Sunny-Side Up

Officially Caught Up... Three New Posts Today!

2012-01-22T20:10:00.003-06:00

Catching up... and maybe I can even say that I am now officially CAUGHT up?!! Can it be? Hurray!

Enjoy the last three posts mostly dedicated to my big THREE year old!! Scroll down and check 'em out! More on Kaki coming this week with a sweet little one who will be 7 months old on Friday!!

Potty Training H-E-Double Hockey Sticks!

2012-01-22T18:18:00.006-06:00

(The following post is ALL ABOUT poop... this is completely for my own records and reflections and not intended for the masses unless you are so inclined... you were warned... Thank you!)

Pardon the title but... really... it's been hard! But wait, I thought he filled his potty jar and got to go to the hockey game? Right... he did, BUT he did that by adding one potty penny at a time... for the pee pee, not the poo poo! Oh the poo poo, the poop, the big #2... why, oh why is it so hard?!

Well, I guess we should go way back... about 27ish years ago when a sweet little girl named Katie was learning to go #2 on the potty... her parents had tried everything... but alas, they had no luck. So they did what any good parent would do... they doped her up with miralax and forced her to sit on the potty for 30 minutes at a time... screaming, crying, begging to get off and poop in a diaper... oh please! For the love! Can she just poop in a diaper?!!

Seems cruel, doesn't it?

Well, when we first started potty training Caden it became clear very early on, like day one, that he wasn't going to be easy when it came to pooping on the potty. My every day pooper and sometimes twice a day pooper was becoming an every FOUR day pooper. I know that sounds terrible, but I was operating under the assumption that what goes in WILL eventually HAVE to come out... and so I waited, and waited and waited... and then when I knew there is NO way it wasn't coming out we sat, and sat, and sat on the potty... screaming, crying, begging, to poop in a diaper. No go... tried a suppository or two... BUT I couldn't hold him down in order to get it in well... flailing, kicking, screaming... the kid is STRONG! Even KK was visiting during one of these times and the two of us together couldn't do it... and during that particular struggle I decided that was IT... I couldn't do it any longer. I could NOT listen to my sweet baby boy scream ANY longer. It was torture... for him and for me and I was over it. So I gave him a diaper... and made a habit of giving him a diaper every 3 days if he hadn't pooped... which of course he never did.

Well, then came the potty incident of 2012, when we exploded all over my brother's nice new rug... nice one! Clearly, our plan was getting us no where and I knew that. So I talked to his doctor about it one day when we were there for Kaki's well-check and she suggested I do Miralax and not fight the issue... she told me and I quote, "If you try to fight him on this one, you will lose!!" FINALLY, someone who was understanding what I had been saying... we are LOSING this battle. She had given me the out I so desperately wanted... I didn't want to have to be tough on him!

So I went home, got some miralax and we started. Well, miralax makes your kids a smelly, tooty mess. Or at least it does for Caden, so I decided that I didn't really like that, plus I felt like it was making him not feel well...but basically it was me just making an excuse not to use it and thus not having to worry about Caden pooping on the potty at all... at least not by torturing him to do it... or forcing him... or whatever you want to call it.

Diapers, diapers, diapers... that gets old too. I mean a three year old who is eating the same food I eat really shouldn't be pooping in a diaper anymore, you know?! Or even worse... a kid who says, "Mommy, I need a diaper so I can poop!" REALLY doesn't need a diaper to poop. I mean he obviously knows it's coming... I mean, hello!

I was feeling pretty good about our diaper deal and I had learned my lesson in Nac and was letting him have a diaper every other day and wasn't forcing the potty issue at all. Well, he QUICKLY (like overnight) got used to the fact that he was going to get to poop in the diaper without a fight on the potty at all. And then he got even smarter and realized that he could ask for a diaper ANYTIME he needed to go to the potty... like he could ask for one two, three times a day... even when he didn't REALLY need to poop so he could pee pee in there too... that way he wouldn't have to interrupt his playtime and could just go... I mean, duh!

Well, I guess I look dumber than I actually am because I caught on to this pretty quick... it was earlier this week, while KK was visiting us that I was discovering that Caden was outsmarting me... BIG time. So I had a little pep talk/pow wow with KK and I decided that enough was enough... I had tried it all... NOTHING was working!

Aside from buying him his own COUNTRY, I had offered to buy him everything... take him anywhere... let him play with ANYTHING and NOTHING was a big enough motivator. I even started taking away his favorite toys every time he used a diaper to poop... BUT nothing! I mean his favorites... the trumpet, the Baylor flag, the drum... and while my life was much quieter for those few days... I was getting NO WHERE! Pretty soon his ENTIRE playroom would be up on a shelf and he would still be pooping in the diaper... NOT ok!

So... I decided it was time... I was going to INSIST that he do it on the potty... no more diapers NO MATTER WHAT! So, all day Friday I pumped that kid full of juice... and not juice mixed with water... straight juice... he was eating lots of fruit... it was just a matter of time. So Saturday comes along and he is obviously VERY gassy... which means that he is trying with ALL HIS MIGHT to fight the urge to poop. Not to mention he has had a double ear infection this week, so with all of the YUCK coming out of his nose and down his throat plus all of the meds he is on, we knew he was REALLY needing to go. Justin and I took a deep breath and said ... "Here we go... we are about to enter potty training h-e-double hockey sticks... we can do this! We are going to win!"

5:30 pm, Saturday evening... started on the mini potty in front of the TV. A new tactic after Caden seeing it in the garage and asking to use it to poop. So we tried it...

30 minutes later we are still sitting on the little potty... and nothing. He asks if he can move to the big potty... SURE, we say! And so he does...

6:00pm It's dinner time at the Cox house and so we all sit down for dinner... EXCEPT for Caden who we make continue to sit on the potty. We thought this isolation tactic might work to our advantage. So Justin, Kaki and I all sat at the table with Caden in the bathroom... crying, yelling at times, asking over and over again to be done. Spankings were his alternative... seems harsh I know, but we had to do it...

6:45pm Caden is STILL sitting on the potty. By this point I have spent over 30 minutes singing, praying, rubbing his back, trying to calm him down and make him relax while on the potty. Justin took a turn once, but it was Mommy who he wanted to "come see me." And so I did. After sitting there with him for over 30 more minutes Justin felt like we needed to take action... so we put in a suppository!

We have had to use suppositories on Kaki a few times lately and it never has taken longer than 15 minutes to work although the bottle says it can take up to an hour... so we were hopeful that by 7:45 or so, we'd have a happy kid who had just pooped on the potty and we could feed him some dinner and get him to bed. Oh please say that it will only be another hour at the MOST! And by the way... Daddies are REALLY strong and a HUGE help when trying to put a suppository in! Praise God for Justin!

7:45 rolls around and still NOTHING! NOTHING! He has managed to still hold it in and refuse to let it out. Again, we spent the hour going in between singing, praying, talking, being firm, saying "PUSH, PUSH..." I felt like a labor and delivery nurse... We were counting and pushing, and counting... I could tell when he'd try to push and when he wouldn't... a few times we got a little something during a good push, but still no actual poop!

8:00 it's been over an hour, the kid is tired, his hands are red and hurting from holding himself up on the potty for so long so we decided to let him get off and eat dinner. Keep in mind that we have let him get up to take a "break" a few times, but each time he runs right back to the potty because he can tell it's coming... it really was the most frustrating thing to watch him RUN back to the potty knowing that it was coming out and then get there and not actually do anything to go!

8:15pm...

Caden is eating dinner at the table by himself. Tough love people... we were trying to keep it up although it was killing us. So sweet thang sat there and chowed down on his pizza all by his lonesome. If he turned around we'd tell him to watch the microwave... isn't that sad?!

8:30pm back on the toilet. Justin took a shift. As I was pouring myself a glass of water (don't worry I had already had a glass of wine with dinner) I heard Justin say, "Caden, if I put a diaper underneath you while you try to poop will that help?"

From the kitchen I scream, "NOOOOOOO! No diapers!!! We are NOT going back there! Absolutely not!!"

I was thinking that Justin had surely lost his mind. It had been THREE long, painful hours at this point... NO WAY were we going to give up now... NO SIR! You are going to do it!!

9:00pm VICTORY... but not in the way we KNEW it needed to be. It was actually kind of a pathetic excuse for poop... BUT we didn't think we could change the rules and now say that while he DID poop it wasn't enough. So we said YAY CADEN! Celebrated for a few minutes and then sent the kid to bed, without a bath...

9:15pm Caden is asleep... SO TIRED!

9:45pm Justin and I are asleep... BEYOND TIRED! I think it may have been the most mentally exhausted I have ever been. Truly!

Which brings us to today...

Juice... mexican food for lunch... Sprite... chocolate milk... miralax... oh yes I did!

1:30pm Caden starts crying and screaming, "I am pooping... I am pooping!!" But he's in his playroom and not on the potty. So running... he climbs on the potty with just a little bit of a mess in his undies and sits...

Justin is coaching him through it... you can do it Caden, you can...you need to... it's coming!!

It's COMING!!!

And boy... did it EVER come... not sure where it all came from, but he did it!! And it was glorious!

And we clapped and cheered and Justin drove him straight to Sonic for an ice cream treat! He didn't have to take a nap because he had pooped in the potty! It was SO exciting! And it made the night before not seem so bad... because it had worked... we had won! He pooped... no diaper!!

Now... I don't consider us cured... and I know that we still have more long, painful, stand-offs on the potty in our future... BUT we're moving in the right direction and I don't think there is ANY way that he can outsmart us on this one!

All of this to say... that being a parent IS tough and sometimes we have to do things we HATE doing and those things may even make our kids sad, cry and scream BUT at the end of the day we all cheer, hug and eat ice cream together and that's what really matters!! So I guess that means that even potty training H-E-double hockey sticks has its rewards... Way to go Cox Fam!!

I Filled My Potty Jar...

2012-01-22T18:08:00.005-06:00

... AND I got to go to the Texas Stars hockey game with my Daddy... on a dude date!

It sure pays (in potty pennies) to go pee pee in the potty...

I worked so hard to fill my potty jar up to the red line with the STAR next to it, all along knowing that it would get me here...

At the hockey game... my first... with my foam finger... my pretzel...

And my photo-happy Daddy...

And my Sprite...

At first I didn't like it when the hockey boys started to fight, BUT then once I saw it happen more than once I decided that it was pretty cool... AND then I decided that I would ask Mommy to fight me when I got home!

But she said no... and I was sad... fighting is the coolest...

Except that it's really not... because even the hockey guys get in trouble when they fight! They have to sit in the box... :)

I had a really fun time with my Daddy and I got to stay up really late... Kaki was already in bed when I got home!! I can't wait to go back and watch the Texas Stars again!!

Yay for potty training!!

Caden's Three: An Interview

2012-01-12T12:46:00.006-06:00

Well, I hardly know what to say about my lil' man being three! Our first love... in the last three years he has taught Justin and I a lot about a lot... and a little about a lot too! :) Let's be real... parenting is a growth experience unlike any other. It's a marathon, a roller coaster and a peaceful drive down a country back road, all rolled into one. To say that I have liked every minute of it would be a complete lie... there are plenty of moments that I would rather just pass on by, but then when I take a step back I remind myself that this is only a snip-it... a tiny season... a brief glimmer of time that will soon pass and tomorrow, next week, next year... those tough moments will be just another memory... and perhaps even one that I don't remember all that well... and then there is not much that I can't swallow... (at least without a nice glass of wine at the end of the day!!)

Caden is a bundle of energy and ball of fire. He is stubborn and hard-headed, but also sweet and tender. He is loud and often hilarious, but prefers quiet and order to chaos and confusion. He tends to be shy but warms up quickly. He is loyal and true to those he loves most especially his family. He is a protective big brother believing that only certain people should have the privilege of knowing, touching, talking or even looking at Kaki. He is her best friend and he'll tell you that too. He likes to teach her how to use all of her toys, but does seem to have a bit of trouble when she is showing him how to use his toys... go figure. He is obsessed with all things Baylor, especially RGIII and the Baylor Band. He loves to sing and dance, but I am afraid he did pick up a serious case of the "white boy." He talks, and talks and talks and talks. When he wakes up in the morning he knocks on his door, alerting us that he is up and from that moment on he NEVER shuts up... I mean stops talking! :) He is constantly asking questions and is always interested in what we are doing next... and will often ask the same questions over and over again until he has achieved the appropriate level of frustration from his Daddy and I! :) He is a button pusher and he is SUPER smart about how and when he chooses to do it. He has beat us at our own game several times which has continued to assure us that we HAVE to run our house as a dictatorship and not a democracy... the American way is not the Cox way... as much as we wish it were. I will be the first to admit that I fail miserably at this at times and when pushed to the edge I am reminded why I must be a dictator and am always encouraged that in just a few minutes after taking a more authoritative role things seem to go smoothly... and we are back to some semblance of balance again. BUT this is certainly not my strength and one that I have to work on daily. It's important to teach him obedience... and I know that! Caden is learning to pray for himself... it is the sweetest thing as I lead him through his prayer. I never quite know what he is going to say, but I am blessed each time I hear him talking to God because I know God is listening. Oh, my sweet boy, while a handful at times, I wouldn't trade him or his enthusiasm for life for anything else in this world. He has a piece of my heart that no one else can take... it's all his! I love you Cade-man! Happy three years!!

