Lately...

We have been keeping REALLY busy lately. I am taking a graphic design class {hoping to put another degree under my belt} it's probably going to take about 100 years at the one class per quarter rate I am going at. I'm glad I can fall back on teaching, but am really enjoying this major and kinda wishing that I would have done this the first time around.... With Shawn back in school too it is hard to fit in homework time, but overall it's working out. Friends, Family and church are taking advantage of my new design hobby, which is keeping me busy but is good experience. 

Time is flying by and Addy is four months {still need to do a photo shoot to document that} Lillias is loving preschool and mommy is too! ;o) Last week we had two excursions one with some friends and the other with her school, pictures to come... 

We are really enjoying the crisp Fall weather and since daddy is away at work, school or studying much of the time we girly girls have gotten into a good routine just the three of us.  I am loving our time spent together! Thankful to Shawn for working hard at work and school!

 hAPPY fALL and hALLOWEEN wEEKEND!

Love This!

One of the blogs I follow madebygirl posted these pictures from photographer Jen Thompson's studio. I love the lofty modern shabby chic look she used! If I ever {probably never will} have a big fun work space to decorate I would like it to look like this!

Texas Ya'll!

I just got back from beautiful Austin visiting my lovely sister and her new adorable addition, Chloe Belle!

Addy and I flew in on Saturday and flew out Wednesday, a quick trip! I wish I would have taken more pictures but below are a few... 

I can't remember exactly what this place was called but it was SO gorgeous!! The rain chased us out after about 30 mins but I was glad that we had beat the rain long enough to take in the view!!

Of course the trip wouldn't be complete without some shopping ;) We did a little of that at the outdoor mall by Lisa's house. Below are the best we got with the girly girl cousins together...

My Sweet Adelaide at 3 Months

Here are a few shots from her 3 month photo shoot. I saw this dress at Janie and Jack and could not leave without it! It made the perfect prop! 

There has been some debate in our household on how to get these cute bows to stay put on her little head. My mom used Elmer's glue when I was little to get the bows to stay, so that's what I used. Shawn however thought this was strange and did not think I should use glue... it has worked out great so far! Ha!

Adelaide is still the best baby, I love her to pieces!!!

{p.s. this post is about 2.5 weeks behind}

1st Day of Preschool

Yesterday Lillias started preschool! She has been a mixed bag of excited and hesitant about this day. It was so cute to see her walk right into her classroom and feel right at home playing with the all the toys. Lillias is the youngest child, but with her height and overall outgoingness you'd never know it! She will go Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 12:30 - 3pm which is right during her nap... so we'll see how that plays out...

Her teacher is Miss Vickie, she seems to really love working with this age. We are excited to have her as our teacher this year!

A couple days ago we went to her 3 year well check and here are her stats:

Height: 38 1/4" -- 70th percentile

Weight: 31 1/2 lbs -- 55th percentile

My beautiful big girl is growing up SO fast!

Lillias' Birthday Party

When I asked Lillias what kind of party she wanted this year she said a princess party... no surprise there! Everything is pink and princess for this girl! When I originally made up the invitations I made them in two different color options pink and red or pink and purple. The pink and purple won Lilli over immediately!

We reserved the Orange Park Shelter for the event, which worked out great. The kids seemed to have fun going between the shelter and the playground equipment.

A family Shot

Taking a whack at the pinata, so funny to watch the kids seriously whacking this poor pinata!

Blowing out ALL three candles!

Grandpa Adams, we sure do love him!

As soon as anyone would put down a present on the present table, Lillias was right there to open it up! No long drawn out present opening session at this party! ;)

The dessert table

Crown rice crispy treats with pink sprinkles, pink and purple lollipops, and cotton candy cones!

For the favors I made up these personalized bubbles.

I made cupcakes and then topped them with fondont toppers made by twosugarbabies on Etsy.

They turned out so cute, even though she sent half of them with a "1" instead of a "3" ...

For the table centerpiece I used a large mason jar and filled it with pink and purple nerds with a pink and purple balloon tied around the rim and princess wands around the jar.

Place settings

The present table after Lillias got through with it!

A fun night with friends and family celebrating Lillias!

