Kaleb Turned 3

So does this mean the Terrible Twos are over? Yes? YES?!



I'm not quite sure why, but it has felt to me like Kaleb has been 2 for... forever! Isn't it supposed to seem like time has flown by? I don't really remember him as a baby or even a 1 year old, but I feel like I can remember every day that he has been 2.

Anyway! So Sunday was his birthday. Here he is checking out his cake after church. Because Kaleb wanted to be Batman for Halloween this year, and has been wearing the costume practically everyday for the 2nd half of October, I thought it was appropriate to try making a Batman cake. Kaleb loved it, so I was happy. He put his claim on eating the Batman symbol as soon as he saw it. Which he later did.


The kids had quiet time before heading over to my mom and dad's for the party. I put them in separate rooms for a reason. But Kaleb wanted to be with Jaden, and... it WAS his birthday.


The party begins! Here are Jaden and Kaleb with Great-Grandma all decked out in their Batman party hats. Grandma's so cute!


And Bradley.


Here we have the Famous Batgirl.


I think Batgirl looks awesome and transformer-like with her freaky red eyes.


But the boys prefer this version.


And here is Batgrandpa. (Sorry for the in-the-middle-of-stuffing-the-face shot, Dad!)


After dinner, Kaleb began to open his presents. Usually with my kids, when it's present time, it's kind of painful and irritating to watch. They're not appreciative, they're not as excited as we hoped, they won't open anymore presents if they have just opened a toy, they need help getting them opened, and y'know... you feel BAD when someone has gotten your kid a present and they don't show the proper enthusiasm or appreciation. Well I think this was the first time I REALLY enjoyed watching one of my kids open their presents. Kaleb was so happy and excited about everything. Even clothes! "Ooooo! Jammies! Ooooo! Clothes! Yaaay!" He said thank you a lot, he didn't need help, he just had a really great attitude the whole time. I was SO proud of him! Is that weird that I can't just expect my kids to be happy when opening presents?




This present was my favorite to watch him open. It was a Spiderman helmet. He's been watching Jaden ride a bike or scooter with a helmet for a couple years now, and when he saw it he got SO excited. He just plopped it on top of his head (still packaged with elbow and knee pads) and just marched around the room as giddy as a schoolgirl.


He got a surprisingly NON-annoying musical toy from his Grandma and Grandpa. A little guitar that has become a huge hit with all three of the boys, and still has yet to get on my nerves. (Good choice, Mom and Dad! I'm sure there will be no "accidents" happening to this gift.)



And here he is opening the present Jaden so thoughtfully chose for him... months ago. My favorite... "Rip it like a MAN, boy!" And I love Kaleb's excitement.



Here he is playing with Spiderman and the Green Goblin. Then trying out his scooter for the first time.



Bradley seemed to enjoy the scooter the most. Here's a nice big brother helping him out.


Jaden became quite impressive with his guitar-playing moves. His stage name is, "The Secret Author." Give it up.



I had some technical difficulties by the time we got to the cake, but I was lucky to get in ONE shot. Kaleb was so cute... he was probably the loudest Happy Birthday singer. He was so excited. :)


And here we are the next morning trying out the new scooter. Kaleb has a little bit more confidence. Still working on moving his weight to the scooter. But he's getting better.



And Bradley will ride any chance he can get.



Although Kaleb is my wild child, I would like him to know that he has added so much fun and humor to our little family. When he is happy, it is rapidly contagious. He is creative and smart, and full of surprises. He is also the sweetest little boy. You can't help but melt when he talks to you in his clear, soft voice, with his sweet smile and beautiful eyes. He is definitely all-boy. He loves to play sports, he prefers TV shows like Spiderman and Batman where there is a villain and a LOT of fighting. He is loud and has a great "tough-guy voice." He would rather wrestle with Charles than do anything else. I love that kid.

Blog on...

So, this summer has been so fun and busy, with so much to blog about, that I have just become way too overwhelmed to begin. (And I'm also really bummed because I downloaded like 800+ pictures from Sherrie's camera from their visit with us, and now they are no where to found. Suck.) I'm too frustrated to recap, so all you're gonna get is... summer was fun... see slide show below.

BUT. As Jaden says, and I'm not sure where he got this from... "Socci's never quit!" I will blog on. One cool thing about each kid. Let's start with...

BRADLEY'S BIRTHDAY


Bradley turned 1 year old this month. We had a little party at my parents' house, which was extra special because my 2 long lost sisters and their families were in town that week. So here we have the cousins running around, partying, and... burying their Aunt Alli in balloons.


We started with birthday presents because the cake was going to be a mess! Bradley actually did a pretty decent job opening some of his own gifts.


Next we went to the cake. I've kind of gotten into this crazy habit of... instead of buying a cake, or even baking it and then just throwing on some sprinkles... actually trying to freehand, without any instructions or patterns, some kind of design that describes the kid in some way or another. It started with Jaden's Nemo cake, and then Kaleb's Basketball cake, followed by Mickey Mouse, and Cars, and even the annoying little character Caillou. Well this one didn't turn out as well as the others, but Bradley really loves books. Not necessarily to listen to... but to eat. It's one of his most entertaining church toys. So, I thought it would be appropriate to make him one that he could really eat. I know, kind of lame, but here it is.


