Valentine's Day

My family are always such good sports about wearing holiday tee shirts. This year my mother-in-law helped me find shirts for everyone for Valentine's Day. The boys are all wearing a shirt that says "The Ladies Love Me" and I got the "They Boys Love Me". Cayden and Bryce wore theirs all day and Jeff and I wore ours under our other shirts. Wouldn't want anyone to get the wrong impression :)

And, by the way...

Cayden did get a Bronco shirt for his birthday. I decided he had suffered for a long month having to have a Bears shirt hanging in his closet and it was time to get the kid a shirt that he really wanted. I am tempted to see if the Bears shirt will fit me (I wish). He already offered it to me. I guess I will continue to be the only Denver Bronco fan holdout in my family. There might be hope for Bryce....

Cayden turned 7

On January 30th Cayden turned 7. It made me feel many things included proud and sad (he told me I couldn't kiss him in public anymore). Cayden is my easygoing, laid back, sensitive (really sensitive), academic, and loving child. It is hard to believe he is 7. I remember the day he was born and when I look at him I still can't believe at one time that someone said he would be an "average" baby. They were referring to size but there is no way this kid has ever been "average". For one, he weighed 9 lbs 4 oz and that is not average in any book. For two, he is one of a kind. This year for his birthday he asked if he could collect money to send to Haiti. He was truly moved by the stories of suffering that I told him (edited for a 7 year old). He liked getting presents too :)

Sometimes I can't help but think of some of my favorite memories of Cayden:
1. Watching Charlotte's Web and sobbing when Charlotte died. Real sobs and real tears!
2. Listening to him count to 5 for the first time at a restaurant when he was 1 1/2
3. Drawing a beer bottle "cap" at Christian School Kindergarten when all the picture called for was a "cap"
4. Swimming lessons where he wouldn't get in the water.
5. Leaving the movie "Happy Feet" because it was too sad.
6. Dunking cookies in milk for the first time.
7. Watching him boogie board in Hawaii this last summer (I think it still panics me to think about it).
8. Every night for about a year at bedtime Cayden would say, "Mom, tell dad to check on me and don't forget to check on me before you go to bed" Never failed...
And, many, many more...

Happy Birthday Lovey Dovey (even though I don't get to call him that anymore).

As we begin this year with him I am sure he will continue to be way beyond average.

An Update on Bryce

It is 2am and for once Bryce is sleeping and I am not. I think we finally figured out how to get Bryce to stay in his bedroom and go to sleep at a decent hour. Unfortunately for my in-laws, they had to witness this new method. A method which, by the way, I swore I would never do. I stood outside his bedroom door and held the handle so he couldn't come back out. It worked with so little crying I was actually mad at myself for not trying it weeks, and many short walks, ago. Each night Bryce gets his normal two stories in the rocking chair. Then, I leave. Usually, he decides to stay in the chair with lots of books and the "light on and music off". Sometimes, Winnie the Pooh gets to accompany him. Normally what happens is this:
5-10 minutes of "reading"
1 minute of seeing if he can get out to the living room
2 minutes of climbing into his bed with his "b" and "fi" and going to sleep.
10 minutes of mom and dad holding their breath to make sure that it is really true.
BIG SIGH