Cousins

My sister Lisa and I are super close and when we found out we were both pregnant 2 months apart and both having girls we were very excited! It been so nice to be able to waddle together through this pregnancy and postpartum journey together!

Chole's picture above was taken a couple days after she was born and Adelaide's was taken the night she was born. (Both cell phone pictures) We think they kinda look a like....

Happy Birthday Lillias!

A few random things about Lillias at age three:

Lilli loves to hold her sister ALL the time!

She wakes up around 6 a.m.

When wakes up she comes down to our room with a huge smile and says “Good Morning, Mommy!”

Goes to bed around 8p.m.

Loves nuggets and “cheesy” which is mac and cheese.

Drinks about 5 sippy cups of chocolate milk a day.

Loves to eat ice like her mama.

Is very fond of “treats” candy, ice cream, pudding, doughnuts, cookies....

Still loves to play with hair.

Still has the binky... bad I know!

She is always carrying “treasures” around in plastic baggies (treasures can include anything from her princess brush to coins to our old camera).

If she is awake she is by my side pretty much from the time she wakes up to the time she goes to bed.

She is a non-stop talker, and talks very well for her age!

Snow White is her favorite princess and princess movie, but loves anything and everything princess.

Loves to sing, her favorite songs are currently “Honey Honey” by ABBA and the theme from Sleeping Beauty.

Wears a size 3T in clothing and size 8 in shoes.

Her favorite thing to wear is a pink dress that at this point looks like it is very loved! She wears pretty much every day, but only at home because it is so worn out I am too embarrassed to let her wear it in public anymore...

Still hates to have her hair done, but a new development she will let me put in a pony tail when we go out.

Loves to color.

Walks on her toes, and as a result has strong and defined calf muscles.

Most people call her Lilli, but if you ask her what her name is she will tell you Lillias.

Sometimes cries when she doesn't get her way but if you ask her “are you being tricky” her cry turns to laughter... typically;)

Can “read” the book Moo Baa La La La by heart.

And finally, her mommy and daddy are so honored to be her parents! Happy 3^rd Birthday Lillias!!

Celebrating Lillias

Lillias turns three tomorrow, so we took her out for a day of fun today! First, we went to Sweet and Sassy to get her nails done. She asks at least once a day to have her nails painted so I thought this would be right up her ally! She looked so cute picking out the color and getting them done! She picked out pink without any hesitation, such a girly girl! They painted them and then while they were drying, sprayed her hair with glitter spray and put a glitter pink star on her face. She was in heaven! Next she and daddy went to Dave and Busters to play games while mommy fed Addy and then we ate lunch at Max and Erma's where Lillias had a huge birthday ice cream sunday! Yum!

Fall = Urge for New Wardrobe

Maybe it stems from the new clothes I got every fall for back-to-school, but without fail every fall I look into my closet and think I have nothing to wear! Now, obviously this isn't true... but nothing I see excites me. This year is especially bad because just having a baby things don't fit the same way they did pre-second baby. Plus watching the new season of The Rachel Zoe Project and seeing all the designer lines is just icing on my unhappy wardrobe cake! {At this point I have to include a disclaimer: I know in the grand scheme of things material things are not important. But they are FUN!}

I love how this season J Crew takes a comfy casual top and pairs it with a sparkly skirt {picture below} or a great pair of heals.

Now I just need someone to finance this years shopping spree.... any takers ;o)

Find of the Day!!!

On my morning blog hop, I stumbled upon this soothie holder! Addy loves her soothie, but it pops out after about a minute (or less) I have to put it back it in and then repeat this process over and over and over....

The reviews are all five star so I am very hopeful that this will help her keep the bink in!

It's kinda sad what excites me these days!

The life of a sleep deprived mom!

So sad, but true when you are a new mom! Four straight hours is a GREAT thing! Sometimes I even get five! Addy goes to bed around 10:30pm sleeps until 3:30 eats, then goes right back to sleep until 6am eats, and then wakes again around 8 or 9am. Can't complain she is a really good little sleeper, well, for being 6 weeks old... :o)

Thought of the Day!

"If life gets too hard to stand, kneel"

- Gordon B. Hinckley

UTAH!