Last year, I started doing birthday interviews with Caden... I think they will be such a treasure to have as they provide such a unique snapshot of his little personality. Of course the interview is a bit rough in places, but I wanted it to be as authentic Caden as possible and that it certainly is... It's 10 minutes long, so only the faithful should attempt to watch it from start to finish!!

Enjoy!!

Busy Blog Day... Check It!

2012-01-12T12:45:00.003-06:00

I have put up 4... count 'em... 1-2-3-FOUR Posts up today!! Not to mention the previous posts I completed earlier in the week!!

Don't miss out on all of the Christmas, Baylor Bowl Game and Birthday fun...

Scroll down and enjoy!!

Caden's SCHOOL Party

2012-01-12T12:38:00.005-06:00

Okay... I know it seems like birthday overload... but I promise this is the last party post... BUT not the last "I'm THREE" post... so get ready! :)

While we were traveling over the break I remembered that I had told Caden's teacher that we would celebrate his birthday on the first day back to school after the holidays. I asked Caden what kind of cookies he wanted and he of course said Baylor cookies... GREAT! I was hoping he'd say Break n Bake Chocolate Chip cookies... :) but he didn't... okay, okay, okay!

So what is a Momma who is barely going to be in town 48 hours before school starts to do??!! Call her super talented and sweet friend Gina and ask her to do it! :) My friend Gina... her blog is on my blog roll to the left... is the BEST sweets maker ever... and I say sweets because she does it all... cakes... cookies... I am sure she could do just about anything anyone asked!

Not only do her things taste amazing... but they are always SUPER cute! So I had no doubt that should could whip up something cute for Caden BUT when she showed up at my house with these...

I was a bit overwhelmed... I mean seriously?! This is not cookies... this is a cookie bouquet... crazy, crazy cute!! Have you ever seen better Baylor cookies in your life? It was hard to keep Caden from rippin' in from the moment he saw them. We had many a tantrum over not getting a BU cookie RIGHT NOW!

So naturally Caden was stoked to take these works of art to school to share with all of his friends. He wore his new Baylor gear... head to toe and was proud of those cookies! And I was a bit proud too... and then a bit embarrassed of what the other moms would think of my OVER THE TOP cookies... I was afraid I might get a few comments and some eye rolls... I mean who brings cookies like THAT for her kid's school party???!!! NOT ME!! But my friend Gina does!! :) And I love her for it!!

Thank you for making Caden's party so special, Gina!! He was so very proud to show-off his Baylor cookies!! We love you and your talents!!

And that's it... the THIRD and FINAL birthday celebration of the Chade and his 3-ness! :)

Chuck E Cheese Please... It's My Birthday!

2012-01-12T11:31:00.010-06:00

Well... we left off last post with a little pull-over from one of East Texas' finest state troopers... "On our way to Waco sir... to celebrate my son's birthday with my family..." not even that worked!

So we were off and ready to celebrate Chuck E Cheese style with the Cox fam in Waco. This was my VERY FIRST time to Chuck E Cheese... yes, I know, shock and awe... not sure how I made it this long without ever going but I had... but let me just say... I'm a believer! Especially the one in Waco... it was very clean and nice. I was impressed! And the pizza... it was pretty darn good!!

And I'm not really sure how this blog post ended up as a review for Chuck E Cheese... who in the world cares what I thought about it... Caden was the man of the moment and he LOVED every bit of the Chuckster and his cheese! Loved it!

He was winning tickets from the first game... he was ready and had his sights set on a BIG, HUGE Chuckie... a new bed friend... yay!!

And you better believe that Daddy would never let the Cade-man go home empty handed on his birthday... so he was doing some ticket winning of his own... balla... shot calla!!

A little ski ball... Uncle Tag had first played with Caden and when I told Justin to let him try it by himself, Uncle Tag said, "well... you might want to watch out because it will go about two lanes over and he'll try to throw it in the hole instead of roll it... " well sure enough... that is EXACTLY what happened!! :)

Uncle Tag and Caden were tearing it up playin' hoops!! :)

The girls...
Aunt Ree and Uncle Tag with the Chade...

We eventually had to take a break from the games to eat some pizza and cake and open presents... of course! :)

I love his faces... he is always so excited ... and he loved his new Elmo book!

BUT the Baylor Sweatshirt took the cake... LOVED it! He wants to wear it EVERY. DAY. He calls it his Baylor shirt with the hat... :) It's a hoodie! Ha! Thanks Ree Ree and Tag!

And then he opened his camera... a real working digital camera. He wasn't quite sure what it was at first BUT he LOVES it and has taken 100+ pictures... and those don't include the ones that I have already deleted... he is camera crazy! Some of the photos he has taken are priceless... he has a tendency to catch my most UNflattering angles... :/

Cake time... Sweet Nana and Bop had everything covered for our birthday party on the go, complete with a cake, ice cream, pizza, wings, drinks, TOKENS, TOKENS and MORE TOKENS!! And Ree and Tag supplied the awesome decor... Caden loved his Thomas balloon!!

The boy loves him some candles... or maybe it's the fire he loves...

Deep breath...
Don't spit on it... don't spit on it...

Let's DIG in... YUMMO!

Well... by the end of the party we had collected some SERIOUS tickets... but not quite enough for the MONSTER Chuck E that Caden had his eyes set on so Daddy did a little bargaining and bought the remaining tickets-worth so Caden could have his new friend... isn't he cute?!! Who knew a mouse could be so appealing!! And then I remember Mickey... and Minnie... and Fievel... so who am I??!! Mice are it!!

Family pics with Chuck E! My Nana/Bop the best party planners ever! What a fun party!!

Caden had the BEST birthday... TWO parties, LOTS of wonderful gifts and he saw ALL of his VERY FAVORITE PEOPLE IN THE WORLD!! He loves his family!! AND I think the best way to determine the success of ANY birthday is how you look at the end...

And I think this is one very content little man... clutching Chuck E for life! :)

Happy Birthday Chade-Man!!

Thank you Nana and Bop and Ree Ree and Tag for making Caden's birthday party such a success. Y'all are so sweet to be available to celebrate with us!! Thank you for doing everything!! We love y'all!!

A Baylor Band Party for the Birthday Boy!!

2012-01-12T10:47:00.017-06:00

Caden turned 3!! I know, it is just absolutely unbelievable... I feel like I just watched the ball drop 18 times while lying in a hospital bed... and now he's three and he is a big brother and potty trained... well mostly... and oh my goodness, he's three!! I will do a detailed "Caden at 3" post but for now I just want to capture the FUN of his actual birthday!!

We were still in Nac for the big event and originally if I am to be completely honest I was a little bummed that we would be out of town on Caden's birthday, BUT I think it actually ended up being one of those little nuggets that God gives us because he KNOWS what is best... Caden had a fabulous day!

It was truly a team effort making the Baylor Band Birthday party of his dreams all come together. Aunt Emily was SUPER sweet and made Caden the coolest birthday banner to hang throughout the house and took care of ordering balloons... 30 of them... in green and gold... and also got one of her sweet friends who is actually the wife of one of our best friends from college to make Caden the BEST birthday cake ever! It was a green and gold Baylor Band birthday from start to finish...

Without further adieu... here is what Caden saw as he walked out of his room on the morning of his birthday... TA-DA!!!!

Happy Birthday Caden!!!

Every band needs a field to march on... so KK googled her little heart out and found the perfect solution! :) I had this idea after watching Caden turn our entryway rug into the "field" for weeks!! And he LOVES that thing!!

All of his loot...

I made Caden a band hat... and it is HILARIOUS looking... totally a homemade job for sure... and of course he would not wear it, but I had to try and I'm glad I did... :)

He was checking out his new big boy bike... a little overwhelmed with all of the birthday fun! See that stereo on the table... it was playing the Baylor Fight Song as he can walking down the hallway... I think it may have been a bit much at first, but once he woke up a bit more he was SO excited! And this is why we don't do parties for this child... :)

He opened up his presents on his new field with the Baylor band playing in the background!

Everyone went with the band theme for his birthday and he received ALL sorts of goodies... three instruments that actually play... a sax, a clarinet and a trumpet... trumpet is his favorite. A piano and a Mickey Mouse that comes with a guitar that you can play along with... he dances and does the splits too... Mickey... not Caden... at least not yet!

I also made Caden my very first attempt at a Surprise Ball... you can see it on the dining table in the pictures above... it was so fun! He had LOTS of Baylor gear to unravel ... all to be prepared for the big event happening later that morning...

BUT first... Green and Gold pancakes... and for the life of me I don't know why we didn't take a picture, but we were busy... :) Having SO much Baylor Band fun!! He loved them and in fact asked for Baylor pancakes today at school when they were having PJ and Pancake day... ha!

Then after breakfast we all put on our Baylor gear... and grabbed an instrument and headed outside for the Golden Wave Marching Band's debut in the Evans New Year's Day Parade...hurray!! Uncle Josh and Albi took a little convincing but I think everyone thoroughly enjoyed our jaunt through the neighborhood. Sweet Kaki-girl missed the parade... but actually it ended up working out well that she was napping when all of the parade fun was going on!!

Here we are... starting to assemble...

Can you sense Uncle Josh's enthusiasm??!! I think he is worried about what his neighbors might think...

I was the official flag carrier and boom box DJ... playing the various Baylor Band songs as we marched...

My child is OBSESSED with his shadow and LOVES watching himself do his band "moves" as he marches... it is hilarious!! I am not ashamed to admit that we let Caden use the iPad A LOT and thus he has learned almost every move to every song that the Baylor band does... and I have video to prove it... wait for it! He is certainly a perfectionist when it comes to this band stuff... he really pays attention and then mimics what he sees... doing it over and over again until it's just right... oh wow!

Parade route... up the driveway...

LONG... driveway...
Playin' that trumpet with all his might!!!

And back down the driveway... Aunt Emily may have missed her calling... she was marching right in time! :)

After that Good 'Ol Baylor Line we paused for none other than a family Sic 'Em Bears... in the middle of the road... oh yes we did!!

Then Uncle Josh breathed a HUGE sigh of relief when we decided to move the party to the back yard... as soon as we put the football field down... Caden went after it. He marched and played his heart out and then decided it was time to take the other side of the ball, so to speak, and wanted to play catch!

This is what he does at home... he lines all of his instruments on the stairs and then plays football on the rug below the stairs... he will then step up on his stool and conduct the band, take an instrument and play in the band and then go back to his football.... he acts out the ENTIRE Baylor Football experience... complete with the FUMBLE, FUMBLE and TOUCHDOWN... and chanting R-G-3... R-G-3... it's really too much sometimes... so, so funny!

And for those of you who think I am exaggerating I am really not!! Just ask anyone of our family members... they'll tell you... the kid is impressive with his knowledge of all things Baylor football... band, RG3... what have you...

After the morning parade and football fun we came inside to munch on some of Caden's favorite foods... quesadillas, queso and chips!!

Kaki girl was up and ready to celebrate with her BU gear too!!

Just in time for our after lunch dessert the cake arrived!!

Don't you love it??!!! Sweet Mary picked the sailer bear because it looked most kid friendly... and I love it!! :)

And Caden did too!!

Can you see how excited he is??!!!

He's been anticipating the candle blow out for weeks at this point... he is ready!

And he did it!! Then it was time for cake and green ice cream :)

YUM!

After lunch there were NO naps for the Cade-man so it was more outside time with Mommy playing with our new toys from Christmas and his birthday... playing catch... rolling down the hill in the backyard... and going, going, going until he literally could go NO more!! It was a sweet time with just my boy and I for nearly an hour or so... before the rest of the fam joined in! I treasured that one right on up!! Poor Caden... by the time the sun was setting he was walking all funky because his legs were SO tired from running around ALL day long... so we made him come in, and rest on the couch with the iPad... another Chade fav! :)

It was a fantastic, wonderful, Caden filled day... full of all of his favorites!! He was a very happy, tired, three year old by day's end and I was a very happy Mommy who felt beyond blessed to be sharing life with these three...

Happy Birthday Cade-man!! We love you!!!

AND FOR THE VIDEOS OF OUR MAN IN ACTION... ENJOY!!!

(Side Note: for posterity's sake I must document this... sorry Caden! The afternoon of Caden's birthday it was clear that Caden needed to go #2, but we STILL have not mastered that part of potty training yet. He holds, and holds and holds... after trying multiple times on the potty... but since it was his birthday I decided to not make him try and just give him a diaper and let him go for it. I knew it was needing to after all of the stuff he'd eaten and it had been a few days... well I was outside with Kaki enjoying the nice weather when all of the sudden Emily rushes out and tells us about the poop explosion that happened inside... I thought she may have been kidding but OH NO! Poor guy had SO much in there that it exploded... everywhere... and by everywhere I mean on Josh and Emily's brand new entry rug... AWESOME... BIG FAT POOP STAIN and a VERY mad Daddy!! I was sad for Caden and embarrassed for both of us but of course Emily and Josh were ever gracious by not making a fuss over it at all! It has since been sent to the carpet cleaners and supposedly looks like it is brand new... we'll see next I'm there! So when I said in my earlier post that we "broke" their house in... that is what I meant... It's not a party until somebody poops on the carpet!! It gives party pooper and entirely new meaning, doesn't it??!! Sorry Josh and Em... and thank you!!)

