Just Because
10 years ago
8.30.2010
8.29.2010
congratulations!
Congratulations, you guys! We love her already! :) Read more...
8.26.2010
a day at the park
The weather the last few days has been AMAZING...so obviously we spent the afternoon at the park today :) If every summer day was like this, then I wouldn't be such an advocate for a 3 season year :)
my baby won't let me go down the slide with her anymore! I had to watch from the side....a little broken hearted...not gonna lie...
8.24.2010
fun with friends
Miles is scooting around everywhere...he likes to pull himself up, but forgets how to get back down :) It's pretty cute. Adelyn was running circle around him (like she does to everyone), but he didn't seem to mind.... he is the most easy going little boy! :)
Anyway...Tommy, Amber, and Miles....we had a blast with you guys and can't wait to do it again SOON... :)
8.20.2010
updates
The most exciting news? *drum roll, please*.....
Adelyn is officially sleeping through the night!!!!!! She quit her night feeding a little before 12 months, but she would wake up between 1-3 times each night just freaking out and couldn't calm herself down...there were nights we let her go for 3 hours and she'd just be hysterical. Our conclusion was that she is such a vivid dreamer that she was getting woke up from dreaming...she talks alot in her sleep still, but hasn't woke up for a week and a half! Woohoo! FINALLY :)
Stats: 32 1/4 inches long (70%-ile).
24 pounds ( 55%-ile)
46 1/2 cm head circumference (50%-ile)
They were "concerned" with her weight because she hasn't gained more than one pound since her 12 month check up. She eats pretty well, though, so I'm not too worried...they want her back in 2 months for a weight check and if she's falls down on the curve any more, then...well I don't know what :)
(please excuse the Beetle-esque hair...she has become a pro at yanking out the pigtails, ponytails and barrettes)
Favorite words: "hot" "hi" "bye" "why" "mom" "yeah" "bab" (aka baby) "uh-oh" "woah" "wow" "um"
Favorite phrases: "where are you?" "oh boy" sometimes she pulls out an "I love you"
Favorite foods: really she eats anything, but she gets really excited for blueberries, milk and pizza
Favorite pastimes: reading reading reading. "cooking" . coloring. playing with her jewlery and purses :) {yes, she is a girly girl}. playing with her babydoll. peek a boo (aka: where are you?). being the seeker in hide and seek. playing outside. playing with Claire-bear. Rough-housing with daddy--for a limited amount of time, though :)
She has also figured out that she can grab your hand and pull you around where she wants you to go. Today we walked around the kitchen island about 50 times. :)
Baby boy update:
Not much here. He flips and kicks and punches like crazy almost all the time. We love peanut butter banana sandwiches :) and cereal cereal cereal! :)
We are in our 6th month now...woot woot!
People have asked our plans for sleeping arrangements since we live in a 2 bedroom house. Adelyn is going to stay in the crib in her room. Baby boy is going to sleep in a pack n play in our walk-in closet when we move him out of the cradle that will be next to the bed for the first month or so (it's too cold in our house in the winter to get up out of bed!). We'll eventually switch him to the crib and get Adelyn a twin-sized bed (I don't want to spend money on a toddler bed that she will use for maybe a year or so)...depending on how the baby's sleeping habits are :)
Not much else going on....we are doing some minivan hunting/research. I'm not a huge fan of the idea of being a minivan mom, but I agree that it's the most practical option since we are getting rid of one car and going to need another... it will be nice to have more space for roadtrips :)
I REALLY want a Honda Odyssey, but even used or through the auction, they are still at least $20,000(!!!!!) since we don't want to take out a loan of anykind to pay for the van (student loans and a mortgage are enough debt, thank you very much)...that's going to have to be my "dream" vehicle for now...maybe a few years down the road? ;) For now we are looking at a middle of the line Chrysler or Dodge....we've found a few that may be a good deal and quite a few go through the auction... so with my step-dad's help (thank you, Rob!), we are on the hunt :) Wish us luck :) Read more...
8.17.2010
please pray
More heartache. More prayers needed.
Some friends of ours, Nate and Natalie Klauser, found out a few years ago that having kids biologically is going to be near impossible. They adopted a sweet baby girl, Elyse, 2 years ago. Eight months ago they were picked to become the parents of a baby boy who was due to be born here in August.
They had a few obstacles concerning this adoption, but because this isn't my story to tell....
A few days ago, they learned that the birth mother had gone into labor and baby boy was born. They weren't notified to be there for the delivery and the birth mother was reconsidering her decision. Sunday she decided to parent the baby boy.
