The following pictures are simple little somethings that have been stored in the camera over the past couple of weeks. Sometimes, when I have a tough day at work, being able to come home to her actually changes my mood to happy. She tells me almost every day (without prompting) “mommy, I love you!” She brightens my days for me so often, it’s incredible.
Tonight before bed, she had a major meltdown. She was over tired, and became meltdown-ier when we started reacting to her tude by losing book privileges for the night, and then lost the ability to snuggle with me before bed. Ohhhh.....it went from a cry on the floor to a yell to keep from hearing which next privilege would be taken away. Ya think, if she blocked us out loud enough, we wouldn’t hear what we were saying?
So, no book tonight, and no snuggle in bed. But when she was done with the meltdown, and the quick, sporadic spasms of breaths started their own rhythm, we rocked in the rocking chair, and she was out in less than a minute. These tantrums don’t happen often, but they come like a whirlwind when they do. And she can be stubborn when she so chooses. I sometimes think that stubbornness and unwillingness to yield is how she not only survived in the orphanage as a toddler, but actually thrived for a year and a half. It sounds very odd, but I see this as one of her strengths. I mean, if periodical attitude kept her getting her needs met when she was 6 months old, 12 months old.....15 months old, then she’s entitled to keep the stubborn attitudes, providing the rest of her personality continues to blossom as well. And WOW her charm, her smile, her intellect, her happiness shines so brightly, I’ll gladly accept the “Once-in-a-while --Where-did-this-cone-from--Is-she-really-as-smart-as-I-thought-she-was-10-minutes-ago-?” ‘tude.

For the most part though, this is what I get to look forward to daily;

I’ve been to a few weddings in my time. Some are beautiful, some cost a lot of money, and some are ......well, even though they touch my heart, they can be boring at times. Scott and I got married in Tahoe. Just the two of us.
At the time, I wouldn’t have done it any other way. It was beautiful, did not cost anyone a lot of money, and if anyone was going to be bored, it wasn’t going to be at my wedding. Our own private and sacred wedding was what we needed at the time.



BUT.......

If we were to do it again, I would want to do it like this.
What a joyful celebration!

It’s so sweet to see them together. They’ve been best friends for more than two years. Her friend is quiet and contemplative. While, Cady is outgoing and talkative. But I started seeing them constantly on the playground together when I would pick Cady up from preschool. They find flowers in the grass together, and special rocks that everyone else has overlooked. They light up when they’re together. Cady truly loves her best friend.

“That’s not fair, you cheated me!” ((insert croc tears here)) “I’m not playing with you any more, Mommy! I’m going to play with Fluffy!” With that, a dash to the bedroom. She ran with her arms still at her sides, not swinging her arms makes a more dramatic exit. Fluffy, her loyal stuffed doggy then came out of her bedroom to play Chutes and Ladders with Cadence for a few long minutes and he did not cheat. They took turns and Cady spinned the spinner for Fluffy as their stick people dashed across the board. In fact, Cady won that game, and proclaimed victory in a way that should have made Fluffy muster a tear. “I WIN, FLUFFY! HAHAHAHAHAHA.”

This was the result of playing the game with Cadence, and me winning the game. I guess I was supposed to be envious that she decided to play the game with Fluffy and not me. I guess I was supposed to not win when I did. I guess it wasn’t as much fun sliding down the chutes as it seemed to be.
After she won the game with Fluffy with an “in-your-face-Fluffy!” attitude, she was happy again.
Melody, I hope you come home knowing how to swallow your pride. You’re not going to have a chance at being top dog around here.

Recently we painted Cady's bedroom. It turned out quite nice. The top 2/3 is lavender, and the botttom 1/3 is purple. We left the trim and the closet white. We did this border toward the top of the wall Disney fairy border and put these wall stickers randomly around the walls Disney fairy wall decals.

