Wedding and Chicago

Well my last two weekends have been filled with FUN!!. 2 weeks ago my little, (not so little), brother Justin got married. It was a beautiful wedding and the photos turned out beautiful...good job Ben!! It's a little weird to picture my brother married but I could not have picked a better bride for him. Jason too, my other brother, is getting married in July and Katie is a really great girl too. They both fit into our family very nicely. Tayah had a blast at the wedding as flower girl. She made it down the aisle with no problem and had a great time at the dance.Last week I went on a mini trip to Chicago with my mother in law, Val, and two sister in laws, Emily and Abby. My sister in law, Abby, moved out there recently and is a teacher in the area there. We definitely will be making many trips to visit when we can. We all had such a great time. It was a great girls weekend. We shopped, ate, went to a musical, went to the 103rd floor at the Willis Tower (aka: Sears Tower), and walked the city to see the sites. It was a great weekend. No...I didn't see Oprah. But this was as close as I got to her.

4 more days!!

Well, we are officially to wedding week for Justin and Holly. I'm a bridesmaid in the wedding, Tayah is the flowergirl and can't wait to wear her "wedding dress". Ben is doing the photography for the wedding so is preparing by practicing with his new flash. I have to say he is being really professional for all this. He is quite the perfectionist when it comes to his photos so I know he is going to do a great job. Here are a few photos just for fun. Next time I'm on here I will update with how the day went. Thanks for reading and check back soon!

Trick or Treat and on to November

We ended October with Halloween and Tayah had so much FUN!! She woke up November 1st and asked if she could go trick or treating again. Tayah dressed up as Snow White this year and we just happened to get the movie a couple days before Halloween so she was really able to watch it and really understand who this Snow White lady is all about. She liked the movie, and we know that because we must have watched the movie 20 times already. After trick or treating to all of the grandparents houses on Saturday we went over to our friends Levi, Stephanie, James and Cole's house. Tayah and James are the same age and were really starting to get the concept of dressing up and getting candy. They were really cute. Well, we are onto November already which means it is Holly and Justin's wedding month. That day is going to be here before you know it and we are all looking forward to it. Stay tuned for that!!

The Hard September

September was a difficult one for our family this year. We had the unfortunate loss of my mom's sister, my aunt Laurie. She lost her life to addiction at the age of 50. We all knew about her addiction and thought that maybe she would get a good scare that would make her change her life for good. Unfortunately that scare came too late when she found out her liver was failing, which never did regain itself. Eventually it led to her kidneys failing. I was fortunate to spend her final days with her which I am glad now that I had gotten a chance to do. When I knew that her end was near she was all that I thought about so it felt good to be by her side and with my family during all this. We will miss her greatly. I'm also sad to share that I lost an early pregnancy as well this month. It came during a difficult time as we were all dealing with the fact that my aunt was dying. I truly feel that my body was just too exhausted during this time and could not handle carrying such a delicate life. I debated even sharing this news with anyone but decided that it is nothing to be ashamed of and I've accepted the fact that it happened for a reason. It was meant to be and I know we will be blessed again with another beautiful baby again when the time is more right. This month was definitely a lesson on how fragile life can really be.

Also, on a much happier note Tayah started gymnastics this month and she LOVES it!!! Here are some pics taken by her biggest fan, her dad.

Sorry August

Well...I try and get on here to post something, anything at least once a month. Well, sadly it is already SEPTEMBER and I completely missed out on August. The weather is getting cooler at night which feels great for sleeping but it is sad to think that fall is around the corner. Ben is THRILLED as his favorite season starts this weekend, HUNTING. Another year of being a hunting widow. It's okay, after 10 years, I am used to it. I will try and post something later this month as we are getting ready for someones big 3rd birthday...I wonder who that could be?

