Christmas usually is a stressful time around the Cox household.  We spend the 4 weeks after Thanksgiving running around battling other shoppers to find the perfect gift for everyone in the family.  This year, things were different.

Instead of focusing on gifts, we focused on having some Christmas fun.  Every morning Caden would race to his advent calendar to read a special Christmas message.  The message would always outline a Christmas themed activity.  Caden painted ornaments for his friends.  We watched Christmas movies such as Christmas Vacation and Home Alone.  We shopped early and efficiently for gifts.  We said prayers for the less fortunate.

The kids are allowed to ask Santa for two items.  Caden chose a car garage and a train.  Natalie didn't say much which left Santa to decide her gifts.  Caden helped bake and decorate cookies for Santa.  He put out water for the reindeer and spread Magic Reindeer Food all across the yard.

We sent Natalie to visit Grandma Penny in Dallas so that Ben and I could create special memories with Caden.  Don't feel too bad for her.  She charmed her way across the third largest city in Texas.  I'm fairly certain her Facebook Fan Page now includes serveral stewardesses, a couple of pilots, hundreds of airport travelers, and countless numbers of residents of the Dallas/Ft. Worth metroplex.  She would easily pass Ashton Kutcher in the number of Twitter followers if she could only figure out how to use a Qwerty keyboard.

On October 19th Caden turned 5 years old.  It's amazing to think how quickly the years have passed.  He's growing up so fast.  We wanted to celebrate the big day with a fun-filled celebration.  We invited all of his friends and classmates - to the tune of 25 kids.  With parents and family we had about 60 people expected to attend.

When asked what type of party he would like, Caden replied "a train party!"  Well, at least the kid is predictable.  The City of Tomball's train depot (now museum) and park was the perfect venue to hold such a large crowd.  To keep the party upbeat and fun we had a bounce house as well as party planners to host activities for the kids.  Here are some of the highlights.

I'm very far behind in posting updates on the blog.  October is a very busy month for our family.  We managed to survive, but I have a lot of catching up to do!

On October 2nd Caden and I made a trip to The Oil Ranch in Hockley, Texas.  The Oil Ranch is Houston's largest guest ranch.  Activities include pony rides, hay rides, a train, milk a cow, a baby animal area, and an indian village.  The weather was great and the crowds were few.  Caden enjoyed the train ride the most.

The hay ride was the most, uh, interesting part of our visit.  The ride stopped in a pasture filled with cattle.  The cows would walk right up to the hay ride to eat food pellets out of your hand.  They also eat all of the hay off the wagon. It's a little strange to be swarmed by 25 large bovine.  They're stinky and slobbery.  I did not get in touch with my inner-farmer.  Caden, on the other hand, seemed to have a lot of fun.  I'm glad we went to the ranch together. It was another fun adventure!

What a day!  It was another fun filled Friday for Caden and I.  I am so far behind on updating the blog that I'm not ready to go into how we spent our day.  What I am ready to share is that Caden reached one of those memorable stages of childhood today.  He lost his first tooth!  Despite knowing that he had a very wiggly tooth, I was still completely unprepared.  Caden doesn't have a pillow for the tooth.  I don't even know what the Tooth Fairy pays these days.  Regardless, I'm glad I was with him when it fell out.  While eating an ice cream cone at Chick-Fil-A Caden suddenly yelled, "My tooth!" and grabbed it out of his mouth.  We've been talking about it for weeks but to look of shock and amazement on his face was something I'll always remember.  I love sharing these childhood Rites of Passage with Caden.  He's my sweet little boy who is growing up way too fast.

It has been a while since I've updated the blog. We've had a very busy October! In my previous entries, I've focused a lot on Caden and what we do on Fridays. In true second-child fashion, I haven't focused as much on Natalie. Today is all about her.


Natalie is such an adorable little girl. She is a cacophony of girly interests and tomboy activities. She is easily scared by loud noises, but is fearless on the playground. She loves shoes and bows, but will dig in the sandbox with her bare hands. She insists on cleaning up any dirt visible on the floor or couch.  Yet, she will eat yogurt with her hands, then use her hands to move her hair out of her face.  She takes a lot of impromptu baths in the kitchen sink.

If Natalie has one distinguishing trait, it is that she is very, very observant. A recent example is that she has noticed Caden eating his oatmeal out of a ceramic bowl with an adult spoon. Do not try to feed her oatmeal out of a plastic bowl with a child spoon. She will unleash all her toddler anger upon you and the oatmeal.

October has brought about many changes in Natalie. She's taken up a pacifier but doesn't quite get the concept. She takes it in and out of her mouth. I'm sure her sudden interest is because all of her little friends seem to really enjoy their pacifiers (as observed by the startled looks and intense crying when Natalie removes it from their content mouths).  Natalie's copy-cat nature does not bode well for the crucial teenage peer pressure years.

Secondly, Natalie said her first sentence this month. One morning she looked up at me and sweetly asked, "Where Daddy?" She has also added, "Where go?" and "MINE!" to her vocabulary.

Natalie loves to dance and play hide-and-seek. She can do the hand movements to "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" and requests the ballad at least 50 times a day. She's even started cuddling a little bit. Or she's learned how to manipulate me with her snuggles.  Whatever the motivation, I'll take it.  Natalie is still solidly in the 50 percentile for height and weight. I think she will always be the petite girl with the big personality.

Lastly, if there's one thing she loves, it is babies. Marshall Quin is one of her favorites. He visited us at home recently and Natalie insisted on holding him in her lap. Obviously, that is a terrible idea.  Laying him on the floor in front of her made her and us happy. She couldn't get enough of patting and hugging on the sweet boy. Here are a few photos....
 
 
 
 
 

I captured this photo of Caden and Natalie recently.  They were having such a good time laughing in the backseat that I couldn't resist taking the photo of them in the rear view mirror. 

Hmmmm, maybe this will become a series.  Snapshots From A Rear View Mirror.

I have mentioned that Caden loves trains?  In fact, he's just a little obsessed.  And by "little" I mean "completely thoroughly, and overwhelming" obsessed.  It seems so ironic now that I was stopped by a train on the way to the hospital when I was in labor.

So, when I heard there was a railroad museum across town it seemed like a great place to take Caden.  This week we headed to the

This week we were invited to join some of Caden's friends on Friday. So, we picked up Molly and brought her with us as we visited...