Thursday's Happenings

We started today bright and early at 5 am. Okay, not so bright, actually because it was still dark outside. Usually when Ada decides to start her day at the crack of dawn, she will play for about an hour, clearly be tired, I put her back down, and then I go back to sleep for a few more hours. Not today. Today, between 5 and 8 am, I tried to put her back down three or four times, and it was not happening. Finally at 8:15, I gave her a bottle, and she went to sleep for a grand total of 45 minutes. Not even enough time for me to settle in for a nap. I even got in the shower when I first heard her wake up, thinking she might go back to sleep. No such luck.

We had a play date at 11:15 with a friend from church and her 16 month old, so there was no trying to put Ada back down for a longer morning nap. The friend lives in a very large neighborhood, and I have only been over there at night for community group. I didn't have directions, but Scott assured me that I could call him when I got to the front gate, and he would give me directions to her house. I didn't even have the address. So I got to the gate, entered the neighborhood, called Scott as planned, and he didn't answer his work phone or cell phone. I then tried to call the girl I was meeting, but I later found out that her phone was in a different locale than she was. I called Scott and called Scott and called Scott, and he did not answer until I had been driving around this neighborhood for like 30 minutes, just hoping that I would miraculously find my way. By this time Ada was tired, hungry, and screaming in the back seat, and I was very, very late for our play date. I tried not to be angry and frustrated with Scott, but, to be honest, there was some frustration, which heightened with every scream coming from back seat. Finally, Scott gave me directions, and I showed up at the house 45 minutes late!!!

The play date itself was great, except for a few minor mishaps between Ada and the other little girl. It just seems that sinful nature always comes to the surface when kids are expected to share toys. It's amazing how little 12 month (almost) Ada immediately wants what another kid is playing with even when there are so many other toys around. It never fails to happen that way. But, in the midst of all the refereeing and such, I was able to enjoy some great mom conversation. This mom has three children, so she has a bit more insight and practice with this parenting thing, and it was helpful to pick her brain a little bit. She also let me borrow a dress for Ada to wear on her birthday because once I decided to face the facts, I realized that the bubble suit I ordered for her is just way too big. However, I now have a precious little blouse and pink jumper with a cupcake on the front for Ada to wear. Hopefully I will be able to post pictures again soon.

Now Ada is finally down for a good nap. She woke up an hour into the nap, clearly still very sleepy, so I rocked her for a bit and put her back down. I think that I am now going to enjoy a little down time myself. Happy Thursday, everyone.

Just some things I want to share with you

I just love opening my mailbox to find a package inside, and that is one more reason why I love my new hobby--searching for amazing deals on name brand baby clothes on e-bay. Last week I bid on and won a Kelly's Kids romper with balloons on the front--perfect for Ada's birthday--and it arrived today. Granted, it's a little big. I ordered a size 18 months to make sure that Ada would get some wear out of it. I tried it on her, which she was not too happy about, and it is not so big that she can't still wear it on her big day. Yea. The only problem is that I can only bid in very small amounts, so I most often get outbid, which is a relief to Scott. I bid so low on the romper that I paid more for shipping than I did for the outfit. And ya'll, it is in great shape. If I didn't know otherwise, I would think it was brand new. And you can tell it's high quality. I guess there is a reason those clothes are so stinking expensive.

Other news from today, and this is the most exciting news of all--I discovered an online forum where I can connect with other moms that live right here in my town!! I have found things like this for Atlanta, but never specifically for my little suburb. And, the best part, there are weekly events planned for stay at home moms just like me!! In August there are several playdates planned at places like Chick-fil-A and our local coffee shop. There is even a reading day for kids Ada's age at the local library. I can't wait to meet these other moms and begin to end this life of isolation that I find myself living.

While perusing this forum, I found a link to a website that lists all the kids consignment sales that are going on in a given area, and there are several coming up soon!! Just in time for Ada to need new fall clothes. I am so excited. Jane Boutwell always finds great stuff at these sales, and I normally just purchase stuff from her, but I cannot wait to explore the sales myself. Apparently there is a really great one in Peachtree City in September that sales overstock items from trunk sales. This means clothes that have never even been worn. Oh, I just can't wait. I have to start saving my pennies now. As Dave Ramsey says, if I know this is coming, then I can prepare in advance, and hopefully get Ada some really cute, high quality clothes for a fraction of the normal cost. Yea again. So, all in all it's been a pretty great day.

