Happy Halloween

Although Adeline has been under the weather for the past week Elmo sure did seem to cheer her up. This year we went over to the Diller's house for a birthday/halloween party. Happy birthday Luke!

She also got to pose with her favorite *Uncle* Dave.

Thankful for digital

Recently James and I have been pretty busy chasing a toddler around that we haven't taken as many pictures as normal. Thankfully others have. And with digital cameras you can download each others shots. Here are two taken by Papa at Cousin Tara's wedding.

This photo can also be seen here.

Withdrawals....

As Adeline wakes up this morning (I believe) she is happy to be in her own room and bed. But reality hits her when Daddy picks her up and brings her into our bedroom.

"Where is everyone?"(she asks herself), as she looks around with her crinkled eyebrows.

"This isn't Grandpa and Grandma's house" I see disappointment run along her face as we walk downstairs. She runs to every door looking for more people but no one besides Daddy and Mommy are to be found.

Withdrawals is what I think they call it. You see right now for Adeline her world is perfect. She is the first grandchild on the "Bean" side and the first granddaughter on the "Forte" side. So whenever family is around, she is the center of attention.

This weekend we celebrated an 80th birthday party for Great Grandpa Bean who traveled with Grandma Carol all the way from Texas. Uncle Josh and Aunt Bethany came from Pennsylvania, Aunt Erin from Fort Wayne, and Aunt Betsey came as a surprise from Iowa. We all arrived Friday evening and sat in the family room playing with Adeline.

Saturday was the "Big" day as around 40-50 family and friends came to celebrate. Grandpa Forte, Uncle John, Aunt Bobbie, Aunt Bev, and Uncle Bill were also some of the special visitors. Adeline toddled around from person to person showing off some of her new tricks and looking as cute as could be with her personalized t-shirt...

Grandpa and the Bean Ladies

Adeline and Elmo

Adeline had fun with the balloons

Adeline's fussy face

A sweet shot with Addy and Daddy at the piano

James put together a family tribute to Grandpa Bean with Aunt Bobbie's help. A thirteen minute video with pictures of Grandpa from childhood to the present. He worked very hard on it up unto the very last minute and it turned out beautiful...

Sunday was Aunt Erin's day. Last year Erin's birthday was sort-of shafted due to a baby dedication.(which she never complained but we felt bad) And this year with Grandpa's birthday being so close to hers we wanted to make sure that enough time and attention was devoted to only her. We had a special birthday dinner and dessert followed by presents, and we tried our best to let her know how special she is to us all.

When Erin was done opening her presents Dad Bean started to talk to her about the T.V. she has in Ft. Wayne. I guess she is borrowing it from her parents. Well he told her that he was needing it back because their other t.v. wasn't working out and she would have to take the other downstairs t.v. instead. This "other" t.v. is small and black and white and pretty crappie. Now for all of you who know Dad Bean sometimes you can tell if he is joking and others you can't. By the way he was talking he definately wasn't. As I watched Erin's happy face turn sad with confusion I was filled with frustration and yes even a little anger towards my father-in-law as he crushed my sweet sister's heart. He told her that she could go downstairs and get the t.v. now if she wanted. She didn't want to but he pushed her. Again my anger rose. A couple of minutes after she was down there I decided to take Adeline because I noticed everyone else was on their way. To my surprise (because my husband did not tell me) there was a BRAND NEW FLAT SCREEN T.V. and a beautiful teary eyed Erin standing in front of it. Ahhhhhhh. There was no more anger but excitement for my sister who was obviously very happy.

I was very excited to see Adeline eating a carrot. Veggies are not her favorite.

A surprise was waiting for Adeline in her special bedroom.

This weekend felt like a special holiday because as time goes on it gets harder and harder for everyone to be together. My highlight.....Great Grandpa Bean singing "Sweet Adeline" to our sweet Adeline while he rocked her before bed.

