Kahler Family

This and That

2012-02-11T13:44:00.001-08:00

Seems like we have been pretty busy lately here in the Kahler house. Lots going on!!

Camdyn had her 1 year check up and is doing great. She is 22 lbs, 5 oz (70%) and 29.5 inches (62%). So she is smaller than Tatum was at 1 year, but she is growing perfectly!! The doctor said she looks good and will be taking off walking soon. She wants us to start working really hard on words with her as she should start saying words soon. She talks all the time, just so far nothing much that we can understand. She does says Momma and Dadda, but not necessarily to us. The other day she did say Dadda while looking at Matt so that was pretty exciting. We are going to start her on milk today. We will see how she does. I know she will do great, just have to get her used to the sippy cup and move away from bottles. Camdyn also has become quite the climber. She climbed all the way to the top of the stairs the other day. I probably shouldn't of let her but I did.... I was right by her side as she climbed them, and she even came all the way down on her belly by herself. Thank goodness we have gates up at the top and bottom of the stairs!!

Trying to be sneaky

Crawling to the top of the stairs!!

We had an icky stomach bug go through our house this week, first Camdyn got it on Tuesday night then Tatum got it on Thursday night and then I got it on Friday night. It was definitely not fun being sicky around here, but luckily the sickness seemed to get out of our systems quick!!

Since we had such a sicky week, we decided today to have a super fun family day!! We went to the zoo this morning and all of the animals were out. We started at the giraffes and climbed up to the lookout and both girls enjoyed that. Then we headed over to see the tiger and he was growling the whole time we were over there!! Then we stood in line to feed the giraffes. It was definitely a fun thing to do, but I think it is a bit expensive. It is $4 a person, so we decided that just Tatum and I would do it and Camdyn could do it when she is just a little bit older. Tatum and I had fun feeding the giraffe and checking out his blue tongue. After the zoo we decided to get some lunch and take it to the park for a picnic. It was fun to sit in the grass and enjoy this beautiful day. We tried to fly the kite Tatum got for Christmas from Uncle Adam and Aunt Lindsey, but unfortunately there was no wind and it didn't work so well. It was pretty funny. Since the kite didn't work we decided to just play at the park and we had a great time doing that. The girls were loving the slide.

Checking out the giraffes.

Feeding the giraffe

Blue tongue!!

Fun time!!

Daddy and his girls

Picnic in the park

Beautiful day.

Attempting to fly a kite.

Sisters having fun!!

We love having family time with our beautiful girls!! We are so lucky that today was a beautiful day and we could get out and enjoy it!!

Camdyn's 1st Birthday!!

2012-02-05T07:40:00.000-08:00

Camdyn Breeze woke up as happy as ever on her birthday. She was smiling and laughing and I think she knew it was her special day. When Tatum woke up she and I sang a special song to the birthday girl (over and over and over) and Camdyn shook her little tooshie and bobbed her head while we sang. We had a great morning playing and having a dance party to some Disney Tunes. It was a great way to spend the time before her party.

We had our family and best friends over for a special party for Camdyn. The girls and I had been making decorations and crafts for the party for a few weeks and we were excited for the party to finally be here. We really do have the very BEST family and friends and we are so lucky they came over to celebrate Camdyn's special day.

Happy Birthday Camdyn Breeze!!

I am 1!!!!

We had lunch and the girls played outside. Of course the birthday girl needed a little nap, so she slept on her Daddy for about an hour and then we got into present time. Camdyn sat in her chair and looked like a princess. Of course big sister Tatum "helped" Camdyn with her gifts. Actually Tatum opened everything and Camdyn was ok with that. Camdyn didn't really seem to mind not opening the gifts, she did LOVE to see what was inside of them though. The girls were adorable and it was fun. After all the presents were opened the girls played in the super fun ball pit that Camdyn got from her Uncle Andrew and Aunt Emma. They had a lot of fun in that and Camdyn was belly laughing at her hilarious sister when they were playing!!

Dessert Table

Camdyn - month by month banner

Tatum and Maddie having fun.

So many gifts!!

Taking a little snooze

Princess Camdyn

Camdyn watching Tatum open her gifts.

Loving her birthday!!

Then it was time for cake. At first Camdyn was a bit shy, but that did not last long. She dug right in. I have never seen a baby love cake as much as Camdyn did. It was EVERYWHERE. She was so messy and it was awesome. I tried to take the cake away from her and she freaked out, she was definitely telling me that she was not ready to be done with the cake!!

What is this Mom?!

Mmmm yummy cake!!

Digging in!!

Not happy - "Give me that cake back!!"

"What, no more?!?"

I LOVE CAKE!!

What was left of Camdyn's cake.

Bath time!!

Camdyn had a wonderful day, she got fantastic presents and she is just as happy as can be. We cannot believe how fast the year has flown by and that our little babe is already one!!

Happy 1st Birthday Camdyn Breeze!!

2012-02-04T14:14:00.000-08:00

Happy 1st Birthday to our beautiful and amazing Camdyn Breeze!! How fast this year has flown by!! It honestly seems like we were just getting ready for you to be part of our family and now I don't remember what our family was like before you were in it!!

You are about to walk, anyday now you are going to be off and running. We are so excited for you to start walking and be able to run around with your sister and wear us out!! We love you so much Camdyn Breeze, your smile and laugh are the best part of our day. You are such a great baby and we cannot wait to celebrate 100 more birthdays with you!!

Happy Birthday Camdyn Breeze, we love you to the moon and back!!

Off and running....

2012-01-15T14:10:00.000-08:00

2012 has started off really good for us, we sure are hoping the fun continues!!

The first week of the year Gramma and Grampa got here and they will be staying for a few months. We are excited to have them here and to get to see them more often!!

We took the girls to see Zoo Lights with Grampa, Gramma, Uncle Adam and Aunt Lindsey. It was fun!! The girls really loved looking at the lights. It was pretty crowded to get in since we went on the last weekend it was open, but once we got inside we didn't notice the crowd too much. There sure were a lot of lights this year!! The girls got to ride the carousel and they enjoyed that. Camdyn didn't like this carousel as much as she liked the Disneyland carousel, but really I can't blame her since the zoo carousel is just a little less magical than Disneyland's!!

Zoo Lights.

Tatum has started to love dressing up in her princess clothes. She has a great time dressing up and looking like a princess or a fairy. She of course also has to make sure her hair and makeup are princess quality too. When she put on her fairy wings we told her to try and fly and she responded, "I can't fly, I don't have any pixie dust." How cute is that?!? We told her next time we go to Disneyland we will have to ask Tinkerbell for some!! Tatum is so funny with things that she says, another new thing she is saying, "Hey, whats the big idea", not sure where she got it from, but it is definitely adorable.

Tatum, our princess fairy.

Camdyn has already had a lot going on this first few weeks. Guess she is just trying to squeeze a bunch of milestones in before her first birthday!! Her 5th tooth popped all the way through. So she now has a tooth showing on the top, super cute!! We had tacos the other night and she had the ground turkey with the peppers and she loved it. Camdyn is loving clapping and high five's, love it when she smiles and claps for us!! Camdyn got to try out a sippy cup for the first time, at first she didn't want it and then she understood what it was for, she didn't drink anything out of it, but we are working on it. And yesterday she got her first ponytail courtesy of Miss Lindsey at school. She looked adorable with that little pony on the top of her head. Guess it is pony tails from here on out for her!!

Testing out her sippy cup.

Pony Tail!!

And finally, we ran........ We ran far........... Today we did the P.F. Changs Half Marathon!! We ran 13.1 miles. I am so super proud of us. We got up early and the 3 of us (Matt, my Dad and me) headed down to Tempe to get ready for the race. It was so exciting being down there. I am not going to lie, at one point before we started I got really upset because I got scared not knowing if I would be able to do it since the farthest we had ran up until today was 10 miles. But thankfully, both Matt and my Dad were there encouraging me telling me I could do it. It took about 40 minutes from when the race started for us to actually cross the start line and then we were off. We did pretty great!! We ran about the first 3 miles without walking and were feeling great. We walked a couple of times throughout the rest of the race, but ran a majority of it. We completed the run in 2:54.27seconds. We were feeling pretty tired and then we saw our fan club waiting for us right after the 20K. It was so great to see my Mom, Tatum, Camdyn, Butch, Adam, Jenny and Kehoe cheering us on!! It was so awesome having them come out and be there for us, we really do have the best family and friends!! It felt so awesome crossing that finish line. We were getting close to it and I started getting pretty choked up because I was so proud of us for accomplishing our goal!! I am so excited that we did it and the 3 of us did it together. Now I really want to do a Disney half marathon because the medals are just so darn pretty!!

Tatum made us a sign to cheer us on!!

20K mark

I was so excited to see everyone (and to be almost done)

WE DID IT!!

2012 Here We Are

2012-01-04T11:32:00.001-08:00

2012- Here we are and we are ready for a great year!!

On Friday I got a call from the girls school that Tatum had broken out in hives during her nap. Not sure what caused it, but they were there. So I was off and on my way to pick up the girls. About 10 minutes later I got a call that Camdyn had woken up from her nap with a 103.6 fever. Not good. So I started rushing even more and got there as fast as I could. I picked up the girls and got them home and was on the phone talking to the doctor about what we should do. I gave Tatum some benedryl and she seemed to be fine pretty quickly, she just needed some cuddling time. Camdyn of course still had a high fever so I gave her motrin and tylenol and a bath trying to get her to cool off. Her temp remained high throughout the next day and we were just rotating the motrin and tylenol trying to keep it down. Turns out the cause of her fever..... 2 new teeth coming through!! Camdyn's 2 top front teeth are starting to make an appearance in her cute little grin. She has had a few rough nights of sleep, but we are so glad that the fever was the result of teeth and nothing much more!!

Camdyn Breeze is now 11 months old!! Where have the last 11 months gone?!?! She really is so amazing and we love her so much!! I have started planning her birthday party, getting so excited for it!! It won't be anything huge or over the top, but I can't wait to watch her open her presents and dive into that cake!!

We rung in the new year with our best friends and had a great time. Matt had to work on New Years Eve so the girls and I had planned to go out to dinner with some friends, but when you have kids plans change quickly and that was definitely the case this weekend, with all that was going on with the girls. So the girls and I had a night at home, relaxing and playing and watching movies. Matt got home about 10:30, and our amazing friends came over after dinner to ring in the new year with us!! It was so great to have the Veeh's, the Kehoe's and the Nissen's at our home. We played games and watched the Times Square Ball drop and then played a game of Gin (Matt's favorite) to end our evening. It was a great way to spend the first part of 2012!!

January 1, we got up and got outside for a nice 9 mile run. It is getting so super close to the race we cannot believe it is almost here!! We went and ran along a canal that has a paved area next to it, and it worked out really well. It was hotter on Sunday than it has been so it was tough running, but we did it. We have a 10 mile run this coming weekend and then the following week it is race day - Can't wait!!

Gramma and Grampa are driving out to Arizona as we speak. Grampa officially retired on Friday and they are headed here for a few months. We are so super excited to have them here and to get to see them more often. I know they are going to love the reitred life for sure, many adventures ahead for them!!

Here's to a great 2012, we can't wait to see what fun this year brings!!

End of 2011

2011-12-30T09:40:00.000-08:00

What an incredible year we have had!!

2011 - Hightlights: Camdyn was born, our sweet nephew Holden was born (the same day), we moved into our house, my forever sister Kristin came to visit, we had a week-long family trip to Nashville, I went back to work and the girls started school, Matt turned 30 and we went to Vegas, we went to San Diego twice, Tatum started dance class, Matt had a wonderful time on the annual Kahler men Wisconsin fishing trip, we started training for the half marathon, my brother came for a visit, we went to Disneyland (Amazing), and Tatum turned 3!!! Just a few of our fun memories from 2011, I am sure I could write forever on everything in 2011 that was awesome, but I will just say that we loved our year!!

Camdyn Breeze Kahler ~ Born: 2/4/11

First breakfast in our New Home

Visit to Nashville

Meeting Holden Edward

San Diego

Las Vegas for Matt's 30th Birthday

San Diego Again

Tatum all ready for her First Dance Class

Visit from my brother Michael

Tatum is 3!!

Disneyland!!!!

