Cody, Amanda, Cade, Chloe, and Cora Rose

She is also trying to talk and babble like crazy. Her absolute favorite word is HAT and she repeats it over and over and over again. Its really quite funny. She is also saying Dada, Mama,

 Tad (Cade) and Im pretty sure shoe is szoooo....haha. And she also loves to make puppy noises and thinks any dog is hilarious. She just went to the allergy and asthma doctor and we found out she is a pretty allergic kid. She has had a barking cough and other symptoms of asthma since she was born. I will spare you all the details of the appointment, but we are going to have to watch her pretty closely with food and things she comes into contact with. Now we have to give her breathing treatments everyday which is torture to watch her scream and scream and then just give up and lay there. It breaks my heart. I have prayed that she would have understanding and know that we aren't hurting her, and that Jesus would just give her peace. I am probably over dramatizing it, but she is my baby girl and she never cries, so it kills me to watch her scream like that.

I feel like I have talked so much about Chloe on here lately, so here are some Cade-isms of today.....

-First things first, he has an imaginary friend named Bobby that he talks to constantly. It is hilarious! He frequently tells Bobby not to run in the street, he always prays for Bobby's food, and he tells me all the time that Bobby is at work. There are many things that Bobby does, but those are the main ones.

-When we play shopping he always says, "thank you for shopping Home Depot!"

(he has been there with daddy quite a bit lately...)

-"Chloe bout get it!!" (when he thinks chloe is going for his toys..)

-"Hank bout get it!!"

-"mommy, i wanna hug and love you.." (my favorite)

-his laziness has come out so much lately and he tells me "I cant mommy, i cant get it, i cant reach it, i cant do it.  most of the time, he is perfectly capable.

-peez have ooo-reee-ooo!!

- he loves to watch "So you think you can Dance" with us and tries to imitate all their moves...funny....

We are leaving tomorrow for Galveston for the week with my whole family so I am really praying for a miracle in that my camera will start working again. I really want some pictures! I know Galveston is not the most beautiful beach, but it is our vacation and Im thankful for a week away..especially for Cody.

So much has happened in our family, I don't even know where to begin.

I guess with Chloe's 10 month birthday....

She is such an independent little lady. I am very thankful for that, most of the time. Sometimes I just want to hold her and she won't let me. Or she wants to get down and crawl around a nasty auto parts store and screams when I won't let her! She is a pretty good sleeper. She goes to bed at 7, wakes up for a feeding about 2AM and then sleeps until 7 or 7:30. She takes two 1 1/2 hour naps in the morning and afternoon. So I am NOT complaining. I really enjoy the few minutes of quiet time I get to have with her at 2 in the morning. 

She loves to play with her brother and already thinks he is the funniest person on earth. It is too cute. She has started babbling A LOT in the past couple of weeks. I am pretty sure her first word is na-na (banana). Considering Cade's first word was cheese, it wouldn't surprise me if hers was a food, too.

Speaking of food, I would have to say that her favorite thing to do is EAT. I am so thankful for a good eater. She gave up baby food awhile back, but was able to chew everything pretty easily. Her favorite foods right now are strawberries,grapes,blueberries,bananas,broccoli,zucchini, cheese,chicken,turkey,sweet potato cubes, goldfish, and chicken enchiladas. I could name more. The girl would eat anything your put in front of her. And the occasional popsicle or Oreo when Cade is having one. 

One of my best friends from high school, Kady, got married last weekend. It was a ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS wedding. I can't wait until I have some pictures to post. She was a stunning bride and I was so happy to get to stand next to her as she married the man she loves, who is a great, great guy. 

We potty trained Cade this month. He has been so awesome. I have to confess, I only read about 2 articles on it and just prayed that he would get a hang of it quickly. Praise the Lord he did. I stayed home for about a week. The first 2 days I just let him run around naked and he realized pretty quickly that he needed to sit on the potty. Then, we went and bought some spiderman and thomas the train underwear. He had a couple of accidents for a few days and then he was good. Of course he still has them occasionally, but I think that will happen for awhile. He caught on very quickly and I couldn't be more thankful. I didn't make a huge deal about it, so I don't think he stressed about it either. It was a small miracle.

We also got a dog a couple of months ago and I just haven't posted about him. His name is Hank Aaron. He is a chocolate lab and he is really sweet and he is going to be really huge. HIs paws are MASSIVE.