Nate and Natalie are heartbroken, and rightly so. Elyse doesn't understand why she hasn't gotten to meet her baby brother. Their faith and trust in the Lord, and their love and forgiveness toward the birth mother has been AMAZING to me, I can't even imagine the pain they are feeling.
PLEASE PRAY for them. Pray that their hearts will be healed and that they can continue to trust in the Lord's timing that one day they will have a sweet son to love.
Nate and Natalie (and Elyse!), we love you guys and we are praying for you.
8.16.2010
state fair time
We went to the fair yesterday. Everytime we plan to go, I get really excited and then when we are there it's always a total let down. I don't know what I get so psyched up about.
It was Adelyn's first fair experience and she did great! We went through her afternoon naptime, so by the time we decided to go home, she was looking ready to go:
The weather was fantastic! It was about 80 degrees and there was a nice breeze, so even in the sun it wasn't terribly hot...which was quite nice :)
We went and looked at the horses, sheep and cows...it was so hot in the barns, though, that we were there for too long. Adelyn wasn't sure what to think of the horses, she clung to Nick and wouldn't let go.
We checked out the petting zoo too and she loosened up a bit there.
John Deere gave it's employeed state fair tickets and coupons for free rides and food this year, so we took advantage of that :) Nick got his pork chop on a stick...
We also split a corn dog and a funnel cake and a lemonade :) I think we only spent $8 of our own money, though, so it was worth it! :)
Nick took Adelyn down the giant slide. She liked it. She had a smile on her face and her mouth wide open when they came down. I didn't know if she would like it or not... :)
I realized that if it hadn't been so INSANELY crowded and if I hadn't been having to keep track of Adelyn, I could have gotten some really neat pictures...but I didn't...maybe some other time :)
I don't think we'll go next year, unless JD gives us tickets/coupons again. With another little one, the heat and the crowds, this isn't a yearly thing for me. :)
Read more...
8.14.2010
stroller research
I have to admit, I'm a little disappointed that I didn't get any stroller recommendations :)
I did get a few through facebook and it was a great jumping point, so thank you for those of you who gave your input :)
I have been spending the last 2 days researching and re-researching strollers--double strollers to be exact. I have fallen in love with a dream stroller that I will never own (hmm...a month's mortgage for a stroller? I think NOT). The Bumbleride Queen-B to be exact. This is the one I WANT. But it's a too pricey :) But hey, I can dream, right? ;)
I am not an outdoors jogger, so we decided that a jogging stroller isn't necessary for us. I do like to take walks, and both of these will do just fine. We did test drive a Phil and Ted at Simply for Giggles in the East Village and while it is a nice stroller, I'm really NOT a fan of having the second seat below the first. It's too low to the ground and my feet actually kicked it when I walked...that would get old real fast. (don't get me wrong, it's a nice stroller and I've heard alot of people really like them...it's just not for us)
We crossed off a side-by-side because even though there are some that are made to fit through standard doors, I just didn't like the feel of pushing it around. (again, there are people who really like theirs and that is GREAT...it's just not for us) :)
We also tried out the Graco Quattro Tour Duo and holy moly is that thing HEAVY without Adelyn in it! My cousin has this one and she said it isn't bad, she's used it for running and puts her 2 boys in it...but that's the first thing she said about it, is that it is a heavey stroller.
So after quite a few hours of reading reviews and even today doing some test driving, we have narrowed it down to the two most PRACTICAL and least bank breaking strollers for us:
and the Chicco Cortina Together.
Both strollers roll/steer beautifully (as long as you don't compare them to the Queen-B *sniff sniff*), are sturdy, are not ridiculously heavy sans child, have plenty of cupholders ;) and can fit the carseat that we have.
I'm just coming to terms that for a long time I will feel like I'm steering a mini bus around *yuck* ...but that's what you get for having multiple kids :). We are going to have to get used to taking up a lot more space from here on out..
We aren't planning on making our purchase for a few more months, so you can bet we will continue researching and test driving. When we are ready to buy a double stroller, though, I want to be confident in the one we are buying and know that it's what we NEED.
If anyone does have any recommendations/ideas...or if you have one of the strollers we are looking at, we want to hear from you!
For those of you who are going to be on this quest soon, good luck :)
...and if anyone gets the Bumbleride Queen-B....can I borrow it? :)
8.12.2010
a few favorites and stroller questions
I was just looking through some old videos on our computer. They had me laughing and crying. I can't believe how big our baby girl is! I just thought I would share a few of the many favorites...
