Kayden Boy (haircuts & pics)

Kayden

This kid is changing like crazy. I swear every time I get him up from a nap he's grown more. His hair is no exception to this growing...well atleast the hair on top. He's finally lost most of his baby hair everywhere but right on top. Cute mohawk right? I had absolutely no idea how to brush it, so I finally decided to cut it off.

These next pictures are right after his first  realhaircut a few days ago. I trimmed just over half an inch off the top, but decided it wasn't quite enough...

(A couple of random but super cute pictures of Kayden hanging out with his Dad before church on Sunday)

So this is the final product after quite a few cuts in the last few days. I kind of miss the long fluffy stuff, but it's so much easier to comb it now. Cutie right?

I sure love this little boy!!!

Fun in the SNOW

There are few things in this world as magical as fluffy white snow to a two-year-old.

And Justin absolutely adores it. 

 He would play in it all day if we would let him. He's always trying to get me to put his shoes, jacket and hat on so I'll let him go outside to play in it. 

Justin waiting on the stairs for me to bundle Kayden up and take him out to play in the snow.

This kid is hilarious. His discovered the magic capabilities of a smile, just like his daddy. Anytime we're getting after him for something or he really wants something he knows he's not supposed to have, he pulls out this innocent little smile and either puts his hands up in the air or says "pease?"

He thinks it'll get him out of anything...

...and it works a lot more often than it should...( :

"Can I PLEASE go play in the snow now?"

Saturday's Snow Storm

We've already had snow a few times this year, but this last Saturday brought about 5" in just an hour or two. It was crazy and unexpected, but definitely welcomed since the clouds cleared right after so we could go out in the sunshine and enjoy it.

Cheese!

Poor Kayden was zipped up to his chin and not being very photogenic...(:

This video is really long (like 5 min) but I edited it down from about 40 min so if you decide to sit through it, just remember: it could be longer...(;

Our little 3 month old (little video at the end)

3 months already?! Time flies so fast. 

I seriously love this little guy more and more every single day! He is SUCH a good baby and the sweetest little cuddly guy! We sure love him.

Things we love about Kayden at 3 months

This little boy has been such a joy and blessing to our little family. He's so easy going and such a happy kid. He usually only cries if he gets really hungry or really tired and each of those things is easily taken care of. He smiles ANYTIME you make eye contact with him and gets so excited when anybody holds or talks to him. Probably my favorite thing in the whole world is when Justin and him look at each other and start smiling and giggling. Seriously makes my life complete.

This kid is a champion sleeper: he goes to bed about 9pm (wish I could say the same for myself) and sleeps 5-6 hours before waking up to eat (after which he snacks every hour or two) But he takes REALLY good naps and probably sleeps 16-17 hours total every day. He'll still sleep absolutely anywhere: his swing, his bed, my bed, the floor, his car seat, the baby bjorn, and best of all Mom or Dad's arms. He really does love the Baby Bjorn carrier. Anytime I really need to get something done or want to go for a walk I'll put him in it and he almost always falls right asleep and stays asleep till I take him out, which has been a huge blessing.

Eating is also something he LOVES to do which has been kind of hard, but with a little help from formula (2 oz at lunch and 2 oz at bedtime) he stays pretty content. I kind of struggle with letting him have a bottle (I actually cried a lot), but it keeps me from being a crazy stressed out mommy so we're ok with it now.

We're also loving all the crazy red hair. Anytime a stranger sees him, seriously the first thing they all say is "Wow! Look at all that hair!" which is shortly followed by "Oh my goodness is it red?" He really does have a ton of hair though and it's been so much fun to play with. I hope he has a sister someday with this much hair. (:

We're so grateful for our two little blessings from heaven and I thank my Heavenly Father every day for entrusting me to be their Mother. I don't always know what I'm doing and I'm far from perfect, but I'm trying my hardest to be a good Mom and hopefully these awesome kiddos don't turn out too worse for the wear.

 

A cute (but kind of long!!!) video of Kayden smiling, cooing and eating his hands yesterday.

Pictures

He's getting SO big!

We got a toy for Kayden that he can lay under and play with. This is him playing with it...Oh wait, no this is JUSTIN playing with it...Justin is in love with it.

Trip to Cali (from August)

5 Days in California: Playing on the beach with Family

I absolutely loved it. 

The whole week I kept thinking, "wow, vacation is definitely different when you're the parent." It was kinda crazy at times with a 6 week old and an almost-two-year-old, but it was SO much fun to get to spend some time with my family.
Grandma and Grandpa got us a suite so that we could have Justin sleeping in his own room. This was an awesome break, since all 4 of us had been sleeping in the same room for the last few weeks in Joseph City. I always sleep better when there's a wall in between me and all the little sleeping noises that come from my cute boys.

Kayden slept SO good

We were excited to get to spend some time with Sophie, Kinzi & Phil. Justin loved Kinzi (when he wasn't trying to steal toys from her). They had a lot of fun sitting across from each other during meals. Kinzi shared her food with Justin then they took turns trying to throw it or just giggling and making faces at each other. It was pretty cute.

Justin really loves his Grandma

Grandma & Grandpa enjoying a morning walk on the beach. (while the rest of us slept in)

COSTCO! There was one just down the street that we picked up some nice boards at. Dad took this picture of everyone except Phil...he wondered off somewhere...

