Day to Day Nothings

Arizona

2011-04-25T14:50:00.000-07:00

We went to Arizona on a family vacation and it went great! The girls really did well on the plane. Makenna slept most of the way both ways. Cadence was a little ansy but did really well for being two. The cousins had a blast and really loved having each other around! It was a lot of fun and we enjoyed the sunshine. It is a joy to be around Ryan's sisters' family. They are truely a wonderful, Christian family.

Cute Pictures

2011-03-08T16:37:00.000-08:00

Matching church outfits from Grandma Nancy. Then were even cuter than normal!!!

"Playing" BSF at home. She had laid out little people and each one had a book. She was "teaching them".

Sitting up all alone.

I caught them having a "conversation". It was super cute!!

First Haircut

2011-02-18T09:15:00.001-08:00

Just Makenna at 6 months! She likes to rolling from tummy to back and is trying desperatly to get her knees up under her!!

Cadence and all her new "underwears". That is what makes her want to potty is the underwear.

Trying to get her to keep her head down.

Look at her face in the mirror!! HAHAHA - she did very well, actually.

Such a sweet girl.

And Things...

2011-02-12T14:30:00.000-08:00

We have been doing a lot ....of being snowed in down here.

It has been a really snowy winter!! We are excited for spring and all the outside time we will get!! Zoo, parks, sprinker time, planting flowers -- oh my we are excited. Maybe it is mostly the adults who are getting kind of tired of being inside. :) Someone I know said that since winter gets darker sooner and that slows us down and gets us to stay inside and spend time with family and friends. I like that take on winter time. As you can tell my the picture - Cadence is quite funny and very energetic these days. Very into singing and dancing!! Makenna is starting to sit up by herself for short periods of time and is rolling over and around. Life is about to get a little faster paced!!!

See all the names?

2010-11-28T14:23:00.000-08:00

Look how decorated the cast is this time?? It is so cute I will almost miss it...almost.

Look into my Eyes

2010-11-28T14:16:00.000-08:00

Ryan's 12 yr old cousin, Mataya, took these. She has a great eye and cute subjects.

Pumpkin Patch

2010-11-17T20:26:00.000-08:00

These pictures are from our day trip to the pumpkin patch. It was so much fun to watch Cadence enjoy the little games they had set up and she loved to look at the animals they have. She is really starting to be aware of all the things around her. Makenna has rolled from back to front already and I feel like she is hitting milestones too soon!! Notice my long hair in the picture above - I was going to blog about my stupid new hair cut (8-12 inches off depending on the layer you measure) but I decided that would be really vain and besides no one really cares about my hair issues. I just have to remember that the reason I had to cut it. Which was that I don't have the time to do it to make the long hair look good -- so we will just have to get used to the short hair. Anyways, I will have to get up new pictures of Cadence's cast - yes, another one. She has a hot pink one this time. She has yet to hit anyone with it and is doing well. She will be getting it off the Monday after Thanksgiving and so we are pleased that it will only be on about 3 weeks.

2010-10-23T13:47:00.000-07:00

Here are some pumkin day (idea stolen from Ryan's sister) pictures. We did pumkin pancakes, chili, cornbread, and orange/black cupcakes, and then had the kids do fall themed crafts. It was really fun and maybe next year we will add some other projects / recipes to the day.

Cadence is getting really good at being around Makenna and not mauling her. That is a nice development. I think some of the new is wearing off the situation. Cadence really likes to run and skip everywhere now. She is also really in to singing songs - anything from hymns to made up songs. Makenna is cooing and smiling a lot - she seems a little more mellow than Cadence but we will see how that develops.

We are planning a trip to the pumpkin farm tomorrow - that should be fun! We also hope to find an apple orchard to go visit. Cadence LOVES apples right now. Fall is such a nice time to get outside and RUN!! It makes for good naps. :)

I have even stopped checking my own blog...

2010-09-24T10:29:00.000-07:00

Almost a smile!

Cheese - at the firestation.

Cadence's first boat ride - on Grandpa Doug's new to him jon boat.

I guess it has been a while since I did an update. At least you knew I had the baby... Things are going well here. Makenna is a rock star sleeper - 4 to7 hours at night, usually more toward the 7 hour mark. She is gaining weight but I don't know how much she weighs right now. Her hair is still dark brown but there is a auburn cast to the new hair and her eyebrows are strawberry blond - we will just have to wait and see. Makenna's eye color is still blue/gray. Cadence's had already turned brown by this point so again we will just have to see what happens. OH YEAH! I almost forgot she started smiling a few times a day last week!! And then started occasionally cooing this week - she is advance people :). Cadence does really well with her - well she LOVES to touch and "talk" (usually closer to a yell - what can I say she is an enthusiastic girl) to her. She gets me diapers and blankets and occasionally put in the paci. We still have to watch her and make sure she doesn't squish her - out of love of course.

We are going into fall weather now and don't expect to be in the high 80's anymore - which is nice because just last week the weather was 90!! We will hopefully be getting outside a bunch and burning energy. We are also excited because fall means we get to go to Iowa for my brother and his fiance's wedding!!! It will be a fun week and I cannot wait to enjoy a wedding without the pressure or stress of being the bride :). Then at the end of October will be in Branson with Ryan's family celebrating Doug and Bonnie's 40 wedding anniversary!! It will be a family packed fall and it will be great!

Baby News

2010-08-21T18:24:00.000-07:00

Makenna Grace arrived 8/18/2010 at 10:40 pm. She weighed 7 lbs. 10 oz. and was 19.5 inches long.

Working Out

2010-08-12T14:55:00.000-07:00

Yes, I am doing my walking videos in a lame attempt to get this little child to come into the real world!! Cadence wants to walk with me - she lasts about 10 minutes of the videos and follows the steps pretty well. It is adorable. I should have taken a video of it. Also she usually grabs her blanket/paci at about 10 minutes in and then precedes to lay on the floor with them the rest of the video like she is exhausted. The top picture must have been her trying to multi-task during her workout. The pink gloves are weighted gloves that the lady in the video wears, so Cadence wanted them on herself.

Yes, we are waiting for baby sister

2010-08-12T14:53:00.000-07:00

I think Cadence will be glad when she has better acess to me :). I will be too - but then she will have a little sister to contend with. I hope we can be good at balancing giving attention to two children.

Front Door

2010-08-12T14:46:00.000-07:00

Our door - man, it has taken a long time to get this part of the house right. It still needs a few coats of Spar Urethane (or something that sounds like that), which will make it shine like the morning sun :). The green around the stained glass is tape - so that is not going to be there forever. The trim around it will be painted Winchester Maple (like our other trim). It is nice to have a solidly locked door at night. Even after all the trouble to get it ordered, put in and get hardware that will fit it -- it is a beautiful door and it adds a lot to our living room. I added Cadence to the picture so you can see just how massive this door is. So now when you come to my house you can walk up our sidewalk and right up to a proper front door :).

No, I have not given birth yet

2010-08-09T12:16:00.000-07:00

Just a little FYI or maybe it is a rant either way you can read it or not. Here are the facts:

Yes, it is my ESTIMATED due date today.

No, I have not delivered yet.

Yes, I know I look HUGE, thanks for the reminder.

No, staring at me will not put me in labor so please STOP.

If you know me well enough to have my personal cell phone number - I will call or text when we have the baby - you will not be out of the loop, I promise we are not that mean.

Yes, I am a little cranky at times and I am not cooking anymore or cleaning too well so don't expect too much if you stop by my house.

Enough said - maybe I should go watch a movie or something. I finished all my good books - disappointed about that.

Lack of Sleep

2010-08-04T19:52:00.000-07:00

Don't let the cuteness confuse you - she is not really adjusting to the toddler bed that well. I am sure she is doing what is normal for most kids. Well, I am not sure of that - every mom I talk to has a different story :). I am sure we will get there soon enough. Probably just in time for the new baby to come and everything to get crazy! She just gets too excited to stay in the actual bed. She is, as I type, playing in her kitchen in the complete dark. It is quite an adventure to have a toddler.

I'M BACK!

