I've got adoption on the brain today because I've been working on getting all of the paperwork and profile material done in order to get back on the Catholic Charities adoption list.  It's time to make Kade a big brother!

Anyway, I thought of this story that I completely forgot to share!  A couple of weeks ago Kade and I were driving home from daycare and he was basically saying all the words that he knows.  There was really no rhyme or reason to what he was saying and I wasn't responding to him, just listening.  He started talking about Lady A and her mom when out of nowhere he said, "Lady A Kade's birthmommy".  I wasn't sure I heard him right so I asked him who Lady A was and he said "Kade's birthmommy".  I was shocked, he's never said anything like that before!  I mean, I tell him regularly that, "Lady A is your birthmom.  You were born in her belly and she chose me and Daddy to be your parents.  And we all love you very, very much."  I just never thought he was actually listening to me!!  When Erik got home I asked him to ask Kade who Lady A was and again Kade responded, "Kade's birthmommy".  It brought tears to my eyes...proud tears because he is only 1 but he seems to know so much already, he amazes me!

These pictures have nothing to do with the post, just a bunch of pics of the little cutie.

We're working on cementing our driveway.  Kade loves all things "machinery" so much that he actually pulled up a chair, with a drink in hand, to watch the skid loader at work!

There's a small lake near our house, so once in awhile we go for a walk there and throw rocks in the "big bath", as Kade calls it.  It's my job to pick up the rocks and it's Kade's job to throw them in.

He's got no fear of the water!  I think he would've tried to walk out to the kayakers if we would've let him.

Pretty much everyday, multiple times a day, Kade and Erik take a lawn mower ride.  One evening I came outside to find this!  My very efficient husband and son killing 3 birds with 1 stone:  a lawn mower/wagon/4 wheeler ride!

The Living Room Carpet

I let people walk all over me. I let dogs lay on me, I don't even mind if a glass or two gets dumped on me. You see, I'm the living room carpet and it's my job to do those things. However, I draw the line at being used as a toilet!

My people have a little grandson named Kade. I love it when that little guy comes over, at least I thought I did. I usually become a field of corn that needs plowing, or a race track, or my personal favorite, a dance floor!

Last Sunday was a different story. Kade came over and brought with him that little thing they call a dog, Molly. Right away Kade needed his diaper changed so I became a changing table and what do you know, he started peeing on me! Luckily his mom took the worst of it. But a few hours later Molly puked on me! Ugh, dog puke. How embarrassing.

I thought that was the last of it but nooooo. After Kade's bath he was running around, letting it "air out" as the people called it. That's when the little guy let loose the waterfalls of Niagara! To make matters worse he just stood there, looking over his little toddler pot belly, watching it flow! Afterwards, they mentioned something about it being good for awhile so they could let it "air out" a little longer. Big mistake!

Just as his mom was going to diaper the kid she noticed he was peeing AGAIN. Can you see where this is heading? Yes, he was peeing but it was just a precursor to the poop! Yup, I was pooped on. If I had a head, I'd be hanging it in shame right now.

For those of you keeping count that's FIVE....yes, FIVE times I was forced to be a toilet. 3 pees, a poop and a dog puke. The carpet in the office is never going to let me live this down. Thank goodness for stain master!

We have three songs in rotation right now that Kade can't get enough of.  Two of them are in this video, the other is "Baa Baa Black Sheep".  We sing them in the car, at the dinner table, on walks, everywhere!  He loves to say, "How bout twinkie star?"  Then, once you've started singing he'll interrupt half way through and say, "How bout black sheep".  I can't complain though because he's the only person in this world who enjoys my singing!  I'm going to take advantage while I can!

My Little Turkey

A little back story:  Back in high school a friend of mine discovered she could do a fantastic imitation of a dolphin.  While I tried to make a dolphin noise, mine came out sounding like an amazing crow call--as in "ca-caw, ca-caw".  Yup, like a big, ugly blackbird.  Now, whenever you ask Kade what a bird says, instead of responding with a sweet, little "tweet, tweet", you get a big, hearty "ca-caw, ca-caw"!

