What Camden learned

A few weeks ago Camden learned how to climb out of his crib. He is my youngest and I have not put him in a big bed because it's been nice. He knew how to get out of his crib with a stool and when I took it away he figured how to do it on his own. Since learning this new art Camden has started taking shorter naps, getting up earlier in the morning and getting out of bed a handful of times in the middle of the night. He comes to my side of the bed and gets in. I have never let me kids in bed with me unless they are sick. So I am having to teach Camden mom's bed is not for him. He only gets to be in my bed for 2 minutes and then I take him back. Next week I will try not even letting him in my bed. Have you had any problems with children roaming around in the night? What did you do?

Halloween

This year the kids weren't too excited about Halloween except for getting all the candy. Earlier in the month they got out the costumes and never cleaned them up. It was a sad thing because come Halloween they had to do some extra things around the house to get them back. Halloween morning we went to the Library storytime and trick or treated there.

We went to grandma Wilcox's office and went trick or treating in the afternoon. They scored big time so we didn't need to go anywhere else. 

Kaden was Spiderman this year. Rylan was a football player because he couldn't find his transformer bumblebee costume he misplaced which we found a few days later.

Elliot was super why and loved it. Lots of people commented on that one. Camden was a dinosaur. He called it a monster for a long time. Elsie wasn't sure what she wanted to be for Halloween. She finally settled on a witch. And because it wasn't the day after Halloween it was full price. I told her it has to last her 2 years. She was okay with that.

This is their silly faces. Anyone scared?

I asked Mike if he ever thought one of his boys would wear his football uniform. He never had. Rylan really liked it, it's just too bad we didn't have a helmet.

Kaden is 8!

Kaden turned 8 years old Friday. I remember his birth like it was yesterday. I was having contractions all Halloween hoping he wouldn't come that day. He didn't but I spent all that night in the hospital waiting for my doctor to break my water. It wasn't my doctor's fault, but the hospital's for not calling my doctor until the morning. She was really upset. But aside from all that soon after my water broke Kaden was born. Every time I tell Kaden's story Elsie gets upset because she got denied her Halloween. She didn't know what it was until she was 3.

Kaden has celebrated his birthday over the last few days and was loving it. For his birthday dinner Kaden chose to eat at Famous Dave's. I was happy because I like the place. Mike ordered the family meal that had a little bit of everything. I told Mike we didn't need all that but I have to say I was very surprised at how much the two older boys put away. The waiter even brought Kaden a little sundae because it was his birthday and we all sang to him. Mike told Kaden it was his birthday dinner for the next 3 years. Kaden waited all day for Mike to come home so he could open his presents. Mike was running later than normal so I gave in and let him open some. The presents were the best part.

This is a picture of after dinner. Kaden ate 6 ribs, fries, beans, a muffin, more meat and ice cream. Yum!

Sunday for dinner we invited family over. Kaden had so much fun. 

Kaden chose a coconut cake for his birthday. I didn't remember when he had one before but after asking him more questions we realized he wanted a cake just like uncle Dave's. We figured out it was a German chocolate cake. It was so good there were nothing left after the party.

This boy is my absolute favorite Kaden. 

8 reasons why I love Kaden.

8 Kaden loves to play, not just play but get others involved too.

7 Kaden thinks of others. He often does little things just because.

6 He is silly, he loves to wrestle and play with his little brothers.

5 Kaden works hard on his schoolwork. He learned in 1st grade how much easier it is to get his work done first. He is getting really good at reading.

4 I love how Kaden draws. He has such a creative mind and great desire to make what he sees. He creates notebooks full of his drawings and shares them with others.

3 I love the excitement Kaden has about the gospel. He is very eager to get baptized and be a part of boy scouts. He is taking things very seriously and I love to see him pay his tithing and read his scriptures because that's what a disciple of Christ does.

2 I always love getting notes from my children but the notes I get from Kaden are when he's had a bad day or when I have had a bad day. He lets me know how much he loves me.

1 My favorite thing about Kaden is his hugs and kisses. I realized a few days ago my boys may some day not like the kisses and hugs I give him. But it always warms my heart when he has a hug just for me and lets me give him blow kisses.

Fall cleanup

Our Fall has been beautiful. Although I am wearing sweaters my kids go without. Little Camden could care less about shoes and socks. Last week we started cleaning out the garden for FHE. I love it when we all pitch in. 

This young man is growing up too fast. Kaden thinks being serious in photos is the cool thing right now.

Camden had to be working too. He was leveling the dirt. You were in trouble if you got in his way.

Elsie was in charge of cutting all the strings off the wires. 

So after the ground was tilled guess what came next?

 Playtime in the dirt! The boys love Fall because it means they can play all they want in the garden.

Camden and potty training!