A Piney Woods Christmas

2012-01-12T10:32:00.006-06:00

One more Christmas post to go and then I can move on to the Cade-man's birthday... phew! I am knocking 'em out! (SLOWLY)

So... MY side of the family gathered in the great Piney Woods of Texas in the far off land of Nacogdoches for our Christmas celebrations this year which just so happened to take place over the New Year's weekend. KK and Albi are still in transition to Houston and well frankly they are homeless... so we crashed Uncle Josh and Aunt Emily's BEAUTIFUL new home! And by crashed... I mean it... we really left our mark... but more on that later! :)

Emily and Josh were the most gracious hosts and had everything ready to go for us when we arrived. They literally moved their furniture from room to room just so we would all have our very own comfy place to stay. And Cade-man even had his very own Thomas tent set up in his room... so needless to say, our trip to Nacogdoches started off with a BANG!

Aunt Emily truly went above and beyond in preparing for our arrival. She cooked a YUMMY Christmas meal, full of decadent savory sides that accompanied a gorgeous standing rib roast... it was a treat beyond all treats! She certainly spoiled us and we were grateful for all of the time and effort she put into our stay. Turns out a Christmas celebration in the Piney Woods is pretty spectacular! Thank you Emily!!

On Friday when we arrived, first thing was first... presents! This was my request, so that we could put as much time and space in between those presents and Caden's birthday presents as possible. It's hard having your birthday and Christmas mash right up together so I try to make it as separate while not letting either occasion lose its excitement... at least that is the goal! :)

Naturally, it was a true Evans Family Christmas, because I have VERY FEW pictures to show for it... BUT it was oh so fun... and you're just going to have to trust me on that one! :)

We did stockings first...

Kaki-Lou (YES, another nickname... I have a problem, I realize!) just bounced and bounced as we opened our presents... giving us a giggle or a snort when she approved of what she got! :)

And of course Griff-Dog had to get in on the action... he wanted some presents... are you checking out this house??!! Isn't it great?!

And the co-hosts for the weekend... KK and Albi... aren't they cute?!

KK and Albi certainly spoiled us yet again this year with lots of fun new things! I can assure you that we ALL had a very Merry Christmas!

AND part of the reason our Christmas was so Merry was my sweet Aunt Kay and Uncle Roger who had dropped off our gifts when passing through the Piney Woods the previous week... so not only did we have our normal gift stash but we had all of their generous gifts to look forward to too! THANK YOU Roger and Kay... we love everything... especially the nuts... Caden is a BIG fan, I have to hide them in our pantry!! :)

The next day the boys had a little golf outing while the girls did ABSOLUTELY. NOTHING. and it was fabulous! Emily has totally fit right into our family with her love for the lounge too! Unlike Justin's side of the family who must shower and get ready and look cute EVERY SINGLE DAY (I am totally the odd ball who doesn't shower and get ready every day!!), us Evans' roll a little casual from time to time and our Saturday in Nac was certainly that...

And speaking of casual...

Caden's just casually picking his nose while traveling in the golf cart with Daddy!

Okay, so later in the afternoon the girls did put on a bit of makeup and got out of our PJs just long enough so we could go antiquing... it was New Year's Eve after all... we had to hit up the town in some way! And Emily took us to this fabulous place that I could have gone hunting around in FOREVER... we all found some GREAT things and KK and Albi treated us to those as well! :) Unfortunately, since we looked like the Clampetts when we left Nac we didn't have room to bring home my goods... but that just means we'll get back to Nac even sooner now for a visit! :) Watch out back porch... here I come!!

On Saturday evening we ordered in from one of my favorite local places in Nac... it was oh so yummy... then it was time to get ready for Caden's party the next day. I am thinking that NYE may have forever lost its magic, because I am always too concerned about having a full dose of energy for the next day since it is Caden's birthday... so it was quick to decorate and then early to bed for me... and for most of us... :)

Sunday, New Year's Day was Caden's third birthday... WHAT?!! And of course I have entire post dedicated to that. It was a magical day that I think he enjoyed so very much! It made me happy to see him so happy... my heart was certainly full at the end of that day... so excited and blessed to be celebrating my baby... who officially is not baby anymore... tear!

Alright... so let's skip to the end of our trip... as we are driving out of town... heading to Waco to celebrate Caden's birthday with the Cox side of the family... we see a State Trooper and I said you better watch your speed through here, there is a trooper back there... trooper pulls onto the road... lights come on... he passes car after car, pulls in just behind us... BUSTED!!!

And yes, we got a ticket... big meanie! He even knew Emily's family and told us this outrageous story about how he saved her Dad's life when he was choking on fish at the Rotary Club... still haven't confirmed if that story is true, but come on... give us visitors a break... I'm thinking it was because we were from the Austin-area... you know us liberals... we're not seen too well in the eyes of them Piney Woods East Texas troopers...

And the best part of the whole thing is that his name was Officer Riggins... as in Tim Riggins... as in Texas Forever!!

All we can do is laugh it off... and take defensive driving... and think LONG and hard about the law... and how we are never going to speed again... AND certainly not while in the city limits of Nac! Lesson learned! Thank you Officer Riggins!

And thank you Emily and Josh for a magical Christmas in the Piney Woods! Seriously, words cannot express how grateful we are to y'all opening up your home and even let us break it in a little... :) We love y'all!!

And KK and Albi... THANK YOU for being our generous co-hosts... we loved getting to spend time together as a family and are excited that you'll be the middle meeting ground for many more fun Evans family get-togethers! Hurray!!

Merry Christmas! For the last time in 2011 (even though technically it is 2012... shhhh!)

B-A-Y-L-O-R, Baylor Bears Fight!

2012-01-10T19:59:00.002-06:00

(I'm slowly ticking my way through all of my back log... I have put up SEVERAL posts lately, so be sure to go back to make sure you caught everything!)

Well, if this isn't the year of the Bears... can I get an amen?!

Typically, when we start any new football season off I hear Justin the eternal optimist when it comes to the Bears, say, "this is going to be our year!" But this year it was different. He didn't really say much and I think he secretly resigned himself to the fact that we were still building a program and might continue to "build" a program for the next 10 years... we are Baylor after all.

So the season started and things looked okay but nothing out of the ordinary. We won a game here and a game there and then another and another and another... and suddenly there was all this buzz about Baylor and a Heisman and RGIII was becoming a household name... and not just in Bear households... people everywhere were talking about Baylor (in the sports world, at least). Then it became a campaign... Baylor for Heisman! And RGIII for President... and Baylor is going to a bowl... AGAIN... and not the Cheez-it Crackers Smithson Insurance Bowl either... the ALAMO Bowl... WHAT?!!!

Oh wait... but did you hear before we went bowling we went trophying... and we got ourselves a Heisman... ask anyone... the Heisman did not go to RGIII it went to Baylor Nation! Haven't you heard the speech?! And all of that stuff about diamonds and iron and steel... and WHOO! I just get all fired up!

So with the trophy and the bowl... we had one more thing left to do... WIN! And we did... and in a stunning fashion... like with "YOTS of points" as Caden would say... YOTS Mommy!! We were not able to be at the game this year but we were certainly cheering loud and proud from home base... and by that I mean my bed... I know it's pathetic but it was SO late! I could barely keep my eyes open regardless of the significance of that moment as the cherry on top of a super sundae of a year! Super!

The impact that this year has had on Baylor Nation is huge, immeasurable in fact. I have always been proud of being a Bear, but I do find myself walking a little taller and maybe poofin' my chest out just a bit when I am flingin' my green and gold (or pink) around town. That's right, I'm a Bear... a Baylor Bear! Friends, family and countrymen have congratulated us as if we won the games, the Heisman and the Alamo Bowl ourselves... everyone (for the most part) has been proud of those Baylor Bears and it warms my heart!

In fact, over Christmas when we were on campus, I saw one of the new billboards... and it said something simple like Baylor University, Building Winners, Building Leaders... and I started to cry... it just touched me in such a tender place and gave me, a 7 year removed graduate, the hope that I was one of those leaders that billboard was talking about. Suddenly, I was inspired...

Lastly, I must end this post with a little "bit" I like to tell about my first encounter with RGIII... I was at my inlaw's house... the biggest Baylor fans you'll meet (besides Caden, of course) and we were watching a football game on the TV... this was a few years ago... during RGIII first season with the Bears. I was on facebook on my phone and I was scrolling through and saw a few people talking about RGIII... and I said, "Who is ARG-LE??" (like bagel, but ARG-LE...)

CRICKETS... death stares... the stoning would commence soon, I was sure of it.

After they called on the Holy Spirit for strength and patience they kindly explained to me that it was R-G-3 like roman numeral 3 not the letter "L" and I felt like a big Dumbo... BUT it stuck and I can't help but calm him ARG-LE... always and forever!

Sic 'em Bears!!

Kaki-Pants at the Half...

2012-01-09T19:24:00.004-06:00

Dear Kaki-Pants,

You are 6 months old! I know, I can hardly believe it myself. I guess a Happy Halfy Birthday is in order... Happy Halfy Birthday Sweet Girl! When I think about you I want to rattle off about one hundred different words strung together with you as their commonality. Sweet, adorable, laughable, hug-able, smiley, goofy, beautiful, brilliant, bright-eyed, silly, tender, kissable, angelic, pretty, healthy...

Oh are you ever a love, Kaki-girl, sweetest girl in the world ever, ever, ever, ever! You mean so much more to me than I ever thought possible. Before I had your brother and I could have never known the lengths and depths of this love I found when I became a mom... NO IDEA! The funny thing is that I thought I was done learning the love stuff, I mean how much more could you understand love... it shouldn't change, grow and evolve from one kid to the next. Oh but it did... and it continues to DO...

You have taught me so much in your short 6 months! God in His infinite mercy has graciously used you to teach me so many things. He knew I would need you for so many different reasons, to teach, yes, but to heal more than anything! You are an angel sent straight from the Lord... He knew I would need you and he sent you to me, one of my greatest gifts! From the first time I held you, you have been able, as if it was magic, bring peace and joy, abundant JOY! I am so grateful to you and for you... thank you Jesus for this precious soul!

This month you have gone through such change... eating, talking, sitting up, blowing raspberries, laughing, playing, chewing, drooling...

You've moved up to a new paci size and of course your clothes are continue to get bigger... as are your diapers! You are one healthy and fit little girl and I am so thankful for it. You have been a great eater always and it shows no different as we have switched to solids. You are eating two meals of solids and four bottles a day. Your favorite foods thus far would be butternut squash and carrots... LOVE you some carrots! And peaches and pears are your favorite fruits so far... although we did try bananas today and they were a HIT! You were grunting your way through the entire meal... hungry girl!

I guess I am technically not supposed to be talking about all of the things that happened before December 27th, but it all does run together now doesn't it?

One of my favorite things about you at 6 months is your contagious smile. You can see everything in that little mouth of yours when you smile. Your crinkle your nose and open those big blue eyes so wide and bright, it is one of the loveliest smiles I have ever had the privilege to witness. I am certain that you have made many a person's day better because of that smile. I know your Daddy, Caden and I are proof positive that a smile truly can change the course of your day. You are one cheerful little girl! If your smile is indicative of your heart, than Kaki-pants you have a heart of gold!

We did go to the doctor for your 6 month well check and you passed with flying colors. We are so grateful for your health and try our best not to take it for granted. You did have your first cold with the rest of our family just after Thanksgiving, but you weathered it better than anyone. You also went through a nasty case of atopic dermatitis/eczema and have unfortunately picked up the SEVERELY dry skin of your momma... sorry about that! You have weathered all of your tiny bumps in the road without skipping a beat!

Your 6 month stats are impressive no doubt:

Weight: 19.1 (92%)

Height: 26" (86%)

Head: Don't remember the inches but 82%

So you, just like your brother are "healthier" than the majority of kids your age! :) And you've got the most adorable rolls and cheek-ers to prove it!

I have had the most fun shopping for all of your new clothes lately. I am LOVING having a girl to pretty-up and coordinate! You know that I LOVE bows, Kaki-girl, and you do too... just not as something we wear... for you a bow is more of something you chew! :) So while I do keep trying to stick those bows up on that cute little round head of yours, you repeatedly pull them off, and give 'em a nice chew!

You and Caden have such a sweet relationship and I have loved watching y'all play together this month. Caden is SO ready for you to be ready to crawl and run and chase him around this house and of course, be a part of his Baylor Marching Band! :) Bless you for putting up with the noise in this house. You are ever the patient and gentle soul for bearing with us!

Kaki, I cannot say enough... if my heart had a mouth it could say it so much better than I ever could! I love you so very much, to the moon and back and back again and again and again! My cup is FULL to the point that it runneth over! :) I love you!

Happy 6 Months Kaki-pants!!

And for a little halfy birthday photo fun...

Presenting Kaki-girl...

I did not realize until we were oh, 20 clicks in that her ear was being strangled by her bow... oops!! Sorry sweet girl!!

Check it out... elf ear anyone?!!

Oh that's terrible... ha!

Still smashed!!
Yay, Mommy got a clue... and Kaki's gotta chew...

Like my bow??!!! I feel it up there... I'm gonna get it...

Lean over... come here you little turkey...

Gotcha where I wantcha... now I'm gonna eatcha...

WHAAAAA-HOOOOO!!

YUM, YUM, YUM, YUM...

So good, so good...

I took it away and she was sad... :(

But all you have to do is say her name and she gets happy again...

LOVE. THIS. GIRL!

Happy SIX Months!!

Christmas with the Coxes

2012-01-08T14:00:00.005-06:00

So, here we are at Christmas morning... we are all packed up and ready to head to Waco for Christmas with the Coxes... doesn't that have a nice ring to it? Christmas with the Coxes... Christmas with the Coxes... love it!

