HAPPY BIRTHDAY TYLER!

Well today is Tyler's 27th b-day! Here are some fun pics from his past for all to enjoy...sorry Tyler, haha!!

Tyler's 1st Birthday

I think he was like 14 in this picture

Tyler was preparing to make me breakfast! (This was over 2 years ago as you can see our diapered son crawling in the background!)

I couldn't help myself, it's too hillarious.

Shaylee and Daddy taking it easy!

Cayden is always happy when daddy is home!

And last but not least...a probably completely inappropriate picture that includes a hairy belly shot that no one wants to see, but hey, it's my blog, and this picture makes me laugh!! (Tyler was wearing MY shirt...this was taken about 4 years ago when we were engaged. We thought about using it as our engagement pic but decided to forgo announcements. HAHA, j/k.)

******Happy Birthday Sweetheart!!******

Melchezidek Priesthood

**Well I don't have any pictures to put up for this post, sorry!! I just felt like writing about something neat that happened in our family last week. Well a couple weeks ago Tyler was interviewed to recieve the Melchezidek Priesthood. At our Stake Conference last week I was able to raise my hand when they asked for a sustaining vote. After Conference, we got to go to the High Priest room where Tyler was able to recieve that priesthood from his Dad, and many other men that he admires and respects. The feeling of being in that room during that was so amazing. Then to make it even better, he got the opportunity to turn right around and help give it to a young man that we know well, who is leaving for his mission soon! It was a very happy day. For the last several weeks though Tyler has been reading more than he has in his LIFE...because he has been doing lots of research on the lds websites for info about blessings and the formats for them, etc. The other day he told me that he's not ready for the baby to be born yet...well of course that worried me. I thought that he felt he wasn't ready for the responsibility of having 3 children, and frankly it's a LITTLE late to say "I'm not ready"...but I finally got to the root of the worry...he is completely stressed out about blessing the baby after she's born!!! He is actually really excited for the baby to be born (at this point I'm the nervous one because with 4 weeks til my due date...I can't help but think about the delivery part!!) but I couldn't help but laugh at him because he's just so stressed about doing a good job!! It's funny how some people who recieve the priesthood when they are younger sometimes use and abuse it. Tyler has worked really hard the last few years to turn his life around from where it was...and appreciates the Gospel so much now. It's incredible to see the light in his eyes and feel his Spirit.
Also a few days ago, we decided Cayden really needed a blessing (he and I have both had incredibly bad colds and coughs...his being the croop, that just don't want to go away) so we went to Tyler's dad's place and Tyler was able to give his first sickness blessing. During it, the Spirit was SOOOO strong. Tyler doesn't remember much of what he said in the blessing...which really isn't that abnormal for the person giving it. It was just an amazing experience!! Life is so amazing.

Cayden's New Glasses!!

HAHAHA...just kidding. The other day we went to the dollar store and he decided to get one of the grab bags that has multiple "prizes" in it. So this was one of his prizes....soooooo funny!! And in this picture his face is very dirty because he's had a cold and it seems impossible to keep his face clean...and he is wearing his tie dye shirt which is one of his favorite pair of pajamas!!!
So almost 2 weeks ago I had one of those "bad mom" experiences. I discovered a bumpy, funny-looking rash on Cayden's thigh and it was really itching him. I put some lotion on it for him. Then the next day it looked a little worse and I put a little more lotion on it, and he also said his "tongue" hurt...which then we clarified that he meant his throat. The next day I called his doctor and got him in that day for an appointment. First the "rash" was diagnosed as Shingles (ya I had no idea that younger people got that...I think of old people getting Shingles!!) and then kind of as an afterthought, I brought up that his throat was hurting him a couple days previous....so they did a Strep test and of course it came out POSITIVE for Strep. My poor child!! I try not to be the mom that runs their children into the doctor for every little thing, but this experience made me realize that you really can't ever be TOO careful because you just never know!! If I hadn't taken him in, the Shingles would have continued to spread and hurt him...and if I had continued touching it, it would have been very bad for my pregnancy and the baby!! Well he got put on antibiotics and some other kind of medicine, for about a week. Now he just has a cold and possibly Croup!! (which are both something that a doctor can't help with)...yet he is such a happy kid that he doesn't seem to let that slow down his daily routines!! I tell ya, my two kids are so different from eachother, it's going to be REALLY interesting to see what this 3rd one is like...but I am SOOO ready to find out!!!

Tagged Again...This time for 10 photos

Alright, I got tagged to post 10 of my favorite photos. Since I have WAAAAYYYY more than 10 favorites, it was really hard to pick just 10, but here you go!!








































This photo is awesome. I don't remember who in my family took it...but they just happened to catch my mom looking at them, as well as my dad outside bbq'ing!! I have SOOO many cute pictures of my parents but this one is too funny, it makes me laugh. It also reminds me of how simple and sweet life really should be...and that we should enjoy every minute of it!!


































This picture makes me laugh just because Cayden snuck right in,
but he fits!!!


















