Brady is Crawling

This was after our ward party on Thursday night. Cameron thinks that their outfits are gay, how could you think that they look bad?! Again I forgot to rotate the pic before I posted it. Oh well, you will have to learn to deal.

Brady keeps trying to sneak a peek at the gifts. I thought that it would be Andie who I couldn't keep away from the gifts but she actually doesn't even touch them!

Brady trying to use the baby doll's bink to fall asleep. He was almost there a few times but it was too small for his giant mouth!

He found one of Andie's thousand binky's and rather enjoyed it.

Yep, you read that right, our little Brady now ranks crawler. It has been so funny to see him become mobile and take things from Andie and giving her a hard time for a change. Yesterday I found him with her pink Binky in his mouth just minding his own business. He was playing with her baby doll and discovered that it had a Binky. He took the bink and tried falling asleep with it but couldn't keep it in his mouth!

On a side note: This morning Andie grabbed a pen and pad of paper wanting to draw. She said, "Mommy, I am going to draw a Nemo and a Dori!" She puts the pen to paper and is talking out loud as she draws, "there's his fin....there's his tail...here are his armpits...!"

Understanding Christmas

In light of the up and coming holiday Andie has been learning all about Christmas and is starting to really put it all together. We read a book about snowmen and now when the snow is coming down she knows it is called snow but once it's on the ground she thinks it becomes a snowman. When we go to the store and she wants a toy she knows that she is going to have to ask Santa Clause for it instead. Before going to bed we read stories about the birth of Jesus and use props for visual aid (thanks grandma Karen), and now counts the wisemen one...two...three... She knows that we don't touch the gifts under the tree until Christmas day. She understands that the stocking with her name on it will stay empty until Santa comes to fill it up. She seems to pretty much get it all, or so we thought. Tonight as we were driving home from our ward Christmas party (yes, we really went), Andie was talking about how she saw Santa and said, "I don't want Santa to come to Andie's house and take her TV." Cameron and I looked at each other puzzled and asked her to repeat herself. "Andie don't want Santa Clause to come and take her TV!" Cameron is pretty sure that somewhere along the way Andie started thinking that Santa is a robber because he is going to come into the house while she is sleeping and touch our things. Every time Santa is brought up, she waves her hand and says, "don't want to give Santa Clause a kiss." Whoever said she had to kiss him?! I video taped Andie talking about Santa and a bunch of other random things. She also says hi to her cousins in California and Washington at the end. So cute! Adam, she really misses you!

Snow Cold!

Maybe it's because we are from California, maybe it's because it is cold here, but the Casper's are FREEZING in Utah! We are having our first winter storm and I don't know how many more I can handle. Andie, who is never cold, is always cold. She wakes up in the middle of the night crying and when I go to check on her, it's cold in her room and she has no covers on. We do sleep with the heater at 71(any warmer and I could die) and the kids have warm footed PJ's on. What more can I do?

This morning Andie went with Cameron up to his grandparents to do some work and it was cold and the wind was blowing hard. I bundled Andie up nice and warm and she thought it was the greatest thing. She kept showing me her gloves in the first picture and then she was just showing me how cute she looked. Andie always has lots of fun with Daddy. They fixed Nana's toilets and then ate White Castle burgers dipped in ketchup which Andie thought were great because they are "small just like Andie!"

Brady: Already 5 Months Old

I never do posts for Brady, poor second child! What they say about the second is true, you don't get the camera every time they have their first of something. However, I would like to say that I did grab the camera today when he sat by himself for the first time! He is such a great baby. Unbelievably happy all the time, loves to roll around on the floor for long periods of time, laughs at Andie when she does something funny, and always wakes up smiling ready for a new day. After a week of practice he has finally mastered the art of blowing raspberries and does it constantly. We think that it is the funniest thing because it is something Andie never did. We started him on solid foods about a month ago because he was ALWAYS hungry, go figure, with a last name like Casper whey wouldn't he want to eat a lot! He now thinks that he should be eating whatever we are eating and yells at me when I don't share. Sorry buddy.

