Don't jinx it!

Today has overall been a great day. Caden had his moments, more than less, but I still can say it was pretty good. He is so trying right now with testing the limits and boundries. He knows when he isn't supposed to do something but he loves to do it anyways just to see how mad I will get or what will be the point that is too far. Our fireplace is gas and has these things on the bottom that glow and stuff, but I don't ever turn it on because I live in Florida. Anywyas, Caden isn't allowed to play with the fireplace or around it and he knows this. Never has messed with it, now today he decided to keep running over and touching it and then when I get mad run away, lauging. I know he wants a reaction from me and I shouldn't feed into it, but I also need to keep him safe. Anyways, as my pharm teacher says I digress... Caden had a good, well he had day. And now tonight he went to bed like the old Caden I love. I changed his diaper and layed him down with his three (yes my child is spoiled) lovies and his music, wide awake and he put himself to sleep!! Just like he did his whole little life, no falling asleep in mommy's arms late at night, like the past few weeks. It was a great night that made up forever. But now as I type this I hope that I didn't jinx myself and hear him wake up in the middle of the night. Now if only he will sleep in till 8 like before...

Remember when it was cool to stay up late?

I can remember being in middle school and having slumber parties and trying to stay up all night. It was a contest to see who all could stay up without sleeping at all. Why were we so stupid? Who was the first person to think, it is cool to not have sleep? If only I could go back and use up all that sleep time when I had the opportunity. Apparently my son already thinks it is cool to pull an all nighter. In college I had several of these but then would come home and die after my tests, but now there is no time to "die." The weather here has been going back and forth with hot and cold drastically, and my whole family is paying the price with our allergies. Right at about bedtime it hit us all like a ton of bricks; runny nose, sneezing, the works. Caden could not breath laying down so he did what any logical toddler would do, stayed up all night. I am not talking just a late night, I mean ALL night. He finally went to sleep for the first time at 10 this morning and slept an hour and half. That's it, he has been running strong all day while me and Nick can barely walk without falling over. Luckily Nick had off so we were able to switch out. I went till 4 am since he was on call and did need some sleep, but then I let sleep deprivation get to me. I was mad and and angry and let Caden wake up Nick. He was hyped up on Tylenol and running around in circles all night, he would not sit still. I couldn't handle it anymore, I just wanted us to have quiet time, and that wasn't happening in his mind. Nick took over till 7 when Caden couldn't stand being away from me any longer. And that's all the sleep we had all day. Surprisingly I am doing well right now, I think I have already grown accustom to no sleep, but don't get wrong as soon as I publish this, my butt is in bed! Here is hoping to a long, peaceful nights rest!

Mr. Mom

In Caden's 20 months of being here, I would say 99.9% of that time he has been right there beside me. I understand being a stay at home mom, this is part of the job description. But people who work even get a break for vacation and have weekends and holidays off. I have never had this. I am so envious of facebook friends that write they are having grandma watch their kids for the day, for the night, for the weekend!! I know living away I can't have that, but I needed just a little break today. Nick had the day off, and my friend Danielle wanted to go shopping and so did I. Normally when this happens, I take Caden and give Nick a break. But I decided to mix it up and let him watch Caden. I hate that he is his dad and I say watch his own son, I am not watching Caden everyday, I am just being a mom. Nick does a really good job helping around the house and with Caden, don't get me wrong. Its just sometimes I need a break from it all, and living away from family it is hard to get that break. So during Caden's nap, I left for two hours and went shopping. It was purely wonderful, no crying or fit throwing, just shopping like an adult. Well, Danielle had her two sons there, but they weren't my problem, and when her husband comes back home we will shop and eat in peace! When I got home, Nick had cleaned the house and managed to watch Caden just fine. He said it was easy, haha! I told him good, next time I will leave for 12 hours then and see how you manage with all the daily chores. He should have known better to say it was easy.

Nick has a Red-Headed Fling

Are the gossip chains already circling? I get so bored with my look so I am constantly changing my hair. If it's long, I want it short, if it's short then I want it long. I always am doing different colors and cuts. Not way out there, usually more subtle changes for the general public but big for me. Well my roots were getting bad and it doesn't look like I could afford my normal cut/ color/ highlight from a salon so I took matters into my own hands. I bought (with a coupon) a color called Medium Mahogany Golden Brown, I really love it. It is pretty red for me, but I think I will get used to it. Maybe pictures will follow once it grows on me and I get a picture of me and not just Caden. :) I now need to cut it because the ends look dead, if only I trusted myself...

No Fear

I babysat for my mom's best friend, Sam, tonight so I am pretty tired and ready for bed. But I didn't want to forget a post so here is a typical Caden video. He has no fear and is going to break a bone any day. He loves crawling on top of our pub height table and dancing bc he knows he will get in trouble. He loves doing something wrong just to see how fast he can run away from me. This is Caden supposed to be tired and ready for bed, instead he learned how to jump. Notice the big leap move he makes first. He did this over and over and laughed every time. This was last night, all day he jumped off the fireplace or couch and every time I was scared. Enjoy and be waiting for news of a broken bone!

