5 for Fri

five things that happened today.

1. sock book: caedmon put his socks in a book and said, oh, i love this book. it's a sock book. very cute. he has a funny imagination. i love when he plays alone. not so we get a break, but to hear the things he comes up with and see how he is learning.
2. french fries: caedmon is not eating well, he is just not 100% healthy and so he doesn't want to eat. we went the 99 tonight and he was WILD and didn't eat his hamburger and was just plain defiant. but the whole time he was having fun. his smile gets him out of a lot of trouble
3. signed, sealed, delievered: bought out my lease on myar. so many hidden costs on taxes, premium coverage/warranty plans, etc. but we are blessed - God is good and the car is ours.
4. lamest date ever: the most time ryan and i were able to spend alone together this week was at the car dealership. almost 2 hours! we had bigger plans but that just took too long. i am trying to make the best of it though and enjoy something special about my hub every day.
5. actually not stressed: i can for once say i'm handling stress so well. i'm happy about it and thankful to God for using his POWER to help me with my stress. a deep breathe, thank you Lord.
xo

these are a few of my favorite things...

1. American Idol - loving it! especially love the comments and random things ryan says during the show. Every week HAleigh comes over and we totally enjoy this tradition, third year in a row! whoa. that's crazy.
2. Caedmon's pajamas. he's totally adorable in PJs and he loves picking his own out.
3. Caedmon's new word for the day, "DELICIOUS!" he was ll over it! hillariousl.
4. CAMERAS - researching a new camera, lenses, ect is taking up alot of my extra time right now. its fun, but i really want to make a good decision!
5. Sunday School - il ove teaching sunday school for my HS class. its a blessing and is really helping me. i feel selfish at how much i'm learning and how it's helping my spiritual life so much.
6. new clothes and new recipies - i've worn a lot of my new clothes this week and that just makes me feel happy! and i tried a new recipie EVERY night this week! GO ME! yummmmmmmmy stuff!
7. butterfly kisses - ryan has the BEST and longest lashes!
8. wishing and hoping - i love having a HOPE every day and having hope for a new tomorrow. i have been a little discouraged many times lately, but i'm thankful that i have hope!

too much time

too much OVERTIME.
i've been working so much i feel like! this week was a drain, but i did get an early start on my weekend by getting out at noon today. it doesn't feel like friday and thats a good thing!
today caedmon and i had a lot of fun together. we were with eachother from 12 to 8, not always the case lately, so i just ate him up!
caedmon things today:
1. he loves pretend and so i was hawkgirl and he was hawkman. he WORE out my arms with all the diving and jumping. mid jump, he'd just stop and almost out of breathe say, i love you mommy so much!
2. colored, stickered, puzzled,and did a worksheet. i love to see him create. he really is creative and loves to color and draw and mostly stick stickers. but the best thing he did was put together a puzzle. all by himself. he got this puzzle on wednesday and has it mastered. its a 25 piece pooh puzzle. we're amazed. he even did some math homework! ahaha (i'm trying to challenge him to think and do worksheets.)
3. run in! he was all about acting like the jonas brothers and running in to sing on stage. "LIVE TO PARTY!" he knows this song by heart and loves to run in and sing it loud!
i had a great time with him and got a few cute pictures. i'll post them soon!

CUPCAKES!!!!!!!!

