Truly Blessed

I have been known to refer to my friends as family but that is exactly what they are. They have been there during the HIGHS in my life and the lows. They have allowed me to cry on their shoulders. They have texted me back and forth all night and listened to me ramble. They have seen me get married. They have been there to witness the birth of our first son. Just like family, they have been there. Today was no different. I was told to keep the 27th open, it was going to be just a girls lunch date, just Korie and I. She picked me up and as we were heading to lunch she broke the surprise, we were meeting a few others for lunch and celebrating Logan's arrival. Although I may have thought something was odd about Korie and I's lunch, there weren't huge alarms going off and no one, I mean NO ONE had said anything to me, not even my husband!

We had a wonderful lunch at Jalapenos, one of my favorites and then they showered Logan with a few gifts and lots of love. We haven't really bought anything for Logan since there really hasn't been a need and all of Kaden's clothes are more than enough but now, Logan has a few things that are all his own. He needed a few bibs-check, infant socks-check, newborn diapers-check and then he got a few adorable onesies (in my new favorite colors-grey and yellow) and some wipes. If all of that wasn't enough, they also surprised me with a day at the spa and I can't tell you how much I am looking forward to that massage! No worries, Kaden wasn't left out, Miss Dawn got him and Logan matching shirts (different colors) one reading All Star and the other with Rookie. Like I said, TRULY BLESSED, I couldn't ask for a more exceptional set of girlfriends, MIL and SIL (although she is family, she is still one amazing friend). We, Souths, are so very lucky and fortunate to have each and everyone of you in our life.

A Never Ending Pile...

of LAUNDRY. And Mr. Washer and Mrs. Dryer have got quite the workout today. We started the laundry as soon as we got up and a little over 12 hours later it is still going. Frankly, I am not sure if there is anything I despise more than doing laundry, except putting it away! The thing is, we do a few loads during the week and then everything else on the weekend and it still feels as though we never get fully caught up and now, we are adding another little one to the mix and the pile will only grow! All in all, laundry sucks and I wish I had some fairy God-Mother that would make it all disappear for me. The only highlight of today's laundry, if a highlight is possible when doing laundry, was pulling the remainder of Kaden's 3 month clothes out and getting them ready for Logan's arrival.

Aside from doing laundry, we had a pretty relaxing Saturday after a sick filled Friday. Last night the little man spiked a fever of 102 and threw up all over himself. Today, still had a mild fever but he was pretty much back to his normal self and since the weather can't make up its mind on what to do, we were locked inside. Let's just say, there wasn't a toy that wasn't played with today. This morning I attended a friend's baby shower, she is only a few weeks ahead of me and it made me realize just how much I still need to do! So after coming home and switching laundry for the 4th time of the day, I started pulling out bottles, burp clothes, blankets, the pack and play, got the car seat back out and made a list of everything I still need to get-baby wash and lotion, vaseline tubes, baskets, shelves and so forth. As I continued to work around the house pulling things together and moving things around, Kaden became my little shadow and was very interested in what was happening. He tried sitting in the bouncy seat and quickly realized that it wasn't all that comfortable because he was too big but he found his spot in the car seat. Won't be long now and we will have to add the newborn pieces to the car seat to bring the new little guy home!

Yesterday marked our 33rd week of the pregnancy. Head is down, heartbeat is good. Swelling has been non-existant thus far and keeping fingers crossed that it stays away. Feet, well they are tired and the back is starting to hurt but in less than 6 weeks that will all change and Logan, well, he will say his first hello to this world.

Kaden is going to be sad when Mommy doesn't have a built-in hill to drive cars on!

After getting sick, poor guy. I know, the pacifier must go but one thing at a time. First a new bed, then we will deal with the bink! 

Grillz

Except these weren't 'all invisible set in little ice cube blocks' and the tops weren't diamond and the bottoms weren't gold. These grillz were the real deal-or at least one of them was. With it being a gorgeous day out we figured it was time for our first cookout. The kind where you not only get to eat from the grill but also sit on the deck and enjoy the weather. The kind where music is on, drinks are in hand (tea for me and of course it was from Sonic) and the kiddo is running around, not only wearing himself out but the poor dogs which he is chasing. Is this weather to good to be true, is it finally here to stay? Hopefully but if not, at least we got today.

