Yellow Jackets Invade...

It's been quite a process and it all started with our dog, Bucky! Here is the story...

I was upstairs nursing Adah in her room but I had the gate closed at the top of the stairs so Bucky couldn't get up there. It seems like Adah is becoming more and more distracted while nursing so I try to keep the distractions out. I started to hear a noise in the stairway. Brian came up to talk to me and found that Bucky was chewing a hole right through the carpet in the corner of one of the steps. He chewed it right down to the wood in a matter of minutes. I figured he was just mad at me for locking him out of where I was at. It was definitely out of character for him to be like that but I didn't know why else he would do it. And then a few days later we found out. I was working in the kitchen and could hear a noise. As I started to follow it and look for it I realized it was coming from the wall right next to our stairway. And it was particularly loud right next to that hole that Bucky had chewed. Bingo. We thought we had it all figured out. We were thinking it must be a mouse and Bucky was trying to get at it. It sounded like it was chewing. Within a couple more days we started to realized we had a bee problem as well (all the while I am still hearing this noise in the wall). And we assumed that however the mouse got in, the bees must be getting in too. The bees weren't really that big of a problem at first. We just saw a few downstairs in Austin's room over the course of several days. Brian searched around the outside of the house and found an area where there were a lot of bees. He still couldn't find the hole in the house but we knew they had to be getting in somewhere behind our bushes so he bought a spray and drenched the area. He did that over the weekend and we thought the problem was solved.  And then Monday came and I had to call Brian and give him the bad news that the problem wasn't in fact fixed, but that it was worse. We knew we had a serious problem when in one day we had to kill several and found several more dead or almost dead-and they weren't just downstairs either. And then it hit me...the noise in the wall wasn't a mouse after all. It was a bunch of bees-yellow jackets to be exact. And here's a little yellow jacket info for you: They are one of two kinds of bees that are the most aggressive (and I will attest to that as I had a couple different occasions where I was sure it was out to get me and Austin made several comments that they chased him up the stairs from his room), they don't have stingers so they can sting you repeatedly and lastly we learned that they make their home in the floor joists and walls. YUCK! It was time to call an exterminator. We had a guy come out and he crawled behind our bushes and was able to find two holes that appeared to 'have a lot of traffic' he said. After spraying a powder/mist in there he said we shouldn't have any problems by the end of the week. The next day we found a couple more yellow jackets-one of which was upstairs in the office. This concerned me because we had never seen one upstairs before and the girls' rooms are up there. But it was the last one we ever saw. Now if we can just get those holes filled in, we can maybe avoid having anymore future problems.

Below you will find the video of me recording the sound coming from inside our wall.  WARNING: it is really gross and will make your skin crawl. Toward the end you can really hear them buzzing.  You will need to turn your volume way up to hear it though...just don't forget to turn it back down!

Austin's class project

Austin had a big science project due today.  He had to create a diagram of a plant cell.  I thought he did an excellent job!  Here is the result.  While he was at school I baked the cake in a tinted green color.  When he got home from school we went to the store and bought all the yummys to represent the parts of the cell.  He did all the rest by himself.  Looking at it now Austin decided it looked more like a cattle ranch!  I think that is a pretty accurate thought unless you know what it really is and what it all represents!  When he was done presenting it he frosted it up and fed it to the class.  He said his teacher seemed very pleased but he won't get his grade for it until next week!

Best Tent Ever!

Austin and Kezzie made a tent on Saturday...Austin did a really good job and the two of them had a lot of fun making it and playing in it. The next day was Sunday and Brian thought it would be nice if Austin had it picked up when I got done putting the girls to bed. When I came down he was half finished and I asked him to stop. I really wanted to play in it with the girls this week so to do that I had to remake it. This time it was bigger and better than before because we knew what to do different. It turned out awesome and Kezzie and I even got to watch a little netflix movie on the computer inside of it while Adah was napping. She thought it was a pretty nice treat and I got to relax so I thought it was a pretty nice treat too!