He is a big time cuddler and finally learned how to fall asleep on his own, yeah! Andie has felt the need recently to go and sit with Brady while he is sleeping in his crib. That's right folks, she climbs up and gets in the crib with him just to 'hang out'! Brady does not like this, because like his momma he likes his sleep. He gets so upset by her sitting in there with him that it takes almost an hour for him to calm down enough to get back to sleep. The boy just can't get a break from his over baring sister!

We are so glad to have Brady as part of our family! We love you buddy!

The Kids Playing Catch

Brady LOVED playing catch with Andie. He thought it was so funny and kept cracking up. Of course once we got the camera out he was kind of over it. Figures!

He's Home!!!

Finally! Cameron is home! I am so excited to have him around for all the Christmas craziness I don't know how I would have done it by myself with the two kids. Andie couldn't be more excited to have her Daddy here. Whenever she gets in trouble by me she automatically yells for her dad like he is going to come and save her, which for the first day he did, boy did we have to cut that right out! I am glad that she misses him so much and loves when he is home. She wasn't always this way, in fact, a few months ago she was not happy when he would come home. She would get very jealous every time he would come near me, not anymore, she can't get enough of him. I am thrilled that she loves her daddy, nothing is more sweet than seeing the two of them together. I love having the extra set of hands. I love that when Brady wakes up I can say, "honey, can you go up and get him?" I love that Cameron takes on diaper duty with a smile on his face (after Andie's most recent poop incidences I couldn't be more relieved), I love that I can leave the kids at home and run errands by myself, I love that he takes out the garbage, I love that he does the dishes, I love that he cleans the toilets, I love love love that I get to sleep in a few times a week! I love that he can see when I am frustrated with the kids and takes Andie to the park to get her out of my hair. I love that he does all the things I can't stand to do (clean the old food out of the fridge). Cameron I love having you home. Thank you for all the hard work you do when you are home and away. We love and appreciate you! We can't wait for you to find a job closer to home so we can see you more. Until then, we will just anxiously await your arrivals and cherish the time we do get with you.

R.I.P. Croc Pooh

Ok so I know this sounds really strange, so let me explain. Last time we were in San Diego with Cameron's sister, Grandpa Bill bought all the girls new crocs (because he is obsessed) and they each got two new charms, or whatever they are, to put on the crocs. Andie picked out the Pooh bear and Nemo and we put one on each shoe. Everytime she can't find a croc she refers to it as her "pooh croc" or "nemo croc". She loves these little charms and often looks down at them in the car and converses with them. She is very polite and waits for them to speak before she answers back. The dialogue goes something like this:

"Hey pooh. Hi buddy."

I guess he says hello back

"Hi there Nemo."

He says hi

"How you guys doing down there? You ok Pooh? You ok Nemo?"

They must be doing great

"Good. We going to go to the store? You want to go to Target?"

They are clearly thrilled!

"Me too. "

(She also talks to family on her fake phone like this).

Today Andie came to me clearly upset. When I asked what was wrong she said pooh was hurt and handed me his head. Poor Pooh! I told her we would have to throw him away and get a new one next time we were out. She requested we take a picture, which I thought was thoughtful. I don't know if it is for her or Nemo on the other shoe! Well I am sure Nemo will be joining Pooh in 'Croc charm heaven' soon since he now gets extra TLC!

Andie's Quote of the Day: Sunday, 12/07/2008

Every night for the last week we drive around once it's dark out and look for Christmas lights. Andie looks forward to this and it helps calm her down and ready for bed. She has her favorite houses and gets so excited each night like it is the first time ever seeing Christmas lights.

Amber: "Oh look at that one Andie! Look how pretty."
Andie: "Oh so bud-i-ful!"
Amber: "Oh that house has lots of colors."
Andie: "That one looks like a bir-day-cake mommy!"