We had the camera on the wrong setting so this picture turned
out very fuzzy but I still like it :-)





















I love this Mickey Mouse outfit!!



























































I only have a couple pictures of Cayden with his
Grandpa McConkie, so this one is very special.





















Shaylee and Cayden have always been best buddies...
hopefully it always stays that way!!

*Well I hope you've enjoyed having a flashback with me!! I LOVE to look at old pictures, and my kids do too, so it was fun to share some with you.

**I don't know who's been tagged by this yet....but I'll tag Laura, Alisha, oh and whoever else wants to do it because it's a lot of fun!!! :-)

Addisyn Mae Caudle

The other day we got our 3D shots of our little baby girl!! I'm due April 1st but she's already weighing a pound heavier...so I'm around 9-10 days ahead so you never know, I may have the baby a week or two earlier! She was sleeping during the pics (she slept through the last ultrasound too!!) but they confirmed again that it's a girl! So here is little Addy Mae with her hands up by her face for all the shots! I can already tell from the pics that she has my nose...which I got from my dad. My son inherited that nose too :-) I've been floating on air since we got the pictures...it's the closest I can come to seeing and holding my baby early!! We've been waiting to buy any girl clothes until this ultrasound confirmed again that it is a girl...so now I'm excited to start picking up some outfits eventually, as well as start crocheting some girly blankets, hats, booties, etc. How exciting!!! I can't wait to hold her!

She is yawning in this picture!!

She is hiding behind one fist, and the other hand has her little fingers stretched out...she's been pretty bashful about having her picture taken!!!

Christmas, New Years, Pregnancy. and everything else!!!

I was SOOO trying not to let my blog start looking like my journal...with no entries for weeks on end and then one BIG one to catch up...but that seems to be a habit that is hard to break.

Well our holidays were great!! I am sorry to all of my friends...I was sick for a few weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas...and was only able to get enough Christmas cards with pics out to immediate family members. The family pic above though is the one we took for those cards...don't be offended if you didn't get a card...none of my friends did :-(

Christmas is so much fun with older kids, because Tyler and I get so much satisfaction out of actually giving them what they wanted. When they are little it's nice because they are happy with just a giant box to play in...but it just gets more fun as they get older!! It's also harder for Tyler and I to sleep than the kids...we end up tossing and turning, and then finally deciding to wake up the kids once it hits a reasonable hour because we want them to see their presents!!! Shaylee is 7 and got a Scooter, a couple Barbies with the pink Jeep, a giant Care Bear, and many other fun things. Cayden is 3 and got a Thomas the Tank Engine backpack with WHEELS to put ALL his Thomas trains in, he got a big stuffed Elmo, a toy bow and arrow (he LOVES bows...he pretends to be Prince Derek from "The Swan Princess"), and several other things he wanted. I bought Tyler a couple of the newer Notre Dame hats that he didn't have YET and a couple other things, and my main gift from him was a pretty jewelry box. Santa brought me "The Last Unicorn" movie which I was SOOOOOOO excited about because I used to watch that on an old recorded VHS that my parents had and it really started getting wore out so I was so excited to see that they restored the movie and are selling it on DVD!!! (That movie is from the 80's I believe) Anyway, it was a good Christmas :-) Here are Shaylee & Cayden when we woke them up Christmas morning...I don't think the reality that Santa had come had sunk in yet because they look like zombies...

Here is Cayden with his cool backpack, wearing his new Spiderman pajamas, and his new Spiderman hat and gloves.

Shaylee & Cayden opening presents...

Shaylee & Daddy enjoying their new robes...

Cayden & Daddy playing Superheroes later that day!

And yes there was a picture of me showing my jewelry box, but unfortunately it showed too much of ME in the picture and since I don't look so good that early in the morning...you don't get to see it, haha!

New Year's was fun too. My parent-in-laws moved to Washington for a few months, then decided to move back up to Texas, so my mother-in-law came over New Year's Eve. I made Orange Julius' and put out snacks. Us three adults, and 2 kids, were able to last until 11 p.m. before we got really tired. We'd spent that morning helping move the in-laws into their new apartment so we were a little beat. We watched the ball drop on TV at 11 p.m. and figured hey, it's midnight in New York, that's good enough for us!!! So we put the kids to bed, their Grandma Caudle drove home, and we went to bed!!! It's kind of depressing to get older...you get tired earlier and in some ways you aren't as much fun...but Tyler and I still had fun so that's all that really matters!!!

Let's see...well on Thursday we get our 3D ultrasound so hopefully they'll be able to tell us that it is a girl for sure or not. The pregnancy has been going great. I'm 28 weeks. I have to pretty much eat & drink water all the time, and by night my legs are restless and I walk crooked for a few minutes when I stand up cuz I get this pain in my lower back when I get up and down...but luckily nothing major!!! Here is a pic of me taken a few days ago...