Adah's Dedication

Adah got dedicated at Orchard Hill Church this afternoon. It was a very nice ceremony with 9 other families (17 other kids). Alanna was dedicated along with Rylan too. It was such a special time for us to be reminded of how incredibly blessed we are as a family! We have so much to be thankful for. We are thankful that our church does infant and parent dedication. They also offer infant baptism but we prefer to dedicate instead. We would like Adah, and our other kids, to be able to make the decision to be baptized when they are ready to give their life to Christ.  We were given this statement as one of the forms when Adah was dedicated and I wanted to share it with you...

We acknowledge our dependence on God in order to be the loving and faithful parents that God has called us to be.  For without Him, we can do nothing.  We believe that in dedicating her to God we are giving her back to the Lord, the Giver of Life, and recognizing that we are stewards to whom God has entrusted this amazing treasure.  We are stating that we are going to do all in our power to rear her in a Christian home, to teach her the truths of the Christian faith, to pray for her daily and to do all that we can to bring her to a place of personal commitment to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.  We are also stating that we are going to model for her a Christ-like lifestyle, living a God honoring life of discipleship, seeking to love God with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our mind and with all our strength and to love our neighbor as ourselves. 

We firmly believe that this is what we are called to do with our children and commit ourselves to doing the best we can in living out this pledge to our church, to God and to our family and friends.

Cutie-Pa-Tootie!

There is a lot going on in this collage of pictures...many things that Adah enjoys doing! I will help point them out to you (starting at the top left)... Adah likes the registers-she thinks it's funny how air blows out of them and hits her in the face. She will squeal while standing/sitting over them. Adah loves this window in our living room. She stands here quite often. She likes to look out at the street and squirrels. If you click on the picture you can see the drool coming down Adah's chin-she is currently working on three teeth coming through. Adah loves to stand up to the coffee table. She will bounce up and down with glee so much that on several different occasions she has hit her chin on the table pretty hard. I can't keep her from it though, it's one of her favorite places to hang out! Another thing she does while standing at the coffee table is she will play peek-a-boo. She kneels down so that her head is below the edge of the table and then pops back up and giggles. We will say 'peek' and she gets so excited! The last couple pictures are her latest trick. She has discovered Keziah's baby stroller she received when she turned one and stands herself up to it and walks. I am so impressed with this accomplishment! She does it and I don't even realize it until she gets stuck somewhere. She looks so adorable! But then again...when doesn't she!

River Fun!

We've been hanging out the last couple weekends at the river. Labor day weekend we were there all weekend and enjoyed family being there also. We got to watch a nice fireworks display on the river. It was right at dusk so Kezzie even got to watch it before heading off to bed (she was skeptical of the noise at first and then really got into it and loved it). At night it was a bit chilly but we managed to stay warm and sleep well. Adah had to sleep in the pack-n-play since she is too big for that bassinet anymore. Even as crippled as dad is with his ankle, he managed to get out in the boat for a little bit! I enjoyed a nice run while the girls took a nap one afternoon. Austin and his 'cousins' (some of my cousins were there and even their kids) had a blast starting campfires (notice Austin with his torch), searching for craw-dads (and cooking them over the fire), fishing, canoeing and of course letting off bottle rockets! The girls had a blast on our boat ride. Adah was squealing and Kezzie couldn't get enough of splashing in the water. We are sad to see the season end but ready to stay home for a while. We are already looking forward to next year's camping season!

A weeks worth...

OF LAUNDRY! Can you believe that a family of five can possibly rack up this much laundry in one week? I think it comes out to be like 7 loads and that doesn't even include the times I do bedding! I'm not sure why I haven't gotten smart and just do a load when there's one to do. I guess it just creeps up on me being that we have people living on all three levels! Maybe someday Austin will start doing his own laundry! What age can I force that upon him?

Sunday Sweeties!

