adventures of addelyn

I disappeared from the blogging world in the last month or so. Life has been full to say the least. So here are some pictures to sum up the fifteenth month of Addelyn's life. It hasn't been boring!

Bath. Or "baa" as Addelyn has started to call it. She gets a big grin on her face when she finishes dinner and knows it is "baa" time. Notice the bubbles. She got a bubble machine from Mark's co-worker and she loves it. When we turn the bubbles off she continuously gives us the sign for "more" and says "maaa" "maa" "maa" which is her way of saying more! Over and over of course!

Addelyn had a few ear infections during her first year of life and then continuously had fluid in her ears. The doctor was concerned about her hearing because of this fluid. So we ended up having her get tubes put in her ears on March 10th. We arrived at the hospital at 6 a.m. and the procedure went smoothly. Notice her little hospital gown, how cute. She even got an Iowa hospital cap to wear too. Since getting tubes, I'm pretty sure her hearing has improved because she has started saying many more words. Maybe it is just the timing for her to talk more too? Who knows. Whatever works. We are glad she isn't in pain anymore.

Addelyn's buddy, Austin, came over this month one night so his parents could go on a date night. They are eight days apart and it was fun to see them play together. We have some great pics to show them someday in high school!

For spring break this year, I was the point leader of our high school spring break mission trip to Rushville, MO. We went to God's Mountain Camp and spent time doing projects around the camp. The camp runs in the summer and is open for many inner city children. They have an amazing ministry and it was a great chance to be in the middle of God's creation. We had a beautiful week of weather and really got some great work done around the camp.

I had the opportunity to take Addelyn along so she got to hang out with lots of high schoolers for the week.

Addelyn with Tori & Ellen, two of the amazing high school students on our trip. Addelyn loved Hummer the dog.

Two of my great friends, Jess & Becky, went along on our trip to cook for everyone. They made amazing food for our whole group. They also brought along their kids so here is one of our best tries at getting a picture of them all together. As you can tell, they are not at a "sit still for pictures" stage!

A few of the days while we were at God's Mountain, it was around 80 degree weather. Addelyn LOVED being outside and would cry at night when we would take her in. She ran around with the other kids & got her fill of scraped up knees and elbows and even a bit on her face. It was a good opener to what spring and summer will look like for us!

Aunt Jiller was the secret weapon to being able to lead a trip and take your fifteen month old daughter along. Mark had to stay home and work so I knew there was no way I could do it on my own. My sister came along and helped out with Addelyn. She was amazing and Addelyn loved her time with her aunt. Addelyn even said "Aunt Jiller" at the end of the week. I promise it sounded somewhat like that. Maybe. :)

Okay, back at home. We have had other adventures and even fun added to our usual day to day life. "Baby" is one of Addelyn's favorite words and now her favorite thing to carry with her EVERYWHERE. In the morning, first thing..."Baby??" She repeats until she finds her baby. She carries this doll around with her everywhere she goes in the house. In this pic, the doll is naked because her outfit was attacked by spaghetti fingers!

Dress up. She loves to put on shirts, put scarves around her neck, hats on her head, and don't forget the underwear around her neck too.

Painting with the new invention by crayola for toddlers. Note to self: my toddler is not ready for these. It started off safely....

Good thing for washables. Once this mess started, I figured, why not?!

A big helper! She helped Grandma Kathy make quesadillas the other night. She loves to help. Helping means licking or tasting the product but we will take it! She is great about helping in many ways. She follows directions well. "Addelyn please throw your diaper in the garbage." She does it. "Addelyn please go get your baby." Yep, she runs to the other room and comes back with her baby. "Addelyn please give mommy her phone." She takes off in the opposite direction in a run with my phone in hand. She UNDERSTANDS directions well, follows sometimes! Soon Mark will have her getting him Mountain Dew and oatmeal cream pies!

We love this stage. It is so much fun. Addelyn laughs a lot, repeats lots of words, plays the "I'm gonna get you" game, loves the songs at the beginning of the Care bear movie (she doesn't sit and actually watch the movie but dances and claps to the songs at the beginning), loves to turn the computer off and on (which is a big NO NO at our house), likes to watch older kids, LOVES animals (dogs especially), can make the sounds for a bird, cow, sheep, dog, and cat. She is doing sign language for dog and cat now too. She is eating well except for the fact she isn't very interested in drinking milk. Good thing her dairy is fufilled by her cottage cheese habit. At her fifteen month appointment, she was 20 lbs, 13 oz. and 29 1/4 inches long- which landed her in the 25-50 percentile.

Fifteen months. WHEW....I'm tired.