Nana and Papa's Family Christmas....

I was so excited when I got a phone call from my Mom saying that she wanted to have us over for a Christmas dinner. She wanted Adeline to come and open her presents. My Mom went all out with trays of appetizers and desserts to a huge Christmas dinner. The food was great.

This was a very special time for me. The house was all decorated, Christmas music was playing and I was with my family. My family that loves me in spite of my faults and is always there for me. My family that loves my husband and my daughter. My family.

Thank you for a wonderful day. I love you.

As you can tell by the pictures the day revolved around a special little one who didn't mind the attention. The day ended with a family movie where Adeline sat with her Daddy eating popcorn.

I saw this picture of Adeline and it made me think of one when I was little. What do you think?

"Aw Dun"

We just had Adeline's 15 month check up today and she is healthy, healthy, healthy. Her appointment was actually a couple of weeks ago but we had to cancel it because of her double ear infection.
She is very aware of the "Doctor's" office. Or at least the room where she gets her shots, has a stick stuck down her throat, a light flashed in her eyes, a pointing thing stuck in her ears, and a cold round circle pressed on her chest and back. She was very brave during this appointment and when it was done she echoed the Doctor saying "Aw dun" ("all done", just in case anyone needed help).
I am still so impressed by how fast Adeline seems to be growing. She is still in the 95th percentile for her height. When I am holding her I ALWAYS get comments about how she is going to be bigger than me in two years or by kindergarten. I hope so. Because then she can play Volleyball and she won't be discriminated against because of her height. (like I was, because if you have seen me play Volleyball you know that I am awesome:)) She can also follow in her Aunt Betsey's shoes and play basketball if she wants to.

December Smiles

Welcome to Parenthood.....

For the last five years James and I have taken a winter weekend getaway to the Bavarian Inn in Frankenmuth. This year we were very excited to be bringing Miss Adeline. Normally we get the honeymoon suite with a "big" hot tub and spend all of our time in there. (reading of course) This time we got a regular room with no hot tub. (and no reading)

Adeline has been fighting off a double ear infection/cold but was very excited about the trip. So excited that an hour into the trip she decided to vomit all over herself, her car seat, the Jeep, and many other loose items. After spending about an hour cleaning up Adeline, the Jeep, and her seat we continued on our way with a very "happy" Adeline. Sometimes once it comes out that is all you need.

This year Adeline was not our only guest. We invited our friends Dave and Misty Diller and Adeline's friends Caleb, Luke and Lilly Diller along. Thankfully they were traveling separately in their own vehicle that smelled a lot better than ours.

We got all checked in, had a late dinner and went to bed (all of us) at about eleven. Adeline didn't want to sleep in her pack-n-play so she slept with us in bed. At about 9:30 the next morning there was banging on our wall as a wake-up call from our friends. We planned to meet in ten minutes for breakfast. Once we got out of bed Adeline didn't seem very happy and once again vomited. (All over herself, myself, and the Bavarian Inn carpet) I figure that if she vomits all over me it is easier to clean up. We let our friends know that we will be a little late to breakfast after giving Adeline a bath, checking her temp., (two points for me for bringing the thermometer) and cleaning up the hotel room floor. Almost ready to go after calls to our Doctor and Adeline vomits again. We think that it might be her medication so we stop that and keep her on clear liquids the rest of the day.

This time Adeline was not "happy". She was very "sad" and VERY attached to her Mommy. Even though Adeline was sick and slept for four hours during the day the Diller kids enjoyed the arcade and the five pools. James and I took shifts with Adeline and I also scrubbed all soiled articles in the bath tub.

That night Adeline came to life while we were out to eat and even took a few bites of a bread stick. We spent an hour at Bronners shopping and getting into the spirit. Adeline especially liked the Elmo and Zoe ornaments. (we did come home with an Elmo ornament)

Once back at the hotel Adeline went down pretty fast and in the pack-n-play which allowed us to go next door and play euchre with Dave and Misty. (we had our monitor with us) I think that this was one of the best games I had played due to my great partner Misty we totally crushed James and Dave. They were both pretty sore losers.

The next day Adeline woke up pretty early, "sad" again and again vomited. By this time with no medication, lots of liquids and little food we are pretty sure it is or was the flu. After this time she is VERY happy. The rest of the day the kids played putt putt and we hit the Outlet Mall. Or actually I sat in the car with a very sleepy Adeline while everyone else shopped.

Travel home was good with no vomit and a "happy" baby.

I really hope that we have a healthy baby for Christmas.

My husband quoted his father from a conversation earlier saying "Welcome to Parenthood".

Thanksgiving Fun....

Adeline's first take on snow. She wasn't a big fan.
Our family tree. Stop by and see it sometime.

Grandma let Adeline play with toys at the dinner table. She is pretty spoiled.

Uncle Josh playing the piano with Adeline.

She didn't want to leave.

Mom Bean, Erin and I were trying to dry the tree faster. Good idea but it caused all the lights to go out.

Friendly game of round robin.

Adeline REALLY enjoyed it.

Dinner at Grandpa Forte's. I forgot Adeline's bib and highchair.

Michael protecting the fridge from Adeline.

Look at those muscles.

Family shot.

Grandpa and his Grand Babies.

Kingsbury Christmas. Aunt Erin was playing/picking on Adeline.

