Behind again

Here's another catch up post...

Ellie loves to play with Kameron. She chases him all over the house and has HIM push HER on his little car. Once the weather turned warmer she let him push her on her tricycle too. It's fun to see them play and get along so well with the almost 4 year gap between them.

Easter was the usual color the eggs, find the eggs, eat the eggs deal. Most easter egg hunts are over in about 60 seconds so I got tons of eggs this year so they could hunt a little longer. This equated to TONS of easter candy left over. Still it was fun. The Easter Bunny hid Ellie's basket in the shower and Kaden's under the table. She even hid Jesse's in the washer! Sneaky! Kameron's was a little easier to find. :) Kameron finally figured out at the end that the eggs were supposed to go IN his bucket. He never didn't figure out his bucket had a handle so his eggs kept spilling on the floor.

(I really need to use a camera and stop taking so many pics with my iPhone- they're so fuzzy.)

Jesse was so nice and let me go to BYU Women's Conference this year. It was absolutely wonderful to get away and recharge my spiritual batteries. I went with my sister and met my cousins and aunt down there. It was nice to enjoy being with the girls and listening to amazing speakers. We even got to eat at Kneaders. Yum. Jesse was so nice to hold down the fort while I was gone. Work was crazy but he still ran the house and did it all. He's so good to me.

This is a pic of Jess and Kaden at our ward roller skating party. It was the first time we've ever taken the kids roller staking. Kaden had a rough time for sure. I think he expected to jump out there and start doing double axels or something because when he kept falling he was so hard on himself. He kept saying stuff like "I'm the worst skater ever; everyone is better than me". It got old after a while. Ellie was smart and held on to the stroller I was pushing Kameron in. Luckily I got to push Kameron in the stroller most of the night or I would have ended up like Kaden. And in case you were wondering- Yes, Jesse is hot in roller skates.

Finally! Last but no least, Cinco de Mayo! I have never really celebrated Cinco de Mayo. At Ellie's preschool they were doing a pinata at the very end and invited younger siblings to come. Kaden didn't have school that day so he came too. Well, this is what ended up happening..

Kaden didn't get to be a part of it because he was older than all the other kids. So I felt bad and decided to go get a pinata to do at our house later that night. Below is a picture of the face Kameron gave me when I told him he couldn't eat the Sixlet he found on the ground. He's so funny. He doesn't talk much yet but his expressions say it all.

What started with a simple pinata turned into a full blown fiesta! We hung a banner, tied balloons all over the kitchen, hung lanterns, had flags and sombrero hat straws, etc. We invited some friends over last minute and had a good time. We had chicken enchiladas, quesadillas, beans and rice and strawberry margeritas. (Alcohol free of course.) It was a good time. Se habla espanol?

This is our make-shift pinata. I realized after dinner that I didn't have a rope OR a place to hang one if I did. So we improvised with a mop handle and a belt. Worked the same. Kids still got to whack it with a bat and squealed like they had never seen candy before when it broke.

Whew! That's three weeks in a nutshell. I have the best life.

Spring is here

Ahhh. The signs of spring at the Wakley house. Jess breaking out his motorcycle and going to the rodeo.

We had awesome seats this year. Right in the front and center. Thank heavens Kameron had this walkway to walk around in all night or we wouldn't have made it to the bull riding!

Jess took the kids for rides around the block on one of the three nice days we've had this spring. The kids love it. Mom didn't get a turn :(

Kaden is way into Star Wars lately. It's all he talks about and if he's not playing with his light sabers he's playing Star Wars Legos or watching one of the old Star Wars movies (the new ones are too violent.) He is my biggest helper around the house. I can always count on him to do what I ask without complaining. Heavenly Father knew what He was doing when he made Kaden my oldest child. Here's my favorite Kaden quote for the month, "Mom, I wish baths weren't real."

Ellie loves going to preschool. Today she had the option of going to school or staying at home and enjoying a relaxing french toast breakfast with dad (which is rare because Jess is always working before they wake up). She chose preschool. Stinker. She's so mellow and laid back but can be brought to tears in seconds. Usually it's over little things like Jess cutting her pancake BEFORE he put syrup on it. Here's Ellie's quote for the month, "Mom, when I was sleeping my shirt fell off."

