Why do they have to grow up?

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!

A Blast From the Past.

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!

Buckin' Bronco Rider

   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!

Kindi's First Trip to Milton Freewater

   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!  

The Many Faces of Kindi

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.