Favorite recent Will pics

Grumpo did not want to pose for pics on Halloween!

And then he got SUPER cheesy!

Today at the playground he was ALL ABOUT his bat and ball. He successfully hit the ball about half of the time when I pitched it to him! (The other half of the time my pitch was horrible. :)

And the big boy swing!

Favorite recent Adeline pics

Taken today at the playground. We walked from our house to the coffee shop down the street. Then back to the playground and played for over an hour! It was GREAT!

Doesn't she look about 10 years old? I think jeans do that to babies. She rarely wears them - these are her only pair. She's more of a dress kind of girl anyways...mainly because of her short legs! Although, these jeans fit better now than the last time she wore them!

I have about 20 pictures of Adeline trying her hardest to get her halloween costume off! She was a ladybug - even if the costume was really inaccurate.

My first donut! There is a new Dunkin Donuts here and we went there halloween morning as a special treat. Adeline loved it!

More Ava Cheese

I had to post these pictures of Ava as well. I mentioned that she's a good cheeser. Well, I've started to notice that when we're at home and I'm taking pictures -she always goes and gets this hammer, holds it to her eye and says, "Cheese!" I have no idea why!

Here are some other fun ones where she ran for the camera just say "Cheese!"

And she always looks STRAIGHT at the camera - unlike my kids where 99% of our pictures are the backs of heads or profile shots.

Ava

As I've been uploading and editing pics today - I couldn't help but notice how much Ava has changed! I've been keeping her for over a year now (with breaks for track out of course) and she is so not a little baby anymore. The picture above was probably taken the first week I had her, she was 9 months old.

This picture was taken last week at 22 months old! She a good picture taker - always cheese whenever I have the camera out.

She is 2 months older than Adeline and 19 months younger than Will. Yet, she is the BIGGEST one! She has passed Will in weight now, weighing just over 30 pounds, where Will is still around 28. I don't think she is taller than Will yet though, although I'm fairly certain they both just went through a little growth spurt! It's been fun to watch her grow right next to our two. The three really do play well together! And really, when its just me - three is no different than two. I was already outnumbered with two and I'm still outnumbered with three! :)

LazyTown

There is this (terrible) show on Nick Jr. (formerly known as Noggin) called LazyTown. It's always annoyed me, but there isn't anything bad in it - so I let Will watch it occasionally. Luckily, he's only seen it a few times. Interestingly enough, when I was searching for the picture above, I learned that this show was originally made in Iceland.

I do not know the name of the guy pictured above - I try to block out the show when we have to watch it. Because its not a common show in our house, Adeline was unfamiliar with it when we happened to watch it sometime last week. She was not a big fan of this guy and this is what I caught her and Will doing while she was "scared" of him:

This was actually a slight re-enactment after the original scene. Adeline started wimpering and making her "I'm a little unsure of this" face. So Will (in a sing-songy Mom voice) said something like, "It's ok, Adeline. He's not scary. I'll hug you." And they did.

As you can see, Adeline kept coming back for more! Ever since Will has discovered his new role as Big Brother the Protector - he's jumped on opportunities to protect her! I actually intentionally put the show on the next day to see if they'd do it again...and this time, Will called Adeline in the room when scary guy was on JUST so he could hug on her. Seriously melted my heart and I actually teared up!!

Book Time

I was able to get all three kids on the couch "reading" books for a few minutes. At least long enough for me to run to get the camera! We had just finished reading two books together. They're all getting really good at sitting through longer books.

I love Adeline's face in this one. She thought that potty book was funny!

Last Fair 2009 - PIG races!

We just happened to get to the pig races in time to get a seat on the bleachers. Will and Adeline both enjoyed the races!

Before the race, we passed the time by eating some cotton candy. Adeline was a big fan. I think she's a fan of all foods at the moment.

Another picture for those that may have not experience the pig races. It really is a must see at the fair!

