Wool!

http://www.mountainmeadowwool.com/Newsletter.html

Here is a link to the newsletter for Jake's mom's company's newsletter--there is a picture of Adora playing in the wool at the bottom!

Vegas, Baby!

Jake and I went to Las Vegas for a few days last week, and MawMaw and PawPaw came out to play with Adora. She didn't even realize we were gone, I don't think. I guess this is supposed to mean she has a good attachment to us. She did like talking to us on the phone. She would kiss MawMaw's Blackberry and imitate the sounds we made to her.

Well, she is waking up right now, so I wil leave you with some photos of her time without us. Oops, they posted above this, so I guess you already looked at them :)

Adora's first year

View Project at Shutterfly

Birthday pictures!

I haven't really even had a chance to look through these, but in the interest of time (Adora's napping), I am going to post a few now. I'm also posting a photo of her practicing blowing out a candle. I haven't edited the birthday candle blow out yet, so it's too big for the blog.

The first picture is not from her birthday, it's from the week before. She got a little haircut to even out the length. Some of her baby hair used to go down to her lips!

The second is from her birthday morning. She did not like wearing the hat.

The third is cake and ice cream time!

The fourth is her party dress that she changed into after cake & ice cream.

Happy Birthday, Adora!

I haven't gotten the pictures onto the computer yet, but I thought I'd do a quick update during my lunch/Adora's nap with recent events!

Adora's birthday and party was yesterday. I didn't anticipate how emotional I would get with her turning one! I know it's just a number, but her birthday brought up all kinds of memories about the day she was born and the tumult (is that a word?) and joys we've gone through since then.

Our plan was to have a fun, low-key party. I didn't get a clown and I didn't go to Chuck-E-Cheese's. I made a cake from a box, and we had our friends and Adora's over for some play, burgers, cake, and ice cream. We woke up at 7:00 and made it to 8:00 church. I dropped Jake and Adora at home after that and ran to Wal Mart for some last-minute stuff--ground beef, buns, etc. We spent the next couple of hours at home cleaning and getting food ready. For a little party, it sure took more time than I thought it would! Adora went down for a nap around 11:30. Some friends from Oklahoma City drove down and arrived a little before noon. Others started arriving around 1:00, and Adora was still asleep! Good for her! But I didn't get a chance to change her into her party dress. Who cares :) She woke up around 1:15 or so and played for a few minutes. Then, we all ate burgers. After that, it was time for cake and ice cream! I'd made Adora her own little cake and everyone else had cupcakes. We sang "Happy Birthday" and instead of blowing out the candle, Adora just went straight for the icing and put her fingers in it and then put her fingers in her mouth :) After a little coaxing, she did blow out the candle all by herself! I have a video of it that I will try to post. I think it's too long right now, so I will have to figure out how to edit it on the camera and then post it. She had a little bit of all three flavors of homemade icecream--vanilla, strawberry, and mint chocolate chip. By the time she'd had her fill, she had icing from nose to chin :) Jake took her to clean her up, and they came back out in her beautiful party dress. She played some more and opened up presents. She got lots of books, which is awesome, because Jake and I are really getting sick of her old ones :) We had a really great time. In fact, I think I had more fun than any birthday party I've ever had :)

I took Adora in for her 12-month checkup today. The doctor said that her constant illnesses are normal because she does have some interaction with other kids. I think I'm just going to really try to wash her hands more, even though it's a pain in the butt to soap them up and rinse them off while holding her up to the sink at the same time. She is 21 lb. 6 oz (> 50th percentile) and is 30 1/4" tall (< 90th percentile). So she is right on track! She got blood taken to test for lead and iron levels. It was really sad. We had to sit in the blood-giving chair with Adora in my lap, and they brought the armrest thing down in front of us. I felt as if we were in a high chair together. They tied the rubber band thing around her right arm and tested for veins. Are you kidding me? This girl has no visible veins. Her skin is so beautiful. But I digress. He couldn't find one in that arm, so he tied the rubber band around her left arm and felt one there. I still didn't see it, but he said he felt a "big one." Ok, Mr. Barely-Trained Air Force Whatever-They-Call-You (not a nurse). I was really nervous that he would miss and have to try again. Someone else helped hold Adora's arm down while I braced her legs and body against mine and also helped hold her arm still. He poked and she stiffened and let out a weak cry and cried the whole time the needle was in, but she didn't move very much, thank goodness. His stick was good, so who am I to criticize his methods? (I just hate that anyone has to hurt my baby--toddler--girl.) I guess it took about 30 seconds for them to get enough blood, and Adora got a sticker for it and some really pretty purple flowery prewrap stuff to keep the gauze thing on the wound, so all was ok.

Then, we headed to the Immunization Clinic. I asked if they had separate M, M, & R shots because I would prefer to spread them out as recommended by Dr. Sears. I did not expect them to, though, since I read on Dr. Sears's website that they are not currently making separate shots. They actually had one of each, but in the end, I decided to just give Adora the MMR 3-in-1 shot because I didn't want to have to give her an M now and then when I came back for the R have to get the whole MMR because they didn't have the separate R anymore becuase no more were coming in. Does this make sense? So the poor girl had to sit through another shot. She was really exhausted, too, by this point because it was about 11:45, and she usually naps around 11:00. She fell asleep in the car on the 5-minute drive home and is now peacefully sleeping in her crib.

By the way, MMR is one of the most highly-reactive shots, so it's likely that she will get sick AGAIN in the next 10 days. That's something to look forward to!

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! :)