Christmas Morning

I finally got the video to download. Its a little long, but as the biased mom I think its worth the whole 3 minutes.

The Reason Why

I don't do much leisure reading lately. I think I'm remembering why. Last night with Ryan gone I started a book my mom loaned me. I just finished it. I have no self control when it comes to books. Just ask the parents who finally had to take the lightbulbs out of my childhood bedroom so I'd go to sleep when it got dark instead of staying up half the night reading.

Moving Out

Last night Ryan finished helping his parents move. Its official - the house the Scherbels built has been sold and the new owners have taken possession. The kids all have memories of helping maintain the lot their dad got in payment for a job, then later helping build a house there. They all lived there at some point. It was almost like musical bedrooms with the kids moving in and out every few months. A lot of time and emotion was invested in this place. In fact, on my first date with Ryan he took me by the house to show off his handiwork. The picture doesn't do it justice. I guess it goes to show that a family work project really can create lasting memories.

Family Pictures

We took family pictures with my family over Thanksgiving. The photographer was amazing! I've seriously never seen someone work so quickly and so well with kids. We finally got the prints back and a few digital copies, so I figured I'd post some of them.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas is so much fun once the kids start to get it! I think Ryan and I were both more excited about Christmas this year for the sake of what Caden was getting than what we would be getting. Thats saying a lot considering Ryan's Black Friday shopping adventure yielded us a Wii console.

Santa brought Caden a train track to go on the train table mom and dad gave him earlier. Mom and dad also supplied the train. There is a video of Caden getting this present, but I can't seem to get it off the camera right now. Watch for it soon.

My parents and Kellie came down to our house to watch the boys open their presents Christmas morning. Eric was only semi interested in unwrapping, but seemed to like the soft cloth book and ball we got him. Caden's favorite toy of the day (by far!) was the car garage Grandma and Grandpa Dodds gave him. He was trying to play with it while Ryan was still putting it together.

When I was growing up my family had a tradition of laying out all our Christmas presents on our bed. Then the cousins would come over and check out what we got and we'd go to their houses to see their piles. I just couldn't put the stuff away this year without putting it in a pile and taking a picture for Caden and Eric's long distance cousins to see. Not pictured are the mirror, folding chairs, piano, and air compressor that Ryan and I got and the growth chart, closet organizer, and sled that the boys got.

After the Christmas morning stuff, we went to Ryan's parents house to spend the day. I made sure to grab the extra camera batteries, but left the camera sitting on the couch at home. :P We had a great time and I'll have to post some of those pictures once Ryan's sisters get around to uploading them somewhere I can steal them from. We had a prime rib dinner, which felt like Christmas to me since my Dodds side of the family frequently holds a prime rib dinner around Christmas time. Caden ate the olives, meat and fresh spinach, but nothing else. How many 2 year olds would be happy eating nothing but salad?

After dinner we went down to the Heritage Place to sing to Ryan's grandma who is living there right now. Caden fell asleep on the way there, so he and I stayed in the car, but Ryan and Eric went in and had a touching experience. Its a unique experience to watch those so close to the end of their life interact with those so close to the start of their life. Its such a poignant reminder of how sweet the new spirits are and where we each will return to some day. It was interesting to ponder that concept on the day we celebrate the birth of Christ, who makes it possible for us to return to heaven.

Echoes of Christmas

We just got back from Echoes of Christmas. It was amazing! Its a live navtivity with music. There were live sheep, a camel, and a donkey. The music was top notch. Entertaining for adults, held the attention of the kids. Caden was good for entire 30 minute presentation. We took our group picture with one of the shepherd guides. Notice where Caden is looking? The costumes were great. Tomorrow is the last night. If you're in the Salt Lake area you should check it out.

Away in a Manger

Caden wanted to read the Friend magazine the other night. It had a picture of a nativity scene in it, so I decided to take the opportunity to teach my son about Jesus' birth. This is how it went.

Me: This is a picture of when Jesus was born. Christmas is when we celebrate his birth.
Caden: Jesus Christ! (so far, so good)
M: This right here is Jesus when he was a baby.
C: Where baby go?
M: Eric is asleep in his cradle. Can you see baby Jesus in the picture?
C: Rie dere. Baby head. (The Jesus in the picture was swadled)
M: Thats right. This is his mother, Mary. And this is Joseph.
C: Jesus Daddy?
M: Um, well Heavenly Father is Jesus' Daddy. Joseph just helped take care of him here on Earth.
C: Daddy work?
M: Yes, our daddy is still at work.
C: Caden take-a care-a baby Eric!
M: That would be so nice of you to take care of your brother while your daddy is at work.
C: What 'dis, mommy?
M: That is a donkey.
C: Donkey?
M: Yes, the donkey carried Mary to Bethlehem, where Jesus was born. She rode the donkey.
C: Oh, horse.
M: Sort of like a horse. But its a donkey. Do you remember what donkey's say? (he has a few books with donkeys, so this wasn't a new concept).
C: Um, its a cow! Cow says moooooo!
M: No, its a donkey. Donkeys say "hee-haw."
C: No, mommy, its a cow. Mooooo!

Upon which, Caden jumped down and ran off. So there you have it. The Christmas story through the eyes of a child.

A Night in the Life

Really, most days aren't like this. I promise.

Caden has been constipated for the better part of a week. The answer from the doctors is always 'give him more laxative.' So we do. Tonight things started moving again, and all that laxative had done its job. I changed 4 diapers in 20 minutes, each time with a clothing change as well. Not wanting this mess in bed, I kept Caden up an extra 15 minutes just to make sure he was good and cleared out. Right as we were headed to bed Eric woke up crying. So the three of us piled onto Caden's bed to read bedtime stories. Eric continued to fuss but I figured he'd calm down eventually. Not 4 pages into the first book, Eric puked. All over me, himself, the book, and Caden's bedding. Apparently feeling much better, Eric looked at me and giggled. Something must have struck Caden's funny bone as well. With a little chuckle, he said, "Baby spill! Silly Eric!"

