Cody's first REAL haircut

Okay, I'll admit, I have no control over Cody sitting still. And when it comes to cutting his hair, it's definitely treacherous, to say the least. He acts like he can feel each lock being cut and they are all bleeding profusely. Needless to say, it makes cutting his hair about as far from fun as you can possibly get.

Here he is as the "before" photo...trying to help us put the bunk beds (that we are just setting up as separate twin beds) together.

Here he is at the barber shop. He doesn't know what's about to happen, I'm certain.

Now he's starting to get it. Though we had given him some medicine before he went because he's had a slight fever lately.

This is when it really hits him.

It was all worth it though. Just look at this cutie pie! I had to include the photo of him in his new red pajamas. I just thought they were completely adorable. heh, heh

Cleaning it all out!

My parents are coming. Have I told you what our fridge was like growing up??? FULL! ALWAYS!!! So, I had to make room for all the cooking my father does when he's here. We had to throw away, recycle, clean, etc. so we can have some room for the new homemade, yummy food!

I started with the first shelf! I'm ashamed to say it takes me quite a prod to get this fridge clean. Good thing my parents are coming...it's very motivating!

It's not like it's even hard, truly, as long as the kiddos are busy sleeping! It just takes a little soap and water and VIOLA! all clean!

Here we are - All clean! All this food is fresh and ready to be eaten. What do you think??? It's crazy how much room you have once you clean out all the old stuff. Why do we let those dark corners (ha, ha) exist with old food? I'm not even sure. You just forget about it right? Out of sight, out of mind! Well, I just want to say, "Mom and Dad...we're ready for you!"

What have we been up to????

Not posting, that's for sure! It's been awhile since the last, so I will obviously have to do a few posts to make up for it! One thing you need to realize is that we are getting ready for some COMPANY! My parents are coming out here this weekend, so we have been frantically trying to rearrange rooms so that they have someplace they can sleep! So, here are some photos of our latest update on the "children's room."

We headed off to IKEA and had to try to buy some matching duvet covers. Here's what we picked for Cody. (We bought these beds off Craigslist as bunkbeds.)

This is the one that Caitlin chose. She didn't like the curtains at all because they were "kind of babyish." It was pretty funny that she was "okay" with the curtains once she saw her duvet cover next to them. She saw how everything sort of matched once we put the curtains up.

Can you see it all? Not too bad. I'd like to decorate the walls, but I still need Brenda's eye. What do you think?

Cody's 2nd Birthday

Well, he made it... 2 years old on Saturday the 17th! I'd like to say the time has flown by, but honestly it feels just like 2 years. He's constantly testing just what he can get away with, he's an awful light sleeper and he has a quick temper.

Having said all that, he's the cutest little 2 year old punk-o you ever saw. He has an incredible good nature, he's sweet and cuddly still. He's fearless and full of energy & curiousity. He's all boy and I couldn't love him any more. (OK, I'd love him a little bit more if he'd stop pooping his pants all the time.)
He love's to tell knock-knock jokes like his sister. His favorite song is "Girls just want to have fun" and he asks for it constantly in the car - I plan to tease him about that later when he's all grown up.
He's learning his colors and shapes, Caitlin's been a big helper teaching him those. He's absorbing everything he hears & sees. You cannot shake a gum box or rattle a wrapper within a mile of this kid without getting bombarded for "bum please" and "fruit snacks?"

Anne made her favorite cake as a kid and it's pretty safe to say it's now our favorite cake as well.

So for now, it's all about enjoying this time of his little life and making the most of every day.

Happy Birthday Codes, Cody, Coderton!

Pumpkin Pickin' Time.

Here's some shots of the pumpkin patch & tractor hay ride. We've done this for a couple years now. It's supposed to rain all week, so we took advantage of the cold air & sunshine yesterday.

I told Caitlin if she could carry it, we could get it. She must have tried to lift 20 different pumpkins.

Lifting pumpkins is exhausting work I guess... soon I found my lazy kid lounging on a pumpkin couch.Cody was sitting on pumpkins all over the place. It's tough to find the perfect chair pumpkin.

Some recent shots I wanted to share...

This is my big girl all grown up & riding the school bus. Cody & Casey can't wait for her to get home every day. She loves the bus ride & has a couple "school bus friends" that she plays games with and talks to. One of them is a boy and she was all proud of herself for not being "too shy".
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We went down to Brenda's for a quick afternoon visit last week. Caleb found a great climbing tree & Caitlin climbed right on up. She's getting pretty brave. The trampoline is on it's last legs, but Cody was still light enough to bounce around a bit. I love the static in his hair.

<----- This picture to the left is just a great looking shot. I think it really captures Cody's good nature. Plus I think he really looks like me when I was a boy... haha, take that Anne!

