Adeline is 15 Months Old

Well folks!  She keeps on a-growing!  It seems all-too-fast, but what can I do about it?  She's SO much fun right now.  She has the warmest heart, the sweetest cuddles, and the biggest melt-your-heart smile imaginable.  Yeah.  She has us ALL by our little fingers.

Here's what she's up to now.

• She's walking well now days.  She finally prefers walking over crawling (yay!) and it's so fun to watch.  She still has that little waddle/toddle walk that's so adorable with babies.  
• She still loves to be chased.  It's fun to go after her and watch her try to "run" while she is giggling the entire time.  It's infectious.
• She loves purses.  She'll find them, put them around her neck or over her arm, and walk around the house.  
• She also loves shoes.  She loves to bring them to me to put on her feet.  
• Along with shoes, her next favorite item to wear is a jacket.  She'll also bring me her jackets and ask me to put them on her.  I'm guessing that she also knows that jackets mean we go "bye-bye" and that may be part of the "love" of the jacket too.  
• She loves anything with a lid that she can remove or pop open (toothpaste, lotion, hair gel, hand sanitizer, etc.).  She thinks it is fun to pop those lids open, but then she also thinks it fun to try and suck out the contents.  That is NOT fun for mom/dad and at that point she usually has to relinquish the item in hand and she proceeds to get a little mad.
• And, speaking about the little mad part  . . . . She is starting to get REALLY frustrated when she doesn't get what she wants.  If we take something away or won't let her have something she wants, she'll scream quite loudly.  Sometimes she'll even break down into an awful cry and melt into the floor while doing it.  Silly little tantrums.  :)  The great thing about babies at this age is that they get over it SUPER quickly and move onto something else in no time.
• She is a hit-and-miss eater.  Some meals she is a champ and eats SO well.  Others, she barely picks at her food and then just wants her bottle.  She still loves her bottles and drinks a ton of milk.  Another funny thing with Addie is that she'll just spit her food out when she's done with it.  This happens when she doesn't like the food, or when she's chewed the good parts and doesn't want the "bad" parts (like when she chews cherry tomatoes . . . she'll eat it all, but spit out the skins), or if you happen to put something in front of her that she wants to try right away . . . she'll just spit out whatever she's eating to make room for the new option (heaven forbid she just finishes and swallows what's already in her mouth).  This gets tricky if we let her "snack" while not in her highchair because she'll seriously just spit stuff out wherever she is.  It makes for some crazy messes sometimes.    
• She still hates to be tied down or locked into anything.  (This is part of the eating problem some days.  She just doesn't want to be stuck in the highchair.)
• She is still a little cuddle bug.  She'll just walk over to me or Beau, hold out her hands for us to pick her up, and then she'll just sit in our laps.  We both will NEVER get enough of that.  I hope she wants to sit on our laps forever . . . even when she's all grown up.
• She also loves to hug and cuddle with Evie.  She'll just go up to Evie and wrap her arms around Evie or snuggle up right next to her.  It's so darn cute!  Sweet sister love!
• She LOVES to wave and say hi or bye to people.  She also knows the social queues for when someone is leaving.  If any of us put on shoes and a jacket, she'll start waving and saying "bye" before we can even think about getting out the door.  It makes us smile.
• She loves to go down slides!  She'll kind of play on other playground equipment, but the slide is, by far, her favorite.

• She's still not talking in words.  She'll attempt to say "hi" or "bye" as she waves and she'll say mama or dada occasionally, but usually she'll just babble, grunt, and/or point when she's trying to tell us something.  Heck, it works and we can usually decipher what she wants.  The words will come soon, I'm sure.  That all being said, she understands the English language very well.  I can say, "Addie, go over there and get your bottle and bring it to me."  She will look over at the bottle, walk to it, and bring it right over to me. 
• She recognizes prayers/praying.  She doesn't have the arm folding down, but she'll clasp her hands together.  When we say, "Amen" she smiles bigger-than-life.  And, before meals, she'll sometimes put her hands together to remind us that we need to pray.  
• She tries to comb/brush her own hair.  And, speaking of hair, it seems to be growing in fast and thick.  It's beautiful!
• She did have a cold that lasted nearly three weeks this past month.  I'm happy to report that she is healthy and well at the moment.  Hooray for healthy children!
• When you ask her what a dog says she'll stick out her tongue and pant.  :)
• She loves driving our Cozy Coupe car.  We say, "Brrrmmm, Brrrmmm, Beep, Beep" and she smiles or giggles all-the-while.
• She is starting to feed herself with a fork and spoon.  She is quite good with a fork if she's picking up easy stuff to stab (like hotdogs).  For other things, we'll load her fork or spoon for her and then hand her the utensil.  She'll gladly take it and feed herself with it.  She loves doing this.
• She still takes two naps a day (most days).  This girlie loves to get her sleep.  :) 

