Happy 20 Months Kaden!

Dear Kaden,


My sweet little boy, you are 20 months today! I am having such a hard time swallowing that you are a mere 4 months away from being TWO! And I will no longer refer to your age in months, you will be one solid whole number! It seems like just yesterday that we were referring to your age in *weeks*.

This month you are really learning to express yourself....you are a parrot and repeat everything that is said around you. It amazes me some of the words that come out of your mouth. You also love to make others laugh! And you truly do all the time....you are such an absolute JOY! If you call my name and I do not hear you, the next time you call me, it turns into this long drawn out "MOMEEEEEEEEEEEEEE", and it cracks me up everytime.

Parmesan cheese (the grated kind) is your weakness, and you just have to put it on everything. I have worked this little miracle food into just about every meal I can think of, and lately it is not so much a battle at the dinner table if your shaker is there. This month you also started to say "hi" when you are being sneaky and doing something you know you are not supposed to do. It's your little way of testing the limit, and it's really hard to keep a straight face when you look up at me with those sweet eyes and say "HI"!

You are completely obsessed with all things trucks (especially DUMP trucks) and BALLS. We have lost about 4 or 5 of your favorite balls at the park, and I'm just hoping one day they will all be there to greet you in one pretty little pile. You especially love balls that are not yours. Even if it is a chewed up old tennis ball that a dog is playing with, you HAVE to have it!

Most days I feel like my heart may explode with the love and pride I have for you. I could not imagine this life without you! I hope you always know how much I adore you. And let’s try and be easy on each other (and daddy) as we enter the “terrible twos”, shall we?

I love you!

Love,
your mommy


~swimmin!




~you love to clean!


~helping Papaw work on their basement!


~mesmerized.






~making a new friend at the park


~may have been their #1/only fan!




~hangin with the hamiltons


~setting the table.


~eating at the *big kids* table with friends Jane and Kate!


~your *hat*

and to prove that you are scarred from your boring old brown band aid experience....

expression

kaden has so many new faces...I thought they deserved a post of their own.

my cup runneth over.

~this is just so much more *us*

Four years ago, I married my best friend in front of our closest friends and our loving families. Never could I have imagined how much our lives could possibly change and shift in just four years. I feel blessed and grateful to have shared so many defining and amazing moments over the past ten years, and I look forward to what's in store for the future...

Happy Anniversary to the one I dream with, laugh with, and adore a little more each day...

this one's for you....




~kaden LOVES to look at pics, and i thought it would be fun to show him our wedding pics to celebrate our special day....he was so thoughtful while looking at each one, totally looking at the details. You have to wonder what is going on in that precious little head of his....



~giving mommy and daddy kisses

We decided to go on an adventure up to Boulder, as we have always wanted to explore it, and this seemed like a perfect excuse. We spent a lot of time taking in the sights and sounds of pearl street, and just enjoyed each other, which is something that is a rare and simple pleasure lately for us.


~I didn't recognize a single beer on tap! I now live in a state that has more microbreweries per capita than any other state. Time to break out of my coors light rut and try something new. I found my new favorite brew, and it is insanely yummy! It's called Mama's Little Yella Pils, but I insist on calling it mommy's little yellow pill...it makes me happy.


~hitting up a happy hour at a rooftop bar on pearl street in boulder


~boulder is purdy


~upstate represent in boulder


~kaden could not contain his excitement about having a slumber party at mamaw and papaw's house!

big ol booboo

Kaden has had his share of his booboos, that is for sure! We joke that he really needs a helmet,face mask,and maybe knee pads when he leaves the house, because odds are he will come home with some sort of owwie. Well he didn't even have to leave the house to get this one.

He and Daddy were playing in the living room, and he was twirling around and around and laughing his little head off. We were about to go in the pool, and I was in the bedroom getting my bathing suit on, which was probably a good thing. All of a sudden, I heard a huge WHACK, and then Chad say OH.MY.GOD...pause pause...kaden shrieking. I thought I was going to pass out even before seeing what had happened to my little man. He had swung around so fast that his little head smashed into the corner of the wall between the dining room and the living room. He cried for only about 3 minutes and then whispered *pool* so we obliged him and made sure we had an extra fun time in the pool.