as i sat in my kitchen today, hearing my 2 year old SCREAM, "CUPCAKESSSSSSSSSS!" in the maddest most stressed out voice, i said to myself, "i see a blog post coming."
so, cupcakes it is.
no, he didn't get his cupcake, and i didn't get to go on a photoshoot with laura, but i did learn a lesson.
my son - cute and smart and awesome as he may be - is still a 2 year old. i was in denial for awhile. i woudln't embrace the idea of the "terrible 2" but i have embraced it. caedmon is just A LOT right now. he's been very demanding and was told a few times this weekend, "you're ruining mommy's birthday weekend." poor guy, but it was kinda true. every time we went to have fun this weekend, he was there to throw a fit.
(and, i was ust interrupted to take him to the potty, in which he pooped his pants. hasn't done that since AUGUST!)
deep breath...
but you know what, even when we're taken to the point where we just want to freak out and throw a fit ourselves, those fruits of the spirit actually kick in - THANK GOD! i love being his mommy and i don't have to re-iterate how much i love him or how much he means to me. i just had to come to the realization that yes, he is in the terrible 2s and no this is not always easy.
so, saturday was my b-day. i'm 27...and we had a nice day, despite a few fits by the little man.
best things about my b-day
1. got to go to IKEA, my favorite place
2. got an amazing teap pot from ryan. very thoughtufl gift.
3. my gift is redoing my scrapbook room! AWESOME! we're starting on that this afternoon with assitance from the wagners
4. ate out twice and didn't feel guilty. had lunch at IKEA and dinner at CASA BLANCA..the best darn mexican joint right next to our house.
5. was able to see both of my nephews, by skype, but nonetheless, it was sweet.
6. got a lot of love and money :) going to have to spoil myself some more
7. a very special gift, from my grandma, a painting my great grandma did. caedmon's great great grandma - i'll post a picture of it!
8. didn't feel fat! two weeks i've been depriving myself so i'd feel good on my b-day!
9. made from scratch amazing cupcakes and enjoyed every bit of its goodness- hence the title.

so, my b-day was nice! hoping for a nice year. as LAMAR would say, "2009 wasn't mine, 20-10 i'm in again." 09 wasn't the best year, and 26 was a little blah, but i have hope for an amazing 2010!

caedmon at 2

here is my "baby book listing" of caedmon things at 2. i really never want to forget how he was...but its so hard not to because he's growing sooooo fast! Since caedmon is turning 2.5 soon, I thought I should record some highlights of him at 2 to 2.5 years. I had to add a few low lights too, because no child is perfect, am i right!

Caedmon still loves music…always drumming and moving to a beat
He has begun speaking in SENTENCES. when he asks for something or “demands” something we always make him put it in a sentence.
he is polite
he is good at sharing and even on boy at daycare told me so
he goes to dc about 5 to 7 hours a week, sometimes not at all
Potty Training has been great. he never had accidents frequently for the first two months of potty training, but by Oct no accidents
Traveled to WI to meet his new cousin mason in Oct was a little rough with the babies
Traveled again to WI for Christmas and was much better with babies Mason and Elliot
loves his cousins, says Mason and Elliot very clearly and knows they are his cousins. he also thinks they are his best friends.
Evee is still his best friend, and he loves her so much. He brightens up and is filled with joy every time she enters the scene
Still NO 2 year MOLARS! what is up with that?! he is such a bad teether, that is the only things he’s behind on.
most people think he’s at least 3, very advanced, tall, and mature looking. He is 34 lbs at 2 years 5 months
loves birthdays and loves to make playdoh birthday cakes
thinks farting is funny…typical boy
doesn’t like to be outside as much as he used to, has too many things to keep him entertained inside.
very good dexterity and control.
loves to play Frisbee and throw any kind of ball
wonderful counting skills
constantly tells Ryan and I that he “loves us so much”
knows his birthday is July 21st and likes to remind people. By October this skill is mastered (we’re extremely impressed)
likes to play dress up and pretend
still doesn't sleep well. he is very bad at going to bed most of the time and never sleeps a whole night. the good side, he is is dry all night and does get up to take potty breaks. we're getting more sleep than ever, usually only shortly interrupted.
knows his superhero “universes” and never gets them messed up
really enjoys watching movies and tv; especially veggie tales and Disney movies
likes to do things by himself, and always wants to be a big helper for mommy
enjoys cooking with us, especially sweet things he can taste test
has a sweet tooth for sure just like ryan
is probably sick of hearing his name, it seems like we’re always “correcting” him these days
has his fair share of tantrums, but recovers and can be distracted quickly
likes to use tools, and help daddy
his favorite things to play with are his Disney Cars cars

