Fall...

Once again it's one of my favorite times of year. I love fall. Even the 40 bags of leaves that pile up in our yard. It kind of starts the holidays off for me. Tyler and I's calendar is crazy from Oct. to Feb. My birthday, Thanksgiving, Christmas our anniversary, Adelaide's birthday and Tyler's birthday. Crazy. We like cold weather I guess. Good thing this next one is a spring baby!

Oh ya, I'm pregnant! Haven't posted in a while. Sad. I know. Due May 5. Cinco de Mayo!! Excited for sure. Although I can already tell this pregnancy is different then Adelaide's. I always said that God gave me a perfect pregnancy with her so that I could deal with the emotions of finding out about her arm. Think this baby is just fine cause I'm experiencing what I hear most women experience: I'm moody, my back hurts already, and I'm already really showing at 13 weeks. Crazy. 

Anyway...

Random recent picture. 

So here's what we've been up to. We did go and do what almost every Kansas City family does in the fall...the Louisburg Cider Mill. We'd never been and had a great time although it was one of the random really cold days in early Oct. that we weren't prepared for. We got some amazing cider and donuts and listened to some great music. 

This weekend was a busy one for us. We had the annual Limb Deficiency Family Fun Day at Children's and we really had a great time this year. Adelaide is old enough to have fun with the other kids now so it's great to watch. We also really got to talk and get to know some of the other parents too which was great. One couple in particular that we met on their first visit to the clinic almost a year ago was there and it was great to see them and see how their perspective has changed. Their little one was only 3 months old when we met the first time so everything was new to them. They introduced us so that they could see a thriving older child acting just like every other kid. I also had a wonderful conversation with one of our prostetitian's wives. They have actually adopted two little boys with arms just like Adelaide's. She is interested in starting a play group for the kids which I'm soooo excited about. It was and will be nice to continue to talk with her. We already discussed a few situations we've both had and it was great to know that I'm not crazy and the only parent that feels a certain way with their kids.

This is why I'm so grateful for where we live. Adelaide has a wonderful opportunity to share her life and struggles with kids just like her!!  Not many have that resource. 

We also did the Step Up for Down's Syndrome walk this weekend in support of our incredible babysitter's daughter Shiloh. Their family has been such a blessing to us and it was great to see all their friends out supporting them! It was a fun time as well, although it was freezing cold!

To top off this weekend we did our first round of raking! Adelaide got her first real experience in the leaves and really enjoyed it. Here are a few pictures to enjoy!! 

Hopefully I'll be posting more often. Really regret this time off. This one was kinda random. 

Helping Dada pick up leaves.

Following up...

Been thinking a lot about a post that I published a few weeks ago. The one about the splash park. Anyway, it just so happens that a lot of our churches sermons lately have been on suffering and singing the Lord's song through it. 

So, I've resolved to try and do a better job at this. Yes, Adelaide and our family have struggles, and I will continue to write about them because I feel like it's a way for me to express my feelings about them, however, I don't want it to be a means for people to look at us and feel sorry for us. You shouldn't.

I've had trouble putting into words lately my feelings about this. Because I don't want to offend anyone. I'm SO grateful that we have people praying for us, we have incredible people in our lives that Love Adelaide and that I know pray for her and our family daily. And I know many of you see my post and pray that things like that wouldn't happen to little girls like her and that people would accept her and that she wouldn't have to deal with these hardships but she does. She always will. We live in a fallen world and it's mean and sinful. Life's hard and I don't feel like we should completely protect her from that. 

I feel that just feeling sorry for us and praying that others around us change will not solve a problem. There will always be those people out there. So instead pray that Adelaide would be changed. 

My friend, Valerie and I had coffee today and were discussing this and something she said put things into great perspective. It's like a married couple that's been together for 60 years. You experience a lot together, good and bad and that brings you into a closer relationship with each other. There aren't many relationships closer then that. You are truly intimate.

That's our prayer for Adelaide, that she will find Christ early, so that in those hard times, and there will be many, she will have the hope that we do for her. That one day she will be made new. And that those hard times will lead her to a more intimate relationship with her Lord.

Yes, we pray that Adelaide will have great people in her life, that she'll find a spouse that will love her completely and that we will learn to parent her well through her trials but we don't pray away the trials. Those times only draw us closer to Christ; just like the trials in our own lives. 

My favorite project so far...

Tyler and I recently did something a little crazy, at least some of our family thought so. We sold our 3 year old Nebraska Furniture Mart bedroom set to redo our room. We bought the set when we lived in a larger duplex in Lawrence and it fit well there but was just a little too big for the bedroom in our house.   It fit but made the room seem small. So we sold it...for dirt cheap.

We then set out to find our new bedroom. The almost finished product is just what we wanted, fits our style perfectly and cost less then just the bed in our old set. Here's some pics of the almost finished product.

Please note that we still have some cosmetic stuff to do like new curtains and stuff on the walls. 

