Back to the Grind

With all of our visitors gone for awhile we were ready to get back to the grind - well the new grind for us.  Oley had quit his job the week Liz was here so he could stay home with Adelé and get his schooling finished up so eventually I can stay home with our little princess.  Although when I say he quit he really hasn't been home at all. He went on the trek last week and then Monday he helped Allison get to the airport to catch her plane home - which we absolutely loved having her here with us.  Tuesday he went and spent the day at the temple fulfilling a stake baptism assignment and then Wednesday he finally was able to finally start his new career as stay at home dad (until he finishes school). Tomorrow he will leave for a week to go to scout camp with the boy scouts.  I am not sure how we will survive without him but I am sure we will make it through. 

 Oley and Adelé love to play together. 

Adelé wasn't a fan of her first park experience.  We were babysitting a couple little boys from the ward and so walked to the park in our neighborhood.    

 I am so glad the dogs have dealt with all of this so well.  But they do still need a little loving every now and again.

Yay for Birth Families

I will have to admit we have truly been blessed with one of the most remarkable birth families.  Not only were we blessed with a precious little daughter but we get to share this special little girl with some of the most spectacular people.  A few days after Adelé was born Allison's parents asked if it would be okay if they came to visit us, we were more than happy to have them so readily agreed.  I am so glad that they are willing to remain a part of Adelé's life, it truly is a blessing now and I know it will continue to be in the future. 

So as alluded to in my previous post Oley had agreed to go on the Trek with the youth of the ward.  This would be the first time it would just be me and Adelé for over 24 hours.  Although it was comforting knowing Allison and her parents would be here before the end of that 24 hours.  I had to take Adelé to a babysitter's house for the first time the first morning and it was one of the hardest things I will ever have to do.  I don't know why I even worried, the woman I was leaving her with is a nurse and has 4 kids of her own so she was more than qualified.  But I still fretted so I only worked half the day and worked from home the other half.  When I got home I noticed that something was wrong with Lily.  When I had let her in the house she promptly ran up the stairs.  When I finally got her I could see she had chewed a big chunk out of her tail and was freaking out.  

Oley was back on the mountain with no service so now I needed to worry about Lily's tail, Adelé, and trying to get the house at least in a little bit of order before Allison arrived.  But I was exhausted so went to bed.   Allison and her parents came the next day and it was so good to see them and let them see where Adelé would be living and growing up.  I was so glad that Allison offered to stay with me!  Which I think was good for everyone, she was able to help me do the daily tasks of caring for a baby and I was able to have the company of her.  

We spent the day pretty much in the car - she is not a fan of the car seat!

We spent Friday in Lake Stevens, which was a lot of fun!  I was able to learn a lot about their family and some of their history, which was interesting.  Oley got home that night and the next morning we had plans to meet Kim and Greg for breakfast before they headed home.  

 Although after spending 2 nights in the wilderness and being away from his baby it was difficult to wake them all up after my run to get ready to go eat breakfast. 

After breakfast we said our good-byes to Kim and Greg and headed home with Allison.  Sunday she was able to attend church with us and her grandparents stopped by for dinner. How fortunate we are to have met them, their love for life and energy is contagious. 

Monday morning we had to say our goodbyes to Allison as well.  It was so fun to have her in town and to get to spend time with her.  We are so grateful for the hand the Lord plays in our life and for allowing us this opportunity to share Adelé with such great people.  Adelé is blessed with some fabulous genes, we definitely are blessed. 

2 Months

I can't believe our little baby is already 2 months old.  She is growing so quickly!  She has gotten very good at smiling at others and is so much better about holding her own head up.  She tracks Oley with her eyes as he goes across the room when she can hear him. She absolutely loves her daddy!  Bath time is still her absolute favorite time of the day.  She still sleeps through the night we put her down about 8:30 and she isn't ready to eat again until 6:30 or 7 AM.  She is spectacular little baby.  I couldn't imagine my life without this little squirt!
She weighs 12.75 lbs and is 24 3/4" tall.  Well over the normal growth line.  When the doctor came in he looked at the computer at what the nurse had input and measured her twice more to make sure that she really was that tall.  She definitely is growing and she is growing fast!  He was impressed with how alert she is and how well she already is able to "talk" make noise. He said "you must read to her everyday and talk with her a lot".  And that we do.  Adelé loves to look at the pictures in all her books while we read to her.  Such a smart little baby.

Six Years

I can't really even believe that it has been 6 years since we said our I Do's.  I guess it just doesn't seem that long when you move every 2 years and don't have any children, so you are typically stereotyped as newlyweds and so gravitate to those who have been married 2 months to 2 years.  But alas, it has been 6 years and I couldn't have asked for someone more perfect for me to be with for 6 the past years.  Yes we definitely have had our hard times but it's the good times and the love we share for one another that keeps us together.  Although whenever I meet someone from the East Idaho area and we get into where we are from I shake my head and say I can't believe I actually married a wrestler from Rigby. . . two of the top criteria that my future husband would not be.  Guess you never say never! I couldn't imagine my life any other way - so lucky to be married to Mr. Incredible!