Dad and the kids. Will was ill about the sun being in his eyes. Adeline was probably irritated that Will was sharing Dada's lap.

Misc. Fair 2009

Adeline enjoyed a corndog and many people stopped to look at our cute little girl downing a huge corndog.

Will rode the big slide with Dad again this year. He wasn't big enough for this year's new BIG BIG "drag strip" slide. Maybe next year...

Obama dolls. I vaguely remember George W. dolls - but feel as though they looked a little more true to life than these Obama ones. Anyone else? Unfortunately, we did not win one this year.

Will and I rode the ferris wheel and he was so excited to see Carter Finley and the RBC center!

UNC-tv tent (ELMO!)

This first picture is really for Melissa. Adeline is wearing Ava's red velour "rapper" outfit. :) It fits her great! The UNC-tv tent is always a highlight for Will. This year, there is NO WAY we could have skipped it once Elmo was spotted.

If you look carefully - you can see that not is Adeline pointing to Elmo, she is also saying "MoMo." She probably said it one hundred times in the five minutes we spent at this tent.

Fair 2009 - Ronald McDonald

We might not have made it to the petting zoo (no idea how we missed it) but we did see Ronald McDonald - that I mentioned in my last post. He was standing as still as a statue and we didn't know if he was real at first.

But he was and he gave us coupons for free apple dippers at McDonalds - the best thing on their menu. :)

Adeline was not a fan of Ronald. Especially when we stood watching him as a "statue" and then he talked in a booming voice all of a sudden. I was even a little scared...

Scarred for life...

(This is first of several posts from our time on Monday at the State Fair!) Adeline is developing quite the fear of animals, not to mention vacuum cleaners and anything else that makes a loud noise. At the fair, we ventured into the cow building. As you can see, Adeline was already on edge after seeing Ronald McDonald. So Jacob decided to take her out of the stroller while in the cow building.

When he did, she was now at eye (or nose) level to some cows in a trailer. We got about as close you can see in the picture. One of the cows decides to moo right about that time. A cow moo is LOUD when they are in a metal trailer and you are standing about 3 feet away. Will thought it was great. Adeline did not.

Here she is doing the "I'm so terrified I'll hold my breath and no sound will come out for at least 10 seconds cry." Eventually she got out the sound and she was quite upset.

Very upset about the cows and it took us a while to calm her down. Once we were outside and a safe distance away from the cows, she proclaimed, "Done!" (Which sounds like, "Duh")

More A + L

Will giving Aunt Lollie a kiss...except his mouth is open? The kids really loved seeing them. Adeline can even say "Lollie" now. Too cute!
She can also say Sarala now, "Lala" and talks about her ALL the time. Will calls Brandy "Uncle B." G and B were here right before A and L - but I have ZERO pictures from our time with them. I guess things are more crazy when five kids are playing! And they LOVE to play together. It's really sweet.

I'm not sure why Adeline has her paci - she was probably fussing. And I have to admit that I like this usage of the paci. She is totally not attached to it and would be over it in a heartbeat if she didn't see it. BUT, I can use it to quiet her or give her something to chew on when she is teething. Although a paci might have been nice during the first 6 months of her life when she cried 50% of the time...too bad she didn't like it then!

Removing the paci to laugh at something.

I'm not sure why Jacob and I didn't take our pics with A and L, since everyone else did...but here they are with Mom and Dad instead!

Lollie and Andy as Mom and Dad

Here is a little glimpse into the future when Aunt Lollie and Uncle Andy might be "Mom" and "Dad." (To their own children, not W and A...and No, Lauren is not pregnant. At least, if she is - I'm not aware. :)

Apologies for the bad lighting - but these were too good not to share. Uncle Andy's face is funny in this one.

There, turned on the flash. We had a fun time playing with them last week while they were in town for some weddings. We're still hoping to make it out to Colorado sometime soon. But now that we have to buy THREE plane tickets....

What do ya think of my mullet?

