The Bug

I often call Cadence Cady-Bug...mostly because she is always bugging me to do something. We stay very busy all day long until Cady goes down for her nap and then I am busy doing mom things that I can't get to when Cady is awake. I will sorely miss her nap times when she out grows them.

Anyway, Cadence had a rare morning where she wasn't bugging me to do something. She was sitting around in her Tinkerbell chair watching cartoons. Now, other than Winnie the Pooh, Cady doesn't watch that much TV, but I recently discovered that the Discovery Kids Channel play commercial free toddler/preschool aged shows in the morning. Cadence fell in love with a show called Peep and the Big Wide World (really funny show too, mostly because of a character called Quack, who is of course a duck). Also a big hit was the show right after Peep, called Hi-Five which has five young adults who sing songs and act out activities that are really fun for the 2-6 year age group. Both are very good and very clean shows and I enjoy making breakfast while she indulges. Cadence actually tries to talk about what happens in the shows too so i know that she is at least understanding most of what she is viewing and it is making her think.

This morning I snapped a few shots of her watching "her show" and came up with this gem of a picture!

I know! Total little model right? I had to stand on the couch to get this angle and then called her name. She looked up very briefly and then turned back to her show and told me "Mommy no joomping on dat couch!" lol. She likes to keep me in line.

Last Sunday Cadence got to wear one of her three, yes three, Christmas dresses. Don't ask. She loves them and would wear them every day (she picked out and then made gooey eyes at Grandma Viv and that is why we have two out of the three), but we have "church clothes rules" or at least I do and Cady hasn't really challenged me about it yet. :o) Here she is in her first dress of the Christmas season!

There was glitter ALL over ANYONE who touched her, but she loved it and looked so dang cute in her big girl dress! All three of her Christmas dresses are in size 3T so that they will reach past her knees. My girl is just way too tall for her age. Anyway, I will post some pictures next week of her in her next dress with her cousin Avery since they have matching dresses. Avery will be Blessed this weekend and Cadence is so excited to go visit. She keeps saying that she wants to hold HER baby again. It should be fun especially since we got that mini DVD player for the 5 and something hour drive to Arizona! Sadly Brady won't be able to join us in AZ for the Blessing, but he has assured me that the Christmas tree will be up when we get back!

We hope that you are all having a great start to the Christmas season!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Seeing as it was just Thanksgiving I thought I would share some things that I am deeply thankful for.

First and foremost I am thankful for my Savior and my Heavenly Father. Without their love and guidance in my life I don't know where I would be and I am so thankful to be where I am.

I am thankful for Brady and his love. He is such and amazing husband and father and I take that for granted way to often. He can make me feel like a million bucks even if I haven't had the chance to shower all day.

I am thankful for Cadence. She has taught me so much about myself and about my own parents. I understand them much better now. Cadence has such an adventurous spirit and she is always challenging me. I am learning to become the best version of myself because of her.

I am thankful for my parents. They have been so generous with us and there is no possible way that we could ever pay them back for everything that they have given and done for us. I am thankful that they don't expect us to (well, for the most part!). I am thankful for everything that they have taught me. They have given me a solid foundation from which to build my life and it has made things so much easier. I am so thankful for their continued love and support.

I am thankful for my In-laws. They are truly wonderful people who have raised some truly wonderful sons. I am so thankful that they have taken me into their family and treated me like one of their own. They are so flexible and very loving, most importantly with their granddaughters and they are fantastic examples to our family. I trust them as I trust my own parents and for that I will be forever grateful.

Lastly, I am thankful for the Internet that keeps me in touch with all my wonderful friends and family (and makes my Christmas shopping easier!).

We hope that you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Visiting Avery

Well it only took me two weeks, but I have worked though all the pictures of Avery! We had such a good time hanging out with Whitney and Cord and watching them learn to be the wonderful parents we knew they would be!

To start off, Avery was so tiny! She was 6lbs 1 oz when she was born and a bit smaller when they went home. But she was 20 inches long! She has this perfectly round head and the cutest little chin! Anyway to get a feel for how small she is here is a few pictures! The first one is of Cadence kissing her.

Despite her face in the above picture Cadence really did want to hold the baby. It was all she wanted to do the whole weekend. And she was so gentle! I was very impressed!

This one is one of my favorites! Avery was so fun to shoot! There are a bunch more pictures on my photo blog along with some of my other niece Saylor! Check them out and let me know what you think!