This week's bargains

As most of you know, Tuesdays are Scott's day to work from home, so today I got to get out of the house all alone during Ada's nap time, and it was quite a treat. While out, I went to Target (of course), and Target has out done themselves with the new fall items that are in the store. There were at least four pairs of shoes that I was dying to have, and there were many, many outfits that I wanted to buy for Ada. However, I didn't purchase any of those things because they were all for cold weather, and, as we all know, summer lasts all the way through November here in the deep south, so we won't be putting away Ada's shorts and my flip flops any time soon. What I did buy was a cute little black sundress for 5.00!! I haven't told Scott that I bought it yet, but I couldn't resist. It was a dress that I have been wanting since I first saw it, and to find it in my size for 5.00, well I couldn't pass that up.

Now, for other moms out there in need of new clothes for the kiddos, Carter's and Osh Kosh are having amazing sales right now!! I realize that if you are a mom, you probably already know this, but just in case there is someone out there who doesn't know it, I had to make you aware!! I don't know how much longer the sales will be going on, but, honestly, most stuff is at least 50% off. With the Dave Ramsey situation, we cannot even take advantage of the sale right now, but maybe some other mom out there can, and I can live vicariously through you.

Has anyone else found any great bargains this week? If so, let me know.

Weekly Ada Stuff

We are one week away from one year, and this means that we are one week away from no more formula. My huge hope is that my next baby(ies) will nurse for the entire first year, and formula will be a thing of the past in the Moore household. But anyway, saying good-bye to formula is reason enough for celebration, not to mention that we also need to celebrate Ada's birth, Scott's birth, and my birthing of Ada. So, there will be lots to celebrate this time next week. I have already ordered Ada's cake, and Scott's parents will be coming to McDonough to join us for the celebration, but I will blog about the actual day after the fact.

As for other Ada info...she is walking all over place and becoming very confident with it. She is able to stand up now without pulling up on something, so she rarely crawls anymore. In fact, we bought her her first pair of shoes yesterday so that she can begin walking when we are outside of the house as well. We let her try them out as soon as we bought them, and at first she was a little wobbly, but she seemed to quickly get accustomed to them being on her feet. She is able to drink her entire bottle by herself now, and I know that soon we will need to switch to a sippy cup. Any advice on making this transition, moms that may be reading? Her favorite toy right now is a wooden farm animal puzzle that my mom bought her. She loves to one by one take the puzzles pieces and hand them to me. I then say the name of the animal, the sound the animal makes, and I put the piece back in it's place on the board, hoping that she will mimic some of this. She does mimic a few of the animal sounds. It is especially funny when she neighs like a horse. She also likes to take the puzzle pieces one by one and put them in a container, usually an empty wipes container. Once she has filled the container she dumps the whole thing out. She completes the entire process over and over all day. She is getting better about allowing me to read to her, and she has an actual favorite book--a touch and feel baby animal book. She loves that one because she can feel the soft fur of the different baby animals. She will also let me get about halfway through a Dr. Seuss alphabet book. Those are the only two that she will sit and listen to. Another favorite toy is actually Ellie's barbie guitar that was left here after Ann's last visit. Ada loves to push a button to make it play a song and then she gets a huge grin on her face and "dances." She is still climbing on to and out of everything including strollers, highchairs, and grocery carts. Thankfully she can't climb out of her bed yet.

Mothering is equally fun and frustrating these days. With little Ada's personality growing more and more everyday comes much opportunity for connection and playing on a level that has not yet been a possibility. At the same time, her growing independence has created a need for almost constant discipline. It absolutely wears me out. I say no and spank for the same things over and over and over. But I know I have to dig my heels in and continue to enforce the no, or it will only get more difficult later. I am not a natural disciplinarian!! And that is Ada this week. Next week I will give a full report of her birthday party and her one year doctor's visit. I am anxious to see how much she weighs and what percentage she is in. Until then...

