Lions and Tigers and TRICKS, Oh My!!

Caeden has often asked to go to the circus for probably the last 2-3 years. He's finally to the age we felt he could appreciate the circus and really enjoy it! So last time he mentioned to Nonni that he REALLY wanted to go to a REAL circus- she was on it! 

10 days before the circus, Caeden had a package waiting for him. We FaceTimed Nonni....and Caeden opened the package. It was then he found out we were going to the REAL circus!! In his package were peanuts, a clown nose, some circus animal cookies, some circus activity pages and a countdown!! So each day, we glued a red ball onto our countdown and anxiously awaited "the day!"

Finally, on May 31, it was CIRCUS DAY!! We dropped Callie off at Nana & Papas house and headed to Tulsa with Nonni & Grandpa! This was the real Ringling Bros Barnum & Bailey circus....and it was AWESOME!!

An hour before the circus started they had a pre-show down on the floor. We got to meet clowns, and watch lots of acts really up close! We even got to watch an elephant paint a picture!! We hadn't been there 10 min when the request for cotton candy was made. Caeden has been talking about getting cotton candy since he found out we were going. But this cotton candy....it was $14! Did you get that?!? FOUR. TEEN. DOLLARS!!! But this poor kid has counted on getting cotton candy for the last two weeks. Ha! So we're suckers and gave in....you better bet it was the best-tasting cotton candy we'd ever had!! However, it came with a hat....so that was a bonus! ;)

Once the circus started, Caeden was hooked! And really was cool! We saw all kinds of amazing tricks and acts! Our favorites were...

The 7 motorcyclists all driving FAST in a steel ball at the same time!!

Watching the trainer with the lions and tigers!! This part made us anxious....but was so exciting!!

The elephants!! (Who could actually do pretty decent tricks too)!

We also loved the trapeze artists and the guy who rode his motorcycle on a high wire!! It was seriously stinkin' awesome!! We all had just as much fun as Caeden did! I have to say it just might be the "Greatest Show on Earth!" Thanks Nonni and Grandpa for taking us to the circus!!

Caeden - 4.5 years!

If I want to be real accurate, Caeden is 4.75 years old!!  He'll be turning 5 in two months!!!!  Eeeek!  5 years old seems like a big number... So here's a little summary of what's Caeden's doing at this age!




EATING
Caeden still is very picky about what he eats.  He HAS started eating ground beef now (he used to not touch anything that contained this)!  Yay - So that's progress!  He's pretty consistent on what he likes & doesn't like....I have to give him that.  At least he doesn't daily change his mind like his little sister.  He has decided he doesn't like milk...ugh...so now all he drinks is water - seriously!  He might have orange juice every once in a great while when I have it on hand - but water is his drink of choice! His favorite foods are: mac n cheese, hot dog, chicken nuggets, apples, broccoli, RANCH (with everything!), goldfish & pretzels.

PLAYING
Caeden is just growing up so much!  He is a much better independent play-er than he used to be! And he's getting more possessive of his things.  He will often go into his room to play trains, and close the door "so Callie can't come in."  Uh oh....it's already started... Ella is still his best friend.  But when Ella isn't here - he really does like to try to play with Callie. He can officially write his first name without any help, in the correct direction, with the correct formation. :) He' s also learning to write many letters in the alphabet.  He has great problem-solving skills!  Almost too great - when mommy has a reason for why we can't do something - he has a solution (that often makes sense)!  Caeden is not a big fan of coloring or drawing, so we can always work on those skills.  He LOVES to be outside, like he always has - and is SO CLOSE  to riding his bike without training wheels!  Caeden is also really into any and all superheroes right now - so that's fun!  He is definitely "all boy" which we love!