Camdyn Breeze was born in February and she has made our smiles brighter every day. We don't even remember what life was like with just the 3 of us. Having Camdyn in our family makes us so complete and we are so blessed that she is ours. Camdyn had a wonderful year. She is now attempting to stand on her own (she has done it a few times for about 2 seconds) and loves walking with help (especially from her Big Sister). Watching Camdyn walk all over the house with her walker is hilarious, she is definitely a speedwalker and doesn't let anything get in her way!! Camdyn has started crawling on her hands and feet instead of using her knees, she is one step closer to walking on her own!! She has 4 teeth, all on the bottom row and her smile is one of the cutest I have ever seen. Camdyn just had her ears checked and they are both perfect with the tubes perfectly in place. We are excited that she is starting 2012 off with perfect ears, we sure are hoping they stay that way for a while. Camdyn sleeps through most nights in her own room. Once in a while she likes to have a party in the middle of the night, but she sleeps through more often that not, which we are so thankful for. Camdyn is still obsessed with her binky, she takes that thing in and out of her mouth like a pro. Camdyn loves school and her teachers {especially Miss Lindsey :)}, we are so thankful for the wonderful women who take care of our girls each day, they truly are amazing!! We cannot believe how fast this year has flown and how much Camdyn has grown, she is going to be 1 before we know it!! (good thing the party planning has already begun!!)

Tatum Ann had quite the year as well. She became a big sister, which was definitely the highlight for her. I know I say it often, but Tatum has so much love for Camdyn and is so sweet to her, truly the best big sister ever!! Tatum loves to play and run and spends so much time doing both. Her vocabulary is so big and she is learning more words every day (in English and Spanish too). I love having long conversations with her about her day and her life. Tatum is quite the entertainer, she loves her dance class. She has so much fun doing all her moves and her smile never stops while she is dancing. I love that she likes it so much, it makes me so proud to see her doing something that meant so much to me growing up. Hopefully she wants to dance forever, for now we will take it one recital at a time :). Tatum knows her shapes and some letters and she can trace her name. She knows how to spell her name out loud, but we are working on writing it without tracing. Tatum loves to read. She is always "reading" books to Camdyn and to her dolls. Maybe we have a future teacher in her?? Tatum has a blast at school each day and loves her teachers too. She loves talking about all her friends and who did what each day. I hope our daily chats continue on forever, they mean so much to me!! Tatum is so wonderful and we are so proud of her, she is such an amazing 3 year old and I can't believe how grown up she has become this year!!

We love to laugh. Laughing is our favorite thing. Daily laugh sessions in our house are a must!! It is definitely our goal to keep up with the happiness that fills our home everyday in 2012!!

We are so lucky to have had such a great year and love looking back on it but we excited for 2012 to see what the year brings!! Happy New Year!!

Our Very Merry Christmas 2011

2011-12-26T16:26:00.000-08:00

We had a wonderful Christmas here at the Kahler house!! We of course got some presents, but we also got some fantastic time as a family keeping up our traditions and enjoying every minute of it!!

On Friday night we took the girls to look at Christmas lights. It was fun going back to neighborhoods that Matt and I had been to as kids with our families to look at lights. We went to 2 neighborhoods that had really done up streets and then just drove around some too. Tatum and Camdyn both had a great time. They really loved the lights and there eyes were almost as bright as the lights were :).

Excited to go see lights!!

Saturday morning (Christmas Eve Day) we got up and got right into making our cookies for Santa. This is the second year that we have made the recipe we did and they turned out great. So very yummy!! It was really fun that the 4 of us made the cookies and decorated them together. Then we just curled up on the couch and watched a few Christmas movies as a family. We had Matt's side of the family over for Christmas Eve dinner. It was a nice relaxed evening. The girls got to open their Christmas jammies that night and they both looked adorable of course!! We put the food out for Santa and the Reindeer. {Little story: we were at the grocery store getting everything we needed for our Christmas meals and I asked Tatum what Reindeer eat, she said she didn't know. I told her I thought they ate carrots so we put some of those in our cart. Then after a bit of shopping Tatum said, "Mommy, I think that Reindeers really like cheese". I said oh you are right it is their favorite, so when the Reindeers came to our house they got carrots and cheese :)}. Then we headed upstairs to get all tucked in tight so that Santa could bring some Christmas Magic!!

Time to bake cookies!!

Tatum is so awesome at cracking eggs!!

Camdyn loves baking

Tatum and Daddy rolling out the dough

Santa's cookie

Camdyn going for a stroll

Cute girl

So ready for Christmas!!

All ready for Santa

Christmas jammies!!

Our girls both slept until about 8:15 Christmas morning. But as soon as they were up Tatum started talking about how she heard Santa in the night. She said that she heard his Jingle Bells while he was bringing her presents. So cute!! Both our girls were adorable opening all of their gifts. Camdyn had a blast on her first Christmas. I have never heard Cam do so much squeeling. She was honestly just so super excited about everything!!

Reading the note Santa left the girls

Camdyn loving her stocking gifts

Tatum and her stocking

The girls and their gifts from Santa

Camdyn on her first Christmas

Daddy and his gifts from the girls

Presents everywhere!!

We spent the afternoon at Matt's parents, opening more gifts and having fun. And then we headed over to Matt's Aunt and Uncles house for Christmas dinner and so much fun!! Instead of doing gifts for everyone we do a gift card exchange. Every person brings a gift card and we each get to pick one at a time. This year it was oldest to youngest. Then after every person has one the fun begins. We have to roll dice and if we land on a 6 we can steal someone else's card. It is five minutes of laughter and craziness and it is so much fun. After the gift card exchange we play minute to win it. To us this is probably one of the best parts of our Christmas traditions. It is so awesome to see what games we will have to play and how silly we can get. More non-stop laughter!! This year we played so many histerical games, even Tatum got to play some of them. Matt and Andrew were the champions of this years Minute to Win it Madness!!

Cutest Santa Butt

Adorable

Playing with Auntie Emma

Tatum and Mommy

Marshmellow blow gun for minute to win it

{There are of course a whole lot of minute to win it pictures but we will keep those in the family :)}

We truly are so incredibly lucky and blessed with all that we have and we could not of asked for a better Christmas!!!!

Holiday Week!!

2011-12-20T17:43:00.000-08:00

This week we got a special treat at both school and at dance. Monday was holiday visitors week at Tatum's dance class. Daddy, Camdyn, Nana, Papa and I all got to go in her classroom and watch her class and see her Christmas Dance to 'I want a hippopotamus for Christmas'. It was so fun to be in there watching her and see how good she has gotten in the last 3 months. Tatum was so proud of all she could do and she loved having us in there. There was lots of clapping going on for all of the girls in the class!! Tatum loved having Camdyn in there too, she kept saying Camdyn I am right here look at me and smiling so big. So sweet!!

Starting off tapping at the bar

Time to put on some makeup :)

Train time

Flaps across the floor

Back flaps

Getting ready for her dance

Dancing!!

Time for Ballet Shoes

Rocking out!!

Having a Blast!!

Tatum, her teacher Ms. Peggy and her special cupcake

I was in charge of pictures and Matt was in charge of taking video. We came prepared with 2 cameras of course :). The videos are so super cute. The first one is their Christmas dance and the second one is some dancing to Justin Beiber. Now her class is all 2 and 3 year olds and when Justin Beiber comes on the girls absolutely love it. It is so adorable to see them get down!!

Tonight was the show at the girls school. It was titled "Holidays around the world". Each class sung a different song about a different holiday. Tatum's class sung 'Twinkle twinkle seven lights' (Kwanza). It was very cute to watch the kids sing. Some of the kids in her class knew the song very well and some not so well. I think a lot of them were shy with all the parents watching. Not sure how well Tatum knew the song, but it was adorable anyway :)

Camdyn was so excited to watch Tatum sing!!

It is SO MUCH FUN to see all that our girls do and I hope they both know how so very proud we are of both of them, they are just so amazing!!!

This and that.

2011-12-12T13:14:00.000-08:00

Camdyn has decided she is hilarious. She of course is hilarious so we just can't seem to get mad at her!! She has a couple of new favorite things. One of the things she likes to do is crawl over to the bathtub in our bathroom and turn on the faucet. She is tall enough that if she stands up she can reach it and she just bounces up and down and thinks it is so great. She starts crawling over there and I say, "Camdyn I hope you are not heading to turn that water on." Camdyn stops, looks at me and laughs and just keeps on going. Then I tell her (more stern of course), "Camdyn you better not turn the water on", then she of course goes ahead and turns in on. The whole time she is looking at me and cracking up. She just thinks I am so funny for telling her not to do it and she thinks she is so funny cause she does it anyway. I will walk her all the way out to the loft and she just speeds her little tush right back in there. It is cute how excited she gets. Dangerous for her to be turning it on I know, but she is just adorable. Camdyn also loves to 'help' with the dishes. Her new thing is climbing into the dishwasher. Of course she doesn't put dishes in, she prefers to take dishes out.

I am so cute

Tatum got a new bike for her birthday from Uncle Adam and Aunt Lindsey and I took her out for a bike ride on Sunday afternoon. She looks adorable on her bike with her helmet on. She looks like such a big girl. She rode all the way down the street to the end of the cul-de-sac and back. I made her keep pedaling the whole way. We had to take 2 breaks because she kept telling me, "Mommy, this is really hard work". She did an awesome job and we are so proud of her for how far she went and how good she is getting at pedaling!!

Our girls have been pretty sick the last few days. Camdyn started throwing up on Thursday morning about 3am and Tatum started throwing up about 4:15am. They both were sick several times on Thursday but by Thursday evening they seemed to be doing better. So they got all ready to head to school on Friday as usual and after 2 bites of her breakfast, Tatum got sick. So Daddy stayed home with the girls in the morning and I came home at lunch to be with them. All was good for the rest of the day until the night. Camdyn got sick right before bed and Tatum got sick about 4am again. Saturday morning we had a birthday party to go to and a Christmas party that evening. We were so super sad we missed both because our poor girls were still so sick. Tatum got sick again at lunch time and Camdyn got sick at dinner time. They were on rotating schedules I guess. We definitely did a lot of laundry this weekend!! All day Sunday they were both great, both seemed to be back to normal happy and playing. So Monday morning went as planned and Matt took them to school. 45 minutes later I got a call from school that Camdyn got sick again. Not sure what was going on. On Saturday I had texted their doctor (really she is amazing, she texted me back within 2 minutes), she told me there is a nasty virus going around and to not give them any food, just clear liquids. So that is what we did. Thankfully Tatum has been doing good, now hopefully Camdyn can start feeling good. Having sick babies is the absolute Worst!! They are both going to school this morning so am definitely hoping they can both enjoy their day with no sickness!!

Tatum had her 3 year check up at the doctor on Monday and she is doing great. She is 36 pounds (89th percentile) and 39 1/4 inches tall (91st percentile). Tatum had her blood pressure checked and she was a little nervous, but she loved that she got to see the numbers go up and down (her bp was 86/50, which is good for her age). She was so cute doing all the things the doctor asked her to do. She had to jump up and down, touch her toes, give high fives, show her muscles. Tatum thought she was pretty great and she had fun. The doctor gave her a coloring book with crayons and stickers, Tatum was very excited about it because it was Tinkerbell. Cannot believe how much she is growing and how awesome she is doing!!

We love our girls so very much!!!!

Spaghetti

2011-12-12T12:55:00.000-08:00

Spaghetti is a favorite meal in our house. We have it probably once a week. It is so easy for us to make and it is something that we all love. Camdyn had it for the first time the other day. It was messy and so much fun!!

Yay spaghetti!!

Shoveling it in!!

Tatum loves doing this

Christmas Tree

2011-12-12T12:46:00.000-08:00

As soon as we got home from Disneyland we went out to get our Christmas tree. We started decorating it right away and we all had a great time. It's a really good thing that we don't have any furniture in our front room because our tree is huge. It is definitely the biggest one we have ever had. It looks great all done up with lights and ornaments!! Tatum did a great job hanging the ornaments this year, she is quite the pro. Camdyn did a good job trying to eat the ornaments too ;). We are super excited for our first Christmas in our home and also Camdyn's first Christmas!!

Tatum and our huge tree

Camdyn is so excited!!

