Adele walking at 11mo!

The Last 4 Months 9-12/12

Well I am posting again though it has been months.  I am not the best at this but know someday I will look back and love reading what I wrote.
We just had Adele Rae's 1st birthday!  WOW, I can not believe my baby is 1!  She is so much fun and loves to play.  She absolutly loves to be chased.  She is determined and busy!  She goes back and forth all day grabbing different toys.  She puts things in and out of her shopping cart and likes to have whatever Elliana is playing with.  Adele started walking at 11 months and is so good at it now.  She is so fast and sturdy hardly ever falling.  She is smaller then her sister was weighing only 20lbs and still in 12 month cloths.  Ella was in 18 months at this age!  Adele says Hi but that is it and only when she wants to.  If we sit long enough she will sign all done and more, but it is a battle cause she would rather just grunt :)  She loves her Papa more than anyone else.  When he walks through the door after work she never shys from him and runs right too him!  It is the sweetest thing and just warms my heart.  A "daddy's girl" for sure!  Adele also cut her bottom 2 teeth at 11 months and is now cutting all 4 on top.  She got her 2 side teeth first and now her 2 front teeth are working their way through.  It has been a hard time for her cause she has not been sleeping well.  She really isnt' a big sleeper in general (11 hrs if we are lucky) so when she sleeps less then that it is hard on her.  However, our Adele Rae is a true blessing!  She always has a smile and loves to run to us and give kisses.  She is such a joy!
Elliana is now 2 years and 4 months!  We had such a fun birthday for her too with friends and family.  Elliana is so loved by everyone.  She is a typical 2 year with attitude but Ella has such a heart for everyone.  She loves her sister so much and always is sharing with her and giving kisses.  She loves Dora more than anything else so we gave her a Dora themed birthday party.  It was awesome waking up in the morning and bringing her downstairs to see the decorations. She screamed "DORA!" on the top of her lungs and just stared in awe.  Love it!  She is if fully potty trained except for a diaper at nap and bedtime but even that is getting better with her waking up dry and going #2 on the potty.  She is so full of life it is hard to contain her!  We laugh so hard with her and get so frustrated all at the same time. She is always pushing her boundaries...we know that if her heart follows the Lord she is made to do great things!  Praying for your heart EVERYDAY Ella!!!
David is doing great at work and has now joined a basketball league at Harvest Elgin. He enjoys playing and loves the competion.  I just hope he doesn't hurt himself.
I am doing well with Arbonne and always trying to figure out how to best organize my life and business.  God has continued to bless us and I am so thankful for that.

New things!

August has been a busy big month.  We have gotten Adele's ears pierced.  We got them done on our 4th year wedding anniversary!  It was fun because we got Ella's done on our 3yr wedding anniversary. She was a trooper!  Cried for maybe 10seconds and it was over.  She hasn't been bothered by them yet.  She is a tough little cookie.

Adele also has been on the move lately.  Yesterday morning Sept 2nd I found her standing up in her crib and this morning sitting straight up.  Today Sept 3rd she started to crawl!

She gets so excited when she stands and I feel we may have a walker our hands sooner then later.  She is a risk taker more then Ella was.  Adele seems like she will just go for it because she needs to keep up with her big sister. :)

Elliana is 23 months and can't believe she is going to be 2 years old in 2 weeks!  Where did the time go?  She is constantly talking and loving to color.  My new favorite things she says is, "oooo, that is gooood!"  no matter what she is eating!  Also, she says, "Of course." instead of saying Yes, and I love when she puts the phone to her ear and says, "Hello, can you hear me?"

She is very excited about her birthday.  She knows when she turns 2 "no more pac's, to baby Judah." We will be giving all her pacifiers to her baby Cousin Baby Judah.  She loves her baby cousin so wish us luck!!

We have attempted potty training.  I would say we are at 50/50 streak right now.  As long as we keep on her she will go, but if we forget she will definetly miss her time to go.  It is a struggle but I love seeing her learn and be a "big girl".

