Do dogs meow?

Caden now knows the sounds of several animals.  We were so surprised a few weeks ago when we were in the car and we asked him some questions:

Parents: What do cats say?
Caden: Meow, meow, meow

Parents: What do dogs say?

Caden: wuff, wuff

Parents: What do pigs say?

Caden: oinka, oinka

Parents: What do donkeys say?

Caden: Heehaw, heehaw

Parents: What do ducks say?

Caden: quack, quack

Parents: What do sheep say?

Caden: baaaaaa

He is also pretty good at identifying animals in pictures and his stuffed animals.  However, since we do not have any live animals, he doesn't see them everyday.  We were in the parking garage in Mannheim Saturday night and he a saw a tiny dog behind us in line to pay.  He pointed at the dog and in an excited voice said: "Meow, meow, meow."  Collin and I looked Collin and said: "Caden, that is a dog, a small dog.  But yes, that dog does look kind of like a cat.  But that is a dog, woof, woof."  We laughed once we got to our car.

Rabbit Museum, Family Pictures, and Visit from the Ukraine

Last weekend we went to a Rabbit Museum in our small town.  The museum is in the bottom of our water tower.  We met our city mayor and got to climb our water tower and see the beautiful views of our city.  The museum was free which is always a plus.  Caden liked all the rabbits.  

 One of the views of our town in Germany

 Family picture - Caden wanted to run around and play, not stop for a picture

 Stairs in the water tower

 Collin and Caden in the museum on the ground level

On Halloween we decided to do our family photo shoot at the Heidelberg Castle.  If you want to take your own family pictures I highly recommend a remote control.  They are pretty cheap and worth every penny!  You can see more of our pictures on Facebook. 

Last week our friends, the Nelsons, stayed with us one night.  They were flying to the States and had a layover in Germany.  They are missionaries in the Ukraine and we met up with them in Prague last spring.  They now have a two month old son.  They are an awesome family and we were so glad we got to see them, even if it was only for a night.

 Caleb - what a sweetie!

 David and Liv

On a sad note, our tenants ran out on us.  We just found out yesterday that they vacated our property and left it a mess.  Please say a prayer that there is not much damage and that we find a new family to lease or buy our house soon.

Fall Fun

Fall is a busy time for us.  I love this age because Caden is able to do more things.  He's such a happy guy and loves people.  Here is a short update and some pictures from this past week of a few things we have done.

Last weekend we took Caden to a pumpkin patch.  Sadly, it was more of a farm than a pumpkin patch.  Other than him shivering (poor little guy) in the cold he had a great time.  He especially liked chasing the German Shephard dog around the farm and looking at the horses. 

 

Monday my friend Kristine threw a Halloween cookie decorating party.  It was a lot of fun.  I decided I would let Caden have his first bite of sugar cookie.  To my surprise he refused!  He would not even try the cookie.  I was hoping he would enjoy decorating the cookies too but he ended up getting really upsit when icing got on his hands.  Caden has always preferred to be clean than dirty.  He's not a child who enjoys playing in the sand or getting his hands dirty unless it's playing with his food that he doesn't want to eat.

 These look neat

 Ew, I don't like the icing on my hand

 Caden's sweet friend Peyton

Getting mad because his hands are dirty

Tuesday was Caden's first day of gymnastics for his age group.  He had a great time!  He loved running around and playing at the gym.  Here are a few pictures.

Caden is 16 Months Old!

Today Caden is 16 months old.  We were in the States when he was 15 months old and I did not get a chance to blog about last month.  So I'll combine this blog post with the past two months.

We took him to the doctor in the States for his 15 month check-up since he was sick.  Here are his stats from last month when he was 15 months old.

Weight: 24 lbs 8 oz - 50 percentile
Height: 32 1/2 in. - 90 percentile
Head circ: 18 in. - 20% percentile

Caden is at such a fun age right now.  He's constantly learning more and more.  I am amazed almost every day at something he does.  He is starting to copy more words that we say.  He follows instructions very well and loves to bring us things.  Some of his favorite and new words to say are: buddy, money, shoes, socks, lion, shirt, and chair.  He also tries to copy me when I make animal sounds.  He is so cute when he talks. 

I enrolled Caden in gymnastics and his first class was yesterday.  Unfortunately, the lady signed us up for the 2-3 year olds so it was a little advanced.  We stayed for most of the class and he participated in the group activities.  I was happy that after introducing himself he went to hit the tambourine the teacher was holding and came back and sat on my lap like the older children did.  When they started that we were third to go and I was thinking we should have sat further down so he could see more kids do it.  He loved the class including the trampolines and rolling on the mats. I'm really excited about his class. It's for Moms, Dads, and Tots.  I was surprised how many dads were there.  I was glad to see so many men taking their kids.  If Collin is ever able to take part of the morning off I think he'd enjoy taking Caden.  I was also happy to see some of our friends in his new class.  Since I signed him up late I wasn't sure who was going to be there.

It seems like our lives are getting busier and busier.  I'm a discussion group leader at MOPS this year.  I missed the first two meetings when we were in the States and am glad to be back.  My small group is getting together Friday for a play date.  I joined a great ladies' Bible study group at the chapel and Collin is still teaching the youth group at church.  Besides our regular activities, we have a few trips planned including going to Paris for Thanksgiving.  We are super excited about it.  I have a few photography sessions over the next few weekends that I'm looking forward to doing.  I just hope the weather stays good.  The weather is now cold but thankfully we have great heaters. 