A week in a half ago Camden tried on his new underwear to make sure it fit. I have not had a desire to potty train but he has. I thought we would ease into things. Well, when I let him try his undies on he thought it was the real deal. He didn't want to take them off. I let him keep them on for an hour and sure enough he had an accident. I tried turning that into a learning experience. We cleaned up and sat down with his potty book. It was great. After that we practiced running to the potty. I have never seen such a happier boy. The next day was Sunday, Camden woke up and put his underwear on. I had to literally take those things off him while he was crying. He was not a happy boy. So I decided this week would be the one Camden would start going on the potty. I reread info about potty training to see what new things there were. I read somewhere that you should send everyone away so you could have total concentration on the child.That wasn't going to work so I prepped the kids. I told them I needed to spend a lot of time with Camden and they would have to play outside a lot and get along. After telling Camden he had to wait to wear underwear he was very excited when he could put them on again.

Day 1

The day started off with Camden in underwear. We had pretzels to snack on, all kinds of juice, m&m's for rewards, and stickers for every time he went. If you have every potty trained a boy it takes a little practice aiming. I have trained all my boys sitting down, but that still is not spill proof. Camden had a hard time keeping the pee in the toilet. He didn't want to do it and wanted help. After one time I told him he had to do it. The floor and the toilet were a mess, but he was trying. He had to have a bath once because he peed on his face. We had a timer set and every 15-20 minutes we headed the the potty.  Elsie was a great help to me. She washed the clothes that were soiled, did my dishes, and made meals for me. She even took the boys outside a few times. I am very blessed to have such great kids. At the end of the day I'd say we were successful half the time. Camden had yet to poop.

**As a side note while I was assisting Camden in the bathroom there was a knock at the door. I was not going to answer it because I would get distracted. Only when my son came to tell me it was the police did I open it. They had seen the boys peek out and tried opening the door as I went to unlock it. The police asked me if everything was okay and I said "yes, I am potty training" as Camden came out naked. They continued to tell me that they received a call from this house. In all that was going on that morning it never dawned on me that my 7 year old would call the police. He had asked to call a friend just to talk and denies calling 911. I called Kaden to the door to talk to the police. They were quite serious about telling him when to call them. I apologized and sent Kaden to his room while I thought of a proper consequence. When Mike came home he asked to see the phone number Kaden called. Rylan told him that he ate the paper with the phone numbers so he wouldn't call 911 again.

Day 2

Camden still had some accidents but started mastering his pointing skills. He is still afraid of closing the toilet lid which is a must in our house. We did it together and is not scared anymore. I knew he had to poop so I kept a visual on him constantly. When he hesitated at all I tried shooing him to the toilet. His argument was "it's toots mom". So when I let my guard down he did his stuff and I caught him just after he did it. He got a shower and I showed him the gory stuff. He was grossed out. I braved going out in public that afternoon because he had a Halloween party to go to. We went to the bathroom but he still had an accident. So I said we were done at the party. He did last an hour so I wasn't too worried about him not having enough fun. That evening Camden did great. He pooped on the potty and all the kids jumped for joy. I think I was jumping the most. He again did his stuff later that night and wouldn't get off until he was done. I was the happiest mom ever. I told him that morning if he pooped in the potty he could stay up late, he was a very happy boy.

 This is Camden's sad face he was making with his mouth red from juice.

Day 3

Camden was doing great with the timer so I decided to let him go outside to play. I was going to get him when the timer went off but he came in minutes before telling me he had an accident. He stayed inside after that and started going potty on his own. I clapped for joy. After lunch Camden was allowed outside but on strict orders. This time the little guy did great. One time he decided he wanted to be like the big kids and close the door. Well, he ended up locking himself in the bathroom. We tried to explain what to do but he was stuck for over 5 minutes. All the kids kept trying to explain things but he was still stuck. I finally got him to do what I asked and came out. We have had quite an exciting few days. Camden is so excited to be going potty.

Day 4
I'd say this day was a big success. Camden had no accidents and told me when he had to go. We went outside, and even to the park. The only trouble was he started peeing on his hand. That will hopefully be fixed by big brothers that can show him the tricks. Camden is on his way to big boyhood.

My haircut

I am not use to such long hair,so I decided  to get it trimmed.

I had a shower before we went.We had to wait about 10 minutes.

We decided to go to great clips.Hair was coming down fast. 

I had my hair cut to my shoulders. We had a few inches cut off.

My mom said she was surprised at how much I had cut of.

By:

Elsie Wilcox

Pumpkin Picking

We have had beautiful fall weather here. It was so nice we had to take off our sweaters but the downside to that is all the pumpkins are rotting from the inside out. We went to our favorite pumpkin patch and we had to hunt for the ones that looked good. I don't know, maybe it was just the pumpkins at this certain location but we have never encountered this over the years. Besides that, the kids were loving everything. There were two corn mazes. One of which, Elliot almost got lost and started crying. They had some awesome tractors and Camden loved driving them. Every time we drive by the pumpkin patch it is full. Mike even saw cars parked down the road one day. So in order to have dad along we go in the afternoon. We have free roam and don't lose any children.

I have to say Rylan is the most photogenic out of all the kids. I couldn't get them to be still enough to get what I wanted.

Getting the pumpkins home. Now for the carving...soon.

It was a great outing, and one that didn't take long because it was in the neighborhood.