Thanks, Auntie G!

This was a crazy-busy weekend for us with a cheer competition and Matt hitting the recruiting trail hard these days. Luckily, Auntie G made arrangements to come to town for Cader-Care.

Cade gladly showed her all of his newest tricks! As Gentry says, he plays hard!





Bath time!


Bath time always ends abruptly whenever Cade decides he can't sit down anymore. He loves to stand!

Trying to keep all those teeth pearly white! Cade seems to have the hygiene habits of his dad...minimal brushing


Thanks for coming to help us out, G!
It was definitely one of those weekends where I didn't really feel like I got a weekend. You know? Those are tiring.
About 12 more days of crazy, busy-ness and then...SPRING BREAK!

I Blame You, Sandra

Meet Sandra Lee. Sandra has quite the bio. And although I find her "semi-annoying" (see picture above...) I was willing to give her newest show "Sandra's Money Saving Meals" a chance. In theory, she's great. Easy, inexpensive recipes and she even gives "Round 2 Recipes" for some of the left-over ingredients. She's known for mixing store-bought items with some staple fresh ingredients for more convenient and realistic cooking. Again, great in theory.

I was excited to use recipes from her "Slow Cooker" episode because I feel like I need to utilize the slow cooker more. I don't really ever make a crock pot of soup or chili unless it's for a specific event. I always hear people rave about using their crock pot so I really thought this was my chance. Long story short...or shorter...the Banana Chocolate Crumbles were not worth the time and the Braised Beef Tacos were not very good at all. After cooking the meat for an hour more than she recommended it STILL did not "shred easily" like Sandra promised. In fact, I had to whoop out my electric knife to "carve" it up! I was flying along with my mini-chainsaw quite haphazardly when Matt gave me the ironic, "Slow down or you'll cut your finger off" warning.

You know where this is going.

Yep. I'm missing a hunk of my left middle finger. And somehow, I definitely blame you, Sandra.


No, not my actual finger. But my make-shift cast from a paper towel and athletic tape does look similar.

So I'm sorry to be a Negative Nancy...but I think I'm finished with Money-Saving Sandra.

Be My Valentine

The Pioneers were playing at Central Methodist tonight, so Cade said he would be my valentine while Matt and I have postponed our date until February 27th...the next night we are both available. Not kidding.
Not to wish this phase away, but I can't wait for Cade to get to the age where we can do fun little projects together. Baking cookies or Valentines-y crafts...note to self...make sure Cade does manly things with his dad to balance out his time with me.
I know Cade, who would schedule an away game on Valentine's Day?!

Yes, you are my V-day date now.

Yes, we can play under the table.


No, I don't mind if our date is interrupted by a nasty dirty diaper.

We had no chance at a successful photo shoot with our V-day gifts from the Grandmas.

Festive shirt from G-Mom

More standing

Some playing


Kissing/eating the V-day bear

Some tickling
Some hide and seek

And some sweet smiles...all I need for a great Valentine's day!

Cadeocentric

After a LONG 5-day (over 55 hours, thank you winter homecoming) work-week it was time for a refreshingly Cade-centered weekend. A Pioneer victory was an added bonus as well!

Who doesn't love babies in jeans?

Cade loves anything that he can pull up on to stand with. He can stand on his own (without holding onto anything) for a few seconds but hasn't really seen a need to try to take any steps unless he's holding onto something or someone!

We're also very into waving lately.


I tried to get him to pose with his Valentine's bear from Grandma Jan & Grandpa Mike...this is the best we could achieve. He loves to hug the bear though!

A hair-raising good time at Red Robin with the Hepker's

He has always liked to pull himself up and play in the pantry...but this is getting a little out of control!

Get in the tub, Cade!

A tasteful naked photo?

I'm thinking it may be time to upgrade to the real bath tub...but that actually still scares me a little. Seems so...slippery.

Cade doesn't mind this mini-tub!


Now onto two 4-day work weeks in a row. AND, good news, the sewing unit is over! Another one survived, phew! It's actually really fun to see the kids get excited to take/wear their creations home. Heck, I'm making a difference in the world, one pair of pajama pants at a time!

Super Fun

We've just been having a super-fun week around here starting with the Super Bowl Party at Josh and Emily's on Sunday!
Matt and Cade decided to wear their jerseys...not really relevant to the teams playing...but they are football jerseys

Always more fun to watch when there are some side bets taking place

Emily is always super-hostess, especially with her fancy iced sugar cookies! (I think I had at least 10).

Cade enjoyed getting to hang with Bella

And Dakota too!

Cade loves animals and really isn't afraid to get in their face and make a new friend. Which is great! Just so he doesn't expect us to ever get a dog...ever. I can barely handle taking care of the humans at our house, let alone some animals!

I caught Cade trying to sneak onto the sidelines to cheer alongside the cheerleaders on Tuesday night...

15 cheerleader girlfriends, this is the life!


Cade and Maddox (who just ate a blue M & M) are the unofficial mascots of the Mill Valley spirit teams. Maddox's mom coaches the dance team so he has his fair share of girlfriends as well.

Dude, check out the chicks over here!


Super cute!


Being over-dramatic with Dad

Super (scary) excited about bath time!


And I knew it was too good to be true...

The monkey has lost all super-baby-proofing power as Cade is no longer afraid of it at all.


Have a super week!