Happy Easter!

We had a wonderful Easter!  We started off by volunteering on Friday night at church in the nursery and then prepared communion for Saturday. (Our church had 9 Easter services!!) We were in the infant nursery so Adalyn got introduced to a whole new world of toys. We've never put her in the nursery because I was waiting until after flu season and she never makes noise during the service so she isn't a distraction. (And we usually don't attend a "live sermon" service. The music is live, but the sermon is taped so we know we're not distracting a speaker if she were to get loud. Plus it's a smaller room so we can get out easily.) I digress. We volunteered in the infant nursery and yes, we had a tornado warning! Our nurseries are on the second floor and are full of windows so we had to evacuate our rooms and go downstairs to the hallway next to the main service room. It was a bit stressful but everyone was safe, everyone stayed calm, and the tornado missed us! yay!

Sunday we didn't want to go to our normal service because that service time usually is packed with visitors so we ended up attending the 8:30am service. So early. The only service at 8:30 is live so we decided to bring Adalyn to the nursery and she did awesome.  I guess since she's used to us leaving her at the sitter she didn't even blink twice when we left. She's such a good baby and just rolls with it. We are so blessed!

When we got home from church we did Easter baskets. I didn't know what to include in her basket since she will never remember.  So I found a few things we were already buying or had already bought and put them in there and she was so cute opening her basket.  She really was interested with the different items!  Daddy took lots of pictures!

She's already grabbing those bunny ears!

 She has got a good hold on that basket! (I think she likes it!)

 Is there candy in here?

 Cute baby legs and going for her new Easter board book!

 The cutest little Easter Bunny! (She left these on until we took them back off! So funny!) Too bad we didn't get a picture of the ears with her new sunglasses on. oh my.

 

We then went to have lunch with the Taylor's and Motsch's. Since none of us have family in town we were each other's families and we had a yummy home cooked Easter dinner!  We were too busy getting dinner ready to remember to get pictures before dinner when the kids were all at their best but we did manage to get a few pictures after dinner minus Kennedy who was already down for her nap. 

Our first Easter as a family! 

The boys with their kids.

The girls with the kids. Avery is all chill and Adalyn is looking at Eli like "Whaa??" So cute!

Since it was cold out, Adalyn wore her matching sweater. Here is a picture of her "standing" in her Easter outfit - I found it on sale at Gymboree for $15 and the shoes were too cute not to buy for $3. (Coda sneaked in there too. She is absolutely infatuated with him right now.)

Little School Girl

Saturday we went to Jonathan's grandpa's memorial.  He passed away a few weeks ago and lived out of town so the family had a separate memorial this past weekend.  It was a nice time for all of Jonathan's extended family to get together, have happy memories and look through pictures.  Jonathan looks just like his grandpa and it was fun to look at those old pictures.

I was thankful that I had a subdued outfit for Adalyn to wear, since most of hers aren't quite appropriate for a memorial.  I bought this little Ralph Lauren outfit at a consignment sale in August.  I don't think it had ever been worn and was just soo cute (and only $5) so I had to get it.  Of course Jonathan said it looked like a uniform his sister wore to catholic girl's school back in the day.  I had to get some pictures in this cute outfit and Adalyn was in such a great mood that I kept snapping pictures.  I just love capturing that smile!

Trying to grab those toes. Can you see the look of determination?

You can't see well in the pictures but it's a wrap dress with pressed pleats down the side. So cute. Too bad it doesn't photograph well.  I got those ruffle-butts at a consignment sale this spring for a couple dollars and they were just so cute!

Smiling! I love how her cheeks get so big when she smiles that her eyes change shape.  We always say that she Smeyes. (For anyone who doesn't watch America's Next Top Model, it means that she smiles with her eyes.)

So kissable!!

Goodwill Crafts

Jes and I went Goodwill-ing last week and I felt like a dork because the entire time I was in the different Goodwill stores I kept saying..."oh I saw this on a blog" or "I saw this blogger remake something like this into something really cool". Maybe I read too many blogs? I never think of myself as being creative, but I feel like I got inspired thanks to those blogs.

