a healthy post, for once!

I'm still doing Zumba! Mark bought me the $50 DVD set on Amazon for Valentine's Day (it's what I begged for!) and I love it. In case you've never done Zumba before, it's like all types of Caribbean/Mexican/Columbian/etc. type dances and they teach you the basic steps and then you move on to dancing like a pro.

It's pretty hilarious to watch me, I would imagine.

Adalyn stands by super close and smiles SO big - I just know she thinks her Mama is way too funny doing the "Calypso" moves -- I look like a Caribbian islander for sure!

My favorite part? All those hip moves that make my stomach muscles burn!

I'm also majorly into making smoothies pretty much every day. My new favorite is banana & blueberry. I gave Adalyn her first smoothie this morning and she slurped the whole thing down while watching Mickey Mouse. It was a total hit!

~~~

Not too much new is happening in our home. Slow days with little loads of laundry, stuffing little colorful diapers, preparing little lunches, reading little books, taking (BIG!) little naps, and playing with little blocks and babies.

I wish I could find some blogging inspiration. I know the best blogs are about the mundane things in life - but would it be that interesting for me to photograph my toddler eating a marker and chewing on crayons? Or pulling every book out of her bookcase? Maybe. I don't know!

I just don't know what to blog about!

from our bed to hers: our bed-sharing journey!

At 8 weeks old, I discovered how amazing, convenient, and blissful bed-sharing was. Breastfeeding at night became a cinch and I was sold on the ease & comfort of being so close to her. Plus, I could keep an eye on her and felt more secure knowing that she was safe and sound right by me.

Little Toot was sold too. She loved being near Mama - though she never actually slept near me in the bed and we each had our own space. (Remember, Daddy was deployed for our first 6 months of bed-sharing, so we had all that extra room!)

But as time went on, Toot discovered that she could nurse all.the.time, and it was like a 24-hour restaurant right next to her in bed! Not so wonderful for me, though. Sometimes she would wake up to nurse every hour. I kept thinking Oh surely this will end in a few months.. She'll definitely be sleeping through the night by "X" months old..

But that day never came. At 15 months, she was still waking at least twice a night. Sometimes she would go to bed at 8pm and already be awake at 8:30. It was getting ridiculous! I had kind of just accepted that she needed comfort at night, and I was completely used to being woken up at night. Plus, I would only wake up for about 5 minutes each time. She just needed a smidge of comfort, then she'd be back to sleep. ....Usually...

But at 16 months, I was just kind of done. I knew in my heart (I KNEW IT!!) that she would STTN if she could just be in her own room. But we'd tried this before - trying to put her in her own room. And she always still woke up. But this time I had a new plan.. and it was to completely depend on Daddy!!

Daddy definitely has no "milky" so I knew that if she only had him for comfort, she would decide to just stay asleep. So for the first night, Mark laid next to her in her big girl bed until she fell asleep. (Only about 5 minutes total), and Mark stayed in her bed.. she woke up twice that night, but she immediately went back to sleep when he redirected her back down.

The second night, he did the same - laid next to her until she was asleep, but the second night? SHE SLEPT ALL NIGHT! For the *very first time in her life*

I'm pretty sure angels were singing :)

The third night, he came back to our room and she still slept. Last night was the 4th night, and she continued to sleep all night. It's a miracle, you guys. Nothing short of a miracle!! I am so, SO proud of her. She took this transition like a champ with ZERO crying. I knew that if I just followed my mommy heart and took her lead, that she would tell me when she was ready to make this change. And I felt it was time to move her, and she just did so amazingly well.

And really, it's more of a transition for me than anything! I still wake up multiple times a night wondering about Adalyn. Missing her next to me in bed. Wondering if she's okay in hers. I'm sure that sounds a little ridiculous, but I absolutely loved our bed-sharing months. Nothing (and I mean nothing!) beats sleeping so close to your little angel and looking right into their eyes as they wake up each morning.





She always woke up SO happy. And recently, she would wake up, grin from ear-to-ear, then rest her head on me and hug me. Best feeling in the world, I'm pretty sure.

I'm so thankful for the 14 months of cosleeping and the millions of cuddles that we shared. But I'm also thankful for my big girl who transitioned like an angel. She's getting so big!! :)

a week in review

On Monday, we went to get our car's oil changed and stopped at IHOP beforehand:



On Tuesday, we bought our first van and couldn't be more thrilled:



On Wednesday, we put up little IKEA shelves on Adalyn's wall:



On Thursday, we played peek-a-boo with Adalyn's pajamas. She loves it:



On Friday, we played outside in gorgeous 78-degree weather:




We've been wanting to get a van since... well, forever. Driving back home for 12 hours with a kiddo, dog, a stroller, and lots of luggage and toys... it gets pretty cramped. We already love cruising around with so much room now and have lovingly named our van the "Cox Cruiseline!"

