April 29

Today marks one year since we found out about Adeline's special heart.  I feel like we've come full circle.  This time last year we were in a complete stage of uncertainty, and now we are fully enjoying life with an almost eight month old and loving every minute of it.  A year ago I wanted to freeze time because I knew Adeline was safe inside of me, and now I want to freeze time because she is growing up so quickly!  No matter how many times you hear the phrase "the days are long but the years fly by," you can't prepare yourself for the true meaning of it until you are actually living it.

Smiling at Cooper

 April 29 will always be a special day for us.  It's a day that I both like to look back on and yet also not think about. When I stopped to think about it this morning, every detail of that day is so vivid to me...the outfit I wore (and never wore again), my OB walking into the ultrasound room and putting her hand on my leg (never a good sign), Andrew calling school saying I wasn't coming back in, trying to eat a late lunch at Andy's, coming home to sit in her room praying we'd actually bring her home to it...

Enjoying the breeze and modeling her hat - she's ready for summer!

 That night I rocked and rocked in her unfinished room pleading to God that He would heal her heart so we would be able to one day bring her home.  By the end of the night I did feel confident that we would bring her home but that fear was always there.  Being one that likes to be in control, I had to give over all control.  Having the faith and trusting wasn't always easy that's for sure.  And in such an amazing way did God heal her heart.

Blueberries!!  A definite new favorite :)  

If I could have known that April 29 what our life would look like in a year, I'm not sure I would have believed it.  Adeline is so full of joy, and even though her heart isn't "normal," I do know that it's one of the biggest ones out there for such a petite little thing.  It seems that everywhere we go people stop to comment about her and she smiles so big back at them (I think it might be a baby thing too).  I'm listening to her now as she wakes up from a nap, and she's squealing and talking away.  What about, I'm not quite sure, but what I do know is that she's happy, and we couldn't be any happier.  I'm so thankful that God gave us a special heart baby and chose Adeline for us.    

I've got lots to update on and promise to do so later this week!  She's up, and we have one more ceiling fan to hang.  The new house is slowly coming together but only so much can be accomplished during nap time!

We've Moved!

Every sane person thinks it's a smart idea to move with a seven month old, right??

The past few weeks have been just slightly chaotic...I refer to our moving process as speed moving.  We went from having no boxes packed to all boxes packed and ready to move in a matter of a few days.  I'm not one to usually procrastinate so don't ask me why I waited so long to pack boxes but somehow we managed to make it all work.  It has helped that our old house doesn't close for a few more weeks so we've had plenty of little trips back and forth to pick up piddly stuff.  Not to mention that Andrew has had to travel several times for work.

Don't pack me in this box too!

The best part of all of this move has been Adeline.  She has been a little trooper!  She's found a new toy in packing paper and has been happy and babbling away while there's been chaos all around her.  Thankfully we've had the arsenal of grandparents who have come in to help - thank you so much!  She's had quality time with all of them, and they've been the reinforcements we've needed when as Andrew says we start spinning in circles and don't know what to do next.

Hanging out with  Pops

We love our new house, but we do miss our old house!  It was our first home and where we brought Adeline home (after a long 8 weeks in Charleston).  We especially miss our neighbors, but we're not far and Adeline will always be a true Woman of Etiwan!

Cooper spent some time with her grandparents during the move, where she was spoiled of course.  She's doing pretty well adjusting but is still a little neurotic at times.  She does love being able to look out the french doors into the backyard.

We think they missed each other!

Playing with new toys and sun hats found while unpacking!

Kitchen before (and this was halfway through unpacking)

Kitchen after

We're at the point now where everything necessary is put away and we're functioning.  Now it's time to decorate which to me is by far the hardest part.  I tend to end up staring at walls and built-ins, not knowing what to do.  Yesterday I started walking around hanging pictures on hooks that are already there.  It's a start, right?  As everyone has told me, I'll never feel finished.

Taking a break

On that note, I better get back to unpacking and attempting to decorate!  More pictures to come later :) Oh and if anyone needs to borrow a pitcher, I discovered in the move that I have 8, all colors and sizes!

6 Months

I just realized this post has been sitting here for over a week, and I never published it, oops!

Time is flying by as Adeline turned 6 months old.  How in the world our baby girl is half of a year old, we do not know!  At her 6 month check-up, she was 12 pounds 12 ounces (3rd percentile so moving up the chart!).  She's in the 20th percentile for height.  To celebrate her 6 month birthday, she tried sweet potatoes for the first time and loved them.  She's since tried peas and squash.   She hated the peas initially but will now eat them.

Sweet potatoes, yum!

Adeline had an appointment with her cardiologist last week.  He thoroughly checked her out and did an echo.  I expect that Andrew and I will be anxious before every cardiologist visit for probably the rest of Adeline's life.  We expected all to go well, but there's always that worry.  Dr. Shuler gave Adeline a great report!  He said her arch repair still looks fabulous (thanks Dr. Bradley!), and he doesn't anticipate any complications from it considering how good it looks at this point.  Her mitral and aortic valves aren't normal (we've always known this), but they're functioning normally and growing with her heart which is all we can ask for.  He said that she should live to be an old lady with her heart just the way it is - the best news we heard all day!  When it came time to discuss her next appointment, he said he'd see her in 6 months - 6 months?!  What a blessing that he's so confident in her heart to wait six months.  We are so thankful for her amazing doctors and the care that they are able to provide her.