Caitlin & I dressed up our porch last week with some spooky bats & cobwebs.
I couldn't resist wrapping her up.

Here's a shot of me & the Coderton just hanging out bright & early in the morning.

Then, of course he wanted to take some pictures. I have about 10 random shots of his finger in the way... but this one turned out pretty good. :)

Nice looking up the nose shot eh?

Pumpkin Patch!

Sometimes it's hard to find something to do when you have the kids all day to yourself. It should be something fun, but also not the monotonous choices that get us through the long wet winters. It's nice when there is a choice to head out to the pumpkin patch and run through the corn maze, play on the play structures and have fun with the animals! Wheeee!Aren't they sweet together? They usually have fun with each other too!

Here's Cait-o getting static in her hair sliding down the slide. (I love these striped pants that she picked out!)
Truly, who does Cody look like? I think it's me, but the reviews are mixed. Leave a comment and let us know! Here's Cody trying to get the goat's attention. Both of these kids just LOVE animals!

Brian said this rooster was mean and would probably peck you mercilessly if he ever got out of his cage. Yikes! Can't wait to go back here for the hayride and pumpkins!

While the Mommy's away...

the kids get to JUMP OFF THE SOFA! Brian is great at letting the kiddos play fun games that involve too much "risk" for their cautious Mama. However, they LOVE IT! Cody has been jumping off of sofas since he started walking! Sheesh.

What do you think of that?

We must be doing something right...

Caitlin came into my room (just before the kids were supposed to be going to bed) and was crying. Since we were about to read some books for our bedtime ritual, I had no idea what was the matter. So, I said, "Cait-o, what happened?" She said that she hurt her ear on her dresser when she was putting her dirty clothes into her hamper. I felt sad for her, poor little sweet pea, and kissed her red little ear three times. I told her that her ear was in "shock" from the hurt as it was just sitting there, minding its own business when that mean old dresser banged into it. She asked what "shock" meant, and we discussed it briefly. I told her that it would feel better soon as the "shock" wore off. I then had to go throw Cody's clothes into his hamper (bath night) and told her to lay down on my pillow until I got back. Just as I got to Cody's room (seconds later), I heard Cody say, "CA-Tin, what's the matter?" I heard Caitlin tell him how she hurt her ear, then heard the sound of a lip smacking kiss. Then, little Cait-o came over to me and said that Cody kissed her ear to make it "all better." Doesn't it just figure that these sweet little moments are so hard to capture on camera or video or something? (I tried to get Cody to re-enact the kissing of the ear, but he wasn't buying it, sadly.) I figure, at least he cares about his sister and it shows. (Caitlin is MOST protective and caring of Cody as well soooo...) we must be doing something right!

Some things to remember...

I always mean to write down all the cute, funny things that our kids say. They are so easily imprinted in the moment, but forgotten by all the following moments. (Sadly.) I really want to remember some specific phrases and words so I'll write them in here.

Translations for Cody:

Moppas - sunglasses

Pocker - Popsicle

Copper - Helicopter

Hummy Birdie - Hummingbird

(The kid says "wasp" and "bee" very clearly. We are visited often by these insects.)

"Cody do it" - the kid is independent

lub = love (It was so cute the first time he said, "Lub Deacon" just all on his own.)

Sarpy juice - Sparkling apple juice

bum = gum, pum = plum

There are so many other ones, but it's hard to remember it all, especially now as he is getting clearer and clearer in his speech and how many words he says. I'm going to try to remember to write them down as they come up (I'll try!) so I can share those funny moments with others!

Favorite phrases of Caitlin's:

"Oh brother!"

"Negative!" (She really does say this just like Brian. It's all segmented and drawn out. It's pretty cute.)

"Mom, can I have some of your stickers?" ( I can't even tell you how often she asks me this, though she has TONS of her own. Somehow mine are the coveted ones.)

"Can I sleep in your room? My room is lonely." (She gets to sleep with Casey under her bed. I would have LOVED to have a barking, growling dog in my room when I was little. I would have felt so SAFE. I mean really, our dogs bark at everythhing. I've tried to explain that if monsters were real, Casey would sniff them out before she needed to worry about it.)

"Can I have...a sleepover...a bead party...etc., etc.?" (I think that she feels she doesn't see her friends enough. I definitely want her to have friends over. I didn't very often when I was a kid and I know that I ALWAYS wanted to, especially since I had all brothers and no other girls to play with.) So, I try. She has already had a few sleepovers and that's always so fun. Unfortunately, she ends up staying awake until 11 p.m., so I have to move her into my room. =) Feel free to leave comments on the cute things your kids did or said! Cheers!