Needless to say, she's coming right along and is such a joy.  I still kiss all the day long and can't get enough of her sweet cuddles.  

Easter Fun

Our little family had a great Easter weekend.  It was filled with family, egg hunts, good food, candy and Christ.  What more would you ever want?  

We started out Saturday with a family Easter egg hunt on my side of the family.  The girls were SO excited.  Evie went right to town finding all of her eggs (her eggs were marked with the letter "E" on them) while Addie just cared about how many pieces of candy she could hold and then eventually eat.  These two!  They are so fun (and funny!).  I just love them to pieces!!

It was a tad bit chilly, but the sun eventually peaked it's way through the clouds and warmed up a smidge.  It was at least warm enough to shed off the coats for a little Easter picture of my two cute chicks!

I just had to make their shirts with chicks this year since we're in the baby chick business.  LOL!

And, we got a little family shot too.

The following day was Easter Sunday and we try to make it as much about Christ as possible.  We try to keep it relatively simple too.  Their Easter baskets are mostly Christ centered.  They each got a book about the true meaning of Easter.  They also got a new dress/outfit to wear to church so they can show Jesus how much they appreciate and love Him.  And then, they each got one toy and a little candy.  And guess what?  The girls were more than thrilled with the result.

I had promised Evie that I would color eggs with her this year.  We hadn't done it yet, so I obliged and we did that little activity before church.

We then dressed in our best, Easter colors and all, and headed off to church.  It seems as if the true meaning of Easter gets so lost in all the egg hunts and candy, but the miracle of Christ's resurrection is just that.  A miracle.  One that we all get to benefit from.  I mean, what a joyous occasion that was when the Savior rose after that third day.  After all, this is God's great plan . . . that we will all get to be resurrected.  This offers so much hope.  So much hope when this life gets hard and sometimes unbearable.  As Elder Oaks said so well, "The assurance of resurrection and immortality affects how we look on the physical challenges of mortality, how we live our mortal lives, and how we relate to those around us.  The assurance of resurrection gives us the strength and perspective to endure the mortal challenges faced by each of us and by those we love.  Because of the resurrection, we know that these mortal deficiencies are only temporary."

The assurance of the resurrection will also include the opportunity to be
with our family members forever.  Oh what joy and comfort that brings to my heart!
I just love these people with all that I have and never want to be separated from them.

After church we went on to visit more family.  We had a nice little Easter dinner with part of Beau's side of the family.  They also had a little egg hunt for the littles.  And, the following day we visited the other part of Beau's family.  

We had a fun-filled and meaningful Easter this year.  We hope you did too!

St. Patrick's Day Green

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!  While the girls are still a bit young to understand or appreciate any of the fun that can be had on this green holiday, it's still fun to dress them in green and snap their picture.  This little photo shoot was so dang funny . . . as you can witness in the photos.  We were all laughing.  Oh, how I love these pretty girls with all of my heart!

P.S.  Evie did inspect Beau for green and when she couldn't find any, she felt free to pinch him.  Ha, ha!  That ought to teach him.  Lol!

Baby Chicks Galore

It's been quite the month at our house as we've waited, and waited, AND WAITED for these baby chicks to hatch.  

Evie has been dying to hatch baby chicks again.  And, honestly, so has her father.  So, he did a massive amount of research and found an incubator that would do the trick.