Uncle Bill helped Adeline with her toy bag.

See Adeline's nice purse. Actually it was Claire's.

Clarie is getting bigger and has a lot of energy.

Uncle Kyle took Adeline for a ride.

Adeline really took to Aunt JoAnn.

Nana and Papa pulled out all of their fun toys.

Adeline snacked on goldfish.

Michael carried a baby on his back and pushed Elmo in the stroller. Nana and Papa were taking pictures for Aunt Aleisha.

Papa was playing music so Adeline could dance.

Adeline very frequently got upset with her sweet cousin Michael for taking toys away. video coming soon.

Story time with Papa.

Too Early

It's 8:51 in the morning right now and I have been at work since 5:00. Ask me when the last time was that I woke up this early and I don't think I could answer. (I know this is only one day KIM, I feel your pain) This is my first morning waking up with out my baby. Well actually that is not exactly true there was one morning almost a year ago that Adeline was with her grandparents and James and I went away.
I picked up an early shift because James has been working crazy hours that don't allow much time for me to work. I took a sleeping pill last night because I knew I wouldn't get to sleep on my own. The sleeping pill did not work. Sometimes when I know that I have something going on the next day (trip, big event), it is hard for me to sleep. Last night I kept waking up and looking at the clock counting the hours I still had left until I needed to wake up.
Thankfully I get home at around 12:30 just in time for lunch with Adeline and then a nap. Yesterday Adeline slept for 3 1/2 hours so hopefully today will be the same:) I'm trying to be optimistic.

Smiles are back!!!!!

Our Little Trooper....

Right now our little Adeline is lying in her crib, a place that is quite foreign to her. I am hoping that she will put herself to sleep. For most of the last three weeks we (Adeline and I) have been sleeping in the water bed in the guest room. With four molars coming in at the same time our sweet baby has been fighting off a cold. Last Friday morning James and I gave each other a high five when we didn't wake up until 9:00 a.m. and Miss Adeline slept the whole night through. This great night led us to believe that she was better and healthy once again.

As some of you may know and have been praying James' cousin came down with a very severe illness and was given ten days to live. James' parents were already planning a trip to Illinois to visit Great Aunt Polly which would allow them to visit Michael in the hospital (God's timing is pretty awesome). Because of this visit to see Michael I felt very compelled to represent our family. A special thank you to my mother who was okay with my cancelling plans with her in order to make this trip.

Of course as soon as we started on this trip Adeline came down with another cold. She was a great traveler despite how horrible she obviously felt. As I mentioned before the main reason for this quick decision to go on this trip was to see Michael but this visit to see Aunt Polly was going to be very special, especially for her. Aunt Polly is Great Grandma Adeline's sister and has never met "our" Adeline. She was very surprised and very happy when we brought Adeline in the door. Adeline took right to Aunt Polly bringing her all of her toys and walking all around her house. It was a good time visiting Aunt Polly and I know that it meant a lot to her.

Grandma and Grandpa Bean were very good to Adeline and I allowing us to stop when needed and putting us up in a hotel for the night. Getting back to Adeline's cold....it just got worse. From 3:00 in the morning until about 10:00 Adeline would only sleep on my chest. At that time I was thankful for a big bed with big pillows. When we finally woke up my shirt as with Adeline's face was covered with mucus, saliva, and sweat. After a warm bath she was in higher spirits. We made another visit to Aunt Polly's and then headed out to see Michael.

Two weeks in the ICU with no food and three surgeries, Michael looked much better than I had expected. After his third surgery the surgeons came and met with the family letting them know that he has a long road ahead of him but they'll just take it a day at time. This sounds so much better than "tens days". He was off of the ventilator and very coherent, able to carry on conversations. He told us about different warning signs and also food. He is definitely looking forward to eating his favorite Mexican food.

Michael had a forth surgery Monday and it looks as though he will be starting his recovery. I definitely learned a lot about the power of prayer. Please continue to pray as he recovers and as we are awaiting some test results that will tell what the cause was. We are praying against cancer.

The trip home was very tough on Adeline and she spent most of the time sleeping on my chest. Yes...out of her car seat which goes against everything I believe in but it was the only thing that worked. And thank the Lord we arrived in Olivet safely at midnight. The next day after another rough night of sleep we drove back home. As soon as we pulled into the garage and turned off the Jeep it started to smoke. My top concern was getting Adeline inside because she really wanted out of the car and needed a nap. I called James and told him about the car and then proceeded to take care of Adeline. My mind was unable to focus on anything else.

When Adeline woke up from her nap she was severely hot and had a fever of 104. James was home on break so he drove us to the ER where she was diagnosed with a double ear infection. (thank you Daniel, Isaac, and Will for picking James up from the hospital and taking him back to work) I feel like I overlooked her symptoms and just thought that she had another cold. She is now on an antibiotic and is slowly coming around. We're still working on the Jeep.

Being sick is no fun. I wish I could take Adeline's place. I miss her smiles and giggles. I am hoping to see them tomorrow morning.

Recent Moments....

Great Grandpa Bean sent a small care package for Little Miss A.K.B.
Daddy took a shot of someone who really enjoyed their spaghetti dinner.

Somersaults with Grandpa Bean

Thank you Grandpa and Grandma for coming and visiting me tonight. I had a lot fun. I love you.