Cassie is 6 Months Old!

The title of this post is a little misleading since in "real time" Cassie is now 7 months. Big surprise, I'm behind! Hopefully once I get through December updates things will settle down a bit so I can keep up better.
Time is flying by faster and faster. I look back at my maternity leave and it was such a flash. I loved having the summer off with our new bundle of joy!
Cassie is full of personality and action. Before I get to her stats, I wanted to note some things we want to remember about her at this age:

- She loves her bouncer and can stay and jump in it forever! Makes her so happy to be upright.

- She LOVES her food! She is now eating three meals a day plus a few bottles. Her favorites seem to be green beans and sweet potatoes! Apples are still hard for her to do, but she's getting better.

- Doesn't sleep through the night persay, but most nights she is only waking up at 4:00am for a feeding. Technically that is "sleeping through the night" since she is doing 8+ hours, but I am looking forward to when it is 12 hours straight! We get that once in a blue moon.

- At around 6.5 months she started scootching around. She is definitely mobile and that has added some complexity to our world. She really likes to investigate her surroundings (i.e. get into everything)!

- She is still such a happy, mellow baby. Very active and aware, but takes everything in stride and is easy to make smile.

- Her witching hour is still right around 7pm. It's hard to keep her awake much past that unless we are out and there is a lot of action for her to take in. She is very social. She also tends to have her "angry" moments in the middle of the night if she wakes up.

- Her hair is hilarious. She has SO much of it! Future posts will cover her first haircut that happened right before Christmas

- When you go get her in the morning from her crib, she is pushing herself up and starts kicking like crazy because she is so excited to see you.

- She is still a tummy sleeper and rubs her face on you or her sheet when she is really tired.

- Doesn't take a paci and doesn't suck her thumb

- She gives "kisses", especially to daddy. Just grabs his face and gives him a big open-mouth "kiss".

- She loves her big sister and the feeling is mutual. They are very sweet together even when Cassie pulls Taylor's hair.

6 Month Stats:

Weight - 18.2 pounds (92%)
Length - 28in (100%)

Head - 17.5in (93%)

The first weekend in December we had her 6 month photos taken and included some Christmas dress poses. They turned out so great! Such a happy girl.

We have a fun video of her in her bouncer and giving kisses to Al, but I will have to try and add that later. Having technical difficulties right now!

Thanksgiving in Kansas

For Thanksgiving this year we headed down to Kansas to visit Al's family. Our plan was to leave Wednesday evening and drive through the night, but a huge snow storm (the first of many this year) was going to be moving through so we decided to head out Tuesday night. It was nice to have the extra day to relax before Thanksgiving day and to extend our trip a little.
We picked up the girls from daycare, stopped for dinner down the road a bit, and arrived in Lenexa around 2am. The weather was uneventful so we are very glad we left when we did! The girls did amazing. They slept the entire way down and only woke up when we arrived. They do not transfer well when they are sleeping. We can never seem to move them from car to bed without them waking! We got to bed in the wee hours of the morning and begun our vacation Wednesday when we all woke up.

Taylor was able to enjoy some fun quality time with Nana, Papa and Mimi Wednesday evening. Nana found some fun, easy candies to make and Taylor did a lot of the work! Here she is meticulously laying out each pretzel.

After all the Rolos were placed and put in the oven for a few minutes, she was in charge of placing the pecan on top of each one. So careful with her work!

Next task, help Nana mix up some Pecan pies! Yum!

On Thursday (Thanksgiving), Al's sisters and their families arrived for Thanksgiving dinner. It was quite the feast as usual! Taylor was excited to play with her cousins and was so much more willing to jump in and play this time compared to our last visit. She and Baily really hit it off again.

She and Cassie were also able to open up some early Christmas presents from Aunt DeeDee. Here is Taylor in her Flapper outfit complete with heels. The "fingernails" were part of a game she had been playing.

All of the girl cousins! Baily, Cassidy and Taylor:

Friday Al took Taylor to go play at an indoor gym in Lawrence with a highschool friend and his family. Unfortunately I caught some bug and was laid out for most of the day so Cassie and I stayed back with Nana, Papa and Mimi in Lenexa. That evening we all headed out to see Al's aunt, uncle and cousins for an extended family gathering. A Tex-Mex potluck with lots of yummy food that I couldn't even touch. Thankfully by bug only lasted for that day!

Saturday was cousin Caleb's 2nd birthday party! We all heade dout to the indoor pool facility where the party was.

Caleb (aka Little Bubba) really getting into his cake!

Taylor getting into the cake action too!

Pool time! This place was really neat and had a few different places to swim and play with things to climb on and slides to go down.

Here is Uncle Bubba (Al) with Tavaris:

Cassie was even able to get into the pool and try it out. She LOVED it! I figured she would since she gets so excited in the bathtub. I included a short video below to show her "swimming" around.

Saturday night Al and I were able to have some fun adult time and hang out with a few of his high school friends again. We watched Jayhawks basketball game and then headed back to Lenexa for our last night.
We hit the road Sunday morning for the long drive home. It always takes a lot longer on the way back since everyone else is also traveling and we have to make more stops since the girls are awake most of the time. They did great again though. Some mild fussing from Cassie a couple times, but nothing to complain about!

One last picture from the weekend, the four generations:

The videos:
Cassie in the pool!

Some fun action from Cassie. She is a lot more "grabby" than we remember Taylor being. She is so curious and active. Love her tenacity!

Austin, TX - November 2010

Over the November 11-14th weekend, the Voigt family ventured back to our second home, Austin, TX! With Cassie being born at the end of May, we hadn't been back to Texas since the previous September. That's the longest stretch being away from Austin since we moved back to MN 5 years ago.
It was Cassie's first trip and our first time traveling with the two of them by airplane. We managed well and the girls did great. We really ran them ragged and every night was a late night for them. They were such troopers! I think one evening Taylor was up until 1am since we had been hanging out at a friend's house all night! So amazed that we seem to have been blessed with two easy-going travelers. I think we may have seen some direct "bad" behavior for a few nights after we were back in MN, but all in all the girls did amazing.
On to the pictures!

Catching some grub in the Dallas airport on our way to Austin. Taylors first soft pretzel.

The next day (Friday), catching some lunch and shopping at the University Co-op at Daddy's school.
Cassie enjoying the stroll:

Taking a break near the UT Tower:

Al and his little ladies in front of the Tower:

Always need to take a picture with the larger-than-life Bevo! Taylor sporting her brand new UT shirt that she needed for the game Saturday.

Friday night our friends Scott and Tanya (and their daughters Samantha and Sidney) were gracious enough to have some friends over at their new place and grill some burgers. We got to spend some quality time with a handful of friends and Cassidy got to meet her fellow Gemini friend, Addison, who is only 10 days younger than her.

They hit it right off, Addison felt so comfortable with Cassie that she promptly started to eat her foot. Now that's love! I know Addison, I know, I can't help it either...

Pajama time at the Bradley house!

I'm surprised I don't have more pictures of Taylor playing with Samantha, they had a riot all night long. It even spilled into the street (or sidewalk) as we were leaving at 11:30 that night, Taylor and Sam decided it was a good time to take a midnight run in the neighborhood. It was a little hard to "yell" after them when you don't want to disturb the peace!

We're just happy they had so much fun.

The next morning we tried to sleep in, but that hardly happens. We got ready and made a stop at our old tailgate to see some of the early risers.
It wasn't long before Taylor wanted to take a quick cat nap:

Cassie seemed to be a natural, helping herself to mommy's Miller Lite immediately. ;)

Party animal!!!

I love this picture because I know it's a face I used to make as a baby as well. It was sweetly named my "hippo" face.

Taylor being the seasoned tailgater now knew how to get right into it. Daddy even made her a little "thrown" in someone's tailgate. Inappropriate? Probably. Funny? Definitely.

Cassie hanging out with Kolin's fiance (as of yesterday!), Alexis. She borrowed the shades from her fashionable friend Addison.

After lunch and a late nap, Al and Taylor actually got to go to the 7:00 football game. The Longhorns had a horrible year and this game was no different, but Taylor was blissfully unaware. There is a short video at the bottom that shows some of her enthusiasm. Gotta love her spirit!

The best part was after I picked them up from the game around 10:00pm, she told me that she saw "a lot of first downs!" and seemed genuinely excited about that. :)

On our last day in Austin, we decided to hit up some Austin favorite hot-spots. Fortunately Taylor and Cassidy both decided to do a little sleeping in.

Taylor in her fun outfit posing with Alexis, I swear she is made for this city. :)

For lunch, Daddy's favorite burrito place, Freebirds. Taylor not sure what all the hype is about yet.

Next stop, Amy's ice cream! It was actually chilly that day, but that didn't stop Taylor from diving right into her chocolate ice cream with sprinkles!

Mommy and Tay having some fun. Taylor actually took this picture! Not bad for a 3 year old!

Taylor playing with the cow statues:

And doing her best to imitate them...MOOOOOO!!!!

And a little fun for mommy and daddy, making the toddler dizzy:

Game video:



This one is my favorite. I'm sure when Al was attending the University of Texas as a social 18 year old, he never imagined that he would be back there someday as a 33 year old with his 3-year old daughter, being told to "walk like a birdy" amongst all the other students. I had a good laugh at his expense. :)

As usual, our trip to Austin was way too short, but we hope to make a longer one out of it next time around. It's always a blast to see everyone and we miss the city (and all of our friends there) terribly. Thank goodness we are able to visit as much as we have been!

Until next time, keep it weird Austin! :)

Cassie's First Trip and Halloween

On October 28th, Cassie took her first plane ride with mommy to go visit Al while he was attending a conference in D.C. Taylor stayed back and had a fun two-night sleepover with her buddy and classmate Elijah. I was so proud of her. She was homesick by night 2, but I'm not surprised. That's a lot to take on for a 3 year old!

