Yesterday Kaden turned 5 years old! It was kind of a low key event since he was sick with strep throat (luckily antibiotics were beginning to kick in though so he wasn't totally miserable). It began in the morning with french toast for breakfast and a present from Mia and Kyson

Then he had to wait ALL day for his party that night- he was pretty good about it though.
Here is his cake- far from perfect but at least not store-bought :) He wanted chocolate frosting and this was the only thing brown he could think of that he wanted.

He blew out the candles before I even got the cake down in front of him.

He loved his Legos from Nana and Papa

He got some cool space books from Grandma and Grandpa Kent in preparation for their trip to the planetarium this week! We read them at bed time and he was fascinated.

Grandma Carolyn came through with the Iron Man blaster- he's been asking for that for a while now and I kept avoiding it. It's actually not as obnoxious as I thought. He also got a mask to go with it. The funny part was that Ky was with us when she bought it and before he even started unwrapping it he started yelling, "Iron man! Iron man!!" oops...guess he remembered!

Here he is on his new, bigger bike- he was way too tall for his old one.

"I am Iron Man" Kyson got a mask too so they wouldn't fight :)

I think he had a good birthday- we love him tons and it's hard to imagine life before him just five years ago :) I'll post his check up stats/milestones later this week!

Today Miss Mia is nine months old! Here are some recent facts:

• She is finally crawling full speed AHEAD! (She has been log-rolling, crawling backwards since 7 months old) She is also starting to pull up to things- she is very careful not to bonk her head or slip (my boys never were very careful).
• She eats 2 baby food containers and a few ounces of milk at EVERY feeding (well for breakfast lunch and dinner with just a bottle in between). That seems like a lot for such a little thing. She loves bananas and sweet potatoes. (Check out her FIRST pony-tail, it makes her look so much older!)
• She is musical: she likes to sing along with princess Aurora when she hears Sleeping Beauty playing in the car. She will also start singing back when I sing her lullabies. She also giggles at classical music in the car- she has ever since we went to the symphony at Deer Valley.
  
• She LOVES to read- she giggles at her "That's not my fairy book" and she loves being apart of bedtime stories with her brothers.
• She loves Ahsoka- especially now that she can chase her around a little. She also likes to eat Ahsoka's food- gross!
• Her newest favorite pass-time is watching out the sliding door windows. She can do it for at least 15 minutes.(sock modeling)
  

Here is some footage of her crawling:

MJ is a complete joy, we don't know how we ever got along without her! I'll post her stats after her checkup next week.

**By the way Tyler and I had our birthdays- they were fun yet uneventful (we didn't even get a single picture) except for the part when my 27 candles set off the fire alarm in our house. We went to dinner and saw the movie "Wall Street" So no news except that we are both older now- and Tyler is one year away from the big 3-0!** I'll post more in a week when Kaden turns 5!

Ok this post is long but I LOVE these pictures (and hate slide shows)

Brooke Woodall (super cute and extremely nice/talented, Kyson even gave her a smooch!) photographed us a couple of weeks ago on 25th street in Ogden- a location I knew I wanted to try, but I wasn't sure what we'd find. We ended up with some awesome spots! (Didn't have time to go behind the street like I wanted because the kids were tired and DONE- maybe next time.)

Mia's close-up, she was great the whole time!

This is Kaden's for the portrait wall

We weren't sure if we got ANY of Kyson smiling but this is my fave! (Also going on the wall)

This is MiaJolie's wall pic

I like this one because Mia's standing up- that is the face Ky had most of the shoot- very GQ

I love this one for the wall too

Cute boys- this one's going in their room.

The boys- this is a good one for their room too!

MJ & Daddy I love this one because it shows Ty's eye-crinkles (LOVE them) and Mia's giggling with delight

Mia & Mommy

We took a couple shots together but this is my favorite.

This is a cute sidewalk pic- I love our faces, I am so bummed Mia was escaping instead of looking at the camera! (She was very intent on eating the leaves.)

Another family shot in a cute doorway

Ok these shots are a LOT harder than they look- especially with little kids! Oh well, it was fun.

I'm thinking this one for our family wall portrait.

So there it is! LOVE the pics, LOVE the location, LOVE the photographer!

There's not a lot of news here lately- so I haven't posted in a while. Kaden is loving school and soccer. We are trying to find a good routine to get back into. It feels weird lately-this summer/fall limbo we're in has got me in a funk. I'm wishing it would just stay about 65-70 degrees for a while instead of going from this 85 directly to winter!

Tyler and I recently started with a personal trainer and it has been a kind of struggle for me- changing the way you eat is a big deal, as well as making it to the gym EVERY DAY no matter what...it has been an adjustment but we are already seeing results 4 weeks in. Maybe when we're super hot I'll post before and afters :)

In other news Tyler is starting a new job with Kellogg at the end of the month! It is almost like a new career since he will be switching industries from utilities to manufacturing/food. (Though he will still be in accounting.) There are SOOO many opportunities there, we are so blessed to have gotten in! The best part is he will be literally 2 minutes from home- we get about 10 hrs of our life back each week (due to no commute)!

Here are some fun pics of the kids- we have had a few lazy days recently:

Watching Charlie and the Chocolate Factory on their 'bed'

Ky and MJ spending quality time while Kaden's at school. She is rolling/scooting backwards all over the place now.

Her favorite teether (she has 2 teeth now!) Dogs' mouths are cleaner than humans' right? RIGHT?

So that's all for now! There will be birthday posts coming up later in the month :)

Yesterday (22 August 2010) MiaJolie's first tooth broke through! Its her bottom right, center tooth. She has only been mildly fussy- always the angel girl! It has not come all the way through yet so it doesn't show in her pictures but I took some anyway :)

Last week Grandma Carolyn took us to the county fair- our first ever! It was a fun time- the kids really loved the animals and rides.

Kyson on his first pony ride: he was excited and lined up no problem but when it was time to put him on the saddle he tried to wriggle out of it. After a few turns we got a smile from him. I'm making a weird face trying to keep him from sliding off while avoiding pony poo (flip flops are not optimal pony ride foot coverings).

Kaden wouldn't line up until I told him no carnival rides if he didn't try the pony...once he got on he was fine and loved it! Threatening them to try fun life experiences is allowed right?

Here they are in the petting zoo. It took a while to convince them it was ok to touch the animals- Kyson was the first to try. When he didn't lose any fingers Kaden joined in.

It was super chaotic and hard to get them to pose with the animals- here they are in the pen- so enthused!

In the bunny hut- the three of us wanted a pet bunny after this...except check out those droppings...maybe not!

Mia having a good ole' time in her stroller while the boys rode rides.

Driving a classic car

Floating a boat

Revving a motorcyle

Thanks for the fun day, Grandma!