2010-08-01T11:33:00.000-07:00

Welcome back!!! I mean to me of course. It has been a long time since I had Internet here at the house! Speaking of house, I will upload some pictures of the house soon. Right now I am a little behind on housework. Hopefully, I will get caught up tomorrow and then I will share some pictures. For now I will leave you with some pictures of Cadence and her cast. It seemed like a long 4 weeks that she had it on. It never really bothered her, just an inconvenience for me mostly. Things are good around here. We are 8 days from the due date. We have all but settled on a name (no I will not tell you so don't ask). Ryan is still doing finish work and getting in more relax time. He has also started to help his parents with their house. They hope to be done sometime in August. I hope for their sake they are! It is so nice to be done with the major construction and to live here. Sometimes it seems like we have always lived here...hahahaha. Oh, now that the pictures are loaded I realized that I yet again loaded them backwards. So look from the bottom up to watch her get the cast off :). Well, we are transitioning to a toddler bed...so I must go discipline my 2 year old for getting out of bed ... again.

Internet, House and Broken Bones

2010-06-12T09:51:00.000-07:00

We will have internet is about a week...so I am at the fire house right now using the laptop to look at friends and relatives new babies and catching up on the lives of others. We now have TV channels which helps you feel a little connected with the world but the internet is truely the info part of my world. We are mostly moved in - just a few boxes to move to the basement and then to put up decor. We do have to organize the basement and clean up the garage. We have been in a week today and I feel like we have done a great job with progress :). Ryan still has some last minute things to finish on the house and we have to paint the exterior. We will get there - hopefully, before this little girl makes her appearance. Also - Cadence fell down the steps going from the house to the garage and has a broken wrist. So she is in a full cast *she picked a dark purple one * until July 7. So far she has handled it well. She is banging it on a few things. We are just thankful that the new baby will be here after she gets it off - no accidents there!

Moving

2010-06-03T18:16:00.000-07:00

We were inspected today - didn't pass because of three really minor things. The good news is that they can all be fixed within a few hours or less and hopefully we can get re-inspected tomorrow afternoon. The worst case scenario is that we move everything but mattresses and toiletries in until we can be inspected. Here are a few pictures of what the house looks like today. I still have to finish clean it and there are a few cosmetic things to do after we move in but other than that we are done. Oh, and we have to paint the outside...:) The picture of Cadence watching Ryan is when he and his dad were trying to get our fridge in the kitchen, the front door is a wide opening and made it relatively easy to get it in (well, that coming from someone who didn't help). The front door will come either the last week in June or the first of July so we are going to have to live with a construction door for a little bit. But as long as we get to move in we are happy.

Tile

2010-05-22T06:53:00.000-07:00

Some of our appliances are in also - some are in the garage :). I forgot to take pictures of that. Here are some tile photos. We are waiting for tile to be done and toilets to be put in and then carpet and then we are ready for final inspection. We are trying to move in without a front door. Long story short - it will not be delivered until July 1!!! So we have the space all boarded shut and are hoping to save a month's rent by getting approved before then. The white stuff on the master bath floor is radiant heating - if you have ever had tile in the winter time it is freezing...so this will be great! We are so excited to move in and get settled.

Mother's Day Post

2010-05-13T14:06:00.000-07:00

There will be no cute Mother's Day photo this year - it was spent with a 24 hour horrible stomach bug instead of with flowers and loved ones. Well, my parents were here but my mom was super sick that day too! The guys got it the next day...

The house is progressing - we are getting in a lot of finish work. Closets, filling nail holes, touch up paint, tile, soon carpeting. Who knew there was so much that has to go into a home. We get some appliances delivered soon and then the kitchen will be complete. We finally have electricity up to the house so no more work from a generator!!! This is excellent! I am starting to beef up my packing effort, knowing that soon enough we will have to hit it hard. I am trying to pack as much stuff as I think we can get away with not using for up to a month. It is hard to pack when you really don't know when you will be moving. At least when you sell a home you have a concrete date that you have to be out by. There is a "For Rent" sign in our front yard which means that at least our land lord thinks we will be out soon :). I have no new pictures of the house - and unless you find wood putty exciting that is okay.

I did snap a few pictures of my mom and Cadence before we all decided to get sick! The one of the couch was the day after the 24 hour bug that Ryan had - Cadence did enjoy all the snuggle time since we were all kind of stuck on the couch recovering. And I have a few cute ones of Cadence playing "mommy" - notice the list in her hand, pen in her hair, and stroller?? She is ready!

Airport Visit

2010-04-27T11:06:00.000-07:00

Cadence is loving her Little People toys right now. They are fun :).

House Update

2010-04-27T11:02:00.000-07:00

We got our other counters in - it is hard to tell in the photo but it has a lot of gold in it also. We are getting flooring!! It looks great. Again, not that easy to see in the photos.

Ready for Summer

2010-04-27T10:58:00.000-07:00

We did some work for the Women's Clinic of Kansas City - Cadence joined in when she got up from nap! :) Passing on the passion for purity to the next generaton :). Cadence also got a pair of sunglasses and flip flops in the spirit of summer - so now we need our warm weather back!! :)

She is sad that the sun is gone.

Counter Tops

2010-04-22T08:38:00.000-07:00

We now have counter tops - well, not the 2nd bath. The 2nd bath gets a top today. We are very excited to see the finish stuff going in. The photo to the right is the master bath all the others are the kitchen. God blessed us with a GREAT deal on this granite which makes it all the more beautiful to me :). As it turns out this granite is called Juparana Tobacco (Juparana says it is from Brazil) and it had sat in the company's warehouse since the they opened - 8 years previous. It seems that no one liked it - Ryan and I both LOVED it from the get go. I guess it was just waiting for us. As a result of the 8 years of waiting - we got it for a closeout / move out type price. It even has some black in it to match our kitchen cabinets. Now the big thing is flooring!! Cannot wait to see how all of our choices come together. Prior to yesterday I had not see the granite in 5 months...so I picked paint/cabinet colors based on memory.

I promised my dad that Cadence would make it in at least one photo - does her head count?? :)

Flights of Fancy

2010-04-22T08:35:00.000-07:00

We went to the Fancy of Flights - a local kite festival with Amie and her boys. It was a lot of fun and a beautiful windy day. It was pretty crowded so we didn't get to do the free kid activities - but we still had fun. In person the kites are wonderful to watch. Some of them are STORIES tall (the kites themselves). It was a nice afternoon of fresh air.

Baby Doll

2010-04-14T18:28:00.000-07:00

Cadence was given a newborn diaper from a girlfriend of mine who just had a baby. The diaper renewed her interest in her doll. She was having a ton of fun with her doll tonight.

Easter Egg Hunt

2010-04-14T18:25:00.000-07:00

We had a small Easter egg hunt at our house the other night. We had fun watching the kids search for eggs. Cadence was excited to find the eggs but didn't know there was candy in them until after it was all over. Caleb knew right away and man, he would get an egg, open it and discard the egg for the candy. Very cute.

Quick Trip to Branson

2010-04-14T18:22:00.000-07:00

We went to Branson and enjoyed a nice 4 days of relaxation and playing. It was nice weather - it was a little chilly in the mornings/evenings but still nice to play outside. We colored, played on the jungle gyms, took walks, enjoyed the views, and ate some great food.

Resurrection Sunday

2010-04-04T20:33:00.000-07:00

Cadence thinks that all hats belong on Ryan's head - even purple Easter hats.

We even attempted some pictures outside - it was a little windy!

So we had a good, low key Easter. After a great service at church we went to open Cadence's Easter basket at the fire station. I tried all day to get a "portrait" style picture of Cadence ... you can see how well that went :). She is just highly distractable at this stage in her life. It was very hard to get her to focus on the camera and when she did the pictures (which I am not including) were less than flattering :). Good thing bad pictures or not - it does not change why we celebrate Easter - the fact that our risen Lord is a living God.

Running at the Zoo

2010-03-30T13:17:00.000-07:00

Just a funny video for those who think it is funny to see toddlers run :).

2010-03-30T13:13:00.000-07:00

Here is a picture from the zoo today - a little windy. Cadence loved it!! Especially the tiger and the sheep!

Coloring with Daddy. Yes, she usually sits this close to him.