The girls trying to climb the ladder

Camdyn helping with ornaments

Tatum hanging the ornaments

Our beauties

Kahler Family Christmas Tree

Our last day at Mickey's House

2011-12-08T10:00:00.001-08:00

Day 4

For our last day at the Magical House of Mickey we decided we would just let the girls sleep in instead of waking them up like we had been. So of course both girls were up and at em ready to go by 8:30. So we were off for another full day of fun!!

Our Minnie Girls

Minnie Tatum

On our way over to Fantasy Land we saw Ariel. We hadn't seen her yet and Tatum was so excited to see her. It was so cute to watch them interact.

Telling Ariel she is 3

Ariel and Tatum

We had a nice slow day with lots of riding and lots of smiles. We started off and spent most of the morning in Fantasyland. For a Friday it really wasn't too busy and we took advantage of the short lines.

Aunt Lindsey, Camdyn, Uncle Adam

Camdyn and Uncle Adam on the carousel

So much fun!!

Riding the train.

After we rode the train around the park we were ready for lunch and headed over to Downtown Disney to eat. We had burritos and they were delicious. They were so huge and I think the best lunch we had all week!! After lunch we headed over to build a bear and Tatum got to make a bear. She picked a pink bear and she had a blast. We told Camdyn next year she can make one too :)

Giving her bear a bath.

Trying on the shades :)

After lunch we met back up with everyone at Disneyland for a family picture in the front. The Matt's parents took us over to buy us annual passes!!!! We are so excited and so thankful that they were so generous in buying them for us. Now we can go every week if we want ;). Such an awesome gift!! While we were doing that Gramma got the girls to take a nap and they both got in some good rest. Then Camdyn woke up and she was just not a happy girl. I think the 4 days at Disney finally caught up with her. So we went over to California Adventure and took her to the baby center, gave her a bottle and let her crawl around for a little while and she was good as new. I didn't even think that her not crawling around much over the last few days might be bothering her, but I love that Disney does have the baby center!! We used it everyday!!

Friday evening we had a great dinner of pasta down on Paradise Pier and we rode Tower of Terror. Then the girls got to spend some time in Bugs Land right before the park closed.

Cousin Zac and Tatum on Monsters Inc.

Papa and Tatum on the Ladybugs

Sleepy Camdyn

We wanted to go back to Disneyland for a couple more rides. Camdyn was so sleepy so she went back to the hotel with her Aunt D and Aunt Kristi. When she was leaving Tatum said something so super cute. She said, "Camdyn you are my best friend and I love you I will see you at the hotel." Tatum and Camdyn are the BEST sisters ever!!

We went back to Disneyland and we were trying to get over to ride Jungle Cruise or Winnie the Pooh, but because Fantasmic was going to be starting shortly we were stuck and couldn't get over there. So we had a change of route and headed to our favorite Fantasyland. There we rode Alice in Wonderland, it's a small world, and the Carousel. And then it was time for us to go home.

We had the most amazing time with our amazing family. We couldn't of asked for better weather, it was not really very crowded and the Disney Magic filled the air. We are already counting down the days until our next trip!!

Tatum's 3rd Birthday in Disneyland

2011-12-07T18:32:00.001-08:00

DAY 3
For Tatum's 3rd birthday we woke up early and used the Disney Magical Morning Pass (got in an hour early). Our birthday girl woke up in a wonderful mood and she was so super excited it was her birthday!!

Happy Birthday Tatum.

The shuttle ride over was so fun. We had an awesome driver. He really got everyone pepped up and ready for a great day. We sang songs and did little chants. And then we got to sing Happy Birthday to everyone that had a birthday in the month of December. Of course we sang to Tatum and she loved it!!

Right when we walked in the gate, there was Mickey again!! So of course Tatum wanted to see him and tell him it was her birthday.

Aunt Kristi and Tatum with Mickey

A little photo shoot:

Castle

Our Birthday Girl

The 4 of us.

And then we were off to Fantastyland to start some rides. Guess what ride we started on?? Yes it was the rockets. We had quite the hilarious time on the rockets [some of the family was a bit scared, and it wasn't our girls ;)] it was pretty great!! After the Rockets some of us went and did Star Tours, the new version was definitely fun and Matt took the girls on Buzz. Then it was back to the teacups and of course the carousel. Tatum tried her hardest to pull the sword out of the stone but it was so tough ;)

Fun on the teacups

Even Gramma rode the teacups!!

Trying to get the sword!!

Thunder Mountain had been closed for the first 2 days we were there and it finally opened that morning. So everyone headed over to ride it while Gramma and I took the girls to the Reindeer Roundup. It was pretty fun seeing the Reindeers up close, they sure are fast!! And Pluto was over there too so we got to see him again. Then Tatum sat down and got to color a Reindeer Garland for our mantle. Camdyn slept through the fun but I am sure she was having sweet dreams!!

Reindeer

Tatum and Pluto

Loved coloring at Disneyland.

We went to lunch in downtown Disney, it was super cold because it was so windy but we enjoyed our lunch. Then we headed over to California Adventure where we did the Monsters Inc ride. We had never done that ride before and it was a lot of fun. Then we got to see Sully and Tatum gave him big hugs!! Luckily we also rode Toy Story Mania too!!

The birthday girl with Sully

Ready for Toy Story Mania

We headed back over to Disneyland in hopes of catching the parade. Tatum had been asleep during the parade the past 2 days and we really wanted her to see it. So of course she fell asleep. I decided to wake her up to watch it since she had been asleep a bit. She was pretty grumpy when I woke her up but she was still excited to see it and Camdyn loved watching it go by!!

Santas Ride

We of course stopped off at the Rockets for a quick ride then headed to California Adventure for some nice warm soup for dinner and a Birthday Cookie for our Big 3 year old!!! Then we ended the night watching World of Color. It was amazing of course. Tatum liked it in the beginning but then it got too loud and she got scared and again she and I huddled on the ground. Camdyn enjoyed it and watched almost the whole thing!!

Tatum and Daddy

Birthday Cookie

World of Color

On the bus ride back I told Matt that we needed to sing Happy Birthday to Tatum since we were all together. It was pretty quiet on the bus so I asked everyone on it if they could please help me in singing Happy Birthday to our beautiful Tatum. Everyone seemed happy to join in. Tatum loved having a song sung just for her and her smile was ear to ear!! A perfect way to end her birthday!!

Disneyland Adventures Continue!!

2011-12-07T18:01:00.001-08:00

DAY 2
On Wednesday morning we were up bright and early again and this time headed to Disneyland with the rest of our family who had gotten there very late (or very early in the morning) the night before. We were so excited to get to spend our day with them, we couldn't wait to get going!!

On our way in Matt was stopped by a Disneyland Castmember and the man started asking him questions about food and if he was allergic to anything, etc. Turns out they were looking for people to taste some new menu items and all he had to do was meet at 11 and go with them for an hour and he would get $75. Of course Matt jumped at this and didn't hesitate. Later in the day he got to go "backstage" and try the food. I guess they are redoing one of the restaurants and are going to serve some of Walt Disney's favorite food. So that is what they got to try. There was 5 of them in all. Matt had a fun time and I got a great new sweatshirt out of the deal, thank you Disneyland ;)

First off we had ride the Rockets. Tatum loves the Rockets and it was a great way to start our day!! It was of course Camdyn's first time riding them and she rode with her Daddy and seemed to enjoy them. Then we had to do a little photo shoot of the girls because they were wearing their super cute Christmas Minnie Shirts. I love matching my girls outfits and plan on doing it as long as they will let me :)

Waiting to ride the rockets

First ride of the day

Sisters

I love them more than anything!!

Next we went over and rode Pirates of the Carribean and Splash Mountain. We all got pretty wet, but it was great. Thank goodness for grandparents who took the girls over to Winnie the Pooh!! The girls got to meet Winnie the Pooh and Tigger too (those pics are on Gramma's camera). Next up we were off to Tom Sawyers Island to search for Pirate Treasure. I don't remember going over there when I was little (my Mom insists she took us, but I am not so sure, haha). We had a good time going through the caves and over the bridges!!

Heading to the Island, Tatum and Aunt Kristi

On the Island

Crossing the wobbly bridge.

Tatum and cousin Nic

We found the treasure!!

Then we were headed back to ride the Carousel, Dumbo, the Teacups and Alice in Wonderland!!

Camdyn was sooooo Excited

Such an amazing happy picture!!

Beauty!!

Camdyn fell asleep in line!!

Aunt Lindsey and Tatum on Dumbo

Papa, Tatum and Nana

Waiting in line for Alice

We were apparently very excited for Alice :)

Then we headed over to Toon Town and it was character meet and greet city down there!! First we met Goofy, then we met Donald (we missed a pic of him though). We got to go to Minnies house and meet her, it was so sweet; Tatum went up and gave Minnie a hug first and then I brought Camdyn up and Tatum said, "Minnie, this is my sister Camdyn". Tatum was so proud to introduce her sister it was so sweet. And finally we saw Pluto. Tatum got to ride the roller coaster with everyone and she loved all 20 seconds of it :)

Tatum and Goofy

Tatum and Minnie

Camdyn got to meet Minnie too

Camdyn loved Minnies House!!

Pluto and Tatum

We headed over to California Adventure for a little bit and the girls snoozed in the stroller. Then we went back over and rode a bunch of rides at Disneyland. We decided we would try and watch the fireworks and see how Tatum did. Tatum was not a happy girl. She was more terrified than she has ever been and I immediately felt awful for putting her through that. So she and I sat huddled up tight on the floor while Matt, Gramma and Camdyn watched them. Even if I could barely see them just being there listening to the music and everything I still cried. Believe Fireworks make me cry every year!!

Then it was back on the shuttle to the hotel to hop in bed to get some rest for our next day in Disneyland!!

DISNEYLAND!!!!!!!

2011-12-07T12:02:00.001-08:00

To sum up Disneyland, it was Magically Amazing and the most fun ever!!!! Sounds pretty great right?? Well it was. We had a total blast and loved every minute of it!!

DAY 1
On Monday afternoon, Matt, the girls, Gramma and I drove over to California after we got Grampa dropped off at the airport (he had to go back and work, we were sad he didn't come this year, we missed him!!). We made pretty good time and got to our hotel without any troubles about 8 or so. We got all checked into our room and ready for bed and went off to sleep, hoping to get a good nights rest for our big day the next day. Tatum was super excited that she got to share a bed with Gramma. Tatum is definitely a crazy sleeper so hopefully Gramma slept as good as Tatum did :)

All ready for bed in new Jesse Jammies with Ariel

Tuesday morning we were up and at em bright and early for our first day at Disneyland. We were all smiles as we boarded the Disney shuttle that picked us up at the Peacock Suites. Matt was nervous about getting our stroller onto the shuttle.... We brought the jogging stroller because we thought it would be best for the girls to take naps during the day. Luckily it fit, it was just a bit heavy and awkward for Matt to get on the shuttle, but we certainly were thankful that we had it!!

All set for DISNEYLAND

Waiting for the shuttle

We got to Disneyland before it opened and had to wait just a few minutes to be let in. Strolling through those gates and under the Bridge was so great. Right off the bat we saw Mickey Mouse. He was right down passed the hat shop. We headed over and were about 3rd in line to meet him. Camdyn was a bit scared of him, she is still too young to get the whole character concept. But Tatum was SOOO super excited and gave him super big hugs. What a way to enter the park!!

We are in Disneyland!!

Tatum and Mickey

Camdyn wasn't so sure about Mickey

Tatum and Gramma at the big Main Street Tree.

We decided to head to Pixie Hollow first because we had never been before and Tinkerbell is a favorite in our house & we wanted to make sure we didn't miss it. It was only about a 15 minute wait so we hopped in line. Tatum was happy she got to meet Tinkerbell and Iridessa, but as a parent I was extremely dissapointed in the experience. This was the only un-magical experience we had the whole trip. It was not at all what I was expecting it would be like. Neither fairy really interacted with Tatum. Tinkerbell was sort of a meanie, she must have been grumpy Tink while we were there. Sometimes when Tatum gets nervous she puts her fingers in her mouth, so Tatum had her fingers in her mouth and Tink grabbed her hand pushed it out of her mouth and said get your fingers out of your mouth. I mean are you kidding me?!? I thought we were visiting Tinkerbell and not Cruella DeVille?!? So needless to say Tatum enjoyed it but I was annoyed, we will not be going back to Pixie Hollow any time soon. I know not all the Tinks are probably like that but this one made me mad!!

