Gifts...

So I'm reading this book called "Grace Based Parenting" (great book by the way, everyone should read it) and it was talking about how encouraging your children in the gifts that God has given them will make them stronger people. So as I was contimplating this I began to think about all of the times that I already screw up in this area as a parent, encouraging that is, even though my child is only 11 months old. I seem to catch myself comparing a lot lately. I know every parent probably does this at some point, at least I tell myself that to make myself feel better. I hate that I do this!! Adelaide isn't walking or crawling or even sitting herself up from a lying position at this point (except in her crib, which I'm not really sure how she does it cause she's always just sitting there, we've never actually seen her do it.) So I see all these other babies hitting all of these milestones and I find myself comparing Adelaide and wondering if we should be doing something different. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love Adelaide and wouldn't change a thing about her, I just get frustrated I guess. I don't want to wish her life away but I'm excited for her to be able to explore more. She's getting bored just sitting. So we try to encourage and praise her when she gets close and we'll continue to do so. I know that she'll crawl and walk when she's ready and God has a plan for her, we just have to wait, even if it's agonizing to her parents. I shouldn't complain because I think most kids would be throwing a hissy fit by now every time they tried and didn't succeed but Adelaide just rolls over and finds something else to do. She is such a laid back child, I think that's why it's taking her so long, she's perfectly content doing what she's always done. We go to Children's in Jan. and I hope they'll be encouraging. Our friends and family are encouraging as well but you can only hear the same things so many times before you start to question them. Anyway, just something I've been struggling with and just need to keep praying about. So until she learns I'll just have to carry this adorable little poodle around myself. Life is hard. 

Christmas DIY...

So, the holidays leave this family a little tight in the financial area, as are most families I believe, so I did a little crafting this year. I got stuff for my mantle last year and this year wanted to decorate my dining room table, it was looking pretty "blah". So I got a little pinterest/BH&G inspiration and used my own growing crafty ideas and made this. I spent a total of about $16 at Hobby Lobby (I heart HL by the way). I did have some of this stuff sitting around in my growing craft basket but this was cheap people. C.H.E.A.P!!

So I started with the trees which I will be leaving up in my house all year round because they work. I already have ideas to use them in Adelaide's owl themed birthday party. All that these took was some green yarn and styrofoam cones. And you wrap. I was going to take step by step pictures but I don't want to undermine your intelligence, this is easy. The flowers are just strips of felt that are twisted and then wrapped around into a circle. This is also very easy and cute with extra fabric too. These are so versatile, you can make headbands and all sorts of things with them. I just used gold push pins to attach them. I wanted to be able to switch out colors when I liked. We then just spray painted pine cones to set around. I had extra burlap from another project so I stich witched it to make a runner. That piece of wood in the middle is something Tyler made for our fall decorations. It's just a piece of wood stained. Anyway, that is my dining room Christmas decorations and I love them. Tyler and I had fun making it. 

I'll also show you the first two presents wrapped this season. I love wrapping presents, it's one of my favorite parts of giving them. I took a little inspiration from the BH&G Christmas mag. again and used some of what I already had. I went with plain, brown packaging paper this year, found it at the Dollar Store. Woot Woot! Just playing around, we'll see what else I can some up with this year!

Merry Christmas!

it's been a while...

Wow! It's been a while since I've blogged. Tyler and I were trying to sell our desk top so we were trying to keep it clean and keep pictures off of it. Finally sold it!! Now typing from our new computer. Anyway, haven't been up to a whole lot. Getting ready for the holidays and Adelaide's approaching 1st birthday (I can't believe it!) Here's some pictures to get you caught up on our growing girl!

This one is just funny, she makes this face fairly often. My mom said I used to make the same face. We call it the froggy face. She's getting such a personality. She's kind of a ham. 

Here's Adelaide sitting in just some of the 40 bags of leaves Tyler and I have raked this year. (We aren't done by the way, if anyone has a strong desire to get a workout you are welcome to come and help!)

Playing outside in the nice weather. She's sooo photogenic. The top middle picture looks a lot like cousin Allison. Speaking of photogenic, as many of you know Adelaide was featured in a story done by KCTV5 about insurance for prosthetics. We were very proud to represent a great cause. Addy even had someone recognize her at Crown Center because of the show! They used her because no one can resist her. 