Angie, Tehya and Judah all came over the other morning while I was in the middle of making Adele's baby food.  Angie said I need to post a pic of what I do/make.  Before 10:30am I made mango, apples, pears, broccoli, carrots, and mixed berries (strawberries and blueberries).  So here is the pic :)

Saddle Up Saloon!

So Friday the 10th of August we went out for Katie Borst and Alison Glendennings 25th birthdays!  They chose to to go to saddle up salon in Naperville.  We had such a great time!  Alison danced the entire time!
I was so happy because I was with my favs (minus a couple).  Angie VanElsacker came in with her Fiance Piotr.  They had been in the states for a month.  They got engaged while they were here.  It was amazing though to spend some quality time with them both.  They are currently living in Vietnam but I have strong hopes they are moving back after the wedding :):)  we will see.

Thank you for such an amazing night ladies!  Love you all so much!

Updating..finally!

At church on Sunday Pastor Rick Donaldson talked about are we "All In".  This got me thinking about my faith of course but on many other areas of my life.  First of all, I desire to be a healthy person.  I have really let this go with my physical shape since I have had Adele.  I do believe if I take care of my spiritual health along with my phyisical health, other things with come along with it.  One that I really want to be better at is this blog!  Alison Glendenning (one of my dearest friends) is an amazing blogger.  She has inspired me to do that same.  This will be a way the girls will know what their life was like when they were little.  Not only that I have realized I am for getting things; example when Ella got her first tooth or when exactly she rolled over!  This blog will help me remember those little facts that are fun to know.
So I am going to update everyone on where we are at now.
David is still at Oswego Fire Department and has been there almost 2 years now!  He is excited about starting to train for a Tri-Athalon along with continuing his education in fire science.  David is pretty amazing because he is continually striving to be better at everything he does.
I am still working with Arbonne and loving what I do!  I currently have a down-line of 22 ppl!  I never thought that would happen!  I will be an independant consultant for 2 years in October and also hope to be getting my Mercedes Benz at the end of October also!  That is such a wild thought, but am so humbled by what the Lord has done! I have and am continuely meeting such amazing women!
David and I will be celebrating our 4th wedding anniversary this Thursday.  We are going to go to Coopers Hawk!  yummmy!
Elliana Grace will be 2 years old next month!  What fast AMAZING 2 years it has been.  I have tears as I am typing about how special she is.  She is so full of life and it is contagious when she is around.  She lives to laugh and be goofy along with having a very strong opinion!  She talks up a storm.  Currently her favorite questions is, "why Momma, why??"  Got to love it.  She is beautiful and fun and love that every day is something new.  She is often the most excited about what she is going to eat.  This girl will eat ANYTHING, although if she thinks she can get a cookie instead she will tell you she doesn't like it. She is incrediably expressive and still makes us laugh so hard when you have her make her happy, sad, suprise or scowl face!
Adele Rae is 7.5 months old.  How can that be???  Time has flown by.  I have had a hard time transitioning from one to two children but am now finally (for the last 3 months or so)  falling so in love with having 2.  Adele is my quiet observer.  She very aware with what is going on around her and loves to watch Ella run around.  No one makes her laugh like Ella or Nika (our boxer).  She is incredibly sweet and never makes a fuss unless it is bedtime.  She is more sensitive than her sister but also easily calmed and distracted.
Adele has finally be transitioned out of her woombie and is doing great putting herself to sleep.  She rolls all over in her crib but not on the floor.  She stands next to stuff and walks down the couch but is make absolutly no attempt to crawl.  She is always moving her arms and legs so i know she wants to be on the move..but is pretty content just watching her sister run circles around her :)

Here are some updated pictures of all of us!

WOW, it has been toooo long!

Thank you everyone for keeping up with my blog, even if I can not! So many things have happened in the month that has passed. I guess the only way is to grow from person to person :).

