BYU game!

Trent and I got lucky and scored some sweet tickets to the BYU/OSU game last Saturday. We weren't going to go but someone who was very generous offered to pay for our tickets! How awesome is that?! And guess where our seats were?? Second row on the 20 yard line!! Someone we got some season ticket seats. Talk about awesome. We were right behind the BYU team which was super cool. BYU is by far our favorite college team. Ducks next =) My mom was awesome enough to watch Kelsey for a whole 12 hours. WOW! I have never been away from my baby for so long. It was kinda hard. It was a good thing the game was good so I didn't get too distracted thinking about Kelsey. But we didn't have any reception where we were so I was kinda freaking out that I couldn't text or call my Mom and ask how Kelsey was. That is normal, right? =D I just love my little girl. She did amazing by the way! Didn't even miss me! =( Anyway, back to the game.
We got there pretty early and parked at the stake center in Corvallis. We were meeting some people from our ward and some other members from the stake so we could tailgate some. So fun! They had people selling BYU stuff, food, BYU cheerleaders and Cosmo (the mascot) and just lots of fun times. It is so awesome to be a member of the church and be around such great, friendly people. It is the best kind of atmosphere there is. Made me miss Rexburg a little =) We had some awesome chili dogs, potato salad, cheesecake, and rolls. Life was good! We got to mingle for a bit and enjoy the atmosphere before we had to walk to the stadium.
The stake center was about 2 miles. Maybe less. So it wasn't like it was close or anything. But it was free parking and not so much traffic by the school. It wasn't that big of a deal to walk. We could use it actually. So we walked there and sat in our seats and watched the game! It really was fun to be that close to the team. I got some pretty awesome pictures. And we won! So that is even more awesome because we were sitting all around Beaver fans. It could have gotten ugly if we lost. lol. I really didn't want to be mocked or yelled at. Instead I got to yell at all them Beaver fans. Haha! I can get pretty feisty when it comes to sports. Not gonna lie. My kids are gonna hate me when they are older. Let's just say that......
When the game was all over we walked back to the stake center and left. I would say we walked 3-4 miles all together. And we stood almost the entire game since we were in the front and pretty much head level with the players. We had to stand most the time so we could see around the players on the sidelines. When we got back to the car our legs were tired and we were ready to rest and go home to our baby. Traffic was terrible!!!!! Oh so terrible!! But I didn't think it was going to be easy to get out of there either. It took us 2 1/2 hours to get home? I think. So an extra hour I guess. Maybe it took longer. I can't remember. All I know is that it took a long time. But it was worth it!! Had so much fun!!! We were pretty lucky to be able to go do that. And by ourselves too. Even though I missed Kelsey like crazy =)

4 year anniversary!

Somehow our 4 year anniversary snuck up on us. Let me tell ya. I love my husband!!! What a great man, husband, and father! I don't know who I would be without him. He is my pick-me-up every single day of my life and I couldn't ask for more. He is such a hard worker and I love him oh so much!!!! It has been the best 4 years for my life. I cannot wait for more adventures with him. Good and bad. Whatever they are I know I can lean on my other half. Alright, I could go on and on about how much I love my hubby but you may not like that so much =)
For our special day my Mom was awesome enough to watch Kelsey for a whole 6 hours! I have never been away from Kelsey for more than like 3. It feels so nice now that she isn't nursing during the whole day. I can actually go out and enjoy some time with Trent which is pretty nice. This was our first anniversary as parents! So weird! We will never have another anniversary as not being parents. lol. =)
We went to the Olive Garden for lunch which is our favorite place to eat at. Mostly because Trent loves salad =) Then we went to the temple which was very overdue. We hadn't gone through a session since before Kelsey was born! We have been there a couple times after. Just not any sessions. Trent has so been so busy and Kelsey was always nursing so we weren't able to go. I loved that we had the opportunity! It is such a beautiful and peaceful place. It was the perfect date to celebrate where we sealed the deal! =) We then went to pick up some cheesecake from Cheesecake Factory. YuM! The restaurant is inside Washington Square Mall which, surprisingly, have never been in before. We walked around a few places inside but not for long. so we just picked up the cheesecake and went and picked up Kelsey. After Kelsey ate and went to bed, Trent and I ate our cheesecake with some sparkling cider and watched a movie =)
It was such a fun day with such a fun person to spend it with. I am the luckiest wife around! Love you husband! Can't wait for more anniversaries to come! =D

