A Busy Week

Lots of things happened over the last week and a half. Cade turned 30 years old! So I invited his favorite people (his family, at least the ones that live within an hour of us) over for dinner as a surprise. Cade doesn't have a regular work schedule and I never really know when he'll leave or come home from work so I guessed that he would get home about 5:30 on Friday and his mom said they would come at 5 just to be safe. On Friday morning I did my best not to send Cade off to work early so I could decorate the house and get dinner ready. I knew if he left early that would just mean he would come home early. So after he finally left I was able to easily get everything ready since Conner was having one of the best days of his life and was just content to play by himself for hours. It was great. Anyway, when I heard the garage door go up at 4:45 I ran out to meet Cade. I didn't have time to think of anything to say except that I was working on a project and he was to go sit in the backyard and that when it was time for him to actually be home he was welcome to come inside. Obviously he knew something was up, but he really had no idea what and I have a tendency to say and do strange things from time to time so this wasn't totally out of character. After his parents arrived I let him inside and he was surprised. I drilled him later and he really had no idea so I forgave him for almost ruining everything by coming home early. We had a delicious dinner (if I do say so myself :) of lasagna, garlic bread, and manderin orange salad and enjoyed spending time with the Johnsons.

For his birthday, Cade wanted a pack to take Conner hiking in. We looked at some in the store and the mid-level model cost $230. (The deluxe model costs $350!) The cheapest one (which was still $185) seemed pretty crappy so we didn't want to get that one. But we also didn't want to spend that much money for a pack they probably won't use all the much anyway. So we checked Craigslist and there was a lady in Chandler who was selling a brand new one that she won in a contest for $125. We were pretty excited and RJ went and got it for us. Conner is still a little small for it but they enjoyed testing it out around the house.



The next day was our 6th anniversary. I had to work that day and told Cade it was up to him to take care of our anniversary this year. And he didn't disappoint. He couldn't think of any nice places that he wanted to eat at so he made a wonderful dinner of so-called chicken parmesan. Its actually a creation he made up that has no parmesan in it but thats what he calls it. He decked out our room as the "Anniversary Suite" with the table and candles all set up. We had a nice evening while our friends Jenny and Nate watched Conner for us. Thanks guys!

Then the very next day was Cade's first Father's Day. I made him one of his favorite breakfasts: Milk toast. Yuck, but hey its really easy to make, especially since Tina gave me a loaf of homemade bread I could use. Thanks Tina! I also ordered Cade a really cute card with pictures of him and Conner on it. At church the men all received some beef jerky and then we headed to Cottonwood to spend the afternonn with Cade's dad.

First time on the trampoline

On Thursday we headed to Phoenix for Cade's root canal, which was surprisingly not very painful. We spent the day with my family and then headed over to Globe to see Kameron and Katie. Conner and Jeter finally acknowledge each other. Jeter mostly just stared at Conner and Conner loved grabbing at Jeter and even licked his face :) We drove over to Thatcher to go to the temple and had a good time. Then on Saturday they went to the lake while Conner and I opted to stay home. Katie curled my hair with her Paul Mitchell Clipless Curling Iron. It was really cute so the next day I tried to do it myself but totally burned my neck on the first curl and now I look like I have a hickie. Conner was wiped out by Sunday and slept the whole way home and we had to wake him up so he would eventually go to bed.

Conner seems so short next to Jeter

Conner loved their bouncy exersaucer. At first he was just going crazy and giving himself whiplash while he jumped but then he got the hang of bending his knees and loved jumping in it.



Then to finish off the week we just found out that Cade passed his first CPA exam!!!!!!!!!!!! Cade wasn't sure this day would ever come, but I just knew that he would eventually do it. Now the real work begins so that Cade passes the other 3 tests before October 1st 2012. Otherwise he has to retake the one he just passed. This is really not going to be fun for me or Cade. He is going to have to study all the time which of course is no fun. But then my problem is he is going to have to study all the time and I won't get my much enjoyed breaks from baby duty. 

