Fall update

Not a lot has happened since Andrew has started school.  I just spend the days hanging out with Kaden until Andrew gets home.  He has been busy, and studying hard (I'm pretty sure he puts in around 60 hours a week between school and studying.)  He is doing really well in school!  Just to brag about him-I'm sure he would be embarrassed-but he has taken around 8 or 9 tests so far and his lowest score was a 92%.  That's pretty good, in my opinion.  We thought going into this semester that he would have Fridays off, so we were happy about that.  Then he ended up having a class Friday mornings, bummer! But I'm so grateful for his hard work and dedication to do well in school and provide a good future for our family!  I know I couldn't do it.

Kaden is growing and talking so much, from the moment he wakes up until he goes to bed he is always jabbering about something.  His nursery teacher is this little Asian lady, she is so nice, she told me "He is so smart, he knows everything!  He cry for a minute, then he is like a leader."  It's cute hearing her say it in her accent.  He loves monsters right now!  Whenever we go to a store, I have to take him to the Halloween section to see all of the "monsters".  He will be sad when Halloween is over.  I made him a skeleton costume and he loves it, I will post some pics after Halloween.  We are going to take him to Thanksgiving point or the Red Butte Gardens this weekend, they both have Halloween festivities going on, so he can wear his costume.  Jacob and Natalie came for the weekend and Kaden was REALLY excited to go to "Chuck Cheese's" and see "Ho Transebania" (hotel transylvania) with Preston.  He talked about it for the whole week before they came.

We picked the pumpkins Andrew grew at Grandpa and Grandmas, Kaden loved it!

We also took him to build a "ghoul bus" at Lowe's.  He had so much fun helping dad build it, and he could even hit the nails with the hammer!
He was mortified that we put these goggles on him and just stood there with this disgusted look on his face.  It was so funny!

We did get asked to speak in Sacrament meeting, something I have been DREADING!  I am so scared of talking in front of a huge group of people I don't know.  I haven't done it since 5th grade.  :(  I got my talk all done yesterday, and I don't think I will be able to pull off the 15 minutes that they want, but oh well.  I will do my best and that's all I can do.  Poor Andrew had to write his along with 3 or 4 papers for school, and studying for 2 tests.  I am looking forward to him getting a few days off for Thanksgiving next month, and I'm sure he is too!

 Oh, Kaden did get his first black eye the other night.  He was playing with uncle Nate's bass pedal to his drums.  He pulled it back, and it swung forward and hit him right under his eye.  Poor little guy, I'm just glad it wasn't right on his eyeball.  That's all for now!

$5,000 peanut and other fun

We moved about a month ago. I can't believe how fast it's gone, I feel like we have already lived here for a lot longer. We are so close to everything in the valley, we live right off of I-80, so it only takes 10 minutes to get to downtown, about 30 to Park City, and we are minutes away from several canyons. I had no idea that living in this big city would have so many outdoor opportunities. I guess I have never really been in East Salt Lake much. We like our ward, everyone has been really nice.It's kind of funny, there are families with like 3 generations all here in our ward. People have kids who grow up and move away, then decide they like it here so much that they move back into this ward, and have kids who grow up and do the same thing. There are also mostly older homes, but you'll be driving down a street and all of a sudden there is a huge, gorgeous, new home right next to all these old ones. It's interesting. We have a couple of squirrels that live in our backyard, a bluebird that I see almost daily, quail, doves, hummingbirds. Oh and I can't forget the neighbors annoying dog who barks at us every time we go to our garage. It's been pretty good so far, but it sucks not being able to jump in our car and drive 5 minutes to my parents, or Andrew's. We go down on Sundays for dinner and to visit, so at least we live close enough to do that. Our last day in our old place we ran back down to do some last minute cleaning, I gave Kaden some peanut M&M's to occupy him. That was a mistake, it ended up being a $5,000 peanut! He started crying right before we locked up and headed to our new place, then he choked, spit out some bits of a peanut and started coughing. On the way home, about 15 minutes or so later, he started making a wheezing sound every time he would breathe. We decided to wait until morning (it was about 10pm) and see if it had gone away. Well, it didn't so we ended up in the ER at Primary Children's all day! Needless to say don't give toddlers peanuts, or anything else hard to chew until they are a little older and have all of their molars!

