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.

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Welcome Lily Adams!

Lillian Grace Adams (aka Lily) arrived safely on September 16! This was 3 days before my scheduled c-section. My water broke in the middle of the night, just like it did with Elyse. Thank goodness for my good friend Emmi, who lives down the street. She came over at 2 a.m. to stay with Elyse. My mom met her at our house and helped get Elyse up and down to Emmis house to sleep the rest of the night. So thankful for my dear friend Emmi! My favorite words... when Mom went to wake Elyse in the middle of the night she said, "Mommy and Daddy have gone to the hospital to get Lily out." Elyse said "Oh goodie, I'm getting a sister today!"

So off we went at 2 a.m. to St. Joe where they confirmed that my water had broken and then scheduled my c-section for 6:30 a.m. Dr. Campbell, my OB whom I just adore, was scheduled to go out of town the following day so I was extremely thankful that he was there that Friday morning to deliver.

Lily was born at 6:52 a.m., weighing 7 lbs and measuring 19 1/2 inches long. We are so thankful that everything went smooth and she was able to come to our room after getting cleaned up. :-) Mom picked up Elyse and brought her to meet her new "sissy," as Elyse likes to call her, around noon that day. I'm not sure if I've ever experienced a sweeter moment than when Elyse first met Lily and I know I won't ever forget it. She walked into the hospital room and came straight to me saying "Mommy!" I said, "turn around, there's your baby sister." She turned and with the sweetest look on her face said, "Oh it's my baby sister!" She immediately bent down and kissed her face and of course, wanted to hold her. I couldn't hold back my tears. I felt so thankful at that time that God had blessed us with these two little girls and blessed each of them with the gift of a sister. Growing up with Amanda, I know that having a sister is one of the best gifts God can give. I can't wait to see these girls grow up together!

Happy Birthday Elysia Hope!

Our baby girl turned 4 years old! Where does time go? She has grown from a pre-mature, colicky baby into the most fun-loving preschooler. I was trying to think of one word to describe Elyse at age 4 and I think it would have to be "imaginative." As I posted before, her imagination never stops. I want so bad not to squash this but to encourage it for years to come. I love that she can have fun playing with something as simple as a doll because the doll is "sick and needs to go to the doctor." Even without a doll, "pretend" is her favorite word.
One of my favorites is... "Mommy, you be the little girl at Disney World and tell your mommy you hope to meet a princess." In this case, I of course say "Mommy, I sure hope to meet a princess here at Disney World." And at that point, Elyse comes prancing gracefully around the corner dressed in one of her many costumes and proceeds to "meet" me in her best princess voice and impersonation. This one probably happens on a daily basis.

Another favorite is Elyse dressing up as Rapunzel, having Daddy pretend to be Flynn Rider, and me be the mean mother. (This is not my favorite, but I can't go against her fun imagination!) And so we enter her imaginative world and play out many scenes from Tangled!

This is definitely a fun age that I want to treasure! Of course there are times when the 4 year old talks back or pulls out the "I'm the boss" or "you guys woke me up too early and now I'm mad!" But I guess this comes with her increasing vocabulary and increased understanding of her world around her.

Now we have to wonder how much our world will change in a couple of weeks when Miss Lily makes her arrival. I'm 36 weeks and wishing I would pop any day! Elyse is excited (or at least she thinks she is) and talks to Lily everyday telling her things like "I won't let you ever get hurt" or "I'm your big sister and I will show you how to do everything."

Life is about to get even more interesting... :)

Back to school...

What a fantastic summer it has been... I'm just not sure where it has gone. 6 more weeks until our baby Lily gets here and my big girl Elyse is getting ready to turn 4 this weekend!! Really, 4 years old! Where has time gone?! It seems like just yesterday I was pregnant with her and started this blog so everyone could keep up with how her little heart was doing. And now 4!!!

Today was our first day back to school, although Elyse will not start preschool until after Labor Day. We are still trying to enjoy nights at the pool as well as weekend since swimming is her absolute most favorite thing in the world to do. She is quite the fish! And her imagination is just running wild these days! I will be honest, some days I think it would be nice for her to sit down and watch a cartoon so I could watch dishes. :) But instead, she is constantly putting on a Disney parade (costumes and all) or doing a "Disney on Ice" show, skating around the living room. She just has the biggest imagination and everything is always a "show,"... she sure makes life fun!

As for Lily, all is well with her heart to this point, praise God! Cannot wait to hold that sweet baby girl!!

Lillian Grace Adams...

