Everyone knows about this coveted drink at Disneyland. It's the delicious one right outside of the Tiki Room. We love these, and when we were there in January they were closed the whole time! So imagine our delight when these were at Duane's birthday party.

The reason I haven't been blogging lately is because I have been busy packing on the pounds. Here is a picture of me in my March swimsuit edition. Actually our good friend Duane hosted a Hawaiian Luau. He had giant sumo wrestling outfits for us to wrestle in. Shockingly I didn't get past round two.

Duane and Leah went all out for this party. Leah actually painted this backdrop with surfboards. A special thanks to wonderful TJ for letting us borrow some of your hot Hawaiian attire. Gabe's flowers are covering them, but he is wearing a coconut bra! What a hottie!

Here is the birthday boy himself. Thanks for a great time guys!

We're Back!!!!!!!!

After 18 days in Maryland we are finally back! We had so much fun visiting family, but it is so nice being home. The kids have been so busy the last couple of days reacquainting themselves with all of their toys. I still have random pictures from my trip that I need to post. On Monday we drove out to Ocean City with all of the kids. I think we picked the best day to go, because we froze our little butts off! It was truly painful being outside. The wind was blowing so hard that my ears actually hurt! Being in places like that remind just why we live in Phoenix. I will take the heat over the cold any day.

While there our plan was to walk the board walk and do all of the shops. But in turned out that most people are smart and don't go there in the dead of the winter. Practically every shop was closed, it was a total ghost town. We went into the few shops that were open, not to shop, but to warm up! After a very short time being there we decided it was seriously too cold to be there. So we quickly showed the kids the ocean and got the heck out of there. All that driving to get there and we were there for maybe 30 minutes! What a day!

Valentine's Day

On Valentines Day we gathered the kids together for a little gift. Everyone was excited except my "sweet" McKylah. And being the good mom that I am, I made sure to captured this moment.
However, once McKylah realized it wasn't all that bad, she joined in on the fun too. We got all of the kids stuffed monkey's and Caden actually likes his. He has never been into stuffed animals, but since his cousins like theirs he likes his too. He even sleeps with it at night! McKylah also likes hers, but she really had a lot of fun carrying around the gift bag and tissue paper.

For Valentines Night the adults enjoyed a wonderful dinner at Ruth Chris Steakhouse. My sister has great connections, and we only had to pay for the tip. How awesome is that? All in all it was a good day.

This might be the worst picture displaying it, but Kylah can wear her hair in ponies now! But more importantly she was reunited with her Daddy on Thursday. When Gabe flew in it had been 10 days since the kids saw him. Of course my husband being the mountain man that he is had more than enough time to grow in a beard. When Gabe walked in the door and came towards McKylah she immediately started crying. It took a good ten minutes of seeing Gabe holding Caden for her to realize he wasn't scary after all. When she finally went to him she laid her little head on her Daddy's shoulder, and gave him loves. It was the sweetest thing ever.

The past week we have been freezing our little buns off. Then out of nowhere it totally warmed up and the kids were finally able to play outside. Caden has been dying to ride Chase's new jeep that has just been calling to him in the garage. When he started driving McKylah who is 1 going on 3 had to jump in too. She just giggled the whole time. I was even able to take the kids to the zoo too! It has been so cold here that you don't go outside for any reason, so it was a real treat to enjoy a day outdoors.

McKylah turns one!!!

Today we celebrated McKylah's birthday for the mere third time. Today is her actual birthday, and we celebrated it with both Grandparent's before I left Phoenix. Below is a picture of my second attempt at getting McKylah to eat a cupcake. I set her in a highchair and she immediately went for it. But then we all started singing to her and she just lost it. It is safe to say she can go from zero to 60 in a matter of seconds. The good news is that she got over it, and actually ate a cupcake for the first time! She didn't eat too much, but at least she tried it!

On Super Bowl Sunday we celebrated with my parents. Take note of her adorable Cardinals cheerleading outfit.

She didn't get into the opening of the presents too much, but she loved it when they were put together!

A week ago we met up with Gabe's parents in Casa Grande to celebrate with them. Her favorite toy was of course her baby. She just loves all babies.

Nana and Tata were so good and even got a present for Caden. He may have to cheat in the game but he still loves it!

I can't believe that it has already been a year since I gave birth to my little fire cracker! Happy Birthday Kicky!

A slumber party & the zoo

A couple of weeks ago Cade's cousins came over for a sleepover. For sleeping arrangements we made a massive bed in Caden's room. And as to be expected the bed became a bouncing toy, and sleep was the enemy. Even so they still had a ton of fun including McKylah who thinks she is just one of the big kids. The next morning we loaded the kids into the car for a zoo day. Cade and Kennedie have become such good buds now that they are getting older. I just love it!

And the best part of the day wasn't seeing the animals, but when Mel got her hair stuck in a tree! Mel got up from the table and her hair got tangled in the branch. She started yelling for me to help, and instead I quickly grabbed my camera and started taking pictures like the good sis that I am. Luckily Jake was willing to help her out while we were all dying laughing. Thanks for providing the entertainment Mel!

Our Adventures at Disneyland!

At the beginning of January oor little family of four went to Disneyland with Robert and Bernie AKA "Nana & Tata". We spent three days in the park and truly had nonstop fun. Caden keeps asking when can we go back, and for some reason thinks he is going there on his birthday... McKylah was a good baby as usual, and pretty much went along for the ride. Nothing stood out too much for her, but while packing it was a lot of fun for her to get in and out of my suitcase!
Toon Town was one of our first stops in the park. Minnie and Goofy were the first characters that Caden got to see. All went well until Goofy made the mistake of covering up Cade's eyes while he looked into the wishing well. Anyone who knows my kid knows he has his personal space and doesn't like it to be invaded. Naturally from then on Caden did not like Goofy and still tells me how he didn't like seeing him. Okay moving on...

Is there a picture cuter than this? I really don't think so. These two have so much fun with each other and I just love how they are just smiling at each other.

So remember when I mentioned Cade's personal space? Well he is just one of those kids that doesn't like anything out of the norm. That is why we were shocked that Caden loved all of the "Big" rides in the park! We started him off small with the roller coaster in Toon Town, but it didn't stop there! His favorites were Thunder Mountain, and Splash Mountain! I can't believe he is even big enough to go on them let alone actually like them. What a stud!

To recap my child likes all of the scary rides, but when it comes playing instruments and singing with other kids count him out. When asked to play along Caden was too scared even though I was there playing an instrument too! You really never know what kind of reaction you will get with this little guy!

Meanwhile McKylah is thinking, "When aren't these people going to give me a nap! Can't they see how tired I am!" McKylah was such a trooper the whole time we were there. Each day she only got about a 40 minute nap. The funny thing was that every time she fell asleep it was was riding Pirates of the Caribbean. Which means parents take note if you want your kids to take a nap, go on that ride!

Out of all of the people in the world that I could run into at Disneyland I run into none other than LISA! She thought we were going a few weeks later, and on a whim her and Ben drove there before school started up again. It was so funny running into Lisa of all people because I have been to Disneyland with her a handful of times before. On the last night that we were there Gabe and I put the kids to bed and left them with Gabe's parents and we went out with Lisa and Ben. So not only did we have fun in the park, but we managed to squeeze a late night date in too! Score for us!

At California Adventure there is a spot for kids to take pictures with Tow Mater & Lightening McQueen. And of course Cade loved shining these guys.

Thanks to Robert and Bernie and rider switch passes, Gabe and I got to ride all of the rides! It was such a good time of the year to go. We walked right onto so many rides!
What better way to end this post than with a picture of Caden on "Pride Rock", or at least what Caden referred to as that.

We had so much fun at Disneyland and even Gabe and I can't wait to go again. Thanks for coming Robert and Bernie!

I am very lucky because McKylah is a really good eater. However, the little stinker does not like fruit or any sweets for that matter. I mean what kind of kid doesn't like fruit??? But, the good news is that two weeks ago I finally got her to eat some watermelon! Granted it probably lacks the most nutritional value of all the fruits, but hey it's a start. On top of that when we were in Disneyland she ate applesauce for the first time! Hopefully, she will start liking sweets, (but not like her mother does...)
On the other hand when it comes to vegetable this kid can't get enough. She just loves them. She eats green beans for breakfast! One night we had corn on the cob for dinner. Caden got up to go to the bathroom really quick, and this little monkey stole his corn! Here she is caught red handed!

Speaking of being caught red handed here is Caden picking his nose! We went to Build a Bear for Kennedie's party, and apparently he really needed to get this one out. Thanks for making your mother so proud!

A Christmas full of Traditions

We have waited 4 Christmas's for Caden's turn, but this year he finally got to put the baby Jesus in the manger! It is a tradition in Gabe's family for the youngest child to do this on Christmas Eve. We all sing silent night as we walk into the room while the baby is placed in the manger. Caden got to be Joseph, and Ruby was Mary. I was so afraid that he was going to get up there and not want to do it, but he totally was into and did a great job.
Oddly, the intent of this picture is not to showcase Caden's really cool ear, but to show another tradition of laying out cookies for Santa, and carrots for his reindeer.

