Welcome 2!

There are days when I feel overwhelmed  in the effort to be consistent in teaching and disciplining Adeline, along with making sure she’s well taken care of physically.  Yet, now more than ever, I’m finding the sweet parts of watching Adeline change and grow.  These things certainly outweigh any feelings of being overwhelmed.   In recent months we’ve watched Adeline scribble confidently with her crayons, learn most letters of the alphabet, use "please/thank you" without prompting, put shoes on her own feet (not always the correct feet), sing parts of hymns that she’s learned at BSF and church, reciprocate a joke we've played on her....   

By far the best part in all this is catching glimpses of God’s grace as Addie comprehends a small bit of truth about God or puts into practice in small ways a character quality we’ve been working on at home. I’m very blessed to be Addie’s mommy, and I am so looking forward to Addie's year of being "2"... 

Mail for Adeline - birthday package from grandma & grandpa in Iowa

birthday gifts from grandma & grandpa in Chicago

Go Bears!  (truth be told, I think Patrick was more excited about this shirt!!)

Auntie Kamiah visited over Addie's birthday weekend.  It was great having her here, and Addie couldn't get enough time and attention from her auntie!

A trip to the zoo with Kamiah...

Addie opening her birthday card & present from mommy & daddy...

The frig is from grandma & grandpa and the stove/oven is from us! There's a sink that goes with this kitchen set...Addie will be getting that for Christmas.

Birthday Weekend

This past weekend, we celebrated Adeline's birthday.  On Saturday, we celebrated with friends, and on Sunday, we celebrated with family.  And I'm sure we'll do a little more celebrating this coming weekend (her actual birthday) as well.  With friends, we went to an apple orchard.  We've had unseasonably warm weather, and we couldn't have asked fore a sunnier, warmer Fall day.  Thank you friends and family for celebrating with us!  For grandparents, aunties, uncles, cousins, and friends who live out of town, we know you are celebrating with us from a distance!  Our "little lady" will be 2 in a few days!  We can hardly believe it. 

Patrick's good friend, Nate, from Seattle was in town.  He spent a good part of a day with us, and Addie certainly loved having Nate around.

Almost 2...

wearing mommy's sweater...

playdate at a park with Henry & Walter

being a goof!

Our Anniversary

Oh, where have 5 years gone?  We had a wonderful day celebrating our 5th anniversary.  Our good friend Kenna watched Addie most of the day, so we were kid-free.  We drove to Stillwater, a quaint little town on the St. Croix River, about 30 minutes away.  Stillwater has little shops and restaurants everywhere and with a 70 degrees day, it was just perfect to walk around and even eat outdoors!  We had dinner at this great Italian restaurant and then went down by the river to a different place for dessert.    It was certainly a day to think about how richly God has blessed us in our marriage these first 5 years!  

23 Months Old

Here is our busy girl at 23 months...she loves to read books, go to the park, and play with friends!

eating a banana and reading books - two of Addie's morning rituals

 reading...

 loving the slide at the park

 looking out the tunnel hole

 Addie loves blowing bubbles!  She's still learning that her lips don't need to touch the bubble wand...

Here she got a taste of the bubbles...not so tasty!

playing with Riley