And just today Adelaide had her first visit to Crown Center for the lighting of the Mayor's Christmas Tree, something I've been attending every year since I was a baby. Happy to share a great tradition. Didn't see santa (the line was ridiculous as usual) but we'll come back another day when it isn't so busy. She did get an ornament from the Christmas store, another tradition. This is technically her second since she got one last year when she was in my tummy. You can see Grandpa and Grandma had lots of fun. Grandpa let Adelaide do a little shopping. Anyway, having a great time celebrating all of the "1st" holidays with a little one. 

Promise the next blog will have more substance, less pictures, trying to get back into the swing of things. Felt like there was a ton of stuff to blog about while I was "out" but we'll let those be and move on with our busy lives. Until next time...

our busy lives...

So we've been super busy lately, at least that's my excuse for not blogging in like forever. I started my new job and we've had family stuff almost every weekend lately so to say the least, we've been booked. Hoping things slow down a bit. So this is going to be a little all over the place, just kinda what we've been up to. I'm going to try and do this more often since I suck at updating Adelaide's baby book.

First of all, big changes in my side of the family...my little sister moved far, far away. Okay, not that far, not Italy far anyway but to Tucson, AZ and that is far for our family. Tyler and I had a little "Farewell" shindig for the Gish side of the family to see them off. It was also the first large party we've had since we moved into our house. Here's just a few snapshots...

This was the only part of the party that made it a "Farewell" party. Sorry Ash, time kind of ran out on me. 

Those are my 4 lovely cousins up top and Ashlyn, her husband Ryan and their adorable son Aaden below. Ryan is in the Air Force and his first official station is in AZ. The other pic is just some fam sitting on my sun porch which I love! The first time it got used for entertaining, and it's such an entertaining porch!

To preface this next event you must click here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJ3oHpup-pk

Not exactly the same but the video was funny, you have to admit, enjoy. Anyway, as I was saying...

The next weekend was one of Tyler and I's favorite of the year, close to the holidays I'd have to say. THE White Cloud Flea Market. Okay, actually we didn't go to white cloud cause it's further and the past few years haven't been fantastic so we stuck to Sparks which is an awesome unincorporated town close to the Nebraska/Iowa/Kansas border. Best shopping around. 

Tyler looks ready to shop. You can tell by the large amount of "junk" in the picture that this is all this town does. This flea market happens twice a year and some of the "shops" are permanently set up there. I'm standing on my purchase, an antique step stool for my kitchen. I was sick of my ugly metal one. Notice it matches my newly refinished hutch. Tyler will tell you that every time I look at that picture I regret not buying the cabinet behind me. $50! I could have sold that thing in the city for like $300 refinished. We've already decided to go back in the spring to buy things for profit. Although I always get attached. Oh, there's some greasy flea market food as well. 

And, as always, I can't leave without a few pictures of my growing girl. As much as she wanted to experience the flea market, a day in the hot, sweaty, dirtyness that is the flea market was not in the cards for her. 

She's growing fast, 8 1/2 months now, already planning her 1st birthday party. Tear. 

So, that was just funny. Not the best picture but Adelaide was sitting on our bed while we were folding laundry and she got ahold of Tyler's clean underwear and of course, like everything else, stuck it in her mouth. 

So, some better pictures, on a nice cool day we went out and sat on the front lawn to play. She likes to sit and watch trees in the wind. Loves to be outside, just like dad. Notice that she can't keep her sock on, it's pointless to try and stop her. 

retro wonderfullness

Tyler and I decided to go ahead a paint the glider. We couldn't resist. And it took us all of 2 hours to do. Love easy projects.

The before...

And the after...

I think it turned out pretty well for free (and four cans of spray paint). It's hard for me not to just go and sell it but I think I'll keep it for now. It's got too much character. 

my husband is the craigslist king!!

So having internet on our phones has made Tyler the Craigslist king and I love it! He's snagged some really good deals including our hutch for free, the wicker for $25 and most recently an antique glider for FREE! I've been looking for a glider like this forever but the antique ones in good shape are hard to come by and people know what they're worth, around $250 to like $1500 on ebay, so not willing to pay that. So when he saw this baby yesterday he went for it!

