Make a Smilebox scrapbook

A unique version of Jingle Bells

I watched a video of my friends daughter singing Jingle Bells which reminded me I had yet to record Keenan singing Christmas songs this year. He sings them nonstop. It's pretty funny. However he started singing Jingle Bells and then switched over to his own words to the tune of Jingle Bells all on his own. I was cracking up. Eric is sleeping - can't wait to show him this one!!!

In case you were wondering, this little boy bit Keenan at school yesterday and he has a big mark on him. We were talking about it with him earlier today as in "Did _____ bite you???, but certainly not singing about it in any way!

Christmas Pictures

I will never go to picture people again since I visited Portrait Innovations last year. They are AWESOME and priced great. They take a ton of shots of your children with props, no probs, a bunch of different backgrounds and even welcome a change of clothing. Like picture people you get your portraits back fast BUT it's much cheaper! You can pick any pose you like and get a HUGE package for $9.99. After that they have small packages per pose at $16 but they include 3 sheets! Now I wouldn't recommend going during Christmas because it's a nightmare but any other time I suggest you try it! We are on a tight budget so we just got a shot of the kids and a family shot. Why is it that you always look 100 lbs heavier in pictures? Ugggg.....Oh and Keenan was soooo cooperative (yeah right) that the picture of the 2 of them was the best pick of them even though they both have goofy faces on.

Lowes Workshop

A friend on my baby board mentioned something about a "grow and build" Lowes workshop she was going to with her son. It sounded fun and was free so I checked the site out to see if the Lowes here in NJ did anything like that. Indeed they did! The age recommendation was for 6 yrs and up but I figured Cayden could pretty much handle it. It was building a gingerbread house out of wood. We went with a friend and another child and both girls had a blast! You got a little pack of precut wood pieces, nails, and stickers. Oh, and of course instructions LOL. They gave the kids mini hammers to use and some goggles (although Cayden didn't get to wear goggles because they were all being used already). It was really neat and I'll surely be looking into more workshops at Lowes in the future. Here are a few pictures of Cayden building her gingerbread house and the finished product:

Cat Tales

The day after Keenan's birthday we were faced with a unforseen tragedy. Eric was at work and I went upstairs to open the windows as there was a beautiful breeze. I walked by our cat Saturn and noticed our other cat Sambucca was standing next to him acting odd. Saturn appeared to be sprawled out on his side sleeping, in a spot and position I had seen him in many times. I opened the window, walked by again and noticed something was off. To make a long story short, Saturn was not alive. We have no idea what happened to him as he was only 7 yrs old. That's pretty young for a cat. It was devestating. He was a 21st birthday gift to me from Eric and had lived with Eric and I as a couple in every place we've been. When Cayden found out the news she was sooo upset. It was awful. He was a family member to us and we all grieved over the loss. We told her one day we'd get a kitten and we still had Sambucca (who will be 7 on Christmas day). Well last week a friend got a call from a friend of a friend who had 3 kittens she wanted to get rid of. So......I surprised Cayden with an early Christmas gift whom she has become quite attached to. He is so sweet and calm and only 8 weeks old. The new kitty loves her and sleeps on her lap and everything. She named him. Meet........

Bolt

2 hours of pure bliss!

Eric had to be in work early tonight and as he was leaving for work I was whining how I needed to go Christmas shopping and that I really needed to go out and do it ALONE. A few mins later I got a text from him saying his mom would be over at 5:30 and would watch the kids for 2 hours for me. Gosh I love this man! So my mother in law arrived at 5:25 and I scooted right out the door. I can't believe I'm going to say this but yes being in an overcrowded mall full of crazy shoppers was like a little taste of heaven. No stroller to squeeze through those ridiculously small stores my neices will only wear clothes from. No kids squealing and knocking crap off the shelf in the poorly laid out tiny disney store while I wait in a never ending line (they were having an awesome sale!). No prying children from the television set at Gymboree. No snots to wipe (well other then my own), no mouths to feed, no questions to answer.....it MUST be Christmas.

