FALL'ing more in love every day!

Fall is here and we have been Fall'ing (see what I did there??) more in love with our peanut. Life has been BUSY and time has flown by since my last post. So much has happened!

Adalyn is almost 14 months old now and busy as ever! She is "talking" non stop! Her favorite words are, "dog (which she says the minute she wakes up), hi, uh oh, and ooooh!" She loves examining everything around her and is curious to see new things. She likes to sit in the entertainment center with her dolly or a book (picture below). She cracks me up!

Adalyn has LOVED fall! She loves to be outdoors and looking at the trees. We went to the apple orchard and she had a lot of fun picking apples and seeing all the pumpkins and people. Jimmy surprised us last month with a family day to the zoo. And she LOVED seeing all the animals. Everything with Adalyn is an adventure, that's for sure!

The last month has had a lot of highs and a couple of lows. Adalyn fractured her foot by getting it caught under a chair at daycare. It was the worst call I have ever received. Watching her be in pain is unbearable as a mother. I would have done ANYTHING to take the pain from her. But God is good, friends! The doctor had said she would need a cast up to a month. This was beyond discouraging as she had just started walking a couple of weeks prior and now this. Jimmy and I took the news very hard. We spent the weekend praying as we waited for her appointment at Children's Hospital in Minneapolis. Monday morning, we walked in with Adalyn and they determined no cast was needed and just to keep shoes on her. You guys, Adalyn started walking the day after her appointment. She is so strong and God completely healed her and answered prayer. I can cry talking about this because she is honestly my hero. She teaches me strength every day!

Other than that, everything has been good. Toys are overflowing in the house and I have a serious shopping addiction to Once Upon a Child and can't resist buying her new toys to make her smile! She loves her dolly and LOVES LOVES books. She reads all day long and thanks to Grandma, now knows what the lion says, "ROOOAR!" Which she says on command every time we ask her.

Jimmy turned 34 shortly after Adalyn's birthday and we celebrated by having a date night. My Mom had her birthday last week and they came over for a night of cuddles with baby girl and Catch Phrase.

One of our best friends had her baby and it's been fun to get some newborn cuddles in. We found out a couple more friends are pregnant and we are just excited Adalyn is going to continue having playmates. Such fun for her and us!

Halloween is around the corner and her daycare had a little party. Adalyn had a fun time being with her favorite teacher, Bri and playing with the bowling pins and crawling over the toddler room's gym equipment. She will be moving to that room in December/January and I know she will have a blast! We dressed her up as a lamb and I know I am bias, but she was the cutest baby ever all dressed up. :)

Life is fun as usual and we continue to enjoy Adalyn growing and learning new things every day!

Until next time! :)

Love,
Kristin

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Adalyn Grace - ONE YEAR!

My BABY is not such a baby anymore as she is officially one! I can't believe it. She has filled our home with more chaos, toys, noise, mess, pacifiers, blankeys and everything else you could think of! But most of all, she has filled our home and our hearts with more LOVE than I could ever have dreamt.

I am SO thankful to be her Mommy. The last year was a whirlwind. I look back at the good days and the bad days and am thankful for them both. She has taught me so much about grace, patience, and unconditional love.

For her birthday, Jimmy took the day off and he made her pancakes. It's our new "tradition" and she loved it! It took him multiple tries but boy was he proud of himself!

We also bought her a wagon and filled it with balloons. She LOVES it and we go for nightly walks now.

We decided to go all out and have a big party to celebrate. We picked a gold and pink glitter/sparkle theme, "She leaves a little sparkle wherever she goes!" We had about 30 people and 15 kids and the house was packed! It was so fun!! She got SO many toys and like I mentioned above, our house is PACKED. There is no room for any more. LOL. A couple of the favorites are her new kid patio my parents bought her and a new car from Grandma & Grandpa Horan which she is obsessed with.

Adalyn is walking everywhere and talking all the time (as usual). She says the words, mama, dada, dog, dog-ggy, hiiii, no (that's new and yikes!), and of course the favorite - UH-OH!

Life is so fun! She is very very attached to Mommy and daycare drop offs are near impossible. I sob everytime I leave. But picking her up is the best part of my whole day! I literally cherish every moment with her!!!!

Adalyn's Likes:
Books - "reads" when going through each one
Stuffed animals
Peek-a-boo
Hide and seek
Water! Bath time but now won't stay still
Songs, singing, anything musical
Climbing up on anything she can
Favorite food: Mac & Cheese (favorite food still)
Favorite fruit: Orange juice
Favorite snack: cheese crackers
Her water cup
Chasing Koby
Her blankets "blankeys" - she is obsessed with these!
Closing and opening doors
Being thrown in the air

Adalyn's Dislikes:
Being alone - especially from mommy!
Lately car rides that are long
Lately being strapped in her high chair, car seat, anything. She wants to go ALL the time!!

 

Adalyn Grace - 11 Months

It is now a week past Adalyn's "11 month birthday" and don't mind me as I wipe the tears away...

Oh my little peanut butter is such a big girl! Adalyn stood on her own for the first time this month. She is SO close to walking! She is still cruising around the house on her walker, walking along furniture, and getting into everything she is not supposed to! We have gates up and have put all the safety gadgets on our drawers...except the zip lock drawer (evidence below). I have never seen a baby get SO excited to play with these!

Adalyn also likes to cruise up the stairs (with our supervision). She is BUSY and QUICK!

Peek a boo is still her favorite game and we play it often! She likes to hide behind doors and squeals with delight when she peeks around the corner to see us!

Adalyn has gotten a new toy which she loves and plays with constantly! She also has a new "car" and my husband has officially cut me off from purchasing anymore. LOL. Her birthday is around the corner, so I am okay with waiting to see what fun toys she receives.

Summer is flying by! The month of July we took on a MAJOR renovation and completed the project in less than 2 weeks. Are we crazy? Yes! We took the wall down that separated our living room and kitchen. Wow, what a difference! We also replaced the flooring and ripped out the carpet to have wood throughout. It is beautiful and I love the open concept and Adalyn loves cruising around the open room. My parents basically moved in and worked like dogs to have it completed. Have I mentioned, Mom and Dad, how much I love and appreciate you!? (I know you are reading this...) :)

Before pic - wall separating room and carpet

In love!

Such a difference - and the doggies love the rug!

Next is to get a new island but I will wait until we win the lottery, I think.

Adalyn enjoying the new space - and yes, we have diaper parties weekly at our house!

Just another diaper party!

We also had a couple of date nights and went to our first movie since we had Adalyn. It was SO nice to get out. We were also able to go on a boat cruise on the St. Croix river that Jimmy won for work. Those nights are so nice to reconnect with my hubby. But we are always ready and eager to come home to our peanut.

In Stillwater before boarding the boat

We are now busy planning Adalyn's first birthday party. The invites went in the mail this week and I am in total disbelief my daughter is turning 1. Again, don't mind the tears!

Adalyn's Likes: Peek-a-boo
Hide and seek
Mirrors
Water, bath time
Songs, singing, anything musical
Climbing up on anything she can
Favorite food: Mac & Cheese (favorite food) or spaghetti
Favorite fruit: mangos
Favorite snack: teddy grahams
Her water cup
Saying "UH OH" over and over... (and over and over)
Pointing to the doggies and saying, "dog"

Adalyn's Dislikes:
Being alone (as always)
That's it for now!

Love,
Kristin