New Toy

The FedEx guy brought Adalie a little treat today. I saw how much Aaron loved these things in the nursery at church, so I thought I'd give it a try with Addie..... I think she likes it!!!

But only for a few minutes... I'm thinkin' maybe a month or so before she really grows into it. Her little muscles aren't quite up to the challenge yet.

I was a little worried about putting it together because when I was looking for an exersaucer and reading the reviews, several people mentioned how hard this particular one was to assemble... I don't know what they were smokin' cuz I had it all set up in about 10 minutes, and that was with 2 very anxious little helpers. So anyway, it was a piece of cake and I am sure it will see many, many hours of use.


And... here's a little sneak peek at what I've been workin' on.... we are just about to the quilting stage (the part I dread because I have NO clue what I'm doing). I like these simple square quilts... why haven't I tried one of these before? Duh!!!

8 weeks

My little Munchkin is 8 weeks old today... I can hardly believe how fast these weeks have gone. It's funny how the last couple weeks of June (waiting to meet her) seemed to last so much longer than these 8. This week has been especially fun. Adalie is beginning to get her own little personality, and it's so adorable! I could sit and talk with her all day just to watch her cute and funny expressions. This has also been a week of major growth... this little girlie is CHUNKY and getting chunkier by the minute! I love it! I am so thankful for this sweet little one.

These are the photos of the day...
I love that it is starting to cool down and we can spend more time outside.

I love my kiddos!

RED!

I never thought that I would have a redhead, but I do... and I am loving it! This little girl is so beautiful. We were eating dinner out at our picnic table tonight and I just thought her hair looked especially red and her eyes so blue.... so I had to run in and get the camera (of course!!!). I had to get a shot of those cute chubby rolls on her little legs too... lovin it! Can't believe she's already almost 2 months old... where does the time go?

yatzee!

When Grandpa and Grandma came to visit us last month, they brought along the old Childcraft books that Adam loved when he was a kid. Sam just loves them too... his favorite is the Make and Do one. Sam could spend hours everyday cutting, glueing, and coloring "projects." Yesterday afternoon he found the instructions for making a cube and was just dying to make one. So the moment Ad woke up (post-call), they got to work making a cube. Well, one cube turned into 5 and then 6... enough to play Yatzee and even Ziltch. Woohoo! So after our Friday Night Pizza we headed down to the (dry) basement and played a (terrible) game of Yatzee. None of us scored very well, but it was fun!

Patches

Several weeks ago I found a small tear in Seffer's sheet, and (as often happens around here) I made a mental note to fix that right away...

WELL... a couple days ago I finally decided I probably ought to do something with that little tear, which had by then turned into a HUGE tear (14in.). It was going to take a LOT of sewing to repair that one, so I thought I would just cover it up instead. I used some of that iron-on fusible stuff and then sewed around it, and I think it turned out pretty cool.... So did Sam, who decided he wanted to trade sheets with Seth, who of course wouldn't dream of doing that :) So, to prevent some mysterious tear from appearing in Sam's sheet in the next few days (I just know that's what would happen... mother's intuition), I decided to do one for him as well. It's pretty cute too, though I did realize AFTER I finished it that I put the shark swimming upside down... OOPS!

Their room is looking pretty good... Seffer's does finally have a bed, another $15 craigslist find. It is currently in the process of turning blue. It's my goal to have that done this weekend, but we will see. So much to do, so little time :)

1 1/2

Our little "Bug" is 1 1/2 today.... Happy Half-Birthday Aaron!!! Thank you to Patty for remembering this because I most assuredly would not have :). It's amazing how quickly a year and a half can just fly right by... so much has happened during his short, little life. He is so much fun and so good natured, keeps me laughing all the time... I absolutely LOVE this kid!

We spent half of the day doing normal everyday things like painting, reading, and cleaning (of course!), until I received Patty's email. Then, we decided we needed to celebrate. Patty left a little gift for him (some fun children's CDs... we've heard them both all the way thru already!) and then we headed upstairs to set up his "Big Boy Bed." He is is love with this bed and was really hoping to get to sleep in it tonight.... however, I would like to move him up slowly, maybe start with a couple of naps. I am not quite ready for my little man to grow up! Plus, Adalie still has a little while yet before she moves into her own room so we're really in no hurry.

This evening we went down south to pick up a carpet for our basement... we bought it from a couple that owns a townhome right on the Lake, so we stopped and picked up our dollar menu favorites from McD's and headed to a park just down the street. It was such beautiful night for it... in fact, it was actually a little chilly (I had almost forgotten what that felt like!). There were bazillions of dragonflies out... We are experiencing a record number of dragonflies migrating thru this year because of the warm and humid spring. It's incredible to see!