Kaki and Caden wore their fancy Christmas PJs on the car ride over since we wouldn't be having any formal Christmas Day celebrations until later that afternoon. And it's a good thing because Caden and Uncle Tag were a hot, sweaty, dirty mess by the time the afternoon fun rolled around...

Caden and Uncle tag found a new game... "Pillow Fight" aka trash the living room with Nana's nice couch pillows while Caden tries to "dodge" the air assault ultimately succumbing to the weight of the fluff and diving head first into the pile...

Then it was time for a little fishing with our new rod from Santa! Bop and Caden had to re-learn how to treat fish once they were caught by GENTLY tossing them back into the "lake" rather than keeping the fish on the line and flinging them half way across the house as he cast his rod into the pond! :)

Not too much after we had finally mastered the fish throwing technique, Gran and Poppa arrived which meant the official Christmas Day festivities could begin... hurray! And we all know where they started...

With PRESENTS!!

It was a big group with LOTS of presents... but here are a few highlights...

Kaki girl getting her new doll!!

Chade and his new easel!! SO fun!!

Kaki girl with her Bop...
And Kaki-girl with her Bop again... are you sensing a trend?!

Daddy helping Caden open his presents...

We saved the BEST present for last... Caden's 'band in a box' from his Aunt Ree Ree and Uncle Tag... he was THRILLED to pieces and insisted from that point forward that we would become the Cox Family Band... similar to the Partridge Family minus the whole bus thing...

Poor Caden has been having some clothes issues due to his lack of diaper... and while we were opening presents it was just terrible... and you can guess that there were a plethora plumber jokes! Poor Caden... he surely did not get the lack of booty from my side of the family... goodness!

After the band and booty fun the Cade-man needed a time-out and so did Bop... so they retreated to the front room for a little Elmo action...

While Nana and Ree Ree worked hard on getting dinner on the table... YUM!

A few pics from around the table... I might need to add that naturally ALL of these pics are courtesy of Aunt Ree Ree who is ever the handy photographer! Thanks EE-EE :)

The handsome boys...

The cutest, sweetest girl EVER!!

Gran and Poppa... aren't they cute?!

And our gracious hosts... Nana and Bop...

Oh and an attempt at a family pic...

And wouldn't you know that I forgot to include a pic of Ree Ree and Tag... but they were there... I promise!! :)

Dinner was super yum, but SUPER filling as always so naturally we couldn't even think about dessert much less Jesus' birthday cake... SO we forgot... until Nana remembered during bath time and decided that we HAD to do it before Caden called it a night... so with his wet hair, clean body and cute jammies we had an impromptu Happy Birthday to Jesus party... Caden was so excited to be the honorary candle blower outer! :)

Kaki-girl was exhausted after all of the present and dinner fun... Christmas can wear a girl out... so she decided to get nice and comfy on her sweet Uncle Tag... they were buds this trip!! I think Kaki may have a little crush on Uncle Tag! :)

The next day was a cold and rainy day that was perfect for the Baylor Bookstore and a pit stop at George's for lunch! Caden thought the Baylor Bookstore was the Heaven on earth and could not contain his excitement. He has been there several times before but since Homecoming this year his love for Baylor has grown ten-fold... and it is hard to explain that BAYLOR is EVERYWHERE in Waco and on campus because well, Baylor is Baylor! He had never seen so much Baylor stuff in one spot... "Yook Bop... BAYER... YOOK!! BAYER over der!" Oh sweet boy... loves him some Bears!

Later that night Caden insisted that despite the cold, rainy weather he needed to go fishing! I told him I was totally okay with it if he could convince Bop... in other words... I totally threw Bop under the bus... sorry Bop! :) BUT Caden LOVED every minute of their fishing trip... one of his favorite Christmas memories, no doubt!

He was ready!! And they caught several fish... a bass... and another big one... at least that is what I took from their descriptions...

The rest of our trip was pretty laid back which was awesome...

The last morning we were there, Uncle Tag was manning the kiddos while I was packing up the house...

Uncle Tag looks like he has his hands full in this picture with Kaki and all of her toys and the pile of blocks in front of him... I think it is safe to say that Uncle Tag is ready for the juggling act of parenthood... :) And please notice Cori that that was a smiley face not a wink... Besides if y'all have kids now who will be my photographer??!! :)

Uncle Tag was also sweet enough to read B is for Baylor to the Chade... a favorite when we visit Nana/Bop's house!

It was a GREAT Christmas with the Coxes! As always we were spoiled to pieces... especially our two little ones! What fun to have so many new toys and things to play with! We are so grateful for how well our kids our loved!!

Thanks Nana, Bop, Ree Ree, Tag... we love y'all!!

(PS: For the record there is not ONE picture of Aunt Ree Ree in this post because Walgreens is trying to make me crazy... So because I am having downloading issues and can't stand not to include a picture of my gracious photographer I put a pic up of Aunt Ree Ree and Caden... a classic pic in my book! Sorry Aunt Ree Ree... it's not because we don't love you!! )

Santa Came BUT the Photog Did Not...

2012-01-07T21:03:00.002-06:00

Well, this is just embarrassing... truly!!

I have ONE... count it again... ONE picture from Christmas morning. I do have a video portraying a VERY confused little boy who was a bit overwhelmed by the power wheel sitting in his living room, but I could barely watch it all of the way through and he's my kid, so there is NO way that any one else could handle it. In summary... Caden standing on the stairs looking into the living room with a BLANK expression on his face... The End!

BUT... I did find a couple MORE pics from our family date night... so in three posts I have managed to capture them all... I think we have officially drained EVERY electronic device we own of its pictures... does it exhaust anyone else to gather pictures? It's a tough job! :)

Here are sweet Kaki girl and I...

And the boys...
It really was a great night...

Oh and I found yet another picture of my sweet holiday gown compliments of Albi and LL Bean circa 2001... aren't I cute?!

I know it might be UGLY, but boy is it warm and comfy... and it hid the 5 servings of chicken spaghetti I ate that night... :)

Okay... well, I guess I better do it... here is the ONE picture from Christmas morning... you're welcome...

It is the Bubble Gun that Santa put in Caden's stocking...

Honestly, Christmas morning was a bit of a bust at first... I was really glad that Santa didn't stick around to check out the smiling faces of Caden because it took him a while to warm up. He kept saying, "what is this?" I tried to warn Santa of this EXACT thing, but Santa insisted he was ready for the ATV... and to be fair... he is a much bigger fan of it now than he was that morning. Not to mention his reaction to the cymbals... "These aren't the cymbals like the Baylor Band have!" WHAT?!!! Christmas fail!!

It seemed as if the child was more excited about his new book and pair of jeans the night before than the cymbals and the ATV... :)

BUT like I said it just took some time to warm up... of course he was THRILLED to help Kaki explore her goods! :) Sweet Kaki LOVED all of her goodies! Duh! :)

It really was a very Merry Christmas despite a bit of a rocky start... and I guess you can say that it was SO good that we didn't have time to take any pictures... not to mention that we were packing up the house (literally) to head to Waco for our Christmas celebration with the Coxes!

Next Up: Christmas Eve...

2012-01-07T11:00:00.003-06:00

And I'm back with more...

Next up... Christmas Eve!

Oh but first, the pictures I left out of my last post... our Friday family date night! It was a wonderful evening out with our two beautiful kiddos! We went to one of our favorite places and checked out some Christmas lights on the way home! Of course, we got our two all dressed up since we def. had a place to GO! :) KK spoiled us with super cute matching outfits from one of my very favorite places... Hanna Andersson... and of course I would NEVER think any differently... BUT I think they are pretty darn dapper in their black and white! :)

Could you just die over those stockings?! LOVE them! I want a pair too! :) So the VERY FIRST picture I took that night was the WINNER! After that it was a pouty toddler and an ever compliant Kaki! :)

PLEASE can we go???!!!

UGH!!! I am so over it!

Now I am really OVER it... and trying to be as DRAMATIC as I can about it... Lord, that child!!

Okay, now we are back to Christmas Eve...

We went to church that afternoon so we could come home and be ready for a yummy dinner and presents!! We do all of our family presents on Christmas Eve and then just do Santa on Christmas Day!

I have to make note of Kaki's first "date"... at church that afternoon some of our friends sat next to us and their little boy who is one of the CUTEST little boys you'll ever meet was totally in love with Kaki. He was sitting on his Mommy's lap and Kaki on mine and he was smiling at her and grabbing her hand and patting her head... and Kaki of course was ALL about the attention... especially since he was a handsome boy... have I told y'all what a flirt she is?! Oh my goodness... it is hilarious!! She loves boys, men and the like! :) Anyway... I wish I had had a camera to capture the sweetness between those two... it was like love at first sight and of course the Mommies were melting under the sweetness! Mr. G and Kaki might just have a story to share some day... who cares if he is nearly 4 years older! :) Go Kaki-girl go!

We didn't get too many pictures... with the man-on-man defense we're playing these days that doesn't leave much room for a photographer but we try! :)

Sweet Kaki... just hangin' so patiently!

We were cold and wet after church so we all changed into our festive jammies... like my flannel gown??!! LL Bean circa 2001... thanks, Albi! :)

Look... I got JEANS!! Sweet Caden was so excited about everything!

After dinner we made some super fancy break n bake cookies for Santa and of course left him a Sprite... traditionally, we leave a coke... at least that is what I always did when I was growing up... BUT, Caden yet again proves he beats to his OWN drum and insisted on Sprite... it was our last one too... so you know that the kid loves Santa if he was willing to give up his last Sprite!! And turns out Santa likes Sprite too especially when it is used as a mixer! Wait? What?!!! :)

Just before bed we stepped out in the rain to place the reindeer food in the front yard... those poor reindeer have got to be famished by the time they get to the Rock!!

Although, as it turns out I think they must have had a big meal at the neighbors because that reindeer food is STILL in our yard! :)

One of my favorite things we have done each year as a family is read the Christmas story before bedtime. This year we got an extra special treat from my Gram who recorded The Night Before Christmas in one of those Hallmark books. And let me tell y'all... she missed her calling as a story teller because it was fantastic and brought tears to my eyes listening to MY Grandmother read MY children such a treasured poem! Thank you Gram... it is a treasure of a gift!

Okay... another down... more to come!! :)

Whoo hoo!!

Blog Rewind... Because I'm Behind!

2012-01-04T19:52:00.005-06:00

I am SO far behind on my blogging that it is just a wonder that I am even starting... one post at a time right? With our TWO Christmases, Kaki's 6 month birthday, and Caden's TWO birthday parties these posts stack up quickly...

Okay so here we go...

Let's start where we left off and go straight up until Christmas Eve afternoon, shall we?! Come on, let's go...

Each year Justin employs his personal chef to bake some home goods for his coworkers! This year Chef Katia (don't you think it sounds more impressive if I'm suddenly foreign?) baked upwards of 200 cookies/candy ... phew! It was fun and messy and sticky... and DELICIOUS! :)

So good in fact that BOB got into the left-overs aka BURNT cookies one evening and left us a note asking if we, "got milk?!" Silly, BOB! Since Bob was having cookies for breakfast that morning we decided to too... not that it took much arm-twisting!

And during all of the cookie making fun I managed to drop a pair of kitchen shears on my foot... and I wanted someone else to feel my pain so I took a pic and sent it to Justin and KK and since I saw it in my photo gallery I thought, "What the heck? I'll post it here too!" You're welcome!

The kids and I obviously had some trips to HEB in store in December... I mean 200 cookies don't just make themselves... and there are still dinners and such to be had. On one particular trip in which Caden had been exceptionally pleasant he asked EVER so desperately for a Minnie balloon... at first I was a bit concerned for his recent Minnie love (this was not the first ask for something Minnie) but once I saw the "Hey Baby!" look he gave her once I put it in his hands I was okay and also figured that his rough-n-tough camo hat evened the playing field... so bring on the Minnie dolls!

KK came to visit the week before Christmas! It had been a while since we had seen her so we were all super excited to have her come and stay! While she was visiting, BOB was up to his usual antics... toilet papering the tree one night...

And then wrapping himself to the lamp as if he really thought that we'd believe that someone else did the wrapping and tied him up in the process... come, on BOB! We know!!

The next morning Bob was actually taken hostage by Caden's ferocious zoo of animal figurines... apparently they were concerned that he might be up to no good again and decided to tie him up to a stake and guard him for the day... oh dear! I am afraid Bob and his consultant were a bit aggressive for my tastes this year ... I am thinking that Bob might need to find a more feminine counterpart to help him navigate his Christmas adventures in the Cox house next year! Geez!

Sweet Kaki and KK had a tender moment one afternoon while she was staying with us... it was the sweetest thing ever and I was not one bit jealous... HA! :)

Let's see, let's see... so one night when KK was with us we took her to see a few lights around town and took her to her very first coordinated music/light show... she thought that was the coolest! And so did we... I think we did three different houses like that this year! We love us some Christmas light looking!

The Friday before Christmas, Justin was off of work so we split up... the boys... and the girls and scattered about town trying to wrap up the last minute items on our Christmas lists. It was cold that day so I bundled Kaki up in her new coat which we scored during an impromptu shopping trip when Kk was in town... isn't she the cutest little pink minky dot ever?

