We Went to the Roadshow

We have had a nice couple of weeks here at camp, and it is hard to believe girls camp is over in a week and a half. Then co-ed...get ready! Shane celebrated his first father's day here at camp, and got beef jerky from Adaline, as well as an "I heart Daddy" outfit. (picture below) Although we were at camp, it was an alright day. We did take a short overnight trip to Raleigh this past weekend to go to the Antiques Roadshow, and discovered we are not secretly wealthy. Oh well, so we won't be on TV, but we still had fun and still like our yellow glass salad bowl from the 70s. I do not think we will be leaving camp again during the summer, because it was a long trip with a baby for just one night.
























The last few days have been a little tough on Adaline, as she has come down with her first cold. Luckily we have doctors and nurses at camp that have been very helpful. She has managed fairly well and is beginning to feel better and get more sleep at night. Adaline is growing quickly and is over 13 pounds now! Here are some pictures from the last few weeks.

Well...We have been at Cheerio for several weeks now, and just finished our first full session of campers (close to 300). So, needless to say, we are staying very busy here. Although, for me, it has been very wonderful (and a bit tiring) to be with Adaline every day. The weather is quite wet here, as it may be for many of you out there. It makes for some crazy camp days, and it is difficult moving a little one around in the rain. However, we have managed to get in some good times and activities around the wet weather and the campers are enjoying Cheerio. Adaline was able to help the Red team win in "Thrive" last week by turning in a few flags, and I think she looks forward to the day that she can run. :) She has also been able to be a part of a skit and a camp song, all at only 4 months of age.




















































Last weekend we had a nice visit from my mom, my aunt Kris, and my grandmother on my father's side. It was a short visit, but great to spend time with family, and for my grandmother and aunt to meet Adaline. Hopefully we can make a trip out to Colorado in the fall or winter for a longer visit.






















Our friends, Emily and Craig just had a baby girl enter their lives this week...a bit earlier than expected. We welcome Adaline's first baby friend, Kay Ellen Hardin!

Finally at Cheerio

We have had a few more busy weeks, but have now moved back up to Cheerio for the summer. We left you last with our trip to VA for Nick and Sarah's wedding. Adaline proved to be a great traveler again, but we did end up having to leave the wedding before the end (a first for me). She was tired of dancing :) The wedding was beautiful and outside on a fabulous day! We took advantage of the great weather that day with a family trip to Monticello to hang at Thomas Jefferson's place...the one from the nickel. After a wonderful long Memorial day weekend in VA, we headed home and back to work. We spent the week packing our belongings, which was a much harder process when you have to consider a baby. Shane left for Cheerio on Friday morning and I took Adaline to Apex for a few days to attend Emily's baby shower. It was good to have a little visit with friends before heading up to Cheerio for awhile. It was nice to be back, but I do know it will be a bit more challenging with Adaline at camp this summer. I did have some help with Adaline for a little bit to get a game of kickball in and that was awesome, even though we lost! Here are some pictures of our adventures these past few weeks.

On the Road Again (Soon)

Well, tomorrow we leave again for another little road trip. The three of us will be loading up the ole' Protege and heading for Scottsville, VA. I am not really sure where this is, but I hear it is near Charlottesville. We are going to the wedding of our friends Nick and Sarah. It should be a pretty nice trip, but I also feel what little time we still have at home before going to Cheerio slipping quickly away. I need to do a little painting, mow the lawn, and change the oil in Cheri's car before we hit the road tomorrow. Wish us luck. Here are some pictures from the last couple of months...

I'm A Blogger Now

That's right, I am officially a blogger now. Does this make me ultra hip? I think so. I will send you a tweet about it later. Things have been busy in the few months that we have had Adaline home, but I would say that they have also been pretty awesome. If you are curious about what it is like to have a newborn I would encourage you to stay up for as long as possible, and then stay up a little longer. Actually, that was last week. This week Adaline has suddenly started to sleep a-lot better at night and I for one am hoping for a continuation of this trend. Adaline also seems to be gearing up for a life of travel and adventure. On her first day out of the hospital she went immediately on a road trip. Our first weekend together was spend in craaaaazy Goldsboro, NC at my brother Ryan's wedding. Aside from a little spit up incident during the car ride home, she did really well on her first big trip. In the two months since, she has been to Camp Cheerio twice, Chapel Hill once, and even made a trip to Tennessee to visit her great grandparents. I would say that visiting family has been the most consistent theme so far in our new life together as a family. Theme number two in my life at the moment has been getting ready to move up to Cheerio for the summer and the the recent need to renovate the pool at camp. It seems like it is all finally coming together. My next post will probably be from camp. Be Well!

Forsyth NICU

Right after she arrived, a team of doctors took over in our room checking her out and making sure all was good. After being allowed to hold her for a few short moments, she was taken down the the NICU, where she would stay until she was strong enough to come home, and I was taken to another room where I could have a few days to recover. She had quite an adventure coming into the world, and we both had some bruises to show for it, but after a few days there in the hospital we both began to show some improvement. Adaline Kelly Brown was the name we chose for our new baby girl. She was beautiful! Adaline was a name we both liked, and Kelly is a family name on Shane's side.

Adaline was blessed to be born with some weight on her compared to other premature babies, but she still "acted her age" as the nurses said. The biggest issues she had to tackle were Jaundice (a common issue) and learning how to eat. Adaline had to spend her first week or so under a number of lights to combat the jaundice, and even wore little eye covers to protect her. She also started with a feeding tube and transferred over to a bottle as she learned sucking and swallowing motions. Adaline was in the NICU for a total of three weeks, during which Shane and I made trips back and forth from High Point each day. We enjoyed watching her grow and improve, and knew she was in the best place for her health, but had a difficult time leaving our little girl to come home at night. When she was transferred to the Intermediate nursery, we got excited and knew it was almost time for us to take her home. She spent only a week there in Intermediate, and we finally were told she would be released!

pictures of growth during Adaline's NICU stay: