We made it to Cincinnati

Jess passed his thesis defense (hooray!!) and we packed up and moved ourselves to Cincinnati, with a little help (okay, a LOT of help) from Grandma Watts. We are just about settled in and are happily getting to know the area. We tried to have some fun while Grandma was here, but a lot of our time was spent packing, moving, unpacking, and getting all the little things done that go along with moving. Oh yeah, and spending hours upon hours car shopping. Blah. At least we found one!! Here's a couple of pictures from the last two weeks or so.

Just because Caden is that cute.

Jess took Caden to his lab to play during my last doctor's appt before leaving Lafayette. Caden LOVES getting in the cabs of the different excavators and skid-steer loaders in the workshop of Jess' lab. Look at the joy in that boy's face!

He's a natural!

Our truck all loaded up, ready for the drive to Cincinnati!

At the Cincinnati Zoo in front of the white tiger. Caden is getting pretty good at saying the names of different animals when he sees them, but really good at making whatever noise they make. He spent a lot of time growling that day.

On the carousel with Grandma
Riding the train around the zoo
Our family. Don't be fooled by the jackets- it was plenty warm that day, just raining as well. It is even more humid in Cincinnati than in Indiana. I'm downright scared for August and 9 months pregnant to coincide.
Caden playing in his pool. We have a real pool in our complex, but Caden would rather just sit in a couple inches of water and play with his toys.
In front of the Columbus Temple. Grandma's flight left from Columbus, so Jess and I took the opportunity to go to the temple while we had a very willing babysitter.

Hurry up and wait!

While Jess is very diligently finishing his thesis and preparing for his defense on the 20th, Caden and I are staying busy trying to get ready for our move to Cincinnati. Much of the work we can't do yet, but we just barely got the go-ahead to sign a lease and arrange for moving our belongings (let's sum up a global, 400,000+ employee company with one word: bureaucracy). We had a couple of good laughs yesterday as we were seeking information for our lease and using all sorts of methods to gather that info. I did find through Craigslist that the curtains I hung in our kitchen in an old Provo apt are still up and going strong!

Caden was a trooper for our trip to Cincinnati to find housing, and I can only hope that he continues to be his happy, easy-going self as we pack up and move. Besides the fact that I am hitting the 3rd trimester now and starting to feel uncomfortable, I'm doing just fine. In fact, I have high hopes that this baby will not be a 9 pounder like his brother. I'm just not as big as I was with Caden (I've only gained 6 lbs so far at 28 weeks) so as long as things continue like this, I'm dreaming of high 7's.

The last week of June we will leave what we now consider home in Indiana and head south to Cincinnati. I am the most sad about leaving our ward here. I get to be around so many awesome women and have so many opportunities for fun/socialization/playdates. I will miss my morning aerobics and playgroups and storytime and impromptu playdates! I know we will soon find great opportunities and people in Cincinnati, but it won't be quite the same. I feel as if I'm having to grow up a little bit more and not rely on my friends so much. Sigh. It had to happen one day. At least now Jess should be home in the evenings and on weekends and I won't be working weekends anymore so we will get significantly more family time than we have over the past year or so. Maybe if I ever remember to pull the camera out anymore then I will post some pictures of Caden! Just know that he is as cute as ever as he gets older and becomes much more of a toddler!

Yes, we are still here

...but not for long! We're moving next month and life has been plenty full. However, I did get put on call for work, so here's a quick post with some updated pictures. Caden is 18 months now (whoo hoo for Nursery!) and so much fun. His most recent accomplishment is learning how to do a somersault by himself, which he loves to demonstrate for us whenever we ask.

Earlier this month Caden and I got to go visit family in Utah while we left Jess home to work on his thesis. We had a blast with family but happily returned home to Daddy after two weeks. Caden's talking continues to get more and more understandable and Baby Boy #2 is growing right along with his older brother. No name in sight, so any reasonable suggestions will be considered.
I hope to repent from my blogging hiatus, but no promises! Jess will be defending the middle of next month, then it's packing time and moving to Cincinnati.

