The Start.

We started summer off Wednesday night by going on a picnic in the park.

Ady loved swinging.....

And going down the slide with daddy. She is an outdoor girl for sure!

Thursday morning Ady, Erin, and I headed up to the Gap Outlet near Cincinnati to do some shopping. She was hilarious. Pulling everything off the rack. If you've ever been there before, you understand how close everything is. I was a little nervous it'd be too crowded. Thank goodness we went on a Thursday. Me in the dressing room? Now, that was a sight to see. The stroller wouldn't fit in the room, so I had to put her blanket on the floor. And...she's mobile now. Trying to try on clothes and stopping a baby from crawling under the door and all over the nasty floors, now that was a task! She was a trooper, but really we all already know this! She loves to shop!


Friday night we went over the Joseph's parents. Ady was so good after having such a long day (and not a lot of sleep). She loved playing with all the tupperware!


and with daddy's blocks that have now been passed on to her :)



She took a quick little cat nap and then was up rolling the ball and ready to party until about 10:30!



Saturday, Sunday, Monday were all the same. Pool, pool, and more pool!


We got there around 11:30 each day and stayed until about 4:30 or 5. She took one 30-40 minute nap while we were there each of those days in her stroller. The rest of the time she was happy as a lark. I'm so glad I have a good pool buddy :) She loves the sun and the water! We're going to have such a fun summer! I know some of you are thinking I must be crazy. But, I was raised at the pool, and have spent every summer as far as I can remember in the sun all day long. My mom said to me today "She's your kid for sure!"


And the great thing about Ady's personality is, she's so adaptable. She'll go wherever and is so happy (not exactly how she started the first few months!), but she's truly the best baby. Can you tell I love her? :)


I have been saying for months now that she has been teething and I knew it was just anytime before she'd get her tooth. Friday, I asked my mom to feel and see if she felt anything, and sure enough, I felt too! Ouch! It's poking on through! And to celebrate she got to eat some puffs. :)


She couldn't figure out how to get it off the table because it was so sticky. It was so cute.

She LOVED them! I decided to start letting her have some "big girl" food. I figured she's ready for it. (I know my last post said I was going to wait to talk to the doctor). She ate a doughnut and loved it!

She loved Baby Mum Mum's (which is more like a teething biscuit), and when the food breaks off she chews down like she has a mouth full of teeth! So cute! I'm glad she is adjusting well to this new change. She's going to be a very easy baby to feed!

She loved her slushy by the pool. But, with all the sugar....who is surprised?

And she even got to have some sweet potato fries Monday night for dinner. She's growing so fast. I love love love feeding her all this new food. I do miss her being a baby though. But, she's so fun I can't be sad!

And.....she is going to be walking within a month. This is crazy. But, she takes steps and several at a time when you give her your hands. She will glide down the couch, pulls up on everything, and bounces :)


I love it. But, I am a bit surprised that she is doing this so early. But, then again, she was born on 90210 so I guess she can do whatever she wants :)


Her official nickname, (for those of you not following on Facebook), is Josie. She looks and acts so much like Joseph, it's really the only fitting name. I love the name Ady, but we'll be calling her Josie many times for sure! Many people will say to me "Just name the next one Josie." And you know if I do that....it will look nothing like Joseph! Ha! Speaking of other children.....

Joseph and I have been doing a lot of praying and haven't really felt much of a peace about anything regarding it. It's a long road and a lot to think of. We truly felt that God gave us an answer to hold off on surgery for a while back in March. We didn't want to do it, rush to try to conceive again, and it not be what's best for our family. And, I wasn't having the horrible pain that I had been in before. A huge part of me doesn't want to try. I don't want to go through month in and out of disappointment. It took a pretty big toll on me. Heck, it took a big toll on our marriage. But, I know that God has showed His power and might to those who are faithful, and He has been so good to us. I do not doubt what He is capable of doing again. However, I prayed so fervently for "one little miracle". When I go back to my prayer journal I can relive it all again and I remember. I remember just wanting to know what it would feel like to have a baby kick, to have all the emotions. At this time, we know that I will need to have surgery before we decide to try again. Regardless of the decision we make, I have had 2 doctors tell me I will need a hysteretomy before long. I guess "before long" can mean a lot of different things. It can be dependent on what we choose, what happens down the road, etc, etc. Regardless, I was told to try again to have my children now, not later. But, we are enjoying Ady and the joy of watching her grow, because for now, we don't understand, and we don't know what is best. But, each night we are praying for Him to lay on our hearts His plan, not ours. We know that whether He chooses to bring us a miraculous child again or He chooses for us to adopt the rest, His will is always better than ours. And sometimes, we just have to wait for His answer.


Thank you friends for your love for our little girl. We are blessed to have you to be a part of our story. May God always be given the glory for every good and perfect gift we've received.


And so, this is the start. The start of summer, the start of a new chapter in Ady's life, the start of of the next big thing God has in store for us. What it is, I don't know. But, I don't want to miss a second of it!

