18 months goes by fast...

This is Cael's latest work of art :)

Cael is sitting on a mound of snow/ice in the front yard over the weekend. Mark had just spent about 2 hours shoveling the driveway and it started snowing again.

It seems like it was only yesterday that I gave birth to my handsome boy. Today he is 18 months old.. He'll be going to kindergarten before I know it. :(

So one of his favorite new toys is a Magnidoodle.. Last night he was letting me draw pictures for him. I would draw the different animals and would make noises. Well I wrote his first name, CAEL, and said it. He repeated it. Then I wrote his middle name, ZYWOT, and said them together. He then said "Morgan." So now our new game is for me to say "Cael Zywot.." and he says "Morgan." How cute is that? Such a smart boy..

He is already trying to count.. His favorite number is 9. As he starts to climb up the stairs he says "9, 2..." So I correct him and say "1" he then will say " 2, 3.." he will also say 6. Tonight in the tub he actually was saying "1, 2, 3" then splashing the water.

The other funny thing he did recently was repeat his Daddy's first name. The three of us were sitting on the couch watching a movie Saturday and I wanted Mark's attention without also getting Cael's attention. So I said, "Mark" and then Cael turned to him and also said "Mark." We quickly corrected him and I ensure I call him Daddy when Cael is around. Sunday night when Mark was at work Cael was walking around saying what sounded like either Mark or mulk (milk). :) It is so fun trying to figure out what he is saying.. So often he looks at me with the most serious expression while he goes on and on and I have no idea what he is saying.

I just wanted to provide another update... Next week we get to find out if Cael will have a little brother or sister so I am super excited.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas all! I hope you all enjoyed the day.

We had lots of fun with Cael and all of his new toys.

Thank you all for making this Christmas so great for our little guy!

Trucks...

Books...

PJs

Blocks...

Movies...

Puzzles...

Digital picture frame...

Mr Potato Head...

Gator gear...

A learning, riding turtle....

He loves to play with this singing toy... he makes the songs play over and over and dances around.

CHEESE!!!

Aren't I cute in my Christmas outfit from Nana and Papa?

This was Christmas Eve.. he was just hanging out and reading.

Check out my hard hat... for when I am doing real man's work! :)

I am a MONKIE and love bananas!!!!

We had a white Christmas.

Almost Christmas...

Well I am ready for Christmas. All the presents are wrapped under the tree and Mark and I are excited for Cael to open them! :) The child is spoiled thanks to Granny, Grandpa, Beesha, and Dziedze. Mark was just saying today we need to make sure we are both presentable Christmas morning so we can take turns being in the pictures with Cael.

Last Sunday I made goodies to get into the holiday mood. I think I was missing family and so I made Magic Cookies, Peanut butter delights, fudge, and cheesecake squares. They were also so yummy. I took some to my team at work as they Christmas presents. They seemed to enjoy them so that is good. Cael loves fudge!... I guess who doesn't?

Oh, as you can see I posted a picture of Cael with Santa.. yeah he was scared of him.. maybe it is because Santa is wearing a crazy blue shirt instead of his suit. Even if he is not smiling, he is just so darn cute! Maybe next year he will be warmed up to him.

Every night I sing the 12 days of Christmas to Cael and we read Twas the Night Before Christmas about 5 times. :) It is a lot of fun.

Well I miss you all and I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas. I promise not to lag with posting pictures from Christmas morning!

Getting in the holiday spirit...

My mother-in-law asked me to take pictures of Cael in front of the tree.. so I did. :) Last night I tried to get him to hold still for a few pictures. He is now at the age where he poses, which is quite funny.

We bought a new pre-lit tree this year which is great. I probably saved about 1-2 hours of time by not stringing lights. I did buy some shatterproof ornaments as I knew Cael would think he should throw the balls. And he did. He has been really good about not messing with the tree. If the lights are not plugged in he will stand in front of the tree saying 'more, more' until we plug it in. Then he says, 'pretty.' :) On the drive home from daycare he'll say 'pretty' all the way home as we drive by homes lit up with Christmas lights.

Well, we are expecting a blizzard of sorts tonight. Yuck! It started snowing yesterday just before we headed to church at about 12:45pm and continued into the night. I think we only got a couple of inches at most. It then snowed a bit this morning, quiet during the day, but it has started again tonight. We are suppose to receive another 8-12 inches by Wednesday. They already cancelled school for tomorrow.

And guess what the kicker is?! I am suppose to fly to California tomorrow for work. I was hoping my flight would get canceled but no such luck. I am still keeping my fingers crossed. It is not that I mind going, but I hate leaving my family and none of my clothes fit so I don't want to go see clients or people from work that only see me every couple of months or so. I am happy to have my body grow bigger as I have a growing baby but I hate this stage of not fitting into things - not normal clothes and not maternity clothes. Can I just wear jammies every day? :)

We took Cael to the doctor this last Friday because he had been sick with a cough and runny nose for almost two weeks and the cough got worse. So he is on another antibiotic for a sinus infection.. poor little guy. Hopefully the augmentin will do the trick.

Well I hope you are all well and ready for Christmas. I feel like there is so much yet to do, including getting our pictures taken.. Oh well, a day at a time right.

Love you all!

And here comes number two!!!

I have an excuse for being lazy and not updating my blog every couple of days.... I am pregnant!
That is right, I am 12 weeks along and dead tired. I was telling my mom I don't remember being so tired the last time but I also did not have a 16 month old running around either. :)
So far things are going well. We just heard the heartbeat again on Friday, 11/13, and it was up to 170 beats per minute. I am not hanging out by the toilet but I am not feeling my best either. We are hoping for a girl so cross your fingers.

