worked and worked at it. They dug out the bottom with a shovel, shook the pole, and pulled really hard.

Kaden is such a mimic, so in perfect Daddy fashion he grabbed the pole, pulled hard and grunted. It was priceless!

And in perfect little boy fashion he decided to climb the extra hog wire that hadn't been torn down yet! He was quite impressed with himself as he went up and down.

Enjoying the Outdoors

2010-10-23T08:47:00.000-07:00

Jeremy had tossed a few chunks and pieces of the old metal pipe they removed from under the house when he replaced it all with that new PEX pipe. Kaden found the stash and was trying to put pieces back together.

So proud of his accomplishment. (Actually he just found a piece that was already put together.)

Which made a great hammer!

That old clothesline pole is blocking the view, but he is beating on that concrete block with his pipe hammer.

Kindi in a box.

Kindi loving being in a box!

She thought it was great. It was the perfect size, it helped her sit up and she could even kick her feet and flail her arms and not tip over!

Owie!

2010-10-22T21:20:00.000-07:00

Kaden got an owie! How did he get it you ask? Well... have I mentioned before about how much he and his cousin Kori (who is only 5 months older) love to hate each other? They get so excited when they see each other. She screams, "Kaden!" and they run and touch or hug each other. Then they pretty much fight from then on. This particular time they were fighting over whether or not the door on grandma's little cabinet should be open or closed. I don't know who wanted what, but my guess is that Kaden wanted it open and Kori wanted it closed, because Kaden ended up with a nasty pinched finger! It had a cut on it and a gnarly blood blister on the top. I tried to clean it and bandage it, but do you know any nearly 2 year old that will leave a band aid on their finger? So a few days later when it looked like it was getting worse again my mom came with her doctor supplies and bandaged him up good!

She left some extra stuff for him to play with in the hopes that it would distract him from tearing the stuff of of his finger that needed to stay covered for awhile so it could soak up some medicine.

Luckily Grandma Linda was there for the weekend and he had so much fun bandaging her up that he forgot to rip his own bandage off and managed to keep it there all the way through a nap! His finger is mostly better now, you can still see where the owie was, but it doesn't hurt anymore. Although once in awhile he remembers that it used to hurt and he will go around the house saying, 'Owww' and having everyone kiss it better! In fact he even had the frogs on his wall kissing it better this afternoon.

6 Months for Kindi

2010-10-22T14:00:00.000-07:00

Man how time is absolutely flying! My little baby is already half of a year old. She is getting prettier and prettier and more and more fun. Also more and more cranky... It is absolutely killing her that she can't chase her brother around the house. She gets so frustrated and angry that she is stuck in the same place while he runs from room to room. But when he plays with her... she is in heaven! The other day she was in her bouncer and he was playing with the toys on it with her. She was so ecstatic that she started screaming (this time it was a happy scream, and not her usual grumpy scream). Kaden found that to be quite amusing so he screamed back and her, then she screamed, then he did, over and over again for several minutes! Is this something I should be worried about? It was really funny and cute, but are my children always going to communicate with each other by yelling?!

Wow this butterfly costume makes my petite little Kindi girl look like a chunker!

Kaden got dressed up too and took some pictures with her. He loved that they both had hats with antennae on them.

Kindi much preferred to lay on the costume rather than wear it!

She sits up like a pro now. When she first gets up in the mornings, before Kaden wakes up, I will bring her into my room and she sits on my bed giggling and screaming and cooing. She's so excited that she is getting to be a big girl and although I am loving watching her I wouldn't mind if she would slow down a bit. I do have to admit that I am looking forward to her starting to crawl though. I believe that she will be much more content when she can move around by herself and can chase her brother instead of always getting left behind.

The Mischief Maker

2010-10-13T15:24:00.000-07:00

This post is dedicated to the daily mischievous moments of Kaden Raymond Wells.

"There's nothing behind my back."

Kaden, wanting desperately to go outside to help his daddy with the rototiller, pushed an end table in front of the door and crawled up on it to try to open it. Luckily he hasn't figured out that you have to turn the knob yet, although if he had, he wouldn't have been very successful as he had the table pushed up against the door and the door opens in. He did enjoy looking out the window and watching Daddy though.

This is the lovely cradle that Max made for his boys many years ago. Now Kindi gets to sleep in it, just like her Daddy did. The only problem is that it is low to the ground and Kaden loves to crawl in with her. At least we hope it is with and not on! If he isn't crawling in it with her he is rocking it viciously into the wall! So usually we only use it at night.

Jen's kids came over to play in the sprinklers one hot day this summer. Kori and Kaden found a hose that was watering the watermelons and used it to fill up a bucket...

...which Kaden turned into a swimming pool!

I turn my back on him for one minute while tending to Kindi and he crawls into Jeremy's experimental potato pit.

"Cheese!"

One of Kaden's new favorite games is to take all of the toys and pillows out of Kindi's room, one at a time, and throw them under the kitchen table. I guess he is making a nest or something, because then he crawls under there to play and lay down.

This game also translates well to outside, where he strips my swing of all of it's pillows and piles them next to the sandbox. They make a great trampoline.

So I don't think you can read that lid, but can you guess what's in the jar?

If you guessed chocolate chips you'd be right. Their home is in the cupboard right behind him. But if you leave the door open, or even open it too wide, Kaden swoops in and snatches them away. He may not know how to turn a door knob yet, but unscrewing the lid to the chocolate chips is no problem at all!

Jump-a-roo

2010-10-05T12:55:00.000-07:00

Kindi has really been struggling with being the little one. She would fuss and fuss and fuss unless she was being held in an upright position. Usually standing was required although sometimes you could get away with letting her sit up on your lap. She watched Kaden running and jumping and wanted desperately to be a part of it. I was about to the point of losing my sanity with all of the fussing, when my Mom saved the day! She found this 'Bounce, Bounce, Baby!' at a garage sale.

Now Kindi can stand to her hearts content and I don't have to hold her all day, I can even get things done once in awhile! I was beginning to doubt that would ever happen again! The bottom has three height settings and is suspended with three strong bungee type straps. Now my fussy little girl can be found giggling and bouncing with a big smile on her face.

To say that she is always happy and content in it would be a bald faced lie. I fear she will always be my cranky little girl, but we have much more content times and they even last longer than 2 minutes now! She does the best in it when Kaden will play with her or at least be playing in her nearby vicinity. Kaden loves to play with her, but...

He likes it better when she is somewhere else and he can just play with her toys by himself!

It's about right for his knees! It gives enough that he can't crawl out of it by himself though.

We take this thing everywhere! It travels through the house all day long as I work in the kitchen, living room or bedrooms and it even goes outside with us.

Kindi loves to play in it outside where she can watch the tree leaves rustle in the wind. In fact she does so good in it out there that Jeremy had her in it while he worked in the garden and I was working on dinner and he almost forgot she was there. If she hadn't started talking to herself he might have come in without her.

Hitching a Ride

2010-09-25T22:50:00.000-07:00

In addition to all of the hard work my men did putting in a new lawn, they had a lot of fun.

Kaden wishing he could ride the rototiller, but instead having to be satisfied with a little time exploring it. He did get to push it around backwards for a few minutes with Daddy's help.

This is our portable yard debris compactor!

He looks a touch worried but have no fear. It's all an illusion.

Kaden had a blast riding around in the trash can whether it was full on the way to dump in the backyard or empty on the way back to the lawn.

The next day Jeremy switched to a wheelbarrow. Once again bringing along his portable compactor which also doubles as a nice weight for holding your grass clippings in. He rode on top and got a kick out of toppling out just like the dead grass.

One of Kaden's favorite times of the day is when Daddy gets home from work and they go outside to water. Jeremy carries a couple of 5 gallon buckets around the front and sides of the house to water all of his plants and Kaden goes along either pulling an empty 5 gallon bucket or bringing his own little bucket to help.

Putting in a New Lawn

2010-09-25T22:35:00.000-07:00

Jeremy has been hard at work whenever he has a few spare moments. On the weekends, after work in the evenings, sometimes even before he leaves for work in the mornings! He has been redoing our front and side lawns. Most of the work he did all by his lonesome, but some of the time he was blessed with an extra pair of hands:

Jeremy did the rototilling without his helper, but Kaden was eager to jump in and help as soon as he was able. First they raked the dead grass clumps out of the dirt...

