One and half! What????

  I can NOT believe she's 18 months! I love this age (most days, haha!) because I am learning more about who she is....and I love who she is becoming! She's talking more and more and is able to better verbalize what she wants. She is stringing together words. She still loves her books. Now, she says "Hand", grabs your hand, and drags you to what she wants to do. This is usually to the book basket. She then commands you to sit, chooses a book, and plops down in your lap. Another cute thing she does it she'll hide something (in an extremely obvious place) and hold her hands out as if she's asking a question and says, "Where is it??". The way she holds her hands out is awkward and adorable...her elbows are practically touching. She's into EVERYTHING!! You can't turn your eyes for a second! We are really working on cleaning up after making messes. I'm already ready for summer and it's not even officially winter yet. She loved playing outside and we are running out of things to do inside. Hopefully, Santa will bring her some indoor activities. :) Seth and I will put in a request. She certainly would have none of that! We took her to see Santa at the outlet mall a few weeks ago. I had a feeling she was going to cry, and she did (see pictures below). When we left, she was blowing him kisses and saying "Bye, bye!". She saw him again at a family reunion and wouldn't go near him. 

  Seth and I went on a once in a lifetime trip! It wasn't really planned, but we had to jump on this opportunity. Every year, BMW selects the top 25 drivers in the WORLD and invites them to an awards ceremony. At their headquarters. In Munich, Germany. Seth and his teammate were selected! This is a dream come true for Seth and I am SO proud of him! His dad, Seth, and I went December 1-8. We spent half of the time in Munich and the other half in Salzburg, Austria. I was not ready to leave Adelyn for a week, but she had a great time staying with Seth's mom and my parents. It was uber (like my German?) cold, but we bundled up and explored! The ceremony was really nice and I am thrilled that I got to see him accept his award! 

  I hope everyone is enjoying the start of Christmas! I am excited to see Adelyn's reaction this year since she was just 7 months old last year. 

  Below are a ton of pictures!

Adelyn feeding a pony at the Chestatee Wildlife Preserve

Adelyn and her little friend, Amelie had to hold hands while walking through the zoo

 What we really came to see: the Zedonks

 Adelyn "blowing" a dandelion (she blew her nose on it)

 Thanksgiving trip home (in Hickory, visiting my grandmother). My grandmother said Adelyn was "a mess". :) 

 Nana and Adelyn on Thanksgiving morning in their semi-matching shirts

 Grandmommie with the great grandkids

Visiting Santa 

 Not so excited about sitting in his lap. I thought MAYBE giving her some goldfish would calm her down, but that did not work. 

 All smiles in mommy's lap

 One more try....this child is not a fan of Santa this year. We'll try again next year!

 Our first night in Munich enjoying authentic German food- yum!

 I had pork medallions in mushroom sauce with spaetzle 

 Glockenspiel at Marienplatz

 We toured Dachau (concentration camp outside of Munich)

 Christmas Market

 Bill and Seth enjoying a brat (which Germans eat all day long...even for breakfast!)

 Seth and I shopping in the cold

 BMW Headquarters and Museum- we got a really cool tour of the museum

 Seth and I at the Awards Banquet

 Seth and Bill accepting their awards- they were 22 and 23!

 The presentation was really cool. The screen was set up like an advent calendar. All 25 drivers were standing on a staircase off to the side (and had no clue where they were in the ranking). They would reveal the drivers behind each "door". 

 Charles Espenlaub and Charlie Putman accepting their awards. They won the GrandAm GS and were either 9 and 10 or 10 and 11 (I can't remember). It was great to see a few familiar faces!

 All the BMW drivers- there were something like 22 nationalities represented from 4 continents

 Bill and Seth with their awards. The trophy is awesome!

 Salzburg- not sure what this instrument is called, but it was neat to hear! 

 The fortress from below

 Seth and I at the fortress

 View of Salzburg from the very top of the fortress (you climbed a spiral staircase to get to a viewing tower)

  View of Salzburg from the very top of the fortress (you climbed a spiral staircase to get to a viewing tower)

 Apple strudel in vanilla sauce....for lunch. 

 At the Residenz Museum (as the guard quickly told us no pictures!)

 Seth and Bobby at the Red Bull Racing Museum (at the Salzburg Airport in a hangar...it was really cool!)