The only downfall to my alone time was that my hands and arms ached from holding all the bags. I should have been one of those nutty people who brings in the stroller anyway just to hold my crap. I can't believe how much I got accomplished. I am in the best mood I've been in for weeks. I think I need to get a life and get out more often!

2 year well visit!

Keenan had his 2 year old well visit Monday. I totally forgot to post it but I was dealing with some crazy ass severe 4 day hive reaction I was having to something (more on that at a later date). This boy is just huge these days! LOL His stats:

Weight: 34.5 lbs 97% (My kids are only 4 lbs apart now - SCARY)
Height: 35.5 in 75-90%
Head: 19.5 in (not sure what the % was. I forget)

He is just big, big, big! Doc said lucky he is tall for his age or he would be considered 1 or 2 lbs overweight! Yikes. He is a big boy but solid, not really fat. (well unless you count his big thighs and chubby cheeks!). He passed all his milestone questions with flying colors. It was funny...the nurse was asking all her questions and just as she finishing asking "Can he say 2 to 3 word sentences?" Keenan was trying to climb up on the table and said "I want up Mommy!" and she was like "nevermind....". He is really talking these days. Just the other morning I was getting him breakfast and told him "I'm making you waffles" and sometimes he will say "No ____" or "Ok" to whatever I'm making but on this particular day he responded with "I don't want waffles Mommy!!". I almost fell over. If you could only see the nasty look on his face and his grumpy morning voice croaking that out. It was hilarious!

Happy Halloween!

The kids had a blast yesterday. Between partying at school and then trick or treating they were exhausted! We went to Bucks County to trick or treat and Cayden was so excited to hang out with Brynn. Now that they don't get to see each other all the time they treasure the time they do get to hang out. Cayden decided to be a witch this year and Keenan was a pirate. Brynn was a halloween butterfly and her adorable 1 yr old brother Colin was a pumpkin. I forgot to get his picture - he looked so sweet!

At school:


Running to each classroom to trick or treat:


Getting ready to go out trick or treating with Brynn:


My Pie-dit (as Keenan calls it)


My Halloween cuties


Off we go!

Happy 2nd Birthday Keenan!

My baby boy turned 2 today. I guess he is really no longer a baby. He's growing so fast. He just made the move to a full size big boy bed. We were hoping to postpone that for quite some time but since he figured out how to climb out, we had to break down and go with the bed. He does great and doesn't even need the side protector rail on his bed like Cayden did when she first went into one (of course she was a lot younger too....). He is talking up a storm and singing as well. He still loves Barney but whatever makes him happy, makes us happy! According to my scale (with him naked) he is about 34 lbs and with my tape measure he's about 36 inches. His well visit isn't until the end of November so we'll have more official numbers then. All I know is he's big! LOL Just the other day this lady started talking to him in the grocery store and said "How old are you buddy? 3?" I was like "um, no....he'll be 2 on friday". She was like "Whoa"! LOL

A few pics of him having a cupcake tonight to celebrate his birthday

Sew happy!

I have just been sew happy lately - yes pun intended. A few weeks ago I just randomly decided I wanted to make the kids blankets for them to use at school. It was an odd decision since I can't remember the last time I used a sewing machine! Probably 10 years ago lol. We went to Walmart's fabric section and I let the kids pick what they wanted. Cayden picked a strawberry shortcake fabric for the front of her blanket and then a coordinating fabric in soft pink flannel for the other side. Keenan picked "mon-e's", lol a yellow flannel fabric with monkey's on it and then I got a brown flannel for the back of it. I borrowed a sewing machine and put them together. They came out adorable. Cayden loves hers and actually brings it home everyday instead of just leaving it at school for the week.

