**Caution**

If the words diarrhea, the runs, poop, or blow out make you nauseous or offend you, please stop reading now and just know we had a rough couple of nights. If you are brave enough to keep reading I will start by saying that as a weaker stomached person, I have always wondered how I would handle waking up in the middle of the night to deal with diarrhea all over my child and her bed.

This disgusting story actually started with Kendall last weekend who got the runs for a couple of days, but luckily her diaper kept everything well contained. I was hoping she wouldn't be sharing this with any other member of the family, but sure enough, it was passed on to Cadence. Wednesday night Cadence woke up around two thirty in the morning with diarrhea EVERYWHERE. She still wears pull-ups to bed so you would think that would help a little bit, but not really. She pretty much got everything, pillow, blankets, even the floor! She first went to get Daddy who was still awake, so with his help, I didn't have to do to much of the nasty stuff. Daddy pulled all the dirty pajama's and blankets off and I put the new ones on. So I thought that I handled it well.

Then last night, ugh what a night. The night actually started with Kendall waking up, which isn't so abnormal because I will just give her a bottle and she will just go right back to sleep, but not last night. She wanted to have nothing to do with the bottle, so I just closed the door and let her cry it out thinking she would eventually go back to sleep. She fussed for about 30-45 minutes, and of course I couldn't sleep during that time because I can still hear her. So finally, I go in and ask if she wants a bottle and she says no, so I figure maybe she wanted her diaper changed. I went into Cadence's room to get a diaper and her room smelled awful!! That's right she had another blow out but she didn't even wake up!! (She sleeps like no child I have ever met.) So I changed Kendall (she still didn't go to sleep for another half hour) and went and got started on cleaning up her sister. I think I only gagged once and dry heaved twice so I got through it okay, but these are moments I knew I wouldn't like.

So with everything cleaned up and both children back asleep, I thought okay finally I can get some sleep too. By now it was probably two thirty or three in the morning ( please note that I worked last night so I didn't even get home until after midnight and was just starting to fall asleep with all this started!!) My restful sleep didn't last long because for the next hour Cadence woke me up twice more to go potty again, once with more diarrhea and once without. We had to make a trip to the kitchen this time for water and then I thought okay let's get some sleep. Ha Ha jokes on me! Kendall woke up AGAIN!! This time it was about five thirty. She still didn't want a bottle just "up" so I stood and rocked her for about fifteen minutes and then she said,"down" and went to bed. Maybe she had a bad dream? Maybe she just wanted a hug? I don't know, but I was sure glad that I went to bed after that and stayed in bed until Cadence woke me up at nine. So here I am feeling a little sleep deprived and loopy but mostly just hopeful that the worst is behind us.

A Date with Cadence

Today Cadence and I (Mommy) had a date. We took advantage of Meena's spring break once more and she came over around noon to stay with Kendall while Cadence and I went out. At first we just ran a couple of errands and one of our stops was Sonshine Christian Store. Here Cadence spotted a huge Buzby book! For those of you who read my blog about Cadence wanting to be called Ruby all the time should know that she has changed personalities again to a Bee named Buzby. He is a character from one of Max Lucado's children's DVDs. So Cadence found this book and at first I told her that we couldn't get it this time, but because her reaction was to give me the book back with tears in her eyes and said, "Okay Mommy." I changed my mind and let her get it. She hasn't let go of it since! So after that we got to go to lunch together with my friend Melissa and her almost 2 1/2 year old son, Alden. And then for the big part of the date...we went to see Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who. At first we were both a little nervous about taking two little ones to the movies, but we had perfect angels on our hands. They both loved the popcorn and the licorice that Melissa brought. I half expected Cadence to walk out of the movies saying, "I'm Horton" but as soon as we got back in the car she was asking for her Buzby book. I think it was really nice for Cadence to have Mommy all to herself today and we had so much fun together.

Out to Lunch and a ride on the Ferris Wheel

Everytime we drive by the Irvine Spectrum, Cadence always asks to ride the Ferris Wheel. I always have to say, No not today maybe next time. So when we drove by on Monday and she asked about it, I was very happy to tell her that YES , we get to go today!! My mom is on Spring Break so she invited us to lunch at the Irvine Spectrum and the first order of business was to ride the Ferris Wheel. Kendall was a little nervous at first but by the end of the ride I think she was enjoying herself. After a little walking around we got to go to Wahoo's for lunch and then we sat beside a fountain and let the girls (Zoe too) run around! It was the perfect day for handin' out outside!!

Easter Weekend

Happy Easter Everyone!

