...today was a beautiful autumn day in chicago...the sun was bright, the sky was blue, the air was crisp but not frosty, the wind was brisk, the leaves danced their golden waltz...



...we began the day by going back to the hospital so that cadence could get ultrasounds on her hips...this is routine at 6 weeks for babies who were breech to make sure their hips are developing properly...we thought it would be pretty simple, in & out...little did we know that cadence wouldn't think it was such a simple procedure...she cried bloody murder and squirmed like a fish out of water practically the whole time...i felt so helpless because i couldn't just scoop her up into my arms to comfort her like i normally would when she cries like that...i don't know who was traumatized more; me or cadence...i just hope we didn't do any permanent damage to her emotional well-being...



...like i said, it was a beautiful autumn day today...we took advantage of it by taking a walk with teddy carrying cadence in a sling...it was a little chilly w/ the wind, but the late afternoon almost-winter sunlight was lovely...we went to laurie's planet of sound, our local indie record store...i've been meaning to stop by there ever since i moved into the neighborhood, but i've been preoccupied, i guess...i am so hopelessly behind on all the new releases, i barely know where to begin...i did pick up the new sufjan cd 'seven swans'...i've only listened to a few tracks so far, but i love what i've heard...i'll add this one to cadence's cd rotation for sure...i think my first postpregnancy show is going to the sufjan's early show @ schubas next thursday night...that'll also be my last night of maternity leave...



...yep, i go back to work next friday...i'm gonna miss my little cadence...i haven't been separated from her for more than 3 hours at a time since she was born...i don't know how i'm gonna be separated from her for 11 hours a day...especially now that her personality is coming out, and she's beginning to be more personable...just in the past day or so, she and i have started having conversations...the goo-goo-ga-ga kind of conversation, but it's still fun to hear her 'talk' back to me...



...*sigh*...they really do grow up so fast...

...anybody who knows me will know that i am not happy about the election results...and to be quite frank with you, after the 2000 election debacle during which i shed many a tear, i'm numb this time around...i know so many people who worked their butts off to create change through this election, but it was not to be...



...the thing that will really irritate me is if the several million evangelicals who actually decided to come out and vote this year on 2 whole issues (3 at the most), now turn to those of us who didn't vote for their guy and say, 'see, god answered our prayers because he's on OUR side...' which would mean that he's on GW's side as well...i really don't think god's on bush's side or kerry's side or nader's side...like the sojourner ad campaign states, god is not a republican...or a democrat...



...my friend nanette of wicker park grace had a quote on her blog yesterday that encouraged me...martin luther king, jr said, 'the arc of history is long, but it bends towards justice.'...when it all comes down to it, it's not who's in the white house that'll determine whether we love our neighbors as ourselves...it's not which party is in control of the house or senate that will spur us on to fighting for justice in our backyards and around the world...that determination can only be made in the arena of our own hearts, when we take a stand for what we believe to be good and just...it's too easy to just throw in the towel and stop doing good cuz 'our guy' did not win...election, schmelection...yeah, it was important, but it's not the end of the world...if anything, it'll make us more vigilant because we can't just sit back and let the politicians do our work for us...we now have to make a conscious effort to ensure that the arc of history does bend towards justice...



...for me, at this moment in my life, that means being the most loving mom i can be to my little cadence and the most loving wife i can be to my teddy...there's so much to learn about caring for those who have no one to care for them by caring for your own little helpless baby who is totally dependent on you...

...well, this is it folks...election day 2004...cadence woke us up bright and early so we could go vote before the lines got too long...luckily, our polling place is across the street from our apartment so we simply walked there this morning...there was already a line of several dozen people in front of us on this drizzly cold november morning...fortunately, we didn't have to wait outside the building, like in some polling places across the country...teddy carried cadence (who was asleep) in a sling, and we waited in line together...by the time we were done voting, the line had more than doubled in size, and it was still only 8am...



...so if you haven't already, get out there and vote NOW(if you're registered)...don't let the long lines scare ya...