We also bought a house! HOORAY! We decided to move to Friendswood. A lot of factors went into the decision. We prayed that the Lord would open and close doors for us and He was faithful to do so. We close on the house next Thursday, the 12th and will move in the same day. 

We are leaving tomorrow for a family reunion(Cody's family) in Austin at this beautiful resort. Check it out. www.hollowsvacations.com

It is going to be like an actual vacation. I am totally excited. We won't be back until Sunday, so it will be a nice calm before the storm of moving. Then, hopefully, we will get to stop in Columbus and have a little birthday time with Grace since we are going to miss her party on the 14th because....

My step brother Brandon is getting married Saturday, the 14th. 

So, needless to say, life is crazy right now. But crazy GOOD. 

God is so faithful. We are so excited to move into our first home. 

"Now all glory to God, who is able, through His mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Glory to Him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever, AMEN!! 

Ephesians 3:20-21

I didn't really notice her head that much. It would cross my mind when I take pictures of her and Cade together and their heads are almost the same size. Haha. She is such a beautiful baby girl and I'm sure she will grow into it!

Chloe started crawling last week and now she is EVERYWHERE! She races herself around the house and Cade chases her on all fours. They just laugh and laugh at each other. It is priceless.

She is very attached to mommy right now, but seems to forget about me after I'm gone for a couple of seconds so that's good.

She refuses to eat baby food, so thank goodness she knows how to chew with only 6 teeth. 

The girl will eat anything you put in front of her that she can pick up and I am thankful. Cade was a mighty picky eater. 

She has the most contagious laugh and loves to laugh at herself. 

Happy 9 months Chloe!! Love you lots and lots!!

If you didn't, it was awesome.

They sang "Shout to the Lord!!!!!" That is not just a song that says Jesus. It is a full out worship song!! (you can download it on ITunes)

I was so shocked and surprised by this and totally amazed that they would even put it on TV. 

God is THE MOST awesome!!

If you didn't see it, it was the Idol Gives Back show. They raised 75 million dollars last year for children all around the world. The goal this year is 100 million. It is an amazing cause that involves several different charities. 

I was so moved by all of the footage of children suffering from poverty,AIDS, and malaria in Africa. They showed little babies in the hospital dying. Babies the same age as mine. Just like mine. Every thirty seconds a child dies in Africa. WHAT? I knew that things like this happen in our fallen world, but God moved and shifted my heart in a big way last night. 

They also showed horrible poverty in our own country. Children who have NOTHING. And I really mean NOTHING.

It makes me sick to my stomach thinking about the things that I complain about everyday. It makes me sick to think that I am worried about a new lamp, or a new shirt or whatever....when these children don't even have running water or electricity. I think most of us are so blind and naive to what goes on around us. I am not saying in any way that we should sell everything we have to feel their pain...unless God calls you to do that. I am just saying that I am thankful for shows like this and incredibly thankful for the life God has chosen for me! God used it to open my eyes and hopefully others. 

If you didn't watch the show, you can go to 

www.AmericanIdol.com

and watch some videos or donate if you feel compelled.

I am sprung to action. I am not sure how, but I am.

Watch THIS video- it is a little cheezy, but exposes the truth. 

Umm Oprah, he is a "jealous" God because he wants us to put no other gods before Him.

God's living, breathing, inherent word tells us that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. And no one will come to the Father except through him.

I would have to say that it has been a pretty eventful 3 years. We have already lived in 4 places, had 2 kids...the list goes on...

I feel like it has flown by and then, in other ways I feel like we have been married 13 years. 

I guess because "most" people are married for awhile before they have kids. "Most" people finish college before they get married. 

I know that everyone struggles, I just sometimes feel we are "the odd man out" because we are so young. (minus Laura and Preston) 

With that said, I am incredibly grateful for Cody. I don't know many almost 23 year old men like him. I don't know many men like him.....period!

He is strong. Strong in his love for me. Strong in his love for Cade and Chloe. Strong in his love for everyone else in his life. Strong in his work. Strong in his faith.

We have seen each other change in so many ways the past 3 years. We have both grown up a lot. And hello?? How could you not?

I have also really seen Cody come out of his shell. He has always been a little "shy", and I have seen him gain so much confidence and that makes me so happy because he is REALLY funny and no one knew that before. HAHA!