This thing is in great condition. He even had someone yell at him as he was driving away with it strapped to the top of our SUV, they were mad because they thought if they called for the address they got the piece. Little did they know that it was first come first serve and we lived just down the street. The man had driven from Olathe, his loss, our gain. There is also a chair that we get with it that I plan on selling if anyone is interested! I'm going to paint it if anyone has suggestions on a color?

the hutch is finished!! the hutch is finished!!

So Tyler and I have been working on this hutch along with multiple other projects since Adelaide was about 1 month old and we finally finished it this week. We're supposed to be throwing a "going away" party for my sister and brother-in-law who are moving to Italy and this is pushing us to get some things done. So, if you didn't read the blog that showed the before picture, here it is...

Lovely isn't it? That's four, count them, four layers of paint removed with stripper and sanded. Tyler only about blinded himself with the stripper once and has some nasty burns on his arms to prove it. Not to mention the entire top portion was stripped and sanded in 100 degree heat in our garage. Can you say smelly?! So here is our hard work...

We both love it! This lovely piece of furniture has inspired us to paint our entire kitchen, including the cabinets. One project always leads to the next. We'll be painting it this fall. Walls will be blue and cabinets white. The awesome Amy Butler fabric inspired the colors. We decided to leave the original hardware, it grew on us. May I remind you that this hutch was FREE on craigslist. Just bought paint, fabric and a few little hardware things plus steel wool. And please disregard the weird strip of dark green pain above the cabinet, we had to take down a pot rack to put this here and the genius that painted the kitchen last, painted around it. It is making us want to paint the kitchen sooner though!

We also did a little work on the sun porch. Still want to do a little more but this is the furniture we painted. 

We got the love seat and two chairs for $25 on craigslist and another chair and table from Tyler's parents for free! Just the cost of spray paint and you have a fantastic room.(Okay, we did buy some cushions but most of them were on sale, I swear!) The orange cart I got at a flea market for $5 and painted. You can't see them in this picture but there are 2 other chairs in the other corner of the room that Tyler and I got from the dumpster of our duplex in Lawrence and painted green. We figured we furnished the entire porch with room to sit 8 for only about $130. It's turning out to be a festive little porch and with the fans on full blast, we're ready to entertain!

My next blog might be of my next project, killing EVERYTHING in my backyard!

Can't leave without a cute picture of my growing sweet pea. Look at her sitting up like a big girl!

petunias, peas and pools...a blog of firsts

So Adelaide being 6 months and all, is really into firsts. She's growing so fast and is just about ready to sit up on her own! Here's a few of the wonderful things she's been discovering.

I'll start off with a picture that I'm absolutely in love with...

Have you seen a more perfect child?  I think not. I'm a little partial. 

Anyway, Adelaide and Dad went out and sat by the petunias for some pictures. Adelaide thought they'd be good to eat, as is everything else put into her hands. Daddy let her as most daddies would. Builds the immune system. 

She enjoyed it!

Next we tried peas...

Not a fan yet. My blending wasn't the greatest. I don't think she liked the texture. We'll try again!

And the last thing we've tried was the baby pool. I thought this was a great idea because she loves baths so much. I was wrong. It started out okay, as you can see below.

Then we went from "I'm not sure about this" to "get me the heck out of here!!!

Oh well, try again next year. 

I'll leave you with a little father/daughter moment. She loves her daddy. Or just his nose. 

zoo

This Sunday we took our first trip to the zoo! No, we did not just take our 6 month old, she didn't give a hoot about it, but we did take our niece Allison and my sister-in-law Ashley. Allison turned 2 last week and this was sort of her birthday present. She's really into animals and copying everything you say, a good combination.

Our first stop was to the polar bear. They were feeding him so we got to see him swim.

Our next stop was to the snakes. Allison thought those were pretty cool. I'm not a fan but she got up close and personal.

This is Adelaide not giving a hoot. But she was good for us. It was the perfect day, not too hot and there was a nice breeze...until it started to rain. 

It started to get cloudy and Ashley and I, being the good mother's that we are, thought we should head back. We got to the tram and Tyler thought we should just walk back. "It's not that far" Ash and I felt differently and said we're taking the tram. No sooner had we gotten on and it started to downpour. We have great luck. Although we only spent an hour there we had a great time. Plenty of time for a 2 year and 6 month old. The Kansas City Zoo is definitely for older kids, too much walking. Oh, Allison figured out that Adelaide likes to lick and chew fingers right now, she took advantage. 

rice cereal

Today we tried rice cereal for the first time!! Adelaide did surprisingly well. Although most of you will say that by the looks of her she was born to eat. My sweet little butter ball. As I write this she is sitting next to me telling me all about what I should say. 

Here's a little summary of how the cereal experiment went. 

She likes it!

And this is just a glimpse at how strong my little dolly is getting. I love how she uses the end of her arm and not her elbow to sit up like on the other arm. I'm excited to see how she goes about learning all the other things she'll learn in the next 6 months and for that matter years to come. 

blooming like the flowers

Our little one is blooming like the flowers in my front yard! I can't believe how fast she's growing and learning. She'll be 5 months this week and we'll be starting cereal soon. Makes me proud and sad at the same time. Sorry this blog is a little long, I just needed to post some new pics and my photoshop savvy husband is at work. 

These two are just some that dad took at home. Just thought they were cute.

We LOVE bath time!

Starting to grab at things with her arm and hand at the same time. She loves the panda bear on her play mat. 

Finally some photos of her smiling WITH mom and dad. 

She's such a happy baby. The other day we picked her up from the nursery at church and the man holding her asked "Have you ever come in here to pick her up and she was fussy?" The answer is no. They love to see her every weekend. 

Helping momma cook.

This is first thing in the morning. Dad and Adelaide have a bad habit of sucking their fingers...together. 

And these are from today. We found Adelaide a swing at a garage sale this weekend and got it hung up in the tree today. A little hot outside but it was nice and shady in the backyard. She really enjoyed it. 

sounds of determination

Adelaide turned from her belly to her back today for the first time!! We're so excited about this feat!

She had never really come even close because she was just starting to like tummy time again but always just seemed to lay on her left arm like it was a pillow...cute but not making strides toward the goal. Then today she just decided, "I don't like being on my tummy, I'm going to do something about it."
Tyler added some "epic" music to the video quickly, as if he wasn't nerdy enough he has to make our daughter look nerdy too. 

It was great to watch and Tyler and I were so excited to get it on video. You can hear us cheering her on in the background. I love the noises she makes, she was so determined. So glad that we have the technology to capture these triumphant moments.

our first comments.

So the other day at Home Depot we had our first run in with a person who was openly curious about Adelaide's arm. Now, I've always thought about how I would handle this and wondered if it would upset me or bother me at all. I really didn't think it would. However, it was the way this woman asked more so then just her asking. She made it sound like Adelaide was so unfortunate and like it was such a sad situation. 

My first thought was "How can you look at this happy, chubby, perfectly healthy child and think that." 

I suppose I can see why she might feel this way, however we did not seem in the least bit bothered by the situation so it bothered me that she felt like we should think it sad and unfortunate. Or at least, after we explained it to her, was still acting like this was the saddest thing she had ever seen. Anyway, I'm sure this won't be the last time and I suppose I need to work on my attitude as most people haven't seen a baby like her. I guess I just feel if we, as her parents, are able to treat her normally and are not upset when people ask, the people asking shouldn't treat us and her that way either. 

This looks like a baby with no worries to me!

Okay, so I need to download my new pictures. Oh, well. 

stripping...

Tyler and I were finally able to find some time this weekend to start on one of our many projects!! Many of you saw the hutch that we got for free off of craigslist a few months ago and we've finally started it's transformation.

Please notice my lovely outfit, it was about 50 degrees in our garage and I was wearing my "work" clothes that include a nice pair of slippers and my thick socks and sweat pants. I'm holding my new favorite tool, the electric sander. We bought this especially for this project because it's our biggest yet. I'm pretty much in love with it.  

Our garage has become painting central as we're also painting a metal side table and 3 pieces of wicker furniture for the sun porch (photos to come) What can we say, we pretty much never like to leave furniture the way we get it. 

Here is the base stripped all the way down. Only had to remove 4 layers of crappy paint. You can see the nastiness on the door. We plan to finish the bottom and put it inside first and then finish the top when we have time. We've become very productive after 6:30PM when Adelaide goes to sleep. Just bring the monitor out to the garage and paint to the sounds of Addy's humidifier. 

Just needs one more coat of paint, some new hardware and some fantastic wallpaper to finish!