Merry Christmas...

We just wanted to wish everyone a happy holiday season. I have some fun news. So here's the news we are pregnant and expecting in June. I thought that like all my other friends I should have a June baby too!!! We are excited for Kaden to be a big brother to either a brother or a sister. will blog our holiday pictures later but thought I would get the secret out since soon I will be showing...I already kind of am!!!

Website

So I didn't make it very clear what the website was and a couple people have asked it is http://www.pinchingyourpennies.com
Have fun it has deals from state to state. However the Utah state is the best so even though we aren't in Utah anymore I still use that state and then see if the same deals are running at the stores near us.

Here comes santa...

So Santa goes all around in Spokane he was going to be at our apartments over the weekend. After Kaden's nap we had about 15 minutes till he left for the next place. I almost didn't take him due to the freezing weather but haven't had the chance to go to the mall santa and thought every kid needs to see santa. So I went out in the 5 degree weather (yep at night it's 10 below with the wind chill). We froze (the walk isn't that far) but the wind was howling and blowing and I was freezing. It is the kind of wind that takes your breath away. So Kaden was not happy he cried the whole way to see Santa and the whole way home (hence the red nose and grumpy look on his face!) I would have driven but I figured the parking lot was literally ice since they don't plow anywhere here. I didn't want to drive on a sheet of ice, have to scrap the car off and sit in the freezing car the 4 minutes to see Santa.
Actually seeing Santa was uneventful but Kaden loved the little bag of treats Santa gave him. Look at the poor red hands that was like 15 minutes after being home too!

Pinch your pennies...

Okay so this friend of mine showed me this website pinch your pennies and I thought it looked like a lot of work, but it was truly easy and I have never felt like my house has so much good food. I printed off the deals highlighted what I wanted to buy and printed coupons if some were needed. The great part about it is I saved almost as much as I spent. Now for the even better part...being a poor law student you find yourself getting really creative. Chris and I love good food but to eat out it gets extremely expensive so we don't do this very often. I like to cook but I hate having a huge clean up. This week with me out of town and Chris so extremely busy he told me he might have one night that he could come home for dinner yes!!!(I had been taking dinner to the scool which it never tastes as good when you drive the 20minutes and it continues to cook in the container). So I thought we will bring a really good dinner in to say thank you for your hard work and slaving away at school. I got on the handy website and for less than $15 dollars made a surf and turf lobster and NY steak dinner with cheese fondue fruit, homeade bread and steamed veggies. The lobster was the best I had ever had (and I got it on sale for super chep!) The lobster is still on sale through today Chris is begging me to go get more! It was supper easy to make throw the tail in tin foil and then put it in a pan of boiling water for 1 min per ounce! YUM YUM!!! We would have spent that much or more going to PFChangs or Olive Garden and I liked it so much better!

Snow fun!!!

This is the best after a cold day in the snow. I only love hot chocolate though if it has a lot of whipping cream I think that is why starbucks is always so good...Kaden was so cold after our adventures in the snow because he kept taking his mittens off. His hands were bright red and really warm (you know that feeling when they just hurt). I put some exactly like this in a sippy cup and he downed it and kept begging for more...my kind of guy!
I was so sad that we were leaving Utah and there was not an ounce of snow anywhere. Then the day before we left it snowed all day. Kaden loved it. I tried to take him in the house twice to warm up and he cried every time I tried to take him in.

He thought this snowman was so fun to build although I don't think he could see very well what he was doing!

And a huge thank you to my mom. She is so great with Kaden. When I am getting inpatient and frusturated with him she kindly takes over she does such a great job that when we are there Kaden is usually asking her for things instead of me. She helps out so much and it is always a little bit of a break especially when Chris is so busy. So thank you thank you mom! She even got the flu and was throwing up and was still a huge help. I think we gave the flu to everyone this week...opps. It was also fun to see so many friends in Utah. I feel so blessed to have such wonderful friends and people in my life. I wish I could have seen more...you all are so incredible and I am constantly impressed by how much you overcome and accomplish in your lives (all of you!!!)

Thanks again mom...your the best! Can you believe she is a grandma? I get asked all the time if we are sisters.

I Hate Delta airlines!!!