Andie's Football

Yes, my 2 year old daughter has a huge obsession with watching football! She knows that on Sunday after church there will be a good game on. She gets undressed, turns on the TV, plays with the remote until she finds a game, gets comfy on the couch, and yells at the game like she is her Daddy. Today she asked, "mom who's that?" "the Steelers" I say. "Gooooooo Steeeeewers!" as she goes wild. During a play she yells, "run. run. run." when the play is over, "that was a BIG run!" She usually is picking her toes by this point as if she is bored by the game, looks up from what she's doing, and yells, "Come on guys. Get a touchdown!" Finally when the crowd goes wild, she stands on the couch, hands over her head and yells, "TOUCHDOWN!!!"
Let me just say, I am thrilled that she and her dad share the same passion for football, but even when Cam isn't home I can't get away from it. I can't stand how long the games are, how loud the crowd is in the background, how short the plays are, how much waiting around happens while everyone gets back in position so they can play for another 3 seconds before someone has to be carried off the field because they sustained a TOE injury and might be out the rest of the season! Not only that, I can't figure the game out so that I might be able to enjoy it just a little more. I am glad that football season is almost over so that I don't have to hear about it anymore from Cameron or Andie and then it starts all over again come August. Oh joy!

Casper Elves

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

The Tales of the Stinky Poop!

So Cameron is gone again, (shocking!) and Andie has had poop gross outs 3 times this week! The first time I was getting Brady dressed and she pooped in the tub! She decided it was too yucky to sit with so she threw it out of the tub onto the floor. I was so grossed out! We picked up the poop, flushed it down the potty, and scrubbed the tub out with "toxic" chemicals. That very same day she took her poopy diaper off, and was running around with poop bum for who knows how long before I discovered her. We found the diaper and luckily nothing fell out, I told her the next time she does it she will have her diaper duct tapped on her! This morning Andie was up before me and running around being quiet, I was so pleased that she was letting me sleep! She kept saying she had no diaper on, I asked her to bring me one...no diaper. I asked again, no diaper. Finally, she brought me one of Brady's and wanted me to put it on. I told her it wasn't going to fit and this upset her so she went to wipe the tears from her eyes and then I saw them...poopy hands! I popped out of bed and demanded to know where the diaper had been left, no answer. So I threw her in the tub and ran downstairs, there it was, sitting in the living room open in all its brown glory! Next to it was a giant spot of smeared poop! I wrapped up the diaper and went to clean her up in the tub because she was going to help clean up this nasty mess. With the shower curtain open I hosed her off (because she hates the shower) and we had some words. I reminded her that she would now have to have her diapers taped shut for a while and this devastated her. I don't think she knew what it meant but she could tell I was pissed. I grabbed her clothes, a fresh diaper, and a roll of packing tape (unfortunately I don't have duct tape, but I will!). I put the diaper on and taped it shut, this didn't bother her, in fact when I changed her again she reminded me "don't forget my big sticker!" She also told Brady "I have a sticker on my pants!"
I am sure you are asking, "it seems like she it ready to potty train, why don't you just put her on the toilet?" I do, several times a day in fact. She was doing really well for a while, I blogged about it, and now she has quit...again! It upsets me that Cameron gets to be gone for all this crap, literally, and when he's home Andie doesn't do anything that even comes close. I can't help but wonder, "Am I the only person who's child does such gross things when it comes to their diaper?" Please, do share you tales of horror with me, make me feel better!

3rd Day of Black Eye

The eye looks even worse than before. It is starting to go down into her face. Poor girl, she is being so good about it though.

It is spreading to her left eye as well.

Brady was just being so cute I couldn't resist!

I ended up taking Andie to the Dr. on Friday cause she was looking really swollen and I wanted to make sure her eye was not damaged. The Dr. said her whole right side of her face looked very swollen, more than it should, and he was worried that she may have hurt the back of her head as well since that is the only thing she complains hurts. So he sent us to get some x-rays done and we have to have a follow up with an eye specialist. Go figure. This is her second major injury where we have had several Dr. appointments and x-rays. The first was when she was 15 months, she fell off the piano bench while sitting with my dad. She cried and cried and was very cautious with her arm, the next morning I knew something must be wrong cause she wouldn't move it. Turns out she broke both bones in her arm and was in a cast for 4 weeks. I am glad she is ok but when the bills start coming...oh boy, what an expensive child she has been!

