Tumbling, Crawling, & Camo Cake

Casen has become VERY mobile. He is crawling all over the place and pulling up on everything. He has giving himself his first black eye pulling up on the entertainment center and falling against it...poor baby! He has two bottom teeth in and more on the way. I am afraid he is going to be walking before we know it and I am definitely NOT ready for that!!!



Rayden had another tumbling meet this weekend and did a GREAT job, and I'm not saying that just because I am his mother! He did everything he was supposed to and landed all of it, including his one handed cartwheel that he has struggled with! His instructor told me that she had several people ask her how she was able to get "that lil bitty guy" to do everything so good!!! I am so proud of him. He works so hard. I am very glad that he is so athletic and that the enjoys sports!!!



Yesterday was Uncle Casey's birthday and he had requested a "camo cake". So, I tried. I wasn't sure how it was going to turn out, but I guess it turned out okay!

Look at that smile... he was so proud of himself!!!

Doing his trampoline routine.

Getting his medals!!

They tumbled last week during the halftime of the SPC basketball game.

My Sweet Boy.... He is growing up so fast!


And another sweet boy!!

The boys love bath time!!!

Casen loves his bull he got for Christmas, he loves to pull up on it and "pet" it!

Look at that smile.... (ignore his supper that is all over his beautiful hooters shirt!)

Crawling all over the place

He is just so sweet..... I don't know how else to describe him!!!

Rayden sharing his sucker with Casen. Casen will literally attack Rayden for suckers, food, etc!!

The Camo Cake

Ruidoso & Valentines Day

We went to Ruidoso over the weekend. It is always nice to go back home, see my mom and family and just hang out. A group of couples from Levelland were up there, but I unfortunately never caught up with them. It is just so hard to squeeze everything in. I took Rayden and my niece, Katlynn, skiing on Saturday. It was both of their first time skiing so they took lessons and both did really well. Driving up the mountain Rayden kept telling me he didn't need to be taught, he was a big boy and could do it on his own. He assured me that he wouldn't fall down and that I didn't even need to hold his hand cause he could do it all by himself!!! I love that he is so brave and so independent..... sometimes.......other times it just gets him in trouble!!! ha ha. When we got up the mountain we found Chance and I told him we just needed to get Rayden in his skis so he could get a feel and would maybe agree to do lessons. I was shocked at how good Rayden did. He really didn't fall down!!! We did convince Rayden to take the lessons so he could learn to stop and turn, and besides that, Rayden really wanted to go on the ski lift and Chance was headed off to ski with the guys, and I wasn't about to pay for a lift ticket just to take Rayden on the ski lift.!!!!

Oh, and Casen got both of his bottom teeth over the weekend!! The first one popped through on the drive up on Thursday and the other was in by Friday!!!!

Rayden & Katlynn dressed and ready to get to skiing!

Chance would push Rayden and he did really well, he thought he was such a big guy!

Rayden on the ski lift during his lessons.

Rayden & his ski instructor.

Learning how to put his skis on.

Rayden getting a push from his daddy

Casen looking out the glass door at my mom's dogs. He really liked it this way, he could see them and "pet" them, but they couldn't jump on him!!!

Rayden at this Valentine's Day party at school with his cookies that he made & decorated.

These are the adorable "doggy" cookies that me and Rayden made for Valentine's Day.

Random Pictures!!

I had a few minutes to finally upload some recent pictures. They are just kinda random, but hope you enjoy them anyways!!

Rayden doing his breathing treatment

Me, Brody Moore, and Casen

Rayden thought Uncle Casey was soooo cool wearing his eyepatch. Rayden thought he was "playing" pirate, and had to go and get his eyepatch and one for Gage so they could play too!!

Casen all pooped out. Actually, Chance gave him a few sips of his coke at lunch and he got so wired that he couldn't sit still. It was nap time, but he was too hyped up to go to sleep. Finally he had used up all of his energy and stopped, and was out like a light in the middle of the living room floor!

So happy to have gotten the newspaper. The baby loves paper!!!!

This is the Valentines cake I made for Rayden to take to school.

Sick Kids & "The Shack"

I just survived nearly two weeks of sick kids. Rayden started running a high fever two Sunday's ago, and a visit to the Dr. that Monday concluded that he had RSV. Not too much of a concern for him, but not the best news for little Casen. Rayden was hit really hard with it, developed ear infections and such, and then on Wed of that week Casen spiked a fever. We were lucky to not have ended up in the hospital! Needless to say, two weeks of rocking babies, coughing, puking, boogers, and all nighters, I am lucky to be alive!!!! During the middle of it, my mom was quick to ask "are you sure you want another one?". No, I'm not sure.........