2010-03-24T19:28:00.000-07:00

IT'S A GIRL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Baby Pictures

2010-03-24T12:34:00.000-07:00

Okay, so we have not told Ryan's family the gender yet - we are waiting until he gets home from working on the house - so sorry I will not be posting the gender just yet. Ryan graciously gave me permission to tell my family - or else I might have exploded without telling some people this morning. The sono tech said everything from the lens (es?) in the eyes to the kidneys to the brain and facial structure and everything else they look at - looks GREAT! So we are praising the Lord for a healthy baby. Soon enough blogging world we will announce the gender. Hopefully, we can get everyone called since it is a church night and all. Also, the baby had its legs crossed at the ankle just like Cadence, who still does that with her legs all the time. :) We saw the hiccups and a couple gulps of the mouth but nothing too crazy. Speaking of crazy, the baby was moving all over the place and the tech had a hard time getting a clear shot to print. It was kind of humorous. This might be a wild child!!

Dancing

2010-03-11T06:32:00.000-08:00

Cadence and I were watching Celtic Thunder on KC Public Television last night and she and I were dancing. She wanted a "hat" on - hence the hippie band on her head. Excuse the saggy diaper we were 30 minutes from bedtime so we were getting ready for PJ's. Enjoy the show.

Warm Weather

2010-03-10T14:06:00.000-08:00

We are really enjoying the warmer spring weather. In fact, the other day we played outside and wrote with sidewalk chalk. It is so neat to see Cadence enjoy being outside. She really likes to run in the grass and push her car around the yard. I have never been so pleased and thankful for spring. I know God is faithful to always bring spring after winter but sometimes I take that for granted. Just like in life when you are having a good time you forget that there will be down times, and vise versa. The warming weather has been a good reminder that spring always follows a winter - no matter how long the winter is.

Wordless Wednesday

2010-03-03T12:55:00.000-08:00

Well almost wordless, this is how Cadence came around the corner from her room today. She had 5 books, 1 blanket, 1 headband so her hands were full. Apparently, your mouth is a good place to carry extra things when your hands are full.

PAINT!!!

2010-03-01T14:19:00.000-08:00

The main area / hall / laundry is "Rustic Oak". It is hard to get color to show up right in photos.

The master bedroom is a light olive green. The master bath is the next lighter shade of the same color.

3 colors in 3 different areas - purple is for Cadence -- if you were wondering. Actually the hall bath is a different color also but you cannot tell in the photo.

Up close of our distressing. Some of the hardware is coming later.

Ryan is a little tired of the pictures :).

And to finish on a cute note:
Cadence reading a book.

Unexpected Afternoon

2010-02-24T13:58:00.000-08:00

After Bible study this morning I was going to take Ryan and his brother lunch. Sounds simple, right? About half way to our new home Ryan called and needed a part for the paint sprayer - as in the rest of the afternoon couldn't proceed without this piece. So Cadence and I pulled a **legal** U-turn and headed back to Doug and Bonnie's for the piece. After I found it rather quickly I was on my way again. Some where between taco #2 and #4 the guys figured out the piece was not what they needed. It took about 20 minutes to figure out what their options were - I ended up taking Cadence to my sister-in-law's for a nap and went back to Doug and Bonnie's for the missing part. I COULDN'T FIND IT!!! After driving for 2 hours to get this little part and looking in multiple places - no luck. So there I was 4 driveways from my own and my daughter was 25 minutes away!!! So my sister-in-law said to just let her sleep. So ---- with my afternoon alone I cleaned. Yes, that is what I did. And Ryan was going to just bring her home in their extra seat :). HAHAHAHA just got a call -- Erica has the extra seat and Aaron needs to take Caleb to church (can't toddlers stay at home by themselves???? :). So I am off to go get my daughter after all :). Good thing I love her. NEW phone call - maybe they do have an extra extra seat...I better quit typing before this day gets stranger.

Drywall and Snow

2010-02-09T11:42:00.000-08:00

We are getting ready for the mudding and taping of the drywall. Ryan has spent a lot of hours out there cleaning and getting the house ready. It looks great! I am finally settling on colors for the walls and getting things lined up for other finishing touches. Cadence really enjoyed running around in the living / dining area today. It is such an open floor plan and it has so much light with all the windows. She really likes the most of the windows are low enough that she can see out of them! The top picture is in our master bedroom the rest are from the living / dining area. I guess the last picture is of Ryan and Cadence in the master shower. She thought it was really fun to dodge in and out of all the spaces. I hope she likes it that much when it is done.

I am sure she will, I know I will! It will be really nice to in

and settled before the baby comes.

Super Bowl, Super Announcement

2010-02-07T10:24:00.000-08:00

I am excited for the Super Bowl - mainly because we bought a bunch of "tail-gating" food. But I like football just enough to enjoy a game here and there. I really like live football but since we cannot afford tickets we are going to be watching on our TV. We will see how fun Cadence thinks this evening is...at least there will be "naks" to keep her busy.

This picture is from the other day when she got a hold of Ryan's hot chocolate cup (after the liquid was gone). She was very please at the taste that she found. She kept running through the living room to keep it away from me.

I guess, I should also tell the blog world that we are expecting baby #2 on 8.9.10. In case some of you don't know - it might be awkward if you saw a picture of me on here soon and thought - man, she looks plump - or....baby? I am excited, Cadence has no clue and Ryan is pushing harder to get he house done. We will find out the gender (if the baby is willing) sometime in the end of March. That seems so far away but I have to remember that February is a short month. Hopefully, finishing the house and moving will make the time go faster. I would like to paint the 2nd bedroom accordingly but that is no big deal since it will double as a guest room until the basement is done I guess we should go neutral. It it is a girl then she will bunk with Cadence once she is old enough to not get up 3 times a night. Wow, a lot of forward thoughts there. I guess I should spell check this post and get on with making super bowl food - or a nap...

Quick Updates and Some Deep Thoughts

2010-02-01T14:37:00.000-08:00

* The house is getting drywall soon (this week). This means that we can start to do some finish stuff! That is what I am looking forward too.

* I am not very good at picking out colors for my walls when there is no home decor to compare anything too. Seriously hard to pick a color for your walls when there are none.

* Cadence is using a lot of phrases - such as "Here ya go", "No Piper eat", "Stop it" and I cannot remember the others right now.

* Play dates and coffee meetings are two things that really encourage me and I am not sure I could live without right now.

Our Sunday School is talking about the resurrection, heaven, hell and other light subjects. Last Sunday there was a really neat conversation we had as a group. I don't have all the Scripture on this. I need to research more. But for the time being I will just think and type. When we get to heaven we will be complete. Our bodies will not be ravished by disease, falling apart or being eaten by cancer. We will run and not grow weary - serve and not get tired. Our minds will be whole and not tempted to gossip, slander, jealousy, or comparing. Our souls will find rest when we are finally home and among those who believe in Jesus. We will all worship the King - in a whole complete beautiful - non-distracted way. What a wonderful thought that when we are made whole by our Creator that we will be able to live to our potential. We will no longer be disappointed in ourselves on a daily basis for our choices or failures. We will no longer be guilty of pride for thinking that what good we did was done in our own strength. That is what completeness will look like.

Cold Winter Days

2010-01-21T10:22:00.000-08:00

On cold winter days we like to do some fun things. Really Cadence likes to read a lot (notice the FULL ponytail). We like to cook (the apron is from my mom, she made us matching ones for Christmas), climb things (ignore the crazy hair, we didn't have a pony in yet), and we like to give daddy some chiropractic care :). And once again I narrated those in the order I loaded them - not the order they would be displayed. AHAHA, I am sorry.

Christmas Letter Picture

2010-01-21T10:18:00.000-08:00

I said that I would post this - then never did! I figured out after Christmas that I had somehow missed about 10 or more people who I normally send Christmas cards to. Wow, what a mean thing to do. My excuse, if I may have one, was I left for Iowa on the 17 th of December and didn't come home for a whole 11 days! Ryan finished sealing the cards and sent them out. When I seal them up I usually do a check list of people I send them to - so I missed that this year. Maybe next year I will do better - I hope!

So in case you were wondering here is our picture. I was pleased that we all three were looking at the camera :).