SLEEPING
He's on a pretty standard sleep schedule.  At 4.5 years old, he went to only taking a nap on SOME days.  Probably 3-4 days a week are "nap days."  On these days, he naps for about an hour and then goes to bed about 8:30/9:00.  The other days are "quiet time days."  These are days he sits in his bed and rests - playing with quiet toys, playing games on his LeapPad or watching movies on the iPad.  This lasts about an hour, and on these days, he's super tired by evening, so bedtime is 7:30pm!!  Either way, he wakes up between 6:30-7:00am most mornings!  He still sleeps with his two blankets every night, and has his two favorite corners that he likes to hold onto. :)

DISCIPLINE
Caeden has improved beyond measure in the last 6 months on his behavior.  This past winter, I was at my wits end...in tears every day, feeling hopeless, and begging God in prayer to "heal" our son.  He would throw major fits that were aggressive.  I won't go into details here but it was bad.  After much prayer and a consistent behavior chart that worked for him - he slowly grew out of these fits!  It's very rare for us to see him lose control in anger these days - and it's an amazing blessing!  He has also just grown to have a more sweet, sensitive, helpful spirit - truly!  I feel like sometimes he's a totally different kid than he was six months ago!  Thank you Jesus!  We have loved him through it all, but I definitely enjoy this "new" Caeden more!

PRESCHOOL
Caeden finished his first year of actual preschool last week.  After being at Noah's Ark Learning Center for 3 years, he has finally grown to love school and love his friends.  On the last day of school, on the way home, I looked in my rearview mirror to see a tear rolling down his cheek.  After asking him why he was crying, he quietly choked out, "I just miss Ms. Brooke and Ms. Holly..."  The funny thing is I did this every. year....until middle school.  I'd always cry on the last day of school, missing my teacher. Ha!  Looks like Caeden may be the same way!

GROWTH STATS
Caeden weighs somewhere around 35 lbs and is around 40ish inches tall.  He wears size 10 shoes and size 4T clothes.

SIBLINGS
He loves Callie so much and truly tries to take care of her.  He is a super great big brother- and I mean it!  He's so good to her!  Lately, he's been asking us (and praying to God for) a little brother... So....we'll see!  We've tried to make it very clear that sometimes we don't get to pick if we have another sibling, much less a brother....

Caeden, You are growing up and maturing in so many ways. It's so wonderful to see you change and develop. You are so smart, and I love your sweet spirit!  We continue to pray that you will come to realize your need for Jesus soon and accept Him into your life at an early age.  We love you!

Callie Ann - 19 mos!

I haven't posted an update on Callie in....well, a really long time!  Poor girl!  So here it goes...I obviously can't recap everything in the last 7 months - but here's what she's up to now!!

EATING
Callie is becoming a more picky eater.  One day, she loves hot dogs!  The next, she won't touch them! That's how it goes with many foods!  Her favorite foods that she ALWAYS loves are: mac n cheese, yogurt, cheerios, broccoli & pretzels.  And she's already got a sweet tooth.... :(  It just happens earlier when you have an older sibling around... But even though she's picky, she's still a great eater overall and still growing!!

PLAYING
Callie's favorite things to play with are her babies, her purse, and her jewelry.  She will often just carry these things around all day.  She also loves to be playing where Caeden (and Ella) are playing, and LOVES LOVES LOVES being outside!  She is a singer and a dancer!  And when learning something new, she always picks it up pretty quick!  Callie is great at playing by herself when needed, which is wonderful!  She has been pretty addicted to her paci, carrying it or sucking on it wherever she goes.  Just a week ago, we went to having paci only in bed...that was an adjustment, let me tell ya!  But we're making progress!

SLEEPING
Callie still lays down wonderfully easy!  She has her two blankets she loves to sleep with....and the paci! She went to one nap around 18 months and sleeps 1-2 hours during that nap.  She is also still a great night sleeper - sleeping around 12 hours a night!

LANGUAGE
Callie is slowly adding to her vocabulary.  I wouldn't say her vocab is exploding like Caeden's was at this age, but I'm not worried - she's hitting the required milestone, so she'll figure it out.  She attempts every word we tell her to.  If she's grunting at her cup, and we tell her to say, "cup" she might say "buh!"  But at least she's trying!  And she probably says 15 words??  Her favorite word to say is "MAMA!"  We hear this about 268 times a day! ;)

TEETHING
Callie has always been a great teether and I honestly never know when she's teething.  This morning she was crying and I looked in her mouth and saw molars that I didn't know she had!  Hm! Who would've guessed?

