Happy HALLOWEEN!!!

YIPPEE! Another rocking Halloween has come and passed. We had so so much fun, as always, spending the evening at my cousin Nicki's house in Plano. It is always so great to see her two beautiful boys, Brennan and Breckan. And I love catching up with my other cousin, Wendy, and seeing her twins, Kamryn and Cullum (who, by the way, started kindergarten this year... wow.) So Cade was a Zebra and Marin was a pumpkin. There you have it. Oh, and Marin HATED the trick or treating part. She screamed the WHOLE time. I would've totally bailed on the whole thing if I didn't have to stand there and make necessary Cade memories. So she just bawled and we trick or treated as if nothing strange was happening. PSYCHO chick. So here's some Halloween photos for all to enjoy... except note that Marin is NOT so very photogenic in her pumpkin costume, so ignore the not-so-cuteness of that child. But Cade is still cute... so at least there's one. :)

Okay. She looks kind of cute in this picture because she's posing a bit. And she isn't screaming... yet.



Cade is smiling good here for the camera strutting his zebra self. Oh, and this was funny: that night when I tucked him in bed, I said, "Night, night, little zebra." And Cade goes, "No, Momma. Big Zebra Pants!" "Okay. Night, night, big zebra pants." I have no idea where that came from. David said he was declaring his indian tribal name... I am Big Zebra Pants. Whatever.



Here is Cade with Aunt Saucey (a.k.a. Kelsey). This is his special camera smile that I'm trying to extinguish. Usually, if I just tell him to say "cheese", he gives a pretty natural smile like the photo above. However, when I say, "Hey Cade, smile at the camera," he does this grimace/constipated look. NOT as cute. We have got to get him out of this photo phase.




And here is David and Cade having a moment together during our trick or treat walk. Cade is doing his sullen, model pose. At least it isn't the constipated grimace. And his zebra costume made for cute black and white photos. I don't have any clever story to go with this one... so just look at it.

My Mom's Dress

I took a photo of Marin today in a baby dress that was my mother's. Pretty cool!!! So this dress is way back from ... 1954!!! Sorry, Mom.... but it's cool that it's a dress that old. Anyway, just wanted to share.

The Potty

Ladies and gentlemen -- as of this week, my son, Cade, is potty-trained!!!!!!!!!!!! I am so excited and can't believe that he trained as easily as he did. Typically, boys are harder than girls and I was ready for a battle, but he basically "got it" in half a day. AMAZING. Here's the rundown --

My friend, Amber, and I decided to potty train both our kids this week. She has a little girl, Abbie, who is exactly Cade's age. At 2 1/2, we knew they were ready. It was just a matter of us deciding to be consistent and do it. So this was the week.

The first day, I literally stripped Cade down naked all day. That way, he could see when he went and there was no diaper/pull-up to allow him to be lazy and not see the consequences of not going in the potty. And I thought underwear would just be one more step to deal with when he had to go. He peed in the house, he peed outside, he peed in the garage. Everywhere except the potty. Then, I loaded him up on juice and we sat on his little potty in front of the TV watching Dora and I basically didn't let him get up. I knew he had to go b/c he had so much liquid in him. He went in the potty and just got it. From then on, no accidents! And that was 3 days ago.

But then there's the poop issue. Well, Cade thinks it's fun to go poo poo in the garage, apparently. The first day, he pooped in the garage and came into the house and handed it to me!!!! GROSS! So goes the glories of being a mom. Funny thing is, I have had Cade's poop on me too many times to count since he was born, so it really wasn't even that big of a deal. I don't know if that's a good or a bad place to be as a mom.... hmmmm... Anyway, then the next day, he did it in there again. Then the next day -- AGAIN. But today, I dead bolted the doors and forbid him to go in the garage. It is like it was his hiding place to do it and avoid the potty. So he went in the potty! I am so proud of him.

I have even been brave enough to venture out beyond the four walls of my home. We've gone out to eat, to the grocery store, to the doctor (he has a cold), out to eat again... anyway... he has had no accidents and has even asked us to use the "store potty" or the "restraurant potty" and he goes in it! I am just so excited.