Then they shoveled the grass into a trash can to haul it back to the backyard for composting.

Sometimes Kaden got a little bit carried away and just started 'shoveling' down the sidewalk!

Then they raked again...

Now Kaden is feeling like a big boy. He doesn't need Daddy to help him with the shovel anymore!

Well, maybe the shovel is too heavy to lift all by myself...

I'll just carry the dead grass...

and throw it in the can.

Sometimes he got a bit confused and threw the grass into the street instead. Well, that isn't exactly true... if you have spent any time with Kaden you realize that he just threw the grass into the street because he could. He may not be allowed to go into the street, but he can throw the grass there!

And then it was break time!

He was scooting down the curb just like that.

Story Time

2010-09-24T21:24:00.000-07:00

I love to read. Jeremy hates reading. We both love to see our children reading!

Just for Fun.

2010-09-24T12:36:00.000-07:00

Daddy getting some special cuddle time with our two beautiful children.

Hmm... what shall I eat today?

I don't remember what post it was in, but we have a picture of Kaden in this towel too, he was a bit younger though.

Jeremy and I each took a picture of the same sunflower in his garden. Which one do you like better? :)

Baking with Mama

2010-09-23T15:53:00.000-07:00

Remember that zucchini mess? Well I guess I didn't learn my lesson! Okay maybe I did, but I determined that including my son and teaching him how to be helpful, follow directions and obey was more important. Man being a mom is tough sometimes! And I wouldn't trade it for the world.

I have a wonderful Kitchen Aide mixer that I would definitely recommend to anyone, but Kaden doesn't think that is nearly as much fun as a spoon. So even though I did actually mix my chocolate zucchini bread with it Kaden got a spoon to help while we measured ingredients. Did you catch that? *Kaden* got a spoon. He is so tall now that he can get into the top drawers to get his own 'schooon'.

Helping dump in the sugar!

So I probably shouldn't let people see these pictures, because I did give some of the bread away and Jeremy would be thoroughly disgusted... but it's been long enough. Kaden was resting his mouth on the edge of the bowl while he stirred. When I told him not to he put the end of his spoon in his mouth instead.

As I was putting eggs, oil and vanilla in the bowl Kaden kept saying, 'One more.' trying to coax me to put more into the bowl for him to stir and splash all over the counter.

Eventually we succeeded and had 4 loaves of bread in the oven.

Then came the shore of shredding all of the extra large zucchinnis to freeze for winter zuchinni bread fixes.

He concentrates so hard and really accomplishes nothing.

Checking to see if he has actually shredded any yet!

Then he let me do the shredding and he put it into a bucket to be measured and bagged.

Another day we did some baking more to Kaden's liking. A major ingredient was crushed up graham crackers. Give him a meat mallet and permission to smash things and he is a happy boy.

Tub Time

2010-09-23T14:43:00.000-07:00

Kaden has recently started laying on his back in the tub. He used to love to lay in the bath, but lately he preferred to be on his tummy. The first time he did this was so funny to watch. He slowly started to lower himself back into the tub, a grimace on his face that would make you think he was laying on nails. Then when he rolled over to sit up again he got a face full of water and came up sputtering, shocked that the water had attacked him. Did that slow him down? Of course not! He tackled that tub once again and when he came up this time he mastered it.

Believe it or not, when he gets out of the tub we wrap him up in his cute little towels and he loves them. In fact he eagerly waits while we place them on his head (He has a duck and a shark.) then count to 4 as we wrap the towel and then his arms around the towel to hold it in place. While I unplug the drain he takes two steps out the bathroom door, drops the towel and is off to enjoy his short stint in the nude. And unless I want to clean up some sort of unsightly puddle, it is a VERY short stint!

Well Kori was the only one who would look at me, but after a long afternoon of playing in the sprinklers and the sandbox I tossed everyone in the bath. I'm sure you can imagine how filthy kids get when they play in a sandbox after running through the sprinklers! And after seeing them all sitting in the tub it reminded me of a picture of me and my cousins so I just had to take this one. I guess at least these guys are even. My tub picture was me and my four boy cousins.

Time to Eat.

2010-09-17T17:03:00.000-07:00

It's that time. At her 4 month Well Baby appointment, Kindi's Dr. recommended starting her on cereal since we hadn't yet. He said that sometimes the thicker substance helps with the reflux. It makes it harder to spit up. I hadn't thought about starting her on cereal yet, she was so much younger than Kaden was when I started him. She was only four months and four days old! Kaden was four months and TEN days old! Hmm... Funny how that works!

So I prepared her cereal nice and runny, she took the first bite and wrinkled her nose at me. Took another bite or two then...

She dove in! She had all four limbs flailing and was leaning towards the spoon straining to get more! Too cute! The funny part is that she did great the next day too, then she decided she didn't like it. I continued to try to feed it to her over and over again, different temperatures and consistencies, but she would take one bite then scowl (and she knows how to scowl) and spit it out. It wasn't even like she just couldn't figure out how to eat it. I really believe she just didn't like it.

Another example of how Kindi gets the short end of the stick? When I started Kaden on solids I diligently fed him something every day! I gave him something new every week. Poor Kindi on the other hand. I have good intentions of feeding her solids every day (Don't worry, I don't forget to nurse her!), but instead something came up, or I'll do it at the next feeding, or she's too cranky to try it right now, or oops, she's down for the night now. So it took three weeks before I tried giving her something with a little more flavor to see if she would eat it better.

The first taste sensation that we gave to Kaden was Carrots and that did not go over well at all! So sticking with the same color (I read somewhere that you are supposed to start your baby with vegetables of course, but that you are suppose to introduce the orange foods first followed by the green. I don't know why this would make a difference, but it's easy to do so, whatever.) we started with Sweet Potatoes, which Kaden enjoyed his first time.

Did you notice that her bib is smeared, but her face is clean? No I did not get my pictures in the wrong order. I put her bib on and set her food on the counter with a spoon (that was my first mistake), then went to get a stool to sit on before I put her in the highchair (that was my second). Well in that short amount of time, Kaden, who had apparently been watching me like a hawk, snagged her food (He is getting WAY too tall and always surprising me with what he can reach.) and proceeded to try to feed her. He missed. Thankfully!

Yeah, she is so not impressed!

Mom! Why do you keep shoving weird things into my mouth?

Then I just have to go to all the work of spitting it back out!

Then I discovered that although she didn't enjoy eating a bite like a big person, she did enjoy sucking the sweet potatoes off of her spoon more like a bottle style. Although I don't know that I would classify that face as pure enjoyment by any means!

Guess it's not too bad.

She did pretty good for her first taste of color. She ate a third of the container which is much better than the 3 bites Kaden had his first time. And I am proud to announce that since we have started colored food I am remembering to give her some to eat. Every day even! She ate another third of a container the next day and then I sent the last third with her to Mom's house while I went to the dentist on Wednesday. Mom said she ate it all and was not satisfied! I think she is going to be growing like a weed again here pretty soon! Today she finished her second container of sweet potatoes like a pro and I think we will try something new tomorrow! She probably would prefer not to, but I enjoy it so much!

Kaden being the ever helpful, ever vigilant big brother stands on the back of her highchair to supervise!

Kindi is 5 Months Old

2010-09-17T15:24:00.000-07:00

My Kindi girl is 5 months old. She has two teeth already. She is eating big girl food. And I wish time would slow down! I love watching her reach all of these stages, but she is my last baby and I'm not ready for her to grow up yet!

She is getting more and more beautiful every day though!

Since Kaden's 5 month birthday was in May and Jeremy's birthday is in May I used Jeremy's cowboy hat and boots for that month and they turned out adorable. So I thought I'd do the same with Kindi girl's 5 months too, and she is super cute!

Her head is just too small to keep Daddy's big ol' hat on. But even with it tilted she's precious.

So... this one worries me. Only five months and look at that attitude already!

I think it's my favorite though! Does that make me a glutton for punishment?

And of course since Kindi was getting to wear Daddy's ha'a, Kaden wanted to too. He was so sad when I told him he couldn't take it from Kindi. He ran across the yard and sat down in the wet grass saying, "Mah uurn." Which in Kaden language means, "My turn.". He jumped right back up when I told him it was his turn.

