Snow Days!

So after you have a baby you start keeping track of a lot of firsts: first smile, first laugh, first time going to church, etc. Well, this week Cadance had her first snow day. Like most of the country, we were hit with a storm Monday night. Tuesday we woke up to 1-2 inches of icy snow. What's unusual about this particular storm is that its remnants haven't gone away. Last night the roads were still icy; we even got 2 more inches last night. So, Steve is on his 4th day off work. We have been enjoying lots of family time and lots of time inside. But, we did take the opportunity to introduce Cadance to the snow. Really, I don't think she got it, but it was fun anyways.

Cadance's First Laugh

After spending about thirty minutes figuring out how to view videos from my phone on my computer and freshening up on my video making skills, this is the end product. Hope you enjoy!

The Holiday

We had a fantastic holiday down in San Antonio. Cadance had a wonderful first Christmas, and Steve and I enjoyed playing Santa for the first time. All of her aunts, uncles, grandmas, and grandpas loved having her around and I have been informed that they miss her tremendously. Here are some highlights.

Week one we spent at the Ellsworths. We took family pictures and the cousins got to play. Most of our time was spent playing Bohnanza and Wii. It was fun.

We also spent Christmas morning at the Ellsworths, where Cadance learned the art of gift opening,


and we indoctrinated her with worldly ideas of Christmas


The second week of our vacation we spent at the Cunninghams

We played tennis, ...


Settlers of Catan, ...

and the Wii.



We went bowling...


and texted our friends.


And Cadance played with her Christmas presents



We hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

But Isn't Cross Dressing Against Church Policy?

Last Saturday Cadance starred in the nativity. When Steve told me that we has been asked to play Mary, Joseph and Jesus I replied, "But she's a girl." Apparently this doesn't matter at two months. People said having a real baby added to the presentation a lot. And, Cadance was an excellent babe in Bethlehem. We wrapped her up in some brown cloth and she hardly made a sound. She did look slightly confused, but that's okay.

Our ward Christmas event was a lot of fun. The cultural hall was decorated like Bethlehem and everyone wore period attire. They had games for the kids and a member of our ward wrote people's names in Greek, Hebrew or Latin. It was pretty awesome. Here is a picture of us


And of me with my fake baby

2 Month Update

Cadance is almost 2 months old. She has her doctor's appointment yesterday and here are her stats. 23 " long, 11 lbs 4 1/2 oz. She's in the 75th percentile. She is still doing really well. She's been moving well and holding her head up more. Currently, she's on her stomach and not particularly happy about it, but she keeps farting, which I find amusing, so there she will stay for a few more minutes. Plus, once she gets all her gas out I figure she'll be happier :)

So here is a picture of her



I was also going to post a video, but seem to have encountered some technical difficulties. Sorry.

The Faces of Cadance

One of the best things about babies if their faces. It changes so rapidly that capturing their expressions can be hard work, or really lucky. Here are some faces we've captured of Cadance

This is her normal look. About 95% of the pictures we take look something like this:




This is her Happy face:


This is her tired face:

And her sleeping face:



We call this one evil eyes:




And this one "So now what do I do with it"



And last but not least, this is her "I'm so humiliated" face:


Cadance is doing really well. We've had 3 babies born in our ward in the last week, so comparatively Cadance looks huge. She is moving her head around really well and gaining a lot of strength in her neck. And, as the picture would indicate, she has discovered her tongue, but isn't quite sure what to do with it yet.

Steve and I had a great Thanksgiving break. He is working in his last rotation of the semester and is excited to have 2 weeks to relax. I am loving spending time with Cadance and am figuring out the whole mom thing. Speaking of, does anyone have any suggestions on getting groceries from the car to apartment with a baby. What I've come up with so far is carrying her inside and then locking the door, getting some bags and taking them inside, locking the door again, etc. until I'm done. But, maybe there is a better way.

My Favorite Part of the Day

Cadance currently loves to lay on a blanket and look around. She's becoming more aware of the world. I love watching her.