Collin and I dropped Caden off last Saturday at the Parents' Day Out program on post.  He did great!  We only left him for 4 of the 6 hours.  Collin and I went to eat at a boat restaurant on the river for lunch.  We have wanted to eat there since we first saw it.  Then walked downtown and ate dessert and drank coffee at a cafe.  Doing things like that make us really enjoy living here.  In Texas the only place you walk around is the mall, downtown, or a town square it seems.  Unless you're walking to a park.  We also went to a movie last Thursday while our sweet friends watched Caden.  It was a wonderful break.  I'm so glad Caden's now at an age he likes being with other kids and is fine being away from us for a short amount of time.

Here are some recent pictures.

 First day of gymanstics

 He loved walking on the LONG trampoline

 He did great!

 Ducks are one of Caden's favorite animals.  He was super excited to see this

huge duck at a department store yesterday

Michelle and Kyle's Wedding

We made it safely back to Germany on Tuesday. These past 5 weeks went by faster than we anticipated. We really enjoyed getting to spend so much time with family and friends. I have so many things to write about but am still adjusting to the time change and still have unpacking to do so my computer time is limited.

I thought I would first share some pictures of my sister's wedding since that was the main reason we came home for a visit during this time. Michelle really honored me by asking me to be her matron of honor. Thanks to Collin who was able to do some training in the area we came back just in time for me to make it to all of her bridal showers. She was a beautiful bride and their wedding was not only elegant but fun. We were blessed as well to both get to enjoy the reception thanks to our good friend, Ashley, whose mom offered to watch Caden during the reception. We felt so bad picking him up so late and to our surprise he was still awake and in a great mood. Thanks again Mr. and Mrs. Sandel for watching Caden while we enjoyed the reception.

Caden and Kyle's nephew, Blaine, were both the ring bearers and were so cute. Caden looked so handsome in his little tux. I walked them both down the aisle and they did great. Our cousin Claire was the flower girl and she was beautiful too. Her older sister, Lily, was mine and Collin's flower girl in our wedding.

Michelle and a lot of others spent a lot of time planning and preparing for her wedding. Collin and I are so excited we were able to share their special day. Here are some pictures related to the wedding. I'll post more on Facebook over the next few weeks. Congratulations Michelle and Kyle!! 

 Grandmother Charlene and I

 Granddad and Cade

One of the few pictures of the three of us

 Walking with the ring bearers down the asile, aren't they cute?!

 Michelle and Kyle

 Cade trying to take off his shoes

 Marisa, Collin, and Shawn (M's brother)

 Poor Cade was so hungry and tired, he LOVES his aunt and uncle

but sadly wasn't in the mood for any pictures

 Wedding party - great shot Collin!

My cute little man in his tux

Caden's First Trip to the Dentist

It is recommended that a child visit the dentist after they turn 1.  So we decided to take Caden to the dentist in Texas rather than in Germany.  He really did not appreciate being "held down" while a stranger messed with his teeth. He's smart, I wouldn't like that either.  Thankfully he loves his parents brushing his teeth and will even help us and sometimes cries when we take the toothbrush away.  That's when we know he's just chewing on it or playing.  Caden's 12 teeth look great.  The dentist cleaned his teeth and flossed them.  We were not aware that we needed to floss his teeth so that's something new for us to do.  We were also told to start using fluoride toothpaste on his teeth.  There's a lot of controversy on that matter so we think we're going to wait until he can spit the toothpaste out of his mouth before giving him fluoridated toothpaste.  What are your thoughts?

I'm happy sitting in this chair

I'm not liking this!

Mommy, don't you see what they're doing to me?! (He seriously cried the whole time, I felt so bad!)

All done!

Caden and Friends

Having a kid is so much fun.  I LOVE being a mom.  We had Caden at a great time.  Many of our friends in Texas had kids around the same time we did.  One of my favorite things to do is take Caden to play with his friends.  Not only does it give him a chance to play with other kids but also gives me a chance to catch up with my friends.

We also have a lot of wonderful friends who do not have any children yet and we love seeing them too.  This coming week we hope to see more friends and family since Collin is on vacation and not working.  Yay!  He worked very hard these past two weeks and learned a lot.

Thursday morning I met up with an old friend from high school.  She has a four-year old that is so cute.  We met for breakfast.  After Shea picked her daughter up from pre-school it was time for Caden to take a nap so we didn't get a chance to let them really play.  Sadly, Bria locked her mom's keys in her car and they had to wait for someone to come unlock the car.  Meanwhile I needed to get my son down for his nap.  They were gone by the time Caden was sleeping.  We had a great time catching up over breakfast.

Caden and Bria

Friday morning I went to see my friend Emily Campbell and her son, Ryan.  Ryan is 7 months and a very happy baby.  It was neat seeing Caden around a younger child.  Caden mainly wanted to chase their cat but he seemed to think Ryan was cool too.  I know as they get older they will enjoy each other more.  Emily and I also went to school together.

Caden and Ryan

Friday evening I had a lingerie shower for my sister and stayed out until 10:30 with her and her friends.  I know, I'm a night owl, haha.  I had a great time seeing some of her friends and hanging out with her too.

Girls Night Out

While I went out with the girls Friday night, Collin invited his friend Burt over.  They stayed up and talked until almost 1am!  Talk about a night owl.  They have been friends since kindergarten and Burt was in our wedding. 

Today we met up with our good friends Andrew and Rose.  They have two kids, Austin and Avery.  We had planned on meeting them at their new house but we're sharing my parents' cars and were unable to borrow a car until it was too late to drive out there.  So we met them for dinner.  Collin and Andrew went to graduate school together and both worked for the same company after college.  Thankfully they both have moved on and have more family firiendly jobs now.  We also used to live on the street next to each other.  They are such a neat family and we have missed them a lot.

Rose, Austin, Avery, and Andrew