6 months old

Adelynn Jo is 6 months old today. It is so hard to believe. I spent the day reminiscing with Adelynn about what had happened at whatever time it was 6 months ago (OK, Adelynn, 6 months ago right now, Mommy just got her epidural...6 months ago right now you were born...6 months ago right now you met your grandpas, grandmas, aunts and uncles for the first time...No one can say I'm not sentimental). I know Adelynn appreciated hearing everything :). We are amazed at how we can love our little girl so much and yet fall more and more in love with her every day. She fills our lives with more joy than we ever could have imagined. James 1:17 says, "Every good and perfect gift is from above..." We are SO thankful to God that He entrusted us with Adelynn.

She is growing and changing each and every day. Yesterday she started to get the hang of sitting up, and today, she was sitting up for minutes at a time. We listen to her coo and babble (quite loudly sometimes) and watch her roll, pivot and scoot to whatever toy she has her eye on. Mike and I have decided that our favorite thing to see is Adelynn's eyes light up and her huge smile when she sees us or when we talk to her. She is just so much fun!!

We have pictures to post, but the Internet wasn't working on our computer with the pictures. I will post them as soon as I can.

South Haven

Mike, Adelynn and I enjoyed a little summer vacation on Mike's parents' boat. We were thankful they let us use it again (this was our third summer doing this), and we really had a great time. The weather was in the low '70s, which was the perfect temperature. Mike and I got a lot of reading in, and Adelynn enjoyed playing in various locations on the boat. We had different "stations" set up for her, so we could put her in different places when she seemed to be getting bored. Adelynn and I did quite a bit of window shopping, and we even did some real shopping as well. I decided I have two new favorite stores. I found some really cute things for Adelynn and even managed to pick up some things for my classrooms this year. Of course, the food was great, too. Adelynn even took in her first movie in a movie theater. She doesn't know that, though, because she slept through the movie, and we had her ears covered the whole time, so she was none the wiser.



I'm ready to go shopping Daddy!

Watching the ducks. I counted 53 at one point.
The swimsuit was purely just for show. She had no need to wear a swimsuit, but it just looked so cute with the hat!!

Working on that flexibility.

Such concentration--it takes two hands to shove those toes into her mouth

Chatting with Mommy after a fun day


Getting ready for the dinghy ride--check out the sweet life jacket. Adelynn was riding in style. This is the most sun Adelynn saw all week. We had her so covered up. I think she's going to be surprised some day when she realizes that there is actually something called sun, not just shade.

Smiley girl

In her little beach cover-up. Again, this is really just for looks--she didn't get to go to the beach or go swimming.

Beach baby (without the beach)

Adelynn has many cute swimsuits that she received as gifts when she was born. I am having a ton of fun putting her in her swim suits with matching hats whenever I get the chance. This particular day we headed out to Grandpa and Oma's house to lay out on the deck enjoying the beautiful sun out at the lake. Of course, this was one of the opportunities for Adelynn to wear one of her swim outfits. Adelynn's idea of laying out is playing in her Fisher Price UV protected covered seat in the shade. I'll try to remember to take a picture of it and post it. I am borrowing it from a teacher, and it has been great to have during the summer. The particular outfit has a matching hat and cover-up that coordinates with the matching suit and flip-flops--yes, flip-flops. Adelynn is a girl after my own heart!

You can kind of see the outfit here.

This is a better picture of the cover-up and hat, and the swimsuit with the matching flip-flops. She had just kicked off her flip-flop here, but it made for a good picture because you can see how the flip-flop matches the suit.

Happy Birthday, Mike!

Mike celebrated his 28th birthday yesterday (August 4). I am so thankful to have such a wonderful man for my best friend, husband and father of my child. Adelynn and I are truly blessed. This birthday was extra special for us because it was one year ago (on August 4) that we heard Adelynn's heartbeat for the first time. That was such a cool and amazing day, and it was fun to think back to that moment while we were holding Adelynn. What a miracle and gift from God!

We took some pictures of Mike with his birthday cake and Adelynn, but I'll put those up later.

Bustin' out of the bouncy seat

If you saw pictures on our previous posts, you would have seen Adelynn trying to bust out of her bumbo. Well, we must have a little monkey on our hands. Dena babysat Adelynn yesterday and today while I was at a conference. I came to pick up Adelynn, and Dena asked me if I have seen her trying to get out of her bouncy seat. I hadn't, so Dena showed me pictures and then showed me what our little monkey was trying to do. Lately, Adelynn has been reaching for everything (the other day she grabbed a handful of napkins from our napkin holder and put them in her mouth). She took this to a whole new level today.

Dena said Adelynn would rock back and forth and throw herself forward so she could reach down to the ground. She would then push herself back up and sit back in her seat. I couldn't picture it, so Dena showed me. It was something else. Here are some pictures.

It looks like she is about ready to topple over here, but she really isn't. She's just grabbing at the sheets.

Here a little better picture of Adelynn grabbing for her pacifier. Take note of the toy underneath her bouncy seat. That toy actually belongs on the bouncy seat toy bar, but Adelynn has been in the habit of pulling off the toy, either with her hands or her feet.

Adelynn used the metal legs to pull herself down and push herself back up. It's amazing what this little five-month-old can do. How she can't sit up by herself but can move like this in her bouncy seat is beyond me!