Okay I know hate is a very strong word, but I will never fly on Delta again. First of all I was traveling alone which is never easy with a toddler so I asked my mom if she could get off work and help me go through security and to the gate (I didn't know you could do this but the last couple times I flew Southwest alone they suggested that I have an escort). So she was nice and offered to come help. We get to the airport and my mom and I can hardly get to the counter with all the stuff required to travel with a toddler she thought we might need more than two of us. We get to the counter after wating in a line and the lady says to check my bag I need to go and get in the other line (where 2 people are working and not very quickly) and then the guy tells me it will be 15 dollars, what!!! (I know my bag weighed 50 pounds exactly) but they now charge for one bag and it didn't matter that I made my reservation before the fee change. I pay the money and tell him I need a security escort pass he tells me they don't do that (I told him that southwest always does...well he says Delta DOESN'T!) Then I tell him I obviously have too much to take to the gate alone and will he wrap up my car seat and check it here he says yes he will take care of it (however not nicely he was quite RUDE!). My mom suggests that we should ask TSA about a escort pass because I have my hands full and have had the flu and don't feel great as is. The TSA guy says that we need an airline to print one out we told him the agent said they didn't do that (the guy says yes they do maybe you should ask another agent or just fly southwest, when the TSA guy suggests just flying Southwest I thought yeah I know I was trying to save some money but with the new rules on luggage I don't think I was saving). I was running out of time to go back down stairs to try to get a pass so I said goodbye to my wonderful mom and through security I went. Kaden is screaming and throwing a fit because he wants the milk that is in the sippy cup going through the scanner. In all the furry of trying to undress myself AND undress kaden AND get out liquids AND put the 10 plastic bins through the scanner AND find my ticket AND collapse the stroller while EVERYONE is inpatiently waiting the sweetest TSA guy noticed I was struggling and was so nice to help us get everything through security. I thought okay I can do this and then on the other side realized I had too much stuff to push in the stroller, too much stuff to carry and couldn't keep it all balanced and chase Kaden as he ran every which way (the escort would have been nice at this point). So Kaden goes running away as I am chasing a stroller full of stuff and goes crashing on the tile floor bonks his head so hard and is screaming so hard he is coughing and chocking himself and everyone is staring as I am the spectacle trying to carry a millon things, a kicking crying toddler and push a stroller (an escort would have been nice at this point). We get to the gate and I am on the edge of tears as the Delta lady is tagging my stroller and trying to ask what is wrong. When I tell her my frustrations she blows me off and backs up the agent downstairs (why ask if your are just going to be indifferent and rude) so here we are waiting no really chasing Kaden ALL over including down an emergency exit ramp, towards a runway while literally every passenger is watching trying not to laugh or feel sorry for the poor sweaty, red faced frazzled mom with too much stuff. So we are boarding the plane and my banana republic bag carrying odds and ends breaks. I have pieces of trains from IKea random diapers, clothes from banana and other odds and end things and my other carry on (the diaper bag) is already so full the zipper won't close. So here I am with millions of loose articles dropping things every three feet trying to hang on to Kaden by his hood while person after nice person is offering to help (all of which are passengers not Delta employees). I of course am to stubborn for help but finally one persistant young man took Kaden and some of my loose items and helped me to my seat and to get things in the overhead while the stewardess' all just sat by and watched. We sit on the plane for 20 minutes until the captain calls overhead that his seat won't adjust and matience is working on it we will be off in 15 minutes. 30 minutes later they say it is unfixable and we will have to deplane (meanwhile I am trying my hardest to entertain a very busy 18 month old. So now I have to repeat the ordeal again getting off the plane waiting around for the next plane and then reloading (where did the really nice gentleman go...I need HELP). Well we get on the new plane and Kaden has a blow out (I hate changing diapers in the tiny airplane bathrooms) I am unsure if we are going to take off right away so I ask the steardess if I have time to change it (she wants to know how long it will take I don't know 2-3 minutes?) She tells me I probably don't have time and should wait until after take off, however as we are literally sitting for 30 minutes waiting to be cleared for take off I decide to change the diaper (you know how the soft bum looks after sitting too long soiled and probably also know how that goes in the tiny little bathroom with no changing table...sorry whoever had to clean that bathroom or use it after us!) So the plane eventually is ready for take off Kaden was an angel on the flight he fell asleep during take off and slept the whole time. We get off the plane and I think oh we made it all is well (however what am I going to do when I have more than one child to fly with...oh yeah fly south west). So all is well, UNTIL I get the car seat it is not wrapped in plastic (or taken care of like the rude guy at the counter said he would do) and one of the buckles on the car seat is missing, so unsafe to use and how do we get home? We improvise and do the best we can as parents as safetly as we can since no one is open at midnight at the airport to ask for help or a lost and found. I called the next day and talked to the head lady over baggage she seemed very helpful and said she would send out messages and someone would get back to me (yeah right I will be shocked after my experiance if they do, in the meantime we are staying close to home until we have a fully functioning car seat again). Sorry for this enormous long venting session and sorry if you are a true blue Delta fan...I have personally decided that they are trying to cater only to the bussiness traveler and could care less or even try to make it difficult for families so they will chose not to fly with them and will choose to fly with the very accomodating Southwest!!!

