Kids Shmids

I love my babies. I have the cutest niece and nephew in the entire world...I honestly dont know what I'm gonna do when Meg has more or any of my other siblings because i love telling cassady and connor they're my favorites, my favorite niece and nephew. They are two of the reasons i love being home the most. I love spending time with them, they both have such strong personalitys. Seeing them in Florida was so much fun! Connor just turned three in june and Cassady turned 1 in May.

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Cassady is a girl after my own heart, in a way i feel like shes a lot like me although my sisters and i have a lot of strong similiar traits. She is my little doll, i love to dress her up and i love when she wears her little headbands.If shes not wearing one i will interrogate Megs as to why not and say she should wear one at all times. When my mom and i found out meg was having a girl we ran right out that day and bought tons of little baby girl dresses. I also made her tons and tons of headbands with ribbon and buttons, before she was even born. I am such a sucker for little baby girl things. I just hope she gets some hair soon, so i can buy her some clips and things. She loves her shoes, when i got there cassady would come in and put all my shoes on. It doesnt matter whose shoes they are, she'll wear them. Its so funny watching her scoot around with one shoe on. That little girl cracks me up. Shes such a little mimic too. When i shake my head from side to side she will too. She scoots around like a monkey, using one hand to push herself, ive never seen anything like it. When you ask her if shes a pretty girl she'll shake her head yes. She has the biggest grin and she has everyone wrapped around her finger. She points to where she wants to go, and she hates being told no. She kinda reminds me of renessmee, we even called her that for a bit. She also rolls her eyes, SEE it runs in the family! My mom even taught her sign language, she knows how to say no and more. She even tells me no in sign language sometimes and its so funny. I love that little girl so much. I love that she knows who i am and meg will say wheres KK and shell look right at me and when she puts her arms out for me to pick her up. I hope she still remembers me when i see her next at Christmas time.

Then theres CJ. He is so funny! He loves taking pictures with me, but only when he wants to, not when i want to. We had a few photo shoots. CJ makes me laugh simply by the faces that kid makes. He has this new thing where he tries to fake cry and it is the most unrealistic thing i have ever seen in my life. The funny thing is i am almost positive he got it from me. I always fake cry for everything with him, like when hes mean to me or wont share and now he tries to do it. I really want to get a video of it. I'll say show me your fake cry and he would do it. He is always asking questions and hes such a smart little guy. I always say that kid has the best knowledge of everything because all of us talk to him about different things. He can spot a camaro from his car seat. I told him one car was a corvette and he said "no caitin (thats how it sounds, so cute!) its a mustang." The boy knows his cars. I love his little voice, it makes anything he says cuter. Nay and i sometimes use that to our advantage by making him ask for certain things. One day in Fl, i was helping him get dressed and he just looked up at me and told me he loved me. It melted my heart. Connor was always wanting to play cards with us and be around us. I even watched Rio twice with him, a movie i said i was never seeing but because he wanted me to watched it with him. The things i do for you Ceej. Right now i feel as though shannon is his favorite and it makes me sad but its only because i cant see him as often as she does. I do save all the voicemails he leaves me, they are so precious. Everytime i leave CJ he cries, so i know at three, he understands. I miss my babies.

Today meg and i were on the phone and she called right back and said that connor said "mom i love her, she my best friend" Thats his new thing, saying people are his best friends. She also told me that the other day they were in a store and they said my name over the intercom and connor thought it was me and got so excited! and then they had to tell him that it wasnt aunt caitlin and he was sad. I love that he misses me. I'm so grateful to be so close to my family and get to see them all the time. I love watching these two angels grow up. I have always liked kids, but i always say that i dont want any. I'm sure this will change but for right now i love living vicariously through Meg when i can.

[Fall]ing in love

Fall Fall Fall is here.

Well next Monday, for me, Fall will be here.

Going back to school means the end of summer.

I love fall, it has always been my favorite and i mean, whats not to like?

Most people are dreading it, but its here and you might as well embrace it. For all you sad sallys fretting over the fact that your tans will slowly but surely start to fade (hey i'm one of those!) and your days will no longer be spent lounging by the pool but rather working or doing homework i have some good news for you. There are lots of benefits to Fall and lots of things that i love love love about fall and after i remind you, maybe you'll start to accept Fall with open arms, i know that i have.

Pumpkin erything.

