On (to) Wisconsin!

Adele spent the night of Grandma and Grandpa's party having a sleepover at James' house. She had been looking forward to the sleepover all summer! We actually marked it on the calendar and "X-ed" out days to help us count down to the big event! (And when we changed the calendar to August she wanted to mark ANOTHER sleepover on the calendar so we can count down again!)

When we went to pick Adele up, the first words out of her mouth were, "I want to stay here again, mom!" Unfortunately, our trip to LaPorte was a short one-only one "sleepover" night. Saturday morning, we took family pictures and then headed to Greg and Missy's for Belle's 4th birthday party, and then it was on to Wisconsin.

There was major flooding in Chicago which meant closed roads....make that closed HIGHWAYS. Major highways. I290!!! A four-hour trip took at least 6...with an infant who is not a fan of even the shortest car ride! We survived it, though, and Anna was actually quite the trooper. I became quite skilled at entertaining her and calming her down when she would fuss. Adele was happily entertained by the DVD player (which actually started to wear out by the end of our trip-oh no!) and unless her movie ended, you could almost forget she was in the car! (We didn't, though!)

We got to Madison fairly late and just took the girls for a short dip in the pool (Memaw, Bapa and Anut DeeDee joined us) before heading off to bed...well, Adele and DeeDee headed UP to Portage (another hour-long car ride!) for her SECOND sleepover in two nights! You can read all about her adventures in Portage right here

On Sunday morning we headed to Memaw and Bapa's and chilled out until the big patio party that evening. Anna got to meet several of her great aunts and uncles, and even one of Bapa's cousins!

Say Cheese!


Daddy especially loves these "birdbath" pictures:



"Petting" the goose:

Meeting Great Aunt Rose (just before Anna's big blowout!):

Meeting Great Aunt Janet:

Happy 40th Anniversary, Grandma and Grandpa!

A few weeks ago we went up to LaPorte to help celebrate Grandma and Grandpa's 40th wedding anniversary! Daddy and his wonderful brothers planned a "surprise" party for them.

Surprise!

Missy, Cordie and Belle:

Anna and I with Uncle Denny (he was being nice for a change):

Anna and Great Grandma-they share a birthday!

Adele and her princesses:

This picture cracks me up-we all look so upset (it probably had something to do with Uncle Denny!):

Grandma watching over the babies on the elephant:

Daddy wrote a narrative in honor of Ann and Roy's 40th anniversary, here they are skimming through it:

Remember This Cutie Pie?

She put herself down for her own nap today. At nap time, she announced that she was a big girl, and that she would go up to take her nap all by herself. I opened the gate at the bottom of the stairs for her, and told her I'd be up in 5 minutes to check on her.

I expected to hear her door slam, followed by Adele singing either "A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes" or "Happy Birthday" in her loudest voice.

Instead, I heard nothing. I only waited about a minute (maybe less!) before going up. Her door was closed (guess she finally learned how NOT to slam it), her night light was on, and she was tucked cozily into her bed...Melt my heart!


And....two and a half hours later, this is what I found:



Now if I can just get her to teach Anna to do the same thing...

(Actually, I love snuggling BOTH of my girls at nap/bedtime...too bad Adele isn't one for too many snuggles anymore!)

Indiana Beach!

In honor of Daddy's birthday, and Anna's two-month birthday (not really, but the timing did happen to work out that way), we went to Indiana beach with Grandma, Bapa, Uncle Tim and James. Adele was just tall enough to do the rides with Daddy, and to go on the kiddie rides by herself, and she had a blast!

Anna and I tried our best to stay out of the heat (I didn't get a ride pass, so I was just there to watch!). She showed her angelic side (until the ride home, at least), giving me tons of smiles, and generally just hanging out!

Can it be? A sleeping Anna...in the CAR?

Resting up for the big day ahead!

Bumper Cars with Daddy:

Riding the train with Grandma while Daddy and Bapa rode "Man" roller coasters:


Adele and James sharing a boat:
There was actually some "Drama" on the boat ride...Adele kept ringing the bell, which must have annoyed James, so he turned around and "held" the bell so it wouldn't ring, yelling at Adele the whole time. Adele started crying, and in-between picture taking, I tried to get James to let go of the bell (although, I'll admit, the bells WERE annoying!) Ah...kids!

