Merry Christmas {2011}

traditions

I love traditions. And now that we have Kaden, I enjoy making our own lil' family traditions. This year it was getting a REAL Christmas tree. Quite the process picking the perfect tree for our home. Fun, nonetheless!

But perhaps one of my favorite Christmas traditions is sending ~ maybe more so ~ receiving Christmas cards. It's the one time of year I get excited about getting the mail! I love seeing all the pictures of family and friends and filling our wreath with their beautiful cards.

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

distracted

I've been distracted lately as you can probably tell from the lack of blog posts. You see, (I thought) I was getting bored staying at home so I took on a part time gig from home. Only to come to the realization that I really wasn't bored and I didn't need anything else to take my time away from my boys. I'm glad I tried it out for 9 weeks. And I'm so thankful that I have the choice to stay at home with Kaden. All thanks to a wonderful husband who works hard to provide for all of our needs and lots of our wants!

The last thing I blogged about was Kaden turning 2. Still can't believe I have a 2 year old. But oh does he certainly remind me of that daily with the little personality he has developed! And I'm learning from friends that have older kids that the terrible 2s doesn't only apply for age 2. It's more like age 2 to age 5. Yay! The next few years will be so fun..........AND challenging!

Here are a few of my favorite pictures from the party! Which was a blast, yet exhausting at the same time.

Boy have things changed since last year. We could not figure out why he pitched a fit when we sang "Happy Birthday" to him this year. And weeks later (after other incidents), we have come to believe that he doesn't like the fire from the candle. Thank goodness for cameras that capture these memories.

And yes, he's definitely "our" child. Never passes up a sweet treat! Pretty sure he had 2 cupcakes, no dinner that evening.

Happy Birthday

to the sweetest, most energetic, fun loving, handsome, determined 2 year old we know.

We hope you know that in our hearts we celebrate you every day all year!

We love you!

~Mommy and Daddy

Happy Halloween

from our little dinosaur...

Dinosaurs Live

Not really...but close enough! The HEARD Natural Science Museum has their Dinosaurs Live exhibit open right now. Nine life size dinosaurs that move and roar! Perfect for an almost 2 year old who is really into that sort of thing.

This particular dinosaur was just for photo ops. And perfectly low enough for Kaden to feed the pecans to that he had picked up along the trail.

When it was time to move on, he noticed the dinosaur hadn't actually devoured of the pecans, so he decided to remove them from this huge creatures mouth.

And the rest is history...

Haha...just kidding! It did make for a cute story though :)

the pumkpin patch

It's finally starting to feel like fall around here...just a teeeeeny tiny bit though. A high of 80 today. I'll take it! With the cooler temps, we can venture out a little more and not feel completely miserable. And so we did just that on Saturday.

For the last week or so, Storybook Ranch has been setting up their Pumpkin Patch and getting ready for their Ghost Ranch. Every day we drive by, we see the pumpkins, the ponies, the petting zoo and the bounce houses. And every day, Kaden points and says "want to go that way!" So on Saturday, when we finally "went that way", he was pretty excited. He fed baby goats. Chased Auntie B through a hay maze. Bounced in not one but ALL three bounce houses. Rode a pony. And picked a little pumpkin just his size. He had fun. We had fun. And then ALL of us were worn out and ready for a nap!

We are meeting friends at The Big Orange Pumpkin Farm in Celina this morning. Pretty sure there won't be many pictures because I'll be chasing that little lightning bolt all on my own! Nana, Papa and B won't be around for relief.

adoration

Just a little post about a certain little guy who completely adores his Great Pawpaw and Great Grandma! What's not to love about a great grandparent who instigates the game of peek-a-boo to be played over and over a million times and lets you pretend his belly is a freeway to be used for racing your hot wheels. Oh...and the best part, one that doesn't mind being called "Grumpaw" because that's how it comes out when an almost 2 year old tries to say "Great Pawpaw".

I think it's safe to say it's true love and adoration when he crawled in the back of their SUV and tried buckling himself in as we said our goodbyes.

