Sunday School

I just started volunteering in Cadence's Sunday School class, and it is hilarious. I think my favorite is this table with holes cut out for bucket seats. We put all the babies in the table for snack time. Cadence stole goldfish from the little girl next to her. Cadence also pushed the other babies out of my lap - hmm, have to work on the Mama-possessiveness.

Car Seat

Cadence has never loved her car seat. She tolerates it a bit better now that she can face forward. She likes to have me put her baby in the baby's car seat too. The poor baby is strangled because I have to tie her in the seat with ribbons to get her to stay.
Notice the adorable croc shoes from Aunt Lindsey. They are just perfect for playing outside.

Flowers

Roses showed up on my desk last night for no particular reason! I am a lucky gal. I just love it when Grant and I are in-sync.

Put Down the Phone

Cadence and I had a date tonight, just she and I, at the Purple Cow. There was a mom and two boys sitting across from us. The boys were probably 3 and 5. They each had an iPhone and didn't talk one bit until their food came! All three on their iPhones. Ridiculous. I am going to hold off as long as possible on getting Cadence a phone. Anyway... Cadence made the most terrible muffins recently! I mean so bad we had to just throw them out. She has a long way to go if she wants to be a chef. She had fun though.Grant and I went to a friend's birthday party this last Saturday evening after a mad scramble to find a babysitter. I liked this pic of us at dinner. Grant really wants me to get lasik so I don't have to wear glasses. I have worn them so long I don't know what I would do without them. I might not recognize myself.

15 Month Checkup

Cadence weighs 24 lbs 1 oz (70%) and is 32 1/4" tall (94%). The doctor wrote on her chart, "Beautiful, feisty child." I couldn't agree more and I am so proud of her.

Changing topics... I am so thankful for my inspiration moms. I have a few mom-friends that I call my "inspiration moms." They are all close friends, have kids a bit older than Cadence, and graciously provide me with encouragement and ideas about parenting - either through watching them and/or through their advice. One of my inspiration moms is Billi. Billi has two adorable kiddos and her oldest, Maddox, is 1 year older than Cadence. Billi is a working mom balancing career, husband, kids, house, etc. She is the one who first made me believe that nursing and working were possible and she continues to provide me with lots of ideas and support. To get to the point... One idea that came directly from Billi was this picture frame which she also did for Maddox:

I had Cadence's picture taken every month* for her first year and the pictures are displayed in this lovely frame in her room. I LOVE it!!! I look at it all the time. They change so much in the first year and since I am very goal-oriented I don't think I would have done a good job documenting Cadence without this frame to keep me on track.

Now that Cadence is 1 and I don't have a frame motivating me, I haven't gotten her picture taken at all. I am wondering if I should maybe go get a 15 month picture taken, but I don't want to go overboard. She doesn't love getting her picture taken, but I wonder if I will regret not having a few good shots of her at this adorable stage?

* Tip: I had almost all of these pictures taken at Target. Target Photo Studio is GREAT. They have a coupon on their website for a $8.99 portrait package which includes 2 8x10, 2 5x7, 4 4x3, and 16 wallets. It is only one pose so I would dress Cadie in a cute outfit, go to target, have her photo taken quickly, pick my fav pose, and then do my grocery shopping. Totally stress free, cheap, and I love the pics.

Sweet Face

I didn't want to pull myself away from this sweet face this morning!

I have noticed such a difference just this week in Cadence's willingness to communicate. She has been shaking her head yes or no for awhile, but this week I heard quite a few "love you," "please," "Thank you," and other new words. I think she is just about ready to start talking.

Cadie is playing with Avery today. I hope they have a fun day!

A new thing I have really enjoyed is that Cadence wants to cuddle before bedtime. She really loves to curl up in my lap, usually with her frog, paci, a book, a sippy, and often another stuff animal like her red monkey. Why do toddlers love to hold so many things? Anyway, it is so sweet and I love holding her for 10-15 mins. before she is ready to get into bed.

Avatar vs. Heaven

This article made me incredibly sad. People are seeing Avatar and becoming depressed because they can't live in such a beautiful place.