Adeline's a pro at sitting up now.  She can sit for a good amount of time by herself but will still topple over occasionally.  I know she's enjoying the new view.  She's mesmerized by buttons, patterns, or logos on shirts.  I think they could entertain her for hours as she's always trying to pull them off.  Her feet are at the top of her list of favorite toys right now as well.  Not always so fun when I'm trying to feed her, and all she wants to do is play with her feet.  I think it's also time we finally give in and put her in the nursery at church.  She is a happy squealer, and perhaps she's just wanting to participate in the service as well but man can she be loud during church.  And it's always in the middle of a prayer...never during songs!

Headed to an engagement party - Adeline was bummed she didn't' get to go!

Other highlights from recent weeks to come as soon as I get the pictures on the computer!

5 Months and Food

So I'm obviously a little late in posting this, but Adeline was 5 months on February 3!  I think this is the longest stretch we've had of no doctor visits which is a great thing but also hard for me to adjust to not seeing either her pediatrician or cardiologist.  I like to see them and have them reassure me that she's doing great.  But then I have to keep reminding myself that the further appointments are spaced out, the better.  It's just like when I had to wean myself off of her monitors in the hospital.  By my best guesses in my attempts to weigh Adeline - you know the stand on the scale with baby, then stand on the scale without baby and subtract - she's around 12 pounds, yay!!  She's a perfect little peanut :)

When she turned 5 months we decided to go ahead and try her on oatmeal cereal.  To say she loves it is an understatement.  She was a little skeptical the first few bites, and then she began to dive in.  It's hilarious to watch her eat because her arms and legs start flying, and she shakes her head back and forth as she literally nose dives towards the spoon.  It can be tricky getting the spoon into her mouth because she'll nose dive, and then the spoon is hitting her nose instead of her mouth.  I think we've finally reached the point where the ratio of food in her mouth versus food on the bib favors her mouth.  We're waiting to try other food when she turns 6 months old.  Cooper even enjoys it when Adeline eats (I know she'll enjoy it much more when Adeline drops food on the floor...)  Cooper is a very social eater and only eats when we eat - she will now eat whenever Adeline is eating cereal.

I know I'm bias, but I think Adeline is the happiest baby!  She smiles all the time (complete with her tongue sticking out) but can be a little shy when around a larger crowd.  When we're at the library for story time she tends to just observe and watch the other babies, taking everything in.  I think she's trying to figure out how it is that they crawl and move around on their own.  She's into squealing and babbling like crazy.  We'll hear her in the middle of the night giggling to herself...not really sure what she finds so amusing in the middle of the night, but it's still cute to listen to her.  Her once so great sleeping habits aren't so great anymore, but hopefully we'll return to those nights sometime soon.  Can't believe in a few weeks she'll be 6 months old!

Feet are always in her mouth.  Instead of taking a nap, I'll find her playing with her feet.  

Not really sure what's about to happen...

Nose dive in action

Talking Baby

Obviously Adeline must think it's hilarious to watch herself on video.  Here she is watching herself on video on my phone.  My guess is that she's so excited to have finally found someone who speaks her language!

Fashionista

Because every girl needs a little frill in her life...

Growing Girl

Like all moms I found myself putting away Adeline's clothes that are too small for her all the while reminiscing over the days when she wore them.  Now I'm a math person so I clearly know that my child is only four months old so "those days" really weren't that long ago.  But she's had a jam-packed four months and has come so far.  Being the petite thing that she is (by the way, weight check today and she's up 9 ounces in 11 days!), I thought I'd just have a few things to pack away, especially since we didn't have many newborn things for her since she spent a month in the hospital.  Oh but I was wrong.  I filled an entire box of clothes that are too small for her - maybe it's a girl thing and having too many clothes??  As I packed away each outfit, I thought of the first time she wore many of her clothes.  I was most sentimental over the clothes she first wore in the hospital, especially since she didn't wear any clothes for weeks.  It was such a big deal for me to finally be able to put her in clothes.  To me that was a sign that we were close to going home.  Looking at those tiny newborn clothes, I couldn't believe that she ever actually fit into them.  And now that she's moving into 6 month clothes, it seems like just yesterday that I was looking at them thinking she'd never grow into them.  I'm sure this is one of countless mommy sentimental moments.

I know every mother says it, but I still can't believe she's growing so quickly and becoming her own little person.  Just today Andrew peeked in on her while she was napping and made that comment that she's getting so big.  Adeline has such a fun personality and is a very easy baby (minus the rough nights we've had lately).  In just the past week she is grabbing EVERYTHING - my glass, hair, phone, any toy in front of her, you name it.  Quite a few times she's managed to smack herself in the face with a toy, but I'm not so sure that's something to brag about :)  She's become a professional bubble blower and is making all kinds of new noises.  And just like her mama, she's nosey and doesn't want to miss a thing.  Before I know it, she's going to be chasing Cooper around the house!

And for the record, I hate reflux, but that's all I need to say about that.

Chillin in her high chair - no food yet - just playing with toys

She LOVES to shake this ball

Pulling the sunglasses back out, but she didn't want to keep them on!

Not sure what this looks means...

We were playing dress up with her bow

And the tongue...always out