HAIRSTYLES
Callie has finally had enough hair to do cute hairstyles with.  Here are a few we've tried! (PS - we didn't do these the same day - she is just coincidentally wearing the same dress!)

DISCIPLINE
We are definitely doing more correcting and time-outs these days.  Callie went through a short biting phase around 18 mos, and sometimes she hits when she gets mad.  She is also at the age where she tests what mommy and daddy command her to do - purposely disobeying to see what will happen.  She really doesn't like time-outs so right now, those are what work!!  She is much more sensitive than Caeden was.  I say "NO!" in a firm voice and we have a puckered-out lip with tears!

GROWTH STATS
At Callie's 18 month appointment, she was:
25 lbs 12 oz
32.5 inches
She wears size 4 diaper and size 5 shoes. Her clothes are mostly 24 mos right now.

SIBLINGS
Caeden and Callie still really love each other!  If one of them is upset, they will often run to each other to hug and comfort.  However, they still do things to pester each other too - don't get me wrong!  They are still learning to play together!! But they absolutely adore each other!

CALLIE'S SCHEDULE AT 19 MOS
7:00ish am - Wake up & eat breakfast
mid-morning - small snack
11:30am - Lunch
1:00 pm - Nap
3:00ish pm - Snack
5:30pm - Dinner
7:00pm - Bedtime!

We love you sweet girl!  You are definitely showing your own personality!  You are silly and a ham!  We love it and we love YOU!

Field Trip: PICNIC AT THE PARK!

Caeden had his first field trip last week. His school is a few blocks down the road from a Bentonville park called Dave Peel Park. So his class walked down the street, played at the park, had a breakfast picnic and played some more! Caeden had so much fun and it was fun for mommy to see him interacting with all his friends. I didn't do the greatest at taking pictures but here are a few:

This is Caedens best school buddy, Madison. They became friends the first week of school back in August and it hasn't changed!!

Caeden and Madison driving to Walmart! (Of course....where else do you go when you live in Bentonville??)

Siblings were invited to come too....so of course Callie had to copy what big brother was doing. She loved being there and Caeden loved showing her off. 

Class picture before eating muffins, donuts, fruit and juice! (This is actually two classes together). 

YUM!

It was a successful first field trip! We all had fun! When we got back to the school a few hours later, Caeden was sad to say "bye" to mommy and Callie but there were no tears and he did great! Yay for first field trips!

Siiiiingin' in the Rain....Just Siiiiingin' in the Rain!

We've had some rainy days lately.  This past week, it was raining with no thunder, so Caeden ran to grab his rain boots and rain jacket to play in the rain.  And of course, Callie had to follow big brother.  She doesn't have any rain boots, so we figured water shoes would work. :)  It was so fun watching them play in the rain!  And Callie was hilarious - she would lift her knees up so high and march around, trying to make puddles!  Fun memories!

(PS....We were getting ready for baths right before this....which is why Callie doesn't have pants on....)

Mother's Day 2014

We got to spend time with both of our moms this year for Mother's Day!  On Saturday morning, Ashley, her mom & sisters all went to a Mother's Day Craft-Tea!  This was at Junque 2 Jewels, a new vintage craft place in Bentonville!  It was so fun!  They served us a yummy brunch and we EACH got to make 3 crafts! We made a "spring" banner, a wooden plaque to hang on a wall, and some mason jar planters. We thought our crafts turned out pretty cute, and we definitely had some fun girl's time away!

Sunday morning (actual Mother's Day) we went to church and I attempted to take some pictures with my kids, but you know how that goes...

They really look like they love their mother, don't they? ;) 

Then it was off to New Life Ranch for our annual Mother's Day picnic!  

Callie & Caeden LOOOOVE their Uncle Rhett!

Nonni with her grandkids!

COUSINS!

Grandpa with the grandkids!

And a big family picture!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

A NEW Cousin!

On April 23, Caeden & Callie welcomed a new cousin into the world! Abraham Allen Pierce was born late that night.  Because of some minor health issues, he was flown to a children's hospital in Tulsa, OK early the next morning.  So we didn't get to see them until they got home.  We had to wait a whole week!  And mommy was super anxious to meet him!  Here are some pictures of our first meeting with Abe!