Monday, December 26, 2011

*holiday happenings*



I hope everyone had a magical holiday! Poor little K was really sick and feeling under the weather for the big day, which was a little bit heartbreaking. He had a crazy runny nose, watery eyes, and a fever, and would yell out every so often "I'm SiiiiiiiiiiCK!" That didn't stop him from getting in the spirit of things, he LOVED opening presents this year and seemed to adore every little thing that he opened up! His new guitar was the big thing that he had asked for, and he has not stopped playing with it since.

It's another one of those days when I have a ton to say, but I'm just feeling exhausted and need to go hibernate in my cozy bed, rather than ramble on and on about stuff. So I will just leave you with some fun pics from the festivities.

Hoping your holidays were filled with love and laughter!


~at Candlight service at Trinity church.


~super excited about church, with mamaw and papaw!


~poor little man. he was not a happy camper with his cold.






~our fake fireplace, the remnants of santa's cookies and the reindeer's carrots after santa gobbled them all up. Mamaw made me that stocking years ago.....I love it, poor santa has a lot of work ahead of him to try to fill that thing up!


~Santa CAME!


~his new love.


~Santa left us a sweet note on the board.


~the aftermath.


~mommy kinda can't wait to get her hands on this one. Kaden got this easel from Mamaw and Papaw, and it looks like way too much fun.




~getting into his jam session.


yeehaw.

Next up, birthday weekend. A weekend of celebrating the wonder of kaden! So looking forward to it!!!

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year to all of you!
xo,
jenny

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

*santa*


~Kaden and the big man.

So we finally got Kaden over to see Santa. We have made it a tradition (ok, so it's only the second year we have actually lived here, but still) to go see Santa at Outdoor World in Stapleton. There are a million other places we could have gone to see him, but we like to go to Outdoor World for several reasons.....Santa is awesome (and apparently has tats all over his arms we noticed after he headed to the restroom), there is a whole winter wonderland set up with fun rides/activities for the kids, there are a ton of boats, four wheelers and tents to play in for everyone, the ginormous fish tank and hello a free photo, which is really hard to come by these days with Santa! So it's no wonder that this Santa has been in high demand, and actually had a SIX hour wait to see him the previous weekend before we decided to go. We tried to find a time during the week to go, but only had Friday night free. I figured no one else would think to go on a Friday night....I was wrong! I got there at 5pm, with plans for Chad to meet us there after work. I walked up to the booth where they give out little "fast passes" to see Santa, and the guy's face said it all. He had given out all the passes for the evening, and maybe I would want to come back two hours before they opened in the morning? I was so sad, I even caught myself getting slightly misty over the big man. Kaden and i had talked about Santa all day and we were pretty stoked about the visit! I had caught him talking about santa during his nap, saying his name over and over again several times.

Some sweet angel lady must have seen me about to have a mental breakdown, and walked over and offered me her pass. This, of course, did make me start to cry and she must have thought I was a complete spaz when I gave her a huge hug and babbled about how insanely grateful I was. Yeah, I get a little nutz sometimes, espcially when it comes to my little guy and seeing him smile.


~practicing his santa sprint.


~waiting to see the big man.








~christmas cookie baking extravaganza with friends Ryan and Casey. Holy chaotic messiness.


~reading his favorite bedtime "story" with daddy, the photo book gifted from my brother of our visit to Roch-cha-cha. He relives every moment and every story as we go through it.


~kaden likes to have garfield ride Bjorn-style in the front of his jammies.

In other big news, Chad said goodbye to his beloved Mazda this past week. He has had that truck since our first days together, and I know it was really hard for him to say goodbye. I have such crazy memories of pulling up where we used to work together and feeling butterflies when i saw his truck pulled in the parking lot. I remember crashing out in the back and sleeping off a night of drinking, the road trips that we used to take with it, my first "camping" trip with him when we just pulled up the truck on a dock in Santa Barbara and slept with the back open....my kind of camping!

He had thought about getting rid of it when Kaden was born, and somehow it just stuck around for the next three years. For the past few months, he has been browsing for something that can tackle the winters in Colorado, but also be good for camping and family road trips. He settled on a Toyota Highlander, and he is so ridiculously happy in it!











We had a pre-Christmas party at Mamaw's house this sunday with the Sextons. It was a good time as always. The Broncos were playing, but sadly did not come through this time...better luck next time. Yep, I don't really know anything about football, nor do I really care all that much, but I love all the positive and crazy energy in the air when they play, so I guess that makes me a mini fan.


