Tequila makes her clothes fall off!

Ok, not tequila. It's more like warm weather and a couple sips of Mama's limeade. Did I mention that it's extremely difficult to get a still shot of my daughter? She is in constant motion.

Jake is crosscountry to Colorado Springs this weekend. That means that he flew there today and flies back Sunday. He was hoping to catch some AFA boxing, but nothing is going on this weekend. I got a sitter for tomorrow so I can get a little break. I am going to go see a movie! A rare luxury lately.

We went to the Ft. Worth zoo Saturday with Aunt Kristen. It was cold, so I mostly stayed in the Baby Bjorn. We saw lots and lots of cool animals. This is at the bird exhibit where you can feed the birds.

This is at the penguin exhibit.

Wednesday was Aunt Kristen's last day to visit. I miss her a lot because she loves me so much and would read to me as much as I wanted her to, even if she got sick and tired of the book.

We visited Baton Rouge!

And Adora got roseola! (I did take her to the ER. Why did I take her to the ER for a fever? Well, because lame-o Tricare wouldn't give me a referral to see my old pediatrician! They would only let me go to urgent care or the ER, and urgent care wasn't open. So we went to the ER. She weighs 20 lbs 3 oz!) She had a fever for several days and was super clingy & whiny. It was crazy--she didn't want to walk around at all or explore, two of her favorite things! The fever broke and she got a faint rash for a couple of days. I felt so bad for her. She was really miserable. And I felt bad for those we were visiting because they didn't get to see Adora how she normally is, an adorable, funny, exciting, playful, energetic TODDLER!

Yes, TODDLER. I can't believe it has been almost a year since her birth. She has grown and changed so much. I miss the little baby that she was, but I'm glad she has grown out of a lot of things already. There were some huge challenges--getting up every hour at night for months, taking 3 hours to put her to sleep at night, acid reflux, etc. etc.--but all in all, the good has definitely outweighed the bad, and I miss my baby girl! Every stage that she goes through, however, has got me saying, "I love this stage! Can she just stay this way forever?" I do love anticipating the new things she'll learn, though. I can't wait for her first real word (she loves to sign "milk" and babble in her own language). I can't wait until she can blow out a candle. I can't wait until she can color! But I love the way she is now so much that I know it'll be hard to let it go.

Sometimes, my hair does really funny things in the morning!

I love MawMaw's statue of David! Now Parrain doesn't have to question why she has a David statue--it's to entice toddlers!

We ate BBQ with Mama's Aunt Cheryl and Dad. It was delicious, but because I was sick, I didn't feel like eating too much.

I went to New Orleans with MawMaw & Parrain. I didn't feel very good, but I was a perfect angel the whole time!

My last morning in Baton Rouge with MawMaw & PawPaw.

Life is busy!

So since the last post, we've gone to Wyoming for Christmas, Adora's gotten sick twice, so have I, and Jake's gotten sick once! We are all feeling ok at the moment, though, but as you can tell, it's been hectic around here. We are also planning multiple trips at the moment (all of us to Montgomery, Adora and me to Baton Rouge, my mom to Wichita Falls, Jake and me to Las Vegas), Jake is working a lot, I have been trying to get stuff done, and, you know, all the other stuff that makes life BUSY!


Highlights:

Adora is walking now! She still cruises a lot and crawls some, but she is doing lots of solo walking, too. She also loves to hold onto Mama's or Dada's finger and walk on uneven surfaces, such as rocks, wood chips, and grass.

Adora has five teeth! Two on top and three on bottom.

Adora is sleeping better! She slept for 10 hours straight last night. She went to bed at 6:15 and woke up at 7:45 with only one wake-up at 4:15 for some milk.

I weighed Adora on the scale yesterday--20.5 lbs!

Christmas was loads of fun. Adora got some blocks, a "car," some dogs that she loves to chew, a nightgown made by her Nana, a wombat book, a wood & leather toy from her Uncle Seth, and lots of other fun stuff. She had a blast playing with her cousins and getting into every little thing she wasn't supposed to at Jake's mom & dad's house.

Adora's dad said I had to cut her hair or put it up all the time! So, with the exception of nighttime, her hair is always in a ponytail or pigtails. She doesn't hate it quite as much as she used to.



This is how I like to eat bananas now. I won't eat them when Mommy cuts them up into small pieces.



















This is me opening my blocks for Christmas at home, Dec. 23.
























Christmas Eve, I played trains with my cousin Briley. My Santa slippers were really fun to take off, but Mama liked when I wore them, so I kept one on for this picture.
















I'm opening up a Christmas present from Nana & Pop--it's a book about wombats, Dada's favorite animal!


While Mama was hogging the room taking a nap of her own, I let Aunt Sarah hold me for a cozy nap in the chair.















While the grownups Combat Sledded behind the truck, I stayed with Nana and my cousins,

Elizabeth and Briley, inside the warm truck and just watched and had cookies!
































Dad liked to pull me in this wagon. It was a lot of fun! I think Pop made it for his kids a long, long time ago.

This is how we look after a night of horrible sleep (due to Adora). Notice how peppy she looks--if only it were that easy for us!























Extreme sledding might've been my favorite thing to do at Nana & Pop's house. Dad would ice skate and pull me around the Big Hole behind him. I was all bundled up!












I love playing in the wool at Nana's mill! It was so soft and cozy.




















I helped Dad mount his new TV over the fireplace.

I love to stand up by windows and look out of them.

I woke up one day and Mom didn't have to put my hair up because my bangs were flared out really cute like this!

I love to cruise and spend a good portion of my days doing it.

Dad raked up the leaves so I could play in them.

All I wanted to do was crawl out of them, though.

You can tell how much I love my Dada in this picture!

I was so cute this day that Mom took a picture of me while I was sitting on her hip, so it's a super close-up!

Mom and Dad took me to the Holy City in the Wichita Mountains. They have a Passion play there each Easter. We won't be able to go this year, but maybe next year. We had a really fun picnic on the grass. (I love to eat apple cores.) Then, we went on a hike in the mountains before we headed home.

It's hard to walk on uneven surfaces! But I love doing it. This is also in the Holy City.

So sick!

I know it's been a whole month since I posted, but you have to factor in Christmas and the fact that the computer was broken and in the shop for awhile. I haven't downloaded any pictures lately, but I will search and see if there are any that I haven't posted yet.

Adora started throwing up again Saturday night, and I started puking this morning. I feel really crappy, but it makes me feel really sad that she feels this way, too! Jake has been awesome. He went into work as late as he could and came home for a couple of hours before he had to fly. He should be back in about an hour. Adora is napping, thank goodness. I do not have the energy to play with her!

My friend, Caris, came over to play for a few hours one day while her Mom & Dad were busy. I tried to push her in my hippo, but I couldn't. We still had fun, though!

Wow, my face is really messy from this yummy spaghetti that Mamamamama made. (Adora calls me Mamamamama, although I still don't think she knows it's me.)

Pictures of Adora & Mommy!

Here is the link:

https://www.smilesbywire.com/home.asp?AC=LTPP0737104095JCP

You have to enter the customer name (melanie hostetler).

Hope you enjoy! :)

Christmastime!

I wore my Santa outfit to a Christmas craft fair, and everyone thought I was the cutest baby in the world!



















Look how long my bangs are getting! Mommy has to pull it back with a bow or put it in pigtails (if I let her).












I've been taking MMA lessons--Reagan and I are a close match, but I totally kicked her butt!











I think I already said that when we were teaching Adora to crawl, we had to tempt her with puffs. So here is a video of her first night crawling--for puffs, of course! You can also see my haircut.





Now that I can crawl, I sometimes get stuck under stuff, like my exersaucer thingie!


















I took a good nap with Dad while Mom and my cousin, Elizabeth, napped in my bedroom in Vail.

We went on a hike in the mountains--I am such a snowbaby!

My cousins, Elizabeth & Briley, were making funny faces in front of a frozen waterfall on my hike!

I loved sitting in the hot tub with my family!

All the great grandkids with Grammy Grammy--Brianna, Luke, Ashley, Addison, Briley, Adora, and Elizabeth.

Wichita Mountains 11/8

Adora loved looking at the prairie dogs. At one point, we were afraid they were going to eat her toes!

Hiking is sooo tiring! (She was actually asleep before we even started.)

Baby on top of the world! This is Adora

touching the marker on top of one of the mountains in the park.