More from the Well(s) of Randomness.

2010-09-10T23:01:00.000-07:00

Hmm after this post it will be time to unload my camera again. :) I'm all caught up according to my computer, but my camera has another story to tell! (Or maybe several!)

Garden season. Zucchini taking over my kitchen. Solution? Shred and freeze said zucchini.

Kaden even helped me shred and package it, can you tell in this small picture? Zucchini on the counter, on the chair, on the floor, in his hair... So then I had the bright idea of waiting and letting the zucchini on the floor just dry up so I could easily sweep it up and throw it away. Anybody ever tried that before? Well, don't! It doesn't dry nice and flaky, nope, instead it seems to melt into the floor and stick like glue! The next time I just got on my hands and knees with a washcloth and wiped it up right away.

Kaden stirring the eggs, oil and vanilla for the Chocolate Zucchini Bread. Yummy! Most of it even stayed in the bowl!

I'll probably be in trouble with Jeremy for posting this picture! Kaden found Kindi's headband stash and wanted ALL of them on. So being the diligent mother that I am, I obliged. Then proceeded to take blackmail pictures!

Then he tried to pull them down to get them off and turned them into a blind fold!

Kindi is getting strong so fast. She loves to sit upright and can almost sit all by herself now. When I upload my next batch of pictures I have a lot more stories to tell with her. Food, toys, and more coming.

I don't remember if I posted anything about this cradle before... Jeremy's dad made it for their boys. Both Heath and Jeremy's names are carved into it. He sanded and refinished it for us and brought it for Kindi. It is so neat, it rocks both ways! Sideways, and head to toe. I put Kindi in it at night, but during the day it isn't safe! Kaden loves to hang out in it.

Kaden has just recently figured out what the camera is for. This is his 'cheese' face!!! He doesn't actually say cheese, but when he sees the camera this is what he does. It cracks me up!

My monkey boy is forever finding something, anything (chairs, pots, toys...), to pull into the kitchen to get into the sink, or on the counters. It has gotten so bad in fact that all of our dining chairs are out in the garage because I got tired of rushing into the kitchen to pull knifes and things away from him. Some days poor Kindi gets a bum rap! I feel terrible when I have to stop her from eating and leave her on the couch while I go rescue her brother, over and over and over again! Anyways... So this time he managed to get the dish scrubber that I had just been using and was still quite soapy. At least he was cleaning my coffee table with it.

What Mom?! I'm just helping you clean!

Want me to clean your camera too?

A Blast From the Past.

2010-09-09T22:33:00.000-07:00

Okay so you probably can't really classify it as 'the past' when your son is only 20 months old and your daughter is only 4 months old, but... I did anyways! I uploaded the pictures from Jeremy's camera the other day. That doesn't happen nearly as often, so some of these are fairly old. (You know, like 4 months!)

Jeremy chaperoned a field trip to the Civil War Reenactment here in Lebanon at the end of last school year. Because it was here he just met the bus there and was able to take Kaden with him. Kaden went on his first horse ride... okay so he sat on a horse and promptly begged to get off! Jeremy said that when they shot all their big artillery cannons Kaden didn't even flinch! What a brave little man.

One of the first few days of Kindi. Kaden desperately wanting to touch and play with her! This was when she would actually sleep on Jeremy's chest, although she never liked the tummy to tummy position. Much to Jeremy's chagrin.

Kaden on the other hand, still loves to sleep on his tummy!

Me and my precious babies! (Yikes! I may not be losing it very fast this time, but thankfully I am losing some of the weight!) Kindi cracks me up with her hands by her face. She almost always sleeps like that.

Kaden checking out Daddy's new car with Grandma, Papa, and Lily.

Oh how he loves to give his sister kisses. He is always crawling up next to her or squatting on the floor beside her, while I am warning him to be nice, just to give her kisses! I've got him trained to give me kisses now too. I get three! One on each cheek and one on the lips. I love it, he is so sweet! (Sometimes I have to bribe him to do it though, he is always willing to kiss me for an Oreo!)

Kaden snagged my cell phone and then took off running. Well feeling kind of aggravated that he was running away with my cell phone I followed only to have my aggravation melt away into smiles of adoration. He needed to sit in his rocking chair so he could 'talk' on the phone. It was too cute to stay irritated!

Apparently wearing Daddy's shoes is hilarious!

I don't get to play out in the sand box with Kaden very often, so when I do I am sure to teach him important things. Like how to bury his leg in the sand, you know, crucial life lessons.

Kindi discovered she has a tongue.

And she is adorable when she smiles with it!

Gangsta rap star?

Please, no pictures!

Jeremy is making it a tradition to take Kaden to work with him on the last day of school. Everyone knows that the last day is basically just a big party day anyways, so Kaden just adds to the festivities. The kids love him. And as you can see he makes himself right at home...

...Getting into everything!

Kaden loves to make 'forts' under the table and barricade himself behind all of the chair legs.

Kindi's first trip in the belly pack. She did great! She even managed to make it all the way to Grandma's house!!!

(Okay, for those of you who don't know... Grandma's house is the blue one behind me and I am standing by my fence exactly one block away.)

Look at that poor face! If I remember right the long scratch and bruise on his forehead was from falling and hitting a book that was standing up open. And then the cut under his lip I think came from the coffee table... but it's hard to remember what owie is what! That boy gets new bumps and bruises almost daily!

Luckily they don't effect his attitude. He is still full of smiles and laughter. The sunshine in our days along with Kindi!

The Playland Returns.

2010-08-31T14:59:00.000-07:00

This was Kaden's favorite place to play until he started crawling. Now it is Kindi's turn to enjoy it. I didn't get it out as early for her as we did with Kaden, because of Kaden! Laying her on the floor in such a vulnerable position didn't seem like the wisest idea while Kaden was learning how to be a big brother! He still gets a little clumsy and bumps her around some, but for the most part he tries to be careful with her. Once in awhile his aggressive nature comes out and he wants to poke her belly or show me she has eyes, and gets too rough. His latest is trying to move her from point A to point B. The other day she was laying in the playland watching Kaden play with his toys and I went to wash my hands, or something like that. When I got back to his room Kaden was backing out with Kindi's shorts in his hand. The problem was that her foot was still attached to them! He had tried to pick her up and instead grabbed her shorts to drag her out but the shorts pulled off, almost! He'd pulled her a couple of feet or so! You'd think Kindi would have been upset by this, but no. She was grinning up at him.

The stages of Kindi's development are so exciting. At first she just stared at the pretty colorful toys above her, contentedly sprawled out.

Take my picture too Mom.

Now it is so fun to watch her learn how to grab toys and play with them.

Kaden makes sure to get his play time in still!

Sometimes, in fact quite often, he just crawls right in with her and they have a blast. Until he starts kicking the bars and toys start bumping into her face.

Kindi has a death grip on that poor frog's leg! That toy was designed very smartly (Is smartly a real word?). Kaden always liked to grab it too. When it was Kaden's it sang though. Since then the batteries have died. I just tore it apart and am going to try replacing the batteries, but it was a pain. I had to rip the seam and will have to sew it back together again. I hope it works! If not at least she has two other toys on there that will sing to her. I don't know what happened to most of the original toys that came with it, so we just substitute other fun things!

Big Bath Time!

2010-08-31T14:13:00.000-07:00

I found this great little bath sling at Walmart. It is compact so it fits great in the bath (or a sink) and still leaves plenty of room for Kaden to play in the bath too. Both of my kids love it. Kindi watches Kaden intently, kicking and giggling at him, and he helps me wash her. He gets the washcloth and rubs her tummy or the empty bubble bottle in his hands and dumps water on her legs.

The only down fall to it is that as Kindi kicks she slides farther and farther down into the water. But since she isn't big enough to take a bath unsupervised anyway it isn't really an issue. I just slide her back up periodically.

Mom's of little boys, see that empty Mr. Bubble bottle in Kaden's hand? Guess what fits just right in there? Sheesh!!! Do all little boys do this?

We Do Randomness Well(s).