Fall means baking & really good treats. But not just your everyday baking, in my case it usually involves pumpkin. Pumpkin cookies, pumpkin bread, pumpkin pie & maybe even some yummy pumpkin cupcakes this year! You name it, i'll probably llike it. As much as i love cupcakes i want to either find or create a really good pumpkin spice cupcake. Last fall my roomie Annalisa made pumpkin cookies every other day and i reaped the benefits but this year i want to start baking everything on my own, i am so excited. Back home in MD we even had these yummy pumpkin jack o lantern soft cookie things and they were amazing! My mom sent me a whole box last year in my fall package and those bad boys were gone in two days flat. So if youre reading this mom, you can bring some out when you visit me in October if you'd like! please & thank you

The fall fashion baby.

^how cute is this outfit

Tights, cardigans, hats, scarves, leggings

Fall makes me wanna wear mustard, dark purples, maroons & different materials and patterns.

Twill, tweed, curdorouy, plaid

oh the possibilites we have here, i am so excited

hot chocolate & hoodies.

After Fall last year i was hooked on hot chocolate, thanks to larissa. It became common for me to curl up with a hoodie or a blanket, my cup of cocoa-with its abundant supply of marshmellows

Leaves.

I love colorful leaves.

Holidays.

I love Halloween & Thanksgiving 

Boots

they get a whole category all to themselves, thats how great they are

Olive Gardens seasonal pumpkin cheesecake

Crisp air, football sundays, hayrides, haunted houses and walk throughs, pumpkin carving, pumpkin patches, corn maizes, the smells- i love it

if this post doesnt get you excited, i dont know what will...

Lets bond over...

JERSEY SHORE?!

True story. Guilty pleasure #87

What can i say, i let myself indulge...a lot.

There are a few things that bring a family together. I guess in most families, its things that are a little more common, such as sports. Well my family for sure loves their sports, but we get a little too intense whether it be watching or playing so we like to keep it simple. Jersey Shore.

Well, more like just my siblings...

Every Thursday night we would gather around the television and do a little fist pumping in preparation for some Jersey Shore. Ok just kidding, we arent THAT weird. I seriously love that show, it is hilarious! Never a dull moment with those people, thats for sure.

I feel like we laugh through the whole show, which isnt really saying much for me because i laugh at everything but its definitely a bonding experience. For days and sadly even weeks after we quote our favorite parts. Whenever theres a minute of silence, someone would yell out "Taxi son aqui, son aqui" or in seans case, even when people were in mid conversation...We all would just burst out laughing. It was always a topic of conversation. Mom was feeling left out from all our inside joke Jersey Shore talk, she even watched it the next week, in her room of course. Yeah mom, i caught you, i knew-you dont have to be embarrassed. Haha just kidding mom.

We also liked to bond over other spiritually enriching shows such as Teen Mom...

Well i guess we really like our reality shows? Because we enjoy Real Housewives too. Well not the boys but thats okay. We love watching movies. I am always one to want to stay in and watch a good movie. Cards are another good one. We played cards almost every night on vacation. We usually do them on vacations or around the holidays. They're a particular favorite. Rummy, SkipBo and Uno were some favorites this time around. Oh and in coming home i introduced the family to apples to apples and they loved it.Well Rummy is for sure mine and megs favorite always but Shannon hates it. Theres always lots of laughing in our bonding time, some bickering but mainly laughing. Even in Utah, where i have to watch jersey shore by myself, the JS bonding is still a part of us. Today i told shannon i was at the gym and she was like GTL?

yeahhh girl, you know how i do. Miss our family bonding time

what can i say, i love me some vinny

Snape Snape Severus Snape

Harry Potter World.

coolest place everrrr, even the second time around

When you walk through it, you will honestly feel as though you stepped into the pages of one of J.K Rowlings masterpieces. It's so amazing. We ate food at the resteraunt in HP world, we drank butterbeer, shannon spent a ridiculous amount on a Harry Potter wardrobe, etc. I absolutely loved the ride in the castle because you feel as though youre playing quidditch.

Everyone loved it and we luckily had really good weather, besides the typical little Florida rainstorm.

As we got in the spirit of Harry Potter world, we bought these HP uno cards and i loved them. We played it all the time. Shannon and i even tried working with connor on who all the characters were and he loved it. He cried the whole day until he got his wand.