Camdyn and Daddy waiting to see Tinkerbell

Tatum and the fairies

I took a few deep breaths and off we went headed down towards Fantasyland. There was basically no line for Matterhorn so that was our first ride of the day. Figured we better start big. Tatum was excited to ride it with Mommy and Daddy while Gramma and Camdyn took a walk. Tatum did great on the ride. She was saying weeee the whole time, but she was a bit scared of the dark and the Monster. She got off and said she liked it but told Gramma all about the Monster on the ride!! Camdyn had fallen asleep by that point, so Gramma took Tatum on Dumbo. Tatum LOVES Dumbo. So it was really fun that they got to do it.

Matterhorn!!

Camdyn snoozing

Dumbo!!

Camdyn woke up from her short snooze and we were off to the carousel. This was Camdyn's first ride at Disneyland and her first ride on a carousel. Saying she loved it is an understatement. Camdyn was so incredibly excited and had the best time on this ride. It was so great watching her squeel!! Tatum of course loved it too!!

In awe!!

Then we went on Pinnochio. This ended up being a mistake as it scared both of the girls. Tatum hates the dark and we should have known better. But I thought maybe she would be ok. She wasn't...... Camdyn wasn't a fan either but it didn't have her quite as upset. Learned my lesson, no more dark rides.

Next we were off to the Tea Cups (both girls LOVED it) and It's A Small World, where Tatum was still in scared mode. When I got her to look she loved it but she mostly kept saying she wanted to get off!!

Loving the Tea Cups

Trying to get into the White Rabbits House

Then we were off to Princess Fantasy Faire. This ended up being probably our favorite thing we did all week. The wait to see the Princesses was about 45 minutes. So Mom took Tatum on a walk and to get her face painted while Matt, Cam and I waited in line. It was a wait that was DEFINITELY worth it. When it was our turn it was Sleeping Beauty, Jasmine and Belle that were waiting for us. Tatum was ECSTATIC!!!!!!! The Princesses are honestly PERFECT at what they do. All 3 of them got down to Tatum's level and had a little conversation with her and made her feel like she was a Princess too!! It was a wonderful experience for her!!

Princess Face Paint

Meeting Sleeping Beauty

Tatum and Princess Jasmine

Chit Chatting with Belle

Tatum loved meeting Belle

Big Hugs!!

Then we decided to head over to California Adventure for lunch. The chili cheese fries at the Taste Pilots Grill next to Soarin are my absolute fave!! After lunch we headed over to Tatum's most favorite ride. Then we rode the Little Mermaid ride. It was our first time on this ride and we were not disappointed. The girls thought it was so fun "going in the ocean" and all the songs from the movie were a part of the ride. Disney really did an awesome job on this one and we are definite fans!! We went and saw Lightening McQueen and Mater and then headed over to Bugs Land for a visit.

So excited for Cars Land to open

Tatum and Gramma in Bugs Land

So Excited!!

Sisters

Family in California Adventure

Laughter

Having a blast!!

Tatum fell asleep shortly after and we decided since we didn't want her to miss any rides we would get some ice cream. Now Camdyn is not supposed to have dairy but we cheated a little since we were on vacation and I shared a few bites of mine with her. She LOVED it. She kept jumping and squawking for more. It was so cute!!

Yummmy

Loving the ice cream

Of course we had to get Camdyn her first pair of Mickey Ears!!!!

Then we headed over to the World of Disney to scope out what we wanted to buy for the trip. Finally Tatum woke up and we headed back into Disneyland for a few more rides. We did Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters, the Jungle Cruise (a favorite for the girls) and the Haunted Mansion. When we came out of the Haunted Mansion the fireworks were going off. Which of course Tatum hated so much. But luckily it was just the last couple of booms and then the snow started. Since we were in New Orleans Square it wasn't very crowded and we were able to get right down by the snow machine. The girls thought it was awesome to get snowed on, such great Disney Magic :)

Loving the snow!!

We did so much on the first day and truly have such magical memories from that day. We headed back to the hotel and ordered pizza for dinner and hopped into bed. We needed to get our rest for the next day when the rest of our family would be joining us for another day of adventure!!!!

On the first day we took almost 200 pictures, so that is why this post was forever long!! The rest of our trip to come!!

Happy 3rd Birthday Tatum Ann!!!

2011-11-28T07:11:00.001-08:00

Our beautiful baby girl Tatum Ann is 3 years old today. Since the day she was born she has been so amazing. Tatum really is the most wonderful daughter and we are so incredibly blessed to have her in our family. She is so full of spirit and happiness and love. Tatum is so gorgeous on the inside and out and she fills us up with love every single day.

We love you to the Moon and back Tatum Ann, have a most wonderful birthday!!!!

Tatum's Family Birthday Party

2011-11-28T06:52:00.001-08:00

Tatum is going to be 3 (oh my gosh, I can't believe it) on Thursday, so on Sunday we had the family over for a little birthday dinner for her. She wanted hot dogs for her special birthday dinner. So Gramma and Grampa got a bunch at Costco and Matt grilled them up for everyone {we also had hamburgers and chips & dip, not the birthday girls request, but figured we needed to round out the menu a bit ;)}.

Tatum decided she wanted a strawberry cake with green frosting. We took her to the store and told her she could pick out any kind of cake she wanted and she said strawberry was her favorite. So we went with it. The cake turned out yummy. It looked a bit odd being pink and green but Tatum loved it. I am just glad she picked out strawberry cake and not anything that was too odd!!

Tatum got so super spoiled with her presents. She got some great toys, a radio, a princess clock, Minnie Mouse pots and pans for her kitchen, an ice cream maker set, her very own digital camera, a v-reader, 2 princess dolls (she slept with both of them last night) and a big girl bike. She was so adorable riding her bike. She is going to be cruising off in no time. Tatum loves each and every one of her presents and has already played with all of them. Lucky, lucky girl!!!!

Baking her birthday cake

Time to mix

Camdyn likes strawberry :)

Tatum decorated this cake all by herself!!

Yay!!

Cutest sisters ever!!

Present time!!

Such great gifts!!

Happy girl!!

New bike!!

Strawberry cake with green frosting

Happy birthday song

Make a wish

Riding her new bike!!

Christmas with Gramma and Grampa

2011-11-28T06:36:00.001-08:00

On Saturday we got to celebrate Christmas with Gramma and Grampa out at there house. They will be in Missouri for Christmas so we got to celebrate with them early. It was so much fun. Tatum opened EVERY single gift. She was "helping" she said. She is definitely a pro un-wrapper now :).

The girls got some great new books, dvd's and puzzles. Both of the girls LOVE puzzles. One of Tatum's puzzles is a 10 foot long alphabet train, she and Grampa had a fun time putting that together!! The girls also got some cute matching jammies and outfits. Matt and I were of course spoiled too. The most exciting thing for me was my new CAMERA!! I am so super excited about the new camera. Taking soooo many pics with it already. Got it just in time for Disneyland so I can't wait to go crazy with it!! :)

We are so lucky that we got to spend the day with Gramma and Grampa and have such a nice dinner at their house. It really is about the together time and we loved our special day!!

Opening presents

New dress

Let me open it!! :)

Cute girls

For our Mickey Kitchen

"Helping" Daddy

Grampa and his new ASU Trailer hitch

Reading a new book

Mommy and Tatum

The girls with Gramma and Grampa

Puzzle time

So cute!!

Thanksgiving!!

2011-11-25T13:14:00.001-08:00

We had such a wonderful Thanksgiving day this year. So very much to be thankful for and we are so incredibly blessed to have such a loving home and a fantastic family!!

Gramma and Grampa flew in Wednesday night from Nashville to spend the holiday weekend with us. The airport was a mad house trying to pick them up. But eventually we got there and the girls were so excited to see both of them in person and not just on our weekly video calls.

We got up Thursday morning and we went for a run. We figured a 4 mile run would get the day started off right. It was pretty cold out (for us), but we bundled up the girls and off we went. We felt really good after we finished. Matt went over to his parents to watch the Packers win while the girls and I stayed home and played with Gramma and Grampa and made some food. It was a nice morning. We all went over to Matt's parents house for our Thanksgiving feast and had such a great time. It was so fun having the family together to enjoy the special day and share in such yummy food. Camdyn definitely enjoyed her first Thanksgiving. Her favorite of course being the sweet potatoes!! Tatum had so much fun playing with everyone, especially Katie and Casey. They were both so wonderful to her and she had a blast!! We didn't do the black Friday shopping with the rest of the fam but I did hit up Michael's with Lindsey and Katie and got a steal on some ribbon (upcoming project for the girls). Very excited about our finds there!! All in all it was a successful day!! And we are so very thankful for everything we have, especially our beautiful girls Tatum and Camdyn!!

Happy Thanksgiving

Tatum showing off the shirt we made

Camdyn's first Thanksgiving!!

Gramma and Tatum at dinner

Camdyn chowing down

YUMMMMM!!!!

We got up this morning and took the girls to the zoo with Gramma and Grampa. Was so nice to get out and enjoy the beautiful day!!

Our little pearls :)

Tatum on the Elephant.

Tatum and Grampa looking at monkeys.

Tatum and Gramma being silly.

Now it is off to the ASU game. Christmas decorating tomorrow morning and Christmas dinner with Gramma and Grampa at their house tomorrow. Sunday evening is Tatum's family bday dinner and then its time for DISNEYLAND and Tatum's 3rd Birthday!! Sooooo excited for our week ahead!!

Pinterest Projects

2011-11-21T19:07:00.001-08:00

This weekend we decided to get crafty and do a few of the projects I had pinned on Pinterest. Just thought I would share because we love everything that we made!!

First we made Christmas tree and heart crayons. This was fun to do because all of us could help get the crayons ready (taking off the cover and cutting up). We got the cheap crayons from Target and the Christmas Tree mold was in the dollar bin there. We just had to put the crayon pieces in the oven and voila cute crayons for the girls to use!!

Box of crayons :)

Remove all the wrapping

Tatum cutting up the crayons

Put crayon pieces into the silicon mold

Bake at 230 degrees for about 20-30 minutes

Christmas Tree Crayons!!

Then we made an ornament shadow box. The ornaments were also in the dollar bin at Target and the shadow box was 60% off at Michael's. All we did was take off the ends of the ornaments and hot glued them in!! This can be used as either a tray or a wall hanging. We will see what we feel like doing with it once our Christmas decorations are up!!

Ornament Shadow Box

I think the next one that we did is my favorite. My brother helped me put this one together. It is a Christmas card holder wreath. So simple and so cute. All we used was a wood circle, some clothes pins, a few cans of spray paint (green and glitter green), hot glue and some super cute ribbon!! Hope we get a lot of Christmas cards this year to put up on our "wreath".

Christmas Card Wreath

Today I finished one last project. For this one I just bought a plain glass jar ($3 at Michaels), got some rubberbands from work, put the rubberbands around the jar, sprayed it with some frosted spray paint and we had an instant display jar. I put a candle in it and it looked great, I think I will use this all year and just change what is on the inside of it [ornaments at Christmas, hearts at Valentines Day - you get the idea :)]

Glass Jar

With an LED candle inside.

We had a lot of fun doing these projects and everything was so easy and cheap!! Definitely let me know what you think and if any of you try any of these projects!!

Great weekend!!

2011-11-20T10:42:00.001-08:00

We had an AWESOME weekend this weekend. So much fun!!

First big weeked news was Camdyn had her 3rd tooth pop up on Thursday morning!! She had a very tough night on Wednesday night and it all made sense on Thursday when we saw that cute little tooth. It is another bottom tooth. She is looking so cute!!

See her 3rd tooth?!?!

Our weekend started on Thursday when my brother arrived to visit us for the weekend. I have been counting down the days until Michael got here and was so excited when he finally came!! We didn't have much planned for his visit, just figured we would play it by ear.

The girls and I stayed home on Friday and spent the day with Uncle Michael. Tatum was a bit shy of him at first but has warmed up to him and is loving the visit. Friday we just did a bit of shopping then came home and watched 3 hours of Dora the Explorer with Tatum. I know Uncle Michael was excited about this haha. He is such an awesome brother, he spent the afternoon making me chicken parmesan for my birthday dinner that we had Friday night.