2010-08-31T11:16:00.000-07:00

This is Kaden's 'I don't know' look which I received when I asked him why he was sitting in Sissy's chair. He loves to sit in the bouncy chair.

Already trying to fill Daddy's shoes!

Kaden loves to play with his sister, but he has a hard time understanding that she can't play the same ways he can. He thinks it is hilarious when I bounce the ball off of his head, so why wouldn't siss love it? :)

Probably Kaden's favorite time of the whole day. When Daddy comes home from work and they go out to the garden to water. If Jeremy sets the hose down for even a second Kaden has it in his hands and is walking around the garden watering plants just like Daddy does. He really does a pretty good job too!

Kaden and his cousin Kori love to look out the windows, but only if there is a blind to hide under!

My silly little Kindi girl is always pulling her skirts up to suck on.

If she doesn't have a skirt to suck on her fingers will do!

No, don't worry we didn't kill anybody and do a bad job of hiding them...

Kaden just thought that would be a good place to drink his milk. :)

My beautiful girl enjoys her tummy time these days, her brother hated it!

Kaden and his blankie! Well actually this is half of a blankie in progress. I have froggy fleece to put on one side, but he loves to find this silky and carry...

or wear it around!

Look Alike Contest.

2010-08-28T15:46:00.000-07:00

Just for fun I thought I would compare the first four months of our children. It is fun to see the similarities!

Kaden had a lot more, but they both have wild hair!

These are great! They are posing practically the same, and it wasn't even intentional!

Kindi has cheeks, but they can't compare to Kaden's! I see a lot of my sister in this one of Kindi, guess that probably means she looks a lot more like me then Kaden does! :)

4 Months

2010-08-28T15:14:00.000-07:00

Big smiles for the camera!

Kindi is already four months old. Time is flying so fast. She just got her first tooth on Wednesday, about 3 weeks earlier than Kaden got his first. One thing we learned through that experience? Kindi does not deal with pain... at all! It was terrible! And it caught me off guard because Kaden did so well with teething, just a little bit of fussing, but cuddling him or giving him a cold teething toy or washcloth soothed him. Nothing soothed Kindi. She just screamed, and screamed until the Tylenol took effect and she fell asleep. Poor thing. It is amazing how frustrated you can get at a baby that you love so incredibly much. Even when it isn't her fault. Then you feel like a terrible parent. At least it passes and I can console myself with the fact that I didn't yell at her or shake her or anything terrible like that. I just sighed a lot and whined a bit!

She has such beautiful blue eyes, just like her brother. And her hair is starting to grow and fill in!

When Kindi is ready to go to sleep she wants a pacifier and a blanket. (Can she already be imitating her big brother?) When she is awake on the other hand she loves to suck and chew on her fingers. (Maybe she is imitating her cousin Kori?) Usually it is just her pointer fingers, but sometimes her middle ones slip in there as well. And as you can see, it makes her happy!

Just as her brother before her, Kindi is a big fan of kicking her legs or holding them up in the air. She hasn't started grabbing her feet yet, but she does like to look at them.

I can't remember for sure, but I don't think I have mentioned that she rolls over now. She first rolled over at 16 weeks. From her front to her back 5 different times through out the day. Then once the next day. And then, I don't know if she forgot how or what, but I finally got her to roll over again today (at 19 weeks). She has done so several times today already, will it be another 3 weeks before she tries again? She is close to rolling from her back to her tummy, but as of yet only does so successfully with the help of my finger.

At Kindi's last Dr. appointment on Monday, she weighed 13 lbs. 8 oz. and is in the 48th percentile. Kaden was in the 92nd at this point! I'm hoping this means she will be a much daintier, more feminine, version of Kaden, because they look SO much alike it is incredible. Oh yeah, she is also 24 inches tall.

Kindi's laughter is getting more and more frequent although it is still hard to tell if she is laughing or crying sometimes! She is getting more and more ticklish and I take every advantage of that I can!

I love taking pictures with this background. They always turn out so fun. My best friend Julie Snyder (I still have a hard time not typing Gosser.) painted it for camp many years ago and I try to get lots of use out of it.

The Random Adventures of Kaden Wells

2010-08-26T17:00:00.000-07:00

This post is all about the fun quirky little things that make Kaden the lovable little boy that he is.

What? You don't store all of your shoes on your coffee table?

I think that this comes from watching me clean the floors... Our shoes are usually kept under a bench in the living room, but when I sweep and mop my floors I toss them on top of the bench seat because sweeping around shoes isn't very much fun. :)

After he very carefully placed all of the shoes on top of the coffee table he proceeded to get out the vacuum and clean my rug...

Yeah right!!! Okay so that was wishful thinking. Instead he hopped up on the table and tossed them all onto the floor, which is where they came from. Only now they are in the middle of my living room instead of tucked under the bench.

After that... he did it again... and again!

Kaden is always trying to steal Daddy's coffee, so one day he grabbed a mug that I was working on (I had some scrapbook mugs for Jeremy of the kids for Father's Day.) and when he found it empty he knew just how to fix it. His milk cup fit just right!

What a creative mind he has already!

Hey Mom (my mom, not Kaden talking to me), does this ring any bells? :)

My mom has a picture of me playing in a diaper box (I think it was even a Huggies one?), although my box was much bigger than this one. So when I saw him sitting in this one I just had to have a picture. Now I may have to find and scan the one of me.

My Dad asked me the other day why we even bother buying toys for our kids. I told him it was for the box they came in. :) Kaden and all 3 of Jeni's kids were playing in large packing boxes at the time and as you can see, Kaden spends lots of time in boxes.

He is helping me unpack boxes of random stuff that seem to have escaped the initial unpacking phase. He unpacks from the inside out though. Either that or he is a candle...

Oh how I love the hot days and sunshine of summer! My water dog son agrees! Jeremy found this on clearance at the end of the summer last year. You hook it up to a hose and it is a little fountain play mat.

He was almost too fascinated by it to enjoy it!

I just like this picture! :)

It would probably be a little bit better if he wasn't wearing all green and blending in though.

My Little Cowboy.

2010-08-25T14:12:00.000-07:00

I don't think these pictures even need words. He is just too adorable and I'll leave you with that!

How Do You Wear Your Shades?

2010-08-24T15:09:00.000-07:00

Since Kaden was always stealing Jeremy and my sunglasses I bought him his own from Walmart. He loves them and now he isn't always breaking ours!

Here We Go Again.

2010-08-24T14:50:00.000-07:00

So does anybody remember this?

My little Kindi girl has a cradles cap problem just like her brother did and I tried the Cradles Cap Care stuff again. Although I must admit, I did it partly so I could take this picture! :) It is amazing how much more hair Kaden had then she does, but at least she has some! If you weren't reading my blog when Kaden was a wee one be sure to check out the above link. It is crazy how much Kindi looks like her brother!

I haven't tried the baking soda method on Kindi yet, but I did try baby oil. It is hard to tell in this picture but her poor little head is slathered and shimmering.

It didn't seem to bother her though.

It didn't seem to help much either.

Thankfully hers isn't as bad, it seems to be slowly disappearing each time I bath her. I haven't felt the need to try the baking soda on her yet!

The Story of a Boy and His Blocks.

2010-08-20T22:27:00.000-07:00

Yay for learning to stack and being totally into it! Seven high is the best he has ever done and I happened to be lucky enough to catch it on film! Then Daddy came along...

...first the clocks got shoved up his shirt...

...then they wildly flung them around the room growling and yelling!

See! That block is not attached to his hand, it is flying through the air!

A Boy's Best Friend

2010-08-20T14:52:00.000-07:00

Meet Maggie.

She is Max's monster of a Mastiff dog. She is easily waist high on me, and definitely WAY bigger than Kaden even though she is a few months younger. This is her perch on the front porch, an old wooden pew that she can guard the door from. That way no one gets in or out without her knowledge. Kaden loved to go in and out that door, partly because he could open it himself and partly because 'd-ahh' (aka dog) was always waiting there to greet him.

Why am I standing back and taking a picture while that dog eats my son's hand you ask?

Well I don't know exactly what is going on, Kaden is probably feeding her something, but Maggie was so amazingly gentle with Kaden so I wasn't worried. She treated him like he was her puppy.

She's as big as a horse!

Kaden and Maggie just hanging out in the shade and talking.