Growing up I didn't spend my summers at disneyland or Florida at the sunny beach.... I spent them in Utah. That was our family vacation EVERY year. My two sisters, mom and me would pack into our station wagon and drive across the country to the state of Utah. Now, I have never been to disneyland, which many of you might think is a form of child neglect, but I do have the best childhood vacation memories anyone could ask for!

My parents recently made that cross-country drive, which has made me think a lot about these family trips. Most of my extended family lived/live in Utah and we spent the majority of our time between three cities: Logan, Salt Lake and Monticello.

My dad grew up in Logan and to this day, my heart skips a beat when I hear someone mention Logan! I have the best memories of my Grandma Adams and all our adventures there. Down Canyon road was the all brick house with the ivy growing up the side where my dad grew up. We would sit in the back yard drinking black cherry IBC and watching the lambs in the side yard (Yes one of those lambs did knock me down in poop, but I still remember them fondly:)) My Grandma Lillias took such good care of us grandkids, making sure that we were always entertained. She would make canoes out of cucumbers, all of us grandkids spent hours with those "canoes" sending them down the little stream in front of their house. I always slept down in the cold basement, mostly because it was so dark in the mornings that I would sleep in. I thought I was so cool sleeping in, not sure why, but I was so proud! I usually missed Grandma Lillias' big breakfast, which I regret now! The Logan temple was such a special place in my Grandma's heart, she spent a lot of time there and I always wanted to get married there. I settled for the Columbus temple :) Another place that we frequented was Kings, Grandma would take all of us grandkids in her big black car (she was so tiny and looked even more so in this honkin car) to each pick out a toy. I was always excited about this adventure, loving to shop even at an early age! On to the food of Logan, the squeaky cheese, blue bird chocolates and banana creamies! Yummy! The Budge family cabin (my dad's sister's family) in Logan was another big attraction! Lots of rope swinging, fishing, snake catching/releasing :), tubing down the canal was all done here.

On to Salt Lake where my mom's family lived, we spent most of our time at my Grandma Johnson's house. The garage was always open and filled with tools and boy things that kept my Grandpa busy, and in the driveway was the trailer that we would take to the Johnson family reunion campout each year. In the backyard was a huge garden filled with carrots, beans, tomatoes and other yummy veggies. This is the place (other than the garage) that you could find my Grandpa Johnson! I loved pulling a carrot straight from the ground and swinging in the yard while eating it! A favorite activity and memory for I'm sure all of the Johnson grandkids was the go-cart! My grandpa would load up all my cousins and take us to the church parking lot where we would take timed turns taking this thing for a spin! It was a BIG deal! Daniel and Chelise (my mom's brother's kids) lived pretty close to my Grandma and Grandpa Johnson and my sisters and I spent quite a bit of time at their house. We loved how they had pop and could watch movies that at home we couldn't! I'm pretty sure that Lisa and Daniel watched Dirty Dancing about a hundred times and the same could be said for Chelise and I watching Top Gun! So many great memories, and while we give our parents grief for this ALWAYS being our vacation destination, I wouldn't change it for time at disneyland or anywhere else!

Grandpa Adams, my dad and me with my tube in Logan.

Rope Swing at the Budge Cabin. Cousin David and Michael in the background.

The Adams' sisters (Don't my lovely older sisters look happy!) haha

Boating with the Johnson Uncles!

Fun Times!!

Adelaide at One Month

My little Adelaide is one month old! It seems like just yesterday I was taking my dollar store pregnancy test and asking Shawn if I was crazy or was there really two lines :o)

She is starting to be awake more and thinks she needs to be held or eating most of that awake time. Most of her life so far she has been sick with congestion, poor little thing doesn't know what it's like to breath normally. She has almost out grown the nightgown she wore in the hospital, and is starting to fit into a lot of the 0-3 month clothes that were to big on her for the first couple weeks. While I was pregnant and miserable I just kept reminding myself that at the end of this I got a baby to cuddle, and now I do a lot of that. Last night while Shawn was holding her she fell asleep he asked if he should put her in her chair, to which I replied NOPE! I want to cuddle my growing-to-fast baby!

Here are some pictures I took yesterday since it was her official 1 Month: