• Cade talks more and more each day.  Sometimes I wonder what it was like before he started talking.  He repeats everything!  He is figuring out new words and how to make phrases all the time. 
• Some of my favorite phrases he says is "yeah, I do" and "yeah Mom."  I also love the way he says jammies.
• Cade likes to help Cami be happy.  Cami loves Cade so much!  One time Cami was crying in the car and I told Cade to sing her a song.  He started singing "Green means go, green means go" and she stopped crying for a second.  He said "Mommy, Cami happy."  Another time we were on a walk in our new double stroller.  Cami was having a hard time and, without prompting, Cade reached over and gave her one of the toys.  It didn't help, but it was a nice gesture.
• Cade love to help.  He helps me sweep inside and outside, vacuum, collect garbages and make the bed.  His new job is to clear his bowl after eating and he is pretty good at it. 
• Cade is "poopy trained."  He tells me when he has to go, and he does it.  I really don't change any poopy diapers on him anymore, which is great.  I don't know what to do next, if he is ready for an all out no-diaper campaign, but at least we got that far.
• Cade loves his baby doll (it's actually Cami's, but she's letting him borrow it.)  He takes good care of the baby:  feeding bottles, burping, putting her to bed etc.  The baby comes everywhere with us, but usually she waits in the car.  She always sleeps with Cade.  It's great.
• Cade has been getting better and better in nursery.  Last week he made it about 45 min before we had to take him out and the week before was about 30.  He always cries when I drop him off, but he does calm down.
• Cade is very organized.  He always puts his shoes by the door and often will put mine and Kirk's there as well.
• He loves his daddy.  They like to wrestle and play with balls.  Cade loves to have Daddy put him to bed too.
• Cade loves his wooden train track he got for his birthday.  We play with it at least once a day.  He really likes to build the roads by himself.  When he runs out of track, he gets a piece from the beginning and keeps adding it to the end.
• Whenever people leave our house, Cade likes to go outside and wave.
• My 14-year old cousin Amber lives about 15 minutes away from us.  Cade LOVES Amber.  He asks if she can come play and last weekend she babysat for us.  Cade remembers when we called Amber and sang Happy Birthday, how she kicks bean bags and how she does somersaults.  I remember one of my aunts telling me "Thank you for loving my kids" when I was in high school.  I didn't really get it until recently.  Now I am so grateful to Amber for loving my kids!

• Peas don't go in your shirt
• You want to tell the vacuum good night?
• You can't hold the vacuum in the picture!
• Yes, the fan is happy.
• I'll put the tractor to bed downstairs.
• Don't put that in Cami's mouth! (in reference to cheerios, don't worry)
• Are you dipping your bread in yogurt?  Are you dipping your taco meat in mustard and ranch dressing?  Whatever.  As long as you eat it!

Gotta love having a 2-year old!

Cami is half way to a year old!  She has grown up so much in the last month.

• Physical changes:  I think Cami weighs about 16 pounds and we measured her at 27 inches long.  She still has very little hair and no teeth.
• Sleeping:  Cami is awesome at sleeping all night.  We put her down between 6:30 and 7:00 p.m. and she wakes up between 6:00 and 6:30 a.m.  She falls asleep on her own.  Sometimes I'll hear her talking during the night but she usually falls back to sleep.  Naps are a different story.  She is up 2-2.5 hrs at a time.  She usually takes 3 naps.  Often one of those is nice and long--1.5-2 hr but not always.  Some naps clock in at close to half an hour.  Hopefully as she gets a bit older she will fall into a better pattern.  I'm going to try to get her on a sleeping schedule. 
• Eating:  Cami is completely on formula now, no more nursing for mom.  She has 5 bottles a day at 5-6 ounces each.  She is just starting to eat solid foods, though I've been trying off and on for a while.  She likes to eat squash and little pieces of bread.  Just this week she has managed to get a cheerio in her mouth.  She has also enjoyed a mix of rice cereal and applesauce, peas and yogurt.

I'm not sure how many of the carrots made it in her mouth

• Mobility:  Cami is super mobile now.  The day she hit 6 months she started using her legs and arms to scoot forward.  She was doing this in little bits before, but only used arms or legs.  She can move pretty well and goes a few feet to get to what she wants.  One day she scooted under our couch recliner.  She is really good at balancing and sitting up too. 

• Play:  Cami likes to know what is going on.  If I hold her on my hip/side, she twists around so both of her arms are in front of me and reaches out to grab whatever she can.  Cami puts everything in her mouth.  It seems like paper is one of her favorites.  Cami also loves to play with Cade.  He likes to help her do the actions for songs.  She likes to move right over to where he is and get in the middle of things.  If Cami has a toy that Cade wants, he will go get her a different one  and then take it.  They make each other laugh and it is super cute.  She loves playing peek-a-boo with a blanket too. 

• Cami knows what she wants and if you give her the wrong thing she will not like it.  She is definitely has some personality too.  She doesn't like being put in the car.  She doesn't like being left alone in a room.  She doesn't like new people.  She does like when Mom or Cade comes in her room after a nap.  She likes to lay on the floor and move around as long as there are other people around.  She likes to watch the computer.  She loves to be held and see what is going on.  She loves Scott and Kara's dog, Marley, but he's not too sure of her. 

She is getting pretty good at the jumperoo, but doesn't like it nearly as much as Cade did. 
We love having Cami in our family.  She is so cute and fun to have.  Just don't catch her when she's tired or hungry. 

August 21--Cade's birthday!  We actually did several things to celebrate his birthday this year.  We had a little birthday party in July at my parents house with Lindsey and her family.  Cade opened a few presents and we played ring-around-the-rosy and duck duck goose and ate cookies. 


