Dirt Cake!!

Who doesn't love dirt cake?! This is one of my favorite desserts, but one that you can't make often because it is INSANLY sweet! Well Brett and I decided to make it last night. It's sooooo good!!! Kayden just though the worms were cool. He didn't seem to like the actual cake. Maybe it's an aquired taste? Oh well...more for daddy and me!!! hehehehehe

There are worms in here!!!

Nom nom nom :)

A new outlook

There are so many times in life when we all get frustrated, stuck in a rut, just plain pissed off, and want to quit. Some of the time we let our anger get the best of us, whereas other times we find ways around our frustrations. I can easily say that I've had my fair share of both and looking back, I'm sure I would have done some things differently but at the same time all of the choices I've made along the way have made me who I am. I live life with no regrets, I hold no grudges and I just let stuff go. There is no sense in letting it bother me, because I can't change it. The only thing I have control over is the present, right here, right now.

I can honestly say that the last 3 years have been some of the most difficult years I've experienced thus far. From learning what it means to be married to a police officer, having a baby, adjusting to having a baby, living forever far away from my family and friends, starting grad school, and everything else in between. Yes I know I'm not the only one with life situations, but this my blog peeps. There have definitely been challenges along the way and I know I haven't made the best choices but again I don't regret what I did.

• I've learned that if things aren't nourished, you can loose them, frienships included.
• If you give people a chance they can become your best friend and not the stuck up person you thought they were.
• Learning to appreciate the things you have and not the things you want will make you happy.
• No matter how frustrated I can possibly get at my child, his smile and giggle melt all the bad away.
• Even if I hate my husband and want to leave him, I can't live without him. 
• I might only see my family twice a year and it reminds me that we are still dysfunctional (and probably always will be) but we love each other unconditionally.
•  Learning to live not by a schedule but by life is actually kind of fun.
• Through all the crap that gets in your way, there is always a light at the end of the tunnel.

Sometimes it takes a good reality check to make you realize what you have and where to go from here. For me that reality check was a book. Leading up to reading this book, I had found a new level of depression. Not feeling like I'm where I'm meant to be, stressed over my relationship with my husband, financially wondering if we can make it through until the next paycheck, wanting more but not willing to do the work to get there, kind of feeling. It sucks to feel that way and to not know how to deal with it is harder. Thankfully I've got a husband who sticks by my side through it all, and without him I'm not sure where I would be today. It's because of him and his job that I bought this book. We've had this book sitting on the kitchen counter for 4 months, just sitting, reminding me that I needed to read it. Last month, something inside me said read it. So I did. I finished it that day too. Then Brett took it to work the next night and read it. This is the book.....

This book is written by a police wife (from Edmond, OK I might add) and is a compilation of stories by police wifes and police officers. I never in a million years would have thought this book would have meant anything to me. God works in mysterious ways right? This book spoke directly to me, to my heart and to Brett too. Through the stories and frustrations expressed in this book, it outlined word for word how we had been feeling, and everything that we had been dealing with. This book was our reality check. We may not always feel like there is a light at the end of tunnel, we might want to give up, but maybe we're just looking at things the wrong way.

Its time to take a step back and look at what truly matters in life. Things will happen as they are meant to happen and my life is more than nourished by the people in it. I need to appreciate life for what it is, love unconditionally, smile more, laugh more and just live. The only guarantee I have is today. So regardless of what happened yesterday, today is different. Today is what I make of it. Yes there will still be bumps along the way and challenges that we have to face. Thats the way life works. I'm beyond thankful for this book and for being given the chance to live my life. Words cannot explain how I feel. Its a new day, make it what you want it.

 And as we all know...no blog is complete without an adorable picture of my child :) 

Yes I'm obsessed, yes I'm allowed to be.

Daycare had yet another picture day. This one was funky vintage photos. Here's my cute little ball player!

 How freaking cute is this kid??!!!!!

Turn things around

I'm not in the best of moods today and I'm not sure why....guess I just woke up on the wrong side of the bed. But the two things that make eveything else disappear are my boys. Here are the 3 things that have turned my day around....

1. I checked Brett's schedule (which I never look at) ................ and he has 3, yes 3 days off starting tonight!!!!

2. On my way back to work from lunch I get this adorable picture from Kayden's daycare teacher

How cute is this kid?!!!

3. I get back to work and check my facebook and find this picture that daycare just posted from Dad's playday last week!

My boys!!!

I absolutely LOVE these two! Its the little things in life that make all my frustrations disappear!

Swim Lessons and Fathers Day

Friday was our last day of swim lessons, which mean FUN DAY!!! Kayden had the chance to go down the slide, jump off the diving board and just play! He was absolutely FEARLESS!! Not sure if thats a good thing or bad, but it was priceless!

Ready to go!

The orange slide is the one we go to go down! Kayden went 5 times! He loved it!

Then we headed over to the diving board.

Lining up to jump off!

Kayden's first dive!

Lets do that again!

Splash!

Don't embarass me mom!

Ready to go!

Dive #3!

He jumped 5 times before we had to switch!

Then we went over to the kiddie pool and spent the last bit of our time. It has a little slide and is shallow enough for Kayden to roam freely.

We loved swim lessons and it was definitely a good choice! I forsee an excellent swimmer in our future.

We spent the rest of the weekend hanging out at home and at the pool.

