Good Ol' Utah!

For some reason, blogger isn't letting me move the pictures to where I want them, so you'll just have to bear with me on this. I can move the text around but I can't change the order of the pictures, which will make this post weird.
As you might have noticed, we had so much fun in Utah that we didn't have time to blog about it!

My parents and fam were so gracious to make room for our travelling circus for an entire month. Everybody sacrificed time to spend with the kids, to give me a nap here and there, let me sleep in, or just make the kids feel special. Since we were without Daddy for most of the time, I didn't have anybody to remind me to take pictures, so I don't have pictures of everything awesome that we did, but here are some great moments.

Above: the quilt my mom is helping me make for "Apple Dumplin'" (baby number three--Cadence named). It now has some really cute green borders/binding.
Below: Uh, I don't really have a caption for it...except this, "does anybody have a trick to get a three-year-old to stop picking her nose?"

Above: My mom was always coming up with creative ways to entertain the kids. One of the most exciting to Cadence was croquet. The evenings were so perfect for getting outside, and Cadence and Campbell both loved all the evenings spent out in the yard with the family.
Below: Cadence has a personal-hygiene moment with Aunt Mikee.

Above: I celebrated my 27th birthday while we were in Utah with my family. My mom helped Cadence make it a very special and exciting day, and this is the play-doh cake that Cadence made, including real candles! She was so proud of this creation.

Below: Campbell totally cracks herself up. There is no shortage of dress ups at my parents' place.

Above: Spencer got to be around for a week. I love that he takes a moment to play guitar for the kids. Campbell does, too.

Mom and dad recently decided to enhance their marriage.

Above: Grandpa actually let Cadence "drive" the "marriage enhancer"!

Below: I actually let Grandpa take Cadence for a ride in the 2-seater "marriage enhancer" (with a car seat, but still...)

How great is it that we got to see Mamaw and Gramps (Spencer's parents), too, and we didn't even have to go to LA? The girls loved spending time at the cabin with them and Uncle John. Above: hiking with Mamaw and Gramps to Stuart Falls.
Below: Cadence, Campbell, and cousin Zavian (about 18 months) after the two younger ones had gone for a ride behind Grandpa's bike.

Above: Grandpa taking Cadence and Campbell for one of many bike rides.
Below: While Pepper normally enjoys the ride, this setup was unacceptable to Campbell and therefore Pepper, too.

And there you have a little taste of our Utah trip. The girls loved it so much (as did I), although we did miss Daddy. It was especially fun to be there for long enough for them to really foster a long-lasting relationship with my parents and some of my siblings.

Again, thank you to my family who sacrificed a lot of space and time and sanity to let us stay for so long. Thank you especially to my mom, who not only sacrificed all of those things but really put a lot of effort into making each day special and being creative with entertaining the kids. It was really an inspiration to me!

The Utah Hiatus

I tried to do some play on words because, at least according the the way I spelled it, "hiatus" and "Utah" have such similarities.... but I got nothin.

Anyway, it's been a month since I've posted and I'm sure you are all dying to know where in the world we've been! But, as all Mormon-Mom-Bloggers know, you are allowed one "Utah Hiatus" from blogging, and that's what card I'm playing now. We've been in Utah for nearly a month and we will be here until Saturday, unless of course our apartment is not available yet, and then we'll be here for an extra week. So it will be another week or two until I really get back into my blogging groove. If you've been holding your breath, dear loyal readers, I would ask you not to. (Oh, and more importantly, that also means I'm behind on everybody else's blogs. and it's not that I don't care. I'll be back in the blogging community soon!)

But here's a little eye-candy for you in case you really do miss the girls:
One day we just happened to be at the mall with a half-hour to spare before a wedding dinner, and so we thought, hey, wouldn't it be great to get family pics done RIGHT NOW!?! So we went to Sears and didn't pay very much for pictures we didn't stress over very much, and it actually turned out a few keepers. I look at it and see that the girls dresses don't match and that my face could use some more serious making-up, but then I remember I didn't stress about it...ahhh, not a bad idea. Try it some time.