They include Adelyn's first smile, first crawl, peek-a-boo, first walk, and a video of her upset with Uncle Alan and Auntie Steph because they weren't available to Skype....um, I have alot of favorites. These are for family who haven't seen them yet :)
So, we are on the search for a double stroller. I love the Peg Perego Duette but it is insanely expensive and to find them used is a super rarity. We are considering just going with the new Chicco double stroller since that's the carseat we have (our friends have it). It wheels nicely and can be set up/torn down with one hand (bonus!)...it's just a little big. Another one we've looked at is the Britax B-Ready . My only issue with that one is that the second seat (that you can add separately) goes on down below and behind the main seat (watch the demo video if you are confused) ...I don't know how well that would go down with a toddler, you know? Anyway, if you have any ideas or suggestions, I would LOVE to hear them.
Read more...
8.10.2010
Little Miracle Man
Do y'all remember this? (and this, this and this?)
Last August, our dear friends, Tommy and Amber, had their sweet boy, Miles. Right after he was born, his body didn't make the switch to breathing on his own. Long story short, he was place on a ventilator. He got an infection in his lungs and he had punctures in his lungs. The next morning they were transferring him to IA City to be place on ECMO which is basically machine that takes over for the heart and the lungs so they can rest/heal and it circulates and oxygenates the blood. That morning, Tommy and Amber were called to say good bye to their son b/c no one thought he would survive the trip. They were given a lock of his hair as well (if you haven't seen pictures, that kid has PLENTY to spare!). For various reasons, they couldn't fly him, so the took him by ground. He died twice on the trip and was revived twice (How amazing is our Lord!).
He was placed on ECMO and was one of the sickest babies they had ever seen. They were hoping to keep him on for a couple of weeks. I think it was 2 days into it, he developed a brain bleed from the anticoagulants they had to give him while he was on the machine. Basically, they had to take him off after a few days. By God's grace, he survived the transition! Miles was in the hospital for a couple of months before they let him go. Along with his lung/breathing, he was having some heart issues as well. (I know I'm missing alot of details on this, so you'll have to check out their blog for the full amazing story)
Basically, that amazing little boy turned ONE YEAR OLD on August 6!!!!
They have had a long road with him, he still has some breathing issues, and has had surgery on both his stomach and his jaw due to some formation "issues" with his jaw/mouth. He doesn't talk yet, but boy does that little man smile! He's crawling too and is just as cute as can be (did I mention the hair??)!
They still have a bit of a road ahead with him, but compared to where he was, or where he could be? There are no words!
What amazing people Tommy and Amber are. I know they are tired and have just been through so much this year, but they have been such an encouragement and example of God's awesomeness to so many people!
If you want more updates on what is going on with them, you can check out their blog http://www.theflinnfiles.blogspot.com/
For now, I took these pictures off of Amber's facebook b/c you HAVE to see what a miracle this little man is!
THEN:
NOW:
8.06.2010
am I ready for this look yet??
...definitely NOT!
Today Bekah and I took Claire and Adelyn with us to the highway 141 garage sales . Now, if you live in Iowa or remotely nearby...you HAVE to check this out. The sales start at Grimes and go all the way to Manilla, IA. We hit--no lie--at least 15 garage sales in Granger today...and that's not even remotely making a dent! It's amazing... :)
ANYWAY. I got this backpack for Adelyn for 50 cents...I put it on her and she would not take it off! It was totally cracking me up. I'm not ready for her to be carting this thing to a school, yet, though. :)
Needless to say, I followed her around for about 10 minutes trying to get her to "show me your teeth" (aka: smile) for at least 2 seconds so I could get a good picture, but she just wasn't in the mood. Claire was over and they were too busy. :)
Finally, she came over to me while I had the camera and I'm 99% sure she was scolding me for following her around with the camera...
Have I introduced you to Claire-bear, yet? This is Adelyn's BFF, Claire Bella...is she not the sweetest? :)
She was born in April after Adelyn. These two are like sisters. They are so funny to watch. Zeb and Bekah are dear friends of ours (we love you guys!!). They live just a few houses down, so it's easy just to meander on over there (or vice versa) when someone is bored ;) They are expecting their second--another girl!--in about 3 weeks...we are super excited! :)
Again, I followed these two around forever trying to get a cute picture of them together, but they just weren't interested....oh well :)
Here's to wonderful friendships!
Read more...
8.03.2010
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