First Steps

Yes, it's true. Ady has taken her first steps. Not by herself, but holding my hand. Dear me. She is so busy. That is an understatement. No more easy laid back days of sitting down watching a show if we wanted. Bye bye! Hello, little mover! She is not happy with just sitting in your lap. She climbs all over you, crawls all around you, and pulls up like crazy.


Yesterday she was standing onto her dollhouse and she handed me her right hand. It was so cute. I watched her take her left hand off and turn her body around and then....she moved her foot. Yes, that's right. She moved towards me.


My sweet friend Elizabeth brought me a balloon Monday night to our lifegroup to brighten my day. Ady loves it. Check out these cute pictures.



And this morning she wanted Chloe's bone. Thank goodness she changed her mind and went after her paci :)

I thought I was OCD before about my floors being clean. This has brought on a whole new meaning. I had always heard about mommy's having no time once the baby is mobile, but I guess I had to see it to believe it. Let's just say this past week, mommy's hair has been put straight in a ponytail after my 2 minute shower with Ady closed off in the bathrorom with me. Yes, that's right. No more hair fixing time at the moment. I have spent her cat naps (we're still doing 40 minute ones!!) this past week picking up toys and vacuuming up and mopping dog hair. I vacuum and mop 3 or 4 times a day. It's hard having dogs with a baby. Oh well. I sure am a "cleanaholic" now. I guess I always was. I never understood people who cleaned once a week. Even when I was working outside the house, my floors were vacuumed and mopped every day, regardless of how tired I was. Guess I get that from my mom. My body will one day tell me to slow down I'm sure.

Speaking of dogs, look at this cute video of Ady, Joseph, and Charlie. (Don't tell the others, but I think Charlie is her favorite!)

She is almost 9 months old. I can hardly believe it! We have her 9 month pictures June 7th and then on the 8th she has her check up. Last night I gave her some noodles and she loved them. I can't wait to get the go ahead to give her real food after the visit. I want to make sure I know what's ok since she still doesn't have a tooth. I don't think she's ever going to get them. Joseph is happy that maybe this will keep the boys away when she's older. :) He told her last week that she could talk about dating when she was in her 50's :)


For now, I better go. I hear her up from her nap, and I didn't get to vacuum yet........

Hold Your Horses!

Ady is growing so fast. Slow down! This week she learned to pull up all by herself. It was so cute watching her look at the chair by our island. She kept looking at it and finally mustered up the courage to try. Of course I had a picture of her once she got up there, but didn't get to video when she was actually doing it. I videoed her several times after to see if she'd do it again on camera. But, she got distracted by a dog, or my foot, or a speck of food on the floor :)

She has figured out how to crawl to go after something. Remember I thought she was figuring this out before our vacation? Well, she stopped showing interest. She doesn't like being on her tummy. But, if she is on it, she'll scoot backwards. So cute. When she sits up and wants to get something out of her reach, she'll crawl to it. She hasn't quite figured out that she can do that to get around the house. I give it a week. She loves scooting on the kitchen floor, though and opening up cabinets (yes, we're already to this point!) and getting her favorite toys out: tupperware!


She is moving EVERYWHERE. She is not content to just sit. If you sit by her on the floor, she climbs all over you. If she's within reach of anything, she'll try to pull up. Such a fun time!!




She has also learned how to wave "bye bye". Oh. My. Gosh. It is the cutest thing ever. I have noticed that Ady kind of does a princess like wave (duh!), and has for several months. But, I didn't really know if she was making the connection that you do that when you say "hello" and "bye bye". Anyways, we went to a wedding on Friday and she started waving to people. I got THE cutest video of her doing it.....

Speaking of the wedding, Ady was the star. It was a pretty small wedding, but a friend of Joseph's from work got married and invited us. The grandmas and women there were just loving her. So much in fact, they wanted to hold her.....

And my little separation anxiety ridden Ady, didn't cry at all! We walked through the reception and she kept waving. She was so proud of herself for learning to do that :)

We had a yard sale Saturday morning. It was quite a success. I don't ever want to do it again though. Maybe it's because I was sick. I had a cold all last week, but Friday started feeling horrible. I knew it was a sinus infection. We couldn't miss the wedding and I didn't want to take Ady into the doctor's office since she had been sick. I just didn't want to risk her picking something else up. Joseph had plans to play in a softball tournament all weekend and I knew he wouldn't miss it so I could go to the doctor. I decided to leave the yard sale early while Ady was taking a nap, and I rushed to Urgent Care. And of course, you guessed it, it was a sinus infection. I made it back right around noon. Just in time for Joseph to head out to his game. If you understand how serious Joseph is about softball (he even missed our anniversary to play!), you will know how shocking it was to me when at 3:00 I got a phone call saying, "I'm coming home." I about fell over in disbelief! He was so sick he said he just couldn't stand playing. Again, this is very rare. He started running a fever, so he slept all afternoon while I played with little Ady and went through 2 boxes of tissues.....

