Babies Babies EVERYWHERE!

As many of you already know, my sister Whitney and her husband Cord are expecting a little girl sometime in November! I am so super stoked to be an Aunt again!

So more good news...my brother Ryan and his wife Megan (they just eloped in July!) texted me yesterday to let us know that they are pregnant as well! Seems like it is just baby heaven around here! Their baby will be due sometime next May or June. We are so excited for them and I am sure that they will make great parents! Ryan already thinks it will be a boy, but we will see about that. If anyone knows our family we tend to favor the girls! Here is a picture of Ryan and his wife Megan with Cadence...they will make very cute babies I am sure!

Brady and I both feel that it is getting close to time to try for another, but we would like to have a place of our own first (think four of us in one bedroom and I am sure you will understand) so we are planning on next year to add another little bundle of joy to the Lantz bunch!

In the mean time, I am taking boy or girl bets for my brother! :o)

Remember when it was called Pistol Pete's?

A few nights ago we had dinner with my brother-in-law, Colin, and his wife, Heather, and Cadence's two cousins, Saylor and Paisley. We ate at Peter Piper Pizza, which is actually a lot of fun since the kids get really wiped playing on all the toys! Here are some pictures of the girls that we took.

Everyone, this is Paisley. Paisley is almost 17 months old. Paisley is CRAZY. This child never stops moving. Ever. She loves to be the center of attention and she loves to PLAY! We love our P. In the picture above she kept making funny faces at me cause I was taking pictures. That and she was eating straight marinara sauce from the little cup it came in. That's our P! Forget the bread sticks! No pizza for me! Right to the good stuff!

This is Saylor. This is the only picture I got of her looking at me all night. She was much to busy for pictures and was having a grand time in the play place. Saylor recently cut off a big chunk of her own hair and then was very upset about it, because she could no longer be Ariel for Halloween. She informed me that Ariel had LONG hair and that since she cut her hair, her hair would be to short to be Ariel. It's complicated people! Saylor will be three in the beginning of November and is, obviously, the boss. Ask her, she will tell you.

Here is our Cadence, driving the Sponge Bob car. Fortunately for her (and us) she didn't know that we HADN'T put any tokens in the game. She was having a very good time pretending to drive. Cadence spent the night following her cousins around, telling Paisley "No!" and trying to do everything that Saylor can do. It is very good fun.
All in all we had a very good night! Oh and there is more good news! Heather informed me that Peter Piper Pizza also has a special during the day! Between 11am and 2pm you can get all you can eat pizza and salad bar for $3 and (the best part!) KIDS EAT FREE!!! So pretty much you are paying for just you. Can't beat that!

Smoky Days

Yesterday was a wonderful day for taking pictures! The smoke made for great light conditions, and since it didn't make it to 100 degrees we played out side for a good long time! Here are a couple of pictures from our shoot yesterday.

Cadence was a little mad that I wouldn't let her use the camera. But this shot came out lovely with Daddy in the background.

Cadence LOVES her slide. It was probably one of the best toy investments Grandma Viv has ever made. Most of our shots from yesterday were on the slide.
This shot was taken early in the evening as the sun was setting. We were just getting ready to leave for the UNLV Football game and Brady hollered for me to get my camera. You could actually LOOK at the sun and it was the coolest shade of orange/red because of the smoke! That and it looked so tiny!
I hope that the weather yesterday was a sign that it is going to start to cool down. I don't hold out much hope that it will, but it would be nice for the weather to feel a bit like fall, especially since I noticed that they have put up Christmas stuff already in Walmart. There is something so very wrong about hinting at Christmas when it is still hotter than hades outside.

The Bath vs. A Shower

Cadence no longer wants to take a bath. Tantrumville is arrived at very quickly should a bath be mentioned. This made me very sad because Cadence truly loves the water and I have a fondness for my daughter being clean. It just smells nice. I am sure that most of you will agree.
This past week she has developed a love for showers. How this happened I have a small inkling, but she LOVES the shower. I am okay with this. It gets us to the clean child state in much the same way that a bath does with one exception. I get soaked. Cadence has very little understanding of the purpose of a shower curtain and of course I do have to soap her up and wash her hair. Need I say more?
We believe that her love of the shower has come from none other than Brady and I. We only take showers. It's just faster, as most of you would agree. An occasional bath is wonderful, but the time and effort that a bath requires is something I rarely have. Cadence of course is ever observant of everything that we do and has decided that if mom and dad (and every other adult she knows) take showers then that means that she should too. She is a superb copy cat.
Part of me wonders if she will ever go back to baths. It feels kind of sad for them to be over so soon in her short life, but I am not one to welcome Tantrumville with arms opened wide. She will take a shower if she wants one.
My kid is just growing up way to fast. I miss my little baby. Maybe it really is time to have another one.

