UTAH HERE WE COME!!!!!

Not a whole lot has been happening around here lately. We are pretty low key people, I think. My brother called all his siblings about a month ago and said that he was getting married. YUP, you know that joke they played on us when they came to visit us in Arizona . . . it is really true. They are getting married on the 2nd of August. So, we will be headed up to UT for that. We leave here on Wednesday morning and come back late Sunday night. We are so excited to see my neices and nephews because we haven't seen them since our wedding. I can hardly contain myself. I am also excited to introduce Kayden to everyone in my family and I am WAY excited to see Zander (Xander if you are Dana) :)  Anyway, here are some cute pictures of my ADORABLE baby.  I just love this little guy.  He brings so much joy to my life.
Sleeping on daddy!
I thought how his hand was on Ryan's arm was so cute!  So precious.  Ryan is the best daddy!
Landon and Kayden playing.  Deena called me a couple of weeks ago and her and Aaron had been throwing up and they didn't have any energy and wanted to get some sleep so they asked if I would watch Landon.  I was so happy to.  He is such a cute little guy.  Anyway, so we went to Gayles a little later and they were playing on the floor so cute.  This is them playing.  Priceless!

The Story of Kayden and Mr. Bear

I didn't know that Kayden could love something so deeply this soon in life, but like everything else with Kayden I am trying to not be surprised at the little things.  At least once a week we make our way over the Ryan's grandparents house, Grandpa and Grandma Carling (the great . . . to Kayden).  Every week out of the toy room comes the same basket of toys.  It is a collection of all the McDonald Happy Meal toys that have been collected over the years of grandchildren.  In this basket is the famous Mr. Bear.  Now this bear usually gets thrown out of the basket and over looked.  That is until one day Kayden finds this bear.  What attracks Kayden to this bear is nothing spectacular to anyone else, but Kayden.  Can you guess what it is? . . . Well, if you were around Kayden enough you wouldn't be surprised . . . It is the tag on this bear.  Kayden loves tags, but he loves Mr. Bears tag more than any other tag.  Every week, with out fail, Kayden will roll around on the floor at 'The Greats' house talking and playing with Mr. Bear.  He will play with the other toys, but Mr. Bear will still be fisted in the other hand.  On this particular day we were getting ready to go and I took Mr. Bear away from Kayden to put him away.  Kayden looked at me with those big blue eyes, stuck his little lip out and let out a big cry.  How dare I take something to special away from him?  Bad mommy!  I picked Kayden up thinking he would forget about Mr. Bear, but his eyes still full with tears, were watching Mr. Bear.  I picked up Mr. Bear and gave him back to Kayden.  Kayden's eyes lite up and he gave Mr. Bear a big huge kiss right on the nose.  I put Kayden in his car seat and took Mr. Bear away, once again.  But this time I gave Kayden another toy to play with.  It still didn't make him happy.  His eyes filled up with tears and he let me know . . . I had let him down once more.  He wanted Mr. Bear.  So, I looked over at Grandma Great who had been watching the whole thing take place.  She let me know that Kayden didn't want anything else but that Mr. Bear and that was just fine with her if he took Mr. Bear to a new home.  All the way home that night Kayden talked to Mr. Bear about his new home.  Mr. Bear was so happy that Kayden had payed attention to him and hadn't let him down.  To this day Kayden hasn't let Mr. Bear down.  Mr. Bear is actually sleeping by Kayden as we speak.  You are probably asking why I am writing this whole story down about Mr. Bear and Kayden . . . well, I never want to forget Mr. Bear, but I also want you to keep your eyes out for another match to Mr. Bear.  I don't want to ever loose Mr. Bear and not have a replacement.  I know it is just a McDonalds toy, but it is made by TY and it does have some importance to Kayden.

Do you like my blog face lift?

Well, let me tell you where I got it from . . .  I was just looking at my friend, Nikki's, blog and it was so cute so I looked further down the page and found this link http://alliebrownslayouts.blogspot.com and I fell in love with all of her layouts.  So if your blog needs a facelift check out this site.

While I am at it I thought that I would post a couple of pictures of Kayden and us since last time.  He is growing so fast and we are enjoying watching him grow constantly.  He never ceases to amaze us.  