Holiday traditions?

I was just thinking the other day about what kind of holiday traditions I would like to start with my family. I should probably start while Kaden is little. My family did not have very many traditions or things that they did every year during the holidays. The one thing that we did do was each year we got a new ornament from Hallmark, it usually sings or moves or something fun like that. We got out our tree this year and Kaden can hardly keep his hands off of it! It is the loudest tree around that sings and makes a popcorn sound (constantly) and most of the little ornaments are like toys because they move and have bright lights. We have only had one causality though where my ornament with a trumpet player and drum player got their hands ripped off and they heads bit off!! And then one afternoon I had to rescue Kaden I heard him squeal as he lost his balance while standing on the arm rest of the couch trying to reach an ornament. He fell head first into the tree and was stuck! So the ornament thing is truly special and exciting at our house, but I need more ideas to make the holidays more magical!! Any good ideas, I would love to hear them?

Miss you dad!!!

Kaden and I have stayed to visit with friends and family! While it is fun and there is lots to see and do we miss Chris. I think we made a good decision though because he is studying constantly for finals! He has one down which he rocked and 4 or 5 more to go...yeah! We love you & good luck this week!

Thankful, thankful...

Chris and I took Kaden down and around the Temple grounds. They have the lights up and beautiful decorations. I just love Salt Lake and Temple square around this time of year. It is just magical and it perfectly depicts the birth of Christ and the beauty of the season!

It was so beautiful in Utah this past weekend. It was kind of chilly for Ty's wedding but the next couple of days felt like spring days! Typical I guess for Utah to have unpredictable weather but it was so warm it made me excited for spring.

I love this picture. Chris is so detail focused lately and finds beauty in such abstract things. We were passing and he was like look how cool the reflection of the temple is in that picture it is beautiful...

This week has been busy and crazy but so much fun! We came home to visit my family for thanksgiving and for Tyler's wedding. We had a great time visiting everyone and seeing all our family. It was nice to have a wedding because we got to see all our extended family...

I had to put this picture in. I was holding Kaden and thought he had his fingers in his mouth the whole entire time during pictures. When we were done with pictures I looked down at him and realized they were in his nose!!! He never does this! So now the one day he was picking his nose is documented in wedding pictures foreveeeer (it probably won't be his last day of nose picking, gross!) It only got worse from the nose picking, he threw up at the reception and to make matters even worse Ally, Chris and I were throwing up the next day yuck! I haven't thrown up in years it is awful! I was just glad it was a 24 hour type thing!

survival of the finals...

So finals haven't even started yet and Chris is gone first thing in the morning and home and midnight or one! It is awful! I am so looking forward to Thanksgiving and the break and focusing on what I am grateful and Thankful for. I am grateful for all of Chris' hard work but I will also be Thankful for having time to spend with him and my family! I am so excited I can hardly wait! Chris will be back to the grind after a short but long weekend and we will still be doing our thing! We made him a cute survival kit to make it through the next couple weeks. It was fun to go and pick out all his favorite things, just for him! He is such a hard worker and we are so lucky to have this opportunity and for his dedication and perseverance...

Football Champs...

So Chris was excited about his two football wins this past week. The UofU won!!! He was really excited. Since not in Utah he couldn't watch it on TV so he tried the internet and that didn't work well he had to listen to it on the radio, but he didn't care because they won!!!

He also play with the ward on their football team and WON!! They were the champs this year in a close game with last years winners! He was so excited they passed out their champ T-shirts yesterday at church and he is already wearing his with pride! Way to go babe!

Date night...

So Chris and I rarely get date night just with ourselves. Usually we have Kaden in tow doing whatever we are doing and it is a lot of work. Well some girls in our ward had a great idea, they put together a group of us and decided to rotate Friday nights so one Friday we will watch all the kids and then have three Fridays that we can go and do things without kids. Last night was the first time and it was great! They were wonderful with Kaden and I could tell that he was a happy little guy when I picked him up (I was worried that because we got home late and he was woken up that we would have a rough time putting him down and it would be a long night, but he went right to sleep). We have the kiddos next week so it will be fun to have them all together at our house to play! Chris and I tried to go to the Temple but in Spokane you have to make an appt. and by the time we knew our plans and I called the Temple every session was over booked so maybe next time (Chris was bummed he said that's the first time he has ever been turned away from the Temple, however isn't it great that it is that busy!). Our next idea was to go to the new Bond movie, however when we got there every time was sold out. I should have figured that would be the case. We had fun though we ate and did some Christmas shopping! Next time around we will make plans earlier so that they work out but it was just fun to be able to spend some one on one time with Chris, that is so rare these days!

