Yucky Carrots

It's here....

My 27th birthday.  Don't ask me why, but when I used to play house, Uncle Jessie from Full House was always my husband and I was the magical age of 27 with 3 kids.  For whatever reason, it's always been my "adult" age and I find it hysterical that I'm here - I'm a wife and a mother and yes, feeling a little more "adult" today.  Maybe it's that Adalyn was up 3x last night for the 2nd night in a row, which means that I was up 5x - I often give in and nurse in her bed because I can't stand the crying.  I fall asleep while she nurses and then wake up an hour later to transfer her back into the crib.  I just can't sleep with her next to me.  I woke up for the 6th time this morning to Adalyn happily babbling in her crib, changed a poopy diaper, and then dragged my feet over to the coffee pot filled with fresh brewed awesomeness that Andrew kindly made me before he left for work....and maybe stole a bite of cake that he left on the counter.  Yup, I think this is exactly what being an adult is supposed to feel like.
I have work to catch up on today, and a planning meeting for an event I'm taking on as a volunteer.  I admittedly haven't touched my website in over a week.  I just needed a break and we had a busy weekend.

Mom was in town and the 3 girls did a little damage at the mall.  I've been rotating through 4 outfits and realllly needed some variety.  I look at my pre-pregnancy clothes and wonder if I'll ever fit into them again.  Adalyn made out quite well too.  My favorite purchase? This Seersucker Dress from The Children's Place - I die!  The 6-12 months are beginning to be too small for her.  It broke my heart a little to be looking for the 12-18 month size.  Where did the time go?

Highlight of the week?  Little Miss was dedicated to Jesus on Sunday.  Andrew and I are part of a non-denominational Christian church and we believe that putting her faith in Jesus is something she should decide on her own.  So Sunday was really about Andrew and I dedicating to raise her to know Christ and His love and for our church to commit to helping us do so.  It was such a special time.  Unfortunately, I gave my mom the camera with the single focus point set, so we didn't get the best pictures, but our friend did capture it on video.  I hope to post that soon.  For now, a few snapshots of those special moments:

My parents were kind enough to host a post-dedication impromptu brunch.  Yes, that is Andrew feeding her water with a spoon.  This girl is fascinated by water, but still doesn't grasp the whole sippy cup thing.

Her very newest obsession is her walker.  I didn't get one of these at first because of all the safety warnings, but after I found out it was because babies were falling down stairs with them, I knew I could just be careful and let her have fun.  And fun does she have.

She zooms back and forth like a pro.

A joyful sigh...

And this is the face she makes when Andrew walks in the door.  Can you say Daddy's girl?

We got a Skype call from one of her other grandma's too...

And then I got to open my new lens 2 days early and just had to go outside and take pictures!  Mimi was up for the photoshoot too.

And then she was over it.

Photo of the week & Mishmash

This girl has more toys than any baby could want, but she still prefers her feet to anything.  I wonder when she won't be able to do it anymore.  I know I still can. ;) 

Somehow, the nickname "monkey" has developed.  We go around saying, "Where's Monkey?,  Hi, Monkey,You cute little Monk!, etc."  We seriously have no idea how it started, but find it very amusing.

Last week flew by.  Between working on the budget for one of the events I'm managing, to trying to get my website up and running, I didn't have much time for anything else besides loving on this sweet thing.

The website's coming along - thanks to my awesome friend, Laura (check her out on www.imsimplyme.com) .  And I'm so very thankful for Andrew's support in all of this...and his blessing for my new equipment.  I have some more work to do on the event planning side of things, but I've posted most of my photo work.  My 70-200 2.8 arrived today, though I'm not allowed to open it until my birthday on the 28th---ok, ok, I did open the box just to make sure all parts were there, but I didn't attach it to my camera, I promise!  I'll be taking it to Florida next weekend when we go to visit my grandmother. I can't wait to see her...and the beach!

Andrew has received 2 interviews for schools so far.  It's crazy to think we'll know where we are heading within weeks.  We've been so great about saving up for the next two years, and we won't have to take out loans for living expenses, but I'll admit that I'm a bit nervous about spending it all and being without his income.  If we end up in NYC, we're talking at least $3K a month for 2 bedroom apartment.  Ouch.  When you take the cost of school and then the loss of his income for 2 years, it's A LOT of money.  It's another one of those things that I just have to trust in God and go with His flow.

Speaking of God, Adalyn is getting dedicated at our church on Sunday!  I'll have more to say about that next week, but it just brings a huge smile to my face.

I was testing out some settings on my camera this Sunday and snapped some cute ones of Little Miss.  Next investment:  Seamless paper.   Good thing we have digital cameras and not film now, huh?

I can always count on Jada for a photobomb.

Would you look at the curl?!

She'll be crawling soon!

 

Our life - in a picture

I love this random photo for so many reasons, but mainly because I think it captures our lives right now so well.

• It's me, testing the lighting on my camera when we just should have been eating dinner.

• The $30 coffee table from Ikea from my temporary Florida apartment.  I put our "nicer" one in storage because this moves out of the way more easily for Adalyn to play.

• Dinner on said coffee table because our tiny kitchen table was full of random things and I didn't feel like clearing it.

• http://www.e-mealz.com/ chicken and artichoke dinner because we are trying to save money on groceries.

• The roses Andrew had delivered one day before Valentine's Day because I told him I didn't want them since they are so expensive on the day.

• My red water bottle that I've had for 3 years.  I carry it everywhere and prefer to drink out of it whenever possible.  It's kind of an unhealthy attachment.  I get anxiety when I forget it.

• My laptop on the table.  Probably another unhealthy attachment. I don't know why I didn't move it - especially because there was butternut squash soup in that bowl and it could have easily spilled on it.

• And last but not least, on the shelf underneath the coffee table, our copy of Love Wins by Rob Bell.  At the core of everything we are and the reason for all that we do, is God, and His Son that gave us so much.

One more thing...

You didn't think I'd leave you without a Valentine's Day themed photoshoot did you?  I wish I'd taken the time to iron the backdrop, but let's be honest, I'm not going to do anything with these photos except post them here anyway.

Happy Valentine's Day!

This post was inspired by my Pinterest addiction.  I wanted to make Andrew something special for his first Valentine's Day as a dad,  and found a photo idea I could try to replicate - Addy holding up 'D' and 'A' letters to spell "Dad".  Sounds easy, right?  I went out to Michael's and bought the letters.  We were blessed with another 50 degree and sunny day at the start of February, soI thought I would try to take the photos outside in natural light.  The shoot started out fine.  She was quite the little model (as usual) and had fun eating the blades of grass that were scattered around the yard.

But then it came time to insert the letters.  I should have figured that all she would want to do was chew them.

And that being wooden letters, they would hurt her gums and make her cry.

Taking away the letters, just made it worse.

And I decided that it was getting way too cold to keep her outside for much longer.

So I continued the shoot inside, and did the best I could.  Finished product:

Silly little baby.  Perhaps we'll try this again for Father's Day when she can understand me when I tell her not to eat the letters.