Cadence's 15 seconds of fame!

Cadence was on national television last night! We attended the UNLV Rebel football game against Wisconsin and the game was televised. In the middle of the first half Brady received a text from a co-worker (I actually think it was his boss but I am not certain) letting him know that he had seen Brady and Cadence on TV with the commentators saying something about Cadence being ready for the game. We came home and immediately checked to see if it was true (my dad, true fan that he is, taped the game even though we were going to see it live). THERE SHE WAS!! Brady too, but Cadence totally stole the show. She was all dolled up in her UNLV cheer outfit and looked adorable so I don't see how she could have NOT been on TV! It was totally awesome. Now all I have to do is get the video camera out and tape the TV recording of it so that we can make a DVD!

She was also on the mega tron (is that really what those things are called??) later in the game. She was sitting on the first step next to the front row and was just watching the game and the camera guy told us it was too cute to pass up! Everyone was cheering for her (even the Wisconsin fans that were sitting right next to us). It was such a fun night!

Cadence...smiles?

So it takes a lot of work to get our girl Cady to smile for the camera. I will follow her around for several days at a time saying things like, "Cady smile for mommy!" "Cady! I'm gonna tickle you!" "Cady if you don't smile I'm gonna..." You get the "picture" I am sure. Mostly what I get is pictures like this:

Sure she looks darn cute, but she would look infinitely cuter if she would just SMILE! Fortunately she has been very good about smiling when we are actually PAYING for the pictures so that counts for something.

Just the other day though she obliged me and our photo shoot came out like this:

YEAH! I KNOW! Adorable, cute, should be on TV, right? ***sigh*** I so wish that she would do this kind of thing all the time. As it is, she gave me about 15 shots to work with and they will be perfect for Christmas cards in case she never gives me anymore to work with!
She is turning into a regular little demon, and I mean that in the most loving way possible. She is talking in complete sentences though some of the words aren't all that recognizable. If we don't understand then she just takes us and shows us (all with a "you should know this by now" attitude). She has taken to screaming (yes I said screaming but this appears to be the standard decibel level for children this age) the word "No!" whenever she feels like it, which is just about all the time (especially in the car and at the dog who is, in her esteemed opinion, lower in the pecking order than she is). Her FAVORITE song is "If your happy and you know it" and she will demand that it be sung anytime she hears the word "happy." That and she wants you to skip the clap your hands part and go right to the stomp your feet part cause that is (obviously) the best part. She also has Brady melting at the word "Please."

But she is ours and we love her, because most of the time she is cuddly, sweet, helpful, and obliging. She is so independent and spirited. Our house is filled to the brim with her laughter and silliness. I wouldn't want her any other way, even when she is in demon girl mode, because then she wouldn't be Cadence and that would break my heart.

Grandpa "Buck"

Just this past week my grandfather passed away and yesterday was his funeral. My family was asked to provide the music and that meant so much to me. I sang "Goin' Home" to close out the service and managed to keep my tears in until after the closing prayer. I will miss my grandpa. He was a big bear of a man and he was always so sweet on his grand daughters. He was completely enamored with Cadence and could never get enough pictures. I am so glad that he was around to meet her. I am even more grateful that he and my grandma had finally made it to the temple to be sealed for time and all eternity before he was too sick to manage it. I got to be there when they were sealed not only to each other, but to their parents and their children. It was a day I never expected to happen while they were alive and I can honestly say it was one of the best days of my life.
I'll miss you grandpa and don't worry we will take good care of grandma until she is once again at your side.

This past week has brought home to me how very important it is to stay connected with those we love. I hope that this blog will help keep our little family in touch with those of you we love so much.