On Christmas Eve morning we were so excited to get to attend one of our friend's Christmas Eve morning teas! Last year we were traveling and unable to go... it is a tradition of our friend's family and I just think it is the neatest thing... really gets things kicked off right! Caden of course had to get all dolled up because who knew who he might see?! So he chose to wear his boots naturally! :)

And Kaki chose to wear one of her new outfits...

And she had on big girl shoes... cutest thing ever! But no bow in this picture... and in most of our pictures lately because girlfriend has decided that they make excellent chew toys and rips those suckers right on off and in the mouth they go... but that doesn't mean I won't keep trying! :)

On Christmas Eve afternoon while Kaki was napping and Mommy was wrapping gifts, Justin and Caden decided to watch a movie on the couch together... in preparation for the big Christmas Eve church service that night we figured he needed to lay low and relax... and we didn't make him nap because well... I don't remember why... but a movie sounded fun!

So they watched Dolphin Tale and I think they both thoroughly enjoyed it...

And there you have it... we're right on up to Christmas Eve now... OH but shoot... I just realized I missed our family date night on Friday night before Christmas... I have ONE (of MANY attempts) picture to show y'all of that... haven't uploaded those pics yet... hang in there with me...

More to come...

PJs, That Pesky Little Elf, The Potty and Some Porridge

2011-12-18T20:17:00.004-06:00

Not many words... just a few "P" pics from my "p"hone... :)

PJs...
My matching candy cane little littles... :) (PJs courtesy of KK... thank you!!)

Caden attempting to hold his counterpart...

And that Pesky Little Elf we affectionately call Bob...

Bob is a funny little guy... and has a particular liking to the MAN of our house... in fact they "meet" each morning and "discuss" the days' events... I happen to think that Bob is an excellent judge of character for taking such an interest in Justin!! :)

Bob has been excellent about delivering messages back and forth between the kids and Santa. This morning, Bob returned from the North Pole with a special note for Caden about the next "P" on our list...
THE Potty...

We started potty-training again on FRIDAY... in hopes of utilizing the break from school to get Caden's big boy status completely nailed down! We ditched the paci and the diaper in ONE day... and so far so VERY GOOD...

Except... the excitement about PEE PEEing in the potty with all of those SUPER spiffy underwear hanging in the living room quickly faded when it was time to POOP! Which is why our friend Bob had to give Caden a special dose of encouragement from Santa... if Santa believes you can poop in the potty then by golly you sure can... BUT alas we cannot...

At least not yet...

It's been brutal... like I had to walk out the front door so Caden couldn't see me cry kind of brutal. I did the SAME thing to my parents when I was young... and I have heard about it OVER AND OVER AND OVER again MY WHOLE LIFE... and now my parents are ever so kindly saying... Paybacks are ****.... and they are right!! They are ****!!!

Pray for us would y'all?!!!

And lastly, but never least in our house...

Some Porridge...

Kaki started rice cereal... FINALLY! I was trying to wait until she turned 6 months but we went a week early and she LOVES it...

It's no secret that girlfriend was ready for her some real food! :)

Hope you are all having a perfectly peachy pre-Christmas...

Love y'all!!

A Christmas Conundrum Turns Into a Combo Loco

2011-12-13T15:23:00.015-06:00

WARNING: This is a completely off-the-wall, quirky-Katie, I just needed to get some stuff out there kind of post... if you are not in the mood, keep calm and carry on! Merry Christmas!

Have y'all heard? Christmas is a little less than two weeks away! What?! I just bought Kaki's stocking a hanger today and I have not one present wrapped under my tree, but it is Christmastime regardless of how on top of it I may be and I love it! Since I was a child Christmas was a time of year where I felt most at peace with the state of the world I was living in. Everything seemed to be tied up in a pretty red bow and adorned with sparkly lights and in the eyes of a child that meant all was well. To this day when I hear certain Christmas classics being used as jingles for commercials on TV an overwhelming sense of peace sweeps over me. It's weird, but it happens every time. I always say that I love my house more decorated for Christmas and when I have to take it all down it seems so empty and cold. There is a warmth of the season that is simply unmatched by any other. My wonder and excitement for the season does not stop at the decorations and the carols, of course... it is simply accented by these things and fortified by a very rigid belief in the one, the only Santa Claus.

Oh, how I loved Santa as a child...his beautiful fur trimmed red coat and happy, rosy cheeks. I loved that he watched over me all year long and was sure to reward me for my most excellent behavior. I constantly dreamed about the ways in which he was able to make it to every child in the entire world in one night, never once questioning that it was entirely possible. It was mysterious but nonetheless very believable as far as I was concerned.

This unwavering faith in Santa is the driver behind one of my favorite "go-to" stories that I tell during the infamous, "when did you stop believing in Santa?" conversations that seem to round out any good holiday party. It goes something like this... "Oh, well... I was the girl in sixth grade who took her letter from Santa to school to prove the others wrong. It was a computer generated letter with green type, but my name and Santa's names were both written with a beautiful inky red pen, one that could only belong to Santa himself. I was adamant that Santa was the real deal despite what the other kids in my class tried to say. It didn't matter who said what about my man Santa, I wasn't backing down."

The crowd listening to my story is usually chuckling by now and a few are giving their condolences in the form of a, "bless your heart!" And then inevitably I get asked, "so when did you stop believing in Santa?" And I say... "I haven't!" And then everyone laughs again... I'm tellin' y'all it is a real crowd pleaser!

But the thing is, it's true. My parents have never told me that Santa isn't real and I still imagine his house in the North Pole and his sleigh full of reindeer. And now, as a parent I feel like Santa is coming back to a fuller life as I get to dream up fantastical ways of telling the story of Santa to my children. The amazement, the excitement, the mystery of it all is so compelling and truly beautiful. Isn't it?

So here I am, chalk full of Christmas cheer one evening when I come across a blog post here, a facebook status there and I sensed a movement taking shape in regards to the ways in which we, as Americans and maybe more as Christians, treat Christmas. Now, this happens every year I believe but I suppose this year it caught my eye a bit more, or perhaps my eyes were just in the right places at the right time. Something was stirring inside of me but I wasn't quite sure what it was... so naturally, I moved on...

Until it happened again, a facebook comment here, a re-posted blog here (of which I only read the title) and I was assured that the movement was picking up some steam... and then today, another repost and another comment led me to a popular author's blog who had written a post about the Christmas Conundrum and this particular post was becoming quite popular as I had seen it mentioned as a good read in several different places and her suggestions being implemented in several homes, so I thought... "I better see what all the buzz is about... I am nothing if I am not timely!" :)

So I read it and found myself very challenged, thinking seriously about what the author said about making Jesus a bigger part of our Christmas traditions. I questioned if what I was doing was enough? Are the things of Christmas clouding the things of Christ?

So, there was that... my nice, calm, reasonable, thoughtful reaction... how could I do better? She's right... I need to reign in the Christmas cheer and bring out the Jesus Jujubes.

And then there was this... "Oh gosh! There go those crotchety Christians, trying to steal everyone's joy, again! Now we've taken to bashing Santa I see? What's next, I ask? They really are fun suckers... every party has a pooper and that's why we invited you Crotchety Christmas Cheer Killing Christians... "

I know, not what you were expecting right? Well, I'm just being honest! My sixth grade self was so hurt to hear that this author was advocating that Christmas traditions should be stripped of Santa and of his decorations and his merriment. It's not Santa's fault that Jesus gets forgotten... just like RGIII can't help that he is better than EVERY other player in college football... life isn't fair, haven't you heard?

And besides... what has Santa got to do with Jesus??!!

And then it hit me... Santa has got everything to do with Jesus!

Hang in there with me... I know it sound sketchy right now, but I am going somewhere!

I realized what had been stirring deep down inside of me that was now coming to the top was the fact that I was just plain sad that the character that represented a special piece of my childhood joy and fascination was being given a bad wrap, and that just made me want to cry. How could such a wonderful creation be bad? I just couldn't believe it... that Santa and the gifts that he gives are to blame for the lack of Jesus in our homes, in our country... NO way! If we are going to blame anything or anyone, let's go stand in a mirror when we start pointing that finger and own up to it!

Santa wasn't the bad guy... I am, and not in the ways in which you may be thinking. I have been seeing Santa through the wrong eyes. In our attempt to separate our Christmases into the church Christmas and the corporate Christmas we have lost sight that perhaps God who is nothing if he isn't SUPER SMART and VERY INTENTIONAL gave us Santa for a purpose! Maybe Santa and Jesus should be working as a pair. Why does it have to be one or the other? Why can't we all just get along for goodness sake... oh... you better watch out... you better not cry... sorry couldn't help myself...

But truly, why can't we mix a lot of Jesus with a lot of Santa? GASP! I know, I know... Santa is of the world and Jesus is well, Jesus. Jesus and Santa just don't mix. But Jesus and alcoholism do, don't they? And Jesus and anger mix, right? And how about Jesus and fear? Or Jesus and drug addiction? Jesus mixes with a whole lot of worldly things and creates some divine creations... amen? Isn't that the whole point of Jesus? Christmas is all about Jesus taking the shape of a man, born to a woman and her husband in a manger, born to live and walk among the people, and to eventually bring freedom from all that's worldly with his death on the cross!

So mixing Santa and Jesus doesn't seem like too much of a stretch does it?

In fact, I think God is one of Santa's biggest fans. Don't you see??!! By teaching our children about Santa through the lens of God we can teach them about Jesus. Today that hit me like a ton of bricks when God whispered, "Use him, Katie! Teach them by example."

Santa is our example...

FAITH

We teach our children that even though we do not see Santa he is real. We believe and therefore he is. What do we tell our children about Jesus? We cannot see Jesus but we have confidence through our faith that he is real.

"Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see." Hebrews 11:1

So I know what you are all thinking, but Jesus IS real and Santa isn't, but let me suggest that it will be no harder to explain that Santa is a fictional character that God created to help them better understand and get to know the character of Jesus than it will when you have to explain why some families celebrate Christmas with Santa and others do not. But now if you can use Santa and his best attributes to then more aptly teach about the person of Jesus then why not... deal with teaching them the difference between real and pretend because that is a conversation you're gonna have regardless of whether or not Santa is part of your Christmas traditions.

LOVE

Santa watches over all of the children, all over the world. He has their names written in a book and he checks whether they have been naughty or nice. Santa must really have a large capacity for love if he cares that much about the children of the world.

Oh but Jesus writes our names in the book of life when we entrust Him with our lives. He watches over us and loves us so very much. In fact, Jesus loves all the children of the world!

"... but rejoice that your names are written in heaven." Luke 10:20

PRAYER

Santa invites children to write him letters, with their thoughts and wishes, with requests for new toys, touting of their good deeds and accomplishments and even apologizing for the bad things they've done. He invites children to sit on his lap, warm and friendly he listens as they spout their deepest desires, encouraging them on towards good behavior and well-being. He doesn't say WOAH, WOAH there, that is too much. We don't tell our children to not ask for exactly what it is they want. We let them ask for the moon...

Oh but Jesus asks the children to come to him. He wants to listen to all of our requests whether founded with good intentions or not. We ask and we receive so many precious blessings, the most sacred and holy gifts. We can ask for the moon and with Jesus He may just choose to give it to us!

"Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these. " Matthew 19:14

OBEDIENCE

Santa only rewards those that are mostly nice and not mostly naughty. He by the very definition explains what it means to be obedient and that such behavior will be rewarded.

Oh, but Jesus believes in obedience, and so much so that He, in strict obedience to His own father died a most painful death in order than we all might live. So without obedience we could not find salvation. Glory to God for obedience!

"Honor your father and mother, as the Lord your God has commanded you, so that you may live long and that it may go well with you in the land the Lord your God is giving you." Deuteronomy 5:16

I pray this scripture over my children every day and I believe that there is nothing more valuable to young children than the principle of obedience and understanding it in relation to the way they are loved by their mothers and fathers. We do as our Fathers and Mothers say because they know best, and know how to protect us, to shepherd us, love us etc.

GOD'S WISDOM, GOD'S WILL, GOD'S POWER

Santa is all about mystery and wonder. He does the unimaginable. He employs the use of magic and lives in a world that we cannot know but can only dream. How does he do it? Flying all around the world in one night? A gift for every child?

Oh, but to know the ways of God... he is mysterious and creative and wonderful. To define God in black in white is to limit the awesomeness of his power, to squash his infinite wisdom!

"Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgements and his paths beyond tracing out!" Romans 11:33

Do you see what I'm seeing? Santa is one of the greatest tools we have to make Jesus a more relatable figure...AND the endless resources we have at our disposal...it's amazing!! Isn't that just like God to take something like Santa in which some might believe is one of Satan's better schemes and make it all the more powerful for the cause of Jesus! He is always one-step ahead, amen?

Okay, so let's talk about Christmas beyond Santa... what about the gift giving... isn't that just crazy? All of the money we spend on gifts, doesn't it seem a bit excessive? Piling up debts just for Christmas?

And while I would wholeheartedly agree that spending should be done well within the means of each family, I would also remind us that if we are celebrating Jesus that what gift would ever be enough? So I think we should all spend a small fortune on each one of our children and our loved ones.

Ha!