My sewing obsession has been growing...every weekend I am in fabric stores checking out sales and patterns and drumming up new ideas about what I can make. I go to the store and eye up sewing machines...lol. It's a little sick. I have another blanket in the works, another in mind, and just got some quilting squares off of ebay to start a big quilt for Cayden for Christmas. I'm dreaming of the clothes I'll make for her one day. Keenan is moving to a bed in the next week and we are doing a pirate theme for his room (I'd elaborate more on this along with the fact that he's starting to use the potty finally but then I'd have to stop talking about sewing and I just don't want to......LOL). I decided to get him just a white down comforter and will make him a duvet type cover so we can switch it up every now and then. I am so excited. Yes...life has become pretty scary when your happiest moments are spent sewing.

Pictures of the blankets. I folded up the one corner so you could see the color of the back (excuse the wrinkles in the monkey's - I just pulled it out of Keenan's school bag where it was rolled into a ball). Not bad for a brand new sewer huh?

Poison Control

I think I must have done something really wrong at some point in my life because it seems someone of higher powers is always trying to test me. My life is like a test of wills. Well it at least sure seems that way ever since Keenan was born. I'm not sure if it's the "boy" in him, or the "second child syndrome" as I've heard it called before for those 2nd born children who are crazy. This boy really keeps me on my toes.

Thursday night I was taking the kids up for a bath. I took Keenan into Cayden's room and laid him down with a bottle of baby powder. I of course checked it to make sure the lid was closed nice and tight before I handed it to him. I walked literally 5 feet away to the bathroom to turn on the tub water. I was gone maybe 10 seconds if even that before I heard a freak out. I ran into the bedroom and saw Keenan trying to get up. He was COVERED and I mean covered in baby powder. He somehow managed to crack the lid off and even a protective inner lid and pour an entire bottle onto himself. A big bottle this was!! It was coating his face, neck and arms. It was in his eyes, in his mouth and up his nose. I grabbed him and threw him in the tub quickly getting it off, throwing water in his eyes and giving him a huge cup of water to drink. I was in a total panic. All the while Cayden is behind me bugging me with "Mommy, what's going on? Mommy I want to get in too" and finally I yelled "Cayden!! Leave me alone, this is a dangerous situation and mommy is scared". Way to keep calm and what a great thing to say to a 4.5 yr old. I think I might win mother of the year for this episode.

Anyway I called Eric at work (of course he is at work every time a crisis occurs), started asking my friends on my baby board and called my good friend who is a nurse to see if I should call the pediatrician or poison control. Within 5 mins I made the decision to call poison control. The told me the concern wouldn't be the amount that went into his mouth because you'd have to ingest a ton before any serious problems arise. The problem was that he inhaled it and that could be very serious. I had to treat him as normal but monitor him. Of course it was 8pm at night when he needs to go to bed so guess who couldn't sleep all night out of fear??? Anyway if he started coughing or wheezing I had to take him in immediately. He was fine, thank goodness.

I am a pretty laid back parent. I don't panic often. You can't when you have a holy terror, I mean "busy boy" like Keenan. But this sure sent me into a crazed mode. Looking back I wish I could have taken a picture. You could barely see him, he was covered that much. All in 10 seconds.

Now that was fun!!

On Thursday night I attended a Girls Night Out event through Metropolitan Moms. A friend of a friend (you following....LOL) was hosting the event through work (I think...). Anyway it was at Duross and Langel in Philadelphia and it was a blast! The owner is the one who "taught" the class and he was hilarious! We started out with yummy appetizers and cocktails. I indulged in red wine and it was so worth it. We made our own lip gloss and soap, had a store credit to pick some things out, and got a goody bag with baby products (tear free shampoo and lotion, both lavendar). It was such a fun night out. I highly recommend doing a girls night out there to anyone, whether it's a Mom's night out, or just girls night out with friends or coworkers.

Still here.......

We are still here, alive, and moving along! We've gone from a busy summer to a busy September and have almost no free time at all. I kid you not, two weekends ago we had 5 parties to attend in just 2 days! It's been crazy. Cayden has started PreK and is pretty excited about her new classroom. She is with all her same friends from Preschool so that helps too. I'm pretty excited to see what she can learn this year. She is already up to 50 sight words at home. I'm so proud of her! She starts her 3rd year of dance this year (3rd year?! Wow I'm getting old) and it's hard to believe that she is already 4 1/2.

