Pumpkin Patch

We try to make the most of the weekends when Oley is home so this weekend we went to breakfast with Aunt Shawnie and then hit up the pumpkin patch.  It looked as though it was going to be a typical Washington day - little overcast and chilly but still manageable to do something outside, so we were excited to do the pumpkin patch.
 Once we got to the pumpkin patch out of the car it was raining a little bit. 

 Soon it began to pour.

We found ourselves a little spot under a tent for cover.  Oley was drenched! 

Once it lightened up we continued along.  Adelé loved looking at the pigs but especially loved coloring.

I wanted to get a couple of picture of her but she just wasn't having it this trip.

We ended our trip with a stop at the toddler's pumpkin patch.  She loved walking through and picking up the pumpkins.

It was a lot of fun and we definitely will add this as one of our fall traditions. 

Feeling Confident

Week three and I am starting to feel like I am getting good at this, so good that I even cooked dinner three times this week!  That's right!

Adelé is becoming more confident too, she has started drinking from a cup.

Before this point we didn't have to put the dogs away that often but now we do every morning and she loves to help me with that - she'll walk behind them and yell "Go!".

Adelé got to go to work with me on Thursday.   I took her into a meeting and Tina my co-worker loved it.  She got out all her highlighters and notepads and let Adelé go to town.  Adelé had a ball!  When we got home she thought she was queen of the world.

This week has gone so much better!  I am feeling like I can do this for 8 more months!

Conference

We have kind of made it tradition that we go up to Grandma and Grandpa's for General Conference, so not to break tradition we did the same this past weekend.  Much like last year the American Heart Association was doing their annual heart walk.  My team at work had put together a team for our LVAD patients.  Saturday morning before driving to Mill Creek for conference Adelé and I went to be with my work team.   It's simply amazing the work that our physicians do.  We had over 15 of our patients there who have had a LVAD implanted, none of these patients would have been able to complete the 1.5 mile walk that we went on before having the implant and all of them were able to finish the walk.  Simply amazing!

Adelé loves going to Grandma and Grandpa's she loves Papa George.  Adelé did really well playing quietly while we listened to the afternoon session.

While the men went to the Priesthood session my Grandma and I took Adelé over to a park near their house.  I love going with just my Grandma.  As we were driving to the park we got a little lost and she got extremely frustrated with herself that she couldn't remember how to get to where we were going.  But the thing I love most about my Grandma is even when she is down and frustrated with herself she is always able to say something positive towards another person.  This struck me this past weekend and I have made it a goal of mine to be more liker her in that regard.  Adelé loved the park!

She is growing so quickly.  Every time I take a picture of her I look at it and think where is my little baby going.

Second Week Down

That's right we have successfully completed 2 weeks in this new routine.  At the beginning of the week I was not feeling so successful, but I am feeling much more confident now that it's over.  It was definitely a rough week.  I am sure by the end of the week Oley was feeling like this was never going to work with all of my texts letting him know how extremely difficult it was becoming.  This was me by the end of my work day on Monday - defeated.

It all started on Monday when dropping Adelé off.  She was wide awake and ate breakfast with an upbeat personality.  When I asked if she wanted to go play with Kim and her friends she enthusiastically said "Yay"!  So I drove her over to Kim's (the neighbor who watches her) and she practically leaped into Kim's arms and gave her a big hug and said "bye mom!".  It was disheartening to me that she doesn't even have a hard time going to the babysitter's house in the mornings. 
When I went to pick her up that day she wanted to stay and play with the kids longer.  As I recounted this with my colleagues, who all have grown children, the overwhelming response was be grateful she loves to go, it's heartbreaking having to drop them off and have them scream as you walk out the door.  It's true, I should be glad she is loving going to the babysitter, but it's been hard for me that it's not hard at all for her (that sounds awful), I don't want her to be sad but you know what I mean.
On Tuesday morning, I got her out of the car and she ran up to the front porch.  When Kim answered the door she ran in and then realized she hadn't grabbed her lunch box from me yet, she ran back got her lunch box and then waved "bye mom" as she hurried away.  I just had to repeat to myself the entire way to work - it's better than her crying, she's loving this arrangement I need to like it too.  She loves getting to play with other kids and it's so good for her to be able to, but it's so hard knowing she doesn't miss me at all.    
This week was full of A LOT of phone calls to grandma.  Adelé has learned how to call people on my phone.  I have pictures of most of our close family and so she finds the picture of the person she wants to talk to and she calls them.

 She loves to stack her blocks as tall as she can get them and then they fall over.

I absolutely love Adelé.  It's been somewhat of a blessing having Oley gone.  It really has given me the opportunity to rearrange my work schedule so I spend a lot more time at home with Adelé.  It will be fabulous when he is completely done and I can spend this much time with her all the time. 