Christmas early...

So since we are going to be gone a couple weeks over Thanksgiving and then over Christmas I am debating when to do Christmas with Kaden. I don't know whether we do it before or after. He is still so little he won't understand, but I don't want to have to haul everything to grandma's. I work all next weekend and then the next weekend is Tyler's wedding in which I am going to stay in Utah for a couple weeks while Chris gets ready for finals. I told Chris I wanted to put our tree up this weekend he laughed. We will see I love getting out the tree with all the moving ornaments. I think I might only be decorating the upper half though, however with all my moving ornaments I might short circuit all the lights on our tree I can't believe though there is only 1 1/2 months till Christmas...that is coming fast! Sorry I already have Christmas as my background I am just lazy and don't want to change it now for Thanksgiving and then again in 2 weeks and I was sick of my last background!

Rainy days...

What do you do on a rainy day with an 18 month old. We have had an entire week of rain and we are bored. I can only wander around the mall so much or watch movies for so long. Any ideas? Last week we found a mall with this play area Kaden has fun and I meet other moms which is nice for me but we have done this already a couple times this week. Kaden likes this little fish the best...I think he likes things better when he can say the word it is cute when he says fish. I feel like though every time I take him to a place like this he gets sick!

Asian night...

So back in the days when we were living in Provo my sister was visiting our place. I love PF Chang's lettuce wraps and decided I was going to have what I called "Asian night" (hopefully that's not to politically incorrect) and make lettuce wraps. Well it turned out totally disgusting thanks to the hoison sauce ugggh! So bad that everytime I make something that goes wrong the comment is usually well it's not as bad as "Asian night". Well I attempted to do Asian night again and it went much better so this post is for my family. We had pork egg rolls (which I even ground my own pork in the meat grinder), crab wontons and ham fried rice it was much better than my first attempt so hopefully I have redemed myself...

Our favorite friends

Why is it that kids find the funniest things to become attached to? Since we stopped giving Kaden a bottle he has been really attached to the stuffed animals that he has been given. And they of course are somewhat strange. He has a monkey that Chris' dad won at the fair for him that is bright red and then he has a rat that my dad gave him (ratatouille). He carries these things around with him all over the house, I am lucky and he will leave them here when we go places but otherwise he has them in tow. When he gets out of bed in the morning he points and moans until he has these two and his blankie. His other new thing is saying "mon" for come on or "han" for hold my hand. He likes me also to follow him everywhere he goes. How can resist?

I just wish we had better playmates than these two...maybe they are sentimental since they are from the grandpas!

Recipe exchange

Thanks girls so much for coming tonight! I had so so much fun and I was suprised at how many bodies we fit in my little apartment. It was fun to see you all and wow you have some great tricks up your sleeve. I am going to have to see if I can recreate some of them! You girls are so amazing and I am impressed that since we are basically single mothers that everyone is so upbeat and positive. We definately need to get together more now that it is getting colder. It is supposed to rain everyday this week so lets think of something fun. Thanks again, sorry I should have taken picture to capture such a fun time! Next time.

Tagged

Another Tag
8 Favorite TV Shows:
Greys Anatomy
24
Desperate Housewives
House
American Idol
The Bachelor or Bachelorette
Today show
90210 (yeah can you believe it, I am really bored have to find something on every night)
8 Things I did yesterday:
Went to the mall with my friend Marissa
Took Kaden to play at the playground
Also changed lots of diapers
Planned what I was making for my recipe exchange party tonight!
Read and read and read more stories to Kaden
Watched Toy story
Watched 90210
Wrote in my journal and Kaden's Journal
8 Things I look forward to:
Chris coming home from school everyday
Kadens hugs and kisses
Kaden blowing me kisses from time out and saying "sors"
The day Kaden doesn't need to go to time out
Thanksgiving in Utah!!!
Visiting all my friends in Utah
Christmas with family
When I have my 1000 hrs of work logged for this 5 year period so I can relax and just worry about being a mom
Favorite resturaunts
Cheesecake factory
Market Street
Cafe Rio
Noodles
Tucanos
PF Changs

8 Things on my wish list:
To wish that I didn't worry about all the silly unnecessary worries
When Kaden is bigger to see his face at disneyland
To travel and explore new places
A home that we own and can paint and decorate
A flexible job
Enjoy being in school and not wish that we were almost done
I don't have 8 I guess I just think about what I wish for very often or I get down in life. I try not to think about and be happy with what I have and don't very often find myself wishing for things I don't have, except for the perfect life (you know the usual)!

