Kaizen Klan: March 2009

We probably don't have enough Irish in our blood to consider ourselves Irish, but that didn't stop us from celebrating this fun holiday. We had some friends over to have St. Patty's dinner and snacks. We had corned beef and cabbage, potatoes and some Irish Cheddar. We also had green pasta salad. Everything was green in it including the noodles (I hand-picked each green noodle out of a package of TJ's rainbow pasta, what can I say, I don't have a life). We also had shamrock cookies and crackers and also enjoyed cupcakes shaped like a leprechaun hat. I also made rainbow jello (do I need to remind you that I don't have a life?) . Anyways, I think everyone had a lot of fun and the food turned out great.

The leprechaun cupcake hat

Some of the spread

Shamrock sugar cookies

Some decorations

Rainbow Jello

Shamrock crackers

Just being silly

Even Leila got into the spirit

Daddy and Caden

Crazy little Leprechaun

Where's Caden?

Téa wants a turn

Silly Kids

Unhappy Téa (she totally has mastered this face)

Cutie Pie

Caden giving Téa a turn

Happy St. Patty's Day!

Mommy sandwich. Well another month has come and gone. It's so strange to watch your kids grow up right before your eyes. Everyone tells you how fast it goes by and to enjoy every second but until you have kids of your own it's impossible to understand what they're talking about. Caden is becoming quite the little helper and Téa wants to do whatever Caden is doing. She looks up to Caden so much and constantly wants to play with him. I can't wait to see them grow up together and hopefully become best buds. Don just finished up with his Spring break so he'll be very busy for the next 8 weeks then luckily he'll be able to enjoy his summer break. It was so nice having him home.

Téa snuggling with Mommy

Caden and Téa "helping" Mommy

I don't have the heart to tell them they actually make more work for me

Caden keeping a close eye on Téa

Playing in the tub

Do you think my kids are trying to tell me something? Caden helped open the door to our bedroom and this is what Téa did to the figurine. Hmmmmm?

Caden is doing fantastic. He is walking so much better. I credit a lot of that to his wonderful therapists and the horse back riding therapy. He recently got new leg braces that he is wearing at night to help stretch his legs and is also wearing a compression suit now a few hours a day. It's similar to a rash guard or small wet suit. It's used to feed his nervous system and to give him some body awareness. He seems to calm down a lot after he has worn it. He is speaking in sentences more and his vocabulary continues to grow on a daily basis. He can also now count to 100! He's such a smarty pants. We recently went through a bad hitting phase but it seems it's on it's way out. Thank goodness. For awhile I thought I was going to have to keep Téa and him separated permanently.

Caden loves his shoes

Handsome boy

Caden says " I like balloons"

Hmm what do I do with these?

This!

Yummy!

And what do I do with this one?

This!

I like "helping" Mommy bake cupcakes.

Téa is officially 11 months old and will be walking any day. She has taken a few steps on her own (2-4) but isn't officially walking yet (luckily). Her little personality is becoming more fun each day. Although she is still 100% a mommy's girl she's becoming more and more independent. She's learning different ways to get Mommy and Daddy's attention. Some are for the better, some are for the worse. The good ways are by cocking her head to the side (we call it her awe face) and by clapping and waving. Her bad ways are by pulling Daddy's CD's off the shelf and getting into the oven and dishwasher. She eats all table food ferociously which has earned her the nick name "miss piggy". Don't worry, we'll put an end to that before she is old enough to understand. I can't believe she will be 1 in a month. It's amazing how fast time goes by.

Téa with her flower binky