I just want to start by saying that I LOVE holidays!! Even in the crazy days of getting everything ready and doing extra stuff, I still love it. Yesterday (Saturday) we got to make some jelly bean cup cakes. It was so much fun. I pre-measured out all the ingredients into separate bowls and then let the girls decide which ingredient they wanted to put in, and then they got the first go at stirring!! Cadence decided that she wanted the frosting to be blue and then the girls each got a separate pan to decorate. Kendall was the first to figure out that the jelly beans were eatable, so her cupcakes were a little less decorated than Cadence's!

We also got to dye Easter eggs. I was a little nervous at first because there is always a potential accident or disaster waiting to happen, but it went really well. I bought two different types of dye, Kendall's was a tie-dye type and Cadence had a sparkle dye. Cadence's was actually a type where you put the egg and some drops of dye in a bag and shake it up and it worked really well, until Kendall decided that she wanted to just pound the egg on the counter, it was funny. The best thing was that I just told myself at the beginning that it was okay to make a mess and if our hands were multi-colored on Easter that would be okay because we had fun, so I just didn't make a big deal out of the girls touching the drying eggs and turning their hands different colors, but at the end EVERYTHING washed up with just a little soap and a little scrubbing, what a surprise. I remember as a kid my hands would stay different colors for days! Somebody at the Easter Egg Factory got smart!!

We also gave the girls their Easter baskets on Saturday since Bart worked Sunday. And we let Kendall dress up like the Easter Bunny! It didn't last very long, I don't think she liked it much!

At church on Sunday we had an Easter Egg hunt. It was so much fun, it was cute watching them run around "looking" for eggs. It was a beautiful day and the girls had a blast. Afterward my mom, brother and sister-in-law went to On The Border for lunch and to see Bart. And then we ended the day at the Cildermans for Easter dinner. We all enjoyed the day and all the busy-ness that came along with it and now we will look forward to sleep!!

Our Craaaazy Weekend!

Whewww! What a weekend!! I don't think I stopped moving since Thursday!!! Here's how it went:

Friday: After we sent Daddy to work, the girls and I headed to Target, a very scary concept. I was only supposed to buy our friend Mya a birthday present, but for everyone who loves Target like I do, I found much more, after all Easter is coming up. So a " we will be really quick, in and out" type of shop turned into, " I know girls...I am hurrying....we are almost done and then we will go get lunch!" And even when the girls were being restless toward the end, they were still being quiet and good so we got to go to McDonald's! After lunch it was time to come home and get the girls down for quiet time/nap time and time for Mommy to get ready for work. Friday nights, although the busiest night, is my favorite night to work. I work with my friend Christina behind the bar and no matter what crazy patron we are enduring, we have a lot of fun and manage to laugh a lot!

Saturday: Today was Mya's second birthday party!! We had everything ready to go and we left right on time but then we hit traffic. I don't like being late so it really stressed me out. A drive that should have taken us 20 minutes ended up taking 50!! I ended up getting off the freeway at one point (with a hundred other drivers with the bright idea) and took side streets, but those were packed too. We finally got to the party just in time to play games! The girls had so much fun. The theme was "The Backyardigans" , another cartoon Cadence has seen a couple of times, but that was enough for her to say," Mommy, I'm a backyardigan" for the rest of the night and into Sunday. One of the games they played was musical chairs and Cadence ( the youngest playing) actually made it through the first round, I was so proud! After we left the party, I was rushing home to change and get ready for work again! Meena babysat for the girls this night and here is what her note said when I got home: "Kendall had two dirty diapers tonight. The first time, big sister Cadence, informed me that Kendall was making poop! The next time, must before bath time, Cadence could smell something stinky and she looked over and said, "Someone is making more poop! And it's not me!" Meena told Cadence that Kendall had another dirty diaper to which Cadence replied, "Oh Meena, Kendall like to make poop!"

Sunday: Sunday morning we had a special church service. I think we probably tripled our normal weekly attendance. Then afterward we had a whole bunch of activities planned. First we had a huge In - N- Out Burger truck deliver our lunch. ( For those our out of state readers, In-N-Out is only the best fast food burger place EVER!) And then we also had one of those huge bounce houses. Toward the end when the crowd died down, Aunt Cherilyn and I took the girls in the bounce house and they loved it. Kendall got the cutest giggles just getting in. They weren't very good at jumping so most of the time they just sat and were tossed around as Cherilyn and I did the bouncing around them. It was a lot of fun, but I have to admit that I am pretty sore today!! After a quick trip home and a little nap for Kendall, we were off again to celebrate another birthday! This time it was for Uncle Janis and Aunt Amy!! Also joining us was Bart's cousin Chris from the East Coast. We all had a great time just hanging out and spending time together. No matter what there is always something going on! Needless to say I was in bed before midnight on Sunday, first time that has happened in at least six months.

High Five

This morning I caught the girls at the cutest thing! They were huddled around this toy cookie jar Meena gave Kendall for her first birthday. Cadence would put a cookie in, then Kendall would put a cookie in and put her hand up and say, "HI" meaning hi five and they would give each other a high five and it would start all over again!