Playtime

Will and Adeline got these stick horses and it is one of Adeline's favorite toys right now. She drags that thing around with her all day. She REALLY loves it when Daddy helps her ride it like a real horse - complete with sound effects. She BEGS him to do this a LOT.

I got some foam beads that all different shapes and colors for Will to practice sorting. We started with sorting by color and I thought he would lose interest. When I took this picture, he had already sorted the entire larger bowl into the smaller cups and invented a new game. Making towers of each color on top of the appropriate cup! He is really learning so much these days. (And has FINALLY learned the color RED. He is NOT color blind. :)

I made this clothespin/number thing to help him recognize the numerals. Basically it is just a matching game. He did these four before he lost interest and moved on. Later he easily finished the rest. I'm going to have to up the ante to keep up with this boy!

Adeline also loves to take care of her babies. I got all of her stuff out in the middle of the floor for her (she was an only child one morning...) and she loved taking care of them. Feeding them with a spoon, a bottle, shhhh-ing them, covering them with blankets. Here she brought me the blanket and said, "night night" while covering the baby in the highchair. Funny girl she is!

Favorite Camping Pictures

After looking through all of them, these are my current favorites. In the first picture - Adeline got ahold of the block of cheese.

She looks like a seasoned camper with her Nalgene and camp dishes - complete with Hobo for dinner.

This is another waterfall picture (maybe I already posted that one?)...but I can't get enough of it. I might print and frame it for our house.

This is the one where I learned how to lower my shutter speed. There are more like this - but I think this one is the best. I'd love to visit another waterfall (this time with a tripod for the camera so I don't blur the rest of the picture too)!

No Relation

This is going to be a general post - simply because its been a week since I updated the blog. I don't have time right now to do an individual post about all of these topics, but they'll come eventually. Here are random tidbits about our life right now.

1. The above picture of Will shows him in a bear costume wearing his Awana Cubbies vest. He is loving Awana and this week the "theme" is their favorite Cubbies character. Luckily, Will loves Cubbie the bear and we happen to have a bear costume. However, I think I'm just going to do the hat and not the full costume. It's quite warm and the temps are in the 80's today. He's had a random rash for a few days that seems to be worsened by heat...

2. We went camping this past weekend at Stone Mountain, NC. The kids did great! The four of slept in the same tent both nights and only had one 30 minute middle of the night party the first night. Not too bad! This was Will's 3rd camping trip - although he doesn't remember the first two (he was 10 and 14 months old). Adeline really enjoyed herself while we there, but she is officially the world's worst car riding baby EVER. She cried for 2.5 hours of the 3 hour trip home.

3. I'm still loving PhotoMom! While we were camping this weekend, I FINALLY figured out how to adjust my shutter speed. Something I'd read about on the blog, but I didn't have my computer to look it up while we were in the woods. Because I could adjust my shutter speed - I got some really fun pictures of the water. However, I really need a tripod to really get the good shots...I'll post some of them later.

4. This is what Adeline shoved in her ear at lunch today. Her fig newton. I had to dig and clean out her ear for about 5 minutes. I guess it reminded her of what if felt like when she had all that ear snot drainage last week with her 3rd post tubes ear infection. She's really struggling right now as she's getting at least 3 molars, has tons of snot, had the ear infection last week and is fighting naps. She currently just spent 3 hours in her room talking or crying and not sleeping. This is not a super fun phase she's in right now.

Off to figure out what to do with this crazy girl.

WGHS class of 1999 Reunion

On Saturday night we went to Cafe Pasta for dinner and dancing. It was a fun time to catch up with everyone without the kids around. We also met some folks on Friday night at Jams for dinner before the football game. We opted out of the football game because of the rain and cold I was still getting over. Overall, it was a GREAT weekend and I really enjoyed seeing everyone!

On Sunday morning, I hosted a brunch at my parents house. It was SO GREAT to catch up with some of my best friends from high school. This might have been my favorite part of the weekend. I believe that Julie and Allison are responsible for planning our next get together in a year!?