So have you figured out the due date then?? June 1st! Cael and his new sibling will be about 23 months apart. I think that is about right! :) I guess we will see. We can't wait for January so we can find out if we will have another son or a daughter! If we have a boy I really won't need to buy anything since they will have the similar birthdays. If we have a girl, shopping here we come!

Other than that everything is going well. Next week I turn the big 30, 11/25!!!! CRAZY! I am getting old. I am excited about Thanksgiving but dread the cooking! :) I am a lazy bum these days...Mark does get to work a normal schedule next week (8-4 M-W) and he will have Thanksgiving Day off. That will be nice. We will prepare Wednesday night so we will not have as much to do the day of... We are not turkey people so we already have the ham to cook. This year Cael and I get to partake in the goodies since we are no longer dairy free! I will not go overboard though as my doctor is already giving me a hard time about the weight I am gaining with this pregnancy....

I have gained 10 lbs in the first trimester. I also started 20 lbs lighter than I was when I found I was pregnant with Cael. I argued with the doctor and told her I eat to not feel sick. She has me taking pepcid ac and vitamin 6 to fight the hunger. I really am not pigging out, just eating more than I was 4 months ago when I was still not eating dairy and no longer breastfeeding!!!

Sorry for the tangent there. Mark and I already mulling over the different baby names. We really do want a girl so we have been discussing girl names. I won't provide our list so we will not have any thieves taking our good names!:)

I hope everyone is well!

Halloween and surprises!

I am sorry I have not been the best at posting as of late. It seems like if it is not one thing it is another. Cael was sick for about a month, I got sick really bad for a weekend, then Mark tested positive for the swine flu last week. Yuck and yuck!

I just bought a book about how to raise a happy, more patient, non tantrum throwing toddler. So far I have learned I am to think of Cael as a caveman. :) I'll let you know how it goes!

Love you guys!!!

Mark's birthday is tomorrow, 11/10/09. Last year he turned the big 30 but I did not do anything BIG for him. This year I needed to redeem myself. So I organized a little surprise party for him this last Friday.

He never saw it coming!

Cael helped eat the cake!

Jake helped me plan it and then dished up the cake since Mark was still under the weather.

My camera battery died but I was able to take a couple of pictures of friends:

When I was in Irvine, CA a couple of weeks ago I picked up these Mickey Mouse ears for Cael. Instead of the bunny ears he can wear mouse ears

The Halloween DRAGON!!!

We started the night off at the trunk or treat. Cael had a late nap from 2-4 so when we woke him up to get dressed and go he was GODZILLA!

Daddy pacified the hungry monster with some candy until we went to dinner.

We then went to the mall where we walked around and got some more candy. Cael got to ride the carousel which he loved.

We got to see Mickey Mouse!!!!

I made some lasagna this last weekend. It has been over a year since I made it, with the avoiding dairy. It was 'smack your granny' good! Cael loved it!

Cael loves Mickey Mouse and the other characters on Playhouse Disney. There was a show in Omaha so we took him.

Hot dog!!

As you can see, he loved it!!!

Daddy got us seats in the 5th row so we could see everything really well.

Cael loves meal time! Mark took some pictures of him stuffing his face with oatmeal! Yummy!

I hope this turns out as cute as it sounds in person.

We love you guys!

So darn cute!!!

That's right! it is already hat weather in Lincoln, until tomorrow when it is suppose to be 68! Crazy weather! Tonight it is suppose to be as low as 34... I miss Florida! You'd think I'd be over it after almost 5 years but it is so hard! :)

This last weekend we decided to get Cael his own chair. Now he thinks he is hot stuff! - which of course he is.

Everything else is going well. I was sick with a yucky stomach bug Friday. It all started at about 3:30am. I spent some time by the toilet and then curled up in the bed or on the couch. I was still a bit feverish when I went to bed at 8pm but woke up Saturday morning 6am and I was a new woman! Unfortunately Mark then got sick Saturday evening. Sorry babe!

Love you all!! I wish we were all so much closer. Take care!

Got a fever???

My poor Cael has been sick off and on since Wednesday 09/16/09. Call me crazy but I blame the flu shot. This is the second time he has received a flu shot and both times he became sick right afterwards:

• 09/14 Flu shot
• 09/16 Fever of 101
• 09/17 Fever of 103. The doctor said ear infection
• 09/19 Fever finally broke in the afternoon
• 09/25 Fever of 102. The doctor said a viral infection (flu??)
• 09/26 fever of 102-103
• 09/27 fever of 102 in morning. This afternoon is right at 100

I have never had a flu shot and I've been fine. I want what is best for him, especially with the H1N1 but this has been ridiculous.

Cael loves his bunny ears and Batman sunglasses.



SNEAK PEEK to HALLOWEEN!!!!

Cael has been so sick he is GREEN???? Nah.. Just a dragon for Halloween.

Aaaahhh! The dragon is getting me...

He loved playing around.. destroying the basement like Godzilla.

Book Report
I did finish reading Dan Brown's latest book, The Lost Symbol. It was just as good as the others... I had heard rumors the content would be about 'the connection between the Mormons and the Masons.' But this was not the case. It is all about Masonry.. Very good book. I think this one will make for a better movie than the other two, Angels and Demons and The Da Vinci Code.