I HEART Facebook

The many pieces of me stare back at me on just one page.

Kindergarten friends. Elementary friends. Neighborhood friends. Cousins I didn't get to spend much time with. High school best friends. College cohorts. People I worked with from near and far.

Best friends.

Past boyfriends.

Old Teachers.

Childhood Pastors.

Each night, after we tuck Caden into bed,(and a few minutes here and there during the day) I climb onto my couch, flip open my laptop, for what I call Facebooking time. It's when I get to reconnect with people from my past and my present all in one sitting. It's beautiful in a way, because with each facet of friendship and connection, I pick up the pieces of the woman I am with each face and each memory.
And, as I learn things about all of these people, I am learning that we're all as much alike as we are different.

We're all new and old and learning together. I've rekindled girlfriend relationships, and even rebuilt a bridge over troubled waters. It's been more than worth it to be a part of this silly, yet somehow meaningful connection. There are definitely signs that we're aging, yes, but that we're essentially who we've always been.

So yes, I admit it....I'm thankful for Facebook and the sanity and escape it gives me throughout my days.

I Want, I Want, I Want

Maybe it's because I have an almost 2 year old who is very in touch with his wants.

Maybe it's because living on one income is so hard that knowing I will be making money now makes me feel rich.

Maybe it's because after working so hard, for so long, we deserve some nice things.

Maybe it's none of this, and just the stress of life is pointing me toward things. Things. Lots of things.

It's been a juggle, a hassle, a major panic attack to walk the line of saving and spending. Of needs and wants. Of this and that.

What's harder is that if I enter a store for say, diapers, I see the little boy's clothes clearance rack, then I think about how two pair of shoes isn't enough, or how he needs some summer clothes when it is months away from that time.

Then, I remember that I need printer ink, so I head to that part of the store easily getting sidetracked by my love of home decor.....ah....I could browse for hours.... But, it brings me closer to the toys, where I think I might FINALLY find a toy that my almost 2 year old will play with. I scour each shelf, high and low, wanting so many things but knowing there is no way...can't do it. Maybe some when he turns 2.

I sneak out past the home and garden section, where I long to buy more storage bins to feel more organized and less cluttered. And that reminds me that we need this and that for the garage and I just start practically running away..

I fly past the food, only going back a second later to remember to pick up that easy-to-fix dinner item that Caden, hopefully, will eat tonight. Hot dogs. Chicken tenders. Cheese sticks. Then, I rush past the snacks trying to grab just one more healthier-but-easier snack for those after naptime hunger blues.

By the time I make my entire circumference around the store, which started all because we were down to one last freakin' diaper, I usually have a full cart. So, I swing into the make-up and beauty section, examine my goods, and toss out what I know I don't need right now. Diapers? Yes. Hot dogs? Yes. Paper towels? Yes. More clothes for Caden? No.

As I load what's left onto the moving belt, I realize that I've probably just saved us a nice chunk of cash by impulse shopping, but with a final once-over.

But then the verdict is in: The bill is 80-something dollars.

If this isn't a vicious cycle, I'm not sure what is.

Why is life so expensive? And why can't I go out and but a few clothes without feeling guilty? I can't remember the last time I shopped for myself but I want to sad badly I can't stand it. Someday......someday I hope I won't want so many WANTS..... :)

20 & 21 Months

Hi precious,

This has been the first time I have been behind on your monthly updates, so I am squeezing in two at a time. I can't BELIEVE how much you have grown the last two months! You've grown out of your crib, (or CLIMBED out, I should say) given up your pacifiers, (we just told you to say "bye, bye" to them, and you did without looking back!) and you've learned to say more and more words. You are soooooo, sooooooo smart little one. It's just shocking, and wonderful!! :) I am one proud mommy... :)

You weigh 26 1/2 pounds right now and have actually lost a pound since last month. What's the deal buddy? You used to eat like a little piglet, but you've tapered off a bit and remained JUST as active. I guess that combo will thin you out a bit. All of your pants just HANG off of you unless they have that wonderful "adjustable waist" feature. You are 21 months now and 18 month pants are huge on you. Ideally you would fit in 12 months, but then they are high waters!!! What to do with you boy? :) I guess I'm just glad you're not a little chunky monkey....you got through that phase!