9 months

Kelsey is 9 months old! Wow. 9 months of pregnancy went by a whole lot slower than the 9 months of her being out of my belly. Every day she grows up in some different kind of way. As her Mother, I feel so special to be apart of her life. I am so lucky that so far I have been able to stay home with my baby and watch her achieve new milestones. It is so weird and amazing to watch Kelsey's every move. I watch her learn, problem solve, play, be happy, sad, and sometimes mad. What a lucky mommy I am! I am so grateful for Trent. He has been such a trooper and works very hard. Even though it is very stressful to be away, I know he loves us and that he does what he does for our family.
In just the past couple months Kelsey has grown so much. She learned how to clap, dance, sign more, pull her self up, walk around toys and furniture, and CRAWL! I never thought it would happen! Haha! Never has she liked being on her tummy so I thought she was just going to be one of those babies that went straight to walking since she starting walking around her toys before she started to crawl. But she had been lunging a lot and in a matter of a week she got the whole crawling thing down pat. She does it from sitting on her bum. I think what made her start crawling was not wanting to be away from me. Whenever I take like five steps away from her she would always get upset. Especially going into the kitchen. That is what really got that girl movin. She just started crawling after me so she could be with me. It was pretty funny actually because she would cry the entire time crawling to come find me. haha. She still does it actually. Silly girl. The other day Trent was leaving for work and he walked around the corner to the door and she started crawling after him and he shut the door and she sat there and cried. Broke my heart! She sure loves her Daddy. I love it! He is so good to her! =D
She sure is the busy little girl. Now that she has learned all these new skills she is all over the place. I haven't really had to baby proof much which is good for me I guess. I didn't really have anything crazy out although she still manages to gets bumps and bruises. I don't think there is any chance at preventing those. She pulls herself up on the TV stand a lot. It's one of her favorite places to go. Looks like we need to get one that closes in the front so that she can't push all the buttons =) Her favorite thing to do though is climb all over her Mom. I always have to sit on the floor with her and then she just climbs me all the time. All she ever wants to do is stand up. I think when she learns to walk she is just going to be insane! haha! She sure is a cutie even though she is a momma's girl and having a little separation anxiety issue. Hopefully that won't last long. Probably hard since I am the one she is around all day every day. She is starting to get bored of her toys I think and now that the weather has decided to pretty much skip Fall, I can't take her out for walks like I used to. Not in this rainy mess anyway. So if anyone has fun ideas to do with a 9 month old inside let me know! I need some good ideas =)
I have been experimenting with new foods for Kelsey. Trying to do homemade stuff but the last one I tried she did not like! She is having a hard time with different textures mixed in with her soft baby foods. I tried putting some hamburger meat in with some baby food and she did not like. Did not like the little pieces of egg yolk either. I think she likes them ok separate but not with liquidy things. I dunno. It is hard because if she does not like it she will not open her mouth for anything. She is stubborn like her Dad. She tried some mushed up veggie lasagna last night and she did ok with that but after a few bites she did not want it anymore. How are you supposed to eat child if you won't try new things? Aren't you getting a little tired of the same ol baby food? Well I will keep trying I guess. She really likes cheese and bread and grapes and bananas. We will see. Process of elimination I suppose.
She doesn't have any teeth yet although I think one is making its way in. It is her upper tooth but it's not the middle ones like usual. It is a side one. I guess I didn't get my front teeth in for a bit so we will see when she will get those. She is just gonna look like Dill from Rugrats with the side tooth. haha! Just waiting for it to appear! She is finally taking long naps in the afternoon. She takes like a half hour-45 min nap in the morning and then a hour and half to 2 hour nap in the afternoon. Still sleeps like 12 hours at night straight and lately hasn't been waking til like 8 in the morning. Nice for me! I don't have to wake up super early! Only on the days when Trent works early. She is so funny in the mornings. She just sits in her crib and talks to herself and her dolls and sometimes spits raspberry's. It is pretty funny. Then when you go in there she just likes to sit in her crib and play with her blankey. She is a blankey girl for sure. Cute =)
She likes to fake laugh all the time which cracks me up. She is always squealing and making noises. When she is around a lot of people or even just like two other people she is pretty quiet. She loves to observe what is going on around her. Maybe she is gonna be shy. I dunno. I can say she is not shy at home! Always bouncing and happy for the most part. Anywho this is pretty long. I have not updated on Kelsey for a bit so here it is! She is getting so big so fast and growing up into such a cute little girl. Excited for her to keep learning and growing! =D

Visitors/ Grandma

James and Mal came and visited us again here in P-town. We were very excited to see them although it was not for many good reason. Needless to say the summer was pretty stressful. My Grandma that I am very close to found out randomly that she has Ovarian cancer. And they found a very large mass in her chest that is in-operable. She had surgery to remove her ovaries and decided that she wanted to do chemo. So James and Mal decided to come visit before she got too sick. We had a nice visit although it is never long enough. They were just here for the weekend and it seems like it went so fast. We went to Seaside for one day and we spent a lot of the time with my Grandma which was really nice. My mom has been so busy and I feel bad I can't help more with things. I tried to help the best I could watching Jaylen so that my Mom could be with my Grandma. Just so hard too when I don't have a car and Trent is gone most of the time. He is busy, busy, busy. Any time he is home I take advantage of having family time. Most of the last part of the summer was a blur. My Grandma has had a lot of issues and it is hard to see her struggle. She is a very strong lady and I love her very much. She has had such an impact on my life and I am so grateful for her influence. She is amazing! She does Chemotherapy once a week which I can only imagine would be hard and it takes like 7 hours. It has been crazy and I cannot even begin to explain feelings and emotions so I will just leave it at that. I am glad that James and Mal were able to visit with her while she was still feeling semi-good and in good spirits. I am sure she really enjoyed it. Can't wait to see them at Christmas =)

