Memorial Weekend: Some Serious Family Fun

We had a BIG weekend at the lake. All of my family was in town and the weather was ideal for some serious lake time and pool time. Warning... there are a lot of pictures!



Adelyn's first boat ride. She wasn't too crazy about the life jacket. It turned into more of a chew toy for her by the end.





Sophie doing her model shot.





How many dogs does it take to fetch a stick? Apparently at our house, three.



We set up a kiddie pool on the dock for Adelyn to splash around in. She loved it!







So did everyone else apparently!







This was taken in the 30 seconds that Adelyn willingly wore her hat.





What's a Drover get-together without a pack of dogs?  They had a blast too.



Staring down the tennis ball...











 

Little Lady is on the Move!

It feels like Adelyn has changed so much even in the past WEEK!

This girl is all over the place. She's a crawling machine and has just started to pull herself up. She is in constant exploration mode around the house. It's so fun but long gone are the days when she would just sit contently on the couch with us.



She is cracking us up with her "hi's" and her attempts to say words. I LOVE when she crawls over to me and climbs up me to be held. LOVE it.



With her newly found mobility, comes the challenge of changing diapers and getting pants on her. Lets just say this lady doesn't like restraint.



She is still an eating machine. There is rarely a food we will put in front of her that she won't gobble down.



Adelyn gets around by the "wounded soldier" crawl. I think since we have hard wood, it's easier for her to slither around rather than crawl on hands and knees. This works fine until she gets outside and tries to drag across grass and concrete. Ouch!



She and Chauncey are buds. She crawls all over him and he loves it. He is so tolerant of her. For example, tonight as the dogs were eating their food, we turn around to find Adelyn tugging on Chauncey's tail AS he was eating. They've also learned how to play fetch. Chauncy rolls the ball to Adelyn and she kind of throws it for him. I'm amazed SHE has figured out what to do with the ball! We're so thankful to have such a kind doggie that puts up with a rowdy gal.

Embracing

A few days ago, Austin and I were both in awe that it has been almost a year since we had Adelyn. An entire year has passed. The phrase, "long days-short years" really has some truth to it.

One of the biggest lessons I have learned and am continuing to learn is to simply embrace whole-heartedly where I am at. To embrace that my life will not look like it used to be. Ever. My days, my time, and my plans are no longer about me. I think in the early months of motherhood I mourned this loss and struggled to feel like "myself" again. I whined and cried my way through the first few months until I just gave in and accepted that life has changed. I have changed. Our marriage has changed. My identity has changed. Once I got over my selfishness enough to consider embracing a new reality, something shifted. I can't explain it but something in me just embraced all the demands of motherhood and I chose to enjoy my days rather than get through them.

It's not just about embracing and accepting the big changes- it's about embracing the small ones as well. For example, Adelyn is an early bird. She is up at 6 a.m. every morning- almost to the minute. When I would wake up to her squeaks coming from the other room, I used to grow frustrated and grumpy at the fact that she was up so early and I was SOOO tired. I would lay in bed hoping she'd fall back asleep (never happened btw). After a few months of wishing she would just sleep a little longer and always being disappointed when I would see 6:02 on my watch, I chose to stop fighting the 6 a.m wake up and just embraced the fact that this is my new wakeup time. And guess what? Turns out that 6 a.m. isn't all that bad.

When I run into grandmas or older women, I see them light up at the sight of a baby. I can tell they miss being a mommy. They don't look at me and say, "Bless your heart,  you'll get through this..." They smile as if I'm enjoying every second of motherhood. They seem to have forgotten all the hardship and remember the sweet and precious moments. I've come to let this be a reminder: this is a season and it will be over too quickly. Only in this season of my life will I have a little one crawling around my feet, an infant chanting "hi" over and over again as she crawls around the house, a baby snuggling up before a nap, a toddler longing to just be held by mom or dad, the babbling of  "mum-mum-mum," or "dadadada," the continual wiping of little hands eager to touch everything. Only once. I would hate to wish this season away in hopes for an easier one. I want to embrace all of it and live fully in it.

Easier said than done but I'm learning. With each new challenge, I seem to have to go through the process of not fighting it but just accepting the hardship or frustration and living fully in it. One day at a time.

He's a Star!

This is the Kids Club promotional video. For those of you who don't know, Kids club is a massive vacation-Bible-school type event that my church puts on once a year. 400+ kids massive.