I am so grateful for all the love Adelé has in her life and all the support we have, she loves to read her adoption book at night.  She points to every picture in the book and says who each person is, she always takes a little extra time on this picture with Papa Greg - she may not see him often but she sure does have a special place for him.

By Thursday I was still having a hard time with the fact that Adelé was just loving going to the babysitter, so much that I prayed a lot asking Heavenly Father if maybe I needed to find a job in Spokane and we all just move there.  When I got to Kim's house to pick Adelé up that afternoon, unlike every other day when she didn't want to leave, she came running to me yelling "mom, mom" she gave me a big hug and topped it off with a kiss.  It was exactly what I needed - I knew then that this is exactly what the Lord wants us to be doing.  Having Adelé in an LDS home where she gets to play with girls her age and get some social interaction for a few hours every day is good for all of us and the fact that she is loving going is a great sign.  I am so grateful for the tender mercies the Lord continues to bless us with.

She is a little firecracker and a lot to keep up with but I absolutely love her!

Loving the Weekends

The weekends mean so much more now that we have a crazy weekday schedule.  Having Oley come home on Thursday evenings is a much needed relief for me and Adelé loves having him around too!   Much like every other month we hadn't gotten in our temple trip yet, since it was the last weekend of the month we spent Saturday doing the temple.
Ad still loves getting "pretty" with me.  

 While we waited for Oley Adelé looked over Allison's wedding announcement again.  She gets so excited every time she looks at it, it's adorable.

 

We have had this spider next to our front door for the past week.  Oley and I joked that it was what kept Ad and I safe while he was away.  Really it's extremely disgusting so I made Oley do away with it. 

It's amazing to see how much Adelé has grown by the number of pictures she has in front of the Seattle temple.  The weather was beautiful.  She loved getting to run around on the temple grounds while we waited for Oley to get done.

Adelé loves to go to the park and swing on the swings. 

It was so nice to have Oley home but the weekend went so quickly!  Sunday evening came and we said our goodbyes again.  Ad and I chilled on the couch, built with her blocks, and watched Nemo.  Here's to another week!

Oley's First Week of School

The dreaded day had come when Oley would begin his trips to Spokane for school.  He has been so excited all summer to be doing this!  I am excited for him but I am also super worried about how I am going to be able to juggle being a mom to Adelé, working, being the first counselor in the young women's and just keeping up with life.  It's only Monday through Thursday, but that's Monday through Thursday!!!  His cousin is kind enough to let him stay with her family in Spokane during the week and then he will drive home Thursdays after class.  On Sunday night we said our goodbyes and prayed for Heavenly Father to help me through the next 9 months.  

Adelé didn't even blink an eye saying goodbye to dad, I am glad she is still young enough she doesn't really get it.  We played the rest of the day on Sunday and prepared for the week ahead of us.  

Waking Adelé up in the mornings was one of the things I was worried about.  I have blocked my work schedule so that on Mondays I don't need to be in until a little bit later so that it gives us a little buffer.  She woke up with no problem.  

We are blessed enough to have a family in our ward that is willing to let Adelé come play with her 3 little girls during the day.  When I went to drop her off I thought that she was going to scream.  She didn't cry at all.  Luckily I am also able to work my schedule that I am able to take off a little bit earlier in the afternoons so that I can spend the afternoon with her.   She loves to build with her blocks.

The fourth week of the month is always the hardest for me at work.  I have 7 AM meetings Tuesday-Thursday.  Tuesday I knew was going to be hard to be able to get her up and to the neighbor's house and me to work by 7.  But we were successful!  She was really sleepy when I dropped her off on Tuesday so there was no crying then either.  2 for 2!  We played out in the yard that afternoon before she got so exhausted she wanted to go to bed. 

Wednesdays are always hard days.  I have a standing 7 AM meeting at work and then we have mutual until 8:30 at night.  These are the days that I know are going to be the toughest.  But we made it through!

 We went to the skating rink for mutual.  Adelé loved all the loud music and the strobe lights.

Thursday FINALLY arrived!  The day that Oley would be home.  Since this all began on the 4th week of the month and that week is always the most difficult I only went into work long enough for my 7 AM meeting and then came home and worked from home the rest of the day.  It was so good to be home with Adelé.  Although it made me realize even though I think I am gone from her a lot during the day in all reality she still takes a 2.5-3 hour nap in the early afternoon so she really isn't even awake most of the time while I am at work.  By Thursday we were both kind of tired.  But were so excited that Oley came home.  

We have made it our routine that when we get home from the babysitter we play outside for 30 minutes to an hour before she eats dinner.  Then we go for a run and stop and play at the park, being able to spend more time with her this week has been such a blessing.  

The Lord has definitely watched out for us this week.  I know that this is what we are supposed to be doing even though there are going to be good and bad weeks, in the end it will all pay off.  Adelé and Oley get to spend all day Friday together and then we are all together on the weekends.  It's going to be a long 9 months, but we can do it!