Our family pictures!

Here is a "sneak peek" of our family pictures. There are a ton more that will be ready in a couple weeks. I cant wait to finally have a family picture! We havent ever had one with Caiden (Chris and I with our kids), and our last big family picture (with my family) was when Addysin was 3 weeks old.

KB Light Photography  They did so good!

How to make it through your little boy's haircut

Caiden's hair has gotton really curly! It was time to cut again, despite all the comments about how cute it was. I thought he was starting to look like a clown. Then with his face all beat up, he looked completely neglected. Dont worry... I saved the hair :) Hopefully we'll be seeing his curls again.

Yay! My first tutorial!

This can apply even if you get his hair cut somewhere besides your home. If you can though, have it done where he is comfortable. A new salon or someones home he doesn't know will not be a good start to something most babies hate. This also applies to girls. Good news, girl haircuts are much quicker.

I use scissors all over VS. clippers. It works for caiden's hair, but may not for your boy's. The sound on their head usually doesn't go over well with babies.

Cut it in a place where you dont care that its going to be covered in hair. Best place- bathroom. You will want to put him in the tub when you are done to wash off the hair that is ALL over him. Also Caiden loves seeing himself in the mirror. A bumbo chair works great for keeping them in one spot, even for small toddlers.

Have things on hand to occupy. Dont start haircut without things like...

*Spray bottle. Let him spray the mirror, his mouth, whatever. I had to be very animated, such as gasping in surprise when he sprays it everytime. When that gets old, moved on to...

*Tooth brush with baby toothpaste on it. This one only lasts a minute.

*If the hairdresser can manage the angle, let him turn the sink water on and off. Let him get his feet, or anything else, wet.

*Let him play with your phone. Desperate times call for desperate measures.

When he has HAD IT and you're only halfway through, bring out the big guns.

*Dum dum suckers, candy he rarely gets and loves, anything sweet. Maybe my kids are just sugar aholics and this wont work.

* Every kid has something they want to play with that you wont let him. Bring it out if it wont be ruined but sticky wet hair, and if its the only way to get through this and have a cute kid, instead of a bush wacked child.

Dont let him get too worked up before moving to the next form of distraction.

Most importantly, dont get mad at yourself, your spouse, or the hairdresser (whoever is doing the cutting) if its a bit shorter than planned. Its a hard thing to do! If its just completely goofy looking... thats another story.

The perfect haircut... minus 1/2"

Caiden

The problem with being a boy...

Scabby noses, black eyes, lumps on forehead, scratches, and the oh so lovely chipped teeth

Caiden. He can be difficult. He likes to make messes. He wont sleep through the night consistantly anymore, he now requires a bottle to go to bed, he likes to hit. He wont cuddle with me when he wakes up from a nap, but will with anyone else. All I get is him screaming for 1/2 hour and nothing makes him happy. He is a terrible eater.  In summary, he is entering the "TERRIBLE TWOS". Joy.

But with all that said, he is still my little love bug. He is so irresistibly adorable. And I dont think its just me.

Finally, and all of the sudden, Caiden has been trying to talk. His words dont sound even close to anything, but he usually uses the right amount of syllables so I know he's trying. Its so cute.

Here are his favorite words that sound pretty close to the real thing:

Hewoah (hello) He says it in three different tones. Hewoah? Hewooooooah?! or Hewoah!

He says it to anyone, and everyone while waving. We had stayed at my parents house a couple weeks ago for a night. In the early morning we let him into our bed. I got up in the morning and went upstairs. I thought, "what is he going to do when he wakes up? fall off the bed, cry...?" Then I hear his little voice coming out of the room saying "Hewoooooah?" over and over in all different tones. It was so so so cute.

I dont know

I was telling my cousin that he doesn't say anything at all. And, I swear, the second I finished saying that I hear him accros the room tell my mom "I dont know" !!!!! We couldn't believe it, everyone started cheering for him. It was the wierdest thing. He hasn't ever said it clearly again.

e duck! (its stuck)  Which means help, I cant reach it, get me up on the chair, get me out of my car seat, etc.

uh uh (no) Any question that is asked will get this answer, even if he means yes. I try to teach him "yes" but thats not as fun a word to say. The funniest part is he say it to cartoons. Example- "which way do we go?" Caiden, "uh uh"

And with such a small vocabulary, he still gets frustrated a lot, if not more than ever. He likes to hit Addysin for fun. He loves to torment her. He will see something she is playing with and walk over and RIP it out of her hands. I wish they played together, but since he is just coming into his terrible two's I'm not planning on them being BFF for a while. This week he started BEATING the ground with his fist on occassion when he doesn't get his way. Chris and I were like "Woah!". We didn't know if we should laugh or be worried about his anger.

He is pretty good at saying sorry though when I tell him to. I cant even write out the way it sounds because it honestly doesn't sound like anything. But, again, its two syllables so I know in his mind he is saying it. And he gives her a hug when he apologizes. Addysin is really good to stand there and wait for an apology and say "I forgive you". She is also really good at tattle tailing.

I love having a little boy. Even though he is very naughty that way he torments Addysin sometimes, it is pretty funny. She is so sweet not to hit him. The other thing that is so naughty is the way he blatantly disobeys me. If he is running away from me, he wont go far UNLESS he sees me look at him. Then he gets a huge smile on his face and he takes off running. So, I have to secretly check up on him. Once again. Funny, but not.

Last funny story. We live on a dead end Street with only 5 houses. Not very much traffic. One day he got out the front door. I found him outside casually walking back from the mailboxes. I called to him, he saw me, and turned to run back to the mailboxes. Once he got there, he opened the big mailbox at the bottom that is meant for packages and pulled out his football he had hid in there.

Memorial Day

On memorial day we did are usual tradition of visiting the cemetary in Kennewick. At that cemetary is burried my Grandpa Bleazard, Great Aunt Doris, and sister Jena Lynne

My Grandpa died from a heart attack 25 years ago. It was the year I was born. I'm sure we met before I came down to earth, and I'll see him again when I get back. My Grandma has never remarried. She is 89 years old, and the sweetest Grandma I could ever ask for. Brittani and I are a month apart.

She has her spot by Grandpa.

Aunt Doris died when I was 5 years old. She was my Grandpa Bleazard's sister. She lived right across the driveway from us, on the farm. I remember going over. She crocheted me a little blue and white barbie skirt. I still have it. She was a great painter. I remember she would paint faces on pumpkins at Halloween and I thought that was sooo cool.

My sister Jena was born when I was almost 7 years old. She had heart defects and couldnt live outside of the womb. She only lived 13 hours. I remember my grandma B was watching us while my parents were gone. I was doing the dishes when there was a call. When Grandma got off the phone, she said the baby had died. I only remember crying on the couch, the viewing, and her tiny casket at the burrial.

Youngest four.

Sarah (middle) is the one older than Jena. Then after Jena, My parents wanted another. So along came Emily (right). And Ashley (left) wanted to surprise my parents.

Bryan loves Caiden.

Caiden and Addysin love John. They think he is so funny.

After the cemetary we always have a lunch. Growing up, sometimes we would go to Roys Chuck Wagon (a western buffet, if you cant tell by the name), then when "Granny's buffet" came to town, we did that. But most years it has been at my parents.

The weather was perfect for the lunch. Out of the past week or two, this was the only time the weather was good enough for a BBQ. Thank goodness.

Our little cowgirl