Father's Day recap

Michael got his Father's Day present early (last week) to compliment the "new ride" he's now driving around (see previous post).  I was kinda hoping he'd use his new basket of goodies to shine up my car :) Still working on that one.  Friday my dear friend Becca flew into Atlanta for a day before joining up with her family in 'somewhere'sville' GA.  She's 8 months pregnant with her first baby, so I enjoyed hanging out with her for a day, and feeling her baby move!  Oh, how I miss the bumps & waves of a growing baby in a nice round tummy.  :) 

We thought Becca was going joining up with her family Saturday, but ended up staying till Sunday.  After church, we all went to lunch at Rafferty's (yummy food) - said goodbye to Becca - took naps, then went to say hi to MY dad (the best dad in the world - and not just saying that!). 

(Aislynn looking cute as always in her Ron Jon threads)

It wasn't the most exciting spectacular Father's Day ever - just low key (nothing wrong with that, right?) I am super thankful for my hubby, the best dad to Aislynn, sweet, handsome, loving - so glad that he's my mate and baby-daddy.  Happy 2nd Father's Day babe.  Aislynn & I love you very much.

Our little scallywag is more mobile than ever - her walking has really improved - she's faster and more nimble!  Her favorite thing right now is to carry something in each hand while she walks - preferably 2 remotes.  She goes from place to place holding her remotes.  Then she'll stop to swap something out.  She also likes to play with her CD player and turn up the music.  A couple weekends ago, she took all the toys out of her toy bin, sat in it and turned up the music... I piled all the toys back on top of her (which she thought was so funny).  I love this little girl - She's awesome!

Sometime this week/weekend - I want to do a little art project with Aislynn to send to our sponsor child, Lidia, who lives in El Salvador.  Sometime I'll blog about her and how awesome it has been to sponsor her these past 4 years (through Compassion).  So far, Aislynn has tried finger paints and pudding art.  The pudding art she loved b/c she could eat it - the finger paint... not so much.  I got more paint on me just trying to keep Aislynn's hands from going in her mouth.  :)  I think we may have a future rock-climber on our hands b/c she's already starting to climb on top of things.  She has this pink trunk in her room - so she'll walk over to it real fast, and throw her leg up - not just her knee, she goes straight to her foot like she's taking an enormous step up - and UP she goes with a little victory "smile" when she reaches the top.  I think it's going to be bruise season soon.  Here's Miss Aislynn helping us shop @ Publix:

It's officially Summer and its going to be a HOT one... oy!  So glad it's FRIDAY though!

New ride...

I never thought I'd see the day when my husband would suggest that we trade in his 2-door sports car, for a mini-van!  That's right... "My" car has been the family-mobile since it's a 4 door and has more room than his 2-door Scion Tc (the one that he promised to keep forever until our first child turned 16).  But, this daddy quickly realized that a 2-door isn't practical for our growing family.  After looking for the perfect "fit" - we agreed upon a Mazda5.  It's the smallest mini-van available, sporty-lookin', best fuel economy in it's class, great safety ratings, affordable, has the rear-sliding doors and a 3rd row of seats for extra passengers.  So we sold Michael's car, and found the best deal on a Mazda5 that we could've hoped for!  It met and exceeded all of our criteria (leather seats & built-in navigation were definitely extras!), our insurance is cheaper and we'll be saving $$ in the long run.  I think Michael was sad to see his 'baby' go (in his words, he didn't get as much time to enjoy her as he wanted)... but he's equally stoked about the new car.  Yes, it's technically a minivan, but it suits us Adamskis.  And, Aislynn will have more room for getting in & out. 

So yeah, I somehow feel more like a parent :)  I mean, when getting a minivan is the highlight of the month, I would say we're definitely in a new stage of life. 

Last Saturday our friends Kaci & Bryan threw together a BBQ.  The "Preggo posse" reunited with our little ones - we played in the pool & then had some yummy BBQ.  Aislynn got to see her friends Parker, Emma & Nate - and even a new friend Kevion (Chelsey & Noel's foster-son).  Unfortunately - no pics uploaded yet - but it was a fun Saturday eve.  (And we established that Aislynn HATES being dunked under water)  Someday maybe - we'll keep trying.

Last Tuesday, Aislynn turned 14 months old!  My big girl is walking better and faster every day.  She's also teething really bad - her top molars are really coming down and I can tell some others are coming soon.  As far as 'words' go - we noticed she says "hello" when she's playing w/ her toy cell-phone.  It sounds something like "ha-yo?"  She puts her little phone up to her ear or head (backwards) - she also put the TV remote up to the side of her head (awww, my little girl is pretending!) She says "yay" a lot too

This weekend I feel like we finally got a lot done.  Michael painted the back side of our place (needed a re-fresh after we torn down the frankenstein deck).  We painted an accent wall in our Master, and got some more living room paint to do some touch ups around the house.  I did a about 50 loads of laundry and a little organizing.  I also gave Michael his Father's Day gift early... a big basket/tub of car detailing stuff! I had to give it to him early so he wasn't tempted to buy it himself (with the new car and all).  But isn't this how it always goes?  Sunday night (after an exhausting weekend of cleaning) Michael comments "It doesn't look like we got anything done, the place looks worse than when we started the weekend"  :(  But it FEELS like we got a lot done.  We took a break Sunday to let Aislynn splash in her kiddie pool (it was really just like a big puddle - it shouldn't be classified as a pool)

Okay week - here I am... lets do this again....