Quote of the Day

Cadence, upon finding herself enjoying her crayons and coloring books a great deal, exclaims:

"Whoa, I am just having a field day with my coloring!"

Where she got this, I know not.

Your Daily Dose of Cadence-isms

You know how you think you'll never forget some of the funny things they say... but then by the time your husband gets home from work you've forgotten? These may not be as funny to you, so deal with it :)

1. "Apparently". Another vocab word she has adopted. One day she used it in almost every sentence. "Uh, Mom, apparently I want a drink." or on the "phone": "Uh, hello, is this the apparently mail carrier .... blah blah".

2. She spends a lot of time pretending to be on the phone and when she is on the phone her conversations reveal so much about what I must sound like to her. It goes something like this: "Uh, hello, Robyn? (or Mamaw, or Audrey's Mom) Uh, hi. Yeah, I uh...you know...it's like the richenshtacken parablonen when I go der with my car cause...uh, yeeeaaah......well, I don't know but--oh! I gotta go!" I especially love it when she stops and listens for a minute and then says, "Oh my gosh--that's bad! That is hilarious! hahaha...." That's usually when she is "talking" to Robyn. But yeah, she totally makes words up and her sentences are constructed in the most random manner you could imagine. I can't even get myself to make up sentences as random as hers are.One day a couple of weeks ago she brought this to me. It's Cadence and Campbell, she said. This was the first time I had seen an attempt at human forms and I was REALLY impressed! I mean, it has been squiggles before this.

3. "But mom, I'm in charge." She loves to say that. Sometimes she'll say it about the books, or lunch, or anything small. She just has a need to be in charge of something. And believe you me, when she thinks she's in charge--move outta the way.

4. "Varely" and "Furger". Varely is her way of saying barely. Whenever she is upset she says, "But m0-0-0-0m, I just VARELY wanted that toy and you took it away!!!" She says it as if it means "really really really really". "Furger" is to say figure. "Mom, I'm just trying to furger out a way to get to the playground."

5. Today I gave her a very firm lecture on not using the strangle-hold to lift her sister from the ground and her response was, "okay mom, I won't ever do that again-never, probably, sometimes." And then a sure nod of her head to seal the deal.

She has recently made a rather welcome switch from constant harrassing of Cam to constant interest in entertaining her. We were at a restaurant and she wanted to sit in a high chair so she could be next to Campbell. We were so shocked at how well they got along that we had to get photo documentation.

6. She watches way too much tv but I love to watch her watch Dora and Diego. She gets really into yelling "backpack!!! BACKPACK!!" and repeating the Spanish words. At the end Dora always asks, "what was your favorite part?" And Cadence always stops and thinks about it and then by the time she answers, Dora cuts her off with, "I liked that, too." But, she has learned to count to 10 in Spanish and out of nowhere a couple of weeks ago she said to Spencer and I, "buenos dias!" She has also learned to play more affectionately with her sister from watching Max and Ruby (adorable) and repeats a lot of the things she learns on Yo Gabba Gabba (weird, but you've got to love when Jack Black makes an appearance), which are often messages about sharing or taking turns or how awesome dancing and music are.

7. She's a pretty good little swimmer. She has absolutely no problem putting her head under water, even without goggles sometimes. As long as she is wearing some sort of floaties or swimvest she can pretty much do whatever she wants and go wherever she wants. We go swimming usually about 3 times a week here in TX.

Well, speaking of, she's up from her nap now, so we're going to go get our suits on and hit Sarah's pool!

Dear Campbell,

Today you turned 1! What a year you've had, too!

You started out being colicky, a difficult sleeper, and slow to laugh. Now you are snuggly, animated, and laugh at every joke. You have really brought me (mom) to my knees this year, but you are brimming with so much personality, I can see why you had a hard time being a newborn.

Now you are toddling around, trying to talk, and picking up on social cues. Here are some things about you at age 1:

-You love music. Like your sister, you love the song I Love NYC. You also really love to dance to the Strawberry Shortcake songs, especially when Mommy dances with you.

-Your first word was "Dance" ("Da!") but your favorite word is "Guck!" I taught you to say duck about a month ago and that has become your word for everything. You call most people "Dada", which offends the original Dada :), and you really crack us up when you put your hand to your own chest and emphatically say, "Dada! Dada!" You also say, "ticka-ticka-ticka" when being tickled.

-You love babies and spend much of your day trying to find a doll to love and snuggle with.We got you your very own baby doll for your birthday. You love her very much!

-You give the best hugs.

-You're a mommy's girl.

-Your thighs still raise eyebrows, invite laughter, and usually a few comments about how "healthy" you are.

-You bellow. You love loud, intense sounds.

-You fold your arms for prayer. We never taught this to you. You picked it up on your own when you were only about 9 months old.

-You can get knocked over by your sister, tumble off of a chair, or smacked in the back (again, Cadence), and not even care. But if somebody takes something from you, you bellow, throw yourself prostrate upon the ground, and bang your head a few times.

-Your head is bigger than Cadence's and arguably even Mom's.

Wearing Cadence's hat, which is snug on you! Hmmm, I wonder who's head you inherited?

-You love to play games and have fun. You never stop exploring and playing and talking and climbing and loving.



We have loved watching your grow and learn and become a more mobile, independent person this year. Your personality is so exciting and sweet. We can't wait for all the years to come when we get to know more and more about the fiery, exciteable, loving, and warm spirit that you have. We love having you as a part of our family.

We love you so much,

Love,

Mom and Dad.

Pictures from your first birthday celebration:

Dear Cadence,

Today you turned 3! Yesterday as Mom was hurriedly running around setting up for your birthday party, she thought of how quickly you grow and change and she may have shed a few tears. We want to always remember what a special girl you are at this time in your life.
Here are some things about you right now:

--Your favorite song is "I Love NYC" By Andrew W.K., although you also love Bram's Lullaby, I Love to See the Temple, and the Strawberry Shortcake theme song.

--You love music and dance. You can shake it like nobody's business! One of your favorite things to do is to turn on some music and dance all together with Mom, Dad, and Campbell.

--You love colors. Painting, coloring, play-doh, they are all experimentations with color for you. And you love "matching". You notice who else is wearing pink, or red, or whatever, or if somebody's shoes match their skirt.

--You love to play pretend, especially pretending that you are an authority figure who gets to boss mom around! You usual insist that YOU are mom, and I am Cadence. You also love to play dress ups and to take good care of your dolls.

--Like always, you still make friends everywhere you go. You look people in the eyes, you open your mouth and whatever comes out always makes somebody smile!

--You are extremely motivated to complete your responsibilities and have recently turned a new leaf with whining and "keeping your hands to yourself" (aka not clobbering your sister). You get an ice cream cone at the end of a responsible week.

--You have a vocabulary beyond your years and you use it constantly. Today you told me to not be so "naked to your sister", which means "nice", apparently. You use words like ridiculous, hilarious, and terrible.

Daddy made you pancakes (your favorite) with "marshminnows" (your other favorite!)

To celebrate your birthday this year I was worried that we wouldn't be able to have a party, since we have only been in Flower Mound, TX for a month. We invited friends to the community pool to celebrate and 35 of us came to party! We had rainbow cupcakes and some snacks, and lot's of sun and water. Even your third cousin Sam Nelson came, who was only 4 days old! (Still impressed, Nadine!) Everybody had a lot of fun and you ever-so-politely thanked most all of them for coming to your party.

Cadence, we are so proud of you. In only three years you have managed to turn our world upside down and inside out, and we've never been happier. We feel guilty sometimes that we are just learning how to be parents and so we make a lot of mistakes with you. But you are resilient, clever, and cheerful, and we doubt there's much of anything we can do to ruin your beautiful spirit.

We love you. Happy third birthday.

Love,
Mom and Dad.

Here are some more pictures from your party:

You HAVE GOT to see this...

Okay, sorry for the rapid fire posts. Elisabeth posted this video and it just made my day:



And then I watched this: (it's a little longer, but very informative)



Oh man. man oh man oh man. I'm totally going straight and blonde. Or dirty blonde.