~a typical colorado christmas outfit


~Natalie not loving her white elephant gift so much.




~the fart bank was the prize white elephant gift and provided kaden with many hours of giggles.


~fart bank giggles.


~not your typical 24 week pic.

I'm feeling really hyper emotional with this pregnancy. Not so unlike my usual self, right? This is pretty intense. I cry whenever I hear that damn "Do they know it's Christmastime at all" song on the radio, I cry over santa, and I cry a ton about simple little things that should make me smile, and I cry for so many of my clients that are really struggling and going through such a hard time this holiday season. I am doing some serious cleansing of the tear ducts! On a happier note, all that nauseua and weird 3pm sickness I was having seems to have subsided for now.

and how about just a tiny linky love!

If I had the energy or the time, I would so LOVE to pull off this amazing Elf themed party. Completely amazing.

I really want to eat this, but it almost is too pretty to eat!

If you have a little one and you have yet to check out this blog, you must do so immediately. I have gotten so many amazing ideas from her and she is just incredibly creative! check her out.

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

it's beginning to look a lot like christmas...



It truly is. We have been Christmas-ing it hard over the past week and definitely getting in the spirit of things. It is ridiculously cold outside, there is a ton of snow, and I'm starting to think that my theory about denver winters being so mild and amazing is maybe so not right on the mark. In any case, it makes for fun playing in the snow, which don't get me wrong, I'm STILL loving. No burnout on the snow just yet for this mama!

I had a lot to say when I started writing this post, but after not feeling well for the past few days, I figure I better just post this before Christmas passes us right by...






~you wish you had a fake fireplace too doncha?









The parade of lights is my favorite new holiday tradition! We went last year, and we were so excited to go again this year. It was a bit chilly, but still so much fun! Thanks to Chad, we had the sweetest spot and an awesome view of the parade!






~the City and County building all lit up...so purdy!

Celebrating Daddy's birthday before heading out to the Parade of Lights...






After getting the most amazing care package from my incredibly thoughtful brother and sister in law, Kaden is pinchin his pennies to get back to NY to see his cousins. My brother made me an awesome photo book from our visit this past June, and Kaden wants to read it at least 6 times a day. He also loves these pics that all of the kids drew for him, he has them posted right next to his bed. The other day, he woke up and went straight to the computer....when I asked him what he was doing, he said "talkin to my cousins".





Hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season and all of the festivities!

Friday, November 25, 2011

*hope*


~kaden rockin out on one of the pianos on 16th street.

I have so much to be grateful for this year, and I would love to go on and on about those things, but I feel that would be cheating in a way. I find this year, what I am most grateful for is Hope. Hope is what gets me through each day at work and is my greatest wish for all of the children and families that I work with. Hope is the ability for a person to dream big, and to take that initial step to making their dreams a reality...a huge step that I took years ago when I flew from my cozy nest in Rochester. Hope is also something I cherish as a mother who sometimes may get a little overly anxious about the little things and helps me to become full of faith and joy instead...and full of Hope.

Listen to the mustn'ts, child. Listen to the don'ts. Listen to the shouldn'ts, the impossibles, the won'ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me... Anything can happen, child. Anything can be.
― Shel Silverstein

some random morsels of happiness

* the first big hug of the morning.

* tuesday nights thanks to the amazingness that is Parenthood.

* little kicks in my belly from our sweet little lovebug.

* anything and everything PUMPKIN!

* kaden randomly busting out in a happy birthday tune for me at various times of the day.

* having an amazing hubby who also happens to love to do the dishes.



Here's a little peek at our Thanksgiving day at Mamaw and Papaw's house....




~checkin out daddy's technique.


~cozy with Uncle Larry.


~he loved his little white dress up shirt. He would put his hands on his hips and ask everyone if they "liked his shirt".


~people often wonder why I don't have more pics with me and kaden...this is a prime example of why.




~kaden finally fell in love with his four wheeler! He was saying the funniest things into his little walkie talkie.


~gettin a little help from Jack!


~kaden proudly wearing his fancy hat that he made at daycare.


~ "helpin" David in the kitchen.


~kaden getting in on the annual Euchre game.


~end of the night rockin out with Uncle Brian.





~posing with my 20 week bump and apple cider.