Climbing Monkey!

So I put Drake in his crib and turned on his mobile on so that he would be entertained, and Caden was playing with toys on the floor. I thought this would be a good time to clean up the mess from breakfast. While cleaning I heard music coming from the boy's room and it wasn't the mobile. I went to investigate and this is what I found...

Caden had climbed onto the couch, then on to that little end table(TV Tray) and then into the crib. The music I heard was a musical toy in Drake's crib. I was laughing but I was also really glad he hadn't fallen!

Other than being a little monkey, Caden has been loving his new cars that we gave him for Christmas. He loves driving it all over the carpet. Drake still sleeps most of the Day but he sure looks cute doing it:)

White Christmas!

Drake was just filled with joy opening presents! Just Kidding:) He didn't get it but it was fun to pretend he was opening presents!
Caden didn't get it much more than Drake did. He ran off with the tree after opening one present!

After opening all of the presents and cleaning up Caden and Drake both took a nap and while they were sleeping it started to snow!!!!! It was so cool. Luckily it kept coming down when Caden woke up so he got to go play in it. He was a bit confused at first. he sort of spaced out then he started walking around and thinking it was pretty cool.

We had such a fun Christmas Day!! Our Good Friends the VanDykes invited us over for dinner and games and we had a ball! A lot of eating and laughing which equaled a lot of fun! Hope all of your Christmases were Bright and White too!

Drake

Drake is so strong! He's already starting to hold his head up! Check out his pretty blue eyes. I hope they stay blue. His personality has been coming out a little more. He so sweet and even tempered. Me, Caden, and Drake all get up at about 9 and Drake just chills in his bouncy seat, the couch or the floor. He just sits there and watches us play. Then when Caden is ready for his Nap I put him down, nurse Drake and then they are both asleep and I have 2-3 hours to myself. I don't think I could ask for more than that! Drake is eating really well, he's getting a little bit of chub which makes a nursing mother feel good! I'm always wondering if they are getting enough:) Anyway, I just thought I'd let everyone know how Our newest family member is doing!

I Love You This Much!

(When I saw his arms like this, that's what I thought of)

After I gave Caden his bath I came out to find Nate and Drake passed out on the couch :)

Happy Holidays!!!!!

Caden Talking and Loving His Little Brother!

Update!

Hello All! I don't have anything super interesting to post about but I wanted to let everyone know how we are doing and show off my cute little boys! Drake still just sleeps most of the time but he is starting have some periods of awake time and it's been fun to see a little of his personality coming through. Last night he made an "Awww" sound and Nate about died, he thought it was so cute. Caden then started saying "Aww" over and over again! Caden is being a very good big brother! He likes to put Drake's clothes in the hamper and he loves to through away trash for me! It really helped that second week when I couldn't move around so well! Caden has also enjoyed, Sitting in his plastic tub, dragging around his monkey blanket from Grandma, making his "Model face", and talking on his phone, (See Pictures). I'm doing really well. I hardly even feel like I had surgery but I'm still taking it easy, that means No laundry, No Dishes, and No Vacuuming! Oh Darn! But I can do everything else as long as I pace myself. Nate is doing good. He is bummed that he hasn't been able to ride his bike as much because of the weather. He's really looking forward to spring time when he can ride more often. He loves having his boys! Him and Caden are becoming more and more like buddies, teasing wrestling and being silly! He loves Drake so much. He says how cute he is about 17 times every night! He is such a wonderful Dad and Husband. The other day he called and said that he was looking at a picture of me on his tool box and just wanted to tell me how beautiful my eye's were!!! Isn't that sweet! Okay, enough rambling. Long story short things are going great!