Emphasis on Day to Day

2010-01-20T10:00:00.001-08:00

I guess I should have named my blog week to week nothings since I am apparently bad at updating. It seems like January is flying by! We are back to work (and by we I mean Ryan) on the house and things are gaining momentum again. I am thankful for the warmer weather! Cadence is still flying around the house non-stop. I am very very glad that she still takes a long afternoon nap. She started going to BSF (Bible Study Fellowship) with me last week. They sing a hymn with them and read the Bible to them. I love that they have opened this up to the U2 (Under Two) group. It makes it very very easy to bring her and to get there myself - no child care needed. Well, she is telling me "poops" and my nose confirms that -- so until tomorrow (or next week).

Christmas 2009

2010-01-07T07:20:00.000-08:00

Siblings - it was early!! Forgive the morning looks - and trying to get a grandparent / grandkid pictues. Cadence really wanted to open presents and pictures were a stretch. :)

Funny black mustaches from Great Uncle Randy in Arizona. These are the cousins on Ryan's side - we are missing some.

Sledding for the first time. Cousin Caleb was going with her, cousins Miranda and Mataya took the little ones outside.

Turtle in a half shell??

Hanging out with my dad's parents. She was very interested in what they had to say. :)

All bundled up to go sledding for the first time. Some how all of these pictures got out of order and I don't have the patience to re-download them. Sorry people. :)

Birthday

2010-01-06T07:50:00.001-08:00

Yesterday was my birthday. It was a bitterly cold and snowy day, much like the one I was born on (or so they tell me). I had the start of some sinus problems so I lazed around most of the day. Ryan did clean and take care of Cadence for me, that was very nice. I even got a nap - when Cadence was not sleeping!! We didn't go anywhere but today we will try to go out for my birthday dinner. I want to go to California Pizza Kitchen - YUMMO!! Then maybe across the street to the ole 'Bucks to get a hot chocolate. I still haven't gone through our Christmas pictures - most of them were taken on Mom's camera so I will post those when we get the CD of them. We did get Christmas decor down. Ryan has been home a lot - it is too cold to work on the house. Contractors don't want to work in sub zero temps with wind - who knew. Ryan does go out for a few hours here and there but there is not much to do right now. If it ever gets above 30 look out house you will be flooded with workers.
Oh yeah, I had a coconut cream cake for my festivities. DELICIOUS!!!!! Even people who didn't want to try it said they liked it.
Now I will attempt pictures the next time - I need to find my camera first - I think it is in my room.

Christmas Card Preview

2009-12-11T08:43:00.000-08:00

Ryan got a wheel barrel and Cadence really liked it. She seems to like all of the non-toys that are brought into the house. The second picture is a preview from our Christmas cards - hahahaha, aren't you all so excited to see the real picture now?? I think they turned out just fine but this one is funny.

Christmas Tree

2009-12-08T14:29:00.000-08:00

Okay - these are very random - one of the stone on our house. The stone is also on the garage side but we don't have a picture of that yet. We will be painting in the spring for warmer weather. The Thanksgiving picture was one of only a few taken - we were already on to pie. The Christmas tree is up and Cadence loves to look at it. She also likes to click it on and off with her foot (Ryan taught her that). The top picture is of her saying "cheese".

Stone

2009-11-29T15:17:00.000-08:00

Here is the stone on the front of the house. I cannot find my pictures that have a further away view. Ryan is almost completely done with the siding. We are very glad that he is about ready to move into the inside - it is getting COLD! The holiday was a great time of relaxation and family time. I wish I could have seen my side also but that will be for Christmas!!! So excited to be able to be in Iowa for a whole 11 days!!!!!!! I am glad my brother is graduating nursing school so we can visit even longer.

A few (not so profound) things that I have learned.

2009-11-16T10:21:00.000-08:00

I was helping Ryan work around our new house the other day - mostly cleaning up and stuff. Here are a few things that I learned or relearned:

1) it really is fun to set things on fire (it was in the burn pile so it was okay) this said I have vowed to stop making fun of my husband for his love of fire. give me a can of diesel and a lighter and I am ALMOST as bad.
2) if you crouch down by a dirt embankment and your shirt in not tucked in you WILL come home with some dirt in your pants - yes I meant IN.
3) a house is a whole lot bigger when you have to use a shop vac to clean up. this made me very thankful for push vacuums. very.
4) gloves are very essential when you are working with wood. yeah, splitters do hurt.
5) when stepping over a barbwire fence do not lose you balance and if you loose said balance do not reach a hand down to steady yourself - there is only barbed wire to hold on to. and no I was not wearing the gloves described in #4. I know that I have been taught better but somehow I just forgot while in that moment.
6) and last but not least many hands make light work and we are made to work, it makes us feel good when we eat (even if it is Har.dee's - hey we were HUNGRY!!!)and justified in our sleepiness.

Spiritual Insight

2009-11-14T19:36:00.000-08:00

We bought recycled concrete for our lane instead of gravel - it is about half the price but you have to pull out some old contruction stuff (metal mesh, pvc pipe parts and in our case a 1/4 of a tattered pair of pants...wonder where the rest is...)

As I was scouring the piles for this refuse a thought came into my mind. It must have been from the Holy Spirit - because I am not this profound on my own. I realized that my life is much like this pile of crushed concrete. God has to sometimes break us up to make us something useful to Him, and just like the concrete I have different purposes at different times in my life. And even after I have been through a little "crushing" or the Refiner's fire if you will, He still has to go back through the pile and pull out all the "junk" that is left over (bad attitude, pride, self-love etc). Even though to most it might seem that the gravel is good to go and ready to be used - one has to go over and over the pile to make sure it is a pure and clean before it can be used for its new purpose. And I would guess that even after months or maybe years we will occasionally find a piece of dangerous debris that needs to be removed to protect our child or car tires from damage. And this to is what God does as we mature. His continual care to clean up our life and attitudes is really an act of care for ourselves and others so we further fit His purpose and don't hurt others along the way.

I love it when God reveals wonder from the mundane.

House Progress

2009-11-08T15:52:00.001-08:00

I have yet to put up vacation pictures -- hold tight for those. But here are some pictures of our updated house!! The guys are working hard on it this weekend with the siding. Dad and mom came down and so there has been much progress with the siding with Doug, Ryan and Dad. We have also had great grandparent time, some shopping, went to church, ate a lot and just hung out!!

Catch Up

2009-11-05T08:07:00.000-08:00

The picture with the orange sweater is from our 4th anniversary. Bonnie took a few but I by accident deleted the others while on vacation. The house pictures are from about 10 days ago - we now have shingles on the roof and cement in the garage floor and a cement front patio. I cannot find the newest pictures. The other pictures are some vacation pictures. As you can tell Cadence played hard and slept well in AZ. It was so great to see family and friends and just relax. We had a wonderful time catching up with everyone and eating at our favorite places. Cadence slept in until 10:30 AM the morning we got home. CRAZY! The picture from the back of the house doesn't have all the windows cut out yet. The windows go in tomorrow and then my dad and Ryan and his dad will be working on siding this weekend. Anyone want to help??? :) It is going up pretty fast - yesterday we had some concrete guys there, AC guys , roofers, cabinet guy and Ryan was working on some things as well. Well, I am going to see if Cadence will lay down for 2 naps today --- we will see.

Things We Do

2009-10-23T08:03:00.000-07:00

Here are some funny things that Cadence has done lately. I am trying to teach her to feed herself. The yogurt was a Sunday - not the smartest morning to start letting a 16 month old feed herself... The others are just funny things I have caught her doing. Speaking of -- I don't see her right now so I should go look.

Happy 4th Anniversary

2009-10-22T15:54:00.000-07:00

I tried to dig up pictures from around each anniversary. Apparently we have not been in a picture together since Cadence was born...hahahaha. It took a bit but I found one from "Pumpkin Day" that the Tammany's took for us last October in Arizona. Maybe tonight before we leave for the night that Ryan planned we will take a picture. I am very excited to go out tonight, maybe will get crazy and go get coffee after 10:00 AM :). It feels like a long time since we had a date. The four years has gone by really fast but we have already grown a lot together and as individuals. I wouldn't change the journey for anything. May God bless the next year as we grown in Him. Oh yeah, the first year was the wedding (duh), the second picture was our first anniversary trip to Boston, the third is from July of 2007 (the baby is Lauren our niece) but we apparently didn't get in a picture together in the fall..., the fourth picture is from AZ last fall.

