Happy Halloween

I have come to a realization this year.  I love everything leading up to Halloween, but don't like the actual day.

I love the cute, sparkly decorations.  I love going to the pumpkin patch.  I love carving pumpkins.  I love getting costumes and dressing up.  I love Halloween treats.  I love Halloween parties.

I don't love how crazy the kids at school are.  I don't love the blood and gore.  I don't love greedy kids.  I don't love all the crazy pranks associated with Halloween like pumpkin smashing and egg throwing. 

I do have to say that this year has been way more fun since we have Adelyn to do things with.

We went to our church's Trunk or Treat on Friday.  There was a chili cook-off dinner before hand.  Travis made a dessert chili.  It looked pretty gross but was apparently pretty good.  He won the most "creative" chili.  It was pudding, jelly beans (kidney beans), tootsie rolls (meat), red chews (tomatoes), cool whip (sour cream), and shredded Twizzlers (cheese).

Travis helped organize the events, so he was off running things most of the night.  Adelyn and I visited friends and played with the balloon decorations.  She was dressed up as a little pumpkin.

On Saturday, we went to the pumpkin patch.  Unfortunately it was freezing so we didn't hang around long.  We just went on a hayride, got our pumpkins and left.

There was a corn maze that we skipped because it was too cold!  I love this picture though! My baby looks so grownup standing there!

In the field picking out our pumpkins!

 All bundled up!

 On the Hayride back!  There was a dad there with 3 little kids that Adelyn loved watching.  She handled the cold better than me!  It was cold and windy!

 Playing in the pumpkins!

 I love watching her experience new things! She loves life!

 On Monday, one of our friends put together a family night.  We carved pumpkins and ate fall treats.  It was a blast!  We ended up being the only family all dressed up.  Adelyn was a pumpkin, I was a scarecrow and Travis was a farmer.  We never got a picture of all 3 of us together but I think Leisy has one of me with Adelyn and one of me with Travis.  I will have to get those from her.  Here are a couple of Adelyn from before we left.   

This is only the 2nd time I have ever carved pumpkins.  My brother is allergic to them so we didn't grow up doing it.  I carved Tinkerbell and Travis drilled holes for her fairy dust.  I saw the idea on pinterest and it turned out better than expected!  We won "cutest" pumpkin!

 

Have a Happy Halloween and stay safe!  Trick or Treating is postponed here because of bad weather.  

7 Months!!

I don't know how it happened so fast, but Adelyn just turned 7 months old!  I love being a mom and watching her learn and grow!  It is amazing how fast they change!  Since I didn't post her 6 month updates, this will be for the past two months.

Adelyn has started getting around more and more.  She pushes herself backwards, she rolls, she scoots forward on her tummy, she scoots on her bum, or whatever to get to where she wants.  She does the rocking thing that makes me think that she will be crawling any day.

Just recently she has learned how to go from laying on her tummy to pushing herself up to a sitting position.

She LOVES to eat baby food.  She thinks she is an adult and wants to eat whatever we have too!

She is still a happy, easy-going baby!  She loves attention from anyone and laughs easily!

She got sick for the first time this month.  She is almost over it.  She was just very congested, had a runny nose and cough. It made for some really long nights with her waking up every couple of hours.  Let's just say that it has made me grateful for how well she used to sleep! Cross your fingers that she will go back to normal after she gets well!

Critics out there won't believe me, but she has said her first word.  She can say hi and dada.  After she said hi a couple of times I realize how much we say it to her and I decided it was fair to count it as her first word.  I don't think she knows what it means, but she does say it.  She says dada less often and it is more of when she is just making sounds.  As much as I hate to admit, she does look at Travis when I say daddy, so she knows what it means.  Moms never get the credit do they?

I am excited for her next few milestones even though I know our life will change!

Teachers

This year, instead of teaching kindergarten again, I took a part-time job as an intervention specialist.  I work with the lowest students in each grade to give them more individualized instruction in reading and math.  I have loved this opportunity and learned a lot!  I could go on more about how this is the perfect job for me at this point in my life, but I am writing for a different reason.

Right now, there is a lot going around about common core, how terrible schools/teachers are, how teachers don't care about learning or the students and only the testscores, unethical discipline, etc.  I just wanted to write to share my experience today. 

With my new position, I have the opportunity to meet with each grade level team, the school physiologist, school counselor, speech therapist, physical therapist, principal and other intervention teachers.  We had one of these meetings today.

At these quarterly meetings, we discuss the needs of specific students in each class.  Beforehand, all of the teachers thoughtfully think of all of their students and submit the names of those they are concerned about academically, socially, emotionally, etc.

This team of professionals brainstorm things that we, as a school, can do to help these individuals.  We talked about everything from attendance issues to serious psychological issues.  Each student gets the help from ALL of these people.  Everyone participating in these meeting cares about THEM as an INDIVIDUAL.   

