Maceys had these track sets that come with a set of customizable track, 2 cars that drive by themselves and a few other things.  Each box is only $12 so I ended up getting quite a few of them so I can make a bigger track.  This started out as one of Kadens Christmas presents but I got too anxious to play with it so I opened it and me and Morgan put together a huge track that went everywhere.

It was better than previous trips in some ways and worse in others. I got no sleep the night before the flight since I stayed up to see the midnight showing of New Moon with Jared's mom and sisters (This happened last year also when Twilight came out, I dont know why they time my trips like this). I don't think I actually fell asleep till 3:30 or 4, then kept waking up and had to get up at 5:30. So, very tired.

When I went to wake up Kaden I was overwhelmed with the horrible smell I know to be throwup. He had it all over himself, his blanket, bed, and even the floor. So I just ended up giving him a quick bath out of the bathrom sink and got him dressed and we left, I didn't have time to clean it up. I wanted to bring his blanket to keep him calm and relaxed on the plane, but being covered in throwup I just couldn't, so we brought his teddy instead.

When we got to the airport I tried feeding him breakfast, but he wouldn't eat anything I offered so he just had some milk. When we got on the plane he was very good and just sat in his seat and looked out the window, then the last 30 min of the flight he got restless and wanted to run around and was fussing from being hungry but wouldn't eat any snacks I brought, and he started coughing a lot and then threw up on his seat. I wasn't sure what to do so I just cleaned it up with some napkins I had. Then he layed down with his head on my lap and was good the rest of the time.

When we got to Shriners they checked eveyone at the door to make sure they were feeling ok, I told them about Kaden's throwing up this morning and on the plane so they took him to a separate room and checked him, which he seemed fine, no fever. But they said we would have to be placed in a separate room just in case. I guess that was a good thing though, they seemed to just rush our appointment so we didn't have to wait around. I wanted to get some food for Kaden from the cafeteria but they closed it down. So I just got him some fruit from the vending machines and he ate that.

The appointment just went along as usual, his dr said we still need to keep working on his scar to get it smoothed out. I asked her how long we have to do that before they consider a touch up surgery, She said if it doesn't smooth out by the time he goes to kindergarten then they will do another surgery. So I guess we will keep working on it and hopefully it will go down by then. And she wants us to come back in another 6 months. . . y a y. As much as I enjoy traveling, this is getting a bit old. it's not being fun anymore.

We were back at the airport before our actual appt was scheduled so we now had a lot of time to waist. Kaden wanted to run around the whole time so we mostly just walked and we got some food at Panda Express. I wanted to get him a toy or book for the plane ride, but everything I looked at was soo overpriced. There was a cute matchbox type school bus Kaden wanted but it was $8. Sheesh. Then about 45 min before our flight we sat down to eat a snack and Kaden threw up again all over his shirt. So I took him to the bathroom and cleaned him up and stuck his shirt in a ziplock bag I had and he just wore his sweater. He didn't want to run around anymore after that.

Then on the plane he just sat and looked around again, he must have been tired, he hadn't napped all day. He layed his head on my lap and I turned on my DS and let him push buttons on a game, then he just gradually stopped and fell asleep. It was cute. So in a way it was better since he was so good on the plane and he hardly fussed, but it was worse from all his throwing up. My lesson learned from this trip - bring an extra set of clothes and more ziplock bags and napkins just in case.

I saw some pictures online of homemade quiet books and that really made me want to start one of my own for Kaden and Kairi. I've seen some really simple ones that you can buy, but they weren't that cute. So I've started gathering supplies and ideas for the pages I want to put together, I'll be making one for Kaden with more boy themed pages and one for Kairi with girl themed pages.

It would have been nice to them done for our trip to portland tomorrow, but I did finish two pages, which will hopefully keep Kaden somewhat entertained on the plane. This one has barn animal finger puppets. Made mostly from felt and scraps of fabric and some ribbon. The tractor is cut out from some patterned flannel and then ironed on with Heat n Bond.

The second one I did has a car and a truck with 3 sets of wheels you can button on each. So you can switch them out and the third set of wheels can be stored in the bed of the truck.

This has been so fun to put together, Im hoping to have Kaden's done by Christmas.

I thought this was a cute way to customize buttons for crafting. I got this kit at Joann's and just used some scraps of fabric. These ones are 3/4 inch, they come in a bigger size too.

I used the lid from a baby food jar as a template to cut my cirlce of fabric.

I then covered the top of the button and stuck it in the white plastic piece and trimed off some of the extra fabic so there wasn't too much.

Then place the bottom of the button on top and  push down with the blue plastic piece and it's done.

So simple and so cute, Im using it for the center of this crocheted flower I made and you can use it for scrapbooking or make a hair clip with it, I love it.

Ok, not really, but she's getting close. She started scooting or "army crawling" on Friday. She is constantly getting frustrated over toys that are too far out of reach (which has frustrated me as well) and I guess she's just had enough, I witnessed her first little "scoot" and it was amazing (as it always is when your little one starts learning to do something new). She hasn't mastered her new skill yet, but it doesn't look like it will take her very long, she is doing it a lot - but only for short distances.  And Kaden is feeling much better now that his infection is going away. Things are going back to normal. yay.

Also, our fish are gone. I didn't think it was fair to them to keep them living in the conditions they were, plus i was running out of food. So that's all Im saying. The tank is in storage for now, and if we ever feel like keeping up with fish responsibilites again we can just set it all up. But I don't know how soon that will be, I think i'll just enjoy caring for one animal for a while.

Kaden didn't get his first ear infection till he was 1. Which is really good considering children born with clefts are more prone to get them. It's proving to be true recently. He has had two almost back to back in different ears and Kairi also has had one in the same time frame, it's been stressing me out having two very irritable children for the last month. I should say more than a month, since Kaden's infections have no symptoms until I start seeing the drainage. So when he starts being fussy I just assume he's tired or hungry or is teething. I had taken a picture of Kaden's most recent infection, but decided not to post it, it just looked too yucky to me. I really hope it's a long time before anyone gets another.

This Halloween was Kaden's first time trick-or-treating. I was only planning to take him to a few houses, but he enjoyed it so much we ended up going all around the next neighborhood. He wasn't so sure about going to other peoples' houses and knocking on their doors, but when he realized he was getting candy at each house he started getting excited. I showed him how to knock on the door and he would imitate that until the door was answered, he would even get upset if someone took too long or didn't answer.

I was worried he might get a little grabby and take as much candy as he could fit in his hand, but he just took one peice at each house, and surprisingly he knew how to pick the good stuff too, skipping over the little hard candies and taking the candybars instead. Of corse, he couldn't eat most of it anyway, and wouldn't eat it even if I offered, so he only got a few things in the end, but that doesn't matter at this age anyway, it was just fun taking him out.

It was also cute how he was scared of the jack-o-lanterns. When I brought pumpkins home a few days earlier he didn't mind them, but as soon as I started cutting it open he got scared of it. I show him the inside and he almost started crying. And when he saw them light up at night I guess that just made them even more spooky. Whenever we came to a house with jack-o-lanterns he would want me to pick him up to take him to the door.

There was one house that really scared him though. Someone who had disguised themselves as a halloween prop with a bowl of candy sitting next to them and they had a spooky jack-o-lantern over their head. So when you went to grab a peice of candy they would try grabbing your arm or jump at you. They didn't try anything on us, but Kaden could tell something wasn't right and wouldn't touch the bowl of candy so i just took a piece for him.

Kaden had a lot of fun, I can't wait till next Halloween when Kairi can be more involved.