Camping at Trillium Lake

We hadn't gone camping at all this summer and it is one of Trent's favorite things to do. Well my parents had said they were going camping at Trillium Lake and invited us to go. We used to go there a lot when we were younger and fish and ride and in the canoe. I really like it there and haven't been for a bit actually so we were pretty excited. We packed up our car and went and got fishing licenses and we were set! The weather was gorgeous up there! Perfect! I thought it was going to be a lot colder than it was so I was excited to have some sunshine. We got the blow up raft out and decided we better take advantage of the sun. Trent and I went out on the lake for a bit before I got tired of rowing. haha. It is hard work! Especially when your husband keeps trying to go a different direction than you! So then we went back and got our fishing poles out. I am not gonna lie, I am a pretty good fisher! Last time I had fished at Trillium I caught 4 fish! So I was pretty upset I didn't get a catch. It was tho Trent's first time EVER fishing! I couldn't believe it. I was proud of him for catching a fish on her first try ever. But also didn't make me any happier. I didn't need him rubbing it my face. Now he thinks he is the best ever! So that was pretty fun. Kelsey had fun with Grandma jumping and waving. We went back and had dinner, roasted marshmallows, talked and played a game. Kelsey always has a hard time getting to sleep away from her crib so she did cry for a little bit and then eventually fell asleep. It got pretty chilly outside so we ended up going to bed semi early. I put tons of blankets on Kelsey in her pack and play but during the middle of the night I checked her and her arms and hands were just so cold! So I took her out and put her in bed with me. She stayed a lot warmer but it was so hard to sleep with her with an air mattress that was deflating and Trent kept moving and ya. It was hard. But I am glad I put her in bed with us. I felt bad that she had gotten so cold in the night.
In the morning we ate and decided to go fish again. No luck. There was just so much seaweed out there that our lines kept getting stuck or a salamander would come eat the worm and wouldn't get off! So we gave up and went and chilled at the campsite before we cleaned up and left. Kelsey had a lot of fun! She loved being outdoors and going for walks. I am glad we were able to go camping with her this summer because it was a lot of fun and I miss doing it =)

Caudle Grandkid photos/Photoshoot

We had the opportunity to get all the Caudle Grandkids together to take some photos at Cascade Locks. I have never been there before and I thought it was really pretty! I was kinda a chilly day though. I would like to go back sometime again when the weather is a bit nicer. Such a pretty location!! It was fun to get all the kids together for pictures and then lunch. Kelsey is lucky to have to have so many cousins!
Then we also went and did some individual pictures of Kelsey a different day at a park. The weather was nice and we got some cute little photos of my little sweety! I love that girl!!

July 4th!

This 4th of July was pretty fun. All the grand kids got together and made t-shirts together. Stephanie had a cool idea to make firework stamps made out of those pipe cleaners. So we all stamped shirts and they all turned out pretty cute.
We went to a church bbq and ate and watched the boys play kick ball and just enjoyed each others company. We then went to the Caudles to play games and do karaoke and dance in the streets. Every year on their street they block it off for the kids and to shoot off fireworks. Trent's uncle lives across the street and he plays his music really loud and sets up a karaoke machine. Trent and his family enjoy singing and I enjoyed listening to my hubby. We were able to light some sparklers before Kelsey went off to bed. I put her in her pac-n-play in the basement with a baby monitor. It was nice to be able to do that so we could enjoy the holiday with everyone. I felt so free! I could do something after she went to bed! haha! I went and danced in the streets, cuddled with the hubby, and watched the fireworks. It was a really fun 4th of July!

Beach!

Every summer my family gets a week at the beach house. I was so lucky to have gone this year with my family. And Trent even got to go for a few days which was soo nice! I haven't been able to go to the beach for that long since I was in high school I think. So it has been 5 years. I really love the beach and it is pretty much the only place that calms me and relaxes me. This was Kelsey's first real trip to the beach. She got to play in the sand and go see the ocean. It was kinda cold so we didn't stay out too long. It was windy and sprinkly! But at least Kelsey had the experience. When we first sat her in the sand she hated it! But after a few minutes she warmed up to it and was raking the sand with her fingers and hitting it and even eating it! So it was fun and I got some cute pictures. When we went down to the ocean it was really windy! But Kelsey was a trooper and enjoyed herself. We put her toes in the water but she cried. I think it was just too cold of a day. We actually went to the beach the other day with the youth and she couldn't get enough of the water but I will blog that later =) All in all it was a good trip and I was so happy Trent was able to be there with Kelsey and I to enjoy the sand and ocean and just having family time. Here are a few pictures from the trip