She calls me her Sweet Mommy

(in her ruffle pants!)

because I ask her ALL THE TIME if she’s my sweet Adelaide.

Apparently two puppies live here

Cupcake, dollhouse

We had a little family brunch for Adelaide on Saturday morning. Several of my favorite shots:

We gave her a Fisher Price dollhouse (consignment sale find for $8, yeah!) and my mom gave her a few rooms’ worth of furniture (buy-one-get-one at Toys ‘R Us – yeah!):

The one about Adelaide

Sometimes I wish y’all could know Adelaide like we do. Even at three she is such a unique personality, full of lively energy and free spirit. Marches to her own drum, that one.

You know that old saying, ‘girls are made of sugar and spice and everything nice’? Undoubtedly in this house, Madeline is our sugar and Adelaide is our spice. She sort of flits around; skipping, hopping, dancing as she goes. She’s also our resident entertainer, loving to be silly and always trying to make us laugh.

And her singing! Her Sunday school teachers all have commented on her wholehearted approach to “deep and wide” and the other five favorite songs. She sings plenty at home, complete with proclaiming “good job!” to herself at the end. She will not, however, perform on demand. (She can be a stinker that way.)

She can be so caring and sweet (“can I pet your face, mama?”) yet so full of mischief (sneaks in the fridge to dig her fingers in the butter). She will eat ANYTHING doused in ketchup, is my hungriest kid in the mornings, and won’t go anywhere without her “lanket.”

I love how she calls teacups “tea parties.” And while Madeline loves to talk about princesses, Adelaide is certain that she IS a princess. (But only if/when she’s wearing a dress.) She totally fits her pixie haircut and bright red shoes.

Happy birthday to my enchanting, delightful, lively girl.

DPP Day 19: Her Scarf

I finished it last night. Just in time, too. BRRR.

Still posting with the December Photo Project.

DPP Day 14: Today’s photo brought to you by Adelaide

Let’s take a little peek in my fruit drawer:

(Alternate title: Why yes we have a two-year-old in this house. How did you know?)

Still posting with the December Photo Project.

DPP Day 10: Floor Twirling

Madeline had her preschool class Christmas party today so I let her and Adelaide wear their fun Christmas pants (bought last year on clearance and rediscovered in the attic a few weeks ago).

This was Adelaide turning circles on the floor with her feet. And eating cheese.

Posted in conjunction with the December Photo Project.

DPP Day 4: Good Morning, Sunshine!

I’m posting today’s photos straight out of my camera. No editing, no cropping.

This was during my coffee hour, after I got Drew out the door to school.

Posted in conjunction with the December Photo Project.

My Pixie Girl

Miss Supposed To Be Napping

An Observer

About once a month there is a children’s sermon at our church and all the kids are invited to walk down to the front steps and participate. Yesterday was the day. (Also, Adelaide’s first time since we started having her in the service with us.)

I was also signed up for infant nursery duty. I had sat in there for about a half an hour with two other ladies, and no babies came, so I ended up going back to the sanctuary. Andy and the kids had sat up in the balcony, him being alone with the three kids. (There’s an iffy situation if I ever saw one.)

By the time I sat down, he had walked the girls down to the front of the church. (Drew was using the bathroom and missed it.)

So I got to be a helpless observer for Adelaide’s, um, performance. She initially sat down, but then jumped up and started heading up the choir stairs. Madeline, ever the big sister, tried to grab her hand and pull her back to her seat.

Adelaide snatched her hand away and sat back down, only to jump and run up the stairs again.

Rinse and repeat about six times with an increasing amount of drama.

Finally Andy had to walk down and sit in the front pew so she wouldn’t be tempted to continue her self-endorsed playtime.

But the thought struck me as I sat there and watched; I could do nothing. I couldn’t control her, especially at such a distance. I was obliged to simply be an observer.

Sure, yes, we can train and teach and try to mold our kids and lead them in the way they should go. But ultimately, it IS the Holy Spirit who works in our kids’ lives and hearts. We do nothing but watch.

