You can crawl....

Dear Cadence,

You just crawled for the first time!!! A real crawl! You actually went forwards, not backwards! Momma is so proud of you! I love you so much Monkey!

Love Mommy

Swimming Lessons

Dear Cadence,

Today is your first swimming lesson! Daddy is going to swim with you and Momma will take pictures! I hope you have fun! I love you Miss Monkey!

Love Momma

A Visit from Gramma...

Dear Cadence,

Today Gramma, Auntie Britt and Auntie Amanda came over to visit us. We had a great time with them. They even brought us some treats, you got puffs, fruit snacks and cheesie's and Momma got a Timmie's coffee! It was a great visit!

And of course they took lots of pictures of you and you in return stuck your tongue out and did your squishy face. The usual Cadence things. Always up for a laugh, giggle, smile, screech, and a LOT of talking.

Momma loves you Monkey!

Love Mommy

Happy 10 Month Birthday

Dear Cadence,

Today is your 10 Month Birthday!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Mommy can't believe you are already 10 months old... two digits! Time sure flies! Momma loves you so much!

Love Mommy

I Hope You Dance

Dear Cadence,

When Momma hears this song, I always think of you! I love you more then words can express! One day you and Momma will dance around the house listening to this song :)

I Hope You Dance by Lee Ann Womack

I hope you never lose your sense of wonder
You get your fill to eat
But always keep that hunger
May you never take one single breath for granted
God forbid love ever leave you empty handed
I hope you still feel small
When you stand beside the ocean
Whenever one door closes, I hope one more opens
Promise me that you'll give fate a fighting chance

And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance
I hope you dance
I hope you dance

I hope you never fear those mountains in the distance
Never settle for the path of least resistance
Living might mean taking chances
But they're worth taking
Lovin' might be a mistake
But it's worth making
Don't let some hell bent heart
Leave you bitter
When you come close to selling out
Reconsider
Give the heavens above
More than just a passing glance

And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance
I hope you dance
(Time is a wheel in constant motion always)
I hope you dance
(Rolling us along)
I hope you dance
(Tell me who)
I hope you dance
(Wants to look back on their years and wonder)
(Where those years have gone)

I hope you still feel small
When you stand beside the ocean
Whenever one door closes, I hope one more opens
Promise me that you'll give faith a fighting chance

And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance
Dance
I hope you dance
I hope you dance
(Time is a wheel in constant motion always)
I hope you dance
(Rolling us along)
I hope you dance
(Tell me who)
(Wants to look back on their years and wonder)
I hope you dance
(Where those years have gone)

(Tell me who)
I hope you dance
(Wants to look back on their years and wonder)
(Where those years have gone)

Love Momma

What is sleep?

Dear Cadence,

Mommy was just wondering, what happened to my baby that liked to sleep? You wet to bed last night at 8pm, slept great for about an hour and then woke up screaming. Daddy tried to put you back to sleep, but he didn't have any luck, so you came out and sat on the couch with Momma. And for some reason you did a lot of crying, before you finally fell asleep.

Then Momma put you in your bed at around 1030pm and you slept until 1am, then it was time to wake up, or so you thought. Momma tried everything to get you back to sleep, with no luck! We sat in the living room and watched cartoons from 2am until 530am.

By 530am we were both falling asleep on the couch, so we went back to bed. Momma brought you into bed with her and at last we went to sleep. But it was short lived! By just after 7am you were wide awake again. Thus leading us to get up.

You are currently playing with your toys and talking away, and Momma is fighting to keep her eyes open. Nap time can't come soon enough!!!

So my question is.... WHERE DID MY BABY THAT LIKES TO SLEEP GO?? You never sleep right through the night (well we have had 4 nights that you slept through) but you usually sleep pretty good. So whats going on with you my dear? The past few weeks have been late nights and early mornings, mixed with 2-3 wake ups throughout the night. Mommy really hopes that this is just a phase, that will end soon! Mommy is so tired! I love you baby girl, please please please start sleeping better for me!

Love Momma

Talking

Dear Cadence,

Today you said Mom for the first time! You just looked at me and blurted it out, MOM! What a great day it was for Momma! It almost made me cry. Mommy loves you so much Monkey.

Love Momma

Ps. Today is Gramma's birthday... So Happy Birthday to Gramma, we love you!