Keenan cracks us up on a daily basis. He is talking so much and some of the things he says are just too funny. He has mastered his colors but still needs help learning his shapes. He is not anywhere near as eager to learn things as his sister was because he is too busy on the go. He is so active and really good at climbing.

Recent pictures of the kids:

Introducing Cayden the artist........

Cayden doesn't nap at school and the other kids do she always sits at the table and does some quiet activity or more often then not asks to draw. I'm so thrilled at what I keep seeing when she brings home her drawings. Eric has amazing artistic talent and I can't draw a stick figure to save my life. Looks like she'll take after her daddy! She did all the writing for the animals too except for the ones where it's small writing using upper and lowercase. Those her teacher wrote in for her. The lion is my favorite. It makes me giggle everytime I see it! I think she is pretty talented for a 4 1/2 year old!

Please bear with the quality. I'm taking pictures of pictures and the lighting is hard.

Girls Wildwood Weekend 2008

We had such a fabulous weekend last week! On friday Cayden and I drove down to my parents beach house to meet up with 3 of my friend who also have daughters who are 4. Both the little girls and us big girls had a blast! I never imagined being at the beach would be as relaxing as it was. The girls just played and played and us moms chatted away. It was so funny watching them play inside the beach house. Using their imaginations the little scenes they were playing were hilarious! It's funny seeing them together at 4 since the first time Cayden and Kennedy ever played in the sand together they were only 18 mths.

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Growing up too fast and sprinkler video!

Things are changing quite a bit around here these days. I'm proud to say Cayden is no longer a thumb sucker. It's been over a week since she quit and we haven't seen her do it AT ALL since then. Eric told me it was time to do what his parents did to him to get him to stop sucking his fingers. He showed her nasty pictures and told her that was what was going to happen to her if she didn't stop sucking her thumb. The one picture was so nasty. It was of a thumb sucker who got hand, foot, and mouth disease. The kid had their tongue out with blisters all over and was giving the thumbs up sign and there were the same blisters all over the thumb. It was disgusting looking. It sure did work! I almost couldn't believe it when she didn't suck her thumb the first night, then the second night....I started watching her secretly during "zone" times when I'd normally catch her like in the car when she's sleepy or watching t.v. I didn't catch her at all! She just stopped cold turkey. I have to admit it's bittersweet. It was surely time but she's growing so fast and late at night when I'd check on her she'd be curled up sound asleep in her bed sucking her thumb. She'd look so small and it'd remind me that she was still my little girl - but that is no longer!

Keenan is making changes around here too. His vocabulary is growing rapidly and he repeats almost everything Cayden says. But he was still hanging onto "momma" and "dada" and we've been waiting for the change. All of a sudden a few days ago he just started saying "Daddy" and "Mommy" and he sounds so big. I can't believe my baby is growing up so fast! In other fun news - he has now decided as of today he loves the sprinkler. Just days ago he would not go under it and would just run away from it. We try all the time since Cayden loves to go in it. So today I just threw a swim diaper on and let him keep his shirt on instead of changing into a bathing suit since he never goes in it anway. Of course he just randomly decided to! He had such a blast and would try to drink the water when it went down!

Video mentioned in previous post

How can they be so different?

20 months have gone by and yet we are still baffled by how different Cayden and Keenan are. We just took the kids to the boardwalk last night and of course Keenan was miserable. I was reminiscing how when Cayden was 18-20 months I would take her to the beach house by myself. I'd take her on the beach, to the boardwalk etc etc. She was so easy. I cannot even imagine taking Keenan to the beach by myself. There is no way I would survive. And what really baffles us is that Cayden was so good we took her all the way to St. Lucia at 18 months! All those hours on the plane and she was good as gold with only one little meltdown. I'm really beginning to think it's a gender thing. Keenan is just way too busy discovering things (aka destroying things) to sit still for even a minute. Good thing this boy is cute or we would be in trouble.

