i love having such talented friends..

Mandi was kind enough to post a few pics of Cayden a "sneak peak" if you will on her blog and flickr.. thanks Mandi!! we appreciate it!

See Mandi O's blog (listed on side) or her flickr, the link is on her page :)

during a jam session... haha.. isnt she cute!!

no mom of the year award here...

I just was looking through my blog and realizing I haven't put anything about Cayden up in a while... as the matter of fact, I never even blogged anything about his 8th birthday in MARCH.. I think maybe I started one and just never got around to finishing it.. anyhoo.. better late than never.. right?

this first one is of him on his 4th bday.. I cant believe he has gotten so big.. I just want to go back and squeeze his little cheeks again~ Although he is just as sweet now as he was at 4 years old.. and I must admit .. it is a little sad that he doesn't "need" his mom like he did at this age though.. he is so smart and so independent.. he is a walking sponge and takes in every bit of knowledge he can get, from books, TV and school and unfortunately family members.. lol just kidding :) For those who werent aware this week on discovery in shark week.. so this is currently what we are learning about.. how to survive shark attacks.. I just love this kid so much..




~he gets embarrassed every year when it is time to sing happy birthday to him..



~he reads every word of every card.. I am not even kidding.. so for future reference.. short is better.. we'd like to get through opening gifts in less than 1 hour.. =)


~and while I am still on my soap box, Cayden was student of the month, they call it "cardinal of character" and his character trait acknowledged was curiosity.. go figure.. he kinda looks like a goob in this pic, but I was unable to get off of work so my mom went and took pics for me and this is the only decent one I was able to get.. but he was so proud of himself!! and we are always so proud of the great young guy he is becoming.. The Lord has truly blessed us with him, which is also a little nerve racking for us.. he has ALWAYS been so good, we're a little worried how this one is gonna turn out.. hopefully JUST like her big brother!!

3 and a half weeks to go...

and we are finally making progress in the babys room.. I can definitely tell a difference with the 2nd child, with Cayden everything was done and in its place by the 7th month.. this time, we're more lax about it.. we know it will eventually get done.. and with 3.5 weeks to go, we should finish up the finishing touches this week.. we have to put the chair rail and trim up and we can start filling up the room with all of our goodies.. here is the beginning to where it sits right now..


this use to be Caydens "spongebob room" he has since moved next door to a more mature room.. and we just never did anything with it.. it was also my brothers room when my folks lived here and apparently his job was to see just how nasty he could get the carpet.. teenage boys.. anyhoo.. he also had posters and junk all over it, so when we got it down to the bare room, we were less than happy with how it looked.. but its fine and I think is going to be adorable.. below is a pic of before..



we had to kilz it twice to cover the blue .. but here is 1/2 kilz and half pink



pink and brown both done..



and now thanks to my dad and Jay, the new and fresh carpet!! YAY! (btw.. i know the paint isn't straight, we are putting 4 inch chair rail up, so no one will be able to tell.. this was all done after working all day.. so I think it turned out JUST FINE ;) Jay has already put so much time and effort into making the room just perfect for Ella, and I cant wait to see how it all comes together.. I will post once its all done, hopefully later this week!!

guilty??

I'm not sure why Ollie looks so guilty?? perhaps he is afraid of what the other dogs will say...

Forcast calls for showers ahead!!

This last Saturday was a crazy busy day. Erin, my mom and Nancy threw me a beautiful shower for Ella. We had a good turn out and a very good time! I am so thankful for good friends and family..



Erin made the cutest shower book ( which was a great idea..she wrote the gifts and who they were from and plenty of room for pics!) and invites.. I thought she was going to have to kill someone up at hobby lobby when they didnt order the card stock she requested! But all turned out well and nobody was harmed!!

the vegas baby cake =) I thought it was adorable!! and tasty to boot!!

Granny made the pink and brown OU blanket we LOVE it.. Cayden has one that she made for him when he was a baby and still uses it all the time!!

Glenda (erins mom), Erin andNancy and Elizabeth working hard on passing out the cake and punch! Everything was so smooth, I couldnt have asked for anything better!



We played a game and Erin and her mom froze these little alien looking babies in ice trays.. they put one in each cup and the first person to melt the ice (without touching it) and have the baby, had to yell "MY WATER BROKE!" kinda creepy, but OH so funny.. my cousin Katie was the winner.. wierd little things arent they?



thanks Erin for all of the hard work and time and especially the thought you put into the shower for us! I cant wait to throw one for you and baby parks in the next year or two.. :)






Later that evening another one of Erins friends and myself hosted a personal shower for her at her moms.. she is such a great sport about everything.. I must admit, way better than myself.. =) I had way more "rules" for my shower than she did..

Erin and her cute cake!!




The game we had for this was to decorate a pair of "honeymoon" panties and Erin had to pic out her favorites and model them.. this is her family and friends working on them.. BTW.. I think her memaw had more fun than anyone doing this!! I loved it!!




Did I mention they were granny panties?? they were all hilarious...


so hilarious, that she could only narrow it down to the top 3! this is Rachelle, Janet and Erin modeling them.. the ones erin has on says "I love mom" you could guess who made those!!





she got lots of cute and fun stuff! and we had tons of laughs!




Now we just wait a few days for the wedding and 5 weeks and 2 days til we meet Isabella!!