Its been such a nice week.

An Update

I've been waiting for something significant in our lives to happen so I could blog about it, but after 6 weeks I guess I'll give in and write about the small stuff so I can still call myself a blogger. Conner is almost 7 months old now and developing fast. It seems like overnight he learned to sit up so playtime is more fun for everyone now. He seems to finally be getting into a nap routine which is wonderful, and he even is finally eating some foods, occasionally :). I don't know what his deal is but eating does not interest him and if he'll eat at least 5 good bites of something (baby cereal, peas, etc) then we call it a success. At his 6 month check up he weighed in at 15.15 lbs in the 20%, was 25.5 inches tall falling into the 9% and his head continues to grow into the 83% being 44.5 cm. Lately people keep telling me how big he looks. Based on his percentages I'd say he really isn't big at all, but that giant head must be deceiving people.

I knew someday I would feel like the outcast in my home being the only girl but I thought I had a couple of years before Conner would act like a boy, but I guess I was wrong. One night not too long ago Cade was getting Conner ready for bed and laughing, having a good time. Suddenly Conner stops playing, starts pushing, lets out a good size toot, and started laughing hysterically at himself. (Sigh) I can see I have an uphill battle of teaching manners in front of me.

Here are random pictures of Conner for his Aunt Ashley in Africa and any others who don't get to see enough of this cute little guy.

Sitting up in his Oompa Loompa pajamas (unfortunately the picture cuts off the top of the hood that is all pointy).

 I just had to take a picture of him this day so I could remember the day of the glorious 3 and a half hour nap, when I was finally able to accomplish all the non-important things in my life that are always at the bottom of the list.

 In case you're wondering, he doesn't use a sippy yet but I like to put it near him at times so he gets interested in it and its an easier transition. After a couple of weeks of totally ignoring it he finally started putting it in his mouth. Now I just need to get him to actually drink from it.

He likes to make this little bird face.

Playing with the Van Dyk's cat.

Scaring Mommy.

Chillin with Grandpa Rodgers.

Just being adorable.

You know how its great to have certain professionals in your family for discounts? Well in our case its the dentist. We don't have any dental insurance and have always tried finding cheaper ways to get to the dentist like going to the NAU Dental Hygiene clinic. But this time we drove down to Phoenix to see Cade's cousin Allen. Thank goodness we did. Its only been a year and a half since we last went to a dentist but Cade already needs a root canal, a new crown, some old fillings replaced, and he had a gum infection. The crown itself costs $1200 out of pocket but we only have to pay $400 thanks to Allen. We haven't got to the rest of the problems yet so who knows how much more we'll be paying. But then I have my own problems. My gums have been severely deteriorating for a couple of years now and I've known I needed gum surgery but I can't put it off anymore. I've been losing bone too and if I don't get it fixed they say I'll lose my teeth before I'm 40. At this last visit I had some special root/teeth cleaning done that normally costs $760 but we only paid $450. At my next visit I'll be meeting my new best friend, the Periodontist, whom I'll get to see every three months for a loooong time. But THANKFULLY Allen works for a dental group, (which includes a periodontist, root canal specialist, oral surgeon, and orthodontist) and we are going to get a discount with the periodontist too. Since I haven't met the periodontist yet I don't know the full extent of the situation but between both Cade and I we will obviously be spending thousands of dollars at the dentist over the next year and thanks to Allen we may also save thousands of dollars. I also have to tell you why I'm so impressed with this place. Even though Cade and I had appointments an hour apart so one of us could watch Conner, the office ended up working on Cade for 2 and a half hours. So while we were both being seen Conner started getting really upset and I could hear him crying from the other side of the building. After a few minutes he stopped crying and later when I went to make my next appointment I found the receptionist holding Conner while she was making her phone calls! She even changed his diaper! I felt so bad but she said they do that all the time. Thanks Norterra Group!