In other news - one similarity is talking. I swear his vocabulary is growing day by day. Just yesterday we were in the car and Cayden said "Hey there's a WaWa" and Keenan started chanting "WaWa" and cracking up. He's a little parrot when it comes to anything Cayden says!
Here's a little video remix of him being a copycat. He was playing with Cayden she said "Cheese!" and all of a sudden he repeated her just as I shut the camera off but I got him in the next clip. Then he is standing and I tell him to "put that back" and you can here him say "put back". Lastly I was trying to get him to sing "Dora" and he wouldn't so Cayden started saying it so he'd copy!

Video is not loading so I will be back to post it later which means you'll prob see the video before you even read this part!

Keenan Vs. The Hose

A few more pictures

Cayden is finishing up her second year of dance and this years recital theme is "Around the world in 180 minutes". She's doing a scene from Italy and will be dancing to "On Top Of Spaghetti". We just got her pics back and at least her fake smile was only partially there! LOL



And here is my sweet boy....look at that face. Damn Eric and I make some good looking kids!

Where to start?

So much new is going on around here, I'm not sure where to start! I have decided to go back to school and am going to start out going for my associates in early childhood education. I have a ton of credits from when I went to Temple and CCP so many years ago that will transfer over. It appears I will only have a few classes to take. I've started the process including having my transcripts sent to me, applying to the local community college (2 mins away!!!), and being accepted. Next step is to meet with an advisor and figure out what transfers for what and what I need to take! I also started a new job - working at Cayden and Keenan's school. I forgot how tiring working with kids was but I love it and I have really missed being in a school setting.

The kids are doing great! Keenan loves school and doesn't cry when I leave anymore. He steals kids cups at school which makes me laugh a little. We don't give him juice since he loves milk and water so much so he steals the other kids cups and drinks theirs! He's starting to talk more and more and just started saying "mess". He also screams "no" at us loud and clear when we ask him to do something he doesn't want to. He is our wild child. I never knew boys were so crazy! He learned how to climb on the couch a few weeks ago. Instead of climbing up and sitting on it or laying on it like Cayden did when she learned. He runs across it, jumps on it, and tries to climb over the arm. He's even fallen off a few times but still continues to get up and do it again.

I'm so proud of Cayden. Now that I'm at her school around her peers I'm even more proud of her. She is doing so well academically. She can write really good and if you spell anything she can write it without asking what the letter looks like. She sits down and writes the whole alphabet from A-Z. She is starting to try to read as well. We are at the gas station about 5 weeks ago or so and she was like "Brrrrraaaacks......Mom what are bracks?" and I was so confused. I looked around and there was a sign clear as day that said "brakes" and then she proceeded to sound out the other words around. She's trying to read some of her Dr. Suess books like "Go Dog Go". Last week on my birthday she was at the table and kept sounding out Happy Birthday. She came to me with a card and it read "HB BUTY MOM" and told me it said Happy Birthday Mom. I was dying of laughter. But I thought it was so cute that she tried to sound it out and spell it all by herself.

Here are some pics of the kids from May. The ice cream pics from the post below are in the bunch so sorry for that repeat. Enjoy!

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Keenan's 1st ice cream cone!

Since we avoided dairy for 15+ months Keenan hasn't had an opportunity to try out ice cream. Well today was his lucky day and boy did he love it!!

Party Animals!

Got back from my HG cruise on Monday. Wow who knew so many of those girls were party animals. I had the best time ever. There were 13 of us and boy did we have a good time. A group of us flew in Thursday night. We went to "Howl at the Moon" a piano bar in Orlando. What a blast. It was $1 buds so you know how that went! The rest of the group flew in Friday morning. We boarded our cruise ship on Friday afternoon and arrived first in Nassau on Sat. We partied like rock stars at Senor Frogs, went back and got ready for formal night. We had a blast dancing it up in our formal dresses and flip flops (which we changed into after dinner). On Sun we went to Cococay which is Royal Carribbeans private island in the bahamas. We rented floating mats and floated in the crystal clear ocean in a huge circle holding onto each others mats to keep from floating away. It was heaven! I came home on Monday to a 4 yr old with a fever that she kept for 3 days and an 18 mth old with a double ear infection. What a welcome home that was. Nothing like getting back to reality!