Painting pictures of Egypt

I returned to Auburn this past weekend to celebrate the coming birth of my best friend's baby girl, and as I drove into town, waves of nostalgia swept over me. I was drowning in nostalgia. Auburn feels like coming home. I suppose it always will. My parents house feels like home, but, for some odd reason, Scottsboro has never felt like home to me. If I could move my parents' house to Auburn, that would be home to me. Every square inch of that place holds some kind of memory for me, and I was bombarded by those memories all at once--choking me, almost, as I passed the sign letting me know that I was entering Lee County. And, to add to the nostalgia, most of my closest college friends, roommates, bridesmaids, were all together for lunch at Amsterdam and a baby shower afterward, and with a gathering like that comes much conversation about old memories and stories that we love to tell. And again, I don't know if my hormones are going crazy or what, but throughout the weekend, I had tears always at the surface, threatening to spill over, exposing all of that nostalgia. It was such a refreshing weekend to be with old friends, but I was sad, of course, because I left Scott and Ada behind. It was a couple's shower, so most of the husbands were there except for mine. I always want Scott and Ada with me because I never feel quite myself when I am separated from them, but it just wasn't practical to bring Ada when I was the one hosting the shower. And, while in Auburn, especially those first few moments when I was so overwhelmed by memories, I have this longing to return, if only for a day or two, to that old college life, but as I headed up 75 this morning on my way back to Atlanta, I couldn't wait to be home. Home in McDonough. Funny how that works, and it reminded me of the lyrics of a favorite song by Sara Groves. Enjoy...

I don’t want to leave here I don’t want to stay
It feels like pinching to me either way
The places I long for the most
Are the places where I’ve been
They are calling after me like a long lost friend
It’s not about losing faith It’s not about trust
It’s all about comfortable
When you move so much
The place I was wasn’t perfect
But I had found a way to live
It wasn’t milk or honey
But then neither is this

CHORUS: I’ve been painting pictures of Egypt Leaving out what it lacked
The future seems so hard And I want to go back
But the places that used to fit me Cannot hold the things I"ve learned
And those roads closed off to me While my back was turned

The past is so tangible I know it by heart
Familiar things are never easy to discard
I was dying for some freedom But now I hesitate to go
Caught between the promise And the things I know

BRIDGE: If it comes too quick I may not recognize it Is that the reason behind all this time and sand? If it comes too quick I may not appreciate it Is that the reason behind all this time and sand?

Ways I'm saving money this week

Okay, as you know from previous posts, I am all about stretching the paycheck so that I can stay at home with Ada. I feel like part of my job as a stay at home mom is investing time in figuring out how to do this. Especially now when I only have one child, so I have more time on my hands. Plus, I have always loved to shop for good deals. I am a shopper. I love it. I love the entire process, so I think it's fun to figure out how to make the money stretch a little bit farther. There are several things that I am doing these days to pinch those pennies, things that I have learned from other mom blogs, in fact.

1. I am couponing. I am actually clipping coupons, saving the coupons in a cute little pouch, and, this is the crazy part, using the coupons. I am that girl in line, pulling the stack of coupons out of my pouch, and eagerly watching the screen to see what money I will save this week. Here is my secret for couponing. I only use coupons for items I would buy anyway. I refuse to buy something simply because I have a coupon. Now, I am willing to plan meals around the coupons. You know, the way you plan meals around what you already have in the cupboard. But I will not allow the coupons to make me spend more money on things that we don't need. And, rarely, I find a coupon for pampers or formula, and I feel like I struck gold.

2. I only shop at Kroger. Now, Wal-Mart may initially have better prices, but the Kroger card is amazing. You can download coupons onto your card to add to the deals you will already find in the store. Plus, every time I spend $100 at Kroger (which is weekly) I get ten cents per gallon off of already low priced Kroger gasoline. And, the store computer keeps track of what I am buying, and it spits out more coupons with my receipt on things that I am buying every week. For example, those longed for pamper coupons.

3. Speaking of Pampers, I am only using them at night. I won't lie, Pampers are the best. As much as I want to believe that generic brand will suffice, it's just not true. Pampers are softer, they have such a distinct baby smell, and they don't leak. However, generic brand will work during the day time when Ada's diaper is being changed every 2 hours or so. So, I am now buying a jumbo pack of pampers, which I keep upstairs in Ada's room to put on her after bath time before she goes to bed. Then I can rest assured that she will not wake up in the middle of the night with wet pajamas as a result of a leak (this has happened to us several times). And, I make those pampers stretch for a few weeks because I am putting generic brand on her during the day. This leads me to money saving tip number 4.