Aren't these kids just adorable? Little Alanna is approaching 1 month old. She is still struggling with a little bit of jaundice and her hemoglobin level is still dropping slightly (this means she may end up having a blood transfusion if it gets too low). Sundays are always so much fun when it's spent with family! Kezzie especially enjoys these special times with her cousins!

Mischief!

There is just the tiniest space between the recliner and the end table that houses a huge stack of magazines. I am very certain I have a similar picture of Keziah (click here) when she was around this age. There must be something about the crinkle/taste of magazines that draw them in! Adah just can't resist!

Adah's 9 month pics!

Adah got her pictures taken at Portrait Innovations this time around. I dropped Austin and a friend off at the water park for his birthday and then realized how close I was to Portrait Innovations. I really wanted to get her pictures taken care of since I hadn't had them taken since she was 4 months old. I just happened to have one of my favorite outfits in the diaper bag as an extra and she was also wearing a very cute outfit so I decided to stop in there and see if they had any appointments available. It worked out perfect...they had time in an hour. Just enough time for us to grab a bite to eat and head back over there. We were done in about an hour and still made it in bed at grandma's house for a nice nap! I didn't think the pictures turned out too bad, although blogger/picassa doesn't do a very good job of displaying them!

Adah is 9 MONTHS!

In an effort to get this post up and published I am going to list the several milestones Adah has accomplished this last month. I can't believe it when I look back at my notes and see that she just learned to sit herself up to a sitting position from her belly on August 2nd. She must have wanted to practice her new skill at all hours because a couple days later she started crying in the night and when I went into her room I found her sitting up staring at the door!
Another big deal in the life of Adah is she got her first tooth (bottom right) on August 1st! On August 3rd Adah took her first few crawls...finally since she has been thinking about the idea for a while now! On August 5th I found Adah standing in her crib when I went to get her in the morning! Adah pulls herself up to everything and even thinks about letting go from her support (8/11/10). I have a bet with Brian that she is going to be walking by 10 months! However, Adah is pretty much moving along the same track as Keziah did and she didn't walk until 13 or 14 months old!
Adah FINALLY learned to get down from a standing position all by herself on 8/26. I say finally but it really only seemed like longer than it was...she would always cry so much when she couldn't get back down! It took a bit of practice and a few falls that just scared her, but she realizes now it's no big deal and that the floor really isn't that far away!
Adah is now walking along the edge of things (couch, coffee table, etc.). She still looks really nervous doing it but does a great job! And I think it is safe to say Adah is a full-time crawler today. Over the last couple of days I have noticed her preferring her hands and knees to her belly and elbows...oh the ways she is growing!
Adah had a 9 month check up this morning. She weighs 18 lbs. 8 oz. (50%). She is 28.25 inches (75%) tall and her head is 17 inches around (25%). She didn't have to have any shots so that was nice! Although you wouldn't know it by the way she was acting when the doctor was looking her over...she screamed bloody murder! We had to have to doc look extra close at her ears because she has cold symptoms and was around her cousins who were sick last weekend. When she is nursing especially you can hear the congestion and I feel so bad for her. However, the doc said everything looks great and that she may not even have a cold after all...it might be seasonal allergies-yuck!
Adah has a great routine going. She is still an avid nurser feeding five times a day.
Wake at 7/7:30
Nurse upon waking
1/4C Oatmeal baby cereal mixed with culturel and breast milk around 8:30.
Nap at 9
Wake at 10/10:30
Nurse around 10:30/11
Veggie at 12
Nurse at 1:30
Nap right after milk
Wake at 3/3:30
Nurse at 4/4:30
Veggie and Fruit at 5
1/4C oatmeal baby cereal mixed with fruit and water at 6:30
Bath around 7 every other night
Nurse around 7:30
Bed for the night right after milk.
She will almost always fall asleep on me at her afternoon nap and bed time. It's the sweetest thing and a highly valued time by me! I love cuddling my baby!
Adah is such a blessing and fun little baby! I am pretty sure Kezzie is even starting to like her a little!!