The first thing I got was this cool planter for $2.50.  I liked the design and it didn't even need to be painted.  I didn't know where I'd use it but I figured I'd find a spot for it in a spring decoration.  I ended up filling it with newspaper bunched up catalog pages (FREE) and laid some moss (from Hobby Lobby) on top and it was a perfect spot for my little ducky to sit. (The duck is from Pier1 after Easter last year.)

 Here is a look at the other side of the mantle...just because.  I thought that little bunny looked cute in the apothecary jar.  Not sure if this will stay this way or if it will shift again before Easter. But  for now I like it!

 This little beauty was my prize! I saw it on the shelf at Goodwill and I went straight over to it to see if it was glass.  It was.  And thanks to the Thrifty Decor Chick, I knew just what I would do with it! She always has cute decorations in remade glass domes and I love them. So I tried to channel my inner-thrifty-decor-chick and this is what I came up with.

 What a steal! Only $1.50! I think I actually remember these back in the 80's maybe? Wow it is U-G-L-Y!

 I finally got the glass pried off.  It was stuck on there well and the glass was thin so I was trying to be so gentle!  Let's not talk about the smell that came out when I got the glass off... I used Goo Gone to get that glue off of the glass.

 I grabbed some of this at Lowes:

 And took my project outside.  I gave the base two coats.

 Um...I guess I could have used a different area of the grass so that my front yard wasn't left with big white circles. Don't tell Jonathan:) That watering can was $1.50 and I forgot to take before pictures and I'm not finished with it yet. It's going to be cute though!

 Dakota is standing guard trying to figure out what mommy is doing. Please disregard that hideous brass on my screen door. Bleh.  That will be a project this summer. I'll be using some spray paint to see if I can "remake" my door.

 I took my sanding block out to distress the base.

 And this is what I came up with! I can't wait to find something new for each season to go in my snow-less snow globe:)  I think this little chick looks so cute. My mom bought it for Adalyn for Easter and I think it's just so adorable! Now to find a perfect place to put it!

I had so much fun working on these projects!! I think I need to hang out at thrift stores more often! It's fun to remake something that I would normally walk on past into something cute!

Sunday girls

Sunday I dressed Adalyn in a cute dress that her daddy picked out last summer for her.  It was perfect for the 80 degree day.  I happened to be wearing the same colors (because a bunch of my shirts are being altered so I had one option and somehow it coordinated with Adalyn.)  Here are a couple pictures with my girl! (Too bad I wasn't holding her so her dress would show in the picture!)

 Silly mommy trying to get a smile from Adalyn!

5 Months

Adalyn turned 5 months old on Saturday.  She's getting to be so interactive.  We are so enjoying spending time with her.  This past weekend was record high temps so for the first time she went for a few days with bare feet and she has now "found" them.  It's pretty cute.  She's always grabbing her little toes!  She still loves her jungle gym and loves standing in her exersaucer.  She is not into tummy time and gets frustrated when we put her on her belly but not frustrated enough to figure out how to roll over.  But when she is on her back she has learned how to use her heels to push and she can scoot herself to the toy she wants.

She is now in size 2 diapers.  Her onesies and a few tops are still 0-3, but most of her clothes are 3-6 month.

She loves sucking on her fingers.  I'm constantly pulling them out of her mouth.  I would much rather her use a paci (because breaking that habit would be easier) but she's much more interested in her fingers.  She especially likes her left hand ring finger inverted.  It's so funny but I can't get a picture of it because she pulls it out when the camera comes out.  She has also learned how to blow bubbles and thinks she is big stuff.  It's so cute how proud she gets of it.  So between those two things, her little chin is always wet:)

Here are some 5 month pictures:

These last 5 months have been absolutely beyond amazing.  We love our little girl soo soo much!! We are so blessed!