Since Sunday was Father's Day, Daddy got to start his special weekend early. Friday at daycare they had a dad's playdate. The dad's got to come to school, hang out, have some watermelon (Brett doesn't eat it, but Kayden sure liked it), and play outside! I got a couple of pictures when the were in the classroom (pic of the computer).

They are centered at the back facing us (Kayden in an orange shirt, Brett in black)

So cute to see all the dad's there!

The rest of the weekend was simple. But I did get this cute shot of my boys on Sunday evening.

Can you tell these two are related???

Happy Fathers Day Brett!!!

Thunder Up!

So for anyone who hasn't heard, the Oklahoma City Thunder (NBA Team) has made it to the NBA Finals. Awesome! We're not the loudest Thunder fans out there, but its kind of fun to get into the spirit. So yesterday was game 2 at home, and they have what they call Thunder Alley. Its the area in front of the arena for fans to gather, play some games and get pumped up for the game. We decided to go and try to win free tickets (yeah that was more like try to win the lottery), but we did end up with a balloon sword and a good experience....AND we even got our official picture taken! (I took a picture of the computer screen....it's 13.95 to order a darn 4x6!!!)

Thunder Alley!

Other than that its been a regular week. Today is the last day of swim lessons, which means a fun day....maybe Kayden will jump off the diving board and go down the waterslide! Here's more pictures of our week!

My golfer!

Practicing his swing!

Silly cracker boy

All smiles after swim!

Last night we were hanging out and we look over and Kayden is laying on the couch, eatting a pretzel, while rubbing his belly.....

My ice cream buddy!

Oklahoma Aquarium

This weekend, Kayden and I headed up to Tulsa to visit the Oklahoma Aquarium! I was excited to show Kayden the fishies! It was a cool place to go, Kayden loved just running from exhibit to exhibit. They had built in steps in front of some of the tanks, so the kids can see them easier. On the other tanks, I just let Kayden get up on the ledge. He loved it. There were some fish that came close and he wasn't quite sure what to do. And we got to touch horshoe crabs, shrimp, sting rays and a small shark AND we got to feed some snapping turtles!! Wooohooo!!!

BIG FISH!

Look mom!

I gotta get a picture!

They had the cage that divers go in to study sharks

The Oklahoma Aquarium has the largest collection of Bull Sharks in the US

  

They have a tunnel where the sharks swim over your head!

Frogs

An Albino Turtle

Love the fish!

Tiny little jelly fish!

Big jelly fish

American Alligators

That was fun!

And mom let me get a shark and a shark book to take home!!

It's been a long week!

OMG!!! (oh my gosh).... I am so freaking tired this week! But its been non stop, so what was I expecting?!

Kayden started swim lessons this week. They are two weeks, and the kids in this class take it with the parents. Its a chance for them to get accustomed to the water. Lessons start at 6p, so that means: get off work at 5p, pick up Kayden (must have snack waiting!), eat snack, go to pool, change, swim lesson, then home by 7:15ish for dinner, bath and bedtime. Exhausting! But despite my lack of sleep, Kayden is LOVING swim!
Day 1, he didn't want to do anything the teacher said (my original thought was whoever decided to sign an ornery 2 year old up for swim lessons was an idiot).
Day 2, dad came with us. Kayden did soooo much better! He started to kick his feet and liked to play the games and sing the songs.
Day 3, just me and Kayden and it was cold! The little babies quit halfway through but my shivering child wouldn't quit. So he worked on jumping into the pool (I don't catch him until he's underwater). He did it over and over and over.... He would kick and "swim" all over!
Day 4, that's tonight....T-minus 40 minutes unil work is over.
Next week, we have 4 more sessions (no class on wednesday). I'm definitely glad I decided to do this. He loves it and its alot of fun to see him progress, even in just 3 days!!!

Other than that its been a quiet week (if that's possible...).

A sucker for a job well done at swim!

Kayden and his buddy Parker at school

And tomorrow we are going to the Tulsa Aquarium!!! I'm soooo excited to show Kayden the FISHIES!!!!

Its June!!

Can you believe that its already June 4th???!!!! Where has this year gone??? I love the fact that time doesn't seem to be standing still, but it could slow down just a little....

This weekend was simple. Saturday we spent some time with daddy who couldn't sleep :( , then we went to a dance recital to support a friend. Kayden was soooo good! The first half, he sat in my lap and was MESMORIZED by the dancers! I was shocked. Then intermission let him get a little energy out. The second half he was a little rowdier, but overall he did great. And I got to see Michele's daughter, Angie who is 4, but a cute little ballerina! So precious!!!
Sunday mommy had a migraine so we stayed in most of the day and attempted to play quietly (2 year olds don't exactly understand migraines....thank goodness for medicine!).
A nice simple weekend...

Riding our bike inside

Biker boy!

OBSESSED with my sleeping child

And this is how Kayden started his morning at daycare today. He's a quirky one!

2 year checkup

Kayden had his 2 year checkup this week. The doctor says he looks absolutely perfect and is right where he is supposed to be developmentally. And NO shots!!! That made it even better.

Stats:
Height - 37" (100+%)
Weight - 29.4lb (50-75%)
Teeth - ALL of them are in! This kid has some chompers!

With the doctor appointment, I was able to take the afternoon off and we spent some mommy/Kayden time together. We did a little shopping and ended our afternoon at Walmart (we were out of milk!). Kayden has a new found love for fish, so we spent at least 15 minutes looking at the fishies. He loves them!

Maybe sometime soon....someone will get a couple of fishies! =)