Austin in Football!

Isn't he stunning? He's my big time 6th grader! Football season is in full force with practice 3-4 times a week for a couple hours each and games on Sunday afternoon. I am really looking forward to watching him play this year as he continues to get better and better! I will keep you updated with games, etc. as the season goes on!

Happy Birthday Austin!

This last Sunday we celebrated Austin's birthday with the Smith family. Everybody was there including new baby Alanna. Emily even managed to make the dessert. It's one of Austin's favorites that she makes. It has PB cookie dough on the bottom with melted marshmallows on top drizzled in chocolate and m&ms. It is delicious! Austin mostly wanted money for his birthday but he did get a few things besides!

Today Austin turned 12. I can't believe how old he is! He got to celebrate with a friend on a trip to Lost Island on 8/14. His friend Zach came and spent the night on Friday night and Saturday morning we woke up and headed to Waterloo. On Friday night the boys spent most of their time fishing at a nearby pond until it got dark around 9pm. Then we started up a fire in our fire pit. We didn't have any chocolate bars so Austin was inventive and used Nutella instead and they made S'mores. It was actually pretty good.

Today he had to go to school but for supper we grilled steaks and hamburgers and hot dogs. Austin picked out a cake mix and frosting and I made a scrumptious cake. It was something like a dark chocolate cake mix and the frosting was chocolate with mini chocolate chips in it...whoa! He also picked out his ice cream which is now a family favorite. It has peanut butter covered cone with chocolate chunks or something...it's is to die for!

We had a really good time tonight. Grandma and Grandpa Uglum came to celebrate with us. He received some great gifts from us and them and Kezzie even got him a little something she was pretty proud of! We are so thank-ful for Austin and what he is to our family. An awesome big brother and an amazing son! We love you Austin and wish you a Happy Birthday with many more to come!

Adah found her nose!

It's so strange, I can remember distinctly when Keziah found her nose holes and it wasn't until about a year ago. Adah is way ahead of the game...and she likes it a lot! You can pretty much find her digging in here most of the day! It makes me laugh every time I see her doing it!

1st Day of School & Rough First Week!

Austin's first day of school was 8/17. Not his favorite day (although I think he was secretly excited to get back into a routine and see friends)! But isn't he a stud? I can't believe my baby is in 6th grade already! I pray for this year to be an organized and energetic year. And that Austin will be a good influence on his peers and not a follower (isn't that every parents' prayer?).
Here is Austin this morning....just to give you an idea of how hard it is to get back into the swing of things now that school is back in session (one week later)! He wakes at about 6:30 to shower and then comes up to the couch to 'relax' a little more. Adah thinks he is the best big brother in the world!

Keziah is 33 MONTHS!

