Oney Monster Mash!

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Wish I could fit our dog, Shelby, in the video, too! :)

Boo @ The Zoo

We made our annual trip to the local Boo at the Zoo. It was an opportunity for the girls to get dressed up for the first time this year. I can't say much for the event myself since there weren't many animals to see... but the girls still enjoyed the spooky decorations on a gorgeous Fall night.

Here are a couple pictures of our octopus and mermaid...

our sea animal and sea princess. For the record, they are both princesses... Ella just fit in her sister's old costume. Besides, doesn't she make for an adorable pink octopus?! :)

Pumpkin Pickin' and Elephant Ridin'

We had a great weekend full of family fun... first the circus where Adelyn got to ride an elephant for the first time (I just couldn't bring myself to allow Ella up there yet!) and then pumpkin picking at Relleke's farm.

We enjoyed a great playdate with friends this week as well as having another successful dental appointment for Adelyn. I am continuously shocked at how good of a patient she is for the dentist. We're looking forward to Chuck E. Cheese tonight since Adelyn completed her sticker reward chart. Then we're headed to Boo at the Zoo this weekend and a playdate here is planned for Monday.

Hope everyone is enjoying this cooler weather... feels like Fall has already passed but we have too many other Fall-time activities to enjoy over the next month to let it go that easily. :)

Poor Kitty

Our poor cat, Savannah, fell off two floors from a window sill and broke three bones in her back foot the other day. She's fallen many times before but apparently she fell on it the wrong way this time. We were really scared that she got outside and ran away since we couldn't find her for a full day but Adelyn did some searching and found her behind our couch in a lot of pain. When I saw that she was limping, I had remembered seeing her fall in the corner of my eye the day prior.

The good news is that she is already in much better spirits and walking around with her splint just fine. Here's a picture of her pathetic bandaged foot. The vet must have known that pink was a popular choice in our house. :)

My Child is a Genius

(Kidding.) But Adelyn did master her name recently... see her awesome fine motor skills at work??

Goofy Girls!

The girls have a lot of fun together and I'm starting to think that Ella is getting just as goofy and full of personality as her older sister. Can you tell?!

And here are the girls' signature dance moves.... Ella lkes to put her head on the floor and Adelyn is a fan of the classic "sprinkler." They're a lot of fun for Mommy, too! :)

Adelyn @ 3 1/2...

Here are a few tidbits about our little 3 1/2 year old for those who don't have the pleasure of being around Adelyn on a daily basis...

Adelyn is getting really good at drawing stick figures.

Adelyn has always been full of personality and lately, she's been full of emotions. It seems that she does everything to its fullest capacity! :)

Adelyn is getting very close to writing her own name. She practices almost every day.

Adelyn thinks her nose grows when she makes up stories. By the way, she is getting too good at making up stories.

Adelyn still blames her imaginary friend, Okie, for her bad conduct.

Adelyn is very girly... she has multiple purses that carry multiple compact mirrors in them. She also loves to wear make-up (lip gloss) and match her clothes to her sister on special occasions.

Adelyn is a daddy's girl. She loves to pretend like her bicycle is a motorcycle like Daddy's and she gets to take rides in the old Jeep with him.

Adelyn's top common phrases are: "Do you love it?!" "Later, Mommy." "Did you get me a present, Daddy?" "Is it my birthday yet?" "That's mine, Ella!" "That cracks me up!"

Adelyn twirls her hair when she is sleepy. (I wish she still twirled mine.)

Adelyn has recently started to ask about babies being in her belly. The other day, she told me her back hurt because she had a baby in it. (I think this stemmed from my pregnant friend complaining about her back hurting.)

******

As you can see from the pictures, Adelyn continues to become even more gorgeous as she grows. But there's much more than meets the eye. She really is a special little girl with multiple layers of personality developing. She's goofy, outgoing, stubborn, passionate, emotional, creative, imaginative, and girly all at the same time. It's true that she has been a challenge at times, but it's also true that no other being in the world has ever brought so much fun and laughter to my life. I love, love, love to hear her stories and try to figure out how she processes things... and I have to think that it will only get more fun (and challenging) with the coming years.

A 6th Anniversary to Remember!

Well, our house is finally sick free. Naturally, Andrew and Adelyn got sick after Ella and I were sick last week. Poor Adelyn's puppy dog eyes as she pathetically looked up from the puke bucket in between bouts were enough to break your heart. But as anticipated, it all went away in about 12 hours... and not a moment too soon since Andrew and I were flying out that night to Chicago for our anniversary weekend sans kids.

Then it hit again. On Saturday after

a stroll down Michigan Avenue, Andrew started to feel nauseous. Sick enough that he barely made it through dinner without ordering a thing. (I still enjoyed my whole Maine lobster tail and Alaskan red king crab legs even though I felt guilty about it!) We may not have wined and dined till the wee hours of the night like I had secretly planned but we still enjoyed each other's company and the fabulous view from our posh suite. (We took full advantage of all of the hotel perks we got with Andrew's "Platinum" status thanks to all of his traveling to Toledo.) Oh, and Andrew surprised me with a stretch limo at the airport when we arrived. I felt so special all weekend long!

A big THANK YOU goes out to Grandma June, Grandma Scott, Great Grandma Ann and Great Grandpa Jim for watching the girls for us. They're exhausting, aren't they? :)

How Random Is This?

I JUST cleaned the countertop and turned around and found this:

Yep... that's a red shoelace, rock, and acorn... all of which I haven't seen before. I am assuming that they were all placed there by Adelyn but that is total speculation of course. With an almost 3 1/2 year old (3 more days!) in the house, you never know what you're gonna find! :)

Kentucky Lake!

We made our annual trip down to Kentucky for the holiday weekend... and I regret to say that I forgot to bring my camera to capture some of our weekend's family moments. Some of those include: Our last few spins out on the boat (the last ride was a chilly one!); relaxing, family time with Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Katie, and cousin Austin; and lots of yummy food like barbeque and fried tacos. (I'm definitely getting back on my treadmill this week.)

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend!

The 5 Best Things About the First Day of School

1. The anticipation of the first day causes me to plan early... which means a smooth morning and a great start to staying on schedule.
2. Two words: Photo op.
3. Ella and Mommy time.
4. Getting not only the laundry finished in one morning but also having enough me time during Ella's nap to get on the tread mill AND shower all before 11 am.
5. Seeing the smile on my preschooler's face that tells me that she is a well adjusted little girl ready to learn and meet new friends.

Yep... MORE Pictures.

I'm pretty burnt out on pictures if you can believe it. Every picture I take equals work for me away from the girls. I can't tell you the last time I actually ordered prints. My collection is OUT.OF.CONTROL and if something happened to my hard drive, I'd be screwed.

With that said, I hope the rest of our family pictures will hold you over.

Oh, as a sidenote: Ella weighed in at only 18% at her 18 month check-up. Even though she's a fantastic eater, I have decided to supplement with some of this stuff on top of the whole milk I already give her. We have a follow-up weight check in three months so I've got to get her fattened up before then. :) Other than that, she's doing great... her vocabulary is wonderful and she might even catch up to her sister. Adelyn can't sit long enough for me to teach her much in one sitting. She's our Miss Congeniality. Speaking of that, her first day of preschool is tomorrow! We already had an open house last week and she's psyched. O.k... I'm psyched, too, to have three mornings a week to get some things done around here.

Have a great week!