Adalyn - 7 months

Another month has gone by.  Wow, before I know it Adalyn will be a year old!  Overall, life has been pretty good with the exception of a few of my own breakdowns.  I've had a couple days recently that I feel completely incompetent to raise my sweet daughter to be a loving, respectful, God-fearing little girl.  Sigh.  Tell me you have them, too?!?  And then there are days that I feel like I'm not "accomplishing" enough but would be if I were out of the house working.  I know it's not true, but it's how I feel sometimes, so why beat around the bush, I'm just gonna say it.  Don't get me wrong, I love that I'm able to stay home with Adalyn, but life's not perfect so I don't want to pretend it is.  

She does, however, bring sooo many smiles to my face.  I mean look at that adorable smile, how can she not?!?

On that note, I have to cut this short.  Someone is screaming in her crib after a brief 30 minute nap.  There goes my plans for the afternoon!  Be back sometime :-)

Thanksgiving Blessings

"Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.  For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations."  Psalm 100:4-5 

I love the holiday season and all that it represents.  Thanksgiving is such a great way to kick it off, too.  A day devoted to thankfulness!!  I was convicted last night as I laid down in bed though.  I was thanking God for the many blessings in my life and was reminded that I need to do that more often because every good thing comes from the Lord.  I want to be a wife, mom, friend, sister, and daughter who has an attitude of thankfulness each and every day!  I want to create a home in which my daughter grows up to learn that we are so blessed by God's goodness.  I want to cultivate relationships with those around me that just makes thankfulness contagious.  I'm praying that I can stay focused on the true meaning of the holiday season.  It's so easy to become distracted by worldly things.  And no, I'm not saying it's bad to enjoy the things God has blessed us with, but I am saying that I want to be content with what I have and not be filled with the "I need/want more" attitude.  I know Adalyn is far too young to understand the meaning of Thanksgiving or Christmas this year, but I am praying about how Greg and I can raise her to have a giving and selfless heart.  I know it's not an easy task today, and never was for that matter, but it's our job and it starts with us as parents.  I pray that we can set a great example of selflessness and that she will grow up to be a generous, content, and loving little girl.  Did I mention how thankful I am for this little peanut and her daddy?

What are you especially thankful for this year?

Adalyn - 6 months, some snow, and much more

Wow, where has the time gone?  I'm pretty sure I say that every month.  I've done a bad job of keeping up with this blog and really my goal was to only blog at least once a month...that's 12x a year...not that difficult, Amanda.  The issue is, so many other things just tend to take priority over blogging these days.  But I haven't given up completely.  Maybe in the dead of winter I'll be more focused on blogging, but for now my free time is spent outside when the weather is nice, like it was today.  Mid 60s in mid-November.  Can't complain about that.  Speaking of weather...before we talk about Miss Adalyn's 6 month birthday, I must show you a picture or two from the last weekend of October.  Check these out.

 

Looking out our kitchen door on 10/28/11

And here is the same shot the next day, 10/29/11

What?!?!  Snow in October?  I have to admit...I didn't think the weather forecast was correct and I didn't believe it until I saw it on Saturday.  So I didn't prepare (notice all of the leaves on the ground that I chose to neglect and not rake on Friday!).  And I know you are all dying to see a picture of sweet Adalyn all bundled up...

Adalyn and Daddy

Our little bundle of joy

It seems like some crazy weather event always happens on or around Adalyn's monthly birthday.  The day she was born there were tornado warnings, throughout the summer it was either a hurricane, a flood, or an earthquake AND now snow.  I really need to write these things down in her baby book so we don't forget!  Check out the 6 month pictures.  

Isn't she just a doll?  She was a champ this weekend -- Greg and I have been planning for over a month now to go to PSU with my siblings.  When we planned it, we never would have guessed that JoePa wouldn't be coaching.  What a week and what a tragedy.  Rather than talking about it too much, I've just been trying to pray instead, but I have to admit, it's hard not to get sucked into the news, facebook posts, blogs, etc... My heart goes out to all the victims and their families, not just at Penn State but all across the world, as such sin is everywhere.  This is again a reminder that we all need Jesus.  Greg and I have such great memories of our years at Penn State and this somehow seemed to taint them, but our weekend at Penn State was great and it was a good reminder that God is in control.  Adalyn and I didn't go to the game, but Greg said that he just felt God moving through the stadium.  How awesome was the prayer in the beginning of the game?  I pray that many come to know the Lord through this horrific situation.  On a lighter note, here are a few pictures from the weekend.  

 Adalyn wearing Aunt Bec's hat

Our tailgate - did I mention we forgot the pans to cook our eggs in?  Oops!

Our Penn State family

Until next time, my friends!

Adalyn - 5 months

Adalyn Faith turned 5 months old last Wednesday.  FIVE MONTHS!  Oh my gosh, where has the time gone.  Look how big she is!!  We are having so much fun these days.  What a fun stage!  We love watching her as she learns new things and continues to develop even more of her special personality.  She's loving her feet lately.  In fact, almost every time I change her diaper now she tries to put her foot in her mouth.  Not the easiest for me because I'm old school and use pins with my cloth diapers, but still fun to watch :-)

Check out those two teeth!