Some quick photos.

Adora and Daddy carved a pumpkin on Halloween. Adora's favorite part was trying to eat the seeds. She is lightning-quick at getting stuff to her mouth!

Isn't my hair sooo cute in pigtails? Too bad I scream when Mommy puts them in.

I'm 8-months-old today, Nov. 1!

Uh Oh--Crawling!

Adora started really crawling yesterday!! It was so cool. Jake started leaving a trail of puffs for her to eat, and she would army crawl toward them Friday. We kept practicing that with her and intended on showing off her new army-crawling skill to her Nana, Pop, and aunts and uncles on the Hostetler side, so we whipped out the web cam. Instead of army crawling, she got up on all fours and crawled like halfway across the living room! She still has to work on her form, and this morning, I think she forgot how to do it for like half an hour before she remembered, but she is moving and grooving a lot now!

Even better news--Adora now sleeps through the night! Friday night, while Jake was in charge, he took away her passy. She went to sleep at her normal time and then woke up like normal between 10:00 and 11:00. I fed her then. She woke up again at 2:00ish, and he did some progressive-waiting (let her cry for three minutes, then go in and try to calm her down--then let her cry for five minutes and then go in and try to calm her down, etc.) and she went back to sleep without the passy and didn't wake up until 5:50! The next night, she slept from 7:30 p.m.-7:20 a.m.! She is a much happier baby during the day and can stay awake for much longer stretches. In fact, she is down to two naps per day now! The crying is hard--we sometimes still have to let her cry for a few minutes before she goes to sleep, but in the end, I think we are all happier this way.

I will try to post some pictures and videos later, but Jake and I are about to eat dinner. Ciao!

A few minutes while Adora's napping

I have a few minutes while Adora's napping, so I thought I'd try to update a little. I tried to take a nap for 20 minutes, but I couldn't. Then, I had a couple of visitors. She's been asleep. . . 37 minutes now, so she might wake up any minute, but she's been taking longer naps lately (thank goodness!) so she might be out for a little while longer.

Adora will be 8-months-old tomorrow! She is such a fun little girl. She is eating table foods now, which is just a fancy way for saying she eats just about whatever Mommy eats. She had some spaghetti & meat sauce for dinner last night. Then she slept from 8 p. m. until 2:30 a. m.! Should I give her spaghetti every night?!

Here is another picture of our camping trip.

Adora can pull up onto her knees from a sit now, as evidenced in this photo. Mommy, let me out of jail! You can also see how she has one pigtail in her hair. It was sooooooo cute, but she screamed and thrashed and would not let me do the other side--oh well!

Jake's birthday was Oct. 25, and our little girl loved to help him open his presents! She loves paper, so any chance she gets to chew on it is gold. I usually let her chew and then take it away once it starts to fall apart, which is usually within one minute, but this wrapping paper was a little sturdier. She did say DaDa for the first time on Jake's birthday--he was excited but not too thrilled since she yelled it when she woke up from sleep at night time while she was crying in her crib

Now, this may be TMI, but Adora likes to poop when she's eating. She is not a stealth pooper, either--she grunts and turns red and her eyes get watery. It is pretty hilarious, so Jake was trying to get a video of it. She loves to stare at the camera, though, so she stopped pooping to stare at it. Toward the end of the video is a really cute squeal, though. Who knows, maybe this is something only a parent could love.

In this video, she is making a really cute growling sound. I think it is her favorite sound right now.

Here is one of her Halloween costumes.

Here is another--I know it's dark, but I just love her smile in this one.

Here is Adora with her friend, Reagan, at the playgroup Halloween party. Reagan didn't know she was supposed to dress up, but it's ok--she's just a baby, after all! Reagan is almost one month younger than Adora.

This little Tootsie Roll, Oliver, is so cute. He is five months older than Adora, but he was two months premature! She is taller and heavier than he is. Look how advanced my child is--she already knows how to share! Oliver's mom made his costume--how crafty!

This is Adora with "her best friend, Kennedy" (that's what Jake says all the time). Kennedy's mom is one of my good friends here. Kennedy is two-and-a-half months older than Adora, and she is already walking! They change so quickly. I love her costume's hair :)

Gavin loooves to give kisses. His mom is my other good friend here.