First Day Alone With the Little Monkeys

So today I had to be the mother of the two little guys all by myself! I survived and it actually wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I healed a lot this weekend so I wasn't in much pain today. I'm not allowed to clean much of anything till I'm completely healed so that was the hardest part. I got kind of bored during Caden's 3 hour nap because the baby was sleeping too. When Grandma was here she bought Caden a cute monkey blanket and he dragged it around all morning, it was very cute. He also watched Polar Express with his brother. Anyway, my wonderful husband came home and vacuumed, did dishes, made cookies, and played with Caden. The cookies were part of a meal that our friends the Tolosens brought us and it made quite a bit of small chocolate cookies. We don't normally give Caden any sugar or sweets but I decided to give him a couple of nibbles of my cookies. I kept saying to Nate "Cookie" and then he would hand me one. Caden held out his hand to me and said "Cookie"! We were so excited! It was his first 2 syllable word! We thought it was so funny that his first big word was cookie and we never give him cookies. Anyway, wish me luck on the rest of the week!

Surviving

We thought Nate might have gained some weight these last two weeks because we haven't been eating our usual salads with everything that's been going on but he is at a steady 233. So no loss but no gain either! We are hoping that next week will have more results now that we are getting back into our routine! Good luck Nate!

A Whole New Love!!!

I have a whole new love for my Mom. I'm not talking about my birth Mom (Not much love there:) No, I am talking about Nate's wonderful Mom. I'm going to try not to cry. I have never met anyone so generous, sweet, kind, and giving in all my life! I was so worried about Caden when I was in the hospital but when we called to check on him he was so happy! I knew it was because Grandma was doing everything she could to keep it that way! When we came home I was even more amazed! The house was spotless and the kitchen has never looked as clean as it does right now! She has taken care of me all week, made me meals, got my medicine, refilled my water bottle like twenty times, done laundry, organized all kinds of things, went to to the store ran errands, wrote reminders on dishes to give back to people, and all of this she did while taking wonderful care of Caden and Drake too! Not once did she complain! I am not exaggerating when I say that I could never have done this first week with out her! Never! I used to have a hard time calling her mom because I've never had a mom but now it's so easy! I so grateful to have a Mom and and a wonderful Grandmother for my Children! Thank you Mom! I will never forget the love that you showed me and the boys this week, I am forever grateful!

As for the rest of us! We are hanging in there. It's been a little more difficult for me this time with the C-section but I'm getting stronger and more confident each day. Our wonderful friends in our ward have been bringing us meals every night and that has really helped, I'm glad I didn't have to add cooking dinner to the million things Mom has done for us this week! Caden is doing good, He's seems to be getting smarter everyday. Me and Mom laugh at all the cute things he does everyday, one example: Mom put in Polar express the movie for him and there is a part where they dance and sing a song about hot chocolate! Caden Loves it. When they say "Hot Hot" Caden goes, "Ha Ha Ha" Trying to say hot. It's adorable. He loves his little brother, sometimes a little too much. He likes lay his head down on him and shake his little hands, he also likes to take his hat of smack his head which isn't as cute :) The other day I took off Drake's blanket so that Caden could see him and Caden went and got a blanket off the shelf and put it on Drake, It was sweet! Drake is doing very well. He is nursing like a champ, and he only wakes up twice at night nurses and goes right back to sleep. He had a doctors appointment and she said that he looks great! So that is how we are all doing! We love you all and we appreciate everything everyone has done for us especially Mom!

We're Home!!!

We are home and everything is going great!!! I wanted to put some more pictures up so here they are! Everything went great with the surgery. My doctor and anastesiologist were abslutley wonderful! They made me feel very safe and comfortable. Grandma made Everything easier too! We could not have done this without her!


First Family Photo
Celebrating Our New Baby!I got him dressed all by myself! Thanks to Grandma for the cute going home outfit! If you look close you can see little antlers.Does he look Warm enough?Caden Loves his little brother! He keeps giving him kisses!

He's Here!!!!!!

More details later but here are the stats!

The name that we have choosen is: Drake Randall Packer

Wieght: 7lbs 9oz.

Length: 19.25 in.

Time of birth: November 30, 2007 @ 8:30 AM

Eye color: Looks like there blue.


The baby is doing great.

Samantha is doing great!

Just got back from the doctor...

