priceless.

3 trips to home depo. 12 cedar posts. 25 bags of sand. 4 hours of labor. And having your son scream the first time he steps foot in his new sandbox...PRICELESS!

He's actually warmed up to the sand being between his toes and loves it. Now it gets in every little crevice possible. All in the curls. All over the floors ~ suppose I'll be cleaning them daily around here until the newness wears off. To me, it's worth it. More pics to come once we start building castles.

18 months

Seriously, where did the time go?!?! I cannot believe I am the mother of an 18 month old. Everyday with Kaden is a blessing. And a challenge. Especially since he's becoming more and more MR. INDEPENDENT. He's keeps me on my toes. And on the run. Child cannot stand to sit still. He loves playing out front with the older kids on the street. Going to the park. Going for a walk. Pushing his mow mow (lawnmower). Playing with water. If it involves being outside, it's a sure bet he'll love it! He's tough. So tough that yesterday when he fell in the street, I picked him up and told him to shake it off. He did. And 20 minutes later, I noticed blood on his shorts and a little chunk of skin missing from his knee. Wow...mother of the year over here!

He likes to make the sounds of a horse, sheep, cat, dog and cow. He likes to watch for planes. And cars. And say brmmm, brmmm. 'Cause that's what cars do. Loves sitting in the driver's seat and pretend he's driving. Pretty much anything we do, he wants to do. Especially, if it's something his daddy does. He now punches and kicks the heavy workout bag hanging in the garage. And likes to attempt walking around in his daddy's boots.

He loves reading books. And for that I am thankful. It's the only time I can get him to sit in my lap for longer than a minute. Then and also when he requests to be rocked before bedtime. Where did this come from? He hated being rocked as a baby and now as a toddler he asks for it?!?! I'm sure it's his way of prolonging getting in his bed and going night night!

Here are the stats from his 18 month check up: 28 lbs (75 percentile) 34.75 inches long (97th percentile). Yup...he's a big boy. I just had someone ask me today "is he 3?".

And with that, I will leave you with his latest stunt!

After I told him no, he proceeded to get down and try it with his four wheeler. My job is never ending with this little boy...

the park, mama and B

What better way to start off a weekend for a little guy who loves being outside with a couple of his favorite ladies?!?! Even when it's a chilly 60 degrees out. And by chilly, I really mean cold. The crazy 90 mile an hour wind didn't help things. But none the less, we hit the park for about an hour. All because it keeps this little guy smilin'!

This little man loves his time with B.

He loves to give kisses these days. And of coure I don't mind it one bit! I'm so glad my sister had the camera at this exact moment. Probably one of my favorite pics yet!

Oh and none of the pics have been edited. Why, you ask? Because my dang MacBook got a virus and I have yet to get it fixed. Seriously frustrated about it. We were a PC family until about a year ago when I begged my sweet hubby for a Mac. Just because I wanted one. I thought they were super cool. And I thought maybe a Mac would teach me to be a little more creative. And now look where I am... If it were a PC, the hubs could repair it, but not a Mac. So if you are reading this and have any advice on Macs and virus', please share.

a little r & r

Just what we needed. A little rest and relaxation. Just the 2 of us. Thanks to Nana and Papa, Kass and I were able to get away to see what the Cayman Islands had to offer. Lots, I tell you. We walked along 7 mile beach. Rented a car and drove the whole island in a day. Paying extra attention so we didn't end up driving on the wrong side of the road. Repeating throughout the day "stay on the left and you'll always be right". Many, many thanks to Kass' colleague for that little chant...it saved us, especially when entering and exiting parking lots.

We snorkeled A LOT! Swam with sting rays. Kissed a sting ray. Even got a massage from one. Though we don't have pics to prove it because that roll of film from the waterproof camera wasn't any good. I'm still bummed about that. Finally conquered my fear of scuba diving and went. It was awesome! There's a whole other world underwater! We visited the island's botanical gardens. Encountered many lizards and iguanas. Saw the island's blow holes in action.

We lounged at the beach. At the pool. Leisurely reading books. Breathing in the fresh island air. We dined. Just the 2 of us. And we even went to Hell and back. No you didn't read that wrong. There's a Hell, Grand Cayman. Supposedly, it got it's name because people say that's what Hell must look like. A group of short, black, limestone formations in the northwest Grand Cayman town of West Bay. Check it out for yourself in the slide show.

And then we came home to our handsome little guy who was just as happy to see us as we were to see him. And I'm pretty sure he had just as much fun at Nana and Papa's as we had on the island.

We took lots of pics. And since I didn't want to have to pick out my favorites just yet, I put them all in a little slide show. You should be able to click on the slide show and view the pictures a little larger than they are on the blog. Enjoy!