Christmas with the Lantz's

Well! I hope that everyone has had a very great Holiday Season so far! Ours has had it's ups and downs, but we have had a blast and we are looking forward to a new year filled with wonderful new experiences!

To start things off, thanks for all the birthday wishes! I had a great day topped with Brady's office Christmas Party at Lowery's (where I had to sing the Fa la la la la's with the Carolers...I think that everyone was pleasantly surprised when I could ACTUALLY sing...lol) and then a stay at the Red Rock Hotel that night. I had so much fun and it was nice to take a real bath with bubbles and such without a time limit!

Here is a picture of Cady in Christmas Dress #3:

Yeah she looks good in everything. I really didn't think the Lord was being literal when in my Patriarchal Blessing he said I would have "beautiful children." Apparently He meant just that. Cadence now has two MORE Christmas dresses to wear that she received as Christmas gifts. Don't worry I will post pictures of those as well. :o)

The Sunday before Christmas we had our Family Christmas Party with Brady's side of the family. We were totally SPOILED. Cady got the worst of the spoiling though. Here are a few pictures of the party.

Among all the loot was a kids size rolling luggage with Cadence's name on it (very handy now that her stuff won't fit in with mine anymore when we travel) a Hokey Poky Elmo (really very funny and even funnier is watching Cady try and do what he does) and a new baby doll complete with changes of clothes, diapers and bottles. She LOVED her new baby and when we asked her what her baby's name was she said "Kennedy like mommy." About made me cry it was so sweet.

Christmas came and at our house Cadence got a play dough play table and a baby play set complete with stroller, swing, diaper bag, play mat and a mini pack'and'play. At my aunts she got two more babies (the girl is in baby heaven) and the two new Christmas dresses. She was so excited to go everyone and see all the presents and then open them. She wasn't just excited for her presents either...she wanted to see what everyone got and exclaim "Oh how cute!" over everything. It was wonderful. All my Sib's where in town and it was great to see everyone. Avery was a huge hit with those family members that hadn't seen her yet (which was just about everyone). Here is a picture of Avery and Megan crashing out after all the present opening. Avery has really porked up. She was 6lbs 1oz at birth and now weights a hefty 10lbs.

After Christmas things have settled down a bit. Whitney and Cord headed home and Ryan, Megan and my mom left to go Camping with my uncles (mom has three brothers) and their families in Texas. Those of us left at the house are trying to get things cleaned up and find homes for all the new stuff. This morning we had another surprise...

We weren't exactly trying, but were weren't NOT trying if that makes any sense. We are so excited and figure that my due date is sometime around September 8th or 9th. Yes I took two tests. That is one less than I took when I got a positive with Cadence. The first one is just so unreal to me that I take two just to make sure. I know. I have issues. :o) But we are very excited. According to the Pencil Test we are having another girl (followed by three boys). If you would like more information on the Pencil Test let me know. I would be happy to explain and even conduct it on all you females out there...so far it hasn't been wrong. :o) So any ideas on girls names (heck we will take boys names too) send them my way. We were fresh out after Cady.

Anyway, hope that everyone has a happy new year!

Avery's Blessing

Last Sunday Cadence and I had the opportunity to visit my sister Whitney and her husband Cord. They also blessed their little girl that Sunday and it was wonderful to be able to attend that Sunday Service.

We drove up Friday and made it in really late and spent Saturday morning just sleeping in and catching up with Cord and Avery since Whitney had to work. Then we met up with Jeremy and Tiffani for the afternoon and we had a total blast catching up and meeting their adorable little boy Aiden! Jeremy, Tiffani, and Aiden also joined us for dinner at The California Pizza Kitchen (where my sister works). The food was fantastic and the company was even better! Thanks again Jeremy and Tiff for letting us take over your day! We had some much fun and we can't wait to do it again!

The next day we got ready for church and Cadence got to wear the second of her Christmas Dresses. She wouldn't look at the camera, but she looked super cute!

She actually posed with me in a picture too!

We made it to church on time and Cord did such a wonderful job with the Blessing! It is truly a wonderful thing to hear a blessing from father to child! I felt so honored to be there and share in that moment. Avery didn't even cry! :o) Cadence made it all the way through the passing of the Sacrament and then had a melt down. Once we were out in the hall she promptly fell asleep on me (something she hasn't done at church in a VERY long time). We had such an awesome weekend and I can't wait to visit again! Thanks to Whitney and Cord for letting us crash at your place again. :o) You guys are the best!

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!

Happy Halloween!

Last night was Ryan and Megan's Wedding party and it was an awesome turn out! So many people dressed up and it was all around a great deal of fun!

Tonight was a total blast as well! We went to the Trunk or Treat at the church (it was a 4 ward trunk or treat this year! So many kids!) and we decorated a car. When it came time to trick or treat Cadence was excited but didn't really get it until after the first ten or so cars. Then she just "got" it. We were practically running from car to car. She filled up her Hello Kitty treat bag pretty fast! Anyway here are some pictures of Cadence in her darling Pirate costume!

Yes, yes...I know...she is the cutest Pirate you've seen since Johnny Depp...lol...really though she had so much fun getting dressed up!

Here she is giving her Grandma Suzi kisses! She loves kisses and hugs!

And here is Cady with her buddy Kylee. Kylee is in my primary class and she and Cadence are very close. Cadence cries when Kylee has to go sit with her family in Sacrament Meeting. Anyway, Cadence had such a great time this year and I am really looking forward to next year when she might actually have an opinion about what she wants to wear! :o)

Pumkin Carving

We had some pumpkin carving fun tonight with Ryan and Megan, who are down visiting and getting ready for their All Hallows Eve Wedding Party! It is going to be a total blast, with everyone wearing costumes and a candy bar and just plain all around Halloween fun! Anyway, we carved three of the thirty or so pumpkins that we have for the party and had a great time! Cadence really didn't know what we were doing, but she was having fun watching for a while. When she got bored she pulled out her orange crayons and helped us "color" our pumpkins. She was really stoked when we lit them up though! I love Halloween. Next to Thanksgiving it is totally my favorite holiday. Here are some pictures of all the fun we had!

Here is Brady and Ryan cleaning out their pumpkins...

Here is all of us with the two that we finished before dinner...

This is Brady's throwing up pumpkin...

Here was Ryan's Spider pumpkin (which I actually carved, but he did all the dots for me)

And that one is my mummy. We had some serious fun taking the pictures at the end. I am so glad that I got a tripod and when we started taking them we didn't notice the reflection at first. Way fun!
We will be carving many more pumpkins in the next few days and I will try and post more as we get them! Hope everyone is having as much a blast getting ready for Halloween as we are!