Black Eye!

This morning.

This is this morning.

This is from last night.

My poor baby has a terrible black eye. Last night we ran to Wal-Mart to get a few items and Andie saw some wrapping paper that was of interest. I told her to leave it alone and sit down, well she put it back and as she was sitting down she lost her footing and fell out of the cart straight on her head! I picked her up to see that she just got a bump on her forehead and was so relieved that she didn't break her neck. She cried and cried, which who could blame her, and as we were walking out of the store I noticed that her right eye was a little swollen, she must have hit that too. We got home within 5 minutes and she could no longer open her eye. I tried to put some ice on it to keep it from swelling shut but that was not going to happen. We also tried just a cold rag, no way! She settled for Motrin and went to bed once we determined she didn't have a concussion. Now this morning her eye is the color of red wine. Poor thing. She is being so good and is acting like her normal self. She likes to look at herself in the mirror and try to force her eye open. So here are some pics of the damage:

MMM Yummy!

I have this new recipe for Pumpkin Pecan Pancakes that are so yummy and would make a great Thanksgiving breakfast. I made them last night to see if I could master it, and I did!

Pumpkin Pecan Pancakes
1 C flour
1 t baking powder
1/4 t salt
2 T sugar
**Mix together in a bowl

1 egg
1 C milk
1/4 C sour cream
1/4 C pureed pumpkin (fresh or canned)
1 T melted butter
1 T vanilla
1/2 -3/4 C chopped pecans
**Mix together and slowly whisk in the dry ingredients

Spray pan, heat until water drops sizzle. You can either place 1 t of nuts on grill and spoon 1/4 C of batter over them, mix the nuts in the batter (but they sink to the bottom), or just put the chopped nuts over top of the finished pancake.

Vanilla Sauce:
1/2 C sugar
1 T corn starch
1 C water
1 t pumpkin pie spice
**Mix in a saucepan. Cook, stirring often, over medium heat until thick and bubbling. Remove from heat
2 T butter
1 T vanilla
**Stir in butter and vanilla until butter melts.

I think these would be so yummy as dessert, maybe even with ice cream on top!

Girls Day Out!

My sweet little Andie has been trying to talk me into getting rid of Brady for the past week and half and when she was gung ho on going to see Madagascar 2 I sent him to the babysitters. I was so excited to have a girls day with her and have some one on one time. We got to the theatre and Andie was so excited she could hardly stand it! We got our tickets and then she saw the popcorn, so I spoiled her with a $5.25 tub of popcorn and we were on our way. We were walking down the hall and before we could get to the theatre our movie was playing in, tears welled up in her eyes and she said, "no ma-agascar, no ma-agascar!" and when I asked her what was wrong she said, "Andie soooo scared!" I tried to tell her that it would be fun once we got in there and she would like the movie and could eat all the popcorn she wanted but she didn't budge. Eventually we went back to the ticket counter and got a refund, yes they really do do it! So naturally, we spent the day shopping! Mostly putting together an "Andie's craft box" for snowy days. She is so excited to use the construction paper especially the red one!

Dr. Appointments

Today was Andie's 2 year check up and Brady's 4 month. The kids were good for the most part. Andie didn't want to do anything until after Brady had done it, funny I thought. The kids are all around very healthy. Brady has some eczema but the Dr. said that we were doing the perfect thing with rubbing him down with petroleum jelly after his baths. He said Brady is long and skinny (woohoo, lucky him) and Andie is all around a big girl (not fat, she is very proportionate), she looks more like a 3 year old than a 2 year old (sorry sweetie). Andie speaks better than she should and has nice teeth. The tantrums (which have started up again) are going to come and go so we need to continue to ignore them and discipline when they occur. Brady has started to wake up in the middle of the night because he is growing so fast that just milk isn't keeping him full anymore, so I can start giving him baby food. They both got shots, Andie is a little behind on hers so she still gets them, poor baby. I have decided that they are worse when they can talk. I had to help hold her down and she said, "mommy hurt Andie!" She cried for a second but has complained a few times that her leggies hurts. Sorry Andie! Brady takes the shots like a champ, he cried when they were going in but stops the second they are done, what a man!

