Montana Winter Trip

But first, I have to brag on Adelyn. She is doing so well with counting, singing her ABCs (and starting to recognize letters), and singing songs! She has been counting for awhile, but now she will count to about 14 and point to objects as she counts (one-to-one correspondence!). She loves singing the ABCs and can just about sing the whole song. The other day I had my niece Emily in the car and she and Adelyn were singing their hearts out. Adelyn did a decent job keeping up with her almost 5 year old cousin (granted, Emily was singing a little slower than normal). She can sing Itsy Bitsy Spider, Wheels on the Bus, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star (Tinkle, Tinkle), and enjoys reciting 5 Little Monkeys. I love her learning! Here's a (terrible) video of her counting my fingers. When I start to record her, she usually stops and comes around to the screen side to see what's going on. You can't really see her because I was trying to be discreet. Also, take note of her crazy hair! She's gotta wear those headbands!! Now if we could only get her to learn her colors....if you ask her what color something is, it's ALWAYS red.
Adelyn Counting

Now for Montana!
The first part of the week was cold, but tolerable. The latter part was freezing (-15 in the mornings and a high of 5 during the day). Adeyn got sick in the middle of the week (she had a fever and horrible cough). I couldn't ski 5 months pregnant. So.....we spent a lot of time in the house. I'm not complaining- it was extremely relaxing! We did get in a visit to Whitefish Mountain Ski Resort to watch Emily and Thomas ski, a sleigh ride, a girls' shopping trip, and snowshoed down to the river.

Adelyn and Thomas at Whitefish Mountain 

Nap time is great in Grandma's lap!

Adelyn tried Thomas's skis! She can't wait to take lessons next year! 

Seth carried Adelyn on his back down to the river 

Snow shoed down to the river 

See all the snow?? 

This is when Adelyn didn't feel well. She watched a LOT of Elmo on the iPad or travel DVD player in bed

Family pic on the sleigh ride

It started snowing so hard (and of course stopped when we got off). Here's Adelyn eating snow!

Quick picture with the horses and then inside for hot chocolate and cookies

Adelyn got a dollhouse to play with out there- her favorite toy!! 

Emily reading to Adelyn

I promise to post a belly shot soon! I'm 6 months now and definitely showing. 

21 months

 We're just a few days into the 21st month, but I thought I'd go ahead and update since already a lot has happened (and some was really in month 20).

• We went to Kolomoki (a plantation in Blakeley, GA) so the guys could go quail hunting. Adelyn got her first horse ride and we all had a great time! 
• The big change around here is Adelyn's BIG GIRL bed! We put her in the toddler bed after being out of town all weekend. Adelyn had a short nap that Suday afternoon and went to bed later than normal. I thought that since she was so tired, it'd be a good night to start. I was WRONG! She went to sleep just fine, but woke up a few hours later screaming her head off! After several attempts to calm her, we just put her back in her crib. The next day, we tried again at nap time and there have been zero problems ever since! It's been well over a week now. Brenda put up her toddler bed and she's napped fine over there as well (she naps there 2-3 times a week when I tutor). She cracks me up because when she wakes up, she knocks on her door. She can open every door in the house, yet doesn't venture out. She will crack it open and say, "Mama, Daddy??". I know she'll start roaming the house soon, but for now.....Yay, Adelyn! 
• I turned 33 on February 10th. I had my 20 week ultrasound on this day. Those of you that know me, know that my birthday isn't my favorite day of the year. Since I was little, bad luck has always fallen on this day. I was reluctant to have this important ultrasound on this day, but it's how it worked out. Maybe the tides are changing! Seth and I watched out little baby move all over the place (the u/s technician said the baby was running from her!). The baby is healthy and all of the measurements were on target. I am so excited for the end of June to meet this sweet baby! We did not find out the sex. That night, Seth brought home Kern's Fine Food for dinner and an ice cream cake from Cold Stone Creamery for dessert. He also got Adelyn to say "Happy to you, Momma!" and this continued on Valentine's Day with "Happy to you, Daddy/Bam-pa/Bam-ma/etc.". My mom came in town that weekend and we took Adelyn to the Aquarium and the Kani House (Japanese hibachi)
• Some cute things Adelyn says/does these days:  
• "I wuv you, Momma/Dada"- my FAVORITE...there is nothing sweeter!
• spinning in circles until she's so dizzy she falls and then proceeds to crack up with fits of giggles
• giving her babies milk
• saying "Bum" (come) and grabs your hand leading you where she wants to sit (she is ALWAYS planning where everyone should sit)
• she really into wearing headbands, necklaces, and bracelets. She puts on my headbands (that I wear to the gym or use when washing my face)- some are necklaces and others are "helmets" as she calls them. It's hilarious! We have been going to story time at the library each week and once she wore all her accessories. I went with two girlfriends that have boys and I'm not sure they knew what to think! 

Adelyn's first night in the toddler bed

Adelyn and Seth riding Earl

The Durands

Gorgeous nightly sunset

The bird buggy pulled by the mules, Kate and Ruby

Seth, Adelyn, and the gun. Nice. 