Happy Anniversary

2009-10-20T07:08:00.000-07:00

My parent's are celebrating their anniversary today - 36 years! Thirty-six years of joy, challenge, heartbreak, floods, triumph, tears, laughter, kids, moving, staying, farming, jobs, vacations, babies, sports, hunting seasons, planning, hospital stays, pets, toddlers, friends, teenagers, ER visits, graduations, a granddaughter and the foundation of it all is love rooted in Christ our Savior. They have been and will continue to be an example for Ryan and I as we grow in our marriage. I hope and pray they have a beautiful day and enjoy each other's company as they continue on into another year that is sure to be packed with new adventure.

Baby, It's Cold Outside

2009-10-16T11:46:00.000-07:00

I guess it has been awhile since I blogged -

An update would be that we are down with the rough-in plumbing and now the basement floor is almost ready to be put in! We are currently trying to decide what the siding will look like - hopefully, we decide soon. We are more than excited to see the framing happen - then it will look like a real house :). This picture was from when we took mom out to see the foundation and it was very cold out. I didn't have enough clothing for Cadence, yes she is wearing a sun hat and my jacket over her jacket. It has been unusually cold here for the fall, we haven't really had too much of that in between weather that is so nice in fall. And the news just talked about how record rain years in the past have had record snow fall!!! HAHAHAHA, I love snow so that is good for me - bad for building a house. Well, maybe not, I have never built a house but it just means more mud/snow/water tracked through the house. I had other things that I was going to blog about - cleaver things - but I have forgotten. I guess I should keep a notebook with me - or just blog more often.

Pumkin Farm

2009-10-08T11:03:00.000-07:00

Cadence really liked to run around at the pumkin farm. It was fun to watch her actually like the kiddie fun parts. The other picture is of her and her best friend, Piper.

First of Many Fall Posts

2009-10-03T12:58:00.000-07:00

Fall is my favorite - well, really I like the change is seasons. We had a fall family fun day with our church for the youth pastor who is moving to Africa with his family to do missions work. We too full advantage of the photo opportunities. There will be more to come - like on of us riding a horse and one with her getting her face painted. But those are on a friend's camera. Since you can tell from the first picture she is not so thrilled to be sitting in the face chair alone!! :) Pictures 2-4 illustrate how a toddler thinks you should approach a kid - first you point and yell, then you get closer, lower and yell louder while pointing then you finally get up the nerve to touch, of course while still yelling. Come to think of it - I am not even sure that she actually touched this little kid she might have stopped an inch short of it. But one thing is for sure, goats take much abuse.

Visiting Dad

2009-09-30T19:21:00.000-07:00

Picture Catch Up

2009-09-30T19:16:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pictures from the last week. Also there are pictures of our house that was started today!! The foundation was dug out (is that correct grammar...???) and the driveway was put in place. I am sure there will be more pictures to come!!

More From the Parenting Session

2009-09-30T19:04:00.001-07:00

These are too funny not to share!!
"Definition Makeovers for Mothers of Preschoolers"

Birth Control: play group at your house with six of your friends and all of their kids.

Birthmark: those annoyances that mark the fact that you have given birth (sagging and / or loss of breasts, varicose veins, stretch marks and failure to remember anything).

Birth Weight: what the scale registered before you had children, which your scale may never see again.

Diaper Wipes: wet, soapy cloths used for cleaning counter tops, dusting furniture, wiping down the inside of cars and making dirty sneakers clean (do not use of mirrors or windows).

Hotel: foreign word, definition unknown.

Night Waking: a symptom that develops in every mother from the first moment you step into your home with a newborn and usually ends once the child moves out of your house.

Quiet Time: the moment of time you realize that your toddlers have been quiet too long and you then discover they have been up to no good (sticking feminine pads all of the bathroom walls and cupboards or attempting to apply mascara to the baby).

Romance: falling asleep on the couch with your husband while watching a rented movie and sharing a bowl of popcorn (usually around 8:30 p.m.).

Rotting Reflex: when the dark hair roots on your head begin appearing more quickly than you remember and have taken on a much grayer tone.

Soft Spot: eyeing you pillow with wishful thinking at 3 p.m.

Time Out: girls' night, frosted brownies, blogs, cheese fries, lattes, date nights, shopping, magazines, Mops, and anything else that helps your brain refocus.

I thought these were too cute not to share, thanks Kirsten!

Originally from Christianity Today.com (Jan/Feb 2006)

Parent's Prayer

2009-09-30T18:50:00.000-07:00

At the ladies retreat with church I had a wonderful breakout session on purposeful parenting given by my friend Kirsten. Here are a few things that I learned and / or really liked.

Parent's Prayers
from Parenting with Kingdom Purpose

Day 1 - Salvation (Isa 45:8)
Day 2 - Growth in Grace (2 Pt. 3:18)
Day 4 - Honesty and Integrity (Ps. 25:25)
Day 5 - Self Control (1 Thess. 5:6)
Day 6 - A Love of God's Word (Ps. 19:10)
Day 7 - Justice (Mic. 6:8)
Day 8 - Mercy (Luke 6:36)
Day 9 - Respect (1 Pt.2:17)
Day 10 - Strong Biblical Self-esteem (Eph. 2:10)
Day 11 - Faithfulness (Prov. 3:3)
Day 12 - A Passion for God (Ps. 63:8)
Day 13 - Responsibility (Gal. 6:5)
Day 14 - Kindness (1 Thess. 5:15)
Day 15 - Generosity (1 Tim. 6:18-19)
Day 16 - Peace, Peaceability (Rom. 14:19)
Day 17 - Hope (Rome 15:13)
Day 18 - Perseverance (Heb. 12:1)
Day 19 - Humility (Titus 3:2)
Day 20 - Compassion (Col. 3:12)
Day 21 - Prayerfulness (Eph. 6:18)
Day 22 - Contentment (Phil. 4:12-13)
Day 23 - Faith (Luke 17:5-6; Heb. 11:1-40)
Day 24 - A Servant Heart (Eph. 6:7)
Day 25 - Purity (Ps. 51:10)
Day 26 - Willingness and Ability to Work Hard (Col. 3:23)
Day 27 - Self-discipline (Prov. 1:3)
Day 28 - Heart for Missions (Ps. 96:3)
Day 29 - Joy (1 Thess. 1:6)
Day 30 - Courage (Deut. 31:6)
The book left off a Day 31 so I grabbed this one from another similar list -
Day 31 - Enlightened Hearts (Eph. 1:18)

Of course this list would be / could be different depending on what you believe God wants for your child but wouldn't it be a great habit to pray that our children would have Christ-likeness every day of the month?!

More to come in a different post - this one got pretty long!!

Camera Found

2009-09-17T15:28:00.000-07:00

But I have yet to take any new pictures. I am just writing to say that I haven't written in a while. I have decided that this fall is going to be great. HAHAHAHA do you like the attempt at directing my life attitude? The weather is turning into a wonderful blend of summer and early fall, the evenings are getting more cozy (read: shorter thus we stay inside earlier) and I can almost taste JEAN season. On a side note - jean season is a good thing because I just discovered a hole in my capris that I wear all the time - in the crotch to boot! Also I started up B.SF again - wahoo and regular time with ladies who love the Lord! We are studying John, which I have never done before.

So in light of the coming fall I have made some fall resolutions:

Evening walks
Some sort of date night with Ryan once a week (preferably not costing money - since we might start building our house as early as the end of this month)
No more pop! (I slip in and out of this one but I need to get rid of it out of my life)
Cook more at home (this seems to directly coincide with how much pop I drink - no restaurants = no pop, hmmmm)

I think I will stop there - I need to leave something for December 31st.

I am going to go play with Cadence now. She just got up and is in a very festive mood.

Lost Camera

2009-09-09T12:05:00.000-07:00

We lost the camera momentarily so don't expect any really cute pictures on this post. I wanted to post another funny or not so funny random thoughts post.
Here goes:

Things I should do more often but do not:

Clip my baby's nails
Stop what I am doing and snuggle with Cadence
Go to bed about 10pm
Go camping
Clean the toilets
Clean the kitchen floor
Bake homemade chocolate cookies
Write an encouraging note to a friend
Study the Bible

Things I do alot but should do less of:

Face.book
Blogging
Anything online
TV
Gossip
Worry
Try to plan the future
Be grumpy
and there are more but I am not a tell-ALL kind of girl just a tell-some girl.