A Day to Save

Today Nick was able to have a very short day at work so this meant errand day! It being payday meant lots of things to do. First on our list was cashing my lovely birthday checks to put in our Christmas fund, stinks when you grow up! We then got gas, paid the water bill (being the country you have to drive all the way there and pay it in person), get a few things at Target, and then off to the NEX. I decided to start clipping coupons to try and save money, one of my coupons was a scratch off for the NEX to get a certain % off. Well we got diapers and wipes, both on sale with coupons and we scratched off 5%. For the big box of diapers and wipes we paid $18, this would have been closer to $30, so I was very happy. We were able to use 3 scratch-offs so we went back through two times with all of our toiletries, but ended up getting 5% both times. I was hoping for the 50%, but I will take any discount. I have decided a way to boost the economy is for all stores to do this, not knowing what our % could be made us want to buy something just to see what we had, you don't want to be the person that throws away the 50%!! Anyways after the NEX, we went to the commissary and with all of our coupons I got $11 off our bill, I was pretty impressed. I ended up using coupons the commissary had because they worked with what I wanted better. That is the thing about coupons, I hate having to sacrifice what I want because of what the coupon makes you get. After coming home and a lunch we were back at it. We went to a Church Garage Sale, which further showed how country of a place I was in with everything being from 1972 and then we browsed an Antique Shop. It was a really great day and Caden did a great job. Just the end of grocery shopping did he start behaving badly but it was lunch and nap time, so I didn't get too upset. Tomorrow I have more shopping planned, more just to browse to kill time and look at stuff maybe someday we can afford again with all of my savings. Its so much easier to shop with Nick because it's two against one and we sometimes can win at that, hoepfully tomorrow is just the same!

Stubborn is the Name of His Game

So its way past my bedtime, but I got lost on the internet. Being able to play online without interruptions is such relaxing experience, but then when you see how late it is, all I can think is why did I take away from my precious sleep?? I have always said that Caden is the most stubborn child, everyone normally laughs it off saying he is so good, stop complaining. Personally when I am the only one here with him, I believe no one has the right to tell me what I think and feel. If I lived right next door to you, or you saw him everyday, then I would be more apt to listening, but a once a year visit doesn't cut it in my books. Anyways, one of my many rants. Caden has to have everything in order, if I move something he notices, if his toys aren't just so he freaks. He is the most stubborn about food, but that is another post. This is potty training. One of the worst moments for me was when Nick was not able to be there for the birth of Caden. I cried during my entire labor, not having him there, and knowing he would never be able to see our son like that for the first time. So its no secret that I want our next child to be born with Nick right there beside me. Well for that to be a guarantee, that would mean having a baby in Florida, Nick won't be deployed here. Well I refuse to have two babies in diapers, so I have been trying to potty train. I haven't been at it everyday just simply because it is exhausting and drains the life out of me, I get so frustrated at his stubborn-ness. We first were doing the big boy underwear, taking him every 15 minutes, 2 days in a row. Not one time did the child pee in the potty, only his pants, which meant my floor. When he peed on my couch, I decided I would have a 10 year old in diapers. I tried other things with this, but it was hard. After some encouragement from a friend, I tried again yesterday. This time I left him on the potty longer. I knew me and Nick were stronger, was I ever wrong. Caden sang, danced, ate, laughed, was tickled, cried, screamed, read books, had cold water on him, had warm water on him, listened to water running, had the biggest glass of Kool-aid ever, had a sucker, and oh so much more. All in all he was on the potty for one hour and five minutes without peeing. I knew he had to go with all the drinks, so I decided to give him a bath, bc he usually has no problem peeing in there, I thought I could transfer mid-pee. Well he didn't even pee in there! So I gave up, put him in a diaper and two minutes later he had the biggest diaper I had ever seen! Me and Nick both gave up and decided he is just to determined. He is so very ready, he points to his diaper when he goes, he says when he goes, and knows where he should go potty, he just refuses. I believe after the first time going in the potty it will get easier because then he will understand better what I want from him, plus he will love all the great goodies I have planned. But nothing yet. I am trying to leave his soggy diaper on longer, bc he has never had to sit in pee, as soon as he goes, I change him. So I am hoping that seeing how uncomfortable it can get that he will start to change him mind, but I am not so sure. And let me tell you a child that never eats suckers nor drinks Kool-aid really can bounce off the walls, and boy did he ever!!!

My Hero

Today was Veteran's Day, and it was an awesome day. We were going to go watch the Blue Angels practice, but with Ida, their schedule was changed. My friend, Danielle, at the same moment we were thinking it would be a boring day texted saying they were going to the Milton Veteran's Day Parade. So record breaking fast, I got all 3 of us ready and out of the door just in time for the parade. All the boys loved it, even though it was the country and over way too fast!! We then all went to storytime at Barnes and Noble, a normal Wednesday activity. For the rest of the day Nick, Caden and I relaxed at the house. It was a very good day and was nice to get out of the house. I am so very proud of Nick and everyone else who has been or is in the service. It is a very hard job and takes a certain type of person to put up with it all, especially someone who can re-enlist and want to stay in longer. I know I get tired of his schedule and a lot of the other stuff that comes with the military, but I am so proud to be a Navy wife and wouldn't have it any either way. I am leaving this post with some recent pictures of this week of Nick in uniform and of the parade. After the busy events of this week I haven't had a chance to talk more about the triumphs (and some successes) of Caden's day to day, hopefully tomorrow I will be better.
Got to love a man in uniform!