While the grill warmed up, we pulled out Kaden's picnic table, his slide, four wheeler and the grill he received for Christmas from Adam, Becky and Cousin Colton. (Kaden always seems to get so many things for Christmas or his birthday so we try and put a few back for days like this!) Kaden played and played with his grill and just like he does with everything else, he mimicked everything his Daddy did on the grill. Houston, we might have another chef on our hands. The highlight of the evening came when I was able to catch both boys hard at work. It is safe to say that this is my FAVORITE kind of day and I can't wait to spend the rest of summer just like this.

A Major Snap and Some Randoms...

I have to take a moment and just say what a proud momma I am tonight. Kaden has successfully completed his 4th night of falling asleep in his big boy bed. We have not had any, I mean any issues-no crying, no getting up, no waking up in the middle of the night and wondering around. The transition seems to have gone better than we could have hoped for and I am so proud of our little monkey. Still, I knock on wood each night in hopes that we don't take any steps backwards. BUT, I can't take all the credit for such an easy transition and I must give props where props are due-So thank you Video Monitors! Instead of wondering what was happening with Kaden in his new bed, we just watched the monitor. We watched him roll from his stomach to his back, sit up and find his lovey, sit up and look at the door but almost immediately laid back down. I know we made it 18 months without a video monitor but I really honestly don't know how we did it. No opening the door and peeking in to see what is going on and waking him up just so you can start the process all over again. So if you are or have pondered a video monitor, no more pondering, JUST DO IT, you won't regret it at all!

Random Time!

A friend recently blogged about her oldest daughter enjoying their baby jumper even though she was a tad big for it. It made me chuckle a little and at that time, I wondered what all Kaden would want to get his hands on as we brought out all of his old stuff for his little brother. Well, I didn't have to wait long, Korie and Scott were over with Madi and we brought out our jumper for her to play with and Grammie thought it would be a great idea to put Kaden in it. I just shook my head... The next morning, all Kaden wanted was to be in the bouncer. I am not a total party pooper and allowed him to enjoy a few minutes of fun before breaking it down and hauling it off for a later date.

Kaden had a very cute St. Patrick's Day shirt but while at daycare he was able to enjoy an afternoon of outside play. He played. He got dirty. We changed his clothes. The poor kid has no green in his wardrobe, so we had to go with a hat and then a few beads. Like the previous 2 years, we were headed up to Birdies to celebrate not just St. Patrick's Day but also our anniversary-it was packed and the back room was reserved. So we headed to Sharks where we were met by Adam, Becky and Colton, Grammie Janet, Jay, Dawn and Noland, Jason B. and Patty. After eating we allowed the kids to get down and play. They danced with one another, chased one another and soon Kaden made it known that it was time to go. He was a little cranky (must have been why he fell asleep so quickly last night).

I have mentioned this before but I figured I needed to show evidence of Kaden's stellar dance moves. He dances to any kind of music but his favorite, RAP! Call me a bad mom, but instead of Old McDonald's E-I-E-I-O, we rock out to Nelly's EI! Kaden also likes Black Eyed Peas, BOOM, BOOM, POW because he is able to say BOOM, BOOM! I knew listening to all the rap while traveling back and forth to Carthage when I was pregnant with him would pay off someday!

3 Years Ago...

Justin and I made it official and became husband and wife on St. Patrick's Day 2008. Last year, this was a huge surprise to most all of our family and friends since we had our wedding on April 22nd on the beach in front of them. To me that day, April 22nd, will always be our wedding day since it was shared with so many people that we love but I must recognize March 17th too for this is the day that Justin and I committed our lives to one another and vowed that we were one, not two. It was a very moving and emotional exchange of vows-all be it that it was at the courthouse in front of a palm tree, which might have been fake, but the emotions and the love couldn't have been stronger. Crazy to think that 3 years later we have one very energetic and entertaining 18 month old and are so very close to welcoming our second son into our little family. Guess we don't mess around, 3 years married with 2 kids-quite the pace we are setting.

