Roller Coster Weekend

This was certainly a holiday weekend of highs and lows. We had a wonderful time with family and we all got to get rest. Grant went to bed at 6pm on Friday night after a long day of shopping for black Friday deals and helping his dad with a remodeling project. Grant took the baby for 4 hours this afternoon and I had a wonderful nap.

We had a few lows as well. Life seems to move at a quick pace these days and Grant and I have not had a chance to really talk and connect recently. We were able to address some tough issues over the long weekend. There is a lot of change with a new baby and an expanding family and we both had concerns and thoughts that needed to be discussed. I feel good at where we are now and the fact that we have been able to communicate issues that we both feel are important to us as individuals and to our collective family. However, working through the tough and very real issues is often not fun.

I am glad to be traveling through this life with Grant. He is such a wonderful teammate, friend, and husband. I love you!

This is pic of Cadie chilling in our bed this morning as I folded laundry.

Thanksgiving

Of course Cadie was totally loved by everyone at the Walsh family Thanksgiving. She got to meet many of the relatives for the first time, and she looked too cute in her green jumper, pink turtle neck, white tights, and pink socks. Grant put a strict ban on buying any new clothes for Cadie because we have so many great clothes already. I promptly violated the ban with new clothes for Thanksgiving and Christmas :) However, he did agree that she was adorable in her new outfit.

Kickin' It

Grandma Nicki has been missing Cadie so here is a special video of kicking and grunting just for her! I took this in our kitchen. Cadie was hanging out while I fixed myself some lunch.

We have been trying to have a better bedtime routine to get Cadie to sleep. Swaddler her, dim the lights, read a book, say prayers and then put her down. Last night Grant did bedtime and I walked out of our room and he was reading her Time magazine! It was so funny. I guess she will get fairy tales from me and current events from dad. :)

The Real Cadie

We have lots of cute pics of Cadie already, but this pic represents the way she looks about 50% of the day. She loves to be swaddled in her miracle blanket with the favorite green paci.Speaking of favorite things, here are a few of Cadie's...
- Grunting: I think most babies coo or make sweet noises, but Cadie grunts. It is very gutteral and pretty hilarious.
- Sucking on the Paci: They got her hooked on the green paci in the hospital and now we have about 20 spread all throughout the house so that we can get them quickly.
- Sleeping in the bed with mom and dad: She mostly sleeps in her swing, but if she is really fussy we have started bringing her in the bed with us and she seems to really be relaxed in our bed.

Things she does NOT like...
- Clothes over the head: She isn't a big fan of getting her clothes changed, and she especially dislikes when I have to pull the clothes over her head.
- Going to sleep: She really fights naps and going to bed at night. When she is tired and fighting to keep her eyes open she really grunts a lot.
- Car Seat: She is ok when we are in the car moving, but she does not like the process of being put into the car seat and strapped in.

I love getting to know her personality. She is expressing herself more every day and I feel like she is starting to have a very loving temperament.

TuTu Cute

We took this picture when my sister Bethany was in town and I think it is the most adorable picture yet. She was 7 weeks old on Sunday and I can't believe how big she is already getting. She holding her head up so well and she scoots around on her mat during tummy time. She is incredibly alert during the day and really likes to be on the move. I sit outside with her a lot and she loves seeing the trees.

Getting Some Fresh Air

It was a beautiful fall day and Cadie and I decided to go for a long walk. We walked to Starbucks which is about a mile (maybe a bit less) and I got a delicious pumkin spice latte which probably had as many calories as I had just walked off. But we had a great time anyway! It felt good to break a small sweat and Cadie loved being on the move. I love my stoller and hopefully will get to use it more as Cadie and I get better at getting ourselves together and off for the day.

Meet the Bigelows!

We had a wonderful weekend! My parents were in town and watched Cadie on Friday evening. Grant and I went to see the new Bond movie. It was fun to get out of the house for a date. Saturday we went to a birthday party for Max (1) and Miles (3) Dickinson. It was a bit chilly and windy at the park party but Cadie was a trooper and we had a great time - we especially enjoyed Dalene O'Donnell's pumpkin bars.

On Sunday Cadie got to meet her sweet cousins - Camryn, Hannah, and Seth. They were all so gentle with Cadie and she is lucky to have such a fun group to play with once she gets a bit bigger.

Cadie was totally exhausted last night from all the action and she went to bed at 7pm, which means I went to bed at 8pm. It was awesome. She slept until about 1:30am and then we hung out together until 3:30am when she finally decided to go back to sleep :) After getting a few hours of rest I actually kinda enjoyed the quiet early morning hours with her. Life is getting sweeter every day and I swear she gets cuter.

Squeaky Clean

I am not sure what happened to Cadie but she is a new baby and her new name is Missy Sweetness. She has been so wonderful all week. My mom thinks it is because her nervous system is calming down, my friend Laura Dickinson thinks my milk may have come in better, and Lindsey Coffman thinks she finally realized how lucky she is that I am her mom. Whatever the case I am so thankful to have a happy (relatively) baby.