As a side note: to all of you who received an email from our family notifying you that James quit his job and we were starting our own "Bean University". He would be President and I would be the secretary/volleyball couch. Well...We have decided not to go through with it. After a very concerning call from my Father and Grand Parents we think it best to not pursue this venture at this time. Apparel is still available at a reasonable price and the volleyball team tryouts are still on. Please let me know if you are interested.

THIS IS A JOKE!!!!!!

Almost a month....

...has gone by with out a post. To those of you who anxiously await a new post daily I apologize. Soon I will post a plethora of pictures covering the entire month. But for now I just have the laptop without the external hard drive, which carries every picture.

The month of October has been pretty eventful. Adeline and I decided not to go back to Ft. Wayne with James during his last ten day stretch. After returning home from three weeks of a hotel bed/pack-n-play, and living out of suitcases we realized that we really liked our own bed/crib, and the idea of a whole house to run around in. It felt good to be home. This was the longest James and I have been apart in our entire marriage. By day eight it was too much, so we drove to Ft. Wayne, sneaked into the hotel and surprised him when he returned from work. James is a very neat and orderly man so when I walked into the hotel I expected to see everything organized and clean with dishes in the dishwasher. But to my surprise it was a complete disaster. Not only were all of the dirty dishes covering the dishwasher but the dishwasher cleaner was still in the packet inside the dishwasher. James had gone eight days without washing any dishes. How? Well then I looked to the floor and saw bags with every name from Applebees to Burger King on them. Papers were scattered everywhere and dirty clothes were all over the floor. Then I thought while I cleaned "is James really as orderly and organized as I thought or do I really do all of this for him at home?". Since he has been home he puts the dishes in the dishwasher, and puts his dirty clothes in the hamper. I think he was just taking advantage of housekeeping(which obviously hadn't come that day).

Besides that visit Adeline and I kept ourselves pretty busy. We had visits from friends, visited friends, made a trip to Hastings to see Nana, Papa, and Uncle John, made a trip to Charlotte to see Great Grandpa and Grandma Forte, Grandpa Forte, and Uncle John again. Another trip to see Grandpa and Grandma Bean. There were a few visits to Norton Pines where Adeline really enjoys the childcare (this is a big step and it makes working out much more enjoyable for me), and many walks to the park to swing. It was a great mother-daughter time. One that I will always treasure. It was also a great time for me to reconnect spiritually. I decided to read the Bible cover to cover. So far so good. I am really enjoying it.

When James came home Wednesday night he didn't have to go to work until Monday morning. So for the first two days we didn't do anything but spend time together. James didn't even unpack his car until Friday night. I came to realize how much I really missed just his presence, his smell, his laugh, his eyes, his help, and his body. What I mean by his body is being able to completely lose myself when he wraps his arms around me. I feel secure and protected. He is a wonderful Husband, Father and a great provider. Adeline and I are very blessed.

Saturday we had to face the outside world and went to my cousin's wedding in Lansing. It was nice to see family and Adeline really enjoyed playing with her cousin Michael. He fed her goldfish and they fought over who got Papa's attention. It was a great time.

Sunday we went to church, Renovate Church that is now every Sunday morning at Mona Shores High School @10:30 a.m. (just in case you wanted to visit). Adeline got the award for playing with the most toys, she really enjoyed it especially because Brian and Corrie Welsh were the adult helpers and she loves both of them.

Monday was James first day at Dick's Sporting Goods and he is enjoying it. Tuesday was my first night back at Norton Pines and it felt good to be working again. James and I use the Mall Play land as our meeting place for days when he works until five and I have to be to work at five thirty. Adeline loves it. Loves it. I can't believe she is a toddler. She walks/runs around making new friends, giggling as they chase each other. She is fun, amazing, beautiful, and one pretty special gift from God.

Sometimes I wish time would stand still.....but then reality hits...and once again we are on the road heading back home. This time for a BIG 80th Birthday party for Great Grandpa Bean. Most all family will be back except Aunt Betsey so we(Adeline and I) plan to go visit her in November.

Well, that's what are last couple weeks have been like. Thanks for reading. Pictures coming soon....