It really looks quite nice and inviting. In fact, it's so nice in there, Scott and I kept finding ourselves wandering into her bedroom after it was all done, and sitting in there with Cady on her bed or on the floor. Here are some before and after shots:









We topped off the look with some purple curtains to cover the miniblinds, and butterfly hooks to hold the curtains open. It all came together very nicely.

One of the evenings that I was in her bedroom, just sitting on her bed, she put on a flower headdress and started her music player, and then just started dancing. I love watching her dance. She's so eloquent. She added in a bit of free style, some interpretive dance, and some deliberate moves that she's learned in dance class. I was able to catch it on film, and although some of it is a bit shaky, it's one of those magical moments that we usually say, "why didn't I have the camcorder?" Well, this time I did.

"Sing like Nobody's listening,
Live like it's Heaven on Earth,
Work like you don't need the money,
Love like you've never been hurt,
And dance like no one's watching"

Enjoy

The grocery store used to be a fun place for Cady to go. As of yesterday, that all might have changed.
I let her walk, instead of riding in the grocery cart this time. While we were in the meat section, she started poking the meat. I told her to stop but alas she continued till she poked her finger on one of the meat wrappers and poked a hole in the packaging and looked up at me, while smiling an impish grin.

I picked up the meat with a hole in the seal, and advised her that we would have to tell the butcher so that he can fix it. When we were standing at the butcher counter, she hid behind me, moving ever so slightly with my own moves so that she would not be seen. And when I handed it to him, I said, "Cady poked a hole in this, and she's sorry" To which he replied, "Cady, now I have to do extra work".
As soon as he opened his mouth to say anything, it could have been, "Cady, you look cute today", she curled her lips downword and took a breath. Dead silence, and then she started crying loudly with tears rolling down her cheeks.
I picked her up and consoled her, but she was crying and she couldn't stop. She felt guilty. She was G-U-I-L-T-Y. And she had been told so, but I had no idea she would be that emotional about it. The butcher came from around the counter and quickly said, "It's ok. Tell you what, go get a cookie at the bakery. Tell them it's from me". Of course, cookies are free at the bakery but she didn't know that. She nodded her head, and we went toward the bakery to get her cookie......Still crying loudly.

We left the store soon after, but she was not her usual bubbly self for the rest of the time there. I now wonder if she will want to go to the store again with me so quickly next time. At least I know she's going to keep her fingers away from the meats.

American Heritage Dictionary -
con·tent·ed
adj.   Satisfied with things as they are; content: a contented expression on the child's face.

Tonight as I was rocking Cady in my arms, her blanket on one side and her froggy pillow on the other side, as she started to doze off, she said, "Mama?"
"Yes, Cady?"
"I like this place"
"You do?"
(I could feel a vigorous nod against my shoulder)
"Me too, Sweetie"
At that moment I could feel her falling asleep in my arms.
At that moment, it really didn't matter that we need the tree stump in the front yard ground down, and would love a larger back yard. Nor that we haven't gotten that piano yet, nor the whirlpool for my achy shoulders.
At that moment all that really mattered is that she (we) liked "this place".....the house? The position we were in? The way we felt in our souls? The moment as it was. Exactly as it was.
It's a good place to be in.

We've had quite a few updates to post, that we just haven't gotten around to posting.
My mom and niece came for a wonderful weekend visit. Cady adores...adores....ADORES.....her cousin.





And the day after they left, Cady's Bear got an unexpected tea party....fancy wrist bracelets and all. Bear adores, adores, ADORES Cady.





Cady was able to convince Daddy to paint her toe nails, something I haven't been able to do yet!





Gymnastics are still the best....She loves the gymnastics work outs.



Her deliberate poise just astonishes me every time. It's as if she was born to be a gymnast.










These are my favorite two pictures of her gymnastics class and they aren't even doing gymnastics.




But, going to her friend's house for a princess tea party was the bestest fun ever!
She loves being a girl.