He turned 8 months old yesterday and so here are 8 reasons why I love the little guy.  Just know that there is SO many more reasons then just the eight.

8.  You never complain if we drag you around in the heat all day to run our errands.  

7.  You laugh at us when we, i'm sure, are looking pretty stupid.  It is so funny to you.

6.  You are so determind.  I might regret saying that later, but you want to explore the world and know everything around you.

5.  You always want the one who has been gone.  You miss your dad when he is gone and want him as soon as he walks in the door and the same with me if I have been gone!

4.  You love to be talked to.  I can just see the wheels in your head turning everytime I talk to you.  You are so inquisitive.

3.  You love to crawl and pull yourself up on things.

2.  You have the sweetest smile in the whole world and smile at anyone who takes the time to talk to you!

1.  You are ours and our life is not complete without you in it.

Kayders we love you to death.  Thanks for making us so happy. 

Welcoming Zander James Barney!!!!!

My sister, Annette, had her baby a on June 18th. He weighed in at 7 lbs. 9 oz. and is just the cutest little thing. They named him Alexander James Barney, but they will be calling him Zander. I think it is the cutest name. I still get so excited everytime one of my siblings have a child. I love being an aunt. I just wish I could see them all more. I miss my kids!
Anyway, here are some pictures of the little stinker!

Fun, Fun, Fun . . . And Happy Fathers Day

Well, the job search is still on for Ryan and I am still working many hours. But at the end of everyday I so grateful that I have my baby and my wonderful husband. He is the best and I hope he knows how much me means to me. Yesterday we spent all day rearranging and cleaning and he went along with everything I said and did so with a willing heart. I love you Ryan! Happy Father's Day.

Over Memorial Day weekend my brother and his "friend" came down to look into school at ASU! (I would love it if they moved down here, but I'm not pushing anything!) He kept telling me that they were JUST FRIENDS and nothing more. Well when they got down here I could tell (through tired eyes and all) that they were more than that. We went out to eat and they held hands under the table (thinking we couldn't see. RIGHT!!! I'm not stupid!) Anyway, on Saturday we were at the mall and they went and picked up there ring. Yes I said there RING! Well, they pretended all weekend that they were engaged, but when they headed home on Monday, they informed me that they were just kidding and that the ring was fake. Well, I had already taken the picture of them in front of the ring store so here it is. I was mad, but it has worn off and I have really grown to love Alice and have gotten to know her a little better!  I agree with Cameron,  she is great!
Here is a cute picture of them outside LeeAnn's apartment.  I don't know why it is so small, but it's cute anyways!
Landon introduced Kayden to some biter biscuits and Kayden enjoyed this one after going swimming with the Westovers.
Kayden in his wave rider!  He loved it.  He always has that smile on his face.  He is so precious!
Me and Kayden in all my glory.  Kayden is cute!  I look . . . horrible!
I check on Kayden every night before I go to bed and this is how he had fallen asleep on night.  I couldn't beleive it!
We have a sliding glass door that goes from our den to Kayden's room because the den was built on and Kayden can crawl up that step now and this particular night he crawled back under the curtain and he was laughing at me through the window.  It was hilarious.
I love this kid.  He has the most beautiful eyes I have ever seen.  He is so darn cute!
Playing in his favorite spot again.  Between his room and the den!
He loves his pacifier.  I don't know if that is a good thing, but it works for now!
Kayden loves to help his dad with the laundry.  Yes, Ryan does most of the laundry!
Last night we had to higher the side of the crib because he was almost jumping over it.  He thought it was so funny.  
Pulling himself up on everything is his newest thing.  He also loves to hold on to our fingers and walk everywhere, but he walks so funny.  He is a high stepper!
Waving his arm!  It is so funny!  He does it all the time!
Well, I hope you have enjoyed my little man!  Remember him in your prayers!  He goes in for his testing on Tuesday!  Read about it in the post below if you don't know what I am talking about!  I love you all and I hope to hear from you all soon.  Leave a message on my blog and I will respond back!

In all our craziness . . .