I was given an antibiotic, Omnicef, which I will forever refer to now as "Satan's pills" After being up all Saturday night and Sunday morning getting sick, I spent the remainder of the day Sunday with extremely severe stomach cramps and feeling so dizzy. It was horrible. I have never been so sick before. Luckily, I called an Urgent Care that was open on Sunday and the doctor approved my request for another antibiotic. She told me I had an allergic reaction to it and to never take it again. Don't worry, doc. I won't. Sunday night I finally felt like my stomach was someone back to a normal state and I didn't feel like I was either going to vomit or faint, and then...I started aching all over. Sure enough, I started to run a fever. I very, very rarely ever run a fever. So when I do, I know there's something going on. I fell asleep in a fetal position on the couch around 8:30. Joseph was a lifesaver. He was feeling better so he put Ady down for me. I really hope that little Ady doesn't get it. Poor thing. It's tough when mommy and daddy are sick. Makes me wish to be a little closer to home to have grandparents to help out. Oh well, it makes us more appreciative and stronger I suppose. We were a bunch of sickies all weekend. No fun.



We are looking forward to the pool opening this weekend; the happiest weekend of the year! From now on Ady and mommy will be pool side sunbathing! :) We have a busy and fun summer ahead of us with another trip to the beach to end the summer in August. I can't wait. She'll be running all around the beach then. For now, we're loving this exciting time in our lives. It is so much fun to watch her learn to do new things every single day. But, my heart just broke when I saw this picture the other day:

How in the world did my little 6 lb 4 oz bundle of joy turn into this?

I can hardly remember that time! Hold your horses, Ady! Don't grow too fast! :)

Breaking up is hard to do.....

My poor Ady is experiencing temporary "break ups" from mommy. This started this past week, and I think taking her to the nursery is making it worse. She's realizing that sometimes I leave her for long periods of time. (I mean....it's only an hour, but you get my point). For the longest time I couldn't leave her with anyone because she was in so much pain and all her issues with her reflux, was way too much to burden anyone with! She's getting very upset whenever someone else holds her or I walk out of the room. I might be sitting across the table from her, talking to her and trying to make her smile, and she just wants mommy. I will admit, it makes me happy to know she loves me, but it breaks my heart to hear her cry. Aside from that, she's so very happy.
We dedicated her to the church this Sunday.We believe in what the Bible says, that every person must make their own decision and commitment before God and be baptized in His name. So, we made a public confession before our family, friends, and God that we would promise to raise her in the church and to help guide her spiritually. Our hope and prayer is that Ady will make this decision one day. She had a huge fan club there. This was just the family picture. :)

I wish I had taken a picture of everyone else. I had a lot of friends there too! What a blessed little girl!

She sure does love her Gramme and Auntie!

She slept through the entire service. Poor thing!

We had an open house afterwards and it was quite the party! :) Standing room only! What a party! I didn't take one picture during the party. Just a couple before. Too busy being hostess I guess! I love these polka dot balloons, though!
But, I decorated these sugar cookies. Of course, they had initials on them :)
My mom made them. I can bake anything under the sun, but sugar cookies. So, she did that to help me out :) I made a couple cheesecakes and had several snack trays for the party. It was so much fun!!! Wish I had pictures to show. I am blessed with great friends and family!

I know that God has given her to us as a gift and that our job as parents is to prepare her for Heaven. I don't want to go there without her. This world is a scary place and I can't imagine not having Jesus. I hope that those of you reading this know what it means to have a true personal relationship with Him. :)
Sunday was such a special day for our family. I am so thankful for the godly foundation that my parents raised me up in and the legacy of generations before them. Tatay and Biggie stayed with us Sunday evening and we were so happy to get to spend some extra time with them. Of course, she made the dress Ady wore :) There is nothing, and I mean nothing, this woman can not make :)

Ady is growing like a weed. She's scooting and super wiggly. She loves to stand up, and has almost mastered pulling up on things all by herself. She will if I give her my hands, but she's just about able to do it on her own!

She is crawling in a circle and backwards, but has almost mastered the fast crazy crawl. I can not believe she has gotten so big. But, I am grateful, so grateful, for a precious and perfectly healthy baby. We are beyond blessed!

I am so thankful that I don't have to drop Ady off to daycare everyday, especially with this new "phase" she is going through. I do miss teaching, but the way I was treated at my former school for choosing to raise Ady instead, made me momentarily want to never teach again. But, God gave me the gift of teaching and I know someday I'll go back to it. I know I'll find a great school once Ady is older, where my gifts and talents will be appreciated. For now, I know I will never regret the time that I have, and am, investing in her. She is worth everything I had to go through. It makes me sad that some people in this world can be so very cruel to others. It's a scary world to raise a baby in. Thank goodness we don't have to walk this road alone.


Thank you, my friends, who follow the "story of Ady" and encourage us along the way. This is the best gift we've ever received. :)