So as of today, we are officially diaper-free (except for bedtime and naptime... we'll see when that comes). So now I only have to change Marin's diapers. What a great, great week. But I was so lucky, Cade just caught on and basically trained himself.

Totally Psycho

Cade cracks me up daily. He woke up from his nap yesterday while I was on the computer... I walked in the living room and found him like this. He is so hilarious.

Updates

Well, I haven't blogged in forever, so lots has been going on. My last post was that Marin was sleeping through the night -- well, that's not true any more. I just don't have babies that sleep through the night. It's genetic, I guess. She's doing a heck of a lot better than Cade ever did, though. So it's livable. She's sleep through a handful of nights, but nothing regular or predictable. DARN IT.

Marin went to the doctor today for her regular 4-month checkup. She's doing fantastically. She's right at 14 pounds (50 percentile); 25.5 inches (75 percentile) and 16.5" head circumference (75 percentile). Pretty good. She also is rolling around like a beast now. When I put her down on the floor, I never know where I'm going to end up finding her in five minutes. Well, that may be a bit of an exaggeration, but she does like to roll over a lot. And she's starting laughing, which is darn adorable. You would think a little girl would laugh all high-pitched and cute... well, her's is more like a throaty, manly laugh. Very butch.

We took the family down to New Braunfels/San Antonio with David's parents. It was a ball. Cade LOVED Sea World and hasn't stopped talking about Shamu and the dolphins since. He says he saw the "Shamu show." And we got him a souvenier T-shirt (but it's so big that he just sleeps in it at this point.) But we did lots of swimming in the pool with Cade and he is ADDICTED to swimming. He even will let you let go of him in the water (of course, he has floaties on) and he'll kick and paddle to the edge all by himself. He is so proud when he does it. He is just cracking me up lately. He is so funny and adorable. Of course, I'm bias. But he really is. Marin has LOTS to live up to in the adorable department -- not sure she'll get there, but she'll try real hard. She's just so different.

Hard that you can have two kids from the same parents and they can be so different. Cade was always an extremely high-maintenance baby and continues to be a high-maintenance toddler. Not at all a bad kid, he actually is very very very well behaved (I'd like to take some of the credit), but he's very high-maintenance. He likes to constantly have your attention and you constantly have to play with him, color with him, go outside with him, tell him what EVERYTHING is and what EVERYTHING says, etc. My mom says he's just like me in that regard -- just totally CONSTANT 24/7. He never ever stops talking. Ever.

And then there's Marin who is such an easier baby. She only cries when she needs something (like all babies should) instead of just for kicks. She sleeps well, she's happy most of the time, she watches things... and is altogether easy (a total breeze compared to Cade at that age.) Who knows what she'll be like when she gets older? Of course, I appreciate her laid-backness, but sometimes, I'm like, "Come on, girl! Show me some spunk, some fire already!" Perhaps I should just enjoy the passiveness. I'm just ready to get to know her. I'm anxious to meet Marin as she will be as a person... does that make sense?

Okay -- I've blogged long enough and shared more than enough. Thanks for reading and check back for pictures soon. Our computer is broken and I don't have the software on this one to put pics on ... so stay tuned!

Marin wins the contest.

Ladies and gentlemen, for the last two nights, Marin has slept all through the night w/o waking up. And I'm not talking just sleeping for an extended time between feedings. She has gone to bed at 9 and gotten up the next morning at 8. That is better than Cade, folks.

So, let's just be honest. I love her more now. :)

I had always heard rumors that babies existed that sleep through the night at 3 or 4 months old, but I never believed it. At least never believed it would actually happen to me. That I would be so lucky to get one.

Also, some new pictures taken in the last week or so. Marin is doing great and Cade is getting so darn verbal, he's starting to teach me words. You'll notice how much fun I'm having getting Marin all dressed up in the morning. She's looking super cute and Cade's still in a p.j. shirt and a diaper that's about 2 pee sessions overdue. Ha!

Marin Photoshoot

Poor Marin. I made her pose for me today to get some pictures of her. I don't take near as many pictures of her as I did Cade when he was little. I think that's pretty normal, though. But I captured some cute ones of her this morning hanging out in her Boppy.

Cade is at my in-laws house for A WEEK!!! Woh! He was so excited to go and I know he's having a great time in Hot Springs, Arkansas!