Grady Love

Caden has all kinds of love, but so does Grady. I can tell they are already so very different. Grady seems a lot more laid back and happy-go-lucky. He just kinda goes with the flow and doesn't fuss much at all. If I look at him, he just smiles like I am God's gift to him. I hope that never stops...although I remember saying that about Caden, and now he pushes me away and tells me 'No' all the time! Grady has been moving around a lot these days. It's getting to where he can't be left alone in a room by himself because he will move to the other side. He's been rolling over a lot and getting his knees up under him and pushing forward really well. He seems to get stronger and stronger everyday and has an interest in 'getting around.' Life just seems grand for him. I love and adore my boys with so much love.

happy on his tummy

 happy in his chair

 happy in his bed. Ha! I found him one morning like this and cracked up.

 happy getting a massage...ok, ok, I was getting a massage and he sat in my lap. So spoiled!

 happy sucking his foot...who doesn't love that?!

 happy outside

Here's a video of him having fun making popping noises with his mouth. About half way through I do the noise back and it startles him causing him to have the funniest expression!

He's one happy little dude and I'm one happy little mama!

Caden Love

Caden is full of craziness and full of love. One thing that drives me absolutely crazy and that I love at the same time are his fetishes. Sometimes he can be so particular about things that he has to be disciplined for it. For example, he likes dancing with me. Well, the music gets turned on, then I must put the ipod on top of the tv, take my slippers off, and dance a certain way round Grady's blanket with Grady laying in the middle. If I don't do things the exact way he prefers, he dramatically throws himself on the floor and starts crying. Oh to be two. If I want something done a certain way it better be right the first time because that is how Caden will want it from then on. I guess I'm learning how other people feel when I'm so particular about things. He has some of my OCD in him, but he also has Britton's blank stare when watching tv or movies...what I call 'manland.' Britton mentioned today that he doesn't like how Caden completely tunes out everything around him when watching something. My eyes got big along with a caulked smile as he realized what he said. There are several things that make Caden, Caden, and that we all love!

1. 'Good games.' A lot of people know first hand that he loves to give a slap on the tushie and say, "Good game!" There have been a few too many awkward moments with it. I think it has developed into a tushie fetish, and now he has a thing for butts. Here he is enjoying giving Grady a good game...Grady doesn't seem to mind.

 2. Chocolate. I'm beginning to think he's adopting my motto that "everything tastes better with chocolate!" One morning, he enjoyed a chocolate donut a little too much at the mall before playing with his friends.

 3. Wearing my slippers. Here lately, Caden wants to wear any slippers I'm wearing. It's quite hilarious and cute watching him walk around with my slippers on. I love that they match his pants here. These slippers came from Taiwan.

 4. Folding clothes. As you can see in this picture, he is also wearing another pair of shoes (remember jellies?!). Well, if I'm feeding Grady and he doesn't want to wait on me, then he will fold them 'by himself.'

 This is his pile of 'folded clothes.' Most kids want to play games, etc., but this kid prefers to help with the laundry. If I mention putting clothes in the washer or dryer, he hops up and runs to help. Then he usually demands us to fold the clothes. If he doesn't want to wait, then he folds them himself. Such a lovely pile :o)

 This is a short video I got of him folding the clothes. I love how he shakes the clothes to get the wrinkles out like we do. I also love how his daddy mentions watching x-men cartoons, and he's ready to stop folding.

 5. Friends. His two buddies here are his favorite people. Every day he mentions seeing them. Every night he mentions seeing them. If his friends are doing something, he wants to be doing the same thing. If his buddies are around, Caden is one happy little boy.

 3 peas in a pod.

 While Britton was gone for a few days, Caden semi-helped me in the kitchen. He didn't always follow directions well, but he did enjoy dumping everything in the bowl and helping me hold the mixer to stir everything. A little while later and it all turned into this for Valetine's Day!

 Since Britton was gone right before Valentine's Day, we decorated for him. Caden really liked me tracing his hands and Grady did well not moving for a 5 month old! We also wrote down things we like about Daddy.

We love Caden, yes we do, we love Caden, how about you?!

The end at last!

I hope you don't hate reading our blog now because there's been so much on the New Year and it's dragged on because it didn't happen until February. Alas, the end has come even though almost every night Caden still says fireworks as he's going to bed (mostly so he can say he's scared and get out of the bed, which doesn't work because there are no more fireworks and he loves them!). After 2 weeks, the celebration is over. The last day is pretty loud and people go all out once again.

Sidewalks everywhere look like this but are quickly cleaned up. This is right outside our door. This family set up their own altar to remember their ancestors by burning paper money in hopes that their ancestors will bless them.

a closer look

we went to the main hub of the city with some friends thinking we would see some awesome fireworks, but there were hardly any. We found out once we got there that you aren't allowed to set any off in the square...I'm sure it's because there's a ton of kids there, but there were a few pretty ones surrounding the area.

these kids are happy wherever they go as long as they're together

Since we went to our friend's house on New Year's, we stayed at home the last night. Britton had enough of fireworks, but I took Caden down in our garden to see the fireworks up close and personal.