Jumping Bean

Somehow two other friends and I (and our collective not-in-school children) managed to be at the pool this morning for the hour and a half it didn’t actually rain. How often does THAT happen?!

I finally remembered to throw my Flip Video in my purse and got a few videos of Adelaide jumping off the board.

I’m just gonna post them both since I can’t decide and the first one might be better but the second one is kind of funny. And also, she doesn’t really do her butterfly stroke except for maybe once or twice.

Maybe I’ll have better luck next time.

Adelaide jumps – part 1 from Please Pass the Salt on Vimeo.

Adelaide jumps – part 2 from Please Pass the Salt on Vimeo.

My water baby. (I mean big girl.)

Yesterday we had a joint sibling/cousin birthday party for a family in our church (and Sunday school class, and shepherding group, and my cousin is married to her brother, and my cousin’s sister is married to her cousin — are you confused yet?) and it was at another friend’s pool.

Adelaide was HILARIOUS. First, she wore her Snow White dress-up shoes.

To the pool.

(In case there was going to be a beauty contest, I’m sure. And yes, she wore them around the party whenever she wasn’t actually in the water. Fashion before function.)

Also, I mentioned her figuring out how to hold her breath and keep her face underwater, but this time she figured out the butterfly stroke.

I am so not kidding. THE BUTTERFLY STROKE. I don’t even know how to do that very well. And I swam in high school.

Next time we go, I’m taking my video camera so I can record her jumping off the diving board and swimming, via butterfly, over to the side. It’s a sight. (Need I remind you that she’s two?!)

This morning was her debut sitting with us through the worship service at church. (A bit older than the other two were when we started them.)

She did mostly okay; Andy had to take her out I think three times and one of them was because she bumped her head on the back of the pew.

Next thing I know she’ll be off to college.

(Sniff.)

Caught

I think she found the stash of potty-training treats:

And THAT would be the sugar bowl.

With a spoon.

A Day to Recoop

Andy had yesterday off so I ran my errands like a crazy person. In the rain.

It hasn’t rained here in a while so the parking lots were all slick and I slipped three different times. Small cut on my knee, larger one on my toe, and ripped part of my toenail off. Stupid flip-flops.

Yesterday was a really unusual day, though – first one of our friends was in a motorcycle accident on the interstate and is lucky (what are we Calvinists supposed to say?) to be alive. Miraculously all that happened is he broke his shoulder and is pretty banged up. My toe? Is nothing.

And then poor Adelaide threw up her entire dinner all over her bed. She was such a sport, sat herself up and waited patiently for me to first hear her crying and then come and clean her up. She had a fever also so I’m really hoping the rest of us manage to stay well.

At any rate, we’re not going anywhere today (even though this morning she’s fever-free and acting normal).

Hope y’all have a good Wednesday!

Fun Friday with another side of drama

Yesterday morning Andy took Drew and Madeline to an amusement park to ride the rides with some friends. I opted not to go because of the ticket price AND the heat. Seemed like a good daddy-event.

They had a blast. Drew was very particular about which rides he would and wouldn’t go on regardless of peer pressure (I was more daring but likewise have always known my own mind).

I don’t have any pictures because I didn’t want to bog Andy down with a camera. (Sometimes I think men really do need a purse-equivalent. Keys, wallet, phone, sunglasses…camera.)

Meanwhile, I bathed Adelaide and decided to attempt getting her two-year-old portraits taken. (You know, since she turned two in March.) Problem is, I walked out the front door without remembering to grab Andy’s keys. Locked out without car keys and holding a heavy toddler and her portrait dress. Smooth.

I stood there, contemplating what to do, and suddenly remembered I maybe had a spare key to Andy’s car down in the recesses of my purse. I dug around and found it! I felt like I had won the lottery. So we were able to leave after all, and I just decided to take my time and wander stores until Andy got home to let us all back in.

First up, the portrait studio. I didn’t actually have an appointment; every time I called I got an answering machine and they never called me back. So I was crossing my fingers they would squeeze us in, and they did. We didn’t even have to wait ten minutes!