Made for each other...

first day

Kaden had his first day of Mother's Day Out today. An exciting day for the both of us. He met 7 new friends, played in the gymnasium, went for a walk, colored a picture, had music time, ate lunch, took a short 30 minute nap (I'm curious to see how our afternoon will go, he's a good 2 hour napper) and ate a little snack before I picked him up. I tried to cram as many things in the 5 hours I had to myself...met a friend for coffee and chatted for an hour and a half without any kids (it was awesome for both of us!), got my workout in, made a quick trip to Target, did a couple of loads of laundry, grabbed a quick bite to eat and then headed out to pick up my little guy. BOY WAS I GLAD TO SEE HIM! Pretty certain the feeling was mutual! Here's to a good first day...

short and sweet

Grandmas are moms with lots of frosting. ~ Author Unknown.

They make everything sweeter. Everything more fun.

They give you Jelly Bellies all weekend long. They pack their suitcase full of toys they've collected over the months since they've seen you last that will entertain for hours on end. They let you splash around in mom's tub for 45 minutes 'cause they don't mind cleaning up all the little puddles you made splashing around. They let you play in their makeup bag and explore a new tube of lip stick. They let you pretend the bed is a trampoline. They share their frappuccino with you. They spoil you over and over and over again because that's their job! And really, we wouldn't want it any other way!

We are so happy Grandma was able to come back to Texas for a visit, even though it wasn't long enough. We miss her already and can't wait for her to come back again soon!

boys and their toys

The most recent toy we've come to enjoy in the Copelin house is the helicopter. Complete with remote control and all. Kass has had it for a couple of years but we've just recently taken it down from the top shelf of the closet. Because a certain little boy spotted it and won't stop talking about it. Last Friday, the boys took it out in the backyard and had a blast. And Daddy even let his little sidekick do the controllin'. The helicopter endured lots of crashes. But produced many smiles for the little guy and us too!

And when it was time to put it away, this is the face we got. That's enough to make you just want to give it back. Yep, he sure does know how to work it!

Luckily, for now, I have him convinced that Mama doesn't know how to fly it so we have to wait till Daddy gets home. We'll see how long that lasts!

Cowboys and Broncos

Two of our favorite NFL teams. One because we're Texans and the other 'cause we HEART Denver! We got to see both teams in action at Cowboys Stadium last night. My first time to the stadium. Impression...it's magnificent to say the least! Pictures don't do it justice.

Great game. Or so I have read. You see, we ALL went. Which means Kass and I didn't watch much of the game nor did we stay till the end to see the amazing win by the Cowboys. It's a little nerve wrecking taking a 21 month old who is so darn independent to an event that big. But absolutely worth it to see the huge smile on his face when the crowd got wild during the game. To see him get so excited when everyone else did (even though he had no idea what he was so excited about). That was the best part of it all! The innocence.

Yep, pretty sure we'd do it again. Just to see this smile. Maybe not on a Thursday night, but definitely again!

the sweetest thing

As I am finishing up laundry last night, I hear, "hit the ball", "hit the ball" coming from Kaden's room. Mind you, Daddy put him to bed about 30 minutes earlier. I check the monitor and he's sound asleep. All I can think is that he must have been dreamin' of his Daddy playing ball. Brings the biggest smile to my face...such a sweet little thing!

One of my favorite times to spend with Kaden is in the morning. It's just the 2 of us. He drinks his milk. I drink my coffee. Side by side on the couch. Lately, one of the sweetest sounds to my ears is, "Mommy, Mommy, Mommy". As in come get me out of bed. I'm done sleeping. I'm ready for my morning milk. And I'm ready to play.

I guess I'm not Mama anymore. Somewhere in the last month, he has picked up that I am his Mommy. Not gonna lie...I love it. Not sure who to thank, the childcare at the gym or his older friends in the neighborhood. But thanks. It makes my heart happy.