Photos from July

A Little of This and a Little of That

First off I would like to start by wishing my husband a Happy 5 year Anniversary today!! Yay, we made it to 5 years. Can anyone believe it?? In all honesty it has been a wonderful 5 years and I look at all the stuff we have accomplished in the last 5 years, one big thing being our beautiful and fabulous Tayah and I couldn't ask for anything better than her. Ben and I are sneeking away for the weekend and I am not telling Ben where. I'm leaving that a surprise for Ben but I am looking forward to our weekend together. Secondly, I would like to say I am a little sadened by the news of Michael Jackson's death which we all got news on yesterday. Being a child of the 80's, he was HUGE and such an ICON. I remember listening to "Thriller" and I remember my grandparents buying me his cassette tape when I was in Kindergarten. That was my first real album and I would listen to him all the time on my little red cassette player. I would say he was my first musical interest as child too. So, that is why it was a little shocking to hear the news of his death at only 50 years of age. So that is all I will say about that and that is my little tribute to him cause it truly is a tragedy. Thirdly, yesterday we had our own little scare with Tayah. Last night, after supper, Tayah and I were waiting for my parents to come pick us up to go to my cousins' Tobias and Talia's little summer play. Ben was on the couch watching T.V. and I had just hung up the phone with my parents who had just called to tell me they were on their way to get us. Tayah was goofing around on the couch and was climbing on the back of the couch. I had just told her, before answering the phone, to get down cause she will fall. And just as I hung up the phone I saw her fall off the back of the couch onto the ceramic tile floor. She sorta landed on her left arm and head but it was hard to tell what hit first and where she got hurt. I went over to her to look her over. I didn't see anything so I picked her up and she had finally caught her breathe and started screaming. I brought her into the living room, Ben got up to check on her and as he was getting up I noticed she stopped screaming, her body got limp, and her eyes were closing. I told Ben "She is blacking out." I started bouncing her in my arms to wake her up and handed her over to Ben. Ben laid her on the couch and thought her shoulder looked like it had dislocated. I called my parents, cause they were on there way over, and told them what happened. They immediately left and were planning on meeting us at the hospital. Tayah was still blacking out a little as she was laying on the couch as we were trying to see what was exactly hurting. I just remember telling Ben we need to take her to the hospital to get her checked out. All I could think was that she hit her head and was going unconscious or had gotten a concusion. By the time Ben had picked her up to leave for the hospital she was sorta back to her sorts but you could tell her arm was what was really bothering her. Ben scooped her up and held her as we were on our way to the emergency room. My parents met us there and she seemed to being doing a little better by the time we got there. So, to make a long story short, it was a 2 hour ordeal at the hospital, Tayah hated it until she finally got so tired she fell asleep waiting for the doctor. We had to get two sets of xrays to make sure her left arm was okay and then xrays of her right arm to comapare it to the left arm cause the doctor stilll couldn't tell if there was an actual injury with the first xrays. In the end everything turned out okay. She ended up with a minor bruise on her left temple and a little swollen and bruised shoulder. No concusion, no broken bones, no fractures or sprains. Thank goodness!! She got a little stuffed animal from one of the nurses, several stickers, apple juice and a trip to get ice cream. By the end of the night my parents took us all out for ice cream and you would have never thought anything happened. But when you have a child go limp and black out in your arms that scares you to death and you never can be too cautious over something like that. And now we have pictures of the xrays to remind her not to climb on the back of the couch. Ha!

Tayah's right arm-taken just to compare it to her left arm.
Tayah 's left arm- the one she fell on.

Happy 5 Years Ben!!

Tayah's Pretty Ears

Well, for the last several months Tayah has been asking about getting her ears pierced after discovering that mommy wears these sparkly things in her ears. When she first asked about them I told her if she wanted them she would have to go to the store and get them pierced. She immediately asked "does it hurt" and I told her that it does hurt a little bit and then that quickly changed her mind and that was the last I heard about it. Until about 2 weeks ago she has been asking again, so I explained again what would happen and that it would pinch for a minute. This time the sparkles out weighed the thought of the pain and she was ready to get them pierced. So, this weekend while we were at the mall we went ahead and got it done. She sat so nicely and was so brave. I was quite impressed on how well she handled it. She was a little nervous going into it but was really not afraid. Being bit of a drama queen she did cry a little bit after it all happened but it really was short lived. You could tell she was very proud of them and was happy to show everyone she knew. We first went to visit Uncle Justin who was working across the street from the mall and the first thing she said when she saw him was, "Look, I have earings". Later that day she got to show off her new sparkles to grandma and papa and everyone else at a graduation party. Grandma asked if it hurt and she said, "just a little bit". Such a big girl!!


Tayah "before" waiting very nicely.

Tayah "after" with a little smile and a couple of tears.

Tayah showing off her sparkles later that day.

Butt Naked

So, as I was just updating you all just moments ago on my class reunion I thought my daughter was upstairs for "quiet time" watching Sleeping Beauty. Apparently not. I went upstairs and there is Tayah standing butt naked in front of the T.V. I asked her what she was doing and she told me her clothes were dirty (which they weren't). So, she took it upon herself to take all her clothes off and put them in the dryer (thank goodness she doesn't know how to work the washing machine). What a goof!! Love having an independent almost 3-year-old.

