Happy 1st Bday, Cade E. Bug!!

Happy Birthday to our dear Cade! It was a full day, and he enjoyed (almost) every moment.

We started the day with a chorus of Happy Birthday, birthday pancakes and a few gifts. Of course, Lyla was ever present through the entire celebration. She was a mixture of emotions today – sometimes it’s hard when the presents are for Baby Bro, although she’s starting to understand that she is accumulating more to play with herself.

 

We lit the kids’ birthday wreath, a special present from Aunt Martina.

 

Lyla helped blow out the candle for Cade.

Here, Cade plays with his very first birthday present from his sister. She picked it out herself just for his first birthday – a toy ambulance.

Cade also received a present from Aunt Baby – Lyla helped open it, and you can see Cade’s pointing finger – a sign of his approval.

Cade’s pointer is his main communication these days – it’s a gesture he uses ALL the time lately to signify what he wants when he sees it. And, if he doesn’t get it, he definitely makes his displeasure known.

Here, Cade took his 12 month photo for Mommy’s 1 year of Cade photo collection.

After church, we visited Nan & Nonnie for the afternoon. Cade got another chorus of Happy Birthday and this time celebrated with his very first taste of homemade chocolate ice cream, left over from his birthday party.

He wasn’t sure how he felt about it at first, but he quickly recovered.

Everyone knows that Nan LOVES giving her grandbabies ice cream.

All in all, it was a busy day commemorating one of the best two days of my life. I can’t believe that one year ago today, our little boy was a helpless newborn. Now, he’s walking, driving his sister crazy, talking, pointing and becoming his own little person. I never knew how much fun it would be to have a little boy – I love him in a way I never thought was possible.

Happy Birthday, Sweet Boy. I love you all the way to the moon. And back.

Our Day Today

Our day started with a strange sound from upstairs – Lyla’s door opening and closing. I walked to the living room, looked up and saw her standing there: “It’s morning, Mommy!”

Lyla insisted on using the camera this afternoon to take a few pictures in the backyard. She was so proud of herself. We’re pretty impressed.

Here are a few of her shots:

It was Lyla’s first DRY day today – one pair of panties the entire day, a trip to the grocery and time outside. We’re hoping, really hoping, we’ve turned a corner. Fingers crossed…

And, Cade is into everything on the Eve of his 1st Birthday – he’s definitely his own person on a mission.

We Made It!

In the words of Dora, “We Made It!”

Mission accomplished. For today, anyway. We survived an entire trip to the mall with panties on Lyla! Dry.

And this is how we felt:

She told us she felt a tickle in her belly as soon as we arrived, and all 4 of us bolted to Von Maur’s bathroom (Cade laughed the whole way). 3 trips to the bathroom and 2 escalator rides later, we left the mall (dry) with a feeling of immense accomplishment. We’re so proud of her.

When we got home, she disappeared into the bathroom on her own, and came out to announce that she pee-pee’d AND pooped in the potty.

I think we’re getting somewhere.

Next challenge: panties to preschool.

In Cade news, our soon-to-be ONE year old has developed a new game of mischief in which he dares to do things he knows he isn’t supposed to (pretend biting, taking the toilet paper off the roll, etc), waits to be caught and laughs and laughs when redirected. It’s hard not to laugh ourselves, which makes the game go on and on. Cade & Lyla are really starting to play more together – they especially love playing chase round and round the house.

The sounds of their laughter are the absolute best in the world. No comparison to the sweetness.

On Hiatus…

So, I’ve really been on hiatus from the blog for several months now…there just isn’t the time to do anything I used to do. My days are completely full of our two beautiful babies, and by the time the evening rolls around I’m either exhausted or I barely have time to take a shower before I need to go to bed to do it all over again.

In spite of the frustration at times, the lack of personal time, the lack of basic communication with Lance and the rest of the world…our lives are fuller than they’ve ever been. I want to commit to being more devoted to recording the sweet moments, and even the frustrating ones…hopefully 2013 will bring about more opportunity to do it. Or, perhaps I just need to make it happen.

Current events in the Hottman Family:

Cade is walking. He’s delighted and it’s rocking Lyla’s world. It’s as if, overnight, we have 2 kids and NO babies. He’s everywhere. In the toilet, in Lyla’s room, in Lyla’s things, chewing on cords, in our bathroom…he’s absolutely thrilled that he can get around. And, even more recently, he’s started pointing. And, pointing means, “I want!” If the answer is no, he morphs into a baby beast. He screams, pulls my hair and will even throw himself on the ground, on his back as if he should be holding an electric guitar.

He’s amazing, though, our little boy. Having a son is even more than everyone said it would be. He’s cuddly, he’s loving and loves being held. He’s perfect.

And, Lyla is working on potty training. It gives us moments of tremendous joy – like when she announces she feels a tickle in her belly and successfully stays dry. It also brings us moments of intense stress – like tonight when she repeatedly complained that her bottom hurt and subsequently pooped in the bathtub.

She’s terribly independent, wants to do everything herself. And, she loves her brother. She’s nicknamed him Cade E. Bug. We love seeing her blossoming into the older sibling we both are. She’s absolute perfection.

So, that’s our lives right now. We are frantically busy, sometimes there is no time to slow down, but life is just as it should be. Hopefully, I’ll find a few minutes here and there to update this thing for my own point of reference years from now.

I love our little family. Every night I go to bed wondering what I did to end up here. We are so blessed.

 

Final Four Bound!!

We think that the voices of three of the cutest toddlers in Louisville are responsible for cheering the Cards to victory Saturday night. Lyla, Liam and Isabella could hardly believe their “luck” that their parents were actually encouraging OUTSIDE screams during the Cards game. It was truly a moment to remember for everyone, even for little Cade who was more than a little perplexed about all the chaos. What a night!

Happy Daddy-o:

We are New Orleans Bound!!! Here’s to more OUTSIDE screams next Saturday night!!!

It Snowed! Finally!

Today, Lyla finally got to build a snowman with Daddy, something she’s been asking to do all winter.

Additionally, Daddy got to wear his heavy-duty snowboots he just had to have for Christmas – they’ve been put to such good use this year. Ha!

Lyla resembled the little boy from Christmas Story by the time she was all bundled up:

 

Lyla was clearly not happy about taking a picture with her snowman, particularly after Daddy  mentioned hot chocolate that Mommy would make her when they went inside. I told them that someday we’ll be glad we took this one:

Happy Girl!

Happy Halloween…So Much Happiness!

Halloween 2011 is yet another reason we are so glad we are back in Louisville – it is so gratifying to see our kids grow up together. Last night we celebrated the evening with Isabella, Liam and Eli, and what a time we had! Lyla was so tired when we got home she was asking for her “covey” while she was in the bathtub – here’s why:

Happy Halloween – we are so blessed!