Here's a few short videos of the closest you can get to fireworks. The first video we're still inside, but that night, Caden and I got as close as we could (and should!). I love how he tries to grab the fireworks.

Happy New Year! Welcome 2013.

The Light Festival

There is a place near here that does a Light Festival every year for the 2 weeks of the New Year. The different lights represent different locations in our country and shows our country's culture. There are a lot of spiritual displays as well as superstitious acts to receive blessings for the new year. The lights were beautiful, and the food was really yummy too. Some of our friends took us, and we had a blast despite Caden's bad behavior and the freezing cold weather mixed with some drizzling rain!

A gate that you supposedly are blessed from if you walk through it

 Our friends

 the row of stars...and Caden certainly was one

 lots and lots of stars

 churros!! They served them in a bag with ice cream and chocolate syrup on top...what?! We all enjoyed these. I can't believe the people like them! It reminds me of when I did ice skating and my mom would buy me a churro after practice...although those were coated in brown cinnamon sugar, yum!

 I love these things. They are skewers with roasted meat on them...lamb is my favorite

 Red is a symbol of blessing, luck, and good fortune here, so you see red everywhere. I loved the long row of lanterns.

 more blessings

 Grady loved the festival just like every other place we go to! He was obviously bundled well since he slept the whole time. You can tell he lives in a city where the sun doesn't shine much. He's so white, but the people love his skin.

 This is also a luck thing. Not sure if we should have done this, but Caden really wanted to 'ding' the bell and our friends wanted him to as well. You take this log and hit it into the bell making a very loud gong.

 You know Caden loved it.

 It finally started getting dark as we walked back through.

 so pretty

 the symbol for blessing...many many blessings

 across the lake...so beautiful

 fish are also a symbol of good luck...whataya know!

 we thought this whole hill was hilarious because it was decorated with giant fruit lit up...fruit is a symbol of peace and blessing

 on our way back to the car...Uncle Ben carried Caden the whole way

Happy New Year...again!

Is it just me or does New Year's keep happening?! The New Year here actually just ended. It's much like Christmas with the shopping and breaks going on. It's nice just to see the people take a break and be inside. New Year's day we hardly saw anyone on our busy streets. New Year's this year was February 10th (they follow the lunar calendar), and every year the celebration lasts for 2 weeks. So, the New Year officially ended February 24, although we still hear a few fireworks here and there. If you saw our blog post last year, you know it can get pretty insane with the fireworks. Last year was crazy and fireworks went off every night the entire month of January. We were so annoyed and very ready for the celebration to end. I don't know if moving helped (we're only just across the street!), but the celebration seemed much more low-key this year. Britton said numerous times that he liked this year way better. I agree. It made it enjoyable. I love all the fireworks. Our new neighborhood is
 much smaller and people set fireworks off in the middle of all the buildings which happens to be directly in front of Grady's window. Every time we would hear them going off, Caden and I would yell, "Go to Grady's room!" We would run in there and watch our personal show on Grady's window seat. It was restful and fun to watch and spend time with friends. Here's a glimpse of New Year's Eve. I'll post more on the following days.

This was at midnight. A picture does NOT do it justice. PLEASE watch the video below. The fireworks went off all night, but the majority of the show was right at midnight. When they started, we could see all the way out into the mountains, but by the time they finished we could barely see the building in front of us because of all the smoke.



They were all so pretty...you can begin to see all the smoke.

We decided to go to our friend's house that night who live on the 21st floor and have the most amazing view of our city. All 3 kids were fast asleep, then midnight approached. Grady was the first to wake up only because he was right next to the door that we kept opening to go out and where it was cold. Next, our friend's daughter started screaming at the top of her lungs because she was scared. I don't blame her! Caden...oh, Caden...he stayed fast asleep and didn't budge :o) Kid after my own heart! Poor Grady was not happy with the fireworks...

I think we left just before 2:00am because we wanted to finish the movie we started :o). Caden enjoyed seeing a few more fireworks when we woke him up to go home. We all slept in the next morning. This is what was in our little neighborhood when we got home. Remnants of firecrackers and fireworks are everywhere on the streets and in neighborhoods. It's all cleaned up by the next morning...that's quite the job!

On New Year's day we met with several people, and Grady dressed up in his old man, golf attire. He especially looks old with that double chin!

This is at our entrance. Beautiful lanterns hang everywhere with red being a symbol of good fortune and blessing.

Here's this year's video of the progression of fireworks. I think it's so much fun to watch and look back on. There are fireworks shows going off everywhere in the city. Happy New Year!