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

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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!