... He said the baby hasn't dropped any and it doesn't look like labor is going to happen on it own! I'm a little bummed about it but I have to keep thinking that no matter what way I get him I still get him! I can't wait to hold him in my arms, kiss his little face and give him a name! Friday we will go in at 6 in the morning and they will start the surgery at 8:30. I'm really scared so all of your prayers would be much appreciated. I know that it's safe but I just get so scarred when it comes to surgery and needles and all that other fun stuff! Grandma is coming Thursday night so we are really excited about that, I'm sure Caden and her are going to have tons of fun! I'll write again on Friday with pictures of the new baby!

Fun Pictures

My Child is such a kook-a-munga! He makes us laugh every day. Nate put Caden's pants on his head and Caden thought it was so fun.

Later that same day, Caden had a play date with his friend Sarena. Every time he would leave the room she would get up and start calling out to him as she followed him.Bath time is always fun with Caden. He loves it, I'd have to say it's his favorite part of the day.

That's all, I just wanted to share some cute pictures! 3 more day till I have the new little kook-a-munga!

Spitting Image!

I was getting out Christmas ornaments and I found one from Nate's child hood that I had never seen before! It had a picture of Nate as a baby and I realized how much Caden takes after him! He has my eye's but that's about it! Aren't they cute!

Strong and Steady

Nate lost another 2 pounds! We were impressed because we thought for sure that Thanksgiving would do him in. His Next weigh in will be the day after the baby comes so we'll see if we remember to weigh him! I can really tell that he is losing weight and he say's that he can tell too. Mom is coming this week so I'm intrested to see if someone who hasn't seen him in a while can tell that he's lost it! Anyway, So Proud!

Can't Sleep!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's 12:37 Tuesday night well, actually Wednesday morning. I get a little insomnia towards the end of my pregnancies I guess because the same thing happened at the end of my pregnancy with Caden. I tried taking a warm shower to help me sleep and I came back to my bedroom to find that I had been replaced by another woman.



I've been reading the "What to expect the first year" book that my sweet SIL Melissa gave me when Caden was born. It was such a help Caden's first year, so I thought I'd brush up on the newborn chapter. Turns out I remember it all :) I can't wait for the little guy to come! I'll probably be posting in the middle of the night then too, because he seems to be most active at night. Anyway, I guess I'm going to try to go to sleep again. I'll most likely be exhausted tomorrow. I am excited because Nate gets Thursday and Friday off as paid Holiday. It will be our last weekend as a threesome family! Next weekend we will be four! Have a great Thanksgiving!!!

Went to the Doctor...

He said that the baby is no longer floating! He is a t negative station 2, what ever that means! Caden never dropped down at all so I'm hopping this is a good sign. He also said that he thinks this baby is smaller then Caden was. His words "That's no King Kong in there". I'm really hoping at my next appointment he tells me that he's dropped even more or that I'm dilating or something that resembles labor! I have the C-section scheduled for the 30th of November which is 2 days after my next appointment. Anyway, we will see what happens.

Also, We are going to be enjoying Thanksgiving with two wonderful families in our Ward, the Lyberts and the Vandykes. We were going to go to Old Country Buffet for Thanksgiving but a lot of people didn't like that idea. We are very grateful to the Lyberts for inviting us. We hope all of you have a wonderful Thanksgiving and hope that you have lots to be thankful for. Here a little picture of what I'm thankful for! Caden's Smile!!! The worst day in the world could be wiped clean by this smile!

My Husband Rocks!!!

He lost 3 more pounds this week which means he has lost a total of 15 pounds!!!!! In 4 weeks!!!!! He has 20 more pounds to go. He went back to the Seattle store so he hasn't been able to ride his bike (too Far away). We are trying to figure out a solution but in the mean time we are focusing on diet:) He changed his "prize" to a new TV instead of a lap top:) P.S. You can totally tell that Nate has lost the weight! He's looking Really good!

Caden's Table Manners

I just wanted to show family and friends who are far away, what Caden is upto. I know you guy's don't see him every day so I thought it would be fun to show you his Table Manners. In this first video he is eating with a spoon. He still get's very messy when he does it but it's so cute!

This next video is Caden signing "More" so that his Daddy will give him more Veggie Corn Dog.