Guest Blogging

I'm blogging over at Southland's blog today.  I was asked at work to contribute to the church's blog about once a month.  I was a bit scared about it.  Let's be honest.  I've gotten a bit lazy with my blogging lately.  Instead of blogging about house projects (that are non-existent right now), spiritual things, or any other topic, I throw up a picture or 25 of my baby and say. "Look at my baby!" Then I don't really have to take the time to write a lot.  It's easy. 

I'm a private person. I bet you didn't know this about me since I kind of put my life (in pictures at least) out here on my blog.  And yes, I work for a church.  But I'm still quite reserved when talking about spiritual things.  So when I was asked to blog for the church about what God is teaching me I seriously didn't think I could do it.  It took a bit more effort and thought than a "Hey look at my adorable baby" post, but I'm happy that I will be a regular contributor for that blog going forward.

If you'd like to check out my guest blog, you can hop on over to Southland's Blog. Oh and by the way, I did not choose that picture that is in the blog.  If I had my way it wouldn't be a skinny woman (unless that woman was me...and it so is not), it would be a chubby cheeked baby!

Cutie boots

Sunday I dressed Adalyn in a sweet Gap sweater dress (that I got at a consignment sale last August for $3), a precious Gap shrug that I bought (at the store) for $5 last summer on clearance, tights, and cute Gap boots that Jonathan found on clearance at Gap last month.  I love me some baby Gap...especially when it is not full price!  Discount shopping is awesome and now that I can discount shop for baby clothes it's extra rewarding!  Anyway, I really wanted her to wear the dress before it was too warm out to wear a sweater dress so Sunday was the day.  (Of course the day ended up being too warm for the outfit but oh well.  She looked cute anyway.)  So, back to the shoes.  I thought they would actually stay on since they went halfway up her legs. I was wrong. Two kicks and they were gone.  So I gently put them on, held her legs so she wouldn't kick them off and made Jonathan take a picture quickly!  By the way, the shoes are size 0-3 so they are not too big! Why don't baby shoes stay on?? They are just so cute that I get drawn in thinking about a sweet outfit that they will make.

Today Adalyn was playing in her exersaucer and laughing at her daddy. She's just so adorable.  I got a couple sweet pictures before she noticed the camera. Those cheeks...oh my...

 The smile goes away when the camera comes out. But that stare is so sweet that I just keep clicking away. I can't help it.

Little UK Cheerleader

Today is a big UK game!! We are in the Final Four (if you've been living under a rock and weren't aware) for the first time since 1998! Living in Lexington (aka The Big Blue Nation) is like no other during basketball season, let alone tournament time.  UK fans are the most loyal fans ever! If you go anywhere on game days everyone is in blue, cars are decked out and even the grandmas have their appliquéd sweater vests on!  It's quite fun! The stadium in Houston will be packed tonight with UK fans!  People will travel anywhere for their Cats!

Of course we went out last night to get our Final Four t-shirts and found a cute onesie for Adalyn, so today we were all dressed to go out and Adalyn spit up all down the front of her outfit and Jonathan's shirt.  Yes we are dedicated fans.  We waited to leave the house until we did the load of laundry and got dressed for the second time!

I went a little crazy with the pictures but she just looked so sweet and those blue eyes are just soo precious.  Of course she wasn't in a smiley mood until the camera was off, but that didn't stop mommy from being camera-happy.

Go Big Blue! Let's beat UConn!

OHHHHHH....C-A-T-S! CATS! CATS! CATS!

Jungle gym

Where have I been all week? Oh, I don't know.  Enjoying life with my sweet little family!  I haven't taken the time to write any blogs.  I'm sorry.  I guess 5 posts last week took all of my effort!  Anyway, here is a video that I took after work last night.  It's really not very exciting, it's from my iphone so it's grainy, she's wearing a daycare outfit, and I have crazy voice again, but there are a couple sweet baby smiles at the end:) I thought that my mom and dad might have a fit if I don't post at all this week.  They need their baby fix!