There are no words to describe what we have gone through the past month.  It has been a very long and trying month, but we have learned so much.  Ryan was laid off from his job so we spend most of our days looking for jobs.  I have been working more hours so we have some money coming in, but life happens and we are dealing with it.  Needless to say, I have a lot on my plate right now!  I am usually really good at updating my blog and, as you can see, I have been horrible at doing so!  I apologize for that!  I have, however, been taking pictures of everything while I have not been posting.  Also, remember Kayden in your prayers . . . he is going in for some testing on the 17th of June.  The closer it gets the more nervous I get.  He is going to Phoenix Children's hospital and having what is called a Barium Swallow test done.  For some reason Kayden has been spitting up really bad.  He will eat some baby food and he is still spitting it up 6 hours later.  It is really bad and he is beginning to really hate that he does it.  I feel so bad for him, but hope they can figure out if anything is wrong.  I will let you know what is going on with him.  But just remember him in your prayers. 

First of all . . . Aaron graduated with a Bachelors Degree in Information Technology.  In other words, the nerd degree.  Congrats Aaron!  We are so happy for you! 
Now, to understand these pictures that follow I will just begin by telling you they are inspired by Ryan!  When Ryan was little he wore his cowboy boots and hat EVERYWHERE!  He wore them with his shorts all the time so when Gayle and I were walking through Target one day and saw these boots Gayle snatched them up and gave them to Kayden.  I found the hat on eBay!  His shirt says My Horse, My Boots, My Hat!  So we had to take him to get pictures of him on Marks horse!  He was so cute!
This is one of the many Christmas presents that Grandma and Papa Workman got all the grandchildren for there house!  It makes a galluping sound and Kayden loves it.  He looks like he is all that and a bag of chips!  (Isn't that the old saying?  If not, please correct me!!!!)
Funny face, but I think it is so cute!
I'm a big kid now!
Landon and Kayden are best buddies!!!!

Ryan has discovered that Kayden loves bath time!  He will sit and play in his little bath for 1/2 hour or so.  It is so cute!
One night Ryan and I were talking in our den and we looked over and Kayden was poking his head around the curtain that separates his room and the den.  It was so cute.  So we put Kayden in his laundry hamper and he loved it.  So we took so pictures!  I love his eyes in these pictures because you can see how big and blue they are!
My personal favorites!
Kayden always sleeps on top of his blanket with his arms either under him (like in this picture) or his hands by his face.  BUT his little cheeks are always in the air!  It is so cute!  I love watching him sleep!
I took this picture for Dana!  This is his favorite toy!  Pieces of it are always all over the house, but he loves the wheels of the turtle!

More of Kayden in the hamper!  That red spot on his forehead is from looking at us from around the corner!  He bonked his poor little head!
This is Elyse's friend, Joel!  Kayden was so scared of him the last time that he had seen him, but this time they were friends again!  It is because they both had rocker hair and Joel had a cell phone that he let Kayden play with!  Whatever works!  Kayden was so happy!
And last, but not least!  LeeAnn was watching Kayden and she heard him fussing and so she went to check on him and he was stuck under his crib!  When he crawls he sticks his little cheeks up and so that was making it so he couldn't get out from under there!  Crazy kid!

GO D-BACKS!!!!

This was at the zoo!  (The picture above).  We went there of Friday for a little get-a-way with Grandma, Brooke, Auntie Elsie, and the neighbors!  It was the perfect day to go and Kayden was super stylin' with his little sunglasses!  Don't I have the cutest little guy EVER?  I think so!!!!

Then on Saturday, it was off to the DBACKS game!  Fun, Fun!

Go D-BACKS!!!!!  Well, to me baseball isn't very entertaining, and this particular game was so exception . . . that is, until the 8th inning!  On Saturday we took Kayden to his first Diamondbacks game.  Aaron, Deena, and Landon joined us as well!  It was a good time!  Landon and Kayden were wearing the same outfit so afterwards we went to Mark and Gayles and took some pictures!  They were so funny!  Landon, however, just wanted to attack Kayden, so I just kept the pictures a-snappen, until he was done beating Kayden up.  It was rather comical!  And if any of you know Kayden, well, I'm sure you can figure out what he did . . . he sat there and took the abuse!  He may be a little TOO laid back!  Anyway, here are the pictures!  I wish I could post all of them, but that would take WAY too long and I want to go to bed sometime tonight!

Ryan isn't proud to be a dad or anything!  You can't tell he adores Kayden, can ya?  HAHAHA