Easter at Lake Mead

Every year for Easter Cade's extended family goes to Lake Mead. For some strange reason this was the first year I've been able to go since we were engaged (remember that Cynthia!). I wasn't too thrilled about taking a baby camping for days in the heat with almost no shade so Cade left on Wednesday with some of his family and then Conner and I drove up late Thursday night with the rest of his family. Cade was supposed to come pick us up in the boat when we arrived to take us to the camping spot. Unfortunately we ended up leaving 2 hours later than planned. I texted Cade around 10 and told him we hadn't made it to Kingman yet and he responded saying that he should have just picked us up in the morning. That was the last text I got from him because the service was bad on the lake. So when we finally arrived around 1:30 in the morning I didn't see him waiting for us because the lake was dark and assumed he had gone back to camp. It turned out Cade was down in the boat still waiting for us but he had fallen asleep and didn't see us arrive. I tried to sleep in the car but I maybe ended up with about 2 minutes of sleep between trying to keep both Conner and I comfortable. Cade ended up waking up about 2:30, got worried, and then came and found us. We decided we would just wait until the sun started rising before we went across the lake.

Here's Conner on his very first boatride. Surprisingly, even though the ride was pretty bumpy and windy he just fell right back asleep.

The view from our tent.

After we got to camp we had breakfast and sat around talking with everyone for awhile. Then Cade took Conner out fishing with his dad and brothers. They were gone FOREVER. It was great to have some time to try and sleep but after awile I was getting very concerned about Conner's well being. I knew Cade wouldn't think to reapply sunblock on him and I thought for sure he was going to return as a tomato, but I have to give Cade credit on this one. As I suspected he did not reapply sunblock but he did keep Conner shaded somehow and he had no sunburn. In the afternoon it was so freaking hot. The only shade was in tents with almost no airflow or under a beach umbrella that had about 6-7 people crammed under it at all times. Conner was getting cranky and needed a nap and there wasn't room for us under the umbrella so after I got him to sleep I laid him in our tent and did my best to keep him cool with wet, cold wipes :) Ha ha, I know I'm a dork, but I was dying so I was sure he was too and there was no escape from the blasted heat!

I'm sure some of you are asking yourselves why we didn't get in the lake to cool off. Well the lake was like ice and I wasn't getting anywhere near that thing, even though a few other brave souls did. Cade and his brothers even went wakeboarding, but I don't do freezing cold water. Conner wasn't all that thrilled with the idea either after he tested the water.

In the evening the kids had an Easter egg hunt. Conner thoroughly enjoyed getting his one egg.

After the egg hunt we just sat around the fire enjoying ourselves. Is it just me, or does anyone else think Conner is the devil here? Click on the picture so you can see his red eyes.

The rest of the night didn't go so well. After Conner fell asleep in Cade's arms his cousin Randy was walking by with more wood for the fire and accidently jabbed Conner in the head pretty hard. He woke up screaming for awhile but there were no visible injuries. Then since Conner was experiencing his first cold (which started before we got to the lake) he could barely breathe all night and kept snorting and waking us up. We tried cleaning out his nose 3 different times but it didn't help much. Then we put him in between us and propped him up on a pillow so he could breathe better. But while Cade was trying to get him a bottle he didn't notice his leg and knealed down on his little ankle, which brought on more screaming.

Things were a little better in the morning. Conner, Jeter, and grandpa Johnson enjoyed some time playing in the sand.

And then Conner was done and slept until we left a few hours later. One day in the sun is enough for him. And he only ended up with a tiny sunburn on his cheeks and chin.