This video is Caden signing "milk" and drinking from his cup all by himself. He can also sign "All Done" "Eat" and "Water" is still a work in progress:)

Happy First Birthday Caden!!!

We Celebrated Caden's Birthday on Sunday so that we would have more time and it was really fun! He had fun unwrapping his presents and eating his cake as you can see in the videos and pictures. I Can't believe he is a year old!

I love this video of Caden eating his Cake! He smacks the cake and he says yum yum! He only played with his cake and ate it for about two minutes and then he pushed it away. I kinda thought he wouldn't be able to handle it for long because me and Nate don't give him any sugar so the cake must have been an over load! I made the Cake myself and it was so fun! I just covered it in colored frosting!

Caden Laughing

Nate accidentally tripped picking up his hat and it made Caden laugh. He kept doing it and Caden was just Hysterical! He actually had tears in his eyes, he was laughing so hard.

Go Nate!!!!!

Nate is down to 240!!!!! We weighed him this morning and we were both really excited. That's 8 pounds in one week! Iknow they say you shouldn't loose it that fast but all he's doing is eating healthy and exerciing so I don't see where he could go wrong. He say's the hardest part is No Hamburgers,french fries, or Soda, And biking up hill! He say's his favorite part is that he can already tell in the mirror that he has lost wieght. One of the best tools I found in helping Nate with his mission is nutritiondata.com You can put all of the foods you eat into a "Pantry" and then anylyze the calories, vitamins, fat, protien, and anything eles you can think of! It has really helped Nate see how bad the foods he was eating are. When we put ranch in we were both pretty grossed out. Nate is down to 2 tablespoons of ranch on his 2 salads a day. Anyone who knows how much Nate likes Ranch should know how impressive that is for Nate! I'm really proud of him. When they had doughnuts at work he didn't touch one!!!!! I about hit the floor when I heard that because he usually would have 4 every wednesday that they would bring them to work!!! Anyway, So this is a tribute to Nate!!!! I'm so proud!!!

Child Leashes... the Votes are In!

So 6 people thought child leashes were a good idea and 6 thought they were cruel. Me? I think it depends on the family. I'm scared that Caden will run towards a moving car while we are at the park right at the moment I am changing the babies diaper on the floor and then I have a problem; do I leave my baby laying there all by himself or yell like crazy for Caden to come back? I think he is just to young to use judgment on his own of what is safe and what isn't. So, am I going to use a child leash? Probably not! I think that they are perfectly humane but I think I would rather hold Caden's hand and avoid those situations all together. Chances are that I will be chasing after Caden with a New born in toe a lot these next few years and I would hate to see Caden learn that he has to stay by me because he's strapped to a leash, but instead because I've taught him to listen to his parents and that we want to keep him safe. Thanks for all of your opinions, I love hearing them.
P.S. I might be whistling a different tune when I actually have the new born in toe:)

Happy Halloween

This is the Jack-o-Latern that me and Nate Carved!

We went to our Ward party as a Bee family. Somebody had given us Caden's costume before he was born so we said He's the Baby Bee, I'm the Queen, Nate is a Drone Bee and baby brother is the Larvae Bee. It was really fun. Caden Liked seeing everyone dressed up and he played two games, Bean bag Toss and Fishing for prizes. Me and Nate are on the Activies Commity at church so we were busy running everywhere getting things ready and supervising Caden:) It was really fun. For the actuall Halloween we are going to stay home and Hand out some Candy. We think Caden might like seeing all the kids come to the door in costumes. Anyway, I hope everyone has a fun Halloween! Enjoy the pics.

Belly Bump!

Here's the latest Belly Bump Picture! I went to the doctor today and he said that everything is going perfect. He said our little guy has a very strong Heartbeat and that I'm gaining perfect weight. I never think anything is wrong but it's so nice to here the doctor say all good things:) It makes me feel good. This baby is getting Big! I feel like he had a groth spurt this past week. I feel like I'm starting to waddle a little bit. Anyway, Five more weeks! I can't belive it's coming so soon!

Can you Can Can

Star in Your Own JibJab! It's Free!can can can can can can can can can can can can

This is Too Funny!