Laughing with Aunt Sarah (and pink puppy that she LOVES)

Isn't this picture great?!

Sitting up by herself for a few seconds

Slowly getting the hang of it

 

Until next time, friends! 

 

 

 

Summer task, winter treat

Next on my list of domestic food adventures this summer was freezing peaches.  Greg had to work on Labor Day, so my sisters joined Adalyn and I that morning as we peeled, cut and packed a bunch of peaches.  For those who have never taken on the task, it's a fairly simple one.  The trick is to make sure your peaches are nice and ripe AND have two big bowls or something of the sort to use because otherwise it can be a sticky mess.  I think it's easiest to have two people to help.  My younger sister, Sarah was the peeler, I was the cutter and my older sister, Rebecca, was the babysitter.  Who do you think enjoyed their job most?  :)  I bought a half of a bushel of peaches, which equates to about 50 peaches.  After it was all said and done, I ended up with 10 quarts of nicely cut peaches ready to eat in the dead of winter!  Of course we had to document the occasion. 

Clearly I wasn't ready for the picture to be taken

Peeling (make sure you wash them before you peel)

Cutting

AND I saved the best for last..........

 Adalyn grabbed Bec's bagel and started licking it (don't worry we supervise her closely when she does this :-) )

Who do you think won?!  Yup, Aunt Bec enjoyed a nice, slobbery bagel :-)

I hope you are out enjoying the beautiful sunshine after many days of rain.  Can you imagine Noah...no wonder God told him to build an ark to prepare for 40 days of rain!  God is a powerful God, that's for sure.  

Freezing Corn

I mentioned in a previous post that I was going to share about freezing corn.  My mom has traditionally done this each summer, but I've never really paid close attention to what exactly needs to be done to make it a success.  This summer was different.  Here are a few words of advice before I tell you how to go through the process. 

- Set aside most of the day to do it
- If you have a baby, make sure someone is there to help when your hands are full of corn
- Wear an apron at all times
- Expect that your kitchen floor with be sticky and will need washed when you're done
- Eat lots of corn

First decide how much corn you want to freeze.  My mom and I decided to buy 20 dozen ears and split whatever the result was.  We ended up with 49 decent sized bags of corns (pictures to follow).  The first step of course is husking all of the corn.  I don't have a picture of this, but I recommend doing it the day before you actually start the freezing process.  Once the corn is husked, boil water in a few large pots.  Cook the corn just like you would if you were going to eat it off the cob.  The color of the corn will change slightly. 

My mom has lots of big pots to use after many years in the kitchen so we decided to do it at her house

Once the corn is cooked, start the cooling process.  I recommend doing this outside, otherwise you'll have water everywhere when you transfer the corn.  Move the warm corn into a tub and simply put cool water, preferably from a hose, on it to reduce the temperature of the cobs a bit.  Then move the corn into a tub with ice cold water (I forgot to mention you'll need to buy several bags of ice - I think we used 3 of the largest bags).  Let the corn cool off completely!  I became a little impatient towards the end, but my mom reminded me that it's really important for it to cool off. 

Notice the tubs of water in the background

Cooling off

After the corn is cool, lay it out to let it dry off.  Then transfer it to your table or workspace where you will cut it. 

Ready to cut

Remember to sharpen your knives before you start cutting and then let the fun begin!  Using a big basin or tub of some sort is best so you have lots of room. 

My mom cutting

Check out all of the corn (and my awesome hair haha)

 It's fun to see the long pieces that stick together

Some of the completed bags

Adalyn licking the corn

So that's pretty much it!  It was a fun day and we are looking forward to eating some homegrown corn this winter!



A milestone

I realized that part of the reason I don't blog a lot is because I always feel the need to share pictures, which tends to take a long time, so this time I'm blogging without pics.  I wanted to share the excitement of the past week with you all.  Adalyn cut her first tooth!!!  On Friday she was 4 months and 5 days old and the little guy on the bottom right appeared.  We spotted it a few days before, but it wasn't quite through.  Then on Friday we did the old spoon test...when we put the spoon in her mouth, clink clink, we heard it!  Overall she did pretty well with the whole teething process.  It's still growing of course so the slobbering has continued. 

Adalyn had her four month check up this week.  She weighs 13 lbs 9 oz and is 24 1/2 inches long.  She is getting sooo big!  Her head control continues to get better each day.  She's getting to that point where she doesn't always want to be held and would rather just lay on the floor and move around.  She really enjoys her little bouncer that we have hanging in the doorway.  We fall more and more in love with her each day!  She is such a joy!

