Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all of those beautiful and wonderful Moms that I know! Since it is Mother's Day, I figured I would take this opportunity to share with everyone why I love being a mom!

1. Moments like these, where Jaden is just as goofy as I am...and actually enjoys it!

2. Moments when he gets an owie and suddenly my kisses are magic and makes all of the pain go away.

3. Moments I am frustrated, and he says "sowy" (after I tell him to, of course)...we are learning manners :).

4. Moments when he sees a "bebe" that is younger than him and goes over to give them a toy that he was currently playing with...practicing his sharing.

5. Moments when he is a HUGE cuddle bug.

6. Yes, even moments when he throws his little tantrums...it makes me more appreciative of when he is being good :)

7. Moments when he makes a confused face, raises his hands palms up, and says "Huh?"

8. Moments when he is so tired and his hand goes straight up to his head to start playing with his hair as he lays his head down on my shoulder.

9. Moments when I say "I love you" and he looks up with his brown eyes and says, "too", in his deeper than deep baby voice.

10. Moments when I look at him and really realize that he is mine and families are forever.

I absolutely love being a mom. There are definitely difficult moments, but the moments that are special and amazing far surpass those that can be frustrating and patient-trying. Jaden is the greatest blessing that I could have ever hoped for. He has kept me strong. He is definitely something special, and I am so grateful that I have the opportunity to be a mother, especially to this very-active-always-getting-into-everything-sweet-as-can-be-baby-boy, Jaden. I love you Bubba!

(Jaden in his new favorite shirt, with Fido on it)

Pool Time with Papa

Jumping into the pool

Fly up to the "Syke!" Jaden can't quite get the word "sky" down. He tries so hard, but each time it comes out "syke!" I laugh every time.

Singapore Zoo Time!

My little tourist baby, ready to go off to the Zoo!

"Splishin' and a-Splashin" At the end of our Zoo adventure (I know this post is backwards :), we stopped by the KidZone that they have there. There is a petting zoo, pony rides, and a pretty big water park! Jaden had a ball! The slides are always his favorite when we go to parks, but this slide was his extra-favorite because it had water! His first encounter with a water slide, and he had zero fear. He literally spent about 25 minutes sliding down, running to the stairs, climbing back up, and back down again. I loved seeing him having so much fun!

"G-day Mate!" Here Jaden is in an Australian Outback Jeep! We went and saw the Kangaroos, but they weren't very fun. They just slept under the trees as we walked by. At least Jaden got to see them! Maybe one day I'll be able to take him to the REAL Australian Outback....maybe :). (Shirt is off because it got extremely hot towards noon)

Riding a pony! He loves horses. His new favorite movie is...The Man from Snowy River because of the horses. He is a Cowboy at heart. Who could blame him, spending most of his life in Colorado up in the mountains! :)

Giving the Gorilla kisses. I love the profile of his lips in this one!

Riding a cow! His face is pure joy.

As we were walking through this exhibit, this particular tortoise slooowwlly made his way over to the walkway where we were. He was literally centimeters from us. There was nothing stopping him from coming all the way out, besides those wooden stakes. I chatted with him for a while, and then I told Mom I wanted to pet him. Oh come on...there was NObody around... I was feeling sneaky, and so I touched his shell and rubbed his front leg. He didn't mind at all. I think he needed a little bit of attention. :)

Riding the Giant Tortoise! He will try to ride anything he possibly can!

We got the chance to ride the Elephant that my sisters and their families rode when they went to the zoo. It was a lot of fun, actually. Jaden really liked it and expressed his joy by saying "weee!" as it walked around the trail. He was just SO cute this whole day!

"Zebas!"...as Jaden would say :). He was happy to wear his "Singapore Zoo" shirt that had a 3-D stuffed Zebra on the front.

Jaden was super excited to see the giraffes! He was thrilled. When the coast was clear, Mom and I let him run across the street over to them. He was telling us all about them as he walked and pointed on the other side of the street.

A White Asian Tiger. This cat was walking back and forth on that little ridge the entire time we were watching him. There were others observing, and I kind of think he was agitated. Luckily there was a river in between us!

These monkeys were totally crazy! They quieted down after a while. I should have gotten out the camera earlier so I could capture the sounds they were making, absolutely unreal! We could hear them on the other side of the park! Anyway, here is one in action...swinging, like monkeys do! I love it when Jaden says, "whoa". He was so mesmerized the entire day. The closest thing we've gotten to seeing cool, semi-wild animals is on the Animal Planet or Nat Geo Wild (which happens to be his TV stations of choice instead of cartoons). He loves his animals!

Yee-Haw! I love how he is having a conversation with the guy as he is riding around. He was just chatting away. I sure don't have a shy one! :)

Jurong Bird Park

So, I am definitely NOT a bird person. However, Singapore has a beautiful Bird Park here (I heard about it from somebody that was doing my nails). I looked it up online, and it looked pretty fun and something that Jaden would really enjoy. So, when my parents were gone last week to Hawaii, Jaden and I took a trip out there; we both really enjoyed ourselves, apart from getting eaten alive by masquitoes :).

My absolute favorite bird (if I had to choose one): The American Bald Eagle.

The penguin exhibit was small, but really neat. Most of them were sleeping, but a few were swimming around in the water. I got Jaden a little stuffed animal penguin that he sleeps with, along with his puppies, every night. I had a coupon for the gift shop, so I figured "why not?". :D
Here are some really gorgeous and colorful birds that would be flying around the park. Here they gathered for a little socialization and eating. Jaden thought this was really cool because of how close they all were!
Posing with statues in front of the African Exhibit.

