Big Girl Bed

Over the holiday break, we decided to go ahead with the big move to a toddler bed for Adaline. Shane and I had a full week at home with the kids with daycare closed, so it was a good opportunity to sleep in after possible rough nights.

To Adaline, this new bed set up only meant more playtime. She is able to get out of bed and move freely around the room (but not out of it, as we put up a gate at her door). She didn't nap the whole week out of school and hasn't on a weekend since. At night, Adaline will play for several hours in the dark, emptying her dresser drawers, taking all her books from the shelf to her bed, putting on her shoes (over footy pj's), making meals in the play kitchen, and whatever else her heart desires.

Adaline caught with her swimsuit on her head at nap time...notice the cups on the handles of the rocking horse.

We make a big deal of cleaning up before bed, but this is what we usually get in the morning or at the end of nap.

and...

Here are a few missed pictures from our Christmas holiday. I took these from Betty (Thanks).

Four Christmases

We were fortunate enough to have several Christmas visitors and events this year. The first was when Shane's dad came up from Fayetteville, NC the Saturday before Christmas. The kids had a good time celebrating with Granddad, as did we. Ryan and Jennifer joined us as well, and we finished the evening with a Mexican dinner out.



Our second Christmas was at our own home on Christmas morning. Santa filled our stockings and left a baby doll and stroller for Adaline and found some of Adaline's old walking toys for Benton. :)


Next we packed up the unwrapped presents and headed to Greensboro to continue Christmas morning at Ryan and Jennifer's house. Betty and Jerry were in from Texas, and it was so great to spend several days and another Christmas with them.


Adaline got a trampoline from Grandma and Grandpa, and she has been loving it every day.
Benton was worn out from all the excitement of the morning and decided to nap through much of the present time.

Finally, after our afternoon nap time back at home, the whole family gathered at Nana and Pop's house for more presents and a fabulous dinner.

We were so blessed to be able to spend time with many of our loved ones over the holiday. We wish we could have seen and visited with more of you, but we send out our love and hope that God has blessed you all as well!

Constant Change

Benton has really been growing and changing a lot. He has his 9 month check-up next week already! He has four teeth and more may be close behind. He is gaining on Adaline quickly, and only follows her by about 10 pounds. He is constantly on the move and into everything. I was writing in the baby books the other night and noticed that Benton's 6 month numbers on the growth charts were the same as Adaline's 1 year numbers. Crazy!

Adaline continues to improve daily with her speech. She is trying out more and more words and will make an effort to put a few together (sit down, lay down, get up). The sounds are still a bit twisted and out of order at times, but we are impressed with the effort she is putting forth.

Baby boy memo

Several weeks ago Shane sent me this photo while I was at work. He dropped off the kids at school, and some of Benton's classmates were dressed just like him. So cute, just had to share.

Thanksgiving in Michigan

I had three days away from work for Thanksgiving this year, so we decided to take the family to Michigan. After taking both kids to CO this summer on a plane, there was no desire to fly with them again until they can handle their own baggage/car seats/stroller/etc. Therefore, we fed everyone dinner, got Adaline and Benton into pajamas, stuffed the car with all the necessities, and hit the road for an overnight drive. Despite rain for most of the way, it was decidedly a much less stressful form of travel with little ones. Shane and I shared the driving responsibilities so we both could catch a few hours sleep, and arrived in Grand Haven around 9:00 Wednesday morning. Shane's parents had already arrived from Texas, and we got settled into their condo pretty quickly, ready to start a new day.

Over the next few days we spent most of the time hanging out with family at the condo, playing games and catching up. It was fairly cold and windy outside, but we were able to try out a few of the local parks for a short time, too.


Grandma and Great Grandma enjoying the kids.

Benton was worn out from all the excitement with Grandpa.

We had a really nice time with family, ate a lot of food, took over the condo with all of our toys and baby gates, and then had to pack it all up and head home again. We look forward to many more visits in the future as the kids grow up.

Adaline's First Haircut

It only took 2 years and 9 months for Adaline to grow enough hair to have a haircut. I took her to see our friend, Jessica, and she got to get big girl treatment. Adaline did such a great job sitting in the chair and was able to stay fairly still the whole time without any complaining. I was a bit surprised at how well she did. She even got a sucker to munch on for her behavior. Her hair looks cute now, and much less like a mullet.