Last but not least Kameron. He redefines what I previously knew to be a toddler. He is so different from my other two. He gets into everything, throws fits, makes messes all over the house, empties my shoes into the bathtub (then turns on the water), tackles the other kids and sits on them, screams at the top of his lungs if he doesn't get his way, etc, etc. All this on 62 calories a day because he still doesn't eat a darn thing. BUT with all that being said life would never be the same without our Monster Baby. We love him so much. He keeps us on our toes and makes us laugh every day. Since he doesn't talk yet here's Kameron's monthly moment: Kameron LOVES the vacuum. Whenever I vacuum he follows me around, stands right in front of the vacuum and literally nose dives onto the vacuum. That's my upright vacuum. When I get out the central vac hose, he hides in terror. I don't understand the difference but he seems to see one. This is a pic I took of him hiding and crying in the kitchen while I was using the central vac. Silly baby.

March is almost gone..

I am horrible at posting lately. I can't believe it's been a month. Oops. March was busy but fun. Jess and I celebrated our 8 yr wedding anniversary on the 14th. He brought me home beautiful pink roses! Pink is my most favorite color for those of you who don't know.

I made him muddy buddies (which he remembered when I made them that they were his favorite treat-- I know him so much better than he knows himself :) Then we went to Sandpiper for dinner. Here are eight favorite memories from the past years:

1- Kaden

2-Ellie

3- Kameron (in no special order of course... or are they?)

4- Our wedding day. He treated me like I was the most special person on earth.

5- Our honeymoon. He gave me a tiny white flower while we were on a hike and I still have it pressed in my scriptures in the Bible dictionary under the heading "Jesse".

6- Our first christmas together. We had NO money so we weren't going to get each other anything. He surprised me with tons of presents saying he "wanted our first christmas together to be special for me."

7- When we were taking celestial marriage together at the institute while we were engaged the teacher was talking about how we act when we cherish something. He pointed down at the way Jesse was holding my hand for an example. He was softly holding it between his two hands. Ahhhh. How sweet.

8- All of our vacations. He's always up to trying some new different restaurant or to go swimming spontaneously in the ocean with me. We always have a blast. And even when he gets ANGRY when he's lost I think it's cute. Love you sweetie.

Why are there so many wrinkles on my face?I feel old. I found my first grey hair the other day :( It had Jesse's name on it.

For spring break we decided to just go down to SLC for a getaway. Our trip was cut short when Jess had to work for 20 hrs the first day. One of the construction workers at the new hospital cut all of the internet wires so the whole hospital was down which wreaks havoc on Jesse's PACS system. Needless to say I didn't have a husband that day. We finally made it to our hotel in time for me to take the kids swimming. We stayed in West Valley at the hotel with the water park. The kids had a blast. Then we went back to the room just in time to watch Jimmer and the cougars lose the game. Bummer. We had a good weekend though. We went and had family pics done, ate at my favorite sandwhich place Kneaders, saw Tangled, hung out at Jeramy and Heidi's and went bowling.

Kaden LOVES bowling. It was the number one thing he wanted to do on our "vacation".

Who knew they had these to help kids bowl? Obviously not me or I would have been using one for years. I got THE WORST bowling score out of all of us. Including the kids. I'm good with that though. Bowling is not my favorite thing to do.

Saturday night we went to Jesse's 10 yr misson reunion. (Thanks again for babysitting Jeramy and Heidi!) I love listening to stories about his mission from OTHER people. They never fail to mention how crazy he was (like when he scaled the outside walls of the MTC to take the bars off his window) but also mention just as much how hard of a worker he was. Anyone want to watch my three kids for two weeks while we travel back to Croatia?? Where's Jesse?

The joys of my life

I love my life. I am so blessed to be a member of the Church. I am so lucky to have an amazing family and a healthy body. Here are some of the things that make me happy...

My crazy kids. They love to "dive" in the bathtub. Mostly this just means sticking their face in the water for ten seconds. They make me laugh.

My MonsterBaby (his nickname). He keeps us all laughing every day with his jibber-jabber talking and screaming at the top of his lungs for no reason. This smile melts my heart.

My sweetheart. He always plays with the kids so I can get stuff done and stays up late into the night trying to calm me down by thinking of rational explanations for all my fears and worries. Jess and the kids have invented this game called Jail which is a combo of kick the can and tag. It's always Kaden/Ellie vs Dad/Kameron. It has a billion and one rules and I love listening to them play.

Time with my kids. I am kind of a perfectionist. Jess prefers to call me a stresser. I have learned to let go of things like a clean house and a scheduled day and am trying to spend more quality time with my kids. At the end of the day, which really matters more?

Who cares if they wanted Christmas and Halloween cookies in February?

My Savior. Without Him, none of the above would be possible. I took the kids to the IF temple visitors center yesterday to watch the Joseph Smith movie. During scripture study one night Kaden kept asking questions so I told him we could go watch the movie. He didn't take his eyes off the movie for a second and asked a million questions. It's neat to watch him build a testimony and learn about the gospel.

Ok, ok. I had to put chocolate in there somewhere, right? Ellie has an obsession with cupcakes and so I took the kids to a cupcake store in IF. Ellie was in heaven. Kaden refused to pick one out. They didn't have vanilla with vanilla frosting. What a goofball!

I love

my life.

Happy Valentine's and Kameron's walking!

These are the beautiful flowers Jess was sweet enough to give me for Valentine's day. He had them delivered to my office since I had to work. He was also my last patient of the day so that counted as our valentine's date! :) He remembered I had purple roses in my bouquet when we were married. How sweet. Aren't I so lucky?!

I love my husband more than I can say.... however. He tends to be a little on the disorganized side. Those of you who know him understand completely. I have described him many times as a tornado wreaking havoc in his wake. He leaves things in random places and loses everything. If I had a dollar for every time he said, "Where's my wallet?" I would be traveling around the world in style! For the past year and a half we have lived in this house I have refused to clean his closet. I just close the door and ignore it, trying to make him do it himself. I finally cracked this week and cleaned it for him. Needless to say I filled TWO big garbage bags full of junk. I found some really random things that made me smile and just giggle because he's so funny to me. I love that guy. Here's some of the things I found: the lost tax papers for his business that we have been looking for for ages!, 11 golf tees, 2 golf balls, 6 tubes of chapstick, 25 referral business cards, 5 pens, 6 bullets and 2 UNUSED gift cards. Here's a picture of the finished product. I put a gift bow on the door.

Ellie got a balloon for her valentine party at school. Kaden wanted to see it and let it go in our living room where the ceilings are really high. So it was stuck up there for hours until Jess got a ladder to get it down. When she finally got to play with it again she refused to let it go. She watched a movie, played airplanes with Kaden and ate all her meals with her little hand clutched to the string of the balloon. She's so funny. I love my Ellie-bellie.

Today after work I was standing in the kitchen holding Kameron on my hip and Kaden said, "Ooh mom, you must be getting ready to have a baby real soon because your tummy is huge! OR you just need to exercise, but it looks really big to me." Gee thanks Kaden. That makes me feel like a million bucks. Kids say the funniest things. And mostly, their honest.

And last but not least... Kameron is walking! He started on his birthday but he is now officially walking only and no crawling. He's so cute! He dropped weight at his one year appt and is in the 6th percentile for weight so I have to put him BACK on formula. Blah. The doctor also wants us to see a speech therapist to help him with his food aversion. He's such a funny guy. Here's some video of the monster...

Weekend in SLC

Our niece Maddie got baptized in Lehi this last weekend. It was so neat to see a baptism. I realized I hadn't seen someone get baptized in like 15 years! To help Kaden and Ellie understand more about baptism before they watched Maddie, I had an FHE lesson where I crumpled pieces of paper up and taped them to Kaden to represent wrong choices. Then when we are baptized our garbage is washed away. When we were sitting in the chapel and Maddie and Jeramy walked in wearing white Ellie said, "Mom, I still don't see Maddie's garbage!" Pretty funny. Kids are so innocent.

Kameron and Grandpa Kim. He's always so nice to give mom a break.

Jesse's mom's dog Puppy was put down a couple weeks ago. :( While we were down in Lehi they picked up their new puppy, a corgi. We stayed up half the night during Christmas vacation trying to come up with the perfect name for Mary's new puppy. She decided to name her Lucy Katherine. She's pretty cute!

I love when kids are dressed in matching clothes. I haven't been able to do that until now. Kaden is in kids sizes now so it's hard to find clothes in infant and his size. They sure are handsome. Good thing they look like their father!

Just a few words

Kaden wanted a snow shovel for his birthday (no surprise there) so he could shovel the driveway with Jess. Well as shown in the picture below Jess has never shoveled the driveway so Kaden and Ellie took matters into their own hands and shoveled for him. I had to take a picture because Ellie thought it would be best to use a garden shovel. They finally got cold and gave up.

This is a typical meal for Kameron. Everything on his tray ends up on his bib after he spits it out. He doesn't eat anything. I don't know where he gets the energy to tear the house apart everyday. I bought some pediasure today... maybe that will help him break out of the 10th percentile!