17 months old

I wish I could say that 17 months old has been all fun and games! I hate to start out with the negative, but this is a very trying age! I feel like we're going through the terrible twos. Adelyn wants to do everything on her own. That coupled with the fact that she can't say everything she wants and needs to is NOT GOOD on some days! She will throw some temper tantrums!! We've had one that lasted 45 minutes a few weeks back. Most of the time, they don't last long. Seth and I totally ignore her. I walk away (praying she won't hit her head too hard as she flails on the ground). They're not daily and they're getting shorter, so that's good. We're also transitioning from two naps to one nap. Half the time she only needs the one afternoon nap.

She is doing a lot of really great things! She's talking a lot. She surprises me with all of her vocabulary. She's trying to jump. She'll say "bump, bump!". Her feet don't leave the ground, but she doesn't know that. She loves to twirl in circles and get dizzy. Adelyn does not want us to feed her. This can be messy, but it's not too bad. She is also trying to dress herself. Miss Independent! :) 

Adelyn is on a baby doll kick. She has an American Girl Itty Bitty doll that comes everywhere with us. She gives her a bottle, burps her, and hugs her tight all day long. If it's not the doll, it's a request for Elmo.  

As far as traveling, Seth and I went on a cruise with Mel, Laura, Ryan, and Jennifer. It was a 5 night cruise that left from Miami and went to Grand Turk, Half Moon Cay (Carnival's island), and Nassau. Seth's parents kept Adelyn for half of the week and my mom and her friend kept her the last half. I think Adelyn had fun! She loves being at Seth's parents house and playing with Emily and Thomas. My mom took her to the zoo. She loved seeing the animals. We had a blast! It was wonderful to get a way and not have to cook or clean! We basically dined and layed out! We didn't get to go to Half Moon Cay due to rough waters, but it really didn't impact the fun we had! After the cruise, we flew from Miami to Charlotte for Seth's year end ceremony (Grand Am). It was held at the Nascar Hall of Fame. It was awesome to see Seth and his teammate recognized for finishing 2nd. I was SO ready to come home. We were gone for an entire week! We sure did miss Adelyn!

Dinner

Gorgeous sunset from our balcony....we loved our room!

Seth and I at Grand Turk. This was a perfect day! The water and sky were the pretties blues!

Adelyn "painting" with pudding. She didn't once try to eat it! She had a ball! 

Gymastics- all the kids wore their costumes. They're playing Limbo! 

 Kinsey Family Farm

Adelyn and Amelie

Carving our pumpkin- first thing she wanted to do was eat it! 

 No fear in putting in her hand into the goop!

 First hair cut!! I took her to Sweet and Sassy Oct. 6. Bye, bye mullet! (and pigtails until it grows back out)

New do

Trunk or Treat at Oak Grove (Emily, Thomas, and Adelyn)

Thomas and Adelyn getting treats from Pastor Garry

 Checking out her loot

 First CapriSun! 

Adventures in parenting....

I have to share a funny/scary story. Today, I took Adelyn to the gym with me and then stopped by the outlet mall to run two quick errands. I was returning something and Adelyn was all over the place. She's pulling shoes off the display, running away from me (saying "slide!" because there is a slide a few stores down), etc.- basically doing anything but standing by my side patiently. I gave her my car keys, and that entertained her for the remainder of the transaction. We walked out to the car and she's still playing with my keys. I unlock the back door and put her in the car seat. She's still playing with my keys. I gave her another toy and tossed my keys over the headrest and into the front seat. As soon as I closed her door, I noticed that the doors are locked. All of them. I peer into the window and there in the driver's seat is my purse, cell phone, and keys. Adelyn is in her car seat smiling away. I'm not sure when she pushed the lock button, but it happened! Yes, I am THAT mom now! I ran into the Timberland store and asked if I could use their phone (I'm sure I looked like a maniac!). I called Seth, asked him to run by our house to get the spare key, and come unlock the car. He rescued us in about 20 minutes! I'm so glad this turned out as good as it did. Note to self: NEVER give your child your keys! Too bad OnStar is not available for my car... I seriously think I would have been their next commercial.

Things I'm thankful for:

1. It's not July

2. Seth works nearby and can leave on a whim

3. Seth is understanding

4. We actually had a spare key and were quickly able to locate it

5. Adelyn didn't have a clue what happened