Cade and Soph's Pro Pics

 We got Cade's pictures taken!  We were waiting until he got his oxygen and monitor off- I wanted to be able to see his little face.  For the record, he's still on the monitor at night, but off during the day which makes him much more portable.  He can now go upstairs! The picture session was slightly disastrous, because Sophie wanted nothing to do with Cade.  I am always amazed when our photographer is able to capture pictures of her smiling. We are happy to have the pictures taken, and I promise that I will now send out announcements.

Buckets O' Fun!

 We have been going out to the cabin every weekend.  Sophie loves to play with the kids, and we love getting the extra help from Carl's parents!  One of Sophie's new favorite activities is filling buckets with water.  She plays with the buckets for hours. She fills one up in the lake, then takes it back and fills up another bucket.  It's a never ending process.  Sophie is not so sure about getting into the cold water, but she loves to play near it.  Since we spend all of our time at the lake, having her play near it is good enough!  Perhaps when the lake warms up she will be more inclined to get in.  Until then, the buckets will do!

 Filling up buckets.

 Lip out in fierce concentration...

Which bucket to choose?

Cade finds the lake very relaxing.

Grandpa gets some snuggle time in, and Cade naps on his extra full cheeks- they serve as a nice pillow!

Happy Father's Day!!

 We had a very low key Father's Day at home.  We mostly laid around, played, and read books.  Sophie loves to climb- she will climb anything-including her daddy!  Here is Sophie and Daddy reading books!

We're Home!

 Finally, after 75 looong days- we're home!   We we're beginning to feel like we lived at the hospital, and know the nursing staff quite well- so we were thrilled when we finally got the ok to head home.  Things have been kind of a blur since Cade has come home, his wanting to feed every 2.5-3 hours probably has something to do with this- but I did manage to remember to take some pictures.

 We spent 2 days- and nights- in the hospital with Cade before heading home. We quickly learned that Cade would not be sleeping in our bedroom as he is an extremely noisy baby.  He is constantly making noises- goat noises- that keep us awake. He is now in a crib outside our door.  In this picture Cade is admiring his handsome self.

 First ride in his car seat.  He slept the entire way home.

 Sophie greeted us with a handmade welcome sign, that she proudly read to us.

 Cade gave Sophs a gift- an Olivia doll.  She was thrilled.

 Sophie and Olivia watching a show.

 We discovered that Cade loves his bouncy seat, he does not seem to mind that it's pink.

 Nana and Cade get some snuggles.  Cade loves to be held, and Nana loves to hold so it's a perfect match.

 First play mat experience.

 First manicure.

Daddy and Cade take a little nap.
We are thrilled to have Cade home, and now look forward to spending time with our new complete family!

Baby Cade Update

Cade has gotten to be quite the big boy.  He is almost up to 6 pounds and has chubby cheeks.  So far he seems to have a mellow personality, he seems to only get fussy when you wake him up to feed and the bottle is not immediately placed in his mouth.  He is able to be calmed quite easily, either with a passie or swaddling him tightly.  Which I love, I swaddled Sophie for a long time and she still prefers a sleep sack.  Cade is also very snugly.  He loves to be held and will snuggle right in.  I am foreseeing many nights of him sleeping on us instead of in his crib.  We are hoping to have Cade home within a week.  He will be coming home on oxygen and monitors, so we will not be traveling lightly!  But we will be thrilled to have him home, no matter how much stuff he needs!

Cade is very expressive with his hands.  Usually when I need to change his diaper, he holds out a hand in a stop sign motion.  Sometimes he forgets what he's doing and falls asleep with his arm still raised.  In the pic above he's sleeping with his arm up in the air, almost looking like he's ready to give someone 'nucks.

At the Cabin

Sophie has enjoyed going out to the cabin every weekend, and the fact that the kids are coming up now only makes it better.  Sophie loves playing with her cousins.  She is thrilled every time she sees them, and cries when it's time to go.  Sophie loves to follow them around and do whatever they are doing.  Lately her favorite person to follow is her cousin Elly.  Elly and Sophie are fairly close in age, so they enjoy doing lots of things together.  We are glad that Sophie has a friend to play with.

Sophie and Elly gathering rocks. Very exciting.

Riding in the golf cart with the kids.  Look, no hands!

Grandpa takes a ride.

Reading books with Elly.

The girls make snacks for everyone.  It was tasty!
We are looking forward to another summer at the lake!

Sophie's 3!

 For Sophie's 3rd birthday we had a Dora themed party- of course!  Sophie is currently obsessed with Dora, so much so that most of her conversations can be linked back to Dora.  For example- Sophie calls the stairs in our house "tallest mountain."  If she is reaching, stretching, or pulling something she says it 3 times like Dora-" pull, puull, puuulll." When she is mad at something she acts like Swiper the Fox, and will take a toy and throw it like Swiper does. She then says Swiper's line in a low voice," You'll never find it now- he,he, he." And now whenever we go somewhere she wants to know how we are going to get there.  If we are going to the cabin I would tell her that we have to through Columbia Falls, past the river, and to the Cabin.  We are about overdosed on Dora, but we have to remind ourselves that Dora is better than Barney-well, most days.

Quick Sophie facts:

• She is super tall- 41inches which puts her at 98% on the growth chart.  Her weight is 37 pounds which is 92%.  At least she is proportional. 
• Still extremely picky, she lives mainly on cheese and fruit.  I dream of being able to order food off a menu.  Sigh.  One day perhaps. 
• She likes anything active.  Sitting still is something that needs work.  We think they might have to tie her to a chair in preschool.  Seriously.
• She is very strong willed, to get her to do anything it needs to be her idea. This is why we are still working on potty training.

We love our sassy little lady and are excited to see what this next year will bring!

 Like last year, I was banished from the kitchen while Carl made Sophie's cake.  Apparently my cake decorating skills are lacking, and Carl took over. Fine by me!

Sophie decides to forgo the spoon and just eat face first.  Genius.  It is much quicker and easier to eat this way.

 Opening presents is much easier this year- we just sit back and watch!

Kyle and Vivi help Sophie with her Big Girl bike.