Cadence's 1st Birthday!!

Cadence had a great first birthday. From the moment she woke up until the time she went to sleep, she was CELEBRATED!!!! :) I am BIG into birthdays and I have always enjoyed making them special. I am thankful to my parents who raised me to love birthdays and who always made me feel extra special on that special day. To this day they still make it extra special. And Matt has definitely taken on the role as birthday planner for my bdays. He goes out of his way to celebrate me. He makes me chocolate chip pancakes in the morning and makes me feel special throughout the day. I've always said I wanted to do the same for my children and we did, indeed for Cadence.

We started out her birthday by cuddling in the bed (one of mommy's favorite past times). Matt brought her to me before he left for work and we sang "Happy Birthday" to her and cuddled her. After he left for work, we went downstairs and I made her pancakes. I have never made pancakes (that is Matt's specialty) so they were a tad ugly. They tasted super good though. We spent the morning playing with all of her goodies from her birthday party. We played dolls, had a tea party, etc. After Cady's nap, Mimi came over and drove us to the zoo to meet Matt. Mark also came and dropped Aubrie off for the afternoon. We had a picnic lunch and then spent the afternoon at the zoo. Cadence LOVED it and so did Brie. They were precious. Cadence was born at 12:25 pm so at that exact time we sang to her and gave her the minute birthday kiss.

The zoo was great (and exhausting...it's the most I've walked since surgery and it didn't feel that great. BUT I wasn't going to let it ruin her bday). Mimi dropped us back at home and we both rested for awhile. When Matt got home from work we made sugar cookies and put frosting on them and let Cadence get a little messy again. She loved it!! Then we gave her a birthday card from us and let her open one last present (a pink play-laptop). She was real pumped. After that, we went outside to swing her (one of her favorite presents from BeBe and Poppy). We played outside for a long time. While we were playing outside BeBe and Aunt Kaitlyn came and brought us supper. Later, Poppy showed up and we had a great supper. After supper we watched her BIRTHday video (no worries-nothing gross on there haha) and celebrated her yet again. We ended the night by singing "Happy Birthday" yet again to her. You can never sing that enough!!! After the fam left Matt and I gave her a bath, read to her and said our prayers. I can't believe our little girl is one. It sure was a great day and I definitely think she'll grow to love birthdays like her mommy!! :)

My One year old first thing in the morning

Happy Birthday!

Cady and her Birthday Pancakes

At this exact time a year ago she was born. This is her minute bday pic

Posing at the zoo


Daddy and Cadence looking at one of the many animals


Mommy and Cadence and the Orangutans

Cousin Aubrie and the Birthday girl


Daddy, Cady and Mommy

Leaving the zoo on daddy's shoulders

Eating her cookie with icing

Loving her swing!

Posing with BeBe

Happy 1st Birthday, Sweet Cadence Grace!!!

Today is my sweet little girl's 1st Birthday! I cannot believe it has been a year since she entered our lives. What a blessing she is!! Here are some pics in review of this past year.

Our Sweet Family

The day she was born

One month old

Two months old

Three months old

Four months old

Five months old

Six months old

Seven months old

Eight months old

Nine months old

Ten months old

Eleven months old

Twelve months old

Cadence Grace Ivester,

You are such an amazing blessing to my life (and your daddy's). You are such a fun, sweet girl. Your laugh is so contagious. I love when you crinkle your nose when you get really tickled. I love how you love. I love how you snuggle. I love how you say "Tickle Tickle" and "Touchdown" (with the hand motions). I love how you lay your head on my chest when I tell you to love on me. I love how you are so active. I love how you dance and sing. I love every inch of you and every little thing about you. I can't wait to see you grow and to see how our relationship grows. I pray we will be best friends like I am with your Mimi. I pray that you grow to accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior and that you will follow Him all of the days of your life. I pray for your future husband...that he will be such a man of God and that he will lead you and love me like your daddy leads and loves me. You are such a special little girl, Cadence and I am beyond thankful for you.

