"Me Time"

Something happened this weekend that hasn't happend in 14+ months: I was alone in my house, for almost 24 hours!

Austin had an overnight Veritas event and my parents took Adelyn for the night. I was alone. It was incredibly quiet and I realized this was the first time this has happened, well, since Adelyn was born. Friday night I had a great night of eating, drinking wine, and hanging out with the Crossing staff. It was pretty nice to not have to worry about a babysitter or how long I was going to stay. I came home to my dark empty house, stayed up too late working on a sewing project, and woke up on my own.

I'm not the type of person who lays on the couch when I have alone time. I used every minute to do things I wouldn't normally do with a husband and baby around. I was out the door on Saturday morning by 7 a.m. to hit up some garage sales! After that I went to the farmers market only to be followed by an hour long bike ride on the MKT Trail. It was perfect weather to be outside and I was loving every minute. After getting back from my ride, I did some yard work, watered plants all around our house, did laundry, grabbed lunch, and then took an a long nap.

Even though there was tons of stuff I would have liked to have done, at that point, I was ready for my family to come home. The quietness was strange and the feeling of being entirely on my own time was foreign.

I had forgotten what it felt like to be on my own schedule. Getting a taste of it was refreshing but also showed me how easily I can be selfish with my time. Somewhere in the past 14 months, God has shaped me in a major way to enjoy serving my family and to not see my time as a mom as a sacrifice. This job is my life now and I have grown to a point of not resenting the fact that I don't get to do exactly what I'd like to do every day.

I truly enjoyed my "me time" but I also realized that the independent woman I saw this weekend was no longer "me."

No one can prepare you on how much being a mom will re-shape your identity. It happens so gradually and slowly that it's almost unrecognizable. I'm thankful that God gave me a glimpse of how much he has used Adelyn to shape me and mold me into the woman and mom he wants me to be.

State Fair

I grew up going to the Missouri state fair. It was a summer tradition that my family and friends of ours would do together. We loved it! I'm learning that most people don't share the same enthusiasm for the state fair as I do. In fact even my own dear husband told me he only had it in him to go once a year. I happily informed him that is all he needed because it only happens once a year.

For all you state-fair skeptics, let me share a little bit about our day.

After meeting up with my parents, we started at an awesome petting zoo. This wasn't the typical goats and puppy petting zoo. This one had some really cool animals! Kangaroos, emus, huge turtles, porcupines, and a few other unidentifiable animals.



Adelyn loved getting her little hands on all the different animals.



Check out this guy! Looks like the groomer mistook him as a poodle.







After the petting zoo we walked though all the show animals. There were HUGE cows, mules, and horses that you could walk right up to and pet.

One of my favorite parts is the Conservation Area. They have a huge aquarium of Missouri fish. This part also has lots of reptiles and amphibians you can get close to.

I think these catfish thought Adelyn was fish food.



At another part of the fair, there are huge rooms of rabbits, chickens, ducks, turkeys, roosters, etc. It's fun to walk up and down the isles and get a good look at these guys.









We walked through multiple other buildings filled with home products, food demonstrations, homemade products, crafts, local foods, quilts, machinery, and so much more.

We caught a little bit of a sea lion show before chowing down on some corn dogs and lemonade.

We tried to take a break in a park to let Adelyn catch a nap but she was too wound up to sleep. So we pressed on to more state fair fun.



One of the things you just have to do at the fair is see a pig race. I know, I know- it sounds ridiculous but it's hilarious to watch these pigs spring out of their starting blocks and race around a corner to be the first to reach the grand prize: an Oreo.

By the time we did all this it was around 1:00 and Adelyn was WIPED. We packed up and headed out.

Guess who was asleep before we even got out of the parking lot?



So that was our day at the state fair. Judge all you want, but we had a good time.

Book Worm

We're settling back in around here. Vacation was great but being home is great too.

Little lady still isn't walking on her own but I am fully convinced she could if she wanted to. She loves to use her "more" and "please" signs for about anything and everything. "All done" is still accompanied by some dropping of food on the floor but we are working on that.



At 14 months she is sleeping from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. with two naps during the day. I am being warned by veteran mommies that she will soon start dropping that morning nap but for now she's hanging on to it. I am convinced she'd be a royal mess without the morning nap at this point.



Adelyn has discovered books. SHE LOVES BOOKS. In fact I just posted about some favorite books (for a one year old) over at Thriving Home. She of course picks 5 or 6 to read over and over again despite our efforts to expand her book repertoire. It is pretty fun cuddling up to read though. Not much will hold her attention these days so we are loving the book stage.





She continues to be a great little eater. I am surprised she is still in the 25th percentile  considering how much she eats. We've found these meal ideas for a one year old to work pretty well for this stage. I'm always open for new recipes though!

Well, there are some very random updates for you. These are more for me to keep track of if anything. Thanks for humoring me!

Chicago!

In the background of this picture, you can see the skyline of Chicago. That's because we have been there the past four days. I can't say enough good things about our little vacation.

It started by handing off Miss Adelyn to my parents. I actually had a harder time with this than I expected. I can't say I didn't shed a few tears saying goodbye to my little one. I had no doubt that she would be in wonderful hands but it just felt unnatural to hand your child off knowing you aren't going to see them for 4 days. I missed her a lot but was able to really enjoy our vacation time.

Austin and I kicked off our vacation with a little game of tennis that night. I haven't played tennis in probably 5 years so it comes to no surprise I quickly grew frustrated with my inability to perform an accurate backhand. Needless to say, Austin beat me 6-0.

The next morning we packed up and headed north. Austin drove the entire way while I read, worked a little, napped, and squirmed around because I hate sitting in a car that long. He's a great driver so I was glad to relax while he got us there.



We stayed with our good friends, Andy and Lindsey. I can't say enough good things about these people. They are legit. They are so easy to be around, great hosts, fun to talk to, had great ideas on things to do in Chicago, and cooked some AMAZING meals.

One of my favorite parts of our trip was a bike tour we took around the city of Chicago. It was a three hour guided tour that took us ALL over the city. I learned so much about the history of Chicago as well as the history behind major landmarks and areas of the city. Since I was on a bike, I didn't take many pictures but here are a few I managed to get.





That evening, Austin and I went out to a nice dinner and had probably the best Italian food we've ever had. I'm not exaggerating. It was a place called Caro Mio. Lindsey used to work there so she sent us off with a list of recommendations which we were glad we used. It was amazing.



The rest of the trip consisted of some shopping, touring a famous cemetery, sipping coffee drinks in a fun neighborhood, and laying out at the beach. Our legs were tired and our feet hurt but it was totally worth it.

A four day vacation was perfect for us. We made the most of every day there but were ready to come back. It was soooo fun to see Adelyn when we got home. I was going to have a babysitter tomorrow so I could go into the office to work but I cancelled that simply because I want to spend some time with my little lady. I'm so thankful we had a few days of fun and refreshment before the craziness of the Fall begins.