Kadence is two!!!

hamming it up for the camera
enjoying birthday cupcakes

"cheese"

Happy birthday to my sweet little girl! (her actual birthday was Tuesday May 11!)

At two Kady is starting to talk more, she says just about anything, some things are more easily understood than others. Juice and shoes sound quite similar "jews", daddy and dirty "da-dee and da-tee", blankie and babie "bank-bang". My favorite is still Loo-cee, with a definitive pause between most syllables of words. She has just started in the last month to put 2 words together and does this consistently now.

She is able to walk down the stairs standing up, get her own ice and water, play by herself, and sit in a big girl chair to eat. She really would be content doing everything that Lucy does.

Kadence's temperment has mellowed a bit. We see many smiles, that show her beautiful dimples, belly laughs, and her ability to be a jokster. The days are few and far between now that we have constant screaming, whining, clinging, and just plain unhappiness...but they still exist. She overall loves life, loves her blankie and "mumb" (thumb), baths, playing outside, especially on the swings. She loves carbs, won't eat veggies, and definately has her momma's sweet tooth.

I love this girl more than life itself. She brings such joy to my life, and warms my heart. She is the first one to greet you after a long day of work, telling you to take off your coat and giving plenty of hugs and kisses. She couldn't be any more different than her sister, which makes it so fun to love both of them so much, in so many different ways, and for so many different reasons.

Coopersville Farm Museum

Jim loves taking the girls places when I work on weekends.....
Here they met Jim's friend Ryan and his daughter Joelle.

Lucy made it seem like there was plenty to do, play with, pet, make

Lucy just tells me: "I was squeezing milk out of there"

The "petting zoo"

Notice Kady's boots, her choice.....country girl at heart

driving the tractors, it was a close race

Lucy told me she picked up a chick, and then....

"daddy put one on his head" Good self portrait Jim

Kady wasn't so sure she wanted that anywhere near her, or at least that's my narration since I'm posting. Maybe at a later time I'll see if Jim wants to post on his own adventures with the girls....that would be some great entertainment!

Traverse City 2010

As I mentioned previously we spent a weekend up in TC with our friends Scott, Erin, and their son Owen. They live up there but we decided to rent a condo together at Grand Traverse and just hang out. They guys got to golf the Bear, we swam, had a babysitter (for adults only time out), and just caught up. The girls loved being away from home. Before we headed home on Sunday we played at a park on Mission Pointe, tired the girls out so they slept most of the way home!

Swimming

Here are some of our pictures from our weekend away to Traverse City from a month ago. The girls LOVED swimming in the hotel. Especially notice Lucy...she couldn't get enough of it. Today we started another month of swimming lessons. I had to physically put her in the pool, and then the teacher had to physically hold her in the pool. Tears, screams, whines...I couldn't even bring myself to take the camera to lessons today..too torturous. Needless to say we made it through the entire lesson without leaving for 3/4 of it (with an "emergency" trip to the bathroom). So I am choosing to remind myself why we put our little water rat in swimming lessons.....because she LOVES to swim!

Easter 2010

What beautiful girls

They love their babies

I have finally not worked on Easter!!!! It was very exciting to be able to celebrate a risen Savior with my family...and then just enjoy the day. Some of my favorite easter memories are Kadence hiding in our closet, nearly scaring Jim to death. She had hidden herself with her easter basket, and I believe had eaten and emptied almost every egg that she had found earlier. What a little rascal. How could you even be mad...she was just so proud of herself.

After church we headed to Allegan to spend time with the entire Cochran side. It was great to have some warmer weather so we were able to play at the park, ride bikes, and have some of the infamous easter egg hunts. We even gave the "big" kids a chance to find eggs. I wish I had some more pictures, but my camera battery died. I would have loved the chance to capture Matt and Ryan's wrestling match...over maybe an egg with some coffee in it?! My mom and Elaine's ideas of easter "surprises" reached a whole new level this year. Very creative.

Butterflies...March 31, 2010

It was Grandma's spring break, so Carrie and Casey took a day off so that we could get everyone together to see the butterflies at Fredrick Meijer Gardens. The highlight turned out to be what a beautiful spring day it was, and how much of the outdoor gardens we got to enjoy. We topped it off with a picnic by the big horse, and just let the kids run up and down the hills until they tired themselves out! Sir Grumps alotLucy now talks about putting everyone in jail, behind bars....always educational

Justice

A little chilly yet for so much water, but they loved itIf any of you remember Lucy right before she turned 2 she wore those pink cowboy boots EVERYWHERE! Kadence is the exact same way...love them

Cleaning the log cabin...can that be fun at my house too?

They all loved those baby beavers...even Simon

hatching eggs Tired kids! Good day!

My new hobby

So I've taken up cake decorating...and absolutely LOVE it! The pictures are from my first 4 week class, and I've now signed up to do another 4 week class. Just another way to let out some of my creativity! My little helpers also love cake decorating...more so sampling the frosting and the finished projects. Lucy knows every Thursday what to expect, it makes me giggle.