The Disney Dream

I can't believe I have let two months go by without blogging about our best vacation ever! On June 28, we set sail (along with Nana and Pops, and the Godbey family) on the Disney Dream. It was AMAZING! I will admit, I was a little nervous about taking a 9 month old baby on a cruise ship. I knew Elyse would just be on cloud 9 but Lily, I wasn't so sure. Well she sure proved me wrong! She absolutely 100% had a wonderful time too! She ate and ate, getting all her money's worth of delicious cruise food. She stayed up for at least the beginning of all of the shows, and enjoyed her first trip to the beach, Castaway Cay! Elyse lived the dream as she encountered princesses around every corner on the ship. She would proudly whip out her autograph book and smile as they all signed her names. The girls wore a princess dress every night to dinner and the shows and it was just the most magical thing ever. :-) We cannot wait to go on our next Disney cruise!

Welcome Summer!

Summer is here and we are enjoying every minute of it here at the Adams' home. Ryan nd I are so blessed to have jobs where we can both be home in the summer. We have gotten ourselves into a pretty nice routine most days. I take Elyse to the pool when it opens at 11. Ryan stays at home with Lily until she awakes from her morning nap. He brings her to the pool where we "tag" back and forth between kids. Then after about an hour or so, he takes Lily home to give her lunch and lay her down for her afternoon nap. I stay at the pool with Elyse for a few more hours before bringing her home to nap. This works perfect because I get pool time with friends and Ryan gets quiet time at home while Lily naps. Sounds like a perfect summer day to me! Elyse has become quite the little fish this summer. She is no longer content in the little pool (:( bummer), but insists on swimming in the big pool. She was so excited to find that she could stand on her "tippeys," as she calls them and touch the bottom in the shallow. I'm so proud of her fearlessness and determination to swim! She has decided to take naps this summer so she can stay up late and play outside with the neighbor girls, who she just loves. We are totally guilty of letting her stay up til 10 p.m., catching lightning bugs, playing with flashlights outside with the girls, and making smokes with us. This is what summer nights are made of though, right?! Lily does not agree. She prefers to be in her bed sound asleep by 8:30 at the latest.We hate that she misses out on the fun but she is such a happy baby that we must give her that good sleep she prefers. Our little nine month old is on the move, crawling everywhere! She is pulling up and sometimes even letting go of our fingers so she can "stand" by herself. She has two bottom teeth and loves eating real table food so much that she barely touches her baby food anymore. I'd forgotten what a fun age this really is... we're loving every minute! Elyse is enjoying that she can play more with Lily now. Lily still just looks at Elyse like she hung the moon and Elyse is smitten with her in return. This summer is too much fun and will go by way too fast. In the meantime, we enjoy each day with these little blessings.

Come on summertime!

18 more days of school for me and 10 for Ryan! Summer cannot come quick enough. It sure is tough to get two girls ready in the mornings, bottles ready for the day and lunches packed. So let's just get summer here already and be done with that foolishness. Our big girl, Elyse continues to be the best sister we could ever ask for. If someone had told me how gentle and kind she would be with Lily, I wouldn't have believed them. I knew she would love her but her gentleness is just unlike that I've seen before. And Lily absolutely ADORES her! Elyse is finishing up her preschool year, which has been outstanding! I am so proud of how well she has done! Academically, this child could enter Kindergarten tomorrow but the decision to hold her out a year is one we feel quite comfortable with. She is teeny tiny (like her mommy) and has another year she could still be a kid, so why try to rush?! If anyone knows how rigorous Kindergarten is these days, it's me. So Elyse will attend LABC again next year in their preK class where she will spend the mornings there and afternoons with Nana and Pops! She finished up her gymnastics session and has decided to go back to dance class in the fall. There is nothing she loves more than putting on shows for us in the living room. And there is nothing Lily enjoys more than watching her big sis. Elyse doesn't have to be doing anything special and Lily is just grinning at her, looking at her as if she is the best in the world. And speaking of Lily, she is quite the growing girl. She is 7 months old, maneuvering in circles on the floor, scooting backwards and just on the verge of crawling. Yesterday, she was on all fours and moved her knees in an effort to get to a toy. We were so excited! She is eating baby food great and eating about 6 oz of milk every 4 hours. I think the last time we took her to the doctor she weighed about 16 lbs. So the countdown is on til summertime... spending days at Lone Oak pool with our friends, Disney cruise with our family (which we are SO pumped about), and enjoying time as our family of four!

Sisterly Love

Have I mentioned that Elyse is the best big sister ever? I truly believe this age is the best to have a sibling. Elyse is so kind and gentle to Lily. Her favorite things are reading to her, holding her in her lap, and putting on a show for her. :) Lily couldn't be happier when she is with big sister. Ryan and I get tickled listening to Elyse talk to Lily, mimicking what she hears us say. Our favorites are...
When Lily spits up, Elyse says "Oh no, are you sick Lily? Is your tummy upset?"
When Lily babbles,... "Tell us all about it Lily..."
When Lily has a dirty diaper, ... "Oh goodness, fill it up Lily!"
When Lily does something new... "Lily, you are getting so big!"

Speaking of Lily getting big, she really is! She is almost 6 months old and she is doing her best to crawl! I am so not ready for that! Although she has regressed in her sleep habits, we still can't complain. She smiles all the time and we are convinced she has got to be the happiest baby in the world! :)

Growing up= new experiences

Our girls are growing so quickly! Little Lily just turned 4 months old! She is holding her head up so well, beginning to roll over, and smiling at us all the time. She's holding toys and even beginning to eat some cereal.

She is a wonderful sleeper, a super eater, and just an all-around happy baby. She went for her four month check up last week and she weighed in at 13 lbs, 9 oz. The doctor said if she had a "perfect" sticker, they would put it on her. We couldn't agree more!

And Elyse, our big girl, has begun gymnastics! This was a Christmas gift from her Mimi and she absolutely loves it. After the first class she questioned why she couldn't just "play" like she does at open gym when she goes with Nana. We had to have the discussion about this being a "class", where she will learn. :) Her favorite thing seems to be the balance beam. We are excited to see all the things our big (yet very teeny tiny) girl will learn in gymnastics!

Goodbye 2011!

Merry First Christmas to Lily! What a blessed year it has been. A year of good health for all of us and an amazing addition to our family.

Here I go again...

... letting months go by without blogging. New Year's Resolution... blog at least once a month. Once a week would be even better but I KNOW that won't happen.

Our little Lily Grace is 3 months old and she is such a blessing in our family. She is such an incredibly good baby. She has been a wonderful sleeper since she came home from the hospital, for which I am incredibly thankful. This was so foreign to me that I was quite sure there was something wrong with her when she would sleep 5 hours straight through the night the first few nights home. Thankfully, nothing was wrong, she is just a sleeper! She is also quite the eater! At 3 months old she weighs 13 lbs. She smiles at us ALL the time and loves watching her big sister more than anything. Elyse continues to be just a wonderful big sis. I couldn't say enough about how well she has done with having a new sister. 4 is definitely a good age to have a sibling!
She is just so sweet to her.