...also, if you have been fascinated by the 2004 campaign and you enjoy political memoirs, you should check out my friend steve elliott's book Looking Forward to It--Or, How I Stopped Worrying and Learned to Love the American Electoral Process...i went to high school with steve, and he's probably the closest thing to a celebrity that my graduating class has...he's been on the tavis smiley show and everything...i enjoy his writing quite a bit and have read most of this book in the rough draft version that he emailed piecemeal to his fans from the road as he followed the democratic presidential campaign since the primaries...



...that's enough on the political front for now...but seriously--go vote!

...ok, folks...since i obviously can't post every adorable photo of our little cadence on this blog, i'm going to add new photos on a weekly basis to this yahoo photo album...i'll be adding the newest photos to the beginning...if you have high-speed internet and prefer the slideshow version, you can go here...



...so teddy went back to work a week & a half ago, which is why i hardly have any free time left any more to update this site...it's amazing how someone so little can take up so much time...and it's amazing how quickly cadence is changing and growing...she's gained 2lbs since we brought her home, and she doesn't seem to be eating any less...i'm scared that i won't be able to pump enough milk when i return to work to keep up with her feeding demands...



...we've been quite busy these past couple weeks...we visited ted's grandma carol, ted's sister lauren & bro jay at their new condo WAY out in the boondocks, ted's parents, and even made our first trip to the new millenium park downtown, where our friend phil met up with us...he took this family photo, which i'd been wanting for a long time, since most of the photos are of ted & cadence since i'm always the one behind the camera...



...my mom's been visiting a couple times a week so i can actually get out the apartment for a bit...i didn't think i'd want her coming around so often, but i have to say that i feel really lucky to have my mom only 40 minutes away...and she just adores cadence and can't get enough of her, so she's more than happy to come over whenever i need some help...for her birthday last week, i got her a baby photo album and put a couple dozen photos of cadence in it...she absolutely loved it, and couldn't stop looking at the photos...



...i don't know how i'll feel going back to work in a few weeks...teddy told me i'm gonna miss cadence a LOT when i do...i suppose i will...he said we should set up a webcam in our apartment so that i can still see her from work over the internet...i think i just might have to do that...

...you know what really prepared me for this stage of motherhood? all those months a couple years back when i was going to several shows a week and subsisting on about 4 hours of sleep a night...i remember nights back then if i got 5 hours of zzzs, that felt like so much sleep...cadence is apparently going through a growth spurt cuz she wants to feed like every hour during the day and every hour & a half or so during the night...not only that, she doesn't go back to sleep as easily and has been fussing a lot more...that means that each time i get up to feed her, it takes an hour to an hour and a half to get her back to sleep...like last night, i fell asleep around 10:30, and she let me sleep until 1:15, and that was the last time i got to sleep for more than 45 minutes at a time for the night...i'd say by the time i got up for the day at 8am, i'd had about 5 hours sleep total...but i feel fine...my previous sleep deprivation training is coming in handy now...i've even had breakfast, a shower, and lunch, and all before 2:00pm...



...i will admit though that every night, there's that window of time when i'm at my weakest, and i'm driven to making desperate prayers, invoking all 3 persons of the trinity and any angels in praying distance...'please...let her sleep 3 hours straight...just 3 hours and i'll be happy...pleeeeeeze...'



...but you know what makes it all worth it? when you see and hear her first giggle...yes, little cadence let out her first waking giggle today as her daddy was holding her...it was the cutest thing i've ever seen...her toothless grin and melodic gurgling giggle were so adorable! yeah...i doubt i'll ever look back on these times and say, 'i really wish i'd gotten more sleep...'



...at this time, i'd like to say a big thank you to sam beam (of iron & wine)...his calming voice has been the backdrop to many a feedings since we brought cadence home, mainly because i just happened to find iron & wine's 'the creek drank the cradle' cd on the floor one day, and i've been too lazy to change the cd in the cd player in our bedroom ever since...but there really is something about sam's voice that puts cadence in a deep, peaceful sleep as she feeds away...and even though the album has the 'F' word in one of the songs, when sam sings it, it just doesn't sound like a curse word...kinda like when neil halsted sings the 'F' word too...sam and neil both have those voices that are in a category all their own, at least in my book...i think cadence will grow up to agree with me...