4. CVS extra care card. This card is AMAZING. It makes Kroger look bad. Really. You sign up for an extra care card, then you pick up a weekly circular (or go online), and you find the things in the store that will earn extra bucks. Let me explain by example. The other week CVS had a sale on Charmin toilet paper--the pampers of toilet paper-- and bounty paper towels. If you spent 20.00 on Charmin and bounty, you would receive 10.00 extra bucks. Well, the sale was so good that I was able to buy two huge things of Charmin and two huge things of bounty for a little over 20.00. Then I received 10.00 extra bucks back automatically, which is like a gift card to CVS. I turned around and bought a huge pack of pampers, which was also on sale, and got 10.00 off of the pampers. And left with more extra bucks to spend on my next shopping trip.

Let's go on. This week, the special was on CVS brand baby items. I spent 15.00 on two packs of cvs brand diapers and two packs of cvs brand wipes. I received 5.00 extra bucks back, which I plan to use today to buy four cases of diet Pepsi, which is on sale 4/11. This means that I will actually spend 6.00 to buy four twelve packs of diet Pepsi. If you are still confused, go here (click on the word here) to read a more detailed explanation of the "CVS game."

5. Okay, this is the last one for now. Rite Aid has a similar program, which I am just starting, so I don't know as well. It is called single check rebate. It works a lot like CVS, but instead of getting an automatic coupon with your receipt, you buy items in the store, you take your receipt home, plug your info. into Rite Aid online, and you receive a rebate check. For example, during July, if I bought one jumbo pack of Pampers I could go home, enter my receipt info. into the computer, and I would receive a check for 2.00. And the great thing here is you just receive money. I don't have to use that money at Rite Aid. Again, with both of these things I only buy what I need to buy anyway. For example, this morning, I went through the monthly Rebate Directory and marked things that we have to buy. That way, instead of buying them at Kroger, I will buy them at Rite Aid, and I will receive money back for them. Again, for a more detailed explanation, go here.

So just a few tips on how we are saving money. And I am ALWAYS looking for new ways to save, so please post any tips in the comment section, if you have them.

Soon she will be a baby no more

This is how I know that Ada is transitioning from baby to little girl right before my eyes--she no longer wears footie pajamas.

For a few weeks now we have had to nightly search and scramble to find pajamas that fit when it was time for Ada to go to bed. Today, I finally loaded Ada into her car seat and we headed to Old Navy in search of new pajamas. And what do you know, they don't make 12-18 month footie pajamas at Old Navy. Instead, tonight, Ada wears pajama pants and a top, like her older cousins. Her older cousins that are no longer babies. Where did this first year go? I am not a sentimental person, but, I kid you not, today as I cut the tags off of her new pajamas, I had tears in my eyes. I don't know if my hormones were overreacting or what the problem was, but I felt emotional over her new pajamas. However, that same girl still hasn't graduated to a front facing car seat, so there are remnants of newborn Ada scattered throughout the day. I want to hold onto those little things.

Waiting on Pictures

I have been waiting to post a blog because I hate blogging with no pictures. Unfortunately, however, I left the device needed to download pictures in Scottsboro, so no pictures for a while. And I have taken some good ones lately.

We had an exhausting weekend. Ada had a fever, and she seemed to feel so bad all weekend. She was fussy, and she couldn't settle down to sleep, which contributed to the fussiness. So all three of us were tired and fussy:) I took a great picture of Scott asleep on the couch holding Ada as she watched Praise Baby. It really summed up our entire weekend, and I can't even post it. Words will have to suffice. She is feeling better, but the fever left us with a little girl who no longer wants to sleep all night, so we are back at square one--letting her cry it out. Which I am still terrible at doing!! I am fine with it in the middle of the day at naptime, but in the middle of the night I have this strong urge to comfort Ada as soon as I hear her crying, and it really prohibits the letting her cry it out. However, I know that it will only be a few nights and things should return to normal, so hopefully I can power through. I'll let you know how it goes. Things I am already adding to the prayer list for our next baby--that he or she will be a great nurser and that he or she will be a better sleeper (after the prayers that God would simply allow us to have another healthy baby, of course, or a baby at all for that matter). Ada has not been a good sleeper from day one. Just when I think I have found a solution, she stops responding to the solution, so it has been a very sleepless first year at times. Worth it, so very worth it, of course, but still, I'm tired.