Have a wonderful Labor Day :)

Adalyn - 4 months

Wooaa!  I'm actually posting Adalyn's four month post on her four month birthday!  Someone has a lot of time on her hands today...not really, but I'm making the time.  We've had an exciting month.  Adalyn is such a joy to be around each and every day.  I made a big decision this month.  I officially resigned from my job at Vanguard and am now a full-time stay-at-home mom and wife!  While I will miss my friends at work as well as certain aspects of my job, nothing compares to being able to spend each day with Adalyn :)  It was the right decision and I'm glad that I can rest easy knowing that this is where God wants me to be right now.  Sooo to celebrate this new domestic job, guess what we did this past month?  We froze corn, canned tomatoes and are going to freeze peaches this week.  My mom has shown me the ropes with all of these things, which I really appreciate because it can be a little challenging taking care of a little babe while trying to navigate through a new process.  I took lots of pictures of the corn freezing process and plan to post them for anyone who may be interested in doing it sometime.  But my post today is dedicated to little miss Adalyn and a few pics from the storm.  Check out these new pictures, all of which were taken today.

Hi Mommy!

Her jean jacket is still a little big

She was much happier without it

She has grown so much but still looks small in her big crib from this angle

Love her!

Hanging out at Grandpa and Nana's watching a big tree get cut down (she is a little tired at this point)

It's tough to see here, but that big tree behind my parents' house split due to the wind...thankfully, the tree removal company arrived before it hit the house!

Check out the crack.  Thankfully, my parents had put cables through the tree years ago, which is what kept it from falling.

Watching the process

Hopefully you are safe and sound after Hurricane Irene hit.  Greg and I have a tree leaning on the front of our house (it's our neighbors), but we are praying it doesn't cause too much damage.  I know there are a lot of people in far worse situations, so we are couting our blessings.  Happy Sunday!



Adalyn - 3 months

I promised I would post updates each month about Adalyn, but was hopeful I'd get on here a little bit more often to blog some more.  Obviously that hasn't happened...thanks for understanding. 

This past month has been another great one!  Adalyn had a lot of "firsts"!  She went on her first vacation to Deep Creek Lake, Maryland with my family.  To get there she took her longest car ride - a whopping 3.5 hours.  She did GREAT on the way there...not so great on the way home.  Oh well, we made it safe and sound.  She also had her first boat ride!   I was a little worried about her getting on a boat at such a young age, but after reading a bit online I found that as long as she could fit into a life jacket, then she was okay.  Thankfully the boat rental place had one small enough for little miss.  She also, believe it or not, went out to dinner for the first time!  I know that's kind of hard to believe, but I guess that goes to show Greg and I don't get out much haha.  We'll be working on that.  Also, she had her first slumber over night in her pack and play.  She had no trouble sleeping.  In fact, she set some records while we were on vacation.  I think the longest she slept was from 9:30pm-7:30am!  Woohoo that was a good night.  She's still consistently sleeping through the night.  We actually started putting her to bed a bit earlier.  When it's time, it's time.  On that note, the past few days I've been able to lay her in her crib when she's still awake and she puts herself to sleep.  That's a big milestone in our book.  She's been a cuddler since day one and likes to be held.  For the first three months of her life we had to hold her and walk around with her to get her to sleep.  I don't want to assume that this will continue, but if it does we'll be thrilled.  It's so cute, as soon as we lay her down she just starts sucking...it looks like she's sucking her thumb, but if you look really close, you can see that she's really sucking the knuckle of her thumb or right between her thumb and her pointer finger.  Whatever works!  Wow, that was a lot of rambling on my part.  Enjoy a few pictures we took on vacation!

Ready for the boat ride

Daddy loves taking his little girl on adventures

Our blue-eyed little babe

Official 3 month shot in the crib...with Nana's scarf that Adalyn loves

She loves her fist

Our attempt at a family pic - so hard to get Adalyn to smile for the camera :)

This little seat is great!  Adalyn slept for hours in it by the lake.  The best part - it zips up so no bugs can creep in!

Family picture on the boat

I'll be back soon, I promise.

Adalyn - 2 months

Better late than never, right?  Adalyn was two months old last Tuesday.  Where has the time gone?  We've seen some big changes in her over the past few weeks.  She is smiling, cooing, and laughing A LOT.  What a joy!  It's so much fun seeing her happy when she is awake.  She has also began sleeping through the night consistently for the past week or so.  Praise the Lord!  Around 6 weeks, she had a few nights that she slept for about a 7 hour stretch, but now it's pretty common for her to sleep from about 9:30pm-5:30 (or 6:00am) each night.  After she eats she typically goes back to sleep for another two hours.  Speaking of eating, Miss Adalyn is growing like a little weed :)  She had her two month appointment (actually she's 10 weeks today, her appt was just a little late) on Tuesday and she weighed 11 lbs 10 oz and is 22 3/4 inches long.  I'm so glad she is growing and getting the nutrients she needs.  She hasn't taken a bottle yet.  She cries everytime someone (not me) tries to give it to her.  Any suggestions?  She's really not a big fan of the pacifer either...she prefers her fist or any flesh for that matter haha.  Watch out if you're holding her because she may just start sucking on your arm, shoulder, neck...whatever she can find.  Alright, that's all I have for today.  I only have three pictures to post for her 2 month photo shoot.  I'll be back later with some more. 

Content little girl sleeping on her belly

She's growing, but she's still a tiny little thing

The official two month shot - not looking at the camera