HAHAHA and in memory of it all, here ya go. Most people wont find this funny besides shannon. Everytime someone would put down a snape card i would sing snape snape severus snape and shannon would laugh and say i knew you were going to do that. But hey why just limit it to when were playing Uno? So i would randomly just sing it whenever i pleased.

what would jimmy buffett do?

I love being on vacation.

Last week I was in Florida with my family & my grandparents.

Quick background: Florida is like my second home, my family has came down every August since I was born to stay with my dads parents. My aunt and cousins also live down the street.

Anyway this carefree vacation mood didnt really click in until recently and I've been in Florida like two weeks...hahah sad huh. But I have had a lot to worry about. So before i even left I had to squeeze in a temple recommend interview which i'll be honest is my fault because i have had that thing scheduled for weeks and for some reason or another had to cancel the interview or missed it. However i finally fit it in before i left and i am so happy! It's about time right. I am so excited to go to the temple with my room mates. A couple days into Florida, i got an email from the residency person at UVU telling me the dates didnt match up on my work letters. Well i did just get a new boss at work and thats why. I was so stressed thinking i wasnt going to get residency so i had to email them back trying to fix it. But 3 days later i got an email saying i was granted residency :)) I have been working on this for a long time, so to have it all be done with is so nice. And finally i guess good news comes in threes because i just found out the bus passes are $40 for a year! woohoo. Now last year i got one for $20 a year, however everyone has said that bus passes were gonna be about $80 a MONTH. Now what college student has money for that? I think UTA bus systems finally came to that same conclusion because I just found out they are only 40 so i am so relieved. Big mistake telling mom and dad because then my dad goes oh now you dont need a car! crap...how do i retract that comment..."oh just kidding dad, its only for BYU students...rats. Poor neglected UVU kids..." ;)

However after having this school stuff outta the way i am feeling great. Not much to stress about because now i can pay for school by myself! And a car isnt my biggest priority now but my parents are coming to visit me in September and they said they would help me look when they come out. I am so excited for my parents to finally see my apartment and where i work. So anyway the first week, we stayed in ocala where the weather was over 100 degrees a day and my grandparents have this amazing pool. My favorite thing is this old fashioned radio that never ever leaves the country station. I dont think it has in years actually. And you just lay out and it plays the best music. Down south has the absolute best country stations, i'm kinda jealous. Down south has the best food too. My favorite is this BBQ place called Sonnys. Megs and i love it! We also go to breakast at Richards, where my grandparents eat every single morning. Although i love eating, i also love sleeping in.

FOOD or SLEEPING IN

hmmmm.

I think the worry of getting fat from eating that food every morning makes my decision a little bit easier. We then went to Orlando and stayed in the Marriott Grande Vista. All i can say is WOW. It is amazing. I thought the hotel we stayed in last year was cool but this one takes the cake. My dad then told me the hotel were staying in next year is even better and i have no idea how thats possible. The checkin lady told my dad we had the most desired room and i'm not surprised, just check out our room view.

This was Nay and I's room, complete with out own flat big flat screen.

You cant really see but beyond the pool, is a bridge where people would fish off and you crossed it to this cute little sweet creamery where they have treats and icecream. I got birthday cake icecream and we sat at these little tables overlooking the water. As you can tell from below CJ loved his icecream! To top it off, there was this guy with a guitar who was redoing classics and country. He was so good. It was very relaxing.

We then hit up the outlets on the way home and shocker, i didnt buy a single thing. Let me tell you that this never happens. But oh well. We then went back to Ocala and did mini golfing and go karts and my dad and i tied for first place! Not as good as me being the single victor but oh well. If my brother was able to get off work and come on vacation he would have gotten first place. He loves golf- mini and real golfing. We missed you Shane! We also went go karting and i love it. "Now i know how Richard Petty feels..." I think Kenny Chesney should change it to Now i know how Trevor Bayne feels, or Kasey Kahne...even Jeff Gordon but oh well. I can see myself as a Nascar driver, i was so good at cutting people off and not letting anyone pass me. I absolutely loved it! Everyone had a really good time.

Proof i won...oh and you too dad.

I would also like to announce i helped save a toad. Now everywhere we go, someone in the family-usually my dad or shannon manage to find some critter to save. This little toad ran across the go kart track and we had to save him because it wasnt a safe environment for the little guy, so we relocated him. Isnt he just so cute!?

All in all, it was a good time.

Family vacations are my favorite.