So the first time I saw Kaden tackle her like this I was a little freaked out. I was sure she was going to say enough is enough and lash out at him, but she never did.

He got a little scratch (and I stress little) here and there from their wrestling matches, but Maggie never got him on purpose.

Jeremy is trying to help them get untangled. Sometimes they would get all twisted and it was difficult for them to separate without Kaden getting a little bit banged up.

We really want to get Kaden a dog, but don't feel like Kindi is old enough for that yet. I don't want to have to worry about a dog stepping on her, I already do enough of that with Kaden!

Looking at this picture you would never know that he was a bit intimidated by Maggie the first night we were there. He learned quickly that Maggie wasn't allowed on the cement BBQ area though. He would run out onto the grass and wait for her to come near then he would run back to the cement and look at her, teasing her. It was pretty sweet.

I don't really want a dog as big as this, but I sure did love watching them interact. For several days after we got home Kaden would get so excited whenever he heard a dog bark. He'd point and exclaim, 'd-ah!'.

Apparently Maggie had a dirty face? Or maybe she was drooling like sissy does? In either case Kaden felt the need to clean her face.

Then try out some grass just like dogs do!

So this:

irritates me... a LOT! I tried and tried and tried to upload a great video of Kaden and Maggie wrestling. I tried making it shorter, I tried saving it in different formats, and different places, but all I ever got was 'failure to upload video'. Grrrrr. It was a really fun video too!
Well I think this concludes our Milton Freewater adventures (Although I can't be positive until I go home and double check my files.) so I hope you enjoyed, or were at least slightly amused by them!

Gather Round the Fire

2010-08-19T16:14:00.000-07:00

And now back to our regularly scheduled Milton Freewater Chronicles.

Here is a better idea of what Max's beautiful fire pit looks like. Since we were there last he has created a gate of some sorts for it to keep crazed maniacs, aka Kaden, from falling in. Kaden had grown ups hopping anytime we were out around the pit. I don't think he would have gotten into the pit with the fire because I took him really close once and showed him how hot it was (He didn't like it and wanted to get away.), but as much as he runs and falls... He attempted to give a few people a heart attack at times when he would veer too close.

Since Kaden is such a go getter he is always entertaining, but the family was excited to have another little baby around who they could just hold and cuddle with. Kindi didn't seem to mind all the snuggles, although she did like to spend some time sitting in her bouncy chair by herself too.

So the fire pit is in front of us and behind us is the multi purpose BBQ and stuff area! That is my technical name for it although I imagine Max has a more sophisticated name. He has a regular propane BBQ, a Lousiana Grill/Smoker, an old fashioned Wood Cook Stove, refrigerator and tables and chairs. I think he plans to put a sink in also. He even made us breakfast out there a couple of times!

Big boy Kaden always so proud of himself for climbing up on something new!

The following two clips are Kaden's adventures with drinking like a big boy. There were always lots of water bottles around and he was the master of snagging them and begging for someone to open them so he could pour them down his front.... oh, I mean, drink them! Here Aunt Alyssa is refilling his bottle with a shot of water at a time. He tosses it back like a pro, although I don't know if he actually consumed any.

Kindi's 3 Months Family Photo Session

2010-08-18T17:50:00.000-07:00

We interrupt our Milton Freewater chronicles for a short Kindi break:

Heather came out and did Kindi's 3 month pictures for us. Then she went to Loon Lake and promptly got really sick and was kind enough not to bring it over to us. So we recently got our pictures back from her and they are great! Well as great as they can be with two kids who have no desire to look at the camera, or be still for that matter! Here are a few of my favorites.

At least they are all smiling and pointed in the right general direction!

I completely adore this picture!

Daddy's little princess!

Something about this sort of antiqued look that I love.

This picture is hilarious and wonderful! Both of the kids have their tongues out and their heads cocked. This is the one that earned a place of honor on our wall... if I ever get around to hanging them!

Buckin' Bronco Rider

2010-08-13T18:29:00.000-07:00

Jeremy's brother Heath works at a prison in Pendleton. One of the activities they allow the prisoners to do is wood working. They are amazingly talented! Heath took some pictures of his grandpa (Max's Dad) and had them make this rocking horse and then paint on it different scenes relevant to him. It is beautiful, strong and it is all hand done. Best of all (if you are a 19 month old) it works!

Kaden loved to rock out! Kindi was more like, 'Whatever guys.'.

Kaden, being the sweet big brother and super helper that he is, graciously pushed Kindi when it was her turn. And again, she was like, 'Whatever.'!

We were so impressed with him as he could climb up all by himself and really get to rocking pretty hard. Then he decided it was Lily's turn and obviously she isn't big enough to do it herself, so Kaden once again stepped in to the rescue!

Here is a video of Kaden rocking... hopefully anyways!

Yes he did smash his head into the horse. He has a tendency to get a little bit excited and, I'm sure you won't believe it, but he tends to get a little wild and hurts himself, a lot! I know, crazy huh! And you all thought he was so cool, calm and collected all the time. :) He is tough though. He bashed his head, cried and kept on rocking, refusing to crawl off and cuddle with me even when I walked up to him to help him down. Such a brave little maniac!

Going riding

2010-08-09T16:36:00.000-07:00

Papa took Kaden for a wild ride on his lawn mower. He wasn't too thrilled with it, but the 4 wheeler was a whole other story.

Kaden's last 4 wheel experience didn't go over so well, but he wasn't sick this time and that seemed to make all the difference in the world.

Hey! This is kind of fun. I think the go button is over here!

Holding onto the handle bars just like Daddy!

He's going to be like his Papa. Always working on something!

So I haven't uploaded too many videos to my blog, and it has been quite awhile since I have done any. Since they changed the way things upload we will see if I was successful or not...

This is supposed to be Kaden chattering and dancing on the 4 wheeler so make sure you have some volume turned on. Don't worry, the 4 wheeler is turned off! Oh yeah and Daddy is in the background (which is really the foreground since he is the one holding the camera) loudly trying to get Kaden to show off his muscles! He wouldn't do it for the camera but sitting here at home every time I play the video he hears, "So strong!" and throws his arms up in the air with his little hands balled into fists!

Swimming?

2010-08-09T15:26:00.000-07:00

Just in case you didn't know... Kaden is possibly the world's biggest water dog! He not only splashes in mud puddles, but he find buckets that have collected rain water and dumps them in his own face. He turns on the shower and stands under the spray sputtering. He plays under the water faucet at the park. He crawls into a cooler full of ice just for a chance to splash (Jeni, is there anyway I can get that picture?). He also plays in animal watering troughs...

Across the yard from Max's beautiful fire pit is a water trough that Maggie uses. Now it doubles as a swimming pool. Unfortunately I was feeding Kindi when he spotted it, but I'm told that when he realized what it was he just ran and dove in.

So here are a series of pictures from my goofy sons adventures in the watering trough!

Splashing!

This face cracks me up!

Grandma helped him out so that he could get a piece of wood...

...and take it swimming too!

Where'd it go?

Silly boy! His facial expression is so funny, but it barely looks like him.

4th of July

2010-08-08T22:30:00.000-07:00

Posing with Papa on 4th of July morning. We had planned to go to church all dressed up, but Saturday afternoon/night I came down with a flu or something. I was sick to my stomach and had to miss out on the delicious BBQ meal and party. I did feel well enough to go sit outside and watch Max's friend (an ex Master Pyrotechnic, or something like that...) light off some professional fireworks! That was fun, Kindi slept through them and Kaden would wait until they were done then he would point up in the sky where they used to be and Ooooo and Aaaaahhh. Priceless!

Papa was totally in love with Kindi's patriotic dress. Of course who wouldn't be!

Kaden even had flag shorts!

Chocolate milk and a swing with Papa make for a happy little boy.

Her smiles were definitely not as frequent as they are now.

Grandma getting some love too. Poor little Kindi, her hat was just way too big!

I love this picture.

Heading across the driveway to Great Grandma and Grandpa Remboldt's house.

Kaden got a kick out of playing with the walkers. He would crawl up on them, flip over on his belly, slide off then run around to the other side like a flash of lightening and start again. They were also good for riding when Daddy agreed to be the motor!