Camdyn playing during our Dora marathon

Michael slaving in the kitchen.

Friday night we had the family over for my birthday dinner. It was delicious (thank you brother!!) and so much fun. I of course got spoiled with great gifts and had a great time hanging out with everyone!!

Mommy and Tatum

Mommy and Camdyn

My big brother Michael and me

Cute girls

Saturday was my 29th birthday. I woke up feeling great and still so very young even though I am now just 1 year away from 30!! The girls got to open their Christmas presents from Uncle Michael, Aunt Becky, Ellie and Holden in the morning and they were both so excited with all that they got. They are such great present givers that they got the girls the same embroidered Disney blankets that we had gotten the girls for Christmas too!! Gotta love Disneystore.com, haha. So looks like the girls will have a set of blankets to take to Gramma and Grampas house now too :).

Present time!!

Camdyn loved opening presents

After presents we headed to the ASU vs. UofA football game. We had a great time at the tailgate. Lindsey and Adam made a delicious Mexican feast and a cookie cake (so good!!). Tatum of course had fun playing in the bounce house and we ended the evening with a little flip cup; I got crazy and had an entire Dr. Pepper during our flip cup games ;)!! (ASU didn't win last night but we still had a good time up until the end of the game)

Ready for the game!!

Go Devils!!

Having fun in the bounce house

Tatum and Aunt Lindsey

Chris and Michael - friends since forever!!

Flip cup

Having a great birthday

Camdyn and Daddy.

Tatum enjoyed her cotton candy :)

Today we are spending the day hanging out with Michael before he has to go home tomorrow morning. I am so thankful for my wonderful sister in law Becky for sending him out here for the weekend. I know she misses him like crazy but I have had a wonderful time with the best big brother in the world!!

Sea Life Aquarium

2011-11-13T09:16:00.001-08:00

Yesterday for family day we took the girls on an adventure to the Sea Life Aquarium. We had never been there before so we weren't sure what it was going to be like. A friend of Matt's from work gave him a few free tickets so we figured we definitely better go check it out. It was really nice because it was not crowded at all. There was probably only 3 families including us in the place. Tatum had a blast running around looking at all the fish. And Camdyn loved looking at them all swimming around. They were both so cute to watch. Tatum even got to feel a starfish. Tatum was very scared of the crabs and the sharks for some reason so we steared clear of those!! Overall it was a fun thing to do for us to enjoy as a family.

Riding the carousel before the Aquarium

Sea Life Aquarium

Tatum got to touch a starfish

Having fun.

Tatum in a bubble.

Mommy and Camdyn in a bubble.

Sisters on Sea Leafs

Camdyn checking out the fish

Finding the stingrays.

Mommy and Tatum

Nemo and Dori!!

Finally its the weekend!!

2011-11-11T16:34:00.001-08:00

So glad it is finally the weekend!!

Camdyn had her 9 month check up today and she is looking great. She is up to 20 pounds 1 oz (71%) and is 28.5 inches tall (81%). Her height jumped up a bit so guess she is going to be tall like her sister :). Her right ear looks great. Her left ear Dr. Barnes couldn't tell because it was plugged with wax/gunk. So its back to ear drops in that ear for a few days. Camdyn had her iron tested (a little prick to her big toe) and it looks great. Her iron should be between 10 and 14 and hers is 13.5, so that is awesome!! Dr. Barnes is going to send Camdyn's chart to a GI doctor to see if her reflux is causing back up/carrying infection and maybe causing all of these ear infections. We are just trying to hopefully maybe someday figure out why all these issues with her ears keep on happening. But otherwise she is healthy and of course oh so very happy :)!!

Practicing standing up.

Always the smiley babe

Tatum is still loving her dance class. I tried to get her to wear tights on Monday night since it is getting so cold out but she didn't want anything to do with them. Most of her little friends in class had tights on so hopefully I can convince her to wear them next week. Tatum was wearing her cute new dance outfit this week, she looked adorable and loved spinning in it!!

Tatum's new dance outfit.

Just have to share a quick story about Tatum because she is honestly the sweetest little girl!! Last night I was not feeling very well at all. I was seriously feeling awful. So I got in bed at about 7pm. I didn't feel any better after laying down so about 8 Matt and the girls ran to Walgreens to get me some medicine. They got home and Tatum came in the room and said, "Mommy we got you some medicine, I'll be right back." So Matt helped her get out the medicine and some water and she came back to me and said, "Mommy I have your medicine, you need to sit up. There are 2 medicines Mommy, you can do it you are such a big girl." She handed me the first pill and I took it and she said, "Good job Mommy now here is one more." I took the second one and she took the water and set it on the table and came back to me. Tatum said, "Now lay down Mommy I will tuck you in." I laid down and she pulled the blanket up to my chin, rubbed my face and kissed my forehead. The she said, "Now you rest Mommy I will be right on the couch if you need me, I love you Mommy." Is that not the sweetest thing ever?!?! I am so lucky to have such an amazing husband and daughters to take care of me when I am feeling icky!!

We are hoping to do something FUN this weekend. Not sure what, maybe a trip to the zoo. Guess we shall see. We gotta get the house all clean and ready because my brother is coming to visit us next week. We are all so excited!! Tatum most of all I think. She keeps talking about how Uncle Michael is going to sleep in her room with her. But seeing how she doesn't sleep in there we will see how that goes, haha. But we are seriously so super excited for him to get here, only 6 more days!!

Patty Cake

2011-11-09T05:49:00.000-08:00

Just a quick video of the girls doing Patty Cake. Tatum makes sure our whole family gets some cake :). Camdyn isn't really sure what is going on, haha!!

Camdyn Breeze is 9 months old!!

2011-11-06T16:05:00.000-08:00

November 4, 2011 - Cannot believe our little baby Camdyn Breeze is already 9 months old. The last 9 months have been totally amazing having her in our life. She is growing so much and impresses us every day. Camdyn can crawl at the speed of light, she can stand herself up and do a few steps while holding onto something, and she has a laugh that is so infectious my heart lights up every time I hear it. Camdyn's 2 little teeth are too cute when she smiles!! Watching Tatum and Camdyn interact makes me so unbelievably happy and proud to be their Mommy!! Happy 9 months Camdyn Breeze!!

Camdyn Breeze - 9 Months Old

Eating a chicken wing (from Tatum's kitchen)

Too bad poor baby Camdyn had to spend her 9 month birthday being super super sick!! Camdyn got up and was so happy and chit chatting up a storm, so of course Matt dropped the girls off at school like always. I guess shortly after they got there Camdyn started to feel warm. They took her temp at 8:45 and it was 99.0 and thirty minutes later it had gone up to 101.5. So she had to be picked up ASAP. Luckily Matt was a good Daddy and skipped a golf tournament he was supposed to be in to go and get her. He took her home gave her some tylenol and she took a snooze. When she woke up her temp had gone up to 102.3. Of course I got scared and called her pediatrician and they were able to see her right away, thank goodness. By the time they got to the doctor her temp was 103.3. She has another (or the one from last week didn't go away) are infection. As soon as Matt told me, I just started crying. Poor Camdyn just cannot get a break with her ears :(. Doc said her sinuses are so blocked they are causing the mucus to back up. So Camdyn got an antibiotic, singular and she has to take probiotics also. She seems to be a happy little camper now and playing like her usual self. Camdyn has her 9 month check up on Friday so hopefully everything will be all cleared up for her then. Hoping and praying it is and she gets some relief from her ears always hurting!!

Tatum and Camdyn are having a blast with their new playground. We go out there almost everyday after school. Tatum is getting pretty daring and likes to hang off of things and be crazy. I have to watch her very close!! Camdyn loves the swing and has a great time going down the slide (with a little help from Mommy)!!

Sisters swinging

Silly Tatum

Camdyn didn't know why I wouldn't let her eat the grass!

November 1.

2011-11-01T08:09:00.000-07:00

Cannot believe it is already November 1. This year is flying fast!! Holy cow Tatum is going to be 3 years old in a month. How can that be!?!? And Camdyn is going to be 9 months old in just 3 days. Really, 9 months?!? Our baby girls are growing so fast!!

On Sunday night we decided it was time to get Tatum to sleep in her own bed. For those of you that don't know Tatum is terrified of her bed and her room at night. She has been getting to sleep with Mommy and Daddy every night since we moved into our new house (February). Some nights she would fall asleep on the couch before it was time for bed but she would always wake up shortly after and find her way back into our room right in the middle of our not so big bed. We weren't sure what to do because putting her in her room leads to a lot of scared screams and cries. I would ask her what she was scared of in her room and she told me her floor fan. So I took that out of there and then she told me she was scared of her closet too. I told her we couldn't take that out but there was no need to be scared of her closet because it was just her princess shirts in there. That didn't help her been less scared. So I have been doing a lot of reading trying to get tips on what to do to make her not scared. And the solution I found was to start by having her bed in our room. So Saturday night Matt moved her bed into our room, next to the wall on my side of the bed. We told her, see look you get to sleep in Mommy and Daddy's room still, but in your very own bed. She did not want to have anything to do with her bed. So I told her ok tonight is the very last night you can sleep with us and tomorrow it is time for your big girl bed.............

Sunday night we put her to sleep in her bed and she was a bit scared. So I got her Jessie and Tigger and she cuddled them tight and seemed to do ok. She woke up once in the night and I saw her just standing by her bed so I went to her and got her all settled in again and she slept through. I was really proud of her for not hopping in bed with us. Last night she was scared to sleep in her bed again. I don't know why but she was, so I got her special lady bug that lights up and puts stars and the moon on the ceiling and walls and that seemed to make her happy and she drifted off to sleep shortly after. So we will keep up with having her sleep in her bed in our room until she isn't scared anymore and then we will start moving her back into her room. Tatum has been so proud of herself the last 2 mornings that she was such a big girl. She says, "Mom I slept in my big girl bed all by myself". 2 nights is the first step!! Hoping she keeps getting braver and braver!!

Finally we are also having Camdyn sleep in her room in her crib. We tried to have her sleep in there a few months ago, but it didn't work so well and then she had more ear issues so we wanted her close. But on Sunday night she sat up in her bassinet and was trying to crawl out of it. This scared me big time, I am not a heavy sleeper and most always wake up when she is moving around and would most likely know she was squirming before she fell out, but I don't want to risk her knocking the bassinet over or tumbling to the floor. So to her room and her crib it was. Last night I got her sheets all washed again and Matt moved the mattress down so it is on the lowest position now (no climbing out of it for a while for Camdyn!!). And guess what..... Camdyn slept THE WHOLE NIGHT!!!! I do not remember the last time she slept all night. It was great. I woke up a few times thinking that she should be waking up but she just kept on snoozing. A full night of sleep for all of us in our house. Pretty exciting stuff!! Not sure if she was exhausted from all the Halloween excitement or if she just loves her crib so much and sleeps so great in it. I certainly hope that it is because she loves her crib so much and she is going to start sleeping through the night EVERY night. Going to be positive about it and hope thats true :)

HALLOWEEN 2011

2011-10-31T20:44:00.000-07:00

Our little princesses "Alice" and "Belle" had a wonderful night Trick or Treating. Both girls looked adorable in their dresses and they went out trick or treating 3 different times. Hope our neighbors didn't mind seeing our girls more than once :). Matt's whole family came over and we had a spaghetti dinner after our first big trick or treating spree. We had a lot of fun. Tatum thinks every piece of candy is her favorite and then decides she doesn't like it. Basically she just loves lollipops and starbursts. Picture Time :)

Almost time to Trick or Treat

Daddy and our princess Belle

Talking to Grampa and Gramma

Beautiful Princesses

"Alice"

"Belle"

The 4 of us.

Camdyn, Aunt Kristi and Tatum

Trick or treating time.

Papa, Camdyn, Nana and Tatum

Camdy and Aunt Emma

Out getting some candy.

Dracula!!

Passing out candy

Look at all that Candy.

Heading back out with Uncle Doo-doo.

And out for the 3rd time with Aunt Lindsey.

Look at all that candy!!

Ears, ASU, Hummus, Running and Standing Tall.