Not to worry, I am alive to talk about it. One good thing is that I actually read an entire book!! Yes, I love to read, but it is not something I get to do much. I began reading The Shack and could not put the book down!!! I read and rocked babies, and didn't worry about anything else. I had decided the laundry, dishes, and house cleaning would just have to wait (yes, I am still paying for that one!!!!) I loved the simplicity of the ideas in this book. I found myself hoping and praying "God, let this be the truth" I mean, for those of you who have read the book, isn't the way God portrayed so much more appealing than our traditional teachings? You have to question, even though this book is fiction, is it not really the truth. Isn't love and kindness a huge part of it all, and having a loving "friendship" with God really what it's all about. I find that we, as a society, put so much emphasis on "religion" We so easily become consumed with church, and the beliefs we are supposed to believe, social networks, and all of the stuff (that which is both good and bad) butt seems to only interfere with our relationship with God. When we get so caught up in what is expected of us as Christians, don't we start to loose sight of exactly how simple it all really is? No, I'm not saying that we should forget church, bible studies, or any of that, I'm just saying, doesn't it make more since that God just wants us to walk with him, confide in him, and include him in every step that we take, and we should take off some of the pressure of performing to the standards of others? That we shouldn't feel guilty when our kids are sick and we can't make it to church or when, yes, I am going to just say it, we just decide to sleep in because our kids actually haven't stirred for once?

I also found a lot of comfort in this book regarding things that we don't understand. As hard as it is for us to comprehend, we are not supposed to have all the answers. Sometimes we (I) just have to have faith that God has a plan and the hard times are part of the bigger picture.

For anyone who hasn't read the book, go out and get it! I promise you won't want to put it down, and on the other hand, you won't want it to end. God is amazing and I believe that this book is NO substitution for the Bible, but it has been, and will continue to be a great advertisement for God. I can only imagine the lives of non-believers that have been changed by this book. How could you not want to be part of someone/something when they are painted as amazing as this man painted God to be????

On another note, for those of you who know Cody & Melissa, it is another BOY!!!!! Is this proof that the Potter boys are not capable of producing girls?? I am not sure where that leaves me in my decision to have more kids, does it make me hopeless that there is no hope of a girl, or does it mean that the odds have got to be in my favor????

Casen & Chance Playing

Sorry the video isn't the best quality, I just caught it with my phone, but Casen's laugh is still hysterical!!! He really loves his daddy. Be sure and watch to the end to catch Rayden's cameo appearance!!!

Pictures of the Boys

Before Christmas I took the boys to get their pictures taken. Just wanted to share a few of them.

Christmas, Deer Lease, and Misc....

We made it through the holidays and then spent the second day of the year moving into our new house!!!! We are so excited to be in a new house, where we have a little (okay, a lot) more room, and after all the Christmas presents the boys got, we needed more room!!!!

Rayden is growing and still a ball of energy. He started back to Parent's Day out and tumbling after a few weeks off for Christmas, so we have been trying to get back into a routine. Santa brought Rayden the trampoline he had been asking for.

Casen is 5 months old now. He is sitting up on his own, and just nearly crawling. He rolls all over the place, from one side of the house to the other and scoots in between. He hasn't quite figured out holding his head up while trying to crawl, so he buries his head and pushes with his legs. He can cover a lot of ground doing this, but it usually leaves a little carpet burn on his poor little head!!!

Here is an overload of pics, since I have been slacking....

Sitting up like a big boy!!

Deer Lease

We spent New Year's Eve down at the deer lease. Rayden put a lot of miles on his new tractor, and dug up a lot of dirt. Rayden loves the deer lease because there is so much room to play and explore.

Rayden & Chance playing on their toys!

Casen trying his hand at driving the tractor!


Christmas

Just taking it all in

Rayden on his new tractor

Casen in a mess of paper and presents

Rayden opening presents at Pop's house.


Christmas morning, Rayden looking out the back door to find his trampoline Santa left!

Yeah.......

Tumbling Meet

In December, Rayden had his first tumbling meet. He did very good, and wasn't scared with all the people watching. He got first place in tumbling and trampoline!!

Getting ready to do his tumbling routine!

Doing a back flip!

The Polar Express

We went with some friends one night to take the boys on the Polar Express. The boys really enjoyed it. Rayden is still talking about riding the train.

Rayden telling Santa what he wants

The Happy Family!!!

Rayden & Brayden

Just being silly!