The only way they could get Kaden to sit still and pose with Grandma was to put him on the walker.

This is such a wonderful picture!

Kaden has really taken a liking to wearing big boy hats.

Kaden and I having a little chat!

I believe that Kaden has a spoon that he is playing with in the flower beds. He had the time of his life at G&G's this time. The weather was nice, there is so much to explore and so much space to run.

Kindi was thrilled with Papa's clapping and talking to her. She even blessed him with her beautiful smile and some little squeals.

Kindi's First Trip to Milton Freewater

2010-08-08T22:08:00.000-07:00

We went to Milton Freewater for the first time with Kindi over 4th of July weekend. Jeremy and I were so worried about taking her for such a long drive (5 1/2 hours if we drive straight through and don't have bad traffic, usually more like 6-6 1/2). Her typical reaction to being strapped into the car seat is to scream bloody murder (I've never really thought about it before, but that is a weird saying.)! You would think we were pinching her as we clicked those buckles.

Jeremy had to teach summer school that morning, so I packed and kept Kindi awake as much as possible. When we got ready to leave around 1 or so she was exhausted and had already stopped screaming by the time we got her out to the car, even though she was in the car seat already. She passed out before we made it out of Lebanon and get this... Kindi slept all the way to Pendelton!!! Hallelujah! For those who don't know Pendelton is less than an hour from MF. Of course when she did wake up she was incredibly hungry and very upset to be stuck in that chair still. She started with her normal I'm unhappy, fix it, cry but before we could pull into Pendelton to stop at McDonalds, so I could feed her and Kaden could play, she was screaming this high pitched almost hyperventilating cry. It was terrible and I had never heard her so distressed before. Thankfully after a break at McD's she only cried for a few minutes before she went back to sleep and made it the rest of the way!

Kaden was an amazing trouper! We usually stop at least a couple of times for him to get out and stretch a bit, but since Kindi was still sleeping we just kept driving. He napped for the first hour and a half or two and then played quietly for awhile. We also had a portable DVD player that Grandma had given to him at Christmas so he would have something to do on his next trip to see her. He was amazed and captivated with the Veggie Tales for oh... 15 minutes! The truly captivating part was the fact that he could reach the DVD holder with his feet. So he kicked it for hours, I finally had to take the player away and just let him kick the case! We did our best to entertain him and he made it with only a minimal amount of whining.

All the cousins!

Emma, Kindi, Lily, Jacy & Kaden

Max is a very talented... I don't know what you call him, but he is good at building and beautifying! He built a fire pit and barbecue area that is absolutely gorgeous! We ate most of our meals out there and spent the evenings by the fire. I thought I had a better picture of it in here but maybe that is in one of the other posts. Because there is so much that I want to share with you all the trip will be a series of posts! Anyways, that is where we took these pictures. :)

Heath and Alyssa with their three beautiful, way to grown up girls!

Kaden wondering why they are all standing like that.

So our kids were so not into having their picture taken at the moment! Luckily in this small version you can't tell too much. Maggie (Max's mastiff puppy) decided to join us since she adopted Kaden.

Max had a picture of him and Kaden from last year's 4th of July that he loved and wanted to duplicate with Kindi. She's not terribly impressed. :)

Snuggling with Grandma.

Meeting Uncle Heath and cousin Emma. I am ashamed to admit that I didn't get any pictures of Kindi with Aunt Alyssa. :(

Great Grandma Remboldt

Kaden loved to stand at the gate from the house to the fire pit and be the door man. He was quite the little gentleman opening and closing the gate for everyone.

And of course being the monkey that he is, Kaden spotted a ladder and just had to climb it. He didn't ever get too high on it, but if we were there today he would be at the top in a flash! He has been practicing climbing ladders at the park.

Jacy is going to show this little heifer at the Walla Walla County Fair this year... I think... it might be next year.

Kaden didn't care to much for sitting on her back.

These last two pictures are just a couple of me and Kindi. Kindi is so adorable and since it was her first time there we had to have a morning modeling session each day as we came in the door. :)

It is so much fun having a little girl to dress up in all kinds of pretties!

3 Months Old

2010-07-27T10:47:00.000-07:00

Time is traveling way to fast. I realize that I say that all the time, but it never ceases to amaze me how I blink and my baby isn't a newborn anymore. She is growing and changing all of the time. She hardly looks like the infant I brought home 3 short months ago.

On the flip side though, she smiles and is on the brink of laughing. It mostly comes out as a grunt with an occasional squeal, but she's close! Kaden started actually belly laughing at his 3 month photo shoot with Carpenter Photography just a couple of days after he turned 3 months. We are about a week and a half after Kindi's (I know, I am slow getting these up. Sorry!) so I expect to hear that wonderful baby belly laugh any day now. I love the milestones.

As it seems is always the case these days, Kindi was fighting a bit of a cold when we took these pictures. She did a good job anyways.

Isn't her dress cute! The Wahl's gave that to us.

Just playing a bit. I downloaded Gimp for photo editing, but I never have the time to figure out how to use it so I just use my basic Picasa.

It is so much fun to see how different and how similar Kaden and Kindi look. I love comparing Kaden's monthly birthdays with Kindi's.

Thrilling news! Okay, so maybe it won't be incredibly exciting for you, but for me? Oh, yeah. I finally got a remote for my camera!!! So what that means is that I can set my camera up on a tripod and stand across the room to take a picture! It will be great for family photos at Christmas, no more pressing the button, then running to your spot and waiting, and wondering, did it take the pic yet? Now I can just set up, walk calmly to my designated position and say 'Smile!', and with the click of a button concealed in my hand we have a family portrait.

It also works great for taking pictures of little kids who have a tendency to tip over when you let go. In the above picture I have my hands under Kindi's skirt helping her to balance while she stands. I couldn't do that before! Of course the problem is that if they move they might not be fully in the picture.

This one is my favorite. I finally got a full smile out of her and her cute little hat (which is way to big) is actually on her head! Too bad she started tipping right as I clicked the button.

Slip n Slide

2010-07-09T15:18:00.000-07:00

We gave Malaki a Slip 'n' Slide for his birthday this year, June 13th. He didn't think it was warm enough to play with it yet, but the other kids did.

Lillie Kaden

The left side of it sprinkles the slider, or in this case, the runners!

Morgan was the first one brave enough to actually slide on it. There is a big puddle, of really cold water, to splash down into at the end.

I used to love slip n slides. Now I think... How in the world did I used to do that? OUCH! I have joined the 'runner' crowd!

Kaden is such a water dog.

It came with a 'surfer' to slide down on... Maybe I will try that one someday, but probably not! Morgan tried to get Kaden to do it, he wasn't interested in it at all. (This was the same day as the 4 wheeler when he was sick.) Kori thought she wanted to do it although she really wasn't too thrilled once they got going.

Then Morgan talked Zach (her boyfriend) into letting her pull him on it. After that he showed off his surfer skills.

It also doubles as a drinking fountain! Silly Kori girl.

Soaked and loving every minute of it!

Lillie makes a flying leap over the splash down pool.

Sibling Love

2010-06-29T15:39:00.000-07:00

Here is a photo collection of Kaden and Kindi enjoying each other.

Petting his sister.

I put Kindi on Kaden's belly after he had a bath and he thought it was great! The first time I just set her there for a second then picked her up again. He promptly started 'please, please-ing' me and reaching out for her to be put her back.

He is always trying to get her to suck on him.

The other day I left Kindi in her bouncy chair in Kaden's room where we had all been playing, and Kaden and I went into the kitchen for something. Well he left the kitchen and I was quick to follow him, but not quick enough! Before I could get to them he had already 'shared' a grape with his sister! Talk about scary! Luckily she didn't try to swallow it or anything, but she was very confused and I had a hard time getting her to open her mouth enough for me to get it out. It's so hard because he is trying to be nice and share with is sister, but he just doesn't understand that she isn't old enough for that kind of stuff yet!

Look at her so strong and Kaden clearly loving this!

Hooray for snuggles!

Checking each other out.

Kaden loves to hug Kindi and hold her.

He likes to think that he is doing it all by himself.

My babies hanging out on the floor.

It might look like Kaden is giving Kindi her pacifier, and perhaps he is... but only so he can take it again, then give it back again, then take it again...