I am glad I rushed to get my camera!





For those of you who don't know we got a couple of guinea pigs last fall, Zeek and Gunther. Of course the girls love them, Zeek was one of Kenall's first words. So here are a couple of pictures of Kendall and Daddy playing before bathtime ( that is why Kendall is missing her pants!)




Our Gunther on the left and Kenall giving Zeek a kiss on the right.

Uncle Janis, Daddy, Aleks, and Aunt Lori:
We love you!

~Happy Birthday Bart~

Today's blog is dedicated to our Bart!!

Happy 33rd Birthday!

We love the way you make us smile without any effort, we love the way you make us laugh with your funny faces and witty charm. We love the way you let us love you and shower you with our hugs and kisses. Thank you for your constant dedication and commitment to our family. Thank you for supporting us in our successes. Thank you for your love, thank you for being the one we want to love.

From your girls with love,

Nicole, Cadence and Kendall

Have you seen our daughter Cadence?

One of the very first things Cadence said to me this morning was, "I'm Ruby." Ummm... okay, whatever you say! I had no idea where she got this from, I figured it was something she watched on TV with Meena (that's what she calls my mom) from the night before. Sure enough when I asked Meena this morning at church, she told me that they watched a show called Max and Ruby, apparently Cadence identifies with Ruby and has been asking/telling me to call her Ruby all day. At one point I asked Ruby where Cadence is and that I miss her. Ruby told me, "Cadence is at Costco." At one point in the evening she had to remind her Daddy, "I'm Ruby remember" Daddy thought that was pretty funny. During bath time she asked for her cup (the girls each have a cup with their name on it) and I told her no you're Ruby and that the cup is Cadence's with her name on it. I totally thought she would change her mind, but nope, she was sticking to her story and did not ask for the cup again!! I was astonished!

The Easter Bunny came early to our house this year. Last night my mom dropped off the girls Easter present which was a water/sand table. The girls were very excited. Trying to take advantage of day light savings time I took them outside after nap (Yes, we all three took a nap today, which is rare, but much needed after losing an hour of sleep last night) to enjoy the extra day light and got some great pictures of them. We played until both the girls were soaking wet and freezing cold, of course it was still a fight to get them inside.

I am really excited for this summer and all the fun things to do with the girls. I love beach days and pool days and I really hope we get to go to the San Diego Zoo, we have been talking about it and I think we are going to get season passes!

Alligators in Laguna Niguel??

Did you know we have alligators in Laguna Niguel?? Well, we do! As the girls and I were taking a walk this morning we came across a rather large lizard. It was probably about seven or eight inches long!! I stopped and pointed it out to the girls and said,"What is that?" Cadence was very excited and said," It's an alligator Mom!! I've never seen an alligator before!" Then I told her," No, it's a lizard honey." Then Cadence looks up at me and says," No, it's an alligator Mom!" Throughout the whole conversation the alligator was frozen, so I asked Cadence if she wanted to touch it and so she knelt down and pet it. Then I asked Kendall if she wanted to pet the alligator too. So she ran over and picked the darn thing up and started walking off with it!!! Suddenly the alligator was no longer frozen and starting wiggling like crazy in her hand. She shrieked with excitement and threw it down and that thing took off like crazy. The girls chased after it until it went into the bushes and they were very disappointed! So for the rest of the walk we were on an alligator hunt!

* I love the birthday tickers on Janis and Jen's blog so much that I am borrowing the idea*

The Name Game

We love asking Cadence her name and age as well as Kendall's. So last night during dinner I asked her what her name was and she obediently replied,"Cadence Micole Cilderman" (yes, she says Micole instead of Nicole!) And then I asked how old she was and she says," Two and a half years old." So far so good. So we moved on to ask her what her sister's name is and she says, "Kendall One and a half Cilderman!" I guess she just wanted to be done with that one in one quick answer. But the answer that made us laugh the most was when we asked what Daddy's name was and she says "Bartholomew OUR MOMS Cilderman" So funny.

Another quick Cadence story... last week I caught her playing with the soap!! She had it rubbed in to her arms and legs and made quite a good mess. So when I walked in on her I sternly said,"Cadence WHAT ARE YOU Doing??" I go on the tell her that we don't play with soap and it is only for bath time and she just looks up at me with the saddest face she could muster and says, "Don't make me cry Mom." How can you stay mad after that?

This is just the beginning...

Consider this your official welcome to our little blog spot. We have enjoyed keeping up with out friends and family by their blogs and thought we would extend to you the same opportunity. This will hopefully become a regular spot for us to come and share our news, funny stories and family updates. Hope you all enjoy keeping up with us.