We Have a Yard!

We were scheduled to have our yard done last week.  Every day I would come home hoping it was done.  Finally, my mom came to pick me up one day and said that the sod had arrived just before she left.  Adelyn had a doctor's appointment right after I got off work so we didn't get home until about 2 hours after mom had left.  To our surprise, the whole yard was done when we got home!

I love it!  It makes the house finally feel complete.  My favorite is the lilac bush.  It smells so good every time you walk outside. It is just a pain to maintain right now because we have to water so much!

Mother's Day!

This mother's day was a pretty special one.  It was the first one that I could celebrate actually being a mom.  It was also special because my mom was here with me.

It was a pretty typical day.  We heard stories about mothers at church and they fed us a light brunch.  Travis cooked us a nice dinner that evening.  The rest of the night was nothing too special until Travis came into the room carrying a dozen red roses.  He gave me a card and went and got my mom.  Once she was downstairs, he showed us a slideshow.  It was the sweetest thing.  Of course we all cried.  It was a slideshow of pictures starting with us finding out we were pregnant, ultrasound pictures, pregnancy and the beginning of our new life being parents.  It was so sweet!  I am lucky to have found such a sweet man to be the father of my children!

We got a new camera lens, so we have enjoyed testing it out on Adelyn.  I have loved just having a subject that doesn't mind me practicing on her.  I would like to take a photography and editing class someday.  Here are some of the raw practice shots.  Sorry if you guys are getting tired of seeing pictures of her.  I just can't get enough!

Look how strong she is getting!  

Thank you Tammy for the cute headband!  I love it!

 She loves sucking on her hand.

 She is starting to get better at looking at the camera.  I love this one!

Meeting Pops!

The Friday after we moved into our house, we drove down to Georgia for Adelyn to meet my dad.  We are still trying to come up with a name for her to call him.  My nephews call him grandad, but he doesn't look like a grandad to me.  Right now we are testing out Pops.  Then we can say, "go hop on pop!"  We are also considering Grandpa, Grampy and G-Daddy.  We are open to other options.  :)

Adelyn did a great job in the car on the way down!  She slept for the majority, but she enjoyed just looking out the window when she was awake.

We made sure that she wore her "I love Grandpa" onesie even though I think she could have wrapped him around her tiny finger without it on.  We are glad that we have family close enough to drive and see. 

Great Wolf Lodge

The weekend that we moved, we took a time out to go to Great Wolf Lodge with the Carlson's.  I know we are insane to go on such a crazy weekend, but I am so glad we did.  We had not really gone out as a family until then and it was a blast!

Travis, Adelyn and I drove up Saturday morning. The Carlson's were already there. We got to see the AWESOME room they stayed in. The kids had their own separate part of the room that looked like a tree house.  The boys went on a fun scavenger hunt that was set up throughout the lodge.

After they finished, we headed to the water park.  For the most part, Alison and I hung out with the babies while the big and little boys went on the slides.  Adelyn pretty much slept the whole time, so I did get to go on some of the slides with Travis while Alison watched her!  It was so much fun!  Travis has a way of making you feel like a kid again.  We made sure to scream and laugh the whole ride.

Alison let me borrow a swimsuit for Adelyn and I let Avonlea borrow our swim diaper.  Adelyn didn't go in the water all the way but she did get her feet and legs wet.  She seemed indifferent to it not really reacting when I put her in.  Avonlea LOVED it!  She just kicked her feet the whole time Alison held her.  

 It was so fun to watch the little boys in the water while the big boys talked.  They were so brave and happy.  I am so glad that we got to go!  Thank you Carlsons!!

Girl's Party

Adelyn had her first party back in March.  My friend's daughter, Cora, had her first birthday so they invited all the girls over that have been born in the past year.  We took a picture of the babies in order from oldest to youngest.  Metta (Leisy's daughter) was the oldest and Adelyn was the youngest.  There were ten babies there and several were unable to make it.  Tons of baby girls! (I love all the headbands!)

I loved seeing all the different developmental stages of the girls.  It was so fun to see the older ones interact with each other and fun to see how much changes each month with the younger ones.

Since it was Adelyn's first party, of course I had to dress her up.  I love having a girl!  Looking back at these pictures, I can't believe how much she has grown in a month!  She is so tiny here!

I think she is much more photogenic now!

VanTress Family

Last month, Adelyn got to meet some of her cousins for the first time.

My brother-in-law, Jeremy, is getting deployed to Afghanistan for 9-12 months.  That leaves Courtney at home to take care of their 4 kids and house by herself.  She decided to go spend time with her mother in Oregon while he is gone.  Since they will be staying there for some time, they drove out.

They started the trip in North Carolina where they are stationed.  I think we were their first stop.  While they were here, we went to the Air Force Museum and hung around the house.  I was very impressed by the kids at the museum.  They were very interested in seeing all the airplanes and never complained about walking around or getting tired.

Once we were back at the house, the kids played in the yard for a bit until Travis got home.  Travis claims to be the favorite uncle and now I know why.  He bought them all sorts of treats and loved playing with them.

The kids were so funny because they found joy in such little things.  We were still in our (small) previous home with half of the house packed up.  Willie found a ping pong paddle and thought it was the greatest toy.  The girls found a hiding spot between our couches that they loved to climb in.  It just made me realize that we need to teach our kids to appreciate everything.  They don't have to have toys to be happy as long as you teach them how to entertain themselves.  Courtney is a really great mom.

Before we left, we took some pictures of Adelyn with the little cousins.  She loved Lucy and would watch her any time she came by.  I think Lucy loved her just as much!

It was a short visit, but I am glad they got to come by!

Internet

We finally have Internet!  Wahoo!  This past week and a half has shown me how much I rely on internet for communication, information and entertainment.

Now that I have internet, I have TONS of catching up to do.  A lot has happened in the past couple of weeks that I need to write about.  In no particular order, here are some of the things:

1-Adelyn's birth story...I got the edited pictures back.
2-Moving in and some thoughts/suggestions about the process
3-Starting back to work.
4-Adelyn meeting my dad
5-Great Wolf Lodge
6-Meeting some Barlow cousins
7-Adelyn's first party

Until I get some posts done, here is a picture of my adorable baby! I can't tell you how much I love this little face!