So You Think You Can Dance??

My camera skills are sorely lacking but the boys' sweet dancing makes up for it!  At the time this was taken Michael wasn't walking yet.  He is now so I can only hope our dance parties get more and more impressive.  Until the next dance off, enjoy watching this! 
P.S.  Best part of the video comes around 1:06, when they synchronize their moves!

Vacation #2, etc...

It's been a couple weeks since I last posted and there's so much to update!  First of all, the visit from Lady A (and her mom, dad, grandma and aunt) was wonderful, like always!  They spoiled Kade with tons of gifts (plus a cookie cake, thanks to Great Grandma C), like always!  We always learn more about Kade's genetics every time they come too.  This time we learned that Lady A's dad has extra wide feet, which helps explain why the only thing we can get to fit Kade's footballs is adjustable strap sandals :-)

He also had is 1 year appointment.  It went really well and I'm relieved to say that the heart murmur the Dr. thought he heard at Kade's 9 month was nothing.
The stats:
25.3 lbs (83%)
30.8 inches (2'6") (81%)
head circumference 18.9 inches (89%), at his 9 month he was in >97% so his body is catching up!

Finally, last week we took our annual vacation with Erik's family!  Last year Kade was born during the week we go so we had to cancel.  It was the happiest vacation cancellation we've ever made though.  This year's vacation was a bit different than years past.  Not a lot of sitting by the lake with a beverage in hand...okay so we did our fair share of sitting and drinking, but we also had a little man to chase so someone was always on duty.

Lots of pictures with this post!  Unlike the vacation with my family, I actually remembered the camera this time!

Relaxing in his personalized chair from Lady A.  He's watching a John Deere tractor video.  I never thought I'd know so much about tractors!  I can give Erik a run for his money in tractor trivia now (not sure if I should be excited about that though).

Just a super cute picture of the little man.

Airplane with Uncle Jay!  Jay has just as much energy as a 1 year old, and naps just as much too!

This could possibly be our 1st picture of just the 2 of us since Kade was born!

The boys...

The girls...

Erik caught dinner!  Or maybe it could be dinner next year?

The shrimp boat captain.  No need to be concerned that he can't see over the wheel, he's got a 6th sense with directions.

Possibly the 1st family picture we have too?  We're not great at getting the 3 of us together.

Okay, I admit that I dressed him like this!  In my defense, it was chilly in the mornings and he had a hard time walking in just socks.  Also, I only brought a couple long sleeved shirts.  I promise he did not go out in public like this!!

Go Twins!  I love my new sweatshirt!!

The whole family!

A delicious Kade sandwich.

Mmmm, thanks for sharing your ice cream cone, Erin!  I promise I didn't leave too much drool on it.

Trying out my new Jordan's from Uncle Michael.  Where's the hoop?!

I'm not going to lie, these shoes do improve my game.

Kiss the ball for good luck.  Good thing Mike got me this mini ball too, regulation sized basketballs are hard to carry!

Happy Birthday Kade William!!!

I can't believe it's been a year since we were blessed with Kade!  I'm not going to lie, the first 7 months were tough.  He pretty much cried for all of them, unless he was sleeping which, thankfully, he was (and still is) a champ at.  With that said, it's been the best year of my life! 

I'm always amazed at how fast he's growing and changing.  I'm excited to see what his 2nd year brings but sad that he's no longer a small baby that I can hold and cuddle.  Oh, who am I kidding, this little man NEVER cuddled!!!  He is starting to now though.  This morning I think I got a whole 3 minutes where he sat still and drank his milk on my lap.  Otherwise it's GO, GO, GO with the Kade Man.  He's starting to give kisses too.  Kisses that only a mother could love because they are open mouth, full of drool and sometimes he sneaks in a lick with his tongue.

His favorite things earlier in the year were the Baby Bjorn and the vacuum, the only 2 things that stopped him from crying.  These days his favorites (in no particular order) are: tractors, Daddy and baths.  When he's tired and crabby in the early evening all we have to say is "bath" and he lights up like a Christmas tree!  Then he runs into the bathroom and screams (happy screams) until we get him in the tub.  He's even started helping undress himself to get in there faster.  The only thing that can deter him once we've got the water running is Daddy on the lawn mower.  Then he's torn between running outside or staying in the bathroom.  It's pretty cute to watch him weigh out the options, you can almost see the wheels turning in his mind.

We had his birthday party on Sunday with my and Erik's family.  Tonight, Lady A and some of her family are coming over to celebrate.  I think it's pretty great that Kade has a whole other family that is just as excited about today as we are.  As I've said before, he's got no shortage of love in his life.  Happy Birthday to my favorite little man!!

Some of these are repeats from past posts, but I had to put pics of Kade's actual birth day up to see how much he's changed in 1 year. 

  1st bottle, about an hour after he was born.  Erik and I were too nervous/scared to do it (we'd never fed a baby so small!!) so the nurse had to show us how it was done.  It didn't take long for us to take over though!

1st picture with mom.  Look at that little peanut!

1st picture with Dad.  We still marvel at how similar these 2 are already!  They're like 2 peas in a pod.

Get your motor running...
We gave him his birthday present early.  He's figured out how to get on and off but still hasn't mastered the art of pushing the button to make it move.  He'd rather get off and push it, or let us hold the button down for him.  Here we thought we were done spending long periods of time hunched over!

Getting a little help from Reed opening his presents.

For 1 split second we had all 4 in the same spot for a picture in Kade's new wagon.

Great minds think alike, Jeremy and Evelyn got Kade a 4 wheeler too!  Lucky Uncle Jeremy got to provide the motor while Kade steered.

Piglets and Playdates

Last week Kade and I had a play date in Apple Valley with 3 of my good friends from high school.  With 4 moms and 7 kids, the oldest 4 yrs. and the youngest 6 months, it can best be described as "controlled" chaos!  The 4 of us did manage to sit for 1 blissful hour and talk while the babies slept and the big kids played.  Then we went to a fabulous park that had sprinklers all over for the kids to play in.  Since Kade just figured out how to walk, I got my fair share of water sprayed on me too :-)

When we got home Erik decided it was a good night for the fair.  Being the good ex-4-H'r that he is, he knew that all of the "cool" animals would be going home that night and Kade NEEDED to see all the farm animals up close.  Kade was a trooper.  After a day of playing I thought he'd be wiped out but he loved every minute of the fair.  Maybe it was because to enter and exit the fair we had to pass a line of tractors on display, on both sides.  Of course, someone had to sit on each and every model to test the steering wheels.  Oh, and Kade sat on a few too :-)  (just kidding, Erik!)  Kade had his first taste of rib ticklers, mini doughnuts and a chocolate malt.  All were very well received!

Like I said, "controlled" chaos...

Can you believe we managed a group picture?!  Even Jaycee the dog sat long enough for it!

Water coming at him from all angles!

Kade getting his own personal tour of the new Birthing Center at the fair.  It helps to know a grandpa that volunteered!

I was about a second shy of snapping a picture of Kade petting the pig!

If I had a dollar for every time Kade and Daddy sat on a tractor, I'd be a millionaire!!