I wonder if a magic wand zap is anything close to a pinky swear?

And finally, the shot I thought would never happen......Newman taking the ear design with pride. He seemed to actually like it.





Ahhh yes, and what school year would be complete without school pictures that introduce the bangs still growing out, and a cheezy smile?

So we had Mother's Day last week, and what did Mama get for her present?


Yeah, a bike for Cady.

To add to the busy week, we had another dance recital on Saturday. Video will come soon, though it isn't as well filmed as last year's Winter dance.

I've taken the time today to finally get pictures up on the site as well. Not just the little pictures that show up right here, but actual pictures in volume. Look for the picture links along the top black bar to see everything missed from Easter of last year up to current.

Thanks, as always, for coming to visit.

Cadence's latest obsession is with Horton. She absolutely adores Horton for his convictions, or perhaps it's his stubborn nature. Maybe it's a bonding she has with him, because he, similar to a three year old, still believes in kindness, and love, and things that others cannot see or understand. She started with the book, Horton hatches the egg. And now she has us read, Horton hears a Who, very often. If she's given a choice these days, it's one of those two, or occasionally, How the Grinch stole Christmas. She has other books. Let me tell ya, before we adopted her, I picked out some wonderful books! And she likes them, but she LOVES stories with Horton. We have a few Dr Seuss books that have several of his stories in them. Guess which she always chooses?




Horton hears a Who! will be in the theaters on March 14th.
I'm fairly certain that this will be her first movie theater experience.

See the trailer here

As all two and three year olds do, Cady is drawn toward puddles like a duckling. So, it was no surprise that she wanted to go with her daddy on an adventure to get the mail, the first day it rained here.



To view the world thru the lens of my daughter's eye, would be a painter's dream. Dance, stomp, rejoice in the splendor of the rainbows, sweet child, and keep me in your world.

OK, we knew it would come sooner or later. But it really did come sooner than we thought. That fish we introduced into the family just a couple of months ago. Well, he has gone to the fishbowl in the sky.....Hmmmm....It sounds more profound to use a capital F.... Fishbowl in the sky.

He was laying on the bottom of his tank for several days, coming up to just splash out of the water once in a while, then back down to the depths of his beta sized tank. And there he would stay, lifeless, till the next morning when I would ask myself all over again, if today were the day that I'd be flushing him in to the deep tunnel of porceline to meet and greet on the other side. I paid close attention to his lifeless fins time after time, wondering when we would be able to get it over with. But he just kept holding on. My brother thinks it was possibly a pH imbalance. He might be right, who knows.

Eventually the fish croaked, we flushed, and that was that. No biggie. .....uh oh......did she notice? mmmmm hmmmmmm!
"Where's Slippery Fish?" she asked a day or two later.
Ok, so Slippery Fish was more trouble than he was worth, as far as fish are concerned. But what to tell the daughter? So, I took a breath, hoping for the right words, and said the best thing I could think of.
"Well, honey, Slippery Fish missed his mommy and his daddy, and he wanted to go find them, so we let him do that.......umm.....like Nemo did. Now he's happier."

Did it work? Did she take the bait? I mean, really, how do you explain to a 2 year old about death? They have no real concept of the word. Death just does not exist in their thought processes. But, yeah, I think she understood what i said very well. It wasn't a lecture about death, but it was a parallel story about being happier.

"Yeahhh, he found his mommy and his daddy, just like me. And now I happy too!"

Somehow, while listening to my daughter, I felt a bit of gratitude toward that fish. Who'd of thunk it actually had a mission in it's lifetime?

Tables turned, and I became the student. I listened and nodded as she told me and pointed to us, and talked about 'happy'. I then understood what she was trying to make me understand.
Oh, sweetie, Mommy's sooooo glad that you found us too. And I'm so very happy we adopted each other!

Half the time, all I can do is sit back and say, "WOW".
And for now, I'm currently living in that half of time.