This girl is nothing but fun! Just look at her personality in the pictures! I'm not sure what that new smile is all about though (top left corner)! And she really likes tilting her head to the side! I am seeing that more and more these days! There are a lot of things about her that crack me up or impress me about her but I am so horrible at keeping track of these things. Here are a few of the many...
She has discovered that she can use her fingers to show an amount (ie: she shows two fingers for her age, or if she wants to read three books she holds up three fingers!). It seems like she purposely finds reasons to do this!
She is really getting into letters (this goes in spurts). Lately her favorite game is Boggle Jr. And when she completes an image she always wants a high five...so cute! She can tell and show me many letters of the alphabet. We have a book with all the letters in it and I can ask her to point to a certain letter on the page and she can do this with almost all the letters. She can also tell me what most of them are. This is a little more difficult! She is also really starting to recognize a few words in books and can read me almost word for word/page by page a book she is familiar with. And when she just knows what is happening on each page she will tell it in her own words. I love hearing the things she picks up on.
She loves the camera right now...not necessarily having her picture taken, but taking pictures! If I forget she has the camera, she can rack up 50 pictures without me even knowing it...until I go to clear the memory card!
Kezzie is having a really hard time having her door closed all the way. This might have something to do with staying at the Thilges house when Alanna was born. I never closed the door all the way and she got really used to that.
Kezzie's absolute favorite color is blue right now. Everything she picks HAS to be blue. She will boldly state 'blue is my favorite color, what is your favorite color, but it isn't blue.' I guess she is the only one allowed to like blue!
Keziah loves to gargle. This is her new thing she has learned this month. I have had to tell her it isn't allowed at the dinner table because it is rude otherwise she will do it every time she takes a drink!
One of my favorite things Kezzie says right now is 'I love you, mom'. She will sometimes get mad if I respond with 'I love you too' because she just wants me to accept her compliment and just take it for what it is and not always respond. She does this with hugs too. Sometimes she will give me a hug and tell me not to hug her back because 'I just want to give you a hug, mom'. I was always wondering why she sometimes wouldn't hug me back she just kind of leans in to me and lets me hug her!
Keziah has been fighting with Adah a lot more. She takes everything Adah tries to play with and will put it across the room or up where Adah can't reach. She doesn't even keep it for herself. Just ornery! And now that Adah is pulling herself up to things (8/11) she gets stuck because she can't get back down. So although Kezzie thinks she is just helping, she will release Adah's hands from whatever is supporting her causing Adah to fall to the floor, sometimes flat on her back. Poor girl!
Brian and I have noticed that Kezzie's voice seems hoarse. It could be allergies but it's been going on for a while now and even before allergy season started. We are wondering if her voice is changing a little. It sounds different. Like not so babyish!
Kezzie has been going down for nap with undies on and waking in the night to go pee which allows her to wake in the morning dry. I really think we are on our way to fully being potty trained!
Kezzie wakes in the morning around 7 and really could take or leave breakfast but she LOVES her fluids. It is a must that she have something to drink upon waking up! She gets hungry for lunch by noon and lays down for an hour to hour and a half nap around 1:30. She always wants something to drink when she gets up and almost always wants a snack. It is rare that she will wake up happy from her nap too. She is ready for supper between 5 and 6 and almost always wants a dessert or treat of some kind afterwards! I don't mind as long as she eats all her supper. She gets to read two books and a devotional before going to bed by 8. We compromise on the door situation which means the door stays open during her nap but has to be closed at bed (which means she can't get out of her room without being let out). In the morning she lets us know she is awake by saying 'mom, I'm awake' and then she is allowed to get up and play or read books until I come up to let her out. She does really well with this most of the time. Sometimes if she clearly got up on the wrong side of the bed she will just yell that same phrase over and over like a broken record...this makes for a mom who gets up on the wrong side of the bed so if she does this she doesn't get to watch her episode of Dora in the morning. I don't think we have had that problem in a while!
Well, I know this is a long one, but don't ever feel obligated to read all the mumble jumble...it's just for me so I can remember these precious moments forever!

The Coyle Family!

Mat and Steph and the boys came for a visit this weekend. It was so great to see the boys and how much they have grown. Brady is talking up a storm and Henry is working on teeth left and right! The kids definitely love to hang out and get practice at sharing their toys but their most favorite thing of all to do is jump on the bean bags! Even Austin gets in on that game (I don't have any pictures of that this time though!).

Our Anniversary!

Brian and I are celebrating our fifth wedding anniversary today. I know it doesn't sound like much to all you people who have been married ten times that, but it seems like a lot to us! It seems as though not very many marriages these days make it even five, so I am pretty proud of that! Brian got me this bouquet of five beautiful red roses sent to our house! Happy Anniversary, babe! To many more years to celebrate!

Rotation!

I brought some old baby toys of Keziah's up from the basement earlier today. Adah was in heaven and acted like she just had a birthday. I am torn because they are two toys that take up a lot of space and yet she likes them a lot. For now I am going to pick one to stay in the living room and the other I am going to take back downstairs. We will have to get the other back out maybe on a rainy day!