The Zoo

2009-08-31T10:21:00.000-07:00

Ryan, Cadence and I met my parents in Omaha for a quick (30 some hours) trip to go the the zoo! It was so much fun. We wen to a zoo in June and Cadence just wasn't that interested but this time she loved it! She wasn't so sure about the petting zoo part the goats were a little friendly but the rest she really liked. It was so nice to see and hang out with my parents even if it was for just a little bit. Now I am trying to catch up with laundry and such. Who really wants to do house work when you can pretend you are still on vacation :).

Clothes

2009-08-21T09:47:00.000-07:00

This is the onsie my mom and dad brought Cadence from Alaska - when she was about 10 weeks old! I think they went around this exact time last August! At the time the onsie was as long as she was! Now it fits - I cannot believe how big she is getting. Her hair is getting quite a bit longer - it is up in a piggy in these pictures but you cannot see it since it is so light.

She was this size when they gave her the onsie.

Walking and Talking

2009-08-21T07:24:00.000-07:00

I realize that this video is the wrong way - I don't have a video editor on the computer. I would have shot another video but at the end she says Grandma and Grandpa so I had to post it!!!

Butterfly Festival

2009-08-18T09:16:00.000-07:00

A luna moth.

When these opened up they were sapphire blue!!! But I didn't get a full open picture. They were too fast.

With her handcrafted caterpillar hat.

Candence and her Grandma Bonnie on Bonnie's birthday.

We went to a local butterfly festival at a really pretty garden park. It was really neat and I think that Cadence really liked running around in the flowers. Of course I loaded these backward - again. So the sleeping picture is at the end of the day. She did get her very first skinned knee from trying to climb the steps at the gardens. The other pictures are from through out the day. The picture with the diaper pod and her caterpillar hat is when she is looking for more graham crackers.

Self Feeding

2009-08-12T18:49:00.000-07:00

The other day I heard the sound of nothing - which means go look for your toddler daughter. And when I looked in the kitchen I found her feeding herself the yogurt that she did NOT want for breakfast. It was really cute. We have worked on the spoon to mouth but not all by herself. As you can tell she was very pleased with herself. I did take a video - so we will see if it loads.

Randomness on a Sunday

2009-08-09T12:56:00.001-07:00

I was having a lot of random thoughts during this really-hot-stuck-inside-Ryan-worked-most-of-the-weekend weekend. Here are some for you all to enjoy.

*Older people like babies. Most babies like older people. Do you think it is because even though there is a 70 year spread in age - they don't know. Babies don't know that older people are "out of the loop", or from a different generation, or slow drivers or "in the way" or whatever else we "regular aged people" seem to think about the older generation. Personally, I think it is refreshing to talk to someone who is not obsessed with Hollywood, Facebook, or what their cell phone can do. I find it unreal to listen to how a vacation home that would fit 2 full families cost $200 a week in Aspen back in the 1950's. I like that they would never pay $3000 on a vacation home for a week. It is nice to have people who still pay in cash - and only get what they can afford. It is very sobering to hear women in their 70's and 80's talk about how fast the time goes and how it feels like yesterday that they were in my shoes, young and with a toddler. I have heard it from grandparents, friend's grandparents, women at my church and even women at shoe stores. It serves as a reminder to ENJOY these early days of our family and to cherish every fun, new and trying thing Cadence does.

*I got Cadence these really cute shoes. They were very expensive but I got a GREAT sale. I sprayed protective coating on them so they would stay nice and white. I talked to Cadence about how fun and new and sparkly and special they were. She wore them last night to a birthday party - and promptly sat in the dirt and started playing! So when I got home and put her to bed I took a wash cloth and tried to get all the dirt out so they would look clean and new again. That got me thinking (randomly of course) about how we store the wrong things close to our hearts. So much of the time, I am impressed by the things in life. The new and shiny "things" - but it is the tried and true things that matter - God, family, friends, health, marriage - not things. In one hundred years - no, not even in 25 years is anyone going to remember my new P.uma shoes - but they will remember how I treated my husband and child. They will talk about my relationship with Christ, or at least I hope that Christ makes and impression through my life. They might even talk about my friendships or if I was a life long exerciser, but not my P.umas. So I was thinking, I should spend more time spraying "protective coating" and wiping clean the things that matter in my life and quite worrying about the things that don't. Food for thought.

*I also put some thought into what I like about life: (Really don't know why, but it has been really hot here and Cadence has been taking long naps - so I have had a lot of time on my hands)

Laffy Taffy (thank you Amie for having a pinata at Ethan's party)

Baby belly laughs

Pregnancy announcements (no, I am not making one, I just like that excitement and happiness)

Being outside

The Olympics

Mexican Food

Breakfast with friends and family - something nice about starting the day with leisurely quality time and good food

Vacations

Clean new sheets

Fall

Spring

Winter

Summer - ok, I like the change in seasons! Fall in the fav though.

Memories

Hopes of future memories

Holidays - especially Thanksgiving through CHRISTMAS!

Um, that is all I can remember. As you can tell we have been inside for a lot of hours. But don't worry - the chores are all caught up also :).

To end this random post - a random picture. My cousin did this on her blog and it was pretty funny. Let's see what happens. Ok, my aren't that funny, but I did randomly select them. At least they are adorable.

Falling on the Floor Laughing

2009-08-01T15:23:00.000-07:00

This is cute! Hope you enjoy!

Catching Up is Fun to Do

2009-08-01T15:07:00.000-07:00

Lauren and Cadence at the water park. It was a little chilly in the kiddie area but the little ones didn't seem to notice.

I think she is trying to push him in the pond - in her defense it was down hill toward the pond.

Cadence has finally started playing with these great garage sale finds.

2009

2007

We did a lot these past few weeks. It was a ton of fun to have Ryan's sister in town and her family. Her hubby could only be in town for a few days and then back to training for his new job. It was really fun to see Cadence interact with her cousins. I think she really wanted to keep up with them because while they were here she stopped crawling and now only WALKS! And also she has really started to "talk" a lot more. Most of the time the words are not really understandable but they are super cute. We did take our annual cousin picture and they are really cute. I will put one up from last time we took them and see the comparison - well, the last time we took them was in 2007 so not exactly "annual". Hey, we did blue that time also...maybe we will have to suggest a different color next year. We fished and had picnics, went to the water park and did a lot of hanging out outside. The weather was really nice, we had a few HOT humid days but overall it was more like September weather than late July.

In other news, Ryan and I are in a church co-ed softball league now. Hmmmm, games start next Monday so we will have to see about that. I haven't played officially for over about 10 years. Wow, that is a startling number. It will be fun and we are playing with some of our good friends so it will be ever better. I am sure there will be some humorous stories to tell. And if you are lucky some pictures.

Horses

2009-07-20T19:36:00.000-07:00

I don't know why I am making this face - I am making it in three different pictures. So I posted the least ugly of the three. No really they are pretty ugly.

The Baggo game that Ryan made. Amy and I painted and then we all played!!!

Cadence loved being on the horses. She signed for "more" when Amy asked if she wanted off or more. She was holding on to the saddle horn and rocking back and forth.

Ryan on Sundae.

This was her first time on a horse. Then after this Bonnie, Amy AND Ryan gave her rides. Her and Lauren loved being on the horses. It was a very pleasant day and cool enough that the horses didn't get too tired.

Hair Things

2009-07-20T19:30:00.000-07:00

I was looking for a birthday gift for my 9 year old nephew when I came across the fishing gear. I had just bought more hair things for Cadence at T.arget. Last time I had hair things I just put them in baggies. Which was fine expect all the colors ran together and it was a little messy. I had a stroke of brilliance when it came to organization (doesn't happen that often) - why not a small tackle box!!! For $ 3.50 I would say it was a bargain!

And this is what we use them for - her first back of the head pony tail!!!!!!

Funny Story

2009-07-15T07:12:00.000-07:00

Cadence has started saying "no". Not usually in an angry way or anything - just saying it a lot. Sometimes it is in context other times it is not (as far as I know). I was dressing her a couple of evenings ago and she started shaking her head and saying "no nono no nooo" and I just smiled and said "yes yes yesyes yeeesss". I picked her up to go out to the living room and noticed the both of her legs were in the same leg hole. Maybe her words are more in context than I think.

