E.I.G.H.T.E.E.N.

How the time flies! It's hard to believe that our little boy is now 18 months old! Officially welcome in nursery--although he's been going for the past few weeks. He LOVES to go in and play with the toys instead of having to run the hallways with mama. There was no sadness his first time. They invited him in and before I finished asking him he ran right into the room and in the middle of all of the chaos. :) How we love this boy.

(90% height, 50% weight, 75% head)

He is beginning to learn names and colors. Kaden:

-Makes most animal sounds

-Points out 'tees', 'ocks' (rocks), and 'hours' (flowers) on our walks.

-'Top Yines' (stop signs) are his favorite things to point out.

-While driving in the car and on walks, he will point out EVERY car.

-Opened a book of shapes the other day and surprised me with 'rectangle'! And knows his shapes. Smarty pants.

-Loves "head, shoulders, knees, and toes" though he slows the pace down.

-Beans are still his favorite. Nasty diapers though...

-Still loves to dance. Loves music.

-Found his shadow the other day. FUNNIEST thing ever.

-Can name most foods he eats and will sign more, please, and thank you in connection with them.

-Loves books. We read a million books a day. Thank goodness for the library.

-Gets so excited for scriptures at night. He stomps his feet cheering 'sciptas'. Too cute.
-Likes 'sings' (swings) and the 'paygown' (playground)

-Amazes us everyday with the things he can do!

Books!Still Mr. Bean.WE LOVE YOU BUGGABOO!

Easter catchup & My day.

I've been way behind on blogging as of late. But here are some pics from our Easter. Kaden really enjoyed Easter this year; though he didn't really do the egg hunt when we got together with our friends. He was interested in getting one and finding out what was hidden inside. But he did love getting a basket full of eggs that had cheerios in them, and some with jelly beans.

Easter egg hunt with friends.

Dad gets a basket, too.

Just woke up!

He woke up pretty quickly.

So excited to find out what's inside.

Yummy?

Another use of Easter eggs: Camouflage.

Fun to shake.

Can't wait until next year!

For Mother's Day Matt treated me so well. For dinner he made pork tenderloin with seasoned potatoes and carrots and fresh homemade green beans! We feasted for sure. With all of the frustrations motherhood brings, I love being a mother. I love my little guy.

My boys.
Love my boy. Love being his Mom.

I've gone K.R.A.Z.Y.

Krazy for coupons! I finally decided that I needed to put in a little more work to save on my grocery bill. I did it--I ordered the baseball card dividers and put them in a big binder with my coupons separated into categories. It's work, but much easier when I'm shopping at the store.

This past weekend, Pathmark had triple coupons day! Here is what I got:

• 4 pack Scott's TP


• 2 boxes Ritz crackers


• 3 Pop's cereal


• 2 frozen pizzas


• 2 Kraft salad dressing


• 6 pack Jello chocolate pudding


• 3 packs Kraft sliced cheese


• 4 Chobani kid's yogurt


• 2 boxes tampax tampons


• 1 box stayfree pads


• 2 ortega taco seasonings


• 2 ortega guacomole mix


• 2 febreez air effects


• 1 palmolive softsoap dish soap


• 2 fructis shampoo


• 2 boxes of Ronzoni pasta


• 1 men's Degree deodorant


• 1 Colgate toothpaste


• 1 Clearasil face wash

Should have cost: $115 but I only paid $9!!! Gotta love the coupons. I'm Krazy now.

I'm your handy man.

We had some car troubles at the Lanenga house, but luckily we live with a mechanic. He's good, and not too expensive. Please refer your friends. :)

Checking out the engine.

On another note, here's a shout out to the sun for a few good days of warmth, including today's 80 degree day! Can't wait for all of this rain to go away.

Yay for the sun.

The Daredevil: loves to go head first.

Kaden's new hoop--he can already dunk.

Eye of the Tiger.

Can't you just picture Rocky: "Yo Adrienne!" For the past couple of months, Matt and his Dad have been training to run a half marathon in NYC. So Matt's parents came up for the weekend for the run and we all had a blast! While the men got up early, had a quick breakfast-to-go, and then proceeded to run 13.1 miles, the women & Kaden stayed behind and enjoyed a late and leisurely morning and good food at the hotel...You decide who made the smart decision. :)

Kaden getting ready for the half marathon in Dad's headband.

But this is how he preferred to wear it.

Cheese smile and breakfast with Papa.

Some quality Skippyjon Jones time with LaLa.

Gotta love the Cuban food.

My first-taste-of-lemon face.

Fun back at the hotel. Haha.

Waiting...waiting...waiting for the runners to finish...

Matt at 11 miles and still smiling.

Survivors.

Gold medal winner!

LONG day makes for tired boys. Park break in between Conference sessions.

He loves the swings.

Papa's just a little too big for the tunnels.

So long and thanks for all the...fun! :)

Do you hear what I hear.

Kaden's vocabulary is quickly expanding. He is able to mimic animal sounds, and it is just the cutest thing. Wish I could post a video, but my hard drive we save everything to is currently not working.

Words

-up

-help ('up')

-yuck ('guck')

-banana ('my-nana)

-train ('choo choo')

-drink ('jink')

-jacket ('jack')

-shoes ('tu')

Animal sounds

-cow: 'mmmoo'

-pig: 'oin, oin oin'

-sheep: 'ba'

-goat: 'maa'

-doggie: 'hoo'

-duck: 'gack'

-cat: 'cat' (not quite meow!)

But I do have some pics a friend took (thanks Amy!) that I just noticed I never posted and they were saved to my computer.

Oldie but goodie.
My cute little model.

Anything you can do I can do better.

Seems to be Kaden's motto, lately. He is definitely on an independent kick. He wants to do everything: feed himself, walk downstairs, dress himself, etc. With eating especially, he won't open his mouth until I give him the utensil. He fares ok on his own, though leaves quite the mess.

This isn't so hard.

Maybe the other end works better.

Hmm...this isn't working.

Who needs a spoon anyway?!
Looks better in my hat.

We finally had a day warm enough that we were able to go to the playground--Kaden was beside himself with fun! Can't wait for spring/summer to come.

Sprint to the playground!

Going downstairs by himself.

Everyone loves the slide

Fun in the sun.

Kaden even got a strike while bowling!