Caden loves his daddy and is always doing something silly!


Caine, Caden, Kaleb and Braedyn watching the parade


Have to take pictures of the firetrucks... I am so proud of my hubby!!!

It's my Birthday, I Can Cry if I Want To!

Well, there actually was no real crying going on, it was a pretty good birthday! The morning started with Ida who was MIA, that was the biggest joke of a storm. I got scared that our water would be contaminated (kinda like on Signs) so we started stockpiling water. We filled up a bathtub, all of our big pots and pitchers, and had lots of bottle water. More so we could be able to brush teeth and go to the bathroom, I know I am weird. We woke up to no rain even, there has been worse thunderstorms here. So after putting up candles and water, Nick made me cinnamon toast in bed. Nick sang Caden's favorite song (Happy Birthday) while Caden clapped and danced and appropriately put in "mama" in the right place. Nick was supposed to have the day off from the storm, but ended up having to go in from 10 till about 3. I then got a little upset because I was looking forward to a family day and maybe going out for a birthday lunch. But I did what any girl would do, I invited over my two best Florida friends and had our own party. Between us we have FIVE boys so they all played good and we did what we do best, talk! It turned out to be an awesome day with them bringing cake and ice cream, the boys' favorite part too. Nick came home sometime in there and quickly hid in the bedroom playing ps3, hiding from all the "girly talk." Danielle and her boys and us then went to Fridays, a random fav of mine, and proceeded to have as awesome dinner as you can have with Caden. Danielle had to tell them it was my birthday, but paybacks are a b*! After dinner Caden went to bed perfectly, which is always a treat. Before I was in TX for two weeks, Caden went to bed perfect and slept 12 hours. Ever since we have been home, he has to fall asleep in our lap and sleeps for 8 hours. But we are working on our old routine. Tomorrow being veteran's day, we get to have another family day and look forward to what is in store for us. I had a great day and can't believe I am 25, that is just pure craziness how fast it is going!!

Ida Know

So I made this deal with Florida when I moved, no hurricanes while I am here, pretty simple. Well I thought I got through my first year with Florida keeping the deal, almost. It isn't a bad hurricane, in fact it is a tropical storm, but none the less it is headed straight for us. I think everything will be okay, I am not too worried. But I am scared that not being too worried will in fact jinx myself. We aren't all that prepared for a long power outage or lack of water, so I hope everything is okay tomorrow. I asked myself this question earlier, a hurricane on your birthday: is it good luck for the year like when it rains on your wedding day or is it a sign of a bad year to come? I am hoping for the first, but then again who hopes for a bad year? Well I guess I will spend my last few moments as a young 24 year old curled up on the couch with my hubby watching storm warnings and waiting to see what happens.

Quarter of a Century

If I close my eyes, I still feel like I am in highschool, a careless teenager. I quickly am shot back into reality when my son is screaming "mama" at the top of his lungs, wanting food and trying to kill the cat all at the same time. Even after almost two years of having a child it is still hard to believe I am a mom, not because I hate the job, but because I cannot believe how fast time is flying by. People always say enjoy the time it goes by fast, but its hard to listen when you are a new mom, sleep deprived, husband is out to sea, and all you want is your family back together. But now we are all together and I need to stop and take it all in. I am hoping if I have to sit down everyday and talk about my day, it not only informs my out of state family but helps me treasure the little moments. So the thing I wanted for my 25th birthday was something to help me remember these precious moments 25 years from now. So before I get ahead of myself I wanted to have my first post be an introduction of us all.

This cute little guy is Caden Lee, my mini me. He looks exactly like I did as a baby, poor kid! He knows exactly what he likes, when he likes it. Whether it be food, toys, or things to do; he has his mind made up on everything! He knows when I changed something in the house, if I put up a new picture, he has to show it to me all day. If his toys are out of place, he puts them the right way. He is very OCD, like me, and loves to figure out how things work. He constantly has me laughing or has me mad because of how stubborn he is. I love him with all of my heart and don't remember life before him.



This awesome guy, is Nicholas Lee, the best husband ever! He understands me more than I understand myself, and knows how to deal with me. I have a tendancy to freak out and stress a little too much, and he grounds me and tries to put into perspective, when I am willing to listen. We have the same sense of humor and constantly joking with eachother. I know he will always be there for me and I will be for him. I can't say enough good things about him, I just love him and thankful to have him there for me.

This of course is me, Lindsey. Is it sad I could find no pictures of either of us that didn't have Caden in them? Oh well, Caden makes the pictures better! I can't think of what to say about me if you don't know me, just hopefully you will get to know me a lot better through this. And I am a horrible speller, so ignore my stupidity! Have fun learning about the Evans!