We found our dressers first. Which was a relief because we were sleeping with our mattress on the floor and our clothes all over it as well because we sold our set so fast. Sparks flea market, which I've told you about before had some fantastic options. 

Tyler's dresser had the "manly" touch he wanted. He's always said that our bedroom was sort of my thing. He helps me with pretty much all decorating but our bedroom is just a little more girly then other rooms. This dresser was a whole $65 and we just stripped it and added a coat of wax. 

My dresser was $45 and is actually a buffet. We pulled the color from our duvet and is a little more pink then I think Tyler thought it would be but it's perfect. And it's mine so that's all that matters. 

Got the idea off of pinterest of course. Paintable wallpaper (this does exist). This dresser took a nap and evening to finish. 

Next was a side table for me. I really wanted to stack suitcases so I went searching in the west bottoms one weekend and found them all. I need to get one more, probably red, to finish it off. Once we got rails for the bed it was just a tad too short. 

Now we just needed to find our perfect bed. We looked at Sparks and found plenty of iron ones we liked but they were all full beds and Tyler and I did that for our first year of marriage and refuse to go back to sleeping butt to butt. So then we thought we'd look for a mantle. We found one in the West Bottoms that was absolutely perfect and only $115. Pulling another idea from pinterest, we decided to mount it on the wall and make a tufted piece for the opening. Here was the process...

First, I painted the mantle white and put an antique glaze on top of that. Didn't get pictures of that process, sorry. Next we started the tufted part. This was a bit intimidating as neither of us have done a whole lot of upholstery and never tufted anything. We started using peg board so we wouldn't have to drill holes into the back. I then mapped out the pattern I wanted for the buttons.

The button kit I got was horrible and I had to modify how I did those but oh well, I've learned from this experience.

I cut the same pattern out of 2 inch foam. This was probably one of the more expensive parts of the project. Foam is pricey and I don't know why but we got ours at Joann's for 50% off. Score. 

Now we just had to attach the foam to the board and start tufting. I used a blog to help with this part. 

Once that was finished we just attached the tufted portion to the mantle and hung it on the wall...

So, at first glance, I was kinda worried. I thought it might have been just a bit too big but it's growing on me. It looks large but sits flat against the wall so it's not taking up any room. Our room still feels bigger after getting rid of our old bed. 

It's just what we wanted. I'll make sure to take a picture when the whole room is finished!!

What I do at the splash park...

Today I had my first experience "correcting" a child for the way that she was treating Adelaide. I'm pretty sure it hurt me more then it hurt the little girl I was correcting. Tyler and I have been talking a lot about dealing with these different experiences  a lot lately mostly because we've been having them so often. Usually good teaching experiences...just little kids asking questions which I absolutely love. I like when kids are bold enough to ask and not just stare or run away. We've been at the pool/splash park tons this summer and so we are around small children all the time. I'm getting used to that part, it doesn't really bother me anymore.

But today was more like alienation then curiosity. This little girl said she didn't want Adelaide around her after I had already explained to her and several other children why she was the way she was and that she was no different from them. It startled me at first. Adelaide has become a very social child. She loves to go where the kids are and play which you think would be a good thing, and it is sometimes and will probably be more so when she's older but right now, when she can't speak for herself, she goes up to kids and some of them run away. I kindly told the little girl that it wasn't a nice thing to say and it makes Adelaide sad when she's treated differently then other children. She is not different then her. She continues to play but I see it. I know that someday this will become easier too but these first experiences are really hard to swallow. It truly hurts to see your child treated like they have some kind of disease that might catch and is one of the hardest things I've had to deal with so far. I know that Adelaide might someday feel the way I do when I see kids act this way and it makes it all the harder. Even as I write this those feelings come back and just make me weep for those experiences that are to come. 

I pray for grace with these kids. Especially the ones that are old enough to know better. And also with their parents because I know that someday I'm going to have to ask a parent to correct their own child for harsh comments. You would be amazed at the some of the things we've watched that parents have done nothing to teach or correct (including a child that was definitely old enough to know better pointing right in front of Adelaide and yelling at his mother clear across the park to look at her. I was not near her at the time)  We get lots of advice that is very helpful to remember when going through things like this but I truly believe it's just going to take time and more trials to really be able to deal with them appropriately and have them not effect me so deeply. I need to thicken my skin so that I can help Adelaide thicken hers. I thank God that she is young and innocent for that very reason. 

This is a daily struggle for me and Tyler and will soon be one for Adelaide and I know that our constant prayer for grace towards others and a just plain good manners will be needed to get through it.  We have to admit, there are many times we'd just like to yell at some people or stare right back to give them a taste of their own medicine (adults included) but we'll refrain. I also pray for the friends that Adelaide will one day make, they will surely be incredible people.

 Moral of the story: teach your kids acceptance early so I don't have to. 

New family pic!           

bills, bills, bills...

Adelaide and Daddy spent some quality time this morning paying bills. Adelaide was very helpful. I got some pictures of them together which is rare since Tyler is normally behind the camera (he knows how to use it better then I do). 

