Caiden 23 month milestones

I know it's a weird time frame to record milestones, but I've missed a few months and I wanted to get a few things recorded before he turns 2!

• He loves to sing!  His teachers at church and his swim teacher have both made comments on how cute it is that he sings the songs (out loud) when they sing them in class.
• He loves "Jesus loves me". When I sing to him at night, he always asks for "Jesus"
• He knows almost all of his colors in Spanish (amarillo, azul, morado, rojo, negro) He still struggles with verde, naranja, blanco and marrón
• When we pull in the garage he says "mamos casa" for estamos in casa (we're home)
• He was running ahead of me in the store the other day and starting shouting "vamos mami" for "let's go, mommy"
• cinnamon is "ba ba ba ba" and veggie chips are "boops"- not sure where either one of these words are coming from
• He loves bathtime! if he hears us say bath he will start repeating "ba", "ba" until its time.
• When he gets up in the morning and we ask him if he's slept well, he says "i did beep". I guess the "sl" of sleep is pretty tough!
• He's got all of his teeth except his 2 year molars
• His sizes are all over the board. I think during this time frame, every brand is different. He's wearing 18month in some clothes, 24 month in others and a few 2T shirts.
• He goes to bed at 8pm and wakes up usually between 7 and 7:30am. He takes one nap around 1:00pm and it's usually about an hour.
• In swim class, we (the mommies) are completely out of the water! The teacher manages the four kids off the stairs and the island- it's a big feat!

I'm sure there are probably tons of things I'm forgetting, but at least I've got a few of them recorded now!

What's in a name?

I think that naming a baby is one of the most difficult things about being a parent. Do you want a name that's popular or classic? Do you want to be unique with the spelling? Etc etc. Being a teacher doesn't help! I hated having 3 students with the same name in the class, and some spellings made for a disasterous first day as I would call out roll for the first time. Also, since I had so many students, those names are now associated with that child and I had a hard time using them for my own- especially if they were a difficult student :)

Looking back, naming Caiden seems so easy. Early on when we were dating, for some reason Eric and I were talking about names and he told me that he liked "Caiden" and I liked it too. That was before the surge in popularity of all the names that rhyme with Caiden (Aiden,Hayden, Braden, Jayden). My only hang up when it actually came time to decide was if it was getting too popular and how we should spell it. In the end, I think we made a wonderful decision and I think his name fits him perfectly.

This time around it's not so easy. Actually I'm really struggling with it! We are starting from scratch going through the baby name books trying to find the perfect one. It's difficult to find one that both Eric and I like since we both associate different things with names.

So what do you think? Do you have any names that you are willing to share? If so, please leave a comment below by clicking where it says "#comments". Then where is says "comment as" you can choose anonymous if you don't have an account and put your name in the comment box (unless you'd like to remain anonymous). I'm really interested to see what suggestions you might have!

Nursery Inspiration

Since we are more than halfway through this pregnancy, we decided we needed to get our act together and start working on the nursery. I've been scouring the web and Pinterest and gathering up ideas for months now. Here is some of my inspiration:

• The first two pictures are the crib and dresser that we picked out. It's the DaVinci Kalani convertible crib and the dresser/changer combo both in espresso. We decided to buy nursery furniture because we didn't want to rush Caiden into a big boy bed, just to be able to use the furniture. Plus they are both convertible into toddler and full size beds, so they will be able to use them for awhile. I'm a little nervous through because we ordered them online rather than in a store this time, so I hope everything turns out alright.
• The alphabet picture is a similar idea to what I'm going to do with the Spanish alphabet cards (see First Nursery Purchase) above the crib (A is for Alphabet)
• I want to hang some of these planter baskets for storage, maybe under the window to they are easily accessible. (Planter baskets)
• The last two pictures I'm still debating on. I like the idea of a shelf above the changing table, but I also like the hanging buckets....hmmm. (Shelf over changing table & Hanging buckets)

Side note- I'm not posting anything abou the bedding fabric just yet because I'm still struggling with it. Once I pick out the fabric for sure and have the color scheme nailed down, here are some crafts I'd like to do.

• I really want to have a pennant in the room that matches the bedding (Pennant)
• I love this Scrabble art that incorporates the name of the baby. Might have to do a smaller version of it though (Scrabble Art)
• This DIY stacked frame is so cute and looks fairly easy! (diy-stacked-wall-frames)
• I want to do a collection of paper lanterns in coordinating colors! (Paper lanterns)

So, whatcha think so far?  Now we just gotta get to work!

Garden 2012

We finally got a chance last weekend to do some much needed work out in the yard. Caiden was a BIG help :)

Mowing the lawn

 Watering the new plants

Carrying the ladder to trim the tree

Great job, Dad!

We figured with the baby coming and all, we'll be pretty busy this spring, so we scaled down a little from last year. Clockwise from top left: A tomato and jalapeño; the herb tower with basil, oregano, mint and thyme; my new strawberry pot; and a pretty flowerbed.

Now, we'll cross our green thumbs and hope everything grows!

Opening Day

No, not baseball just yet. It's grilling season! (although we probably could have grilled several weeks ago). I just love it when Eric grills.