Why March 17th, March 16th was a Sunday and that was our so-called anniversary, we had been together for 8 years so March 17th just made perfect sense to us. Didn't hurt that it was an easy day to remember too. I have been very blessed to spend these last 11 years with Justin and look forward to the many, many years we have ahead of us. Happy Anniversary Honey-Love you. 

Warming-Up

And it was to good to be true. I was looking forward to some warmer weather but was hoping it would stay around for longer than one day, but I guess you take what you can get. We decided that once I got home from Chicago on Saturday that we would take Kaden to the Brookside St. Patrick's Day Warm-Up Parade. Scott, Korie and Madi joined us for the fun and we all headed down around 1:45, found a spot we could slip in and out at and enjoyed the warmer weather and some of the parade festivities. Green was everywhere, except on us! I ran into Old Navy looking for a St. Patrick's Day shirt and they were all sold out so we had to forego the green, but then again, this was just a warm up parade and we still had a little time before the real deal.

This was Kaden's first parade. Had we taken him last year, he probably would have screamed the entire time due to the noise from the police vehicles and fire trucks but this year, he loved all the noise. He danced as the cars/floats drove by with music, as the dancers and bands walked by and just about any time he heard music. He laughed at all the dogs that came strutting by and waved back to all the parade participants.  (On a side note-since when did parades involve so many cars instead of floats...kind of miss the old school parades!) Kaden had such a great a time, hopefully it will warm back up and we can head to the REAL St. Patrick's Day Parade next weekend. 

One very well trained doggy!

The Littlest Things...

With Justin enjoying the MU vs Texas Tech game at the Sprint Center and Kaden in bed, I figured why not do a load of laundry and get one more thing checked off my list before the weekend. I pulled out some of Kaden's old Newborn and 0-3 month clothes and started sorting through them. Having an 18 month old that is full of energy, that is walking and running everywhere, that sings and dances along to Glee and American Idol, makes it very difficult to believe that he was ever that little. It is even harder to imagine that we will be starting all over in a matter of 8 weeks with Logan. I often find myself wondering about the exact same things that kept me up at night before Kaden arrived and then I remind myself how far we have come with Kaden and he is perfectly healthy. We must have done something right. Along with the usual worries, I also have some big questions. What will Logan look like? Will he look anything like Kaden? Will Logan end up with my blue eyes too or will they go darker like his daddy's? How will Kaden do? Will he feel like we love him less? Will he want to hold his little brother and love on him or will he want nothing to do with him? And what about me? When it comes to loving Kaden, it is off the charts, my heart is filled with so much love, I never dreamed the love you have for your child could be like this. So do I have enough love for Logan too? I am sure the answer is yes, I haven't met the little one yet but I know that my love is already growing and I know that the moment he is placed in my arms that love will only intensify by millions. (I also know that I am probably not the only person who has or have had these feelings.) It won't be long and we will be heading to the hospital to become a family of four and while part of me might miss spending all my time with just Kaden, the other part of me, can't wait to complete our family. I also know that we couldn't have given Kaden a more perfect gift than a little brother.

Kaden's coming home shirt...it really did fit at one time!

Weekend Projects

Awhile back I posted about redecorating our formal living room with the help of a dear co-worker and although it isn't time to make the big reveal-not quite done and waiting on two very important pieces, we are making some progress. We finally had some nice okay weather that allowed us to get out and do some painting. White was the color of the weekend. I painted the mantle white and two mirrors white, one will be used above the mantle (not the one that is above the mantle in the picture) and then one will go in the kitchen. Outside of painting, I put up Kaden's decal for his room and he just loves it-if you couldn't tell by the picture below, bed head and all. The most excitement of the weekend came when I learned there was a Home Decorators Collection store in Overland Park-I was about to spend $160 on shipping and then Jen gave me the good news. I called and asked if they had any in stock and unfortunately they did not but they could order it and ship it to the store for no additional fee! This made Justin a very happy camper and it allowed for me to spend more money some place else...