After Oley Proposed

Miss Coos Bay Terribly

Not only did we get to celebrate our wedding anniversary but our 5 year sealing anniversary is the very next day.  Okay so who am I joking - we really didn't celebrate this year.  Oley thought he would be back from backpacking early evening, but as the night wore on and every time I called his phone he still had no service. I became more and more worried.  For goodness sake I didn't want to be widowed after 6 years of marriage!  As 11 o' clock rolled around I started to fret even more, so I called the family of the man he went with and they said they had not heard from them either.  As I lay in bed wide awake unable to sleep all I could do was pray.  My loving husband had done a great job of setting the stage by making us watch the TV series I shouldn't be Alive on Netflix the days leading up to this journey - so as you can imagine all I could think of was all of these horrible situations like they show on the TV show. 
I asked my sister what I should do and she said well you can always call the cops and have someone go check, but I really had no idea where they went in the first place --- horrible wife on my part.  All I could do was pray and pray, and everytime I would pray I knew they would be okay but for some reason the natural man in mean made me continue to worry.  Finally at 2 AM I receive a text from the guy he went with that read "only one broke rib".  No sleep and worried already I flipped Who had a broken rib? What is going on is everyone okay?  Come to find out neither of them had a broken rib they had found a dead horse on the trail and thought it was a good idea to freak me out.  Men - Ugh!  They finally rolled in around 4 AM - Happy Anniversary to me! 
Although my loving husband did have the chivalry to pick some wildflowers and carry them back down the mountain to me. 

I learn to love this man more everyday.  I was grateful to have him home safe.  That was the longest we have ever gone in our relationship without talking (he had no cell service) and it was a rough 2 days.  I can honestly say I don't think I could do it without him!

One More Visitor

We were so excited to get to have Liz come and spend a week with us and play with baby Adelé.  She got here the Sunday after the Fourth of July and was able to stay until the next Saturday morning.  Adelé grows stronger everyday - although she for some reason has decided it would be okay just to eat 2 ounces every three hours recently.  She was eating 4 ounces like a champ but has cut back considerably, although she is still as happy as a little bug! 

We went to the park on Tuesday evening to walk around and get everyone out of the house

We are so fortunate to live in such a pretty area - Mt. Rainier in the background.  View from my work window.

 This was also the week that we had our check-in appointment with the adoption agency.  When you adopt until it's final you have to check in with the agency once a month and so we had scheduled it for Friday.  Oley also had arranged to go backpacking with some men in the stake to go scope out the trail they will be taking the youth on next weekend.  Good thing Liz was still here, we drove two cars up and after the appointment Oley left for the mountains and we left for Cheesecake Factory and shopping at IKEA.  It was so good to have Liz here as well as all the family who had come before.  

Saturday morning we had to say are well wishes to Liz and off she went.  Although as soon as she left Adelé and I had to head out to take the YW on a hike with their packs to prepare them for next weekend.  Unfortunately only one showed up but since she came we still went on a little hike. Adelé wasn't a fan and was glad when she got to just lay on her blanket. 

 

Since the addition of Adelé into our home I have had a really hard time balancing working out, work, and being a mom.  That being said working out has been put on the back burner.  Since no one was home but us we went for a little run.  Adelé emjoyed laying on the floor next to me as I did push ups and sit ups once I was done.  

 I have quickly learned that my priorities are very different now days, and I wouldn't have it any other way. Adelé has brought so much new energy and joy into our home it's incredible the big spirits Heavenly Father is able to place in such little bodies.  I Love the little personality coming out of her!

The Fourth

We were exhausted once all of our visitors had left.  We spent the weekend before the fourth just recovering from visits and preparing for our next visitor Aunt Liz. 

We were exhausted what can I say, we slept A LOT!

It took Lily awhile to get used to the baby, now she is constantly wanting to sit by her - Love them!

I will admit the Fourth of July spent anywhere but Idaho Falls is fairly lame.  So we spent the morning at our ward BBQ and then so graciously fed the missionaries that evening.  We had plans to light off fireworks with some neighbors, but Adelé was not a fan of the loud noises so we watched them from the safety of our window (one of the perks of living near an Indian reservation). 

Oley did buy her some fireworks - he was more excited than anyone.  

We humored him and went outside to let him light some off.  He is giddy for next year when Adelé may understand a little bit better what's going on.
We did take some pictures of her for the 4th - love this little munchkin and her chubby cheeks!