Beau hand selected the eggs and then he and Evie set up the incubator and filled it with 10 eggs.  At that point, it was a heartbreaker when Evie was told that they wouldn't hatch RIGHT AWAY and that she was going to have to wait 21 days.  21 days is a LONG wait for a 3-year-old little girl.

Beau and Evie checked on those eggs every single day.  Evie told everyone she came in contact with (even strangers) that she was going to hatch baby chicks.  She was so adorable.  

I missed getting a picture of my most favorite part of this whole experiment and that was when we got to "candle" the eggs.  On day 8 Beau took them out of the incubator, put a bright light under each egg which then illuminated the egg, and we could actually see a baby chick developing in there.  It was like ultra-sounding each egg.  And, I tell you . . . you could actually see the shape of each baby chick as it moved around in the egg.  Extremely fascinating.

And then, right on schedule, the night of Day 20, Beau discovered two eggs with tiny peck holes in them. 

We could actually hear them "peeping" inside their egg (which is what Evie is listening to in the picture above).  Oh, this was exciting.  It can take most chicks anywhere from 6-20 hours to eventually make their way out of their eggs so we wondered when they would appear.  

We discovered them at about 6am the following morning.  And, throughout the day we continued to watch egg after egg hatch.

If you're interested . . . here's a time-lapse video of our fourth baby chick hatching.

By end of day, we transferred the hatched chicks to a box with a light in it.  This would allow their feathers to dry out while keeping warm.  We also provided food and water.  This was when the girls FINALLY had the chance to touch/hold them.  BOTH were thrilled, but there is no denying the fact that Evie was MUCH more excited about this than Addie.  Evie couldn't keep from smiling.  Addie would just touch the chicks (quickly) and then giggle.  

This all happened a week ago.  Eight of the ten eggs hatched, two of the chicks didn't make it.  The two  eggs that didn't hatch never developed.

So, we've been busy holding and playing with six baby chicks (four black ones, a brown one, and a brown one with stripes).  Addie still has no interest in "holding" one, but loves to touch them and watch them.  Evie, on the other hand, will hold them, watch TV with them, let them climb on her shoulder, etc.

So, there you have it!  We are in baby chick heaven over here!  It's been fun watching these chicks from day 1!

Wanna come play with us?

Family Stay-Cation

Beau is starting a new/old job this week!  His old firm threw him a great offer to get him back and we just couldn't turn it down.  It puts him closer to home (his commute just changed from 45-60 minutes each way to 10 minutes!) which we are ALL so happy about.  In between switching companies Beau took a few days off and we took advantage of it.

We thought about going on a vacation, but the reality of traveling with babies is just a little more work than we are up to.  So, we took a 2-day "stay-cation" to Salt Lake City.  We stayed at the Little America Hotel and then did stuff around the valley.

We had a lot of options planned, but when it came down to it, the babes could only handle so much fun before getting completely worn out.

We took them to the Living Planet Aquarium.  All four of us had a blast.  We got to pet a snake, starfish, and stingray.  We got to see lots of animals and fish (sharks, turtles, penguins, otters, Toucans, and much more).  We climbed through a bridge, saw a 4D movie, and "drove" a boat.  It was a lot of fun!

Next to the Aquarium, the hotel was the highlight of our stay.  The girls love jumping on the beds, exploring, watching cartoons, and much more.

Evie loved this vanity set-up.  She let me know that she was doing her hair and makeup.  So cute!

We spent a good amount of time in the hotel pool too.

Beyond that, we ate at some fun and more unusual places.  We all had a great time and were completely worn out.  We'll save some of the activities on our list for another day/time.

I love that we got this time together.  And, I'm excited for Beau's new/old job.  :)

Valentine's Love 2015

I love Valentine's Day!  It's so fun to spoil those we love as well as get extra love from others.  We can't ever give or get too much love, can we??