Sitting on a mossy rock that he said was "Ew". I had to quickly snap the picture before he moved or fell in the stream!

There was a gorgeous "African Waterfall" in the African Exhibit in the Park. Jaden loves waterfalls and fountains, so I had to make sure to hike to the furthest part of the Park and let him see it. He was very excited!
These were some really neat looking, bright, green birds that Jaden had a conversation with for about 2 minutes when we walked up to them. You can see them hanging on the fence in the background....kind of..
This was a really cool, exotic Hawk that was on display. It looked beautiful, but when you would look at his face, he appeared to be totally jaded and hating life. But he cooperated for the pictures, just fine, with the occassional screeching yell.
My poor attempt at getting a picture of BOTH of us at the Bird Park. It is hard to hold a squirmy soon-to-be 2 year old, a camera, and a smile while trying to press the take-the-picture button...But you take what you can get, right? :)
These were some storks. Jaden was amazed at how HUGE they were. So was I. I had no idea! I figured I would take a picture since Jaden has little, what the doctors call, "stork bites" on the back of his head. It is just a birthmark, but I thought that this would be a very appropriate picture to take because of that :).

"Hillbilly bone b-bone b-bone bone!"

So...Jaden loves to dance. Here is a little clip of when we put the Country song "Hillbilly Bone" on. It is only of the very beginning of the song, but I loved his little "peace out" action when he was done dancing and then walked away.

He LOVES this song. When they sing the chorus he yells "Bone!" at the top of his lungs. This is our driving-into-town song, so he has it pretty much down--well, the chorus part at least.

Anyway, here is my baby with rhythm! :)

Water Baby!

Jaden used to love the water, but then he stopped about a week ago. I don't know if he had a bad dream about it, or what? But, when his Papa took over in the pool, he started to love it again! He wanted to ride the horse (his new favorite thing), which was Papa, and have it gallop and swim in the water. He also loved to jump in from the side, and I mean JUMP! He gets both feet off of the ground and everything! I'll have to post a video of that when I get the chance to take one. Apparently, the pool is more fun when a little guy time is involved! :)

He LOVES to play and drink from the hose. He would be completely content if that were the only toy he ever had.

I absolutely love the mischievous face he makes at the camera. He thinks he is sneaking away!

Singapore 2!

Just a picture that I LOVE: Mama, Jaden, and Papa :)
Jaden and I went to the Botanical Gardens with my sister, Kimberli, and her family. It was really hot, but a lot of fun and beautiful!

Jaden with his cousins, Natali and Kyli. He points to this picture on the fridge and says "Kyee" and "Nani". I think he misses them :).

Singapore!

It was so fun going to High Tea with my mom and sisters. Always fun to have an excuse to dress up with the girls!

We went to Underwater World one day with my sisters and their families. This was a lot of fun! Jaden loved seeing the "fiss"--a new word he recently learned!

Chuck E. Cheese!!

It was a lot of fun to go to C.E.C. with Jaden. I wasn't able to get him to sit still for a regular picture with a regular camera, so we did this sketch thing instead (3 times). He didn't want to hold still for this one either (notice how he is trying to wiggle his way out of my arms and sliding down.) But we finally got one that worked :).
Jaden kept trying to climb into Chuck E. Cheese's lap. He would back up and whip his leg around and bounce on his knee. SO fun to watch.
He loves his Barney! He got so excited when he saw this little ride, because we have a few Barney videos that he likes to watch and dance to. He kept going back to this ride.
It was a really fun day for him. We ended up spending about 2 1/2 hours there, a perfect way to spend the afternoon: games, rides, and pizza :).

Dancin' Baby

*Side note: In the middle of his dance, he realizes that he has a little piece of packaging styrofoam on his finger that is sticking to it from the static. He tries to throw it off once, and it is still stuck. But apparently the second time was a success, because he goes off back to dancing. :)

Down the Slide!

Jaden loves slides. He'll climb up to it, put his feet forward, and go down all by himself! I thought I would share.

Play-Date at the Park...

This day was a lot of fun last week! We had a play-date with a girl that works in the Primary with me and her two little girls. She is absolutely hilarious and so much fun. I swear Jaden thinks that her two little ones, Ellee and Emelyn, are his best friends. :)

One Last Ride....(for a while)

Here, what I think, is the cutest of Jaden and his Papa. This was the last day that Mom and Dad were going to be here, so Papa decided to take Jaden out for one last ride and fun day out before he left. It definitely is not as much fun without Grandma and Papa here. I can't wait to see his face when he sees them in Singapore in a few months!

A Lot of Catchin' Up to Do--

Papa's number one fan and permanent shadow.
Jaden's second Christmas-- This year was so much fun. He actually had a "surprised look" on his face when he saw all of his toys. I loved it, and THAT alone made this year's Christmas perfect.
Christmas cookies that Mom and I made. We still have a ton left over; I guess I know what I'll be doing the next few weeks...giving them away of course :)
Riding his new little quad, new backpack on, and keys in hand. Do you think he's ready to go?
Enjoying my baby boy on Christmas day. He is definitely the greatest gift of all.
Always wanting to be just like Papa; I kid you not :)

Happy New Year's to you and your family! We love you!