Other words she says:

baby

mama

dada

pipuuuur (piper one of our dogs)

puppy

Signs she uses:

more please

please

eat

thank you

drink (which looks a lot like eat)

all done

milk

Shoe Update

2009-07-15T07:10:00.000-07:00

These jellies are from my sister, Summer, Cadence got them for her first birthday (among other really cute clothing - Aunt Summer like to shop for baby girl stuff :).

The Zoo

2009-07-15T07:00:00.000-07:00

This is a "tickle - tickle" picture :). Ethan and Blake really like to tickle Cadence.

ooOOOoo, Aislynn really liked the zoo.

This was not taken at the zoo - it is our living room and just because we have 2 dogs and a little bit of a mess sometimes it does not make us a zoo.

Kira and Aislynn looking at the lions.

Time to Post

2009-07-05T19:51:00.001-07:00

We had friends and family in town for the last week. It was a great time of catching up and hanging out. Here are some snapshots of our adventures. Apparently, my other pictures are on the laptop and so I cannot access them right now. Cadence enjoyed her SECOND fourth of July, it is crazy to think we are on to her second round of holidays already. I forgot my camera - so again you will have to trust me that she liked the fireworks - she kept saying "oooOOoooo". She took 2 different sets of 12 steps today. She is really tickled with herself when she walks. She really enjoys playing with our dog Piper and Piper is glad to be petted so it works out for both of them. She really likes to feed herself and enjoys fruit, veggies, deli meat, crackers, cheese and many other things.

Father's Day

2009-06-21T20:14:00.001-07:00

I thought it would be fun to say some of the things I love about Ryan on this father's day.

When someone is not feeling well Ryan asks three questions:

1) When was the last time *you* ate something?

2) When was the last time *you* went to the bathroom?

3) Did you get enough to drink today?

As if anything wrong can be fixed by these three things. Maybe he is on to something.

I love the way he can make Cadence smile and have a laughing fit. I love the way he is so fun to be around. He plays hard but always takes care of business. I appreciate how laid back he can be. He will constantly tell me to "not worry about it until it happens". Good advice. He really enjoys life and loves to try new things. He is a wonderful father!

Family Photo Shoot

2009-06-21T19:49:00.000-07:00

Okay the first is not from the photo shoot. It was just cute of my sister and Cadence wearing her glasses. She kept them on for awhile - she kept looking around. It was really cute.

Here is Grandad with the guys.

All the girls and Grandma.

My family - don't we look shnazy.

Ryan just wanted to get in one more photo!

All the grandkids - someone Ryan got out of this one...

The whole family - on Mom's side.

More Vacation Shots

2009-06-21T19:23:00.000-07:00

We went to Honey Creek Resort in SE Iowa this last week. It was to celebrate all the 2009 milestones - my Gdad's 80 bday, my Gma's 75th bday, my sister's 30th, Cadence's 1st AND my Grandparent's 60th wedding anniversary. It was great, we had some issues with the boat and then it rained and stormed the day we were supposed to go on the boat so we didn't get to see too much of the lake. We did enjoy a lot of games - even a "Corn Hole" tournament. The indoor water park was fun and Cadence loved it! She cried when we took her out of the water. In case you are wondering, my swimsuit was fine. Not as great as I had hoped for, only because it was bigger when wet than when it was dry. Note to all you swim shoppers out there -- make sure it will fit when wet!! Here are some snapshots from the week.

More Birthday

2009-06-21T19:15:00.000-07:00

This time Cadence knew what to do with the birthday thing. My brother and his girlfriend helped decorate the cupcakes. The party took place at 8:45 pm but as you can tell Cadence was a champ, I guess cake, frosting, gifts and attention bring out the best in her :).

Sugar High

2009-06-14T21:32:00.000-07:00

This is Cadence high on sugar. She was hilarious. Then later she just relaxed her whole body and her little head fell to the side. Ah, the horrors of sugar.
I think Andrew had a lot of sugar also. Hopefully, you can hear her over the four wheeler and Andrew screaming.

A Birthday Party in Rewind

2009-06-14T21:16:00.000-07:00

Like always - I loaded these in the wrong order. The first is of Ryan swimming with the kids in the pond - he said the water was cool but not bad. Like any pond it was SLIMY!!!

This is Cadence opening some gifts. She still had her shirt off from eating cake.

Gpa and Gma Laux - in front of the pond. As you can tell Cadence was very excited for the cupcake and not that concerned with the picture.

Ryan letting Cadence eat the cupcake.

Here is some of the party kids. Notice the two babies are eating frosting already!!

Here is Cadence in her birthday hat that I made. She was eating frosting and nobody really even realized it!!

Caleb and Cadence were confined to the play pin at first. Then they got to get out and play.

I had just finished the cake and she was heading right towards it - at a fast rate if you can tell. :)

Tomorrow is her real birthday and she will be doing who knows what with us but today everyone was off and so we got together. In a few days we will be having another b-day party with my side of the family. So stay tuned for more pictures :).

Peek-a-Boo

2009-06-12T20:46:00.000-07:00

This video is really cute and she is playing Peek-a-Boo, which she had never done before and we have played it but never "taught" her. I guess you really do need to watch what you do around your kids!!

Summer Fun

2009-06-12T20:34:00.000-07:00

We went to a park with some friends of ours tonight. There was a lot to do! Well, more for Cadence when she can walk. But Ryan was more than happy to help her climb and look at the geese. It was a lot of fun.

Piper has gotten a lot better with Cadence. She will lay there and let her "pet" her. Mostly that consists of Cadence whacking her and then she laughs. Someday these two will be good friends.

I have never gotten a sleeping picture of Cadence. She sleeps in a lot of cute positions but the other day I took this - yes, those are boy hand-me-down pjs.

This Story is Not for the Men Who Might Be Reading This Blog

2009-06-05T14:24:00.001-07:00

I will start out mild since a man might be reading this because he didn't see the title. I have been on the hunt for a swimsuit for about 4 weeks now. I cannot go to the mall everyday (and wouldn't want to) so I have been going on average about once every 10 days. We have a family get together that is based around a lake and water park coming up in about 2 weeks. My swimsuit (which I have had for about 3 years) doesn't flatter me quite like it used to - enough said. So today my last hope in the world for finding a swimming suit that is approved and appropriate for a nursing, conservative mom was a speciality bra shop here in town. I had avoided this place in the past because of the price of their swimsuits (about $90 and up). But when I shopped at the mall the prices were the same! This shop will custom fit and alter the top (and probably the bottoms) so they support and lift. ***Not for the men*** This shop is not a browse and look type place, you usually make an appointment and then a sales lady walks around with you and holds things, suggests things, and then helps you try things on. Yes, they help you which is a good thing - a correctly fitting bra is very hard to get in and out of. As a result of this type of shopping you are forced to act like your sales lady is closer than your best friend because they have no problem with being in the changing room the WHOLE time. So in preparation for this I wore "regular" (read no thong) underwear, of course my cute normal looking regular undies were in the wash ... need I say more. Luckily (for the sales lady) they don't treat a swimsuit like a bra fitting. I just asked her to help when needed and the rest of the time she stayed outside my room. I went in to look at a pink/brown tankini but ended up with a navy/white polka dot with red trim tankini. Very good choice - plus it has a built in underwire bra with lift and supports - so I feel a lot better about being in a suit. But even more fun than finding a suit is shopping where you can hear this conversation in the next fitting room:

Sales Lady: Ok, so lift up the girls so I can get a correct measurement around your chest.

Customer: Silence (I am assuming the lifting is going on)

Sales Lady: Now, when a bra fits correctly the girls are fully supported from the band not the straps... (and she went on the explain the whole deal with a correct fitting bra) blah blah the girls blah blah the girls.

Tiffany: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA (Silently)

Cadence: BLahklfjeniwanckvhuas (or whatever baby's language looks like typed out) - and she was NOT silent

All in all a good day. Now I am going to watch a chick flick (Ryan is at work and Cadydid is in bed).

SUMMER!!

2009-06-02T08:48:00.000-07:00

We played in my sister-in-law's little splash pool yesterday. It was a lot of fun. Cadence looked adorable in her suit - she didn't quite know what to think about it. Ryan did a bunch of working outside and you can see the dirt as evidence :).

This picture is one of my favorites ever taken of Ryan and Cadence. She was laughing at her cousin Andrew who was dancing like a crazy person. Do you like the two piggy tails?? (ok, they are little piglet tails...)

Here she is testing the water. Cadence wasn't quite sure but really did warm up to it. It helped that Caleb (cousin) was in and out and splashing and floating and showing her what to do.

Before getting in the pool.

Reading in her crib while I get ready. She is really into books right now.

Spring has Sprung

2009-05-26T18:55:00.000-07:00

Here are the pictures we took in early May. As you can tell Cadence was thrilled to be in pictures with us - haha. At least she did well with her individual shots. OH YEAH - Cadence has her first tooth!!! And it looks like she will have 5 others really soon. She also prefers to cruise rather than crawling, she is getting very good at going between the couch and the chair without wobbling. She is also very fast at crawling and really likes to copy what ever actions you do. Cadence looks like she is trying to do some signs back to me - or that could be wishful thinking, either way, very exciting things happening around here.

New Trick

2009-05-20T14:08:00.000-07:00

Cadence has found out how much fun laundry is. Her version is pulling all the clothes out of the laundry (drawers, dirty clothes basket, bags etc.) she throws them over her shoulders with much gusto. I will try to load the video. The bottom picture is of Cadence trying to get into the dog corner. She really wants to be in there.

Front Door Fun

2009-05-20T14:00:00.000-07:00

I was pulling weeds from the flower bed in front of our home and Cadence was looking out the door. She didn't know I was there and was very pleasantly surprised when I came over to talk to her. Now (it has been almost a week since these pictures) she loves to look out the door all the time :). Cadence also would put her hand were I put mine - CUTE!

Mother's Day 2009

2009-05-12T12:09:00.001-07:00

This is Ryan, Cadence and I at lunch on Mother's Day. Then Doug and Bonnie jumped in for a snapshot!

This is Cadence and I at the Mother's Day picnic. I have other pictures but I do not know how to download them off our video camera!

Baby's Best Friend

2009-05-12T12:02:00.000-07:00

Cadence has discovered the dogs - more important to her is the one corner of the whole house that is off limits to her! She loves the "dog corner"! In fact, many minutes of her day are spent looking in and trying to figure out what is so great that is going on in there - usually the dogs are not even in there when she is staring.

Right before I took this picture I had stepped on the dog food and spilled it everywhere. At least I cleaned the bathrooms and showers today! Does that make up for the dog mess?

Please, Tell Me the Couch is Shrinking!

2009-05-12T11:55:00.000-07:00

I know this one is sideways but I cannot figure out how to flip it and since it is already posted...

The one on the top is a few weeks old, the one below is at about three months and the bottom was was taken in May so about 11 months old. I cannot believe how little she is but when I look back she was tiny then!

A Cute Shoe

2009-05-12T11:54:00.001-07:00

Cadence was crawling away during this picture - so at least the shoe was in the middle of the frame, mostly.

Ode to Joyful Mothering

2009-05-09T15:04:00.000-07:00

This post is made of up situations of myself and mothers I know - the names have been omitted just for fun and sometimes I forget what happened to who.

Moms are the only people who can:

keep a straight face when their small child asks a totally innocent question about anatomy such as "when is sister going to grow her..." or "why don't you have a ... like daddy?"
not be embarrassed when they are in public and figure out that they have (baby) snot on their shirt
can drink caffeine and still go to sleep by 10:00 maybe 9:00
can get 2 kids and themselves ready for church and still somehow beat their husbands to the car
take a 15 minute shower alone and feel like they have been to a spa!
see a flash of something in an infant's hand and grab it before it gets in the mouth (most of the time)
talk on the phone, drive and hand something to a child in the backseat all at the same time (not recommended if you are a distracted driver already hahaha)
think that going to the bathroom alone is a luxury
laugh uncontrollably at something a small child says that to most people wouldn't think was that funny (it must be the stress of the job that has gotten to us or maybe the long hours :)
convince a wiggly toddler to sit in the carseat - enough said (kids are strangely strong!)
listen to a "kiddie" CD for a long car ride - just to keep the wailing down (have you heard those CDs???)
have their hearts piratically stop when a medial situation comes up and your child is ill - but all the while stay strong for the family and take care of business
make breast milk (that is a super power right??)
get up at 6:30 AM to garage sale just to get a good deal on a few toys to save the family money even though we want to sleep until at least 7:30 :) but at least we get to have coffee, time with good friends and get out in the fresh air
can name every baby food their baby has tried and if they liked it or not - but somehow cannot remember how to create a P.ower Point presentation (even though I have done it since college - I got it figured out but it took a while.)
work all year long 24 hours a day and have only one day off (hopefully, Mother's Day) but would never never change "jobs" not for all the time off in the world :)

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY to all the moms I know - you in some way have all influenced me. I hope you all have a relaxing and wonderful day, you all deserve it! :) HECK - take a 20 minute shower!!!

Weekend Update

2009-05-04T09:17:00.000-07:00

Cadence's new thing is to pull up on stuff and she started cruising on Sunday. It is really cute and a little bizarre to see her standing - it makes her look so much bigger!

She also likes to shake her head a lot which makes it hard to get a clear picture!

Cadence also drums on everything and is starting to copy us on actions not just sounds. In fact, she says "t" when I say that is hot (referring to food not a Paris Hilton type statement). And "d" when I talk about the dogs. Not that I think she is brilliant or anything...

Also, we think that her eyes are the "Laux part" of her looks. I was flipping through the camera and wondered out a picture of Lauren got on the card (whom we have not seen since October)- really, I get enough sleep it was just that the picture looks so much like our niece.

Not Me Mondays

2009-05-04T09:06:00.000-07:00

I usually don't take time to share my stupid moments but these are too classic to not share!

I did not go to a fancy benefit dinner and meet someone new who had 8 children who were 28 years old down to 18 months and ask her if the last two were surprise babies. No, not me because that would be ridiculously rude and I never say things I don't mean to say. (In my defense, there was 10 years between the last of the oldest and the first of the youngest. And I happen to be married to a "surprise baby" and thus very fond of them. I also went on to explain my excitement over surprise babies but I digress...).

I did NOT feed my baby yogurt for 5 straight meals because I didn't make it to the store for a few days after her food ran out. No, I defiantly used the frozen veggies that I have stock piled in my little freezer for just such an occasion. Yes, that is what I did.

I defiantly did not contemplate celebrating my end of an intense workout program by going for ice cream or out to eat at my favorite restaurant. I would not do that after working super hard to lose weight for 4 months. In fact, I didn't even take a day off, I just went right into the maintenance program. Yes, I defiantly did. (I think I will just take a really long shower during her nap and shave my legs!! WAHOO, what a celebration!)

Ok, I think that is more than enough to say the least. I should go shower now to start my celebration day!!

Spring Adventures

2009-04-29T12:48:00.000-07:00

Here are a few things that we have been up to lately. Cadence now crawls on all fours all the time. She also love to "drive". One new toy from our garage sale adventures is a driving 3-1 toy and she goes nuts on it!! The picture on the top left is the of the spoils of garage saleing - mom and dad were here and we had a blast! We found really great deals. Those toys are Little People and mom got those two sets for $8! I bought the 3-1 toy and the puzzle and bulldozer. I also found a booster seat, high chair and some little things (like $.10 little swimmers). We ate at some fabulous places - like Oklahoma Joe's BBQ - it is in a gas station - I know, I know ~ I was worried about the quality of meat also but it was GREAT!!! Good job Ryan for finding that one! Matt and his girlfriend Tamara came down for a surprise visit and we hung out at Doug and Bonnie's land for awhile. Matt and Tamara had to stay and extra night because of the bad weather going on up in Iowa. My parents went home to find that their house had been barely missed by a tornado!!! Very crazy weekend. The stoller picture is of Caleb pushing Cadence at softball, he would push her and then stop and clap for himself and then push and clap and so on. Very cute. We also go family/Cadence spring pictures taken by our friend Antony - wait for those to be posted soon. :)