I made these incredible buffalo chicken enchiladas the other night. Here you go. You'll thank me later!


I'm still making healthy smoothies and doing Zumba. More on that later, though!

Adalyn is all nuzzled in her big girl bed. It's 9pm and completely strange to be sitting up in bed watching TV & blogging. Normally she would be right next to me, but I'd have to be as quiet as a mouse to keep her from waking up. I completely miss her next to me and often wake up to check the video monitor, but I do enjoy the extra sleep and time to ourselves each night :) She's definitely growing up on us! I'm just so thrilled that she transitioned SO perfectly and will definitely blog tomorrow about how we did it.

"Nigh Nigh" ..as Adalyn says :)

Craft time!

I try to have craft time daily with Adalyn around 1pm because it...

-gives us something to do
-lets Ad learn in new ways
-helps her get used to holding crayons/markers etc. & using art supplies
-helps her learn to sit down & practice stillness while doing an activity
-lets me channel my inner art teacher :)
-is FUN!

I find most of my ideas from Pinterest - the best website ever. But I had a bunch of leftover tissue paper from a birthday present this weekend, so I thought it might be fun to make a little "stained glass" craft!

I let Adalyn help me use a glue stick, and I tore little pieces for her to stick down. She immediately caught on and had a little sheepish grin on her face as she stuck them to the paper! Mighty cute.

It wasn't long until she'd stuck a bunch down and had a couple stuck to her fingers. At the end, I said "Ta da!!" and she repeated Ta da & smiled huge! A big hit!

Glue stick + tissue paper = loads of fun for a toddler!

After church

After church today, I'm thankful that..

...Adalyn is doing better in the nursery each Sunday. She only cries (a terrible, loud, super sad) cry when we hand her over, and then she does pretty well! Today she even got down out of the lady's lap twice and played! Success!! I'm so proud of her and thankful for the nice nursery workers that work so patiently with her!

...We have a pastor who says what needs to be said to the men and women of our congregation. I've never, ever had a pastor like that, and he absolutely rocks. He isn't concerned about pleasing people, but rather speaking what pleases God. Love. It.

...I found out today that our church is #15 in the nation for young adult baptisms! and #20 for total adult baptisms! Again, love my church. LOVE IT.

...We ate at Chipotle for lunch. Found out that Adalyn loves guacamole (!?!) and slurps it off a tortilla chip like nobody's business. Definitely our child. Guacamole is one of our most favorite things!

...I fell in love with my husband all over again today. It's the best thing ever to be married to your best friend, I tell you what.

...Adalyn fell asleep so easily and is now taking a (super long, thank you, Jesus) nap with Daddy. Melt my little heart - are they cute or what!?

...She has a new-found sense of security in her Daddy, and I'm so, so thankful for it!

...During this super long nap, I've gotten ALL my house work done! Does anything feel better than having a perfectly clean house, a sleeping baby, and propping your feet up to blog a little? I think not.

...We're heading to our friend's house for a super bowl party tonight! We don't watch sports (like, at all) and I didn't even know who was playing until a few days ago :) We're going to socialize and let Adalyn play with the other kids. I made cupcakes, hamburgers, and chips & cokes. It should be a blast!


:) Happy Sunday! And just for fun, I think I'll root for the Giants. Because all my friends are telling me to! :)

my friend did this...

..& I'm totally copying her.

(THANKS, BRITT!)

Feb 2011:




Feb 2012:




...she's still exactly the same to me.


So what's new with my Little Toot? Well, I'm glad you asked! She's having a bit of a language explosion - saying new words all the time and repeating a word when I ask her. Her new favorite word is "No," but she says it sweetly and says it almost as a question, so it's still pretty cute!

Adalyn, do you want to go take a bath?
.. Noo? ::insert cute face::

Her latest favorite activities include: playing in her kitchen - especially with her coffee pot, silverware, and colander (a kitchen? BEST TOY EVER!), toting around her new Special Agent Oso, and feeding her babies a bottle.

She's discovered that she has a will - and a say - and sometimes likes to exert that will when she doesn't get her way. It's still a teensy bit cute, but we're working on the words "obey" and "self-control" :) I really, really love this age still!

The other day I caught her Mousekersizing - she was practicing her golf swing by acting like she had an elephant trunk with Mickey. I caught the last 10 seconds on video - it was so cute! She also ALWAYS works out with me -- seriously, she's gotten in the floor, done leg lifts, swings her arms to "stretch" and does squats. I kid you not. I *have* to get Mark to get it on video!!! So funny!!!

Tonight marks day 22 of the 30 Day Shred. I'm not seeing the full results that I thought, but I did have Chipotle two nights in a row, and I did have Cracker Barrel last week. But I'm not ending my work outs with this.. I'm going to continue this and get my body on track!

& that's it for now! Going to research some toddler crafts while Adalyn naps!

Test test test!

Just testing this new (free) Blogger app. Dont mind me!

Adding 2 pics to see how this goes..

:)