Bapa's fishing for a smile!

The best part about lunch was the air conditioning! (Well, that and Anna's smiles!)

Adele and Daddy "flying like Peter Pan" on the cable cars:

Riding the ferris wheel with the gang (minus Anna and Mommy):


Grandma teaching Adele about strategy on the water ride!






Antique Cars with Grandma, Bapa and James:




Anna just hanging out in the stroller:


One very excited (and tired!) Adele:


Driving a jeep...just like Memaw! (She was SO serious about steering the jeep, but she did give a few smiles for the camera...I just missed them every time!)

Riding on a whale. There was a mermaid in the middle, but she spun with the ride, so Adele didn't really see her until she was leaving the ride...She tried to run right through the ride to get to the mermaid...SO cute!

Another picture of our happy camper!


Documentation:
That Daddy DID in fact ride the "big" roller coaster before we left. (Bapa didn't believe that he'd actually do it...not that he was scared, just that he was tired.) Daddy said he would ride it many more times if the girls hadn't been ready to leave. I actually think I might have gone on this one too, although I haven't been on a coaster since my 21st birthday (I don't think...).

2 Month Stats

At two months old, Anna weighs 12 lbs, 12 oz, is 23 1/4 inches long, and is just full of smiles for Mommy, Daddy and Adele!




She is a pretty calm baby, and really only gets upset when she's tired. Or when she's in the car, although we're working on that one! She screamed for over an hour on the way home from Indiana Beach before she finally gave up and just stared into space!

She loves playing on her "elephant" floor mat, and is getting quite skilled at hitting the toys that dangle from it. She still loves her "bears" mobile, and doesn't hate the bouncy seat. She is getting better about lifting her head during tummy time, but loves to lay across my legs, which also strengthens her neck muscles, so I'm not too worried!

She sleeps in her crib at night (well, in the co-sleeper, which is in the crib) and often sleeps 8 hours at a time! On Sunday night she actually slept a 10-hour stretch for the first time ever! She sleeps in her swaddle, and I think that helps her to sleep for such long stretches! Naps are usually in her crib (also swaddled), unless we have visitors, in which case, she doesn't want to leave the "action" and prefers to snuggle in my arms (which I don't really mind...) And occasionally she'll still sleep in her bouncy seat, which was Adele's favorite nap-time spot at this age (well...when Adele napped at this age, that is!)

She took a bottle from Mommy without any problems...of course, I gave it to her at the *perfect* time-she had just woken up from a LONG nap, and was perfectly content, if not a tad bit hungry! The next step will be to get Daddy to feed her a bottle, but since I'm not going back to work this fall, we're not too concerned about her needing to take a bottle.

All in all, she's just a real sweetie and we think we'll keep her!

Children's Museum

Today we braved the crowds (and there were PLENTY of crowds, thanks to the heat!) and took all four cousins to the Children's Museum.

Our day got off to a great start, especially since Anna didn't fuss one bit on the way down! (A new mirror toy for her to look at seems to have done the trick!)

(she's actually laughing here)

James and Adele had tons of fun exploring the museum, and wore all of the adults ragged!



I didn't take as many pictures as I'd like, but Daddy had the video camera, and has been working on editing all of the footage, so there may be "more"



Thankfully, the Barbie exhibit is ending soon...Adele has had quite a few "naughty" moments there! This time, she swatted a girl who was in line to brush "Her" Barbie's hair...she's had several "time outs" in the Barbie exhibit!

Raggedy Ann and Andy...

kind of...

We finally got to meet Cousin Andrew yesterday. He and Anna are only about 3 weeks apart! Adele was thrilled to have Cousin James to play with while we took pictures of the babies.

This morning I was entertaining both babies and caught a glimpse of Adele's Raggedy Ann doll and realized that the babies' names are pretty similar to Raggedy Ann and Andy, so I think I have a sewing job for the grandma's before Halloween comes!