There was a little blood and i was mortified that his first band aid had to be a boring brown old bandaid. I wanted Chad to draw Elmo on it, but we were worried about the ink running.



today it is looking much much better...but he is letting everyone know that he has a *booboo*. Poor baby....we definitely need to start looking for a face mask/helmet for him!

summertime escapes

It has been so hot here and I am getting anxious to experience a bit of fall in colorado! I have made it no secret that I have a ginormous crush on these spray fountain parks and I just think they are a brilliant invention!

A few days ago we had a yummy lunch date with Mamaw, Uncle Brian and Auntie Suzanne at TGIF. Afterward, Kaden and I went to check out the rest of the outdoor mall surrounding the restaurant. There is nothing quite like seeing kaden's smile completely extend from ear to ear and hear that gasp of excitement when we stumbled upon this little fountain. I had seen it once before and actually thought it was a bit wimpy for him, but of course I was way wrong. We didn't have a swimsuit but thank goodness we had a change of clothes. He had a stellar time and made some new friends as well!






~can you even handle this little girl's face to the left? so precious.






~sweetest head butt ever.


~sweet! a hair washing..pleasant hair washings are few and far between these days.




~so happy to find these super cute cars attached to shopping carts at the mall...*boobaloo* has always been one of my many nicknames for him!

Chad and I also took advantage of mamaw's insistence that we have a *date night*. Her rule is that you must take at least one night a month for a date night, and she says we are a few months behind so we were overdue. In very chad/jenny date night fashion, we explored the happy hours in the area, went to The Fainting Goat and enjoyed the rooftop view, along with some insanely yummy irish nachos! We ended up spending the rest of the night at Urban Cowboy where Chad's brother Brian was bartending, and it is safe to say this will always be one of my favorite places in denver.

It was a rare out and about weekend for me....I went out Saturday night with some new friends to see Eat.Pray.Love. I adored the book and found it to be completely inspiring and showed such vulnerability. I knew the movie would not be even half as good, but i stayed objective and open minded because I love to see books unfold onto the big screen. There is something so exciting about seeing your imagination come to life. Before seeing it, I was apprehensive about julia roberts playing Liz, but she actually did quite well in the role, although it was difficult to look past her just being Julia.

Anyway, Chad was excited about being the one to tuck the nugget in that night. Uncle Brian came over for dinner with chad and kaden and helped tuck nuggie in. here's just a small video of uncle brian reading to kaden...I love how kaden leans in and gives him a little tummy hug in the middle of the story!

downtown adventure

~playing at Washington Park

We randomly went on a little downtown adventure this morning, not really knowinbg where we were going or what we were doing, and of course those are always the times you have the most fun!



~kaden is the tiny little speck in the bottom left corner.


~playing ball in front of the Central Library. I have fallen in love with all of the libraries here in denver, right now I noticed I have 37 things checked out ;) This was our first time at the central branch, and it was amazing! There is a huge childrens library inside complete with toys, puzzles and ridiculously comfy chairs.


~kaden is much more excited about throwing the ball to daddy than he is about the ginormous chair with the horse on it that I thought he would love.


~climbing on some cool art.


~civic center EATS! so much fun. Every tuesday, there are about 20 or so food trucks with yummy food for everyone to enjoy for their lunch break. There is live music and it is just an awesome vibe.



We roamed around downtown and managed to get ourseleves a bit lost..which is one of my random pleasures when I move to a new city.

~"hey what about this way guys?"


~we stumbled upon a Chick Filet, much to our delight! It was a random gem in the food court at the bottom of an office building. It was an adults only sorta food court so they didn't have any highchairs. Kaden was so proud to sit in his big boy chair..


~and finished the day off with multiple rides up and down the escalator...