2011-10-30T12:57:00.000-07:00

Let me just start by letting you know this is going to be a very random post.....

Camdyn has an ear infection. Yes another ear infection. Yes she has tubes and should not be getting them so much, but regardless she has an ear infection. I got a call from school on Thursday afternoon about 12:45 letting me know that her ear was draining a bunch of gunk. Matt was able to call and get her an appointment with the ENT at 2:15, thank goodness the nurse practicioner had a spot to see her so fast. He went to pick Cam up at school and I met them at the office. The nurse practicioner told us that she could tell it was infected by the color of the drainage. Just to be gross for a second; there was a ton of drainage. Matt said when he picked her up it was all over her face, and her ear was full of gunk when we got to the office. So they took a culture of it and we should hear back what kind of infection/bacteria it is middle of next week. In the meantime she gets ear drops twice a day for 7 days. Luckily since she does have the tubes at least she doesn't need an oral antibiotic to treat the infection. Once the ear started clearing out she started getting back to eating much better and sleeping better. Thank goodness!!

Saturday was another ASU game. It was fun to get back into tailgating and a game since it has been a while since the last home game. This weekend was homecoming so we took the girls over to watch the parade. It wasn't a very exciting parade but I think the girls enjoyed it.

Off to see the ASU Homecoming Parade

Camdyn and Aunt Lindsey having a laugh

Messy Face after lunch.

While we were at our tailgate we got to do something pretty exciting. Jimmy Kimmel went to ASU and since it was homecoming he was doing a taping during the football game. As luck would have it his camera crew set up all their stuff right next to our tailgate!! The guys were playing beer pong and they wanted to film a segment where they were playing and Ya-Ya (a funny guy Jimmy sends out to tape stuff, I guess) would come up and they were just supposed to go with the flow of what he did. Turns out the guys had to drink hummus. Lindsey had to try it first and she said it tasted worse than sour milk..... um awesome??? Then the guys lined up and they took big swigs of it. It was pretty hilarious watching them all drink it and how their faces re-acted. Ya-Ya and Matt gave their cups to each other and it was just all over Matt's face. Disgusting to watch, haha. They also filmed a cars.com segment with the 4 of us. Tatum was terrified of him but she did give him a high five at the end. Camdyn did good and didn't even cry when Ya-Ya held her. They taped different segments with all of the tailgaters in our line of cars, just doing silly things. We aren't watchers of Jimmy Kimmel Live but it was such a fun thing to get to do!! We will see if anything they taped at our tailgate will air or if it all ends up cut. But none the less we all had a great time. Watch for it Tuesday night!!

Filming with Jimmy Kimmel Live

Having fun about to drink.

Drinking the hummus........ Yuck!!

Lounged out after filming

Filming for TV is tough work.

Of course ASU won big time over the CU Buffaloes. So it was fun to have such a big win. Tatum did a lot better with the fireworks. She is still terrified every time they go off, but it is just while they go off. We didn't spend any time in the team shop at all, which is a big improvement. Very proud of her!! Cam did good at the game too. She slept a lot of it and just looked around taking it all in the rest. Tatum has become a pro at the pitchfork sign. She is so proud of herself for being able to do it now!!

Tatum and Daddy

Tatum and Uncle Doo Doo

Our running this week went pretty good. We got a new stroller because the wheel totally busted off the old one, and the new one rolls like a champ. This morning we did 4 miles, our farthest run yet. It was a lot different running in the morning than at night. Much harder if you ask me. We did pretty good. We did it in about 55 minutes, still walking some. Still not the fastest, but we are doing it and that is what matters. Matt is so great telling me I can do it and to keep going, best trainer ever!!

And finishing up this random post.... Camdyn is standing up so tall. She can pull herself up and down and stand straight up while holding something. She can even do a little walking if she is pushing on something. Let the countdown to walking begin!!

Standing Tall

My girls make me smile.

2011-10-26T09:39:00.000-07:00

Quick little video of Camdyn crawling to Tatum. Tatum is so cute encouraging Camdyn; telling her, "You can do it, yay Camdyn you did it!!" They are so sweet!!

Camdyn was thinking she might try and climb the stairs. Tatum was telling her no no Camdyn we do not climb the stairs.... Sooo cute!!

I Love My Girls So Very Much And Love How Super Sweet They Are Together!!!!

Pumpkin Party!!

2011-10-23T18:17:00.000-07:00

On Saturday we had a Pumpkin Party at our house. It was so much FUN!! We invited some friends over for some snacks and some pumpkin carving. It turned out great!!

We spent the week before getting ready and doing little projects. The first thing we did was make some milk jug pumpkins. Matt had seen the idea and I looked it up online and it was a fun thing for us to do as a family.

Milk jug pumpkins

Then my little chefs and I got to do some baking. We made Monster cupcakes, which turned out super cute. And with some help from Jenny we made carmel apples. (Who knows what carmel to use or how to make it so the carmel doesn't slide down the apple taking the candy toppings with it?? -Any advice for next year would be great!!)

Testing out the apples ;)

Camdyn loves baking!!

Monster cupcakes

More cupcakes

Then it was time for the Party!! It was so fun having everyone over and having so many kids in our house. The brand new swing set definitely got tested and it stayed standing!!

The food - Crock pot city!!

Camdyn enjoying the party.

All the kids on the play set.

I love these girls, they are all AMAZING!!

Fun night!!

Kids painting their pumpkins.

Working very hard.

Pumpkin party.

Tatum's finished pumpkin.

Tatum and Kennedy

Daddy hard at work on the Mickey pumpkin

Tatum and Jacob ~ they are cute

Mickey Mouse pumpkins

The finished pumpkins!!

It was a great night with great friends. We are so lucky to have all the people in our lives that we do!!

Swingset

2011-10-23T11:34:00.000-07:00

Christmas came early for Tatum and Camdyn this year. Our lucky little girls got their Christmas present from Gramma and Grampa this week!! Gramma and Grampa got the girls a huge playset for our backyard. Tatum was sooo excited when it got here. She said, "Look Mom, my very own playground!!" It was adorable!!

The swingset was delivered on a huge pallet and weighed something like 700 pounds. Gramma and Grampa also got cousins Holden and Ellie the same play set and my brother, Dad and his father in law had put it together a few weeks before so we knew what we were getting into. And it was good to have tips from them since they knew what parts were tricky.

Friday night Matt, Kehoe and Aunt Emma got started!! It was a big task just getting all of the parts out of boxes and organized. They worked on it for about 4 hours that night and were at it until 1:30 in the morning. I had taken the girls to bed and kept looking out our window to see how it was going and each time I looked the 3 of them looked like they were laughing and having a great time!!

Tatum helping getting all the parts out of the box.

Camdyn holding the bar in place :)

Daddy and Kehoe working on the swingset.

Saturday morning they were back out there to finish it!! This time it was Matt, Kehoe, Uncle Adam and Papa Butch. They worked on it for about 5 or so hours and got it together without too much trouble.

Hard at work.

Almost done

Its finished!!!!

They did such an amazing job putting it together and the girls are soooo happy!! It has several different types of swings, a rope ladder and rock type wall, a slide, a chalkboard, binoculars and a wheel to steer the ship!!

TIME TO PLAY!!!!

In the fort.

Helicoptor swing.

Rope ladder.

Big, Fast Slide!!

Rock wall.

Binoculars.

Tatum and Camdyn are so lucky to have gotten this awesome play set from Gramma and Grampa. And we are also lucky we have such great people to help us put it together!! So much fun to be had!!

THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!

Bubbles

2011-10-18T12:06:00.000-07:00

Last night after bath we went outside and had some fun bubble time. It was a really nice night out and we just put a blanket on the grass and enjoyed the evening. Tatum had fun blowing the bubbles and running around chasing them. And Camdyn was so cute looking at them blowing around. It was just a fun little thing to end our evening.

Bubble Time

Camdyn and her Star Wand -don't worry, no bubbles on this one :)

BUBBLES!!! So much fun!!

Tatum's First School Friend Birthday Party

2011-10-17T16:12:00.000-07:00

On Sunday Tatum went to a birthday party for one of her "school" friends. This was the first birthday party that Tatum has been invited to that wasn't someone that we know. She had been so very excited for the party in the weeks since we got the invitation.

The party was for her little friend Cohen, and he is just so darn cute. The party was a Spiderman theme. This was a tough one for me. What do I know about 3 year old boys...... Nothing. I had no clue what to get the little guy. Figured I should get him something Spiderman or superhero-ish but I thought that is what everyone would be getting him. I asked the kids teacher Miss Marissa what things Cohen likes and she told us that he loves trucks. So we went to the store and I let Tatum pick out whatever truck type thing she wanted. Tatum picked Mack (the semi truck from Cars) for him. Of course she would pick a Disney themed present. So hopefully Cohen will be happy with her gift. Thank goodness for gift receipts if not ;)

Off to the Party!!

The birthday party was at Tumbleweed park. We had never been there before and it really is a great place. The park is huge and there are several different sections to play at. Right when we were walking up I knew Tatum was going to have a blast. Tatum could not wait to get there to play with her friends. The kids ran and played and went non stop for 2.5 hours. Pizza was served for lunch but none of the kids really had time to stop and eat. But when the ice cream cake arrived they all had time to have a few bites of that for sure. Cohen's parents decided not to do presents with everyone and instead do them later at home. I thought this was a fantastic idea for them and the kids!!

Tatum at Tumbleweed Park

Cake time!!

At the party Tatum played with her friends from school. Of course Tatum has mostly boys as friends at school. It was Tatum and Cohen, Brockton, Xavier and Henry all chasing each other and playing all afternoon. There were other little girls there but none that Tatum knew. So it was her and the boys and she can keep up with them perfectly fine and fits in awesomely. It was really fun watching her interact with her friends. And the hugs at the end were adorable!!

Friends on the firetruck

I know the kids that Tatum hangs out with at school because I pick my girls up early enough and most of her friends haven't gone home yet when we leave. But it was so great to get to meet their parents and to chat with them a little bit. I was glad that I wasn't the only Mom who was too worried to just let the little ones play on their own and we all chatted and watched the kids play together. It really was a great afternoon.

The party ended with treat bags for all the kids. Tatum's bag was full of goodies; a princess wand, sunglasses, markers, notepad, bubbles and flower tatoos. She loved everything and felt so special that she got a treat bag!!

Day at the Zoo!!

2011-10-15T20:47:00.000-07:00

Family day today was a day at the zoo. We had a great time and it was great weather. All the animals were out and about which was great since the last few times we have been some of the animals have been hiding. We did the petting zoo, the playground, the carousel and the splash pad!!!! Such a fun, beautiful day!!

Time for the ZOO!!

Tatum climbed the tree house all by herself!!

I am cute :)

Such a fun day!!

Having fun watching my sister.

Is this what I am supposed to do?!?!

Yee-Haw

Splash Pad Fun.

A Running (jogging) Family.........

2011-10-15T20:37:00.000-07:00

We have started our adventure in being a running family (well maybe more like a jogging family). Matt and I have registered to do the P.F. Changs 1/2 Marathon in January. This will be Matt's third time running in the event and my first. Matt is such a great runner and is so good at getting out there and doing his training. Of course the last 2 years he has trained alone for the most part. This year he gets to have all 3 of his girls along on every run, lucky guy :)

Matt told me that training this year would be "difficult". I chose to believe that he just meant "different" because we would be running to, not that he thinks we will be pains or anything ;).

We have been looking at double jogging strollers for a while now and finally decided on one that wasn't too overpriced. We were thinking of getting one on Craigslist but I just thought a new one would be better because we plan to put alot of miles on it!! We found a good one at a good price that we also got a $50 gift card back on, can't beat that!! So Matt got the stroller all put together and we headed out for our first run on Wednesday night.

Tatum was so super excited to go for a run in the new stroller. She was smiling the whole way talking to the moon (we got a bit of a late start our first night out because we couldn't find the tire pump). Camdyn also enjoyed the run..... She fell asleep!!

So sleepy after our first run!!

We went 1.8 miles (we drove our route after we got home). We probably walked about half of it and jogged the other half. It went pretty good and I actually survived.

Thursday night we went out again and did the same 1.8 mile route but ran more. We ran about 1.5 miles this time and walked just a little. And once again we all survived. Both of the girls were very tired that evening and they both fell asleep while we were out on our run.

