he finally realized

Today after Mom's Day Out I went to my parents house to watch TJ. The weather was nice so I took all the boys outside to enjoy it. There were some yardmen across the street and that was entertainment enough for the boys. I'm sure the yardmen were just thrilled with us watching them. Cade was just playing around, running back and forth on the sidewalk while I sat on the bench with Reid in my lap and TJ nearby. Cade came over to me and was folding down his good ear and then folding it again. He then reached over to the other ear and said, "Where'd my ear go?" I completely froze and really didn't know what to say. I had played it out in my head a hundred times of what I would say when he realized that he only had 1 ear, and all I could do was sit speechless. Cade just responded to himself and said, "I fold it" and then skipped down the sidewalk again. My heart just broke. I thought I was ready for him to realize it. I guess I wasn't.

day 3

Cade made it through day 3 of potty training with NO accidents! We even went out last night to celebrate and he stayed dry!!!!

another one down

Day 2 is done. I slept horrible last night thinking that at any moment Cade was going to wake up crying because he was wet. The first sound I heard from him was a few minutes before 7! He cried a bit and then I heard him say, "wait....just hold it" and then another little cry. I ran in his room and he was sitting on the end of his bed, completely DRY, waiting for the clock to turn 6! Yes, I changed his clock back to the old time because I learned that he would sleep another hour if I did. Cade is one of those kids that wakes up the same time every morning no matter what time he goes to bed, so another hour of sleep is great for him....and me! I guess I could just teach him not to get out of bed until the first number is a 7, but he really has the 6 thing down so I am not about to mess up a good thing. I told him it was ok to get out of bed so we could go potty. I was so proud of him for staying dry! He did have a couple more accidents throughout the day, but overall he did really well. He even stayed dry during nap time! We didn't have to go to the doctor because he was much better today. Thank you to those who were praying with me! We did, however, go to my mom's house so I could watch TJ this evening. The car ride went great! If I could just teach him to know when he has to go we should be smooth sailing. Hopefully tomorrow he will have less accidents! By the way, I am SO thankful that the majority of my house is tile!!

day one is done

I started potty training Cade today. It went ok. The morning was much better than the evening. We only had one accident up until about 5:30pm. He had 2 more after that. :( Overall I was pretty proud of him. Cade is battling some pretty tough allergies, so he isn't feeling well on top of everything. Say a prayer that we don't end up in the doctors office in the morning. I have done everything I can including breathing treatments every 2 hours, a different mild steroid inhaler and mucinex with cough. The poor guy coughed his head off all morning and it seems to be coming back tonight. His breathing isn't sounding so hot either. So, unless he is significantly better tomorrow we will making our first outing in big boy underwear! Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day all around. Oh, lets pray for a good night, too. We literally threw his diapers (there was only 1 left) in the trash today!!

Be careful little ears what you hear

I pretty much always have KSBJ (our local Christian radio station) playing in my car. The only other things we listen to are kids songs that I have downloaded to my ipod. Well, the other day I was just singing along with the music and Chris Tomlins song, Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone) came on the radio. I was singing and once it hit the chorus Cade started singing with me!! It was the sweetest thing to hear him sing "My God, my Savior has ransomed me and like a flood His mercy rains Unending love, Amazing grace". (He sings the bold words). I guess I never really thought he was paying attention to my music. A few days after that he started singing "This is the day, this is the day that the Lord has made.....". I thought, where did he learn that? Then it hit me, that song is on one of his CD's he listens to when he is falling asleep! For a little boy who struggles with hearing, he sure has been paying attention! I guess now I know why he has been turning his head in the car so he could hear better and why he has been falling asleep at the end of his bed so he is closer to his CD player.

I love these boys

I just love these 2 boys so much. This is by far the best picture of the 2 boys together. Of course it's in a school bus, not quite the background I would have chosen. Nonetheless, I love that they are both looking at the camera and smiling....no fake smiles either! The headlights are a bit blinding. I haven't edited it yet, so maybe once I do it will be a little better!


Here is a random picture just in case you needed a laugh today. By the way, Cade made up this new fashion all by himself!

Rodeo fun

Matt and I took Cade to the rodeo last Tuesday. Here are a few, well a lot of pictures from our night.

Matt and Cade rode the big slide together.

When we got to the kiddie area Cade wanted to ride the slide again. This one wasn't as big, but he had just as much fun!

We were headed to the ferris wheel when Cade saw the cars. He asked to ride so we let him. He was the only one on the ride and the guy told Matt he could ride with him......

yeah right. That was like putting a jacket on a mosquito (that was for you dad!).

So, Cade was fine riding by himself. When the ride started his eyes were HUGE, I could tell he was a bit scared. Then, once the cars started going up and down his eyes got even bigger. Matt and I looked right at each other and said, "Oh, no". We just started telling Cade he was doing a good job and saying, "yeah Cade!!!". He then thought it was great and loved the rest of the ride. I was so proud of him for being so brave!

He never let go of the steering wheel! :)

He was even proud of himself when he got off and was talking about his orange car. We then headed to the ferris wheel. I didn't know if he would ride or not, but he ended up walking right up on his own and tried to get in the gate. He did awesome on this, too. I guess he's more of a daredevil than I thought.

We then headed for the much anticipated food. We headed towards the funnel cake stand where we used to work so Cade could get a corn dog and Matt could get chicken strips. I passed up some pretty good food because I had my mind settled that I was going to get these amazing pork kabobs at the booth next to the funnel cake stand. I was so excited and starving. Well, we get there and they weren't making the kabobs this year.....what!?!? We were already running later than we wanted, so I wasn't about to go all the way back to my second food choice (the steak and potato skillet burrito. Just in case you were wondering). I had seen someone with a BBQ potato so I decided that would do. I stood in line for 20 minutes while Matt and Cade ate their food. I got to the front to order and would you believe they ran out of potatoes right before I got to the front!!!! So, I enjoyed a very delicious, cold chicken strip and fries that Matt had gotten from the funnel cake stand 20 minutes prior. We did top it off with an amazing funnel cake so, it was all ok.

After fun and food, we headed inside the stadium to the rodeo. Matt and I were so impressed with how well Cade did. My little ball of energy sat in his chair or our laps the ENTIRE rodeo and performance. Not once did he run up and down the aisles or even stand up! I know, I'm as shocked as you are. He didn't even ask for a snack until after the performance started. Maybe those 2 corn dogs and fries filled him up good! During the 1st event Cade was scared because he thought the cowboy was getting hurt. We just explained what was going on and he never got upset again!

Cade was pointing out something quite important!?!

It's not a rodeo without the bull riding. Cade is still talking about the bulls. If you ask him what the cowboys did he throws his hand in the air and jerks his head back and forth. It's quite hilarious.

Ok, so this was the cutest thing. While they were setting up the stage they did the calf scramble and then this:

Yes, that is a little kid riding a sheep. Matt and I laughed SO hard. What was even funnier was the names of the sheep. One was Countless Nights and another was Woolly Bully. These young kids were riding the sheep and tried to stay on for 8 seconds. No one did, but they all put in such a great effort. Last year they did this outside of the rodeo in a little arena and I am so glad they did it in the big rodeo this year.

Rascal Flatts put on a great performance. I just love those guys!

Cade's favorite part.....the guitar!

We had a great time and I was SO impressed with how well Cade did. I was sad Reid wasn't with us, but glad we could have a special night with Cade. I am already looking forward to next year!