ADELAIDE. WAS. A. PILL.

I even thought about buying the shot of her with the poutiest of faces just so I’d remember what a stinker she’d been. (That and it was a darn cute photo.) Finally I got her to smile and we got some great shots, usually by sternly saying “Adelaide! DO NOT SMILE!!!” with a fake-mean look on my face. The feather tickler did wonders, too.

After pictures I wandered stroller-less (forgotten in the back of my van, which Andy took) around the mall, stopped in Gymboree (only because they had a blinking 60% off sign outside the front of the store), and then took her to Chick-Fil-A for a quick bite to eat. It was kind of fun being on a little date with just her and she was so good other than the refusing-to-smile-for-pictures thing.

On our way home we stopped in at Walmart, a different one than the evening before. I could not believe my eyes when another, older man walked out right in front of me with a 24-pack of beer and the Walmart employees running after him asking for a receipt. What are the chances this would happen twice in a row, right under my nose?

(God? I’m really not planning on stealing any beer. From Walmart or anywhere else.)

This time, the man just kept walking, absently waving towards the check-out lanes, “that lady checked me out over there…” Never stopped, never showed a receipt. A manager ran out after him and I did see him show his receipt in the end, but the whole thing was really rather fishy.

Oooh, and the best part of the day, Andy had worked his day off so he was off yesterday — so we got a babysitter and went out on a date! This time I won’t bore you with the details of our meal, but we had a great time.

After we had finished, some friends from church came over to say hi and ended up hanging out with us for a while. The restaurant staff even brought over an extra dessert for us to taste.

I’m tellin’ ya, it pays to know the manager.

My Fearless Daughter

Look what Adelaide discovered yesterday:

Y’all.  She’s TWO.

(Like mother, like daughter… did you know I dove in high school?)

We spent Father’s Day afternoon with several other families at the pool.  Great fun, food, and fellowship. I wore a tee-shirt since my shoulders are still beet red. Clearly one IS more susceptible to sunburn while pregnant. (Thanks, Gretchen & Mer!  Who knew?!)  Although, I haven’t peeled yet, so that’s something.

Adelaide was HILARIOUS jumping off the diving board. She didn’t even hesitate. I didn’t manage to get a mid-air photo because of the digital delay (plus I didn’t try very hard). I think we should start saving for diving lessons. (Anyone know where the 2030 Olympics are going to be held? I’m sure I could use a nice vacation by then.)

I couldn’t wake Andy, Drew, and Adelaide up later to go to the VBS program so just Madeline and I went. It was so cute to watch her with her class doing her hand motions with the verses and songs. Little kid performances always crack me up.

Other Father’s Day fun – our church sponsored a fishing day for the dads & kids on Saturday. Andy only took Drew because Madeline with a fishing rod seemed a little risky. He (meaning Andy) even caught a bunch of fish!

And lucky for me, it was catch & release.

Good thing I’m not easily embarrassed

Yesterday, and quite possibly the day before, I was in a Funk. (And I can’t even blame PMS for it.) Finally during naptime I decided I needed to get out of the house, just to clear my head.

So I did what any normal person would do, and took my kids to Target.

The last time I was there, which would have been Monday for bigger socks, my kids were AWFUL. Madeline got yelled at by an employee for running around ‘hiding’ in the middle of the toddler clothing rounders and then both she and Drew climbed behind the pack n’ play boxes.

Adelaide somehow escaped from the lap belt in the cart and climbed out and ran off. I was not amused. We got several Looks. And yes, they paid the price of disobedience once we got home.

So this time I told Madeline she had to sit in the double stroller with Adelaide. And, on a whim, I agreed to Drew pushing the whole thing.

He only almost ran into someone once. For the most part he did great. He was a little slow to walk next to and he didn’t exactly push a straight line. But it kept him more than occupied and he took his responsibility VERY seriously.

And, in case you’re wondering, this is what Adelaide wore the entire time we were out:

She has a thing or twelve for accessories.