Here he is post surgery. He was actually fine and pretty happy-then when I pulled out the camera he started crying . I guess no nap and then being sedated for 30 minutes and woken up would make me ornery too. He had to have a bronchoscopy, poor little guy. I'm just glad he is OK. Andrew had 2 weeks off in between quitting work and school starting, so we did lots of fun stuff. We went to the Tracy Aviary:

Millcreek Canyon

Andrew found an army ant nest, and Kaden was enjoying whapping the ants with a stick in that first picture. Airplane ride in the park

Porcupine in East Canyon

A few nights later, we drove back up East Canyon, and this moose ran out right in front of us. It stopped to get a drink so we were able to get some pictures of it.

Thanksgiving point has $2 Tuesdays in August, so we fought the crowd and took Kaden to the dinosaur museum since we have never been. He LOVED it!

Wheeler Farm

This picture is kind of creepy, the two glowing things are moose eyes. I don't know why our flash was not working very well. We were so close to this moose, it was in Millcreek Canyon.

Now that Andrew is in school, our fun has come to a screeching halt. Here is us at our old place

We miss it! :(

Packing

We are moving in 3 weeks! I can't believe this next huge step in our lives is right around the corner! Andrew and I were talking the other day, and he said this is probably the biggest change that we will have had in our almost 10 year marriage. I think he is right, having Kaden was a HUGE change since we were used to it just being us 2 for so long. But, we still lived close to family and Andrew took a couple of weeks off, then went back to work. Now we will be living away (not far to most people, but far to me) from our families and Andrew will not be working, just full time school. The biggest plus-NO MORE NIGHT SHIFTS for Andrew! Well, at least until clinicals but that's the 2nd year. Another thing, he will only have to drive about 10 minutes to get to school, vs. the 50 min. drive that he does for work now. So that will save alot on gas, and wear and tear on his car! Also, that means I can make dinner at a normal time, instead of 8 pm-yahoo! It will be really different for us for the next two and a half years. I have already packed up most of the stuff upstairs. The only things left up there are our clothes. The majority of our stuff is in the garage, Kaden's toys, and kitchen stuff. So I will start on that next week. I hate moving and I'm trying to get most of it done, so the last week I can focus on cleaning :( Salt Lake, here we come!

Kaden's 2nd Birthday!

We celebrated Kaden's 2nd birthday last week with a party at Kelly's Grove in Hobble Creek Canyon. It was really fun, we even had Andrew's brother and sister and their families from out of state come to it! I can't find the cord for our camera to download our pictures, so I will either have to buy a new one or see if I can miraculously find it in our move... I think Kaden might have put it in the garbage. So when I find it, or get a new one I will post the pictures. We did a Kung Fu panda theme because Kaden loves it! I made Panda cupcakes, and I did get a picture on my phone-it's probably not the best quality. The night before, we put balloons all over his room while he was sleeping.