Star in Your Own JibJab! It's Free!You know wish you could dance Like us!

Caden is Getting really good at walking!

We have five more weeks till the baby comes so I think he will have it down pretty well by then. I saw somone at the mall with their child on one of the those child leashes. They are like a little animal backpack that has a leash for you to hold onto. I'm Curious what people think about those so I'm doing a poll on them. Answer above or leave a comment if you have a more verbal opinon. In the mean time here is a cute video of Caden Walking.

I have a project!

I love when I have a project! Me and Nate were talking about our Dating Day's the other Day and we realized we are already getting confused on the details! We decided we needed to write our whole love story down so that our children could hear the story without us fighting over how our first kiss went! Then I decided that I could in corperate all of the pictures we took at that time into the story and that's when it became a project! A Scrapbooking Project. Nate bought me a little scapbooking program so that I could get it it all done that way. It would be way to hard to do it by hand like I do my other scrapbooks. Plus there are alot of words that need to be written which make typing a nessesity. We've already written alot of it down and I've made several of the pages already. The one above is the cover page and we are calling our story, "The Story Of Us". Anyway, I'm having alot of fun with it.

Side Note, Nate is doing really well riding his bike. His time has already gotten faster. He's still struggling with cravings for bad foods but I promised him I would keep him away from them. Grocery shopping was hard with a drooling husband:) His Weigh in is Sunday and we are excited to see the results. At the end of this week he gets to get a gadget for his bike! Some kind of speedometer thing??? Men and their gadgets:)

These Shoes Are Made For Walking...

And that's just what they'll do! We went shopping for shoes! Not for me:( but for Caden. Now that he has started walking we wanted to get some good walking shoes for outside! We honestly went to nine different shoe stores in the mall everywhere from Payless to Striderite! Nothing had what we wanted! They were either too expensive or they were ugly or weren't good for walking. We were about to give up when we saw New Balance. They had the perfect little tennis shoes. The store person had to try 3 different sizes until he finally fit into a size 5 with a little wiggle room for growing. We had Caden walk around the store and he just took off! He wanted to walk everywhere after that, every store we went to he would walk from shelf to shelf so proud of himself. I couldn't help thinking "My baby's growing up" (tear). But I'm happy that I won't have to carry two babies all of the time. Here is a video of Caden walking in his new shoes but gets so close you can't see his feet some of the time:)

Nate Is On A Mission...

To get in shape! He said "I'm tired of being fat!" He stopped drinking soda completely, he's cut all of his portions in half and He has started riding a bike to and from work 5.5 miles each way! He's also making healthier choices in food as well, less sweets and bread more fruits and veggies. We went on Thursday and got him a bike, helmet, lights, lock, rain suit, and gloves! He's all geared up! We are also looking forward to the gas savings and now that I'm learning how to drive, I will be able to use the Jeep during the day. We are going to track Nate's weight loss each week on this blog. You will be able to see the update in the top left corner. He's hoping the publicity will encourage him further! He's not on any time limit but if he gets down to his goal weight (215) then he gets to buy a laptop! He is way excited about that. I will be joining Nate on his mission once I have my little guy out and I've recovered from the Delivery! For now he's on his own with his family's support! Go Nate!

So Much Love!

So much lately I have enjoyed seeing Nate and Caden together. As Caden is getting a little older I can see how much he really loves his Daddy. I used to say to Nate "Won't it be fun when he's old enough to run up to you and say "Dada!" when you get home from work!" Well, we are almost there. When Nate Came home the other day Caden walked right up to him and held up his arms. While Nate was holding him and talking to him Caden was so happy he was actually acting a little shy. It so obvious that he loves his Daddy. Yesterday I was trying to get Caden to say words and when I said "Can you say Dada?" he got all excited and crawled to the front door saying Dada over and over. He thought Dada was going to come through the door. I was so filled with love for Nate at that moment. I'm so glad he takes the time to play and bond with Caden. It will be even more fun when he has both of his boys:) So to Nate, thank you for being such an amazing Daddy and husband. Me and the boys are so blessed!