Andie's 2 year stats:
Length: 37 in. (off the charts, or well above the 97th percentile)
Weight: 31.6 lbs (90th percentile)
Head: 50 cm (just plain BIG)

Brady's 4 month stats:
Lenght: 27 in. (95th percentile)
Weight: 15 lbs (60th percentile)
Head: 42.5 cm (pretty big)

Andie's potty update:
Andie no longer is a fan of wearing clothes period! She has informed me that she doesn't like to wear a diaper and wants panties. In order to prepare for her panties, she has been running around naked for a few hours every day with the promise to sit on the potty every 20 mins and try to go. We have had great success over the last 3 days with a few peed diapers and NO POOPS in the diaper! I can't tell you how wonderful this has all been for me. I hate changing her dirty diapers. Yesterday while running naked, Andie wore just her snow boots, hilarious! Of course I took pictures but opted to not post them on my blog since it is public.

First Snow!

Well we have had our first real snow! We had a little about a month ago, but nothing the stuck. Here is a picture of our backyard. I took these early in the morning so there was actually a lot more that came. I also got to drive in the snow for the first time, how exciting, not! I have been absolutly freezing and have come to the conclusion that I can't live here in Utah and not own a really warm jacket, I will be purchasing that next week.

This is across the street from us. You notice there is no snow on the streets, that didn't happen til later in the morning.

Off our front porch.

Cameron's sister Lindsay sent Andie some snow clothes that he girls had grown out of. When we got up this morning the snow was gone but Andie insisted on wearing this outfit anyways. So we walked to the mailbox, which is down the street, and to the trash, and people were looking at Andie and then at me like I was a crazy person. One lady said, "Is she cold?" I answered with, "Oh her? well we're from California." and she actually said, "well that explains it!" haha. I didn't feel like telling her Andie hardly ever gets cold. The only reason she is wearing it is because it is new and Andie is obsessed with shoes and there was no way I could get her to wait for it to snow to wear it.

She fell asleep wearing the snowsuit but she did let me take off the boots. (by the way, does anyone know how to turn the picture the right way?)

Potty!

Hooray! Andie is showing some iterest in the potty once again. Before she could sit she had to grab her favorite reading material. Daddy, Grandpa, this one's for you!

I hope I don't grose anyone out. She sat, and sat, and sat and then finally...(see above pic).

Oops! Almost forgot the boy!

She thinks she is the Virgin Mary!

Sitting in Brady's seat, wearing Mommy's running shoes!

Brady's new favorite thing (mommy's too).

Brady's other new favorite thing!

Watching football in his Bumbo chair!

New pictures

Andie today. You can't really tell but she has really cute pigtails in her hair.

Better view of the hair.

She is so sweet!

Andie's Quote of the Day -11/03/2008

Since her cousins have been here Andie LOVES to watch Playhouse Disney in the mornings. She was watching the Little Einsteins while I was doing her hair and there were cows on the show.

Andie: "Let's count the cows. One...two...three...there's four!" (I think they had counted them earlier in the show and she was just repeating them.) "I like cows!"
Amber: "Why do you like the cows?"
Andie contemplates for a minute.
Andie: "The cow put milk in Andie's sippy cup!!!" she was so excited at the thought of this

So funny! I thought this was very advanced for her age. I don't know where she learned that but I thought it was very clever.

