Cleaning Obsession!

Jaydon loves to clean! He has gotten to the point where he has thrown a couple good sized temper-tantrums when it was time to put away the broom or vacuum and ever since he learned to sign vacuum he does it regularly trying to get us to vacuum again.

Here he is sweeping the floor - he now has a mini broom (thanks to Sarah A.) and he loves to get it out when I get out the regular boom and sweep along with me. He of course still thinks that the large size one is a bit more fun but at least now I don't have to take so long to sweep giving him turns.

His technique is improving, for the most part he has given up trying to sweep anything other than the floor!

Now I was wondering if he would be afraid of the vacuum at any point and so when I would vacuum I made sure to tell him when I was turning it on and tried to make it kind of fun for him too, well evidently it worked. This kid is obsessed. He would vacuum all day every day if we would let him. I think at this point I can't really blame him, he is a little boy who likes machines and noises and moving and this fits all those. I can only hope I am so lucky in 10 years and that he will vacuum for me then...

It is pretty awesome that our vacuum has the two attachments because once I am done using the smooth floor one he gets it and will drag that one around the house so I can keep vacuuming with the carpet attachment. It is pretty awesome!

Saying "goodbye" to Cady

My mom and Nancy adopted Cady as a tiny kitten 19 years ago this fall. From nose to tail she fit in the palm of their hands when they brought her home and she captured all of our hearts right off the bat. From her having to jump onto the side of the bed or couch and pull herself up to the top to her no longer being able to get onto the bed, Cady lived a full life where she was well loved and gave back so much love in return.

She was one of the sweetest most harmless cats you could ever meet. She really just wanted you to sit on the couch so she could come and snuggle up next to you for hours at a time. She enjoyed many adventures throughout her life: summer camp at Grandma's, camping, hiking, kayaking, canoeing, biking, etc. Cady was quite a trooper putting up with many activities and while she may not have been the most adventurous cat, she just enjoyed that she got to spend time with her people.
Here she is out on a hike, sometimes she would ride in the carrier my mom was wearing and sometimes she would just walk.
Getting ready for a canoe adventure.
Looking at the water, or something exciting with my aunt and grandma.
Resting in her bed. She loved beds like this. Such a beautiful cat!

This is a picture of Cady in her bed the night before we had to put her down. She had kidney problems and was dehydrated and losing weight (you can't really tell in the photo because she still took great care of herself but she was down to 6lbs and just skin and bone). Even towards the end she was a happy cat who still just wanted to be loved. Thankfully with the animals we love and hold dear we are able to help them go with diginity before they have to experience too much pain.

Here is a photo of Jaydon saying 'goodbye.'

You will be missed Cady girl! Thank you for all you gave to us throughout your life.

Visit with Sarah

We stopped by to visit with Sarah, Alex and Timothy on our way back home. Jaydon really enjoyed climbing around and playing with Sarah. It is crazy how fast they grow, I vividly remember when Timothy was Jaydon's age and playing with him similar to how Jaydon was playing with Sarah.

They had a great time!

Playdate with Sophie

After some amazing coordination and illness delays we were able to have a fun playdate with Sophie and Asia. We went to visit them at their house (because their toys are just so cool) and then we went to the open gym to play on the trampoline and other assorted gymnastics equipment.

A water table turned bean table - pretty awesome!

Sophie was showing Jaydon how to honk the horn on the car he was driving.

Many people often say Jaydon is such a serious child. I always agree and tell them that he has been that way since birth. Here we were trying to get a photo of the two of them together reminiscent of the one almost a year before. I keep wondering what is going on in that brain of his.

Ok, Sophie had a slide - this was the BEST!! We are now trying to find one for our house.

At different times one would try giving the other a love, we never did capture it well on camera but it was pretty cute.

Good friends sharing stickers with a cat in the background - life can't get much better.

Happy Valentine's Day

We don't do a lot for Valentine's Day but we do enjoy exchanging cards and eating a bit of candy. This year after dinner we did family cards and Jaydon was thrilled with his.

Jaydon loves animals! This card was too perfect to pass up as it had a bunch of animals saying different corny things. He will point to all the different animals when asked to find them, he signs many of their names and will make some of their noises (dog, pig and horse especially).

Even Lily was in the spirit waching Jaydon from the bookcase.

Geocache and Park visit with Grandma

Grandma came up to babysit so we could go to the card party (see post) and the next day we thought we would go for a geocache adventure and visit the park.

Grandma always has some kind of technology to help us get where we are going. We did end up fiding the cache this time (it was the one we couldn't find with the Millard Family). Turns out it just wasn't out last time we looked, so Millards if you are up for another visit we can go try again...

Using the digger machine at the park.
Focused!
Slides are one of Jaydon's favorite things...it doesn't even matter if they are all wet and it is cold.


He got a little wet but was quite the trooper and still wanted to go down some more.

"Shipwrecked" Card Party

Kon and Penni throw a fabulous card party every year. This year the theme was "Shipwrecked" and six of us decided to go as the Gilligan's Island crew (we drew our characters out of a hat and poor Ginger was the only one left out). We had a great time as always and are already looking forward to next year.

Jeremy and I got Mr. and Mrs. Howell, it was fun putting our costumes together.

Jason and Melody drew the Professor and Gilligan.

Jayson and Sherry were Maryann and the Skipper.

The group.

Our wonderful host and hostess.

Starting out the first of six rounds of the card game.

There are prizes at the end of the evening and Jayson and Sherry were super excited about the snuggies Jeremy and I won so we happily traded for their cute yard light. All participants left happy!

Cats!

Jaydon loves animals! When we walk out to get the mail each afternoon he always signs dog because he wants to go see if the neighbor's dog is outside, then he signs cat because he wants to see if the neighbor's cat is outside. I tell you these neighbors probably think I am staking out their house because Jaydon likes to just hang out in front of it hoping to get a chance to see either animal. Then he also will point out if there are birds around by signing bird.

He has started trying to pick up the cats and snuggle them. Higgins did a pretty good job on this squishing event.

As the kids were voicing their displeasure at being in the pack n' play just a little longer than they wanted to be I decided to throw the cats in too and get a photo.

Higgins was trying to jump out the whole time so this was as good as the photo got.

Jaydon likes trying to play with the cats with their toys (the laser or the feather), this morning Jaydon kept taking toys and putting them next to Higgins while he was sleeping to see if he would play, nope, he just slept.

A video of Jaydon playing with the cats with my apron. He of course had the cats running around the house before we decided to take a video so the video does no justice to the fun the cats and Jaydon had when they were actually really chasing.

Jaydon and Brenna

We are really lucky to have Brenna (and Wendy and Greg) so close (a 2 minute drive). Swapping childcare has worked so well for me to be back at school a few afternoons a week.

The kiddos enjoy spending time together.

Brenna had just arrived and wanted to give Jaydon a hug, this time he didn't seem all that interested but it varies on who wants to give the other one a hug at times.

I had them both and had to take a shower and get ready for work so...into the pack n' play they went with toys and books. This was of course at the end when I decided to go get the camera when they both wanted out rather than get them out right away. Photo op first!

Taking turns on which one was vocalizing their displeasure.