And he actually dug into his cake. Jaden didn't like to get messy, and Kaleb, didn't mind too much, but Bradley got into an messed up over half of the cake. Big improvement for my family!


And he was also sweet enough to share. :)


Okay, next we have...

KALEB GETTING POTTY TRAINED


Oh boy. This has been something I have been seriously dreading. He's not the most compliant kid on the block. We have more timeouts with him than we can even count. And so trying to bring in potty-business into the mix was definitely NOT something I was looking forward to... at all. Plus we had so much going on over the summer, that it really was difficult finding a good stretch of time where we could actually focus on HIM. Well, the time came. Ugh. But he's doing alright. Here he is checking out his work...


And here he is showing off his Buzz Lightyear underwear.


The amazing thing about the potty-training experience is that he has had a major attitude adjustment. You remember that little video where he says "I hate you!" to me? Well ever since we started training him and giving him huge amounts of attention and praise, he has become so much more loving. I'd say that for every "I hate you" we get, it has been preceded by at least 40 "I love you"s. He says it all the time. It never gets old. Amazing what a little more praise and attention can do.

And lastly...

JADEN STARTED KINDERGARTEN


He only gave me goofy smiles. Punk.


Starting the short walk to school

Already tired and wanting a ride.

Lining up and saying goodbye.

Jaden said he had an "ok" day that first day. I'm sure it had nothing to do with the fact that his parents had a mix-up with the pick-up time and were about 10 minutes late. Oops! "No one likes to be the last kid to be picked up." (cringe) Sorry Jaden. It could have also been because he wasn't feeling well. That night he became really sick and missed the next 2 days of school. :(


And here's a bonus:

The kids found the Halloween costume box and had a little fun.

You Look Like a Monkey...

Yes, I realize this is a week old, but... my boys worked hard to celebrate this day with me, so I have to give 'em props!


Well, I caught back up to Charles. I'm 28 years old, but feel like I'm still 21. Alli is 7 years younger than me, and most days I feel like she is the older and wiser one. Well... maybe she really IS the wiser one! Kare is 4 years younger and I have always felt that we were the same age. Okay... maybe this just means that I am immature for my age. Or maybe at some point it's like Alli said... "at some point all siblings just feel the same." Hmmmm... But that doesn't work for Julianne. She will always seem older to me. Well, not "older" ...per say... but more... "advanced in life...?" Okay, whatever... On to the party!

Even though my birthday was Wednesday, we celebrated a few days early so we could do it on Sunday with my family. Charles made me my favorite dish... Lasagna. I would have taken a picture but it was eaten like the second he set it down! He also made Texas Sheet Cake.... another one of my favorites! Have you ever had either of these two things? They are seriously heaven. If heaven doesn't have these, then I'm not interested! And if you ever want to try any of these... be sure to be around for my next birthday. It's a tradition! Thank you Charles!



Well, I got some pretty awesome gifts, but I have to say that my favorite part was the homemade cards. Check them out!


The boys got me the game Rush Hour. (Which if you have never played it, I highly recommend it!) I got the "kids version" for Jaden for his birthday and I played it all the time. "Got anymore braaain...busters?" So now I have the regular version some of those puzzles are hard! Great mind-exercising game.

The boys also got me... in lieu of what they've expressed they really want for Christmas... a new baby sister. I have a new baby doll named Kiki. The boys play with her and feed her, and change her diaper and put her to bed... they say they are ready for a REAL baby sister. HA! Fat chance.


Alli got me a gift card for a "much-needed" Pedicure. Kare and Curtis got me a Southwest Airlines gift card... hmmmm... wonder what they have in mind? :) And my parents gave me "The Gift of Time".... Ahhh.... Can't wait to use that one! Thanks everyone. And thank you to everyone else who called, emailed, facebooked or texted me Happy Birthday wishes! All in all, it was a pretty good birthday. It's kinda weird being only one year younger than Dad... :)

Jaden turned 5!

It's crazy to think that Charles and I have been parents for 5 years now. Even crazier to see how much Jaden has grown. Jaden has been looking forward to turning 5 for a couple years now, and the past few weeks have been constant birthday talk... "When I turn 5 I want to have a BIG party." .... "When I turn 5, I want Smoker Man for my birthday. I want good guys and bad guys." .... "When I turn 5 I'll be big enough to go to Kindergarten."..."I want a real car for my birthday." On and on and on. We're already hearing plans for his 6th birthday.

Well, we celebrated his birthday on Sunday at my Mom and Dad's house. Great Grandma, Great Grandpa MacKay and Alli were also there, along with Kare and Curtis via web cam.



The fun began with Jaden's favorite Sunday dinner (pot roast), and then we headed outside for the pinata!

After a bunch of failed attempts at cracking it open with the bat, Jaden resorted to using his karate chops and kicks!

Next Jaden opened his presents... sorry.. no real car, and no Smoker Man. But he DID get a pair of soccer goals, a robot, a bike, and more. (He's so lucky!) Here is a video of Jaden dancing with the music from his robot.



Bradley was quite intrigued with watching Jaden move.


After presents we did the cake. Jaden is starting soccer this month, so he decided to have a Soccer theme.


Kaleb honored us with his rendition of the Happy Birthday Song....



And then we all sang to him.
Happy Birthday Jaden!!