THINGS YOU LOVE RIGHT NOW:

SAYING "HI" TO EVERYONE IN SIGHT: Your personality is sooo adorable. The first picture on this post just says it all. You are such a little ham. You say hi to everyone you meet, and if they don't say hi back you keep on saying it until they do. Even when they do say hi, you still like to say it a few more times just to make sure they really understood that you wanted to say HI! My little social man....I'm so glad. :)

PLAYING HIDE AND SEEK (so to speak): You love chasing me OR your daddy around the house to and letting us jump out and scare you. You laugh so hard... We do it over and over until we're just too exhausted to run anymore! I swear, you could probably go all day.

FRUIT SNACKS: I really have to limit you on these....I think you would give up all food just to eat these little things. You get so excited before you eat each one!

THE MOVIE "THE BARNYARD": Up until about 2 weeks ago, you wouldn't watch anything that was animated. I tried many times to introduce you but you just didn't care. I was soooo sick of the little kid shows you watched I was just DYING for something new, but couldn't convert you. We happened across this movie and you will watch nothing else now. It's a really cute movie and you dance all over the place while watching it....Wonder how long it will take me to get you to watch anything else?

BOOKS: You love them! And I'm so glad!! You get soooo animated when we are reading them....it is so very funny. It's wonderful that you are interested, and you have SUCH a good memory. You amaze me every day buddy. :)



THINGS YOU DON'T LIKE:


LOTS OF AFFECTION: It's a tough thing (except for the 20 minutes after naptime) to get any hugs or kisses out of you. We practically have to bribe you to show us some love. You are just so independent these days and want to just be moving and running all the time. You just NEVER slow down!

Can't think of anything else for now....you are just pretty much happy with most everything!!!

Can't wait to add more fun stuff about you. I love you my big boy!!

Love, Mommy

Buttons and Beans

So I was having a conversation with my dear childhood friend Hilarie the other day that inspired this post. She was talking about how her son Brendan has been sticking things up his nose lately, and I was telling her that Caden was more of an ear boy for now. What is the DEAL with kids wanting to put things in holes that should be exit only? I mean seriously! As we were talking, she told me how when she was little, that she got a bean stuck up her nose and had to go to the ER to get it out. Well....I started laughing because one of the first vivid memories that I have of my childhood was when I was three and I was standing in the hallway with my mom hovering over me with tweezers cause I had shoved a stupid BEAN up my nose! What a great first memory huh? I recall one of my brothers sticking a button up an orifice as well, and as I have talked to a few people in the last few days they have mentioned similar stories.

So my question is......WHERE THE HECK DID WE GET ALL THESE BUTTONS AND BEANS? I mean seriously? How come these things were laying around anyway? Did parents of our generation not "childproof" things as well as we do now, or were these things we pulled of toys? Somebody help me out here....! :) Mom? hehehehe

Tell me about any stories you may have of sticking things up your nose or in your ears....I'd love to hear! Caden......don't be doing this!!! LOL

Colorado Trip Part 2

Hi my little perfect one,

I wanted to finish writing about our wonderful Colorado trip! You got to do some really fun things and it was so exciting to have you there with me... and to take your daddy for the first time! He absolutely LOVED Colorado and decided it was one of his new favorite places to go! I was thrilled because I would have been sad if he didn't like it as much as I did! You, my dear, seemed to love the snow...you mostly just wanted to EAT it like your nana taught you!

One of the fun things we did was go to a local sledding hill and SLED, SLED, SLED!! I wasn't sure on the way down the first time if you were thrilled or freaking out inside, but when we got to the bottom you threw your arms up and yelled in excitement!! So....YAY! Your daddy couldn't quite get the sledding thing right this trip...he kept turning around backwards or falling over with you. I thought it was pretty darn hilarious. :) Why do I always laugh at people's unfortunate situations? I'm so bad.... Don't be like your mommy....Show some mercy. :) There was a neat little igloo at the sledding hill, and some other fun things, so we had fun pictures to take! Here are some fun pictures from our sledding day.... Your Aunt Dawnie got you the cutest bibs, boots and ski jacket EVER! You were adorable.....and bundled up!!















Your Uncle Matty and his fiance Lesley were up in the mountains with us too, so we got to spend some time with them. It was great! We got a few pics of you with your Uncle Matty....it was great that he got to see you again!