Then, we had Kirk's parents at our house a few days before Cade's birthday.  They gave him a train track set that he got to open and play with while they were here. 

opening presents in our "backyard"

On Cade's actual birthday, my car was getting fixed so we were at home all day.  When I asked Cade what he wanted to do for his birthday he said "vacuum."  So we vacuumed and swept and mopped and he loved every second of it! 


We went for a walk and "explored" some trails at a park near our house. 


We had hot dogs for lunch and raspberries for dessert because he loves them. 

When Kirk got home we let Cade blow out some candles in a treat he got to eat. 

Cade got a new outdoor basketball hoop and a pop up toy from Mom and Dad.  I also made him a picture book of what we did over the last year (something I plan on doing for each of the kids on their birthdays.)

My little guy is 2!  Crazy.  He is getting so grown up.  He talks non-stop and puts 2-3 words together all the time.  He remembers everything like telling me to get my keys when we check the mail or my purse when we go to the store.  We were eating pickles on our hamburgers the other night and he remembered eating pickles at Grandpa's house last month.  We hadn't even talked about it!

Cade likes our new house, but it took him a little while.  The week we moved in, he was watching a home video of himself at our last apartment.  He started crying and running to our front door saying "Cade house, Cade house."  I felt so bad for him!  I had to explain that this is Cade's house now.  He got more and more excited as I unpacked pictures and familiar stuff.  He was very happy when we hung up his picture on the wall.

Cade is very helpful.  He gets diapers for himself and Cami.  He puts clothes in the dirty clothes basket, he hands me dishes as I unload the dishwasher, he clears his bowl after meals and helps me wash things like the bathroom.  He does several "helpful" things that I could do without too :)

We had one big box from the move labeled Cade's toys.  He was in heaven the day we unpacked that one!

Cade had a lot of fun going to the "couch store."  He ran from couch to couch and kept yelling "next!"  We ended up going to a few stores on 2 different days and he got so excited when we said we were going to the couch store!  He also loves going to Scott's house and asks if Scott, Kara and Marley (their dog) can come to the new house.  One day Scott called me and while I was on the phone, Cade followed me around saying "new house" over and over again.  Cade calls all dogs Marley.

Cade has been pooping in the toilet for about 2 weeks now.  I've only changed a few poopy diapers on him and they have all been right after naps when I leave him in bed too long.  We were sitting in line at the DMV to get our licenses and he said "poopies."  Luckily there was a bathroom right there and it wasn't my turn yet.  I took him in and he went!  He doesn't tell me when he has to go potty, but he is getting pretty good going number 2.  Yay!

One day I was in the living room and Cade came running in really excited.  He kept saying "shoes" over and over.  I asked him to show me and he had lined up our shoes on the stairs very neatly.  He was so proud of himself!  I told him to go show Kirk and he was very excited all over again. 

Cade loves garage doors.  He points them out all the time and tells me if they are up or down. 



Cade can count to 6 and knows that 8 comes after 7.  He knows what a circle is.  He can't tell you what color something is (it's all green), but if you ask him to pick out a red truck he can do it.  He knows red, yellow, blue, orange and white on a good day.  He also knows the sounds of all the letters. 

He is still super shy and hates nursery, but he actually calmed down for about 4 minutes during each of the 15 minute stretches he was in there last week.

My little guy is growing up!  He loves his Daddy and gets so excited when Daddy comes home.  He loves getting Cami up from naps and playing with her.  If she has a toy he wants, he will get a different one for her and trade.  She loves him a lot too.  I am so glad we were blessed with such a happy, healthy, nice kid.  Cade is awesome!

What happens when you leave a 2 year old and a little flour on the counter?

Thursday, August 1 we drove up with Kirk's brother Scott to our new home.  Scott and his wife Kara live here in West Richland and we are super excited to be so close to family.  We stayed at Scott's house Thursday and Friday nights.  We spent Friday cleaning the new house, grocery shopping and moving a few of the awkward things over.  Saturday we rented a Uhaul and moved everything else into the house.  Cade still calls it our New House.  I'm not sure he's aware that new house is 2 words or not.  Anyway, my aunt Darlene lives in Richland as well.  She came and helped clean our new house with Cade and I  while Scott, Kara, Kirk and my 2 cousins loaded the truck.  We were supposed to have some help from our new ward, but no body showed up.  Luckily we had family here or it would have taken forever!  We got everything moved out of Scott's garage and into the new house in about 2 1/2 hours.  Scott and Kara hung around and helped us throw the kitchen together before taking off.  For me, that was super helpful to have the kitchen unpacked.  I ended up moving a few things, but we pretty much got it done in about an hour and a half. 

Here are a few pictures of the new place.  We have hung up a few things on the walls, but are still working on it.  We bought a new couch and some shelves for the living room.  Cami is still in the pack-n-play until we move Cade to a bed, but at least she is out of the bathroom!  This house is a good step for us.  We can still move up, but it is way better than our last place.  We have a 2 car, attached garage, 3 bedrooms, a full-size refrigerator, counter space, an empty drawer in the kitchen, lots of storage, private outdoor space (a large patio) and a nice big walk-in closet.  We are missing out on the backyard, but at least we have something and we don't have to worry about yard work this way. 

Unloading the truck into our garage

New living room right after move-in

Kitchen/dining room with living room to right and entry/upstairs to left

Master bedroom--the picture doesn't show it, but it is a large room



Master bathroom I'll have to take a few more pictures now that we have it more set up.  I don't have any of the upstairs yet either.  Both of the kids rooms are upstairs.