"Audiences experience 'Avatar' blues"
http://www.cnn.com/2010/SHOWBIZ/Movies/01/11/avatar.movie.blues/index.html
"When I woke up this morning after watching Avatar for the first time yesterday, the world seemed ... gray. It was like my whole life, everything I've done and worked for, lost its meaning,"

People are sad because they long for a world portrayed in a movie, but they are willing to give up the glory of heaven! God has so much planned for us and this IS just a gray world full of sin.

"But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself."
—Philippians 3:20-21

Working from Home

I am on Day 6 working from home, and so far I love it. However, I need to dispell a crazy rumor. Nothing has changed for Cadence - she goes to Mimi's just as normal. It is amazing to me how many people assume that Cadence is staying home with me now that I am working from home. I can only guess that is due to lack of knowledge about my job or lack of knowledge regarding toddler care. Either way, in case you were wondering, I still work long, intense days - I just get to do in now in my yoga pants and without the commute.

Working from home has brought on a few additional changes besides my increased use of yoga pants. Grant is now getting Cadence ready and taking her in the morning. We started off this way when I went back to work in April 2009, but have drifted away from it in recent months. I need to get started fairly early in the morning, so I come up to my office before Cadence even gets up. She really doesn't even know I am here in the morning and if Grant needs anything he has to call my cell phone so that she doesn't realize I am here.

A nice perk is that I do get to squeeze in a few household chores during the day. I can throw in a load of laundry while I am heating up my lunch, etc. I don't have much time during the day, but even a little bit helps. I am very thankful for this new arrangement!

I have a very nice office setup pictured below. I have my very own Polycom (thanks Dad!), copier, printer, fax, etc. I am finding that I am able to really focus in my office. However, I asked Grant over the holidays to switch desks with me, but he has not yet agreed. POOO! I have a quite old, bought-at-a-garage-sale desk. I sit and work at this desk 9-10 hours per day. Grant has a lovely new corner desk facing a window and he NEVER sits at it. Does anyone else find this unfair?

My sad, but functional desk:

Grant's spacious, nice, never-used except for clutter desk.

Walsh Weekend Update

I hope you had a wonderful weekend. We sure did! My folks came in town on Thursday to be with us and help with Cadence during Mama D's memorial service which was on Friday afternoon. Grant did a great job representing the grandchildren with a few words during the service and it was a beautiful celebration of Mama D's full life. On Saturday night Grant and I had date night while Cadence did a spend-the-night with Big John and DD. Then on Sunday church and Cowboys!

Cadence and Dad are ready for the big playoff game.

Having fun making a "nest" underneath Big John and DD's bar stools.

Megaland Playtent

My first blog update in about a week! Where I have been?

1) Watching reruns of Jericho. While it only lastest 2 series, I LOVED it. I have a strange fascination with "end of the world" type scenarios. Grant and I finished the first season last night so hopefully Season 2 will so fast so I can focus again.
2) Playing with Cadence in her new "Megaland Pop-Up Playset" - it so much fun! Grant took Cadence and I on a date on Saturday night and we hit Outback and then Toys R Us. I wanted to get a smaller tent, but Grant felt strongly that she needed this crazy big one. I have to admit that the big one is fun.
3) Starting my new role! I started my new position with Accenture on Monday, Jan. 4th. I will be able to work from home most of the time. The commute is tough! I have to make it all the way up the stairs without spilling my coffee. Looks like I am going to need to increase my yoga pant wardrobe.
4) Getting my laptop connected to my printer. I had to upgrade to Vista and everything is now a bit more complicated. My laptop has been connected to my printer for years and with Vista it just wouldn't do it. I attempted to troubleshoot on my own and then had to spend a few hours on the phone with the nice folks at Canon. Anyway, I am back in business now.

Here are a few pics of Cadie in her Super Jumbo Spectacular Ridiculous Dad-had-to-have-it Playtent. A BIG thanks to Grandma and Grandpa Gullickson for the Christmas money that purchased this tent o fun :)