Happy Mother's Day

Cadynce and I spent our morning helping at church while Don was on his way home from his friends wedding in Chicago.  Don got to spend some time with his family with the wedding so close to home.  Don got home after Cadynce's nap and we went straight to the pool.  Anytime we ask Cadynce if she wants to go to the pool she starts screaming "YES" and tells us to get our swimsuits on.  She likes to take her duck so she can throw it and swim after just like we do in swim class.  She is learning how to hang on the side of the pool then put her feet up and push off the wall to me.  She is a little too brave in the water which makes me a little nervous.  Her arms and legs do not stop when she is in the pool and she has a hard time keeping her mouth closed so she drinks a lot of water.  The other day we were driving in the car and she had her baby with her and I heard her start singing one of the songs we sing in swim class and then telling her baby to keep her mouth closed.  It was great listening to her be the mom.

For dinner we went to a burger joint we love called Bigz.  They have a great area for the kids to run around and play.  We ate outside and played while we waited for our food then again when we were done.  Cadynce loved being able to run around and chase her football.  View album for more pictures.  Click here for videos.

Look at my Headband!

Cadynce's Birthday Party

We had Cadynce's friends over to celebrate her birthday.  We rented a jumpie for the kids to play in and spent most of our time in the back yard playing.  It was a beautiful day for a party and was pretty hot when the sun came out.  We filled up the sandbox Cadynce got from Namah and Papa with water, and every kid stood around the table and splashed and played in the water until it was all gone.  They all got totally soaked, but I think it kept them nice and cool.  It was fun for all the parents to watch too.  Cadynce and Aiden spent most of their time in the jumpie and they had a blast.  They play so well together too.  We sang Happy Birthday outside while she sat at her picnic table and once everyone was done eating we went inside to cool off and open presents.  It was a really fun day for everyone.  View Album for more pictures.  Click here for videos.

Fun with Blake

Blake came over yesterday to play in our pool.  It was a beautiful, hot day and the kids had a blast while Nicole and I sat on the patio and relaxed.  It was just what we needed.  View Album for more pictures.  Click here for videos.

Happy Easter!

Easter morning we got ready for church and then went downstairs to look for Easter eggs.  Cadynce had fun looking for them and more fun discovering what was inside each one.  Jelly beans were the winner this year.  She shoveled them in her mouth as fast as she could.  Our church rented out a big venue downtown and had several big blow up jumpies for the kids to play for an hour before the service started.  Cadynce did a slide but mostly just wanted to jump.  She got a temporary tattoo which she thought was really cool.  We called it a stamp and the lady who applied it held a wet sponge on the tattoo so now Cadynce likes to get a wet wipe out and give stamps to everyone.  That evening we went to our friends Jeff and Kelly's house for dinner and the kids had so much fun playing together.  View Album for more pictures.  Click here for videos.

Happy Birthday Cadynce...she's TWO!

We flew out to San Diego for a couple of days.  Don had to work a game out there so we decided to make a family trip out of it, and it was also Cadynce's second birthday while we were there.  We got there on Wednesday afternoon and then Cadynce and I went to visit one of my college friends who I played basketball with.  She also has a little girl and Michaela is 15 months old.  We walked to their neighborhood park so they could play and then we walked to pet some horses.  We got a chance to just hang out and catch up on each others lives and let the kids play.  

On Thursday we spent the day at the San Diego Zoo.  The zoo was so big the first thing we did when we got there was the bus tour so we could see many of the animals and get a feel for the place.  We walked around the zoo for hours looking at the animals and just enjoying the beautiful surroundings.  The weather was perfect and Cadynce was in heaven seeing all the animals.  Cadynce got to see a Panda Bear for the first time so that is the animal she chose at the store.  We borrowed a George dvd from Blake and lucky for us one episode was about going to the zoo and seeing the Panda Bear.  We did not watch any other George on that dvd the entire trip.  After the zoo we went back to the hotel and went swimming.  Friday was Cadynce's birthday so we woke up early and went to the pool first thing.  After we got ready we headed to the local mall where they had a Build-a-Bear store.  She had no problem picking out the animal she wanted which was a dog.  We got a collar and leash and a couple of outfits and Cadynce has not let that dog out of her sight since.  We named her Lyla which is funny because she can't say her L's yet.  She walks her dog and takes it potty.  After her nap we went to the beach to play in the sand and get her feet wet.  She wasn't too sure when she first stepped in the sand, but it didn't take long until she was running all over the place getting wet.  We went to dinner then stopped at a playground on our way back to the hotel.  The next morning we headed back to San Antonio.  View Album for more pictures.

Big Girl Bed

Cadynce is now sleeping in a big girl bed.  We decided to buy her a toddler bed before we left on our trip to get her excited about turning two and transitioning into a bed at that point.  We put it together a couple days before we left and she was so excited about it.  I layed her down for a nap in her crib and she about lost her mind so I stood at the door peeking in at her.  Next thing I knew she was on top of the crib ready to make her escape.  So much for my plan and so much for a nap that day.  We started the big girl bed that night and she did pretty well.  The second night wasn't too good and then we left on our trip.  When we returned home Don and I decided that we were going to keep the same routine as we did with the crib, set up a gate at her door, and tell her to lay down and go to sleep and leave the room.  It only took one night.  She screamed her head off for 30 seconds and in less than five minutes it was quiet.  She crawled into bed and went to sleep.  Since then she has had no issues with getting in her bed and going to sleep.  It's the dream of every pregnant mom!  View Album for more pictures.

Spring Break 09

Why spend spring break in San Antonio when we can go to cold Indiana?  That's exactly what we did.  We were really needing a break from all this nice warm weather.  Rob and Carrie were so kind to fly us home for the week and they had all kind of fun things planned for us to do.  Cadynce got to spend a lot of time with her cousins.  She had fun growling at Robbie every time she saw him and she learned very quickly how to upset Aubrey. I think those were her two favorite things to do.  Uncle Chase and Aunt Cat came home the weekend we got there and brought their new dog Rex.  Cadynce wasn't quite sure how to handle such a little dog, but he did a great job putting up with her.  

We kept busy all week and one cool thing we did was a trip to the Fair Oaks Farm.  We got to see a baby calf born and then we took a bus tour of the farm.  During the tour we got out to see where the cows were getting milked. Cadynce was very tired at this point and not acting nice.  We went down by the bus to have a timeout.  Soon everyone started getting on the bus and Cadynce started yelling "wait for me people."  She was so worried the bus was going to leave us there.  Next, we had lunch right there at the farm and we also bought a stuffed cow.  Cadynce still talks about the mommy cow pushing out the baby cow.

Rob, Carrie, and the kids stayed the night at a hotel one night in town so we could use their pool.  It was so cool; they had a big pool, hot tub, and a kiddie pool with a big frog slide.  Cadynce had so much fun on that frog slide.  We took a break from the pool and the whole family had dinner at Bass Pro Shop then it was back to the pool for more swimming.  We eventually made it over to the big pool and all Cadynce wanted to do was jump in.  I got quite a workout that night.  We went back one more time the next morning.  Cadynce really loves the water.

The next night we went to Jump Zone.  Cadynce was a little young, but we did find one she could do on her own.  She had a blast climbing up then going down the slide.  The last thing we did was a trip to the Children's Museum in St. Joe, Michigan.  The kids had fun and Cadynce got to touch a turtle, snake, and an alligator.  

The weather actually turned out to be pretty nice most of the week until it snowed one day.  Right before we came home we got to see Uncle Jeff and Aunt Julie and then Grandpa and Mimi.  It was a nice long trip, but we were ready to get back home and see Daddy.

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Oklahoma Game

Yesterday we drove up to Austin to watch the Oklahoma women's basketball team play Texas.  We had seats 7 rows behind the Texas bench and luckily we had an empty seat next to us so Cadynce could play.  Cadynce had a blast at the game and enjoyed all the excitement and clapping.  She kept a close eye on the longhorn mascot once she discovered him.  The time change threw us off a little bit so Cadynce wasn't tired on the drive up and certainly wasn't going to sleep at the game.  She did great, but toward the end of the game she was getting squirmy so Don took her up to the concourse.  I thought he would bring her back asleep, but instead he brought her back with a big cup of ice cream and Cadynce had a huge smile on her face.  That was a true Daddy's little girl moment for me and I couldn't stop laughing at how cute the two of them were.  Don's friend Ricky (who lives in San Antonio) was in Austin so he came to the game with us then we all drove home together.  We stopped for a quick dinner then hit the road.  It wasn't until about 5:30 that Cadynce finally fell asleep in the car for a much needed nap.

Cadynce is really into singing and dancing lately.  I've been able to capture her singing a few songs.  Her favorite is the ABC's, but she also likes ring around the rosie, baa baa black sheep, twinkle twinkle little star,  and Jesus loves me.  Her favorite story to read right now is The Three Bears.  We read that book several times a day over and over.  One day last week she decided it was her turn to read it and I was able to get a little video.  In case you can't understand her she says in Papa Bear's deep voice "Somebody been eatin' my porriage"  then repeats it in Mama Bear's voice which is much higher.  Then she says "Somebody been sittin' in my chair Papa roared" again in Papa Bear's deep voice.  I've watched it at least a hundred times and it's funny every time.

Last week Cadynce got her basketball out and and said "Mommy, shoot hoops."  The hoop was in the garage so she started shooting the ball against the wall where the hoop usually is.  I went and got the hoop and for the first time she actually shot the ball instead of dunking it.  It was a proud moment for me so I did a few videos of her shooting hoops.  She has also been really into her t-ball and loves to hit it hard.  View Album for more pictures.  Click here for videos.