Ok...so biggest news of all!!!!! You got to ski!!!!!!!!! You actually got to put on the cutest little boots and skis that I've ever seen and ski! There is a little area by the lift that has a little moving conveyor belt/sidewalk that you ride up and then ski down. You were in LOVE with that little moving sidewalk, (go figure) and enjoyed the ride... with the skis and without. You lasted about 15 minutes on the skis...which I figured...and then you just enjoyed riding that thing up again and again. You were precious and I was just happy for you to get the feel of it all. I accidentally lost all the video coverage...(makes me so sick I could cry..but I'm trying to get it recovered) but I have a few pics!!! Good job Caden!! I was soooo proud of you!!! I can't WAIT to take you skiing with me when you get bigger!! Your daddy also learned to ski too, and he did so well! He didn't even fall believe it or not!










You had some sweet moments with your nana.....you actually FELL ASLEEP on her while she was telling you stories of what she would want to do with you in Australia..it was so cute...and great for me! You've never even done that with ME! :)



You had lots of fun with your nana and got to spend some great time with her while your daddy and I went off to play and ski.... Thank you for always being so good...and so easy to travel with... You never throw a fit or make things difficult. There never was a prouder mommy than me. I love you.... I love you... I love you..... Thanks for making my Colorado trip a wonderful one....

Love, Mommy

Caden Talking

Estes Park Fun

Hey my little monkey,

You are dreaming away right now so I thought I would steal some time and write a little something about the first few days of our Colorado Trip. I didn't really have any internet access while we were gone, so I couldn't write to you! But....I will be catching up in the next week. I have lots and lots to write and share!

We headed out to Colorado last week to visit family and I was a little nervous how you would do on the plane as it was a 3 hour flight. You haven't always been an angel on many recent flights...as I have shared in a previous blog...Yikes! However, you were PERFECT. A total angel...and soooo entertaining to not only us, but everybody.

You are sooo huge on saying hi to everyone right now, and boy do you say hi! If someone doesn't say hi back to you right away, you just keep on saying it until they do....soooo stinkin' cute. The cutest thing is that you don't quite say "HI"...it's more like "I" without the "h". "I". "I". "I". Adorable. And boy do you milk it....it's like you KNOW you make people just melt when you come up and say that. You walked up and down the aisles of the plane saying "I" to every person you saw. You didn't miss a soul, leaning your head to the person by the window and yelling "I" to them too. People were just laughing and laughing at how cute you were. We had people come up to us after the flight saying "Thanks for the entertainment!" You definitely keep everyone smiling.....mostly your mommy.... :)

Your Gramma and Grampa picked us up from the airport in Denver and we headed up the mountain to Estes Park to hang out for a couple days. I used to spend a LOT of time there growing up and was excited to show you and your daddy my "stompin' grounds." :) Unfortunately is was SOOOOOOOOOOOO FREEZING cold while we were up there, that we weren't able to do much outdoors. BRRRRRRR!!! We DID go to the Stanley Hotel (where The Shining was filmed, and Dumb and Dumber) and we walked around there for a bit.....we also attempted to find a couple GeoCaches....which we DID find...but almost lost our whole BODIES to hypothermia it was so cold! The wind almost KILLED us.....seriously...I almost saw my life passing before my eyes cause I could just see the Headlines....DEATH BY WIND! :) It was really awful. So... we headed INDOORS and basically hunkered down for the next couple days.

It was so great to see your Grandparents and we had a lot of fun playing and having funny conversations.... (8:04!) Maybe someday I'll tell you what that means....(a little inside joke..but I know two people who are laughing as they read this!) Your grampa took some great pictures of you while we were there and I'm soooo mad that we didn't take any pictures of you WITH them! What were we thinking!!?? Or NOT thinking obviously? Bummer..... Our time was so shortlived, but we had a lot of fun... You even got to see your cousin Ian! It was sooo good to see Chris, Kristina and Ian.

We hope to see your grandparents again in the spring.....We love you Dad and Beth!!

Thanks for being such a good traveler little boo..... I'll write more about the rest of our trip tomorrow.....

Goodnight sweetness,
Love, Mommy























Those last pics....TOTALLY not my idea....wasn't a part of that one!!! :)