Let the festivities begin...

We had a fun Halloween, the night before our family dressed up and when to a trunk or treat at the church. Kaden was a 101 dalmation, I was cruella and Chris was Roger although he thinks no one knew what he was supposed to be and felt stupid because he had a comb over and looked like a huge nerd. I overheard Chris talking to one on the young men passing out candy who asked Chris where he got his cool fangs? Chris said these are my real teeth and the young men wouldn't let it go he was sure he had in fangs. I felt bad because I know that this has always bugged Chris but it was kind of funny how sure this kid was that they were fake.

Halloween night our good friends had us over for dinner and their trunk or treat. We did rootbeer, Pumpkin pizza and hot wassle. The pizza was cute and Kaden liked eating it before and after trick or treating after treak or treating we watched the grudge 2 it was more entertaining watching everyone scream than the movie because the movie was dumb!

These are our trick or treaters...Conner is the Dragon and Cade the night. Conner all night kept trying to pet Kaden or would say this is my little puppy it was cute. Their boys are great with Kaden. Kaden and Conner would trick or treat together and people would say what a cute sheep and dinosaur...Conner would get mad and say I am not a dinosaur I am a dragon and he's a dalmation, it was so funny! I should have dressed Kaden up as a sheep at least he can baaa better than he can bark.

Halloween this year was a lot of fun. Kaden is finally to the age where his face lights up and he gets excited about things. I was also impressed for a 17 months old to understand how to hold the bucket and run from house to house (he literally ran the entire way!), although we had to break every couple of houses to pick out a treat to eat. His favorites are the dumb dumbs which is good because we got a lot of those. They are messy though and a few times the sticks have disappeared I am afraid he may have eaten those too, oh well extra fiber I guess. Kaden probably face planted on the cement 3 or 4 times and would get up running to the next house it wasn't until he had a collision with a bush that went up his nose and cut the inside that we had a lot of blood which kept running that I thought we should call it quits (that and the pumpkin bucket was full and too heavy for Kaden) but he wanted to keep going. We are going to have candy all year long!

pumpkins, pumpkins, pumpkins...

We picked out Kaden's pumpkin yesterday. We decided just to do the grocery store thing, after taking off last weekend to do nothing but play Chris had some catching up to do. We will have to do the whole fram thing next year. Kaden did have his choice of many pumpkins and just thought it was fun to be able to climb and crawl all over them. He finally picked one it is a little round one. It should be interesting to see how the carving goes. He is at the age where he wants to be involved but it is nothing but chaos when we do things like this...

Grandma and Grandpa's...

We had a great time visiting Portland/Washington to visit Grandma and Grandpa. We always have so much fun with them. We went out to see the progress on the beach house it is coming along...almost done yeah! It is going to be beautiful and a great place to visit, especially in the summer when it is nice and warm. It was a clear day so you could see all the way up the coast line it was so pretty! It was a little bit breezy and cool which I think is how the beach usually is!

Kaden and I stayed a little longer to see Mason and Alyssa and the cousins. Chase, Callie and Kaden were cute together. Chase loved having Kaden chase him around. They all had fun dancing together it was pretty entertaining to watch their little dance party!

These two are less than a month apart it is fun to see them grow up together...

Always an adventure...

You never know what you will get with Kaden at mealtimes. Some days he asks for seconds and even thirds. And then some days he won't touch what I give him. I can never get him to eat eggs but I can always trust on the good old hot dogs and chicken nuggets (gross...why do kids love these foods?) Regardless it is always a mess and usually he gets two or three baths depending on the amount of food in his hair or stuck on his face.

Then the other day I was cleaning up the kitchen and he was eating and I found this we had to get pictures...

It is always fun & exciting though!

The dentist...

Kaden did much better than I thought he would at his first dentist appointment. This office was great they were so good with Kaden. I have a hard time keeping Kaden in one spot unless he is eating & obviously that wouldn't work well at the dentist. He did so good, he sat still and we got the appointment over quick and easy. The pictures I got at the dentist for his baby book are funny. They gave him a big tooth brush to play with he must have thought it was a hair brush because he kept brushing his hair with it...hey it was to big for his mouth worked better for his hair.

leaves, leaves & more leaves...

I love the crispness in the air right now. Chris & I have been making apple cider and warm homemade meals it is fun, & then during the day when it is warm Kaden and I go play outside. Today we went on a walk and Kaden discovered leaves he was jumping, yelling and throwing leaves everywhere. The pictures don't do it justice, but he more than enjoyed being able to explore and run all over!!!