I got lucky and got to go on TWO Valentine dates with my handsome man!  We scheduled a sitter so we could go out to dinner at the Cheesecake Factory the Wednesday before 02-14 (just trying to avoid crowds).  That was so nice.  We ALWAYS miss our girls when they are not with us, but it was definitely nice to enjoy dinner without anyone crawling on the table, crawling under the table, dropping food all of the floor, and so-forth.  :)

Then, some of our good friends told us that they had extra tickets to a concert that weren't going to get used and invited us to go.  The concert was on Saturday, Feb. 13.  We couldn't pass that up.  So, we hired another sitter and went out on the town.  This particular night marked the 12th year since we first met.  Awe!!  The concert was so fun, so was dinner beforehand, and it was fun to double with our good friends!

Throughout the weekend the girls and I delivered Valentines to all of the grandparents and a few other lucky people.  We showed up unannounced to the homes so it would be a surprise.

Here is Grandma Ellie being so surprised and excited!  It was so fun.

Then, when Valentine's Day actually came . . . we were spoiled and adored.  All of the grandparents made their way over to our home to bear love, Valentines, and gifts.  We had aunts and uncles who sent their love and gifts too.

And, of course our mysterious Valentine Man dropped some surprises for us all on our doorstep.

The girls were thrilled.  Evie got an 8-horse portable horse stable that has 8 different horses in it.  Addie got a fun ABC toy that sticks on the fridge (it talks and sings and helps with letter identification and sounds).  Both girls got kitty slippers too.

They played with everything right away.  They even switched and played with one another's toys too.  They were both having loads of fun.

At the end of the day, Evie said, "We still haven't hid dad's Valentine!"  So, we hid Dad's Valentine and he had to search for it.  Daddy eventually found it, kissed both girls, and told them how much he loves them.

We hope you all had a wonderful Valentine's Day and that you felt loved too!

Adeline at 13 Months

Well, Our baby Adel is 13 months old.  That stinker!  I don't know why, but I feel like she's really progressed this past month.  Maybe it's because she's one-year-old, or maybe because she's walking, or maybe because she's trying to talk more???  I don't know.  But, her little personality has really started to shine even more and, I hate to brag, but she's SO DARN ADORABLE!  She is seriously so stinkin' fun right now.  She's so smiley and happy and full of giggles and hugs.  My-oh-my, I love her so!

Here's what she's doing now:

• She's walking!  She is still slow and won't walk very far on her own, but she is definitely walking.  She loves to start walking and then look around to see who's watching.  As soon as we recognize her efforts she sports the HUGEST grin.  She's pretty proud of her grand accomplishment.  
• She loves to play hide-n-seek. We'll hide and as soon as she finds us, she just bursts out in giggles.  
• She started this new thing while eating.  She'll be eating something and then if I present something new that she wants in her mouth right away, she'll spit out whatever she currently has in her mouth to try the new thing.  Stinker!
• Her hair is growing like a weed!  And, as it has gotten fuller and longer it has developed some slight natural curl.  Oh, it's so cute/pretty!
• She loves to wave and say "hi" or bye."
• She is the best little dancer.  She does it more and more these days.
• She'll actually give me kisses.  If I ask her for a kiss, she'll lean in towards me and kiss me.  
• She has started to try clapping.  She loves to hear the song, "If You're Happy and You Know It, Clap Your Hands."
• Her favorite kid song is the actual alphabet song.  She gets excited to hear it and tries to sing along to it.  Her favorite church song is, "I Am a Child of God" and she also "sings" along to it as well.
• She just got over Roseola.  She did okay, but was pretty miserable/sad for about 4 days. 
• She's a little climber.  She's started to get brave and is trying to climb up on things.  Along with that, she's pretty well mastered the stairs (yay!).
• She loves to play with and explore toys.  She often begs to go down to our playroom to play.
• She loves the animals even more now.  She loves to hear the animal sounds.  She gets way excited about horses and dogs.  She'll go to the back window just to look out at the barn and see the horses.  And, quite honestly, she'll also pretend to ride a horse.  It's amazing.  She's going to be a natural on those ponies we have out back.
• She is getting more "tolerable" of books now and actually enjoys us reading to her.  YAY, YAY, YAY! Her favorite book right now is her birth story book I wrote for her, "Once Upon a Baby Adeline."  I think she loves all the pictures.  We probably read that book to her 3 times a day.

Now,  I'm off to go play with, snuggle, and laugh with my sweet pea . . . . because I can't help it!