Just wanted to make sure you were awake... I was still stuck on how to make the gift giving piece of Christmas fit into my Santa/Jesus combo loco Christmas plan. So I went back to the first Christmas and learned a bit more about those three wise guys and their gifts. I read several different commentaries on gold, franckincense and myrrh... and ashamedly I realized that I had never really given them much thought before. Turns out, God strikes again and is never short on purpose and thus is so with the gifts that Jesus was given by the three kings. Each gift was symbolic helping to tell the story and life of Jesus. Gold symbolizing him as King, the Alpha and the Omega, Frankincense symbolizing salvation in that it is a fine, white substance taken out of the bark of a particular tree which of course is no coincidence that salvation was also achieved through a tree as Jesus' blood washed us as white as snow. And myrrh symbolizing bitterness and in fact in Arabic means bitter, symbolizing the trials and tribulations of the world, death and sin, the things that Jesus would overcome through his work on the cross. And that was a short and sweet version of what I read... I encourage you to read more... it was fascinating to me!

Okay so gifting with a purpose... gifts that symbolize something... hmmmm....that got me thinking... what if every gift from Santa came with a tag listing a gift of Jesus... for example:

Caden is getting an ATV from Santa (hello Black Friday!) and attached to it might be a tag that reads, "BRAVE" or "ADVENTURE" with a Bible verse to describe how we find our courage in the Lord. Or for the fishing pole he is getting I might attach a tag reading, "SALVATION" and a verse about how God teaches us to be fishers of men, sharing with them the gift of Jesus. Of course these things would need to be age appropriate... so in the same vein I could use the word "LOVE" and write a note about how much God loves us just like Bop loves taking Caden fishing. There are so many fun and creative ways to take your gift giving and bringing it back around to God's most precious gift to us. Go wild!

Giving to those who have fallen on hard times or simply those that have less than you is an important family activity that goes right along with thanksgiving and praise, but I do believe this piece to be a deeply personal act of worship that each family must distinguish on their own. It goes without saying that giving is far better than receiving, no matter the magnitude of your gift.

Other ideas I had today include...

Stockings...what about stockings?

I thought it might be kind of fun to include a birthday candle with a bow tied around it in each stocking for Jesus' birthday cake with a special note from Santa to remember to celebrate Jesus' birth... so many families already celebrate with a Happy Birthday to Jesus cake and this is just one more very deliberate way that Santa and Jesus can partner up to help us acknowledge God's Christmas gift to us.

Oh, don't you see??? Don't you see?? The fictional character of Santa can teach us SO MUCH about the forever character of Jesus!!

Okay I think I'm done... my wheels are taking the stride of a much slower pace now and I feel as if I have done a good thing for my pal Santa and I hope too I have done a good thing for my Jesus!

I just had to do it... to say it... I just had to give Santa one, last fighting chance and all the while giving God the glory!

I'll leave you with this last thought...

You never know when a Santa experience might just give birth to a Savior experience.

Merry Christmas!

Christmastime with the Coxes

2011-12-10T14:40:00.005-06:00

Well, we haven't spread much Christmas cheer on the blog lately, have we? I have so loved seeing pictures of people's children in their Christmas duds, families decorating the tree, the different places the elf on the shelf has landed and of course all of the infamous Santa pics! Christmastime is a great time to be a part of the blog world, isn't it?!

Christmas has been in full swing around here for the past few weeks... starting the Sunday we got back from our Thanksgiving travels... we decorated the Christmas tree... as a family...

... of four!
And this week, Caden and I finally sat down to write his letter to Santa! We had Bob, our elf on the shelf, who is new to our house this year, deliver our letter to Santa for us. And boy were we thankful to Bob because Mommy didn't have any more stamps! :) And you know it does take quite a few to get ALL the way to the North Pole!

I wrote the letter to Santa and left some blanks for Caden to "fill in..." Just in case you can't read it, the letter says...

Dear Santa,

Merry Christmas! I have been a very good band boy this year. For Christmas I would like the Baylor Band. Thanks for loving me and Kaki. I will leave Sprite and Cookies for you. See you on Christmas! Merry Christmas to all!

Love,

Caden Cox Ford

We're working on the whole middle name thing... it's coming... except for apparently even Kaki's middle name is Ford... and mine too... and I bet if you asked... your middle name would be Ford too! :)
This morning we took the opportunity to dress the kids up and take them to see Santa. We have been home bound ALL week with a very sick little boy. He had the winter cold crud and I think is just now on the tail end of it... but if we didn't do it today, we knew we just wouldn't do it... so cough or not, we did it...

First a little photo shoot at home...

I was so excited about our black, white and red Christmas color combo... SO cute! :)

Naughty or nice??!!! You decide...

Caden has a hard time taking his eyes off of Kaki... and who can blame him?!

Look at that boy... when did he get so big?!!

Sweet as sugar, I tell ya... most of the time! :)

Next up... to Santa we go...

It started out good... with the appropriate amounts of wonder and awe showing up in Caden's little face. And Kaki was just overwhelmed by all of the eye candy... BUT as we got closer...

Uh oh... this MAY not happen... shoot!

Not a complete meltdown... he did sit in his lap... PROGRESS!

Poor Santa was a bit concerned... but was smart to pull out the big guns with the sucker! :) And by the end Caden managed to tell Santa that he wanted cymbals like the Baylor Band boys have... and then was pretty disappointed on the ride home. He kept saying, "Santa not give me my cymbals..." I think he is a bit confused on the ask and you shall receive principle... :) Patience is a bit of an issue... Ha!

After fulfilling out Santa duties we had to go cash in on our Santa bribe at the Disney Store. Caden and Kaki both got to pick out one thing for being such sweet Christmas participants this year... or at least for not injuring anyone in the process... :)

Then it was LUNCH time at Mighty Fine... Caden's favorite... besides Schlotzsky's! Milkshake with his burger...YUM!

Then we got home and checked the mail and Kaki's NEW red bow had arrived so it was photo shoot time ALL OVER AGAIN! The boys were SUPER happy about this! :)

But I am so glad we did it because look at these...

The cutest little red-bowed girl ever... :)

And even brother did okay... little ham that he is! :)

Model-esque... :)
And a picture with their "prizes!" Minnie and Oso were proud to be a part of our family photo shoot... I am just sure of it! :)

Sweet little duo of Christmas cuties and their Disney buddies! :)

Merry Christmas and Happy Heisman Day!! We asked Santa for a Heisman!!!!

NEW POSTS ALL AROUND

2011-11-30T20:10:00.001-06:00

I have three BRAND NEW posts and one that was just posted yesterday! Don't miss the latest Cox-family happenings... because at this pace it may be a while before I am up to four blogs in two days again! :)

Happy Hump Day!

A Praise-Worthy Thanksgiving: Part II

2011-11-30T14:32:00.019-06:00

After our super fun Thanksgiving in San Antonio we headed 'em up and moved 'em on out... up the road a ways to Waco! Nana, Bop, Ree Ree, Uncle Tag, Gran and Poppa were all ANXIOUSLY awaiting our arrival. We always laugh because no sooner have we pulled in the driveway than the door goes up and the crew all come running out to greet us! We can almost count it down... 5, 4, 3... and there they are!

The Cox Fam loves them some Caden and Kaki... and I guess they think Justin and I are alright as well... especially since we make such cool kids! :)

Once we got there and settled in a bit, Bop had a SAH-weet surprise for Caden! Flags... like GIANT handmade BAYLOR flags... like the Band has! He was in heaven and I was thinking that Bop just scored him some serious brownie points!

So away to the window I flew in a flash.... wait... wrong holiday! So away to the backyard Caden ran in a rush... with a flag in each hand! It was time to do a little marching, chanting, running... football playing!
And of course sweet Bop was ready to play right along with him!

Check out the wave of that flag... you go Caden!

Inside Kaki was getting some lovin' from Gran and Poppa who hadn't seen her in a couple of months... they couldn't believe all of her new tricks! And of course Kaki was quick to introduce them to her besties... Cheech and Chong!

After a fabulous Thanksgiving dinner which included a few new Cox family Thanksgiving treats we all settled in for our Turkey comas! But they couldn't last too long because Saturday was a fun-filled day of family activities...

The boys played golf... and Caden got to tag along... for the first 9 holes! :) And the girls skipped our traditional holiday craft time this year and opted for pedicures! I am pretty sure that this is the first year we've gotten our priorities in check! Amen?!

Aunt Ree Ree snapped a pic of the girls getting our toes did, but somehow I didn't end up with a copy of it... but you don't need to see a pic to know that we enjoyed every minute of it. And I must say that I am thoroughly enjoying my new color, "Warm and Fozzie" one of the new Muppet Collection OPI colors... think bronzy, sparkly, holiday fun! Love it! It was such a treat to get to do a little girly fun and especially now that we have Kaki pants to join in the fun. It was actually her second time to the nail place... you go Kaki-girl! Thanks Nana for the fun treat!

That afternoon we did a whole lot of nothing... well actually everyone but me did a whole lot of napping. I figured there needed to be one responsible adult still awake... clearly, I had my hands full with these two...

Speaking of Cheech and Chong...my word are these two ever the more alike! I think I married my mother in law!! :)

Saturday we ate mexican food TV-side and cheered on our Bears... to victory! Exciting stuff! I don't know about y'all though... after seeing all of those injuries I have a hard time wanting Caden to pick football as his sport! I mean those poor boys' mamas! I can't even imagine! Hopefully all of them will make a full recovery, especially 'ol RGIII... I think we kind of might need him this weekend!

Sunday we topped off our turkey filled week like any good Texas family should... with a big, juicy, beefy burger at the Fudd... got to love a burger and fries! We had a GREAT time in Waco and can't believe in just a few weeks we'll be right back there to do it all over again... time is flying! Tomorrow is December people!!

Thank you Nana and Bop... we are sure thankful for how you love us! And to Ree Ree and Tag for absolutely going gaga for our kids! They are such blessed little people to have so many people who love them as much as they do! (and you make flags for them... over the top Bop... over the top!!) We love you all!!

Happy Thanksgiving!! (again!)

BLACK FRIDAY (and other things against my religion!)

2011-11-30T14:32:00.018-06:00

Well, if you read the last post about Part I of our Thanksgiving adventures you already know that I have a Black Friday story to tell... or I guess you could have assumed that I had something to say about Black Friday from the title of my post...

Or you could have assumed from said title that I had nothing to do with Black Friday since it was apparently one of the things against my religion...

BUT... alas... I did it! And theoretically I did go against my very strict belief that Black Friday is something to be avoided at all costs! It's funny how when you become a parent all of the things you always thought you'd never do... or even said you'd never do... you end up DOING! And part of you might even end up liking it...

Or maybe not...

I can't say that I enjoyed Black Friday madness... kind of like I can't say that I exactly enjoy grocery shopping with two kids...

And it's not the two kids that is the problem... they are gems... it's those dang carts! How in the heck are you supposed to do it? We looked like the Beverly Hillbillies... and it wasn't even a big trip!

But there are things that I always said I'd never do, like let my child buy/wear and enjoy character apparel... like Mickey Mouse... Elmo... Toy Story and the like. And while I do prefer other clothing... the joy on Caden's little face when he sees his new Mickey tee is worth all of the inner-turmoil I feel when I buy them! :) His joy is kind of like mine when I pulled this...

...out of the oven a few weekends ago! OH MY LANTA! Y'all this is SOOOO SOOOO good. And it's a Paula Deen recipe so you know that there are LOTS of religions out there that would be against this delectable dish... hello butter, and cheese... and canned biscuits for crying out loud! Google Savory Monkey Bread and enjoy the deliciousness, if it's not against your religion that is...

You know that grocery store picture? The dilemma of how to do it with two kids... well I am sure so many moms out there just say... Moby Wrap... Baby Bjorn... strap 'em on... and do it! Well, I am here to tell you that that is also against everything I know to be true... Oh my aching back and barely there ab-muscles... it is just not happening for more than 10 minutes at a time! Hello 17 pounder!! :)

And after looking at this picture... the other thing that should be highly against all that is sacred in this world is ME taking a picture of myself... I make this terrible face... you see it? Kind of resembles Roger Rabbit... yikes!

Okay, but really... all joking aside, Black Friday wasn't quite as bad as I had originally judged it to be. If you scope our your merch, get you a game plan and put on your big girl panties and of course take a handsome protector with you... all should be okay!

And it also helps if you have a hilariously energetic cousin who is doing the SAME thing to text pictures back and forth with! Thank you Boozy, Shannon and Terry for the laughs!! It made our standing in line for an hour MUCH more enjoyable!!

So the story goes something like this... we arrived at the Wal-Marts at around 8:45... secured us a spot in the Chick fil a parking lot... thank you for being closed on Thanksgiving! And sauntered on up to the door. Upon entry we got us a handy dandy store map that confirmed that our previously determined location for the merch we were looking for was correct. And off we went...

HOLD UP...

Wait a minute...

There was already a line... and a pretty hefty one at that... so we assumed the position... with 55 minutes to go we were hopeful!

We were gonna get that power wheel and 12" bike if it was the last thing we did! Of course, the entire ride to the Walmarts I was praying... "Lord, help us to be a light to those around us tonight. I pray that you would protect us for the crazy coupon ladies I've learned about on TV. Please let no one be packing heat and if they are I pray that they want a Wii and not a power wheel. Also, Lord, please keep Justin's emotions in check. I will be forever grateful for this. Amen!"

So I felt the peace of the Lord... and I continued to remind Justin to take deep breaths... and that "a power wheel is NEVER worth a life!!"

Of course Albi had texted to make sure we were alright before we had even made it into the store. The folks back at home I am pretty sure were holding a prayer vigil as a way of channeling their heightened anxiety about our Black Friday adventure at the Walmarts!

