A trip to Yosemite . . .

A monumental event took place this past Saturday. My husband and I took Kaydance to Yosemite for the first time. It was also the first time I had been on a true hike since Kaydance was born. We took Jamie and her little Kaia as well. Both of us have been so stir crazy, a trip out into the fresh air was in order. The weather this past weekend was truly OUTSTANDING. Everything was perfect and I can't wait to go back.

We picked up Jamie and Kaia at 1:00, after Michel got off of work. We went to Mariposa Grove first, where we hiked around 3 miles. Hiking Mariposa Grove was special to me because that is where I went on Kaydance's due date. It was nice to bring her to this place for her first hike with the family.

After Mariposa Grove, we went to Wawona Hotel and concluded our day in Yosemite at Glacier Point. We found out on the way up to Glacier that it was Jamie's first time up there. This was special to us because one of our favorite things to do is bring people to Yosemite for the first time. All in all it was a wonderful day. We were able to introduce Kaydance to an activity that will become a huge part of her little life. She rode the BOB like a champ and never fussed. I am looking forward to our many trips to come with our little Kaydance. What a blessing it will be to all of us.

You're a month old, lil' darlin

I cant believe that a month and two days ago, you were born. Time sure does fly. You have accomplished many things in your short time with us. You have been such an incredible blessing to us and we are so thankful for the gift that you are. God blessed us with a beautiful daughter who brings smiles to our faces daily. We love you lil' darlinKaydance.

Milestones:

- You do pretty good holding your head up. It is still a bit wobbly and Uncle Nick wont hold you yet because of it, but you are getting there.

- You smiled for the first time yesterday. What a beautiful smile it is.

- From day one, you have slept through the night with only one wake-up around 3:30 to eat. You do so quickly and go back to sleep without any issues.

- You are a wonderful eater and I love our special time together.

- Bath-time and Tummy-time have become less of a negative experience and more a positive one. We love this time with you.

- We find out this Friday how much you weigh, but I am guessing around 10 pounds, which is perfect.

- We love our hands and legs even if we are not quite sure what they are.

- You love little kisses from mommy and daddy . . . it lights up your eyes.

We love you darlin and can't wait for many more wonderful milestones in the future!

Car repairs and Bridal Showers . . . Yeah!

This weekend, Kaydance, Shelby and I drove to L.A. for Lindsey's bridal shower. While driving to L.A. my car started to make strange noises and loose power. Mind you, it is almost midnight at this point and we are in the middleof the Grapevine. We pulled over to get gas and I prayed that we would make it home without anymore issues. Sure enough, it worked. We made it home without any problems. The next morning, we drove the car to the GMC dealership in West Covina to be looked at. Please note that we were 350 miles away from our warrantee being up. So we thought it imperative to get it in down here instead of waiting until we got back to Fresno.We were following my father when my car lost all power again and the brakes went out. I had to use the e-brake on the 10 fwy, in bumper to bumper traffic and sandwiched between two semi-trucks. Not an ideal situation, but at least my father was with us. We got the car toed to the dealership and were told that the a/c compressor needed to be replaced and that after that, they would take a look at the brakes.

So here we are, 4 days later and we found out that it will be at least 3 more days before we will be able to get the car. Needless to say, it was a crazy experience for myself, let alone my 3 week old daughter.

The reason we came down was for my sister's bridal shower which was amazing. I cried like 12 times and Kaydance was "cooed" over and held by everyone. We had a great time and was able to forget about the car situation for a couple of hours. We are lucky to have a warrantee that will cover the a/c compressor, but the brakes are completely different. Pray that it is a small issue and will not completely deplete our already dwindling savings account. I am all for keeping positive, but seriously, loosing a job, weddings, hospital bills and now this

makes for a very expensive summer and end of this year. Oh and we have only hit the middle of August . . .

I'm 2 weeks old!!!!

The past two weeks have been nothing short of the best two weeks of my life. Since Kaydance danced into out lives, life has taken on a different meaning. Many gave us advice over the 10 months that we were pregnant. Most were something like, "Get sleep now, you will never sleep again." Another "favorite" was, "go see as many movies and go out as much as you possible can now, because once she comes, you will never be able to do it again." Advice that I "received" was more negative than positive and both Michel and I began to wonder why people have children to begin with, if all the advice they can give you is dripping with negativity. Regardless of the advice given, both Michel and I knew that having her, was orchestrated by God and would be nothing but the most amazing time of our lives.

After 31 hours of labor, our time in the hospital was perfect. We could not of asked for a more perfect time. We were given the suite at St. Agnes and because of this, Michel and I were guaranteed that we would not have a roommate and Michel would be able to stay with Kaydance and I for as long as we were there. Our time there was so great, there have been times that I have wished that we were there again.

Kaydance has hit many milestones. She aced her hearing test while in the hospital. She did excellent at her one week appointment. She sleeps like a champ at night and eats wonderfully. She has reached her birthweight in the time allotted. She sleeps in her crib at night with no real issues. She has had her fussy moments, but overall, she is a very low-needs baby and is easily pleased. She has had many first-time visits around town. She went to the coffee shop yesterday, has gone to church and went to the lake today for Carli's birthday party. We are having a blast and can't wait for many more first-time experiences.

So, even though, we were given advice like, "Sleep now, because you will never sleep again," I believe that what should of been said is, "Although you might loose a few hours of sleep here and there, the moments that you will share will make up for it 100 times over." I would give up every sleepless moment to have just one of the new experiences I have had as Kaydance's mother. What a blessing we have been given . . .

My first Sunday Dress

This dress was made for showing off . . . .

She was obviously thrilled . . . .