Fun Shots!

8/13 Adah is really good at playing instruments already! All you have to do is stick the right end in her mouth and she does a really good job at exhaling to make a sound!
8/15 I wanted to get a shot of dad with the kids in his most unfavorable time of surgery. He has been confined to his bedroom for a long time from having his ankle replaced. Yuck!

8/15 Adah is getting a lot braver and better at trying to get down from a standing position. Sometimes she plops down and starts crying out of freight but mostly she lowers herself down slowly quickly looking up to see if anyone noticed! 8/18 Kezzie claimed to be really cold so I got her one of her blankets from her bed. She was all cute and cozy and wanted me to take her picture!

8/17 Adah is finding herself in this kind of predicament quite often. She will also climb up under the coffee table and not be able to move since she is folded in half! 8/17 Adah was all done in the bath but didn't want to stop playing with Kezzie (notice Kezzie had to take her turn in Adah's bath seat) so she quickly hoisted herself up to the edge and continued to reach for toys and splash in the water!

Some outdoor fun!

Sometimes when we go outside I grab the camera. I love outdoor pictures...it captures a child's complete glory and it makes for some really good lighting! Here are some good ones of my kids in their favorite setting! Adah definitely thinks her sister is something to look at!

Adah's New Hangout!

Adah will spend countless time in front of her car seat. I don't exactly know what she loves so much but I think she is playing with the buckles-chewing on them and clanking them together. She squeals and giggles and has such a good time! This is definitely the new cool hangout for her!

Big Bro!

Austin is such a great big brother. He won't admit to loving his little sisters but he plays with them like he can't get enough of them. He has his bad moments too, but mostly he is just all around wonderful to them! Here he is pulling Adah around the kitchen. She squealed the whole time!

Bath Time!

Adah is getting bigger now and enjoying bath time with her big sister even more. Kezzie pretends she is watering her garden when taking a bath and Adah just enjoys playing with pretty much anything you hand her. She is so big sitting in her seat!

Adah's new trick!

I came in to get Adah out of bed this morning and I found her standing up at the edge. If she wanted to she could go head first onto the floor beneath her. I got my camera (just steps away) and when I came back she had moved to her knees. She is growing so much! She is starting to pull herself up to everything. Not necessarily to her feet but up to her knees. She does this mostly at the toy box but if I have my back turned to her she will use my shirt to 'climb' up to a standing position! She also tries to climb the stairs if she gets the chance! I guess today is the day the mattress is getting lowered!

Minor Mishap!

Tonight we encountered a minor disaster...here's what happened:

Austin and Keziah were out in the little pool swimming. I was just finishing up feeding Adah and then we were going to join them outside. I came downstairs and grabbed Adah's bonnet to go out and in comes Austin. He told me he was cold so he wanted to take a shower in my bathroom (as opposed to going downstairs to his own) since he was all wet. I hadn't made my way outside with Keziah and Adah yet (Kezzie was not cold enough to stay inside) so when Austin got out of the shower in my bathroom he said he could hear a buzzing. I assumed he just didn't get the water turned off properly since he had only showered in there maybe twice the whole time we have lived here. I got in the bathroom only to find there was a slow leak under the sink. I called Brian to double check I was shutting the main water off at the right area. He couldn't confirm it over the phone and was trying to figure out if maybe there was somewhere in the bathroom I could shut it off in there. I insisted that he think faster and he instead decided to just come home from work to check it out. By the time he got home the slow leak was a gush. While I was waiting for him to get home I was trying to do whatever I could to get the water off. I turned the knob to what I thought was the main water valve. It didn't even slow the leak down one bit so I quickly turned the knob back. Brian did the same thing moments later after he got home. We were just second guessing ourselves even though we knew there was nowhere else to turn the main water off. When the plumber got there the first thing he did was turn all the faucets on to run out all the water and pressure in the pipes. We didn't think to do that! That stopped the water almost immediately. We weren't quick enough though. Within 15 minutes we went from a slow leak to 2" of water on our bathroom floor. It soon started to seep into our carpeted hallway and carpeted bedroom. Not good. Thankfully, we now have the carpet vacuumed up with a shampooer and several fans blowing on it to dry it out. The biggest thing I am worried about is the water was also leaking into Austin's basement room through the sheet rock ceiling. I guess only time will tell if that is going to cause us some remodeling problems! Oh how much worse this could have been...I don't even want to think about it. I am thankful we were home! I think we might be shutting our water off if we leave overnight though!
Poor Keziah, she never took her suit off the whole night and now I know why...when I put her to bed she was extremely disappointed to learn that we were in fact not going back outside to swim again after all!

