Aden's 4!!!

I can't believe that we have a 4-year old!!! Aden is so excited to turn 4, he's memorized his birthday and has been telling everyone when his birthday is. I asked him what he wanted for his birthday and he said banana cake with strawberries and George on the cake. So, I followed through with it. I made him a banana cake with strawberry filling and raspberries on top. He was in heaven!

We celebrated his birthday at the beach since it was thanksgiving weekend. Even though we didn't have any other kids there, he was still happy to be at the beach and didn't really mind that it was just us and Craig & Jenn to celebrate his day. He loves them as much as they love him, so it made his day. We had a great day, Aden opened presents and had his birthday cake, lunch at the Pelican and then we headed to the tidepools, which is one of Aden's favorite place. The cutest thing was when we were walking back home from the beach, Aden asked Darin if it was still his birthday. He enjoyed the day so much that he didn't want it to end.

Some highlights of the weekend:

Aden enjoying his cake

Enjoying the walk to the beach and the tidepools

Big girl

I love this shot, I wish it's not so blurry. Just shows how big the girl is getting!

She's showing us more of her personality every day. She just cracks me up with faces that she makes. She already knows how to charm mom & dad and I think she figured out that she has her brother wrapped around her fingers. It's so much fun seeing both of them enjoy each other and make each other laugh and how giddy she gets when she hears Aden's voice. She gives us so much joy and definitely made our family complete!

Come ride with me

Aden LOVES riding in a shopping cart with his sister. Here they are at the new Target by the airport...needless to say, Kadence only lasted maybe 20 minutes and then I had to carry her in the ergo. Aden tried to talk his sister into sticking it out and keep riding with him, but she wasn't having any of it! She figured out that if she screams hard enough, she'll get picked up. Go figure.

Playing Catch-up

I've been thinking about how long it's been since I've updated the blog, so many things has happened and so many things to write about. I just don't have enough time in the past 2 months to get everything that I want/need done. The big news is that we've moved. Sold the house and has moved "up the hill". We're all happy about the move - closer to everything and everyone. Aden is especially happy that we live in a cul-de-sac. He's able to ride his bike every chance he gets. We're also doing lots of walking...it helps that I broke down and bought a double jogger on Craigslist. We still have lots of boxes to unpack and lots or organizing to do. I procrastinate about it, luckily my husband is better at getting a lot of things done.

The kids are definitely keeping me busy. They are always on the go. Kadence is so close to walking now. She just cruises along and is definitely a speed crawler. She's 9 months now, and it's funny to think back when Aden was the same age, he just started crawling! Aden is enjoying his swimming class. We're going every Tuesday & Thursday mornings and it's amazing how much better he is at it. I'm glad that he loves it since we spend a lot of time in/near the water.

With the holidays creeping up, we have even more activities planned for the kids. The month is starting to fill up with gathering and events to celebrate the xmas season. I just can't believe it's almost Christmas! Time flies, I just constantly tell myself to soak up every moment with the kiddos since they are growing way too fast!

Changes...

Lots of changes in the coming months. Lots of unknowns which can be unsettling at times, but we just have to go with the flow. A friend recently told me that my life is never boring. So true.

The kids are both growing way too fast. Kadence started crawling last month, right after she turned 6 months. As soon as she figured out that she can crawl, she's been on the go. She's definitely keeping me busy. Aden has been a great help and has continually proven that he's an awesome big brother. He has been helping me make food for Kadence - sometimes he's too much of a help!

Each day is so hectic trying to keep up with the kids and life. I'm not complaining, just amazed that it seems like I don't accomplish as much as I want to. Not enough time in a day - I know everyone feels that way. Next week, we start swimming lessons for Aden. We're looking forward to that. Some sort of normalcy to our crazy life...

Seattle weekend

We took a train to Seattle the last weekend in September and had one of the most memorable trips ever. Aden LOVED the train ride, he has been looking forward to it and couldn't believe that we finally did it. We stayed at our timeshare which is right downtown - 9 blocks from Pike's Market and Dragonfish was just around the corner. We walked everywhere, took the bus a couple of times and a taxi to get to the train station. It's the first time since we had kids that we went out of town without a car and it was so liberating. It's so nice not to have to worry about driving anywhere and you get to experience where you are when you take the time to walk around or take public transportation. The kids were amazing - I wasn't sure how easy it would be to carry everything around, but we actually made it work and had a lot of fun. We want to take a train trip again, not sure where but hopefully we can do a similar trip to another city. Aden's already bugging us to go back to Seattle!