Videos for Uncle Robby

Because my brother Robby asked for these, here are some videos we took a month or so ago of Caden. Sorry we don't have anything more recent. I'll try to get some of him talking, but he stops whatever he's doing when he sees the camera. I'm pretty sure he starts drooling anytime he sees technology!

Since last we posted...

Well, since the last time I posted anything was almost 3 months ago, plenty has happened. Caden runs, walks up and down stairs, is starting to talk and is learning how to climb (I'm not so thrilled with the last accomplishment!). Caden says "please", "ball", "up", "down", "hi", "help", "yes" and of course "no" and has signs for many other words. My current favorite is his sign for "stinky". If we say the word or if something smells, he smiles and waves his hand in front of his nose.

Caden LOVES the snow, so all of the winter storms that we have been getting are heaven for him. Walking to and from the car are his favorite part of the day. Every day we can tell that he understands more and more of what we say, and he gets better at following simple commands.

Here are just a couple of pictures from the last couple months. We've been pretty bad about taking pictures, so we didn't have many to choose from.

Here is Caden in front of the Christmas tree in Washington at Grandpa and Grandma Rose's house. We spent a week and a half there for Christmas during Jess's school break. Although he still wasn't really into Christmas this year, at least he was more involved than last year (at 5 weeks old)!

Caden loves to ride on Daddy's shoulders. Gouging out his eyes is just an added bonus!

Caden on Grandma's balcony, loving the snow!

At the Historic Carousel in downtown Spokane

After Spokane, we flew to Utah to hang with Grandpa and Grandma Watts for just over a week. Here we are on a snow night at Temple Square.
This is the first and only time Caden has fallen asleep in his highchair. One moment he was chewing peas, and the next he was slumped over like so.
To more recent photos, here's Caden getting a horsey ride from Daddy.
Caden loves to climb on his little car and push himself around the room. Yay for self-propulsion!
Caden trying on Daddy's beanie.
Our sweet little guy is the perfect mix of cuddles and playfulness. We love when he comes over to "tickle" us, or how he blows his nose on a kleenex then wants us to do the same.

In other news, Jess accepted a job!!

Starting July 5th, Jess will start an Educational Leadership Program with Siemens. For those that don't know (I didn't) Siemens is a global company in all 50 states that was founded and is based out of Germany. This program is a 2-year rotational program that will take us to 3 different locations for 8 months each. At the end of the 2 years, it will be a normal position with the company. The rotational part is to expose him to different areas of the company and put him in a fast track to management. We don't know where we'll be during those rotations, but we do know for sure that one of them will be international! We're excited and nervous (mostly me) for the opportunities ahead of us. Our dreams of "settling down" in one spot are being put on hold again, but so many adventures have now opened up to us. Besides, by the end of all these moves we are going to be pro packers/movers!

Caden turns 1

Our baby is not so much a baby any more! He's walking all over the place and getting into anything he can reach. He is such a busy little boy and so much fun right now! At his 1-year check-up, he was 23lbs 4oz and 30 1/4 inches long- both 75%. He's had 3 haircuts and may need another trim soon. He is down to one nap a day, which I actually prefer as long as he gets a good nap. He loves to toddle over to us and give us a big hug, then he's off to play more, so we're trying to enjoy the cuddles as they come. We love our sweet little boy!

The bear cupcakes I made for the little shindig we had for him. We just had some friends come over to visit and eat dessert. Cupcakes for the kiddos and those that wanted them and oreo cake for the other adults.

I think he was unsure of why I was so focused on him eating. Since we usually only do that when it's something he doesn't like, he probably thought something was up.

Look at the pure joy in that face!

Our Walkin' Baby

Saturday morning I was sleeping soundly after working a night shift, only to be woken up by the sound of laughter from my boys. Shortly thereafter, Jess comes bursting in the room. "Watch this!" he exclaims as he sets Caden down.

Caden figured out that he could walk without Mom or Dad's help! He skipped taking one or two solo steps, and went straight across the room. So, for those that can't see it in person, here's a video we took tonight of him walking.