Not the best picture but you get the picture...

And for the chairs, here is a picture of the chair, but can't let the fabric choice out of the bag until the final reveal in about 30 days, when the chairs arrive.

18 Month Picture Preview

Click here for a sneak peek at Kaden's 18 month pictures! The second picture just melts my heart..... Can't wait to get my hands on the rest of the pictures!

Boys Will Be Boys

Tonight was going to be fun, Cousin Colton was coming over to play while his mommy and daddy went to a friends house for dinner. We started out with a little homemade pizza but quickly moved to the family room where they played basketball, kicked balls, and chased the dogs. Although the night would have continued perfectly, Justin came up with a great idea to make the night even better, ice cream! We moved the extra car seat over to the Tahoe, loaded the boys up and we were on our way to Glace. It was divide and conquer once we arrived-I took Colton, Justin had Kaden-a great trial run for what is to come in a few months! The boys loved their ice cream (more on Glace later). Once at home we got the boys ready for bed and since Kaden wasn't really wanting to put his shirt on, we left Colton's off too. They thought it was pretty fun to run around and show off their non-existant muscles. Since it was a special occasion, we let the boys stay up a little later than normal but when it was time for bed, it didn't take too long before they were both out. You can just tell they are going to be the best of friends throughout their lives.

Now what is Glace? Glace is artisan ice cream and it is delicious. Glace is owned by Christopher Elbow who also has a chocolate store called Christopher Elbow Chocolates. Chris is Justin's cousin's husband and does amazing things with desserts. The ice cream in which Colton and I had was called Peanut Butter and Jelly and it tasted as though I was biting into a PBJ sandwich, bread and all. The flavors you will find at Glace are not your ordinary flavors-salted pretzel, creamed corn, blackberry chocolate chip, banana foster, and so many more. Chris doesn't carry each flavor every day, they are rotated and new ones are created all the time. Check out Glace here and Christopher Elbow Chocolates here. You will fall in love!

30 weeks and counting...

Today we officially hit 30 weeks and hopefully we just have 8-9 weeks left, I do not want to hit the 40 week mark with this one! We all know I love to plan so I might just have to take control and schedule an induction. An induction would allow for a couple of things, I would have a plan in place for Kaden and how to get him to and from daycare, my mom wouldn't have to take off any unexpected days to get up here to help out, and family would be able to figure out when they would like to come for a quick visit. It isn't always easy when family is 2+ hours away, if I called at 2 am, my mom would be on the road heading up here, and I wouldn't want that. As with Kaden, we will give Logan plenty of time to come on his own but if he isn't here by May 6th, I think it might be time to say hello face to face. May 6th is just the date I have in mind, I haven't discussed this with my doctor yet so we will just have to wait and see...

In other baby news, well sort of baby related, I bought my first post-pregnancy gift today-Belly Bandit!! I wish I would have known about this the first time around and can't wait to wrap it around my post-baby body and see if it will help tighten and bring things back to the way they were prior to Logan, heck maybe even prior to Kaden! I have heard wonderful things about the Belly Bandit and Kourtney Kardashian endorses it so why wouldn't it work! I will certainly have to keep you all posted but from what I have read and been told, you put this on 24 hours after giving birth and then keep it on all day and night. It should help with retaining water, being bloated and help give you better posture while breastfeeding. For those soon to be mommies and for those who are planning your next pregnancy, I will let you know how it works and what type of results I get from it. If you ask me though, if it helps me not look 7 or 8 months pregnant after giving birth, it will be worth it. I had no idea that one would still look like that!!! Click here to view the product in case anyone is interested...