Christmas morning was such a blast. Caden was so cute, and wanted to open up McKylah's presents first. This year was the first year that he really got into it and it was so much fun just watching his expression. McKylah on the other hand really didn't care and was mad that her slumber was disturbed.

Once he opened up a few of Kylah's presents, Caden realized that it was that much fun after all. Naturally he quickly transitioned and began to tear through all of his.

After taking a four plus hour nap McKylah was ready to be happy and play with all of her new toys. We had a wonderful Christmas and lucky for us Caden is already asking when Christmas is coming again!

Happy Anniversary!

I can hardly believe it, but today Gabe and I celebrated our 6th year anniversary! My how the time has flown. I have had a wonderful 6 years, and look forward to the many more that come.I truly have a great husband who is such a perfect match for me. Six years ago I would have never of guessed that one day I would be the mother to these little monkeys. They have brought so much joy to my life and I am so thankful to have them. Happy Anniversary babe! P.S. You might be wondering what is going on in this picture.. Kylah is playing the fun "sit on your head" game with her bother. Caden thought it was so hilarious when she would sit on him. All weekend long in Tucson they played in the port o crib just playing with each other. I am so lucky to have these two.

Au Revoir My Beloved Diet Coke!

So it totally pains me to do this post, but my New Years resolution is to can diet coke (no pun intended.) I have totally become a pop-aholic and drink one everyday. It is such a gross thing to be loading my body up with, and I figure the new year is a great time to quit. So since I am an addict, and can't just go cold turkey I have developed a plan of action. Starting today I can only have Diet and Caffeine free Coke. I am starting with that to get me off of the caffeine addiction that I have to my best friend Mr. Cola. Then once I get over all of the headaches and wanting to shoot everyone with in close proximity of me, and I will stop drinking all together. I am crossing my fingers that it won't be too hard to do because lets face I only drink it for the caffeine anyways! I am hoping that by posting this for everyone to read, I will stick to my guns for fear of everyone thinking I am a failure. So everyone raise your diet coke's as we toast to a new years of quiting! *Disclaimer*
This email may be deleted in a couple of days when I come to my senses and realize I never want to quit!

I am a little behind on my postings due to the holidays. So here is a few things we have done the past month. Two weeks ago we went with one of my favorite friends Linsdey and her husband Greg to Glendale Glitters. It is a free fair that is held down town every year. There is a bunch of bouncers for the kids to play in, yummy food, tons of lights, face paintings, and of course ponies! Anyways even though we were freezing our Arizona bums off it was a lot of fun for everyone.
Off to the right Cody is sliding down the Lightening McQueen slide. What you don't see is him going back up again for a second time until the worker stops him.

Here is me shoving my finger into Lindsey's ear. Sorry about that!

Okay enough with the Glendale Glitters, the day after Thanksgiving we met up with my brother and his family at Desert Ridge. Lucky for us we got there just as they were doing a free "The Little Gym" show. After watching Tatum and Paetyn play on stage for a couple of minutes, Caden decided to join in on the fun two. Nash and Kylah got to hang out in the stroller while they watched their siblings act like dinosaurs.

Speaking of dinosaurs here is one below. To quote Naomi here is a, "Cadeosaurus."

If you look closely at this picture you will see that Tatum and Paetyn are running together holding hands! I can't wait until my munchkins do that!

Always up to no good...

McKylah is at that wonderful stage where she loves to get into everything and fit into everywhere. But, with a smile like that, can this little monkey do any wrong?

I really don't think so.

Life has been pretty hard for us lately having to already celebrate two Christmas's. My parents are ditching us this year, so we had Christmas on Tuesday. Melanie, Michael, Matt, and their families came to my parents to play X-mas with us. To say that it was overload of presents would be an understatement. Here are some random pictures of our gathering:

Matt, Naomi, and Nash

Mel, Jake, Kennedie, and Khloe

Michael & Carrie

Below is a small glimpse of the mess. My mom spent countless hours shopping and wrapping, only to be left with this mess in a matter of minutes.

Kylah and Khloe are only six months apart. Right now McKylah tries to steal her pacifiers and eat her head, but one day they will be best friends.

Two days before that Gabe's sister Lupe and her husband Sharif came up for another pretend Christmas. And of course this is the only picture I managed to get. Here is Caden opening up his webkins lion. When choosing a name for his lion, he decided on a really unique one so he chose Simba... Go figure.