Before our Run.

After......... All exhausted!!

Legs are feeling a little bit sore. But feeling good. The hardest part is pushing the stroller. My shoulders get super sore while pushing the stroller and running. So Matt is nice enough to push too even though I know he hates pushing the stroller while running.

So our running adventure has begun. Our official training calendar starts October 24th and the first run will be 3 miles. This next week we will be getting out and working up to our 3 mile run that day. So proud of Matt for taking on this challenge for not only doing the half marathon again, but doing it with me. At least he won't get lonely with his 3 favorite girls along every night, good family bonding time :)

Update

2011-10-12T09:20:00.000-07:00

Good news!! Camdyn does not have an ear infection!! Matt and Tatum took her to the doc yesterday and they said she is all clear. Both her ears look perfect!!

Guess we were right to be weary of the ER doc that saw her on Saturday night. Yesterday the ENT doc told Matt that for Camdyn they would not even treat an ear infection with an oral antibiotic, she would be treated by ear drops only. She also said that oftentimes ER docs and urgent care docs are quick to diagnose ear infections anytime something is going on with the ear. So we are very glad we have such wonderful doctors for our girls and they were able to see Camdyn so quickly!! They did tell Matt that if she does have drainage in the future they want to do a culture of it in order to see exactly what they are dealing with and they can more specifically tell what is going on with Camdyn's ears.

But we are so happy that Camdyn doesn't have an ear infection, so relieved that the tubes are indeed doing thir duty!! :)

What a Weekend....

2011-10-11T08:54:00.000-07:00

We had a really great weekend in the Kahler house. We got to have lots of time just hanging out at home so that was nice for a change.

Friday Matt played golf, lots and lots of golf. He was in a tournament for work which he had fun at and after the tournament there was a little lunch for them. While they were eating they decided that they did not want to go back to work so they better go play some more golf instead. So they drove over to the Arizona Grand and played another round there. It was dark by the time he got home and he was tired, but he had a great time!! We spent Friday night at home. It was so nice being home and just having some family time together.

Big news from Friday..... Camdyn crawled!!!!!! It was so exciting for all of us. She is so cute doing her little crawl, we are so very proud of her!! And her second tooth popped through!! It is the bottom one right next to the one she already has. It is barely through but it is there. :)

Saturday morning Camdyn decided to wake up at 5 and not go back to sleep so she and I went downstairs to do some scrapbooking. I decided this weekend I would get COMPLETELY caught up on my scrapbooking so guess Camdyn knew that and figured an early start would be good :). Since Camdyn started crawling just the night before and really moving great it was a little tougher to do scrapbooking with her, but very fun to have a little helper. Matt got up and went over to shovel rock at Adam's. And the girls and I went to a baby shower for Kyndra Anderson, whom I think of like a sister. It was so great seeing the Ence family, I love them so much!!!! The girls were adorable in matching outfits. It is getting harder and harder to get pictures of them together since Camdyn is on the move now and Tatum is not always in the modeling mood :). We then went over to the Veeh's to watch another ASU win!!

Saturday evening we decided to do some yard work. Matt took out 2 bushes in our front yard and cut another one way down. The yard looks so awesome without the super weird plants that were in there before. And we got our outside Halloween lights and decorations all set. Lots of pumpkin orange!! By the time we went out for a quick dinner both girls were exhausted and fell asleep at the table. So Matt and I had a romantic dinner with our girls sleeping in our laps. So fun!!

The night ended with taking Camdyn to the emergency room. When we were leaving dinner we noticed she had blood coming out of her ear. Right before we left for dinner I had set her down and she was very mad that I did that and she pitched herself back and hit her head. So we were super concerned about the blood. So we called Adam and Lindsey and thank goodness they were home and we dropped Tatum off with them and then we were off to Cardons ER. We weren't big fans of the doc there, but.... He said there didn't seem to be any head or brain damage and it is "probably" just ear drainage. But there was so much gunk and blood in her ear he couldn't see back there but he "thinks" she has an ear infection. There was just too many thinks and probably's in what he was telling us and he didn't answer our direct questions. Anyway..... He gave us an antibiotic for her "ear infection" and have been giving it to her. I called Dr. McKenna's office (ENT doc) yesterday and she has an appointment there this morning. Matt and Tatum are taking her and I am at work. I do not like not being there, but I know Matt and Tatum will give me a full report!!!!

Sunday we had a good football day. Me and the girls got the scrapbooking ALL CAUGHT UP!!!! I was super excited to have everything up to date. And we ended the weekend with dinner at Matt's parents hosue with the family watching the Packers Win!! GO PACK GO!!

Fun, fun, fun.

2011-10-06T18:29:00.000-07:00

Our favorite thing to do in our house is have fun and laugh. We try to do a fun activity every night even if it just a dance party after school. Tonight it was making flowers and playing outside.

Tatum went to get a snack out of the pantry and she saw the coffee filters. She asked me what they were and I told what they were and what they were for. And then I had an idea. I decided we could make flowers out of them and use pipe cleaners for stems. So thats what we did, and we had a lot of fun making them!!

Working hard coloring the 'flowers'

Camdyn helping too!!

Our finished flowers in a vase.

When Daddy got home we decided to go outside and enjoy this BEAUTIFUL weather. Matt mowed the lawn and I pulled weeds. Tatum danced around and went on her slide and Camdyn got to go in the pink swing for the very first time.

Twirling

Camdyn in the pink swing.

We put Camdyn to bed in her crib last night for the FIRST time.

Camdyn's Crib

Yes I know she is 8 months old, but she has slept in our room every night. I kept saying we were going to have her sleep in her room, but then everything went on with her ears and I wanted her near me. And yes it is all about me and wanting her in our room right next to me. :)

So yesterday morning I was kissing her before I left for work and I looked down at her and was like, wow when did she get so big?!?! Camdyn is almost as big as the bassinet bed!! So we decided that last night we would put her in her crib in her very own room.

It was tough for me to put her in there, for some reason I was nervous about her being in there alone and it being to dark and yadda, yadda, yadda. But we got the light just right and got her all settled in her bed. I checked on her 4 times before I went to bed and of course she was snoozing soundly each time.

Sleeping Beauty

I heard her crying and jumped out of bed and went to get her. I figured it was around 3 because that is when she has been getting up to eat. Camdyn and I went downstairs and I looked at the clock to find out it was only 11:45. Knowing she couldn't possibly be hungry yet and also the fact that she was sound asleep on me again we went back upstairs for a little rocking time. When I put her back in her crib she was not a happy baby. I tried a couple of more times to rock her and put her back in her crib but she just wasn't having it. So I rolled over the bassinet and put her back in our room and of course she went right back to sleep.

So we will try her crib again tonight and when she cries I will be sure to see what time it is first to try and figure out why she is waking up and hopefully can just comfort her back to sleep in the crib if it isn't quite eating time yet!! :)

Figure maybe she will feel a little more comfortable every night and soon she will be snoozing the whole night through in her very own room!! (And then we can work on getting Tatum to sleep in her room!!)

8 Months

2011-10-05T19:06:00.000-07:00

Camdyn Breeze turned 8 months yesterday, Tuesday October 4th. Cannot believe she is getting so big and is getting so close to 12 months!! She is still working on the whole concept of crawling, she hasn't gotten it yet but as I have been saying she is close, so we just keep waiting!! She has started to try and pull herself up to standing. She is pretty darn close with doing this as well. We got the baby gates and are ready for her to be on the move!!

Tatum is such an adorable and great big sister. She is always caring so much about Camdyn and being so great with her. It is so wonderful to watch them together everyday. Tatum is becoming even more polite. Everything is can I please do this or can I please have that. Even silly things, like if she wants to come upstairs with us she will say, "Can I please come upstairs with you Mommy", instead of just coming along. She is so sweet. Sharing is something she is also a pro at. She always makes sure Camdyn has the same amount of toys she does. (Don't let this fool you though, Tatum can throw tantrums better than anyone I know, haha)

Yesterday I took both of the girls to get their flu shots. We went into the doctors office and both girls were as happy as can be. Recently we have just been taking Camdyn to a lot of doctors appointments so Tatum didn't know she would have anything to do with the visit. I told them they were getting some flu medicine so they don't get sick. Tatum seemed fine with that, guess she didn't know the flu medicine was a shot..... I guess the older kids get the harder it is to give them shots. The nurse asked me who should go first and I said Tatum would and as soon as Tatum saw the needles she started freaking out big time. She was so super upset about it. Camdyn didn't like it much either but as soon as she got it and I held her for about a minute she was fine. Tatum not so much. She cried all the way to the car and didn't like that she had a bandaid on. She had gotten a sticker at the doc office so I said, why don't we put the sticker over the bandaid so you can't see it anymore. She liked that idea and that made her all better :). Later in the evening she thought it was pretty great that she and Camdyn had the same bandaids on though. I told Tatum last night when we were taking off the sticker and bandaid that I was so proud of her for being so very brave. She said, I am not brave Mom, I cried. I told her that even though she cried I still thought she was super brave :)

We decided it was time for Camdyn to have meat so I made her up some chicken on Monday night. She wasn't sure of it at first, but did pretty good with it. We mixed it with peas the first time and squash the second time. I asked Tatum is she wanted some and she took one look at the mixture and wrinkled up her face and said, "that's yucky Mommy". Can't say that I blame her, it really did not look all that appealing, haha. Going to keep up with the chicken for a few days and then probably move on to turkey and see if she likes that. We also gave her puffs for the firs time on Monday (10-3). She tried the sweet potato ones. She LOVED them. It was so cute watching her try and get the puffs into her mouth. Mostly the puffs ended up on her seat or the floor and her thumb ended up in her mouth. But she kept on trying!!

Trying out some puffs.

Gramma and Grampa sent the girls a little Halloween care package and in it was a bracelet for Tatum to make. She just made it tonight. She got to use glitter glue and everything (pretty exciting for her!!)

Glitter Glue....

Thinking hard.

All done.

The girls just had a laughing fit while we were sitting here. Camdyn thinks Tatum is HILARIOUS!!!!

Weekend Fun

2011-10-02T16:41:00.000-07:00

Had a busy weekend around here as usual. We went to a potluck with some of our very best friends (the Blum's, Halls' and Shields') on Friday night and it was so much fun!! It was great to hang out with some of the gang that we don't get to see very often. We really enjoyed the company and the laughs.

We got the girls new matching jammies when my Mom was in town and Friday was the first night they wore them, they were too cute!!

Hi sister

Matchy Matchy

Saturday we went out to look for baby gates for the top and bottom of our stairs since Camdyn is so very close to crawling!! We didn't find what we were looking for but we better find something soon!!

So close to crawling.

Then of course it was off to the ASU game. Another win for the Devils!! Tatum did awesome this game with the noise. Every week I think she is getting better. She started off terrified but we went to the team shop and I got her some Sparky paper and a pen and she went to work on drawing Sparky (and everyone else we were with) a picture. That seemed to do a good job of distracting her. And she would get scared and cover up for the fireworks and loud yelling and then be fine. Once again I must say that I am so happy we got her the Minnie Mouse Ear Muffs. They are definitely doing a great job so far!! Camdyn slept a lot of the game, but did great for the parts that she was awake.

See her tooth?!?!

Tatum looking cute

Camdyn and Uncle Doo Doo

So as I mentioned Tatum drew Sparky a special picture. It was getting close to the end of half time and Sparky was walking around on the field near where our seats are. And I said Tatum lets go say Hi to Sparky. So we went over there and got his attention. And then she told him she drew him a picture and Lindsey threw it down to him. He grabbed it and hugged it and started blowing Tatum kisses. She blew him kisses back and yelled I love you Sparky. It was so stinkin cute and Tatum was sooooo excited that he loved her picture so much!! Sparky is so great to make Tatum feel so special!!!!

We spent 2 hours at the park this morning with a friend and her 2 sons. The girls both had a blast and are both zonked out asleep right now and I had a great time too chatting with Caitlin!!

Another weekend with too much fun and too little sleep!! There isn't another ASU home game until October 29 so it will be nice to have some Saturdays that we can get a few things done for the next couple of weekends.

As you all know we are often silly at our house. Here are just a few pics of the sillyness :)

Cheese Mom

Noodle Moustache

Soooo funny!!!!

