You Blow Me Away!

Bella and her mom hosted a Valentine's Day party for Adeline's playgroup.  Each of the babies brought a valentine to exchange with their friends.  All the babies love bubbles and Adeline's valentine was easy to whip up.  With the help of cousin Meredith, I attached these adorable tags to bottles of bubbles.



The tag reads, "You Blow Me Away! Love, Adeline"

The party was adorable.  Bella's mom is so creative and she is also a talented photographer.  One of the activities included a photo shoot complete with a Valentine's Day backdrop.  I cannot wait to see how Adeline's pictures turn out!  I will be sure to report back with a post about them.

Here's a picture of the whole lovin' crew.  Jack is the hunk of burnin' love in the middle.  He's got all those ladies drooling over him. 


Adeline loved the party and always enjoys playgroup.  I think she likes to see new toys and observe little people her age.  Playgroup days are always great nap days for my little lady!

Happy Early Valentine's Day

Javier Barron

 Meet Javier.


He recently made a field trip run for the border in a bright yellow school bus.  





Along with 21 of his fellow amigos, Javier enjoyed lunch at a Mexican restaurant and declared enchiladas "YUMMY!" He even enjoyed his first sopapilla with a cherry on top!

 

Here is Javier with Rodrigo, an amigo favorito.


And not to be missed, you might want to note the stellar passport photo that Javier wore around his neck for the journey. 

Adeline is 10 months old!

10 months.  HOW did we get here so fast Adeline!  You are going to be one year old in just two months and I feel like all I did was blink my eyes. 
I am not sure what you weigh this month but I will find out when we go for your well visit next week.  You have a thick head of light brown hair that is CRAZY.  It either sticks straight up or sticks straight out.  We comb it, we put bows in it, we slick it down....but it always pops back up.  I love it.  It puts a twinkle in your eyes and makes you the Adeline that we love so very much.
Adeline, you wear a size 5 diaper (but I am moving to size 6 this month) and size 12-18 clothes.  You can still wear several 9 month dresses.  I don't have you in shoes yet but I try to keep socks on your feet.  You LOVE to pull the sock off your right foot and carry it around.  I have learned to keep an extra pair of socks in my purse just in case you toss one overboard somewhere - and believe me, you love to toss them overboard!
Due to our schedule, you still tend to take your morning nap in the car around 9am.  I do my very best to be home around lunch time so you can play with your toys and take another nap in your crib.  I am not a stickler for you taking naps in your crib, but for now, I feel bad if you have to ride in the car all day and nap on the go.  Besides, I really enjoy the quiet time at home with just you.  We play with your toys and sing songs.  You love to stand in front of your toy bin and pull out every single toy until you can see the bottom of the bin.




  I love it when you crawl over to me and climb in my lap with a toy.  It's your way of telling me that you want me to play with you.  We shake your musical instruments and spend countless minutes putting objects in and out of cups.  You look at me with wide eyes and a huge smile when we play together and I know you are having a great time.



You are a good sport about riding in your car seat, but I know it wears on you if I am out all day on errands.  Sometimes you arch your back and cry "MAMAMAMAMAMA!!" as if you just cannot sit in that seat one. more. time.  I don't blame you.  Sometimes I can distract you with a toy and lock you in your seat before you realize it, but other times you want NOTHING to do with it.  And so, there have been moments when we sit in the front seat of the car and I let you explore all the controls.  You love this and your favorite trick is moving the windshield wipers.  You double over laughing when the blades glide across the window.  After awhile, you are satisfied and willing to go for a ride in your seat.

You LOVE to explore and remain BUSY BUSY BUSY all the time.  I find you cruising the furniture and climbing on top of William's toy baskets in a desperate attempt to get inside his play area.  I would take a picture of you climbing, but that would be dangerous.  I am better off holding on to you!  You also found the stairs.  And we welcomed a baby gate.  Dada has trailed behind you a few times when you have wanted to climb the stairs.  Oh Adeline, you think this trick is hilarious.  You giggle and talk as you climb and Dada hovers over you the whole way.  I think you think it's a game!  Nevertheless, the baby gate is up and you don't seem to mind that is blocks your way up the stairs.
You are so engaged in the world around you.  I am having so much fun teaching you about your favorite things.  The other day I asked you, "how big is Adeline?" and without missing a beat, you raised your hands over your head.  I said, "Soooooo big!" and you just beamed.  You love ceiling fans so I started waving my hand in a circle and making a "windy" noise at the same time.  Now if I say "fan" you will sometimes move your hand around and blow with your mouth.  You recognize kids and get really loud when we are around them.  You kick your legs with great excitement and clap your hands while you watch children run around. 

You are scared of balls.  Especially balls that are bouncing around.  You cry and hold onto me for dear life.

Adeline, to say you adore William is an understatement.  Your heart must BURST when you see him.  
You scream, I mean SCREAM, with glee when William plays with you.  You think he's the most fun person on the planet.  I love watching you and your brother interact.  It's like nothing I have ever seen.  He calls you "lovey bug."  He loves you and wants to protect you whenever he can.  Just the other day he asked me how many years he has to wait before you get to go with him to Holland Hall.  You never take your eyes off him and when you steal a glimpse of William, your smile explodes across your face and you belly laugh the most joyful sound in the world.  Your bond is thicker than I ever dreamed and William is so proud to be your big brother.  He is forever asking if he can teach you something new and he takes great pride in showing you right from wrong.  William loves to play with you and will walk across the room just to get on his knees and softly pat you on the back.  He can be super goofy and roll around on the floor or crawl around the room chasing you from one end to the other.  You absolutely LOVE HIM for that.  Your smile is as bright as the sun.