Part of the awesome looking but never-ending stairs. The stroller made quite a few trips up and down these. And I was super impressed that Justin climbed the entire thing quite a few times.

Justin wasn't sure how he felt about the water...ok he felt fine about it as long as it didn't touch him or get close to his toys. He absolutely adored playing in the sand though. On the last day of our trip he ended up following Kinzi into the water after which we couldn't get him out. I stood out there for almost 3 hours just holding his hands and letting him enjoy the waves. (I was planning on spending all of this time sitting with the boys under the umbrella so I'd neglected to apply very much sunscreen and got a lovely burn to travel home with. Thankfully Justin didn't get burned at all. I was really worried about his light skin, but he was a trooper and put up with me spraying him down with some SPF60 quite often)

This is where Kayden spent the majority of the trip. He loves the baby bjorn (and so do I)!!!

I remember as a kid that Mom was never particularly impressed when we came home with stick on tattoos. Imagine my surprise during dinner at King's when I look over and she's putting one on my child! I wish I would have gotten a picture of the look on Kinzi's face after Sophie put one on her. Kinzi burst into tears when she realized she couldn't pull it off, and kept screaming until they got it washed off. It was pretty funny, and something I would have expected more from Justin than Kinzi.

My handsome snorkler

Kinzi & Grandpa

Can I say how much I love my Mother? She brought a kite and was helping Justin fly it. I enjoyed watching him fly it with her, but I think my favorite part was when she was running around flying it by herself.

Grandma also bought these awesome/weird/gross orange washable bubbles that made pretty sweet prints all over the sand. They made a huge mess, but Justin had quite a bit of fun with them. So did Uncle David... (:

I can't believe how tall Spencer is getting. He'll be a freshman next year and has grown up a ton!

Great Grandma

Can I just say how much I absolutely love my Grandma?

Great Grandma with her 82nd GREAT grandchild

She is amazing.
She is kind, sweet, generous, beautiful, well-spoken, vibrant, intelligent, thoughtful, a wonderful cook, and happens to have raised an amazing daughter that I get to call "mom"
I don't know how she does it all.

Back Home Again

It was so wonderful to have a 7week break from school and  we loved getting to spend it visiting family in Arizona. Things we loved while we were there: the big backyards at Grandparents houses, all the crazy fun on the trampolines, hugs and kisses from Grandmas, Grandpas, Aunts and Uncles, wonderful meals made by wonderful grandmas, never ending sunshine, AC/swamp coolers, vacationing in CA, lots of willing babysitters, getting to go to the temple together, yummy Mexican and Chinese restaurants, getting to see people we hadn't seen for a while, the extra income the Pizza store provided, and just getting to enjoy being with family.

We are glad to be home again though, and ready to start Jason's very last semester before he graduates!!! Anyone who knows Jason very well, knows that school is not his idea of fun...but I am so proud of him though and how hard he's worked to get to this point.

We drove 13 hours straight to get from Joseph City to Rexburg, and let me just say that I am so grateful that will be our last time making that trip in this direction. It was so fun to finally get home and even more fun to watch Justin reunite with all of his long lost toys. It was super hard to get him to put them away and go to bed. I think he was afraid they might not still be there when he woke up.
  

Here's a couple of pictures from yesterday:

Justin was finally starting to feel better from his cold/sinus infection so we let him play at the park down the street for a bit. He was one happy little guy.

I sure love my boys!

Relief Society History

"Belle S. Spafford, our ninth Relief Society general president, asked sisters to  appraise their interests, 

evaluate their activities, 

and 

simplify their lives 

by doing those things that would be most enduring, thus ridding themselves of less rewarding activities. Her counsel is still valuable today. A study of our history helps us gain the perspective we need to keep our focus on the essential things that will bless our lives eternally."

I came across this quote in a recent Ensign article titled "Relief Society History" by Sister Julie B. Beck. (To be honest I almost didn't read the article. The moment I read the word "history" in the title, my eyes started to glaze over.) But it was one of the most inspiring articles I've read in a long time and I decided I'm going to take this quote to heart and really try to apply to my life this fall. I figure if I post it on my blog, I'll be more likely to remember it...

Kayden's Blessing Day

Kayden James Gardner was blessed by his Dad on Sunday August 28, 2011 in Pima 3rd Ward.

Jason gave him a beautiful blessing and Kayden happily sucked on his pacifier the whole time. He's such a good baby!

I love his cute little smile

We meant to get some family pictures, but things were kind of crazy with family and an almost-two-year-old that needed a nap, so that will have to happen later this week hopefully.

Great Grandma Peterson

Great Grandpa Peterson

(Family Pictures, and photos with the rest of his grandparents will hopefully be taken later this week...)

More Pictures of Kayden -For Sara :)

He looks a little like a stuffed sausage here, but he had like 3 layers on...

Kinda goofy picture, but I love it for some reason (:

A little bit of a smile...this kid is always smiling and laughing in his sleep

He's such a good sleeper!

We're really not sure what to do with all that hair...I want to cut it but Jason won't let me.

Love this little guy!!!

And this little guy!!! 

We practically live off Otter-pops these days! 

Between Justin's teething and the temperature hanging around 88 degrees without an A/C it's just a necessity...