Make a Smilebox slideshow

christmas in WISCONSIN

yeah, it does probably seem like i'm always in WI to those who read this blog. but i'm not really. just thanks to my little nephews i've made some exceptions this year. BUT i do make a point to be here for christmas. only 1 year in all my years did i NOT go home for christmas.
this year was definitely a classic home-y family christmas.
we arrived at nearly 11 p.m. on Christmas day, worn out from travelling from 1:30 p.m. EST to 10:48 CST. so...that is a long day. but, it was a great travelling time, caedmon was an angel and we enjoyed our christmas morning before the travelling began.
7 a.m. christmas day: caedmon wakes up and ryan does and believe it or not - i did too! we opened gifts and watching our son so excited was really special. we just love him so much and he's our little joy.
9 a.m. christmas breakfast: my own tradition, DELICOUS TRADITION. soo good i was "rubbing my face like uncle will." (my brother rubs his face when he's sooo full he's about to bust.)
10: a.m. CLEAN UP, take down tree, play with toys
12:00 eat again...just to get full before heading out on our way.
clean the rest of the house after breakfast and pack up the car....
1:30 on our way
2:10 arrive at airport toooooo early, but get good longterm parking on lower level of central parkikng - BONUS!
TRAVELLLLLLLL
arrive at what i will always call HOME and the first bright face i see is THIS: ELLIOT JACK JACOBSON! the cutest 7 month old on planet earth!
sat dec. 26th: did chrsitmas! it was great, the first gift was a snomobile for my dad. he was estatic and nan, will, and i had to try i out on a field later in the day!
caedmon loved opening gifts and was beside himself with joy when uncle will came over. he LOVES will. mason was introduced to uncle ryan for the first time and our family was all together with all the new additions, including aunt dede for a second year in a row.
mom and dad went allllllllllllllll out with gifts this year! the best being tickets to the bears/vikings monday night game. 8 of us enjoyed this pleasure two nights later...more to come on that.sundayafter church at BBC our entire babler-extended family was together. it was great. a very memorable christmas, we were all so happy to be together, and shared in a baby shower for our cousin luke and his wife tracy in honor of another babler entering the world. grandma babler hosted what will probably be the last christmas in her home as things are becoming too much for her in her health these days. but in this moment, we were all together, all happy and all praising God for the love our family has for one another.another huge highlight of sunday at grandma babler's was caedmon signing the BIBLE and JINGLE BELLS for everyone. he was a showman...so great. so articulate, and so proud.my dad and sister had tears in their eyes and my heart was so warm i could feel it heating up the whole room. he was precious.

monday....we left at 12:30 armed and ready for sub-zero freeeeezing temps and a hard game, probably a loss for our bears. we arrived at Soldiers Field with optimism and LOTS of layers and hot hands at 7:20 p.m....right before kick off.
we left that game (the 6th most televised game in all cable history) with JOY pouring from every pour of our bodies, the cold didnt' seem to matter anymore we WON our version of the 09-10 SUPERBOWL. IT WAS AWESOME! THE BEST GAME WE'd EVER SEEN! after killing them in th efirst half, we were able to somehow give it away and get it all back again in OT!
that night we stayed at the posh "W HOTEL" on the lakefront.
i didn't have my camera, so no pictures of this great game or the hotel or our time in CHI but i will be getting some from wes, karen, and brian.
here is a link to the hotel: amazing!http://www.starwoodhotels.com/whotels/property/overview/index.html?propertyID=2005

this night was our first overnight away from caedmon. it went well, he only cried in the night one little tear for mommy and daddy...and had his grandma right by his side. what a good boy he's been this WHOLE trip. what joys he's had and entertainment he's brought to my family. so much love...

also, we ate awesome indian food, cooked a lot of good food at home, ate way too much, had a fun shopping spree with gift cards, saw sherlock homes, laughed so hard we almost cried, watch julie and julia (loved it!), and left way too soon...of course!
:)