Dada has taught you a new laugh.  It's hilarious.  The best way I can describe it is like laughing through your teeth while making a "Keshhhh" sound. I know.  Terrible description, but I can't really translate it into a word.  Anyway, it is so funny.  You'll bust out laughing with this noise at any given moment.  Adeline, one of the sweetest parts of your personality is how you find humor in almost anything around you.   Oh how you are forever laughing, giggling, smiling.....it's contagious and completes my day.  You are simply my Jolly Dolly.

You have started talking a lot too.  You move your hands around in big motions while talking in Adeline Jargon.  You are very serious and have quite a bit to tell us.  I only wish I knew "Adeline talk" so I could sneak a peak into your thoughts.  Your conversations are most popular in the morning when you wake up.  Maybe you are trying to tell us about your dreams......whatever it is, it is precious.  I love to watch you explain yourself and then do your "Dada laugh" when you are done.  It's like you just told me a hilarious joke and you were the only person to hear the punch line. 

You are still a great eater.  You are willing to try anything we give you and most recently, you have tried cottage cheese, real ham, and real green beans.  You like both and I have a feeling you are slowly making your way to only table foods.  You still love your bottles.
You like to go to bed between 6:00-6:30pm.  I still hear from you around 4:30am, but if I give you a pacifier, you go back to sleep for awhile.  The last couple of nights I have been picking you up (I know!  But I am just that Mama who needs to hold her baby!) around 5:15am when you would really like to wake up for the day.  However, if I hold you tight, you will usually snuggle up on my chest for another hour.  I LOVE it and relish this phase.  I desperately want you to stay little and fit in the nook of my arm! 
And so my love bug, at 10 months you are loving life.    Adeline, you bring us unexplainable joy. A happiness so heavy it makes my heart ache.   How I just stare at you and give thanks for answered prayers. 
You are truly a gift.

Sprout Birthdays and The Sunnyside Up Show

William loves to watch Sprout, especially the Sunnyside Up Show in the mornings and the Good Night show around dinner time.  During these segments, Sprout does a birthday show where the characters sing and celebrate children who have a birthday that particular day.  In order to participate, a child must submit a form and a birthday card to Sprout.  If chosen, the birthday card and the child's name will appear on either the Sunnyside Up show or the Good Night show.  

Last year, William was desperate to send in a card for the show.  When I checked into it, the submissions had to be at Sprout 2 weeks before the child's birthday.  We missed our window and William was so disappointed.  So, this year I remembered and asked him if he wanted to make a card to send in to the show.  He JUMPED at the chance with great excitement! 

Afraid of seeing his disappointment, I explained over and over again that our card may or may NOT be selected for the tv show.  I told William that if our card is not on tv for his birthday, that it is no big deal.  If it is chosen for the show, we would be so thankful and thrilled!  I reminded him that there are TONS of kids born on Feb. 7th and it is not up to us to decide who gets on tv.  I also explained that if our card isn't on tv, it could be uploaded to the Sprout website for people to see and his name, not his card, may scroll across the bottom of the screen.  Either way, I assured him that it would be fun to participate.  After having this conversation a few times, William told me he wouldn't be disappointed if his card isn't selected and that reminded me that "all I can do is try my best and see what happens."  Love that boy's spirit! 
William knows that Adeline LOVES to watch Chica, the bird, on the Good Night Show.  She literally stops dead in her tracks when she hears Chica's voice and then belly laughs with a HUGE grin while watching Chica on the tv.  My girl loves puppets so I am not surprised she loves Chica, and it's pretty cute to watch her expressions! 
So, William insisted that his birthday card be about Chica. What a sweet brother!  I think our creation turned out pretty cute. William was thrilled about the card and put a picture of Thomas and some airplanes inside the card.  We also glued a picture of William on the card because who can resist such a cute lookin' kiddo!!
Tune in to Sprout on February 7th and watch for William!  I am HOPING HOPING HOPING that Sprout thinks our Chica card is worthy of celebrating on the Birthday Show! I can't imagine the joy on William's face if we are chosen.  Cross your fingers!!!

Babbling Lips

 My scrump-did-a-lee-uptious baby doll has started running her fingers across her lips every time she gets frustrated.  It's very funny and bless her heart, I think it's her way of trying to tell me something!  The other day she was digging through the toy bin and started "babbling her lips."  I was able to get a play by play in pictures.  Once she stopped and looked at me like, "help me out here lady!" I realized her pacifier was down inside the toy bin and she couldn't reach it.  I don't blame ya Sissy, I would be frustrated too!

Wordless Wednesday

Red Rock Canyon

During our Christmas break, Dada took William and Pops to Red Rock Canyon.  RRC is about 45 minutes west of OKC and a great day trip for the boys. 
William instructed Dada and Pops to bring along a few airplanes so they could fly missions on the hike.  So after carefully selecting which planes would get to make the journey, the boys piled into the Jeep and headed for the hills.

Dada's report indicates that they hiked around Red Rock Canyon and explored a few nature trails.  They threw rocks in the pond (which William could do ALL. DAY. LONG.) and then went for lunch at Johnnie's famous onion burger joint in El Reno.  
Dada and Pops said William had an absolute blast.  He never stopped skipping, asked a million questions, constantly flew his airplanes and LOVED being in the great outdoors.  That's my boy!
I asked William to tell me his favorite part of the trip.  With a huge, sly smile, he gleefully told me his favorite part was riding through the nature park WITHOUT being in his car seat.  He thought he was Mr. Cool!