Here are the rest of the pictures from the reunion...

WGHS class of 2026

This weekend was my 10 year high school reunion. Saturday held a picnic lunch and a meeting of the future members of the classes of about 2026? Just kidding, but there were a lot of babies there! The cutie above is Ryan and Jessica's little girl, Hannah. The picnic also had a bounce house and playground that my kids loved despite the rain and chilly air.

Ben and Jackson having a father-son moment.

Meredith and Julie tried to steal everyone's babies. Actually just Meredith. It's part of her plan to have a kid without actually birthing it.

Elliott couldn't hang and had to take a snooze.

SherIkey

Will FINALLY has a picture with John and Sherry - the babysitters and third set of grandparents. Last week, they took us out to lunch so we could get Will out of the house for a bit. We went to Will's favorite restaurant, Spinners. They know his order and literally have his fruit on the table ready for him before we can get to our seat.

I couldn't resist posting this picture of my cutie pie. Two things to note here:

1. The bruise on his left cheek. He was disobeying Mommy during rhyme time at the library. Because he had yet to come and sit down - he tripped over a kid (while running around) and whacked his face on the hard edge of a wooden bench. We've used that example of how "things do not go well when you disobey" as a teachable moment several times since...

2. His blue eyes with almost no circles underneath them! I've started noticing since the surgery that his bags and circles seem much less. I'll have to post a before and after pic. The bottom line is that he's clearly getting more sleep and we've definitely noticed a change in his behavior because of it! We're calling the surgery a success. :)

Floating Head

Pasta Necklaces

The week after Will's surgery was a low key week. I tried to have lots of quiet activities for him. This particular day, Jacob stayed home to offer me some help with a crabby Will. I had a cold and he still wasn't even close to 100% - so it was nice to have Daddy home!

Adeline enjoyed getting to make pasta necklaces with Dad's help. Will can make his all by himself, but he wasn't really having it this day. (See last picture below.)

Adeline thought the pasta looked tasty and she couldn't resist. She must be in a growth spurt right now (its about time!) because we can't keep enough food in her! She'll literally eat three times as much as her brother.

Grumpy much?

Sweet Adeline Faces

Just kidding about the "sweet" part. I seem to capture quite a few of Adeline's pouty faces on camera...she's quite the drama queen. Especially when she's teething! I saw the first teeny white peak of a molar yesterday. Explains the faucet of a nose and extra meltdowns.

Update on Will

Today's surgery went well! John and Sherry arrived at 6:30 this morning. Sherry stayed with Adeline and John went with Will and I so Jacob could work. It was great to have help juggling all of Will's "stuff" that had to accompany him. :) We got to the day surgery place at 7:15 and Will was not at all anxious. We got settled, watched Noggin, played games and did a sticker book. He decorated his gas mask and colored on his bed too. Around 8:30 he got some loopy medicine that made him a little irritable, but eventually made him calm. They took him back a little after 9am and we were home by 11am!

The doctor said Will's tonsils were HUGE and that it was a good thing we took them out. When we got back to Will, he was upset coming out of the anesthesia-normal, no big deal. He was holding his breath a lot so he had to get a little oxygen. He was also quite congested from the slight cough he had when we came in. That combined with the breathing tube and anesthesia - he was pretty congested afterwards.

Eventually he calmed down when he got settled in my lap on the recliner. He drank some juice and we offerred a popsicle, but he fell asleep before we could get it to him. (Can I just say that all we're going to go through was so worth it for 10 minutes of my firstborn sleeping in my lap! That hasn't happened in years.) So, when he woke up - the first thing he asked was, "Where's my popsicle?"

He ate the popsicle and drank more juice and seemed fine, so home we went!

Once home, he got quite nauseous and created a bit of laundry for Mom. :) He's only thrown up twice, but unfortunately one of those included the pain meds I'd given him less than a minute prior. We got some more meds in him and he's eaten a good bit too. Popsicles, sorbet, chicken noodle soup and plenty of drinks! He's a little cranky, but overall doing well now.

Our biggest concern is the major chest congestion he still has. The doctors warned me that it could turn into pneumonia and to watch it closely. We're praying his congestion is better in the morning. If its not better or he has a fever - we have to go back to the doctor. Will you pray for that? And also for me as I'm not feeling 100% today either? I have no idea what hit me, but I have gone downhill this afternoon. Praying it isn't swine flu for either Will or myself!

Crazy Cousin Time

Aunt Lollie, this outfit pic is for you. The lighting is bad so you can't get a great look, but these are the jeans you got Adeline for Christmas last year! They work well if I just cuff them. :) She looked about 12 in her jeans and sassy polka dot shirt.

Oh my word. I could just eat Sam and his HUGE grin up. Soooo sweet.

This was Adeline's favorite toy of the night. She was hilarious walking around with this on!

Crazy cousin time isn't complete without lots of rowdy antics from Uncle Gray. And for the record, TWO little boys had accidents in their pants thanks to Uncle and Dad. Way to go, Gray!

1st and 2nd place

These two pictures were overall the best two from tonight's photo shoot with cousins. Yes, Will is wearing Buzz Lightyear and Sarala is an NCSU cheerleader. I love it!

I think this one is my favorite. They are all so sweet playing together - ok. Actually, they are WILD. More pictures of cousin time coming...

3rd-6th place

We took some pictures of Gigi and her grandbabies tonight. These four take 3rd through 6th place. The first one was before anyone was being told to look at the camera.

Good one, except for Jackson's face!?

Sarala is over picture time and Adeline has clearly been distracted. Or she's trying to distract Uncle Gray...

Not terrible, but I'm not sure why Sarala and Will are putting their hands out. My favorite part of this picture is Adeline rubbing Jackson's head. She kept doing that for quite some time.

Our Bugfest 2009 Experience

Last Saturday, we ventured out to Bugfest. I used to work at the NCMNS and I LOVE this event! This year I even got to see a few of my old co-workers. I knew Will especially would enjoy it this year. And he would have, had his attitude not gotten the best of him. See below to get a glimpse of Will during our morning outing. Every year Bugfest gets bigger and this year was no exception!

Adeline, however, had a BLAST! These pictures are when she participated in dancing the life cycle of a butterfly! (This year's theme was moths and butterflys - my LEAST favorite. Ugh!) She thought she was big stuff with her wings on and running around with the big kids. Jacob helped her so I could man the camera and supervise Will.

Those are all the pictures I got. This picture explains why! We also visited the Discovery Room (where I worked) and Will got to stamp the life cycle of a Luna moth. Despite Will's meltdowns - we had a great time!

Blonde mullet

Adeline is finally growing some hair! She's getting the same light, fluffy hair that bounces like her brothers. It is growing more in the back though, leaving her with a blonde mullet. I think a blonde mullet is better than her brother's left-sided rat tail he had at this age!

PhotoMom

I've had my DSLR (the Nikon D60) for about 10 months now. I am still learning so much about photography - and right now its replaced crafting as my top hobby. :) Thanks to Brandy, I found this blog a while ago and it has been SO HELPFUL for learning how to use my camera (specifially written for Nikon D40 or D60s - but will also apply to other DSLRs) and about photography essentials like shutter speed, exposure and aperture.

If you have a DSLR camera (or even if you have a point and shoot digital), I HIGHLY recommend Photomom. Even if you're still using a 35mm SLR - the lessons would apply too. I can't afford nor do I have time for a photography class, but this is almost better being that its written for my specific camera! If you're in the market for a new DSLR, the blog author also has a buying guide written for the non-professionals as well.

The picture above was not meant to be cut off or not centered - I wasn't looking through the eye piece when I took it. I just held the camera down and snapped. I love the clouds in the background and her face is fairly focused, if only a little shadowed.