Bean gathering...

We were able to enjoy a wonderful weekend with all of the Beans. Great Grandpa and Grandma Carol came from Texas, Uncle Josh and Aunt Bethany came from Philadelphia, Aunt Erin came from Indiana, Aunt Betsey came from Iowa and Aunt Bobbie came from Ohio. It was a full house.

Aunt Betsey was able to enjoy some "quality" Adeline time before everyone arrived. Adeline did not want to leave Aunt Betsey's side.

Uncle John and Candy came over and spent a good part of the day with us. Adeline really loves her Uncle John and enjoyed playing football with him.

Of course where ever Adeline goes many follow. This was her enjoying ice cream while every one watched. She didn't seem to mind.

We went to the Pumpkin patch in Sunday but it was so hot. In the picture right above you see Adeline with Daddy and Aunt Erin. She absolutely did not want me in the picture. I am not sure what I did but I wasn't invited. I decided not to take it personal. I also didn't pack appropriately so by the end of our time Adeline was just in her diaper. I was jealous.

Adeline had a fun ride to and from the Country Mill with her two entertainers. They were just cracking up.

Since Viper's due date is the middle of January and Andrew is due February 3 (Josh's actual birthday) we decided to throw him a surprise 30th birthday party. Josh did not expect it.

Adeline helped Uncle Josh open his presents.

Daddy was very happy with his gift for Josh. Josh seemed to like it.
Adeline really liked Uncle Josh's gift of pretzels. She quickly became his best pal.
A happy birthday hug.
Kisses for Great Grandpa.
Snuggle time with Aunt Erin.
More pretzels with Uncle Josh and Aunt Bethany.
Thanks for the great weekend.

24 weeks...

I got to share my 24th week photo with my sister-in-law Bethany who is 26 weeks. They are anxiously awaiting the arrival of "Viper" (to be named later when baby is born and gender is known)

We named our poses since we had three cameras....Back to back...
friends...and
belly to belly.

So excited that Andrew will have a cousin so close.
We had a great time with you Josh, Bethany, and Viper:-)

Play Doh bracelet anyone????

While shopping at Meijer Adeline noticed a bag of play doh that must have been thrown on a shelf where it didn't belong. I had just thrown out her old play doh because it was getting hard and I told her that we would buy some more. So how could I say no when she saw this bag?

We spent most of the evening playing with the play doh. One of the many things we made were bracelets. And of course Ken (Nek) and Barbie needed bracelets. You can notice two new additions.....another Ken and Barbie couple. They also are all wearing clothes. After her bath the other night when Nek and Barbie also received their baths we decided that they were too cold to not dress. They have been dressed ever since.

Fun at the Pumpkin Patch...

Although we were off to a late start we really enjoyed our time with the Rudd, Ellis, and Petty families. Adeline was very excited about picking out her own "bumpkin" (pumpkin). Once she got out of the Jeep she says..."come on Daddy, come on Mommy"...."Let's go". We were first welcomed by "Eykis" (Isaac) pulling his pumpkins in his little wagon. Then we met up with everyone else. Adeline went right in and picked out two pumpkins to bring home. We were pushing for her to pick a pumpkin that she could lift (secretly thinking that it would be much cheaper)....and it was.
Adeline was not a big fan of the petting zoo. She seemed pretty scared of the animals. My family would say that this is because we don't have a household pet....I hope it is just a two year old thing. We'll try it again next year when she is a little older. I am sure it will go much better.

After lunch Adeline enjoyed playing with all the fun toys with her friends. On our way out Daniel was the lucky one (the only one) who received a hug and kiss from Adeline. We had a wonderful time. Thank you for the invite Rudd family. We look forward to doing this again.

Making cookies for Daddy....

Adeline decided that she wanted to make cookies for Daddy. So...before Daddy came home from work tonight we started baking. Adeline was a great help. I was very impressed at how patient she was. She didn't try to climb down or play with other toys. She was focused on making the cookies. (and eating the butterscotch chips) Here are two videos of before mixing and after mixing. We had a great time. And Daddy was very surprised.

21 weeks...

Hard to believe that it has been three weeks since my surgery. Everything happened so fast and now it is finally starting to slow down. I had a follow up appointment with the Oncologist last week to make sure that I was healing well. He said that everything looked good and that I don't need to come back again. I think that is funny to say that everything looked good when my belly has five incisions on it. I know what he meant. He also told me how challenging the surgery was for them. With the placement and size of the ovary they had to try/use almost every angle and tool. That is why he said that it took twice the time. Although I was happy to have met this man I am very happy to hopefully never see him again.

The glue is off and the vitamin E is on. The three laproscopic ones are very small and will heal and probably not be visible. But the pretty 3" one under my belly button and 1" one below my breast line probably won't go away. It is very tight when I bend over and randomly I feel sharp stinging like it is opening back up. Unfortunately for the healing since I am pregnant they will probably look more ugly than pretty. Wait a minute.....do any incisions look pretty???