I was a little nervous traveling with Cassie for her first flight by myself, but there was no need. She was a superstar and charmed her fellow passengers. I think they were just relieved that she was in such a good mood for the flight and didn't cry! We are very fortunate to have two kids that are great travelers so far. I hope it continues this way!

When we arrived at the hotel Thursday afternoon, Al was on break and greeted us. He had late conferences that day which worked in my favor so I could get some work done in the hotel room after Cassie went to bed. He was staying at the Gaylord Convention Center which was beautiful. Nice to have a little getaway for free!

Friday I did my best to work from the hotel with Cassie and would take some breaks to walk around on the hotel grounds so she didn't get too bored. It worked out pretty well!
Friday evening we got to hang out with Libby, Lincoln and TJ at their place (thanks for dinner guys!) and then went back to hang out with them all day Saturday.

Al with Cassie and TJ:

Cassie enjoying some outside time while TJ rode on his new big wheel from us. We were practicing with her hair for her Halloween costume. :)

Great profile shot of her hair and CHEEKS!!

Always SO happy and smiley. Such a sweet baby.

It was a quick visit, but so fun to get a chance to see the Winzeler/Zahlers on their turf in Virginia. It was also really sweet to have some mommy/daddy time with just Cassie. We were excited to get back to see Taylor though, it just wasn't quite the same without her.

Funny enough, when we arrived home, I think Cassie got more of greeting than either Al or I! She loves that baby sister of hers.

Halloween!!

On Halloween night, we had three of Taylor's friends from school come over with their parents and we had pizza before we got the kiddos dressed and ready for trick or treating. It was a great night!

Cassie getting ready with her punk outfit. You should all be impressed with the wrist cuffs since Al actually made a trip to Michaels and crafted those himself with velcro strips. He was having a lot of fun making those and some cuffs for Taylors costume. Who knew he was so crafty!

Prepping the hair. Again...those CHEEKS!

The final product (hard to see, not sure why these appear so dark):

View from the top:

First trick or treating outing together! Taylor was a very cute Buzz Lightyear. :) She refused to wear the cuffs that Al slaved over since she didn't want to get them dirty. So funny.

The 3 year olds: Rowan, Elijah, Taylor and Olivia

First house. Taylor did much better this year with actually saying "trick or treat" and running up to the doors. Probably helped that she had 3 friends who she was trying to beat to the doorbell every time!

Cassie along for the ride too!

This is my favorite picture of the set. The morning after. Looks like she had a rough night!

Coming up next, Cassie's first trip to Texas, Thanksgiving in Kansas and 6-month stats. Hopefully all before Christmas!!

Fall catch-up

Well now that Christmas is around the corner, I have a lot of catch up to do since August!
Fall was beautiful this year so we had lots of chance for outdoor fall outings. I won't get to post everything, but wanted to highlight a few pictures.
Next post will highlight Halloween!

Cassidy is growing so fast and is such a fun addition to our family. Taylor loves being a big sister and is so great at making Cassie smile. They are so sweet together.

Here are some fun random moments:

This is one of my favorites of the girls. I love Cassie's sly grin and Taylor's adoring gaze. They really have a strong bond already.


This was the day of Cassidy's first UT football game! Unfortunately, her first season as a UT football fan was beyond dismal. Oh well, there will be many more to come!

The girls and I visiting with Great Grandma Kneeskern in mid-October.

Cassie striking a post at great-grandma's. I can't get enough of those chunky little legs!!!

A fun family Friday afternoon at the corn maze. The pit of corn seed was worth every penny of admission:

Even Cassie enjoyed it!

Taylor's First Sleepover!

Another first in our family. Taylor's first sleepover.

Honestly, we didn't have high expectations for how this would go. Her best friend Olivia came over and we expected to have to call Gal and Marni late in the evening. Boy were we wrong! The night went great!

The girls cuddling with Al on the couch (notice the monkey pajamas on both of them):

Getting ready for bed with mommy's old Strawberry Shortcake sleeping bag:

Olivia reading a story to Cassidy:

The night was a success! They went to bed well (Olivia in the bed and Taylor in a sleeping bag) and I think they slept ok. I'm pretty sure they were awake a lot of the night, but they were quiet!

The next morning, Taylor and I joined Olivia, Marni, Gal and baby Gabe at the fair. Taylor had gone with us the prior weekend and LOVED it. What's not to love? Footlong corn dogs, all-you-can-drink chocolate milk, strawberry smoothies and rides!

The girls had a blast going on more rides together.
Here they are downing their respective chocolate milk cups:

One of many shots of them on the rides:

On an airplane:

It was another fun day at the fair while Al and Cassidy had some much needed daddy/daughter bonding time.

Stay tuned for Halloween pics soon!