Hope you all have a wonderful night.... especially my sister-in-law, who is just about to meet her sweet little girl for the very first time. Praying for you Micah and Daniela!

Taco Tuesday!

I don't know about you all, but I get so tired of trying to come up with an idea for dinner each night. I am constantly texting Ad asking him what sounds good to him.... the usual reply being "food." Yeah, I know, but what kind of food? So we came up with the weekly menu idea... which we've actually tried before, somewhat successfully. It's never been completely successful, however, because I am one of those people that gets sick of something after having it more than a couple times in a short period of time. Another reason is because I get these cravings for certain things that don't happen to be on our menu. Sooo, I just give up.

Well, I've come up with a solution to my menu problems (I think... I'll let you know for sure in a month or two). I have left Saturday and Sunday as "FREE" days... so all those cravings for random foods will be made on the weekend. Also, I've left each meal pretty generic, I.E. Stir Fry can be any combination of meats and vegetables put with rice or noodles, tacos can be anything from chicken tacos to enchiladas to nachos (the possibilities here are endless), pasta can be Kraft macaroni and cheese with hot dogs (a favorite around here, especially when AWANA starts up and we're in a hurry) to lasagna, etc... You get my drift. So, now I have some kind of direction when trying to come up with a meal, and my texts to Ad will be much simpler, like "would you like chicken fajitas or beef?"

Yay for me! Well, I am off to get working on those Chicken Fajitas!

Another Sam Creation

Sam built this castle yesterday and has been very eager to photograph it and share it with everyone. He loves to construct things, and he has such a good grasp on symmetry and space. He really amazes me with the things he can make... that I can't! He also loves taking pictures. I am thinking a camera might be a good Christmas gift idea for this budding photographer....

I guess he is proud of his big boy, underwear wearing little brother too because I found this mystery photo on the camera.... Okay, so maybe he was just taking advantage of the few moments he was allowed with the camera :) Seffers has been doing very well. He has been wearing underwear for several days now. Yesterday, he had a small accident... but only because he fell asleep watching a movie. I am proud of him... and SOOOOO excited to be spending (a little) less money on diapers each month. Now, on to Aaron and Adalie (Just kidding!). Notice the lovely yellow cheeks... a couple days ago his color was green. Thank goodness for washable markers!

Aaron has been feeling a lot better I think. I was a little worried though because he finished his 10 days of antibiotics but his lymph node is still really huge. I called and spoke with his nurse today, and she said it can take a few weeks for it to go down... so I guess we just keep an eye on it.

Adalie is just sleeping. I think she must be going thru a little growth spurt because she has started sleeping a bit more during the day. Not to mention the little chubby rolls appearing on her little thighs. She's smiling more too... I've seen at least 4 of them today, which is a record number. And, her hair is turning reddish! Her eyebrows too! She's so beautiful!

Photos of the day

Could these eyes get any bigger?

Could this baby get any sweeter?

Beautiful!

Here is a sample of what can be found in our yard these days... I am loving all that is blooming right now. It's so beautiful! We've gotten so much rain that everything just grows like weeds [including the weeds :( ]. Unfortunately, because of all that rain, we've also got millions of pesky mosquitoes. I was getting eaten alive in just the few moments I was out taking these photos... I think I'll just enjoy my flowers from the window. Even the boys are seeking refuge in the house these days.

(this is what happens when you're out for just a few minutes..... seriously!)


So this is how we spent our day instead:::

A Sam Blog

Sam decided he needed to fill some blog space, so here it is...

He created it all on his own, and then did the photo shoot as well... What a talented child! Any guesses what it is???

Seth (not to be outdone by his bigger bro) also created a Lego masterpiece. But before he could set up his photo shoot, a natural disaster(named Aaron) came thru and demolished it.... hummm maybe next time :)

~~~~~~

And... I didn't think you'd want to miss out on Addie's first bath in the big tub with the big brother. I'm not sure you could say she completely enjoyed it, but she definitely tolerated it well... even with several splashes from the big brother.

If you look closely on Aaron's neck, you can see the cause of much grief for him this week. It looks like an Adam's apple there on the right (his left) side of his neck. It's the swollen lymph node that lead us to the doc to find out that he has strep... yuck! The poor guy is so miserable!

Special Delivery

Yesterday, we received a very special and fun package from the UPS man... our boys think he is like Santa Claus! They have no clue that a very special friend of ours actually sent this package. Thanks Lisa, for this adorable little gift! I know that our little Adalie (and possibly a brother or two) will have many sweet tea parties.