The kids rocking away

Three generations

She LOVES to be tossed up (and Seth obviously loves to throw her pretty high)

Adelyn with Duke and Sly

I can't believe they all looked at the camera on two separate occasions!

nap time on Sunday's hunt

Pregnant lady on a horse! 

Grandpa giving Adelyn her first Coke (She asked everyone for a "bite". We had to teach her SIP)

My mom, Adelyn, and Seth at the Aquarium

We crawled though 30 feet of tunnel and could pop up into these viewing areas to get a close up view of the penguins! 

Touching stingrays! 

This slide looked like a whale's mouth. It was probably 10 feet high/long. Notice how I went down WITH Adelyn....

When Seth went with her, he sent her down alone! I wish you could see the look on her face! She was shocked (and so were my mom and I). 

Family pic with Atlanta skyline

Nana, Adelyn, and me

Chopsticks at Kani House! It was Valentine's Day weekend and P-A-C-K-E-D. Dinner took 2 hours. She spent most of dinner eating rice in Seth's lap. She enjoyed the show and wasn't freaked out by the grill's blaze!

Heather joined us

Valentine's Day...twirling in her outfit

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20 months

It's almost February, and Adelyn is 20 months old. She's her own little person, and she's so much fun! She repeats everything you say, so we better watch out for that! Recently she started calling Seth his first name. She'll say anything you tell her to! So far, she has only climbed out of her crib one time (which resulted in a bloody lip, but no tears). We were already planning on transitioning her to a toddler bed sometime in February (and then upstairs to her "big girl" bedroom sometime in April to get ready for the new baby). I guess that's our next steps. I am NOT looking forward to that. 1. It means she's growing up 2. I like her being confined to the crib! Adelyn is still into everything, as all toddlers are. I got to make my first Poison Control phone call last week. I gave Peri her medicine. I swear she swallowed it- I even gave her a treat afterwards, which she also swallowed. Adelyn came up to me a minute later with blue chalky stuff covering her tongue and a look and sound of disgust. I quickly rinsed her mouth out and made the call. They said since it was just an antibiotic, the worst that could happen would be an allergic reaction. Luckily, that didn't even happen. The scary thing was, I was there the entire time! You can never be too careful with these kiddos!

My best friend, Heather, recently moved from Raleigh and she lived with us for three weeks while she was looking for a new place. The day after she came, we had another big snow (almost 6"- big snow for GA). This was not the fun kind of snow. At first it was too dry to stick together and then it turned to ice, so we never made a snow man. Adelyn was a much better sport this time. She wore her boots, hat, and gloves without a fuss. We tied up the sled to the back of the gator and Seth, Heather, and I pulled each other up and down Fast Lane. Adelyn was just happy to ride in the gator (she loves that thing!). Other than that, we were trapped inside for several days. I was so glad Heather was off of work too. I'm ready for summer!!

As usual, we have been on a few trips. We went to my parents' house MLK weekend. We celebrated my grandmother's 96th birthday in Hickory. The next day, we celebrated Christmas (just a tad late) with my dad's side of the family. Both events were really fun! I love getting together with family, especially as our families continue to grow. It's so neat to watch the youngest generation interact. This past weekend, we went to Seth's first race in Daytona. This year, Seth is still with Grand Am Continental Tire, but he is in the GS (faster) class, rather than the ST class. Last season, Bimmerworld had two cars in ST. This season, they have added two more cars to GS (a total of four!). Seth and James (the team owner) are teammates. They finished 16th. I think Seth was a little disappointed, but I'm sure the next races will only get better! Emily and Thomas also came to this race, so Adelyn had some playmates. She LOVES cheering for her daddy! She pumps her little fist in the air and says, "Go Daddy, go!!!". She got to sit in the new car and when Seth turned on the engine and revved it up, she grinned ear to ear. She's definitely her father's child.

We had a New Year's Eve Party. We told guests they could bring their children...we ended up having 13 kids over! It was really fun! Laura and Amy spent then night and here are the kids on New Years Day!

Amy and I took CeCe and Adelyn to Sesame Street Live in Chattanooga! The girls LOVED it! 

Snow day! 

We took turns driving the gator and pulling the sled up and down Fast Lane. Adelyn loves to go for a ride (in the tractor, as she calls it)

getting pulled down Fast Lane on the gator

Riley enjoying the snow

Heather getting pulled

Adelyn enjoying her first cup of hot chocolate (notice that about half of it ended up on her shirt!)

Rylan and Adelyn playing the piano (Hickory)

My grandmother at her 96th birthday party

The Turner's (you can see my little baby bump...I'm 16 or 17 weeks here)

Adelyn taking a nap during Seth's race. It was pretty hot in the cab, so I stripped her down the her dipaer. 

Thomas and Emily playing during the race. Adelyn is asleep in the truck in the background. When she woke up, she pulled back the curtain where the driver sleeps, climbed into the driver's seat, and waved. It was so funny- Adelyn in her diaper looking out the window like, "Where am I??"

Adelyn sitting in Daddy's NEW race car!