I have always been outgoing and he has made me a little more homebody. 

There is so many things I love about him and I hope many he loves about me.

We praise God for the past 3 years and for however many more he gives us on this earth together! 

We are actually getting to go on a date tomorrow night, which never happens, so we are super excited about that!

Happy Anniversary babe! I love you!

It's been a month since I have posted. Most of the time, I am so intrigued by everyone else's blogs, that I forget about my own. Hah!

Things have been crazy here at the Kaufmann house for the past few months. 

Lots happening...

We are still in the process of making some big decisions for our family. The main one being whether or not we are going to stay here in H-town or head out to the country...somewhere.

That is our goal. To get out of Houston. 

Not that we wouldn't miss our family, friends, church, everything terribly...but we want to raise Cade and Chloe and any future children in a slower pace of life.

Oh my word I never thought I would say that. Cody has ALWAYS wanted to move to a small town and I would ask him, "What would I do all day? Go to Wal-mart??"

Over time, my point of view has changed dramatically. I find myself wanting to stay home more often and finding fun things to do here. It is hard to get out with 2 kids! (can anyone back me up here? I know my girl Laura can!)

Every time we go see Cody's parents, I watch Cade in amazement. He has the best time of his life riding his Pop's tractor and 4-wheeler with his Daddy. Running around on 12 acres of land where he can roam free. Staying outside from sun-up to sun-down. He was born for that!

So, basically we are waiting on a job opportunity for Cody. There is a few scenarios that could happen. 

We are praying for CLARITY right now! That the Lord would make our path clear so that whatever decisions we make would be HIS WILL ultimately!

Hmm, what else?....

Chloe started clapping her hands and bopping up and down to music! She is truly our daughter!

She also has started waving when someone walks in the room. She is still not crawling but manages to get what she wants. Cade gives her crawling lessons everyday but I don't think they are helping. 

He is such a sweet brother. Today at the mall, he decided to just put his arm around her for a good 10 minutes while they were sitting next to each other in the stroller; and leaning over and kissing her head and saying "hey Co-e" in the sweetest little voice. I wished so bad a had my camera to capture that moment. It was priceless. Then, he grabs her hand and just starts playing with her little fingers and looking at it like he was just trying to figure her out. She was pretty annoyed at that point. Hah!!

Chloe will be 8 months old this week. WOW!

I will post on that later.

I hope everyone had an awesome Easter rejoicing in our Risen Savior!! We did! I just forgot my camera and we were at Cody's parents for the weekend.

Love to you all!

Here are a few recent pics...

We went to sing at Crier Creek a few weeks ago and got to spend the weekend in Columbus with our pals. The weather was awesome and Cade and Grace got to play on the splash pad at camp and had a blast! I know they are only 2, but they truly miss each other. When we see them, they hug in this long embrace. It is the most precious thing ever and makes Laura and I cry.

Here are Chloe and Fish. Still bound to the stroller. Before we know it, they will be running around too...

Here is Chloe, trying to get daddy's guitar...too cute!

This is what you look like when you get to the Livestock show and get to ride a tractor, see a bunch of animals and eat FUNNEL CAKE! His face is intense. He really thinks he is driving and believe me, he knows how.

This is what you look like after the Livestock show. Too much fun with Gammi and Pappi, too much funnel cake, and one too many pigs in your face. He missed his nap and fell asleep on the couch at 6 o'clock. Poor guy!

me and laura at adrienne and mark's wedding.

all four of us. 

A sweet one of Chloe!

It was an absolutely beautiful wedding. So Christmas-ey and warm and wonderful. I was her Matron of Honor and it was a honor! She is such a special person in my life and I am so thankful for her. She married a wonderful, funny, sweet guy named Mark. We have gotten to know and love him well the past few years. I can tell you right now that they are going to be great parents. They love Cade and Chloe so much and they love them back! They say they aren't ready to be parents yet, though.  But that doesn't mean they won't be....LIVING PROOF HERE!

Most importantly, they love Jesus and have chosen to live their lives to honor Him. 

Anyhoo, the point of my post was to share a few pics from the wedding. 

The pics are by Glenna Harding. She rocks.

   My cousin Anna and Cade.

My cousin Megan and my brother, Aaron.

The Bride and Groom.

Me and Age.