Pea Pod!

Last night we had some pea pods with our supper. Adah was sitting in her high chair and becoming discontent so I gave her a really long one to chew on. She ended up loving it! We kept a close watch on her and the pea pod to make sure it wasn't getting too soggy and pieces breaking off. When supper was over she still wanted it so we went into the living room where she proceeded to make us all laugh! She would put it in her mouth and let it hang off to the side. And she would put it in the middle and then blow it out so it would go flying. I think she really liked all the attention she was getting. It was very comical! And so adorable!

Dad's Surgery

I forgot to mention and have people praying for my dad this last weekend. He had a complete ankle replacement in his right ankle on Friday morning in Iowa City. He is doing a little better now but having a really hard time getting around since all he has is some crutches and a walker (I think he needs a wheelchair). Please continue to pray that he will regain strength and patience. He is already having a really hard time staying still in bed so he gets up to "do things" just to move around and has fallen a couple times. He isn't supposed to allow any amount of weight on his ankle or it could ruin it so he has to be careful. He could really use some prayers in the patience department!! He will go see the doctor in two weeks and then another four weeks after that. Hopefully things will start to get better for him. He also has a hard time sleeping at night.

Alanna Rae is Here!

What a fun and exciting weekend. We got home on Thursday morning from the river and were only home for the night before getting a phone call at 2am from Emily saying that her water broke. She had plans for the boys for that night to go to their babysitters house so they didn't need anybody at the house right away but didn't know what they were going to do with the boys for the weekend. Since mom was held up in Iowa City with my dad having surgery, she wasn't available to be with the boys. So I had the privilege of hanging out with them all weekend. There would be way more photos too except my camera battery died so this is what I got! We had so much fun! My mom slept at Emily and Adam's since she needed somewhere to sleep so she had to go back and forth between IC and Independence (so she was there a little in the evenings and in the mornings). That was a huge help! We are so thankful that she had safe travels going back and forth all the times that she did. Friday, after my dad came out of recovery, mom gave hugs and kisses and then headed to Adam and Emily's for the night. Once she arrived, we fed the kids supper and all hopped in the car to go to the hospital. The boys were so excited to meet their new baby sister! We didn't stay long since with us came a lot of chaos with that many kids! Brian met us there and then drove on to Independence to stay the night. On Saturday we played all day long! Mom wanted to get back to dad right away in the morning so she had to leave. And Brian left at about the same time too (he wanted to go home to golf). Saturday night I got all the kids baths and in bed-definitely not a small feat! I gave Ethan, Bennett and Keziah one all together (another great photo op:(). They were having so much fun I felt bad making them get out. When they were all dressed and in bed I bathed Adah (who was incredibly tired and hungry but patiently waiting with Austin until I could help her). Austin was such a big help all the time too. Ethan adores Austin so he came in handy when Ethan woke up from his Saturday nap missing his mommy and daddy a bunch. He was also a huge help with Adah. If I was busy helping the other three with a meal or something, Austin would keep Adah company or at least watch her while she played on the floor.