Papa's 4-Wheeler

2010-06-29T15:25:00.000-07:00

Kaden went on his first 4 wheeler ride with Papa a couple of weeks ago.

I had my camera set on action shot since they were moving, unfortunately it doesn't flash then, so the pictures are a bit dark.

When he saw me he started crying and wanted off. I was fairly shocked! My boy is fearless and had been wanting to ride that thing forever. (He can crawl up onto the seat without any help.) Too bad he had yet another cold! I think he would have been just fine if he wasn't feeling so crummy already. I guess we will have to try again when he is all better!

His cousins Kori and Lillie had been riding several times before and were eager to take their turns.

The Many Faces of Kindi

2010-06-25T14:03:00.000-07:00

So in case you hadn't heard yet... I think my daughter is absolutely beautiful! I can't get enough of her, so now I am going to share with you some of the many faces of my Kindi Kae! Enjoy!

I think I have mentioned before that she has a reflux problem so she sleeps in her car seat. She is getting active and aware enough now that she is starting to enjoy toys some. That butterfly on her car seat makes a delightful wind chime type sound!

This was the first time she had ever worn that hat. It doesn't work so well for sleeping though! It eventually ended up completely over her eyes.

Kissy face.

Beautiful smiles!

Peeking through the toys. She actually prefers to skip the toys on her bouncer seat and just watch me work in the kitchen, I guess the toys obstruct her view!

She knows she's cute!

You just can't help smiling back at a face that precious!

She is so close to laughing! When I tickle her she gets a little grunt out once in awhile. I can't wait to hear that first true chuckle!

She likes her arms up in the air just like her brother did.

Eating with a Fork!

2010-06-25T13:47:00.000-07:00

Kaden is trying to grow up on me these days. He absolutely loves to eat with a fork, just like the big people. He struggles to get the food on the fork, then it is even harder to get it all the way to his mouth before it falls off.

So he often just shoves it in his mouth after it falls off of the fork. (I guess he isn't quite all grown up then!) Most of the time he prefers it if I get the food on the fork then let him put it in his mouth.

His cheeks are full but don't worry, that won't stop him from squishing more in them!

Kaden Behind the Wheel

2010-06-25T13:39:00.000-07:00

So remember that weekend that Max and Linda came to help finish Kaden's sandbox? Well that's not all they came for...

They brought Kaden his first set of wheels!

Papa put him behind the wheel, showed him where the gas pedal was, and then...

...caught him before he slammed into the computer desk!

So we decided maybe we should move outside!

Kaden is a pedal to the metal kind of driver.

Too bad he doesn't steer yet. We have to chase him around and grab the jeep when he gets to a place that needs something more than a straight shot.

In fact it was quite awhile before we could even get him to put his hands on the wheel at all.

Ahhh doesn't he look like a pro now! Even though he has figured out that his hands should be on the wheel, he doesn't do anything but hold it. I suppose he is still a bit young yet to figure out the steering aspect. That will come with time, right now he just goes in great big circles as his hands naturally pull the wheel slightly to one side. We have a church parking lot behind our house that he can drive in though so it works out well!

Lily and Kindi Grandma and Kaden

What visit is complete without some cuddles and storybooks?

Kaden is 18 Months Old

2010-06-22T13:26:00.000-07:00

Kaden is half way to two now. I never could have anticipated the rate that time accelerated once I had kids. At this age they change so incredibly fast, I never know what to expect next. Kaden still isn't talking, but he is starting to try now. He makes sounds and I think he is trying to say sentences now. I'm fairly certain that he says, "I did it". That's his cousin Kori's favorite phrase. Most of the time he just makes lots of sounds that make it seem like he is talking, but nothing clear yet. Anytime I ask him to say a word, like milk or Kindi, he just gives me a funny look and a smile, then stops his babbling. Silly boy!

Isn't he a handsome young man!

Kindi is Two Months Old

2010-06-22T10:55:00.000-07:00

Ahh how fast the time flies. I struggle with the reality that my newborn is already two months old. How does that happen? She is such a beauty! She loves to smile and coo and she is a touch spoiled I'm afraid! She insists that she needs to be held sitting straight up, after all she is a big girl now.

Kindi does tummy time better than Kaden did, but I wouldn't go so far as to say that she enjoys it at all!

I adore this hat! It is so cute and I put it on her every chance I get! It is kind of hard to find things that go okay with it though since it is kind of a dusty pink color.

What you can't see is that she is staring very intently at her big brother. She adores him and loves to watch him play and talk to him.

Big Boy Haircut

2010-06-18T13:43:00.000-07:00

Kaden's hair was getting so long it was almost in his eyes, we had started calling him our hippy boy... although I suppose he was totally stylin' since that seems to be how the boys wear their hair these days! Usually we put him on somebody's lap to cut his hair, but Jeremy was busy at the moment I was ready to start so I sat him on the chair to see if he would let me cut it.

We gave him a cup of chocolate milk and I went to work. The only problem seemed to be that my cutter seemed to be running out of batteries... it doesn't have batteries. It was only cutting a little bit of his hair at a time, if any.

He sat quietly for along time while I tried to accomplish something with my dull, tired blades.

I only made it about half way before he was tired of this game and wanted to leave.

Please let me go Mom!

So sadly my son now runs around with half of a haircut although unless you are looking close you don't notice too much! Maybe I will get new clippers soon, or maybe Jeni will just get really fast and I will let her do it! (My sister is in cosmetology college.)

Sand Box

2010-06-18T13:33:00.000-07:00

So G&G Wells came to visit for a weekend and helped to finish Kaden's sandbox! Jeremy and his dad got a yard and half of dune sand to fill the hole. It is such wonderful sand for building!

Someday we need to figure out some sort of framing for it to help hold the sand in, but for now it is just a patch of sand in the yard!

Kaden's first steps into his sandbox. It was sprinkling off an on, but we just couldn't resist letting him check out his new toy. He walked a few steps in then started stomping his feet in a happy little jig!

Grandma and Lily went to town and bought Kaden some toys for his new sandbox, they even bought enough for his cousins to come and play too.

Lily would help Kaden build a castle and he would gleefully smash it to bits with his little shovel.

He quickly figured out how to use his shovel, but had a hard time getting the sand to stay on it all the way to the bucket. He sure enjoyed it though.

Ooo a big one to smash!

It was so sweet of Lily to build castles for Kaden to destroy!

Kaden Kori

My sister moved back to Lebanon the week before we finished the sandbox so Kaden got to invite them over to play with him. He adores them.

Lillie Malaki

It's wonderful that it is plenty big for all of them to play together and still have space to move around. This sandbox is going to get tons of use... if we ever get any real sunshine around here!

Roses for Mama

2010-06-15T10:52:00.000-07:00

Mommy look what Daddy and I picked in the yard!

It's for you!

Kaden Hard at Work

2010-06-14T08:46:00.000-07:00

Kaden adores his Daddy, as all little boys should! His favorite thing to do in the whole world is 'help' his Daddy. Jeremy is learning the patience it takes to get things done with a little ones 'help'! Kaden definitely slows the process down, but it is so fun to watch him get excited about working with his Daddy and being a part of what's going on. We are trying to foster that helpful attitude, so maybe it will stick around awhile!

Moving the chair out of the way so we could set up the photo studio.

Helping push the wheelbarrow! His arms are spread out almost as far as they can go.

Using a pickax to dig out the old pond that we have now turned into a sandbox.

Shoveling gravel out of the garden area.

He was very serious about making sure it got into the wheelbarrow.

Hooray we did it! Kaden is always up for giving himself a hand.

Kaden decided that he was all grown up and didn't need to 'help' Daddy anymore. So he got his own wheelbarrow and started filling it with gravel too! It never got any fuller than you see in the picture, and as soon as he started trying to push it through the yard it tipped over and all the rocks fell out. It was awfully cute to see him imitating his Daddy though.

'Helping' Leo wire our new pump for the well that he helped dig a long time ago!