Andie's Quote of the Day -11/01/2008

Andie just says too many funny things to not share with everyone so I have decided to start Andie's Quote of the Day. I hope you laugh as hard as I do, just realize that some of this stuff is "you had to be there" for it to be funny.

Amber: "Andie get off that. No, don't do that!"
Andie: "Don't you tell me no!"

Some new pics

The kids and Daddy watching TV together.
Brady and Daddy watching Sunday football.
Andie dancing around during her favorite song on the Jungle Book.

Basil

Cameron's sister Lindsay showed up this afternoon with her three girls. Oh what a busy bunch all the girls together are! They are staying here for a few days and then we are all driving down to San Diego for a friends wedding. While cleaning the house this morning before they came, Andie was going right behind me making a new mess so I sent her outside to play. We have a basil plant in the back and she likes to pick the leaves off and eat them. She ran in the house chompin' away and I asked, "what are you eating?" "Andie eating baazol!" she proudly replys and goes on her merry way. While she was outside I put Brady on the floor to play and came into the room to find him crying, yet again, and what do you know, Andie is sitting by him. I went over to pick him up and Andie says, "Mommy, Brady like baazol." I took a look in his mouth and you guessed it, she fed him a few leaves. This poor child. His sister does all sorts of crazy things to him and he still grins from ear to ear every time she looks at him. What a trooper!

Baby Gap Contest

Ok so I know this is lame, but I always have entered Andie in the Gap ad contest and now that we have Brady, he gets an entry too. I took these while Cameron and Andie were gone so there were no distractions, so for now you just get pics of my adorable boy!

Hello All!

So here we are, apart of the blogging world...finally! I had set it up a while ago but between the move and not having the internet set up, well you get the idea. We just moved to Springville, UT the first of September and despite my original feelings I am ABSOLUTLY loving it! Cameron is still working for the "Intrepid" which is a long range fishing boat that is based in San Diego while I stay in our new home and play mommy AND daddy. We are currently on the job hunt here, haven't had any hopefuls yet but we are very optomistic.
Andie is loving "Andie's house" and "Andie's NEW bed" she is getting to know all of her cousins and Nana and Papa. She turns the big 2 on November 8th! I can't believe it. We are planning a Winnie the Pooh party up at Nana and Papa's and she has already picked out her cake. She has discovered horses (since they are everywhere out here) and tries to ride Brady when he is playing on the floor. For the most part she is a great help and loves being the older sister, but she doesn't always know when she is being more harm than help. This last week I have run into the room to find Brady crying and not on the couch where I left him quite a few times. Yesterday I came into the living room and didn't see them but could hear Andie saying "Brady, you ok? You ok Brady!" and when I discovered them, he was on the floor wedged between the ottoman and the chair (where he originally was) and Andie was lying on the ottoman, her head hanging off and stroking his hair. Today, Cameron and I were putting things away and Brady started to cry. I usually let him cry until I am finished but that wasn't good enough for Andie, I turned around to see her holding him by the neck about three feet from the couch. I ran over to grab him away and Cameron took Andie into the other room. Everytime this happens Andie gets in trouble and then we have a heart to heart about "I know you are just trying to help and love your brother, but you can not pick him up." It just doesn't sink in...any suggestions?!
Brady is such a sweet boy, he just turned three months, holy cow it seems like I only had him yesterday. He wakes up about 8 always bright eyed and bushy tailed which easily makes this my favorite time of day. He laughs at everything and loves when I sing to him. Brady is such a trooper and puts up with his sisters endless kisses, smothering and now picking him up! He is starting to "talk" lots and even will belly laugh if you are doing something really funny. It is such a breeze having a mellow child as opposed to well, Andie.
We are all loving having our own place and feel so blessed to be here. I am working hard to get our lives back in order and am excited to see what is in store for us here in Utah. It will be great to have Cameron back in school come January, graduate and then be able to move on to bigger and better things, mainly a REAL job! We have been reflecting a lot on how the Lord loves us and has blessed us. Life hasn't always been easy but now we feel that it has been worth it.
...More to come