One last thing and I don't want this to sound like I am complaining and frankly this is a little embarrassing but I just have to get this out there. Why is that every time I sneeze, I must cross my legs to ensure that I don't pee my pants?!?!? It wasn't too bad with Kaden but this time around, it is horrible and what makes it worse, Justin just laughs. The other night, I started laughing at Kaden and then started choking and I am sure we can guess what happened next. Try choking, laughing and crossing your legs, not the easiest thing to do. I really don't mind being pregnant, do I love it like some women do, NO but I do cherish the experience and I tend to have pretty easy pregnancies but the lack of bladder control, can move on! I will take swelling any day...

Really?!?!

You have got to be kidding me! A beautiful afternoon at the park and Kaden spends the entire time pushing his car around the playground. You would think he would want to crawl on the rock wall, slide down a few slides or chase the other kiddos around, but nope, just wanted to push his car. When he wasn't pushing around his car, he managed to find a little friend that would push him around. I guess if you look at the positive side, I got some exercise...

Although it was a beautiful day to head to the park, that wasn't the only reason we went. Kaden had his 18 month check up today and it didn't go as well as we had hoped so we needed a pick-me-up! The poor little guy was scared the moment they called his name. The last two trips with Kaden to the doctor's haven't been fun. Right before Christmas we went in for a little bit of a cold and came home with a new breathing machine and instructions to give treatments 4 times a day. While at the office they gave him his first ever treatment and I had to hold him down in order for it to be administered. Not sure who it was rougher on, me or the little one. Two weeks ago we went back for what we though was just a cold and once again left with medicine for an ear infection and instructions to start the  treatments again. This time, it was just a check up, he would be getting shots but he didn't know that. They proceeded to call his name, he held my hand and followed the lady and as soon as he figured out where he was, he lips started quivering and he was reaching up to me to hold him. We got into the room and he lost it. They hadn't even touched him but the poor little man was scared. By his cries, you would think getting his height and weight was the worst thing that had ever happened to him. Two nurses and one doctor later we were finally done and leaving with a clean bill of health. Dr. Rawson gave him 2 thumbs up and all the nurses commented on how they loved his new sunglasses and how cute he was. With tears still streaming down his face, he waved to each of the ladies as we left and checked out. The next time we are at the office, fingers crossed, we will be taking Logan to his 48 hour check up and maybe Kaden will have a better experience then!!

Kaden Oliver's 18 month statistics:
Height = 33 1/2 inches, 75%
Weight = 25 pounds 12.8 ounces, 48%
Head Circumference = 49 1/2 cm, 90%

There Is Always A First

And this first, doesn't make this Mommy very happy. Kaden had to "sit out" today at daycare, in other words, he was put in time out. Sir Kaden decided to BITE a little girl's finger! Now, Ms. Brenda wasn't sure if the little girl was poking at him with her finger or if she possibly put her finger in his mouth but nonetheless, it happened and to time out he went. Ms. Brenda said that as soon as she sat him in his time out spot, his little arms shot up to her and he gave her the saddest puppy dog face she had ever seen. She held strong and he made it through his time but as soon as it was over he was up and giving Ms. Brenda a hug. I just cross my fingers, that this was a one time occurrence and that we don't have any more biting issues. Plus who would want this chomper coming at them-SCARY!!

In a few weeks, I will stop traveling for work since we will be getting closer and closer to Logan's due date which also means that Kaden is about to leave the comfort of his crib for his big boy bed. We decided when we were in Milwaukee that getting a video monitor would be a great investment for us (after seeing JG and Tugce's hard at work) since we are hoping Logan will sleep in his crib from day one. I figured that I might as well pick one up sooner rather than later and that we could test it out on Kaden during the transition. Just because there isn't any noise coming from his room, doesn't mean he is asleep and we certainly want to nip any playing in his room at bedtime in the bud from the beginning. I did some research and we decided to go with a Summer Infant model which has a touch video screen and controls that allow you to zoom in, pan the room, and has a baby talk feature that allows us to speak into the monitor and he will hear our voice over the camera-GET BACK TO BED! The video monitor wasn't chump change (even after using a 20% off coupon-Thanks Kor) but I am sure we will get our money worth when it comes to this purchase-the double stroller which we also picked up today, jury is still out on that one. Guess there is always Craigslist if it doesn't come in as handy as we had hoped...