Here are just a few pics from my trip!

Howl at the Moon - Orlando

18 month checkup

Keenan had his 18 month checkup today. Poor boy got a few shots and his legs are so sore. He's refusing to walk and sitting in the same spot all day like he is helpless. He's got a slight fever and is just not himself. It's really sad.

This kid is HUGE. He weighed in at 29.8 lbs and is 34.5 inches. Wow!

Circus pictures and more!

We've had a busy April!

Keenan

Keenan started school and loves it. The only thing he doesn't like is circle time and cries every time. He hates sitting still and is such a busy kid so I am not surprised! He naps so well there which surprises me the most! I told the teacher I had two fears. One is that he would steal food and the other that he wouldn't nap. Of course on his very first day he walked in, walked over to a boy looked the kid dead in the eyes, reached into his bowl and grabbed a handful of his cereal. He's getting better about not taking others food and suprisingly enough he naps just fine!!!! We had his allergy panel done for food and environmental allergies. Turns out he is not allergic to dairy, must have just had an intolerance which is what we expected. We've slowly brought dairy into his diet over the last two weeks and now he's full on whole milk! There was one surprising allergy that turned out from that panel. CATS!!!!! We were shocked. He's in the high range but low end of high. Nothing to be concerned about if you ask me. The classes run from 0 being no allergy to 6 being very high (100+). But class 4,5,6 are all very high. He fell into 3 which is "high" but ranges from 3.25 to 17.50. Keenan was 4.35. We've just upped our vacumming and have been keeping the cats out of his room.

Cayden

Caydens ever so long hair that I love needing a cut. It was just getting stringy. We got 3 inches taken off and it looks so much healthier. She had a harder time adjusting to Keenan going to school then he did. She was so afraid he'd be upset and her little heart was breaking. Her teacher told me she had to check on him several times the first day. She's a little mother sometimes. Keenan pulls her hair and constantly tortures her making her so mad at him but at the end of the day she doesn't like him to ever cry or be upset. We took Cayden to her very first circus. It was interesting. She really only cared about the animals and was bored by the acrobat acts. She loves the animals and thought the elephants were the best part! She got to be star of the week the past week at school and was the special helper all week, got to pick a movie to bring in on friday for the end of the day and brought home "Charlie" the school bear for the weekend. She's starting to try to read by sounding out every word she sees.

Shopping is so much fun!

I forgot how much fun it was to shop. I haven't shopped in awhile and to make it even more fun, I got to go ALONE! I picked up some really great sales - like denim capri's from old navy for $15! I got a few things for my upcoming cruise. I also got the kids some new pj's. Babies R Us sells Carters stuff cheaper than any other store and they had them buy 1 get 1 50%. It ended up being 2 pairs for $18. I checked out kohl's and it would have been two for $24 with the sale they had going on.

My cruise is less then 3 weeks away and I cannot wait. I'm putting together a small little tote bin of fun things for Cayden to do while I'm gone. I'm filling it with crafts from A.C. Moore and other such things. I'll put it together and put a big bow on it and then surprise her with it right before I get out of the car at the airport. Eric and the kids are dropping me off. I figure that will distract her from getting sad. On a completely different topic - Keenan starts school Tuesday. I hope he does ok!

Too early to pack?

I am so ready to start packing for my trip and I have 3 weeks and 5 days left to go. I need this vacation desperately. I'm so tired from work and the kids are driving me up a wall. Keenan is cutting all four molars at the same time and Cayden has been extra emotionally lately. I feel like I do nothing but listen to kids cry 24/7 lately.

On a good note Keenan is going to start school in two weeks. We are hoping the new environment will help out with his cranky personality. He loves kids so much and always wants to stay when Eric picks up Cayden.

Happy Easter

Dying eggs the day before




Easter Baskets


Showing off her new movies


Checking out the goods


Playing with his new blocks


All dressed up