Total elapsed time: 45 minutes
Laundry tally: 1 complete set of bedding (pillow, fitted sheet, top sheet, blanket, and quilt), Eric's blanket, 3 pair of Caden's pajamas, 1 pair of pajamas for Eric, 1 onesie, 3 pair of socks (2 for Caden, 1 for Eric), my jeans, my shirt, and my layer's shirt.

4 Months

Can you belive its been four months already? I know I can't!

Here are squeaker's 4 month stats:
Length: 24 3/4 inches, 20%
Weight: 13 lbs 15 oz, 60%
Head: 39.9 cm, 10%

Prelude to Christmas

I found Caden this morning playing at his new train table (merry early Christmas). At first I was a little confused that he was playing in just one place, but upon taking a closer look I saw the lone piece of train track he was playing with. When he saw me he got a huge grin on his face and said "A twain twack, mommy! A twain twack!" Just wait until he finds out he's getting the full set for Christmas. We brought the track and table home a week ago and the track has been in the basement ever since. I have no clue how this piece randomly showed up today. I have to say, though, I love that our little boy is so content with whatever he has. How many of us would be so thrilled with just one small portion of something?

Mmmm... Ketchup

Since a 24 oz. bottle of gluten free organic (read: corn free) ketchup comes with a $5.49 price tag, I had hesistated introducing it to Caden. Caden's cousins eat ketchup on everything - I do mean everything, including cantelope. After watching them for a few weeks he started requesting some. Last week we had to pull rice from his diet for a food trial. I decided the kid deserved some kind of comfort food so I bought the ketchup. He loves it! If I'm not closely monitoring him he will just lick the ketchup off whatever he is currently dipping in it. Agave (the corn syrup substitute) is really sweet and even I prefer this ketchup to the regular stuff.

As for the rice trial, I'm not sure whether to call it a pass or a fail. Basically removing the rice from his diet didn't seem to solve the problems he's been having. Last night we went ahead and reintroduced rice. Removing the soy didn't fix the problem either, so we go back to the allergist at the end of January.

Bowling

When he was single, Ryan bowled every Tuesday night with friends. When we were dating, I got drug along quite a bit. Since we got married I think we've been 4 times. We realized the other day Caden had never been bowling. So we dug up some coupons and convinced my family that they wanted to go bowling a few weeks ago when Em and the girls were in town. We adults were pretty rusty. I don't think anyone broke 100 (Ryan let Caden bowl about half of his frames). The kids really seemed to enjoy it. The only problem was that Caden thought every frame should be his turn. I'm seeing another trip to the bowling alley in our future.

Welcome Winter

No matter how cold it is, it never truly feels like winter unless there is snow on the ground. Caden went outside yesterday to help me shovel. He lasted about 10 seconds shoveling. Then he proclaimed it was 'too hard' with his mittens and abandoned the shovel when I refused to remove them. He quickly learned that running in the snow left footprints and busied himself with running around yelling "Snow!" For those of you studying the photos carefully, he is in fact wearing two different mittens. I couldn't find both of his warm ones, so he is wearing one warm mitten and two knit mittens on the other hand.

How Big Is This Thing?

Too big! Who'd have thought 32 inches would look so silly; the 19 incher we had before looked so small. I guess we'll be trying again on ksl. Old school TVs are a dime a dozen right now. In case you can't tell from the picture, Caden is using the tape measure just like he saw mommy and daddy do.

Choo-Choo!

I set up my train around our Christmas tree. It has gone pretty much non-stop ever since.

Trimming the Tree

We slowly put our tree up over the course of 4 days, and Caden loved helping with every step. He handed me the branches to put on the day we set it up; he handed me the light strands the two days I wrapped lights; and he directed where to put the ornaments the night we decorated. He was quite particular about the ornaments. He wanted them 'rie dere,' and if I got it wrong he'd say 'no way ball! rie dere!' and point again. I had to move a few after he went to bed, but he seems to recall where he wanted them and makes repeated requests for me to keep moving the ornaments around.

'Tis the Season

To be busy, busy, busy. My sister and her family came into town for 10 days for Thanksgiving. We had a ton of fun and I promise to post more about that later, but first I have to steal pictures from Emilee. As is par for the course, I carried my camera around but never took it out. A few quick highlights:
*Caden got introduced to the movie "Cars" and now asks for it daily.
*Eric and 9 month old Brooklyn liked to stare at each other. You have to wonder if babies connect to other babies on a level the rest of us just don't get.
*Ryan got up at 4 am to go Black Friday shopping at Cabellas. He was #15 in line.
*Ryan played football with the guys on Thanksgiving. He was sore for two days after.
*We took the kids to a free Christmas concert at the mall. Caden was enthralled for the first 15 minutes, danced for the next 15 minutes, then was ready to go. Too bad the concert lasted an hour.
*Caden picked up the phrase "no way" from the girls. They use it in the sense of disbelief or teasing ('no way Jose'), but he has replaced it for all instances of no. "No way bed!" "No way applesauce!" "No way shoes!"
*When the cousins went home Darth Vader moved into our house. Caden has croup and has lost his voice. Its kind of funny in a sad way to hear his wheezing all over the house and his deep, gravelly voice.
*Ryan sang in a quartet at his work Christmas party Tuesday night. He did great. He also got a special mention in the 'state of the company' speech by the owner for all his "exceptional" work on his current project.