Christmastime

Last Thursday morning we decorated for Christmas as the first snow we saw this year gently fell and Christmas music filled the house! Kaiden went out to get the decorations from under the house with Daddy, and wasn't a big fan of the snow. After a few of our Christmas ornaments came to a fateful end in the hand of Kaid, it was decided that he will be allowed to play only with his own Chrstmas tree. He also has his own nativity set that he loves playing with! I love this time of the year!

Munchkin Masquerade

For Halloween we headed down to Pearl street for the Munchkin Masquerade with the Cheek family. It was a gorgeous 70 degree day!


Kaiden lovin' the makeup

Mama and Eeyore

The cutest, most sad little Eeyore around

Princess Jocelyn kindly shared her chariot with Kaiden, only to have her candy stolen, piece by precious piece.

Kris and Kristyn the cow

Very serious Knight Taylor

Autumn '08

Banana Bread

Kaiden and I made banana bread together this morning. We pulled the step stool up to the counter and Kaid stood up on it, helping me with every step. The mess was everything I dreaded it would be...quite possibly more, but it was TONS of fun and worth all fifteen minutes of clean-up.

Parting is such sweet sorrow

Our gorgeous 3 year old neighbor girl (Ila) loves Kaiden with an incredible ardor. Ila is the queen of drama and nothing brings that out like saying goodbye to Kaiden. It always involves many tears, extended hugs, kisses galore, and uncontained sobs of "Kaiden, Kaiden, Kaiden" while her mom, often quite literally, drags her away to her house right across the street. In fact, Ila's mom told me that she has found her, more than once, at the window staring over to our house and quietly crying "Kaiden, Kaiden, Kaiden". (By the way, you absolutely must click on the second photo in order to really see Ila's distress)

An evening in the life of a Dean

Yesterday evening I was thrilled to find this little fence along the side of the road (a very common thing around here,--if you don't want something anymore put it out on the sidewalk for someone who might.) I have been wanting something like this because fences aren't allowed in our neighborhood and anytime Kaiden is outside I have to be right by his side. I put it up and secured Kaiden inside with a couple dishes of water and some toys to keep him entertained while I went in to make dinner.But after a couple minutes things got too quiet so I went to see what was up, and too-smart-for-his-own-good Kaiden had figured out how to escape.

Much to his dismay, I rigged up a little system to prevent future break-outs and again went in to make dinner.
This time little Mr. Smarty Pants (within about 5 minutes) figured out how to unhinge the fence and escape again.
But then Kaidens friends from across the street came over to play with him and keep him inside.
And he put on a entertaining splashing water show for everyone in response to the laughter it earned him.

Wedded Bliss

I had the privilege of shooting my brothers wedding in North Platte this past May. The wind was very intense the day of, and despite hours of mowing and preparations for the ceremony to be held in a pasture with tall grass and a gorgeous view, a couple hours 'till show time it had to be moved to a coral where there was at least somewhat of a wind-block. It was still a beautiful wedding. I was so thrilled that they asked me to be their photographer and was hoping to keep it going from here, with plans to start a business. However I underestimated the hours of work it would take me to edit all the images (primarily from lack of experience, I'm sure) and I have decided that for Kaiden's sake it's not something I should pursue right now. I'm still hoping to start a business, and if someone asks me to shoot their wedding then hey, I probably would be thrilled to do it, but I'm going to focus on outdoor portraiture for now instead I'm also looking forward to doing food photography for a gluten-free magazine my friend Julie is starting! Here is a short peak at the day.

Date Night

Last weekend the wonderful husbands of us Emmaus Road girls took us out on the town for a group date. We had dinner together then divided up into groups to play their own version of the Amazing Race on Pearl Street. After that Bran took me out for a delicious dessert and home to watch a DVD that he and the rest of the guys had each made for their wives with a special message conveying their love. It was a wonderful evening. Thanks guys!

Birthday Boy

Kaiden turned one on July 1st! We celebrated on the 5th with a bbq at a park near our house. The weather was pretty sad (very windy and rainy) but it still turned out to be an evening of fun. Kaiden had a blast as he was quite aware that he was the center of attention the whole night...a place he really enjoys being! Mama made star-shaped cupcakes for all the guests and Kaiden got a double stacked cupcake covered (and I mean covered) in frosting. Other than what he got on himself and on Dad, who was brave enough to hold him during the cake feast, he joyously finished it up and was on quite a sugar high for the rest of the night. We love you, Kaiden Brandon.

Mmmm...birthday cake!
The older kids had a water balloon toss and fight, and even though Kaiden didn't join in on that he had a whole lot of fun with the water balloons.

Grandpa, Grandma, and Gigi (great grandma) came and stayed with us for a few days so they could be at Kaiden's party. He had a blast with them.

Pinata time! Notice the change of clothes...Kaiden broke too many water balloons on himself so he had to have a change of clothes...new birthday ones straight from the package. After dad helped him hit the pinata a few times Kaiden pulled the stick away and started swinging at it himself.

What a big boy!

A boy and his Oats

The keyword being his. Kaiden has decided that he should be able to feed himself his breakfast. He gets so excited when I hand him the spoon, then does everything in his power (and arm reach) to keep the spoon from getting back into my hand. If handing him the spoon with food already in it is exciting, handing him the bowl to dip the spoon in himself actually gets a squeal of sheer delight! Yes, baths have become more frequent in the Dean household...not to mention floor sweeping and mopping.