We were surrounded in line by lovely people who did not speak English which did take the pressure off of changing anyone's life that night... phew! It was enough that I was just there... standing... and not crying!

As time went by we were getting more and more psyched for the big event. At 9:55 my stomach started to drop... I knew the chaos was close... and I could see the concern on Justin's face as line jumpers were preparing their moves...

Oh Lord... Justin needs you...

And it was 10... and we were off... slow at first... then we were "let in" to the lawn and garden center... of course as we were following the rules a few folks decided to not... and well that left Justin with no choice but to let off a little steam...

"They are cutting! Those people aren't going the right WAY!"

I am speed walking behind him chanting, "Take a deep breath... it will all be okay. This is fun. Our kids will have a great Christmas regardless of this night."

Oh bless my heart!

Then I got my marching orders from the boss, "I'll go this way, you go that way. Get the bike!"

And so I was off... but alas, no 12" bikes. So I decided to chat up one of the ladies who was also looking at the bikes... asking her if she thought a 16" would be too big... another non-English speaker... shoot! So with a smile and a Merry Christmas I was off to find Justin.

I spotted him and he informed me that he didn't get the jeep but was able to secure an ATV... score! That will work! Right?!

Then on our way out I see some vTech lap tops.... everyone was grabbing them so I figured I'd ask how much they were... "$10... a hell of a deal," they said!

Well, alrighty then... I'll take two!

So with our two laptops and our ATV we were in line to get out ... and we spotted a bike... a cute little bike... 12" bike... Justin said, "grab it!"

So I did and proceeded to carry it through the crowded store WAY past all the people were waiting in the long check out lines... to the other side where the less crowded lines were! Suckas! We were Black Friday pros by this point!

When we got to the check out line and rung up the bike we realized that it wasn't on sale... HMPH! No way man, we are Black Friday conquistadors... we aren't gonna take no regular priced item from nobody... put it back!

And so we walked to the car... with an ATV... and two laptops... turned the car on... and the clock read 10:25...

Now that is a record!

On our way home I was grateful to have survived and Justin was ready to go to Target...thus proving the popular theory that opposites truly do attract!

Until next year... may your Fridays be any color but black!

A Praise-Worthy Thanksgiving: Part I

2011-11-30T14:31:00.019-06:00

We were fortunate enough to get to do Thanksgiving x 2! Our first stop was San Antonio! Typically, we spend the first part of Thanksgiving in Abilene, but this year was a special year for our family. One in which I am sure none of us will soon forget. In July, our family was chosen to be a part of a journey that would end in a miracle. Baby Ryan, born well under 2 pounds is home, growing (he is over 8 pounds now), off his oxygen and is as normal as any other 4 month old. And did I mention he was PAINFULLY CUTE?!! Oh my, is he ever! So our family had to part ways this year to ensure that Ryan would stay as protected as possible during what we all know to be a bad time of year for the sniffles! While we are sure to have missed our Thanksgiving memories this year we could not have been more thankful for Ryan's life and feel certain that our celebrating will be all the more special in the Spring when he is ready to be around more people! For this and so MANY other reasons, not forgetting the two additional babies that were added to our family this year with Kaki and Kendall, this Thanksgiving was certainly praise-worthy!! Lord, we are humbled by your generosity!!

This was also a special time in San Antonio, because it may have been our last as a family... KK and Albi are moving to Houston!! And this lands us in the land of humility once again as God has so graciously blessed Albi with a new job and both Albi and KK with a new adventure! We are excited to explore the sites and sounds of Houston AND we are especially excited that with my parents being closer to Josh and Emily that we will get to see them MUCH more! In fact, God was so strategic with this job for my dad that he found them a place literally SMACK dab in the middle of the two of us...

Thanksgiving really is about more than just the food, isn't it?! But let's be real... the FOOD is REALLY, REALLY good... especially when you got KK and Gram in the kitchen! Oh... so that is one of the greatest details about this Thanksgiving... we got Gram! :) Which meant that we got as close to the REAL Thanksgiving meal as we could get! And we are especially appreciative of the rest of the clan for letting us have her! :) And yes... the food was delish!

Thanksgiving Day in our house ALWAYS begins with the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade... I had been pumping Caden up about it for weeks... he was excited for the h-wade, BUT let's just say that NBC needs to TONE it down on the interviews and show us more of the parade... or else a h-wade obsessed toddler can become a bit impatient and decide that playing tennis/football with his Albi is a much better Thanksgiving Day tradish!

While we still had him I figured I should start taking a few pics... KK was ON ME this time about being BETTER about taking pictures! We hardly EVER have pics from our get-togethers and have tons with the Cox-side of the family... well, this year it's flipped! Now if I can just get them both to have tons of pics I'll be doing good!

I am not sure everyone will appreciate these pics, but we do clean up REAL nice-like later in the day... promise! One of the many perks of being BEHIND the camera!

Caden and his Aunt Emily... enjoying videos on the iPad!

Uncle Josh chillin' with Kaki while I play photographer!

And KK... gettin' busy in that kitchen! Go KK, Go KK, Go KK!

In KK and Albi's neighborhood they have strict rules on leaving your cars parked on the street overnight... just ask Aunt Emily what happens when you do... SO... in a very strategic, albeit redneck fashion we managed to get all five cars off the street... they didn't say anything about parking them in your yard!! Welcome to the Evans' Redneck Thanksgiving! Y'all come back now, ya hear! The boys were certainly proud of their masterpiece!

Just before dinner and after we all had a chance to clean up a bit (OR A LOT) we headed out to the front to take some family pics... KK and Caden were my test subjects...

After several attempts this is the best picture we got... sweet Kaki had a hard time keeping her focus... we have SEVERAL shots of the back of her head... apparently the stone wall was super exciting, thus why we switched it up and let the kiddos sit in the g-rents' laps! Regardless, I still think we clean up pretty nice... (see above pictures for proof!)

And now for the three Katherines and a Caroline... four generations of Whitaker women! Can't beat it! I have never really thought I look too much like an odd ball in comparison to the other women in the family but for some reason these pictures make me stick out like a sore thumb... I promise I am related! If you put me, Albi and others from his side of the fam I wouldn't look so odd! :)

Close-up!
KK, Albi and the kiddos... best one!

And a few with Great-Gram... impossible to get all three looking so I just started snapping and got some cute ones, I think.

Attempt at family pics... again our best one... :)

And now... the President and the First Lady! (This is a running joke... some of the first pictures we ever saw of Josh and Emily after they first started dating they looked like the president and the first lady... and so it stuck... ) It really just means that they are a super attractive couple... with some star power!! :)

After pics it was time to get the last few things in the oven and prepare to eat... this guy was READY!

KK, lookin' all snaz-ma-faz in her apron...

And cute Gram... everyone's busy!!

Except for Emily and I who were just sittin' around looking cute... :)

Oh and Caden too...
And Albi was playing bartender... God bless him!

After a FABULOUS meal... seriously yummy... Gram and Kaki both needed to walk off a long day... and girlfriend fell fast asleep... must be all of that motherly, grandmotherly and not great-grandmotherly experience...

Sweetest little rosy-cheeked punkin' ever!!

What a wonderful Thanksgiving! It was truly one to cherish! But don't worry folks... it doesn't end there... we've got a Black Friday post and another round of Thanksgiving to go...

Thank you KK and Gram for a fabulous meal!! Thank you Albi for providing the means in which to pay for the meal! Thank you Josh and Emily for entertaining and loving my kids! Thank you Justin for looking so sexy in your skinny jeans! And thank you Jesus for blessing us with these friends we are fortunate enough to call family!! We love y'all!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

The Fabulous Five...

2011-11-29T14:55:00.004-06:00

Sweet Kaki girl is 5 months old... and unlike my super punctual way of tackling Caden's monthly posts I am WAY, WAY behind! Okay, so really only two days, but that seems like an eternity in blog world, especially when I have a stack of "posts" waiting in the wing!

So much to say about our Kaki-pants! She is a joy beyond all joys, she makes every one say, "awwww!" From her big bows and poofy cheeks to her smile that makes her nose crinkle she is one little bundle of love! I haven't noticed until recently, but I am not calling her "little, little" near as much as I once was and I think it is entirely related to the fact that she well, isn't so little anymore... she's growing right on up! She is holding her head up so well, laughing at will, bouncing in her exer-saucer and believe it or not, girlfriend has even decided to develop an opinion!!!

I know... the nerve of her to get all huffs and puffs on us after such a sweet four months! The joke is now on us... because Kaki-girl has got some stuff to say about naps. Nuh-uh... girlfriend says, "NO thank you, I think I'll stay and play with you for awhile, Mommy! No? You want me to NAP!! Hmph... try this on for size..."

WAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! WAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!! WAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!

We didn't think she had it in her! But does she ever! And part of me is grateful that she has got a bit of stubborn streak in her, because we all know that well-harnessed stubborness can be a beautiful gift...

With that being said we've had to do some Mommy nap boot camp the past few days... SO. NOT. FUN. But alas... like discipline... another not so fun thing... it is a part of parenthood and I do LOVE me some parenthood!! The show and the job! It's all good stuff!

Let's see what else can we say about sweet n suddenly sassy Kaki...

I think she may be a bit of a goofball... she has a deep, raspy voice... several octaves lower than her big bro's that is for sure. And speaking of big bro, she sure does love him and puts up with his CONSTANT singing, chanting and banging... if she's OVER the Baylor Bears and decides to become an Aggie it will be ALL Caden's fault! If she could speak I have NO DOUBT that she could sing the Baylor Fight Song right along with Caden! Bless her sweet heart!

There is still no one that can make Kaki laugh as much as Caden and he is still set on keeping her happy. He talks to her and asks her questions and if he gets frustrated while waiting for a response he just goes on ahead and responds for her... like yesterday when she was crying he said, "Kaki, you need your paci? Oh you do?! I be right back!" Then he jogs off in search of a paci! When he comes up short... "how about your blanket? I think she needs her blanket!" :) Sweet brother!

Kaki still loves her some Mickey Mouse... hilarious! I had to FORCE Caden to stare at a television when he was this age, but Kaki is all about it! So funny! I think we've got a future soap watcher here! :) Oh dear!

She loves to listen to people sing and enjoys her books before naps and bedtime. Oh... and how could I forget... her two most favorite things in the WORLD are... her right and left hands... Cheech and Chong... luckily they go EVERYWHERE with her, or else we'd be in a mess! She is all about getting those two hands as far in her mouth as possible, so much so that I keep thinking she'll be a thumb/finger/hand sucker but so far she hasn't found any particular piece that is better than her paci! They are just fun friends for now! :)

She has really been enjoying her lovie... she likes it all up in her face when she is trying to go to sleep... BUT don't worry, I watch her closely and move it just after she's gone to sleep! It's so sweet to watch her bury her face in it! Both of my kids LOVE their lovies! :) And might just take them to college! Okay... at least to Kindergarten! :)

I love my sweet Kaki girl! She is absolutely a love-bug!! We are so grateful that we get to be her parents!! What a perfect addition she has been to our family... we love you Kaki-pants!!!

And now a few photos of my 5 month old!! :)

HAPPY. GIRL.

Kaki's my name...
Sweet little bow head...

Are we done yet??!!

Happy FIVE Months Kaki!!

Do My Children Look Like Me??

2011-11-19T11:04:00.004-06:00

So my mom recently brought me some pics for a little comparison fun! While it is certainly no doubt that both of my children are a good mix of Justin and I both, it is hilarious to compare pics and catch glimpses of ourselves in our kids!!

I will have to get Nana to bust out some pics of Justin for me to take home next time to do the same with but until then here are few comparisons of my kiddos and me! :)

Any Kaki-pants in there???!!

Caden actually tells me that "NO, Mommy that KAKI" when we look at that picture! So he sees it!
Not an exact match... but close! I had a pic of KK to scan... BUT it didn't come out right... will have to get some other to compare... because as y'all know Kaki is definitely a KK look-alike!

Another look...

It's funny when I look at the pictures of me just by themselves I see Kaki more than when I hold up pictures side by side...

And now for Caden comparisons...

I'm the one in the middle if you couldn't tell... with the MOST unfortunate haircut. My mom told me she was trying to go for the Dorothy Hamil like my cousins had... BUT I think the hair-dresser was headed more towards the redneck version of the cut! But let me just say that KK did have me going for a very fashion-forward version of the smocked dress with my textured tights and snazzy red shoes... you go, Kk!! :)

I think Caden looks more like me in pics than Kaki does, but there is certainly NO DOUBT that he has some Daddy in him too!!

And poor, sweet boy doesn't get his shy, cautious, I am afraid of loud noises from no where... it came straight down the genetic pipe!!

I cried for YEARS and YEARS anytime there was a big commotion! When my Aunt came to take care of my brother and I when my mom had surgery one time the PAGES of notes on what to do and not to do were apparently LENGTHY!! Don't look at her, turn the radio down before she gets out of the car at school, do not say her name when she is walking to the car after school, etc. etc. At gymnastics I would cry if the music was too loud... I cried nearly EVERY day of school for the first two years of my school life (kinder and first, not MDO and pre-school) AND luckily I grew out of that... BUT I was just telling my mom that after staying home for the majority of the last three years I feel myself getting more uncomfortable in public and prefer the safety of my people and my home! I am reverting back to my childhood behaviors??!! Girlfriend needs to get out more, AMEN?!!

Okay but back to it... our cry face is the same!!