10 Years and Counting

Well, This last month I celebrated my 10 year class reunion at Wild Marsh golf course in Buffalo. We had never really done anything for our 5 year so I was really looking forward to getting everyone together again to see where everyone was at. Ben and I actually had a little cocktail party with some of our high school friends at our house just before the reunion, which turned out to be a nice way to break the ice and to get the party started. I have to say that I do keep in contact with many of my old classmates, we do get together for special events on occassion, and now with the technology of Facebook it is much easier to keep in contact with old friends, which I love. However, there were still some surprises and a few people that were very surprising to see because they have changed sooooo much in the last 10 years (those that were there know exactly who I am talking about) and then there were others that showed up that you were friends with 10 years ago but haven't talked to at all in the last 10 years, but were still able to start back up right where you ended things 10 years ago. It was really alot of fun. My best friend growing up, Lyda, who I grew up living next door to from the time we were 5 to 18 came up from Missouri to stay the weekend with me and to attend our reunion. It was so nice that she got to meet Tayah and to hear about her daughter Ashley, whom were born after we had last seen eachother 4 years ago. I was one that really enjoyed high school and had a lot of fun so I had no hard feelings or hesitations in going to my reunion and really glad that I did. We all had a great time, some of us maybe too great of a time (Ben~ even though he was class of '00. Next time you see him ask him how green #7 is). After the reunion we headed to Perkins for a late night meal (we had two pregnant spouses in our group who needed to EAT), which was funny because a late night at Perkins was totally something we would have done back in high school. It was a great time and I look forward to our 15 year reunion.

The girls of '99: Erin, Sara, Kate, Tara, Kristen, Alicia, Michelle

Tara and Lyda- friends for almost 24 year

April in Review

Well, April came and went so fast that I have not even posted any updates for this month yet. I can hardly believe that May is around the corner, which is nice because the weather is finally starting to warm up so we can enjoy being outside. I love spring!! The flowers are starting to bloom, the grass is getting green, and our cows (the neighbors cows...we call them our cows) are in the pasture. Also spring means, flea market time. I can't wait for it to be warm enough that Tayah and I can hit the flea market in Annandale on Saturdays. Then you know it is spring.
April has been quite an eventful month for the Cade family. Tayah welcomed her baby cousin on April 2, 2009. Baby boy, Blake William Danielson. It will be nice for Tayah to have little cousins to grow up and play with. I can't wait for Blake to be a little bigger so they can play together.
Another thing that occurred this month is that Tayah is officially potty trained. YAY!!! It took us one week to crack down on it hard and fortunately everything clicked for her and we have not turned back to diapers since. And Tayah couldn't look any cuter running around in her little underwear.
Justin and Holly got engaged this April. We have been waiting for this to happen for a while now so I think we were all relieved when we got the call that they were officially engaged. They will be getting married November 28, 2009. Tayah and I will be in the wedding and Tayah had a blast trying on her beautiful flower girl dress. She truly is a girly girl (sometimes) and loved the poofiest dress in the store.
I think that is about it for the latest updates for the Cade family. Stay tuned for more updates in May!!

Bunny in our backyard.

The cows. There are 10 of them this year. I love that we live with the convenience of living within the city but still have cows in our backyard.

Mallard swimming in our pond.

Tayah's first bike (I could not get this to show up below photo, ugh!!)

New baby nephew, Blake.

Disney Update

Well, I have yet to get around to updating everyone on how our trip to Disney World went and traveling with a two-year-old. I have to say it was PERFECT!! The weather was beautiful and we could not have asked for a better forecast. The first few days were chilly (in the 60's) but it was very comfortable for walking around all of the wonderful parks (ask Ben how much he loved that part of the trip..ha..ha) So we made it to Magic Kingdom (my favorite), Epcot, Animal Kingdom, and Hollywood Studios within the first 3 days of our trip. It was exhausting and Ben had enough with the crowds by day 2 but it was all still alot of fun. We had lunch with the Winnie the Pooh characters on the first day at Magic Kingdom. Tayah thought that was great and was not afraid of them at all (although she didn't really like Piglet too much) but Pooh got a big hug and Eeyore got a kiss from her. We saw a show at the steps of the castle with all of the Princesses, Mickey, Minnie, Donald Duck, Captain Hook, Peter Pan, and the witch from Sleeping Beauty, which was so cool, and Tayah LOVED it!! We went on some rides which Tayah also really enjoyed because there was always so much for her to watch and look at. The second day we did Animal Kingdom and had brunch there with Mickey and Minnie. It was fun to get up close to the famous Mickey and Minnie Mouse and Tayah also really liked that. We took an African safari ride at Animal Kingdom as well, which Tayah of course loved to see all of the wild animals. The last few days of our trip it was warm (in the 80's) so we spent those days by the pool sipping cocktails. There was a little pool that was just over a foot deep for Tayah to play in, so we all could pull up our chairs by the pool and let Tayah swim. Tayah is like a fish and had no problem spending all day in the pool. She would take a break to have lunch by the pool and then was off in the water again. She even asked if she could go swimming after we got home in Minnesota. I guess she didn't want to be back in the Minnesota cold again either (none of us did). And the very exciting part of our trip was that Jason and Katie got engaged!! It was very cool and fun to have shared that with them. Overall the trip was a blast and it was not difficult at all to travel with a two-year-old. We can't wait to go back again with her. Oh...and you will have to check out the slideshow of pictures in the post below. Enjoy!!