First of all, our Elliana. She has changed so very much! She is 25lbs and 31 5/8 inches long. She is walking now completely and has graduated to the toddler room at church. I went to pick her up the other day and she had both her cousins Tehya and Lilyana in her room, including her little buddy Parker Glendenning. How fun to see them all together!!! Also, Elliana Grace has turned one (if you didn't know from the pictures :)). What a fun time we had! We ate sloppy joes with cheesy potatoes and had delicious cake! Ella had fun time digging in that frosting. I don't think she even made it to the cake part! It was everywhere. She was showered with wonderful gifts and friends. We had so many ppl there (see pic) that came out in the cold rain to celebrate our special little girl. Thank you everyone. Your presents makes all of us feel so loved.

Last weekend was a very special weekend for us because we also dedicated Elliana to the Lord. It brings tears to my eyes as I write this, because never did I realize how important this is and what a gift to the Lord. Elliana is so full of joy I know the Lord can and will do amazing things with her. Elliana's name means, "The Lord answers our prayers." (boy does he ever!). We then dedicated to her a life verse. The verse we chose was one that David and I believe is true for our lives and hers. Jeremiah 29:11-12 "¹¹ For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. ¹² Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you." Verse 11 is important to us because we know the Lord has a perfect plan for our family and verse 12 goes right along withe the meaning of Elliana's name. What a gift to be able to share this with you all too! Finally, Elliana is talking up a storm! She says; mama, papa, doggie, no, mine, baba, ball, bath, book, down, banana, nana, choo choo, and pretty much any sounds you want her to. I once said purple and she said it perfectly. (even if she has no idea what she is saying). She signs yes, no, please, thank you, more, and all done.

Next is new baby girl, or as we call her "Adele Rae". :) She is doing so well. I feel great. I am a little tired, but I believe that has to do more with Elliana then with the pregnancy. Great news and update on the last blog post is that the blood clot has completely disappeared! Yes, God worked a mirace. We prayed that he would just remove the clot all together and put the placenta in the perfect place and he did! Even the doctor was very surprised about this! Thank you Jesus! Otherwise, she is measuring right on, even if I am still wearing regular jeans :). She is very active to where she wakes me up in the middle of the night, but I don't mind. And I have gained 5 inches and 13lbs. only 11 weeks to go!

Not only did we celebrate Elliana this weekend, but we also got to celebrate David! David finally finished his year of being on probation at the Oswego Fire Department. It has been a great year, but a long year. This is a huge accomplishment and he did it with flying colors. I threw him a huge surprise party. I invited all his friends and family including the entire Oswego Fire Department. We were honored to have his entire shift there including the Assistant Chief and Chief. They actually honored him there with a Union coin. What a cool thing that was. It is awesome to see that they respect him as much as we do! He has joined a great family and I am so thankful the Lord brought him to Oswego. And the best part....he was completely surprised! He had no clue at all! I had been planning it for 8 weeks so that is shocking that no one told him. Thank you everyone who helped me pull this off. You were a huge part!!!

Finally, myself. Arbonne is doing great and I have an amazing team! I am thankful for all the girls that have joined my team. Each have different skills that make us truely successful. Otherwise then Arbonne, the surprise party, pregnancy, and Elliana I have not been doing a whole lot. :) All of that keeps me busy. Oh yeah, we bought a house! That is a big deal too! We are closing in the next week! It is in a town right next to us called Montgomery. It is 6 minutes away from where we currently live which is wonderful. It is a 2 story, single family home, with 3 bedrooms and 2.5 bathrooms. It has an unfinished basement and a bonus room upstairs! This house is perfect for us and we are so excited about the new adventure of owning a home :).

Well, thank you everyone for reading this incrediably long post. Hope you enjoy it! Love you all!

Elliana is Walking!

We were pretty excited that Elliana took her first steps today and wanted to share it with you! She hasn't even tried to step forward since she has been standing on her own these past 2.5 months! Then 2 days ago she attempted one step...today she takes 7! Our baby girl is officially a toddler! I have never been so proud. It is so fun watching her grow. It is amazing how caucious and sturdy she is! Next she will be running :)