The first half of the drive home was nice. Conner and Jeter slept most of the way. But after we stopped to eat they were done being in the car. Between the two of them someone was crying all the way from Kingman to Flagstaff. Our truck was in Flagstaff so we had to go there first instead of going straight home. Cade helped Kameron take care of the boat and then we had to stop again in Camp Verde to give the Johnson's their stuff that wouldn't fit in their car. So somehow even though we left the lake around 2:00 we didn't get home until 11:00. It was a loooong day. I can wait to go again next year! (And that is not a typo :)

Goodbye Old Friend

The time has come for Cade to say goodbye to his dear friend, The Truck. It was Cade's pride and joy and in his words, its what kept him sane. (I don't know who could have been driving him insane :) It was a little beat up when we got it so it was great for him to take it out hunting/scouting/whatever and not worry about beating it up more. That poor thing was a bit rickety and lately we have been afraid to drive it out of town. Cade thought since day one that the clutch was going out, but it held on and never gave up on us. The bed liner even flew right out one day while driving down the I-17 and Cade was able to retrieve it and put it back on (Thankfully it flew off to the side and didn't cause any collisions). But as much as he loved that thing, it just wasn't big enough for Conner to sit in safely.

After one hour on Craigslist for $5,900 Cade received about 10 phone calls on it. One man close by asked to test drive it and then offered $5,500. Cade had only been hoping for $5,000 so he took it. It was immediately apparent to me that Cade should have asked for more and let others test drive it and see who would offer the most for it, but he said he was too busy to let everyone test drive it. And again I reminded him of how bad of an idea it was to start this project on the last week of tax season!! But I was at work during all of this so it was already sold and done with by the time I got home and I had no say in the matter. My only consolation is that we bought the truck almost 6 years ago for about $8,000 so it was a pretty good deal overall.

Now that we were suddenly down to one vehicle it was time to buy another. Cade had been somewhat searching Craigslist and dealerships for months so we had a pretty good idea of what we were after. Good thing because we only had about a day to find something. I hate making any decisions quickly, but somehow we are always very rushed when we buy our cars. Cade went down to Mesa to test drive a few, but I had to work and couldn't go with him. But luckily for me Ashley just happened to be driving down from Utah and was passing by my area right about when I was getting off so she made a little detour and picked me up. After a day of searching we settled on this bad boy.



Cade is quickly falling in love with his new truck. He loves that it is lifted and has rims. I personally think it just looks like something is missing, but I'm obviously not into cars and their accessories. But we do love how we can all fit nicely into it and its automatic so I can actually drive this one! The only downside is we wanted a bench seat so we could fit our possible future children into it, but there are rarely any for sale with a bench seat plus all of our other requirements. So someday we may be switching out the seats, but its nice to have the bucket seats for now. I don't know why but Cade decided his old license plate just wouldn't do so he requested a new one so that it was no longer ###-SHE :) The sad thing though is when we got home our garage door was broken so we have to leave our new friend out front for a few days until we are home long enough for someone to come by and fix it. (Cade was going to attempt to replace the broken spring himself, but then he read a strong warning about how easily one can loose a limb or life trying to do so and he quickly decided he would rather call a professional.)

First Haircut

Since Conner was born I have been trimming the hair around his ears and neck as needed. I don't know anything about how to cut hair and have only ever cut Cade's with an electric razor, which takes no skill whatsoever. I had been putting off cutting Conner's because I wasn't about to use a razor and make it that short and I really didn't want to mess it up trying to use scissors. I'm also not about to start paying a professional to cut his hair already. But as you can see, by 4 and a half months, it was just getting too long and difficult to keep looking nice.

So after he fell into a deep sleep one night I did a quick google search on how to cut boys' hair and got to work.

Since this was my first attempt and his hair is his trademark I wanted to make sure I didn't butcher it so I only took a little bit off.

I didn't get an "after" picture because he was too tired and just went straight to bed after. But here is a picture from a few days later at Logan's blessing with Grandma Johnson.





I know you can't really see it that well in the picture but I can tell you that I did a pretty dang good job for a first timer! This actually happened about 3 weeks ago (I've been a little too busy for blogging lately) and its already getting close to needing to be cut again. I'm hoping I'll be an old pro soon with all the practice I'll be getting.