I didn't think mom was going to be coming back Saturday since dad was begging to get out of the hospital, but they couldn't get his pain under control so they told him he needed to stay another night. So once again mom made the drive back to Independence. She got back just in time to walk in the kitchen and start doing dishes and cleaning with me. We also wanted to put together some kind of dish for super on Sunday once they all got home from the hospital. It was another long day for mom! But we treated ourselves with some ice cream from DQ! Sunday was a great day too. We got up and started planning for Alanna's arrival. The kids all got really excited to decorate letters spelling out a welcome home for Alanna (I wish I could have gotten a picture of it!). Mom left shortly after banana chocolate chip pancakes (delicious)! Brian went to church in the morning and then came to Independence to welcome Alanna home and get another glimpse at her. Emily and Adam and Alanna arrived home about 2pm. All the kids were taking naps so I got to have Alanna all to myself for a little bit! What a sweet and precious gift from God. Babies are so amazing!

My kids did great too. I was very impressed with how well they all played together. Ethan and Kezzie tend to work against each other but this weekend they got along so well! I was particularly impressed with how well we all did sleeping in the same room. The only bad habit we have brought home from there is Kezzie insists the door not be closed all the way at nap and bed time (being in a strange place, I never closed the door all the way the whole time we were there). It's one of her favorite phrases now when it comes close to time to go to bed, 'don't close the door all the way?!'

Adah is 8 MONTHS!

This is all I have for photos of Adah this month. The ones in her chair are about a week overdue and the photo of her peeking over her bassinet in the camper is her on her actual day of 8 months. Side note: she is not going to be able to use that bed the next time we go camping!

I am in amazement that it has been 8 months already since I gave birth to Adah. The past months have been so busy and gone by way too fast. How do you ever really stand still in time? I would love to pause every stage for a little longer. It's not hard to believe how fast Adah is changing though since it seems like every time she wakes up she knows something more then when she laid down. Here are a few of the things Adah has been up to the past month...

Adah puts her knees under her and gets up on her elbows and rocks forward and back. It is adorable. You can tell the wheels are turning in her head as she tries to figure out how that will someday help her get to where she wants to go! She can also get up on her hands but it's rarely when her knees are under her and when she does she quickly plops down on her belly or face (6/30/10).

Adah started sitting up unassisted for long periods of time on 7/1/10. She is an absolute pro at this now that I am writing this almost a month later!

Adah is doing a great job getting up on her hands and knees regularly and rocks back and forth but still doesn't have the skill! (7/7/10)

Adah is really starting to 'talk'. 7/7/10-she just woke up in such a good mood and has been really vocal all day (babababa, mamamama, nanananana).

Adah is definitely saying Mama 7/8/10 and knows what it means.

Adah is still getting up on her hands and knees but doesn't quite know how to coordinate it. She will lunge forward off her knees though and move into a fast army crawl 7/12/10. She is getting around everywhere now.

Adah is getting into anything she can find...this puts Kezzie a little on edge 7/17/10!

Adah's schedule looks a little like this at 8 months old:

7:00am wake and nurse

8:30am about 1/4C cereal mixed with pumped breast milk

9:00am nap time

10:30/11am wake and nurse

11:30am give our best try at veggies...again-while mom and big sis eat lunch!

1:30/2pm nurse and bed (she will sometimes fall asleep in my arms)

3:30/4pm wake

4:30/5pm nurse

After nursing she sits in high chair while I make supper and she has raw fruit in her mesh bag thing or puffs to snack on.

5:30/6pm another try at veggies! (she loves carrots, hates/gags on sweet peas and green beans and her tummy doesn't handle sweet potatoes well).

6/6:30pm 1/4C cereal mixed with 1/8C fruit and water

7:30 start getting ready for bed

7:30ish nurse and falls asleep in my arms and I lay her in bed!

Wow, I am busy feeding her all the time. I haven't ever really written it out like that before! She is definitely not lacking in the eating department weight wise either! She is a chunker but so cute! We love you Adah and thank God for you every day. What a beautiful addition to our family you are!