Highlights of the trip: the train ride, eating lunch at Pike's Market, Seattle Aquarium, swimming in our hotel's pool at the end of each day, ferry ride to Bainbridge Island, hanging out at a park at the island, stopping at a few toy stores to let Aden play. Such a great weekend!

Kids at the park

We've been taking advantage of our awesome weather and one of the things we can't pass up is an trip to the park. Kids always have a great time and it's always just nice to relax and watch Aden play in the water. Amazing to see how much Kadence has grown and she loves being on the grass and watching the trees around us. Can't believe summer is over!

My photogenic girl - as soon as she sees a camera and you say smile, this is what you'll get:

Aden loving sitting outside while we enjoyed our special treats:

Goofy kids

Enjoying the ride

We met up with friends in W'ville for some fun time on the boat and last surfin' of the year (at least for me!) and captured some great shots of the girl enjoying her time on the boat! Mostly she loved watching daddy surf and was giving him the best smiles...

Surfslam weekend

We had the first ever jet ski competition in the Oregon Coast, lucky for us, it was at Tierra so we didn't have to travel at all. It was such a fun time - awesome event, great weather, crazy waves and fun time with friends. Had an awesome time with everyone - amazing to see how many kids we all have now! Big thanks to my sister who helped with the kiddos, couldn't have had as much fun if she wasn't around! Gave us time to go out and party also. Thank you Kimberly for the amazing pictures - I was so busy I didn't have time to take any pictures! Good memories, can't wait for next year.

A good excuse to watch a video...

We had some freak rain storm while out camping, so I decided that it wouldn't hurt to turn on a Baby Einstein video for the kiddos to watch while we let the weather pass. They were quite content and happy, who knew camping in the rain could be fun?!

Camping - kids style

Camping at the Gorge marked the 4th time this summer that we've camped with the kids. Pretty good considering Kadence is only 6 months! She's proven to be a pretty good camper. Of course Aden is a pro and enjoys sleeping in a tent! Darin and I used to camp a lot when we first started dating, so it's nice to see that we can still do it and enjoy it with our kids. Looking forward to lots of camping each year!






Kadence lounging in her chair












The girls hanging out in their exersaucers:

DMB 2009

Another year has passed - we once again made our trek to the Gorge to see my beloved DMB. Camping with friends, crazy weather, a little surfin' and 2 nights of shows. This is the first and probably last year of taking both kids to the shows. They did awesome, although it's a little tough on us not having a break from carrying heavy load. We were on row 15 both nights (Fri & Sun nights) - with 2 kids!!! Kadence slept through the entire concert both nights. Aden enjoyed listening to his favorite songs and was just in awe of seeing Dave and the guys up close. We tried to get him to stay up for most of the night, but with no nap during the day due to the hectic schedule, he just can't last and fell asleep halfway through the show both nights. A few other concert goers asked to take pictures of us with the kids, and we got lots of comments about how great we were to take our kids with us to the shows. They can't believe that this is Aden's 4th year going to the shows, been to 8 concerts and he's only 3!! I'm sure others thought we were crazy also. Oh well, to each their own!

Little Miss

She's growing way too fast right before our eyes. Seems like I blinked and here she is...6 months old and on the go. Time flies way too fast!

My pretty girl...

Kadence enjoying her "box" on the beach:

Beach Fun with the Fam

A couple of weeks ago, my family stayed with us at the beach. We had such awesome time with them and enjoyed having all the kids! Aden LOVED hanging out with his cousins and it was amazing how we didn't even have to take care of him all weekend long. He was so busy playing with everyone and he just had a blast having everyone to play with! We did lots of walking on the beach, climbed the sand & rock dunes and played in the tide pool. We hope to see everyone more often and get together again!

The girl in the chariot

Kadence is enjoying the Chariot more and more as she gets a lot bigger. She would fall asleep immediately as soon as we start moving. I'm sure she'll use it as much as her brother did (which we still stick him in there when we need to, although he's getting too big for it!)

Similarities?

Do they look alike even though their skin tones are so different?!!

Not a bad shot for a 3-year old

Aden insisted on taking our picture and it turned out ok...

She's no ugly duckling...

I may be biased but she's one cute duck!

Busy Summer

We've been super busy this summer...lots of stuff going on. Seems like we've been on the go and the bags are constantly getting packed and unpacked! Weekends has been filled with lots of trips to the beach and lots of great activities. Darin has even commented that we're pushing the kids to the max! Luckily, they're adapting very well and has been enjoying the adventure. Here's some of what we've done so far:

Camping at Ft. Stevens with the Andersons:

Zoo with Friends:

Lots of boating and surfing:

There's no signs of slowing down for us until maybe in October! I'm tired just thinking about it...