Some of the things he likes right now: We got him a radio flyer tricycle for his birthday, he loves it! Kung fu panda. Madagascar or "Move it, move it" as he calls it. (The song they dance to.) Playing with cars or trucks. Garbage trucks-he calls any big truck we see while driving, a garbage truck. Grandma and grandpa Roylance got him a garbage truck for his birthday and he loves playing with it. Playing uncle Nate's drums, and the piano. He got an Elmo guitar from Grandpa and Grandma Millett that he loves. He likes looking at books, but just likes you to point out the pictures and tell you what they are. Likes helping get the mail by putting the key in the mailbox and opening it. Loves to play with the hose, but hates the splash pad. (we still need to take him to seven peaks.) Loves going to nursery and playing with the kids. He will start saying "Nursery, play kids" on thursday or friday every week. Loves to be outside. Likes LOVES apple juice-too much. We have been trying to only give him a little bit the last few days because he would rather drink that than eat food. Kaden is the sweetest little thing, he loves being around people. He is still pretty soft hearted and gets his feelings hurt easily. He sticks his little bottom lip out so far, he could trip over it, when he gets upset. He still sleeps through the night and takes about a 2 1/2-3 hr nap everyday. When he is awake, it's hard to get anything done because he has to be right where I am with my full attention. But that's ok, it's fun to play with him. He has had a heart murmur since he was born that is still there. Andrew listened to it the other night-and being a cardiac nurse, thought we should talk to the Dr. about getting a peds cardiologist to listen to it. We have discussed it with the Dr. before but decided against it, because he has always said it sounds "innocent". Now that he's 2 and it's still there, we feel like maybe we should just have a heart Dr. listen, just in case it's something more serious. We are taking him in on Monday, and I pray that everything is ok! We went fishing at Strawberry for Kokanee salmon the other night. We caught one and cooked it for lunch yesterday, it was soo good. Kaden still hates fish and freaks out if you ask him if he wants to sit by the fish or touch it. Funny kid! Summer is more than half over, it's going by way too fast! But it's also way too hot, so I'm looking forward to cooler temps.

Grindstone

Well, we went to look at the house that Andrew's coworker is renting, and she will be moving out July 31st. We liked it, it's old, but only 4 miles from the school so that is a big plus, and the area seems pretty nice. Also, for the price of rent and proximity to the school, it's the best thing we've found so far. We were worried because we really wanted to be out of our place by July 1st, and had already told our landlord that. So we were wondering what we would do for a month with no place to live, if we did decide to try to rent the house. We had been thinking (and praying) about it for a few days, when our landlord called and asked me if we would consider staying until the end of July! So something is finally going our way! We talked to the landlord of the house, and sent in a rent application. Hopefully we will be in that place August 1st, meaning we still have over two months here, which will make having Kaden's birthday party (July 2nd) alot easier! Now we can switch our worries to getting student loans, bummer. On that topic, we have realized we need to be saving more $ than we are. So...I am going back to work! I am kind of excited, it will be back at the old grindstone-Sportclips! I liked working there. And I am excited to work a couple of days a week for a little bit! It's kind of wierd how that worked out too. We were contemplating if I should go back-just for a little bit, before Andrew starts school. My old manager Brittany was just about to quit, and I had asked her if they needed anyone for just a few hours. She said maybe, and I told her I would think about it, and left it at that. Low and behold, Molly the new manager (who I've worked with forever) texted me the other day, and said she'd heard I might want some hours? Things are really starting to fall into place, and it's a good feeling to literally see our prayers being answered right now. :) Oh yeah-Andrew starts school 3 months from yesterday! Wow!

Spring Fun!

It's been a while since I updated, and we have done quite a bit so this is going to be really long! So I will go ahead and start with Easter. The night before Easter, we dyed eggs. Kaden loved it, and by the end I think we only had 3 out of the dozen we dyed that weren't cracked. Oh well, he just wanted to hold all of them!

We got Kaden up Easter morning and the Easter Bunny had left a little trail of eggs down the hall and stairs to the living room. Kaden got more and more excited as he went down the stairs and opened each egg. He got some cute new clothes, coloring books, and a little golf club set. He loved the golf clubs! But I think his dad and uncles Nate and Danny loved them even more (picture to follow.) It's amazing what a couple of pieces of plastic toys can do for boys, (of all ages) hours of entertainment!

Sorry, not really sure how to rotate this picture!

After Kaden found his stuff here, we headed to Grandpa & Grandma Roylance's for an egg hunt with cousins Preston and Lincoln. Kaden had so much fun and got way too much candy! He was stuffing it in his pockets, he is so funny! He pretty much had candy for breafast, not exactly what I wanted him to eat, but you've gotta let kids live a little right? Grandma, Grandpa, Natalie and her kids left for church, so Andrew decided that him, Nate, and Danny needed to have a friendly (not really if you know how competitive he is) game of egg golf, then we left for our church.

