Strawberries, Bowling and the ER, oh my!

What do these all have in common? Kara! We started out our Saturday going to Parran's Greenhouse and Farm in Ida, MI where Kara got to pick strawberries. This was a first for the whole family! At first Kara wanted to pick all the tiny green ones, yuck! That did not last long once she picked a ripe strawberry and got to eat it. :) Next we were off to Interstate Lanes in Rossford where the kiddos get to bowl free for the summer. Yay, yay, yay was all we heard! We all were enjoying ourselves until Kara got hurt. She fell and hyperextended her finger. :( I don't think we have heard such a horrible cry come from her. She was favoring that finger but we thought we would give it some time. So on the way home we stopped for some ice cream. Yum! She fell asleep before she got to eat hers. Tom carried her in the house and she started to cry, "I need to go see the doctor". Poor thing! Off we went to Bay Park hospital to make sure everything was okay. After some Motrin, an xray and a purple popsicle Kara was diagnosed with a sprained ligament in her finger. She will be wearing her splint til at least Thursday when she has a followup with Dr. Tracy.

All in all it was an awesome day! Thanks nanny and Greyson for spending the day with us. :)

Happy 2 1/2 Years!

Wow how the times flies! Our Kara bug is 2 1/2 today. Describing Kara these day... energetic, independent, smart, curious, playful, fun, funny, sharp, observant, caring, and loving.

Miss independent. I do it by myself! Loves to get her own things out of the fridge and freezer, and filling up her cup with water. Feeding Megan (our dog) has become one of her chores around the house that she gets a kick out of.
No longer likes to be called bug. :( "no I'm not a bug I'm daddy's princess".

Music, music, music.. need I say more!! Not only do we get to listen to kids songs in the car, we now have to listen to them in the house. Thanks nanny for the portable music player! :) Right now she will only listen to the little people cds. lol She knows as soon as a different voice/song comes on, "that's not little people!". Reading, loves to be read to and read to us. It is a hoot listening to her tell us the story. It is amazing how their little minds work!She is a great BIG sister! Kara loves to sit a talk with Addy. As soon as Kara wakes up in the morning she is asking where's Adalyn. I wish I could record every moment with them together.
Always their with a helping hand, even to help mommy out of the shower.lol
Mac and cheese! "Yummy, yummy in my tummy, tummy, tummy." I think she would eat this at every meal. :) Kara is afraid of ants, mosquitos, and other bugs, but not afraid of snakes or frogs, Humm.. Snacks! It can be 5 minutes after we finished our meal and she is asking for a snack.
Hot wheels have become her new obsession. lol This works out to be a great "tinkle" prize!

Some funnies!...

mommy: Kara we need to go to Walmart and get a card and gift bag for daddy.

Kara: okay!

Daddy: save money, live better

Kara: Walmart! They say that on tv daddy.

(while I was away)

baby alive: I'm hungry

Kara: Mommy's not home, she will be right back. She has not realized that she is the mommy! haha.

Happy 2 months!

Where is the time going? It is hard to believe Adalyn is already 2 months old! What a sweet and delightful baby she is.

A little about her this month (and the things I want to remember!):

*Sleeping 5-8 hours straight at night being swaddled in her car seat (with one arm out). Then she is wide awake for 2 hours and back off to sleep. The 2 hours she is wide awake in the middle of the night is one of my favorite times with Miss Adalyn. Why? It is just her and I! I love getting the opportunity to sit and stare at her beautiful face. It is a great time to have conversations with her. :)

*she puts on the cutest pout face right before she starts crying

*The way she makes a fist is just adorable. She like to keep her thumb between her middle and pointer finger.

*Bubbles,bubbles, bubbles!! She always is making spit bubbles. :)
*Feeding about 6 times a day
*Wearing 0-3 months clothes
*Loves being snuggled up in your shoulder while being held. When she is fussy, she like to be walking around. Oh no! Also likes when her nose is smushed against you when she falling asleep
*At times would rather be sitting up facing outward looking at the world around her.
*Nick names Jessa girl, Adalyna (when she is screaming her head off!) Jelly bean, Addy bean , Jessa cutie, and of course Addy!
*Smiling and cooing all the time now. I sware sometimes it sound like she is telling us hi. We are in love with her big smile and the way she scrunches up her little nose (just like mommy)!
*While she is not the 99% happy all the time baby that Kara was, she is getting better every day. She is starting to become less fussy. We are able to put her down more these days. Thank goodness!
*Blowouts are the name of the game here! Most of the time she will wait 3 days to go.lol
* Adalyn just adores her big sister! She will sit and track Kara around the room. Oh so cute.

2 month well check stats:

Weight: 11 pounds 4 ounces (65%)

Length: 22 3/4 inches (75%)

Head Circumference: 15 3/8 (70%)

A New Ride

Summer is here!! Tom finished putting Kara's new car together today. She recieved it as a birthday present. Can you tell she loves her new ride!?