... will be here before we know it! I am almost 30 weeks along and things couldn't be going any better. We thank God everyday for this "boring" pregnancy, which Dr. Campbell likes to call it. Lily is growing quickly, weighing in at over 3 lbs and her heart continues to look as normal as can be. My c-section has been scheduled for September 19, but I'm thinking, or feeling that I won't last that long. We will see. :) Here is a sweet little picture of Lily from my last appointment...


And here is the sweetest big sister ever... sound asleep pretending to be "mommy" with a baby in her tummy.

Summer vacation!

We have just returned from another wonderful summer vacation at Litchfield Beach, SC. It is such an awesome place to go... close to Myrtle Beach but quaint and quiet. The car rides were a little tougher than last year, as Elyse didn't want to have anything to do with watching tv. I thought bringing a case of DVDs would do the trick, but she wanted to "play" the whole way instead, making it a little more of a challenge.
On an exciting note, Elyse totally took off in her swimming while we were there! She swam by herself, not wanting any help and totally scaring me!!! She is such a big girl. :-)The excitement of learning to swim kinda took away from the beach experience as she wanted to spend most of her time at the pool. Her favorite thing to do was to "take a bedtime swim" and swim with the lights on in the pool at night.

She loved having Blake and Alex there to play with all day, every day and Nana and Pops were a big help, as always! She played her first game of miniature golf and got a hole in one on her first hole! Daddy was very proud. :)

It was a perfect vacation and I survived the heat and long car rides!

Back to blogging...

It has been 10 months since I have blogged! Life got so crazy that I finally "gave up" and decided I didn't have time to do it. Now that it is summer and I have more time, I am determined to start again and keep it up! I love the books I can make from blogs so that is a big motivation for me!

I couldn't possibly try to include everything that has gone on inthe last 10 months so I will just list highlights...
August 2010- Elyse turned 3!! Where has time gone?? Our little baby is SUCH a big girl now! She had a birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese!

We bought a new house and not only love it but the neighborhood too!

Elyse began preschool 2 mornings a week at Lexington avenue Baptist Church. She loved it because he got to go with cousin Blake and then stay with Nana those afternoons!

In October, we visited Disney World and the highlight this time was seeing all of the princesses. Elyse LOVES the Disney princesses more than anything!

In January Elyse began dance class. She loved it because she got to do it with her good friend Madeline. She is quite the dancer and enjoyed performing for us at home all the time!!

In February, we got exciting news... That we are expecting...

In April, we found out that Elyse will have a little sister in September! She was thrilled- wouldn't give a baby brother a thought do it's a good thing it's a girl! As Blake said "we already have a brother (referring to Alex) Elyse, so we need a sister." ... Too cute!

We have just finished school recently and we have begun a daily routine of going to the pool. It is so b
Nice to have Ryan home too so we can all spend time together. Elyse I so into swimming and is taking lessons from a lifeguard at out pool. She is putting her face down and kicking so well! Her favorite thing to do is jump off the diving board- which only happens when daddy can be there to catch her! I am 27 weeks pregnant now and we thank God everyday that his baby is healthy and free of heart complications. God has been so good...

That is the last 10 months in a nutshell and now I vow to do better at blogging. :-)

In

Family pictures

Just a few of our professional pictures taken at the beach...

Litchfield Beach

We had a fabulous vacation at Litchfield Beach, which is about 30 minutes from Myrtle Beach. It was beautiful and quiet, and had a gorgeous beach. The place where we stayed also had a little pool, big pool, and lazy river (which Elyse and Blake LOVED). Elyse did SO well on the car ride. She didn't sleep much but really enjoyed watching movies. She loved making friends on the beach, asking every child in sight what their name was, if they wanted to play with her and build a sandcastle.... amazing social skills, I know. :)

It was a wonderful vacation... we look forward to going back here next year!

Summer fun!

Summer is going by so quickly but we are enjoying every minute! We are spending most days at the pool, which is the best place to be in this heat. I am working a lot this summer with our new school opening, which gives Daddy and Elyse lots of quality time together. They are loving it! I've included just a few pictures below to give a glimpse of our summer. Ryan took Elyse one day to the Danville basketball camp where she got to meet Coach Cal. As you can see from the look on her face, she loved meeting him. We had a wonderful dinner at our friends Jeff and Emmi's house last night and Elyse loved playing with Kylie, as usual. :-) Another picture included is Elyse being silly by wearing her swimmies on her legs. She is LOVING the water now, going under and saying "don't hold me Mommy." We can't wait for a beach vacation in July with the family! Oh and how could I forget to mention, after one week of being home with Elyse this summer, she is completely potty trained! It is amazing how she caught on and even gets up by herself in the night when she has to go. What a big girl!!