See, he can't stop eating it even for a picture!

Pockets stuffed full!

Grandma and baby cousin Lincoln.

Poor Danny trying to golf with a cast on.

This is intense!

After church, we went to my parents for dinner and an egg hunt with cousin Kenadee. Kaden knew what was going on as soon as he saw his basket, and wanted to go outside. Andrew and my brother went out to the backyard to hide the eggs. In the meantime, I was trying to keep Kaden occupied so he wouldn't look out the back door and see them. That didn't work, he got to the blinds and was peeking out, it was hilarious! He wanted those eggs!

What a little spy!

Grandpa taking Kaden's picture.

Found the M&M's.

We went to the zoo a couple of days after Easter with the Roylance's while Natalie was still in town. It was Spring break for all of the schools and I don't think I have ever seen so many people there! Kaden seemed to like it, he liked the monkeys alot. We spent the next few days hanging out with Natalie, and Kaden LOVED playing with Preston and Grandpa. He still talks about it, the other day out of the blue he said, "Preston, Grandpa so fun." It was so cute!

Riding on the carousel with dad.

Kaden, Grandpa and Danny with his awesome pink cast and wheelchair!

I had to put this picture of this cute little baby cat on here! I forgot what kind it was, but it's one of the smallest cats in the world. We went fishing at Scofield a few weeks ago, and Kaden did really well. He just likes to explore and play with everything on the boat. I think the highlight of this trip for him was getting to throw rocks in the water before we left!

Cute captain Kaden.

I LOVE the look on his face in this picture, it's priceless!!!

I made cookies a few weeks ago, and Kaden likes to help. Well, eat the chocolate chips out of the cookie dough would be more accurate:

Funny faces!

This last week we went to both of the Jazz playoff games. Unfortunately, they didn't win either one, so it was a total waste of money. But Andrew found this blue mini Jazz basketball that we knew Kaden would love, so we bought it for him. When we got to Grandpa & Grandma Roylance's (they babysat for us) at almost midnight, the little stinker was still wide awake. We gave him the ball and he was so excited, he kept hugging it and looking at it! We took him with us to the game on Monday night, but he got kind of bored of it. We had bought him this Jazz hat a few months ago, and he didn't really care for it very much. But since he wore it to the game, he has to wear it everywhere now! He loves it, and his basketballs!

He has the most gorgeous blue eyes! Whenever we go to the store, the ladies always comment on them, ha ha.

Looking at these pictures makes me realize how much Kaden is growing up! He isn't my little baby anymore, sadly, he's a little boy! But I guess they can't stay little forever, you just have to appreciate every moment because they go by too fast. He's a little goofball and is always pulling the funniest faces, as you can tell by the pictures. We love Kaden so much, and don't know what we would do without him! The other night in the bathtub, he looked at his foot, lifted it out of the water and said, "Crumb. Toe." Then pulled his toes apart and looked between them. He had a little black piece of lint from his sock in between his toes and thought it was a crumb. I almost died laughing! We posted our cat on KSL and a couple from Delta came and got her. I'm kind of sad, I just try not to think about it or I feel guilty. They were a really nice older couple and I don't think we could have found anyone better to take her. We did it because with Andrew's schooling, we will be moving around a few times in the next two and a half years, and it's hard to find places that are pet friendly. We will be moving out June 30th and I'm excited about this next adventure, and that Andrew finally has an end to school in sight! But I'm also kind of sad, we have loved living in this townhome and have so many memories here, like Kaden being born and all of his firsts. I think I get way too sentimental sometimes! But I will miss this place a ton, not to mention being 5 minutes away from my parents and Andrew's. We are going to check out a house tonight, it's one of Andrew's co-workers. She is moving out of it, down to Provo right around the same time we are moving to Salt Lake, so we feel like this might be meant to be...we shall see. Wow, this is definately the longest post I have ever done, and thanks if you are still reading!!! That's all for now.