The cost of raising a child

(A friend passed this along and I just had to share!)

The government recently calculated the cost of raising a child from birth to 18 and came up with $160,140.00 for a middle income family. Talk about price shock! That doesn't even touch college tuition.
But $160,140.00 isn't so bad if you break it down. It translates into:
* $8,896.66 a year,
* $741.38 a month,
* $171.08 a week.
*A mere $24.24 a day!
*Just over a dollar an hour.
Still, you might think the best financial advice is; don't have children if you want to be 'rich.'Actually, it is just the opposite.
What do you get for your $160,140.00?
* Naming rights . First, middle, and last!
* Glimpses of God every day.
* Giggles under the covers every night.
* More love than your heart can hold.
* Butterfly kisses and Velcro hugs.
* Endless wonder over rocks, ants, clouds, and warm cookies..
* A hand to hold usually covered with jelly or chocolate.
* A partner for blowing bubbles and flying kites.
* Someone to laugh yourself silly with, no matter what the boss said or how your stocks performed that day.
For $160,140.00, you never have to grow up. You get to:
* finger-paint,
* carve pumpkins,
* play hide-and-seek,
* catch lightning bugs,
* never stop believing in Santa Claus.
You have an excuse to:
* keep reading the Adventures of Piglet and Pooh,
* watch Saturday morning cartoons,
* go to Disney movies, and
* wish on stars.
You get to frame rainbows, hearts, and flowers under refrigerator magnets and collect spray painted noodle wreaths for Christmas, hand prints set in clay for Mother's Day, and cards with backward letters for Father's Day.
For a mere $24.24 a day, there is no greater bang for your buck. You get to be a hero just for:
* retrieving a Frisbee off the garage roof,
* taking the training wheels off a bike,
* removing a splinter,
* filling a wading pool,
* coaxing a wad of gum out of bangs, and
* coaching a baseball team that never wins,but always gets treated to ice cream regardless.
You get a front row seat in history to witness the:
* First step,
* First word,
* First bra,
* First date,
* First time behind the wheel.
You get to be immortal. You get another branch added to your family tree, and if you're lucky, a long list of limbs in your obituary called grandchildren and great grandchildren.... You get an education in psychology, nursing, criminal justice, communications, and human sexuality that no college can match.
In the eyes of a child, you rank right up there under God. You have all the power to heal a boo-boo, scare away the monsters under the bed, patch a broken heart, police a slumber party, ground them forever, and love them without limits, so one day they will, like you, love without counting the cost. That is quite a deal for the price!!!!!!!

The Great Outdoors

What a beautiful memorial day weekend! Tom, the girls and I got to spend most of which outside enjoying the nice weather. The weekend was full of walks, coloring on the sidewalk with chalk, planting and watering flowers, and tricycle pushes (I mean rides, lol). We also got to enjoy a birthday party. Happy Birthday Grandma Sandi!

75% all the way around!

75% percentile that is! Adalyn had her one month well check today with Dr Tracy. Everything is looking great for our "Jessa girl". She is growing like a flower.lol :)

Weight: 9 pounds 12 ounces Length: 21 3/4 inches Head: 15 centimeters

Daughters

Having a daughter means loving more than you knew you could love.

It means giving more that you knew you could give.

It means receiving so much more in return...

Having a daughter mean knowing

that whatever you did or didn't do,

you gave the world something beautiful.

Happy Mother's Day

I am so very blessed! Never in a million year did I imagine I would have 2 precious, sweet and beautiful daughters. And because I could not say it any better I am quoting from my friend Sarah's blog..."Being a mother is best accomplishment of my life, and not because I am incapable of doing anything else- but because it is the most tiring, challenging, heart-warming, selfless, and rewarding job I have ever and will ever have."
Thank you for tucking me in,picking me up, and showing me how. Thank you for teaching me to do things on my own, and believing in me when I try. Thank you for hugging me and loving me and doing special things to make me happy.Thank you for being a wonderful mommy.

Happy 1 month

Our Adalyn is 1 month old today! Really!! It feels like Adalyn has always been a part of our family. We could not imagine our lives without her in it. She has come along way. We just LOVE her beautiful smile, you just can't help but join in! She is not afraid to voice her opinion about things either. Boy does she have a set of lungs on her.lol These days I have been calling her our instant girl. She wants what she wants when she wants it! And she lets you know when you are not instant with the gratification. :) Gone are the days of having to sleep in the recliner with her. Woo Hoo! She has decided she likes her bassinet.. if only we were able to keep her covered up. The swing.. what a wonderful invention! Tummy time... well lets just say she is not so fond of this activity. She would rather roll on to her side.

This week Adalyn had her first cold. A yucky cough and stuffy nose, Poor girl! To help her breath better at night we have been putting her in her car seat. Who knew saline drops would come in so handy. Kara thinks she needs these as well. She walks around putting them in her nose. "That's better mommy, now I can breath." :) Funny girl.

Kara "pumping", What am I teaching her?!