So behind... an update on MAY

I'm behind on everything... laundry, cleaning, updating the blog, scrapbooking, yardwork, work - you name it.  I guess that's what happens after you get back from vacation.  And speaking of vacation, ours was awesome!  We drove down to sunny Orlando, FL to meet up with Peter & Krysta (bro & sis-in-law from Canada).  We had a great time with them and my niece & nephew.  Just laying out by the pool, swimming, shopping, eating out... it was nice.  My mom flew out Tuesday and it was great to spend time with her.  Aislynn hasn't seen her since 7 months, so it was a treat.  I think it was our first day there, Aislynn took several steps on her own.  She had taken a couple here & there, but she took several more all by herself!  I knew it was going to happen soon.  Wednesday we went to Downtown Disney & just hung around.  We went to Disney World (Magic Kingdom) on Thursday.  Aislynn did great on all the rides (even Pirates of the Caribbean), but didn't get to meet any characters :(  Her first ride was Small World and she loved it.  Before the evening, we went home, went to the pool for a refresher, and then out to dinner before going back to see the fireworks.  It was so "magical" :)  I love how everything is perfect like you're really in all these different "lands".

(Mackenzie, me & Ais)

(Ais sportin her sun hat & bathing suit cover)

(Fun in the pool)

(Aislynn & Jay)

(the resident peacock - those suckers are LOUD)

(Ais & Grandma!)

(cousins)

(Me, Ais & grandma in front of Small World)

(the ears didn't last long)

(Chip & Dale - of all characters to meet)

(Aislynn sleeping through Chip & Dale)

We love Disney

Michael & I

The perfect ending to a "magical" day...

Friday, we drove to Cocoa Beach, FL.  We didn't realize it was the same day as the space shuttle launch - so there were 300,000 more people than we expected.  Getting there wasn't great, and leaving was absolutely dreadful.  The roads were jam-packed, at a standstill - took 3 1/2 hours to get home :(  But back to the positives, the weather was perfect, water great, and Aislynn LOVED the ocean & sand.  She even got to take a little beach nap under our beach tent.  AND, we did get to see the space shuttle launch so that was really cool.  Aislynn  has got to experience so many things at such a young age - she has no idea! :)  I forgot to also mention that Friday was my mom's birthday and so nice to be with her on it.

(beach nap)

Shuttle launch

Saturday, we packed up, said our goodbyes, and drove my mom to the airport.  We were also supposed to leave that day, but we couldn't bear the thought of being in the car for 8 hours after the long drive back from the beach the day before.  So, we bunked up with Peter & Krysta and stayed one more night.  It was such a fun trip (in a nutshell).  Coming back is never fun.  It's been 2 1/2 weeks and we're still not unpacked all the way. 

(Aislynn sleeping on the way home)

This past Memorial Weekend, Aislynn perfected her walking.  (Maybe not "perfected" but she officially knows she can walk, and practiced all weekend).  It's unreal to see my baby girl so grown up and walking!  She has this stance, with her little arms turned up, and out to the sides (bent at the elbow) and then the Frankenstein walk... slow steps... it's so cute.  Every now and then, she'll squat down, only to pop back up and keep going.  If I can figure out how to add video again, I'll post some soon.

Aislynn is definitely getting more 'expressive' to put it nicely.  We have learned not to take food away from her (and anything else really).  She's definitely throwing more tantrums and we're getting to know her personality more.  I think she's going to be a bold little girl who knows what she wants.  I'm finding myself telling her "no or don't touch" more often and she's thrown little fits.  It definitely makes you realize everything you do has an influence on your child.  Every night I pray that I'll do a good job and teach Aislynn right.  She's very smart and figures things out so easily (like how to open things, or how things are put together).  She also likes to hear her own voice and can get really loud.  Depending on her mood - she can be quiet and a little shy - or smiley and vocal.  She already reminds me a lot of myself, but I know she's her own unique person, with gifts, talents, and a personality specifically meant to be hers.  She is such a treasure.  Her big blue eyes have people stopping everywhere she goes.  They are captivating and I'm such a proud mommy.

Some more things she's doing at 13 months:

• She says "Uh-oh" when she drops something, or if it falls
• She whispers "hi, hi, hi, hi" over & over in the phone when we tell her to say 'hi' to someone, or when we hold up a phone to her.
• She lowers herself off the bed (or tries with our help).  She'll skootch up to the side of the bed, dangle one leg over, wait, then slowly lower herself over the side.  We're always there to help her, but she knows how!
• She's starting to climb more.  We'll see her lifting her leg to step up on to something or put her knee on something to get higher
• She says "Mo" and "Bite" when eating.  She still says "Ziss" for Zeus. 
• She said "cookie" ("kuhkuh") yesterday :)
• She eats A TON and really fast.  She usually feeds herself everything - she'll try anything... and has only shown signs that she doesn't like the way broccoli florets feel in her mouth.  We've let her hold onto the spoon and she knows to put it in her mouth (just not that coordinated).
• She has a couple new teeth. On May 14, she got her 8th tooth on the bottom right of middle, and then 2 weekends ago, we noticed a tooth to the top right breaking through.  That's 9 teeth for the girl. All her teeth aren't in 100% but getting very close.
• She still uses both left and right hands to do stuff.
• She's still addicted to ears (when you hold her, she'll hold yours)
• She claps when you sing patty-cake, and sometimes she'll grab my hands to make them 'clap'
• She DANCES all the time.  Anytime there's a song playing, she'll wiggle her little butt.  Standing, or in her chair - she shakes her little butt from side-to-side.  It's the cutest thing ever!  She really hams it up when we say "dance, dance" and when there's an audience.
• She had her first piggy back ride this weekend (on mommy) and she squeeled with laughter.
• She gives kisses to herself in the mirror
• She shares her food with us.  When she's eating something, if we ask "can I have a bite" she extends her little hand to offer us some, and smiles like it's funny (she started that on vacation)

(trying to get off the bed)

(sharing her corn w/ mommy)