You might see a familiar face. (click on the picture to go to video)

 

Videos Like These Make My Day

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PuA6ZjpEJys&feature=share

Strawberry Picking!

We had a little family outing today that was a blast!

This morning after Adelyn's first nap we headed out to Pick and Pick farms to round up some delicious strawberries.



It was a beautiful day- BEAUTIFUL. We could tell the crop had been picked quite a bit but we still managed to leave with three pounds of strawberries. Here is Adelyn all geared up and ready to pick.



If you've never had a freshly picked strawberry, you are missing out on a great joy in life. They are soft, sweet, melt-in-your mouth delicious!



Adelyn figured this out really fast. After we gave her a taste she was grabbing for more. In fact, when we'd set her down so we could pick, she would take the liberty of picking her own. However, since she was limited to berries within her reach she often ended up with ones that were dried up and dead or ones that were still babies and not even red. I had to dig one out of her mouth that was the size of a marble and rock hard.



I'm not exaggerating when I say she probably had 25+ strawberries today. Don't worry- the berries we were picking were itty bitty but still, she had a lot!



I love this picture. Adelyn is covered in strawberry juice showing us she is "so big." Oh, and of course she was dressed appropriately with a strawberry dress for the occasion.

A Quick Doggie Update

For those of you wondering, Sophie is doing much better. She's not 100% herself but she is for sure getting better each day. Thanks for those who have asked. We're glad to see we aren't the only ones who love our little "Tophs."

Adelyn: 11 Months

My little lady has been so much fun lately! She's our little explorer around the house and has a fetish with unpacking things from baskets, laundry baskets, boxes, etc. Here are some other favorites at this age:

Favorite Food: Probably watermelon. She almost ate 4 pieces in one sitting the other day.

Favorite Book: Wide-Mouthed Frog. I'm amazed that she can identify this book in a stack and pull it out to "read."



Favorite Wake Up Time: 6:15 a.m. There isn't much negotiating with her on this.

Favorite Dog: Chauncey. Sorry, Sophie.

Favorite Maneuver: The Spin Move. See below.

http://youtu.be/vofLPq1_MVI

Favorite Activity: Either unpacking something or walks with mommy. Here is where she made it her mission to take every book out of the basket.



Favorite Toy: A kids cell phone I snagged at a garage sale for a buck. She loves it.

Favorite thing to cry about: Other crying kids or babies. I am commonly told she is a "sympathy crier" by childcare at the church and gym.

Mommy's Favorite Moments: Cuddling before nap or bed time. She lays her had on my shoulder and snuggles.

The other day we had some fun with the sprinkler. We had a blast!

Inspired.

I don't even know how to introduce this video. I just know I am changed by it.

Sick little Sophie

Our little Sophie is not doing too well.

Two nights ago she was howling in pain anytime she moved. After being stuck in one spot on the couch for hours and a failed attempt to move her without hurting her, we decided to take her in to the vet.

Turns out that Sophie has Intervertebral Disk Disease. Basically she has slipped/bulging disk that can be very painful. Since it is inflamed, there is a chance it could rupture. This would not be good. I don't even want to think about it. Right now she is on pain meds and anti-inflammatory medicine. The poor little pup has been under our bed only to come out for a short time once or twice a day.  She's hardly eating or drinking. It's so so sad.



It's hard for people who have never loved a dog to understand why a sick dog would cause so much heartache. I guess it's not so much the fact that she is sick that has me worried, it's the fact that we're just waiting for it to get better or worse. The fact that she hasn't shown too many promising signs of feeling better saddens me. I hate that she wants to be under our bed. She never wants to be there. She always wants to be looking out a window or perched up on something in the middle of everything. I just wish she'd come out from under the bed.



Hang in there "Tophs." We're doing the best we can to take care of you. But for now, I'll keep crawling under the bed to give you pieces of chicken since that's the only thing you'll consider eating.

The things we do for dogs :)

Snorts

http://youtu.be/1wy2Sd558fE

Play Date

A few days ago, my friend Rachel hosted a play date for some lovely ladies who have babies around the same age. It was so fun! I loved seeing them interact, learn from each other,  give and take toys from each other, and so much more. It was quite the sight to see a bunch of mobile babies corralled into a small area but we had a blast. Here are some of the moments caught on camera.