As for other news, the Dave Ramsey plan is in effect, and we are doing fairly well. The budget still has some kinks in it, but the plan warned us of this. He said it would take a month or two to really figure out how to budget everything, but we feel encouraged. Our new thing that gets us through the days of wanting to spend money, is to talk about all the things we will be able to do later. Right now what is most important is to raise our children. Later, when our children are grown, thanks to Dave Ramsey, we should really be able to enjoy doing things together as a couple. Maybe then I can take that longed for trip to England. That is one of the perks to having children young, I suppose. We hopefully will still have energy when we are finished raising them. We'll see how that goes.

And that is what is happening in the Moore household. Just the same old stuff. Working puzzles, baby-proofing cabinets, fixing bottles, making beds, you know, the daily grind. But still, I love that moment in the morning when I walk into Ada's room and she is grinning at me, and we start the process all over again.

Everywhere I turn there are children buying school supplies

This fall marks the first fall since I was six that I didn't go back to school. Okay, I didn't go back to school last fall, but that doesn't count because I was oblivious to anything but my due date that was staring me in the face. So this is the first fall that counts, and I didn't realize how sad I would feel. I just keep seeing the signs for school supplies, and back to school clothes, and moms with kids checking off lists in Target, and I just keep feeling that small sad feeling in the pit of my stomach. What I wish is that I could pack Ada up with my bag of books and take her right into the classroom with me, just like when I was pregnant, but of course, that's not possible. And, for me, it's not possible for me to go without her, so I just have to live with the sad feeling. I love the start of a new school year--so much possibility. A clean slate. New goals. I loved that I had a job where I always got a second chance. Now fall and back to school will always mark another year of Ada's life. Okay, not really fall, but since back to school now happens in August, it is the same time as Ada's birth. It makes me want to try once more to find a job where I can teach online. Not tutor, teach. I know what I will find, that I don't have enough experience, but hey, it's worth another shot. Anyway, it's just one of those days where I am wishing I could live a double life, have the best of both worlds, and I needed to share with someone.

Latest Ada Antics

Well my little monkey has just picked up another new trick to keep me on my toes. She can take her pants and diaper off, and she likes to do just that. Which, of course, is not an option. She can't run around diaperless. Scott and I watched today as she pulled one diaper tab open, stepped out of the diaper, and proceeded to continue doing what she was doing before as if it was completely normal to walk around pantsless. Oh dear.

She also added many more bruises today because we went to the pool with some moms from church, and she insisted on crawling all around the concrete rather than playing in the water. Last time she loved the water, and had so much fun splashing and playing. Not today. The water was surprisingly cold, and I guess that's what turned her off. So instead she opted to crawl all over the hot concrete, and her knees are very red and skinned. It doesn't seem to bother her, though.

Her nights are returning to normal with no waking up, and as a result, the morning nap has returned after all. I guess we are just in a transition phase, and the nap schedule will simply depend on the previous night's events. I am soaking up the morning naps, though, because I continue to stay tired all of the time. Though I know the cause this week--I am staying up way too late.

The new Dave Ramsey plan takes effect tomorrow as we embrace the envelope system. Cash it is, and once we have spent the cash in a particular envelope, that is the end of that budget category. Scott is payed weekly, so our monthly budget is broken into weekly segments. I am trying to stay positive and excited about this new money "adventure" we are on. Again, it feels just like a diet, I want the results without the work.

Updates

I feel like I have been away for so long. In reality I think it has only been a few days, but there are so many things I want to record.

As I type this I am sitting at my desktop, which means, yea, the computer is fixed. Finally I can get back to tutoring. This leads me to my first update. I am in the process of possibly joining a different tutoring company, tutor.com, which I think I will be happier with. My fingerprints for esylvan have still not gone through, and I continue to work maybe two hours a week. Plus, it is not the most convenient job because I have to be in an area where there is no background noise. With tutor.com, there will only be typing, no actual talking, so I could be in the room with Scott and Ada while I work. Plus there are no fingerprints required, so hopefully I will get more hours. And the last reason why I think I will like tutor.com more is because I would be working with students who have questions about literature and writing--my favs. With esylvan, I was working with elementary students helping them with reading and math, not really what I went to school to do, and it was sometimes comical to see me try to help students with math. I have no training in teaching math!! I don't know all the math lingo involved with multiplying triple digit numbers and things of that nature. So that is update number one--a new job may be in the works.