There were several times during these meetings that I got teary eyed because of the love that these teachers have for these kids.  These teachers put so much time, effort, brainpower and energy into each student to ensure that they succeed in all areas of their life.  Most of these students do not come from homes like I grew up in.  They are in homes that the parents are in and out of jail, they bounce around from one guardian to another, they have lost loved ones, they don't have food or new clothes, their parents don't value education, essentially they have no home support.  

For some of these students, we are the only people that care about them.  I heard stories today about how 3rd graders are being self-destructive because no one cares, how 8 year olds are being left at home while the parents go out and drink, how kindergarteners come home and their dad has been taken to jail and much much more.  This made me so sad.  The teachers are doing all they can to give the students a feeling of self-worth and that someone does care for them and their success.  They are giving up their lunch breaks to spend individual time with students in need.  They are buying them small incentives to let them know they care.  They are fixing their hair because their mom won't give them the time of day. They are being a mother, counselor, nurse, psychologist, cheerleader, etc. 

What I am saying is that the teachers DO care about their students.  They aren't worried only about test scores.  They are doing EVERYTHING in their power to give these students a better life.  I am sick and tired of hearing that teachers don't care because we do!!  I am so grateful for the teachers I work with!!  They are some of the best I have seen!  I appreciate all they do for their students and the time they put into making our school a positive, comfortable environment to be in.

Utah: Part 2

On Sunday, we got up and went to church with Nathan.  It has been a looong time since I have been in a single's ward.  I forgot how quiet they are!  Adelyn did awesome!  Of course she did make a few noises that caught the attention of everyone around us, but nothing too crazy!  I have never seen her so quiet in her life!

She was perfect for Nathan!  He used her to get the attention of all the girls.  Jessica and I ended up walking into a class just so we wouldn't hinder his game.  It worked because when I looked back out at them, there was a swarm of girls surrounding them.  Adelyn ate up all the attention and just smiled at everyone!

Nathan took us over to Temple Square for the afternoon.  I love walking around the temple grounds and seeing all the beauty!

 Adelyn's first time to Temple Square.

 While taking this picture, some random tourists came up and started taking pictures of Adelyn.  No shame.  They walked right in between Nathan and the camera.  It was kind of strange and funny at the same time. 

 

I love this temple!  It is so beautiful!

 We also got to go on top of the conference center.  The view all around was gorgeous!  I really do love and miss the mountains!

Adelyn loves to kiss us now.  I think it is adorable even if she slobbers all over us!

 After walking around a while, we headed over to Bradford's house.  On our way, I got a message from one of my old students.  I begged Nathan (he was driving) to let me stop by and see her.  I absolutely loved that class and hope to get graduation announcements from them one day!  Kendyl taught me so much that year.  She and another student really pushed me to do my best!

She still looks exactly the same, except about a foot taller!  I sure love her!

We finally made it to Bradford's house for dinner.  I really love his family!  They just found out that Heidi is having a girl.  She will be less than a year apart from Adelyn in age.  It was fun to see Logan with Adelyn.  He will be such a great big brother!

My sweet Brooke!  If Adelyn turns out anything like her, I would be happy! 

Monday turned out to be a Georgia friend day!  I planned on spending the day with Katie and got a surprise visit from Lizzy. Katie took me out to Cafe Rio (I had to get it in as many times as possible!), showed me her new house, and hung around with me.  She is such a strong, intelligent woman!

I love this picture of them all looking at each other!

Like I said, Lizzy stopped by too!  I haven't seen her in forever!  She just happened to be in Utah visiting family the same time I was there.  I love her so much!  Some day I hope to be as well traveled and experienced as her!  She has done a little bit of everything and has been a little bit of everywhere! 

After spending the day down in Utah Valley, I headed North of Salt Lake City to see Devin and Kati.  This was Adelyn's first time meeting Lincoln and Wyatt.  She LOVED them and I think they loved her.  Lincoln kept doing all sorts of silly things, like standing on his head, to make her laugh.  It was so cute.  We also got to see Steve while we were there.  He is staying with Kati and Devin until his family finds a house and moves up.

Tuesday and our flight home came a little too quickly.  Thank you to everyone that spent time with me!  I wish I could have stayed a few more days so I could have seen more people!  I do love Utah and a part of it feels like home to me.  So many memories have been made there!

Utah

Prepare yourselves for the longest post of your life!

Last week I had the opportunity to fly out to Utah for a friend's wedding.  I was so nervous about traveling out there because Travis would not be able to come with me.  I also have heard the horror stories of babies that SCREAM on the airplane because their ears hurt.

I prepared well and got lots of advice before leaving and it was totally worth it.  I had to get up at 3:30am the day we left.  As suggested, I let Adelyn sleep in her carseat so it made an easy transition to the car so she could get a little extra sleep before being stuck on the airplane.

Here she is still in her jammies after going through security.  Everyone was so kind to help me fold up the stroller and stick it on the belt.  I didn't even get lectured about having a bottle of milk and water for her.  They just checked it and I went on my way!

After making it to our gate, I had time to change her before we had to board.  Luckily she was in a good mood even though she only got half the amount of sleep that she is used to.  Here she is waving goodbye to Dayton.  This looks like my baby pictures to me.

On every flight we sat next to very nice people.  I have found that people talk to you more when you have a baby.  I guess the baby is a conversation starter. I enjoyed talking to everyone next to us and learning more about them.  It helped ease my nerves about her getting wiggly. 

Everyone was impressed with how well she did and so was I!  I did not want her screaming so I brought milk, toys, books, pacifier, and food pouches to keep her occupied.  She ended up playing with my necklace most of the time though!  On each flight she took a short 30 minute nap instead of her normal 2 and 3 hours.

Upon landing in Salt Lake on Thursday, we met up with Nathan for lunch and a tour of his office.  Nathan loved taking Adelyn around to show off to everyone as much as she liked getting all of the attention.  She loves people!

 Unfortunately I did not get a picture, but we hung out with one of my old college friends, Amy.  Poor Amy got the tired, jetlagged, grumpy Amber and Adelyn.  I wanted to go check out the new mall in Salt Lake but changed my plans because I was exhausted!  We just hung out at her house a bit (read: I rested while she played with Adelyn) before heading down to Provo.  I do have to say that the drive to Provo was one of the scariest things I have done in a while!  I had a rental car that I was still figuring out and being extra cautious with, it started to rain, I didn't know exactly where I was going, there was construction, I had to concentrate on keeping my eyes opened because I was so tired and the drivers were crazy!!  It was so scary!

While I was in Utah, I stayed with Jessica's family.  It was so nice of them and they had the perfect setup for me!  Adelyn and I each had our own bed so she didn't get used to sleeping in bed with me.  We had a bathroom and we were off in the corner of the house where I didn't have to worry about her crying and waking someone up.

On Friday, I headed over to the BYU campus.  I got to visit one of my professors/boss/advice giver/lady I nannied for.  Ann and Ethan will be a part of my life forever!  I haven't seen Ann in 2 years and we were able to pick up where we left off like I had never left.  She is such a great friend! Once again, I forgot to get a picture.  :(

I also met up with Melanie.  She showed me around her new apartment and work office.  We even got to eat at the Canon Center.  I was really impressed with how good everything was!  I think Travis would love eating there everyday!  There were so many options and treats!  Maybe one day I will learn how to enjoy cooking.  

Then we headed down to visit Jessica at the Student Athletic Building.  She works mainly with the football team.  There were several athletes in her office when I stopped by.  They all loved Adelyn and took turns holding her.  I loved watching these huge, tough guys turn into softies when the baby came around.  They were so cute playing with her and she loved every second of it! 

 That night we went and watched those guys at the BYU game.  One of the players told me that I shouldn't take Adelyn because it was supposed to get so cold.  We weren't planning on the cold weather and didn't have many warm clothes with us.  Luckily Jessica's mom had some of Jessica's old clothes that she let Adelyn borrow.  We layered her up and headed out.  I have to say that she is the cutest BYU fan I have ever seen!

Walking down to the stadium all bundled up in her oversized clothes!  She was so happy! 

I thought we would leave the game early so that she could go to sleep, but she fell asleep in the 3rd quarter so we stayed.  She was such a champ!  No crying here!  Just one happy baby to be cheering on her cougars!  I think she is a good luck charm because they won!

This is right before she fell asleep, but I had to get a picture with her at her first game! 

We got up on Saturday and the weather was PERFECT!!  This is one of the things I miss most about Utah: blue skies and gorgeous mountains! 

 I met up with some friends from Pleasant Grove and went to the best restaurant around!  I miss Cafe Rio so much!  I am trying to convince someone to open one out here!  The mission president here is actually the owner, so maybe it will make it here sooner than we know!

Jessica showed me her new house and then we just did some shopping and hung around the rest of the day!  I am so lucky to have such amazing friends!  I am also glad that Adelyn loves them so much!

I wish this picture was clear!  Adelyn was having such a fun time up on Jessica's shoulders. 

We went to Melanie's wedding reception that evening.  She is the whole reason that we made the trip!  We got to hang out with her on Friday and then saw her again on Saturday.  She looked so beautiful and happy!  I am so glad she found someone so perfect for her!

I think this is from Friday when it was freezing, but I just had to include it because I think it is such a cute picture!  I love this little girl so much! She was so good on this trip!  She adjusted so well to the crazy schedule I put her on and with me dragging her around everywhere!

Stay tuned for the rest of my trip!