Our across the street neighbors absolutely adore our children and are always letting us know they would be happy to babysit if I ever need someone, or even just watch the kids for an hour or so if I need a nap. It is incredibly sweet of them, but I don't think I know them well enough yet to leave my children with them! They do love to have Kaden come visit though, and Leo always has Reeses Peanut Butter Cups to give to Kaden. He says that when he gets older he is allowed to come visit anytime, but he has to look both ways before crossing the street. If he doesn't then he won't get his candy. Leo is also already talking about taking Kaden on fishing trips. They had a couple of sons, but no grandsons, so he seems anxious to adopt my son. Lyllian loves to come over and hold my Kindi girl. They have a new grand daughter who is a couple of months older than Kindi that they have never seen because she lives too far away. She is always bringing little gifts over for my little ones. They even started coming to our church!

Beautiful Kindi Kae

2010-06-12T21:32:00.000-07:00

This is just a collection of photos I have taken through the weeks of my gorgeous little girl! And I have a whole bunch more that need to be downloaded off of my camera someday soon!

She is already showing some attitude in this picture!

Nothing is more peaceful than a sleeping baby!

I love her little green daisy outfit! Since my poor angel has a reflux problem she sleeps in her car seat most of the time.

God outdid himself! She's more beautiful than I could have imagined!

I love this bouncy seat. Kaden used it all the time and now Kindi gets to enjoy it. She often will sit in it on the counter while I work in the kitchen and fall asleep.

Kindi is always pulling those long skinny little feet of hers up to sleep all scrunched up. She had newborn hives when she was born. They looked terrible but didn't seem to bother her and they are all gone now.

Big Brother Loves His Little Sister

2010-06-11T18:06:00.000-07:00

Kaden absolutely adores his little sister. He calls her 'Ssss' and loves to kiss her!

We have to be careful and always keep an eye on him when he is around her. He likes to show us her ears, nose, mouth and eyes... If only he wasn't so rough about it!

He also loves to 'carry' her around the house.

Kindi's 2 Week Photo Session

2010-06-08T14:28:00.000-07:00

So currently our beautiful little girl is over 7 weeks old, but these were taken at 2 weeks.

So we took a couple of this pose first and they turned out really cute, but then when I looked at them on my computer and rotated them it 'corrupted' them and Heather's camera wouldn't acknowledge them. She accidentally deleted them before we realized that they were still visible on the computer. Oops!

When we tried it again Kaden was less than thrilled.

Kaden had gotten a little too much sun that morning.

Poor Kaden was totally not into this. Kindi did great though.

Kaden now adores his sister and wants to kiss her every chance he gets!

My two precious babies!

My amazingly wonderful little princess!

Poor Kindi has a reflux problem. We had several days of miserable screaming and obvious pain for our little one. So we took her to Dr. Allender and he gave her Zantac. So now both of my babies are on medicine. :-( At least it has helped, for the most part now she is a pretty content little girl, although she has been spoiled into thinking she needs to be held all the time. Holding her upright helps with the reflux too. She does have some colicky times, but nothing abnormal anymore. Praise God!

Daddy nuzzling his little angel!

Kicking back and relaxing with Mommy!

Smiling at her Daddy!

Kindi has smiled so much since she was born. In fact I am not even sure when it became intentional with her. She just always has smiled, although now I know that she is responding to people and things around her.

Heather did some editing on this one. I was actually looking up towards the camera and laughing crazily at Kaden, so she swapped out my head. :)

She is so beautiful!

Daddy Time

2010-05-19T12:56:00.000-07:00

"My Daddy Give the Best Hugs"

Spending time cuddling with Daddy. What could be better?

Daddy sure loves these special times!

Kaden has a hard time being still... so we are constantly on our guard when we get the joy of cuddling them both at the same time. Watch out for flying feet!

Pregnant with Kindi

2010-05-19T12:43:00.000-07:00

I just realized that I never posted about my maternity pictures! My cousin Heather came and did them for us! I have the photo backgrounds and lights and things, but I needed someone else to take the pictures for me! I do have a tripod, but using a timer with a 15 month old... yeah, I would never get anything good! So I called my lovely and talented cousin up! She also did all the editing for me... which is something that I can't really do yet. One of these days I will find the time to learn how to do it though.

These were taken only 6 days before my Kindi surprised us by coming early.

So I think this may be my favorite of all! My sweet little boy playing with Sissy's shoes. But mostly I think I just really like what she did with the coloring, I don't know what it is about it, but I love it!

I think this is the one that we are going to put on our wall, but I haven't made that my final decision yet.

Jeremy being Jeremy. :)

Want to know something incredible?

Jeremy isn't actually in this picture! Okay, that isn't entirely true, he is actually on the other side of me on his knees showing Kaden how to kiss his sister. Heather photo shopped him in! Way to go Heather!

I love this one too. Kaden is actually trying to lift up my shirt so that he can tickle my tummy, but no one has to know that right? We just pretend that he is excited about having a sister!

So Heather had this great idea...

She made paint out of baby lotion, a little bit of soap and powdered tempera paint. Then Jeremy and Kaden painted on my belly. It was a lot of fun. Kaden had a blast and the pictures turned out really cute. Jeremy wrote 'KINDI' and then showed Kaden how to do the rest! Kaden and I were pretty messy when we were done. I tossed Kaden in the bath then just used a warm washcloth to wipe my belly off. Since it was mostly lotion my tummy felt all nice and soft when we were done!

Such a serious look!

So... I absolutely can not stand to have my belly button touched! It feels so yucky!!! Kaden of course wants to stick his little fingers in it every chance he gets! Ornery little boy!

Visitors for Kindi Kae

2010-05-18T15:40:00.000-07:00

Kindi has had lots of visitors since she was born. I even have pictures of most of them. I did forget to take my camera when I took her to visit Great Grandma Wilson though. And I didn't get it out when Jackie came to visit or the Rouse family, hmm or the neighbors... okay so maybe I didn't do so well. That was silly, I will have to remedy that! I am finding it very difficult to get as many pictures as I would like because I have to protect her from Kaden! So I can't just set her down and take pictures of her. :) Kaden adores her now, but he can be a little bit rough and he is a klutz. I have saved her from being squashed by him multiple times already!

So here are the pictures that I DID remember to take!

Grandma Wilson was there for the delivery.

Kindi is so blessed to have so many people that love her!

'Aunt' Mo-gee

Morgan babysat Kaden for us while we were in the hospital! We love her tons!

Grandma Wells

Jeremy's parents and niece raced down to the hospital and managed to make it before Kindi made her appearance! They were so sweet to care for Kaden while we stayed in the hospital that night.

Cousin Jacy

Grandpa Wells

Grandpa Wilson

Papa, why do you have that baby in your arms? I don't know if I like her!

'Aunt' Julie was sick the day Kindi was born so she had to wait a few days before she could come visit. It was sad!

Christina even came down from Portland to meet my Kindi girl.

My sister currently lives in Georgia and it was torture to not have her here to meet my daughter when she was born. I am so grateful that she is here to visit now though. Kindi got to meet her Aunt Jeni 2 days before she turned 1 month old.

Malaki didn't want to hold his new cousin Kindi, but he did inform us that 'He's so small'. Then he gently patted her on the head and said, 'He's kinda cute.' I loved it!

Kori wasn't so sure what she thought of her mommy holding another baby.

She does like to look at her and bring 'Baby' stuff to play with.

Amy

My cousins Angie and Amy brought my sister to see me after they picked her up at the airport.

Thanks guys!

Angie is hiding under that hair somewhere! :)

The Evolution of Bath Time.

2010-05-18T15:28:00.000-07:00

Jeremy gave both of our babies their very first bath while we were in the hospital!

I enjoyed watching from my bed. He is being so careful with our Kindi girl.

Once we get home it is my job to do the sponge baths.

Whoa Mom what are you doing to me?

She is so small and beautiful!

Peeking out of her towel. Kindi doesn't enjoy her baths at all, and it takes a while for her to warm back up all the way. So I wrap her up in a big fluffy towel and carry and snuggle her until she is heated up again.

Baby tub! I don't really like these cause Kindi just tips over in them, but they are so convenient that I just deal with setting her upright again and again.

She is okay with the tub for a couple of minutes, so I am getting good at speed bathing!

My beautiful little girl!

Someday Kindi will get to play in the tub like her big brother!

Call me silly, but I think he is totally adorable when he plays on his tummy in the bath tub. Gotta love those cute little buns!