The beginning of disorder

Eric and I decided to move a few things around upstairs to start thinking about what needed to change for the nursery.

Our current guest room will become the nursery.

So the multipurpose room next to it will also become the guest room.  We moved the love seat out on the landing to see how it would work out there.

Lots of work still to do, but it's a start!

24 weeks

 Mondays are "no-makeup" days because of swim class. I'll remember this next time before I take a picture!

How far along? 24 weeks

How big is the baby? The size of a an ear of corn (almost a foot long and should be over a pound)

Are you in maternity clothes? Wearing maternity pants,  maternity shirts, Jamie & Ashlee have loaned me a ton of their maternity clothes so I'm figuring out what works for me!

Stretch marks? Still itchy, belly button is very shallow now

Sleep? Still sleeping fine, right now

Miss anything? chicken salad sandwiches

Feeling movement of the baby? more kicks- really low. At the last sono he was breech so I think he still is.

Food cravings? salty foods, chocolate

Gender of the baby? It's a boy!

Mood? Ready to get going on the nursery!

Here's a few other pics for fun:

This is me at 23 weeks with Caiden and 24 weeks this time around. Pretty similar. At first I was thinking that this pregnancy was very different from the first (which the first trimester was) but now they are pretty similar.

Trip to Beaver Creek, CO

At the end of February, we finally made it on our ski trip to Beaver Creek, Colorado- and what an experience it was. This was a ski trip that Eric had won at his work Christmas party last year and we were unable to go, and then he won the same trip this year!

We got to stay in the Beaver Creek Hyatt, which was incredible. It's a ski in, ski out resort and our room was slope side so we had an awesome view.

Caiden wasn't too sure about the snow when we got there.

And then the next day, decided he didn't like it too much.

He loved watching the action from the balcony.

We met up with Eric at the bottom of the lift. (No, I didn't get to ski this year!)

 The resort had a "S'more-gasbord" every day at 4. Yum!

Unfortunately, we had to cut our stay short because Caiden wasn't sleeping at night (and therefore we were zombies as well).

JBF Steals and Deals

Forewarning: if you have no interest in shopping or bargains- stop reading right now!

If you've been reading my blog for awhile you might remember me posting previously about the Just Between Friends Consignment event. Well I just went to the spring sale and am so excited about my finds once again. I always feel like I could go totally overboard when I'm there, but I try to keep myself in line and get the best deals. So here's the loot:

 

For me:

• A mirror for the car $3- this is to replace the one I broke- oops!
• A maternity dress $10. Probably not a great steal, but I was wanting a casual dress to wear with leggings. (and I really won't have to buy any more maternity clothes thanks to some great friends!)
• An Ergo organic baby carrier $35 (retail $135)- I really struggled with this one. We already have a Bjorn carrier so I didn't really need this, but I've heard rave reviews about this brand and it's more versatile than the Bjorn. You can use this one on the front, on your hip and on your back. Plus I knew it was a steal! these even sell for $50-$80 used on Ebay.
• Toddler 411 book $2- hopefully this will give me all the answers (HA!)

For the big guy:

• Carters swim shorts and rash guard $6
• A Texas Rangers jersey $6.50-Caiden needed some new gear for this season
• Ralph Lauren polo and khaki shorts $8
• Gymboree polo and shorts $8
• Two pairs of crocs $14- these should be great for this summer

• Chuck the truck $4- he even talks! 
• Little Tykes basketball goal $5
• A Mickey Mouse plate $0.50- Caiden loves "mee"
• Little People nativity set $10 (retails for $35)- it's a little weird buying something for Christmas, but hey it was a good deal

 

For the little guy to come:

 

• Gymboree outfit with socks and bib $7
• Two sleepers $6
• Two "Little Brother" bodysuits $5- I'm not a HUGE fan of big brother/little brother stuff, but you gotta have a few and you can't beat the price.
• Gap swim shorts with rash guard $5- I can't guarantee that the little guy will even be at the pool this summer, but it was too cute to pass up.

Poor Eric didn't get anything- but this event is for MOMS & KIDS!

Gender Reveal

Have you heard all the rage about "gender reveal" parties?  It is becoming more and more popular to have a party with friends and family to reveal the gender of the baby.  I think it's a fun idea and a good excuse to have a party, but knew it wasn't really feasible to have a big shindig. Especially since our family wouldn't even be there! So the day we had the sonogram (2/15) my wonderful mom's club had a Mom's Night scheduled and humored me a little to include a gender reveal to our event! (And yes, I realize that I'm posting about this way after the fact).

My sweet friend Erin M. (yes, a coincidence) was hosting and had some pink and blue decorations to add to the festivity.

She even baked some pink and blue onesie cookies- yum!

Of course, we had other yummies too!

Another friend of mine makes delicious gluten-free cake balls (and sells them on Etsy at MamasGFreeCakeBalls) so I called her right after my appointment and she rushed to make some for the big "reveal". Notice they are iced in pink, blue and yellow so you can't tell from the outside.

The girls had to bite into them to find out the gender of my little peanut.

And, of course, it's BLUE!

Thank you ladies for helping me to celebrate a fun experience!