Daily....hourly, when I look at them I try not to focus on the wound. I try to focus on the fact that the God of all things chose to save me and my baby. I don't know why God has been so good to me. He has protected me from so many things when I definitely don't deserve it. Why Lord? Why me? I don't deserve this life I live. A loving husband, a beautiful daughter(another miracle), an amazing family, good friends, a house over my head, food in the fridge, two vehicles that run....the list could go on and on. Why does God continue to be faithful when I am not? Why do I get caught up in the daily routines of life and forget to spend quality time with Him?

I think that things are finally starting to hit me. The idea that I could have had cancer and possibly lost my life and Andrew's. That thought sends shocks through my body. Don't get me wrong, I want to go to heaven and spend eternity with my Savior but.... I want to spend many years with my husband, growing old with him, watching our children grow up and have children of their own.

I hope this feeling doesn't fade.

"Look at me!"

Said with a fast, high pitched voice. Adeline was determined to vacuum the upstairs hallway by herself. If I tried to help she got really angry. She must think that she can do a better job...she's probably right:-)

I also realize that Adeline seems to always be in her Mermaid pj's. I promise she does wear other clothes. This is just a favorite.

Three recent phrases:

For the last couple of weeks Adeline has been nothing but a chatter box. Sometimes you can tell what she is saying and other times you can not. Sometimes she is singing her favorite songs and other times she is just making noise. Whatever it is. I love it. Nana started calling her Quackie like her Great Aunt Jackie who ever since she was little has never stopped talking.

Three recent phrases are:

1. When I was climbing a stool to reach something up high I hear...."Be careful Mommy"

2. When Daddy makes her laugh she comes up to me and says..."Daddy is a funny guy"

3. When Adeline decided to start controlling when Mommy and Daddy get kisses or hugs I devised a plan to trick her and get the lovin' I want. I say "come here baby" and she comes right up to me like a little baby and climbs in my lap, just like a baby and snuggles me. Then I ask for a kiss from the baby. And I always get it:-) So now at random times I hear a little voice saying..."come here baby" wanting me to say it so that she can be my baby.

I love it.

A night with the Rudds

Last night we had a very enjoyable evening with the Rudd bunch. Katie was gracious enough to cook a meal for all 9 of us and brought it over to our house to eat. We spent all night outdoors talking and playing with the kids. Adeline's Dora quad was a big hit. We had a special talk with Adeline before everyone came over about sharing her toys and playing nice. She did a great job, not getting upset even once.

We went for a walk and played at the Lincoln Park Elementary playground. Adeline felt a special connection to Willow and held her hand the entire way to the park. (thanks for being so patient Willow)

The slide was a lot of fun for all the kids. Adeline wanted Daddy to go down with her the first time. What Daddy didn't realize was that for some reason the slide gets narrower towards the bottom and He ended up getting stuck. It didn't seem to bother Adeline.

Katie took control of the Elephant so that all the kids could ride with her.

On our walk home Ginger dropped acorns along the path so that we could find our way back. We will definitely be looking for those acorns on our next trip.

Jr. Mechanic

Adeline was very excited to work on the car with Daddy. Together they changed the oil and rotated the tires. Adeline was very determined to put the lugnuts on the tires. (I sure hope Daddy doubled checked Addy's work)

During this time Mommy was inside taking a shower and shaving her legs that haven't been touched in over two weeks. A big priority. So when I stepped outside into the garage and saw Little Miss all dirty (also just had a bath) I decided to run and get the camera. She was very proud of her "mess".

She was also very adamant that I take pictures of both Barbie and Nek who also helped with the car. (I decided not to post the individual shots) Before we went back into the house we made sure to clean our arms, hands, and face. And we also made sure that both Barbie and Nek received baths.

Getting back to normal...

I can't say thank you enough...

I would just like to say thank you to all of the family and friends that have taken time to call, write, and visit us during this hard time. A special thank you to our church community for bringing us dinners every night this last week and to the Menefee family for dinner last night. A very special thank you to Grandma Bean for dropping everything she was doing to come and take care of Adeline and for watching her for us until Tuesday of last week. Another special thank you to Nana for driving up and watching Adeline through Friday and one more thank you to both Missy and Corrie for helping the last two days before James' vacation started.

Like I mentioned before, recovery was not something I thought about nor was the idea that I would not be able to take care of my own daughter. With all of their kind help I have been able to recover better and Adeline has remained happy. Sometimes the words thank you just don't seem like enough.

The castle was a very popular attraction with both Grandma's
After each kid enjoyed half of a sugar cookie they proceeded to run back and forth from the kitchen to the living room screaming and laughing for about 20 minutes. They were very entertaining.

20 week old Andrew

As a family James, Adeline and I went to see Andrew once again. This was my actual scheduled appointment. Adeline was very excited that we were going to "go..see..Baby Andrew". She asked me very sweetly "Mommy, push..Baby Andrew...out?" I told her that I would when the time was right but that would be in a little bit "little..bit" Adeline quoted me. She is very ready and prepared to "hold..tiss.(kiss)..and rock...Baby Andrew"

In the picture above you will see the side of Andrew's face in the top left and his arm up against me in the center. He chose not to be very photogenic during this ultra-sound so the 3-D shots didn't turn out very well. Or at least not well enough for me to post. Some might not know what they are looking at. Personally I think that I should take a career as a ultra-sound technician, I have gotten very good at reading the screen.