And our shy face is the same too! This picture below is one that was taken at Mother's Day Out... a polaroid actually... I guess this is the best they could get! Happy Mother's Day from your shy daughter! And in case you don't remember her name... it's on her dress! :) LOVED this dress!!

(I know it looks like I am just a BRAT, but no... just PAINFULLY shy!! THIS is NOT to say that I didn't have my bratty years... because boy did I... and still have my moments today!)

I find it fabulous that the Lord blessed me with Caden's cautious/shy personality (IN PUBLIC... kid is a crazy man at home!) because I can feel his pain... and hopefully help him overcome it just like my parents did for me... although the poke fun until she cracks method is what they used... I might go about it a bit differently! :) No hard feelings of course... I am fairly normal... fairly! :)

That's all I've got for today...

Happy Weekend!

Two Gems From Today...

2011-11-09T15:55:00.003-06:00

Okay so I've got some GEMS for y'all today! Two videos to show you just how different, WORLDS apart even, my relationships with my two kids are right now! One is so sweet, gentle and quiet and the other... well, see for yourself what our house sounds like when Caden is home! Phew!

Now... for a disclaimer! I am certainly not living under some false sense of talent and going to be appearing on American Idol in an audition ANY TIME SOON! I realize that I am TERRIBLE... a TERRIBLE singer or Bom-Bom-Bommer... BUT the things you do for your kids and then the things you do for grandparents so that they can "watch" your kids grow up right alongside you is INCREDIBLE!

As much as Caden LOVES music, I truly wish I had more to offer him BUT alas this is not my gift... so beware... find your mute button just in case... and feel free to laugh AT me! I am certainly okay with this!!

And now...

Caden performing the Baylor Fight Song... complete with the "running of the flags" or FLAG in this case! Be sure and hang in there until the end... it's the BEST part!!

Y'all... the CHILD is OBSESSED with all things BAYLOR and BAND... Bless his sweet little heart, he loves them something fierce!!

Enjoy!

And a few captured giggles of my sweet Kaki-girl... she has such a deep-throaty voice... makes me laugh!!

Ladies and Gentlemen... The 2011 Baylor Homecoming (Post!)

2011-11-06T15:07:00.011-06:00

Another Baylor Homecoming come and gone... it's hard to believe that this was Caden's third homecoming! For a little Homecoming flashback fun, check out the two posts below...

2009 Baylor Homecoming

2010 Baylor Homecoming

Boy has our family continued to evolve with each year. Caden keeps getting bigger and BIGGER... and then Kaki-girl... she was just a little bean in the belly last year and in fact we didn't even know we were expecting her until the Monday AFTER homecoming last year! And now, she's here, enjoying her VERY FIRST Baylor Homecoming!

And WHAT A WEEKEND it was...

Our weekend started off a bit earlier this year. Since my sorority won FIRST PLACE in All-University Sing last year, I knew that I HAD to make it a priority to get to Pigskin this year... the show that features the top 8 performances from the previous Spring. But with kiddos Pigskin can be a bit difficult to manage, but with Caden being the music lover that he is, I thought we should give it a try and take him with us and ask Sweet Nana to keep Kaki-pants! I AM SO glad that we decided to take Caden because HE LOVED it...and thus we decided that a new Cox family tradition had begun... Thursday night Pigskin... the perfect way to kickoff a fabulous Homecoming Weekend!

Caden and Daddy were READY for the show!!

He literally clapped the ENTIRE show... it was hilarious! Sometimes it would be spontaneous applause... I guess he was moved by the music! :) And just as we'd hoped, Pi Phi was AMAZING!! We loved it! All of the acts were great actually... it was a super fun show!

Having the ENTIRE day on Friday to tool around campus and Waco was a lot of fun. It definitely made the weekend a bit easier to swallow. We were able to spread out the late nights and have some down time to get to do the fun stuff that we never seem to make time for in a whirlwind weekend.

Friday, we headed up to campus to snap some pics of the kiddos. Kk bought Kaki and Caden the cutest fall outfits and I just knew that Baylor would be ALL A'BLOOM for the weekend festivities so we took the opportunity to show off the campus to our kiddos and capture some sweet memories!

AND we got to walk off the Vitek's gut pack (my very first) that we would consume for lunch! :)

Aunt Ree Ree and Caden were trying to ring the bell!

Caden and his Aunt... strollin' hand in hand...

Kaki-pants was taking in the sights from her snap 'n go... BEST baby invention EVER! Thank you Lesley!! :)
Swing pic... the Cox ladies and the Cade-man!

Can I get a Sic 'em Bears for Judge Baylor?!?!

There was a prospective student tour going on just behind the statue and they got a HUGE kick out of Caden's enthusiasm for the Bears! :)

Photo time...

Aren't they cute in their fall hues?!! Loving my kiddos in brown!! With Baylor GOLD in the background! Sic 'em!

Sweet, sweet, precious Kaki-girl...

I tried to capture a neat shot of the kids with Pat Neff in the background, but the shadows were weird... and clearly I am NO photographer!

After our yummy gut pack we headed home for the rest of the day to CHILL... it was SO nice to not have a schedule for Friday night and nothing pressing to get done! It was a much needed afternoon and evening of rest before our BIG day on Saturday! In the coming years I am sure Friday night will be filled with Bonfire activities but this year we decided that was one piece of the Homecoming tradition we could do without...

When Bop got home from work, Caden put him straight to work building a tower!! It was HUGE!! Nice work, Bop!

The next morning is always an UP and AT 'EM morning!! Bright and early... getting pretty for the Baylor Homecoming parade!! Caden's most anticipated event!!

It was a CHILLY morning and Mommy wasn't quite prepared! Thank goodness for Starbucks and a stray scarf! And Kaki benefited from a brother that was insistent on not wearing his coat!! Double the warmth for Kaki-girl!!

Sweet little, little... I'm ready for the parade... or a nap... either one! :)

Caden and Aunt Ree Ree were ready!! Nana too!!

My boys... aren't they handsome?!!

Fam pic... better ones to come later...

Waiting on the band...

OH!! I think I hear them... here they come!!! Ladies and gentlemen... boys and girls... welcome to the 2011 Baylor Homecoming Parade...

We have been "announcing" Caden ALL week long in preparation for the big event. After we announce him, marching in the Baylor Homecoming Parade... he marches (in time) around the house, waving his flag... playing his recorder, banging his drum... using his guitar as a saxaphone... you name it! The kid LOVES him some marching band!!

Caden Cox is your biggest FAN... Baylor band!! :)

After the parade we took some family pics before we headed off to see some old friends...

Look who we bumped into... sweet Baylor friends from home!! Miss Jaime and Miss Lesley and their Bear cubs! :)
And then look who it is... a little family reunion before the Pi Phi Tea... We missed you Hum-diddle-lee-umke!!

Kaki got to come to the Pi Phi tea with me and Aunt Ree Ree while Caden and Justin hung out in the hallway and played catch with Caden's new football he caught in the parade! Yay!! Kaki was a HIT... of course! :) In fact, she made a new friend... her name was Tori and I am pretty sure she was trying to rush Kaki... but she didn't win my vote because when she asked me when I graduated from Baylor she said, "Oh wow... that is when I started high school!!!" Really, Tori?!!! Thanks for that!! :)

It was so fun running into to old friends... it feels like we never left! :) Except for the whole two kids and extra poundage thing!! :)

Once we were done with the tea (or maybe they call it brunch??) we headed out ... ALL THE WAY BACK ACROSS CAMPUS TO THE CAR!! Caden was DONE! The boots only last so long ... so Aunt Ree Ree and Daddy took turns carrying Caden pieces of the way! We were all done by the time we got back to the car... ready for lunch! :)

And maybe a nap...

Kaki girl caught herself a couple of naps after we got back home and Caden got a LONG one in too... just in time for him to get FIRED UP for the game!!

HEEEEEEEEEEEEY, Sic 'em BEARRRRRSSS!!! Check out RG3!!

Caden did a bit of tailgating with his Daddy and his Aunt before the game... he is SO cool!

Meanwhile... back at the ranch... Kaki and I had a little Bumbo photoshoot! We had a girls night!! Super fun!

Caden... chowing down on a Chick fil a sandwich... when I first got this pic texted to me, I was a little bit concerned at what he was eating... Phew... just chicken! :)

Singing the Star Spangled Banner... with our flag... and NO hat... hello hat hair!! yikes!

Still got the flag at half time!

And at the end of the game...
Not sure he EVER let it go until he was DOWN ON THE FIELD... after the game! :) What fun! Sweet Bop is Caden's game buddy... which means he is running some serious interference during the game! :) Thanks Bop!!

Actually, the field idea sounded like a lot more fun than it actually was apparently... Justin said Caden was a bit concerned about all of the other kids down there and was ready to leave pretty soon after they got down there. When he got home Caden said, "dem kids were in MY way!!" Oh dear... sharing... not our strong suit sometimes!!

Justin snapped a video of Caden cheering last night... I don't know why but I find it SO HILARIOUS... he is so intense and excited! Just like his Daddy! I have yet to experience Caden at a game, but I am so glad I got a little sneak peak into my funny little man! He is such a nut!!

Last night he would spontaneously start up a "HEEEEEEEEY Sic 'em Bears!" and everyone would turn around and look... HA! We'll have to work on his timing... but his enthusiasm is top notch!! :) Oh and Melanie... heard you met my little man!! :) So fun!! But so sad I missed you!

This morning we headed to a local breakfast spot... our fav... for some good eats before we headed back to the Rock. I had to snap a quick pic of Kaki in her dress because she was so cute! :) Thanks, KK! :) We love it!!

So there you have it... LOTS of pictures!! LOTS of fun!! And LOTS of memories! I am pretty sure we will be talking about the SHOW (pigskin), the H-wade (the parade) and the dame (the game) for WEEKS to come!!

Thanks Nana and Bop for being fabulous hosts all weekend and for letting us come in and take over your house! And thanks Aunt Ree Ree for all of your help this weekend... we'd hire you if we could afford you!! We had so much fun with all of you... missed you Uncle Tag!!

HAPPY HOMECOMING!!!

Everybody now....

HEEEEEEEEEEEEEYYYYYYYYYY

Sic 'em Bears!!!

The Baller and the Ballerina...

2011-11-01T20:16:00.005-05:00

This year was an especially fun Halloween since Miss Kaki-pants was part of the crew! We were excited to have a Halloween party hosted by one of our favorite friends (who just so happens to be the hostess with the MOSTESS) to get our creative energies flowing into our costumes this year! A little family theme fun, perhaps?!

Truthfully, it all started when Caden went from wanting to be Buzz Lightyear to Baby Bop within the hour... so I decided that I would make the executive decision and go with something we already owned... Baylor Basketball anyone??!!

Caden would be a Baller... a Baylor Baller...

And Kaki girl... well, there was only one obvious option!! A Cheerleader... duh! Our sweet friend Jaime Ferg, who Caden affectionately calls Miss Y-amie, loaned us the sweetest outfit that both of her girls wore... we were SET!

Soon these two ADORABLE kids...

Would take flight as Baylor's finest brother and sister duo...

Complete with pom-poms and our favorite Baylor basketball...

BUT then... after our family debut at our party Sunday night... (pictured in previous blog entry) we noticed that we had a Halloween crisis on our hands...

Kaki-girl's costume was TOO SMALL! We thought this was the case when we were getting her dressed for the party... BUT the show MUST go on so we shoved her into it... not thinking much of it again until we got home and pealed it off her, revealing the deep lines it made in her tummy and on her bum... OOPS! Halloween fail!!

So it was Sunday night... Halloween was the next day... what is a mom to do?! Dig through the closet and come up with something else... of course! Knowing that Target was always a good back-up...

Thanks to some fabulous gift-giving we had the perfect outfit fit for a perfectly proper BALLERINA...

So on Monday night Caden and Kaki took their turns as...

THE BALLER and THE BALLERINA...

And while I tried to make a very valiant attempt at getting BOTH the Baller and the Ballerina to look even close to my general direction at the SAME time, I failed... so the together pics are a bit iffy... BUT... fear not!!

My precious perfect and pink ballerina was ALL smiles...

Okay, so maybe not at first... but check her out now...

Work it! Own it, Kaki-girl!!

So cute...
Oh my! You get it Kaki-pants...

Now with the bow...

She is TOO much!! Love those sweet crinkly-nose faces!!

Last night in lieu of trick or treating we went to the church for Fall Festival... AND...

CADEN went down the HUGE INFLATABLE SLIDE!! We were shocked! I know this may not seem like that big of a deal to lots of people BUT for our child it is HUGE! He was a bit weary at first but then a SUPER sweet middle-school aged boy offered to help Caden climb up and help him down... melt my heart, it did my soul good to know that there are such sweet boys out there!!

You can barely seem him just in front of the boy with the plaid shorts on... on his way up!!

At the top... okay buddy... are you ready??!!!

And he came down ALL SMILES and ready to go to the jump house... so off we went... thinking that someone had come and taken over our child's body and mind... who was this suddenly brave kid?! But once we got closer to the jump house he backed out and decided that he was more of a baseball guy... bouncin' was for the birds...

We played a few more games and went down the trunk or treat line to get the goods... and then headed home...

All the while Kaki girl sat perfectly pink and patiently in her stroller!! Sweet, sweet Kaki-girl!!

It was a FABULOUSLY fantastic Halloween... and the first of what we hope to be MANY for our Kaki!

I love my Baller and my Ballerina!! Happy Halloween!!