These 2 are so silly!!!!

Sickies

2011-09-30T14:06:00.000-07:00

Well in our house we have had a bunch of sickies the last few days. Matt was sick last week with a cold/sore throat combination. No fun for him!!

On Tuesday Camdyn had a fever and was throwing up. We are used to her reflux throwing up, but not her projectile throwing up!! Gross I know, poor Daddy got that one :(

On Wednesday I took Tatum for her regular Pulmonologist appointment and unknown to us she is sicky too!! She has an ear infection, and is wheezing. So she got an antibiotic for her ear and a steroid for her wheezing. And the doctor wants us to do her breathing treatments every night through the winter. Poor thing. She never even complained that she wasn't feeling well!! Glad she got some medicine for sure. At her next pulmonology appointment they will be doing some lung function tests on her to see how she is doing and what her lungs are like. The office is getting some new "state of the art" equipment that will more properly diagnose lung problems in kids. So we will see how that goes.

Some good news..... Camdyn's ears are all better!!!! She had her appointment with Dr. McKenna yesterday and we were so excited for the news. Dr. McKenna was really glad too!! Camdyn still has some blood behind her ear but it has moved off of the ear drum and now there is a clear view of the tube and through the tube. So now the blood that is in there will just act as wax and come out as wax does. We are so very happy that Cam's ears are finally cleared up and she doesn't have to have any more ear drops or anything like that. Our next appointment with the ENT isn't until December. Don't get me wrong I love the staff and Dr. McKenna, but we will be VERY glad to be stearing clear of the office for a while :)

ASU vs. USC

2011-09-25T12:09:00.000-07:00

Saturday was the ASU vs. USC game and the Devils won!!!! It was an awesome game and soooo much fun!!

It was our week to bring food to the tailgate and we wanted to do something a little different. So we made mini pizzas, pasta and salad. Everything turned out really good. The girls and I made some football cupcakes that were quite yummy!!

Football cupcakes.

We have been trying to think of ways to make the fireworks less scary for Tatum.... When we were at the Disney store this week we found some Minnie Mouse ear muffs. So we got her those and told her that Minnie Mouse would protect her ears. She did a little bit better this game. We still had to spend most of the first quarter in Sparky's shop because she was terrified, but then I took her back to the seats and she was scared for a while but seemed to do better and better as the game went on. Tatum isn't a fan of the loud screaming or banging on the railing. She would put her ear muffs on for fireworks and loud times and then get so excited that she didn't cry and would say "I did it!!". We were so proud of her. Hopefully next time she can be even less scared and we can stay in the stands the whole game!!

Minnie Mouse Ear Muffs.

We had a great time at the tailgate. There was an ASU tailgate that we went to check out and it was pretty fun, they had a bounce house and a couple of games for the kids. Tatum had a great time over there!!

Jumping in the bounce house with Aunt Lindsey

Camdyn and Aunt Jenny

Sisters in the play zone

Aunt Kristi and Tatum went back for more fun!!

The tailgate and the game were a lot of fun!! Its good to be a SUN DEVIL!!!!

Ready for the Game.

Having fun at the tailgate.

Tatum relaxing.

Laughing

Such a big girl

Tatum and her Papa

Bowling

2011-09-25T12:07:00.000-07:00

Friday was Adam's (Uncle DooDoo's) birthday. We went out to dinner and then we went bowling. It was the first time that we have taken the girls bowling and I think it was a success. Camdyn had a good time, she watched the lights and then fell asleep, big excitement for her :). And Tatum had a blast. She loved wearing her special bowling shoes and they looked just so darn cute on her. We got her one of those bowling ball slide things (don't know the technical term for it, haha) and she did great. They played 2 games and the second game she scored 114 and got 3 strikes!!!! We will definitely be going back again!!

Cutest bowler girl

Uncle DooDoo helping Tatum.

Camdyn and Mommy

Too much excitement!!

Final scores!! Tatum did GREAT!!

Tatum and Daddy ready to BOWL!!

Family Fun

2011-09-25T11:38:00.000-07:00

Tuesday night we were just hanging out at home having some family time after dinner. All 4 of us were on the floor trying to get Camdyn to crawl. She is so super close to crawling, every day she gets a bit steadier on all 4's and it takes her less time to get there. Can't wait for the crawling to start!! We gotta get to Target for baby gates for the stairs!!

"Watch me Camdyn!!"

Getting close to crawling!!

While we were playing Tatum decided that we should take lots of pictures. So we had a little photo shoot doing silly things. Just a few fun photos to share!!

Blue, blue eyes

"Let's be silly Daddy"

Tatum wanted to be tigers. They are roaring :)

Tatum took this pic

Dancing!!

Its always fun to just be silly as a family!!

My Gramma

2011-09-22T18:42:00.000-07:00

Today would have been my Gramma's 89th birthday.

My Gramma's favorite place to eat was KFC. Nothing fancy, but she loved it. So today on her birthday we went to dinner at KFC. It is our tradition cause we know how much she loved that fried chicken :)

I woke up this morning and the first thing I thought of was her. My Gramma was the most amazing, most beautiful, most loving woman I have ever known. She and I had a special relationship, whenever I talked to her I felt like she was my best friend in the whole world. She was always there for me telling me like it is and giving me all the love in her heart. I think about my Gramma each and every day and I miss her so much. I know she wouldn't want me to cry, she would say, oh Jennifer I am happy in heaven with Grampa and Pop, stop your crying. But I can't help it, I just miss her voice and her laugh so much. Gramma was the BEST story teller. I absolutely loved hearing all of her stories about her life, she did have such an AMAZING life. My Gramma was and is so so special in my life. I know she has shaped the person I have become today and I hope she is watching down on me and is proud.

Just wanted to share a few pics of her. She was so beautiful and her smile shined in every room.

Me and my Gramma Christmas 2009

First time Gramma held Tatum - January 2009

Matt and Gramma in Nashville, February 2010

Gramma LOVED her family SOOOO MUCH!!

Gramma feeding Tatum August 2009

Grammas Birthday September 2009 (we got her boxed wine too!!)

So Beautiful!!

Zoo Lights - December 2009

Gramma and Tatum - March 2009

Gramma, Tatum and My Mom - March 2009

Love you so very much Gramma. Happy Birthday!!!!!!!!!!

Halloween Costumes Bought!!

2011-09-22T14:34:00.000-07:00

Since Halloween is just a little over a month a way we figured we needed to get the girls their Halloween costumes now before things were sold out or not in the correct size for them.

Tatum decided she wanted to be a Princess this year. I have been asking her over the last week what she wanted to dress up as for Halloween and she kept saying she wanted to be the "Yellow Princess". I would say ok you want to be Belle, then she would say, "Yes Mom, Yellow Princess Belle". It was pretty cute. Then on the way home from school yesterday she was saying she wanted to be Sleeping Beauty and Camdyn would be Belle. So we knew having her decide might be tough for her!!

I decided against going to Party City or one of those Halloween pop up stores because I thought just walking in there might scare the girls since they are usually so done up with horror type stuff at the entrances. So since Tatum wanted her and Camdyn to be Princesses we went straight to the Disney Store (or Mickey's shop as Tatum calls it).

We got in there and right away Tatum wanted to be about 5 different things. She went from wedding Cinderella, to Belle, to Tinkerbell, to Snow White and finally setteled on Alice for herself. Once she saw the Alice shoes and costume she was set!! Tatum decided that Camdyn should be Belle this year.

So we are going to have a little Alice and Baby Belle. I think the girls are going to just look absolutely adorable on Halloween night. Cannot wait to see!!!!

Lots Going on

2011-09-18T17:52:00.000-07:00

There is a lot going on in our lives these days as usual!!

Tatum went back to dance class on Monday since she had no class on Labor Day. And I am pretty sure she loved it even more than the time before. Once again she was the BEST in the class :). Such a good listener and getting so very good at her shuffles. They did a new step this week. Mrs. Peggy taught the girls back flaps. Turns out back flaps are pretty tricky but Tatum had a blast trying them out. Tatum had a great time doing the dance to "Animal Crackers in my Soup" this week. She is becoming such a pro :)

Camdyn went back to the ear doc on Friday. We were super nervous going into the appointment, but she did great. Her right ear is completely cleared out and now looks perfect. Her left ear is looking a little bit better but there is still some blood behind her tube blocking the view of the drum. And the doc wants it to be perfect too and completely cleared out. Soooo... doing drops in the left ear for 2 more weeks and then going back to see him. It was really great going there and getting good news. Dr. McKenna told us that after our last visit he wasn't very optimistic about her tubes clearing out so he was very very pleased that she was doing so awesome.

Camdyn had a terrible night on Friday. She and I were up basically the ENTIRE night. She would fall asleep for about 5 minutes and then wake up crying. It was awful. Then in the morning she had a little tooth that had popped through. It was her bottom left middle. It is just through a little bit but it is there. But after Friday night we are guessing getting teeth is going to be really tough for her. But we can't wait to see her mouth full of teeth!! Camdyn also got a big girl car seat this weekend. Babies R Us was having there 25%off carseat trade in and we had a 15% of coupon. So Camdyn got a new a carseat for Daddy's car and Tatum got a new carseat for my car. Tatum was very excited about her new carseat because the one she had in my car (that Cam is going to use now) didn't have cup holders and this one does. Pretty darn cool for her :)

Big girl carseat

Guess Camdyn had a big week this week. She is starting to wave at us when she sees us which is ADORABLE. And we are pretty sure she is going to be crawling within the week. She is so darn close. She gets up on all 4's and rocks then splats to her belly. She is a pro at scooting on her toosh that is for sure!! And she sat in a high chair at dinner in a restaurant (Rustlers Roosts) for the first time!! She is just growing up sooooo FAST!!!!

Restaurant High Chair

Football season is in full swing and we are enjoying it in our house!!

Cams Ears

2011-09-12T13:46:00.000-07:00

Well on Friday I took Camdyn back to the doctor to check and see if her ears were doing better. They weren't :(

Dr. McKenna said she still has blood behind her left ear drum and the tube in the right ear is completely corked. So in the right ear it is like the tube is not even there and it is messing with her middle ear pressure. So all this explains why she has been having trouble eating her bottles and sleeping. It is good to have a reason for her discomfort but this was not good news.

The doctor said he used the tubes he did because he knew Camdyn had a lot of gunk in her ears and these tubes very rarely get clogged. But guess Cam's didn't want to go with the norm and clogged anyway.

So he told us to do a high dose of ear drops through this week and hope that the ear drops can wash/push out everything the is in her ears. If that doesn't happen she will have to have another surgery to put different tubes in.

We are staying super positive and hoping the ear drops work their magic and she doesn't have to get a surgery again. I know it is supposedly a "simple sugery" but I do not like putting her under the anesthsia at all!!

Keep sending good thoughts Camdyns way!! Her appointment is on Friday afternoon, so hopefully it will be good news to start off our weekend :)

Cam wearing her swim cap in the tub to protect her ears from all the splashing she & Tatum do!!

Kahler Family

This and That

Camdyn's 1st Birthday!!

Happy 1st Birthday Camdyn Breeze!!

Off and running....

2012 Here We Are

End of 2011

Our Very Merry Christmas 2011

Holiday Week!!

This and that.

Spaghetti

Christmas Tree

Our last day at Mickey's House

Tatum's 3rd Birthday in Disneyland

Disneyland Adventures Continue!!

DISNEYLAND!!!!!!!

Happy 3rd Birthday Tatum Ann!!!

Tatum's Family Birthday Party

Christmas with Gramma and Grampa

Thanksgiving!!

Pinterest Projects

Great weekend!!

Sea Life Aquarium

Finally its the weekend!!

Patty Cake

Camdyn Breeze is 9 months old!!

November 1.

HALLOWEEN 2011

Ears, ASU, Hummus, Running and Standing Tall.

My girls make me smile.

Pumpkin Party!!

Swingset

Bubbles

Tatum's First School Friend Birthday Party

Day at the Zoo!!

A Running (jogging) Family.........

*Update*

What a Weekend....

Fun, fun, fun.

8 Months

Weekend Fun

Sickies

ASU vs. USC

Bowling

Family Fun

My Gramma

Halloween Costumes Bought!!

Lots Going on

Cams Ears

Update