I love you,

Mommy

Cadence's First Birthday Party and Katie's Visit

Friday, October 23, 2009 was a SPECIAL day! My mom picked Cadence and I up for a lunch at Anita's-to meet Matt and Daddy. We hadn't eaten there in awhile so I was pretty pumped. So we get there and Matt was a little late. I called him to make sure he didnt forget about it. He told me he was running late from work. When he walked into the restaurant I saw him, told Cadence to say "hey daddy" and then I realized a pretty girl was behind him. I kept looking and turned out to be my bestest buddy, Katie from Minnesota. WHAT?! I was in complete shock and didn't even know what to say. I jumped up and hugged her until she couldn't breathe. It turns out she had been scheming for over two months with momma and Matt to come surprise me and come to Cadence's 1st Birthday party. What a friend!!! I haven't seen Katie since her wedding (17 months ago) and obviously she had never met Cadence before. Wow-how amazing!!!

Katie and I have such an unusual and special friendship. We met in college through a guy friend of mine. They met one summer on a Campus Crusade for Christ summer project. Katie-from Minnesota, and my guy friend-from SC. Long story short, they broke up but since I had met Katie through him we instantly had a connection. We remained buddies and built a relationship over the phone, email and letters. We have never lived within 16 hours of driving with one another. We have taken turns flying out to see each other. We can count on two hands the number of times we've been in each other's air space. And despite our distance and few times of being around each other, we have formed this incredible friendship. She is someone I can laugh with, cry with, be ridiculously silly with, pig out with-EVERYTHING!! She is not just my bestest buddy, she is my soulmate. I can't talk enough about our friendship and how it truly is a God thing. She is a blessing I am so thankful for. We have been in each other's weddings, fallen in love with each other's families and just really become the best of friends. Since she had never met Cadence she thought her 1st Birthday would be the perfect time to come out. She couldn't have planned any better. It was THE PERFECT trip and Cadence completely fell in love with her. Matt even let us sleep in the master bedroom together (because our nighttime cuddle time is defintely our favorite time together). Matty, I love you and you are the most understanding, sweetest husband ever. You don't know how much I appreciate you and how you are just so....amazing. :)

So Katie's visit was amazing and Cady's first birthday party was wonderful. I admit I did stress a bit. I am not the best host and I just worry about everyone-wanting everyone to have fun, etc. But thanks to Matt, my parents, Matt's mom and Katie, the party was so perfect. We had the greatest turn out. I am so thankful for such an amazing family and great, close friends who come out to celebrate our little girl turning one. I still can't believe that she is one already (well, she turns one tomorrow). She is such a blessing and I had so much fun celebrating her. Here are a few pics from the party and weekend.

Me and Sweet, Katie

Right after she surprised me at Anita's.

Wow I love her!

Happy Birthday at Anita's, Cadence!

Mmmm birthday dessert!

Still Crutchin' Around, A Sick Little Girl, and Apple Pickin'

It has been over a month since I had my surgery. I went Friday to get my cast off and to get my aircast (walking boot). The doc said I can walk crutch-free as soon as I can tolerate the pain. I will be in the aircast for atleast 3 weeks (I go back to the doc in 3 weeks). He will then check things out and I will possibly do some physical therapy. I was discouraged when I went because I didn't realize this would be such an ordeal. I believe I had unrealistic expectations. I have been in a lot of pain since my appointment (I am trying to walk a lot without my crutches because I am so ready for some freedom). Today has been better and I have been able to take care of my Cadence all by myself. I LOVE IT! I have missed my one on one time with her!

My sweet CadyBug has been sick with a double ear infection since Wed. We took her back to the doc on Saturday because she was still running a fever. He checked her ears and they are looking good, but she has Coxsackie Virus. It is extremely common (and contagious). She has a red ulcer in the back of her throat and she just feels pooey. Last night she slept with me (Matt slept in the guest bed so he could be rested for work today). She was up about 2AM and had a fever over 104. Gosh it scared me. Today she is acting like she feels okay, but she still has a fever. Thankfully it has gone down. Please say a prayer for her and that she heals quickly. Despite her fever and illness, she is still her sweet, silly self. I am so blessed to have such an amazing daughter!

We went apple picking yesterday with Matt's fam and had a blast. Cady was feeling better and wasn't running a fever at the time so we went for some family fun. There weren't that many apples to pick, and goodness knows I couldn't walk far to search for some, but I was able to get a lot of good pictures of Cadence. Here are a few of our pics from our trip to Sky Top.