Update number two, Ada is walking all over the place. With the walking comes many falls and, therefore, many bruises. Bless her heart, she is so accident prone these days. She is fearless, and this results in lots of tears after she knocks her head into yet another wall, bed post, floor, etc. But she is really taking off. I have also devised a makeshift playroom in our otherwise empty dining room. I have blocked all entrances with furniture, and thrown all of Ada's toys into the room. I can put her in there, and there is nothing dangerous or breakable that she can get to. It makes it easier for me to do things like clean the kitchen or dry my hair. She doesn't stay in there for very long without me before she gets fussy, but it does buy me some time to get things done. Whatever works, right?

As for her sleeping, we are sort of back at square one. All the traveling and company over the last couple of weeks messed us up, and she has woken up in the middle of the night for the last several nights. Sunday night we let her cry for an hour before we caved and gave her a bottle. Last night was even worse. We were so tired, we gave in immediately. We have got to go to bed earlier so that we can actually stick to the plan and not give her a bottle. The other sleep update is that she is officially down to one nap a day. I have tried to hold on to that morning nap, but it is just not happening, but she is taking a longer more consistent afternoon nap as a result, so the new schedule does have its perks.

As I type this, Ada is in her room crying at the top of her lungs because she doesn't want to go to bed. She is usually fairly easy to put down, but tonight she is putting up quite the fight. It is after eight, though, so there is no giving in to those cries. It's never fun to listen to your child cry, no matter how much you know you're doing what's best!!

And last update--Scott and I have jumped on the Dave Ramsey bandwagon. We are fairly excited about this, though it means the already tight budget just got even tighter. Our first step in the Dave Ramsey plan is to save an emergency fund, so we have begun to save. Our plan is to deposit money in the account any time we want to go out for dinner instead of eat in or buy a new outfit, or whatever situation arises. We are trying to have fun with it, and we know that in the end, we will be so glad we did this. We are kicking ourselves that we didn't do this plan back when we had my paycheck. It would make gathering the emergency fund so much easier. The final step in the plan is paying off the house, so it looks like this is a lifestyle, not a one time thing. I feel like we just started this really strict diet, and I am wanting to lose weight within a week--not going to happen!! So, I will keep you posted on all the fun ways we are saving money.

Finally I will be back tomorrow with fun pictures from the week with Ann and her kids. We had so much fun hanging out, playing at the Atlanta children's museum, and just enjoying the company.

She keeps me on my toes

This is another early morning post, but I am happy to report that we slept until 7 am today!! Granted I gave in and gave her a bottle at 4:30 am, but I needed more sleep, and I knew a bottle was the only thing that would make that happen. I will crack down on letting her cry it out again once we get back home. Anyway, I had to post this as soon as it happened because it is so crazy.

This morning, about 15 minutes ago, I was finished feeding Ada breakfast, and I walked over to the sink to get a wet paper towel to clean her off. She was safely strapped into the highchair, or so I thought. In the 20 seconds it took me to wet the paper towel and turn back around, Ada had climbed out of the highchair, and was on all fours on top of a table that is beside the highchair. I ran over there and grabbed her, and I looked at the chair thinking that I must have forgotten to buckle her in. Oh no, the buckle was still intact; she had just somehow managed to squeeze out of the buckle. Oh that girl. She is so active, it's crazy.

And because I need to catch up so badly, some more photos I took this morning.

Finally I can post some pictures

I am definitely blogging at 7:00 am, mainly because Ada and I have been awake since 5 am, so why not, right?

I have no idea why she woke so early this morning. At 5 I tried to rock her and put her back down, but she was making lots of noise again at 5:30 am, and I am currently sharing a room at my parents' house with my sister, Sarah, so I decided to forgo letting Ada "cry-it-out," and let Sarah sleep a little later than 5:30. Scott and I were in town this weekend, and he headed back to Atlanta yesterday. I will be riding back with Ann and her kiddos on Wednesday. So, a fun-filled week for me. While here, I will also get to visit with my childhood friend, Joy Baldwin Finch, and her brand new baby boy, Brennan. I think he may be about 2 months old?