Backwards Crawler

Dear Cadence,

Well Monkey, it's official... you've become a backwards "crawler"! You just started this yesterday and now you can just fly around the house. It's amazing how fast you can go! Momma video taped the first of the "crawling" it's very very cute! I guess there's no stopping you now and soon you will be full out crawling around the house.

I love you Baby Girl!!!

Love Momma

My Little Girl

Dear Monkey,

Momma was just thinking about the song "My Little Girl" by Tim MaGraw and thinking about you. I love you so much little girl! These are the lyrics :)

Gotta hold on easy as I let you go
Gonna tell you how much I love you
Though you think you already know
I remember I thought you looked like an angel wrapped in pink so soft and warm
You've had me wrapped around your finger since the day you were born

You beautiful baby from the outside in
Chase your dreams but always know the road that'll lead you home again
Go on, take on this whole world
But to me you know you'll always be, my little girl

When you were in trouble that crooked little smile could melt my heart of stone
Now look at you, I've turned around and you've almost grown
Sometimes you're asleep I whisper "I Love You" in the moonlight at your door
As I walk away, I hear you say, "Daddy Love You More"

Your beautiful baby from the outside in
Chase your dreams but always know the road that'll lead you home again
Go on, take on this whole world
But to me you know you'll always be, my little girl

Someday, some boy will come and ask me for your hand
But I won't say "yes" to him unless I know, he's the half
That makes you whole, he has a poet's soul, and the heart of a man's man
I know he'll say that he's in love
But between you and me
He won't be good enough

Your beautiful baby from the outside in
Chase your dreams but always know the road that'll lead you home again
Go on, take on this whole world
But to me you know you'll always be, my little girl

I love you Monkey... your the most amazing little girl!

Love Momma

Daddy's in Whistler again :(

Dear Cadence,

Last week Daddy was in Whistler working all week and he's there again this week! It sucks that he's gone all week... but he's working so hard for us and Mommy is so thankful for that!

Well today we are going for a play date with Johanna and Preston. Mommy thinks you will have a great time. And then Auntie Diane and Uncle Jason are coming over tonight for dinner... they haven't seen you for a couple days and are missing you like crazy! Anyways, Mommy should get ready for the day, I love you Monkey.

Love Momma

Ps.... Your going to have another little cousin :) Mommy will tell you more about the new addition to our family when she can!

Girls Week...

Dear Cadence,

This week Daddy had to go away to Whistler for work and it's just you and me at home, with Cuda and Diesel of course. It going to be a lonely week without Daddy and we will miss him so much, but Momma is so happy to be able to spend the week with you. I love you baby girl!

Love Momma

Ps... yesterday we went and got our H1N1 shot and the seasonal flu shot. Both were horrible and Mommy hated every second of it. Mommy ended up feeling really sick last night, but it was gone by this morning. And you had a bad fever... your still a little warm, but not too bad. I hope it was the right decision to get the shots, I guess we will just have to wait and see.

Happy New Year!

Dear Cadence,

HAPPY NEW YEAR! On New Years Eve you managed to stay awake until 12am with Mommy, while Daddy slept on the couch. It was great to ring in the new year with such a cute little girl...

Mommy just wanted to reflect on 2009, so here goes...

The BEST part of 2009 was March 25th at 11:17am, when we welcomed you into the world! This was after a very long labor and equally "long" pregnancy. But no matter how many scares we had throughout the pregnancy and labor... March 25th was the best day of mine and Daddy's lives.

So there have been some other changes in our lives in the past year... we moved back to BC from Alberta. It was a sad move, but we wanted you to grow up around family, even though we love Alberta so much. During our move back we were very thankful to have such a supportive family. We stayed at Great Gramma's for a while, the at Gramma's and lastly at Papa's before we got our own place. Each place was great and we are so happy that everyone was willing to help us out so much, but it was also very hard for Mommy and Daddy to move back "home" after having been on our own for so long. But everything happens for a reason...

Now back to you...

You have changed so much over the past 9 months! On March 25 2009 you were 5 Lbs 13 oz and today you are 18 Lbs 2 oz! Not only have you grown so much, but you've learned so much and taught Mommy and Daddy more things than you can ever imagine!

Momma could go on for hours about how amazing the last year has been... but I'm not going to ;) Just know that you are the best thing that has ever happened to us and we look forward to a life full of love with you. We are so proud to call you our daughter and love you more than anything in the world! I love you Monkey!

Love Momma