She has slept well during the night, taken an afternoon nap, and is alert and funny during the day. We have been doing tummy time and she is so strong lifting up her head and starting to work on rolling over. She typically hates bathtime, but Big John discovered last weekend that she loves showers. She has taken 3 showers already this week and loves to feel the water on her skin. I am too scared to shower with her because she gets a bit slippery and I don't want to drop her, but I have recruited some great help per the pic :)
Now that Cadie and I are getting into a groove, I need to take a second to thank all the awesome people that have helped us get through the past 6 weeks:

• Grant: He is the BEST father. He is 100% involved in caring for both me and Cadie. He has been patient with us both and has come to our rescue multiple times. He is my rock and I am so blessed to be on this parenthood advernture with him.
• DD (Grant's mom): She stayed up every night with Cadie the first week we were home and she comes over at least 2x each week to watch Cadie so I can rest, do errands, etc. She is so supportive of our parenting and I think to her Cadie could do no wrong.
• Big John (Grant's Dad): He is totally in love with Cadie and she loves sleeping on his chest. She had her first overnight with Big John and has slept the night with Big John and DD three times already. He has promised if Big John is her first word he will buy her a car in highschool.
• Grandma Nicki (my mom): She stayed with me for almost two weeks after Cadie was born and I would not have made it without her. She took care of a crying Erin, crying Cadie, kept everyone fed, and was willing to do anything we needed. She has been to Dallas 4 times already since Cadie was born. She is the one who taught me how to hold Cadie to calm her down. She is the best example and I hope to be as good a mom as she as been to me.
• Grandpa Ron (my Dad): Cadie can already sense his kind and calming presence and she has spent the last 3 days cuddling with Grandpa Ron. He isn't afraid of any part of infant care and is willing to bath her, change diapers, dress her, etc.
• Aunt Susan Hamm (Grant's aunt): She brought us meals for almost 3 weeks. This was such a generous and thoughtful blessing that I will never forget.
• Aunt CJ (my sister): Has been to Dallas twice already and has done night duty so I could rest, and she loves hanging out with Cadie.
• Aunt Bethany (my sister): Spent last weekend with Cadie and I in Dallas and is a baby whisperer! She would say "peace baby" and stroke Cadie's head and she would calm down immediately.
• Laura Dickinson: Laura has been my friend since 1st grade in Kansas City. She has two boys and has been incredibly encouraging, thoughtful, and just someone I can call anytime to cry, get advice, or vent. Every new mom needs other mom friends and my fellow mom friends like Laura, Emmy, Billi, Laurel, etc. have been so wonderful.

The list could go on and on... Thank you to all the friends and family that have loved us and Cadie and continue to support us.

Aunt B

Aunt B visited Cadie this past weekend and we had such a special time. Aunt Bethany and Uncle Nathan live in Washington DC and we wish we could see them a lot more. Bethany was the biggest help and wonderful company. She was awesome with Cadie and helped me get her ready for a party on Sat. afternoon, bath her, etc. Bethany and I also had such a nice time catching up and getting to spend relaxed time together.

On Sunday afternoon Grant, Cadie, and I went to Ella Bray (La La's) 2nd birthday party. La La was adorable in her TuTu and Cadie had fun hanging out with two of her best girlfriends - La La in the TuTu and Maddox in the brown dress with pink dots.

One whole pound!

Cadie and I had a big day yesterday so we just vegged out at home all day today. Cadie went to DD's house at 8 am yesterday so I could go to the dentist at 8:45am. Grant helped us get ready in the morning and we were able to get out the door in 45 mins which I thought was pretty impressive for the two of us. I went back to DD's after the dentist to feed Cadie and then went to lunch with my best friend Lindsey who was in town from Houston to meet Cadie for the first time. We had a great time at lunch and then Lindsey helped me go to the pediatrician for Cadie's 1 month appointment. Cadie got a great report! She has grown a full pound in the last 2 weeks which puts her in the 55% for weight and she is in the 75% for height. She got kudos for her neck control, and she was very well behaved through the whole appointment. I talked to the dr. about the fact that Cadie really only likes to sleep in the swing and he suggested wrapping her up tight in the miracle blanket, putting on a white noise machine, and seeing if she could sleep in her bassinet. Linds and I tried that in the afternoon and Cadie slept for about 2 hours in her bassinet. In terms of white noise, Cadie prefers the crickets but I prefer the waterfall :) While Cadie slept in her bassinet I was able to rest for a little bit and was even up for dinner at Pei Wei with Lindsey (middle) and Shauna (left).

Princess Walsh

Such a fun Halloween weekend. We spent Friday evening with DD and Big John (Grant's parents) passing out fresh bags of popcorn to literally hundreds of trick-or-treaters. Cadie spent the night at DD and Big John's, and Grant and I went to a movie and then caught up on some rest.

On Saturday we relaxed and then went to some our friends' Billi and Greg's house to watch the Texas vs. Texas Tech game. On Sunday my parents, Grandma Nicki and Grandpa Ron, flew in from Kansas City just to spend the day with us. They arrived at 9:30am and their flight departed at 7pm. We had a wonderful day with them, but wished they could have stayed longer.

These are pics of Cadie in Grant's arms on DD and Big John's front porch and another of her in a Halloween onsie from Aunt Whitney. I loved the pink tutu! She had a onsie that said princess, a pink bow in her hair, white tights, and the tutu. I am going to get some better pics of the outfit soon.