I have had a funny new thing pop up in the last week though...it started when my mom-in-law offered to take the kids for the day during Winter Vacation. I thought that I'd sit around and relax...but I got the urge to start organizing and cleaning. I did the dishes, then cleaned out and organized our pantry. I then headed for my car trunk which had a whole bunch of random stuff in it that my father-in-law had given to us that we hadn't put away yet...and I got my car trunk emptied and cleaned. Then I vaccuumed the house. Wow, it's amazing what you can do when you have no kids to distract you!!! A few days later Julie offered to take the kids again! I then worked on organizing all the closets and I also purged some of my yarn stash and got all my crochet projects nice and organized!!! (Thanks to freecycle.org I was able to give away a bunch of my yarn that was either scraps, or yarn I had no project planned for!!) That emptied like 3 rubbermaids in our closet!!! Our house (a rental) has no garage, no shed, and no hall closets...so every bit of space I free up is incredibly useful!!! Well yesterday I finally started recovering our dining room set seat cushions (with fabric I had bought for that purpose like a year ago!!!) but then couldn't figure out how to properly reload the staples in this big and hard to use heavy duty stapler but luckily when Tyler got home from work he was so happy to see I'd actually started that project, that he finished it for me while I made dinner!!! I also bought a poster and cut it into 4 pieces for my 4 frames I'd recently painted black to be hung over the wall by dining room table. Today I scrubbed off the leftover wallpaper border that was in the dining room, washed the walls really well, then hung my black frames along with a couple other decorations I'd been meaning to hang. Anyway, my point being...I have been a cleaning and organizing junkie lately which has completely shocked me, because although I like to keep my house clean, I've never had such a drive to do project after project!! I'm thinking though that this is a very nice pregnancy symptom and hopefully I can keep it going!!! To all those with many unfinished projects like myself...pick a small project, then revel in the feeling of accomplishment...then repeat!! You just might get an adrenaline rush after each project!!!

Well I know this blog has gone on and on...but hopefully you've enjoyed reading it, because I spent my regular nap time (while Shaylee is at school and Cayden is napping) writing it!!! I'll TRY to keep things more up-to-date....

TAGGED!

I've been tagged so enjoy!!!
Five things I was doing 10 years ago:

(Yes I was about 14-15 in this photo...and a pretty big tomboy)

1. So I was 15...I met and started dating my husband at the end of my 15th year!!

2. I also dated my first "real" boyfriend at the beginning of my 15th year...Matt.

3. I was enjoying playing every school sport girls could play (well, softball, basketball, & volleyball)

4. I had a lot of fun going to church mutual activities and looked so forward to the combined young men/young women activities! I also LOVED church dances.

5. I started getting into snowboarding around this time and so I hung up my skiis and never looked back! I was in a cast for a few weeks after my first boarding trip!!

Five things on my "to do list" today:

1. Well I would vaccuum the house...but I'll have to use my Carpet Flik and see how well it works...yesterday I started vaccuming but stepped on the taped cord (from the dog chewing it) and it shocked and burned the bottom of my foot...and my husband needs more electrical tape to fix it this evening, it HURT!!!)

2. Shower (it's 9:45 a.m. but I've been folding laundry and straightening up all morning so give me a break!!)

3. Wash Dishes (I wish I had a dishwasher SOOO bad)

4. Get the desk organized, as well as the stuff for a garage sale that's piling up in the dining room!

5. Take a nap while Cayden is taking his!!! (Good luck with that...lately I can't sleep at night hardly at all from being pregnant, and my naps always get interrupted by SOMETHING. This time the phone is getting left off the hook!!!)

Five things I would do if I were a millionaire:

1. Pay off what's left of a student loan, as well as any other debt

2. Buy an SUV for me, and a nice big truck for Tyler

3. Buy a 4-5 bedroom house w/some new furniture

4. Buy new clothes for family (mine and extended family)

5. Find a couple good causes to donate to

Five things I will never wear again:

(Definitely won't be wearing an outfit like this again!! I was 9, Stacy was 6)

1. Spumoni outfits...haha, those were those cute outfits with raised graphics on them, like kittens, etc that I wore in grade school

2. Big bows in my hair...something my mom made sure I was ALWAYS wearing...and I've been slacking at having big bows for Shaylee...but if this new baby is a girl she'll get tortured the same as me, out of love of course, as well as because big bows really are cute :-)

3. Clothes that don't cover garments!?! (of course that was never a problem since my mom raised us to wear modest clothes from the beginning!!)

4. 3+ inch heels?? Being a mom they just aren't that practical...but I would like some new 2-2.5 inch heels to wear out, I've gotten a little too used to tennis shoes or platform shoes!!

5. Probably white pants?? Being a mom and having a pet, I have to be extra careful when I wear khakis...so white pants don't sound appealing. I had a pair of white jeans in 4th grade that I LOVED but I ALWAYS came home with a stain on them...one day I came home with mud down my whole leg from playing tag, haha!

Five of my favorite toys:

1. Computer

2. Digital Camera...ours is practically a dinosaur now though!

3. Bosch Mixer & my Crockpot!!!

4. My Bike

5. My crochet stuff

Five (or six) people to tag:

1. Alicia & Moe

2. Kylee

3. Lisa

*Sorry guys if you've already been tagged...I didn't check before putting names