Disney Slideshow

My Best Friends Wedding

Saturday I was given the honor to stand up for my best friend Alicia (a close friend since we were 12 years old) as matron of honor in her wedding. The wedding was beautiful!! I gave my speech without stumbling over my words, and the whole day turned out just PERFECT. She was such a beautiful bride. However, a few days before the wedding I discovered that I had the dreaded Shingles. This could not have come at a worse time with the wedding a few days away and a week away from our big vacation. A couple weeks ago I had been complaining about a pain on my left ribs and thought that I had bruised some ribs while playing around with Tayah. Several days later I then broke out in a painful rash in the same spot. It still took me a couple days later to even discover what it was before I made it to the doctor. I was put on some meds. which sorta helped but I mostly just had to wait for everything to take its course. Everyone kept telling me it is from stress but I really didn't even feel like I was that stressed out (not that watching 9 kids under the age of 4 everyday isn't stressful); so who knows what the cause of it all was?
Anyhow, so, the show must go on and with a couple glasses of wine and plenty of tylenol I made it through the wedding and still had plenty of energy to dance the night away. I have to say though, with the wedding behind me, this week I am completely exhausted. I've had something going on every night the last 6 nights so last night was my first night with no plans and was able to finally rest and go to bed early (I think I was asleep before 8:30). Man, did that ever feel good!! I have plans on doing the exact same thing every night with hopes of being 100% by the time we are set off to Disney. I think this vacation just may be the perfect medicine.

Counting Down....4 DAYS UNTIL DISNEY!!

Well, This Sunday we (Myself, Ben, Tayah, Jason, and Katie) are leaving for Florida. We are staying in Disney and have plans to hit the Parks and enjoy a little warmth and sun. I am so excited and I can hardly stand the wait. This will be Tayah's first real big trip where she gets to ride in an airplane and all. We have been trying to prepare her and talk about it as much as possible but I am not sure how much she truly grasps on what is going to happen. We have been watching the Disney movies and getting to know all the characters. We even had a vacation planning DVD for Disney sent to us and we have been watching that. I've been asking Tayah if she wants to ride in a big airplane and go to see Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty. She asks, "Belle and Snow White too." "Yes, Belle and Snow White too", I tell her. Today we were talking about leaving and she got her shoes on and was ready to go. I think even she is getting a little bit excited. I just can't wait to experience everything through her eyes to see what she does when she does see Sleeping Beauty (Tayah's favorite princess) and Cinderella's castle for the first time. It may even bring tears to my eyes. The weather in Orlando has been in the 70's and even into the low 80's so that should be about PERFECT!! We are supposed to be getting 5-7 inches of snow here in the Twin Cities so anything would be better than here and we may get out of town just in time. I will be sure to update the blog when we get back with wonderful pictures and how it all went. 4 days until DISNEY...YAY!!!

Pee Pee in the Potty

Well, we officially started potty training last week. We have slowly been working our way to this step since a little bit before Tayah turned two. We've had the potty chair sitting in the bathroom and every once in a while Tayah would surprise me and think it was fun to go potty on the potty chair. She would do really good about going for about a day but then would slowly lose interest with the whole idea. We actually probably hadn't even touched the potty chair for about the last month or so up until last week when Tayah came up to me and said, "pee pee in potty". Since she initiated the idea I litteratlly jumped at the opportunity to sit her on it. Ever since then she has been showing interest and has been willing to go for me when I ask. The first couple of days I may have pushed her patience just a little bit because I was having her go every 20-30 minutes so she would get the idea of what it felt like when she actually has to go. By the end of the day she was just tired of me having her go so often and she would be ready to give up. Ben picked up Disney Princess pullups which are working pretty good, at least in these beginning stages it is less of a mess and it is nice to have the convenience of just being able to pull them up and down. We may attempt real underwear soon though because she is doing so well and is staying dry for most of the day. We started using a prize jar as a reward system which she gets a prize when she tells me she has to go potty. This way she doesn't get frustrated with me having her go so often and so she decides when she has to go and tells me. She is really starting to get it and I couldn't be more thrilled. Our next mission for project potty is figuring out how to get her to go potty in public (and not just in her little potty at home) and to go "poo poo in potty". What could possibly be more fun?

Tayah picking her prize from the jar.



Tayah going potty on her "little potty".

Tayah and her ABC's and 123's

Just thought I would share a little video of Tayah so you could see her in action. Tayah was in a mood to perform yesterday and show off all her skills so I started taking some video of her and this is what I got. The other little girl in the video is a daycare friend of hers, Ella. So, here is Tayah, 27 months old.