It was a fun 4th. We were able to see Scott's parents and sister on Friday morning for a very short visit. We will hopefully be seeing them for a longer visit in August. We celebrated the fourth by eating my dad's yummy grilled hamburgers and hot dogs and my mom's potato salad. Plus, Ann made a pretzel salad, which I love. Then on Saturday, my mom baby-sat Ada, and Scott and I spent the day in Huntsville. We soak up any date time because we don't really have a baby-sitter in McDonough. We ate at Laredo's at the Bridgestreet shopping center. It is "gourmet" Mexican, and if you haven't picked up on it yet, Scott and I LOVE Mexican food. It was a wonderful lunch, the highlight being the homemade, super fresh guacamole.

And to top off a fun day, we met several friends for dinner and hanging out--The Turnbulls, The Owens, and the Paynes. Such fun to have some adult conversation and hang out time, knowing that Ada was safe and sound with my parents. She really attached herself to my mom this trip, and at times even preferred her over me.

And now, some much needed pictures. Many of these have already appeared on my mom's blog, but I have to post them. They were taken with my mom's camera.

Ada with her aunt Sarah.

My mom's sister, Mary Ann, Ada, and Luke. Ada is constantly trying to take things from Luke, and Luke doesn't like it!! Notice the look on his face.

And playing peacefully side by side.

Ada's new favorite past time. Getting into the cabinets and pulling everything out.

Sleep Update

Things are really looking up in the sleep department. For almost two weeks now, I think, Ada has been sleeping all night!! As in, we put her down at 7:30 pm and she wakes up at 6:30 am. Every once in a while we hear her around 11pm, but she settles herself back down. I can't believe it worked so quickly. The two nights that we had to let her cry it out were horrible!!! But I am so glad it only took two nights. The weird thing is, I still feel very tired all the time. I continue to take two naps a day along with her. I have started taking a vitamin in hopes that my energy level would increase. Which, by the way, once she started sleeping through the night, the nap situation worked itself out. She is now going back down for a nap at 8:30 am and again at 2ish. And that is how I am sometimes getting two naps a day. I also think if I become more consistent with exercise I might have more energy. I am so affected by things like diet and exercise. I always have been. And I really can't eat any simple carbs without it affecting my energy level. I maybe have just slacked off and need to start paying more attention to what I am eating. So the new plan is vitamins, protein and complex carbs, and consistent exercise. Anyway...just wanted to update since I blogged about our sleep problems for so long. Thanks for all the advice on letting her cry it out!

And one more first, Ada held and drank from her bottle all by herself tonight. I have been trying to get her to do this for a long time, but she has never understood that she has to tilt the bottle up to get anything out of it. Tonight she was sitting in her highchair eating cheerios and drinking pear juice (she's still having bathroom issues--bless her heart, it's always something), and she took the bottle from me. Next thing I knew, she had the bottle tilted up, and she was drinking as if she had been doing it since day one. She's getting to be such a big girl:( But it's so much fun to watch all her little developments.

A Day of Firsts

It's official, at around 10:30 this morning, Ada took two steps. I was so excited!! She has been standing on her own for longer periods of time lately, and I have tried to encourage to walk, but usually she squats or lunges forward into a crawl. Today, she took two real steps before squatting into a crawl. She did it twice more throughout the day, but she never took more than two steps at a time. She is getting more confident about letting go of things as she "cruises" around the room, so I suspect that before we know it little Ada will be toddling all over the place.

Now, I felt like the event was worth celebrating, so we went to Chick-Fil-A for lunch, and Ada had her first kid's meal. Scott and I had coupons, so the location was decided for us, but I was so excited to get her her first real kid's meal. And she ate a grand total of one chicken nugget broken into tiny pieces and a few bites of fry. Plus she couldn't figure out how to suck the apple juice out of the juice box, so maybe it's still too early for the kid's meal. I guess I was just an over eager first time mom. But, ya'll, the "prize" in the kid's meal was so great--a little hard book with a great moral--being friends with people who are different from us. And it even had little discussion questions in the back. So cute. I just love Chick-fil-a!!

So, a big day for little Ada!