I think she sat quietly because she thought Daddy might turn VeggieTales on YouTube. 

Take away the eyes and she looks a lot like Daddy.

 Turning into a little flirt. 

We've been busy, busy people the last few weeks. That's my excuse anyway. For most things. Including my blog. So anyway...Lots of changes happening in our lives. I recently changed my full time job to PRN (as needed) and took on another PRN job at an agency. This is a big step for us, a little scary too. We're been very used to the stability that my full time job gave so this is going to be a great test for us in trusting that the Lord will provide. With this change I get to stay at home more (yayyyy!!!) which is something I've longed for since Adelaide was born. Never thought I'd want to be a "stay at home mom" but this change is going to be perfect. I'll only work 1-2 days a week! Basically stay at home right??

With the extra time at home Adelaide and I have been discovering new things to do in the city. We went to Crown Center last week and played in the water and she just loved it so today we went and took Daddy and got to take some pictures too!

Here's daddy and Adelaide getting ready to walk near the water. 

She loves to play in the water! The next picture is her standing all by herself. She will only stand by herself if there is something in front of her she REALLY wants to touch...usually flowers.

Ta-daaa!

Mom and dad pictures

And then I made Tyler run through the water with her. She loved it. Dad thought it was a little cold however...

After that we made an unplanned trip to the new aquarium. We've really wanted to go for a while but it's kind of expensive. We liked it but it will probably be a once a year kind of attraction. Adelaide really enjoyed it though and it was a great way to spend an afternoon. 

She's showing Daddy what the fishies do. 

She now thinks she has to walk everywhere but insists on holding our hand. No independent walking yet but we think it's coming soon!

This picture makes me feel old because she's starting to look like such a toddler. 

This last picture is my favorite. Adelaide stuck her head in the globe and I'm not sure if she meant to do her fishy face (she opens and closes her mouth) but she looks like a little fish!

The other event that I was able to attend recently was my Grandpa's 75th surprise birthday party. It was great to be able to celebrate with everyone. My Grandpa Pat is a fantastic grandparent and great-grandparent. I'm so blessed to have them close by and that they are still able and willing to play with Adelaide!

I'll leave you with a picture that shows true Gish party tradition. The girls in the kitchen talking/cooking/playing with the baby and the guys watching sports (baseball in this case)

So hopefully now that I have more time I can blog our lives a little more often. We already have so many things planned over the next few months now that it's nice!!

mantle makeover...

Tyler has always wanted to mount our TV over the fireplace. I, however, was not a fan of the idea. I don't really like the idea of the TV being the center of attention. However, I finally gave in to the idea and the idea of having a whole extra corner in our living room for seating. The only hitch to the project was that the mantle was too high for viewing. We were able to find a mount at a thrift store, brand new that was full motion (it tilts down and to the side)for $15!! That's super cheap by the way. But even with the full motion it was still too high, especially for Adelaide if she's sitting on the floor, and goodness knows we have to be able to watch VeggieTales without getting a crick in our necks. So we cut the mantle down 4 inches. 

This was after the mantle came off. You can see from the dust lines on the wall how tall it was originally. I love our mantle, it's huge. 

This is the corner of the living room the TV used to sit in. Tyler was working hard to remove the piece of wood the mantle was screwed into. We got to remove the TV stand and create a whole new seating area with my flea market chair. We'll be selling that TV stand at a garage sale the last weekend in May if you're interested.

I didn't take a picture of the whole process but we just cut 4 inches off of each side of the mantle and reattached. Here's what it looks like finished. 

With pictures around it the TV doesn't stick out too bad. I'm hoping to sort of redo what's on the fireplace slowly but this works for now. The wall behind the chair is screaming for a picture. We're getting family pictures done at the end of June and that is going to be the perfect place for one. 

A picture of our full finished living room. 

This is the awesome piece Tyler found at an estate sale last week. It actually has 3 levels but 2 fit better here. The doors flip up and you can push them in. So cool. I think I'm going to hang the 3rd level in the extra bedroom/craft room. We were able to put an extra lamp in the living room because of this which is great since there are no installed lights in this room. 

The other cool project we finished not too long ago was a sofa table. We wanted a place to put the laptop that wasn't on the coffee table where Adelaide could get at it. We got some old barn wood from a neighbor of Tyler's parents for free and then bought some metal pipes and presto, you have a sofa table. 

Restoration Hardware-ish

One more cool thing we've added to our house...

I've always been in love with the Pottery Barn kitchen set but am totally unwilling to pay $250 PER PIECE to buy it. Someone in Leawood was selling theirs for CHEAP! We got two of the 4 pieces for $25! The other 2 parts weren't in good condition. Adelaide loves it, it's the perfect height for her. She likes to crawl into the oven for some reason. See below...

Weirdo!

She's learning so many things so quickly now! Still not walking but getting close. She can say nose and point to it and to her belly. She gives kisses and every time she sees a fish she opens and closes her mouth. Also roars at every lion. Loving this age!