Something else that makes me happy...seeing this crazy head of hair on this sweet lil' thing in the mornin'. Yes. I am aware that it's long. And if I wasn't, trust me, there are plenty of people that remind me of this. I'm just not ready to let go of that sweet baby with those beautiful locks. So I'm just going to enjoy it while it lasts. I know he won't have those locks forever...

Just as quickly as he can be the sweetest thing, he can do a 180 and test every limit. Like this morning when I found this hot rod in the toilet. Just seconds after I warned him not to.

And I find this tractor on an end table when he knows it shouldn't be there. May not seem like a big deal to most but when he starts driving the tractor and scratching the table, this Mommy isn't happy. Boundaries. He tests them. Every single day.

And then, I'll find him sitting ever so quietly on the couch, feeding his bear a bottle. The sweetest thing. That I'm so blessed to call mine.

Mondays

Not many of us look forward to Mondays. For most, it's the day to go back to the ole' bump and grind. Here in the Copelin house, there's one little fellow who gets excited about Mondays. 'Cause it's trash day!

Which means we spend lots of time in the study looking out the window anticipating the arrival of the trash truck.

On a lucky Monday, he gets to see it twice. For trash pickup and for recycle. And if I'm feeling up to a run pushing an extra 40 pounds, we might chase it around the neighborhood for a bit. Then we sit and wait for 6 days to pass, asking every day for the trash truck, to come again!

a lil' vacay back home

Not sure if this was technically a vacation (because I generally think beach, sun and sand) but since I was free of preparing dinner, free from doing laundry and had help entertaining my 24/7 on the go toddler for 7 days, that's what it was for me. 7 days for me to sit back and relax. 7 days to watch my lil' guy do what he does best...go, go, go. The best thing about being at my parents is that there are plenty of places for him to explore. The house, the barn, the pasture filled with cows and a donkey, the 4-wheeler, the tractor, Nana's plants. The list could go on and on! If you follow this blog, you know this boy LOVES being outside. Yes, even when it's 100 degrees out. Lucky for us, Nana and Papa have big shade trees, so that helped some, well maybe just a tiny bit. You'll see lots of red faces in the pictures on this post :)

I think just about every time we visit my parents, we pull something out from my childhood. This time was no exception. The itty bitty trampoline that my Dad drug out from who knows where in the barn was a huge hit with Kaden. Kept him entertained for hours. Us too 'cause it's pretty cute to watch him have so much fun on something so old and dry rotted! He has incredible balance. Guess The Little Gym is paying off.

Just look at how happy he was on that old thing! Even with a few springs missin'.

No trip to Nana and Papa's is complete without Aunt B's company.

And since we were on vacation, we let the rules slide a little. Now that I think about it, maybe a little too much. Bed time was delayed and delayed some more. Naps, well we tried to get those in, but oh well if we didn't. There was just too much going on to think about sleeping. We ate lots and lots of the sugary good stuff from Nana's kitchen. Ok for a growin' boy and his Papa. Not ok for mama.

And since Kaden and I don't get to do much of this at home, we took full advantage of my parents and sister and we all packed up and headed to Houston to watch Kass play in a baseball tournament. It's either too hot, too late or right in the middle of nap time at home. But with the help of my parents, a tent for shade and an iced down cooler full of water and gatorade, we cheered Kass and the Dallas Stars on in the beatin' Texas heat! Kaden enjoyed every minute of it. Playin' in the dirt. Throwin' toys on the field. And rootin' for his Daddy to hit the ball!

After a hot Sunday of baseball, we took it easy on the 4th of July. We started the day off at the parade in Chappell Hill. Us ladies served drinks for a private party while the boys watched the parade and collected candy and goodies. Then after a nap, Daddy gave Kaden his first ride on "his car". To say that he loved it would be an understatement. And yes, it's "his car". EVERYTHING is his these days.

And this is how we spent the rest of the 4th. Hangin' out and and lettin' a little monkey love on us!

Yes, when we got back to the Big D, we paid for the late nights and the extra attention from Nana and Papa. All worth it in my opinion. For 7 days of no laundry and no cookin'!