Last week Erik took Thursday off and we took Kade to Oxbow Zoo.  In the turkey pen there was a male with 3 females.  That male was trying his hardest to get those ladies' attention.  He was strutting, gobbling, puffing up his feathers, nudging them and those gals didn't even bat an eye at the poor guy.  I told Kade that he was learning a valuable life lesson right then.  It doesn't matter how much you strut, most girls aren't even going to notice.

Later, we went to Dairy Queen and sitting a few tables down was a little girl about Kade's age.  He was doing everything he could to get her attention.  He was saying every single word he knew, smiling at her, laughing, waving his arms and she could've cared less.  I said, "Oh Kade, it's just like that male turkey was saw today."  Then he stopped, looked over at the girl and as loud as he could he yelled, "CA-CAW, CA-CAW"!!  Amazingly enough, that got the girl's attention!

A Walk To Remember

A couple of weekends ago we participated in a walk around Silver Lake to raise awareness and funds for Cystic Fibrosis.  One of Kade's little buddies, Braeden, has CF.  I've done a few walks and runs in the past and my only 2 goals have always been:  1.  Don't get lost.  2.  Don't get last.  Unfortunately, in this walk, I failed 1 of my goals.  We got last. 

Somehow we ended up with Ellie which was fine with us because Kade can't get enough of her and her mom had 2 other kids to manage.  Walking with a 1 and 2 year old is not so much walking as it is chasing, stopping, waiting and coaxing.  Although we got left in the dust by the rest of the walkers, we were the lucky ones because we got to see the wildlife that was hiding from the big group.  On our walk we saw, in the eyes,words and imaginations of Kade and Ellie..."A BEAR!", geeses, Ooh, look Kissy (Ellie doesn't quite have Kristi mastered)...A CROCODILE!, monkeys, an alligator, baby ducks, and baby geeses".  I'll give you 1 guess as to which animals we actually saw.

Ellie was still a little sleepy from the car ride but Kade insisted on holding her hand.

We managed to almost catch up when Kade used this method of transportation.  Unfortunately it didn't last long.

Could these 2 be any cuter?!

On a completely different note...

A red tractor pulling a green wagon???  Kade sees no color when it comes to his farm implements!

Count to 10!

I'm always amazed at how fast kids can learn!  We've been playing Hide n' Seek a lot lately and we always count to 10 before we come searching.  Apparently Kade's been paying attention!  Now we just have to work on the hiding part.  He thinks he's only supposed to hide while the person counts, and then once they hit 10 he comes out of his hiding spot with a big grin on his face.  You don't want this little blondie on your Hide n' Seek team just yet!!

Our Weekend in Pictures

This past weekend was a big one for us!  When Kade woke up on Saturday morning he had some special guests to greet him, Baby Vivienne came for the weekend! (so did her parents, but as they'll soon learn-if they haven't already-nobody cares about them anymore!)

Kade and Daddy got the lawn ready.  Although that was a wasted effort since it rained or snowed all day on Saturday.

Then he came in and helped Mommy get the house ready.  This kid works hard!

The Guest of Honor has arrived! 

Every time Kade said something (which was A LOT), Vivienne would follow the sound of his voice.  She's going to learn a lot from her big cousin!

Kade loves her just as much.  I think he wins for the person who gave Viv the most kisses and hugs.

I'm a very proud Auntie!!

And here's her very proud Daddy!!

How did these 3 turkeys end up on the same couch?!

Speaking of turkeys, these 2 are in the middle of calling turkeys with one of Grandpa Ranger's turkey calls.  When we asked Kade if he wanted to sit outside and call turkeys he thought that meant the same way we call Molly in.  So, as he stepped outside, he yelled at the top of his lungs, "TURKEYS...COME!!"  Needless to say, Grandpa Ranger's turkey calling adventure failed.

To top off an already exciting weekend, we had a neighbor come over with his skid loader to prep our driveway for cement.  Kade was so excited to see it, "scoop, dump and lift it's bucket", up close he was shaking and has been talking about it all week.

And, just a little something to embarrass the Kade Man when he gets older...Safety First!!